Chapters As soon as they presented their tickets to the guard, the doors creaked open and for the six friends. And then they saw it.
Ponies from all over Equestria had arrived with their own little animal friends to the first annual Pet Gala in New Horsey. The ballroom was absolutely packed with all kinds of adorable critters. Dogs, cats, birds, fish, small rodents and even some more exotic pets like snakes and monkeys.
Fluttershy could hardly contain her excitement as she looked out on every last one of them. She and her friends had brought along their own pets to socialize with. Applejack brought her Border collie Winona, who was rather excited to be there, though didn't really mix well with Rarity's pampered puffball cat Opalescence. Rainbow Dash was keeping a close eye on Tank, her helicopter propelled flying tortoise, to make sure he didn't accidentally bonk anyone on the head. Gummy the baby alligator had a firm mouth grip on Pinkie Pie's tail on which he rode, and Owlowicious sat perched comfortably on Twilight's back.
Lastly, Fluttershy had of course brought along her little bunny rabbit Angel, who was far from being what his name implied. The other pets all knew what a rotten little demon he was and hated him, but Fluttershy still loved him anyway. Of all the animals in her cottage, they wondered why it always had to be Angel. No matter. This was a special day just for them and these animals weren't gonna let him ruin it for them.
"Oh, this is so wonderful!" Fluttershy expressed with excitement. "I can't believe we're actually here. Just look at all these adorable little critters." She was so excited, she could barely stay focused on one animal before quickly moving on to admire another.
"Take it easy, Fluttershy." Applejack said. "You don't wanna spook any of 'em like you did at the Grand Galloping Gala." Fluttershy's face turned a little red as she remembered that humiliating evening. She decided to calm down and leave the pets be for now.
"This really is quite an event." Twilight stated. "This gala looks like so much fun. I'm sure Owlowicious and the other pets will just love it here."
"This place sure does look like a hoot and a half, huh Tank." Winona said, though all that the ponies heard was light barking and animal sounds.
"Yeah." the flying tortoise agreed. "I can't wait to get around and make some new friends with these other pets." He spun around a few times with anticipation, making himself a little dizzy. Rainbow Dash tried to keep him steady. "Easy there, Tank. Save a little action for later."
"Yes, well, you do zat." Opal commented with a rather snobbish french accent. "Meanwhile, I will seeking to create a, how you say, much closer relationship." She spied a group of handsome male cats socializing. "Ou la la."
Then there came a bright light out of nowhere and everypony stopped talking and turned their attention towards the stage at the front of the room, where Princess Celestia appeared. Everyone bowed in respect.
"Welcome, everypony," she announced "to the first ever Pet Gala in the town of New Horsey." she announced. Suddenly, Philomena, the princess's royal fiery feathered phoenix friend, swooped in gracefully and majestically from across the ball room. Celestia raised a hoof for her to land on, which she did. Everypony applauded and Philomena took a bow.
"As you all know," the princess continued "this is the first grand event made specifically to celebrate the furry, scaly, and of course, feathery little friends that make our lives so wonderful." She and her phoenix nuzzled each other affectionately. "Before we begin, I'd like to make one thing clear. While you may allow your pets roam free as they please, we ask that you please keep a vigil eye on them to avoid any mishaps. Thank you and have a wonderful time. Now let the Pet Gala begin."
There was another round of applause before almost all of the pets were released to play and socialize.
"Okie dokie, Gummy-wummy." Pinkie said. "Time to go off and make lots of new friends." Gummy just dangled there from her tale, barely even blinking. "Aw, come on. Don't be shy." He just blinked again. His owner was growing impatient. She tried to yank him off her tail for about a minute before she finally got him off. "Gummy! You are gonna have fun and enjoy yourself and you are gonna like it!"
She plopped the baby alligator down in front of an iguana. The two of them exchanged a couple of awkward blinks before each managing a "Hi. How are you?"
