The Cine-magic Series: Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Chapters

Part 1: The Early Call
Part 5: The Starling Household
Part 2: Predation at it's Finest
Part 3: Out of House and Home
Part 4: Thugs and Orphans
Part 6: Fight for Freedom
Part 7: Nighttime Getaway
Part 8: Dirty Tactics
Part 9: Race for the Gold
Part 10: Escape After Escape
Part 11: Chaotic Cabin Rescue

Part 1: The Early Call

The low, orange light from the sun slowly brightened the night sky, changing into the bright blue of the morning. It began to light up the lands of Ponyville, alerting the waking residents of another fulfilling day. The town was bathed in the welcoming light and warmth, the grass giving off a slight glisten from the morning dew. As the light crept up to the Castle of Friendship, the crystalline structure gave off a subtle sparkle, almost as if it was glowing. Within the confines of the castle, Spike was comfortably resting in his bed, softly snoring. The rising light bled into his room. His body could feel with warmth and and change in brightness resulted in him cracking his eyes open. The dragon let out a yawn. He gently stood up, pushing away the covers and drawing in a long inhale while stretching.

He sauntered over to the window and opened the blinds, allowing more sunlight in. He looked out through the town, taking in the glowing sight. He stood at the window for a minute, letting the sun warm up his body. While he hadn't intended on waking this early, today was an especially bright day and any day like this was not worth sleeping-in, in his eyes.

"Quite the beautiful day, today,” Spike said, still taking in the sunlight. “Guess I'll start breakfast before Twilight and Starlight wake up."

He took pride in being the one to prepare meals for Twilight, Starlight, and himself. Truth be told, he really enjoyed cooking in general. It was the reason why he never complained about cooking for the princess. Quietly leaving his room, Spike made his way to the kitchen to prepare the morning's meal.

In another part of the castle, Twilight was still slumbering in her bed. Instead of the light being the one to wake her up, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times to get the sleep out of them. She let out a yawn while stretching out her wings. The alicorn gave a calming sigh. She knew today was going to be a more relaxing day for her. Twilight had finished the other day with completing pretty much all of the royal paperwork for the next couple of days. Not only was she starting to get the hang of the princess duties, she also found herself with lighter days every now and then. It allowed her to relax and spend more time with her friends or family if given the opportunity.

The waking alicorn climbed out of bed before leaving her bedroom. As she did, the scent of sizzling breakfast food wafted throughout the hallway. Twilight took a long sniff, a smile growing on her face.

"Spike must be downstairs making breakfast,” she said to herself.

She always enjoyed Spike's cooking, which was the reason why she never cooked that often. That's not to say she didn't know how to cook or refused to, she was more than capable of making her own meals. But, it never tasted the same compared to Spike's. The perfect texture, the perfect flavor, the perfect blend of spices, just thinking about made the alicorn’s mouth water. Twilight never could figure out how he made his meals so enticing. She made her way to the kitchen just to greet the little dragon. As she entered, she saw him happily working at the stovetop frying eggs and hay-bacon.

"Good morning, Spike,” she greeted warmly.

"Good morning, Twilight,” Spike turned and smile back. "Breakfast is almost ready."

"Mmm, sounds good. You always make the best breakfasts."

"Heh, I try," Spike let out a chuckle. "Go ahead and take a seat at the dining table. Starlight should on her way down here soon, as well."

"You sure you don't need any help?" Twilight asked.

"No, thanks. I got things from here,”

"Okay, then."

The alicorn stepped out of the kitchen and made her way to the dining room. She took a seat on one of the chair just as Starlight Glimmer entered the room.

Good morning, Starlight,” Twilight greeted.

"Morning, Twilight,” the lavender unicorn yawned. "Seeing as we’re both here, there’s something wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Twilight asked, perplexed.

"Well, you know how you and the others have been going to other worlds on these recent friendship missions, right? And that, from what you've told me, they are very different in many ways compare to Equestria."

"Of course, even now it still amazes and intrigues me how those other worlds operate."

"Yeah, but, I've been thinking,” Starlight pondered for a second. "Have you ever thought about...I don't know...documenting these worlds? Maybe try getting to know more about them?"

Twilight giggled a bit which confused Starlight a bit.

"Well, I wouldn't say I've documented every single minute detail when traveling to the worlds we've been to, but, I do have a stockpile of notes about them." She explained. "And it certainly would be nice to visit back there, too. Not only to learn more new things, but also to see old friends. I even made a deck of flashcards with some of the..."

Twilight paused for a second, trying to think of the right word to describe her other-worldly friends.

"Creatures?...Beings?" she pondered. "Whatever, I made flash cards of them."

With her magic, Twilight popped a deck of cards into the room.

"See,” she showed them to Starlight.

The lavender unicorn studied them with curiosity.

"Dusty Crophopper, Cloud, Shaun...Tigger?" Starlight said to herself. "These are some strange names. Also, I've never any creature like these before."

"Probably because they come from different worlds.” Twilight said smartly.

"Good point."

The two ponies shared a good chuckle. Spike then entered the breakfast in-hand.

"Okay, girls, breakfast is ready.”

He carefully balanced three plates of eggs and hay-bacon on his hands and head,. "Oh, and good morning, Starlight."

"Morning, Spike,” Starlight greeted back..

Spike set the plates down on the table and the two ponies and dragon began enjoying the food.

"So, do you plan on ever doing anything with the information you already have?" Starlight asked to the princess.

Twilight pondered that question for a second.

"Well, in all honesty, I'm not entirely sure just how impactful the info would be if I just unloaded it out to the public. I mean, me and the others already talk about our missions with family and friends."

"Does Celestia know about all of it?" Spike swallowed his eggs.

"About the note-taking? Yes. But, I've only been able to share a little bit of it with her,” Twilight said. "You know, because she's busy a lot of the time and so am I."

Makes sense. I wonder, though, if there was a way to travel those worlds again without the need of the cutie map. Like with the magic mirror to the human realm."

"I remember you talking about that to me, Twilight,” Starlight brought up. "The mirror thing, that is."

"That does seem like an interesting idea,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Not only would it allow us the travel to those worlds again, it could also allow our friends from said worlds to visit here, too."

Exactly!" Spike chimed in. "Though I have to wonder if doing that is even possible."

The purple, pony princess brought a hoof up to her hoof. Spike did bring up a good point. It seemed implausible to create some kind of bridge between Equestria and the other worlds. Then again, the magic mirror allowed such a thing, regardless of how similar the two worlds were. It didn't seem like that much of a stretch in retrospect.

"Perhaps I should talk to Celestia about that,” Twilight finally said. "Maybe she might have a way to do that. If she's okay with it, that is."

"Sweet!" Spike said excitedly. "It would be great to see Barret and Tifa again."

Twilight chuckled.

"Well, until then, let's just go about our normal day."

She continued eating her breakfast. Starlight and Spike were in agreement and finished their meals, as well. Once breakfast was over, Starlight left for the Crystal Empire. She had planned a little get-together with both Sunburst and Trixie.

"Have fun, Starlight,” Twilight waved at the unicorn.

"Thank you," Starlight waved back and left the castle.

With her gone, that left only Twilight and Spike.

"So, what should we do now?" Spike asked. "You finished the paperwork for today last night."

"Well, we could reorganize the books in the library,” the alicorn said thoughtfully.

Spike smiled immediately turned to a frown. "But, we did that a couple days ago."

"Yes, but, there's absolutely nothing wrong with variety." Twilight said. "Now, come on, Spike. Let's get started."

Spike sighed in defeat and disdain. This was not how he thought his day would go. However, the two froze when an all to familiar sensation came over them. Twilight's cutie mark began to emanate and Spike spines began to glow.

"Oh, well, what do you know," Spike said to himself.

"Guess reorganizing the library is off the list today,” Twilight sighed.

Spike pumped his fist victoriously, earning a glare from Twilight. Spike brought his arm to his side and nonchalantly cleared his throat.

"Let's go and see where the map needs us this time,” he said with an innocent grin.

"We're still organizing the library when we're done,” the unconvinced alicorn snorted.

Spike didn't say anything, but his disappointed frown came back.

"Never mind that, though,” Twilight said. "For now, let's deal with this friendship problem."

Twilight and Spike made their way to the map room. When they arrived, they soon discovered that the map was completely glowing. Which meant only one thing.

"We're needed in another world, again,” Twilight stated in surprise.

"Wow. It's been only about two weeks since our last mission," Spike said. "But, if that's the case, then our friends must be on their way here, too."

"You're right,” Twilight agreed. "So, let's wait for them."

And so, the two waited, sparking up conversations here and there as they did so. It didn't take long, however, for Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity to arrive at the map room.

"Howdy, Twi,” Applejack greeted. "Seems like where needed elsewhere in another world, again."

"Yep,” the alicorn answered simply.

"And rather early, too,” Fluttershy said. "The day's barely begun."

"And it's been only a couple of weeks since the last time, too," Rarity added.

"That's what I said,” Spike mentioned.

"Well, no matter how early it is, we're ready for it,” Rainbow said.

"Oh, of course. I was merely pointing out the fact. I meant no grief by it,” the alabaster unicorn sustained.

"Well, everypony, we all ready to go?" Twilight asked.

"Sure are, Twilight. Ain't nothin to it,” Applejack replied confidently.

"Oh, this always gets me so excited!" Pinkie bounced around ecstatically. "New friends, new friends, new friends! Here we come!"

"Settle down, Pinkie," Twilight said. "I still after to make the portal."

"Well, what are you waiting for? There are friends that need us!" Pinkie got right up into the alicorn's face.

Twilight reeled back in surprise.

"Calm down, Pinkie. I'm getting to it."

Twilight readied her horn and conjured up the portal spell. Like clockwork, the portal formed on the map table. It grew and enveloped the map.

"This is it. Let's go," Rainbow dove into the portal.

"I wonder what this world will be all about this time,” Spike pondered.

"Only one way ta find out,” Applejack said.

The other soon followed, sharing the same excitement and apprehension with each other. They were off on another friendship mission to another, brand new world.

To be continued

Part 5: The Starling Household

"Oh, my poor little Robyn!" an overweight woman in a purple and pink blouse wailed dramatically. "Oh, find her, officer. Please! The poor child."

The woman turned away and cried into her hands. The police office put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. The poor woman is in complete hysterics over her lost child.

"There, there, Miss Figg. We'll find the little girl. I promise you. I'll call for a status report right now."

The officer exited the lobby room of the mansion Miss Figg was living in.

"Oh, please. Please,” Miss Figg wailed. "I don't know how I'll live without her."

She sobbed as she closed the sliding doors, making sure that the officer was out of sight.

"You won't be able to live without her, Pristine,” a voice said from the other side of the room.

"Shut up, Lickboot, you hoodoo,” Figg snapped.

She turned to a lankier man wearing a blue suit, sitting by the fireplace. He held a cup of tea, looking as formal as they come.

"But it's true, Pristine. Without Robyn, Daddy Starling's trust fund money will go bye, bye, bye and you'll be out in the cold, cold, cold."

"And you with me, Lickboot,” the woman pointed a finger at him. "Now stop talking. You're a lawyer. Scheme."

She emphasized "scheme" greatly and tapped her finger against her head. Also, in the room, an obese dog on a skateboard began to laugh.

"You find this amusing, Ferdy, you fat freeloader?" Figg asked angrily. "You're the one who let her get away!"

Ferdinand tried coming up with an excuse.

"I-I was eating,” His raspy, nasally voice finally mustered up.

"I know you were eating. You're always eating," Figg rolled her eyes exhaustively.

She then picked up a pink-frosted cupcake off the table with a wide smile.

"You want this cupcake?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." The obese pooch nodded his head and licked his lips.

He wagged his tail, but his smile turned to a frown, thinking that his owner was giving him false hope.

"Fetch!"

Figg through the cupcake across the room. Ferdinand hastily got his skateboard rolling. He lined himself up with the cupcake's trajectory and snatched the sugary treat in his mouth and gulped it down all at once. He licked his lips and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction, but he wasn't watching where his was going. The obese dog crashed into the sliding doors with a thud.

"Shoot!” he squawked.

"Just pray that the police find her or we're doomed to return to the ranks of the peasantry," Lickboot got up from his seat.

Miss Figg gasped in horror at the implications the lawyer was getting at. Even Ferdinand gulped apprehensively.

"And you better hope this rumor that dashing, Daddy Starling may have survived the avalanche is just a rumor. Or we'll be worse than ordinary. We'll be..."

"Don't say it,” Figg interrupted, dread etched on her rotund face.

"...poor," Lickboot said.

"Penniless,” Figg added.

"Bankrupt."

"No more money?"

"We've got to have...money,” the lawyer said wickedly.

The sound of the doorbell cut Figg's and Lickboot's financial fantasy to an end. The greedy lady made her way to the front door. She opened it to find the police officer holding a resistant Robyn.

"I can't go back. I won't." The little girl finally pulled out of the officer's grasp... Only to be snatched up by her guardian.

"Gotcha, you little..." Miss Figg stopped herself, noticing the cop was literally standing right there. "...darling."

She hugged Robyn in tight, loving hug, to which Robyn was vehemently against.

"See? Here she is. Safe and sound. We found her down by the old bridge," the officer explained.

His attention turned down to the cat, mouse, dragon, and six ponies around his feet.

"Tom! Jerry! Spike! Girls!" Robyn tore away from Figg's grasp and ran to them.

"Who?" Figg asked in confusion.

"They're my new friends. Let me keep them. They won't be any bother. Please?"

While Tom and Jerry stood with innocent and pleading looks. The Mane 6 and Spike mostly remained stoic. They were conscious of the fact that the woman standing before them was the mean, greedy guardian of Robyn, who didn't really take care of her at all.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Figg,” Twilight said in her most polite voice.

"It's Miss Figg,” Figg corrected coldly "And you guys can talk?"

"Yupper-doos! Why wouldn't we?" PInkie said with a big smile.

Figg just crossed her arms, clearly not taking a liking of more animals in her house. Tom weakly sauntered over to the woman and fell at her feet, clutching her skirt.

"Meow,” he cutely said, while fluttering his eye lids.

"Oh, brother," Jerry grumbled.

"He really likes to drive it home, huh?" Rainbow said.

"Oh, you have no idea,” the mouse replied.

"Please?" Robyn continued to plead.

"Under the circumstances, it might be a good idea, ma'am, if you know what I mean,” the officer said.

Miss Figg quiet grumble turned into a growl. She clenched her teeth angrily. The other were worried that she would explode on them.

"That's just what I was thinking, officer,” her expression turned all sweet and kind. "Of course you can keep them, darling."

The two-sided woman pushed Tom off her dress.

"Woah. That was quite the 180,” Rainbow said.

"For a moment I thought she was going physically kick us off the property,” Rarity added.

"I can?" Robyn said with excitement.

"See? She's not as bad as you thought,” Jerry assured.

"Or it's just a facade," Applejack whispered.

"Oh, good grief. At least give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Sorry, Jerry, but we can't just ignore Robyn's earlier warnings, either," Twilight express her wariness.

"You'll stay, won't you? You'll have a new home again,” Robyn said wishfully.

"Of course, Robyn,” Fluttershy smiled warmly. “You're our friend, after all."

"Wait, but me and girls already have homes back in Equestria,” Spike pointed out.

"I think she was referring to Tom and Jerry,” the purple alicorn said.

"But, you will stay though,” Robyn asked to reconfirm.

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Will I? You bet," Tom agreed.

Robyn let Jerry step onto her hand and lifted him up.

"Uh, him, too?"

"Of course him, too,” the girl responded.

"Ya really need to start admittin' 'im as part of this'ere friend group," Applejack said.

"Thanks, Robyn,” Jerry crossed his arms and looked at Tom.

"Just make you way inside and make yourselves at home I guess,” Figg said, though not sounding all too welcoming. "But, do keep an eye on those miniature horses."

"Horses?! We're ponies for your information, lady!" Rainbow yelled.

"Same difference.”

"Ugh. What is it with every world always calling us horses?" Rarity huffed.

"Let's not worry about that and let's just get situated in our "temporary" home,” Twilight said.

As the group of friends went inside, Miss Figg turned to the officer, who by now was turning away to head back to work

"Officer. You wouldn't be able to join us for a little celebration snack, would you?”

A smile crept up on the officer’s face.

"Well, sure, I-"

"I didn't think so,” she cut him off. "Too bad duty calls and all that. I understand. Mucho thanks and AU REVOIR!"

The overweight woman slammed the door in the officer's face. She turned back to the others.

"Ferdy?" she called out.

The obese dog raced around the corner to her on his skateboard. Fluttershy gasped at the blatant unhealthiest of the poor animal.

"Show our new guests to the kitchen and give them something special to eat."

"Special,” the dog laughed and licked his lips.

He rolled off toward the kitchen.

"I suppose it would be nice to get a full meal,” Spike said.

"You're telling me. I'm beyond hungry," Rainbow flapped her wings.

"You know Robyn was generous enough to share her food with us," Rarity pointed out.

"Sorry, Rarity, but one cookies isn't enough to satisfy me," The cyan pegasus said.

Fluttershy was the last to follow. She looked over at Miss Figg.

"You really should give Ferdinand some exercise. It isn't healthy for him to be that overweight."

Figg gave the butter-yellow pegasus a nasty look.

"I'm already a bit on the fence on letting your friends stay here. You wouldn't want me to change my mind, would you,” she asked in an evil sweet tone.

Fluttershy stepped back a bit.

"N-N-No. Not at all,” the pegasus shook her head.

"Good. Now scurry off!" the woman yelled.

Fluttershy yelped and ran off to catch up with her friends. Robyn was about to follow when Figg harshly grabbed her by the arm.

"As for you, orphan. For running away and tattling to your friends about my treatment toward you, you're going to bed without dinner,” she said angrily.

"Wait. How did you know about that?" Robyn asked, horrified.

"Oh, please. It's obvious from there expressions that they're cautious and skeptical about me for a reason. And what other reason than that you told them about your treatment. You should be thankful that I'm allowing them to stay here at all. So for trying to escape by tattling, you're going to bed hungry. And your bed is back in the attic where orphans belong."

Figg pointed up the long, lonely stairs that led up to the top floor. Robyn felt nothing but dull sadness. After living with her cruel aunt for as long as she had, such horrible treatment was to expected. Still though, the pain in her heart remained burning.

Tom, Jerry, and the Mane 7 were lead through a pair of western-style saloon doors and were met with the kitchen.

"Now that's what I call eats," Tom said, taking in the entire sight.

Twilight looked at him weirdly.

"Who says "eats" in that kind of context?" she asked.

"I do."

"Never mind that. Look at all the food here!" Rainbow exclaimed.

The kitchen was absolutely massive. Counters and tables were lined of all kinds of cuisine. Sweets and baked goods, fresh fruits, cheeses, breads, casseroles, and a wide array of meats. The group of friends all gawked at the display.

"Whoa, nelly. It's like a royal feast in'ere,” Applejack stated.

"Come to momma!" Pinkie raced off and tackled a chocolate cake sitting on one of the tables.

"Pinkie! Have you no manners?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Well, she's on the right track of one thing,” Jerry rubbed his hands together. "Let's help are ourselves to some of this food."

Meanwhile, Ferdinand rolled on up to a steaming ribeye steak. He licked his lips as his saliva flew everywhere. The rest of the friends toured around the kitchen, looking for anything that caught their eyes.

"I'm seeing a lot of meat here,” Spike stated.

"What's your point?" Tom asked.

"Just seems a bit excessive. I mean, even Ferdinand’s helping himself to a piece of meat."

"Well, I find it to bit quite disturbing. Honestly, who needs this much meat?" Rarity asked, keeping her eyes away from the cold cuts.

"Y-Y-You're telling m-me,” Fluttershy looked to by on the verge of fainting.

"Don't worry, girls. I'm sure there's something for us,” Twilight said.

That's when Ferdinand slid a pet bowl up to them. At first, they thought it was a kind gesture, until they looked at the bowl's contents.

"Okay, this is not what I meant,” the alicorn asked in disgust. “What the hay even is that?”

Whatever it was, it was lumpy and had a gross, yellow color. It certainly did not look like food at all. The ponies and dragon all wretched at the sight and the stench.

"Who would even want to eat that?" Fluttershy took a step back.

Rainbow brought her wings up to her muzzle to keep from smelling it.

"It looks like a bowl of s-"

"It's not getting eaten. That's for sure," Jerry said.

"You can't honestly expect us to eat this?" Rarity yelled at the obese pooch.

Of course, Ferdinand wasn't listening. He was still lapping up the piping hot steak.

"Umm...Let's just find something ourselves,” Twilight, with her magic, grabbed a cluster of grapes hanging off the counter. "Like these grapes."

"Oh, I like grapes," Fluttershy picked a couple of their stems.

"That...sounds nice,” Applejack wasn't as thrilled as the others. "I'm gonna look for other, more appealin' options. If ya don't mind."

"I think I'll go and see if there's anything else around, too,” Rarity said.

"If not, we can just follow in Pinkie's hoofsteps," Rainbow followed the unicorn.

"I suppose. Though, Rainbow, what exactly were you going to say before Jerry interrupted you?"

"Oh. Swamp muck. I've seen that kind of stuff and it's not pretty."

"Oh, good. Because I thought you were about to take a page out of Cloud's book of colorful vocabulary."

"What are you implying?"

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it, darling."

Twilight and Fluttershy was still munching on the fresh grapes.

"I wonder what else they have… Aside from the meat, of course,” Spike threw a grape into his mouth.

"I'm sure there's plenty to things around. Don't worry,” Twilight petted the dragon's head fins.

"While you're at it..." Tom suddenly kicked the bowl of unknown substance right back at Ferdinand.

The overweight dog was too preoccupied with his meal to spot in the incoming projectile. The bowl smashed into his face, yellowish brown fluids splattering everywhere.

"Was that really necessary?" Fluttershy asked.

"Eh, might do him some good,” Tom shrugged. "Now, if you don't mind me, I'm gonna enjoy myself with some fresh ham."

The grey pussycat leapt onto the counter with Jerry following after him.

"I think I'm gonna go after Rarity and Rainbow," Spike took off.

"Ok, but don't overload yourself with sweets,” Twilight called out to her.

By this point, Ferdinand had pulled the bowl off his muzzle. His face had been morphed to fit inside the bowl. The overweight dog pulled his muzzle back to normal, then gnashed his teeth with fury. As Spike passed by, Ferdinand glared daggers at him. The dragon gave him a wary looked and walked away at a faster pace. The obese dog angrily looked around for the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Tom and Jerry were situating themselves with the freshly-cooked ham sitting on one of the tables. The cat cut a thick slice of juicy meat onto his plate. Jerry held out his plate, anticipating a slice. Tom then cut a comedically small slice of ham and placed it on Jerry's plate. The mouse stared at it with confusion and disappointment. Ferdinand searched around for the pair on the tables. Soon as he spotted them, he grinned evilly.

As Jerry stared at the tiny slice, Tom squeezed his cheek and patted him on the head. Of course, it was a mocking gesture, which only angered Jerry even more. A threw the plate down, causing it to shatter, and looked around for anything that could exact his retaliation. The mouse's eyes fell on a gravy boat, filled to the brown with thick, brown gravy. He smiled maliciously and, right as Tom was about to take a bite of his ham, Jerry jumped up and stomped on end of the spoon in the gravy boat. A spoonful of gravy catapulted from the cup and shot right into Tom's mouth. The impact knocked Tom back and bit and caused him to drop his fork. He angrily grabbed Jerry and glared at him. A pulled back his fist, seemingly like he was about to punch the mouse.

"Uh, guys, I hate to interrupt your little quarrel, but I think Ferdinand didn't take to the bowl thing very well," Twilight said.

The cat and mouse heard the growling and looked back to see the obese dog rolling toward them, his face riddled with malicious intent. He growled at the two. Tom smiled innocently and dropped Jerry. The mouse made a run for it, but Tom grabbed a whole birthday cake and handed over to Ferdinand. The dog's mood changed immediately. He licked his lips with delight, no longer thinking about hurting the cat. Tom then threw the cake high into the air. Ferdinand watched it fly into the air, then glared back at the cat. The cake, however landed right on top of him. Ferdinand was now covered in candles and pink frosting. He held on candle in one raised paw and held to plate against his body, making the dog look like a pink Statute of Liberty.

Ferdinand heard the sounds of laughter coming from the other side of the kitchen. Those laughs belonged to Rainbow Dash and Spike, who were watching to entire spectacle. Now, he was even more furious. The obese pooch shook off the frosting and candles and jumped back. He clawed the ground as steam snorted from his nostrils like a raging bull. His head pinned into horns and he shoulders humped forward. He charged at the two. Jerry clambered up a display stand, while Tom ran for his life, while Ferdinand gave chase.

"Should we...do something about that?" Fluttershy asked to Twilight.

"Don't worry, girls. I got this,” Jerry said.

Taking a sausage rope, the mouse whipped it around like a lasso and tossed it at the raging, overweight dog.

It wrapped around Ferdinand's neck, causing him to shoot back from inertia. He landed on his head and rolled back onto his skateboard. Jerry darted across the sausage links and bounced off Ferdinand's snout like a diving board. By this point, Twilight and Fluttershy had flown up to the table to assess the entire situation.

"Oh, my,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight was quick to realize that Jerry had no safe place to land. She spotted a plate of green gelatin. Grasping it in her magic, she slid it over to Jerry landing spot. The mouse bounced on it, but was pretty much unhurt.

"Nice catch, Twilight,” Jerry struggled to keep his balance.

"No problem, Jerry.”

Ferdinand, on the other hand was laughing his hindquarters off. For some reason, he found Jerry's troubles with the gelatin to be absolutely hilarious.

"That dog's weird," Twilight muttered.

That's when Tom had an idea. A spiteful grin formed on his face. Before the two ponies knew it, Tom had kicked the entire gelatin at Ferdinand. Both pegasus and alicorn ducked as the tray sailed over their heads and zeroed in on Ferdinand. With the dog still laughing, the jiggly mass slid right into his mouth. Ferdinand was shot back and dumbly laid there, his body wobbling and swaying from the whole gelatin inside him.

“You just love causing trouble, don’t you?” Twilight said with an annoyed frown.

“He had it coming,” Tom argued flatly.

He and Jerry went back to feasting on the assortment of food.

"Mind, handing me that sandwich?" Twilight asked politely.

Tom handed the salad sandwich to her, which she delightfully began munching.

"Hey, gals. Ah found a perfectly good apple pie sittin' on the counter,” Applejack walked up to them with the pie on her back. "Granted, it ain't as good as Granny Smith's, but it's still mighty tasty."

"Oh, that's great found something, Applejack,” Fluttershy said happily.

The positive moment didn't last long as Ferdinand blasted through the assortments of entrees with a look of violence in his eyes. He was beyond enraged at this point, now wielding a fork and a steak knife. He growled at the group.

"What's gotten him all riled up?" the orange earth pony asked, slightly uneased.

"Tom thought it was a good idea to kick the bowl of goop at his face." Twilight replied.

"Hey, why you gotta throw me under the bus?"

"It's the truth though."

The chubby dog charged at them all.

"Eep!" Fluttershy take to the air.

Twilight trailed after her. Tom and Applejack jumped off the table, while Jerry scurried off to the end of it. Ferdinand chased after the brown mouse.

"Seriously?" Applejack watched on incredulously. "Ah get bein' mad over you thrownin' the bowl, but outright tryin' ta hunt us down, like were cattle. That just seems downright ridiculous."

"Well, I also may have thrown a cake at him,” Tom said.

The farm girl just gave him an unamused look.

