Beyond the Skies- Field Trip
Twilight’s Castle
Shortly after Calvin’s… entrance into the castle, the young skyshifter had a LOT of explaining to do... mostly to Twilight. Though not before Spitfire had to apologize to her for running her over with his vehicle, Hot Streak. It was after these apologies that the young Alicorn was able to get to asking some questions that were on her mind.
“Okay, first thing’s first,” Twilight asked, looking at the Fire Skylander. “Who are you?”
“Me? I’m Spitfire,” he replied. Unaware of the pegasus in the room that was also named that as well. “I’m a Fire Skylander.”
“So, you are actually a Skylander?”
“That’s right,” he said to her, “I’m Fire Skylander and one of the SuperChargers. And yes, I already have a feeling of what’s going on. Trust me, Calvin and I found some things in the Griffon Ruins that weren’t supposed to be there in the first place. Luckily, Calvin was able to call for me, so I can help him.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow before looking at Calvin with a look of confusion. “How-?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Twilight,” the boy told her, shrugging her shoulders, “I’m just as confused and surprised as you are. We were lucky to make it out of there. Though, we did have to fight our way out and jump off a cliff-”
“YOU DID WHAT!?” the Alicorn shouted in shock.
“H-hey, don’t do that! You can make someone go deaf like that,” he sighed, “Like I was saying, we jumped off a cliff into a transport I was able to summon.”
“Okay, hold up,” Rainbow interjected, “So basically, not only can you call on an ally to help you… but you can also summon vehicles?”
“Pretty much. But, like my transformations,” Calvin said, pointing at Hot Streak as it slowly disappeared. “They have limits.” It was around then though that his crystal began to warmly glow a bright white light. Calvin was unsure of what was happening, but then he recalled something Eon told him. Something about his token and how others who found his token could call upon his help.
“Um, Twilight. Sorry to cut things short, but I have to go. I’ll explain later!” Calvin told her. Before the Alicorn could say anything, both Calvin and Spitfire disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the room empty and almost everypony, including Gilda and Spitfire, staring at what happened in disbelief.
“Well, I’m going back to the Academy. Something tells me that you might have your hooves full, Princess.” Spitfire told her. All Twilight did was sigh briefly.
“Oh, you have no idea.”
Meanwhile…
Ace sighed, leaning heavily against the desk he had found. Surprisingly good condition for something over a thousand years old. He held a small crystal in his hands, turning it over again and again.
“I know what this is…” he muttered, frowning. “Traptanium. But why did it have to be a Token?” Sighing again, Ace closed his eyes, holding the crystal up. “Whatever, let’s see who this is. Yo Calvin, come say hi.” However, what happened next was something that Ace wasn’t personally prepared for. A bright flash of light went off in the room as two figures came tumbling in. The first was what appeared to be a human. A young human in fact. The second was, from what Ace could tell, not a pony, but something completely different. Especially when he heard it speak.
“Calvin, please warn me about whenever that is suppose to happen…” The voice groaned. As the smoke faded away, Ace was now looking at not just a young boy, but also the Fire Skylander named Spitfire.
“Of course…” the man groaned, standing. “I get thrown into a world that immediately is plunged into a bloody war against the damn Doom Raiders, and you get actual Skylanders. Fan-bloody-tastic.”
“You also have me, Ace,” Core Strike said, his voice echoing in everyone’s heads.
“Oh yeah, a mentor who is a spirit in a sword. How could I forget?”
The boy looked up to the person, confused. “Um… who said that?” The boy said, looking at Ace. The one thing standing out was the crystal around his neck.
“My sword,” Ace replied, unsheathing Core Strike and holding him up to the little light that a nearby candle provided. “Or rather, the spirit bound to it. He speaks telepathically.” Sheathing the blade again, Ace held out his hand in greeting. “Name’s Ace. Nice ta meet ya, Calvin.”
Calvin himself tensed up, stepping backwards and looking at Spitfire. “H-how do you know my name?”
“Your token told me. Chill, dude.” Chuckling, Ace turned and returned to his desk, fishing through the drawers. “So tell me, Calvin, how does a kid like you get Displaced?”
“I’m sorry, what?” he responded, “I-I’m kind of new to this.”
“Fair enough. Gimme a sec.” Finally finding what he was looking for, Ace stood, a small notebook under his arm. “Come on, walk with me for a bit. I’ll show you around.”
The boy looked at Spitfire, who simply told him that he was heading back to Skylands as he disappeared in a flash of light. Turning back, Calvin slowly followed Ace.
“So, welcome to the Ruined City, as we like to call it,” the man said, gesturing out of a window as they passed. Calvin glanced out, seeing the crumbling walls of the Castle of the Two Sisters, as well as a multitude of tents and shanties surrounding it.
“Ruined city?” he asked, “What happened here?”
“Oh, this place is just really old,” Ace explained, “but we had to move somewhere after the Doom Raiders took over Ponyville.”
“Took Ponyville?” Calvin asked, before looking at him. “In this world, you mean? Because last I remember, Kaos tried crashing the Grand Galloping Gala, and I hit him in the head with an apple.”
