G5 Adventures in Garfield’s Pet Force

by ponydog127

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Comedy, Misty, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Adventure, Mane 5, Crossover, Alternate Universe
Length: 31927

The Mane 6 and Sparky head back to Cartoon World and become superheroes once again in order to help their friends defeat the evil Vetvix, who plans on using a dangerous cosmic weapon to enslave the universe.

Zipp and Hitch have been secretly collaborating for months on a special project-- comic books about the Mane 6’s adventures in other realms! Pipp thinks these will make a great product to sell at stories all over Equestria, but before the decision gets in too deep, they are called on another Unity Quest back to Cartoon World, where their comic strip friends will soon be hoof-deep in trouble.

One minute, Garfield, Odie, Jasmine Wildbloom and their pals are having a cookout in their backyard, and the next, they're engaged in a super battle like nothing they’ve ever experienced before!

When an evil comic book demoness uses a super-powerful weapon to try and make everyone in Cartoon World her slaves, the comic strip characters (including Jasmine, Cobalt, Lily and Diamond) and the Mane 6 become superheroes in order to stop her evil plans. Well, all except Garfield, who thinks being a superhero sounds like too much work!

But when their friends fall into trouble, the Mane 6, Jasmine and her best friends, alongside the fat cat will all have to rise to the occasion!

Will they succeed? Or will this space bully enslave all of Cartoon World? And will Equestria be next on her list?

Find out in this space tale of epic proportions to find out!

(S3E15 of G5 Adventures)

Published 2024-06-20 03:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-20 03:40:00 UTC

Unity Quests in Comics

It had been a week or two since the Mane 6’s last Unity Quest-- this time, they journeyed with the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies to the moon after a field trip unexpectedly went awry, but together, they were able to make it back to Earth and reunite the Buddies with their kids.

The Pippsqueaks were even able to bring their spacesuits and some moon rock pieces home to their families for them to remember the adventure by, and that was heartwarming for the Mane 6 to see in itself.

Queen Haven even spoke to the crowd of ponies at the festival, honoring all of them as heroes for being the first Equestrians in the nation's history to walk on the moon... which was a real treat for all of them.

Now that the Moon Festival had passed, it was time for the Mane 6 to return to a some-what normal life until the next time the Unity Crystals summoned them.

And of course, they had no idea when this would be.

But little did they know, that before they would get sent on the next mission, a secret coming from two members of their own team would catch them offguard...

...and it would set the theme for their next action-packed Unity Quest adventure.

XXXXXXXX

Zipp and Hitch were working on a top-secret project in the sheriff’s station once a week for the past 8 months, hoping that once they felt prepared enough, they would show it to their friends and potentially gain their approval that this was a good idea.

Eventually, Zipp finished the final page of their most recent project, smiling in satisfaction. “And… done! Okay, Hitch… I really think we’re ready to show these things off.”

“Are you sure, Zipp?” Hitch asked, putting Sparky onto his back so he didn't have to walk. “I mean… I know we take our Unity Quest missions pretty seriously, and I don’t want the others to think otherwise.”

“Hey, we’ve been working on these for the past 8 months straight, and we’ve come close to getting caught only two times,” Zipp said as she put their project safely into her saddlebags. “Besides, I think our friends would enjoy the fact that we want to remember our adventures in a really fun way.”

Sparky giggled excitedly from Hitch’s back, causing Zipp to giggle herself. “Even Sparky is excited we’re finally gonna show them off. If that isn't a sign, then I don't know what is.”

Hitch sighed reluctantly before smiling. “Okay, okay… I guess you two have a point,” he said. “Come on-- let’s head to the Crystal Brighthouse and see what they think of our little top-secret endeavor.”

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, at the Crystal Brighthouse, the four remaining mares were busy with various tasks; Misty was studying her spellbook, Sunny was making pizza for lunch, Pipp was trying to write a new song and Izzy was working on some paper mâché lanterns to hang outside the Brighthouse for Sparky's birthday, which was in the next week.

At that moment, Zipp and Hitch, along with Sparky, entered the Brighthouse with positive grins on their faces. “Hey, guys!” Hitch smiled as Sparky hopped off his back and onto the couch. “Sorry if we’re interrupting.”

“Nah, lunch is almost ready anyway. I was just getting ready to call,” Sunny said, getting the pizza out of the oven. “So, what have you two been up to?”

“Well… you guys didn’t know about this, but… over the past few months, or well… since our fourth Unity Quest,” Zipp explained hesitantly, “Hitch and I have been working on a… top-secret project that I think would benefit all of us in a positive way.”

“A top-secret project?! I love top-secret projects! You never know how top-secret they’re gonna be until they’re sprung right on you!” Izzy told her friends optimistically. “So… what is your top-secret project?”

Sparky made a fanfare-type sound, allowing Zipp to clear her throat. “Presenting… the first issues of our very own comic book series... based off of our own adventures!”

That's when she laid the contents of her bag out on the table in front of the group, causing them to gasp and look down at the brightly colored comic books with supreme interest.

After a few moments of looking at the comics, Misty picked up one of them and read the title out loud. “The Unity Quest Adventures: The Ghoul School?”

“The Unity Quest Adventures: Hocus Pocus?” Sunny read another one. “These are comic based off of some of our adventures when we were still facing off against Opaline!”

“Exactly,” Zipp smiled. “We have a second batch in development right now, but we wanted to show you guys the first couple of issues and see what you think, just before we proceed any further. I know Hitch and I seem like the ones who take our Unity Quests seriously, and we still do. But…”

“...we wanted to commemorate our adventures in a really fun way,” Hitch said, “and surprise you all when we felt like we were ready.”

“So… what do you think?” Zipp asked. “Do you like ‘em?”

“...are you kidding me?” Pipp looked at her sister with a deadpan expression, causing Zipp to become nervous… at least until Pipp’s smile grew wider and wider. “We love them!”

“Yeah! These are amazing drawings!” Izzy said, holding up one of the comic books. “And I thought I was the only artsy pony in the group!”

“These are amazing, guys! Thank you so much for making them for us,” Sunny smiled gratefully. “I’m gonna read one of these right now!”

“I especially like the fact that you took your time in making these,” Misty added as Sunny trotted over to the couch where Sparky was. “And you seemed to remember everything that was said by every single character!”

“Well, I have Pipp and my detective equipment to thank for that,” Zipp said with a chuckle. “Pipp took a lot of videos and I had my recording equipment on at times, just so I could remember important parts of the missions.”

“So that’s why you had me send you those videos?” Pipp asked in surprise. “Man! I should have been able to figure that out ages ago!”

Suddenly, Pipp gasped deeply, an idea filling her mind. “Oh my glitter, I just got the most amazing idea! What if we take these to Zephyr Heights and see if somepony can get these published as actual comic books for everypony to read?! I bet loads of pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns from all across Equestria would want to read such genius stories about us!”

However, Zipp and Hitch looked a little worried at this. “Sis, as much as I would love to be responsible for a new comic book series for everypony to read, I can’t help but feel like that would put us all at risk.”

“Yeah. What if another villain were to read this and find out about the Unity Crystals and their abilities?” Hitch pointed out. “Or Allura? Then Equestria would be at even greater risk for attack!”

Pipp felt her ears lower as she thought this through. “I hadn’t thought about that exactly…”

“But then again, it would educate ponies across Equestria about our missions and what we’re doing to stop these villains from taking over,” Misty pointed out. “We have to look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty all the time, you know.”

“I guess I never thought about that,” Hitch frowned. “Now I’m not sure what to do about our comics!”

“I say we put it up to a vote,” Sunny decided. “Whichever decision gets the most votes is what we do.”

“Good idea, Sunny,” Zipp nodded. “That way it’ll be fair for everypony that's involved.”

“So, let’s vote,” Sunny spoke up. “All in favor for publishing the comics not only for personal enjoyment, but to spread awareness of what we’re doing to save Equestria, raise your right hoof.”

Sunny, Misty and Pipp immediately raised their hooves. “Okay… that’s three,” Misty counted the hooves. “All opposed?”

Zipp and Hitch hesitantly raised their hooves while Sparky raised his hand, not really understanding what was going on. “That’s… also three,” Sunny blinked. “It looks like Izzy’s decision is the tie-breaker.”

“Uh… me?” Izzy asked, looking at both groups with a nervous expression on her face. “Oh, glitterpants… this is gonna be a hard choice!”

The last thing Izzy wanted to do was make one group upset with her... what was a unicorn to do in this kind of circumstance?

Suddenly, before she could make a decision, the ponies looked and saw their cutie marks lighting up, causing Hitch to sigh. “Looks like we’ll have to revisit this discussion later. Right now, we gotta get up to the Unity Crystals.”

“Hitch is right,” Sunny nodded. “We have a new mission to get underway!”

Splitting Up/Garfield and the Ponies meet Garzooka

“Will Vetvix capture Garzooka and use the moscram ray gun to conquer the universe?” Nermal read the last few sentences from the comic book with excitement. “Read the anniversary issue of Pet Force and find out!”

The Mane 6 and the others (all except Garfield) had to admit, the story that Nermal had told was rather intriguing, and even they found themselves wondering what in the world would happen next. “Oh-ho, wow! What a cool story!” Lily cheered with a wide grin. “I have to admit, Nermal, that was something else!” Hitch smiled. “I can’t wait to read that next issue and find out what happens next!”

“Well, you’re in luck, Hitch!” Diamond said. “The new issue is coming out today! Whoo-hoo!”

“You don't really believe that stuff, do you?” Garfield asked while eating a hot dog. “It's not like real life… like here in the newspaper comics.”

“What if it is real, Garfield?” Jasmine asked her best friend. “I used to imagine myself the cool ruler of an entire planet,” Jon said, spinning a plate until he almost dropped it, but he grabbed it before it could fall. “Heh heh…”

“Uh, stab me another hot dog there, Your Highness,” Garfield said sarcastically, prompting Jon to turn back to the hot dogs. “Seriously. Wouldn’t it be great to really get out there and do something that meant something?” Lily asked. “Like what Sunny and her friends do every time the Unity Crystals summon them?”

“Sounds like that would mean actually, uh… getting involved,” Garfield said tiredly. “That takes a lot of effort.”

“Anything worth doing requires effort,” Arlene told her boyfriend with a smile. “And besides,” Zipp spoke, “anything would be more exciting than sitting here watching relish dribble down your chin.”

“Huh? Where?” Garfield felt his chin, but as it turns out, this was a prank set up by Zipp and Nermal, who laughed and high-fived one another at their success. That’s when Misty turned to look at Arlene, who was flipping through the comic book. “I didn’t know you had an interest in comics, Arlene.”

“Not usually. I’m just looking at the pictures,” Arlene said before flipping to a picture of Garzooka and showing it off to Garfield with a smirk. “Mmm, Garzooka’s pretty easy on the eyes.”

“But he’s got nothing on me,” Garfield huffed and got down from the picnic table, his big belly showing, which caused Pipp to roll her eyes. “Oh brother...”

That's when Garfield swiped the cooking fork from Jon. “I'll take that.”

“Be my guest,” Jon said and walked over to the picnic table with Odie. “I'm here to put an end to your evil ways, Vetvix. Supernova? Ha! I eat 'em for lunch,” Garfield said, imitating Garzooka and putting the cooking fork down on the grill. “Let the fur fly!”

Garfield struck a pose with his big belly jiggling, causing Jon to sigh depressingly. “Sad.”

“So sad...” sighed Lily, shaking her head with a deep frown on her face. “Well, at least he’s trying,” Jasmine tried to tell her friends. “I, for one, would LOVE to be a superhero like Garzooka and the Pet Force-- making a difference in HUGE ways? Fighting villains? Having superpowers? What’s not to like?”

“It does sound kinda fun. Makes me wish we knew some superheroes that could train us,” Diamond said with a shrug, making the Mane 6 look at each other. They promised not to activate their superhero forms in front of their friends unless it was a complete emergency, so they needed to wait for the right time before revealing their superhero identities.

Odie quickly barked for attention, and when Jon turned to look down at him, Odie pawed at Jon's watch, making Jon realize what time it was. “Oh. Thanks, Odie. Hey, gang, we'd better get going,” he said, getting up from the table. “I wanna get to the studio early to get ready for the strip today.”

“Oh, cool!” Nermal said as he hopped down. “Come on, Garfield,” Cobalt urged, but Garfield didn’t want to head to the studio just yet-- he still had hot dogs to indulge after all. “Uh-oh. I… listen, I'll, uh-- oh, uh, you guys go ahead. I'll catch up.”

“So,” Arlene spoke, immediately figuring out Garfield’s plan, “we get there early to set everything up, and you…”

However, Garfield began pushing her away before she could finish. “I'll be there in time for my, uh, close-up.”

“I can stay and keep him company until he decides to head over,” Jasmine offered. “And we have to head to the market a couple blocks away and pick up more veggie dogs,” Hitch agreed, “so once we do that, we’ll take Jasmine and Garfield over to the studio ourselves.”

“If you’re sure,” Jon shrugged. “See you guys later!” Diamond told the group before she and the others left through the back door, and the Mane 6 hopped over the fence to head to the market. No sooner than they left, Garfield piled what hot dogs they had left onto the grill, chuckling to himself. “Well, I'd like to see Garzooka beat me in a hot dog-eating contest.”

“Trust me, Garfield-- no one in Cartoon World can match with your eating habits,” Jasmine giggled with a smile. “You keep an eye on the hot dogs, and I’ll start cleaning some of this up.”

XXXXXXXX

Jon drove his car with Odie, Arlene, Nermal, Cobalt, Jasmine and Lily inside, and as they drove past a specific part of the street, Lily immediately spoke up, excitement laced in her tone. “Oh, Jon! Can we stop at the newsstand? Please?!”

“I wanna pick up that new issue of Pet Force!” Nermal quickly added. “Sure,” Jon responded with a smile. “I am kind of curious about what happens to that handsome emperor.”

So, Jon pulled over to the nearest newsstand, where Nermal and Lily eagerly hopped out of the car and ran toward the newsstand, where a newspaper salesman was making sure all of the magazines, newspapers and comics were organized just right. “Excuse me. Yeah, down here,” Nermal called, causing the newspaper boy to look down at him. “Do you have the new anniversary issue of Pet Force?”

“You know, the one that will let us know if Vetvix captures Garzooka or not?” Lily reminded. “It was supposed to come out today.”

“Huh? Yeah, sure,” the newspaper boy nodded and got it off the shelf. “Hey, hey, hey! Careful, don't crease it!” Nermal said defensively. “That's a collector's issue.”

XXXXXXXX

Little did Nermal or Lily or any of our other friends know, but Garzooka was still traveling the universe through his space rover, at least until a warning flashed on his rover's screen. “Approaching interdimensional barrier.”

That's when Garzooka knew he was getting close.