"Ah swear, must of our problems so far have been somethin' ta do with ya."

"Oh, sure. Make me the bad guy." Tom rolled his eyes.

At the same time, Rainbow had gone over to the end of the table where she was finishing to rest of a blueberry muffin.

"Hey, Pinkie. You think you could spare a slice of..." Rainbow's sentence was interrupted when Jerry jumped from the table and onto the floor.

The pegasus stared in confusion as the mouse skittered across the tile floor. The, Ferdinand jumped off the table, knocking over an entire roast chicken off the table. It enveloped Rainbow's head through the stuffing opening.

"Agh! Hey, who turned off the lights? And why does it smell like burnt leather in here all of a sudden?" she stumbled about.

Jerry quickly hid behind a table leg and stuck his foot out. Ferdinand's skateboard snagged it and he was flipped forward, smashing into Pinkie's cake.

"My cake!” the pink mare pouted, her face covered in chocolate frosting.

Ferdinand slid across the floor riding the wave of chocolate. Spike and Rarity were right in his path, both seemingly unaware.

"What about this stuff called Italian dressing?" Spike asked looking to the bowl of salad Rarity was holding.

"Ooh, sounds fancy," the fashionista said, but her eyes soon fell on the obese dog hurdling toward them. "Get clear!"

Spike noticed just and time and the two hopped out of the way. Ferdinand screamed as he careened into a set of tables. He recklessly grabbed the legs, which sent in him multiple direction. Some of the legs even broke off. He ricocheted off one leg and was sent sliding across the tile floor. He knocked over one table and smashed into a giant display cabinet which tipped over and knocked over several other cabinets like dominoes. Plates, bowls, and cups shattered everywhere and the thunderous crash of wood and glass echoed throughout the house.

As the metaphorical dust settled, Twilight and her friends, minus Rainbow, opened their eyes and blanched at the now destroyed kitchen. Food, shattered plates, and silverware littered the floor, cabinets and tables were destroyed, and Ferdinand laid amongst it, covered in food.

"Oh...Sweet Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed.

"How did this happen so quickly?" Spike said.

"Oh, this an absolute disaster! Tom, Jerry, what are earth did you two do!?" Rarity asked in shock.

"What happened? I still can't see!” Rainbow stumbled about.

Twilight pulled the chicken off Rainbow's head, allowing to get a good look of the demolished kitchen.

"Oh. That's what you meant. What in Tartarus happened here?"

"What's all the commotion in here?" the voice Aunt Figg shouted from beyond the saloon doors.

"Uh, oh,” Spike squeaked.

The overweight lady sauntered into the kitchen and took in the destructive sight.

"Well, your pets are certainly housebroken,” she said in an unamused tone. "They've been here five minutes and already they've broken the house."

"We? We didn't cause this!" Rainbow argued.

"Yeah, Ferdy started it,” Pinkie said.

"Actually it was Tom who started it,” Twilight pointed out.

"Hey!" Tom yelled.

"I'm not really interesting in hearing about your blame game,” Figg said. "We really don't have enough room for them here, do we?"

By this point, Robyn had arrived and was just as stunned as the others.

"I...I'm sure they won't do it again, Aunt Figg. I promise."

"No, they won't. I promise,” Figg said with a threatening smile.

"Wha-...What do you mean? What are you going to do to us?" Fluttershy said, cowering behind Applejack.

"There's a sweet man down the street, Dr. Applecheek. He absolutely adores animals, he has a houseful. All kinds. And he loves them to death."

She messed with the hair on Tom's head.

"Just sounds like a way to get rid of us,” Twilight muttered.

"And hurt Robyn even more,” Applejack growled.

"No way we're goin through with this,” Rainbow huffed.

It seemed that Tom and Jerry were in agreement, crossing their arms and stubbornly looking away.

"They'll have all the food they can eat, companionship, shelter..." Figg chuckled.

The mention of food and shelter were enough to convince the cat and mouse. The two looked at each other, as if to imply it was a done deal. The Mane 6 and Spike took notice.

"You guys can’t be serious. You're just going to bend when the idea of food is brought up?" Twilight asked, upset.

"Well, we need a place to live," Jerry argued.

"But, what about Robyn. Poor darling will be heartbroken," Rarity said.

"...And you can go and visit them every day,” That part was pointed to Robyn in particular.

The young girl looked down, saddened of the prospect. But, even so, she knew she had little to no input on the matter.

"Well, I don't know. I'll have to talk it over with them first," Robyn said.

"Oh. Oh-ho. Oh, you do that,” Figg sneered. “Well, you daddy's lawyer. Your LATE daddy's lawyer, Mr. Lickboot, is waiting for me."

With that, Miss Figg made her way out of the kitchen with Ferdinand following behind. Jerry put a hand to his chin. He watched with suspicion as the lady in purple and pink walked away. He chased after her, making she to stay quiet and hidden.

"Well?" Robyn asked the others.

"She says it's a house. And I'm a house cat kind of guy," Tom stated.

"Again, what about Robyn?" Twilight asked, now sounding more frustrated. "Look, I get that you’re just searching for a new place to live. But, for Celestia's sake, think about others for once. If we leave, Robyn will be stuck here with her cruel aunt for the rest of her life."

"Exactly. Ya don't just turn ya head away from that kind'a stuff." Applejack agreed.

"We want to make sure the young ones are happy,” Pinkie said in a fake serious tone , wearing a military outfit out of nowhere.

"It's okay, guys. You don't need to worry about me," Robyn said.

"Nonsense, darling,” Rarity said. “Your safety and well-being is just as important to us as ourselves. It's our duty as the Elements of Harmony."

"Elements of what now?" the young girl asked.

"It's a long story," Twilight said. “But, basically we’re protectors of our home, Equestria. However, we’ve been summoned to other worlds to friendship missions.”

“Sounds sappy,” Tom said.

“I think it’s cute,” Robyn giggled.

"Hey, where's Jerry?" Fluttershy soon discovered the mouse was gone.

The others looked around the ruined kitchen.

"Jerry? Jerry where'd you go?" Spike called out.

The others looked around, but there was no sign of him.

"Maybe, Ferdy ate him,” Tom said.

"Tom!" the others chastised.

"Hey, don't look at me. What am I my mouse's keeper?"

The others just at him with expectant looks. Tom fired back with a glare, but the others remained unresolved.

"Okay, okay. I'll got look for him,” he relented and exited the kitchen to look for Jerry.

"What should we do now?" Spike asked.

"Maybe could try cleaning this place up,” Fluttershy suggested.

The ponies and dragon look at the warzone that was the kitchen.

"Or we could help find Jerry,” Twilight said.

"Yeah, that sounds better,” Rainbow agreed.

"I guess I'll go head back to bed," Robyn began walking away.

"Stay safe, Sugarcube,” Applejack said.

"I will."

"Alive? He's alive!?" Figg snatched a piece of paper from Lickboot's hand

"The telegram just came. Starling's lying in some godforsaken native shack on a mountainside in Tibet,” the lawyer explained. "Maybe every bone in his body is broken. If we're lucky."

"But he's alive!" Figg argued.

Unbeknownst to them, Jerry was in the room with them, listening in on the entire discussion. He was situated on a bookshelf, hiding behind a porcelain dolphin sculpture.

"Well, look on the bright side, there may be another avalanche," Lickboot said.

"And he may be eaten by the abominable snow thing, too. Who cares?" Figg questioned vexingly.

Jerry stepped to the side for a better look. bumped into a set of books, causing them to fall over. The mouse quickly hid behind the dolphin sculpture just before Figg turned around to see what the noise was.

"Well, his daughter Robyn, for one and our creditors, for another,” Lickboot pointed out.

The woman examined the bookshelf. Jerry didn't move a muscle and didn't make a peep. Finding nothing, Figg turned back to her lawyer boyfriend.

"The point is, Daddy Starling is still...alive,” she crumpled the telegram in her hand. "Robyn must never know."

She threw the paper to the roaring fireplace. It bounced off the flaming logs. Jerry watched as it laid there on the stone step, inches from the flames. He turned to see Figg and Lickboot exited the room.

"I'll make sure she never knows. I'll lock her in her room," Figg said.

"Now that's a good idea," Lickboot shut the doors, only leaving a small opening.

Jerry slid down a telephone wire and onto the floor. He raced over to the fireplace and grabbed the still smoldering telegram. He then raced out of the room to find Robyn.

It was a revelation to hear the her father was still alive. However, for her aunt to purposefully not tell her and outright try to destroy the evidence was beyond cruel. It prove to the mouse that Aunt Figg was as bad as Robyn said. She needed to know. She deserved to know. As he clambered up the stairs, Jerry raced by Tom, the Mane 6, and Spike.

"Jerry? Where are you going?" Twilight called out to him.

Still, he went on. His friends all ran after him to catch up.

"Hold it. What's the big rush?" Tom grabbed hold of the paper and, by proxy, Jerry.

"Yeah, we've been lookin fer ya everywhere, Jerry. What's got'in ya all excited?" Applejack asked.

"Read this. Robyn's father is alive!" Jerry held out the paper.

"Say what?!" the mares all said.

Tom took the paper and they all began reading through the telegram.

"Survived the avalanche..." Rarity muttered.

"Tibet..." Tom read.

"Said to make a quick recovery,” Fluttershy finished.

"You girls know what this means?" Rainbow asked, realizing the implications.

"Hey, she's not an orphan no more!" the house cat exclaimed.

"And she won't have to deal with that scoundrel Aunt Figg anymore, either," Rarity added.

"We gotta, we just gotta tell her of the absolutely amazing happy fantastical news!" Pinkie hopped around with excitement.

Tom snatched the paper out of Jerry's hand and raced off to Robyn's bedroom, dropping the mouse to the floor.

"Hey, wait for us!" Rainbow flew after him.

The other ponies, dragon, and mouse all followed after. As they hurried up the last set of stairs, they stopped as the saw Miss Figg slowly closing the door to Robyn's room. Her back was facing them, so luckily she couldn't see them yet.

"Good night. Sleep tight. And don't let the spiders, monsters, and scary things bite,” she locked the door.

As she made her way to the stairs and passing by the group, they lied against the wall, acting as casual and unassuming as possible. Thankfully, it appeared she either didn't notice or didn't care. The group of friends watched as the brunette woman walked down the stairs and out of sight.

"Okay. The coast is clear," Spike said.

They made the rest of the way to the bedroom door.

"Robyn. Robyn it's us. We have important news for you," Fluttershy said.

Tom was about to knock on the door when a shadow casted over them.

"How nice.”

The Mane 6 and Spike gasped and turned to see Aunt Figg standing right there behind them. She snatched the piece of paper from Tom.

"You fetched my telegram. You're all so helpful,” she said aminously.

"H-How...How did you know?" Fluttershy shook.

The overweight woman just scoffed in dry amusment.

"How much of an idiot do you think I am?" she sneered. "But never mind that. I'll make sure Dr. Applecheek takes special care of you."

A horrifying, wicked grin grew on Figg's face.

"What's the plan now?" Spike asked fearfully.

"RUN!" Tom screamed.

"Run? No way. We can take her," Rainbow said.

"That won't do much good in the long term. We got to get out of here!" Twilight said in a panic.

The cat, mouse, dragon, and ponies all scattered to escape. Tom ran as fast as he could, but soon realized he wasn't going anywhere. Figg had caught him by the tail.

"Oh, no you don't,” she said.

"Tom!" Fluttershy cried.

"Just go!" he yelled.

Jerry, the Mane 6, and Spike raced down the halls in an attempt to escape. As Jerry rounded a corner, he accidentally ran into a tiny, glass bottle. He was stuck inside the bottle unable to move, only his tail was free. He felt someone grab him by the tail and lifted him into the air. It was Ferdinand.

"Got you, mousie," the dog let a nasally laugh.

"Hey, you put him down right now, you overweight fleabag," Rainbow demanded angrily.

Ferdinand just continued to laugh, not even phased by the insult.

"We warnin' ya. Let our friend go,” Applejack walked up to the dog.

"No,” Ferdinand hacked out.

"Fine! You asked for it," Twilight lit up her horn.

However, before she could anything with her magic, a black, iron cage slammed down around them, trapping the ponies and dragon.

"Hey! What's going on?" Rainbow shouldered the bars, but they didn't budge.

"What'n tarnation? What's the meanin' of this?" Applejack asked.

"We've been caged, duh.” Pinkie said.

An evil laugh echoed from down the hall. Miss Figg walked out from the dark with Tom's tail still in her hand.

"Good work, Ferdy,” she said.

"H-How? Where did you get this? Why did you get this?" Twilight demanded.

"Yeah. Who puts a cage in their house?" Rainbow further asked.

"This house has it's medieval accessories. And it seems it has come in handy when it comes to intruders," Figg said deviously. "Of course, it also works for candy-colored animals trying to ruin my plans. Now, once you're all out of the picture, there's nothing stopping me from living the life of luxury."

"At Robyn's expense. Just how cruel must you be to keep a child in the dark about their sole surviving parent?" Rarity asked angrily.

"If it means I get to keep all of this, the house, the wealth, all of it, then I'll be as cruel as I want. The little brat will never know about her father."

"You'll never get away with this,” Twilight seethed.

Aunt Figg just let out a laugh.

"I believe I already have,” she smiled wickedly. "Come on, Ferdy. Let's get this pests in more controllable environment."

The overweight mutt laughed and followed his owner to wherever they were going. Figg was still dragging Tom along with her. The ponies, and dragon could only watch as they cat and mouse were carted off, leaving them completely.

"Oh, great. This is just great. How are we going to fix this now?" Rainbow paced around the cage.

"W-We'll think of something, right Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight tried to envelop the cage in her magic and lift it back up, but it would not budge. She strained as hard as she could, but it was fruitless.

"My magic isn't strong enough the lift the bars,” she said in disappointment.

Rarity tried her magic, too. But the result was the same. Spike then let out a gout of fire and directed at the iron bars. The result of that was nothing but reddened metal that was hot to the touch.

"My fire isn't hot enough to melt it, either." Spike sat down on the ground. "We're doomed."

"Don't be like that, Spike. We'll think of somethin'," Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Oh, this is the end of us all. I'm sorry, Robyn. I'm so, so sorry,” Rarity cried. "And Tom and Jerry, too."

M-Maybe this Dr. Applecheek won't be so bad,” Fluttershy said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah! And then we could think of something there,” Pinkie added.

"Her smile is going to haunt me for the rest of my life," Spike said to himself.

It became blatantly apparent that this did little to nothing to help the situation. Not even Pinkie or Fluttershy were fully convinced with themselves. All they could do was sit and wait from Figg with whatever she had planned next. Twilight just stared through the jet black bars with sorrow in her eyes. Despite making through all the adversity she and her friends had gone through so far, her doubts and insecurities never seemed to disappear. They were bubbling in her mind and it made her feel worse.

"I'm a horrible friend and a princess."

To be continued

Part 2: Predation at it's Finest

The journey through the portal was something the Mane 6 and Spike had gotten used to by now. The almost free falling feeling was becoming quite the norm for them. Especially since it seemed the multi-versal friendship missions were becoming a bit more frequent. Regardless, Twilight and her friends were prepared for anything. The end of the portal came in sight. One by one, they popped out through the portal opening, landing right on a sidewalk. The portal closed as soon as they were all out. The Mane 7 began taking in their surroundings. Large buildings and towering skyscrapers were all around them. It became evident that they were in some kind of giant city.

"I know I've said this with the Big City, but, this place also reminds me of Manehatten," Rarity stated.

"Probably because Manehatten looks exactly like any other city," Rainbow said bluntly.

"It does not,” the unicorn spoke defiantly.

"Name one thing that makes it unique from any other city.”

"Simple. Manehatten has the most famous boutiques,” Rarity boasted. “No city can top that."

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Still pretty boring and samey."

Rarity glared at the unamused pegasus.

"Well, how about that for a change of pace?" Spike pointed to a grassy opening surrounded by larger buildings.

In the middle of the open spot was a small, yellow and red house with a moving truck parked against the curb. The ponies and dragon noticed two humans carrying furniture into the truck.

"Well, if the portal brought us here, then there's got to be something going on in that house,” Twilight said.

"Must be. That place sticks out like a sore hoof,” Applejack said.

"Well, let's head over there, then.” Rainbow zipped over to the property.

The rest of the Mane 7 followed after the pegasus and headed over to the house.

Meanwhile, inside, a woman made her way downstairs with her purse.

"Are you almost finished?" she asked to the moving guys.

"Just about,” one of them said.

"Don't forget the love seat." She made her way out through the door.

"We got it." The two guys heaved the seat up and hauled it away.

"And please hurry. It's a long drive to our new house.”

In the now, vacant living room, a light grey housecat was sound asleep against his pillow. A food bowl with the word "TOM" printed on it lay next to him.

"Tom? Thomas!" the lady called.

The cat, not wanting to wake up, mashed his pillow against his hear to drown out the calls.

"Hurry up, Tom. We're leaving,” the lady ushered.

That woke the cat up. Tom realized it was moving day and, with a gleeful smile, grabbed his pillow and flipped the bowl onto his head. He hurried out of the house. As he rushed by the flight of stairs, a tiny door in the wall opened up and a little, brown mouse poked his head out. He, too, realized it was moving day. He took a handbag and a blanket and chased after Tom.

The house cat nearly leapt across the front porch, almost colliding with Rainbow in the process. The two stepped back in surprise.

"Hey, watch where you're going!” the pegasus snapped.

Tom just looked at her with a quizzical, yet weirded-out look. He noticed the other ponies and purple dragon, too.

"Oh, it's a cat," Fluttershy was pleasantly surprised. "That's...standing upright."

Despite the oddity, she came up to him to say hello.

"Hi, there. I'm Fluttershy." She presented her hoof out.

Tom looked around in confusion, not entirely sure how to go about this. Hesitantly, he took out his paw and shook the pony's hoof.

"And I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight greeted. "And for the sake of transparency, these are our friends Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike."

Various greetings came around from the others.

"And who may your name be?" Rarity asked.

Tom didn't respond. He remained mute.

"...Usually, anypony would introduce themselves when asked what their name is."

"Oh, oh. Maybe it's speaking telepathically,” Pinkie said excitedly.

"That’s ridiculous, Pinkie, even in a different world,” Twilight quickly shot that idea down. “Even then, I don't sense any sort of magic from this guy. Do you know what he's saying, Fluttershy."

"Uhm...no, because he's not saying anything at all. I can't translate him if he doesn't say anything,” Fluttershy responded. "I'm sorry."

Tom gave an impatient eyeroll and ran off toward the family-owned station wagon.

"Hmph. Rude,” Rarity huffed.

Tom dropped his belongings into the back of the car. He fluffed up his pillow and laid down against it, prepared for the relaxing journey to his new home. The Mane 7 came up to the back of the car.

"It was awkward 'nough that Shaun couldn't directly speak to us,” Applejack stated. "But, this fellow ain't even movin' his lips period."

"Maybe he's just mute,” Twilight said.

"But, wouldn’t he communicate in like sign language or something if that was the case? Spike said.

“Or maybe he’s just an animal that can’t understand us at all,” Rainbow flatly hypothesized.

“Well, animals back on our world can understand Fluttershy,” Rarity argued.

“Exactly. Our world. It’s obvious the rules in our world don’t apply to this one.”

As Tom lounged in the back, he noticed a tiny handbag and blanket fly up to the edge of the trunk. Soon after, his bitter enemy, Jerry Mouse, climbed up into the trunk. The Mane 7 noticed him, too. Fluttershy got closer to him, adoring the small rodent.

"Hello, little guy,” she said sweetly.

Jerry stepped back a bit. He looked at Fluttershy then to Tom, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Waaahhh! A mouse!" Rarity shrieked.

She jumped into the air from fright and landed on Spike, who instinctively held out his hands to catch her. She landed in his arms, which caused Spike to strain to keep from dropping her.

"Oh, thank you, Spike,” she thanked.

"No problem," Spike strained, a blush forming on his face.

"But, get that mouse away from me!"

Jerry just gave her a sideways glare, before redirecting his attention to his belongings. As he did so, Tom looked around the boxes of supplies in the car to get rid of Jerry. Not out of Rarity's request, but because he couldn't stand that mouse. For as long as they knew each other, Tom and Jerry were bitter enemies, constantly feuding with each other. Always trying to one-up each other in screwing over each other's lives. Tom spotted a cue stick and grabbed. This would do nicely. Taking the end of it, he slowly maneuvered it underneath Jerry. He lifted the stick, taking the mouse by surprise.

"Um, Mr. Cat, what are you doing?" Spike asked as he watched the spectacle.

Tom held the stick upright, forcing Jerry up onto it. The mouse held the stick to keep from falling. He brought the mouse right up to his nose and glared at him. Jerry flashed an innocent smile, but Tom wasn't having any of it. The grey pussycat pulled the end of the cue stick back to send Jerry flying. At the last second, however, Jerry grabbed ahold of Tom's whisker just before launch. Before Tom realized, he had already let go of the stick. Jerry was catapulted away, but since he was still grasping the cat's whiskers, Tom was pulled along with him.

The Mane 6 and Spike watched as the cat and mouse and sailed across the sky. Jerry was the first to land on the sidewalk. He bounced along the concrete before coming to a stop. He held his head in discomfort and looked up, spotting Tom about to land right on top of him. He tried to get out of the way, but there wasn't enough time. Tom slammed to the ground on top of the mouse. He grinded to a halt against the sidewalk. The impact somehow landed Jerry on top of Tom. Taking the opportunity, he scurried back inside the house, trampling over Tom's head in the process.

Jerry frantically clambered up the stairs to the front door and Tom was soon to chase after him with the same cartoonish vigor. All the while, the Main 6 and Spike watched.

"Pff. Bah, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Rainbow laughed hysterically. "Those two are hilarious."

"You know, I can understand the whole feuding thing, kind of. Cats are the natural predator to mice," Twilight said. "But, I was expecting him to either kill the mouse or eat it and not flick it away with a stick."

"Well, as long as the mouse is away from us," Rarity sighed.

"Rarity, that mouse was more civil than some ponies,” Fluttershy defended. "It even had a handbag."

“And it was adorable,” Pinkie added.

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but I just don't like mice,” Rarity said.

"I ain't a fan of mice, either," Applejack added. "But, even ah know this is downright ridiculous."

"Let's just follow to see if they're okay,” Twilight sighed.

"Do we have to? I'd rather not be near that mouse,”" Rarity whined.

Just then, the car revved up and began pulling away along with the moving truck.

"Hey, Mr. Cat. Mr. Mousie, you're owner's leaving,” Pinkie called out, hopping to the front door.

"Now we should really notify them,” Twilight spoke with a more urgent tone.

The Mane 7 all galloped inside the house to find the cat and mouse. Inside, Jerry skittered inside his hole, closing and locking the door. Tom was soon to arrive there. While Jerry was now cooped up in his home, that wasn't enough for Tom. He needed to make sure that mouse never got out ever again. As Jerry finished putting up all the locks on his doors, he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away the sweat off his forehead. Suddenly, his entire home began to shake. Tom began hammering wooden boards against Jerry's door to keep him permanently locked up. The Mane 7 soon came up to the spectacle.

"Mr. Cat, what in Equestria are you doing?!" Fluttershy asked in horror.

Tom didn't reply as he finished nailing to remaining board to the wall.

"You're pretty much deadlockin' to poor thing inside it's home!" Applejack scolded.

"How could you do something so cruel?" Fluttershy got right up to Tom's face.

Tom, however, wasn't really intimidated. He tossed the hammer away and nonchalantly left the house to get back to the car.

"And you're just gonna brush off the fact that you left that mouse to starve?" Twilight asked in disgust. "That's inhumane!"

"Come on, we have to get the little mouse out of there." Fluttershy began trying to pry the boards out of the wall.

The rest of the Main 6 and Spike all began trying to remove the wood boards. Even Rarity despite the fact he didn't even like the mouse.

"Hold on. Maybe I can try burning the wood away,” Spike suggested.

"And risk burning the entire house down, too?" Twilight questioned him.

"Oh...yeah. Fair point.”

Meanwhile, Tom exited the house, feeling rather pleased with himself. That was, until he noticed that his owner's car was gone.

"Oh, yeah. We were going to tell you that your owner was leaving you," Pinkie walked up alongside the cat. "Buuut, we kinda got distracted with the whole mousie situation."

The shocked house cat ran into the road. He looked around the street before spotting the moving truck and his owner's car rounding a corner and disappearing behind the buildings.

"Heh, that's your karma," Rainbow smirked.

Tom glared at the mare. He shook away the impolite thoughts and frantically ran down the street to catch up to the car.

"Hey, Mr. Cat! Wait up!" Pinkie hopped after him.

"Pinkie, wait!" Rainbow called at to her. "Ugh, why am I always the one who as to fetch her."

Tom raced around the corner as Pinkie chased after him. He didn't get very far as he found himself trying to stop and bumping into a large stray dog on the sidewalk. Pinkie wasn't watching where she was going and crashed into Tom and Rainbow was flying too fast to stop and crashed into them. The dog growled maliciously at the cat and two mares, baring it's razor sharp teeth.

"Hi, there,” Pinkie greeted cheerfully.

"Agh, you got bad breath,” Rainbow winced in disgust.

Tom gulped. He knew he was in some serious trouble now. He grabbed the dog's floppy ears and tied them around it's eyes, giving him enough time to make a run for it.

"Oo, oo! Can you do that with my ears?” Pinkie grasped her ears, watching as Tom ran away.

"Forget that. We need to get out of here before we get eaten!" Rainbow took the pink mare by the midsection and shot off down the street.

The dog was quick to shake his ears away from his eyes. he growled and barked angrily and gave chase to the three. Tom, Pinkie, and Rainbow rocketed back to the house, only to discover the door was now shut. Tom pulled at the door handle, but the door didn't budge.

"Did you girls close the door on us?" Rainbow yelled.

"Sorry, Rainbow, we didn't want to be rude and leave the door open,” Rarity said.

"Nopony lives here anymore. There's no point to that! Besides, we have a serious issue right now."

"I know. The poor mouse is still stuck,” Fluttershy said woefully.

"No, not that!" Rainbow yelled. "We've got another situation now."

"What? What's going on?" Spike asked.

"Uh, Dashie,” Pinkie pointed to the sidewalk.

The dog was right there, racing toward them with a furious vengeance.

"Uh, oh,” the vigilant mare said.

Tom let out a shriek and raced around the house.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Rainbow and Pinkie galloped after him.

Around the back was second door with a pet door installed, which led to the kitchen area. Tom and Pinkie tried crawling through, but ending up getting stuck.

"Dashie, a little help!" Pinkie cried.

"Pinkie, what'n tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack asked as she and the others.

Rainbow soon burst through the pet door, pushing Tom and Pinkie through in the process.

"There's a dog out there!" Rainbow warned frantically

"A dog? Ya seriously scared of lil ol' mutt, Dash?" The apple farmer asked jokingly.

"Yeah, what's gotten into you two?" Twilight asked.

"There's nothing little about that dog." Pinkie waved her hooves. "It was like this big and had these nasty teeth."

Curious, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike all tried looking out through the pet door. Using her magic, Twilight opened the flap to view outside. Soon as she did so, the massive hound dashed right up to the pet door and started barking furiously. The only thing keeping it from entering was it's size.

"Eeep!" Fluttershy shrieked.

The four mares and dragon all slid back and fear.

"That's one big dog,” Spike shook.

"See,” Rainbow glared at her friends.

"Well, now what do we do?" Rarity asked helplessly.

"Try the front door again," Twilight said.

