Beyond the Skies

by FrostTheWolf

Scroll 37- A Different Approach

Author's Note:

Following immediately after what happened in the previous chapter, Calvin gets an unexpected visit from a familiar friend. However, when discussing what went down, things get tense when a certain thing ends up being much bigger than he realized.

Meanwhile, another friend decides to take matters in their own hands so to speak

---

Once again, thank you for being patient with me as I work on this. Things have been relatively busy the last few months, so it takes longer to get these chapters out for you guys to read. Still, thank you very much for your support and Happy Holidays.

Until next time
-Frost

Beyond the Skies- A Different Approach

---

If it were up to him, the elderly mabu named Buzz would be spending his afternoon doing things that would be considered a bit more ‘relaxing’ than what he was working on this late in the day. Over the last few months, after releasing a memo to the Skylanders that attended the academy for appropriate conduct with those from Equestria, he had received reports about several of those rules being broken only mere days after being put in place. So, not only did he have to go through each rule to make sure everything was properly changed, but place new guidelines based on more recent events that had happened.

This was something that he wished to address sooner, rather than being this late. Yet, his duties as the academy’s head of security, special instructor and head of secret ninja commando operations tend to get in the way of such things. Though, despite how many times he mentioned it, Buzz thought it better for less people to know about the latter.

“Okay, number 8 and 26 need to be revised in some capacity, while 13d needs to be scrapped entirely. Not sure what changes to write up in the meantime,” the mabu grumbled, turning to look at a stack of manila folders on the other side of his desk, “I swear, I put these guidelines in so there isn’t any trouble, and yet, these reports tell a different story. It’s going to take ages before-”

As he said this, a knock at the door echoed through his office. It was enough for him to turn his attention away from his work, as he got out of his chair and grabbed his cane. “Now, who could be knocking at my door now?”

Much to his surprise, as he opened the door, Buzz happened to find himself looking upon a pair of familiar faces. “Howdy, partner. We’re not interruptin’ anything now, are we?”

“Well, I was working on something, but it can wait,” the mabu smiled at Mags, as well as Tessa, “What brings the both of you here? Did Flynn cause a mess with his ship again?”

“Honestly, I would take that over anything else any day,” Tessa replied, “Unfortunately, what Mags and I found while surveying the surrounding islands is a little more concerning.”

The head of security raised an eyebrow at that, as he motioned for both of them to follow him inside. As they came in, he used his cane to lock the door, as he walked over to a large stretched out table with what could be described as a ‘map’. “Well, don’t keep me in suspense now. What are we dealing with here?”

“Ah guess there’s no point in trying to sugarcoat it, then,” Mags insisted as she looked over at Tessa, “Remember some time back, when we tried to spy on Kaos’ movements? Well, it turns out that he’s now decided to start making moves completely out in the open.”

To Buzz, he wasn’t too entirely surprised. For as long as he knew about the Dark Portal Master’s activities, the one common factor was that Kaos never did things quietly. Anything he did usually involved some giant monster, an army invading a town, or something that was clearly noticeable. “Well, he’s kept us waiting, that’s for sure. Even his own castle has been eerily quiet over the last month or so. What’s he doing this time?”

“Actually, that’s the thing that we wanted to talk to you about,” Tessa replied, “Mags and I think he’s setting his sights on somewhere other than the Skylands.”

It took a bit for the mabu to process that, as he raised an eyebrow at both of them. There was only one possible meaning to that. Though, he wanted to hear more on what they had to say first, before jumping to conclusions, “Care to elaborate further?”

“Well, when I was on patrol with Whiskers earlier, we both caught sight of him and Glumshanks reappearing on an island not that far from one of his ships,” she continued, “Both of them looked exhausted, and Kaos looked rather upset as they were leaving. Like he left empty handed, or something like that.”

“Now, there’s also another piece to this,” Mags interjected, “Ya probably know already that ah’ve been focusing my studies on that boundary ever since we learned that there’s a world beneath the islands, right?”

Buzz nodded, “Yes, but if I may, how-?”

“Well, earlier in the day, mah scanning equipment started to pick up magical fluctuations. Ah thought it was a glitch at first, but after hearing what Tessa had to say, ah’m starting to think it’s much more serious then that,” she continued, “If Kaos found a way to ‘poke holes’ in the boundary and cross freely on his own, without having to go through the M.A.P. to do it, then we might have a problem on our hands.”

That seemed definitely concerning for sure. But the information that both of them provided only left him with other questions, with one particular one at the forefront of his mind. “Do we have any idea why he would want to go down there? We all know that he doesn’t go anywhere in the Skylands unless he’s specifically looking for something.”

“Well, I did hear them mention something about a library and… plans being thwarted by some meddlesome kid? It didn’t sound like he was making much sense, if I have to be honest.” Tessa shrugged.

“A meddlesome kid, you say?” Buzz scratched his chin.

“Yeah, but that could probably be anybody… couldn’t it?”

Tha mabu couldn’t help but chuckle for a moment as he looked at both of the faculty members in his office. “I don’t know about you two, but I do believe there’s at least one person we know that not only lives down in Equestria, but also qualifies as a ‘meddlesome kid’ by Kaos’ standards. In fact, you’ve probably seen him come by, every now and then.”