XXXXXXXX

“You know,” the newspaper boy teased Nermal, “readin' this stuff will stunt your growth, kid.”

“Oh, brother…” Lily muttered under her breath. As Nermal laid the money on the counter for the comic, suddenly, the ground began to shake violently around them, causing Lily, Nermal and the newspaper boy to maintain their balance. After a few moments, the shaking ended, but it left Lily and Nermal in complete surprise, but the unicorn found her voice first. “What was that?!”

“Maybe it's an alien invasion. Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo,” the newspaper boy said in a spooky voice. “Don't make fun of me!” Nermal frowned as he and Lily walked away. “Watch your back, kid. The aliens are comin'!” the newspaper boy continued to tease until they were far enough away where they couldn’t hear him. “What a loser.”

However, Lily heard him, so she stuck her nose up in the air with a huff before she and Nermal got back into the car. “Goofy kid,” the newspaper boy muttered as he began to pick up the mess that the shaking caused. “Who does he think he's foolin'?”

XXXXXXXX

Back in his universe, Garzooka piloted his ship until he managed to reach the interdimensional barrier, so Garzooka pulled the emergency brake to stop the ship. He then pushed a button to open the window and he zoomed out of the page and into Cartoon World.

Needless to say, the newspaper boy was stunned, which turned into slight intimidation as Garzooka stood in front of him. “Excuse me, kind sir,” Garzooka said politely, getting out the photos of Arlene, Odie and Nermal he had gotten from Dorkon. “Do you know these people?”

“...that way,” the newspaper boy stammered, pointing off to the right. “The universe is indebted to you,” Garzooka saluted before he ran off, leaving the newspaper boy to faint right on the ground.

XXXXXXXX

Back in Jon's car, Nermal was reading the latest anniversary issue of Pet Force and telling the ponies, Arlene and Odie everything that was happening so far. “And Garzooka comes out and… whoa!” Nermal blinked in shock as he turned the page. “I don’t believe it!”

“What?” Arlene asked, just as Lily took a glance at the comic book as well, causing her eyes to widen in shock. “T-T-T-This isn’t happening!”

“What?” Cobalt asked his friends in Arlene’s place. “We’re in the comic book!” Nermal said, showing them a comic panel of the entire gang at the backyard having a barbecue. “Here we are having our cookout!”

“Look! It even shows us buying the comic, and…” Lily paused as Nermal turned the page again. “Oh my gosh!!”

“What?” Arlene asked again, just before Nermal turned the comic toward her again. “It’s Garzooka!” Lily exclaimed. “He’s in Cartoon World!”

“The DNA matches to the Pet Force are right here!” Nermal added in agreement. “Hold on-- are you guys sure about this?” Diamond asked from the front seat. “I mean… Garfield told me not to believe everything that comes from fiction literature.”

“The proof is in the pages, Diamond!” Lily said, pointing to the picture of Garzooka from the comic. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… Nermal, I really believe that these comics are magical! Somehow, the comic was able to show our cookout, and then Garzooka came OUT of the comic book dimension and into our world!”

“You really think so?” Diamond asked in shock. “Hey, it’s the best theory we’ve ever come up with,” Nermal pointed out, “so I’d say that’s a good enough theory for me. As soon as we get to the studio, we gotta tell Sunny and the other ponies about what we found out!”

“I totally agree,” Lily nodded. “It’s best that they know… especially in case Vetvix could be coming out of the comic world too.”

“So, what happens next?” Arlene asked, causing Nermal to turn back to the comic. “Um, let me see. Let me turn the page and…”

He turned the page a few times, only leaving blank pages and a very confused Cobalt in their place. “The pages are blank!”

“Because,” Lily said gravely, “it hasn’t happened yet.”

This got the others slightly worried… if it wasn’t in the comic, then… what in the world would be happening next?

XXXXXXXX

Outside Jon’s house, Garzooka followed the coordinates his rover gave him and rang the doorbell. But when there was no response, he knocked on the door instead. “Hello?” he called, accidentally pulling the door off its hinges. “Hello? Anybody home?”

However, just like before, there was no answer, so he walked inside, his strength accidentally putting holes in the wall as he came through the doorway. “Hello!”

XXXXXXXX

Back in the backyard, Garfield was busy stuffing his face with hot dogs as usual. The Mane 6 hadn’t got back with the veggie dogs yet, so Garfield and Jasmine just had to wait patiently for them to get back.

But until then, Garfield could try to break his natural hot dog eating record.

He was about to use the relish on one of his hot dogs, but the jar lid was tricky to open. After the second attempt, he tiredly gave up. “I wonder if we’ve got any relish that’s already open.”

“I'll go with you to go check,” Jasmine offered to the orange cat, and they hopped down from the picnic table and toward the back door. However, when they reached the back door, they stopped and stood completely still when they saw the unthinkable...

...the real life Garzooka standing in front of the back door, looking down at them.

Jasmine felt herself gasp with wide eyes upon seeing one of her comic book idols right in front of them. “Whoa...”

She didn't really care how Garzooka was here right now, but... he was! And that was a dream come true in itself.

Seeing them caused Garzooka to smile and open the back door to approach them. “Comrade.”

“Mommy!” Garfield yelped in fear as he and Jasmine backed up to give him some room. “There's nothing to fear,” Garzooka reassured as he picked Garfield up off the ground and hugged him, causing Garfield to scream and squirm in panic. “Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me! Please!”

“Eat you?” Garzooka chuckled as he sat Garfield down on the ground again, just as Jasmine came to his side. “You have a sense of humor, my interstellar brother. I have traveled here to call upon your help to save the universe.”

“Uh...” Garfield looked surprised at this. “Hello?”

“The evil Vetvix has stolen the moscram ray gun and vowed to enslave the planet Dorkon,” Garzooka took the chance to explain. “If she has followed me here, then all of Cartoon World is in danger too.”

Jasmine gulped nervously at this, realizing right then that the story about the Pet Force that Nermal read earlier was indeed true.

Garfield, on the other hoof, seemed to believe otherwise. “This is a gag, right? A publicity stunt to promote the Pet Force comic book? Come here,” Garfield said to Garzooka before pulling on Garzooka’s face. “Is there an actor inside that mask? If I were you, I’d fire my agent.”

“What are you talking about?” Garzooka asked in a muffled voice. And once Garfield let go of his face, Garzooka pulled out the photo of Arlene, Odie and Nermal from earlier. “Where are these three? I need them.”

“They should be, uh... at the studio,” Jasmine said nervously as Garfield prepared to walk inside. “Very well. I shall go and get them,” Garzooka smiled, and turned Garfield around so he could face both Garfield and Jasmine at the same time. “Vetvix is sure to be looking for me. I need you to hold on to the Klopman Crystal.”

Jasmine and Garfield looked shocked and amazed at the crystal, and Garfield immediately grabbed it so they could look at it closer. “Keep the crystal safe. It cannot fall into Vetvix's hands. And remember,” Garzooka told the duo, “one cat can make a difference!”

The superhero cat saluted toward them, and while Jasmine saluted rather optimistically, Garfield did it with little effort. “Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long to get back,” Sunny’s voice said as the Mane 6 and Sparky got back to the house. “You wouldn't believe the huge line of people in the checkout lane.”

“Holy pegasus peppers!” Zipp cried out in shock as many of the ponies laid their eyes upon Garzooka. “Is... is that who I think it is?!”

“Oh, I almost forgot! Garzooka, these are our pony friends from Equestria. Guys, this is Garzooka! The real one, not an actor in a super muscular costume,” Jasmine said, introducing the groups rather optimistically. “We’re good friends now! Eee hee hee hee!!”

“Uh... it's nice to meet you, Garzooka,” Sunny said, shaking off her stunned expression and shaking Garzooka’s hand. “Sorry about the sudden reaction, but... what in the world are you doing here?”

“Oh, he's here searching for Arlene, Odie and Nermal,” Garfield explained casually, “and he wanted Jazzy and me to look after this crystal thing and keep it away from Vetvix. Crazy, am I right?”

“Crazy awesome! I mean, not the Vetvix part, but the whole guarding the crystal part?” Jasmine said excitedly. “So awesome...”

“Wait a sec... we know the way to the studio like the back of our hooves!” Pipp pointed out with an enthusiastic smile. “We could take you there!”

“But just in case Vetvix really could be a threat, we better assume our superhero alter-egos,” Misty told her friends. “Just to be on the safe side.”

Jasmine looked confused at this. “Superhero alter-egos?”

But before she or Garfield could question this, the Mane 6 pulled out their enchanted masks and put them on, revealing their superhero alter-egos that they sometimes took on for emergencies.

And needless to say, Jasmine was shocked. “You guys are superheroes too?! Why didn’t you ever tell us before?”

“It's not something we we like to share all the time, especially in public,” Hitch explained. “Being a superhero means that sometimes, you have to keep your identity a secret until dire circumstances come around. I read that in a superhero how-to guide once... I think.”

“We can take you to the studio now, Mr. Garzooka!” Izzy chirped. “You’ll be safe with the Unity Squad around!”

“Very well,” Garzooka nodded to the Mane 6 with a kind smile. “Come-- let us start our journey and hope we are in time to save the universe from Vetvix's supreme vengeance.”

But before they could leave, Jasmine felt a sinking feeling in her gut that she couldn't ignore, no matter how hard she wanted to.

She had to say... something, and let her true feelings show. “Garzooka, guys! Wait!”

Garzooka, the Mane 6 and Sparky turned to her in surprise as Jasmine’s ears pinned. “I... I think you might have the wrong filly for the job. Going into a mystical forest to find the funny water was something I could handle. This is... this is a whole other level of craziness that Garfield and me have never done before. I'm sorry... I know that makes me look like a total wimp, but... I just couldn't let you think that I was brave enough to handle this when my insides are churning.”

The Mane 6 glanced down at the filly with concern, and even Sparky cooed in sadness, feeling sorry for the poor filly.

However, what happened next stunned Jasmine and the Mane 6 entirely.

Garzooka smiled softly and knelt next to the young filly, putting his hand on her mane. “You admitting your fear to me doesn't make you look like a wimp at all-- in fact, it makes you the bravest out of all of us.”

Jasmine looked up at him in surprise. “Really? But... you're a superhero-- one of the coolest superheroes ever! I didn't think superheroes were afraid of anything.”

“Everypony is afraid of something,” Sunny said reassuringly. “When we were foals, I found out that Hitch was afraid of kites.”

Hitch gasped deeply. “That was supposed to remain confidential!”

“The point is, Jasmine, is that admitting you're afraid actually makes you really brave,” Zipp told the filly. “And we know that you're the right filly to stick with Garfield on this assignment.”

Garzooka nodded at all of these statements, and as he looked at Jasmine again, a soft smile came onto his face. “You know... you remind me of a young princess I used to know many years ago.”

“Really? I remind you of a princess?” Jasmine asked in surprise. Garzooka nodded, urging the ponies, Sparky and Garfield a bit closer and went on to explain. “This princess was just a little older than you, I bet. Her name was Spectra of the planet Kaleidoscopia, and she was the leader of a band of young royals with magical powers that came from their crowns. They dubbed themselves the Royal Force, and banded together to protect their homes from evil.”

“Wow… she sounds filly-tastic!” Jasmine smiled. “Is there any chance I could meet her?”

However, Garzooka’s face slowly fell, a trace of sadness entering his tone. “Unfortunately, no, little one. During a fierce battle, an evil sorcerer cast a powerful spell over the Royal Force, turning everything on their bodies except their magical crowns into stone.”

“Oh my pony… I’m so sorry…” Pipp frowned. “That sounds horrible.”

“However, Princess Spectra made me promise that if something happened to her and the rest of the Royal Force, I would take their crowns and find worthy souls to take their place, whether they are of royal bloodline or not,” Garzooka went on, digging into the satchel he was wearing. “And I believe one of those worthy souls to be you.”

He finally found what he was looking for inside the satchel and brought it out, revealing it to be a beautiful silver tiara with a purple gemstone inside that sparkled in the sunlight.

Jasmine gasped at seeing this, unsure of what to say for a few moments. “Oh, Garzooka… it’s beautiful, but… I don’t know the first thing about being a superhero or a princess,” she said with a frown. “I-I don’t know if I’d be right for the job.”

“Come on, Jasmine, at least try!” Pipp urged. “I mean, it’s princess-worthy headwear that’s functional! You have to at least give it your best shot.”

“Well…” Jasmine hesitated for a few minutes before nodding. “If you really insist.”

Garzooka then proceeded to put the tiara on top of Jasmine's head, and even Jasmine had to admit... she did look good in it.

Suddenly, the crown on her head released a white glow that spread all around her body, starting to freak Jasmine out a bit. “Uh... you guys?! What's happening?!”

The others had to shield their eyes from the bright light, but when the light faded and the group stopped shielding their eyes, they were stunned at the transformation Jasmine went through.

Jasmine was thankfully okay, but her appearance had been altered. Now, she was wearing a suit of blue and purple, with black boots, a matching mask and a purple cape, with her new tiara still on her head.

Once she managed to get herself straightened out, the filly groaned, opened her eyes and looked at her friends, who still looked rather surprised. “Why is everypony looking at me like that?”

“Sorry, Jazzy, it’s just… you gotta take a look at yourself,” Misty said, once she finally got over the shock. “It’s actually pretty amazing!”

At first, Jasmine wasn't sure what to make of this sentence, but when she finally looked down at her new attire, she gasped and looked at herself in shock and awe. “Whoa! Garfield, look! I look like a real superhero!”

“You definitely look like a super… something,” Garfield commented. “But a good super something.”

“Okay, now we have something of a plan lined up,” Zipp said. “Jasmine and Garfield will stay here to look after the Klopman Crystal, and the rest of us are going to go with Garzooka to find the others and warn them about Vetvix.”

“You can count on us, guys! We’ll be the best crystal-guarders ever!” Jasmine promised with a salute. However, Garfield stopped the group before they could leave. “Uh, before you go,” he said, lifting the jar of relish, “can you, uh… open this?”

Izzy gladly went to help Garfield open the jar, leaving the other ponies to sigh.

When this was over, they had a serious job to do, and nothing-- not even Garfield's huge appetite-- was going to stand in their way of victory.

Returning to Cartoon World/The Pet Force Comic

Upon realizing that the Unity Crystals were summoning the group into action once again, Hitch took Sparky onto his back as the group ran upstairs to grab everything they might need for their brand-new adventure.

Of course, like always, the group wasn't sure what to expect on this adventure, so they just grabbed a bit of everything before they ran up to the Crystal Room.

Once they were standing in front of the Unity Crystals, the ponies' cutie marks sent magic into the crystals making them glow with a white light that got brighter and brighter and brighter until...

...the Mane 6 and Sparky had disappeared into worlds beyond for their next exciting adventure.