Tom, along with Rainbow and Applejack immediately raced up to the front door and tried exiting from there. Tom opened the door, but, somehow, the dog was right there, still barking wildly. Tom quickly slammed the door shut.

"How did he get there so quickly?" Rainbow asked incredulously.

Spike then tried peaking out through the pet door again. The dog was there again, still barking. He jumped back in fright.

"It's like it knows where we're trying to escape, somehow." He hid behind Twilight's hindlegs.

Tom then raced up to a window. He opened it, but, once again, the dog was there, jumping and barking. Tom let out a shrieking meow and slammed the window shut.

"It's bad enough were stuck in a vacant home now. And now we're being stalked by dogzilla over here." Rainbow stomped her hoof in annoyance.

Everypony, relax," Twilight said loudly. "There's got to be a way around this."

"Let's try being sneaky.” Pinkie dipped down onto her belly. "See if he can try to track us down now."

"How much good is that going to do?" Rainbow asked. "That thing’s practically a psychic. It knows where we are it all times."

"It's worth a shot. At this point, anything is worth a shot,” Rarity said.

The Mane 6, Spike, and Tom all laid low, out of sight from the windows. Tom then stopped as he noticed the dog's ears poking over the windowsill.

"Is the coast clear?" Spike whispered.

The grey cat slowly peaked his head to the a window to see. At the same time, the dog peaked it's head to the same window. For a split second, the two mammals locked eyes for a fraction of a second, then Tom swung away from the window, standing flat against the wall. He wore a lost looked on his face.

"Can't you just magic it away, Twilight?" Rainbow pushed.

"But, I don't know what kind of effect it will have on the dog,” Twilight debated. "Plus, I don't want to hurt the thing."

"That thing wants to hurt us!" Rarity argued desperately.

"Fine. Fluttershy, try scaring it away with you Stare,” Rainbow ordered.

"W-Wh-What?" Fluttershy said feebly. "I-I don't know if I can do that."

"Come on, Fluttershy, you’re our only hope." Spike begged

The nervous mare debated whether she should do so or not. She gulped and peaked through the window. The dog was still there. It flashed it's sharp teeth at her. Fluttershy quivered, but closed her eyes and inhaled. She glared at the muscular mutt with her Stare. The dog moved back a bit, slightly taken aback. However, it started barking angrily again, even clawing at the window. This startled Fluttershy badly, and she let out panicked cry. She jumped away from the window and landed on her rump.

"I-I-I d-don't think it w-worked."

Rainbow let out a frustration grain. "Great. Now we're stuck here for who knows how long.”

"Don't worry to much, Rainbow. I'm sure it will get bored and leave eventually,” Twilight came up to the cyan pegasus. "Until then, we can just stay here until it loses interest."

Rainbow gave a heavy sigh, then looked at Tom.

"This is also your karma."

Tom glared back at her and walked away.

"Let's not make the atmosphere any more tense, now, darling. I'm sure that slobbering scoundrel will leave soon," Rarity comforted.

And so, the Mane 6, Spike, and Tom all waited for the dog to leave. The dog showed no interest in leaving, constantly prowling around the house's parameters. As their patience began to where thin, the sun was slowly starting to disappear behind the towering, city buildings. Day turned to dusk and dusk turned to night. The tired group were still stuck in the vacant house, moping around the pitch black rooms. Twilight looked through one of the windows and noticed the dog had gone to sleep right at the front entrance.

"Didn't know "eventually" meant taking this long," Rainbow hissed.

The purple alicorn gave a tired sigh. Seeing how dark it became, perhaps getting some rest would calm their situation.

"Let's just try and get some sleep. Maybe the dog will be gone by tomorrow,” she suggested

"Yeah, and when it hasn't, we'll spend the entire next day stuck in here,” Rainbow pouted.

"I understand your frustrations, darling, but Twilight makes a good point,” Rarity pointed out. “It's awfully dark outside. The least we can do is try and get some rest."

Pinkie then let out a gasp. “Sleepover party!”

“How about just a sleepover, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “I don’t now is a good time for the party stuff.”

The pink, party mare put a hoof up to a chin. She thought hard over her friend’s suggestion.

“Sure, we can do that,” Pinkie waved her hooves around.

Tom seemed to share the same idea. He walked up to a box of miscellaneous objects. A sofa cushion lay against it. He took it and fluffed it out before laying it on the floor. He laid on top of it, trying to get comfortable.

"Hey, don't hog that all to yourself,” Rainbow climb over the pussycat and lied on top of him.

"Pardon me, but a lady, such as myself, should not designate herself to sleeping on a dusty, old floor.” Rarity pushed Rainbow to make room for herself. “Move over, please.”

"Hey," Rainbow pushed back.

Soon, the rest of the Mane 7 were fighting over the cushion in attempt to get comfortable.

"Your hooves are cold,” Spike muttered.

"Stop shovin' so hard,” Applejack complained.

"Hey, my wings,” Twilight protested.

"Umm, excuse me, please," Fluttershy said softly.

Eventually, the group were able to get as comfortable as they could get.

"Goodnight, everypony,” Pinkie said.

"Goodnight,” the others sighed.

Before they could properly go to sleep, one of the cushion springs burst from the fabric. It wobbled about, making the cushion even my uncomfortable. A round of groans aroused from the group.

"Oh, come on,” Rainbow griped.

"Ugh, I hate this place,” Rarity said bitterly.

Tom internally grumbled to himself and laid his head on the spring.

"Goodnight, everypony,” Twilight muttered.

The others, at this point, were too exhausted to respond. Despite the undesirable conditions, the Mane 6, Spike, and Tom all managed to fall asleep. A cacophony of snores echoed throughout the empty household. Hopefully, tomorrow might be a better day.

To be continued

Part 3: Out of House and Home

That night was wrought with uncorrectable discomfort for the Mane 6, Spike, and Tom. Eventually the night sky began to brighten and the next day's sunlight began bleeding out between the massive buildings. Unbeknownst to them all, things were about to take a turn for the worst. The mutt from yesterday was slumbering on the house's front porch, dreamily thinking of all the ways he could hurt the pussycat, ponies, and weird-looking lizard. Suddenly, a large shadow began looming over the front of the house. The dog startled awake and, upon seeing what was creating the dark shadow, yelped and scampered away in fear.

Inside, Spike was awoken by a distinct, yet odd sound. Wiping away the sleep from his eyes, he began to register it in his head. It sounded like a mix between a growl and a rumble. Like something big and angry was heading towards them. It was then followed up by a short hiss. Many horrifying thoughts raced in Spike's mind. Whatever was making that noise, certainly didn't sound friendly. Now fearing the worst, he quickly woke Twilight up.

"Twilight. Twilight, wake up,” he nudged the sleeping alicorn.

Begrudgingly, Twilight eventually awoke. Though she wasn't exactly appreciative of the fact.

"What is it, Spike?" She grumbled.

Upon seeing Spike's worried expression, her mood softened.

"There's something going on outside. Don't you hear that noise?" the dragon's voice was laced with fear and worry.

Twilight paused for a second to listen. There was indeed a strange noise, but she couldn't discern what was making it.

"I hear it, but I don't know-"

Before she could finish, a giant, black ball crashed through the walls, missing the group by inches. The deafening crash woke the rest up as they were showered in dust and splintered wood.

"What'n tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack asked, sounding upset and startled.

"And what in Equestria is that!?" Rarity looked through the new hole in the wall.

From there vantage point, they saw a massive...thing just beyond the property line. It was big and yellow and had a massive set of, what vaguely resembled, wheels. At the front was a large, blade-like structure attached to it.

"I...I've never seen anything like this,” Twilight was at a complete loss of words.

"But, why is it attacking us?" Rarity asked. "What did we ever do to it."

Pinkie poked her head out through the gaping hole.

"Hi! Why are you attacking us?"

"Girls, duck!" Rainbow called out.

"Duck? That's one weird looking duck,” Pinkie said.

The protective pegasus pulled her down to the ground. The others were also able to duck at the last second as the giant ball smashed back out through the walls with another deafening crash. The new hole revealed another, even larger, thing. This time, instead of the weird blade, a massive tower fixture was attached to it, which connected the ball with a chain. The larger contraption whirred and rumbled as it begun to swing the giant ball back, then swung it forward back at the house.

"This has to be a nightmare! Oh, Luna, please tell me this is a nightmare,” Rarity covered her eyes, scared beyond imagination.

Tom opened the door and saw the ball careening right for them. He let out a wail and ducked flat to the floor.

"Incomin'!" Applejack yelled.

The ponies and dragon hit the deck just as the ball tore through the house a second time. Inside Jerry's hole, he was awoken out of bed when the entire building shook violently from the unknown impact. Jerry quickly ran to his door and opened all the locks. He opened the door, but found it completely boarded up. He pounded on the wood, knowing it was his only way of escape.

Tom, the Mane 6, and Spike all galloped out of the destroyed house to get away from the carnage. Tom, then suddenly stopped and looked back toward the house. The others took notice.

"Tom, we need to leave. The house is being destroyed,” Twilight tried to usher the cat away.

"What's even gotten into you?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy looked at the house. Then, the realization hit her.

"The mouse!" she practically screamed.

Tom ran back into the house. Fluttershy chased after him despite the others' protest.

"Fluttershy, don't! It's too dangerous!" Rarity shouted, fearful for her friend.

"Forget it, Flutters. He's a lost cause," Rainbow added.

The determined pegasus wasn't listening. She followed Tom back inside the shredded house. From there, they pried the wood boards off the wall. Tom dove his hand into the hole to get Jerry. At the same time, the massive machine outside swung the giant ball back, then toward the house again. Tom pulled his hand out, revealing Jerry. Fluttershy sighed with relief.

"Oh, thank goodness."

"FLUTTERSHY!" several voices screeched.

The metal ball smashed through the house, taking Tom, Jerry, and Fluttershy with it. The rest of the Mane 7 watched in horror as the three were swung high into the air with the metal ball. Fluttershy was, understandably, afraid, but more amazed of the fact that she was unhurt. The ball reached the apex of it's swing right in front of a massive tree. Tom was able to grab a branch to keep from falling. He still held Jerry in his hand, while Fluttershy clung to him, forgetting that she could fly.

"Are you two all right?" she asked, still a bit stunned.

The cat and mouse nodded, but the attention soon turned to the house. One by one, the broken walls collapsed and fell over. The last thing to go was the stone chimney, which crumbled and collapsed on top of the rest of the destroyed home. Fluttershy instinctively flapped her wings and grabbed Tom. She slowly descended back down to the ground, not taking her eyes off the demolished building. As she landed, her friends galloped over to her.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?" Twilight asked, distraught.

"Are you hurt? How many hooves am I holding up?" Rainbow asked, sounding the most concerned.

"One, Rainbow Dash. Really, girls, I'm okay,” the yellow pegasus looked over her body, surprised to see no noticeable injuries. "...Surprisingly."

"Flutters, ah understand you wanted to help save the mouse and all. But that was the craziest thing I've seen ya do," Applejack said compassionately. "And that ain't in a good way."

"I know, Applejack, but I just couldn't bear to see the poor mouse hurt or killed.”

"Well, as long as you're A-OK,” Pinkie cheered the mare up.

"I am, but..." Fluttershy's expression grew dispirited. "The cat and mouse's home."

The others looked back at the destroyed house. Tom and Jerry stood there, taking in the fact that their old home had become a smoldering pile of lumber and rubble. They were now homeless, strays on the street. Tom gave a sad sigh while Jerry began to shed a few tears. The Main 6 and Spike came up to them for comfort.

"Oh, dear. I-I'm so sorry, darlings," Rarity said woefully.

"Yeah, that's absolutely horrible,” Spike added.

"I swear, I'm going to make those things that destroyed their house sorry,” Rainbow growled.

"As justifiable as that is, Rainbow. That won't give the cat and mouse their home back,” Twilight said sadly.

"But...But they.”

Rainbow sighed and dipped her head down in defeat, understanding the unfortunate facts and truth.

"What do we do now?" the baby dragon asked.

By this point, Tom had began to walk down the street, deeper into the city.

"Ah suppose we should follow 'im,” Applejack suggested. "At least keep him safe until he finds a new home."

"That's probably the only thing we can do,” Twilight agreed.

Jerry noticed Tom walking away and quickly followed after him. The ponies and dragon followed, too. As Jerry rounded a corner, he stopped upon noticing Tom glaring down at him.

"Hey, what's going on now?" Twilight asked.

Tom simply pointed in the opposite direction while looking down at Jerry, insinuating him to leave him alone. The mouse pointed at himself, as if to ask the cat if he was referring to him. Tom remained adamant. Jerry just sighed and slowly walked back around the corner.

"Are you saying you want us to leave, too?" Pinkie asked, sounded upset. "I thought we were friends."

Tom shrugged, as if to say he was fine with them staying.

"Oh, so you're fine with us, but not with the mouse?" Rainbow asked angrily. "I get it, you two are like natural enemies or something, but he's going through the same turmoil as you are."

The grey pussycat just rolled his eyes dismissively. The Mane 7 all glared at him

"I swear you can be a real jerk sometimes,” the cyan pegasus grumbled.

"Darn tootin',” Applejack agreed.

"Plus, who knows what kind of dangers could be in this city,” Twilight added.

"Twilight, dear, don't you think you're being a bit paranoid?" Rarity asked jovially.

Just before they were about to cross the street, a giant freight truck thundered by, mere inches away from them. The sudden rush put them all in a stunned stupor.

"Actually, Rarity, I don't,” Twilight said a little dizzily.

"Let's try goin' a different direction,” the farm pony suggested, shaking away the daze.

The group continued, this time down the street instead of attempting to cross it. As the left, Jerry peaked around the corner. Fluttershy and Pinkie looked back and noticed him. Before Pinkie, could blurt something out, Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof. She waved Jerry over, stilling walking. Jerry followed after them, quietly, every so often ducking behind something to keep Tom for spotting him.

The group stopped at a traffic crossing. Tom eyed the traffic light which showed red for adjacent traffic.

"At least they have the decency of having traffic signals for these things,” Twilight glowered at the vehicles.

The traffic light turned red for opposite traffic, allowing safe crossing for the group. They casually crossed, while Jerry scurried across to catch up. When he finally did, he jumped onto Fluttershy's back.

"We'll keep you with us,” she smiled.

Jerry smiled back. As the group continued down the street, they stumbled across a restaurant. Tom stopped and looked through the menu items on display through the window.

"You know, that actually brings up another issue,” Applejack said. "How exactly are we gonna find food?"

"Uh, hello? We’re standing in front of a restaurant,” Rainbow pointed out.

"Have you looked at the menu items displayed?" Twilight pointed at the window.

The display selection consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, a plate of meat and potatoes, and a fish tray, which Tom was licking his lips over. They all had one thing in common; they all had meat.

"Oh, I see now,” Rainbow said. "What is it with every...creature eating meat. It's like we're the only ones who don't."

"Even if we were, how would we pay?" Rarity questioned. "As far as I'm aware, we didn't take our bits with us."

"And since this is another world, I doubt they'd accept our currency, anyways," Twilight added.

"Oh, maybe there's bakery nearby. I've been craving something sweet since we got here,” Pinkie’s stomach growled.

As the Main 7 began discussing their limited options for nourishment, Tom casually walked inside the restaurant.

"So, are we just going to wait until he comes back out…or..? Spike asked.

His question would be swiftly answered when Tom was kicked out of the restaurant by the manager and thrown to the curb.

"Hey, beat it! No cats allowed!" the manager yelled.

"Never mind."

Jerry, who was now beside Tom, began to laugh uncontrollably. Tom dusted himself with a mocking smile, then glared at the mouse. He pointed back down the street. Jerry took the hint and fled. Fluttershy had something to say about that.

"For goodness sake, could you not, at least, tolerate him,” Fluttershy stomped right up to the cat. "I swear, you need to learn how to get along with others. And another thing, if you hate that poor mouse so much, we did you even bother to save him in the first place?"

There was a stunned silence as the mare and cat locked eyes and rest of the Mane 7 stood in complete shock. Nobody, especially Fluttershy’s friends, expected the pegasus to scornfully snap like that. The charged atmosphere was ruined when a street cleaner drove by, dousing the entire group in water. The group was now drenched, still standing with varying expressions of anger and annoyance. Pinkie, of course, being the exception.

"Oh, well. I've been needing a shower anyway,” she giggled.

"That's gross, Pinkie," Rainbow wiped her soaked bangs away from her scarlet eyes.

Rarity let in a deep inhale and was about to let out a scream of despair and frustration, but the cyan pegasus quickly shoved her hoof into the fashionista's mouth.

"Don't. Just don't,” she grumbled.

"They last thing we need is to draw unwanted attention to ourselves," Twilight said.

Rarity let a huff through her nose. Rainbow removed her hoof.

"I hate this place,” the soiled mare said through gritted teeth.

The ponies, cat, and dragon shook themselves to rid all the excess water, though it did little to help with their soaked bodies. Despite that, they continued down the street, but they didn't walk far when they came across an grimy, old alleyway. Tom stopped at the entrance. He knew Jerry was following him despite him making the mouse leave. He jumped behind the alley wall and looked back down the street. No mouse in sight. Proud of himself, he marched down the alley.

"You want to go down there?" Twilight asked with slight discomfort. "It's a dead end. There's nothing in this alley that could even help us."

"Not mention you're not making us go down such a musty, disgusting place to begin with," Rarity repulsed.

That's when Jerry showed up again, right next to the alabaster unicorn. Rarity looked down and saw the little, brown mouse. She shrieked and leapt up into the air, landing on top of Twilight.

"Augh! Rarity, what the hay?" Twilight struggled to stay standing.

Oh. I'm terribly sorry, Twilight."

The flustered unicorn got off the alicorn, an embarrassed blush radiating on her face.

"Honestly, Rares, you’re gonna have'ta get over that fear of yer's seein' as how we're gonna be stuck with 'im and the cat for this mission," Applejack said.

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to be buddy-buddy with a pest."

Jerry followed after Tom. A bit too closely, though. When Tom came to a stop, Jerry bumped into his legs. Tom already knew who it was. He bent over and peered between his legs to see his foe with an innocent smile. The former housecat snarled. He grabbed a bucket sitting nearby and slammed it on top of the mouse. There was a hole at it's bottom, allowing Jerry to poke his head out and blow a raspberry at Tom. The cat retaliated by stick his finger into the hole, forcing Jerry back in.

"This feuding is really starting to get old now," Spike grumbled.

"No kidding," Rainbow agreed.

"Why can't they learn to just get along,” Fluttershy gave a sad sigh.

"Well, well, well. Look at the big, brave pussycat,” a voice said from the shadows.

"Yeah, picking on a teensy-weensy mousie,” another voice said.

"Who was that? Show yourself,” Rainbow spoke defensively.

Startled, the group looked over to the corner of the alleyway. A run-down, old-fashioned car sat in to the dark. A scruffy-looking figure sat in the seat.

"He'll feel guilty for this for the rest of his days."

The figure turned out to be a shaggy-looking dog wearing a bright, blue shirt and cap, a purple vest, along with a lavender scarf. He walked up to the group. Twilight and friends immediately got defensive.

"Hey, back off!" Twilight demanded.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you,” the dog said kindly. "It's your first time out in the cold, right?"

"Oh...Yeah, I suppose," Rarity said.

The others nodded.

"And, instead of being pals, you're fighting like a cat and a mouse and driving your friends crazy."

"They are a cat and a mouse, Puggsy,” the second, mystery voice said.

"Are we talking to a ghost?" Pinkie gasped.

"True, Frankie. But, they got learn to be pals or they ain't gonna make it out here." The dog ignored the mare’s question, looking down at his finger. "True, too?"

"All too true, too,” a flea, wearing a green flannel shirt and hat, a yellow scarf, and a pair of glasses, hopped out of the dog's finger and onto his muzzle. "Frankie de Flea is the name. I'm of French extraction."

He bowed, taking his hat off as a polite gesture.

"That just means before he met me, he lived on a poodle,” The dog chuckled. "I've been on the streets two years now. My owners left me behind when they moved."

"Really? Their owners left them when they moved, too,” Twilight pointed to the cat and mouse.

“Small world, isn't it?" The dog chuckled again.

“It is, after all,” Pinkie said cheerfully.

"Okay, so we now know Frankie, but, who are you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, of course. Where are my manners?" the dog said to himself. "The name is Puggsy. What's yours?"

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. But, just call me Twilight."

"Name's Applejack. Pleased to mee ya."

"I'm Rarity."

"The name's Rainbow Dash."

"Hi-ya, I'm Pinkie Pie! I like to bake cookies, and cupcakes, and..."

Twilight cut the mare off with her hoof.

"I'm Spike."

"I-I'm Fluttershy."

"I'm Tom."

"I'm Jerry."

There was a moment of silence, but the realization was quick. The Mane 6 and Spike stared at Tom and Jerry with shock and disbelief. The cat and mouse looked at each other you shock.

"You talked!?" the group all said.

"You could speak the entire time!?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"Well, sure I talk. What do you think I am, a dummy?" Tom asked harshly.

"You said it, I didn't," Jerry retorted.

"It would've been nice ta talk ta us when we first met." Applejack reprimanded.

"Yeah, like...are you kidding me? We had to assume you guys couldn't talk,” Rainbow fumed. “Only for you to actually do it now. That's messed up."

"Hey, we barely know you anyways. I'm a pretty conserved mouse,” Jerry said."

"That doesn’t mean you can refuse talking to us,” Rarity said. “Not only is it impolite, it's outright rude. You could've at least told us your names."

"I could've used that time to make a greeting party for you,” Pinkie whined. "Time is of the essence, people!"

"Ah, you little pip-squeak. I ought to..." Tom paused. "Hey! How come you never spoke before?"

He bent over closer to the mouse.

"That's something we'd like to now, ourselves." Twilight said angrily.

"Well, there was nothing I wanted to say that I thought I'd understand,” Jerry replied smugly. "And there still isn't!"

"All right, that does it, you little..." Tom seethed and snatched the mouse in his hand. "Boy, you get me angry."

"Wow, calm down there, cat,” Applejack said.

"It's Tom,” he growled.

"Ah, ah, ah. I told you before. You guys have got to learn to be friends," Puggsy took Jerry out of Tom's hand.

"That's basically what we've been trying to tell them the entire time," Spike said.

"Abso-tiva-lutely,” Frankie back onto Puggsy’s cap. “Puggsy and your friends are right. Just look at us. Puggsy and me's been through thick and thin."

"And thin and thinner,” the alley dog added.

"You gotta fight to survive. It's a dog-eat-dog world,” the flea said.

Fluttershy gasped in horror.

"W-Wh-What?"

"Uh, that is not me favorite expression, Frankie," Puggsy said.

"Sorry," Frankie patted the scruffy dog. "Puggsy's right, fellas. Listen."

"Well, what do you say, fellas?" Puggsy proposed, propping Jerry onto the beat-up car's bumper.

The mouse held out his hand with a smile. Jerry was willing to put the feuding aside and become friends. But, Tom wasn't so keen on the idea.

"A cat and a mouse? Friends?" he asked distastefully. "That's disgusting. No way."

"Wait, what? Are you serious?" Rainbow asked incredulously.

"That goes double for me,” Jerry turned and crossed his arms.

"We literally sang a whole song about the importance of friendship,” Twilight argued. "And yet, you still turn down the opportunity?"

"Yes. It goes against nature," Tom replied.

"Oh, nature, shmature," Pinkie said. "That shouldn't stop you."

"Well, can't say we didn't warn you. True, Frankie?" Puggsy said.

"True too!" Frankie answered.

"Please, you two. There's got to be something that can change your minds,” Fluttershy pleaded.

"Yeah, like I said, this feuding thing is getting old," Spike agreed.

"How long have you two known each other?" Twilight asked.

"Years,” Tom answered vaguely.

"52 to be exact. You two showed up on the big screen all the way back in the 1940's." Pinkie said happily.

Everyone gave weird and confused looks at the party pony.

"Pinkie, what are you talking about?" Rainbow asked.

"I doubt it's been that long,” Jerry said. "We're not that old."

"Eh, depends on the writer," Pinkie shrugged.

There came a long, awkward silence. Puggsy decided to steer the conversation somewhere else.

"Hey, maybe what you all need is a bite to eat."

"You know, I do feel a bit peckish,” Rarity admitted.

"Do you have a place in mind, Puggsy?" Twilight asked.

"Sure do,” the shaggy mutt pushed aside a broken board to a fence and climbed through the opening. "Follow me. Tonight we dine al fresco."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Rarity hummed.

"Oh, boy! We eat!" Jerry jumped off the pile of junk and skittered for the fence.

"Not you, mouse," Tom grabbed his tail and pulled him back.

He placed a pot over Jerry. He popped his head through the hole, but Tom plugged it up with a cork.

"Wow, you really are petty. aren't you?" Rainbow asked, sounding annoyed.

"It's my charm," Tom sarcastically grinned and made his way over to the fence.

"Hey! Hey, let me out of here, you stupid fraidy cat!" Jerry yelled from within the pot. "C'mon! Let me out of here!"

"We'll let you out, Jerry," Applejack said calmly.

"Don't." Tom turned back, glaring at the ponies and dragon. "At least not until I'm long gone."

Twilight and Applejack let out frustrated groans looked at each other. They both shared the same unspoken sentiment.

”This really is going to be a long mission.”

"Hey, how you doing in there?" Pinkie nudged the pot with her muzzle.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Jerry asked crossly. "I swear, I'm gonna turn that cat into dog chow when I get out of here!"

Jerry began to push the pot forward and follow after the pussycat.

"Come on. It's dark in here. Come back here, Tom, you chicken."

"We're in for another long night," the young princess sighed.

"Wait, it's night already?" Fluttershy looked up to see the starry night sky. "Time travels fast."

"Yeah, especially when you're stuck with two animals that do nothing but argue and fight," Rainbow said flatly.

"Let's just follow Puggsy and Frankie to the eating area,” Rarity said. "Maybe a meal is what we need."

A meal won't be the only thing the Mane 6, Spike, Tom, and Jerry will come across tonight. And it will bring them into a brand new load of problems and objectives.

"But, let's save that for next chapter."

Agreed, Pinkie. Agreed.

...

Wait, Pinkie?! What have I told you about breaking the fourth wall?

"Mmmm. I don't remember."

Ugh, nevermind. This chapter's gone on long enough.

To be continued

Part 4: Thugs and Orphans

While, the whole situation of trying to get Tom and Jerry to be friends ended up being a frustrating failure, at least they could move onto a different priority for the time being. Puggsy had kept his word of finding a place to eat, much to the others' alleviation. The stray dog began fishing out food from several garbage cans that lined the walls of the alleyway, humming a tune.

"Hey, look. Chunky tuna,” Puggsy showed the half-empty can to his flea friend.

"Come on, Puggsy, speed it up. I'm starving,” Frankie stated.

"Psst. Hey, Puggsy,” Tom called out quietly through the fence.

"I thought you said you knew a place to eat,” Twilight said.

"This is it,” Puggsy proudly announced, holding up the lid of hand-picked, garbage food." Pull up a tray, everybody. It's chow time."

The Mane 6 and Spike stared at him with disgust and disbelief.

"Yo-...You mean you were referring to the garbage cans?" the appalled alicorn asked.

"Yeah. A trash can smorgasbord,” Frankie replied happily, hopping down onto the lid of food." Delicious."

Tom licked his lips hungrily, but the others were conveyed the complete opposite.

"Those two have to be joking, right?" Spike turned to Applejack.

The country mare shook her head in repulsion.