“Correct me if ah’m wrong, but weren’t there others that started coming over and attending classes here?” Mags asked, “Two of them, ah think.”

“The twins are more recent additions and probably aren’t so familiar with Kaos, his schemes or his family. Calvin has already had run-ins with him before, so that’s more of a safe bet to me,” Buzz reminded the tinkerer, “Besides, it would be beneficial for us to know more about what’s waiting for us on the other side, if Kaos is setting his sights there.”

At this point, with a clear goal in his mind, the mabu made his way out the door, something that caught the other two off guard, “W-wait, you’re going now-?”

“Why, of course. With something this important, we should strike while the iron is still hot,” he insisted, “Besides, I’m sure you two have better things to do rather than just stand around and talk to me.”

Both Tessa and Mags looked at one another, a bit caught off guard by this. Then again, Buzz wasn’t exactly someone known for waiting around if something needed to be done, especially when evil could be afoot. Yet, with everything that had been happening over the course of the last few months, it wouldn’t be a wise decision to go alone.

Fortunately, someone just so happened to be coming around a corner and accidentally bumped into the mabu. “Oh, my bad, Buzz. I didn’t quite see you there-”

“Ah, Spyro. Just the dragon I was looking for,” Buzz chuckled, as he straightened himself up with his cane. Once he was upright, the mabu focused his attention away from the faculty behind him and more on the purple dragon in front of him, “Would you happen to be free at the moment?”

“Uh, yes?” the dragon tilted his head, puzzled by the question, as he noticed Tessa and Mags coming out of Buzz’s office, “Do you need something?”

“Well, I was hoping that you would want to come with me on a little field trip of sorts,” Buzz smirked, “We’re going to pay a visit to our friends on the other side.”

---

Meanwhile…

By the time that he had been brought back to Twilight’s castle, there were a lot of things on Calvin’s mind. Some of it were things that were actually simple to wrap his head around. However, like that of Discord and the library he was in just a couple of hours ago, most of the things on his mind didn’t quite add up or make any sense.

It did not help that, as soon as he was dropped off back at the Castle of Friendship, somepony in particular had quite a few questions for him, many of which he found rather difficult to answer. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but we weren’t exactly there so Discord could give us a tour of the place. I don’t really think that there’s a lot I can tell you.”

“Calvin, from what I was told, you were in a place that many would believe to be the stuff of mystery and rumors, with Starswirl of all ponies. Are you sure you can’t tell me something?”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around how exactly you found out about this,” he said as the dragon Spike pulled himself up on a chair next to him, “I’m pretty sure not that many people were awake when we left, unless Starswirl woke up someone by accident.”

“Oh, Starlight told me.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he thought to himself, while Spike gave him an expression that read ‘we had to’ on his face, “Still, I can’t really share anything about it. He said if I did, then the library wouldn’t be that much of a mystery anymore, and many ponies would come to try and find it. This time was probably the only exception he would make.”

Twilight ears dropped down at that. “That’s… disappointing. But knowing him, I could only guess that he has his reasons,” she replied, sounding disappointed by the answer she was given, only for those thoughts to be replaced a couple moments later when a new question happened to surface in her mind, “Well, could you at least tell me what you were doing there?”

“Didn’t Starlight tell you-?”

“She told me where you were, but before I could ask about what you were doing, she had to leave the castle and tend to… something. She didn’t really say, but it sounded important.”

Spike couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle as Calvin let out a sigh. “Do you want the short version of the story or the long one?”

“Either or. I’m not picky,” the alicorn replied as she picked up a cup of tea in a levitation spell and started to drink it.

“In that case, I’ll give you the short version,” he straightened himself on the chair he was in as he looked back at the alicorn, “It started when Starswirl tried to provide an answer to a question I asked yesterday. He mentioned the library briefly, which was enough to get Discord’s attention. Both of them started arguing, then Starswirl found out that Discord put some of his more… dangerous research in his library, without his permission.”

Twilight blinked, surprised by what she was hearing, but then shrugged. “That explains some of the commotion I heard. Though, how did you-?”

“Discord and Starswirl came to an agreement involving him getting his stuff back, with the condition that I would come along, because Starswirl wanted to make sure that he was telling the truth,” he replied, “Of course, it wasn’t exactly easy because, as we found out upon arriving, the library had some unwanted guests-”

Before the story could go any further, a loud knocking started to ring throughout the castle. Though, it wasn’t coming from outside the front door or anywhere upstairs. Which, in this case, could mean only one other possibility.

“Should I go check the door to-?”

Twilight wasn’t even able to give an answer, for the sound of footsteps and a familiar voice was heard in the direction of where the basement door would be, as another purple dragon entered the castle, “Oh, there you are.”

“Spyro?” the Skyshifter said, just as surprised as both Twilight and Spike as he got up out of his chair and walked over to him. It was by that time that he also noticed that Spyro wasn’t here by himself, as Buzz had finished walking up the stairs to join them, “Buzz? What are you two doing here?”

“Well, there was something that we wanted to talk with you about, and given the subject matter, I thought it would be best to come to you directly,” Buzz insisted, before noticing Twilight and Spike not that far from where Calvin was standing, “Unless I was interrupting something-”

“I don’t… think so. I was just recapping something I ended up getting dragged into this morning,” he shrugged his shoulders, before looking over at Twilight.