XXXXXXXX

A sudden gentle wind picked up just before a portal opened up on a singular street, and the Mane 6 and Sparky stepped out of it.

And it didn't take long for Sunny to gasp upon realizing where they ended up. “You guys! We’re back in Cartoon World! That means we’re gonna have another adventure with Garfield and our Cartoon World friends!”

“Oh, Sparky-Spark, you’re gonna love Garfield!” Izzy told the baby dragon with a smile. “He’s sarcastic, but he’s really funny once you get to know him!”

“And I don’t think the house where Garfield, Jon, Jasmine and Odie live is too far away!” Zipp said as she looked around. “Just a couple of blocks from here!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Misty asked. “Let’s go check on our friends and see what they’ve been up to!”

XXXXXXXX

Jasmine Wildbloom carefully levitated plates and cups out to the backyard for the backyard cookout that she, Odie, Jon and Garfield were going to be hosting for all their friends in just a short while.

However, her thoughts were honestly on more ponies that she wished that they could invite… two earth ponies, two unicorns and two pegasus princesses, to be more precise.

“You thinking about our friends from Equestria again?”

Jasmine looked at Garfield with a wistful sigh. “Can you blame me, Garfield?” she asked, setting up the plates and cups. “It’s been at least a month or so since we last saw them, and they left a real impact on us. Right, Odie?”

The yellow beagle on the other side of the table nodded at this. “Yeah, yeah.”

“I mean… all we have left to remember them by is the tree we all planted next to the studio, remember?” Jasmine asked. “We planted it right after our dance routine at Fun Fest, and before our friends had to go back to Equestria.”

“Aww, Jasmine, I know you miss them… we all do,” Jon said as he put some charcoal in the grill to cook the hot dogs and veggie dogs. “But as much as we want them to be here for the cookout, we have to wait and see if the ponies are gonna come back at all.”

“As a matter of fact, Jon,” said a familiar voice, “we ARE back!”

The four immediately turned to look where the voice was coming from, and the Mane 6 leapt over the fence with smiles on their faces. “Hey, guys!” Zipp smiled. “Miss us much?”

“You’re here! You’re really here!” Jasmine exclaimed as she and the boys rushed to meet them with hugs and laughter, having not seen them in a matter of weeks… or maybe even a month. “Oh-ho, man…” Garfiels sighed as he and Misty hugged. “I-It only feels like yesterday that you guys were helping me get my funny mojo back in order to win Fun Fest!”

“I know… it’s so good to see all of you again,” Misty smiled in response. “What have you all been up to since we left?”

“Still taking care of that tree we planted, I hope?” Hitch asked. “I give it a little dose of love and water every time Garfield is shooting for his strip,” Jasmine responded proudly. “As for what we’ve been up to… oh-ho, have we got a BUNCH of stories to tell you!”

“But you’ll have to wait till Diamond and the others arrive for our cookout,” said Jon. “They’re going to be so excited to see you guys!”

“...is Nermal gonna be here?” Zipp asked with concern. “Of course he is-- he is our friend after all. Sure, he almost humiliated Garfield at Fun Fest, but… we’ve learned to forgive and forget,” Jasmine told the pegasus. “Besides… the way Lily keeps scolding him about it makes his apologies seem genuine.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Pipp smiled. “We’re excited to get caught up with you guys when they--”

“YOU’RE BACK!!!”

Pipp and Zipp yelped as Diamond suddenly tackled them into a huge hug while Lily, Nermal, Cobalt and Arlene approached and hugged them a bit more calmly. “It’s so good to see you guys again!” Lily smiled. “We were getting worried we would never see you all again!”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you again,” Nermal agreed before chuckling nervously. “I-I-I hope there are no hard feelings about our, uh… last encounter?”

“Don’t worry about a thing, Nermal,” Misty brushed it off. “It’s all in the past… so long as you learned your lesson.”

“Oh, I have!” Nermal said. “Lily won’t let me forget it.”

“And why should I?” Lily said, nudging him harshly with her hoof. “Scaring me while you disappeared for two days to try and persuade Arlene to be your partner instead of Garfield’s? I’m glad you learned your lesson, but I still got my eye on you, mister.”

Nermal chuckled nervously at the tone she began taking. “Point made, Lily-- point made.”

“Well, now that we’re all here, I guess we can get started on lunch,” Jon said as he fired up the grill. “In the meantime,” said Arlene as they all sat around the picnic table, “could you tell us more about your adventures?”

“Absolutely! Ooh, I thought of a really good one,” Zipp smiled. “How about we tell you about the time we got trapped in a computer game with our Mystery Incorporated friends and we had to work our way out of it?”

“Now that,” said Diamond with excitement, “sounds like a story we would love to hear.”

XXXXXXXX

So, the Mane 6 began to tell the tale of their adventure in cyber-space, and everyone listened intently as they munched on hot dogs and veggie dogs that Jon was busy grilling. “So, Bill created the Phantom Virus in order to scare Eric away, in hopes of claiming the quarter-million grand prize at the science fair,” Sunny finished. “And when he thought we were gonna figure out who created the virus, he beamed us into cyber-space and intended on us being trapped in there forever, so we could never get to the bottom of the mystery.”

“But thanks to some new friends, we were able to defeat the Phantom Virus and escape,” Hitch concluded the tale. “A pretty amazing adventure, if I do say so myself.”

“Wow… that sounds a lot more action-packed than the days we’ve had recently,” Diamond said. “We go to the studio, play at the tree we grew while our friends shoot their strip, and then we usually go home and watch Garfield indulge all the lasagna in the house.”

“What can I say?” Garfield shrugged. “I like sticking to a routine.”

“Hey… speaking of which,” said Misty, softly turning to Jasmine. “Have you had any ideas remembering who or where you might have come from?”

“Not really. I keep trying to remember,” Jasmine shook her head, “but… all the pictures in my head are drawing a really big blank.”

“Maybe you need to take a break from all that remembering,” said Nermal, “and focus on something else for a while. Like my Pet Force comic books, for instance.”

Nermal held out a comic book toward her, causing Jasmine to look at it with interest. “Well… it has been a while since I read a good Pet Force comic.”

“I’ve never heard of the Pet Force before,” Hitch admitted. “Who are they?”

“The Pet Force are a team of superheroes from the planet Dorkon who fight villains with their superpowers,” Lily explained with a smile. “Nermal got us ponies hooked on them one day when we were at the library, but this is a new issue that I’ve never seen before.”

“Why don’t you read us some of it, Nermal?” Arlene suggested. “That way we can all hear the story together.”

“Good idea, Arlene!” Cobalt said with excitement. “The ponies got done telling us a story, it’s only fair that we share a story with them in return.”

“What do you think, guys?” Sunny asked her friends. “Feel like listening to Nermal’s comic book for a while?”

“Sure-- it sounds really interesting,” Zipp shrugged. “Lay it on us, Nermal-- start from the very beginning!”

Nermal smiled at this, and with all his friends listening intently opened the comic before clearing his throat and beginning to read. “In another dimension… a galaxy far, far… really far away, at the final frontier of space, lives a planet known as Dorkon where an incredible discovery has been made… but it quickly got the attention of a certain unknown evil beyond the stars.”

XXXXXXXX

It was true-- Dorkon existed in the final frontier of an unknown universe, ruled by an emperor that bared a strange resemblence to Jon back in Cartoon World.

One particular day, a short man by the name of Professor Wally ran into the throne room to speak with him about an amazing discovery and an amazing invention he had just made. “Oh! Emperor! Emperor! I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”

That’s when Professor Wally held out a small, clear crystal for the emperor to see. “The Klopman Crystal! The ultimate power source,” he said before approaching a nearby blaster device. “Now I can finally complete the ‘moscram’ gun. The molecular scrambler, that is.”

Without hesitation, the professor inserted the crystal into the gun’s container and the power levels rose up. “Take a look at this,” he said before turning to the palace lawyer. “If you please.”

The palace lawyer got up from his desk and walked next to the royal dog. “Here, we have the royal dog and the court’s lawyer,” Professor Wally explained. “Now I fire up the moscram, and…”

Without another moment of waiting, Professor Wally fired at the two and their molecules were scrambled, resulting in a dog-headed lawyer and a lawyer-headed dog, amazing the royal guards. “I scramble their molecules… and create a dog who'll not only bring in the paper,” said Professor Wally, “but he'll read it to you as well.”

Emperor Jon yawned at this, pointing to the dog-headed lawyer. “And what’s that?”

“Oh, that. That’s a lawyer who’ll work for treats. Right, boy?”

The lawyer-dog nodded at this. “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.”

“And whatever you moscram will be under your control,” Professor Wally added before turning to the dog-lawyer. “Read the paper.”

So, the dog-lawyer began to read the paper as he was told to. “Man bites dog.”

“Oh!” the lawyer-dog howled. “The humanity!”

“To reverse the effect, we simply…” Professor Wally fired the laser at the two, reverting them back to normal. “The moscram can combine anything. Its potential uses are infinite.”

That's when Emperor Jon found a blue button on the side of the device entitled 'Super Scramble', and immediately became curious. “What’s that button?”

“That’s super-scramble mode,” Professor Wally explained. “I’m still working on that modification.”

“Well,” said Emperor Jon with a frown, “the whole thing looks dangerous to me.”

“Really, emperor, there’s no need to be concerned.”

However, the emperor shook his head. “It isn't that, professor. It's... well, look around you. This big royal hall seems so empty without a queen. The royal bloodline will come to an end if I don't find a wife.”

“It’s bound to happen soon, emperor,” Professor Wally reassured. “Are you kidding?” Emperor Jon scoffed at this remark. “I’m too dorky, even for Dorkonian women. No. Any woman who’d marry me will have to come from another planet.”

Meanwhile, outside the palace, a space craft began to descend, and a figure began walking out of it.

Back inside the palace, Professor Wally was still talking about his amazing new invention as if it were the greatest thing in the world. “People will come across the galaxy to see the amazing moscram.”

“Oh, boy…” Emperor Jon sighed… at least, until he heard the doors open. Entering the palace was an intergalactic woman dressed in yellow, along with her dog soldiers. The sight of the woman made the emperor blush in response. “Hello there,” the woman greeted with a sly smirk. “Oh-oh-oh! Welcome! I mean.. Welcome to Dorkon,” Emperor Jon said, trying to be dignified. “I’m Emperor Jon. Uh, Miss…”

“Call me Vetvix, sweetie,” crooned the woman, making the emperor have hearts in his eyes as Vetvix looked around the palace. “Nice place you got here.”

That’s when Emperor Jon suddenly made a quick decision to ensure the royal bloodline continued. “Well, Miss Vetvix, I hope you don't think this is too forward, but… will you marry me?”

“Hmm?” Vetvix looked surprised at such a question. “I know I'm not the handsomest guy in the galaxy,” Emperor Jon rambled, “but I can offer you everything I have-- uh, jewels, my castle… uh…. uh, the keys to my kingdom.”

Vetvix considered this as she gazed toward the professor, who was putting up the moscram blaster and activating the lasers by turning the key. This gave her a diabolical idea. “Why, of course I’ll marry you.”

“Huh?” Emperor Jon seemed genuinely surprised at this. “Wait a minute. You will?”

“Sure.”

“Wow!” Emperor Jon rejoiced. “Did you hear that, professor? She said yes!”

“I heard…” Professor Wally said, not trusting Vetvix in the slightest. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Emperor Jon asked, wanting to get right to the ceremony. Professor Wally looked over at Vetvix, who merely waved with a little smirk, causing Professor Wally to sigh reluctantly.

He didn’t want to discourage the emperor, and he did deserve to be happy, so… what choice did the professor really have? “Well… okay…”

As Emperor Jon leapt for joy, Professor Wally pressed a button on the throne’s armchair, getting the place prepped up for a wedding. A dress lady popped out from a hole and put a veil on Vetvix’s head. “Here you are.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Vetvix smiled at her new look. The organ pipes and its player appeared while the dog soldiers were given bouquets of flowers. Emperor Jon and Vetvix walked up to the stand as Professor Wally became their bishop. “Do you, Emperor Jon, take this... woman to be your wife?”

“I doody-do-do!” Emperor Jon said excitedly. “And do you, Vetvix,” Professor Wally continued, “take this man to be your husband?”

Vetvix shrugged at this. “Why not?”

Professor Wally reluctantly said the rest, not exactly sure that marrying this stranger was a good idea. “I now pronounce you emperor and queen. You may kiss the bride.”

The emperor prepared to kiss Vetvix, however, the woman got one of her dog guards to take her place. Jon’s eyes were closed, so he didn’t notice that he was really kissing the dog… but Professor Wally did. “Blech!”

“That was… wonderful,” Emperor Jon said with a romantic sigh. “Likewise,” Vetvix said sarcastically. “Now, what about those… keys to the kingdom?”

“You bet!” Emperor Jon said cheerfully. “Professor?”

“Are you sure?” Professor Wally asked with a nervous tone. “Of course I’m sure,” the emperor responded. “My castle is her castle.”

Reluctantly, Wally held out the keys and Vetvix instantly grabbed them. “Hey!”

“I’ll take those,” Vetvix smirked and went to disable the lasers guarding the moscram. “Honey? Uh, what are you doing?” Emperor Jon asked, startled. “Uh, be careful with that, honey.”

“This is what I came for!” Vetvix said as she pointed the moscram right at Emperor Jon, causing Professor Wally to instantly take charge. “Guards!”

The guards showed up, one of them swinging his nunchucks like Bruce Lee. However, one of the dog soldiers threw a flower bouquet at him and the man accidentally knocks himself out with his nunchucks. Soon, Vetvix fired the weapon at the guards, turning them into mixed-up zombies. “Your guards are no longer a threat to me,” Vetvix spat. “They’re now under my control.”

“Must obey…” the mixed-up zombies declared while everyone else in the wedding ceremony ran away as the zombies slowly chased after them. And once everyone was out of the room, Vetvix removed her veil with a smirk at what she had just accomplished. “The moscram ray gun is the perfect weapon for an up-and-coming super-villainess like me! HA HA HA HA!!”

“Oh no…” Professor Wally muttered in horror, realizing what they had just done. Vetvix then rubbed her hand over the moscram with a victorious smirk. “With this, I can mutate everyone on the planet into my slaves. Step one on my to-do list for universal domination.”

“You'll never get away with this, Vetvix,” Professor Wally declared. “Not if the Pet Force has anything to say about it.”

“Nothing can stop me!” Vetvix declared… just before the doors burst open to reveal the Pet Force-- leader Garzooka (the superhero counterpart to Garfield) and his teammates Odious (the superhero counterpart to Odie), Starlena (the superhero counterpart to Arlene) and Abnermal (the superhero counterpart to Nermal). As his teammates struck heroic poses, Garzooka took the opportunity to speak first. “We’re here to put an end to your wicked ways.”

