G5 Adventures in Garfield's Fun Fest

The Mane 6 were just starting to realize what their mission could have been since they arrived in Cartoon World.

Garfield was so sure that his usual comedy routine with Arlene was going to win Fun Fest this year, he wasn’t accepting any other ideas for a new act.

And he didn't see it right away, but Arlene was starting to feel like Garfield was taking for her granted, and the ponies felt really bad for her.

They had to do something to help change Garfield's mind-- especially before something drastic were to occur.

XXXXXXXX

Soon, they arrived at the studio. Jeff the guard was seen practicing his talent, singing in the guard station where he thought no one could see him. “I can just see my name in lights!”

“Hey, Jeff!” Jon greeted with an amused smirk, and that’s when Jeff opened the gate to let them through. “Hey, Jon!”

“Nice singing, Mr. Jeff sir!” Izzy waved as they went by, and as soon as they were gone, Jeff started singing again. “Jeff, the entertainer of the year!”

XXXXXXXX

Jon found a place to park right up front, and everyone got out of the car while the ponies could only stare at how huge this place was. “Pretty amazing, huh?” Jasmine smiled as she and Diamond walked beside of them. “We’ve been coming here to help our friends with their comic strip for as long as we can remember.”

“It’s just hard to believe that all cartoon comic strips get made right here… and end up in the real world,” Sunny said as they walked toward the building. “Will we get to meet other strip stars while we’re here?”

“Totally! Then, there’ll be people not in the scripts that help off to the side,” Arlene explained. “You’ll meet a few of them when we head to the cafeteria.”

“The cafeteria?” Hitch looked surprised. “We just had breakfast over half an hour ago!”

“You know Garfield,” Lily giggled as she trotted over with Nermal on her back. “He can never get enough to eat, and who can blame him? Come on!”

XXXXXXXX

After a small tour of the studio, the large group entered the studio cafeteria, where they see every other cartoon character practicing for tomorrow night. “Whoa!” Zipp exclaimed in surprise. “This place is more crowded than royal guard tryouts when Pipp and I were fillies!”

“Good morning, Billy Bear!” John greeted a large brown bear nearby, and the brown bear laughed in response. “That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.”

“Good morning, Randy Rabbit!” Jon then approached a rabbit next to Billy. “How are you today?”

“Fantastic and amazing! Watch this,” Randy said, making a puppet appear from the hat he was holding, and he began to throw his voice to make the puppet talk. “Hi, Jon. How are you doing?”

“Nice try, Randy,” Diamond giggled as she and Jon walked away. “We’ve seen that one before.”

“But nice idea, though,” Misty told him. “Just keep trying!”

As soon as they had walked away, Randy hummed to himself in thought. “I guess I'll have to work up another trick.”

That’s when, all of a sudden, the prop boy popped out from the hat. “What if we use a groundhog instead of a rabbit?”

Immediately, both Randy and the prop boy hummed in thought. “Hmm…”

XXXXXXXX

Sunny was getting to know a lot of other comic strip characters when she suddenly spotted Jasmine sitting off on her own near one of the tables, deeply in thought.

Curious and concerned, Sunny walked over to her. “Jasmine? Are you all right?”

“Well… I guess I’ve been trying to do some soul searching, Sunny,” Jasmine admitted as Sunny sat down next to her. “You see… I know Garfield told you that he and Odie found me about four years ago, and I couldn’t remember anything except for my name… right?”

“Right,” Sunny nodded. “But I know you’ll figure out who you are someday-- everyone does some soul searching every now and then.”

“But that’s just it,” Jasmine said with a frown. “What if I don’t want to find out where I used to come from or who I used to belong to?”

Sunny blinked in surprise. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Well… I’m happy here with Garfield and Odie. And Jon,” Jasmine admitted. “Garfield wouldn’t leave my side while I was getting checked out by the doctor after he and Odie first found me. Jon makes sure I’m fed and taken care of every day, and all three of them are there when I need somepony to talk to. What if… what if, when I find where I came from, they… want me to leave my family here and go with them to wherever I came from before?”

“...you know... I actually know a little bit about that myself,” Misty said as she sat down next to the young unicorn. “Really?” Jasmine asked, bewildered. “You know what I'm going through?”

“Before I joined up with Sunny and her friends, I… used to serve Opaline, the fire alicorn we told you about yesterday. She claimed that she rescued me, but… she was never really the saving type. I always spent some time wondering who my parents were, and when I finally found out who they were… I was worried if things were going to change.”

