G5 Adventures in Garfield's Fun Fest

Smack dab during the middle of the Maretime Bay Talent Show, the Mane 6 felt their cutie marks begin to glow, meaning that they were being summoned on another Unity Quest.

To where… they had no idea.

But honestly… they couldn’t wait to find this put got themselves.

After gathering their supplies from the living room and the bedroom, our pony heroes went up to the Crystal Room and stood before the Unity Crystals, and thanks to the cutie mark magic, the crystals glowed brighter… and brighter… and brighter until…

…the ponies had disappeared to another world for their next exciting adventure.

XXXXXXXX

When the portal opened up in the world where the Unity Crystals sent them, the ponies stepped out in an orderly fashion, brushing themselves off from the smooth arrival before looking around in awe at what they were seeing.

The whole world seemed to be part of a cartoon they would see on TV, or in a comic strip, because everything in that world seemed wild, unpredictable… and not to mention… fun!

Creatures of different varieties (including ponies, humans, animals, griffins, hippogriffs, kirins, superheroes) seemed to live in this brand-new world in harmony, and there didn’t seem to be an ounce of trouble in sight.

Izzy was the first of the group to break the silence with an excited squeal. “We haven't even been in this new world for five minutes and I already wanna live here for the rest of our lives!”

“Uh... I don't know, Iz,” Hitch frowned as he glanced around at the place. “This place seems a little too... looney for my taste.”

“No, no… I-I don’t think looney is the right word here,” Zipp shook her head. “It’s more… cartoon-y than anything else.”

“Either way,” Sunny interrupted, “we need to find our mission so we can help them and get ourselves back home when the mission is over.”

“Um… excuse me.”

The group of ponies turned at the voice, and to their surprise, they discovered it was three young ponies, a little bit older than the Pippsqueaks, looking at them with curiosity.

• The first was a white unicorn filly with a blue mane and tail with pink highlights, green eyes and a cutie mark of a heart.
• The second was a light lavender unicorn filly with golden eyes, a green mane and tail with white streaks in it and a cutie mark of a pair of ballet slippers.
• And the third was a pegasus colt with brown eyes, a bronze mane and tail, a blue coat with darker blue feathers on his wings and a cutie mark of a tornado.

And as it turns out, it was the white unicorn filly who spoke up to them to begin with. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen you in Cartoon World before,” she said. “Which comic strip are you guys from?”

“Comic strip?” Pipp blinked. “You mean the fun little drawings in the newspaper every week? Why…? Ohhhh… so this is where they get made! Fun!”

“Well, the thing is, we’re not from a comic strip at all,” Sunny told the young ponies. “Me and my friends here are actually from the realm of Equestria.”

“Equestria?” the lavender filly asked in awe. “Our ancestors are from that place! But they had to leave it for some reason… something about an evil fire tyrant.”

“Trust me,” said Misty, “we know all about that. I’m Misty, by the way, and these are all my friends.”

“I’m Lily Moontwirl,” the lavender filly curtsied politely. “Beside me are two of my best friends–- Cobalt Skies and Diamond Heart.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Zipp smiled. “So, where are you guys off to?”

“We’re on our way to our friend Jasmine’s house,” Cobalt explained, “for our annual Fun Fest weekend sleepover.”

“Fun Fest?” Izzy asked. “That sounds fun! But uh… what is it?”

“Fun Fest is a talent show where all of Cartoon World gets together and performs the funniest acts they can think of,” Diamond explained, “and the act with the highest score wins!”

“Jasmine’s best friend Garfield has won the title of Fun Fest champion with Arlene, my best friend, for the past 29 years now!” Cobalt added. “He’s totally gonna win again this year.”

“Hey, I have an idea! We need some guides around Cartoon World, and you three would be perfect for the job,” Sunny smiled. “Can you take us to Jasmine and Garfield’s house? We’d sure like to meet them.”

“Well, I don’t think Jon would mind having a few more guests to cook dinner for,” Lily told her friends. “As long as Garfield still gets plenty of lasagna.”