“Bring it on!” Vetvix declared just before her guards charged toward the Pet Force. Luckily, Garzooka already had a plan in place. “Let the fur fly!”

Odious made a move first, using his potent stun tongue to push one of the dog guards back.

Then, it was Starlena’s turn, using her icy stare to freeze one of the dog guards in their tracks.

Next up was Abnermal, quick as a blink with pester power of cosmic proportions, as he sped around one of the dogs and took his gun. “Is this your gun?” he asked before speeding around him and holding the guard’s belt. “Is this your belt?”

The dog’s pants dropped down and he tripped backwards. Lastly, it was Garzooka’s turn to fight with his gamma-radiated hairballs-- one of which he upchucked while Odious is seen with the female organ player. However, Vetvix fires the moscram at the two, Starlena, and a flower pot.

However, Abnermal remained too fast for her to blast. “You’re not gonna get me!”

Eventually, however, he did get hit by the laser, along with a little girl’s doll. Now, Abnermal’s head was on the doll’s body while the doll’s head was on Abnermal’s body. “Vetvix is my master. Must obey.”

“Your Pet Force is no match for me!” Vetvix told Garzooka, with him being the only one of the Pet Force left. “I now control them, too! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!”

Hiding behind a pillar, Garzooka barfs out a hairball at the blaster, causing the crystal to pop out and fly through the air. “Hey!”

Luckily, Garzooka was able to grab the crystal before it shattered on the ground. “Got it!”

While Vetvix was angered about the crystal being taken, the professor took the chance to open a secret door under the podium. “Garzooka!”

The professor and Garzooka leapt down into the secret door and ended up in Professor Wally’s lab underneath the palace. However, Garzooka was more focused on getting back into the fight than anything else. “ I must return, professor. My teammates are under Vetvix's control.”

“And only the moscram ray gun can unscramble them,” Professor Wally reminded him. “We've got to keep the Klopman Crystal far away. That'll buy you time to create a temporary Pet Force to defeat her. First, I’ll scan the universe for DNA matches.”

The professor proceeded to go on his computer to check for some matches, and found that the DNA results pointed to Arlene, Nermal, and Odie. “A-ha! There they are! DNA matches to your Pet Force teammates!”

But when he turned, he saw that Garzooka was looking fondly inside a satchel, as if there was something inside that meant something to him. “You know, while you go out in search of the DNA matches,” Professor Wally said, “this might be a good idea to find replacements for the Royal Force as well.”

Suddenly, there came a loud banging outside the door, and Vetvix could be heard on the other side. “Open up!”

Luckily, Professor Wally was able to print off the DNA matches, and once they were printed, he gave them to Garzooka, and he studied their pictures with confusion. “But they don’t look anything like them.”

“They will when they drink the matching green serum,” Professor Wally clarified, opening a suitcase filled with red and green serum bottles. “When they do, they'll gain the Pet Force's superpowers. The red serum will turn them back to their normal forms.”

Garzooka immediately took the suticase from Professor Wally and grabbed the satchel as well. “Program the coordinates into my rover.”

“Let us in!” Vetvix shouted as the pounding on the door continued, just as Garzooka reached his rover. “Hurry, Garzooka!” Professor Wally urged. “You can count on me, Professor Wally,” Garzooka proclaimed as the banging on the door continued. “The Pet Force shall rise again to battle the insidious…”

“Escape now,” the professor said, closing the rover door, “postulate later!”

The professor pulled the lever and launched the hero into space as Vetvix kicked the door open. She watched as the ship left the planet, but she was not worried-- wherever in the universe Garzooka was going, she was sure to follow. “I’ll get Garzooka,” she declared with a snarl, “if it’s the last thing I do.”

Danger Looms Near and Heroes Unite

Garzooka had made it to Cartoon World, and in addition to learning the location of the DNA matches for the new Pet Force, he was able to leave the Klopman Crystal in the care of Garfield, gave one of the magical crowns of the Royal Force to Jasmine, and was getting an escort to the studio by the Mane 6 in their superhero forms.

However, they were unaware that back in the comic dimension, Emperor Jon and Professor Wally were tied up on Vetvix's warship as Vetvix growled in anger. “We've lost Garzooka's tracks!” she cried before turning to her guards. “Scan for his exact coordinates.”

“Cat scan underway,” one of the dog guards said in compliance before getting to work on the scan. “We’ve got to do something!” Professor Wally whispered to the emperor so Vetvix wouldn’t hear. “I'll have a talk with her, professor. After all, she is my wife,” Emperor Jon said before turning to Vetvix again. “Um, honey? If you could just give us back the moscram, I’m sure we could…”

“Shut up, dork!” Vetvix snapped. “You're only here so you and your professor can answer any questions I have about this moscram.”

“I guess we'll have to work on our communication,” Emperor Jon whispered to the professor. “This happens with new couples.”

Professor Wally sighed under his breath and shook his head-- why was his emperor being so naive about all this?

For a few minutes, Vetvix went to the computer and watched as it scanned the universe for Garzooka’s DNA. And then… finally… the computer found the location in Cartoon World after a few mere moments. “Yes! There he is!” Vetvix declared. “Program the coordinates and prepare to cross the interdimensional barrier!”

XXXXXXXX

Back in the real world, the newspaper boy was picking up a few papers off the ground. “Superhero cat from another dimension…” he muttered to himself. “Oh, please! I gotta stop readin' that stuff.”

Suddenly, as he turned away, the new issue of Pet Force began to glow rather brightly, and as the newspaper boy turned around to face the sight, Vetvix's ship popped right out of the comic book and into Cartoon World, scaring the newspaper boy out of his wits.

And as it flew off, the newspaper boy merely fainted once again while Vetvix went in search of Garzooka in this new part of the universe even she had never seen.

XXXXXXXX

Back with the others, they were at the comic studio getting ready for their strip when Arlene walked into the break room to see Cobalt, Odie, Lily and Diamond gathered around Nermal and his comic.

Arlene, as bewildered about the comic as she was, knew that there had to be a better time for this-- they were needed on the set really soon. “Nermal, why don't you put that comic away? We have to get to work.”

“Just a sec, Arlene,” Cobalt told his friend in a serious tone. “You won’t believe this. Look!”

Arlene then sat on the couch to see what the others were so excited about. “This just appeared in the comic!” Nermal said before pointing to an illustration that appeared in the comic book. “That’s us comin’ to the studio. And look! Here comes another one!”

The next illustration on the page faded into view, and it showed the six of them looking at the comic, and Garzooka, Sparky and the Mane 6, in their superhero forms…

…looming behind them?

Confused beyond measure, they looked behind them, and the six of them screamed upon seeing the superhero and their friends standing behind them. “Sorry, guys! We didn’t mean to scare you,” Sunny apologized. “But… you’re never gonna believe who we ran into back at Garfield’s house!”

“Hi there,” Garzooka waved as he and the ponies walked around the couch to face the group. “Oh my gosh!” Lily squealed as she tried her best to remain calm. “Oh my gosh! It's Garzooka! What are you doing here?!”

“As fate would have it,” Garzooka responded as he sat on the couch in front of them, “Cosmic Sunlight and her team have led me to you all for your assistance.”

“Y-You have…?” Diamond managed to squeak, still stunned. “Wait a minute,” Nermal interrupted. “You mean, when you left Dorkon with the DNA serum, you were comin' to get us?”

“I know! We didn’t believe it at first either,” Zipp said, “but… it’s true!”

“With everyone’s help,” Garzooka said, standing up with a heroic expression, “Vetvix will be defeated. Dorkon will survive, and so will Equestria and Cartoon World. Are you with me?”

Upon hearing that Garzooka actually needed their help to save the universe, Nermal immediately raised his paw. “Count me in!”

“Where do I sign?!” Cobalt asked, looking around excitedly. “I am SO there!” Diamond squealed while Lily only nodded, not being able to speak from excitement. And while Odie agreed to this, Arlene was the only one having doubts. “How are we supposed to help you?”

Hitch opened the suitcase filled with the DNA serum, and Garzooka picked up one of the green bottles with Odious’ picture on it. “This serum is matched to the DNA of each member of Pet Force.”

“Green serum will give you Pet Force powers!” Lily declared as Odie took his batch of serum from Garzooka. “In all of the universe,” Garzooka continued, handing Nermal and Arlene their serum batches, “only the three of you match the DNA of my team members.”

“Cool!” Nermal excitedly cried, just as Lily noticed that she, Cobalt and Diamond weren’t given anything. “Aw, man!” she groaned. “I thought Garzooka said he needed all of us, didn’t he?”

“He did, but you guys aren’t getting DNA serum,” Zipp said as Garzooka allowed her, Izzy and Misty to get into his satchel. “Instead… you three will get these.”

And so, the three ponies brought out three more magical crowns-- two of them being golden tiaras, with one of those tiaras having a pink gem and one tiara having a green gem, and the other crown being a golden crown with sapphires and rubies within it.

Needless to say, the younger ponies were quite surprised to see such a sight. “Oh, my glitter, they’re gorgeous!” Lily exclaimed with a squeal. “But… how exactly are crowns going to help?”

“These crowns belonged to three out of four young royals that Garzooka once knew, and each crown gave the prince or princess who wore it special powers,” Misty explained. “Before they were turned to stone with a powerful spell, they left the crowns in Garzooka’s care, until he was able to find the ones who would become the next Royal Force.”

“And when we told him about the three of you,” said Izzy, “he said you guys sounded perfect! Isn’t that awesome?!”

“Uh, a little startling, but yeah!” Cobalt said, taking the crown with sapphires and rubies. “I’m game to help!”

“So am I!” Diamond agreed, taking the pink-jeweled tiara while Lily took the green-jeweled tiara. “Uh… one question, though,” Arlene said cautiously. “Uh, has this ever been tested?”

“There has never been a reason to... until now. Suit up and drink up, fellow heroes,” Garzooka urged. “The fate of three worlds hangs in the balance!”

“Great…” Cobalt sighed. “No pressure or anything.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?” Arlene pointed out with worry. “What if it turns us into freaks?”

“Freaks?” Nermal repeated before imagining himself as a freak in his mind. “Sweet!”

“Look, we’ll put on the crowns first, just to make you feel more comfortable,” Diamond reassured her friends. “Come on, guys-- let’s get royal!”

So, the three of them put on their crowns, admiring them for a moment before the strange white light enveloped them. “Uh… is this supposed to happen?” Cobalt asked as the glow got brighter, causing Diamond to giggle. “I-It kinda tickles!”

The others looked away as the light reached its brightest point, and when the light finally faded, the young ponies were now in their own superhero forms, similar to Jasmine's.

Diamond wore her new tiara, along with a light pink and green suit with black boots, a matching mask, a green cape, and a matching magic mirror strapped onto her belt.

Lily also wore her new tiara, along with a light yellow and light blue suit with black boots, a matching mask, a light blue cape and a matching magic mirror strapped to her belt as well.

Cobalt, on the other hoof, wore his new crown, as well as a green and red suit with black boots, a matching mask, a red cape and a matching magic mirror.

“Oh… my… PONY!! We look absolutely amazing!” Lily said as she admired her new look. “And look! Magic mirrors!”

“I think these work a lot like phones, from what Garzooka told us about the previous Royal Force,” Sunny explained. “They’ll be able to call other mirrors, no matter how far away they are from one another.”

“Oh-ho, yeah!” Cobalt looked at himself. “We look good!”

“And, thanks to the crowns’ magic,” Garzooka stated, “you will each begin to discover your very own unique superpowers.”

“So sweet! Come on, guys! Hurry up and drink up!” Lily told the others. “We don’t have all day!”

“Oh, I’m totally in!” Nermal said before opening the bottle and drinking the serum in one large gulp. “Mmm! Pungent, yet satisfying. So, fellow freaks, are you with me?”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Odie nodded enthusiastically, and just like Nermal, drank his serum in one gulp. “Oh, here goes…” Arlene muttered and drank her serum rather slowly, gagging at the aftertaste. “So now what’s supposed to happen?”

“You should feel energy,” Garzooka explained. “Strength and vitality electrifying your entire body.”

Once this had been said, Nermal began to flex his muscles and strain a bit, but instead of becoming buff and muscular like he had planned… all he did was fart. “Ewww, Nermal!” Pipp gagged at this. “That is so TMI!!”

“Oops! Sorry about that, Pipp,” Nermal sheepishly apologized. “But it’s funny-- I don’t feel any different.”

“Me neither,” Arlene agreed, and even Odie shook his head in agreement. “That’s impossible!” Garzooka cried out of surprise. “Maybe your metabolisms are slow.”

“Ooh! I know how to check their metabolisms!” Izzy volunteered and grabbed Nermal in her hooves before shaking him violently. However, the only thing this did for Nermal was make him dizzy, causing Izzy to cringe. “Well… that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Hmm…” Garzooka muttered. “I was assured this would work.”

“Maybe it’s just going to take some time,” Arlene tried to speak. “Time is NOT a luxury we have,” Zipp said determinedly. “We have to find a way to get that serum flowing-- and fast!”

Now, all the group could wonder was two things-- if they would be able to get the serum to activate and if the Klopman Crystal really was safe in Garfield and Jasmine's (more Garfield's) care.

Captured by Vetvix/The Takeover of Cartoon World Begins

The Mane 6, Diamond, Lily, Cobalt, Sparky and Garzooka were waiting patiently for the serum to take affect within Nermal, Arlene and Odie's bodies, and honestly hoped that Garfield and Jasmine were taking good care of the Klopman Crystal, in case Vetvix were to come around in search of it.

However, they were unaware that Garfield was merely relaxing in his chair out in the front hard, and Jasmine was practicing with her brand-new superhero abilities not too far away, determined to keep her best friend and the crystal safe from harm.

But unlike Jasmine, Garfield didn't think that the Garzooka that paid them a visit earlier was the real one... just some guy in a really well-made costume.

However, the one thing Garfield couldn't explain how this actor knew that the crown he gave Jasmine was magical, but... as long as Jasmine and the rest of their friends believed it, there wasn't really much he could say or do.

As he watched Jasmine play and try and activate her new superpowers, Garfield reached into one of the cupholders and pulled the Klopman Crystal out of it so he could take a closer look at it.

The crystal glimmered in the afternoon light, and Garfield couldn't help but be impressed by it-- whether that Garzooka character was real or not, he sure knew how to gain expensive gems.

Shrugging, Garfield put the crystal back in his cupholder and took a sip of lemonade, sighing to himself. “This is the life…”

“Hey, Garfield!” Jasmine called from nearby, and waited till Garfield looked over at her. “You gotta see this!”

Jasmine lifted her front hooves a bit before slamming them down on the ground, and when her hooves made contact with the ground, a small, shimmering rainbow flew out of the ground, flying around her before stopping, causing Garfield to stare in shock. “Whoa! Where’d you learn to do that with your unicorn magic?”