“So… what did you do?” Jasmine asked, intrigued and worried all at once. “Well, I actually talked to my dad about it, and he said what I was feeling was natural,” Misty explained. “He said that there I chose to live was my choice, and that he wasn't going to make any kind of decisions for me. If you really wanted to stay with Jon, Odie and Garfield, I don’t see why anypony would have a problem with that. It all depends on what YOU want.”

Jasmine considered this for a few moments before nodding, realizing that her friends were right.

It really did depend on what she wanted.

XXXXXXXX

On the other side of the cafeteria, Garfield approached another studio employee, Zelda, at the snack bar. “Zelda, Zelda, Zelda. I swear,” Garfield said with a slight smirk. “Are those stars I see in your eyes?”

“What are you talking about?” Zelda asked as she poured some coffee into Garfield’s cup. “Why, about Fun Fest, of course,” Garfield smiled. “You’re entertaining us tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“...I'll think about it.”

“Well, don't disappoint your fans, okay?” Garfield said, smiling before he walked off toward the others again. And then, when she made sure that no one else was around, Zelda began her own personal juggling routine, going as far as throwing an older man into the mix.

Soon, the director, known as Charles and his assistant director, Betty, came into the room. “Attenzione, attenzione, people,” Charles spoke up, but no one seemed to notice him until he turned to Betty beside him. “Betty?”

Betty nodded before clearing her throat and turning to the large crowd. “SHUT UUUUUUP!!!!!!”

At this, the entire cafeteria leapt to attention, eyes wide and full of surprise. “Good morning, people,” Charles spoke up. “Before we do our comic strips today, we are all going to rehearse for tomorrow's Fun Fest.”

This caused everyone to cheer wildly in excitement before Charles spoke up again. “Now, if you would please proceed to the auditorium in a quiet and orderly...”

However, everyone ran over Charles like a pack of stampeding wildebeest, causing the Mane 6 to wince in pain.

They knew that one way or another... somepony was definitely going to get hurt.

XXXXXXXX

Everybody took their seats in the auditorium while Garfield took Jasmine, Hitch and Zipp up to the room where Eli, another one of the studio employees, worked the lights and the effects on the stage. “Hey, Eli.”

“Heya, Jasmine. Hey, Garfield,” Eli smiled and waved at them. “Who are your new friends?”

“Zipp and Hitch, this is Eli-- he makes sure everything is running smoothly during the strip shootings,” Jasmine introduced. “Eli, this is Hitch Trailblazer and Zipp Storm, some of our new friends from Equestria. They'll be staying with us for a while until they complete their mission in Cartoon World.”

“Hey, nice to meet y'all,” Eli gave the ponies a little salute. “Hey, you too,” Hitch nodded before Eli asked Garfield and Jasmine a question. “The two of you ready for another Fun Fest?”

“I’m ready to win another Fun Fest,” Garfield responded while Jasmine nodded in confirmation. “I heard a rumor about a new strip,” Eli told the unicorn and tabby cat, “and this new guy is supposed to be some tough competition.”

Garfield merely smirked at this. “Well, nothing can knock me off the top spot.”

“Yeah, well... you might wanna keep that ego of yours in check,” Hitch muttered under his breath before he noticed that Garfield and Jasmine had left the room. “Jasmine? Garfield?”

“Hey, Eli, can you show us what all these switches and buttons do?” Zipp then asked. “Maybe we could help you during the show tomorrow night.”

“Sure thing,” Eli nodded. “Come on over and I'll show you the basic set of operations.”

XXXXXXXX

“Welcome to the dress rehearsal for the 30th annual Fun Fest,” Charles said to the crowd of strip characters and the ponies from the stage, “where the act that's the most fun, wins! As you know, tomorrow's talent show will be judged, and the winner's comic strip will be placed in the coveted top position on the comics page. The Garfield comic strip has enjoyed quite a long run on top, but will it prevail again?”

“You bet your bippy, Monocle Boy,” Garfield said with a little smirk, and while everyone else burst into laughter, Arlene didn't seem amused. “Before we start rehearsal, allow me to introduce this year's Fun Fest judges,” Charles said. “First, my assistant director, Betty.”

Everyone clapped/stomped their hooves at this as Betty waved. “From the Life Stinks comic strip,” Charles continued, “we have Bonita Stegman.”

Everyone applauded for Bonita, even though her husband Wally seemed to be in dismay. “I thought we were going to do something together in the show this year, Bonita.”

“That would be beneath me, Walter.”

“Yes, dear.”

But Charles was not done with the introduction of the judges yet. “Next, we have Billy Bear's wife, Bonnie Bear.”