“You have Kaos?” Ace demanded, looking to him with a mix of shock and envy. “You’re lucky… at least Kaos was funny.”
“He calls apples the spawn of trees.”
“Like I said, funny.” Calvin smiled a little as he continued to follow Ace. But then, something else came in his mind. Something he wanted to ask.
“Ace… What exactly are you?” he asked, “I-I don’t mean to be rude… but I just wanted to know a little more about you.”
“Not sure,” Ace replied simply, shrugging his shoulder. “I think I’m just a regular guy in another world, but for all I know, I’m a Portal Master. I mean, I’ve already found the Eternal Fire Source just sitting under Celly’s old bed.”
“A portal master? Does that mean you can summon Skylanders?” He asked, looking a little eager to find out his reply.
“Again, not sure.” Going quiet for a moment, Ace then continued, looking over his shoulder. “But I do have Eon’s amulet. And this Equestria is apparently made out of Skylands.”
“Wow… That’s new,” Calvin replied, “From what I can tell, I think My Equestria is below the Skylands. Spitfire and I found a few remains of Arkeyans in Griffonstone before I had to shift forms and run for my life. Also, the Cutie Mark Crusaders accidently planted a chompy pod for a school project.”
“Heh, crazy fillies…” Ace chuckled shaking his head. “So, that Skyshifter part in your Token, that was literal? What forms do you have?”
“Technically, I just have to repeat a phrase from a Skylander, and I turn into them for a short period of time. Though, the more times I use them, the longer I can stay transformed, and the more abilities I get. Need a demonstration?” he asked.
“If you want, I think I got it though,” Ace replied, rubbing his chin in thought. “So… if you said ‘Fear the Fish’, you’d turn into Gill Grunt?”
“Basically. For me… Saying ‘The Art of War’...” the boy soon began to glow briefly as he looked back at Ace, a violet like light began to fill the room as the Skyshifter took on a new form. This time, of a magic skylander. “... Allows me to turn into Splat. One of the SuperChargers of the Magic Element.”
“Heh, neat.” Smirking, Ace leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. “Bet you can’t turn into Bowser or Donkey Kong though. And yes, they’re technically Skylanders now.”
“Yeah, I rather not try to go that far.” Calvin said in his new form as he soon had himself return to normal. “That’s not the only thing I could do though. At times, I can have a Skylander fight beside me for a limited amount of time. Not only that, but I could also summon vehicles. Again, for a limited amount of time. Trust me on that one. Spitfire and I almost ran over Twilight.”
“Heh, funny,” Ace chuckled, shaking his head. “You know, I had the thought of trying to build some of the Superchargers vehicles myself, but if my suspicions of being a Portal Master are true, then I won’t need to.” Pausing, he glanced out of the window again. “Hey, you wanna see something cool?”
Calvin then looked back at Ace, again with a raised eyebrow. “Define ‘cool’.”
“Skylanders stuff.”
Calvin thought for a moment, remembering some things that he personally had to take into account. “Um… I need an adult?”
Ace chuckled slightly, shaking his head. “I meant the Portal of Power, Cal. Jeez…”
“Oh, you have one?” Calvin asked, surprised. “Well, go ahead. I’m right behind you.”
“You may wanna shift to an Air, buddy,” Ace said with a smirk, unsheathing his sword as it began to glow a light blue before diving out the window. Calvin was startled by Ace’s actions, running to the window to see if he was falling to the ground at the bottom of the mountain. To his surprise, however, Ace was laughing as he ran along an invisible pathway, swiping a menacing looking katana in front of himself the whole time.
“Oh, if that’s the way you want to play…” Calvin said, “Full Scream Ahead!” With that, Calvin jumped out in pursuit, now taking on the form of Sonic Boom as he chased Ace. He was able to see the path he was walking on, probably because of being an air element, but didn’t pay attention to that and instead focused on following Ace.
They eventually came to a stop at the mouth of a cavern in the chasm below the castle, Ace skidding to a halt and kicking up a small cloud of dirt as he sheathed his blade. “So, here we are,” he said simply as Calvin landed next to him, gesturing towards a large crystalline tree.
Calvin looked in the direction of the tree as he turned back to normal. “Strangely enough, that looks like Twilight’s Castle. So, the portal is in there?”
“Yep, in a cavern behind the Tree.” Ace smirked as he strode in, taking note of the staff embedded in the earth. “And you may get to meet Zecora, too.”
“Zecor- who?” Calvin asked, before sighing a little. “You know, I think I’ll wait till I see her first before guessing her name. I’d rather not mess up.” With that, the Skyshifter allowed the Portal Master to go inside first, with him following shortly afterwards.
“She’s a Zebra shamaness,” Ace explained, ducking under the low archway in the back of the cave. “Kinda like Voodood, but a woman and way prettier.”
“Why thank you, Ace, for your kind words,” a smooth, thickly accented voice said, the owner stepping out from behind a large stone plinth to reveal Zecora in a simple brown wrap. “Though what you said before sounds quite absurd.”
Calvin just looked at the Zebra, a little surprised before looking back at Ace. “I’m going to take a guess that this is her?”