“It wasn’t my unicorn magic, Garfield-- it’s part of the new superpowers my crown gives me!” Jasmine explained as she hopped onto the rainbow and flew around. “Not only do I have super agility and strength, but I can create rainbows to fly on, and I can make rainbow blasts and rainbow shields for battling evil! WHOO-HOO!!!”

Halfway during her flight, Jasmine leapt off the rainbow and onto Garfield’s chair (which was big enough for both of them), and the rainbow faded away as she did so. “Man, are we lucky to be trusted with such a big job,” Jasmine smiled. “But… maybe we should bring the Klopman Crystal inside, just in case Vetvix were to come around.”

Garfield sighed, deciding to finally play along with her little game. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about, Jazzy… Vetvix is still in the comic book world, remember? She couldn’t hurt us, even if she wanted to.”

“But, Garzooka came into this world from there,” said Jasmine, “so maybe Vetvix could too! And who knows what she could do to find the crystal!”

Garfield immediately stopped her rambling to become serious. “Kid… you trust me, right?”

Jasmine nodded at this. “Of course I do.”

“Then trust me when I say that Vetvix won’t hurt you-- not while I’m here.”

Hearing this caused Jasmine to sigh. “Thanks, Garfield… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just relax for a second. Besides, all this superpower testing's really worn me out.”

So, the superpowered green unicorn laid down in front of Garfield and decided to close her eyes for just a second. And once the two got done relaxing, Jasmine would make sure that the crystal would be put in a safe place.

She couldn't let Garzooka and her friends down... she just couldn't.

Just then, a large shadow slowly engulfed the entire yard. Jasmine snapped out of her thoughts, realizing the anomaly going on. “Uh… Garfield?”

The orange cat also felt the apparent lack of warmth as the giant shadow blocked out the sun. “Oh, come on!” Garfield groaned. “There wasn't a cloud in the sky a minute ago.”

That’s when Garfield and Jasmine looked up and gasped at what they saw. A giant airship-looking machine, armed with missile launchers and turrets slowly flew over them, causing Garfield to gulp. “Mommy…!!”

As the massive machine was hovering right over the two, a hatch opened and out came a blue tractor beam, which began raising the cat and pony into the air. The two began to panic as they rose higher and higher toward the airship. “GAH!!! Somepony, HELP!!” Jasmine screamed, but by that point, it was too late-- the orange tabby cat and the young unicorn were sucked into the airship.

The hatch closer behind them, leaving the smoldering patch in the yard. Garfield and Jasmine were brought onto the main deck, both clutching the lawn chair as they turned to see three large dogs in red and blue armor, who smiled and chuckled deviously at the two. “Uh…” Jasmine gulped nervously. “Hi…?”

However, the dogs only growled at her, causing Jasmine to immediately silence herself. Garfield turned the other way and spotted Emperor Jon and Professor Wally tied up in a corner. Of course, he thought they were the normal Jon and Wally from the Cartoon World. “Jon! Wally!” he exclaimed as he and Jasmine walked over to them. “What the heck is going on here?”

However, the reactions Garfield got weren’t what he and Jasmine were expecting. “W-Who are you?” Emperor Jon asked cautiously. “How do you know our names?” Professor Wally asked. “Wha… but, it's us. Jasmine and Garfield,” Jasmine said, now even more confused. “Were there memories wiped?”

“I'm more weirded out they're dressed like royalty,” Garfield muttered. Suddenly, another figure walked up to them, causing them to gasp-- this figure looked a lot like Jon’s friend Liz, but… scarier. “You're now my prisoner, tubby one That's what's going on,” The figure pointed a finger at Garfield… just before she noticed Jasmine beside Garfield, looking terribly frightened. “And who exactly are you? Guard, why is this pony here?”

The guard only shrugged, unsure himself… and that’s when Garfield finally seemed to realize everything. “It’s true! The story about the Pet Force… it’s all true!”

“Ugh, finally! At least now you're getting it,” Jasmine said before gulping. “But… that can only mean that she’s Vetvix! And… she’s a LOT scarier than I thought she was.”

“Where is Garzooka?” Vetvix demanded before turning back to a computer screen. “I scanned for his DNA and got these coordinates.”

Garfield and Jasmine looked at each other. Apprehension was plastered on their faces and they both knew it. “Unless… you are he,” Vetvix said, looking at Garfield before noticing and gasping at the tiara Jasmine wore on her head. “And you must be the new leader of the Royal Force! So that’s why he came here…”

“Me?” Garfield questioned, looking confused. “He?”

“Of course. Ingenious, Garzooka,” Vetvix said, walking around the duo. “How you and this princess did it, I don't know, but that is quite a disguise; hiding yourself within this fat, dumpy, pathetic, little body.”

“Hey!” Jasmine snapped angrily at Vetvix poking Garfield’s stomach. “He is NOT pathetic!”

“And, I hate to break it to you, Miss Megalomaniac,” Garfield added, “but you got the wrong guy.”

“Me? Wrong?!” Vetvix snapped in their faces, causing them to stumble back. “I don’t think so!”

Garfield and Jasmine sat on the floor, mouths agape in total fear while Vetvix grabbed the moscram and turned back to them. “I'd like to scramble you two with that lawn chair,” she spoke with a sneer, pointing the weapon at the two, “but I need the Klopman Crystal to power my moscram!”

The cat and pony looked at each other, then to the lawn chair where the crystal lay in one of the cupholders. Then, while Vetvix was facing away from them, Jasmine leaned closer to Garfield. “If they find the Klopman Crystal, Cartoon World and Equestria are doomed! We have to keep it safe from her!”

Garfield immediately got the memo and inched over to the lawn chair. Being discrete as possible, he grabbed the crystal and dumped it into the glass of lemonade. After such, the two gulped yet acted as ignorant as they could. “Tell me!” Vetvix snapped, causing Garfield to climb onto the lawn chair while Jasmine hid next to it. “Where is it?!”

“Uh… where's what?” Garfield asked dumbly. “Yeah,” Jasmine nodded quickly, playing along. “W-We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Very well. If you want to play that game, I can oblige,” the woman in yellow said threateningly. “I'm going to enjoy making you two talk.”

She laughed evilly and spun the lawn chair around to face her, causing the orange cat cat and Jasmine to hold each other, now completely terrified, and Jasmine could only hope that their friends realized that they were in danger and launched a rescue mission...

...especially before it was too late.

XXXXXXXX

At the comic studio auditorium, while the stage was being set up, Jon saw Randy Rabbit, Billy Bear, Wally, and Betty at a specific part of the stage, with smiley faces on the walls, and they appeared to be smiling and laughing happily as he approached. “Hey… what’s this, Betty?”

“Oh. It's my new idea. I call it the ‘smile section’,” Betty explained. “Sort of like a coffee break area where people come to think happy thoughts.”

“Wow! What a great idea!” Jon said, and stepped into the smile section as well. He could feel its effects almost immediately, causing him to chuckle. “Hey, it’s already working.”

“See?” Betty smiled. “Alright, people, gather round,” Charles announced to everyone in the auditorium. “Betty. Betty!”

Annoyed, Betty begrudingly led everyone out of the smile section and into the main part of the auditorium again. “Alright, people, let’s go. Quickly, please! Time is money,” Charles told the crew. “Let’s review today’s shooting schedule.”

Betty cleared her throat before beginning to read from the paper in front of her. “First up, we'll have "Garfield"... and-and then the "Life Stinks" comic strip, followed by--”

That’s when Charles interrupted again, seeing that the star of the first strip called was missing. “Where is Garfield?”

“Uh,” Jon raised his hand. “He’ll be here any minute, Charles.”

“Where are the others?”

“Here we are! Sorry we’re late,” Sunny called as she and the rest of the Unity Squad, Arlene, Odie and Nermal entered with Cobalt, Lily, Diamond (the three young ponies in their new superhero forms) and Garzooka, much to Charles' surprise. That’s when Eli spotted Garzooka and shined the spotlight on him so everyone could get a good look at him. “Whoo-hoo-hoo! Holy biceps!” Randy Rabbit cried out. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, baby!” Betty found Garzooka rather attractive, while Wally and Bonita stood shocked, but only the former found his voice to speak. “Is that… Garfield?”

“Not unless he’s been putting something in his milk,” Bonita said back, just as Charles faced the group in confusion. “Who is this?”

“It’s Garzooka!” Lily said cheerfully. “He’s a superhero! We’re on a friendly basis with him-- no big deal.”

However, Charles was still surprised and confused all at once. “Superhero?”

“It’s a long story,” Arlene started. “But we’ll have time to explain it all later,” Hitch said. “Right now, we have to tell you guys about--”

However, he and Sparky were knocked down by Betty, who approached Garzooka at a rapid speed. “Excuse me. Are you seeing anyone?”

“Uh… no,” Garzooka shook his head in surprise. “Oh, that’s good. Because you’re perfect,” Betty clung to his leg, “and I’m desperate.”

“Betty, would you please return to the stage?” Charles requested, but Betty refused to move. “I’m stayin’ right here with Mr. Muscle.”

“Betty!”

At Charles’ shout, Betty growled at him before turning back to Garzooka. “Now don’t you go anywhere or I will hunt ya down.”

“...good to know,” Zipp couldn't help but cringe as she spoke. “You know, this could be rather fortuitous,” Charles said before approaching Garzooka and trying to pushing him onto the set. Now, Mr. Garzooka, if you would, please…ergh… take the stage. You will have to be a stand-in for Garfield.”

“Uh, Charles, we really don’t have time for this,” Diamond tried to explain. “There’s somepony super bad who could be on her way here and we need to get everyone somewhere safe!”

However, Charles was far too busy getting Garzooka prepped to hear her. “Here’s your script,” he said, handing Garzooka the script before leaving the stage. “Sorry about this, Garzooka,” Pipp whispered. “On the plus side, you’re gonna look great in the strip!”

“Today,” Charles interrupted, speaking to Garzooka, “Garfield refuses to go jogging. He states that the only thing on him that runs is his nose.”

The younger ponies, Arlene, Nermal, Odie and Izzy couldn’t help but try and stifle their laughter at the joke. However, Garzooka remained confused at the skit that Charles had mentioned before. “Why would you make fun of jogging? Exercise and strict diet should be part of everyone's daily routine. It teaches kids to grow big and strong…” he said, lifting the stage with ease, “...like their favorite superhero.”

Needless to say, everyone around them was rather surprised at the development. “Okay, even I gotta admit it,” Zipp said. “That was cool.”

“Garzooka just needs to stand in for Garfield for a few minutes, and then we should be able to check Odie, Arlene and Nermal to see if the serum’s kicked in, right?” Lily asked. “Right,” Misty nodded before sighing. “I just hope Garfield and Jasmine are okay.”

“Believe me, if they weren’t,” Pipp told her, “we would hear Garfield’s screams coming from halfway down the block. But... let me try and give Jasmine a call, just in case.”

XXXXXXXX

Jasmine strained and strained, but it didn't seem to do any good-- she was still caught in the binds that Vetvix put her in.

And worst of all, Garfield was wound up just like a rubber band, thanks to one of Vetvix's torture devices. “Hey, uh, this is kind of uncomfortable. A little more to the right,” Garfield said as Vetvix continued to twist him around. “A little more. Ahh... that's it.”

“You've withstood all of my torture devices!” Vetvix growled in frustration. “I don't understand!”

“I'm a cartoon character,” Garfield shrugged. “We're supposed to squash and stretch. That's what we do for a living.”

“You and your little princess friend here may be resilient, Garzooka, but I'll find a way to make you talk,” Vetvix sneered. “For the last time, where is the Klopman Crystal?”

“Ow!” Garfield yelped as Vetvix pinched him to get a reaction. “We’re telling you, we don't know where the crystal is!” Jasmine said for what seemed like the millionth time. “And he's not Garzooka!”

“Silence!” Vetvix snapped, causing Jasmine to whimper. “I must ponder this... guard! Bring me that lemonade. I’m thirsty.”

Jasmine immediately tensed at this, and the purple dog guard goes to the chair and grabbed the glass of lemonade, which contained the crystal. “That’s simple enough.”

Vetvix took the lemonade glass from the guard and was about to take a sip when she stopped to ask a question. “What would it take for you to tell me where the crystal is?”

Jasmine, although she seemed totally terrified, knew that she had to remain strong... for all of the universe's sake. “We wouldn’t tell you for all the lasagna in Italy.”

Vetvix growled in anger at this. “I want that crystal so bad I could taste it!”

Garfield and Jasmine watched in horror as Vetvix was about to take a drink and reveal the crystal, but since they were still in their binds, there was not much they could do.

That's when Garfield decided to do something so crazy, it might work. “Stop!!” he cried out, stopping Vetvix in her tracks. “Okay, I'll tell you where the crystal is… if you'll, uh, just give me a drink of that lemonade.”

“WHAT?!” Jasmine yelped. “Garfield, no! Don't let food and drink consumption make you do something stupid!”

However, Garfield shot her a little wink, letting her know that he had a plan up his sleeve... well, so to speak. “...what an odd little cat you are,” Vetvix said to Garfield before complying, handing him the glass. “Very well. Here.”

As soon as he got the glass in his paws, Garfield drank the entire glass of lemonade and ice, including the crystal, before throwing the glass off to the side.

That's when Jasmine immediately recognized what Garfield was doing, and internally winced-- there was absolutely no way Vetvix was going to fall for this.

At that same moment, Vetvix turned to Garfield with an expecting look. “So...?”

“...so what?” Garfield asked casually, his mouth filled with the crystal. “Where’s the crystal?” Vetvix asked again. “And what's that in your mouth?”

“N-Nothing!” Jasmine spoke for her friend rather nervously. “Garfield is just prone to... sucking on ice. Heh heh...”

However, Vetvix didn't seem all that convinced, and merely walked over to a lever, pulled it, and this caused shades to appear over all the windows of the ship. “You seem to have a certain... glow about you.”

As soon as she said this, she flicked the lights off and something was glowing from inside Garfield, who tried to act casually, despite the glow coming from within him. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, lady.”

Vetvix smirked-- it was just as she thought. Quicker than a flash of light, she turned the lights in the ship back on and quickly untwisted Garfield before giving out a set of orders. “Get the crystal!”

“Oh no they don’t!” Jasmine muttered to herself before straining as hard as she could, eventually breaking through her binds and charging forward, knocking the guards off their feet by head-butting them and kicking them away from Garfield. “Stay back!” she sneered at Vetvix and the dog guards, her horn flaring with power. “I got powers and I’m not afraid to use them!”

However, there was one guard that Jasmine missed, and he ended up grabbing her and causing her to scream as Garfield broke one foot free of his own binds and tried to free the other one.