“Okay, follow us!” Cobalt took the lead. “Garfield’s house isn’t far from here, and while we're heading that way, we’ll give you the grand tour of Cartoon World!”

XXXXXXXX

And that’s just what they did.

As they walked, Cobalt, Lily and Diamond pointed out some of their favorite places in Cartoon World, and got to know their pony heroes a little bit (the talk of their Unity Quests was something that needed to be talked about while sitting down).

Eventually, they came to a small, cozy house around the middle of the street, causing Diamond to smile and point. “There! That’s where Jasmine lives with Jon, Garfield and Odie! They’re all amazing, and we're sure you guys are gonna love them.”

Cobalt eagerly knocked on the door before stepping back. After a moment, a tall man with brown hair opened it with a large smile. “Hey, there you three are! We were starting to get worried when it started getting late.”

“Sorry about that, Jon, but we were giving our new friends a tour of Cartoon World on the way over,” Lily explained before bringing the Mane 6 forward. “Guys, this is Jon Arbuckle, Garfield and Odie’s owner and Jasmine’s caretaker. Jon, this is Sunny, Misty, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp and Izzy. They’re here on a mission from the world of Equestria.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Arbuckle,” Sunny said, shaking Jon’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind, but our new little friends here invited us to stay for dinner… as long as Garfield still gets his lasagna, of course.”

“Oh, of course! We’d love to have a little extra company. Come on in,” Jon stepped aside to let everyone in. “Jasmine! Garfield! Odie! Your friends are here! And they’ve brought guests!”

“Finally!”

Rushing down the stairs was whom the ponies could only assume was Jasmine-- a green unicorn filly with a purple mane and tail with yellow highlights, blue eyes and a cutie mark of a bouquet of roses.

Jasmine bolted forward and hugged her friends tight. “Oooh, I can’t wait for our sleepover tonight! Garfield and Odie have been hearing me talk about it for over two weeks now! Hey, fellas! Hurry up! Dinner’s gonna be ready any second now, and I wanna get to know our guests before Garfield eats everything!”

“All right, all right,” a laid-back voice responded from upstairs. “I would have been down sooner, but Odie was trying to wake me from my pre-evening nap.”

Following in the filly’s hoofprints were who Sunny thought to be Garfield and Odie-- Garfield was a fat orange tabby cat with a tired/bored expression on his face, and Odie was the happy yellow beagle puppy next to him, barking and sniffing the Mane 6 with curiosity.

Izzy giggled as Odie began to lick her face. “Hey, that tickles!”

“Sorry about Odie-- he can get really excited around visitors,” Jasmine giggled as Garfield put an arm around her neck with a smile. “But that’s why he and Garfield are some of my best friends-- they’re not afraid to be who they really wanna be.”

“Huh… the filly really knows a lot about being true to yourself,” Zipp whispered to Sunny with a smile. “I’m impressed.”

“Well, come on, everyone-- dinner is almost ready,” said Jon with a smile. “I’m fixing lots of different kinds of lasagna!”

“Yes! Our favorite! WHOO-HOO!!” Cobalt cheered as he and Odie raced into the living room with the others in pursuit. “So, hey,” Garfield looked to Sunny and Misty. “What’s your story?”

“That’s… um… a story all its own,” Misty admitted with a nervous chuckle. “We’ll explain it all to you during dinner.”

XXXXXXXX

So, over the course of dinner, Sunny and the rest of the ponies told stories about their past adventures in different worlds, meeting new friends, fighting villains and spreading the meaning of unity and friendship to all friends and creatures they met along their travels.

Needless to say, everyone seemed entranced with the mere concept, and even though Garfield didn’t exactly show it like the ponies thought he would, he was pretty interested.

Zipp cleared her throat after a moment of silence, letting their new friends absorb it all before speaking again. “Are there any stories of our adventures that you want us to tell?”

“Well… what was the biggest bad guy you’ve ever faced to date?” Jasmine raised her hoof. “I mean… if it doesn’t bring up any bad memories for you.”