"...Ah...Don't think they are, Spike,”

"Ugh, this is a new low,” Rainbow withheld the urge to vomit.

"Twilight, if you could so kind as to make an another portal to get us out of this world, please,” Rarity said sweetly, but her tone held a great deal of disgust.

Twilight did a double-take at her friend's request.

"...I...I don't know if I can do that. We've only been able to leave until after a mission is complete."

"Well, then please find a way around it,” Rarity now sounded more irritated. "This place has been nothing, but disappointment after disappointment."

"Ah thing yer overreactin' bit there, Rares," Applejack said. "We can always just find a proper place to eat."

The off-put fashionista exhaled sharply.

"I suppose you have a point there."

"Oh, stop being such perfectionists," Tom cut in. "We live on the streets now. This is as good as it's going to get."

"We are not eating out of a trash can, Tom,” Rainbow stomped her hoof.

"Not only is it absolutely disgusting, it's also unsafe,” Twilight pointed out. "Who knows what kind of diseases and bacteria are in those things."

"Yeah, that's kind of gross,” Fluttershy whispered.

"I may eat sweets like my life depends on it, but even I know that that's icky-icky-icky!" Pinkie added.

"Fine. Have fun trying to find a welcoming restaurant,” Tom began walking through the open fence.

"Come on, you fraidy cat. you let me out of here right now,” Jerry's voice could heard as he pushed the pot closer to the group. "What's the matter? You hide me in a flowerpot? I'm gonna nail you to the wall when I get out of here, Tom."

"Ah still don't understand why ya feel the need to up'm just trap 'im in that there pot like that,” Applejack said disapprovingly. “It just seems petty.”

"Spend years of your life fighting with him, then come back to me and see if you hold the same opinion,” Tom said flatly.

He grabbed a brick off the ground and laid it on the pot, keeping Jerry from moving.

"Come on. Fight fair!" Jerry yelled.

"Now that's just cruel," Fluttershy said with a hint of anger.

On the other side of the fence, Puggsy and Frankie were still rummaging through the garbage cans. Neither of them were aware of the two large shadows closing in on them.

"Frankie-boy, we just hit the jackpot,” Puggsy pulled a whole fish out of one of the cans.

A net came down on them in one quick swoop. The scruffy dog dropped the lid of food and let out a yelp as he and Frankie were hauled away out of the alley. Tom, the Mane 6, and Spike were entirely unaware of what was going on. The cat was pushing the pot away from the fence.

"Hey! Hey! Ow, oh! Now you're gonna get it!" Jerry barked.

"There. Now he won't bother us,” Tom said with satisfaction plastered on his face.

"He was not a bother, you just hate him,” Fluttershy argued.

"Same difference."

That’s when Twilight decided to step in.

"Look. I get it. You don't like him because you're natural enemies, but that really shouldn't stop you from, at least, tolerating him. I mean, look at me and my friends, we've made friends with other species that, for the longest time, ponies have avoided. The dragons, the griffons, we even made friends with a Zebra, and we all assumed she was an evil sorcerer. Heck, we even made friends with Discord and he used to be a villain. Look, what I'm trying to say here is that you shouldn't just refuse friendship somepony or some-mouse just because of biology or feuding. They may turn out to be a whole lot more than you think."

"Dragons? Griffons? What do you think this is? A fairytale?" Tom asked indignantly.

"No!" Twilight said a bit louder than she meant to. "That's not the point. The point is that it's best to let that biological hatred go and learn to be more friendlier with Jerry."

"Listen, Twilight. You do you and I'll do me, okay. I have no interest on being friends with Jerry,” Tom replied candidly. "I'm sure you'll find enjoyment in befriending that pest."

"I heard that,” Jerry shouted.

The alicorn princess just stared at Tom with a disheartened expression. Her ears flopped against her head and she let out a sad sigh. Despite being the Princess of Friendship, she felt like she was doing a poor job.

"You're being more of a pest that Jerry is!" Rainbow yelled.

"More than that. An outright scoundrel!" Rarity added.

"Whatever," the arrogant pussycat rolled his eyes.

"I'm still getting that flowerpot off him,” Fluttershy said semi-sternly. "He, at least, deserves a chance."

"Agree to disagree, but, like I said, you do you. Just as long as I'm long gone and he can't follow me."

Tom turned back to the broken fence and starting climbing through it.

"Just how stubborn can one cat be?" Spike muttered to himself.

Applejack came up to her downtrodden friend.

"Ya gonna be okay, Twi?"

Twilight gazed up at the orange mare with a solemn expression.

Yeah, I'll be fine, Applejack."

As Tom open the broken fence, all he could see was an empty alleyway with the garbage food strewn about the stone pathway. He did a double take and looked around in confusion.

"Hey, Puggsy? Frankie? Puggsy?"

"What's going on now?" Rainbow said squeezing her head through the fence opening.

The others looked through to see for themselves.

"Hey. Where are Puggsy and Frankie?" Spike asked.

"Maybe they're playing hide and seek,” Pinkie said with excitement.

"For some reason I doubt that, Pinkie,” Twilight said bluntly.

Far out of view, on a dimly lit street, an old animal control truck sat parked along the curb. Inside, two men in face masks laughed darkly.

"The straycatchers strike again," the purple-masked one said.

"Yeah, one more for the doc,” the red-masked one laughed.

Puggsy and Frankie peered through a small set of bars from the compartment they were trapped in. the two masked men continued to laugh as the truck slunk away in a cloud of smoke.

"Where in Equestria did they go? Did they run off on us or something?" Rarity asked.

"Why would they run off on us?” Twilight added. “They seemed like genuine friendly folks."

"Oh, well, more for me." Tom climbed over the fence and ran over to the garbage food.

"Sure, worry about yourself and not the ones who are now missing,” Rainbow said sarcastically.

The Mane 6 and Spike made their way through the other side of the fence.

"So, where do you suppose we can find sanitary food to eat?" the rainbow-maned pegasus asked.

"Well, there's got to be a place around here somewhere,” Twilight said.

"Yes, but let's be quick about it. Having to stare at Tom feasting on garbage might make me lose my appetite,” Rarity stated.

Tom chose to ignore them and enjoy himself. He picked a can off the ground and scraped his finger along the inside.

"Chunky tuna,” he smacked his lips.

"Ugh. Truly something to revolt, right girls?" Rarity asked.

"Agreed,” Spike said.

"I-I-I...U-Um...Fluttershy stammered.

"What's the matter now, Fluttershy," Rainbow groaned.

The frightened pegasus pointed to where Tom was. He was oblivious that two hands poked out from behind the trash cans. They each grabbed a trash lid. The Mane 6 were immediately on edge.

"Umm, Tom,” Spike slowly stepped back behind Rarity.

"Oh, what is it..." Tom was suddenly interrupted when the two trash lids smacked against his face.

A sound akin to that of cymbals echoed throughout the alley. Tom violently wobbled from side to side. A woozy smile formed on his face for second as he came to a stop.

"You okay there, Tom?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, but..." the homeless cat looked around, wondering what just happened.

"Puggsy, is that you? Are we playing a game?" Pinkie hopped up to the trash cans.

"This is our turf, tootsies,” a dark, gruff voice spoke.

Tom bent over looked between his legs, hearing to voice from behind him.

"Tootsies! Who are you calling tootsies?!" Rainbow angrily flew up to the trash cans. "Show yourself."

A smaller, scruffy, dark-colored cat poked through the trash cans. He wore a dark green shirt, a red cap, and a pair of dark blue pants.

"You better switch that attitude of yours, rainbow girl,” the mean-looking cat warned, before turning to Tom. "In this mean alley, cats ain't pretty, pussy, pally cats!"

“And who are you to call the shots here?” the riled up pegasus challenged.

“The name’s Big Arnold to you, pipsqueak. And you’re in our territory.”

He walked forward as Tom backed away, still bent between his legs.

“Pipsqueak!?” Rainbow seethed with bared teeth. “Have you even looked at yourself through a mirror?”

"This is our domain!" the small, alley cat ignored her question. "And for that matter, we ain't too welcome to others kind of pets. So your horse friends and that lizard don't fare any better."

"Hey! For your information, we are ponies!" Rarity said, offended. "And Spike is not a lizard, he is the sweetest, kindest, most respectful dragon you'll ever meet."

She pulled the little dragon over to her with her magic and held him out.

“Who could be mean to such a cute face?”

“Uhh…” Was all Spike said.

"Like we care about that!" the alley cat snapped, getting right in the dragon’s face. "You lot ain't welcome here and we don't take to resisting our demands lightly."

Big Arnold’s threatening demeanor intimidated Spike to the point that he slipped at of Rarity’s grasp and hid behind her. By this point, the ponies and dragon bunched up with Tom and stepped back with him.

"We? Who's we?" Twilight demanded.

No sooner had she asked. She and her friends bumped into something...or rather someone. A giant, overweight cat wearing a small blue shirt towered over them with an equally mean expression. Tom, however, didn't stop and unknowingly climbed up the large car. He raised his head back up only to be face-to-face with the cat, who growled at him.

"Oh, that's what you mean,” the princess gulped.

"Whoa, nelly,” Applejack went wide-eyed.

"I hope I made that plain! You're dead if you're not out of here. I wanna make that very clear," As the cat spoke, three more medium-sized cats came up from the darkness.

One was wearing a black shirt and blue pants and sported a large mohawk. The second wore a dark blue shirt, dark red pants and had spiky hair. The third wore a dark red shirt, grey pants, and and had small wedges of hair.

"This is how we are, and this is how we stay. Okay?" the alley cat pulled Tom off the big cat.

"Okay,” Tom gulped.

"Yep. We understand," Twilight said, sweating profusely.

"Why, yes, I think we were about to leave anyways,” Rarity agreed.

"Yeah, we were just looking for our others friends,” Pinkie said cheerfully.

"Okay!" the alley cats shouted, half-threatening, half-mocking.

With the team alley cats distracted with ending their song, Tom, the Mane 6, and Spike took the opportunity to make a run for it.

"Go, go, let's get out of here," Twilight whispered frantically.

However, as they made their escape, Big Arnold was quick to notice them escaping. Furious, he turned to his fellow thugs.

"Hey, way to go! You let them get away!" he shouted.

The big cat toppled over on top of the other three cats, creating a small fight.

"Go get him, you dumbbell!" Big Arnold shouted, pulling on the big guy's shirt to get him upright.

The five alley cats started to chase after the group of ponies, dragon and cat. The team crawled through the broken fence in an attempt to escape.

"Get away from us!" Rarity shrieked with terror.

The big cat broke through the fence, splintering it to pieces. He also knocked over Jerry's pot, setting him free. Jerry looked around in confusion. Fluttershy ran up to him.

"Are you okay, Jerry?" she asked, catching her breath.

"Yeah. But, what's going on?" The mouse asked.

"T-this gang of street cats showed up. Th-They’re chasing after us."

Jerry spotted Tom and the others running back down the alley with the cat gang in pursuit.

"Gah! They're heading our way!" he squawked.

He ran as fast as he could down the rest of the alley.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked, taking off after him.

"Leave us alone!" Twilight yelled back at the gang.

"You lot need to be taught a lesson,” Big Arnold shouted back.

As Jerry raced out of the alley and into the darkened street, he noticed a manhole cover with a rope next to it. Fluttershy raced by, terror coursing through her body.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Jerry called.

The pegasus came to a hesitant stop and turn to the brown mouse.

"Wh-Wh-What is it?" she asked, still shaking.

"I've got an idea," Jerry said confidently.

Tom, Spike, and the rest of the Mane 6 rushed out of the alley. By that point, Jerry and Fluttershy had fastened the rop to the manhole cover and wrapped around a light pole.

"A-Are you sure this will w-work?" Fluttershy asked anxiously.

"Trust me, Fluttershy. I did this stuff all the time on Tom,” Jerry responded confidently.

The last of the pair of hooves raced passed the steel lid.

"Now!" Jerry shouted.

The mouse pegasus pulled with all their might and lifted the manhole cover open. One by one, the thug cats plummeted into the pitch-black hole and, inevitably, the sewers. Once the last cat fell, the two dropped the lid back in it's place.

"Ha, ha. We did it!" Jerry said happily. "No more alley cats to bother us now."

"Heh. Yay," Fluttershy said quietly, though she was also relieved.

The rest of group stopped when the noticed the alley cats were gone.

"Fluttershy? Jerry? Did you do that?" Twilight asked.

"Guilty as charged," the little mouse smiled smugly.

"Uh....Yeah," Fluttershy said.

"That was incredible! I didn't know you had it in you to do that, Flutters!" Rainbow flew up to her pegasus friend.

Fluttershy couldn’t be smile from the compliment.

"Th-Thanks. Are you girls alright?"

"Yeah, thanks ta you and Jerry,” Applejack said.

Jerry turned to Tom.

"You okay, pal?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Tom's smiled then turned to a scowl. "But don't call me "pal."

He walked away with an indignant frown. Jerry was surprised and yet saddened.

"Oh, come on!" Twilight yelled. "Jerry literally went out of our way to save us. Is that really not enough for you."

Tom stopped for a second, as if to contemplate Twilight's truthful words. He turned back to them with a more laid-back look.

"Come on, mouse.”

Jerry's expression brightened and walked after the grey cat.

"Yippee! Friendship for the win!" Pinkie practically screamed.

"Hey, don't get to comfortable,” Tom called back. "I'm only tolerating him for now. Also, you guys coming or what?"

"Oh, yes. Hopefully now we can start looking for a place to eat," Spike said.

"That's the plan,” Jerry replied.

"All right, let's go, everypony,” Twilight encouraged.

The ponies and dragon caught up to the cat and mouse as they continued down the quiet streets.

"So, what places are there to eat?" Rarity asked.

"Not much at this hour,” Tom said. “Everything's pretty closed by now."

"Well, surely there's got to be, at least, one place that's open,” Applejack insisted.

So now, the nine friends were left trudging along the lonely streets of the city. The dim lights of the street pole being the only source of visibility and direction.

"Maybe we could try that restaurant Tom tried entering earlier,” Jerry suggested as the began crossing a bridge.

"Oh, yeah. Because that went well the last time,” Tom sarcastically remarked.

"Plus, a lot of the items they sold had meat. And we're not meat eaters,” Twilight pointed out.

Jerry did a quick look over at the Mane 6.

"Right. Ponies." He said to himself. "What about Spike? You said he was a dragon."

"He is, but, I've always tried to keep him from eating meat. You know, because he and I live amongst a bunch of other ponies."

"Yeah, I mostly gems, which is what most dragons consume, anyways," Spike clarified.

"Good luck trying to find raw gems in a city," Tom snorted. "Unless there's a jeweler nearby."

"Maybe, the pony heading towards us might be able to help,” Pinkie said.

"Say, what?" Rainbow asked.

Pinkie wasn't joking. The sound of rapidly-approaching footsteps echoed out from within an alleyway.

"Somepony's coming!" Rarity said in surprise.

"Is it somepony friendly?" Fluttershy wondered, slightly scared.

"I'm not taking any chances,” Tom ducked underneath the bridge's guardrail.

The others, feeling the same, followed after and hid under the guardrail, as well. A shadow passed by them, the footsteps starting to dissipate. Twilight and Jerry peaked their heads out to see who had passed by. At the end of bridge stood a young girl, around seven or eight years old. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a pink and white shirt with a red sleeveless jacket, along with a backpack. She also wore blue jeans, a pair of bright, blue sneakers and and a pink hairband. The girl looked around to see if she was alone or not. Soon as she thought the coast was clear, she made her way down a flight of stairs that led underneath the bridge.

"Well, that's odd and concerning," Rarity said. "What is a little girl doing out here all by herself?"

"Whatever the reason, it can't be good," Rainbow replied.

"Should we follow her?" Spike asked.

"I s'pose we should,” Applejack said. “Just in case anythin' happens to her.”

"And out of morbid curiosity," Tom said.

"Well, you know what they say about curiosity,” Jerry smirked wittily.

"Ha, ha, very funny."

"Oh, did someone make a joke? I love jokes!" Pinkie raised her voice. “I got this really funny one. What did the hay bale say to the-“

"Ssh,” Rarity whispered harshly. "We don't want to scare the poor dear."

The ponies, dragon, cat, and mouse left their hiding place and made their way over to the stairs. They slowly and quietly tip-toed down the stairs, making sure not to startle the girl. However, Tom accidently knocked over empty soda can. It bounced down the stairs and rolled right next to the girl's feet. She clutches her backpack, clearly frightened. Just as they group reached the bottom of the stairs, she swung her backpack at them.

"Yikes!" Twilight gasped.

"Whoa! Hold it! Hold it!" Tom waved his hands defensively.

"We ain't gonna hurt ya, youngin',”Applejack said.

"Who...Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Nobody,” Tom answered coolly.

"Just us. He's Tom, and I'm Jerry,” the mouse said. "And these are also our friends."

"Yep. I'm Twilight and these are our friends; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie,” Twilight introduced.

"Hi-ya!"

"Wassup?"

"Howdy."

"Pleased to meet you, darling."

"Um, hi."

"Hey."

"Oh, I thought you were somebody else,” the girl said, relieved. "I thought you were following me."

"Heck, ,” Tom said.

"Well, we were kinda watching you. But only because we were worried for you,” the alicorn princess explained. "Why are you out here all alone?"

"Umm, it's a long story,” the girl shied away. "What are you doing out here?"

"We're lost and we're looking for something to eat,” the grey pussycat said.

"Yeah, we're kinda hungry,” Jerry added.

"We've been trying to find a place to eat, but have been...unsuccessful," Twilight said.

"Oh, well, I've got cookies and an apple and..." the girl pulled out the bagged goods from her backpack.

"Oh, umm...you don't have to do that,” Fluttershy said thoughtfully. "We can just keep looking."

"Oh, I don't mind. There's plenty to go around,” the girl smiled.

"Oh, how generous of you,” Rarity said.

The Mane 7, Tom, and Jerry, and their new friend got situated underneath the bridge. They sat on an old log, while they got a fire going to stay warm.

"So, your name's Robyn and you ran away from home," Jerry said holding a half-eaten cookie.

"How did you know?" The girl asked.

"Your name's on your locket."

"Oh, didn't even notice that,” the alabaster unicorn said. "It's a beautiful locket, might I add."

"Thanks,” Robyn held the locket. “Yes. It's Robyn Starling. I'm afraid I don't have a home anymore. I-I'm an orphan."

"The ponies and dragon all gasped at that.

"An...orphan?" Rainbow asked in shock.

"Yeah. My mother died when I was a baby."

"That's horrible,” Fluttershy's lips quivered.

"What about you father? What happened to him?" Jerry asked sympathetically.

"My father's on an expedition, climbing a mountain, when the snow gave way in a...av...ava..." Robyn tried to finish.

"Avalanche?" Tom asked.

"Uh-huh,” she began to tear up. "And he was the most wonderful father in the world."

Robyn showed the others the contents of her lockets, which were two pictures of her and her father. He had red hair with a sharp moustache. He also was seen wearing a Stetson hat.

"We had our own secret place just for the two of us and..."

She couldn't finish. She tried wiping away the tears from her eyes. Applejack came up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Ah understand how it feels, sugarcube. Ah know how it feels losin' your parents,” she said solemnly. "Ya feel so lonely and so lost without 'em."

The cowpony pulled Robyn into a hug. She continued to sniffle a bit. But, while nobody noticed, Applejack, too, began to tear up. Hearing Robyn's tragic story brought the memories of loosing her parents, as well. Despite being a pony that cried on the inside, Robyn’s story it too close to home.

"M-My gosh, darling. I-I...I don't what to say," Rarity said sorrowfully.

"I'm so...so sorry you had to go through that,” Twilight said, on the verge of tears herself.

"Yeah, that must...really suck,” Rainbow added.

Pinkie's mane had gone flat. Even Spike and Fluttershy had begun tearing up.

"I-Is that why you out here?" the pink earth pony asked.

"That place. Is that where you were going?" Jerry chimed in.

"Uh-huh, and to get away from my Aunt Figg," Robyn's mood soured. "She's not really my aunt, just my guardian. But, she's taken over the house. She moved me to the attic and gave my room to her dog, Ferdinand."

"Ferdinand?" Tom asked incredulously.

"Now that's just messed up,” Rainbow said angrily.

"Aunt Figg is always calling me "orphan." She even stole my locket and threw it out the window, but I climbed down and found it and...and..."

"Kept on running," Jerry assumed.

"As fast as I could. And I'm never going back,” Robyn crossed her arms.

"I think that's completely justified, if she's treating you that badly," Spike said.

"Exactly. That is absolutely unacceptable!" Rarity agreed.

"Oh, smart. Real smart, kid," Tom argued

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight turned to the cat, displeased of his brash rudeness.

“I mean, you’ve got a roof over your head, three sure meals a day, a warm bed. Who'd want to leave that?"

"I hate to admit it, girls, but Tom's right,” Jerry argued. “You never know what you're missing until you don't have it."

"But, over horrible treatment, all those benefits are certainly not worth being treated like that,” Rainbow said.

"You don't know Aunt Figg,” Robyn said. “She seems sweet, but underneath she's mean. Real mean.

"Why oughta give 'er the buck 'er to next week,” Applejack growled.

"You'll have to get ahead of me first,” the cyan pegasus said. "I'll make that "Aunt Figg" wish she were never born."

"Oh, come on. I'll bet she's frantic looking for you," Jerry said.

"Oh, sure. She's crying her eyes out for you right this minute,” Tom concured.

"Crocodile tears, perhaps,” Robyn grumbled.

"Seriously, you two," Twilight said sternly. "If someone as young as Robyn is this frantic to get away, then clearly her aunt his one horrible...person? Right?"

"...Yeah,” Robyn confirmed.

"Sorry, we’re still trying to get used to the new vocabulary.”

"Don't worry, 'bout yer aunt, Robyn. You’ll stay safe with us," Applejack assured.

"Thanks, guys,” Robyn said happily.

"But, we can't just stay down here forever,” Tom pointed out. “Eventually we'll have to keep moving."

"We'll just head to that place you were talking about earlier. Right, Robyn?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah. It's a log cabin out in the woods near a river," The young girl said.

"Awesome! Then, that's we'll do,” Rainbow said.

The group of friends stayed under the bridge, letting the fire keeping them warm. It seemed that things were slowly starting to look up now.

To be continued

Author's Note

Big thanks to yoman556677 for the dialouge suggestion when the gang first meet Robyn.

Part 6: Fight for Freedom

The start of a fresh new day brought a bright and happy atmosphere all throughout the town. However, it was especially apparent in a more secluded area neighborhood, where one house in particular stood brighter than the rest. Painted in a vivid red and blue, it shined like brilliant, colorful star in the cosmos. Birds were frolicking in a birdbath, butterflies were dancing amongst the shimmering flowerbeds, and the vegetation gave it a sense of mystic to it, like something you would find from a children's book.

A squirrel scurried across the well-kept lawn and right up to a painted fence. It's innocent eyes were poised on the curb of the sidewalk, where the road dipped below and beyond. The little rodent squeezed it's head through the tight gap in-between the posts, then pulled the rest of it's body through. Just as it set it's paws on the asphalt, an old, red convertible hurtled over the small hill and screeched to a halt. The frightened squirrel scurried out of the way just in time.

"Well, here it is, your new home." Aunt Figg said merrily.

She stepped out of the car and grabbed an animal crate that sat beside here.

"Oof. You guys are heavy." She struggled to carry the transport crate to the front of the house.

"Well, you did shove all nine of us in one tiny kennel." Twilight said, her faced smushed against the caged door.

Tom, Jerry, the Main 6, and Spike were all squeezed inside the small compartment and, sufficed to say, it was not comfortable.

"Ha-ha, I can't feel my head." Pinkie stifled a strained laugh.

"Move ya tail, Dash. Ah can't breath." Applejack demanded.

"I would if I could. I can't breath, either with Fluttershy crushed against me." Rainbow retorted.

"S-Sorry." The cramped pegasus stammered.

"This is beyond cruel. Never in my life would I think I would receive such undignified treatment." Rarity griped.

"You think this is bad? Boy we have some stories to tell." Jerry chuckled.

"Oh, zip it! All of you." Figg snapped. "It's enough of an inconvenience having to lug you all around. The least I can have is some peace while doing it."

Applejack let out a dry laugh.

"Like you deserve anythin' good, ya self-entitled freeloader." She said harshly.

"I'm no freeloader. I just enjoy everything being brought to me." The greedy lady spat back.

"That's the literally definition of the term!" Twilight shouted.

"Easy, Twilight. My ears are right here." Tom winced.

"Hmph. Whatever." Figg preceded to ignore the squabble from within the plastic crate.

Finally, she made it to the door. She grabbed the knocker on it and lightly tapped it against the door. She waited no more than a few seconds for someone to open the door. It was an man, much shorter than her. His balding head and grey hair also signified his elder age. The man wore a white, button-up coat, a pale blue shirt, brown pants, a red bowtie, and a pair of glasses.

"Ah. Dr. J. Sweetface Applecheek, at you service, dear lady." The man greeted warmly.

Figg introduced herself.

"Pristine Figg, doctor. Miss Pristine Figg."

"Naturally." Applecheek chuckled passionately.

Figg laughed a little, but stopped for a second when she realized what the doctor was implying. Deciding not to create a scene, she continue to laugh with a wide, innocent smile.

"These are the sweet strays my darling little ward brought home." She explained, hoisting the crate up.

"And you don't have room for them, so you brought them to my pet sanctuary?” Applecheek presumed.

"Exactly." Figg confirmed.

"We are not pets!" Rainbow shouted.

An awkward silence casted over the residence.

"Uh, are those parrots in there?" Applecheek asked.

"No, but I imagine some talented snob trained them to talk." Figg huffed.

The Main 7 were now more upset than ever. Figg explaining such a bogus story about them. Granted, the truth was less believable, but practically implying they nothing but circus animals was insulting at the highest level.

"We are more just common animals!" Twilight illustrated.

"Oh, shut up." Figg said.

"Well, anyways, my loving home is a shelter for all our lost and abandoned animal friends." The doctor said kindly.

"I mean, he does sound like a sweet stall...I mean person." Fluttershy stated, trying to lighten the mood.

While, originally, Tom and Jerry were all for living the Applecheek, it seemed like they had a slight change of mind. They both looked at each other and gave uneasy shrugs.

"But, what about Robyn?" Tom asked quietly to the others. "You girls, and Spike, made a fair argument about leaving her behind. Plus, with her father being alive and us being the only ones to know AND willing to tell her, she needs us now more than ever."

"Finally. Glad to see you're seeing sense now, Tom." Spike said.

That's when Figg turned the crate to her face, which bore a sinister grin. The occupants all jumped in fright.

"You're gonna love it here." She gave a low, but knowing cackle.

"Do we have a choice?" Tom asked, now regretting ever agreeing to this arrangement.

"Yeah. This or the river." Jerry pointed behind his shoulder.

"Okay, seeing as how serious this situation is, I suggest we start looking for ways to get out of place when we get the chance." Twilight suggested, making she neither Figg or Applecheek could here her.

Her friends were in agreement with this.

"At least it won't be bad staying here until then." Spike said.

"Oh, I wonder if he'll let us place games." Pinkie added.

Figg handed the crate over to Applecheek.

"They'll be in good hands." The doctor assured.

"Ta-ta." Figg waved goodbye.

Applecheek closed the door and walked along through his living room. He set the crate on a table and opened the door. The cat, mouse, ponies, and dragon all popped out, now free from the unforgiving constraints.

"Finally! My wings have gone cramped." Rainbow stretched out her wings.