The next thing Garfield and Jasmine knew, they were pinned to the ground, and the purple dog guard reached into Garfield’s mouth and pulled out the crystal. “I got it! I got it!”

“NO!!” Jasmine strained, trying to get free from her grip. Vetvix chuckled and wiped the crystal clean, since it had Garfield’s slobber on it, “Look at you! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Now came time for the real test.

Wasting no time, Vetvix inserted the crystal into the gun’s container and the power levels rose up. She laughed evilly as she went out onto the deck and stored the moscram into a big blaster. She fired at an old man and his bike, resulting in an old man’s head on the front wheel’s part and the front wheel on his body.

Then, Vetvix activated her microphone and spoke out to the zombies below. “You’re under my control now. You are my zombies!”

“Must obey Vetvix…” the old man bike droned on, and once the zombies were off, slowly trudging away, Vetvix returned to the main area. “Oh, yes! Who’s back?”

“I dunno,” the dog guards answered. “Vetvix is back. That’s who,” Vetvix responded back. “And what’s she gonna get?”

Once again, the guards had no idea what she meant. “I dunno.”

“She’s gonna get Garzooka, and then, the whole universe!” Vetvix proclaimed before going into literal victory dance mode. “Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!”

“Say, she’s not a bad dancer, is she?” Emperor Jon asked Professor Wally as he gazed Vetvix’s way, causing the professor to sigh. “Oh, dear…”

“Boy, we really blew it, Jazzy…” Garfield muttered to Jasmine, both of them hanging their heads in defeat and shame. “Yes, you did. The real Garzooka and the real leader of the Royal Force would never have been such fools!” Vetvix mocked them, causing Jasmine to wince before Vetvix turned back to one of the guards. “Run the DNA scan again. And this time, don't make any mistakes.”

“Don’t make any mistakes. Always givin' me a hard time. One day, she'll make a mistake and…” the guard muttered to himself as he ran the DNA scan once again, and just like before, the computer gave an alarm, alerting them of Garzooka’s whereabouts. “Hey! We found him!”

“Program the coordinates!” Vetvix commanded. “Garzooka is the only thing that stands between me and universal domination!”

Garfield and Jasmine looked horrified as Vetvix laughed evilly, and Jasmine whimpered after a few moments, looking toward her best friend. “Oh, Garfield… what have we done…?”

Garfield wished he could answer her positively, but instead, hugged her around the neck as a sign of comfort.

All they could do now was hope and pray that things would turn out all right…

…even when they knew, deep in their hearts, this whole fiasco WAS entirely their fault.

Author's Note

I had Indywriter Productions' help with some of this chapter, so I really owe them a lot of thanks!

Vetvix Attacks and the Pet Force Arises

The worst possible thing had just occurred-- Vetvix was able to get the Klopman Crystal away from Garfield and Jasmine, and she was now heading to the studio in order to find Garzooka and eliminate him, so she would be free to conquer Cartoon World, Dorkon and whatever other world she could get her hands on…

…even Equestria, if she knew where to look.

Garfield and Jasmine felt horrible about letting the crystal slip away, but with Vetvix's guards still around, there was not much they could do to stop her, especially with Jasmine having superpowers that she couldn't master yet.

They could only hope that their friends would be safe, at least until they could find a way to get off the airship and warn them of the impending danger known as Vetvix.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the studio, a lot of things were going on at once.

While the rest of the comic strip crew worked on what they needed to work on, one half of the Mane 6 (Sunny, Izzy and Pipp) stood with Garzooka, Odie, Arlene and Nermal, waiting for the serum's effects to kick in while the other half (Zipp, Hitch and Misty) used this time to train Cobalt, Diamond and Lily to use their newfound superpowers correctly.

Diamond was able to create diamond-like attacks and shields in order to defend herself against enemies, giving herself the alias called 'Diamond Storm'.

Cobalt could control various aspects of the weather, such as creating cyclones by flapping his wings a certain way, or by creating thunder and lightning by stomping his hooves, giving himself the alias 'Wild Weather'.

Finally, Lily was able to use the magic of her tiara to create anything she thought might be useful, like modes of transportation and even weapons, giving herself the alias 'Green Prism'.

“Oh man, this is totally great!” cheered Cobalt as he ceased the cyclone he created. “With these new superpowers, Vetvix doesn’t even stand a chance!”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” Hitch told the pegasus colt. “She may just surprise us. I mean, if she were to get hold of the Klopman Crystal.”

“I really hope that doesn’t happen either,” Misty said, “but just in case it does, we have to be ready.”

“We better keep practicing,” Zipp advised before turning to the trio of younger ponies. “Okay… let’s go through some time-drills one more time. Lily? You’re first.”

XXXXXXXX

Pipp groaned in frustration as she tried to call Diamond for the 100th time, but like always, it went straight to voicemail. After tucking her phone back under her wing, Pipp turned to Arlene, clearly worried. “It doesn’t make sense! Diamond told me that Jasmine always answers her phone on the first ring! Something just doesn’t feel right about this.”

“I’m getting worried about Garfield too,” Arlene told the pink pegasus. “He should have been here by now, and with Vetvix on the loose… it’s hard to think about what might have happened to them.”

Pipp sighed, hoping that it was just her nerves getting the better of her as she and Arlene approached the group again. “Do you notice any change yet?” Garzooka asked, but Arlene shook her head. “Just a headache.”

Odie felt his tongue for any changes, and Nermal let out a burp, causing Izzy to grimace as the kitten sighed. “I think that juice is givin’ me gas.”

“It's taking too long,” Garzooka said with worry. “Vetvix could be here at any minute.”

“I know… and it’s driving us crazy just thinking about it,” Sunny spoke up with a frown. “We just have to keep our hopes up-- if we do that, maybe things will work out and the serum will kick in.”

“I hope you’re right, Sunny,” Pipp sighed before her ear suddenly twitched. “Wait-- do you guys hear that?”

Arlene shook her head, not hearing anything strange. “No.”

“Wait… I think I do!” Zipp said as she listened closely. “It almost sounds like… an engine?”

Sunny, after listening for a few moments, alongside Garzooka, immediately realized what that sound would belong to, fear entering her very being. “Oh no!”

With Sunny activating her alicorn form and Garzooka climbing the ladder, the two of them entered the vent system and went into the attic of the studio, discovering their fears to be correct-- Vetvix's airship was quickly approaching!

They had to warn the others, and fast!

Sunny and Garzooka quickly leapt back down to the ground, causing most everyone in the room to glance over at their worried and stern expressions. “She’s coming,” Garzooka announced, much to Charles’ confusion. “Who’s coming?”

It didn’t take long for the rest of the Mane 6 to realize who Garzooka was talking about, their eyes growing wide. “Vetvix!”

However, Charles was still pretty confused. “Who’s this Vet… AAH!!”

Suddenly, Vetvix’s ship bursts from the wall and debris fell from above. Just the mere sight of it was enough to get Odie, Nermal, Diamond, Cobalt, Lily and Arlene to scream and try and run for cover. However, a huge chunk of debris was about to fall on them, causing Garzooka and the Unity Squad to leap toward them, getting them to safety just in the nick of time.

However, they were not safe just yet. “Oh, Garzooka…” Vetvix called from her ship. “Where are you…?”

“Okay,” Hitch whispered from their hiding place, “I totally admit it-- she’s a lot scarier in real life than she is in the comic book!”

“Really? I thought she was scary in both versions!” Izzy whispered back. “And that makes her twice as scary!”

“Guys, focus!” Zipp scolded in a quiet tone. “We can discuss how scary she is later-- it isn’t safe here!”

“Royal Bolt is right. I must get you to safety until the serum takes effect,” Garzooka told the group before pointing to a set of double doors nearby. “This way.”

The group began to crawl, to the best of their ability, toward the doors. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Vetvix said to Garzooka, wherever he was hiding, and laughed evilly before she began firing the moscram at a few people, turning them into mixed-up zombies. “Whoa!” Eli cried out from his workstation. “What the--?!”

He quickly pushed a button labeled ‘GET IN’ and his station enters a secret shelter. At the same time as Vetvix was firing at anyone in sight, Garzooka pushed the doors open for the others to go through. “Outside, hurry!”

“Wait for me!” Jon whispered as he crawled through the doors after them, leaving the scene behind. Vetvix then zapped Charles and Keith, resulting in Keith’s head on Charles’ body and Charles’ head on Keith’s body.

More and more Cartoon World citizens were falling under Vetvix’s control, and without the serum taking effect, it would seem less likely that anyone could stop her.

XXXXXXXX

Back on the ship, the guards were laughing as they watched Vetvix turn more and more citizens into zombies, and Garfield and Jasmine watched everything from the lawn chair, feeling terrible about what they had unknowingly allowed to happen. “This is all my fault,” Garfield sighed. “If I'd kept that crystal from Vetvix, none of this would be happening.”

“No, Garfield, it’s my fault too,” Jasmine whispered, trying to be comforting. “I was trying so hard to try and protect you, I let my own guard down. I should have taken the crystal inside the house, locked it up and got you to a safe place while I still had the chance.”

“Jasmine! Garfield!” Professor Wally whispered from nearby. “You can still fix things.”

“How?” Jasmine asked in confusion. “Pretty soon, she'll turn Grin City into Zombie-opolis. And then… Equestria is gonna be next on the list!”

“Remember the Garzooka credo,” the professor told them. “One cat can make a difference.”

“How?” Garfield wondered, and Professor Wally instantly came up with a plan. “Quick. Take my monocle and put it in the window.”

However, Garfield was still confused. “Why?”

“No time to explain. Just do it!”

As they were whispering, the horned dog guard looked over at Garfield and Jasmine, and they grinned, trying not to look suspicious. After the guard turned his back to the screen once again, he and Jasmine got up and snuck over to Professor Wally. “Here we go,” Garfield whispered as he took Professor Wally’s monocle, but then, Jasmine counted the guards that were left in front of the screen. “One, two… weren’t there three guards over there before?”

Suddenly, she and Garfield were grabbed by one of the guards, causing Jasmine to scream in fright. “What are you doin’ over here?”

“Oh… nothing,” Garfield smiled innocently. He secretly put the monocle on the window behind his back and the guard escorted the duo to the front deck (after winking to Professor Wally and the emperor, of course), so they could see everyone in the studio get turned into zombies. “Yikes!!” Garfield and Jasmine yelped in terror, still unsure of what Professor Wally had in mind a few minutes earlier.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, a beam of sunlight shined down right through Professor Wally's monocle, and he and the emperor were able to move closer and let the sunlight start to burn through their ropes.

Hopefully, they would be able to escape in time to set things right.

XXXXXXXX

Down in the studio, Randy Rabbit and Billy Bear were blasted by the moscram and now, Billy’s head was on Randy’s body and Randy’s head was on Billy’s body. As Vetvix laughed evilly, the horned dog guard cleared his throat and gestured to Garfield and Jasmine. “They won’t stay put.”

“Well, get rid of those meddling pests!” Vetvix commanded, and the horned dog guard put the duo underneath his arm. “Yes, sir!”

As the guard came out of the front deck, the emperor and the professor saw the guard approaching, so they pretended to be sleeping as he went past. “Hey!” Garfield strained to get loose. “Watch the fur, will you?!”

“Hey!” Jasmine said as she strained. “What's happening?!”

The next thing that she and Garfield knew, the two of them had been placed inside the garbage shoot, and with one simple flick of a lever, they were sent out of the airship and rocketing into the sky a good long distance before coming back down.

And the worst part about it was, Jasmine couldn't activate her rainbow powers in time to catch them, so it was going to be a very hard landing if they didn't do something fast!

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, within his fortified shelter, Eli was checking the cameras. “Maybe someone escaped into the alley.”

After tilting the cameras a bit, Eli could clearly see our heroes and Jon in the alley, with Garzooka and the Mane 6 putting up heavy stuff in front of the garage door to prevent the zombies from leaving. “All right!” Eli cheered. “They made it.”

XXXXXXXX

Garzooka finished putting the last of the heavy stuff in front of the doors, before turning to the others with a stern look on his face. “That was only a small taste of Vetvix’s vengeance.”

“Forget just a taste!” Cobalt spoke. “I wanna skip the whole meal!”

“One thing is definitely for sure,” said Misty. “We need to come up with a plan to get the moscram back... and we need one fast!”

“And we will come up with one, just as soon as...” Diamond began to say before her ears twitched slightly. “Does anypony besides me hear something?”

That's when the group heard the sound of screaming from up above. They looked up and, to their shock, saw Garfield and Jasmine plummeted to the ground, landing in the frog trash can next to Garzooka. “What the...?!” Garzooka said in surprise before digging in the trash can and pulling Garfield and Jasmine out. “Oh, comrades!”

“Jasmine!” the Mane 6 exclaimed in relief. “Garfield!” Arlene, Lily, Diamond and Cobalt cried out, also feeling relieved. “It’s good to see you,” Garzooka said, holding the two friends closer, causing Garfield to sigh, still processing the horrifying ordeal he and Jasmine had gone through. “It's good to be alive.”

“What happened?” Hitch asked. “How did Vetvix get the crystal?”

“And why were you two falling from the sky? Is flying Jasmine's superpower?” Izzy asked curiously as Garzooka set Garfield and Jasmine down on the ground. “It was horrible. She tortured us and took my lemonade,” Garfield growled. “We tried to hide the crystal from her, but I guess we made it too obvious,” Jasmine said, her head lowering in shame. “We’re so sorry…”

“Well you did your best, comrades,” Garzooka reassured them. “Yeah-- we didn’t even know she abducted the two of you,” Zipp spoke before groaning to herself. “She is SO not getting away with that.”

“Then I saw you guys on the monitor,” Garfield said as he vocalized his fear. “I thought she was gonna turn you into zombies.”

“For a second I thought she was, too,” Sunny admitted. “But thankfully, Garzooka led us outside for safety.”

“But she still might,” Jon enunciated, “if somebody doesn’t do something!”

“But the serum isn't working yet,” Arlene argued. “We've got to speed it up somehow,” Nermal said, pacing around while the group tried to think of a plan. However, Jon remained rather confused. “What serum?”

“The Pet Force serum that we drank!” Nermal snapped as if it were obvious. “It’s taking a really long time for it to kick in,” Diamond explained. “We just have to figure out how to get it working and then go from there.”

Suddenly, Odie clutched his throat and began to wretch. The group watched with confusion and apprehension. “Uh, guys?” Pipp looked at her friends. “I-Is the serum taking effect?”

“I’m not sure,” Zipp shook her head. “But I think we’re about to find out.”

A small group gathered around Odie, who gagged and wretched until finally… he let out the loudest belch he ever made, causing a few disturbed reactions.

“Ugh, gross!”

“Odie!”

“Seriously?”

“You could've faced away from us while doing that.”

“You should your name to Odor.”

The others aired their grievances, while Odie cleared his throat. But, then he felt a sensation all throughout his body, to which the others picked up on immediately.