Sitting next to Billy Bear was Bonnie Bear, who was enjoying the applause. “You know who to vote for, don't you, Bonnie?” Billy asked his wife with a knowing smirk. “Don't ask me to play favorites, Billy,” Bonnie told him sternly. “I take my duties as judge seriously.”

“What if I were to, say, do the dishes for a week?”

Bonnie narrowed her gaze at her husband sternly. “Are you bribing a judge, Mr. Bear?”

“No, sir. Ma'am. I gotta go polish my nose now!”

And just like that, Billy Bear had left the scene. “You better polish your act if you want my vote!” Bonnie called after him. “And now, some opening remarks from this year's master of ceremonies,” Charles announced to the audience, “and the perennial winner of Fun Fest, please welcome... Garfield.”

That caused the ponies to cheer louder than anyone else in that moment.

“WHOO-HOO!!”

“Yay, Garfield!”

“You're awesome!”

“Go get em, tiger!”

“Yay!!”

Garfield, after scratching Jasmine behind the ear, stepped up onto the stage to say his peace. “Thank you, Charles. It's so great to be hosting Fun Fest again,” Garfield began his speech. “And, to be honest, it's so great to be winning Fun Fest again.”

A few of the members of the audience jeered at this. “No, but seriously,” Garfield continued. “This year, I'm so confident of victory, I'm gonna tell you my secret for success.”

Billy suddenly spoke up with a thought. “You bribe the judges.”

“No.”

“Your mother counts the votes?” Izzy guessed innocently. “No,” Garfield shook his head. “It's not that easy. In order to be a great comedian you have to first be a great dramatic actor.”

“Yeah right, fatso,” Nermal grumbled, not believing a word of this. “Let me demonstrate,” Garfield then offered. “Of course, I'll need my lovely assistant.”

But before Arlene could step up onto the stage, Jasmine waved her hoof around. “Ooh, Garfield! Can I be your assistant this time? You know how much I wanna be onstage with you during Fun Fest, and maybe Arlene could use a little break from comedy... at least for a few minutes.”

“Aw, that’s nice of you, kiddo,” Garfield said as he scratched her behind the ear. “But, Arlene and I have a working relationship with this sort of thing. Tell you what–- you can be the backup assistant. How would you like that?”

“Really?” Jasmine smiled. “I’d love that! Thanks, Garfield!”

And so, Arlene sighed and stepped up onto the stage, not at all interested. “Arlene and I will do our winning routine from last year,” Garfield then told the audience. “where I perform all the great scenes from all the great movies in 30 seconds.”

And so, with the background behind them always changing, Garfield said more of the prominent lines of the movies they acted out while Arlene just remained silent for a majority of them.

Even if Garfield was more of the leader of the group, everyone still loved the act… especially Cobalt and Jasmine, who had the privilege of coming up with the idea last year. “Yeah, thank you, thank you,” Garfield said, waving to the audience before he and Arlene left the stage. “We’ll be right back,” Sunny said before gesturing for Pipp, Jasmine and Cobalt to follow her after their new friends. “All right, people, work with me, and I'll work with you,” Charles said to the remaining acts. “Can we have the first act up for rehearsal, please?”

As Pipp, Sunny, Jasmine and Cobalt followed Garfield and Arlene away, Nermal noticed that Arlene didn’t look happy at all.

That bothered Nermal, for even he knew that Arlene deserved to be treated much better than this.

As he saw that Lily was distracted, he smirked and decided to sneak away, getting an idea of his own.

XXXXXXXX

Pipp, Sunny, Jasmine and Cobalt followed Garfield and Arlene into the next room, but kept their distance so the two could get to work. “Okay, here's what we're going to do this year. Here are your setup lines,” Garfield handed Arlene the script he wrote, “and we walk out together, and you say…”

“Gee, Garfield and I feel like mummies tonight,” Arlene said with a bored expression. “And then I say, ‘Yeah, pressed for time’,” Garfield continued, not noticing Arlene’s disinterest. “Laughter, laughter, laughter. And then you say something like, ‘Oh, Garfield, where do you come up with that stuff?’. And then I say…”

That’s when Arlene decided to stand up for herself and interrupted Garfield out of the blue. “Garfield, I really had my heart set on doing that dance number this year.”

“Arlene, we win with this stuff,” Garfield reminded. “Doing something else would be heresy.”

“Speaking as a social media influencer and a pop star,” Pipp said as she approached, “even I know that some things are more important than winning, Garfield.”

However, Garfield turned away at this. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Come on, Garfield,” Arlene remained persistent. “Let's do something I wanna do this year. Do it for me.”

“Come on, Garfield… what’s the harm in trying something new?” Cobalt asked with a smile. “Who knows? It might be fun!”