“...what do you think, Misty?” Pipp asked the blue unicorn. “Do you want to tell them all about Opaline and how we totally kicked her flank?”

“Well… she is long gone by now,” Misty said, “so… sure. I think it would be good for you guys to hear the story of the worst bad guy we’ve ever faced… other than Allura, of course, but that’s for another time.”

“Opaline?” Cobalt raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Opaline?”

“She was an evil alicorn from ancient times, who wanted magic to be hers and hers alone,” Zipp explained. “A long time ago, she attacked the Isle of Scaly, where our dragon friends lived, and used their magical fire to turn into a fire alicorn to take over Equestria!”

“Yikes…” Garfield winced. “Sounds like somepony was having a bad day.”

“The Guardians of Harmony managed to put all magic into three crystals, and banished Opaline from Equestria to prevent any more harm,” Hitch said, “but the ponies were so fearful of one another, they took one crystal for each species and left to live with their own kind, and magic ultimately faded away.”

“When we brought magic back, we unknowingly brought back Opaline’s alicorn magic too-- but a tiny sliver of it,” Sunny said before showing them a picture of Sparky. “She needed the dragon fire of this little guy, who Hitch named Sparky, in order to awaken her full fire powers.”

“She would honestly hurt a baby dragon to get what she wanted?” Jon asked before growling and crossing his arms. “That’s just cold, for someone who’s made of fire.”

Odie barked in agreement, to which Hitch translated. “Odie here wants to know if we managed to stop her.”

“Well… yes, we did… for a period of time,” Misty said, frowning a bit. “Until we learned that my mom, Paradise, actually worked for her since she was young, like I once had, and Paradise left me to serve Opaline while she went out in search of the dragons.”

“We had several run ins with Paradise too while we were on our adventures,” Pipp added, “until the day that Paradise revealed that she brought Opaline back from the dead using a powerful amulet, and Opaline was going to steal as many cutie marks as she could to trap us in the mortal world forever so we couldn’t stop her from taking over Equestria!”

“She actually could steal cutie marks?!” Lily looked down at her own with a shudder. “That’s just cruel…”

“What happened next?” Cobalt asked. “And don’t leave out any details!”

“Well, she managed to steal all our cutie marks, except Sunny’s, and she and Opaline fought it out to the end… at least, until Sunny’s cutie mark was stolen,” Zipp said, letting the others gasp in terror. “But don’t worry! The story does end on a more positive note!”

“Thanks to the help of some more of our friends, new and old,” Misty said, “along with my mom, we managed to sing and use what magic we had left to strip Opaline of her powers and trapped her inside one of the Together Trees in the mortal world, and she’s been in there ever since.”

“Wow… you ponies have NOT had it easy,” Jasmine shook her head. “But you’re lucky to know who your mom is, Misty, and that you were able to change her to the good side.”

Odie whimpered at the sound of Jasmine’s sad tone, and licked her face to comfort her while Garfield leaned in to whisper to Sunny. “Odie and I were the ones who found her about five years ago wandering the forest with amnesia-- she couldn’t remember anything except her name, so we offered her a place to live with us, and she's stayed here ever since.”

Sunny gasped at this in sympathy, feeling bad for poor Jasmine in that moment. But, she realized that Jasmine had friends and a new family who cared about her just as much as her birth family might have, so she had to look at it from that angle as well.

Cobalt then interrupted the silence by clearing his throat. “So… now what do you guys wanna do?”

“Before we get to our sleepover, I have a question,” Jasmine spoke. “Jon? Would it be okay if Sunny and the others stayed with us during their mission? Before they have to go back home?”

“Oh, please please please?” Lily then begged. “We’ve never had real protectors of Equestria in Cartoon World before?”

“And they wouldn’t even have to lift a hoof!” Diamond agreed with a nod. “We would do everything for them! Well, except feed them and take them to the bathroom, of course.”

“Well… we do have a spare room upstairs that we don’t use,” Jon said, thinking about the idea. “And they would have the chance to experience Fun Fest with us in a few days, so... I don't see why not!”