“Actually, you were about to tell us of the unwanted guests that you ran into while you were there.”

“Oh. Right,” at that, Calvin couldn’t help but scratch the back of his head, as he turned back to face the newfound company that was present, “So, to keep it brief, I was asked to come to an ancient library this morning that belonged to our friendly neighborhood draconequus, Discord. One thing led to another, and just when I thought we were done, it turned out that someone that all of us are probably familiar with decided to show up.”

That had Buzz smirk as he scratched his chin, “Let me guess. Bald, angry and screaming about doom?”

The Skyshifter couldn’t help but blink at that, a bit surprised by what he heard Buzz say, “Yeah, that’s right. How did you-?”

“Funny enough, that’s what we’re here to talk about, apparently,” Spyro spoke up as he walked over towards the Cutie Map and stood next to the chair that Calvin sat at not too long ago, “But first off, how exactly did you run into him? It couldn’t exactly be a coincidence that both of you were in the exact same place.”

“That’s what I want to know,” Calvin told the dragon, “One moment, I was trying to find something that belonged to a very ancient and powerful wizard in a magical library. Then, just as I find what I was looking for, both him and his butler show up and cause a pretty big mess of the place.”

“How would they even know about the library though?” Twilight asked, “With the amount of effort that Discord probably goes through to make sure that his library isn’t found, how exactly could they have known about it?”

“Honestly, I can’t count the number of times where Kaos has found something that was supposed to be ‘hidden’ or not known about,” Spyro replied, before a new question came to mind, “Still, everytime we do find him, it’s always because there’s something he’s looking for that could help with his plans. Calvin, was he looking for anything in particular while he was there?”

“It didn’t sound like it,” he shook his head, “All I heard was that he was looking for ‘knowledge that would be of use to him’, which could mean anything… but…”

“But what?” Twilight asked, her tone sounding both curious and also concerned.

At that, the Skyshifter sighed, before taking out what appeared to be a small object that looked like some kind of book. As he set it down, the object gave off a dramatic puff of smoke, as it changed back to its original size. “But, I would think that if he were successful, then he would probably take this.”

The mabu looked at the journal, a bit curious as he took the handle of his staff and pushed it closer towards him. “Huh… and what might this be?”

“A journal of some particular research that Starswirl the Bearded did. From what he told me this morning, it was a project he worked on with Eon’s mentor, Ordo.”

“Woah, hold on a minute,” Spyro interjected, caught off guard by what he just heard, “Eon had a mentor? I thought Eon was just… Well, Eon. Have you heard of anything like that, Buzz?”

“I always assumed that he did, but thought that it would be rude to ask,” Buzz replied, looking at the cover of the journal, before he pushed it back over to Calvin, as his gaze shifted back to him, “But more to the point, what exactly is the research in there supposed to be about?”

At that, Calvin took a deep breath and slowly let it out, before he started to answer, “Well, from what Starswirl told me, their research involved what he called the Elements of Order and Chaos.”

Immediately, the whole room went quiet. Barely anything could be heard, as they all just sat there, silently thinking about what was just said at the table. It was a silence that was starting to feel very uncomfortable, like if somebody said something very rude to the point that everyone’s attention was on them, and they didn’t know why.

The silence was only broken when one figure, Spike, decided to speak up, “Uh, why are you guys so quiet?”

It was then that Buzz calmly asked a single question, his attention fixed on the Skyshifter at the opposite end of the map, “Calvin, do you realize that what you just said is one of the most well kept secrets in not just the Academy, but the Skylands?”

This statement not only caught him by surprise, but also caught Spyro off guard as well. He was waiting for Buzz to change his tone, but that never happened, “Wait, you’re actually serious, Buzz?”

“Spyro, there are a lot of things that I would joke about with the students on campus, and even my fellow faculty members,” the mabu replied, “But this is not one of them. In fact, aside from me, the only other person who knows about this is Eon himself.”

All of this was news to Calvin. He honestly thought that what Starswirl left him with was just old notes that he no longer needed. He had no idea that what was in here was considered a major secret that very few people actually knew about. Was this ‘Order and Chaos’ thing dangerous somehow?

There was only one real way to know for sure… and even he didn’t think that Buzz would be on board with it. “I honestly had no idea that something like this was as important as you say it is. Can you possibly tell us why?”

Buzz was not so quick to give an answer to that. The only thing they saw him do was look away and scratch his chin as he pondered to himself. But, just as Twilight was going to say something, the head of security for Skylander Academy had a response, “You know, out of all the things that I thought that I was going to do while I was here, this was not one of them.”

That sounded hopeful, at least.

“Alright, I’ll tell you. But on the condition that whatever I say here stays here. This is something that we don’t talk about openly, and for good reason.”

“Then, perhaps we can move this conversation to my study?” Twilight offered, “Anypony could just walk in through the front door, so we could go there for privacy? Spike can also make sure that nopony gets in.”

“That’s fine with me. Lead the way.”

Shortly after Buzz’s answer, Twilight knew exactly where they needed to go. The castle was filled with various different rooms throughout several halls that would have anypony else probably get lost. But this room was a place that she would go to almost every day, even more so since they had strange visitors show up there that one time.