A few more comic strip stars walked past them toward the break room, and Garfield eventually sighed. “Here we go again. What dance did you have in mind, Arlene?”

“The tango. Garfield, it would be so exciting, so romantic,” Arlene said excitedly before getting a blue shirt, brown pants, matching shoes and a hat out from a nearby bag. “And you can wear this outfit.”

“Say what?!” Garfield blurt out. “This outfit,” Arlene let him look the outfit over. “You can't do the tango without the proper costume.”

“Garfield, you would look so dapper in this!” Jasmine said. “And I bet it would be really fun to try doing the tango! I’ve never done anything like it before.”

However… Garfield was still unsure, but when he saw Randy, Billy and Wally stifling laughter from the break room, he knew he couldn’t go through with it. “No way, Arlene, I can’t go there.”

Arlene looked heartbroken at this, and Sunny decided to step in and clear the air. “Garfield, I thought Jasmine said that you promised that you guys would do the dance this year. You can’t go back on your word, especially when Arlene seems really into it.”

“I said I promised I'd think about it. My comedy routine is a guaranteed winner,” Garfield told the earth pony mare before looking over at a disheartened Arlene. “If you really wanna do the tango, you'll have to find yourself another partner.”

“But who?”

Suddenly, the doors to the room opened, and a bright white light blinded the group and caused them to shield their eyes as a mysterious voice spoke up. “I will dance with you.”

“...who is that?” Pipp asked Sunny in confusion. That’s when someone they had never seen before entered the room.

He looked to be a tall cat who wore a Spanish-styled outfit, and he seemed confident… too confident in Pipp’s opinion. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am… R-R-R-Ramone,” the cat said with a purr before kissing Arlene on the hand, causing Jasmine to gag, and Garfield didn’t seem pleased either. “I smell a… r-r-rat.”

“Garfield, are you sure you don't wanna dance with me?” Arlene asked as she seemed infatuated with Ramone. “Yeah, I’m sure,” Garfield tried to brush it off. “You go ahead and dance with Raymond there.”

“Ramone.”

“Whatever,” Garfield said as he turned away. “I’ll work up a solo act.”

Jasmine was about to protest, thinking that he was gonna do an act with her if he couldn’t do an act with Arlene, but kept quiet as she began to follow him, Sunny and Pipp away. Cobalt couldn’t help but frown at this, but decided to say one thing before his friends left. “...good luck.”

“...good luck to you too,” Jasmine muttered with her head lowered as she and Garfield walked away, with Pipp and Sunny, both concerned, following behind.

XXXXXXXX

Zipp and Hitch were happily helping Eli up in his workstation when Garfield and Jasmine entered the booth, looking depressed. “You got room for all three of us up here?” Garfield asked Eli dejectedly, causing Eli to become confused. “Three of you?”

“Jasmine, me and my ego.”

“...sure,” Hitch smiled lightly. “Well, we officially met the new shooter,” Jasmine said as she sat down. “His name is Ramone. Yuck!”

Eli looked down from the booth and immediately saw something that Garfield was sure to not like. “Looks like Arlene met him, too.”

Zipp and Hitch looked at each other before looking down toward the stage. On the stage, Arlene was doing a tango routine with Ramone, dancing together in perfect harmony.

“Whoa!” Hitch said, impressed. “Look at that guy move!”

“He’s not so good,” Garfield brushed it off, but all the women down below were getting all ga-ga over the new feline in town. However… some were beginning to notice that Garfield wasn’t down there with them for his rehearsal.

The two cats then finished their dance and received applause, bowing to the audience. However… Sunny, Pipp, Izzy and Misty didn’t seem to clap as lively as everyone else.

Eli looked toward Garfield with a concerned frown. “I heard his new strip's called Ramone Rough Rider.”

“Oh, please,” Jasmine scoffed, not at all entranced by Ramone's appearance or his attitude. “The only thing rough about him is that cheesy accent.”

“The kid’s right,” Garfield agreed. “He's nothing but a big phony.”

“I don’t know, Garfield… he seems pretty good,” Hitch said unsuredly. “Maybe you need to get down there and REALLY show him what you’ve got.”

“Thank you, Arlene and Ramone. Very nice indeed, charming,” Charles said as he came onto the stage. “All right, next to rehearse is Garfield.”

Garfield took a breath to calm himself. “Showtime.”

“Garfield, wait!” Jasmine got in his path. “You've never done this without Arlene before.”

“I’ll be fine,” Garfield patted her reassuringly before leading her out of the booth. “Just watch.”

Zipp sighed in worry, hoping Garfield was right.