“It is nice to meet you, my young new friend,” Zecora said sweetly, grabbing a dark cloak from the wall and covering herself. “But why are you here? To what end?”
“Um… Ace summoned me, and… Well… He told me about the Portal?” Calvin stuttered, a little nervous on what he was trying to say. Meeting this zebra was like meeting any new person to the young boy: very hard at first, until he starts to feel a little bit more comfortable around them.
“Relax, dude,” Ace laughed, moving over to the stone construct. “Zecora’s cool. Now come’ere. This is what I was gonna show you.”
“Oh. Okay,” he said, “Is this what you were talking about?”
“Yep, my own Portal of Power!” the man exclaimed, gesturing to calm purple substance within the stone borders. “Apparently, this thing spat me out when I was Displaced, so… yeah.” Calvin took a moment to look at it for a second and see everything in front of him. That was, before noticing all the clutter in other parts of the room.
“So, have you tried using it before?”
“Nope,” Ace shrugged. “But we’re thinking of making a Core of Light that connects to the Tree of Harmony. That’s why Zecora’s down here. She’s taking notes for Twilight.”
“I see…” Calvin said, his attention though was elsewhere as he looked back at something behind Ace before walking over there. Putting his hand in a pile, he picked up two figures that he recognized and brought them over. “Do these belong to you, Ace?”
Looking up at the figures, Ace gaped at them for a second before snatching them up. “It can’t be…” he muttered, eyes wide. “No way! Spyro and Cynder!?!”
“I think they’re yours… but I don’t know if they’re real or not. They seem to be like mini stone statues...”
“Yeah… but they’re mine. I’m sure of it.” Smiling to himself, Ace held the figures up. He panicked, however, the Spyro figure slipped in his grip, falling into the viscous purple substance in the portal and disappearing completely.
“What just happened?” Calvin asked.
“... I’m an idiot, that’s what…” Ace muttered, scowling. He then screamed in anger, kicking the side of the Portal in his rage. However, when he wasn’t looking, Calvin was seeing something that the Portal Master was not paying attention to.
“Ace… Remember the phrase “Toys to life”?” He asked, watching something move and then stretched out from the portal. “I… think you just did that with Spyro-”
He was cut off as a brilliant purple burst of light surged out from the portal, blinding everyone present. The soft beating of wings was heard before a raspy, cocky voice called out.
“All Fired Up!”
As the light died down, Calvin lowered the hand he used to cover his eyes, only to see the purple dragon himself standing there. In front of him. Quickly, he bumped Ace in the shoulder, getting his attention and trying to have him look back at the portal. “Ace… You got to see this… It’s Spyro.”
“I see it, Cal…” Ace breathed, watching wide-eyed as the drake hopped off of the Portal. “Not sure if I’m believing it though…”
The dragon looked at the two of them shortly, before its attention was focused on Ace. Using a paw, Spyro waved it in front of Ace as the Portal Master stared at him in shock. Sighing, the drake then spoke. “Are you the new Portal Master?”
“Apparently…” Ace breathed, kneeling down and looking Spyro over. “Are… are you real?”
“Last I checked,” Spyro chuckled, looking himself over. “Little younger than I remember…” He then noticed the other figure in Ace’s hand and nudged it a little. “I’m guessing you’re going to bring Cynder here, too?”
“Oh, yeah!” Ace cried, quickly standing and dropping the Cynder figure into the Portal. Soon, the same thing as before happened... only this time, the color of the light was a grayscale shade with a female voice being spoken this time.
“Volts and Lightning!”
A second dragon stepped out of the light, her body much sleeker and her scales a deeper shade of purple, broken silver shackles around her ankles. Cynder glanced around the room for a moment before a wide grin split her face, and she pounced, tackling Spyro to the dirt.
“Spyro!” Cynder cried, “Oh, I missed you!”
“I missed you, too, Cyn!” Spyro laughed, giving the dragoness a quick hug before pushing her to her feet. “But we’ve got company. Meet the new Portal Master!”
Cynder looked up, her features falling into a deadpan. “Which one? The furry’s wet dream, the child or the wannabe samurai?”
Calvin himself just pointed a finger towards Ace. “I think you’re looking for him.”
“H-hi!” Ace said, waving stupidly.
“Uh huh…” Cynder drolled, rolling her eyes. “Great, this is what we get? Wonderful.”
“Hey, let’s not assume based on first glance,” Calvin suggested, “After all, he summoned me here.”
“Uh huh, and I’m a Dirt Shark,” Cynder sneered. Calvin sighed, looking around before asking Ace something.
“Do you think shifting here helps?” he asked, pulling out the traptanium crystal that was under his shirt at the time. “Because if a dirt shark is what she’s asking for… I can play the part.”
“Do it,” Ace said, frowning at the dragoness while Spyro groaned, burying his face in his paws. The boy smirked, putting his hands together and letting the crystal glow, before saying “It’s Feeding Time!” and being surrounded in a lightish brown light. When the light faded away, Calvin was now in the form of Terrafin, The Earth Skylander and the literal definition of a dirt shark.