"And I can finally breath." Rarity said.

"Oh, wow. You have a...a very nice place here, Dr. Applecheek." Fluttershy expressed her captivation of the home.

"Oh, thank you. I really do make an effort to make my home as animal-friendly as possible." Applejack said kindly. "Though, since you can talk, would you be kind as to tell me your names?"

"Oh, my name's Fluttershy." The pegasus said with a smile.

"I'm Twilight. Pleased to meet you doctor." The alicorn greeted.

"Howdy. Ah'm Applejack."

"I'm Rarity."

"The name's Rainbow Dash."

"Hi-ya. I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"And I'm Spike."

"And these two are Tom and Jerry." Twilight pointed to the cat and mouse.

"Such lovely names. I just know you all will feel right at home here." Applecheek clasped his hands together.

"Hate to burst your bubble, doc, but we don't plan on staying for very long." The friendship princess thought to herself.

"Oh, wow. You must take care of a lot of animals." Spike viewed through all the pictures of animals that hung on the walls.

"But, of course. I love looking after animals. They are the most precious things on this planet." Applecheek began to break into song.

Skip to 00:59

"They're gone?!" Robyn asked, tears threatening to spill. "You took them away without letting me say goodbye?"

"Oh, they didn't mind. You know the only thing animals care about is their next meal." Figg stirred a cup of tea.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Next meal. Oh, boy! Oh, boy!" Ferdinand spluttered.

"First my daddy, and now Tom, Jerry, Twilight, and the others." Robyn's voiced cracked.

"Of course you feel miserable, you selfish little girl." Figg replied cruelly. "You should be thinking of them. They're happy where they are."

She sipped on the cup of tea, feeling rather pleased with herself.

Tom, Jerry, the Mane 6, and Spike were collectively, not happy with this twisted turn of events. Not even three minutes living with Dr. Applecheek and they were thrown inside a makeshift cell with other cats and dogs. Tom, Jerry, and Rainbow were placed in one. Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy were placed in another. Finally, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie were locked in another.

"I-I don't believe. It was all just a facade." Twilight slammed her hoof against the cage door.

"We've been tricked, we've been backstabbed, we've been let astray." Pinkie said, still in shock.

"We've been deceived! That no-good ruffian just trapped us down here!" Rarity exclaimed angrily.

"Well, that's just make escapin' even my difficult." Applejack added.

"More like, more fun." Rainbow tried to break the door open by ramming it.

The door barely budged and she was launched back into the back wall. The cocky pegasus held her head as stars circled over her.

"Now, later tonight, get rid of the new ones." Applecheek spoke to the two straycatchers.

He pulled out an envelop from his coat.

"Pristine Figg's paid for the privilege of doing them. And perhaps we might be able to get a little extra from the talking ponies. I'm sure the little girls will take a liking to them."

"You monster! How can you do this to us. To them." Twilight conveyed her hoof to the other locked up animals. "You're no better than Figg, herself."

"This is beyond sick." Fluttershy hissed.

The stout doctor gave a hearty laugh.

"It's hard to argue when money's involved. I can be as cruel as I want, because I'll never get caught. But, don't worry your hides to much. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new home with some kiddies. Surely you'll like that." He walked up the stairs.

"No, we don't! We need ta git outta here!" Applejack yelled.

Applecheek ignored her and turn back to the straycatchers.

"You two make sure none of these animals escape." He commanded.

"Yessir." The orange-masked catcher said.

"Sure thing, boss." The purple-masked one said.

"Good." Applecheek slammed the door shut.

"Well, things officially can't get any worse." Rainbow said, turning to Spike and Fluttershy above her. "Now I know you two felt when you got locked up with Shaun."

"Well, as weird as it may sound, the second time isn't as bad as the first, right Fluttershy?" Spike said.

"...I...I suppose. But, it still feels awful, especially with all these other innocent animals locked up, too." Fluttershy listened to the whimpering of the numerous animals locked up around them.

"Yeah...I get your point." The baby dragon sat down and cupped his head on his hands.

"T-There's got to be a way out of this." Twilight said, sounding a bit panicky. "There's just gotta."

"Twilight, calm down. We'll find away." Spike placed a hand on her back.

"Calm down? How can I calm down when are plan has already fallen apart!" Twilight cried. "Now we're stuck in these cages and Robyn will never know that his father is alive!"

"But, getting riled up about isn't going to fix this, either." Spike said. "Look, I know things look bleak right now, but for goodness sake, You're the Princess of Friendship, Twilight. You always work through adversity. You and our friends."

"Spike's right, Twi. We're the Elements of Harmony after all." Applejack added.

"I concur. We'll find a way on this rotten place and rescue Robyn." Rarity said, optimisitcally.

"And save all these animals, too." Fluttershy chimed in.

"We've done this a buncha times and we've had the greatest, most funnest time doing it." Pinkie said happily.

Twilight took in her friends' words and let out a deep sigh. They were right, though she may feel like a shoddy princess, she also knew that together with her friends, they could still figure this out and bring the good news to Robyn and find Tom and Jerry a new home.

"You're right. You're all right. We can do this with the power of friendship." Twilight wiped a tear that was beginning to form in her eye. "Sorry for freaking out like that, everypony. And thank you for knocking some sense into me."

"That's what here fer, Twi." Applejack said.

"Hey, shut up in there! We're trying to sleep." One of the straycatchers shouted, lying on an old sofa.

"Hmph. Jerks." Rainbow snorted.

"Well, well, well." A voice said.

It was a voice that the others all recognized.

"Puggsy! Frankie!" Tom said in shock.

"I don't believe it! You two are down here, too?" Twilight asked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jerry asked with excitement.

Both the dog and flea sat in a cage adjacent to Tom, Jerry, and Rainbow's cage.

"The straycatchers finally got me. So I ain't perfect all the time." Puggsy answered nonchalantly.

"I've been telling you that for years." Frankie said snootily.

Puggsy scolwed at his flea friend, but didn't press the matter.

"So, how did you all wind up in a fix like this?" He asked.

"Fix? This a problem if I've ever seen one." Pinkie said.

"We met this little orphaned girl." Tom explained.

"Her name's Robyn." Jerry added.

"She's the sweetest little thing." Rarity added.

"Only she's not an orphan." Spike added.

"Her father's alive!" Twilight added.

"Yeah, but she don't know it yet." Tom added onto that.

"Her good fer nothin' guardian is keepin' it secret from the poor gal." Applejack added further.

"What? What are you talking about?" Puggsy asked in utter confusion.

"Her Aunt Figg got us before we could tell her." Jerry replied sadly.

"And, like Applejack said, she's refusing to tell Robyn about her father being alive just so she can keep all the wealth." Rainbow added.

"We got bust out of here. The kid's gotta know." Tom said.

"Sure, but how?" Jerry asked.

"We're still stuck in these cages." Fluttershy said in a sad, quiet tone.

"Somebody's gotta get over there and press the buttons on the control panel." Puggsy pointed to a large piece of machinery that house a column of red buttons.

The others spotted it, too.

"How did we not notice that before?" Spike asked.

"Regardless, it's our ticket out of here." Rainbow grabbed the cage door.

"How exactly are we going to reach it?" Rarity questioned. "Need I remind you all that we're all trapped in cages."

"Don't look at me. How can I get out of this cage?" Tom asked rhetorically.

"I don't think any of us can fit through the doors. Except for..." Twilight realized that there was somepony, or rather somemouse, that could. "Jerry! Can you fit through?"

"I think I can." The mouse squeezed his head through one of the gaps.

"I know you can." Tom flicked Jerry out through the cage door.

The mouse bounced onto the cracked, cement floor.

"All right, Jerry!" Applejack celebrated.

"Go on! Push those buttons!" Pinkie yelled.

"Ssssshhhhh!" Twilight shushed them. "We don't we want to wake those two."

The straycatchers were soundly sleeping on a sofa and armchair respectively. They all watched with bated breath as Jerry scurried over to the control panel, making sure to be as quiet as he could when he passed by the two. He climbed up a power chord and onto the main controls. In front of him was numerous rows of bright, red buttons. He hopped and planted his feet on one of them, which opened the door to Tom and Rainbow's cage.

"Yes! Freedom!" Rainbow flapped her wings.

Jerry carried on with press all the buttons on the panel. One by one, the kennel doors all popped open. The two straycatchers began to groggily wake up upon hearing the clicking of the doors. This didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Hurry, Jerry." Fluttershy warned.

"Almost got them." Jerry said.

The last the of the doors open. Every dog, cat, and the ponies and dragon were now free.

"Hello, all you happy people." A white dog with red hair said.

"Hello, Droopy!" Pinkie waved.

"Hello, Pinkie." Droopy responded politely.

"Wait, how do you know that particular dog, Pinkie?" Spike asked in confusion.

"Don't question it. It's Pinkie. Besides, we don't have tha time fer discussions." Applejack said.

"All right. Everybody out." Puggsy signaled for the escape.

"Charge!" Applejack yelled.

"Let's get out of here." Twilight called to her friends.

The dogs, cats, along with Tom, Jerry, the Mane 6, and Spike all made a run for it down the corridor. The straycatchers were, at this point, fully awake, but couldn't make much as they held each other and were trampled over by the wave of furry escapees. The door to the upstairs swung open, revealing an angry Applecheek.

"Quiet down there! I'm on the..." The doctor's mouth dropped when he saw all the animals were now free and were racing up the stairs.

Before he could do anything himself, the dogs and cats flooded past him, tripping onto his bottom and then onto his back when a extra burly dog bounded over him. He could only watch as all the furry mammals scampered away, looking for a way to escape the house. Jerry bounced off his cherry, red nose like a diving board. Then Tom stomped on his head as he escaped, knocking the stout doctor. The Mane 7 all galloped past and over him, with Pinkie bouncing on him several times.

"Whee!" She bounced off him and caught up to the others.

"That ought to teach him." Rainbow said smugly.

The dogs and cats were all climbing through an open window and out into the open. A large brown dog stopped before climbing and picked up a small, black, hairy dog. It barked, before the brown dog dropped it over the other side. It was carried off by a small grey dog, while the brown dog climbed over and ran off. Jerry and the others were about to make their escape when Tom got in front of them and stopped them. He shook his head and pointed at himself with a smile.

"Tom, what are you doing? We don't have time for this." Twilight said, exasperated.

Tom didn't really give on answer. Instead, he made a motion that looked like he was winding up for a running start. He took off, but only succeeded in slamming his face against the window. He gave a pained, dizzy smile and flopped through the gap.

"...What was he hopin' to accomplish there?" Applejack asked.

Jerry shrugged.

"If it was to make us laugh, it worked." Pinkie laughed her flanks off.

"Forget about it. We need to find Robyn." Twilight leapt through the open window.

The rest all followed. Tom was giddly pacing around the yard.

"Well, well, well. Pretty fancy footwork, pussycat." Puggsy put an arm around the cat's shoulder. "Get going and give that orphan kid the good news."

"Right!" Jerry ran off in the direction of Robyn's home.

"Wait, do you want to come with us?" Twilight asked Puggsy.

"Eh, tempting, but my life is on the streets." The shaggy dog said humbly.

"Oh. Are you sure? I'm sure she would love you and Frankie?" Rarity asked.

Puggsy chuckled a little.

"I'm sure she would, but I've grown a enjoy by myself and with Frankie as my only companion." He said. "Plus, it's better to be with the friends that you really know, true Frankie."

"All too true, too." Frankie responded. "Now go out there and put back together a happy family."

"You heard him girls. Let's go." The cyan pegasus took off after Jerry.

"Okay then. But, we hope to see you two again." The alicorn princess said.

"We'll be around." Puggsy assured.

With that, Tom, Jerry, the Mane 6, and Spike all raced off into the dimly-lit streets in search of Robyn's home. The mission of freedom was a success. Now it was time to save Robyn and reunite her with her father. Their journey was far from over.

To be continued

Part 7: Nighttime Getaway

The Starling residence had fallen into a quaint silence now that the young night was upon it. The mansion lay dark and quiet with the exception of one light still shining through the windows on the top floor. Aunt Figg was fast asleep and Lickboot was gone for the night. However, Robyn was still awake in her room, still lamenting the loss of her father. Every night, she would think about him; the times they had together, the memories they created, the places they journeyed to. At one point it brought the young girl such joy reminiscing about their jam-packed past. But, now, it only brought her sadness, heartbreak, and loneliness, knowing such wonderful experiences would never happen again now that her father was gone and Aunt Figg was running the show. And it began blatantly obvious that her cruel guardian was not interested in taking care of her. Instead only caring only about the wealth. Those times Robyn felt she was alone with nobody around the notice or care about her.

However, for a time, it felt that Robyn was with others that she could share her pain with. Others that could truly sympathize with her and comfort her. Tom, Jerry, Twilight, Applejack, and all the others all seemed like kind companions. But all that came to an abrupt end when Figg sent them to some animal sanctuary where she would, undoubtedly, never see them again. More good people in her life were now gone. She had nobody and there was not much she could do about it. Robyn knelt against the windowsill of an open window, clutching a framed picture depicting her and her father.

A knocking one her window startled Robyn out of her saddened state. She looked over and saw, to her shock and delight, Jerry holding onto Tom's tail, along with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight hovering against the window.

"Robyn, it's us." Rainbow's voice was muffled against the glass.

From outside, Tom was desperately clinging to the gutter while, Pinkie, Applejack, Spike, and Rarity clung against the roof shingles.

"Why couldn't the flying ones give us a hand here?" Tom said as he struggled to keep a firm grip.

"Hey, it was hard enough to get you all onto the roof." Twilight argued.

Before any actual argument could start, Robyn fervently opened the window.

"Jerry! Tom! Rainbow, Fluttershy Twilight! You're all here!" She said with delight.

"Of course, Robyn. We ain't plannin' on givin' up on ya." Applejack replied.

"Robyn, have we got news for you!" Jerry jumped onto the windowsill.

"That's right! It's something of the upmost importance." Rarity managed to slide down the open window and into Robyn's room.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you'll be happy to hear it." Rainbow said.

She along with Fluttershy and Twilight flew into her room. Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike all climbed onto the windowsill to get in. The last one in was Tom, who dropped onto the ledge with a thud and an "Oof." He gave an assured smile, but then began to slide off the windowsill.

"Yeee-aaahhh!" Tom squawked.

Luckily, Robyn and Rainbow were quick to grab the grey pussycat and pull him back inside. Now that everybody was inside and situated, Robyn closed the windows.

"Why did you guys come back and what was it that you needed to tell me?" Robyn asked.

"I suppose it would be best if we explained everything to you." Twilight said.

And so the purple alicorn began to explain everything that went down that day with her friends helping along the way. And then came to big piece of news.

"He's alive!? My daddy's alive!?" Robyn gasped.

"Yes, Figg received a telegram explaining that your father survived the avalanche." Twilight explained further.

"And, bein' the greedy witch she is. try ta keep it secret from ya and had all 'o us carted off ta some creep's place." Applejack added.

"But, we managed to break out and return here to tell you the news." Fluttershy added.

"And now you'll escape this place to find him." Pinkie added.

"Wait, what?" Jerry said in confusion.

"I've got to go find him. He might be hurt. I'm sure he needs me." Robyn began rummaging through her dresser. "It'll be cold in Tibet. I better wear a hat."

"Hold on. You're actually planning on tracking down your dad?" Rainbow asked.

"And to Tibet?" Jerry added.

"If that's where my daddy is, that's where I'm going." Robyn had put on a yellow winter coat and hat.

"Now hold on a second ther', Sugarcube. Don't ya think it might be better to get the law involved instead?" Applejack suggested.

"I need to find him. He needs me now more than ever. And I need him." Robyn answered with determination.

"Do you have any idea where Tibet is?" Tom asked.

"No." The girl then began pulling the sheets off her bed.

"Does you two know? Because none of us don't." Spike said.

"Yeah, we know almost nothing about this world." Twilight added.

"It's...way, way, way out there." Jerry said as he was pulled off the bed.

"Put you finger here, please." Robyn requested.

Tom put his finger against the knot the girl was making on the bedknob.

"It's...It's across the river." Tom said.

"Into the woods." Jerry added.

"Over the hills." Tom interjected.

"It's past Cleveland." Jerry jumped off the bedknob.

"It sounds like it's really far away." Fluttershy said.

"It is. I'm pretty sure we'd have to cross a whole ocean to get there." The pussycat said.

"Oh...wow. Yeah, I'm not so sure about this mission, girls." Rarity said. "Wouldn't it make more sense to wait for him to come back here?"

"No way. For the longest time I thought my daddy was dead and that I had nobody left in my life. Now that his, in fact, alive, I need to find him and reunite with him." Robyn said in defiance. "Besides, Aunt Figg will just get in the way again if he came back here. Like how sure did with you all."

"She does have ah point there, girls." Applejack said.

The others knew that the earth pony was right. Having Robyn's father arrive back here were created a cesspool of problems concerning Figg and Lickboot, seeing as how they were willing to do all the unethical things they pulled to keep Robyn in the dark. Robyn was adamant on finding her father and getting away from her cruel aunt and that was something Tom, Jerry, and the Mane 7 would not get in the way of.

"If your going, then you're not going alone. Count me in." Rainbow put a hoof on Robyn's shoulder.

"Count me in, too. ya deserve to reunite with ya pa." Applejack added.

"You can count us all in, right everypony?" Twilight said.

"Of course, darling." Rarity replied

"Yeah." Fluttershy added.

"Heck, yeah!" Pinkie added with an excited vigor

"Count me." Spike added.

"Same goes for us." Jerry added.

"Yeah." Tom also added.

"Great! Thanks, guys." Robyn said sincerely.

"Of course. What friends would we be if we didn't stick by you for something like this." The cyan pegasus said

"What do you need us to do?" Twilight asked.

"Here, Tom. Throw this end out the window." Robyn handed the cat a wad of tied up sheets.

Tom waddled over to the window and threw the sheet wad over the edge, watching as it unraveled to the ground. Robyn grabbed her green backpack, then went over to the windowsill and peered over the edge. It was a pretty large drop between her room and the damp ground below.

"That's...quite a distance." Rarity said, uneasiness apparent in her tone.

"That's why I made this escape rope." The girl said.

"Well, let's not waste anytime and get going." Spike said.

Taking the little dragon in her magic, Twilight put him on her back and took to the air. She fluttered down onto the ground. Fluttershy and Rainbow followed. Meanwhile, Robyn began climbing down the makeshift rope. Once she made it down, she pressed against the wall of the mansion next to a window.

"All right, Robyn." Rainbow said.

The girl was quick to shush the loud pegasus.

"We need to be extra quiet. Aunt Figg's bedroom is right there." She pointed to the window.

"Oh...that's quite inconvenient." Spike winced.

Soon, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie slid down the sheet rope.

"Weeee!" Pinkie glided down the rope.

"Sshh! Pinkie, we need to stay quiet." Rainbow hissed.

"Oop. My bad." The cheering pony covered her mouth.

Tom and Jerry were left to leave. The cat looked over the ledge.

"Tom, hurry." Robyn said in a hushed tone

Tom dangled over the windowsill. He clung to the rope to keep himself from falling.

"Down please." Jerry poked the cat's head.

"I'll give you down." Tom angrily snatched the mouse in his hands.

Jerry then pointed down to the ground with a knowing smile. Tom looked down and swiftly realized that he was no longer holding onto the escape rope and he was still a far above the ground. The two dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Nice one, guys." Twilight said sarcastically.

"We need to go. Quickly." Robyn warned.

The group of friend all made a quick and quiet escape from the mansion. Meanwhile, Tom's audible meet-up with the groud had unintentionally startled Aunt Figg awake. She turned on a lamp and removed the sleep goggles from her eyes to see what the noise was. That's when she noticed the sheet rope dangling in front of her window.

"She's escaped again." The greedy lady gasped. "I've got to call Lickboot."

Figg grabbed a nearby telephone and began dialing the lawyer's number.

The group of runaways ran and ran, all the way to the old, stone bridge where they first met Robyn. The scrambled down the steps and the hid under the bridge to stop and catch their breaths.

"Where do we go from here?" Spike asked. "Aunt Figg is bound to turn up here sooner rather than later."

"Robyn, where did ya plan on goin' the last time ya came 'ere?" Applejack asked in between deep breaths.

"I really didn't have a place in mind. I just went where I thought was safe." The young girl explained.

"Maybe we should've brought a map." Fluttershy said.

Robyn then noticed something sitting on the shore a few feet away from them.

"What's that over there?" She pointed at it.

The others looked for themselves.

"Eh, it's just an old crate." Tom said dismissively.

Jerry stepped on it for a closer look. He smiled when he realized what it was.

"Wrong again." He said.

"It's a raft!" The ponies all said in unison.

"Well that's quite convenient." Rarity said.

"And it's our ticket out of here without running the risk of being spotted." Twilight added.

Before the gang could start to set sail, a set of headlights and the sound screeching tires pierced through the thick, dush fog. Lickboot's red convertible came to a screeching halt and both he and Aunt Figg stumbled out with flashlights in hand.

"This is where they found her last time." The greedy woman said.

"It's Aunt Figg." Robyn gasped and ducked back underneath the bridge.

"Wow. Can I call them or can I call them?" Spike said, impressed with himself that he figured Figg would show up.

"Now's not the time for that. We need to get that raft moving and get out of here with Figg or Lickboot noticing." Twilight reminded.

Meanwhile, Figg and Lickboot hastily search each side of the bridge, shining their flashlights over the side to try and find Robyn.

"She'll come back here again. I'll stake everything I got on it." The lady in purple said angrily.

"That's exactly what you're doing." Lickboot said nonchalantly.

"Shut up, you twit!" Figg snapped, getting in the lawyer's face.

Out from the car, Ferdinand bounced onto the stone-paved street, chuckling all the while.

"Twit." He repeated in a joking tone, before peeking his head through the guardrail in search of the girl.

He sniffed the air for Robyn scent while Aunt Figg called for her.

"Yoohoo! Robyn Starling! It's your Aunt Figg, darling come to take you home." She said in sickly sweet tone.

All the while, Robyn along with Tom, Jerry, Spike, and the Mane 6 all boarded the raft and got it moving down the river.

"Hurry! Get on, and be quiet." Robyn said in a hushed voice.

"Don't need to tell us twice." Rainbow said.

The young girl grabbed a large stick and push the raft forward to catch the current. They began gliding down the river as silently as possible. Ferdinand was still sniffing when he got a whiff of Robyn's scent. His eyes zeroed on the raft that was slowly floating away. He pulled his head back, but did so too quickly and banged his head against the stone guardrail. He raced back to his owner. Ferdinand tugged at Figg's robe to get her attention and tried relaying his discovery.

"Didn't he go before we left home?" Figg grunted.

She thought Ferdinand was whining at her to use the bathroom.

"No, no no!" The obese pooch shook his head and pointed down at the river. "River! River raft! River raft!”

He knew that Robyn and the others were getting farther and farther away from them, and that made Ferdinand more frustrated.

"Rivet raft! Raft! Raft!" He practically shouted. "River raft! River raft! Raft!"

"Oh, shut up." Figg violently shoved Ferdinand's skateboard away with her foot.

The rotund hound wailed as he clung to his skateboard. It careened across the bridge and down the steps. Ferdinand flew through the air and bounced against the water's surface like a skipping stone. He was in a full-blown panic until he realize he was heading toward Robyn and the others.

"Gotcha! I gotcha!" He paddled to get closer to the raft.

He would've made it if Pinkie didn't notice.

"Aaahh! Pot-belly missile at six o'clock!" Pinkie said half-panicked, half-joked.

"Pinkie, what are you talking abou-Wha! It's that dog again!" Rarity shrieked.

"No! Get away from us, Ferdinand." Robyn demanded fearfully.

"I gotcha!" The overweight dog said manically.

"Get away from us!" Rainbow grabbed the edge of the raft and flapped her wings to push them forward and away from Ferdinand.

The plump pooch was just inches from grabbed the edge of the raft before it raced away from his grasp. Now that he was out of momentum he began to sink into the water.

"Uh, oh." He balanced himself at the end of his skateboard to keep from touching the water. "Robyn, raft!"

Ferdinand continued to say some other unintelligible things before he and his skateboard were completely submerged and sunken. The ponies and dragon watched as the dog disappeared into the murky water.

"We have to least save him from drowning." Fluttershy said.

"Sorry, Flutters, but we can't risk him getting on the raft and ratting us out." Rainbow said.

"But...he could drown!" The pitying pegasus wailed.

"He's a dog. I'm sure he knows how to doggy-paddle." Tom said.

Lo and behold, Ferdinand popped out from the surface, paws flailing about. He was just barely keeping himself afloat with his frantic paddling.

"See. He'll be fine." Tom looked out Fluttershy, who was still a bit unsure. "For the most part."

Fluttershy let out a uneasy sigh.

"I hope he at least makes it to the shore." She said quietly.

"Well, we can't exactly fault ya for that, Flutters. That there dog may be more petty than a bandit, but even ah know he don't deserve ta drown." Applejack said.

"Well, with him out of the way, let's focus and trying to get to Tibet." Twilight let out a yawn. "And possibly getting some sleep."

"Now that's something I can agree with." The rainbow-maned pegasus concurred.

And so Tom, Jerry, Robyn, the Mane 6, and Spike all began to hunker down for the remainder of the night. The raft disappeared into the mist, while Aunt Figg and Lickboot vainly searched around the bridge to find Robyn. Though, they would never find her.

The group of friends were all now fast asleep on the raft as it softly coasted down the river. The subtle rocking of the craft soothed them all into a deep slumber. Unbeknownst to them, the riverbanks were beginning to widen. Normally that wouldn't sound like a problem, but it was about to be.

Jerry lay snug against Tom's arm as he slept. Tom woke up upon feeling the mouse massaging his head against his fuzzy elbow. Tom, being a cat that didn't appreciate such sappy affections, lifted his arm and let Jerry's head flop against the wood. He then laid his hands under his head not only for comfort and support, but also so Jerry couldn't sleep against them. The grey pussycat went back to sleep, but that didn't last long when Jerry pushed himself against the side of his torso.

Getting more irritated, Tom slid his whole body away from his mouse friend. Satisfied with himself, he went back to sleep again. But, Tom didn't realize that while a pushed himself away from Jerry, he had completely slid off the raft. Just as he could close his eyes, he dropped into the water with a splash. He quickly lift himself onto the board and shook the water off his fur. Now angry, Tom was prepared to slash the sleeping mouse with his claws when an ominous sound echoed in the distance. It sounded like a horn. Tom turned his head and was meant with a great big, dark shape. The shape was a massive cargo ship and it was heading right for them. Tom let out the loudest and most terrified scream he ever made, which woke up the others.

"Augh! What's going on now?" Rarity rubbed her tired eyes. "Can't a mare get her beauty sleep."

That's when she noticed the giant boat aiming right for them.

"Look out!" Twilight shouted fearfully.

She too let out a scream as the others began to comprehend the nightmarish situation.

"Sweet Celestia, what is that!?" Spike asked in sheer terror.

"It's heading right for us!" Rainbow shouted.

"Abandon ship!" Pinkie leapt from the raft.

Tom, Jerry, Robyn, and the Mane 7 all jumped from the raft as the ship smashed into it with a hellacious crash. The raft was smashed to pieces, the splintered wood sinking into the deep, dark depths of the water. And just like that, it was over. The ship trudged on its journey like nothing happened. Now raftless and separated, our friends are at the mercy of the bubbling waters that surrounded them. conscious or not, their fate was now uncertain.