The four young ponies cheered excitedly alongside their new friends while Odie howled in excitement and Garfield only sighed. “Great… now the slumber party is about to get more like a party with less slumbering.”

XXXXXXXX

Garfield groaned under his breath as he heard the endless chatter and laughter coming from the room just down the hall from his and Odie's.

The ponies had gotten settled in immediately after dinner, and they had been spending a lot of time with their new friends, but it was getting late, and as much as Garfield liked the ponies, even he needed his sleep.

He had to get the slumber party excitement level to stumble a bit-- just enough so he could curl up in bed and finally go to sleep.

So, the tabby cat marched down the hall and into the bedroom with Odie on his heels, turning to the ponies with a frown. “Could you guys keep it down in here? Geez, it's like a cat can't get his beauty sleep around here.”

“Sorry if we woke you up, Garfield,” Sunny apologized with a frown. “Your little friends were just telling us about some of the funny adventures you guys had together-- like the time you read them that fairytale and ate Jon and his girlfriend's picnic for the beach.”

“That really was a good story,” Diamond nodded sincerely. “Maybe you could tell it to us again, so our new friends can hear it.”

“Yeah! Good idea!” Izzy chirped optimistically. “Please tell it to us, Garfield!”

The way that the ponies seemed to be glancing at him caused Garfield to eventually sigh. “Okay, okay... if it helps get you guys to sleep so I can be my best for Fun Fest, I don't see the harm in it. Odie, go get the storybook from our room.”

Odie immediately saluted and raced off, returning a few minutes later with a huge red storybook, and Garfield sat on a nearby chair as the ponies gathered around. Then... Garfield opened the book and began to read. “Once upon a time there was an extremely handsome cat. You wanna know how handsome? Just about as handsome as me.”

Zipp groaned and rolled her eyes at this. “Oh, brother...”

“He lived a quiet but happy life within the castle,” Garfield continued the story. “Sometimes he would eat, sometimes he would sleep, and sometimes he would eat AND sleep.”

“But, hold on a second,” Hitch said with confusion. “Isn't that kinda dangerous?”

“It's his story and he affects the laws of science in his fantasy,” Lily responded casually. “Happens all the time around here.”

“The magnificent cat’s life was good, except for three problems,” Garfield continued. “One was an extremely Dimwitted Dog that was always asking him to throw a stick so it could be fetched. Another... was the prince's twin nieces.”

Diamond shuddered at this. “They remind me way too much of Minerva and Driscilla... trust me, they're the worst kind of problem.”

“And the cat’s third problem was his MASTER’S problem,” Garfield continued. “Prince Jon had to find a bride and he needed one soon.”

“Oooh, this story also has romance?!” Pipp squealed in excitement. “That's adorable!”

“Anywho...” Jasmine continued, taking over the story for Garfield, at least for a moment. “The royal law stated that if the prince didn't marry by his 21st birthday, then the next in line would become king!”

“And,” Garfield interrupted, “the next in line after Prince Jon was the royal viceroy, and he was not a nice man at all.”

This immediately caused the Mane 6 to become interested. A story with intrigue, romance and action.. not to mention, a heroic character that Garfield seemed to portray.

One thing was for sure... this story was going to be rather interesting, to say the very least.

XXXXXXXX

For the next hour and a half, Garfield and Jasminr helped to recount the tale of the handsome cat, the dimwitted dog and all their friends as they fought to save the kingdom from the evil viceroy, and help Prince Jon find the maiden of his dreams.

And by the end of the story, not only were the Mane 6 asleep, but the younger ponies were sound asleep as well.

Garfield couldn't help but smile at the group as he and Odie left the room to head to their own beds for the night.

Maybe having these ponies here wouldn't be so bad... they could be a good cheering section for when he and Arlene won the annual Fun Fest once again.

And... maybe they could become really good friends over the past few days too.

However, none of them had any idea about the hilarious adventure that was waiting for them just around the corner...

...but they would soon enough.