Opal strutted past the male cats she had seen earlier. Once they were all staring at her, she wowed them with her finest upperclass tail whip, earning several "Mee-Yow!'s" from her admirers. They were yarn in her claws.
Angel decided to try his luck on the dating scene, too, when he spotted three cute lady bunnies conversing with each other.
"Hey, bunny babes." he greeted with a flirtatious tone. "Which one of you wants to multiply with a real rugged rabbit?" He flexed his arms and ears to try and impress them. No such luck.
"I don't think so." one of them said. "I think I'd rather multiply with a rat, dude."
"Well then, by that logic, you two would be a perfect match." another one mocked before they all hopped away laughing. Angel was left feeling very insulted. "Ah, who cares? Your loss, toots." he mumbled to himself. "So much for that. Let's see what other kinds of fun I can have around here."
Owlowicious found himself trapped in a conversation with a particularly chatty parrot. At least, he thought it was a conversation. Hard to tell since all he could hear was an incessant stream of syllables. His head was spinning into oblivion until he finally raised a wing to make it stop. "Thank you, my good fellow, for that stimulating conversation." he interrupted. "But I do believe I hear my owner calling. Farewell." He flew off as quickly as he could, feeling free as a bird.
Angel figured it was time to make a pest of himself when he spotted Tank being shown off by his owner to a bunch of other ponies. Of course, nopony had ever seen a flying tortoise before and Tank loved making Rainbow Dash so proud of him.
"Hey Tank!" he said quietly. The tortoise didn't hear him, so he tried again a bit louder. "Tank!" Tank turned around and saw Angel waving at him. He was annoyed, but he hovered down anyway to meet with him. Rainbow didn't even notice.
"What do you want, Angel?" he asked a bit crossly. "Can't you see I'm a little busy?"
"I just need you to do something for me real quick." Angel responded.
"What is it?"
"First, I need you to turn around."
"Why?"
"Just do it." Tank reluctantly did as he was instructed. "Good. Now just hold still and..." Before finishing his sentence, the mischievous rabbit gave a swift kick which sent the tortoise spinning uncontrollably all over the floor. He crashed into several animals and ponies, but none of them stopped him.
Winona was wrestling with a Rottweiler and she was just about to win until the out-of-control tornado tortoise plowed right through them and made both dogs land flat on their backs. "Sorry!" he called back.
"What in the name of Lassie?" Winona barked, although she had a pretty good idea of who had caused this.
Tank managed to get his propeller started, which lifted him off the ground. He had stopped spinning, but he was still really dizzy. He flew right into Gummy, who latched onto his leg with his mouth. "Hi Tank." the naive hatchling muffled.
Opal was still being admired by her gang of male cats when the big green flying pinball accidentally snatched her up, too. Her claws dug deep into his shell as she held on for dear life. Owlowicious noticed them coming right at him and he flew as fast as he could to get away from them.
"SOMEBODY STOP ZIS CRAZY SING!" Opal screamed. Rarity heard her screeching meow and Rainbow Dash finally noticed Tank zipping around haphazardly.
"Hang on, buddy. I'm coming." she announced. She flew as fast as she could and threw herself right in front of the flying mess of critters, which crashed right into her and made them all smash against the wall.
When it was over, all of the six friends saw what a big mess their pets had made. Angel rolled on the floor laughing his cottontail off, earning a glare from Winona. Having been officially embarrassed, the ponies decided it would be best to collect their pets and leave before anything else happened.
Philomena couldn't help but notice and worry about the behavior of all of those animals as they made a hasty retreat.
Author's Note
I've always wanted to see an episode done from the point of view of the pets themselves. Hope you all enjoy this one.
Thanks for reading.
It was late at night. The ponies and the pets entered their hotel after returning from an... eventful evening.
"Well, that could've gone better." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, stating the elephant in the room.
"Just once, I'd like to attend a grand social event that doesn't end in disaster." Rarity stated in annoyance.
