G5 Adventures in Garfield's Fun Fest

Our heroes had found what they thought was the magic pond, but in order to gain access to it, funny guru Freddy Frog and his assistant Shimmerwing, who was really a shapeshifting pegasus with rainbow wings and a rainbow mane and tail, were going to have to teach Garfield the ways of being TRULY funny, so he could really ace his performance at Fun Fest.

And even though Garfield was hoping to get back to Fun Fest soon, the ponies knew that this was going to take some time to get through.

Luckily for Garfield, all of the ponies and Odie were going to be there to help him...

...no matter how long it might take.

XXXXXXXX

The first thing Freddy did for Garfield’s training was pick up a nearby stick off the ground. “What is this, round one?”

“It’s a stick,” Garfield deadpanned. “And what's with the "round one" remark?”

“Oh, heh…” Shimmerwing chuckled. “He always gives nicknames to his students. Besides, this is much more than a stick, furball! Watch and learn.”

And so, Freddy began to do several different things with the stick, like pretending it was a patient and he was the doctor, pretending it was a splinter in his neck and serving it on a platter, as if he was a waiter. When he was done, he offered it to Garfield again. “Now, you do something with the stick.”

“I can’t,” Garfield responded, causing Jasmine to become confused. “Why not? It looks fun!”

“Because,” Garfield responded, “he used up all the good stuff.”

“Oh brother…” Zipp sighed under her breath just before Shimmerwing gave the stick to Odie, to really show Garfield how it was done.

The dog threw it like a pole and ran right to it, just before it ‘landed’ on his chest and he clutched in pain. Then, he used it as if he was a composer conducting an orchestra, followed by pretending he was Zorro using a sword. He walked on it like it was a tightrope then used it like a microphone as he sung like Elvis, complete with hairdo.

After he was done, the others clapped/stomped their hooves to applaud him. “There you go!” Freddy exclaimed. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Thank you. Thank you very much,” Odie seemed to mutter in an Elvis sort of manner. “Hate to break it to you, Odie,” Diamond whispered, “but mimes aren’t supposed to talk. I really liked that, though.”

“Now you try, Garfield,” Shimmerwing urged. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't do stick shtick,” Garfield told her before turning to Freddy. “What else you got?”

Freddy’s answer was short and simple. “Boot camp, big boy!”

“Uh… we don’t have to do the boot camp too, do we?” Pipp asked. “I just had my mane styled, and I don’t want to get different kinds of pie crumbs in it.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-- for you guys, it’s a choice,” Shimmerwing smiled. “If you want, you could stick nearby and see how this all plays out.”

Pipp sighed in relief while the others looked at one another, confused and worried all at once.

One thing was for certain... this was sure to be interesting.

XXXXXXXX

And so, Garfield's funny boot camp training began.

First, Freddy taught Garfield about slipping on a banana peel and landing on his back. When it was Garfield's turn to try, but landed on his head, causing the ponies to wince.

Next, Freddy showed the cat how to hit his face when stepping on a rake, but when Garfield attempted this and stepped on the pointy rake, he clutched his foot in pain, stepped on the garden tool, and hit his back on it.

After this, Freddy taught Garfield all about the aspects of the whoopie cushion. Garfield sat on it and it tooted, causing the ponies and Odie to giggle inwardly to themselves.

Next was a seesaw, where one person is launched when another stepped on the end of the plank. With the feline on one side, Odie hopped on another, but due to the cat’s weight, Odie was launched instead. However, as Garfield prepared to leave, the dog came back down and stepped on the plank, launching the cat a little... but not by much.

The next part was a bit of a blur to the ponies, but what they did remember?

Pies.

Garfield got hit with A LOT of pies.

XXXXXXXX

Pipp just got finished wiping the pie out of Garfield's fur, and once he was all clean again, Garfield turned to Freddy once more. “This is supposed to make me funny?”

“Not until you can snatch this pebble from my hand, grass whopper,” Freddy said, holding out a small pebble in his hand. “Huh…” Jasmine blinked. “That sounds a little too easy.”

“But a good lesson for Garfield to learn, my dear,” Freddy responded. “Go on… try me.”

As the cat grabbed the pebble, he yelled in pain as a result of an electric shock. Turns out, the pebble was actually a joy buzzer, causing Freddy to chuckle to himself. “I never get tired of that one.”

“Yeah, hilarious,” Zipp said under her breath as she and Hitch managed to get Garfield stable again. “A great Zen master once said… or was it W.C. Fields? At any rate,” said Freddy, “Comedy is tragedy happening to someone else.”

“But Garfield doesn’t do comedy,” Misty said in confusion. “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“In that case, what he needs is more of this,” Freddy said, putting a finger on Garfield’s chest, much to his confusion. “More of what?” Garfield asked before Freddy flicked his nose, leaving him to respond with a smile. “More humility, oh rotund one.”

“Ha ha…” Garfield muttered, clutching his nose. “It's only when one humbles himself before an audience that he's able to ascend to a higher plane of humorous enlightenment,” Freddy explained. “More or less,” Shimmerwing translated, “it's about the audience, not you. Humor is in the ear of the beholder.”

“Ohhh… you know, that actually makes a lot of sense!” Sunny said, writing this down on a notepad. “Do all you people talk gibberish out here?” Garfield asked out of confusion, leaving Freddy to look at him. “You haven’t been listening, have you?”

“What do you mean?” Garfield asked. “Every step along your journey, there has been a lesson to be learned,” Freddy explained. “If you were listening…”

“Look, Freddy,” Garfield suddenly interrupted, “it's been nice meeting you and all, but I am way behind schedule here.”