“How’s that?” Calvin asked, his voice now sounding like Terrafin’s. Catching Spyro and Cynder by surprise.
“Fin?” Spyro asked, shocked. “How-”
“That’s not Terrafin,” Ace chuckled, “It’s Calvin. He can become any Skylander by saying their catchphrase. Observe: Cal, wanna go outside and be Tree Rex?”
“I think I have another idea,” Calvin suggested as he returned to normal for a few seconds. Only to shift again, this time to a familiar phrase. Spyro’s phrase. “All fired up!” A bright violet surge of light went off, and now, the young boy was looking at the purple dragon in front of him… as the dragon.
“Hi.”
“Okay, that is just creepy,” Spyro said, leaning back with a creeped-out look on his face.
“Hmm, it has its uses…” Cynder muttered, tapping her chin. “Can you be me?”
He nodded. “Volts and Lightning!” He said, changing form into the undead dragon in front of him. “My transformations don’t have limits on who I can be. However, they have limits on how long I can be you guys for.”
“Huh, interesting,” Spyro mused, looking Calvin over. “You’ve got every detail right… how?”
“I just have a good memory. Other than that, I don’t know how magic works.” Calvin said, shifting back to his normal form. “However, Ace is the Portal Master here. Not me. I’m what I call a Skyshifter, since I can shift into any Skylander.”
“Makes sense…” Cynder mused. “But how would you do the Swap Force?”
“Personally, I haven’t gotten far with switching tops and bottoms yet,” Calvin said. “But I have gotten as far as Trap Team, SuperChargers and even turned into Ninjini once. Which reminds me, there’s one other thing.” With a little bit of concentration, a small void like tear opened up and out from it, the Spitfire that Calvin knew soon landed right next to him.
“Figures that I would get brought back out eventually,” Spitfire sighed, before looking in the direction of Spyro and Cynder.
“Before you freak out,” Ace said quickly, holding a hand up. “This isn’t the same Spitfire you know. He’s from Calvin’s world, an alternate dimension.”
“I was going to get to that, but you beat me to it,” Spitfire chuckled. “Still, it’s great to see you two again.” While this was going on, Calvin could hear a brief set of footsteps from outside. Looking back at Ace, the young boy looked a bit cautious.
“Ace, there’s someone outside.” Calvin told him, having Spitfire return back, so as to not startle whoever was outside.
“Hm?” Ace hummed, turning and sticking his head out the cavern opening. There stood Spike, looking around almost confusedly.
“Spike, buddy!” Ace called, catching the drake’s attention. “Come’ere! You gotta meet these guys!”
“Meet who?” he asked, peeking inside. He was quite surprised to notice two other dragons besides himself, not to mention a little curious. “Ace, who are these two?”
“Spike,” Ace explained, directing the young dragon over to Spyro and Cynder. “I would like you to meet Spyro and Cynder.”
“Nice to meet you,” Spyro greeted, holding a paw out.
“Likewise…” Spike replied, frowning slightly. “Sorry, it’s just… I feel like I know you guys…”
“Unlikely,” Cynder scoffed, looking away. She paused, however, glancing back at the bipedal drake unsurely. “The only way you could possibly know us is if…”
“If what exactly?” Calvin asked. “I’m a little lost.”
“When… when we brought the islands of Skylands together to form this world,” Cynder started, taking a seat and starting to draw in the dirt. She stayed quiet for a moment as a large map revealed itself in her drawings. “The only thing the Skylanders managed to leave behind were ten kids, each one in a sort of stasis pod and each one connected to a different Element.”
Catching onto her meaning, Spyro sighed. “Ours was an egg,” the drake continued. “Purple, with green spots.”
“Wait…” Spike paused for a minute, before asking a question. “That sounds a lot like my egg when Twilight hatched me.”
Spyro blinked. Cynder raised a brow. Both dragons shared a quick glance.
“... eeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!”
Ace, Zecora and Calvin covered their ears, stumbling back slightly at the sheer volume of the noise coming from Cynder’s mouth as she pounced on Spike, knocking him to the ground.
“Woah!” Spike cried, grunting at the impact. “The he-?!”
“My baby boy!” Cynder squealed, hugging Spike’s chest. “You’ve grown up so big and strong!” Calvin just looked at Ace, before staring back, dumbfounded by what was happening.
“Uh… what’s going on?” Ace asked, confusion covering his face.
“I’m just as confused as you…” Calvin replied, looking back at Cynder and Spyro.
Spyro just chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, it looks like Spike’s our son,” he explained nonchalantly.
“Well…” Ace muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. “That kinda makes sense, seeing as Spike’s an Undead Elemental.”
Calvin then raised an eyebrow, looking back at him. “Wait… he is?”
“Yep. His fire screams with the souls of hundreds of dead Ponies, crying out from the Underworld.”
Everyone present looked to Ace in shock.
“What!? I heard it!” Calvin was going to comment, but instead, he decided to hold his breath. This was a reunion between two parents and their child after being separated for so long. And for Spike, this was him discovering his origins. The last thing he would want to do is interrupt.