Winona, Owlowiscious, Gummy and especially Tank all felt sorry for ruining the gala and humiliating their masters. Opal was simply bitter, feeling that she was the biggest victim of the whole situation, while Angel just laid down on Fluttershy's back and enjoyed the ride, satisfied with his evening. Winona let out a small whimper which didn't go undetected.
"Hey now, don't worry about it, Winona." Applejack said softly trying to reassure her canine companion. "I ain't blaming you, so don't you go feeling sorry about what happened." Winona then proceeded to lick her face happily.
"I'm sure they didn't mean to do it." Fluttershy spoke up. "Right, Angel?" The little white fuzzball perked up and gave a sweet smile, displaying a halo over his head. His owner may have been a sucker for it, but the other animals knew the real story. All they could do was role their eyes.
"Well I'm kinda pooped." Twilight said with a yawn. "Let's go drop off the animals in the kennel and and hit the hay, okay?"
The ponies all agreed with the idea. Animals weren't allowed in the hotel rooms, so all pets had to stay in the kennel behind the receptionist desk. It was a decent sized place cozy enough to accommodate many different kinds of pets. Since all the other pets staying in the kennel were still at the gala, they had the place all to themselves for now. Each of the ponies said goodnight to their respective critters before heading upstairs to their room to go to bed.
"Turtle, may I have word with you?" Opal said calmly. Tank floated down to meet her at eye level.
"What is it?" he asked. The grumpy cat shot out her claws and swiped at his face. Luckily, he popped his head inside his shell quickly, so all she scratched was hard shell.
"Zhat was for ze utter humiliation you caused me tonight, you stupid flying klutz!"
"Hey! Don't get mad at me." the scared tortoise retorted, popping his head back out. "I told you Angel was the one who kicked me so hard, I couldn't control myself."
"Come on. You walked right into that one, shell head." Angel chimed in as he hopped into bed.
"What are we ever gonna do with you, Angel?" Winona asked with a soar tone.
"Indeed." hooted Owlowicious. "Of all the animals that inhabit Fluttershy's cottage, I don't see why she must always bring you."
"Cause I'm more adorable than all of you clowns combined."
The annoyed owl simply turned his head and scowled. "That's debatable." he said under his breath before closing his eyes to go to sleep.
"I thought it was a blast." Gummy spoke up. "I got to fly!"
"There, you see?" Angel said. "Someone who appreciates me." He noticed Opal curling up in her own cat bed with her squeaky toy mouse and got an idea.
A wonderful, AWFUL idea.
"In fact," he continued. "why don't we see if we can have even more fun?" Ever so quietly, he tip-toed and snuck up right behind Opal. "Starting right... Now!" The sneaky little rabbit snatched the mouse right out from under the sleeping cat, who quickly snapped awake and gave a fast swipe at him. But he jumped over her and out of the way just in the nick of time.
Now Opal was really angry. If there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was having her mouse taken away from her. The others couldn't believe that anyone, not even Angel, could be so insane as to make that mistake. "Give me back ze mouse at once, you slimy little rodent!"
"You want it?" Angel mocked. "Come and get it, sweetheart."
"Gladly!" Opal bared her claws and Angel commenced hopping all up and down the kennel with the angry feline right behind him. Together, their chase tour up just about the entire place as Winona tried to get them to settle down. The devilish rabbit was so caught up in the thrill of the chase that he jumped onto the window ledge, opened the window and hopped right outside off into the night with Opal still on his tail.
Winona followed after them, barking at the two of them to stop.
"Yay! More fun!" Gummy shouted as he ran out the window wanting to join in on what he perceived to be the 'fun.'
"Gummy. Wait up." Tank flew off to try and catch the excited baby gator, much to Owlowiscious's dismay.
"What? Now where are you two going? Come back here." And so the panicking owl flew off after the rest of them.
And just like that, every one of the pets was caught up in a chasing down one another into the night. The chase lead them all right out the back of the hotel and into the neighboring forest. That was one of the luxuries that a room at the hotel offered; a natural forest view. And these six animals were about to get a lot more than just a view from where they were going to be standing.