“Garfield, at least give Freddy’s methods a chance,” said Sunny with a slight frown. “If he thinks this is the right way to help you, I think we should trust him.”

That’s when Freddy thought of something that might work for Garfield’s… stubborn nature. “Follow me, oh one who is great of girth.”

Odie, Diamond, Pipp and Izzy giggled at such remark, but Garfield growled at them to stop, and they immediately did so as they followed Freddy away.

XXXXXXXX

The ponies and their new friends followed Shimmerwing and Freddy over to a rope bridge over a river, and Shimmerwing and Freddy crossed quite easily.

But as Garfield and Jasmine were halfway across, Freddy pulled a lever and the ropes immediately closed on them, separating them from their friends. “Wha--? Hey!” Jasmine said, not liking where this was going. “W-What’s going on here?!”

“A test in humility that even ones such as yourselves will understand,” Freddy explained as Jasmine and Garfield tried to push the ropes apart to let them through. “You're on the Bridge Over Truthful Waters. Tell the truth, and you will pass unharmed.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Garfield asked them with a narrowed gaze, not liking how scared this was making Jasmine. “How would you describe your body?” Shimmerwing asked with a little smirk, somehow knowing what Garfield would say. “I have kind of a normal body,” Garfield responded, “maybe a little on the stout side.”

However... this was the wrong answer. Freddy pushed the lever to the right and the bridge swung over, causing Jasmine and Garfield to get doused with water, the former screaming as they went into the water and coughing as they came out of it. “Jazzy! Garfield!” Misty cried. “Are you guys okay?!”

Jasmine coughed, getting more water from her lungs before responding. “A little wet, but we’re okay!”

“Garfield, just tell him the truth!” Hitch cried. “Otherwise you and Jasmine will get doused again!”

“Okay, okay, I admit it!” Garfield shouted. “I’m chubby.”

However, this was the wrong answer, cause the bridge turned over and doused the orange cat and the green unicorn again. “I’m fat!” Garfield blurt out after getting the seaweed and fish from his mouth. “Okay, I’m fat!”

“How fat are you?” Freddy asked with a smirk. “Oh, come on!” Jasmine blurt out, but gasped and stiffened when she saw Freddy about to pull the lever again. “Garfield, answer her! NOW!!”

Garfield hated how scared the filly looked, and ultimately decided to admit the entire truth. “Okay, okay. I'm so fat, every time I go to the beach, the tide comes in!”

“Huh?” Misty blinked, wondering if this was metaphorical. “I'm so fat, I never knew that "I could eat a horse" was just an expression!” Garfield continued. “I'm so fat, one time I got on a Ferris wheel and two guys on top starved to death!”

As Garfield sighed in defeat, Freddy pulled on the lever again, this time upward, and this freed Jasmine and Garfield and allowed them to come to shore. “Very well done!” Freddy smiled. “That was very funny!”

“What’s so funny about being fat?” Jasmine asked, cold and wet from the water of the river. “Self-deprecating humor is funny. If you share your humanity with your audience, they'll share their affection with you. Remember,” Freddy told the duo as they shook themselves of the water and as the others came across the bridge to them, “it's better for someone to have laughed at your expense than never to have laughed at all.”

“I guess that makes sense...” shivered Jasmine. “But, do you think maybe you can spare a blanket? My rump is freezing here!”

“Jasmine loves snow in the winter,” Diamond whispered to the Mane 6, “but other than that, she doesn't like the cold all that much.”

“Oh... you poor thing...” Shimmerwing felt her heart sink at this before she got an idea, plucked a red feather from her wing and used a vine to make a makeshift necklace. “Here... wear this. Maybe it will warm you up.”

Jasmine slipped her head through the necklace and waited a moment, watching as the feather lit up dimly, and suddenly... she felt warmer. “Wow... that really helps! Thanks! But... how did your feather do this?”

“The feathers in my wings, with their different colors, can give me different powers,” Shimmerwing explained. “Red is a symbol of warmth, so I knew that one of the red feathers would help warm you up a bit.”

“Well, now that Jazzy is warming up a bit,” Garfield said, “what do we do now?”

“So now give me a hug,” Freddy outstretched his arms, much to the cat’s confusion. “A hug?”

“Just do it, you big lug. I’m very proud of you,” Freddy said, wrapping his arms around Garfield in an embrace. “You’ve taken one step on a very long road.”

However, Garfield didn’t seem as thrilled. “...is there gonna be a lot of this?”

“Just this once,” Shimmerwing giggled. “Okay, now that this is over with,” Diamond said, helping Jasmine to get Garfield out of the hug, “where’s that funny water?”

“It is there,” Freddy said, pointing up to a very tall mountain in the distance, causing Jasmine and Diamond to gasp at how beautiful the mountain looked in the early afternoon light. However, Garfield had one more thing to ask. “Is this another riddle?”

“No,” Freddy answered, “seriously, it’s up there.”

Hitch sighed and hung his head at this. “Is nothing easy?”

“Well... nothing that's worth having ever is,” Shimmerwing said with a gentle smile. “Now, you better get going in order to get up there before it gets dark.”

“Well, thanks, old man. See you later!” Garfield bid farewell and began to walk down the path, with Odie waving and the ponies exchanging their own methods of farewell as they followed after the orange tabby. “Good luck to you, oh tabby for two,” Freddy bid farewell to Garfield, causing Odie and Misty to chuckle once again while Garfield glared at them.

That's when our heroes proceeded on their way... but they knew that this probably wouldn’t be the last they saw of the frog and shapeshifting pegasus duo...

...not by a long shot.