“Um…” Spike muttered, eyes wide. “Maybe… maybe we should go… talk…”
“Yeah, that sounds like something I’d say, too,” Spyro chuckled, nudging Cynder to get her attention before turning to Ace and nodding. “Thanks for waking us up.”
“Uh… no problem?” Ace replied, stepping to the side as the three dragons walked out, smiling nervously at Spike.
Calvin then looked at Ace, a little surprised. “Uh… do you think we should’ve told them about what was happening? You know… with the Doom Raiders?”
“Best not to ruin the moment,” the Portal Master sighed, shaking his head.
“Yeah, but what if one of them finds out about Spyro and Cynder? They could try to capture them.”
“Spike knows about the spies the DRs might have. He’ll keep them a secret.”
Calvin sighed. “Okay, I just thought to be cautious. If summoning Spyro and Cynder here attracted Spike’s attention, who knows what else it might bring.” The skyshifter was trying to air on the side of caution. The Doom Raiders were not to be taken lightly, after all.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Ace sighed. “I’ll bring them both up to speed. Later.”
“Alright. That sounds good…” Calvin asked, looking back at where he found the stone figures of Spyro and Cynder. “Hey, do you think it’s possible that there are others here besides the two we found?”
“Those were my Skylanders,” Ace replied, frowning in thought. “The toys at least. If Spyro and Cynder are here, the others are, too.”
“I understand that, but do you think that they’re here with the rest of your… collection? Or are they cast out in different places, and you need to start searching?”
“Oh, nothing’s easy,” the Portal Master sighed, “Knowing my luck, they’re out there in the world. They could be in the middle of the Badlands, or in Blueblood’s trophy room. Either way, it’ll be nigh impossible to find them.”
“Hmm…” Calvin said to himself. Thinking for a few minutes while looking back at the shelf where he found Spyro and Cynder earlier. Only to notice one other figure on the shelf. “Hey, Ace, I think there’s one more here we missed earlier.” Pulling it down, he handed it to Ace, who was surprised to see what the boy found.
“No way…” he breathed, smirking, “Drobot’s here too? I mean, it would’ve made more sense to have Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt, but hey! This is way better!”
“Well, Spyro and Cynder are dragons, so finding another one kind of makes sense, right?” Calvin asked Ace.
“Yeah, I guess,” the Portal Master shrugged. “I just meant the original Starter Pack. You know, I actually got the original Spyro last?”
“You mean series 1, or something else?” Calvin asked, a little puzzled.
“I mean the first Spyro toy, yeah,” Ace chuckled, setting the Drobot figure on the edge of the Portal. “I bought the game from a friend who’d broken his Spyro, so I never had one.”
“Ah, okay,” Calvin replied, “So, you think we should call on Drobot now or when Spyro and Cynder get back?”
Ace just smirked, pushing the toy over the edge of the Portal and into the substance within. “Oops.”
“Well, that answers my question,” the skyshifter replied as the aura of the portal changed to a bright gold. The clinking of gears could be heard as another phrase was heard. ‘Blink and Destroy!’ With it, the Tech Skylander known as Drobot soon climbed out of the portal, calibrating his sight first before looking towards Ace. All Calvin did was back up a little, giving the two of them some space.
“Greetings, Portal Master,” the cyborg drake said, his voice echoing with the synthesizer in his helmet. “I am Drobot.”
“What’s up!?” Ace cried, smiling wide.
“Up is a direction, Portal Master,” Drobot droned, flexing his wings.
“Are you gonna be a downer the whole time?” the man groaned, slumping over.
“I’m just answering logically. Now, Portal Master, what is your name?” he asked, walking over to Ace.
“You can call me Ace,” Ace answered, shrugging, “That’s Calvin, and the Zebra is Zecora.”
“H-hi,” Calvin squeaked, a little nervous with being put on the spot.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Drake of Machines,” Zecora added, noticing Drobot’s change of expression once she started speaking. “I apologize, I did not mean to intervene.”
“Our meeting is merely coincidental, though still pleasant,” Drobot replied, nodding to them both.
Ace sighed. “Of course… oh well.” Shrugging, he turned to Zecora. “You gonna be okay here?”
“I shall be perfectly fine,” the Zebra said with a smile, waving him off. “Now go, I will remain here for a time.”
“Hey, Ace?” The Skyshifter asked, getting the Portal Master’s attention. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead, Cal,” Ace replied, turning and strolling out of the cave. “I’m all ears.”
“Can you please tell me more about something? These ‘Displaced’ I think you called them.” He asked. “You seem to know a bit about them, so maybe you can tell me about them before I return to my world… You are going to bring me back right?”
“Of course,” the man chuckled, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t keep you here. You can stay as long as you like, of course, but I can send you back as soon as you want.” Pausing, he looked up, drawing his sword as it glowed green and shifted into a long, vine-like whip with red thorns. “Let’s get something to eat, and then I’ll explain the Displaced stuff.”
“Okay, I am kind of hungry right now,” Calvin admitted, following the Portal Master. “Lead the way, brother-” he paused for a minute, looking embarrassed at the last bit as it caught Ace’s attention.