By this point, they were deep into the forest, far away from any spot where they could see any buildings. Out of a bush popped Angel still holding Opal's mouse and taunting her. "You're almost there, kitty litter."
"Get back here, you filthy rat!" Opal hissed as she was the next to jump out. Followed by Winona. "Angel, give back the mouse!" Then Gummy, Tank and finally Owlowiscious, begging them all to stop running. Angel was starting to run out of breath, so he finally stopped in a clear spot to take a rest, allowing Opal to pounce him and retrieve her precious toy.
"Don't EVER touch my mouse again!" she hissed threateningly at him.
"Alright. Alright. Yeesh! Calm down, already." Angel submitted as he got up and brushed off his fur. When the others all finally caught up to them, they were all completely winded.
"Oh thank goodness." Owlowiscious declared plopping down on the ground, too exhausted to do one more flap.
"I haven't flown like that since my owner made me race her all the way across town." Tank said in between breaths.
Winona looked around and noticed that they were completely surrounded by tall trees and bushes as far as the eye could see. "Um. Guys." she said starting to get worried.
"Where are we?"
Author's Note
Dun Dun DUUUUUUNNNN!
The forest was dense with not a sign of civilization anywhere in sight. After the long aggravating chase that had been caused by a certain rabbit who shall remain nameless, none of the animals had any clue where they were now.
"Now look what you did, Angel." Tank accused. The others joined him in a group glare.
"What's the big deal?" Angel asked nonchalantly. "Let's just go back the way we came."
The only problem with that was that they had run through so many twists and turns during their chase that they had all just about lost their sense of direction.
"Now which way did we come from?" Winona inquired. They all looked around in every direction, not sure which one they should take. It was then that they knew that they were all completely lost.
"YOU MANGY RAT!" Opal hissed furiously at Angel.
Everyone else shared her resentment, except for Gummy that is, just not quite on the same level. Angel only flinched as she approached him with seething anger.
"You have really done it zis time! Thanks to you, Angel, we are now stranded in the middle of the forest with no treats, no soft beds, no silk scratching posts that smell of cat nip, and no indication of how to get home! You have doomed us all!" Opal breathed heavily after her tirade was over. Angel was not about to take such slandering lying down.
"Listen you pampered puffball." he asserted. "You could've easily replaced that stupid toy any time you wanted. You didn't have to chase me all the way out here just to get it back." He turned to face the others. "And I sure as hay didn't ask the rest of you to come after me. So you know what? You've all got only yourselves to blame for this predicament."
"Why you!" The angry cat hissed, causing the annoyed rabbit to glare back at her. The two were about ready to tear each other apart until Winona stepped in.
"Alright, that's enough you two." she demanded and they both stopped and turned their attention towards her. "Look. We are never gonna find our way if we're fighting amongst ourselves. So I want both of y'all to shut up, make nice and shake paws right now."
The two white critters exchanged a doubtful expression. "And if we don't?" Angel questioned. Winona simply growled, exposing her pointy canine teeth. That was all the answer either of them needed. Not wanting to upset a well-trained hunting dog, the cat and the rabbit reluctantly grabbed each other's paws and sealed their temporary truce.
"Good." The border collie lightened up satisfied.
"So now what do we do?" Tank asked, sort of hoping to change the subject. Winona stood tall to assert herself.
"Well, I'm guessing that if our owners haven't noticed that we're missing yet, they should still be back at that hotel. I'm open to suggestions about how we can get back there. Anybody have any ideas?" Everybody thought for a moment before Gummy was the first to speak up.
"Wait! I got it! We're animals. We can use our senses to find our way. I'll use my sense of taste to track." He stuck his tongue out and licked the filthy ground, much to the disgust of the others. It turned the dirt left an even worse taste in his mouth than it should have as he spat furiously and desperately tried to rub it off his tongue. "My senses tell me that somebody used that spot to go potty." He said with the awful taste still in his mouth. Opal jolted and leapt onto Winona's back in terror and disgust.