To be continued

Part 8: Dirty Tactics

The morning sun had risen up by now, display the perfect brightness and temperature. On such a perfect, Aunt Figg was doing what seemed the most appropriate thing to do, sunbathing. She donned a fitting attire for such an occasion; a bright pink shirt with a magenta skirt along with wear a pair of purple shades. While she pretended to act like everything was fine and dandy, she was constantly thinking of Robyn and her whereabouts. She and Lickboot couldn't find at the bridge or anywhere else they thought she could be. They were forced to give up and file another missing persons report and hoped all night the cops would find her. It was the next day and there was still no news of the girl.

While Figg was in the midst of situating herself, Ferdinand was slumbering underneath the sun-bathing chair with an icepack on his head. The entire fiasco of getting thrown down the river and almost drowning had taken a toll on the obese pooch. Now he wanted nothing more than to rest undisturbed under the shade and forget about everything that happened last night.

Just then, the telephone began to ring. Figg grabbed it and answered.

"Hello? What do you want now, Lickboot?"

As her lawyer boyfriend began to explain, the greedy woman's expression grew more and more devastated.

"No more money?" She asked, refusing to believe Lickboot's news.

"Without proof that Robyn is being well cared for, we can't touch another penny of her father's money." The crooked lawyer explained, though he remained stoic and calm.

"Don't talk foolishness, Lickboot. Can't you do something...devious?" Figg sat down on the sun-bathing chair.

Her entire weight pressed down on Ferdinand, startling him wake. He was completely crushed underneath his owner.

"I'm sure if you put your mind to it, you can be really sleazy." Figg said with a seductive tone.

She laid down completely on the sun-bathing chair. Ferdinand tried to push back up to escape the crushing prison, but it proved to be fruitless. He sat there helplessly being flattened.

"Why, thank you, Pristine." Lickboot said arrogantly. "But suppose we get her back and the little brat tells Daddy Starling why she ran away?"

"Who's he gonna believe? An overemotional, whining, distraught little girl or me, her warm, loving, concerned nanny?" Figg asked as she picked up a chocolate eclair off a desert tray. "Now do something. I mean lie, cheat, steal!"

She leapt from the chair, her body wracked with angry and impatience. Her leaving the chair allowed Ferdinand to roll out from under it. Though he was now flattened with indents of the chair's straps lining his back.

"Corrupt a government! Do anything to get that money, you nerdy nitwit!" Figg demanded.

"Well, that's easy." Lickboot replied simply. "A reward."

"A reward?" Pristine asked incredulously.

"Yes. People will do anything for money." Lickboot began to explain.

"Oh, don't I know. So?" Figg said sarcastically.

"So we offer a reward. Someone will turn her in. Big reward! Say, one million dollars." The greedy lawyer said with a devious grin.

"But, we don't have a million dollars." Figg squeezed the eclair in her hand.

"I know. That's why it's so sleazy." Lickboot's said smoothly.

"Oh?" Figg was confused.

For a second, she didn't exactly get what her boyfriend was getting at. Then it clicked in her head what Lickboot was insinuating. The plan all made sense to her, and it was a devious one. Pristine giggled and licked the chocolate icing off her fingers.

"Oh, I love it when you talk like that." She purred.

And so the plan was put into action. All it took was taking the missing persons report product company. The product of choice; milk cartons. And in no time at all, the assembly lines and store shelves were stocked with milk cartons showing Robyn's picture and with "$1,000,000" Printed in bold lettering on the side.

"This will get her back." Figg grabbed a milk carton off a conveyor belt.

Both she and Lickboot clinked the cartons together like wine glasses with twisted grins on their faces.

The morning mist coated the top of the river as it snaked it's way through the middle of nowhere. On a broken piece of wood, Robyn, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all lay unconscious on it as it drifted down cooling waters. They soon came to a rest against a sandy shore surrounded by trees and cattails. As the three laid there, two figures stumbled upon it, unsure what to make of this.

Meanwhile, in the snowy mountains of Tibet, a large plane navigated it's way through a brutal snowstorm. The pilot was an older man, sporting a nicely-cut mustache. He wore a white shirt with a brown coat and hat and a pair of grey pants. It was none other than Robyn's father.

He wrestled for control of the plane as the monstrous winds pounded against it. That's when he received a transmission through his radio.

"Your daughter has run away, and no one knows where she is." The transmission said.

"What? My daughter's run away?" Robyn's father asked in shock. "If Robyn's in trouble, there's only one place she'll go."

Immediately, he turned the plane around and began flying back to the landing strip.

The first thing Robyn noticed when she woke up was that she was on dry land. Not just that, but she was also lying on a bed. As he vision began to refocus, she also realized that Pinkie And Rarity were also lying with her on the bed.

"Rarity? Pinkie?" She said, a voice a bit raspy.

The two ponies groggily got up.

"Are we back home? Is the mission complete?" Rarity yawned.

"I'm inclined to believe, no." The young girl replied.

"So, the whole "crashing into a boat" wasn't a dream?" The dreary unicorn asked.

"Oh, I remember that, too." Pinkie said, pulling away the covers. "But, where's everypony else?"

To their shock, Rarity and Robyn were quick to realize that their pink friend was right. There was no sign of the others.

"Tom? Jerry?" Robyn called out.

"Twilight? Applejack?" Rarity added on.

"Hello? Are you all playing hide and seek?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, on that topic, where are we? I thought we were travelling by raft?"

That too was a quick and shocking realization. Instead of soaking into the river, the three friends were in some place. Pinkie peeked her head through the nearby window.

"Holy guacamole, girls! There's a carnival out here!" She said with delight.

"Wait, what?" Robyn said in confusion.

She and Rarity looked through the window. Their eyes were met with all sorts of carnival rides, refreshment stands, and more. Pinkie bounced around with excitement.

"Come on, let's go have fun!" Pinkie was about to zoom away when Rarity grabbed her with her magic.

"Now just a minute, Pinkie." The alabaster unicorn said sternly. "We still need to find our friends. we need to make sure they're okay."

Pinkie looked through the window, then back at Rarity.

"Rarity is right. Our friends could be anywhere. For all we know, they could be out looking for us." Robyn added.

The hyper earth pony finally calmed down enough for Rarity to set her back down.

"Oh. You do have a point there." Pinkie pondered. "But, after we find them, then can we go to the carnival."

Rarity let out a sigh.

"Yes, Pinkie, as long as the others are okay with it."

"Yippee!" Pinkie jumped high into the air.

"But, let's go back to what you said earlier." The fashionista rebounded. "Where exactly are we?"

As the girls looked around. Wherever they were, it was small. There was a small kitchen and plenty of shelves and counters housing all sorts of trinkets and tools, even a hand puppet. It was of green parrot wearing a red and white striped shirt and a yellow hat.

"Oooo. I always wanted to try ventriloquism." Pinkie intended to head over to the puppet and use it.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, darling. I probably belongs to somepony." Rarity advised.

But, before Pinkie could even grab the hand puppet, it shifted. large eyes opened and began to lean closer to them.

"AHHHH!" The three girls all screamed.

"AUUUGGHH!" The puppet squawked.

"AHHHH!" The girls screamed again.

"It's alive!" The puppet pointed to them.

Suddenly, a large man with brown, furry mustache, wearing a ship captain's uniform, popped out from behind the counter.

"Great wobbling wattles!" He blew a Bosun's whistle. "Avast and heave to there, mates."

"Oh, you frightened us." Robyn said, clutching the blankets.

"S-Stay away from us!" Rarity demanded fearfully.

"Oh, sorry, my dears. We didn't mean to frighten you. My first mate doesn't mind his manners sometimes." The man explained, walking from behind the counter.

"Squawk! It's me bad upbringing that's to blame." The puppet complained.

Rarity and Robyn just sat dumbfounded, while Pinkie was giggling up a storm.

"Don't mind him. How are you feeling, little ladies? Are you okay?" The man asked.

"We could be better." Rarity sighed.

"I feel a little dizzy." Robyn held her head.

"You gave us quite a fright, too, you know. Been lying here for a few days now." The man explained.

"A few days!?" Rarity asked, aghast.

"Yeah. We thought you'd never leave." The puppet replied.

"Oh, our friends must be worried sick about us." Rarity said with concern.

"Umm, excuse Mr. Pirate, where are we?" Pinkie raised her hoof.

The captain smiled brightly and took a step back.

"You're the lucky guests of Captain Kiddie. King of the county fair." The captain pulled a poster down from the ceiling. "Pirate of pleasure and-"

"SQUAWK!" The puppet yelled.

"Oh, yes. And my first mate, Squawk." Kiddie rolled his eyes.

Squawk gave a bow.

"He's funny." Robyn giggled.

"And loud." Rarity added, though not sharing the amusement.

"Can I give him a try?" Pinkie asked.

"What? I'm not some toy to be played with. Sqauwk!" Squawk reprimanded.

"He's like that with a lot of people. Try not to take it too personally." Captain Kiddie said softly.

"Awww. I like puppets." Pinkie said sadly.

"Well, let's brighten to mood a bit. You ladies hungry by any chance?" The captain said.

"Are we ever." Robyn replied.

"I bet you like milk and cookies." Kiddie headed over to the fridge. "All little girls like milk and cookies. And milk and cookies is just what we got."

"It's all we got." Squawk peeked from behind the captain's shoulder.

"Oh! Oh! I love cookies. You can't go wrong with that!" The overjoyed earth pony said.

While Robyn, Rarity, and Pinkie was getting acquainted to some new friends, the other were stuck in a different predicament. Tom, Jerry, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow all were lying on a fractured piece of the raft, floating down the river. All were either unconscious, except Jerry, who was sitting at the edge of the wood slab with a crestfallen look on his face.

He spotted a bright yellow fish jumping out from the water. That's when he got an idea. Jerry took Tom's tail and smoothed it out so the tip was shaped into a fish hook. Then the mouse dipped it into the water. Tom was initially woken up by the cold and wet sensation, but figured it was nothing and went back to sleep. However, the fish clamped down on his tail. Pain surged through his body and Tom shot high into the air, taking the fish with him.

"YEOWWWW!" The pussycat shouted in pain, which woke the others up.

"Huh!? Did I oversleep?" Spike asked in a panic.

"Gah! We're late for magic school!" Twilight looked around, then realized they were sitting on what's left of the raft. "Oh...right."

"Ugh. What is going on now?" Rainbow rubbed her tired eyes. "I seriously can't understand why it's so hard to get a full night of rest."

While the others were slowly starting to truly wake, Tom was up in the sky with the fish, which still had his tail in it's mouth. Tom angrily yanked his tail away. The fish retaliated with slapping the cat with it's tail fin and spitting water in Tom's face. The fish splashed into the water, and Tom landed on the broken raft feet first. The impact caused both Rainbow and Fluttershy to fall into the water.

"Are you kidding me?" Rainbow yelled in frustration as she broke through the surface.

"Actually, the water isn't bad." Fluttershy said.

"Whut'n tarnation is goin' on, Tom?" Applejack questioned.

"I think a better question is what are you doing?" Tom snatched up Jerry in his hand.

"Catching ya breakfast." Jerry replied with a witty smile.

"Does that explain the fish?" Spike asked, curiously looking down in the water.

"Okay. You want to catch something?" Tom waved his fist at the mouse.

But, before Tom could finish, the wood board smacked into a sandy embankment, throwing off the five other friends on board. Rainbow and Fluttershy clambered onto the shore and began drying themselves off.

"Now, where are we?" Jerry asked.

"You tell us. We've never been to this world before." Twilight shook some sand off herself.

"Hold on." Spike counted the others, then looked around frantically. "Where's Rarity?"

The others, too, began to realize some of their friends were missing.

"And Pinkie." Rainbow added.

"And Robyn." Twilight also added.

"We must've gott'n separated from 'em when that boat crashed into us," Applejack concluded, a dreadful expression on her face. "We have to find 'em."

"Oh, no." Fluttershy quivered.

"And fast. They could be anywhere." Rainbow added. "I'll go search from the air."

"We'll help. Me and Fluttershy can search from the sky. The rest of you can search on the ground." Twilight immediately took charge.

"O-Okay." The timid pegasus said.

The three winged ponies took to the air and flew off to begin the search.

"Oh, I hope those three are okay, especially Rarity." Spike said worriedly.

"Don't worry, Spike. We'll find them." Applejack reassured. "We just need to keep are eyes peeled."

"But, where could they possibly be?" Tom asked.

Jerry then spotted something half-buried in the sand.

"Hey! I see something!" Jerry raced over to it and pulled it out of the sand. "Hey, guys, look!"

"What is it?" The grey pussycat asked with confusion.

"That's Robyn's locket. She must've lost it somehow." Spike said with surprise.

"She must be around here somewhere." Tom said with a gasped.

"And so might Pinkie and Rarity." The orange cowgirl added. "Come on, ya'll. Let's go and find 'em."

With determination, the group began searching for the two lost ponies and girl.

"So, uh...where did you say you were headed, little ladies?" Kiddie poured a glass of milk.

"Davy Jones's locker, I figured." Squawks grunted, before munching on one of the sandwich cookies laid out on a small table.

"Tibet." Robyn replied.

"Her father's is there." Rarity added.

"Tibet? I know it well. Just outside of Cleveland." Kiddie said.

"Isn't that what Tom said back at the house?" Pinkie asked to her unicorn friend.

"I believe so. I guess that checks out." Rarity remarked.

"Have you been to Tibet?" Robyn asked the captain in blue.

"Yessir-y. I've played them all from Broadway to Timbuktu and back again." Captain Kiddie replied in dramatic fashion. "Why, I was big star in my day."

"Oh! Is that so?" Rarity was pleasantly surprised. "I didn't take you as one who would be on the big stage."

"Oh, yes. Back in my heydays, I travelled across the globe performing on some of the biggest stages!" Kiddie exclaimed.

"Oh, boy, here we go. Squawk!" The puppet parrot whined with dread.

While Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn were beginning to enjoy themselves in the company of Kiddie and Squawks, The others were fervently on the search for them. Spike, Applejack, Tom, and Jerry was combing through the tall grass not far from the shore to find any clues that could lead them to their lost friends.

"Any sign of anythin'?" Applejack asked.

Spike let out a depressed sigh.

"No."

"Gosh. It's like they disappeared without a trace." Tom remarked.

"Now let's not go too nonsensical here." Applejack said firmly. "They're 'round here somewhere. They couldn't have gott'n far."

"But, what if they did? What if we never see them again?" Spike said.

He was quickly beginning to lose faith.

"Now, don't talk like that, Spike." Applejack came to his side. "Clues or not, there ain't nothin' that can keep us from finding Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn."

"Exactly. Things may seem bleak now, but we're bound to find them eventually." Jerry added.

Spike let out another sigh, except, this one was more of one to help stay calm.

"I...I get that. I just hope nothing bad happens to them." The little dragon lamented.

"You and me both, Spike." Applejack said, comforting the dragon.

Just then, Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy returned from their aerial search.

"Anything?" The farm pony asked.

"No. No sign of them." Twilight said sadly.

"You girls don't think Figg and Lickboot managed to get to Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn, do you?" Rainbow apprehensively proposed.

The other's widened at the possibility.

"Oh, dear." Fluttershy whispered.

"If that's the case, we'll have to go back to the house and rescue 'em." Applejack said with determination.

"If we can even find it again." Jerry. "We still have no idea where we are."

"Plus, there's the possibility of them not being captured and are still around here somewhere." Spike added.

"That's true." Twilight admitted.

"But, we've combed through this place as thoroughly as possible, and there was nothing that could indicate they were here." Rainbow said.

"'cept for the locket." Applejack pointed out.

"Right, except the locket." Rainbow said sheepishly.

The ponies, dragon, cat, and mouse were at an impasse on what to do. The fate of their friends seemingly indecisive. However, As luck would have it, the group was actually not far from their lost friends, and that would prove to be a serious game-changer in more ways any of them could imagine.

To be continued

Part 9: Race for the Gold

While Twilight and the rest were in the midst of trying to find, and possibly rescue, their missing friends, Robyn, Rarity, and Pinkie were only getting more acquainted and friendly with Captain Kiddie and Squawk, especially after the whole song-bit.

"Well, my dears, should we take our show on the road?" Kiddie poured a glass of milk. "A toast to our new stars."

"Stars you say?" Rarity purred. "Oh, I like the sound of that."

"Wait. What about the rest of our friends?" Pinkie reminded them.

The unicorn and human froze upon realizing they had completely forgotten about their friends during the whole singing fiasco.

"Oh, gosh, you're right, Pinkie. How could we have forgotten?" Rarity said. "Mr. Kiddie, I don't mean to be a downer, but our friends are still missing. We need to look for them."

"Other friends you say?" The captain asked.

"Yes. They're probably worried sick about us. Can we please look for them? I promise to make the search worthwhile." Robyn pleaded.

"Well, if they're anything look you three, I'm sure they'll make great additions to the fair." Kiddie said with a smile. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Uh...I suppose." Rarity leaned over to Pinkie. "I'm starting to realizing the issue of becoming stars in this fair."

It was becoming blatantly apparent to the two ponies that becoming stars meant having to stay in this world. Now, there wasn't inherently wrong with this world, except for Miss Figg and Lickboot, but they both knew staying here meant living Equestria, probably for good. That also meant never seeing their home, their families, and other friends again.

While Pinkie and Rarity were confiding with each other, Squawk spotted something printed on the milk carton. A picture of a girl was printed on it's side with a reward of one million dollars at the bottom. He looked to Robyn sitting on the bed. It was the same girl, Robyn was the one printed on the carton, and there was a million dollar reward for finding her. The puppet parrot's mouth gaped, he had to tell the captain about this.

"Psst. Cap'n. Cap'n." He pulled on Kiddie's ear.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm conversing with our young guests?" Kiddie said with irritation.

"Cap'n. Cap'n, I gotta talk to ye." Squawk pushed the uniformed man off his seat.

"All right already." Kidde angrily conceded.

"Can we step outside?" The parrot pulled on the captain's mustache.

"Uh, is something wrong, darlings?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Will you excuse us for a moment, my dears?" Kidde asked, while being pulled toward the door. "I need to confer with my first mate."

With that, the captain and parrot slipped outside.

"Oh, sure." Robyn grabbed another cookie.

That's when Pinkie began to shudder involuntarily. Being of friend of hers for as long as she could remember, Rarity when something was wrong.

"What's the problem, Pinkie?" She asked softly.

"Something bad is going to happen." Pinkie shuddered. "Not like a doozy or anything, but like...It's an icky feeling."

"You don't think something happened to our friends!?" Rarity gasped.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, isn't going to be good." The earth pony said uneasily.

"What do you mean? Everything seems okay." Robyn overheard the two.

"Oh, it's her Pinkie Sense. It's a little hard to explain." The fashionista said.

"Well, you see. Sometimes I get these niggly feelings that means something will happen. Sometimes they're good sometimes they're bad, like when I get a twitchy tail, it means something's going to fall." Pinkie explained with a beaming smile.

"So, it's like a intuition?" Robyn asked.

"Hmmm. I suppose. I never that of it like that." Rarity responded. "But, never mind that. I suggest we be a bit careful. Pinkie feels that something bad will happen."

"Uh, okay then." The young girl said, now a bit wary.

Outside, Squawk tugged Kiddie to the middle of the lot and pointed to the milk carton. At first, the big man was confused, but Squawk urged him to study the face printed on the carton. As Kiddie studied it, he soon discovered the it was, in fact, Robyn's face printed on the carton. He looked back into the trailer where the young girl and her two friends were, then looked back at the carton. The same girl, and better yet, there was a one million dollar reward to the one who found her and brought her back to her guardian. Kiddie was awestruck, He almost couldn't believe it, but all the confirmation was there on the milk carton. A large, gleeful smile grew on his mustached face.

"I'm rich! I'm rich!" He bellowed with excitement.

"What do you mean, you're rich? You mean we're rich." Squawk put his hands in his hips.

"Oh, yeah. I-I forgot." The captain said sheepishly.

"It's the jackpot!" The hand puppet snatched up the carton.

"The end of the rainbow!" Kidde snatched it back.

"The pot of gold!"

"Rich!"

"Richer!"

"Richest! Wahoo!"

The two excitedly spun in circles and throw the milk carton high into the air with sheer joy. The cardboard carton sailed through the air, far beyond the fairgrounds. The carton was had done it's job now. Kiddie had to make a phone call.

Not too far away, Twilight, Tom, and the others were still looking for their missing friends. So far all they could find were trees, sticks, rocks, and a small plastic container filmed with some weird looking candy.

"Chalky." Spike said, munching on one of pieces. "Also, who names their candy "Flintstones?" It just sounds so unappealing."

"I don't know and, frankly, that's not really something we should be worrying about." Rainbow said, exasperated. "Seriously, I feel like we've combed this entire place looking for Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn."

"We're bound to run into them eventually. They're probably out searching for us, too." Fluttershy did her best to keep the optimism alive.

"Let's be realistic here, guys. We could be searching for days before we find them." Tom said. "This place goes on for miles."

"Well, we ain't just goin' give up like that. If we have ta search fer days on end ta find 'em, then so be it." Applejack said stubbornly.

"Exactly. We're not going to complete our mission and rescue Robyn if we're separated." Twilight said, but then she let out a loud, frustrated groan. "But, I really wish something could clue us in on where they could be."

Whatever higher being was listening in on the discussion seemed to have decided to oblige to the princess’s wish. Out of the blue, something dropped down from the sky and bounced off the alicorn's head.

"Ow!"

The object then landed right in front of Tom.

"What the hay was that?" Twilight rubbed her head.

"It's a milk carton." Spike said

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Just when I thought, shouting to the heavens would actually work." Twilight grumbled. "How is this going to help find Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn?”

"It won't. It's just a carton of milk." Tom replied bluntly. "With that said, oh, boy! Food!"

The housecat snatched up the container and began chugging the milk.

"Hey!" Jerry yelled.

"Leave some for us." The cyan pegasus said.

"Ah, sorry." Tom handed to carton over.

"No, look! It's Robyn!" The mouse hopped in place.

"What? Where is she?" Twilight asked.

"Where? Where?" Tom looked around.

The ponies, dragon, and cat all looked around to see Robyn. Jerry facepalmed.

"Right there, on the milk carton!" He jumped from the stem he was standing on to the carton.

The others looked for themselves, and there she was. A picture of Robyn printed brightly against the white-colored material.

"Ah, yeah. That's her!" Tom exclaimed.

"Huh. What do you know." Rainbow said.

"But, why is her picture on a milk carton?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's strange." Spike pondered.

"Ain't it obvious? That no-good Figg tryin' to get others ta find her." Applejack said angrily.

"She's bribing with a reward, as well." Twilight eyed the carton.

"Wow! A million dollar reward." Tom read through the printed text. "Hey, you don't suppose..."

As Tom shifted to the others, Jerry lost his balance and fell into the open carton with a splash.

"Uh, oh." Spike said.

Tom turned the carton upside down. The milk poured out along with Jerry.

"No doubt about it, Robyn must be here." The mouse said.

"And if that's the case, so are Rarity and Pinkie." Twilight concluded.

"Yeah, let's take a look around." The grey cat suggested.

"Guess the milk carton was a help after all." Rainbow said with a smug smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess it was." Twilight sighed. "Now let's go find our friends.

What are friends didn't know, was that they were closing to Rarity, Robyn, and Pinkie were closing than they thought. Just beyond the mountainous wall of bushes and shrubs stood Captain Kiddie's Carnival. Just beyond the shoreline was Kiddie himself, vigorously dialing a number on an old telephone.

"Hmm. Miss Pristine Figg. What a lovely name. It sounds like a million dollar." He chuckled gleefully, barely able to contain his excitement.

Speaking of Figg, she was in middle of having an argument with Dr. Applecheek. The doctor's two lackeys were parked outside the Starling mansion in their old, animal control truck.

"My fault? What do you mean, it's my fault?" Figg asked the doctor angrily. "If you done away with those miserable pests, like I paid you to, that brat wouldn't have run away again."

"Nevertheless, those animals have cost me a bundle." Applecheek interjected. "Not to mention the damage."

"Damage? I..." The argument was put on hold when the telephone rang. "Excuse me for a moment, doctor, I must get the phone."

Pristine stepped inside the lounge room and closed the sliding doors. Then, she picked up the phone. Meanwhile, a suspicious applecheek quietly opened the doors, just a little, to eavesdrop an the greedy lady's call.

"Hello." She greeted.

...

"Yes. Yes, I did offer a one million dollar reward for the return of my precious little Robyn."

...

"Captain Kiddie's Carnival!" She laughed victoriously. "We got her! I've got her!"

The twister doctor heard everything. A million dollar reward. That would be enough to pay for the damages, all the lost animals, and then some. Applecheek knew what he had to do. He had to get to Robyn before Figg could and then she have to give the reward to him instead. He swiftly and quietly went back to the truck and he and the straycatchers tore out of the mansion's driveway.

"Yes, yes, yes." Figg was still verbally celebrating as she made her way out of the lounge. "Now, doctor. You were talking to me about damages?"

She found that Applecheek was gone with no trace left. She looked around to see where he could have gone.

"Doctor? Doctor? Where is that creep?" She wondered skeptically.

The old truck raced out of the open gate of the mansion. Lickboot, meanwhile, was heading towards the house in the red convertible. He spotted the truck charging for him. The sleazy lawyer swerved out of the way to avoid it, tearing through a front yard and a wall of bushes. He sped through the gateway and screeched to a halt at the mansion's front entrance as Figg and Ferdinand hurried down the stone steps.

"They found her." Figg notified.

"Where?" Lickboot asked as he opened the door for his penny-pinching girlfriend.

"Captain Kiddie's Carnival. You know it?" Figg said.

Lickboot gave a knowing smirk. Meanwhile, Ferdinand leapt into the the backseat of the car.

"All have us there before you can say "one million dollars." Lickboot slammed the gas and the car sped out of the driveway in a cloud of dust.

"One million dollars!" Applecheek said as the truck bounded down the street. "If I can get to Robyn before Pristine Figg, the reward will be mine. All mine!"

"Uh, what are we gonna get?" The purple masked straycatcher asked expectantly.

"Yeah. What's in it for us." The orange-masked one added.

"For you?" The doctor asked angrily. "If you'd gotten rid of that cat, mouse, ponies, and lizard, like I ordered, we wouldn't be in this fix. You get nothing."

Both were taken aback for the amount of harshness from their boss. Of course, they wouldn't have any of it. The two catchers looked at each other with evil grins. They both had the exact same idea. They purple-masked catcher stopped the truck right at an intersection and the orange-masked catcher shoved Applecheek off the vehicle and onto the curb. The two then sped off, leaving a shell-shocked doctor behind. The straycatchers shared a hardy laugh. That money was as good as theirs now. Applecheek watched as the disappeared down the street.

"Come back! Come back! We'll share it fifty-fifty! Uh, uh, sixty-forty." The stout doctor pleaded loudly. "Come back! We'll negotiate."

He stumbled onto the road to try and flag them down, but at this point, the truck was long gone. Then heard the sound of screeching tires from behind him. Applecheek turned around and saw Figg and Lickboot veer around a corner and speeding down the road right for him. He jumped out of the way just in time as the speedy convertible zoomed past him.

As he stood on his knees, believing his chances of getting the million diminished, he heard cheery music coming from the other side of the street. His eyes fell upon something and he smile with twisted malice. On the opposite side of the ride, a motorized ice cream bike was parked against the curb. The driver was busy handing ice cream out to some children to notice the stout, corrupt doctor. And it was just what the doctor order. Well, maybe not what Applecheek had in mind, but it would do. He stumbled toward the unguarded vehicle, his conniving, evil grin unwavering. That one million dollars will be his.