Glancing to the young Skyshifter, Ace let out a brief laugh at his expense. “Hey, man, it’s cool. I’m guessing you don’t really have any family figures left.”
“S-sort of, yeah… Are you okay with me calling you that?” he asked.
“Sure, why not?” the man shrugged with a smile, “It’d feel good to be an older brother again.” Calvin’s face lit up like the lights on a christmas tree, was soon leaping forward and hugging Ace.
“Th-thank you!”
Laughing again, Ace hugged him back with his free arm. “Heh, no prob Cal! Everyone needs someone, right?” Chuckling, he let the boy go, smirking a little. “Oh, and if you’re joining my family, you have a sister, too. And her side of the family is crazy big.” Shaking his head with a smile, he turned to the cliff, snapping the whip so that it wrapped around an overhanging flagpole. “But enough about that. Shift, and we’ll head up!”
“Okay… which element?” Calvin asked, a little puzzled.
“Meh, your choice,” the Portal Master shrugged. Calvin sighed, deciding to stick with one of the forms he personally liked as he got on all fours. With saying ‘Darkness Falls’ to himself, the young boy had turned into one of his personal favorites. Blackout. “Could this work?”
“Yep,” Ace replied before flicking his wrist again, smirking as his whip seemed to shrink in length, pulling him skyward. Calvin soon followed him, using his powers to move upward as his body moved in a buzzsaw formation. Soon, he landed right next to Ace as he shook the dust off of him.
“So, where’s the food?” he asked, confused. Not seeing anything to eat nearby… yet.
“In the main hall,” Ace provided, sheathing his blade once more. “We’ve got Pinkie and AJ in control of the cooking team to feed all the refugees, so we should be able to get something good. Fluttershy and Zecora do the gathering, too.”
“Oh, okay. Lead the way, I guess…” Calvin said, returning to normal and following Ace again.
Ace nodded, turning and heading for the main entrance of the castle and striding through the doors. He led Calvin to one of the many tables set up in the main entrance hall, hopping over and sitting on the other side before waving a Pegasus mare in a waitress’s uniform over, taking a pair of menus from her.
“Here you are, Cal, take your pick,” Ace said simply, handing Calvin a menu before opening his own.
“Hmm… can I have a grilled cheese?”
“Of course you can, sweetie,” the mare said sweetly, writing his order down on her notepad. “And for you, Mister Ace?”
“Uh… I think I’ll have a simple salad. And bring us both a cider, sparkling.”
“Right away, sir. Your food will be out soon.” With that, the mare hurried off, ducking through a side door. While they waited, Calvin then spoke again.
“So, Ace? Can you tell me about the Displaced now?” he asked, trying to be patient.
“Sure,” Ace replied, leaning on the table’s edge. “Where to begin… well, you know about tokens, right?”
“Yeah, but besides that… nothing else really.”
“Don’t sweat it. We’ve all been there,” Ace chuckled. “Well, the Displaced are people who’ve been taken from their home world, most commonly a version of Earth, and thrown into a version of Equestria, most often given powers. Most of us are taken at a convention when dressed up, getting the powers of whatever we were dressed as. You still following?”
“Yeah… For me though, I came to my world after I was given a rare traptanium crystal.” Calvin replied. “Would your sister be another one of these Displaced as well?”
“Yep, she was turned into Zinnia from the Pokemon games.” Pausing as the waitress came back with their food, he thanked her before continuing. “There’s also an actual Mewtwo, the Crystal and Homeworld Gems from Steven Universe, and some kind of pony Time Lord going about studying us with a Screwball in a TARDIS that looks like a garden shed.”
“Studying us with what?”
“I’m… not even sure,” Ace sighed, “She was nice enough though, goes by the Guardian. I think she was teaching Screwball about us, but again, I’m not sure.”
“So, this Screwball was a pony? I thought it was a kind of ball you throw in baseball or something,” Calvin replied back, “Still though, are those all the people you met, or are there others, too?”
“Yeah, Screwball was her name, and it’s also a type of throw.” Smirking, Ace reached over and nudged Calvin. “Be prepared for weird names in Equestria, dude. But yeah, those are all the Displaced I’ve met so far.”
“Hmm… what kind of Displaced has… Zinnia met?” Calvin asked, trying to remember her name correctly.
“I don’t know all of them. You’ll have to ask her for the PG list when you guys meet,” Ace replied, sighing. “And make sure you ask for the PG one.”
“Is there a PG-13 list?” he asked, “Matter of fact, what’s today's date? I’ve lost track since ending up in my world.”
“Time flow is different in all the different Equestrias,” Ace explained, “You’re better off asking who the last big villain they defeated was, which was Tirek. I’m not sure of the date.”
“Well, I wanted to know the date… because… if what I think is right… I turn 13 today.”
“Oh, cool! Happy Birthday, dude!” Ace cried, smiling wide. “Hold up - PINKIE!! BIRTHDAY CAKE, NOW!!!”
“On it, Acey!” a bubbly voice replied.
“Thank you,” he replied, reaching over to hug Ace the best he could, “I’ve never had a birthday before with a big brother. This just makes it more… amazing.”