"Okay. Next idea, please?" The grumpy bunny stated.
Owlowiscious contemplated for a moment, inspired by Gummy's not totally dumb suggestion. "Hmm. I dare say the lad may be on to something." He spoke up enthusiastically.
"I am?" the little gator perked up flattered.
"He is?" Tank asked.
"Why of course. If you will recall, I was a wild owl before Twilight took me in. I have much experience in dealing with the wilderness as well as a keen instinctual sense of direction." The wide-eyed bird was beaming with pride. "I'm sure that if I simply concentrate, I could easily guide us all back to our point of origins safe and sound."
"Well why didn't you say so before?" Winona said happily. "Lead the way, Owlowiscious."
"Alright then. Now let's see." He did his best to drown out all distractions around him and focus solely on letting his instincts take over. He could feel something in his mind and in his stomach that seemed to rise and fall as he looked in all different directions. Soon, he found the point where it appeared to be strongest. "Hmm. My instincts seem to be pulling me in... this direction."
He took off down a woodland path as the others soon followed after him. "You'd better be right about this, pal." Angel called out. And just like that, all of the pets were off on their quest to get back to their owners safe and sound.
The Mane 6 stood in the lobby of the hotel speaking with two police officers. Each of them was understandably very worried after they had walked down to the kennel that morning only to find that their little animal friends were nowhere in sight. Fluttershy could hardly breathe at the thought of Angel being lost in the wild with no food or water. Applejack fetched a paper bag to help her catch her breath.
"So you say the window in the day care center was wide open when you came down this morning?" inquired the unicorn police officer as he scribbled something down on his notepad while his partner stood beside him.
"Yes officer." Twilight answered worriedly.
"Alright. We'll alert the the forest rangers and tell them to keep their eyes peeled." the other officer spoke up.
"Is there anyway we can help?" Rarity pleaded. "Did we give clear enough descriptions?"
The two officers exchanged a glance before looking back at the notepad. "One of them's a cat with a diamond collar and another one's a tortoise with a propeller on its back." the stallion officer stated. "I doubt they'll be easy to miss."
"Don't worry." the policemare said softly. "We'll do whatever can to find them. In the mean time, I suggest you all head back home and wait for your pets there. Odds are if they're lost, that's where they may be headed."
"Okay." Twilight said sorrowfully. "Thank you, officers." With that, the two cops exited the hotel, leaving the six friends practically sick with worry.
"How could this have happened?" Applejack asked walking into the kennel and towards the window.
"I don't know, Applejack." Twilight answered joining her. "But I do know that we have to do everything we can. And I think the best thing we can do right now is head home and get the word out to everypony we know so they can help us."
"That police officer was right, you know." Fluttershy spoke up. "When pets get lost, their instincts often take over and guide them back to their home."
"But their home is all the way back in Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash blurted out. "Which is like a million miles from here! It could take them days to get there on foot."
Fluttershy's fear suddenly peeked again. "And who knows what kind of dangers could be in that forest? They could fall over a cliff, or drown in a river, or die of hunger! If not their own than something else's!" She burst out crying.
"My poor Opal-Wopal will never survive out there in the wild." Rarity spoke up. "A dark forest is simply no place for prim and proper cat such as her."
"Oh, and don't forget about Mt. Red Top." Pinkie Pie added. "They'll have to get past that if they're gonna have any chance of getting home safe." None of this was helping Fluttershy's panicked state.
Twilight wrapped her hoof around Applejack as they both stared out the window. "At least they have each other. As long as they all stick together and look after one another, I'm sure they'll all make it home safe and sound."
"I sure hope so, Twilight." said Applejack. "I sure hope so."
Author's Note
Sorry this took so long. I've been real busy with school stuff. I wanted to make this one longer, but oh well.
EDIT: I made the chapter much longer now and added the part with the Mane 6. Enjoy.
See you in the next chapter. :)