When all of them arrived at the door to her study, Calvin and Spyro could tell why this might have been a good place to continue their discussion. The study itself looked as if a library, an office and a laboratory were condensed into a single room. There were books with note pages serving as bookmarks on a desk and graphical readings pinned onto cork boards along the back wall. Even more so, there weren’t any windows or openings that anyone could just peak their head through.

“Not the most cozy of places, I admit, but it’s ideal if you need privacy,” the alicorn admitted, turning around and channeling her magic to close the door behind them, while also locking it for good measure.

Knowing that they were in somewhat of a place where they could talk freely, Spyro decided to be the first person to speak, “So, Buzz, what exactly is this Order and Chaos thing? You said it was a secret, but how big of a deal is this?”

“A very big deal, Spyro,” the mabu said, “Though, there really isn’t a simple way for me to share it.”

“It doesn’t have to be simple,” Calvin insisted, looking over at Twilight and Spyro, “I think all of us just want to know why the stuff in the notes I was given is so important.”

Buzz couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head, “Would it be safe to assume that all of you have met Brain already?”

Twilight was quick to provide an answer for that, trotting over to a cushion as she sat down and made herself comfortable, “Yeah. He was the ancient who helped Trevor and Raquel learn about their powers several weeks ago.”

“Good, then this might make what I have to say a little bit easier,” the mabu said, before looking at Calvin, “About a week after he originally joined the academy, long before we knew about you and what you could do, Eon and I had a conversation with him. There were things we wanted to know that we thought only someone like Brain would have the answers to. After all, having a conversation with a living Ancient is rather rare in this day and age.”

That seemed simple enough. Yet, Calvin couldn’t help but wonder how it got from that to-.

“So, what we decided to ask him was about the history of the Ancients. There were significant gaps between the time of the Ancients to the present day, so Eon and I thought that by asking him about it, we could potentially fill any of those gaps, let alone the origins from before recorded history. Yet, it was what kind of information Brain shared with us during our conversation that we realized that what he told us needed to be kept secret.”

“What sort of secrets? Like the Scholarville kind of secrets, or greater than that?” Spyro asked.

“Greater, and not as obvious,” Buzz nodded his head, before he continued, “The history he shared with us was much further back, A time before the Skylands that we all know, when the world was much different. Back then, the world faced a grave crisis because of a powerful undead entity, powerful enough to cause a cataclysm of untold proportions and turn the world that once was into the Outlands that we know today.”

“The Outlands?” Twilight blinked, “I don’t think I’ve heard of that before.”

“Oh, that?” the purple dragon turned to the confused alicorn, “The Outlands are a place far away from the Skylands that’s not exactly an ideal place to go and visit. Kaos was banished there once, and somehow, he built a mobile fortress out of whatever scraps he found. I think it was called Castle Blackthrone?”

“It was, actually. Though, I believe Hugo just called it the ‘Lair of Kaos’ to keep things simple,” the head of security spoke up, regaining control of the conversation, “Now, no one knows what happened to the entity responsible for the cataclysm way back when, but because of them, what ended up becoming the Outlands was devastated. Anyone that did survive would find that whatever remained was inhospitable and very unstable.”

“So, how did we get from that to the Skylands? It couldn’t have just randomly appeared now, could it?” Calvin now asked.

“It’s funny you ask that question, because it’s at this point in the story that Brain shared with us that it was during this time of turmoil that the Ancients were created.”

That had everyone that was listening just look to each other for a moment, before they all had the same response, “Created? By who?”

“From what he shared with us, Brain and the rest of the Ancients believed that they were created by a collective of spirits called the Precursors. They believed that the Precursors were there to prevent the cataclysm from successfully destroying everything, and if it weren’t for them, the effects of the cataclysm would be much worse. However, their efforts came at a great cost.”

Buzz paused for a brief moment, before looking over at the purple dragon in the room, “Spyro, do you remember some of the basic rules of combat that we teach at the academy?”

Spyro, not expecting for the topic of the conversation to suddenly shift over to him, looked rather puzzled at that, “Uh, I think so? Never underestimate your opponent, be ready to adapt to any situation, never use up all of your power at once and space it out over the course of a fight, trust your teammates… Wait a minute, how exactly does that relate to this?”

“Let’s just say that the third rule sort of relates a bit,” he said, “You see, to prevent a disaster on a global scale, you need a lot of power. That was something the Precursors learned the hard way, for even though they were able to prevent the cataclysm, they barely had any strength left to help the survivors still stranded in the Outlands. But, since they couldn’t just leave the survivors to fend for themselves, they had to come up with a solution using what small amount of power they had left.”

That was the moment that everyone that was listening started to piece together what Buzz was referring to. “They used the last of their power to create the Ancients?”

“Not only create them, but give them something essential. Mind Magic,” Buzz continued, his gaze shifting to Calvin now, “The same kind of power that you use to turn into your imaginator was given to the Ancients, so they could provide new homes for the survivors that were fleeing from the Outlands, a chance for them to start over, as many people were forced to leave their old lives behind.”

“How does that tie to the Elements we were talking about though?” Twilight asked.