To be continued

Part 10: Escape After Escape

Back At Kiddie's Carnival, the captain was showing Rarity, Robyn, and Pinkie around the park. Robyn was even given a bright yellow balloon as a gift. While she and Pinkie were taking in all the colorful and fun sights, Rarity was still thinking about Pinkie's Pinkie Sense. If something bad was going to happen, it was best to be prepared. Worse case scenario, Figg would show up to cart them all away.

"Wow. It's...It's really neat. It's like a fairyland." Robyn surveyed the entire fairgrounds.

"There's so much to do! Eeee!" Pinkie bounced excitedly.

"Yes, it's nice, but I think we should be worrying about our others friends instead of distracting ourselves." Rarity advised.

"Oh, come on, deary. We'll find them in due time. Try to lighten up a bit. From what you've all been through, you need it." Captain Kiddie persuaded. "How about a ride on the Captain's Ferris wheel."

"Well...uh, don't get me wrong it sounds fun. It's just, I feel like we have more important priorities." Rarity said.

"Tallest one in the county." The captain said inticingly.

"It's the only one." Squawk added flatly.

The three were brought over to the pirate-themed ride.

"Sign! Me! Up!" Pinkie shouted happily.

"Excited are we?" Kiddie asked. "Great view from the top. You can see the whole of Captain Kiddie's Carnival."

"You can see it all from right here." The parrot puppet added.

"I love Ferris wheels." Robyn said excitedly.

"Me, too!" Pinkie joined in.

"You'll love this one." The blue-collared sailor said.

The fashionista tried to dissuade the two.

"Girls, with all do respect, I really don't..."

"Like I said, deary, lighten up a bit. Trust me there will plenty of time to look for your other friends." The captain said.

Rarity let out a sigh.

"All right, I suppose one ride wouldn't hurt." She gave in.

"That's the spirit." Kiddie beamed as the three climbed into one of the wheel's seats. "Let's make sure it's safe."

He brought down metal guard, essentially locking the three to the seat.

"We wouldn't want anything to happen to Robyn Starling." Squawk said sweetly.

"How nice." Rarity said with appreciation.

However, Robyn did a double-take.

"Wait, how did you know my name?" She asked.

"Oh, right, we never told you our names." Rarity realized. "Which now I realize is pretty rude."

"But, he how does he know mine?" Robyn asked, sounding more frightened. "I never told him my name."

"Sorry, kid." Kiddie pulled the lever. "Gotta keep you here when your aunt arrives to fetch you."

The Ferris wheel began to move, rising the three into the air.

"Aunt? You don't mean..." Pinkie began connecting the dots.

"You were conspiring with her this whole time, weren't you?" Rarity spoke angrily.

"I thought you were a nice man." Robyn said with a betrayed expression.

"But, I am, my dears." Kiddie replied.

"But, he'll be even nicer with a million smackeroons" Squawk added.

"Enjoy the ride, my dears." The captain called.

"It's on the house." Squawk added.

The two ponies and young girl were helpless as the rose higher and higher on the ride.

"Oh, this is not good." Rarity said with dread.

"It was all a trick. Those two meanies." Pinkie said angrily.

Kiddie pulled back the lever and the Ferris wheel jutted to a stop. The seat swung back in forth, hurdling the three occupants around. They clung to the guardrail to keep from falling.

"Please! Oh, please let us down. Don't send me back to Aunt Figg. She hates me. Please don't send me back." Robyn pleaded.

"I can't believe this. Just when I let me guard down, and we get trapped on a stupid carnival ride!" Rarity pounded her hoof against the metal bar. "And for what? Money? That is what all matters to you?"

She glared hateful eyes down at the captain and his puppet buddy.

"You two are the biggest meanies ever!" Pinkie cried.

"Just relax. Look around. You're on top of the world." Kiddie called up to them.

And as if the situation couldn't get any more petty, Robyn's balloon slipped from her grasp. She tried to grab for it, but that caused the seat to starting swaying back and forth again. Rarity, Pinkie, and Robyn all shrieked and held on for dear life to the rail. When the seat finally stopped, all they could do was just sit there. They were too high up to risk dropping from the wheel, lest they broke something or get killed in the process. Now they were all stuck high in the air with pretty much no chance of escape on their own, all the three could do was wait for the possibility of help.

"Now, all we can hope for now is for the others to somehow find us." Rarity said miserably.

"We should have never went on the ride." Pinkie lamented. "I'm sorry for not listening to you, Rarity."

"It's quite all right, Pinkie, darling. I should've been more resolute." Rarity accepted her friends apology.

Down below, Kiddie and Squawk stood guard of the Ferris wheel.

"Sun's over the yardam, which means naptime for the old captain." Kiddie yawned.

He sat down on a rotating stool and pitched his legs atop the Ferris wheel's control.

"Squawk." Squawk laid on the captain's stomach.

The two swiftly fell asleep under the warm sun and cooling breeze.

Meanwhile, miles away, a helicopter was preparing to take off from an airfield. Robyn's father raced over and jumped into the cockpit. The chopper take to the air and headed to where Robyn's father intended on going. He was going to find his daughter no matter what it took.

Robyn, Rarity, and Pinkie sat atop the Ferris wheel, only being able to wait for the inevitable. Robyn let out a depressed sigh. She had managed to get all this far, only to get hustled by a carnival owner cosplaying as a ship captain. At the very least, she was stuck up here with Pinkie and Rarity to keep her company.

"I'm bored." The sugar-loving mare pouted.

"I'm dreading when we get thrown back with Dr. Applecheek." Rarity winced. "He's probably going to do something horrible to us."

She let out a sound that was between a sigh and a frustrated grumble.

"I wish something would happen that could help us."

No sooner had she said that, a bright red balloon floated up to them. The balloon was carry something which was brought to Robyn's attention. She snatched it in her hand.

"My locket." She said happily.

"Oh. I didn't even know you lost that." The alabaster unicorn said.

"Wow. That balloon must be really considerate." Pinkie said.

"I doubt it was the balloon that found it." Rarity's ears perked up upon realizing the implications. "But, that would mean..."

The three looked down, and their moods brightened greatly when they saw Tom, Jerry, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike down below.

"Tom! Jerry!" Robyn said with delight.

"Girls! Spike-wikey! You're all here!" Rarity added, sharing the delight.

"Woohoo! We're saved!" Pinkie bounced happily, causing the seat to swing back and forth.

"Sssh." Tom quickly tried to shush them.

"Girls, quiet. We can't let him know we're here." Twilight pointed to the slumbering captain.

The three got the memo and quickly went silent. Though, Rarity had to shut Pinkie's mouth with her hoof.

"Quiet, darling. Kiddie is right underneath us." She informed.

Down below, the rest of the gang surveyed the situation.

"So, what's the plan?" Spike asked.

"Rainbow. You and I are going to fly up there and see if we can get that metal bar off of them." Twilight began to explain.

"You got it, Twi." Rainbow saluted.

"The rest of you. Try to get that guy away from the controls and make sure he's immobilized." The alicorn finished.

"Can do, Twi." Applejack affirmed.

"And I think I know just what to do." Jerry rubbed his hands together.

"What is it, Jerry?" Spike asked.

As Jerry began explaining his plan, Twilight and Rainbow flew up to their three stuck friends.

"Are you three all right?" Twilight asked.

"Pretty much." Rarity said, showing a relieved smile. "I was really worried that you wouldn't find us."

"We were worried something happened to you all, too." Pinkie added. "But, it seems like we had nothing to worry about there."

"Well, aside from getting wet, I'd say we're all fine." Rainbow replied. "But, why is that pirate-looking guy keeping you all up here?"

"Well, we don't know for sure, but I think Figg and Lickboot put a bounty on Robyn." Rarity explained.

"So, he tricked us into riding the Ferris wheel and trapped us up here, so Figg can arrived to take us back." Robyn added.

"Seriously? And I thought that lady couldn't stoop any lower." The seething pegasus growled. "I swear, when I got my hooves on her..."

"We can worry about that later. Right now, we need to free Rarity, Robyn, and Pinkie." Twilight reminded.

"Right. Of course." Rainbow said.

The two grabbed hold of the guard bar and heaved to try and pry it off Pinkie, Robyn, and Rarity. The bar, however, didn't budge.

"Gah." Rainbow grunted. "What's this things deal?"

"It must be sensor-based. It won't open unless it's at ground level." Robyn guessed.

"Ugh. Stupid, other-worldly technology." The pegasus pushed against the bar as hard as she could.

Meanwhile, down below the rest of the group were putting their plan into action. Standing on top of a ticket booth, Tom reeled a fishing line and hook down toward Kiddie. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike stood with him for added support, while Jerry stood on the fishhook as the rod lowered further and further down.

"I hope this works." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Ah hope so, too, Fluttershy." Applejack concurred.

Once Jerry was low enough, he hopped off the hook and onto Kiddie's leg. The mouse snagged the hook under the captain's thick, rubber boot and gave Tom the all clear. The cat began reeling the fishing rod, pulling the captain's legs off the control panel. Jerry felt satisfied to see his plan working. That was until the steady ascent began to stutter. Tom was having a hard time trying to lift the heavy guy farther.

"We gotch'ya, Tom." Applejack held onto the pussycat and planted her hooves to the wooden booth.

Fluttershy and Spike added to the support and held onto Tom to keep him from falling. However, Kiddie began to stir awake upon feeling his lower half floating upward. The fishhook couldn't hold anymore and tore free from the rubber boot. The captain fell out of his chair and he, Squawk, and Jerry flopped to the dirt.

"Gaah!" He said with surprise.

"Uh, oh." Spike said with worry.

"What the-" Kidde spotted Jerry on his stomach. "Pirates off the port bow. All hands on deck."

"Squawk!" Squawk yelled.

"Run, Jerry." Fluttershy said frantically.

Jerry sprinted away from the captain. Kiddie quickly got up and chased after the mouse, failing to notice Tom, Spike, Fluttershy, and Applejack still on the ticket booth.

"He'll won't be able to distract him for long." Tom said. "Come on, we need to get to those controls."

"Right. Let's go." Spike agreed.

Jerry ran as fast as he could, but the captain was hot on his heels.

"Get that varmint. Don't let him get away!" Kiddie yelled. "Oh, hurry! Oh, get him!"

Jerry dashed around a wooden platform to create more distance, but being a small rodent running away from a full grown human, it didn't help much.

"Gotcha." Kiddie snatched the mouse in his hand.

He eyed the mouse with contempt, but his attention was brought elsewhere when he noticed a bright, red convertible pulled up to the carnival. Pristine Figg stepped out from the passenger side, slamming the door in Ferdinand's face. Kiddie got up and grinned, dropping Jerry from his hand. The mouse hit the ground and raced over to the Ferris wheel to help the others.

"Where's the girl?" Figg demanded angrily.

"We wants to see the money, honey. Squawk!" Squawk said.

"Only after I see Robyn." The greedy lady replied sharply.

Just then, the straycatcher's truck pulled up to the carnival as well. The two straycatchers hastily exited the vehicle.

"You're too late, boys." Figg taunted and turned to Kidde. "Where's the little brat?"

"She's safe and sound on the Ferris wheel." Uniformed sailor pointed to the ride.

"There she is! The million-dollar kid." The purple masked catcher said, holding up his buddy. "We're rich!"

They shouldered past Figg and sprinted for the Ferris wheel.

"Stop them!" Pristine yelled.

Kiddie and Lickboot chased after them, knocking the greedy lady off her feet. While, that was unfolding, Tom, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike in the midst of trying to pull back the lever to get the machine rolling again.

"Why isn't this darn thing movin'?" Applejack asked in frustration. "Darn thing must be jammed."

Luckily, Jerry came in for the rescue. He pushed against the lever with all his might which was enough to lurch it back. The four others stumbled off the control panel with surprise.

"Huh, Didn't know you were that strong, Jerry." Applejack said, impressed with the mouse's strength.

"Well, let's just say it was a necessary thing." Jerry chuckled.

The Ferris wheel stuttered a bit and then began it's steady rotation, much to the surprise of the five others above.

"Tom. It's moving." Robyn held to bar tight.

"Freedom at last." Rarity praised.

"That was surprisingly fast. Even for me." Rainbow said curiously.

"We should able to get the bar off once they reach to ground. Let's go and help the others." Twilight said.

She and Rainbow flew back down to the rest of the group.

"We need to hurry. Figg, Lickboot, and those straycatchers are here." Jerry advised.

"Don't worry. I got this." Rainbow flew off toward the incoming straycatchers.

"Hey, jerks. Why don't you go and pick on someone your own size." She threatened.

"We ain't here for you, Skittles." The orange-masked catcher shoulder tackled the pegasus.

She flopped to the ground in a daze.

"Ya really didn't think that one through, did ya?" Applejack asked in an amused tone.

"Shut up." Rainbow growled.

"Never mind that." Tom pulled back the lever and the ride came to a stop.

"Solid ground at long last. I was getting quite sick up there." Rarity said.

"Ooo. They want a turn, too." Pinkie pointed to the straycatchers barreling toward them.

Gah! Get away!" The dramatic fashionista wailed.

The two animal catchers leapt for the three, thirsty for the promised pay. Luckily, Robyn's assumption was correct. She was able to lift it over with no issue.

"Get out of the way!" She emphasized and jumped clear.

Pinkie and Rarity followed suit just in time as the straycatchers crashed into the seat. The bar smacked down on top of them, locking them in place. The two tried to squirm free, but it was no use.

"Now, Tom!" Twilight said.

The grey pussycat pulled the lever again and the wheel began to rotate. sending the two thieves higher and higher into the air. They wailed and shouted with fear, realizing what was going on. The group watched with satisfaction as the straycatchers sat helplessly on the rotating ride.

"Ha, ha! That takes care of them." Rainbow laughed triumphantly.

"That ought to teach you not to trap us in a dirty cage." Rarity yelled angrily.

Unfortunately, their fun wouldn't last long.

"Uh, oh. Don't look now, but here comes the dragon lady." Jerry pointed ahead.

The others all gasped

"Oh, dear." Fluttershy shuttered.

Figg, Lickboot, and Kiddie all headed toward them.

"Robyn, come to your dear Aunt Figg, darling." Figg said in a fake sweet tone. "Spread out. Don't let the brat get by you."

She pushed Lickboot and Kiddie to each side to surround the group and keep them from escaping.

"What do we do?" Robyn asked fearfully.

"Stay back, you three. We'll handle this." Twilight said bravely.

The rest of the Mane 6 stand behind the three protectively, boring angry expressions.

"Like Tartarus you're taking her back again." Rainbow stomped her hoof.

"We ain't lettin' 'em lay another hoof on her." Applejack snorted.

"And if you try, we'll stop you." Rarity added.

"What? You think you candy-colored buffoons scare me." Figg laughed. "We'll sell you all off to the highest bidder."

"I'm not faltering this time. We will do what is right!" Twilight yelled.

"Hold that thought, you guys. I know a way out of here." Tom said. "Come on."

He raced away with Robyn following after. Jerry pushed back the lever before chasing after his friends, leaving the straycatchers stranded.

"Wait, what. What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"Follow us." Tom called out.

The Mane 6 and Spike all quickly followed after the cat, mouse, and girl to a wooden pier. A steam-powered paddleboat was docked at the end.

"We'll escape using this." Tom beamed.

"Well, that works, I guess." Twilight said humbly. "But, we would've fended them off."

"Yeah, I think it's best we not fight three, full grown adults." Tom advised. "Believe me, it never ends well."

"Plus, Aunt Figg knows how to get her hands dirty." Robyn added.

"Well, if you say so, darlings." Rarity said.

Figg, Lickboot, and Kiddie could see what the group was getting up to.

"They're getting away!" Figg pointed to them.

"Um, does anypony know how to operate this thing?" Fluttershy asked as they boarded the paddle steamer.

"We're about to find out." Pinkie began mashing buttons and levers along with Tom.

"Push the red button. It's always the red button." Jerry said.

"I know it. I was just gonna push it." Tom argued.

"We don't have time for this!" Twilight warned.

"Tom, Jerry, guys, hurry." Robyn frantically untied the knotted rope that kept the boat to the pier.

Figg, Lickboot, and Kiddie rushed the pier to try and stop the group's escape. Tom quickly pushed the red button and, almost immediately, the paddlewheels began spinning, kicking up water in the three's faces.

"So long, suckers!" Rainbow taunted the three.

The steamboat whisked away smoothly down the river.

"Lickboot, get the car. We'll head her off up the river." Figg said.

"Aye. Move it, cap'n, move it. We're in a race for a million." Squawk said maniacally.

"Not to worry. This old captain knows a trick or two." Kiddie shuffled down a ladder where a motor-powered raft was waiting.

He turned on the engine and the raft began blitzing around the pier like mad.

"Let me steer. Let me steer!" The parrot puppet demanded.

"Out of the way, birdbrain. I'm the captain here." The old captain snapped.

The raft rocketed up the river in chase of the steamboat. Meanwhile, Figg and Lickboot got back into the car. The crooked lawyer whipped the vehicle around just as Dr. Applecheek arrived in his stolen ice cream bike. The doctor's eyes widened in surprise to see the two turning back around.

"You're too late, doc." Figg laughed as Lickboot peeled out of the carnival in a cloud of dust.

Applecheek waved the heavy dust away. That's when he heard his two former lackies shouting from up above. He looked up and saw the two trapped at the top of a Ferris wheel.

"Hey, doc. Doc. We're up here." The purple masked catcher yelled.

"Hey, doc. Get us out of here!" The red-masked one pleaded.

The demented doctor smiled darkly and revved the bike's engine.

"Sorry, boys! One good turn deserves another!" Applecheek laughed and turned the motor bike around to chase after Pristine.

Out on the river, the steamboat gingerly paddled through the calm waters. Our friends have begun to collect themselves from the close call they had.

"Okay. Okay, we're out here now." Twilight said. "Though they're bound to be chasing after us as we speak."

"As long as we keep our distance. We should be fine." Tom said, operating the wheel.

"By the way, Tom, How in tha world do ya know ta pilot this here boat?" Applejack asked.

"I've operated all sorts of machines, Applejack. It's all muscle memory really." Tom responded casually.

"But, you're a cat. How and why do you know how to operate any machine?" Twilight asked, sounding more confused.

"Put it simply, I've learned how to use all kinds of machine. All in attempt to catch Jerry once and for all." The pussycat answered.

"I can attest to that." Jerry said.

"...Ah see." The farm pony said hesistantly.

"Machines? What kind of machines?" Rainbow asked.

"Anything you can think of; cars, planes, construction equipment. You name it." Tom said.

"Planes? Like, Dusty Crophopper?" Fluttershy asked rather quietly.

"Who?" Tom asked, now the one confused.

"It's a long story." Twilight replied sheepishly.

"Hey, quick word, Jerry." Spike turned to the mouse. "I don't really appreciate you calling Figg "dragon lady" since, you know, I'm an actual dragon."

"Oh." Jerry shrunk back a bit in shame. "Sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's all right." The little dragon smiled.

After the whole ordeal that just occurred, it left Rarity wondering. She stepped over to Pinkie.

“Say, Pinkie, was this the “big doozy” your tail was warning about?”

The pink party-animal put a hoof to her chin and rubbed it, thinking long and hard.

“Hmmm. Nope. That wasn’t it.”

“W…What?” Rarity stared at the smiling pony in complete confusion. “What do you mean that wasn’t it?”

“It just wasn’t,” Pinkie shrugged.

“Then what is it then?” The unicorn then asked, getting agitated.

“I don’t know,”

“Not this again!” Twilight cried out in frustration.

Tom, Jerry, and Robyn looked on in confusion at the Equestrian’s verbal antics.

“It’s a long story,” Spike said.

While our friends in the steamboat were steadily paddling down the river, the three main pursuers were hot on their tail. Figg and Lickboot whipped down the winding road the lay adjacent with the river. Kiddie and Squawk rattled down the river on their motorized raft. And, finally, Dr. Applecheek leisurely followed down the road in his stolen ice cream bike.

"Oh, no. They're following us!" Robyn spotted Figg, Lickboot, and Kiddie gaining on their slow-moving boat.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Spike asked desperatly.

"Well, We're going as fast as we can." Tom replied.

"It's not fast enough, unfortunately. They'll reach us in no time." Rarity pointed out.

He mashed to accelerator stick to try and make the boat go faster.

"Here, Tom. Let me try." Robyn took the helm and pushed the accelerator several times.

That's when she spotted the pressure gauge near the helm. The needle was sinking dangerously close to zero on the gauge.

"We need more steam!" She announced.

The cat, ponies, mouse, and dragon all looked between themselves.

"To the boiler!" Applejack yelled.

She allow with Tom, Jerry, and Spike raced over to the massive, iron boiler that sat at the front of the boat. Tom opened the furnace door with the conveniently placed handle hook. He stoked the dying flames to keep them from going out.

"Oh, geez. There's barely a fire in there." Spike looked into the dimly-lit furnace.

"Quick! Add these to it." Jerry pulled a log from a wood pile that sat underneath the upper deck.

Like clockwork, the cat, mouse, dragon, and pony picked logs and threw from into the furnace. However, Tom was so concentrated on getting logs into the furnace that he unknowingly grabbed Jerry and threw him into the burning furnace as well. Spike and Applejack were quick to pick up on this.

"Tom, ya just through Jerry inta' the furnace!” AJ said in a panic.

The grey pussycat noticed the absence of his mouse friend. Which meant that, yes, he indeed unintentionally threw into the fire.

"Yike!" Tom dipped his hand inside the slowly-growing fire and pulled Jerry out.

The mouse was covered in soot and one of his top hairs was on fire. Tom blew away on the soot. He then licked his fingers and put out the flame on Jerry's head. Jerry just glared at Tom, while a he gave a sheepish smile.

"You all right, Jerry?" Applejack asked.

"Eh, I've had worse." The mouse sighed.

"Now for one last thing for good measure." Spike drew in a deep breath and unleashed a great bout of flame into the furnace.

Bright, orange flames danced and spat out from within the iron depths. Applejack slammed the door shut and turned to the others.

"How's the pressure now, Sugarcube?" She asked.

The red needle on the gauge quickly rose from zero all the way to the red zone. Which was exactly where it needed to be.

"Full steam ahead!" Pinkie yelled thrillingly.

Robyn pulled on the whistle cord. The whistle let out a loud, steamy shriek. Smoke and sparks billowed from the smokestack, and the boat began to speed up down the river.

"That's more like it." Rarity said happily.

"Oh, this is very calming." Fluttershy said peacefully.

"And we'll be able to get away from those jerks, as well." Rainbow added.

Speaking of which, Figg and Lickboot raced down the road, rounding corners at reckless speeds. Said recklessness destroyed a stone wall and a log fence. The Mane 7, Tom, Jerry, and Robyn could see the red convertible whizzing down the twisting, dirt road.

"Sweet Celestia, I may barely know anything about operating those vehicles, but that seems exceedingly dangerous." Twilight said with wide eyes.

"Oh, it is. You'd be surprised just how often people get away with it, too." Tom said rather nonchalantly.

"How uncouth, behaving this way." Rarity huffed. "They might kill someone if they keep this up."

"Or themselves." Rainbow added.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked.

She never like the idea of people dying, especially in those kind of circumstances. Though it seems Lickboot's recklessness would catch up to him. As they raced up a hill, Figg, Lickboot, and Ferdinand all stared down at the steamboat, all sharing the same malicious grin. Of course, Lickboot wasn't watching were he has going and, by the time his eyes on the rode again, all he good do was let out a surprise shout as the car was heading straight for a sharp curve.

The three occupants all let out panicked cries as the car smashed through a wooden fence and careened down the hill toward a farm. They sailed through a clothing line. The pair were blinded by the clothing and undergarments. The severed clothes line wrapped around the car's fender and the front wheels of Ferdinand's skateboard. The overweight pooch was thrown clear from the vehicle and was dragged along by the clotheslines, bouncing against the ground as Lickboot's car careened out of control.

Pulling away the clothes from their eyes, Figg and Lickboot noticed they were heading for a mud pen. Pigs were playing around in the mud when the saw the car sailed up a small bump and flew over the fence. The mud-slinging swine galloped out of the way as the massive machine smashed into the mud with Ferdinand following alongside. The dazed occupants looked back at their dog who was shaking the slimy mud off his coat. The Mane 7, Tom, Jerry, and Robyn saw everything. An uproar of laughter echoed from the steamboat.

"Oh, that's poetic irony if I've ever seen it." Twilight laughed.

"You sh...you should've seen...the look on. Ferdy's face." Pinkie fell on her back laughing hysterically.

"That place suits you both." Rainbow yelled, letting out a fit of laughter.

"See, now that's the kind of comeuppance you wish would happen." Tom chuckled.

"If ya like the mud that much, maybe ya'll should come to the Sweet Apple Acres. Ah'm sure the pigs would take a likin' to ya." Applejack laughed.

While to laughter continued, Figg and Lickboot's attention was brought to Dr. Applecheek mockingly waving at them from atop the hill. He laughed as he took the lead. Figg glared at Lickboot who gave an apologetic grin.

"You twit. Get us out of here. They're getting away." She clamored.

Lickboot repeatedly stomped on the gas to try and get the car out of the pig pen. The back wheels spun, throwing mud at Ferdinand, who was unceremoniously bathed in the stuff. Eventually, the car was able to get enough traction and peel out of the pen. It smashed through the wooden gate, dragging Ferdinand along. Figg and Lickboot raced back up the hill and got back on the road. They zoomed past a startled Applecheek, showering him in dust. Ferdinand whipped around the other side, causing the ice cream bike to spin around rapidly. The doctor was able to regain control, though he felt a little dizzy. Meanwhile, Kidde and Squawk were still fighting for steering rights of the raft.

"Let go of the wheel, I tell you. I'm the captain. I'll do the steering." Kiddie wrestled with his parrot mate for the steering stick.

The raft raced around one side of the steamboat and raced back down the other way.

"You couldn't navigate your way around a tub." Squawk said angrily.

The group in the steamboat watched with amused and bemused looks on the spectacle.

"Is this what they're always like?" Jerry asked.

"No, not really." Rarity replied. "Then again, we didn't really get to know them all that much."

"Except for the song-bit. That was fun." Pinkie reminisced.

"Well, I admit, That was fun." Rarity said with a blush.

The group past under a wooden bridge where the road crossed over the river and into a nearby forest. Figg and Lickboot raced up the hill and then down the other side. The insane speed over the it sent Ferdinand flying high into the air.

"Woah!" The chubby dog squealed.

He plummeted back down and smashed onto the bridge. A clung to his skateboard as he tore through the bridge, destroying the planks that made up the roadway. Splintered wood flew everywhere as the convertible raced into the forest, dragging a terrified Ferdinand along with it.

"Oh...my." Fluttershy said in shock.

"I'm surprised he didn't fall into the water." Spike said.

Kiddie and Squawk were still racing after the steamboat and were nearing the bridge. At the same time, Applecheek had made it over the hill. When he spotted the shredded bridge, it was much too late. The bike's brakes were too weak and the thing picked up speed as it rolled down the hill. Applecheek screamed as the ice cream bike through down the gap. Kiddie and Squawk were passing right under the bridge when the shadow of the bike appear over them. The captain and parrot looked up just in time as the bike crashed on top of the raft, catapulting the two high into the air. Kidde grabbed onto the one of the bridge supports. The ice cream bike broke through the surface and Applecheek popped out from the freezer compartment, slowly bobbing with the waves.

"Wipeout!" Rainbow shouted victoriously.