Fearing he was about to belch again, the yellow pooch took a step back, just as a purple aura surrounded him, and in the blink of an eye, he began to transform.

He swiftly became taller, and the blue and red outfit of the original Odious enveloped him and his muscle bulged out to superhero proportions. Finally the belt appeared around his waist and the transformation was complete.

The others stood in complete shock while Garzooka chuckled, and Izzy was the first to let out a cheer. “All right, Odie!”

“I believe it’s Odious now, Iz,” Hitch said, “but I understand the circumstance.”

“Whoo-hoo!” Diamond cheered, high-fiving Odie eagerly. Suddenly, the same purple aura surrounded Arlene, causing Cobalt to step back a bit. Then, Arlene’s legs stretched out greatly, and the pink cat let out a yelp of surprise. “Do not be fearful, Arlene,” Garzooka reassured. “It won't hurt a bit.”

A purple and yellow suit magically covered Arlene's body, earning another yelp from her and from Cobalt. “At least,” Garzooka muttered to the others, “I don’t think so.”

Long, purple sleeves surrounded Arlene's arms, a helmet appeared over her head, with her ears sticking out, and a belt wrapped around her mid-section, completing her own transformation. “Oh-ho, whoa!” Cobalt cried out with a smile. “That was totally hoof-tastic!”

“You can say that again,” Nermal agreed, now clad in a blue and light purple super suit. However, his muscles did not change, and neither did his height.

XXXXXXXX

“Man!” Eli said after watching the entire thing from his secret hiding place. “Gotta get me some of that serum.”

XXXXXXXX

“Not fair! You guys changed and I haven't,” Nermal spoke before he raced up to Garzooka, Odie and Arlene. “Except for the costume.”

He raced around the rest of the group of friends, shocking them entirely. “Nothing's happening to me. My arms are still skinny,” Nermal pouted. “I'm not big like you guys. The stuff didn't work on me.”

“...Nermal?” Garzooka got his attention. “Yeah?” Nermal responded back. “Do you have any idea,” said Lily, “how fast you were moving?”

“I am?” Nermal asked before he gasped and raced laps around the others with a cheer. “I’m Abnermal! But I should have my own name.”

“Nermal, as much as I love your enthusiasm,” said Sunny, “we really don’t have time for names right now.”

“Oh, it’ll only take a second,” Nermal brushed off. “Let’s see… Flash!”

However, Garzooka gave a blank expression at this. “Taken.”

“Kid Flash?”

“Taken.”

“Quicksilver!”

“Taken.”

“...the Wizzer?” Izzy spoke up. “Believe it or not,” said Garzooka, “that’s taken too.”

“Anyway, I think you should just stick to Abnermal,” Hitch told him. “Sparky seems to like it, right, Wonder Dragon?”

“Uh-huh!” Sparky nodded with a giggle, just before Nermal began to run around Garzooka’s legs. “I'm over here. Now I’m here! Now I’m here… WAH!!”

Garzooka then grabbed Nermal and hoisted him up to eye-level. “How about putting your superpowers to good use?” the muscular superhero cat said. “Odie, try your new stun tongue.”

Odie launched his tongue out which clocked Nermal in the face and out of Garzooka's grasp, causing Lily to yelp as Nermal almost flew into her, but thankfully, she ducked and he landed against the wall behind her. “Hey, careful where you aim that thing!” Lily scolded. “Try it on something else.”

Odie turned to where Jon, Garfield, and Jasmine were standing and instantly got an idea. However, while Jon and Jasmine tried to convince Odie not to hit them with his new stun tongue, he instead struck a garbage can next to them, causing them to yelp while Odie was impressed with his newfound strength. “Cool!”

“Cool, but very dangerous,” Misty said. “You gotta learn to control your new tongue, Odie-- otherwise somepony could really get hurt.”

Odie nodded and seemed to heed the blue unicorn's advice. “"Arlene, try your icy stare,” Garzooka said. After a few monents of thinking, Arlene set her eyes on Garfield. Jasmine, upon noticing this, took several large steps to the side while Garfield tried to defend himself. "Now wait just a..."

Before Garfield could finished, Arlene zapped him with her icy stare. And then, in an instant, the orange cat was permanently stuck in position while the others looked in complete shock. Jasmine waved her hoof in front of Garfield's face, but he didn't respond. “Whoa... freaky.”

“How was that?” Arlene asked Garzooka with a smile. “Impressive. Most impressive,” Garzooka gave a thumbs up. “She’s used that stare a lot on Garfield,” Diamond spoke up, “but it's never quite worked like that before.”

Zipp tapped Garfield’s head with her hoof, and was stunned to see the outcome. “No way... Garfield is stiffer than a billboard in Zephyr Heights! And trust me-- those things can be VERY stiff.”

“Speaking of Garfield... Arlene, don't you think you should...?” Garzooka began to ask, causing Arlene to sigh and relent. “Oh, all right.”

She then proceeded to zap Garfield again, turning him back to normal. “...minute there, Arlene. I'm not gonna...” the orange, overweight cat stopped himself once he saw the others' superhero forms. “Whoa. What the heck is going on here anyway?”

“Your friends are now the new Pet Force!” Garzooka told the orange tabby cat with a confident smile. “They, alongside the new Royal Force and the Unity Squad, are going to save the universe!”

Many members of the group found themselves cheering at this-- maybe, if they all worked together, they might have a chance at stopping Vetvix and saving their homes after all.

Author's Note

Once again, I have Indywriter Productions to thank for helping me with this scene-- it was a bit complicated for me to word out exactly how the transformations went down, so I really owe them a lot!

Splitting Up Once Again

Back in the comic studio auditorium, while the new Pet Force were getting the hang of their new powers, Vetvix spoke to her new zombie minions through her microphone. “Get Garzooka, my zombies!”

“Get Garzooka…” the mixed-up zombies seemed to groan all at once as they began to trudge out of the studio. As Vetvix watched her zombies disappear to find Garzooka, Vetvix turned to one of her guards. “Guard!”

“Yes, sir,” the horned dog guard said with a salute. “That DNA scanner is useless. My zombie army will find Garzooka,” Vetvix sneered. “Get this ship moving!”

“Right away,” the guard saluted and walked back through the doors to get the ship moving again.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the alley, it was time to make a game plan as to what the heroes were going to do next. “Okay, everypony, huddle up,” Sunny said sternly. “We've got to find a way to get the moscram from Vetvix.”

“But first,” Garzooka added, “we'll have to bring her warship down. To do that, we need to get up high.”

“Well, a few of us can fly,” Cobalt said, spreading his wings, “but not all of us-- where would be the highest place to go?”

Misty looked around for a few moments, until her eyes caught sight of a tall antenna on a VERY tall tower, and she instantly got an idea. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “The antenna on top of that tower would make a great harpoon for a whale of a warship!”

“Good idea!” Hitch smiled. “That’ll bring her down!”

“Uh, I’m loving this whole ‘planning out our victory’ thing we have here,” Jasmine interrupted, “but… what if there are others, like Jon and Garfield, who haven’t been struck by the moscram yet and need to be protected? Shouldn’t we try and think about them too?”

“...Jazzy’s totally right!” Pipp realized. “How did we not think about that?”

Odie shrugged, unsure of what to say to the pink pegasus' remark. “I think the best solution,” said Arlene, coming up with her own plan, “is for one of us to stay behind and look after those who haven’t been turned into zombies, just in case.”

Jasmine paused for a few moments while the group started to debate on who would go, and then, after taking a deep breath, her gaze narrowed. “...I’ll stay.”

This caused everyone to look at her in surprise. “Jasmine, are you sure?” Jon asked. “You’ve always wanted to be a superhero.”

“Yeah!” Diamond agreed. “You even told us that this morning!”

“Well, it’s partly my fault that Vetvix has the crystal to begin with,” Jasmine pointed out, putting herself down. “So… it’s probably best that I don’t go, so I don’t screw things up again.”

This caused the others, even Garfield, to become concerned.

Jasmine never talked herself down like this before, and… it was honestly very heartbreaking to hear such things.

While Garfield approached her and rubbed her down, Zipp was the first to try and vocally comfort the filly. “Jasmine, you know that we don’t blame you or Garfield for losing the crystal, right?”

“Yeah!” Nermal agreed. “Even though you did lose the source of power to a weapon so powerful it could enable Vetvix to take over every single realm she can find, including Equestria and could be an even bigger risk to it than Opaline and Allura put together.”

“Nermal!” Lily scolded, nudging him harshly with her hoof. After Nermal finished rubbing his aching shoulder, he found the others staring down at him with shock and disappointment, making Nermal realize what this was about, and realizing this caused him to chuckle nervously. “And… I’m not helping, am I?”

“No, it’s okay, Nermal-- you were just being honest,” Jasmine dejectedly told the gray kitten. “I guess what hurts me most of all is the fact I wasn’t able to protect Garfield when Vetvix’s dog guards were holding him down so they could get the crystal. I just felt so… so…”

“Powerless?” Sunny finished for her, and Jasmine’s sniffling was enough to give her an answer. “Yeah… I’ve felt that way before too.”

“We all have at one point,” Hitch said in agreement. “It’s normal to feel that way... even as a superhero, right, Garzooka?”

“Absolutely,” Garzooka nodded. “In fact, Princess Spectra even felt guilty under different kinds of circumstances she couldn’t control.”

Jasmine lifted her head at this. “She did?”

“Hold on a sec,” Lily interrupted. “Who the hay is Princess Spectra?”

“She’s the princess who originally wore my tiara,” Jasmine explained before turning back to Garzooka. “So… when Princess Spectra felt these kinds of feelings… what did she do?”

“Well,” Garzooka knelt next to her, “the first thing to do was accept what happened-- not accepting it could only make it feel harder. Then comes the hard part… forgiving yourself and remembering your worth.”

“Remembering my worth?” Jasmine’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“What Garzooka means is that don’t let what happened with Vetvix tear you and Garfield down,” Sunny told the filly. “You have to remember you’re both worth something, and then stand up to do what’s right when the situation calls for it.”

“...do you really think I have what it takes?” Jasmine asked. “Not just to be a superhero in general, but to lead the Royal Force?”

“Of course you have it in you, Jazzy!” Diamond reassured her best friend. “And if you don’t feel like you do, we can always repeat the cutie mark mantra we made up!”

“Right… our cutie mark mantra! I nearly forgot!” Jasmine smiled before reaching out her hoof. “We are the ponies of Cartoon World…”

“Always trying to do what’s right,” Lily spoke up, placing her hoof on Jasmine’s. “When our cutie marks come to life,” Cobalt and Diamond chorused as all four of their cutie marks began to glow, just before all four of them shouted together, “WE GLOW WITH INNER LIGHT!!”

“...okay, now I’m a little jealous of that pep-talk,” Zipp blinked, causing the group to laugh. “Okay, Jasmine. If you really feel like staying with Garfield and Jon to protect them is the right call,” said Misty, “we trust you. Just promise us you’ll be careful nonetheless.”

Jasmine nodded with a smile at this. “I promise. Hoof to heart.”

Suddenly, before anything else could be said, the entire area began to shake rather violently, and Garzooka saw the spaceship rumbling and moving on the side of the building where it had crashed. “Vetvix is coming!”

As the entire area shook, parts of a nearby billboard were falling onto the ground. And while some of the group were able to move out of the way, some parts of the billboard were heading for Jasmine, Jon and Garfield. Luckily, Garzooka was able to get them to safety as the ship became free from the building.

Garzooka then set Jon, Jasmine and Garfield on the ground nearby. “You can't help us with our plan, comrades,” Garzooka told Jon and Garfield before turning to Jasmine. “Keep them and yourself safe.”

“You got it,” Jasmine nodded firmly before Izzy, Misty and Sunny picked up a large chunk of billboard and held it up for the others. “Everyone!” Garzooka called. “Get under here!”

The transformed members of Pet Force, Jasmine's friends and the Unity Squad immediately got under the billboard, with Arlene turning back to Garfield. “Be careful, Garfield.”

Garfield gasped, realizing that his friends were heading straight out there, and immediately, his shoulders slumped. “You be careful, too…”

“We’ll be back soon, guys-- we promise!” Sunny exclaimed as the group headed out, going slowly to prevent being spotted. But no sooner did they leave the alley, Garfield looked up and immediately saw Vetvix's ship above them. “Guys! Look!”

“Oh no!” Jasmine yelped and immediately got Garfield and Jon to hide. “Hold it!” Garzooka told the others. “Get down!”

The group immediately ducked down and froze, just as Pipp looked and saw the airship looming above them. “Oh no…!!”

From her airship, Vetvix looked around for any sign of Garzooka. Part of the billboard made it look like Garfield was saying ‘Bite Me,’ but when she glanced off to the side, she saw Garfield, Jon and Jasmine hiding behind the frog trash can. “What?!” she cried. “Guard!”

“Quickly,” Garzooka whispered to his team as they crept away, just as the horned dog guard approached Vetvix and saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“I thought I told you to get rid of those pests!” Vetvix snapped, causing the guard to look and see Jasmine and Garfield hiding with Jon. “But, uh-- uh, I did.”

“I meant for good, you idiot,” Vetvix growled. “Do I have to do everything myself?”

XXXXXXXX

From his hiding place in the studio, Eli could see Vetvix aiming the blaster right at the others, and he instantly panicked. “Oh no! She’s gonna shoot Jasmine and Garfield!”

Thinking fast, Eli quickly pushed a button to turn on the vacuum, hoping it would be enough to get their friends to safety.

XXXXXXXX

“Welcome to the Fraternal Order of Vetvix's Zombies!” Vetvix declared and prepared the laser to zap Garfield and his group. The vacuum starts to suck up some things, with Garfield holding onto the trash can and Jasmine holding onto Garfield.

The villainess powered up the blaster, and the cat and unicorn duo got sucked into the vacuum, leaving Jon and the trash can to be victims of the moscram. “THIS SUUUUUUUCKS!!!” Garfield wailed as he and Jasmine flew through the vent system. “LITERALLY!!” Jasmine shrieked in agreement, wondering when the ride was going to end.

After a few moments, they hit the wall and landed on the vent, where Eli quickly unlatched the vent and they fell into his shelter. Jasmine was first to shake her head and look around in alarm. “What just happened?!”

“You were almost zombified, that’s what!” Eli responded just as they looked to the screen again. Outside, Jon’s body had a frog head, while the trash can had Jon’s head. “Get Garzooka, my zombies!” Vetvix ordered, and the two zombies groaned and trudged off to do their orders, leaving Eli to sigh. “Looks like Jon just got trashed.”

“This is so not good…” Jasmine muttered with fear in her tone, and she and Garfield hugged one another, wondering how things could get any worse from this point onward.