Buzz could only smirk, as if expecting for those questions to be asked, “I’m glad to see you were paying attention. The reason this ties to it is because, some time after things had settled down, the Ancients started to learn more about the world they were left to watch over. Through research and experimentation, they made numerous discoveries, and the knowledge they gained would end up being the basis for several ‘concepts’ of theirs.”

That surprised Calvin. He was not too familiar with what they were talking about, but some things were slowly making some kind of sense, “Were the elements one of these… concepts?”

Buzz was quick to shake his head at that, but still gave Calvin a small chuckle, “Not quite. The elements are as old as the world itself, but the Ancients discovered that in the aftermath of the cataclysm, these same elements were a lot more potent than what they used to be. Some elements remained the same, others had undergone a lot of change and became something different, and new elements started to appear as well.”

A thought entered Twilight’s head soon after, and just as Buzz finished what he was saying, she added on, “So, instead of making something new, they redefined what was already there to begin with, to account for everything they were finding with their discoveries?”

Much to the surprise of both Spyro and Calvin, it took Buzz a moment to actually respond to what she said, “Yes, and for the record, that is a much easier way to put it than what Brain told us. Back on topic though, their research on the elements served as the foundation for everything else the Ancients created. They were the ones who defined the ten elements we’re all familiar with from what was left behind, but there were also two more. Unlike their counterparts, the Elements of Order and Chaos are much different. Would you like to take a guess as to why?”

Calvin felt a little bit relieved when hearing Buzz say that. He was wondering when the mabu would get back on track. However, despite his best attempts, he couldn’t quite think of a response to the question that Buzz was asking. He had only heard of these elements by name from Starswirl, and knew that Chaos was an element that related to… well, Kaos. But other than the fact that it allowed the dark portal master to mimic the other elements, he didn’t know anything particular about it.

“Does it involve Kaos somehow? Before I talked with Starswirl, I only heard of a Chaos element once before, and it had to do with Kaos’s power of mimicking other elements, something that Discord called a cheap imitation of what he could do.”

Buzz raised an eyebrow, before he looked at both Twilight and him this time, “I don’t believe I’ve met this ‘Discord’ before, but I think I’ve heard about his exploits in previous reports. Though, you aren’t too far off with your guess. The first thing to know about Order and Chaos is that these elements are very rare, and the only ones who we know that currently possess the capabilities to control them are the Portal Masters. And before you ask Spyro, the clone of Kaos that we have at the academy counts as well. He does control chaos magic, but his power is admittedly weaker… despite how much he claims otherwise.”

Immediately, Calvin and Twilight were taken aback. Not by the first comment, but by the statement that Buzz said to Spyro, “Wait, there’s a clone of Kaos? Since when?”

“Oh, right,” Spyro replied, giving a nervous look to both of them, “Remember when we told you before about Kaos’ numerous attempts to try and take over the Skylands? Well, the last attempt he made before everything he’s done over the last few months involved him getting his hands on Mind Magic. Of course, in order to see if Mind Magic was as effective as he was led to believe, his first attempt at creating something with it was a copy of himself.”

Twilight couldn’t help but facehoof herself, “This is getting ridiculous. You’re telling us there’s been two of them?”

“Yes, but there’s a catch,” the dragon clarified, “Apparently, Kaos believed that no one could stand up to more than one Kaos and tried to have his clone fight us in his place. What he didn’t expect was that the clone wanted victory for himself. So, that clone decided to turn on him and agreed to help us to stop the real Kaos. So, when Buzz mentioned that, that’s what he was referring to.”

Part of Twilight felt a bit concerned by Spyro’s words. Though, she also felt relieved that someone like Kaos did not know about the Magic Mirror Pond that was sealed up, far away from town. “So, let me see if I’m understanding this right. Order and Chaos are elements that are not only very rare, but the only known wielders of said elements are the Portal Masters?”

“As far as we are aware, yes. As for what these elements can do, let’s start with Chaos first, since you already have some familiarity.” From his coat pocket, Buzz pulled out what looks like a particular mechanical gizmo. It wasn’t ancient, but looked to have been crafted with extreme care, as he twisted it onto the top of his walking stick.

“What’s that, Buzz?”

“Oh, this? It’s just a little recorder I keep on hand for times like these, one of a few different contraptions I carry on me. Being the head of security, and secret ninja commando operations, means you need to have the right tools for any situation.”

With two taps of his cane, the recorder that was attached flipped open and flickered to life. From the top of the walking stick, a light shimmered and projected itself onto the crystalline floor in between them. In a matter of seconds, a holographic image of what was believed to be the clone of Kaos was now on the floor.

“For right now, let’s focus our attention here. These recordings were from when we asked the Kaos clone to give a demonstration of his combat capabilities. So, watch closely.”

As Buzz pressed the top of the recorder, the image started to move. As the clone of Kaos waved his arms, various spectral weapons started to manifest and move with them, as they attacked a training dummy that was in front of him. Each time he attacked, the weapon that he created would change. First, it was a sword, then an axe and a spear, followed by a bow as the arrows it fired hit its target.