“I’ll call Zinnia later, then we can have a full family thing,” Ace chuckled, hugging him back. “But… you’re welcome. I’m here for you if you need me. Always remember that, okay?”
The Skyshifter nodded his head, looking back at Ace. “I will… Ace, what is your sister like?”
“Uh…” the Portal Master muttered, smiling nervously. “She’s… eccentric.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well…” he said, trailing off as the words eluded him. “She… prefers adult company.”
“You mean like stuff that you would say ‘We’ll tell you when you’re older?’ or something like that?”
“Exactly,” groaning to himself, Ace shook his head, “But other than that, she’s a sweet girl who loves her family. She actually had a bit of a breakdown when I was Displaced, apparently, and it was two years back home before she was, too.”
“But she’s happy to be with you again right?”
“Heh, yeah…” Ace chuckled. “Though we’ve only talked once since.”
“She’s still a fun sibling right?” Calvin then asked as he noticed the waitress come back with their order. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Thanks, hun,” Ace said, smiling as he took his food. “Yeah, Zinnia’s pretty fun. Though her preferred ‘fun’ is the kind that I’ll tell you about when you’re older.” He chuckled, munching on some lettuce. Calvin sighed a little as he began to eat his sandwich. But when he was about to finish, he noticed a Pink Pony come out with one of the biggest birthday cakes he had seen.
“That… is a lot of cake.” He commented as it came to the two of them. “Seriously, you can fit someone inside that cake!!”
Pinkie giggled to herself as she lifted the cake onto the table before them, smirking mischievously. “Yepperooni! You totally could!” With that, she turned, prancing back to the kitchen.
“Hmm…” Ace muttered, watching her go. “Something’s not quite sitting right with me…”
“What do you mean? This looks awesome!”
“Yeah, the cake looks delicious,” Ace agreed, standing and circling the confectionary masterpiece. “Looks like the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness cake. But it’s what you said… that you could fit someone inside of it…”
“Do you think there is someone in there?” he asked, “Because if not, then how are we supposed to cut the cake?”
“Ugh!” a muffled female voice called out from within the cake, and seconds later, the top opened up, revealing a dark-haired woman in a white button shirt. “You always were a buzzkill, you paranoid idiot!”
“Great to see you, too, sis,” Ace chuckled, shaking his head. “Calvin, meet Zinnia, my crazy little sister.”
“‘Sup little man!” Zinnia greeted, smiling wide as she spread her wings and flew out of the top of the cake. “Don’t worry, everything below the part that opens is edible.”
“Nice to meet you. It’s great to see my new sister!” He said, hugging Zinnia out of instinct.
Chuckling, Zinnia hugged him back. “And here I thought I was the one with the problem of getting too attached,” she teased, glancing to Ace. “Guess you’re not perfect either.”
“When did I ever insinuate that I was?” Ace shot back, chuckling slightly. “I said I’d be Cal’s brother, since he’s kind of alone now.”
“Oh, you poor baby!” the Draconid cried, hugging Calvin harder. “Don’t worry, Big Sis Zinnia’s here for you!”
“Umm… T-thanks…” he replied, coughing a little, “C-can I b-breathe?”
“Oh, sorry,” Zinnia muttered letting him go and chuckling nervously. “Don’t know my own strength sometimes.”
“T-thanks,” he breathed out, “Well, so far today, I almost ran over my Twilight, met Ace, summoned Spyro, Cynder and Drobot and now I have a new brother and sister…… BEST DAY EVER!!!”
“Heh, another Skylanders fan,” Zinnia chuckled, shaking her head ruefully.
“Hey, what’s wrong with Skylanders?” Ace demanded.
“Nothing, just not my thing.”
“Maybe Ace should tell you about what I can do then,” Calvin told Zinnia, “Unless of course, I am allowed to give a demonstration.”
Zinnia shrugged. “Go ahead, bro,” she said, smirking at him. Before long, Calvin smirked and then used his pendant to transform again. This time, he chose to take on one of the forms that he had used before, since he was quite familiar with it. Saying ‘Fuel the Flames!’, the young boy soon took on the form of Spitfire as he looked back at Zinnia.
“That…” Zinnia breathed, looking Calvin over before he turned back to normal, “...Is pretty damn cool.”
“It is also quite useful.”
All three Displaced whipped around, seeing Cynder stood not too far away, giving them a blank look as Spyro soon showed up next to her with Spike.
“Hi, Cynder.” Calvin cheerfully replied, waving a little.
“Hello young man,” the Undead Dragoness replied, nodding to him. “Who’s the new girl? Another Portal Master?”
“Arceus, I hope not,” Zinnia muttered, “I got enough on my plate.”
“Cynder, this is Zinnia. She’s Ace’s sister.” Calvin told her, nudging her a little and trying to get Zinnia to be comfortable around her.
“Nice to meet you, Zinnia,” Spyro said with a smile, nodding respectfully.
“You too, Spyro,” the Draconid replied. “Cynder too, of course.”
“Zi, you’re forgetting Spike.” Calvin sighed, pointing him out to her.
“Uh, that’s not Spike,” she said unsurely, “Spike’s tiny, and orange. In fact, he’s a Dragonite.”