"Well, that takes care of them." Tom said.

"And hopefully for good. I swear if we ever see those scoundrels again, it will be too soon." Rarity said fiercely.

"You and me both, Rarity. And I'm sure that goes for the rest of us." Twilight said.

"But, what happened to Aunt Figg? Where is she?" Jerry asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we lost her." Tom shrugged.

"Let's hope that's the case." Applejack said.

As the steamboat chugged along the river, they passed by a water mill. Robyn's eyes lit up upon noticing it.

"Wait a minute. This place looks familiar." She said.

"What?" Jerry asked, confused.

"You've been here before?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes! I know where we're at. We're going straight to Robyn's nest." The young girl said happily. "You know, that special place I told you about."

"You mean when we first met? That's what you're referring to?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah." Robyn answered.

"And that's where we're heading right now? Talk about lucky." Spike said.

"And convenient. Maybe we can stop there to resupply. Seeing how we lost it all when we crashed into that ship." Twilight added.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Tom agreed.

"Then let's hurry." Robyn said excitedly.

Things seemed to have lightened up a bit for the group. With two of there pursuers down for the count and Figg and Lickboot out of there sight, it appears that they're pretty much home free.

Lickboot and Figg sailed down the winding, dirt roads with Ferdinand trailing behind. As they zoomed past a four-way intersection, Lickboot slammed on the brakes and the car came to a stop. Ferdinand soared into the air before landing right in the convertible's back seat. Figg turned to her lawyer boyfriend with a bewildered look. Lickboot eyed the wooden road sign that towered over the road. He smiled like he just committed a crime and threw the car into reverse. He stop in the middle of the intersection.

"Ah-ha! Of course." He said.

"Lickboot, what are you doing? You're going to lose them." Figg said, furiously getting in the lawyer's face.

"Don't worry. Now, I know where they're going." Lickboot replied smartly. "We're taking a shortcut."

He pulled the car back bit to safely turn.

"You know where they're going? How do you know?" Figg asked, finding hard believe Lickboot was being truthful.

"Lawyers know everything." Lickboot answered smugly.

He turned the car left and raced down the winding road. The street sign at the intersection showing "Robyn's Nest" in chiseled, wood lettering pointed down the winding path Lickboot took. It would seem that Robyn, Tom, Jerry, and the Mane 7 haven't gotten ride of the greedy pair just yet.

To be continued

Part 11: Chaotic Cabin Rescue

The sun had begun its slow descent in the West as the motley group of friends gracefully chugged down the river. With the threat of Kiddie, Figg, Lickboot, and Applecheek seemingly long past them, the journey had grown quite peaceful and relaxing.

"Ah. It feels nice to finally get some peace and quiet now after everything that's happened." Rainbow stretched.

"I would have to agree with you, Rainbow. After the entire Kerfuffle with Pristine and Captain Kiddie, I'd say it's earned." Rarity concurred.

"And, hopefully, we won't have to worry about them ever again." Twilight added.

"Well, Applecheek and the captain are gone for good. So, we probably won't have to worry about them." Tom said.

"That stills leaves Aunt Figg and Lickboot, though." Jerry countered with concern.

"Exactly. Those two are what really worry me." The alicorn paced around the deck.

"Relax, Twi." The cyan pegasus said dismissively. "Even if they show their ugly mugs again, I'll make sure they'll regret it once I get my hooves on them."

"Ah second that. After all the horrible things they did ta Robyn, they deserve a thrashin' they'll never forget." Applejack said confidently.

"Ahem." Rarity said expectantly.

"And ta us." The apple farmer added.

"How far are we from that special place you were talking about, Robyn?" Spike let out a yawn.

"Actually. We're here now. There it is." Robyn pointed to a rocky shore where a building sat. "There's the cabin. Daddy built it just for me."

There stood a stilted cabin with a winding staircase that lead down to a small, wooden pier. It was surrounded by evergreen trees and, with the resting sun hiding behind it, made the entire environment pop out like a watercolor painting.

"My word. It's quite a beautiful place." Rarity remarked.

"Sure is a quaint lil' place." Applejack said with a smile.

"It is a nice place. No wonder you wanted to go here, Robyn." Fluttershy said.

"Of course. We'd come here every summer. He taught to swim and sail and fish." Robyn explained.

The steamboat came a smooth stop aside the pier. Tom wrapped a rope around a wood post to keep the boat from floating away.

"I can't wait to meet you father. He seems like a super-duper-ultra-multra fun stallion." Pinkie said excitedly.

"He is. Daddy will know where to find me. Maybe he's here already. I'll bet he is." The young jumped off the boat and began running up the stairs.

"Slow down, Sugarcube. Wait fer the rest of us." Applejack called out.

"Let's not be too insistent on her. She's missed her father dreadfully." Rarity said.

"Regardless, it would be nice to meet someone who isn't driven by greed at everypony's expense." Twilight mentioned.

"In other words, let's hurry with her." Spike announced.

The Mane 7, Tom, and Jerry all hurried up the stairs after Robyn, who, by this point, had already made it to the top. She opened the door with a big smile on her face.

"Daddy?" She said, hopeful that her father was waiting for her.

But, her father wasn't there. Instead, a large, dark figure stepped up to a small table holding an oil lamp. The figure lit the lamp and the light from it revealed the figure to be none other than Aunt Figg.

"Daddy is dead." She grinned evilly.

Robyn let out a terrified scream. Somehow, Pristine had found the cabin and was subsequently lying and waiting for her arrival. The hopeful excitement that bubbled inside Robyn turned into terror and fear.

"Tom, Jerry, girls, Spike, help!" She cried out.

From the open door, the rest of the group could see the purple-dressed monster inside the cabin.

"Figg?! She was here the whole time?" Twilight said in horror and confusion.

"That connivin' snake knew we would come 'ere." Applejack said angrily.

"Doesn't matter. I said I'll make her regret showing face. I intend to follow through with that." Rainbow zoomed toward the door with the others running to it.

Ferdinand rolled right up to the door entrance to block them. Rainbow Dash huffed with determination.

"Get out of the way you overweight..."

The door slammed shut right on the group's faces. The crashed into the wooden door and Ferdinand and fell into a heap.

"...mutt." The dizzy pegasus said.

Knowing the situation, however, the Main 6 quickly got to the bearings and started banging on the door and windows.

"Let us in right this instant, you scoundrels!" Rarity yelled.

"Yeah. Let us in, you meanies!" Pinkie banged her head against the door.

"Open this door!" Twilight demanded.

"You better not hurt Robyn, or...or I'll...do things that I'll regret." Fluttershy stammered.

The banging and yelling fell on uncaring ears. Lickboot, who was the one to close the door, locked it and put the keys on a wooden stub on the wall.

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll never run away again. Never." He snapped.

"You're not taking me back. You never will." Robyn said, defiantly crossing her arms.

"Oh, yes, we will." The crooked lawyer grabbed the girl by her arm.

Robyn let out another scream which alerted the others outside.

"Robyn!" Twilight cried out.

The Mane 6, Spike, Tom, and Jerry peered through the window next to the door. Inside, they could Robyn kick Lickboot right under the knee.

"Ow!" He hopped on one foot. "Why, you little..."

Robyn ran for the stair that led to the second floor. Figg went to chase after her, but Lickboot, in his reckless, pained jumping, bumped into her. The two fell to the floor, knocking the table and lamp. Oil spilled all over the floor and quickly caught fire. Robyn screamed again scuttled up the stairs.

"Oh, Faust. Things just went from bad to worse." Spike said.

"No kiddin'." Applejack. "What do we do now?"

There was nobody else around that could help. They were the only ones that could save Robyn.

"Maybe we can try the door again?" Pinkie suggested.

"But, then how will we get past the fire? We won't be able to rescue Robyn from ground level." Twilight argued.

"Well, we can't just leave her in there. We have to do something." Rainbow emphasized.

Tom noticed a rope sitting on top of a crate. He swiftly snatched.

"To the roof. We might be able to rescue her from there." The cat commanded.

The others looked up the wooden walls to the roof. The fire hadn’t spread up there yet.

"It might be our only way we can get to her. Come on, everypony." The alicorn princess said.

Tom climbed up the wall with Jerry holding on to the rope around his shoulder. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow helped carry their friends up to the roof.

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, the flames grew rapidly. Already they had climbed up the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.

"You fools! Look what you've done. Lickboot, grab the girl, and let's get out of here." Figg got up and made her way to the door.

"Robyn, the house is burning down. You must get out before it's too late." Lickboot advised frantically.

"No, I won't go back with you! You'll never take me back!" Robyn angrily protested.

All eyes were suddenly drawn to one of the main support beams. The flames had burned it to the point to broke that it broke from ceiling and crashed onto the staircase. Robyn let out a scared scream and back away from the growing inferno. Now she was really trapped.

"Lickboot, let's get out of here before we all fry!" Figg began racing to the door.

"But, the girl." Lickboot weakly argued.

"Forget her. We gotta save ourselves." The greedy woman tried to up the open the door, but found that it wouldn't budge.

She pulled the knob with all her might, but it was locked tight.

Outside, Tom, Jerry, and the Mane 7 had made it to the roof and were searching about for someway to look inside.

"I see her." Pinkie announced, her face mashed against a skylight.

The others hurried to her. They soon spotted Robyn stuck on the second, curled up as far away from the flames as possible.

"Robyn! Robyn were here!" Twilight yelled.

"Were here for ya, Sugarcube." Applejack said heartily.

Robyn looked around fearfully. Then she turned to the skylight and saw her friends through the flames. She smiled with delight upon seeing them.

As Figg tried in vain to open the door, Lickboot smugly grabbed the ring of keys off the holder and jangled them, getting Pristine's attention. She saw them and concluded that the door was locked, so she grabbed them to unlock it. However, Lickboot held on and pulled back. One thing led to another and it became a tug-of-war for the keys.

"Give me those keys." Figg demanded.

The ring couldn't hold up much longer and broke. Keys clattered onto the floor.

"Look what you've done!" Figg chastised.

She and Lickboot frantically began searching for the correct key for the door. Outside, Ferdinand barked, worried for his owner. While that was going on, The Mane 7, Tom, and Jerry on in the midst of their rescue. Tom opened the skylight and lowered the rope down.

"Grab on, Robyn. Quickly!" Twilight said hurriedly.

Robyn understood the severity of the situation. She had to climb over a wooden railing to reach the rope. She grabbed it as tightly as could, inches from the white-hot flames.

"Woah." Tom was nearly pulled through the opening.

He had underestimated how heavy Robyn was. Thankfully, his friends were there to keep him from going over.

"Hang tight, ya two." Applejack grasped the pussycat's fur with her teeth.

"Come on, everpony. Pull." Twilight encouraged.

Slowly, but surely, they lifted Tom solidly back on the roof. With him on solid ground, Robyn was next to be pulled up. Wrapping the roof halfway around a vent cap, the cat, mouse, ponies, and dragon heaved the weighted rope upward to safety. However, time was running out as the flames had already found thief way to the outside walls and we’re exploring every inch of them.

"Boy, is it get hot up here?" Pinkie wiped away the sweat forming on her forehead.

"Not a good time for jokes, Pinkie." Rainbow replied.

"No, she raises a good, and terrifying, point." Twilight eyes searched around the roof, noticing the towering flames arching against the edges. "We have to hurry. This cabin won't stay up for long."

The others could clearly understand the circumstances growing more dire by the second. They pulled harder and harder. Finally, Robyn was able to climb out the skylight. Tom was were quick to grab her and help her up.

"Robyn, are you okay?" Twilight asked with concern.

"For the most part. More scared than hurt." The young girl responded.

"And we might be worse off if we don't get out of here!" Spike panicked.

"Head to the top of the roof. It's the safest we'll be." Robyn began climbing up the slanted portion of the roof.

"Uh, hello. Three of us have wings. We can just fly out of here." Rainbow reminded.

"And there's seven of us, Rainbow. You 'xpect yourselves to carry all of us?" Applejack questioned.

"I don't know if we'll have enough time to get everypony off this cabin. It's not going to hold much longer." Twilight warned.

Already the supports of the cabin were beginning the groan and crumble from the incessant heat. They group reach the peak of the roof and as far away from the fire as possible.

"We can't just stand here. We have to do something!" The cyan pegasus asserted.

"Uh, actually, I have a question." Pinkie raised her hoof.

"What is it, Pinkie?" Rarity said, most of her attention on the raging fire.

"Where's Figg and Lickboot?" The pink mare asked.

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, the two were still frantically searching for the correct key. Eventually, Figg found it.

"Ha-ha!" She said victoriously.

As she turned to unlock the door, Lickboot stepped forward to try and grab it. The two bumped into each other and tripped. They stumbled back, knocking the door off it's hinges. The door slammed down on the tip end of Ferdinand's skateboard, catapulting him into the air. Lickboot's foot planted on the skateboard which threw him off balance. Figg tripped again and was about to fall to the fall when, luckily, Lickboot caught her in time. Ferdinand landed on top of the lawyer's head and the three were forced to ride the skateboard. The three screamed in terror as the skateboard rolled up to and down the stairs leading to the pier.

The skateboard landed hard against the last landing on the stairs and sprang up, sending Lickboot, Figg, and Ferdinand flying through the air. The crooked couple landed in the Crow's nest of the steamboat. Ferdinand and his skateboard bounced onto the main deck, striking the helm, and causing it to spin wildly. The paddler swayed from side to side, which caused the rope to slip out from the post. Suddenly, the steamboat whirred to life. The paddlewheels spun at an impossible speed and the boat tore out of the dock, kicking up a giant wave against the shore. With Lickboot and Figg lodged in the Crow's nest, the unmanned boat whizzed down the river. Smoke and soot burst from the smokestack. The couple coughed and gagged like made as the steamboat continued it's crazy journey down the river.

"Does that answer your question?" Jerry asked expectantly.

"Yep." Pinkie said.

"Well, that takes care of them for good, right Twi?" Rainbow said.

"Y-Yeah. I suppose so." Twilight said, unease and confusion laced in her words.

Though she kept it to herself, Twilight noticed that something else on the boat before it raced away down the river. She couldn't make out any details, apart from that it was black and it seemed to have vanished as the boat turned around. she chalked it up to her imagination, seeing as how there was a more serious situation on her hooves.

"Wait, what's that." Spike pointed toward a stand of trees.

The others looked in that direction. A helicopter swung around the trees and raced toward the burning cabin. A figure stuck out from the cockpit.

"Look, the cabin's on fire. We may be too late." The man said despondently.

He perked up upon seeing his daughter up on the roof.

"Daddy!" Robyn said with shock.

"That's 'im?" Applejack asked with surprise.

The helicopter whipped around the cabin.

"Robyn, I'm coming! Hang on!" Robyn's father yelled.

The group watched with astonishment as the chopper inched toward the cabin.

"Okay, that's most awesome thing I've ever seen." Rainbow said with admiration.

The whirring rotary blades kicked up winds too much for the Mane, Spike, Tom, and Jerry to handle. The backed up to keep from being pushed off the roof.

"Robyn, take my hand! Hurry!" Robyn's father held out his hand.

Robyn held out her hand. She leaned over the edge, reaching as far as she could. The two locked hands and Robyn's father pulled her aboard the helicopter as it flew away from the burning building.

"Oh, daddy, I knew you'd come." Robyn said emotionally.

"You're safe now, Robyn. I'm here." Her father hugged her close.

But, then she realized that the rest of her friends were still stuck on the burning roof.

"No, we can't leave them." Robyn leaned out of the cockpit, her father holding onto her to keep her from falling.

Tom and Jerry climbed onto the chimney to waved the helicopter down.

"Hey!" Tom yelled.

"Come back! Come back!" Jerry pleaded.

"Hey, why did they leave us?" Spike asked despairingly.

"I don't know, but we need to leave now!" Rarity practically screamed.

"Twilight, we need to go." Applejack said firmly.

"I know. You're right. You're right!" Twilight opened her wings. "Spike, climb on!"

The baby dragon didn't hesitant and clambered onto the alicorn's back. Twilight then grabbed Rarity and took to the sky. Rainbow grabbed Applejack and Fluttershy grabbed Pinkie. Rainbow flew to the chimney.

"Quick, you too. Climb on before..."

The supports couldn't hold out anymore. The wooden beams broke and splintered, causing the cabin to lurch forward. The chimney broke apart, sending Tom and Jerry plummeting into the falling debris.

"Tom! Jerry!" Robyn yelled, tears threatening to spill.

"NOOOO!" The Mane 7 all cried out.

They were forced to fly out of the way as the cabin collapsed. The burning remnants tumbled down the shore and crashed into the river. Steam spouted out from the debris as the flames were extinguished against the cold water. Shocked and devastated expressions were carved on the ponies' and dragon's faces as they came for a landing on the pier. The helicopter landing on the water and Robyn and father climbed out of the cockpit.

"No, t-t-they can't be gone." Fluttershy stared at the wreckage, tears beginning to flow.

"Tom. Jerry. No." Twilight sniffled.

"I...I...I should've been faster." Rainbow whispered, trying her hardest to hold back tears.

Pinkie just burst into tears. Applejack hugged her against her chased. She removed her hat, a sorrowful, tear-filled look on her face.

"Oh, no. Not them." Spike wept, hugging Twilight's leg.

"Oh, Daddy. They're gone. Two of my best friends are gone." Robyn hugged her father.

"Don't cry, Robyn. We'll find them." Her father said softly.

Rainbow took initiative and starting flying around the wreckage in search of the cat and mouse.

"Tom! Jerry!" She called out.

The other ponies and dragon got to work in the search. Twilight and Rarity lifted to larger pieces of the cabin with their magic. The rest moved away what they could and kept their eyes peeled for Tom and Jerry. However, out of sight, amidst the waves, Tom broke through the surface of the water. He drew in a deep breath and began frenetically searching for Jerry.

"Ah, Jerry. Jerry where are you?" Tom looked underneath floating pieces of furniture strewn across the water. "Don't leave me, little buddy. You just gotta be here! What would I do without you?"

Jerry, for his part, was completely okay. He was behind a large, smoldering piece of wood half-sunken in the water. He peered over it, seeing Tom desperately looking for him.

"You were the best pal a guy could ever have. Oh, please be alive." Tom pleaded wistfully.

A playful smile creeped onto Jerry's face. He climbed atop the wood so he was sitting right behind Tom.

"I promise you..." Tom looked up to the heavens, trying to think of anything he could bargain for Jerry's life.

"All the cheese I can eat?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah, all the cheese you can eat." Tom replied quickly. "And, uh..."

"No more traps?"

"No traps."

"No tricks?"

"No tricks."

"That's a promise."

"That's a-"

Tom stopped when it occurred to him who he was talking to. He turned to see Jerry sitting on the piece of wood with a complacent smile.

"Ooh, I'm gonna..." Tom snatched the mouse. "Why you little..."

That's when Rainbow spotted them.

"There they are." She called out. "Tom! Jerry! Over here."

The cat and mouse turned to her.

"Rainbow?" Jerry said with surprise.

"Tom, Jerry, you're safe!" Robyn ran from the pier toward them.

Tom, carrying Jerry, raced onto the shore and to their friends.

"You two are okay!" Fluttershy said with delight.

"Robyn! Girls!" Tom said happily.

The cat and mouse were tackled in a massive hug from Robyn, the Main 6, and Spike.

"We thought ya'were goners." Applejack said.

"I-I thought w-we w-w-ould never see you again." Fluttershy could barely form a sentence from crying so hard.

"Thank, Celestia, you're both okay." Twilight sniveled. "I'm so, so sorry we couldn't save you."

"That doesn't matter anymore. We made it out unscathed." Jerry replied.

"I still wished I was faster. I could've saved you." Rainbow admitted shamefully.

"Eh, to be fair, we've been through worse than a collapsing cabin." Tom chuckled.

"Do we even want to know?" Rarity asked.

"Let's just say, we're tougher than you think." Jerry boasted.

The group just shared a laugh. Robyn's father came up to the group.

"Robyn, I promise I'll never leave you again." He removed his hat.

Robyn hugged her father tightly.

"Oh, Daddy, I also want to properly introduced my best friends." She said. "These are Tom and Jerry, along with Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike."

Robyn's father smiled warmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Thank you for keeping more daughter save." He said.

"After everything Figg and Lickboot put her through, it's the least we could do." Twilight said sweetly.

"Might I add, that you arrival was the coolest thing ever." Rainbow flew in a circle. "I mean you just came in on this helicopter and you reach out to Robyn's rescue like it was your destiny."

"I would do anything for my daughter." Robyn's father chuckled. "I'll be sure that Pristine and Lickboot are punished accordingly for what they've done."

"Good. They deserve it." Spike said.

"Darn tootin'." Applejack agreed.

"We're also glad to see you're okay, too, Mr. Starling." Rarity said.

"Please, call me Michael. Any friend of my daughter is a friend of mine." Michael Starling said warmly.

"Awesome." The cyan pegasus said.

"Woohoo! I love happy endings!" Pinkie said happily.

"Well, well, well. Listen to this, Frankie." Puggsy said, reading through an article on a newspaper. "Heroes! Cat, mouse, ponies, and lizard save billionaire heiress."

"Oh, Spike's not gonna like the lizard bit." Frankie chuckled. "Other than that, what did I tell you, Puggsy? Those two have done all right. Especially with those ponies and dragon on their side."

"Yeah. Ha, ha. I guess they learned to be pals, after all." Puggsy admitted frivolously.

"Friends to the end."

Puggsy and Frankie continued to read the newspaper as the traveled across the dry desert aboard a fright train.

"Though, since it's been some time between then and us getting our hands on this newspaper, I have to wonder what they're all up to now?" The shaggy dog wondered aloud.

"Probably doing good, Puggsy. No doubt in my mind." Frankie replied.

Things were doing quite well for the others, especially for Twilight. With the support of her friends' encouragement, she had gone to Princess Celestia to propose her ideas of bridging others to and from Equestria.

"Like with the magic mirror and Sunset's world, I thought there might be a way to create "mirrors" between Equestria and the other worlds." Twilight explained, while Celestia listened intently. "It would allow us to learn more about the worlds and their inhabitants, and it would allow them to know more about us. Plus, it would be really nice to visit some old friends again."

Celestia looked to be pretty intrigued with the idea. With the way Twilight was explaining it, it seemed downright beneficial. The sun princess, of course, knew of the Herculean task of figuring out how to bring such a cosmic bridge into a effect. But, the idea of meeting new faces and teaching to true magic of friendship to them, created to perfect incentive to act upon it.

"I must say, Twilight, your proposal is quite fruitful, yet sounds like a big undertaking." Celestia spoke clearly.

"I know, and, I must admit, I'm a little nervous if I can pull this off at all. But, you've taught me to never run away from the face of adversity. On top of that, if this project does success, we'll get to learn about all sorts of new worlds." The purple alicorn said.

Celestia nodded her head in agreement.

"I also admit this is kind of a big ask from me, but even my friends think it's a good idea. I know Rainbow misses Dusty a lot. Even if she won't admit it." Twilight giggled. "On top of that, the possibility of teaching other worlds about the power of friendship could open the door of so many friendships and alliances."

"Indeed true, Twilight." Celestia acknowledged. "I believe this is a good way for my little ponies to seek out broader scopes outside of just Equestria. With that in mind, I would love to help you to making this project into reality. That’s why I’ll personally see to that construction on such a project is contracted as soon as possible.”

"You...You mean, you're really okay with this?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, dear Twilight." Celestia rose from her seat in her personal lounge room. "I've seen and met many individuals throughout my lifetime in Equestria. But, none have I met in different worlds. Not only will this be a new experience for you and my other ponies, but for me, as well. And, as you said, creating bonds with others throughout the multiverse is beneficial in many ways."

Twilight could barely contain her excitement. She practically jumped from her seat and gave Celestia a big hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Celestia." She said happily. “I promise this will be the start of something amazing.”

"You're welcome, my faithful student." Celestia hugged her back. “And I have no doubt in my mind that it will.”

And so, it was decided. The construction of bridges between worlds and Equestria was unofficially official. However, before construction could begin, Twilight had to research and find a way to make the dream a reality. As she left Canterlot Castle, heading for the train station back to Canterlot, she was already thinking of possible ways to achieve such capabilities.

"Wormholes might be the answer, but their existence is only in theory. Maybe some kind of contraption." She carefully skimmed through her books on teleportation, portals, and the like.

During her quick research though, one different thought came to her mind.

"I wonder how Tom, Jerry, and Robyn are doing" She thought to herself.

She liked to think they were living their best lives as best friends. Well, maybe knowing of their well-being might come sooner that she thought. After all, her new project might become a reality quicker than she thought.

Tom, Jerry, and Robyn, were living their best lives all right. Well, about to at least.

"Tom, Jerry, welcome to your new home." Robyn showed the cat and mouse to a newly renovated room to the Starling mansion.

Tom's eyes widened in excitement as he saw a custom-made basket just for him. It had blankets, sown fabric for extra comfort, and the back portion was elevated to the shape of a chair back with the letter "T" printed on it in bright blue. The happy pussycat jumped in and got comfortable. He stretched and yawned, prepared to take a long, deserved nap.

Robyn left the room with a smile, letting to two grow accustomed to their new home. Jerry spotted his home, a mousehole against the wall, with a welcome canopy display the word "Jerry" in cursive. The mouse raced over to it. Tom watched with an indignant look. Jerry looked at the pink canopy overlooking the entrance and casually strolled inside.

Though Tom admitted to being Jerry's friend, he couldn't help the petty animal rivalry boiling to the surface. He grabbed a wooden mice trap and tip-toed over to Jerry's new residence. With a devious grin, he carefully placed the trap inside and waited for it to go off. Of course, being through the same song and dance before, Jerry was always a step ahead. The wall Tom was pressed up against had an opening as well. Jerry quietly slid the mouse trap underneath Tom's tail. He stood against the wall in anticipation as Tom's tail bobbed ever so closely to the trap. Tom was silently snickering to himself, thinking himself as a genius.

SNAP

"YOOOOOOWWWWW." Tom let out a scream.

Jerry, who had stepped away and was out in the open, began running away as Tom chased after him. They knocked over furniture, tore down drapes, and even broke a vase. They ran around the room, the cat determined to catch the mouse. They would still call each other friends, but their fighting days were far from over and they would continue to get into such shenanigans in cartoonish fashion for days to come. And Tom and Jerry wouldn't have it any other way.

Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle

Ashleigh Ball - Applejack & Rainbow Dash

Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity

Andrea Libman - Fluttershy & Pinkie Pie

Cathy Weseluck - Spike

Kelly Sheridan - Starlight Glimmer

Nicole Oliver - Princess Celestia

Richard Kind - Tom

Dana Hill - Jerry

Anndi McAfee - Robyn Starling

Charlotte Rae - Pristine Figg

Tony Jay - Lickboot

Rip Taylor - Captain Kiddie

Howard Morris - Squawk

Henry Gibson - Dr. Applejack

Michael Bell - Ferdinand & Straycatchers #1

Sydney Lassick - Starcatcher #2

Ed Gilbert - Daddy Starling & Puggsy

David L. Lander - Frankie Da Flea

Raymond McLeod - Alleycat and Bulldog

Tino Insana - Patrolman

Don Messick - Droopy

Author's Note

And so ends the sixth installment of the Friendship is Cine-magic series. Hope you all enjoyed and stick around for the next one. Also, this story will pay tribute to Dana Hill, Charlotte Rae, Tony Jay, Tino Insana, Rip Taylor, and Ed Gilbert, Henry Gibson, and Don Messick whom have all passed away since the making of the film.