But, it wasn’t just weapon attacks that the clone could do. He had a variety of other tricks up his sleeves. One such trick involved him summoning what he called ‘doomlanders’ that would charge towards the dummy and attack it with a motion of his hand, before disappearing in a massive explosion. Another involved tapping his forehead and simply pointing at a particular place, to have two spectral fists crash into the ground. Furthermore, Kaos could simply place both hands on the ground and summon a wave of sharks that swam through the ground like water.

And just when they thought that was the end of the recording, there was one more technique that acted as a grand finale, where Kaos transformed into a giant projection of his own head as laser beams erupted from his eyes.

It was only when the clone changed back to normal that the recorder stopped, and the projection freezed in place. “Now, remember how Calvin mentioned earlier that the Chaos element involves mimicry? Well, that is on full display here.”

Twilight blinked, before moving her puzzled gaze away from the projection on the ground as she looked over at Buzz, “All of that… was just him mimicking? How?”

“That’s a question that we’ve tried asking the clone, but much like the real Kaos, he’s very stubborn about sharing the ‘secrets’ of his techniques. Aside from the reports of any encounters with him over the years, there is one other recording that we have on the real Kaos, back when he was imprisoned inside Traptanium. While the imprisonment didn’t last that long, it did give us a good impression of how the Chaos element can copy other elements.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the mabu readjusted the recorder on his walking stick, as a different projection came into view on the floor. At first, it showed a different figure standing in an arena, filled with greebles. He was a Crocogator that Calvin had seen and worked with before, the trap master known as Snap Shot, and he was one of many Skylanders in charge of the Cloudcracker Prison.

In the beginning of the recording, it seemed very straightforward. The Greebles tried their hardest to gang up on Snap Shot, only to be outmaneuvered as Snap Shot fought back with his traptanium weapons. For a moment, Calvin and everyone else with him thought that this wasn’t the thing that Buzz meant to show them, that this was accidentally the wrong recording.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Snap Shot stepped aside, and where he once stood, Kaos appeared instead. Clearly annoyed, but not in a position to complain, he turned around to see the foes coming straight at him. With wild motions from his arms, markings that resembled the symbols of the elements appeared on the ground, changing with each wave of his arms. When he actually decided which one to go with, the element that matched the symbol would start to spew forth and harm those who came close to it, changing with every new symbol.

Of course, Kaos still had some of the other abilities that the clone demonstrated, such as the doom sharks and the summoning of his giant head. But, watching this was concrete enough to see how Kaos was able to copy the elements with his power. Balls of flame would erupt outward from the ground, as a burning fire symbol was seen. Then, ghosts began to fly around, as a symbol of the undead element appeared shortly after. Lastly, when the earth symbol appeared, the ground shook underneath his feet, as it knocked any foes trying to attack him off balance.

Yet, just as quickly as he arrived and started wrecking havoc, Kaos was immediately yanked away, as Snap Shot retook his position on the battlefield. As he did, the recording stopped moving and froze in place. “Now that you’ve seen it for yourself, you probably might have an idea as to how powerful the Chaos element can be, especially in the hands of someone who is equally dangerous, as Kaos has proven to be on multiple occasions.”

As the clip stopped, the mabu turned the recorder off, before untwisting it from the walking stick and putting it back in his coat pockets. “Do any of you have any questions before we continue?”

Only one particular question surfaced in Calvin’s mind, as the Skyshifter looked back at Buzz, “Well, if Chaos works by copying the elements we know, then how does the Order element work?”

Buzz let out a slow sigh, before he looked back at him, Twilight and Spyro, “Compared to Chaos, the best way to describe Order is similar… yet different. It is similar in the sense that, like Chaos, it copies the elements we already know. But unlike Chaos, the Element of Order doesn’t manifest in the same way. To harness Order, you need to have your body shape itself into something you can channel that power through.”

Then, the mabu posed a new question for the trio, “Since we are talking about Master Eon in this example, would you like to guess how he channels this element?”

That question was one that Calvin and Twilight didn’t really have an answer to. Any time they have met Master Eon, it was only just to talk with him about things that were going on in the world or asking for his help in deciphering something they found. They’ve never actually seen him ‘fight’ anything before. So, the only creature in the room that could give an answer to Buzz’s question was Spyro.

However, the dragon’s answer to the question that was posed left much to be desired. “I’m… not really sure how to answer that one, Buzz. I mean… some of the other skylanders had a few guesses, but that’s all that they were. Some guesses were just borderline weird. I told them that I thought Eon would fight using his beard, since I’ve seen it grow and him using it for things before, but-”

Buzz couldn’t help but chuckle as he raised a hand and interrupted the dragon, “Funny you mention that, because you’re not that far off.”

The dragon blinked, glancing over at Calvin and Twilight, before looking towards the mabu with a puzzled expression, “W-wait, are you serious? It was just a guess though-”

“An educated one, since you have seen Eon use his beard before,” Buzz corrected him, “But yes. The Element of Order is used by having your body be an extension of that power. Case in point with Master Eon, he channels his power through his beard, which can then be shaped into whatever form he chooses.”

At that point, the alicorn was compelled to interject, “So, wait… if his beard is the catalyst for channeling this element, then does it mean that his beard changes depending on the element Master Eon wishes to copy?”

The mabu couldn’t help but grin as he answered her question with a simple nod of the head. “Now that you know the extent of the powers we’re talking about and how important it is, I have one last question for all three of you. And I need you to be very careful with how you answer it.”