XXXXXXXX

“Hey,” Misty said as she looked around, “where’s Garfield?”

“Here I am,” Garfield said as he and Jasmine walked toward the stage, the young unicorn stopping at the edge. “And,” Charles said, “what are you calling this routine?”

“Whatever It Takes.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Garfield the cat doing ‘Whatever It Takes’.”

“Go get ‘em, Garfield! Whoo-hoo!!” Izzy cheered with a smile before settling down to watch Garfield’s rehearsal for herself. However, Garfield quickly dragged Odie onstage to begin the routine. Odie spoke his line with Garfield, although it was a bit hard to make out the words. “You’re right, Odie,” Garfield nodded to play along. “We sure do feel like mummies tonight. Pressed for time.”

However… no one was laughing. Not even the Mane 6… and especially not the foal and fillies that Garfield knew. “This humor is, how do you say… stale?” Ramone called out. “Don't you agree, Arlene?”

Arlene scoffed at this, making Garfield mutter to himself, trying to come up with something else. “All right, Raymond, I guess I'll have to take it up a notch. And moving on.”

After kicking Odie off the stage for Pipp to catch, Garfield called for the Prop Boy to bring him his set of props, and Garfield immediately put on a pair of goofy glasses. “Seriously, though. I met this cat who was really short. How short was he?”

“He was so short he could pose for trophies?” Ramone guessed innocently with a smirk. Everyone, all except for the ponies, laughed at Ramone’s joke, while the eyes popped right out of Garfield’s glasses. “Uh... yeah, something like that,” Garfield said, a bit surprised that Ramone knew about that. But no matter... he had another one up his sleeve.

Garfield darted offstage, and then re-emerged while he rolled on top of a ball, hula-hooping rings on his arms, and having a fake arrow on his head. “Hey, folks, what did the statue say to the art dealer?”

However, Ramone spoke up once again to interrupted. “Don't take me for granite.”

Everyone except the ponies laughed again, and this time, Garfield was shocked that he once again knew the punchline. “It is so sad to see someone past his prime struggle so,” Ramone said, faking sympathy and making Pipp narrow her gaze at him. “It is time for a new cat in town.”

“I’m strictly a feline, feline!” Garfield called out, still balancing on the ball while Arlene just shook her head. “Perhaps, after I have won Fun Fest, I will teach each of you the tango,” Ramone said, leaning into Arlene like she was already his girlfriend. “The dance... of romance...”

Garfield, immediately after seeing this, was deflated, just as much as the ball he was standing on, causing him to walk right offstage.

Jasmine, Lily, Cobalt and Diamond sat with their new friends in concern. “Oh... poor Garfield...” Diamond said sympathetically. “That Ramone is a real creep.”

“I know! Trying to snag Arlene right out from Garfield’s nose!” Pipp crossed her hooves. “The audacity!”

“Come on, Jasmine-- you and I better go check up on him,” Misty told the green unicorn filly as they followed Garfield away... just as Lily noticed that one of her friends was missing too. “Hey, uh... has anypony seen Nermal?”

XXXXXXXX

Zipp looked at Hitch and Eli as they watched Garfield go right off the stage, and Zipp was the first to speak as soon as she saw Garfield, Misty and Jasmine enter the booth “Okay... what in Equestria was that?!”

“...I bombed,” Garfield said, completely dejected and still in shock. “I never bomb!”

“Well, what do you expect? Without Arlene, you had to make up a whole new routine on the fly,” Eli told the orange tabby with a stern, yet caring, tone of voice. “It'll take some time.”

“He doesn't have time!” Jasmine pointed out. “Fun Fest is tomorrow night! Garfield’s gotta get funny, fast!”

“I suggest you help Garfield with his routine,” Eli told the filly. “Cause there isn't any magic potion that's gonna make him funny again.”

Garfield sighed to himself at this. “Except Freddy's pond water.”

“What?”

Garfield brushed it off, sitting down off to the side. “Oh, nothing. Just a fairy tale I read.”

“Great work, people. That's a wrap until tomorrow,” Charles told the crew before everyone began to leave... and Ramone was practically hooked to Arlene’s side as she walked out with Lily, Cobalt and Diamond. “It was so wonderful dancing with you today, Arlene. I feel like the world is my oyster, and you are my pearl,” Ramone purred romantically. “Speaking of pearl, perhaps you and I could maybe make some sweet ocean music…”

Garfield looked at their conversation with a depressed look, and the Mane 6 and Jasmine tried to come up with something to cheer him up...

...but the words never came.

One thing was definitely for sure, Garfield needed them... and he needed them a lot more than anyone ever thought.