“Who are you calling tiny!?” He shot back, standing next to his father.
“Okay, I stand corrected,” Zinnia admitted, holding her hands up in defeat. “You sound identical. Nice ta meet ya, not-tiny Spike.” Pausing for a second, she leaned in to Ace and whispered “Size issues much?”
Before Calvin had the chance to say anything though, he noticed a scroll take form above Zinnia before landing on top of the Draconid’s head.
“What the…” she muttered, reaching up and grabbing the scroll. Taking a look at the seal, she blinked when she saw a design that resembled a dragon's head. Rolling her eyes, she broke the seal and unfurled the scroll. “I wonder who this is from?”
The Draconid then proceeded to read the scroll out loud, doing her absolute worst impression of who she knew was the sender. “Dear Zinnia and Umbra, I hope this letter is received well within the next week or so. I have something that I would like to discuss with the two of you and didn’t want to summon you on the thought that you might otherwise be occupied in your own realms. With the fact that the temple will be home not just to myself, Revaan, and you two, I was considering the possibility of a time where all the members of the family could be able to meet in person. Applejack told me of Hearth’s Warming coming up, and I wanted to ask if you think we could have everyone over around that time to get to know each other and celebrate the holidays, preferably in the evening, since I need to go with Applejack to visit Pinkie Pie’s family early in the morning. But again, that’s up for you to decide.
I hope that this opportunity would allow for us to meet the leaders of the other branches in the hoard and also get to know each other. If we’re suppose to be a family, then we should have a chance to meet the family. Still though, you are the ones in charge of the hoard, so you call the shots. I’m just a leader of a branch offering a suggestion to you.
In other news, I want to let you know that Applejack was successfully able to lay an egg recently. Revaan told us that it will take some time for the dragon to develop while inside the egg, and that in two to three months, we’ll find out if it’s a boy or girl. The only thing now that we need to do though may be hard: Having to tell the rest of her family about our relationship. Anyways, I hope to hear back from you soon. Also, are you two aware of a Lich displaced named Asphyxious? He was the only Displaced that had stopped by the temple besides you two, and he was… well, interesting in his own way. I’ll tell you about it another time.
Sincerely, Ken Ahkrin.”
“Who’s Ken?” Ace asked.
“Is he Zinnia’s boyfriend?” Calvin then said, just getting an odd stare from both parties before Zinnia started to burst out into laughter.
“Right on the money, my friend!” the Draconid barked, clutching her stomach as she laughed out loud. “Though he’s not my only significant other.”
“Wait…” He said, before turning to Ace. “What does she mean by that?”
Ace sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “I’ll… tell you when you’re older, Cal,” he muttered. “Zinnia, we’re having a talk later.”
“Heh, sure thing big bro,” Zinnia giggled.
It was then that Calvin took his necklace in hand, saying Fuel the flames again and having Spitfire show up next to him. “Sorry to rain on the fun Calvin, but we need to make sure and get back. Especially after we had… accidentally… ran over Twilight with Hot Streak.”
“YOU DID WHAT!?!” a familiar voice cried, Twilight appearing in a nearby doorway.
“Different Twilight, Twilight,” Ace sighed. “Chill out, and look into finding small artifacts known as Skylanders Figures for me please?”
The purple mare gaped at them for a time before sighing, turning and heading off. Calvin though, was seen blushing about the whole running over incident. “O… kay. That felt awkward seeing another Twilight get mad at me.”
“Twilight tends to get mad a lot,” Ace explained. “It comes with being kicked out of your town.”
“Now I just feel real bad for her.” The skyshifter said, looking back in the direction of stomping hooves that echoed throughout the room.
“Yeah dude,” Zinnia muttered, looking around the ruined castle’s throne room at all the refugees. “Is everyone here the same?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Ace sighed. “The Doom Raiders took over Ponyville, and the Golden Queen turned the entire town into solid gold.”
“That bad hunh?” Spitfire asked, folding his burning claws as he looked at Ace. “If Calvin allows it, we can help you when you’re making those doom raiders run with their tails or tailfeathers in between their legs.”
“Heck yeah! I’m always up for something like that!” He smiled, gleefully. “Maybe next time?”
“We’re taking our time here,” Ace shrugged. “But yeah, you’re free to help out. I have no problems asking for help.”
“Heh, always so modest,” Zinnia tittered. “I still remember the time you refused to talk to anyone because you were trying to make me a birthday present and wouldn’t accept any help!”
“Sh-shut up!”
Calvin laughed the second he saw the portal master look embarrassed, turning to Spitfire as he nodded his head. “Well, looks like we're done here. See you guys around!”
“Sure Cal!” Zinnia called, smiling widely. “Hope to talk again soon!”
“Later, little bro!” Ace laughed. Calvin waved back as the energy from his crystal swirled around him, taking both him and Spitfire away and leaving just the two of them along with Spyro, Cynder and Spike. However, there was only one thing that could be said by the two siblings once the youngest of them was gone.
“So…” Ace said, turning to Zinnia with a raised brow. “About our little talk…”
Zinnia gulped nervously.
End Scroll 7