The Skyshifter, the dragon and the alicorn couldn’t help but feel a small shiver go down their spines as Buzz asked that. All of them knew that, when it came to his job, he always took it seriously. But right now, none of them could shake off the feeling that whatever he was going to ask did not have an easy answer.

“Now that you know about Order and Chaos, how powerful they are, and also know about one of the most well kept secrets of the Skylands… what do you plan to do now?”

As Calvin heard the words, uncertainty began to settle in. When this conversation started, all he wanted was to understand why the notes Starswirl let him keep were so important. But now that he knew the reason why, he wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of the words, but in his mind, Calvin wasn’t sure if this really changed anything. While there was no doubt that Order and Chaos were powerful forces and their origins were a closely guarded secret, it was extremely unlikely that someone like him would be able to use such power. Knowing about it would at least be helpful, in case he had another run-in with Kaos, but he doubted that he could do something on the same level as a Portal Master.

So, after some thought, he did the first thing that came to mind. “Well, if this is supposed to be a safely guarded secret, then I won’t say anything about it,” he said, pulling out the notebook that Starswirl had given him, “I still have a lot to learn about what I can do right now, so adding Order and Chaos on top of that would just be a bit too much for me. So, I think it would be better if you held onto this. You and Master Eon might have more use for this than me.”

The mabu looked at the notebook, carefully reading through some of its pages as Calvin waited with Twilight and Spyro. In his mind, he fully believed that this was the right thing to do. However, the silence in the room while he waited for Buzz’s response made him feel very uncomfortable. What if the notes were not enough? What if there was something Buzz wanted that he didn’t have?

Luckily enough, those concerns weren’t necessary. For when Buzz looked back at him, it was with a friendly smile on his face and a chuckle in his throat. “Well, it seems I have nothing to be worried about then.”

Calvin, Twilight and Spyro were all caught off guard by this, but none more so than Spyro, “Wait a minute, Buzz. Why are you acting so casual? Didn’t you say earlier this was a well kept secret-”

“Oh, it still is, there’s no doubt about it. But the fact that Calvin decided to give us what he found instead of keeping it to himself speaks volumes. Otherwise, we would be having a much different conversation right now,” he stated, pausing briefly to put the notebook that Calvin had given him inside his coat, “Still, that doesn’t mean we’re done just yet. There’s still another matter I wish to discuss.”

“You mean what you wanted to talk about earlier, before we got sidetracked?” Twilight asked, noticing that Spyro seemed to have the exact same thought.

“Indeed. Before we came here, we received reports that suggested that Kaos has been focusing more of his attention on Equestria than the Skylands. Of course, we weren’t entirely sure what he could be doing and wanted to see if you had noticed anything. Then, you told us about your trip to that library that belonged to… Discord, was it?”

Calvin nodded his head, but before he could say anything, Buzz asked a question that caught him by surprise, “Is there any way that we could possibly meet him? I think there were a couple of reports on him before, but I never had the chance to meet him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Buzz,” the Skyshifter shrugged, “You can’t just have him show up whenever. That, and when he brought me back to the castle, he said that he was ‘late’ for an important meeting and just… vanished.”

“Important? With Discord?” the alicorn blinked, “What exactly could he be doing that’s so important?”

---

Elsewhere...

Canterlot Castle was as busy as ever as Princess Celestia passed through the doors that led out of the throne room. Day court wasn’t in session today, but her attention was on another matter, as she trotted down the hall. Over the last few months, Equestria had formed new alliances with many of its neighboring nations. Kingdoms that were once enemies of the crown were now seen as allies, all bound together by the ties of friendship.

So, Celestia had an idea, an event that would not only celebrate the friendships that her subjects had with one another, but also the same friendships that Equestria had with its allies, a festival to bring every creature together. Much of what that festival would have was still something she needed to figure out, but Celestia thought that the city of Canterlot was the perfect place to hold an extravaganza like this one

As these thoughts were still on her mind, a familiar feeling began to creep in, like if somepony knew that something seemed off or out of place, but they couldn’t quite put their hoof on what that something might be. To make matters even stranger, as she turned to look outside at the royal garden, she saw what looked to be a pair of chairs and a coffee table set in between two potted ferns that weren’t there before.

Compared to their usual day to day theatrics though, this was relatively tame. And that was something Celestia couldn’t help but be curious about.

As she trotted through the garden to the chairs, she kept an eye out for if there were any other oddities that were somehow different around the garden. Though, there didn’t appear to be anything else that stood out, aside from the chairs and table. The rest of the garden and the statues in it looked exactly like how they always did. Nothing appeared out of place, and that was both a relief… and a concern.

So, seeing that there were two chairs and a table, Celestia sat down on the one on the left. Almost immediately, a familiar voice was heard, as she saw a pink poof of smoke go off in the other seat. “Well, hello there. I didn’t think I would find you wandering through the garden at this hour.”

“Discord, if this was an attempt to try and make some renovations to the castle without me noticing, then you will have to try harder than that.”

“Oh, you wound me with words like that,” the draconequus said, pretending to look like he was in pain for a brief moment, before he looked back at the alicorn, “But no, that’s not what I was trying to do. In fact, I just wanted to talk with you… if you got the time. I know how extremely busy you are, and those important things you call ‘responsibilities’.”

Even though Discord brought up a fair point, Celestia could only raise an eyebrow. With the spiritual embodiment of chaos, it was never as simple as ‘just wanting to talk’. The last time that Discord came for a visit, he decided to hide himself inside the cake that was made for her birthday, without the baker even knowing, something that he apparently saw Pinkie Pie do one time and thought it would be fun to replicate. It took weeks for the staff to clean up the dining hall afterwards.

“Just to talk?” she asked, followed by a nod of the head from Discord as Celestia asked a follow up question, “Well, what was it that you wished to talk about?”

“Since you asked so nicely, there was something I wanted to bring to your attention,” the chaos spirit said, having what looked like a pair of photographs manifest from nothing at the snap of a claw, “After everything that happened at Ponhedge, I thought that things would start to calm down, but it appears that’s not case.”

Celestia couldn’t help but feel a bit hesitant at what he said. What he said could imply a number of things, but the only way to really find out what was happening was through asking him. “How so? Last I heard, Hollow Shades and any surrounding towns affected by what happened have almost recovered completely-”

“Ah, yes. But, you see, trouble has a tendency to brew in many places, and sometimes do so in places outside of your jurisdiction, my dear,” Discord interrupted, before gently setting down the photographs on the table and pushing them to her, “Would you care to have a look?”

Carefully, the princess levitated the photos to examine them. However, what was in the photos caught her off guard. The first picture showed a jungle landscape, with smoke in the air and the sight of burning buildings from afar. The second one, however, was more vivid. Creatures displaced from their homes, many of them running for their lives, as metal warships hung in the sky.

“Discord… what am I looking at?”

“I’m glad you asked, because this is the state of Abyssinia right now,” the draconequus remarked, his tone sounding a bit more serious as he looked back at her, “I was in Abyssinia to take care of some business, but as I was leaving, I happened to bare witness to what was happening here. I’m not entirely sure who is responsible for this atrocity, but their methods seem eerily similar to another adversary from the other side.”

It took a moment, but after some time, Celestia blinked, as she looked back at him, “Do you mean that villain that Calvin’s… friends over there have to deal with?”

“Somewhat, but I doubt this creature even knows about the other side,” Discord replied, “There’s a saying in Chaosville that ‘for every original idea, there’s always a cheap knock off’. If we consider that villain on the other side as the original, then this figure going around and making a mess of Equestria’s neighbors here is unknowingly being a copycat. Both of them are on a campaign of conquest, have little regard for the well being of those that cross their path, and will do anything to get their hands on what they want. The only difference is that this copycat is on a direct path towards Equestria, give or take a few of our neighbors along the way.”

All of this was a lot of information to process, and Celestia did not like what she was hearing. Any threat against her subjects should be taken as rather serious. However, the thing that bothered her the most was how little they knew about it. Other villains had either been locked away in Tartarus or have some known records on them. However, this figure that Discord is describing sounded as if they appeared out of the blue.

Which begged the question, how do you stop a villain when you know nothing about them? That was something that Celestia hoped her chaotic friend had an answer to, even though she did not want to admit it.

“You happen to know quite a bit about this figure in such a short time,” she said, “But what compelled you to share all of this with me?”

“Let’s just say that after some… recent events, I thought I would do more to contribute to help Equestria. It is still technically my home as well, and I think we can both agree that we rather not be blindsided by another villain after what happened with Chrysalis a few months back.”

As much as the diarch of the sun hated to admit it, what Discord was saying right now sort of made sense. Which seemed rather strange, since anything involving him, and by extension chaos, never makes sense. Still, with an impending threat getting closer to her kingdom’s doorstep, and them being the only creatures who knew about it, something had to be done at the very least, “So, in your honest opinion, what do you believe we should do?”

At that, Discord was honestly a bit surprised. Normally, when it came to matters like these, Celestia would already have some sort of plan or contingency that she prepared, just in case. So, the fact that she wanted to hear the draconequus’ input was a rarity in itself. “Well, ideally, the first thing we should do is not tell anypony else about this. You know, make sure not to cause unnecessary panic and all that. The other thing that we need is information, because right now, we know nothing about this villain except for the havoc they’re leaving behind at each place they go to. Not even a name.”

“Well then, what would you suggest we call them?”

While the question was simple, it took a moment or so for the draconequus to process his thoughts, “Well, considering how little we know of them, we should have a placeholder name for the time being. Since we only know of them by what they’ve done and everything left behind, let’s just call them like it is. Havoc.”

Celestia nodded, taking in a deep breath before she asked one more question, “Simple enough. Though, now that you decided on a name, how do you plan on actually finding out more about them?”

All the princess saw was a mischievous grin on his face as he raised his talon, “That, you can leave to me. Besides, you have other things to attend to.”

With a snap of the talons, Discord was gone, along with the pictures he had and the tableset, leaving Celestia standing in her garden with two potted ferns. While the conversation with him wasn’t exactly what she was expecting, it was… rather insightful.

Now, she hoped that there was enough time to prepare for what was coming.

---

End Scroll 37

Comments

[Tony2112]

Happy to see this story is still alive