The Superheroes vs the Zombies (Part 1)/The Crazy Crew Forms

Things were becoming more and more serious by the minute.

With the Pet Force, Unity Squad and Royal Force out to take care of Vetvix, this left Garfield, Jasmine and Eli on their own after Vetvix had turned Jon into one of her zombies as well.

Now, Vetvix had her sights on a much… bigger population to terrorize.

Soon, the spaceship hovered across town, where citizens looked up in confusion to see the airship flying over them. That’s when Vetvix began to cackle madly, scrambling their molecules with different people or with inanimate objects, all while pulling them under Vetvix’s control.

Vetvix seemed satisfied with what she was doing in that moment. “Soon I'll have so many zombies, Garzooka will never escape!” she declared before using her microphone to speak to the zombies below. “Find Garzooka, my zombies! Get Garzooka!”

“Get Garzooka!” the mixed-up zombies groaned as they trudged away. “Get Garzooka!”

XXXXXXXX

Around the same time that all this was happening, the Pet Force, the Unity Squad and the Royal Force, using the same billboard as cover, moved through the city, keeping a cautious eye out for zombie trouble.

As they hurried along, Zipp turned to her teammates with a frown. “I know it was in the best interest to leave Garfield and Jon behind, but I can’t help feeling bad that Jasmine isn’t here!”

“Same here, Zipp!” Pipp said back. “But it was her choice to stay behind, and we have to respect that!”

However, before they could move much further, a horde of Vetvix’s zombies came around the corner from a nearby alley and spotted them. “There’s Garzooka…!!”

“They spotted us!” Misty cried, taking charge immediately after they were spotted. “Hurry!”

The group tried to run away from the horde of zombies coming their way, but Lily and Diamond screamed when they saw another horde appear in front of them, causing the group to halt. “They’re everywhere!” Garzooka realized. “And we can't fight them with this billboard hanging over our heads!” Hitch exclaimed. “But,” Zipp said, “if we let the billboard go, Vetvix will see us for sure! What are we gonna do?!”

The zombies began to close in more and more by the minute, and this caused the group to become the slightest bit nervous. Sunny knew that there was a chance for escape... but where it was exactly?

That's what she didn't know.

Suddenly, she saw a door leading into a nearby coffee shop and got an idea, using her alicorn powers to fortify a shield in front of the group. “Everypony! Follow my lead and hold on tight!”

With Sunny and Garzooka at the head of the group, the superheroes rammed through the door and came out the backside of the building, ramming through several more brick walls, destroying a fire hydrant and trapping some of the zombies underneath the fallen bricks.

Once they were out of harms way, Sunny let down the shield and reverted back to earth pony form for the time being. “Quickly!” Garzooka spoke up. “To the tower!”

Without a second to waste, the group headed off toward Handy Tower-- the tallest monument in Grin City. And once they were safely to the tower, Odie threw away the billboard part as they entered the revolving door. “Hurry up!” Nermal shouted. “Let’s go!”

All of the superheroes pushed through the revolving door as hard as they could at the same time and inadvertently landed inside the main room, falling on top of one another in the process.

Once they got up, Sunny immediately turned to her friends and took charge. “Quick, put as much heavy stuff as you can in front of the doors! Diamond, once that's done, use your powers to make the shield stronger! We don't have a lot of time!”

Accepting the orders Sunny gave them, Garzooka and the ponies quickly began to throw/kick sofas and pots in front of the revolving doors, and once this was done, Diamond used her new diamond powers to make the barrier that much stronger.

Once Diamond's part of the plan was done, Izzy looked nervous at the fact that the zombies were getting closer, despite the barrier keeping them safe in the tower. “Are we gonna be safe here?”

“Very safe,” Garzooka confirmed with a smile. However, as he said this, the zombies banged their hands against the windows, causing them to shatter little by little. “Well,” Garzooka began to change his wording, “sort of safe.”

Unfortunately, by the time he said this, the zombies had broken through the windows and were crawling right over the barrier, causing Diamond and Lily to shriek in fright. “Okay...” Zipp said with a nervous expression. “We are NOT safe at all!”

“This way! To the antenna!” Garzooka shouted to the others as they began to climb up the stairs to the top of the tower. “Sunny, Izzy, Misty, Arlene! Buy us some time!”

“You got it!” Sunny said confidently. While Arlene used her icy stare to freeze some of the zombies in their tracks, Sunny, Izzy and Misty used their unicorn powers to blast back as many zombies as they could. And once the zombies had been seriously slowed down, the four nodded at each other and followed their friends up the stairs to the top of the tower.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the studio, which was in shambles after Vetvix’s attack, Eli, Garfield and Jasmine came out of hiding and wandered around the debris left behind. “We gotta make sure no one's buried under all this junk,” Eli said as he moved some of the debris in his way. “You know, Garfield, you and Jasmine should have gone with Garzooka and the ponies in the first place.”

Garfield looked somewhat confused at this. “What do you mean?”

“When Garzooka and the Unity Squad came to the studio to get Arlene and the others,” Eli said to the fat cat, “you should have taken Jasmine and came with him instead of sitting on your fat behind eating hot dogs.”

Jasmine felt her ears pin in shame at this, but Garfield merely laid down on a pillow that he had pulled out of the debris. “Eli, it's me, Garfield? I don't save the day. I sleep through the day.”

“I hate to say it, but... he's right. You can't sleep through your whole life, Garfield,” Jasmine told her best friend with a frown. “You have to get involved at some point.”

“It’s too late for that now,” Garfield dismissed without a second thought. “Maybe being a zombie won't be so bad, guys. You live forever and you don't have to make small talk.”

However, Eli believed that there was still a chance for them to fight back and save not just Cartoon World, but the whole universe all at once. “There's got to be some way of beating Vetvix.”

“Eli, I don't wanna be a bummer here, but do the math,” Jasmine frowned. “There's a gazillion of them and only three of us!”

“Make that four!”

Garfield paused and immediately looked around when they heard another voice in the room. “Who said that?”

The three of them slowly approached a pile of debris and lifted it up, freeing Wally, who seemed rather irritated about what just went down. “I did, doggone it!” Wally spoke up with a peeved frown. “I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore.”

“You’re not fighting anyone without me, Walter,” Wally’s wife Bonita said as she crawled out from behind him. “All right, Bonita!” Eli cheered. Suddenly, there came some muffled noises in another pile and Jasmine used her powers to lift it up, freeing Betty, who looked a bit out of sorts from the attack. “Betty?” Garfield looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

“She looks a little dazed,” Jasmine said, looking Betty over. “Better give her some space.”

Betty looked over at the duo, her vision a bit blurred. “Gar… Garzooka?” she asked, looking to Garfield. “Is that you?”

“I'm not Garzooka, Betty. It's Garfield,” Garfield explained. “Garzooka's at the tower downtown with the others, fighting Vetvix.”

“...he’s with who?!” Betty questioned as she shot up with a growl. “Why, that little... oh, wait till I get my hands on her!!”

“Eli?” Jasmine turned toward Eli with a serious look. “Is there any way for us to see what's going on downtown?”

“Maybe I can tap into the tower’s security cameras. Hold on,” Eli said, and went back to his workstation to hack into the security cameras.

XXXXXXXX

Back on Vetvix’s ship, the sunbeam burned a part of Professor Wally’s rope. “Psst!” he said to Emperor Jon. “Look!”

“Way to go, professor!” Emperor Jon whispered. Now, all they had to do was wait for the rest of the rope to burn and they were one step closer to getting out of this nightmare.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the studio, Eli checks on the giant screen, and the camera feed showed the Pet Force, the Unity Squad and the Royal Force on top of the Handy Tower, surrounded by moscram zombies. “Oh my gosh!” Jasmine yelped in panic. “The ponies, Garzooka, Arlene, Odie and Nermal are surrounded! They can’t get up the antenna!”

However, Wally was quite shocked at how different Arlene, Odie and Nermal looked. “That’s Arlene, Odie, and Nermal?”

“It’s a long story,” Garfield told him as Jasmine worriedly kept her eyes on the screen. “We’ll have to explain everything later.”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the tower, the moscram zombies were closing in on the superheroes, pinning them in a corner, so to speak. To prevent the zombies from getting too close, Garzooka spewed some hairballs at a few zombies, knocking them to the ground. “Awesome gamma-radiated hairballs, Garzooka!” Nermal cheered as Cobalt used his wings to send a powerful wind gust toward a few zombies. “Uh, yeah, those hairballs cool and everything,” the blue pegasus colt said, “but there are still a lot of zombies left to take down!”

“Then we have to give it everything we’ve got, guys!” Zipp declared. “Use your powers to their full potential! We can do this!”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the studio, the others couldn’t help but be worried at the stakes their friends were in. “Oh, Garzooka! My poor baby!” Betty cried out. “We’ve got to do something!”

“But what?” Garfield wondered. “What do you mean ‘what’?” Eli questioned. “You’ve got your fighting force right here.”

Garfield raised a confused eyebrow at this. “My fighting force?”

“Time to step up, buddy,” Eli told the fat cat sternly. “Time to get involved!”

“He’s right, Garfield-- we’ve got to do something!” Jasmine pointed out, glancing back at the camera feed before it faded. “If our friends go down, we may be the last hope Cartoon World has!”

Garfield, the more and more he thought about Jasmine’s words, knew that she was right.

Cartoon World, and Equestria, for that matter, depended on them helping in the fight against Vetvix.

He couldn’t let his friends or Jasmine down.

After thinking about this for a few minutes, he finally turned to the others with an idea. “You know, this is just crazy enough to work.”

“What do you mean?” Eli asked in confusion, and Garfield looked to each member of the group present. “Eli, the big man with the nimble hands at the controls. Wally, the henpecked, half-sized hero. Betty, the man-hungry assistant director. And the lady with the big nose for trouble, super-nag Bonita.”

“Hey!” Bonita realized. “Wait a minute.”

“Jasmine-- aka, Spectrum,” Garfield turned to the unicorn filly. “The unicorn with a lot of heart and a lot of rainbow power!”

“Spectrum, huh?” Jasmine hummed in thought. “I like the sound of that!”

“And me! The super-cat who can make a difference!” Garfield declared, putting on a red cape. “Okay, all we need now is a snappy name.”

“Oh, oh! I got one!” Jasmine said eagerly. “The Rainbow Squad! …nah. Too juvenile.”

“The, uh, Inferiors?” Bonita suggested just before her husband spoke. “How about the ‘We're About to Die Gang’?”

However, this suggestion was immediately shot down due to how depressing it sounded. “That’s kind of a downer there, Wally,” Garfield frowned, and just the conversation they were having made Eli sigh and shake his head. “You’re all crazy!”

Suddenly, a light bulb flashed in Jasmine’s mind, suddenly taking what Eli said coming up with the perfect name. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “The Crazy Crew!”

After considering the name for a few moments, everyone except Eli seemed to like it, while Eli just stood there, shaking his head. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

“Okay, gang, here's what we're gonna do,” Garfield said, bringing his group closer so they could develop a plan that could not only save their friends in the battle-field…

…but the entire universe as well.

The Superheroes vs the Zombies (Part 2)/Fall of the Pet Force

While all their superhero friends were working on defeating the zombies that Vetvix created, Garfield and Jasmine were composing their own team, known as the Crazy Crew and composed of Wally, Bonita, Betty and Eli.

And now that he had his own crew, Garfield immediately began to think up and initiate a plan to draw the zombies away from their superhero pals.

But what was that plan, you may be wondering?

Well... we will soon find out.

Now, back to the story.

XXXXXXXX

Back on the tower, the Pet Force, the Unity Squad and the rest of the Royal Force gave everything they got against the zombies.

While Garzooka puked gamma-radiated hairballs at the zombies, knocking them back, the unicorns and Sunny used their horns to fire blasts at the zombies, Hitch used his plant powers, Pipp used her sonic shriek and Zipp and Cobalt used their weather powers to drive more of the zombies away.

Arlene used her icy stare for a few moments, but her eyes started to bother her, and Cobalt immediately came to her side to see what he could do.

Odie used his stun tongue next, but after a few minutes, even he started to get tired.

Nermal was up after Odie, who sped through and on the heads of the moscram zombie army, knocking some of them down. However, his speed was starting to wear off, collapsing right behind Sunny, who looked pretty concerned. “Huh? What's wrong, Nermal?”

“I don't know, Cosmic Sunlight,” Nermal panted in complete exhaustion. “This super speed is making me super tired.”

“And my eyes are killing me...” Arlene groaned while Odie's tongue slumped, getting pretty tired himself. Immediately, Garzooka realized what was going on. “Your newfound powers are putting a strain on your Cartoon World bodies!”

He launched a few more hairballs at the zombies, but even with the Mane 6 helping him, it was getting difficult to hold them all back. “But we can't fight these things alone!” Pipp argued before turning back to the others. “Are you sure you can't use your powers?”

“We're too tired!” Nermal panted. “And,” Lily added in concern, “the zombies keep coming!”

“But we must hold on!” Garzooka said before firing a few more hairballs at the zombies. The ponies did their best to try and help, but even they had to admit... they were growing tired as well.

Luckily, their chance for a break would come sooner than they ever thought.

As Garzooka began to blast more hairballs, Garfield, Jasmine and Wally wandered into view, groaning just like the zombies were. “Oh no!” Arlene cried in panic. “They’ve been turned into zombies!”

“Not Jasmine and Garfield!” Diamond yelped. “Now our worlds really are doomed!”

“I don’t think so… look!” Sunny pointed to the smirk Garfield was trying to hide. “If I didn’t know any better… I’d say Garfield has a plan!”

And that he did-- once he, Jasmine and Wally were out in front of the horde, Garfield put his plan into action. “Come on, Wally!” he whispered, getting up on Wally’s shoulders. “It’s okay, guys,” Jasmine whispered as Garfield got a poster of Vetvix and put it up in front of the zombies, causing her to hide behind it. “Garfield’s got a plan!”

“I am Vetvix!” Garfield told the zombies in his best Vetvix voice. “I command you to stop!”

The zombies did stop for a moment, confused, but believing Garfield’s impersonation. While the zombies were distracted, Wally got out a large green blanket and threw it over to the superheroes. “Hide under this!”

Garzooka threw the blanket over the group, hiding them from sight as Garfield began his next stage of the plan. “ I am Vetvix. I command you to get Garzooka!”

At that moment, Garfield threw the poster away, revealing himself and Wally in a fake Garzooka costume. “I am the Great Garaooka!” he said, causing the zombies to groan out of confusion. “Come and get me!”

“Now, fellas!” Jasmine quickly whispered to Wally and Garfield. “Run!”

Wally moved their legs, making Garfield look like he was running right after Jasmine, and this made the zombies follow the fake Garzooka, groaning 'Get Garzooka' over and over again.

And as the zombies began to follow the fake Garzooka, the rest of the superheroes peeked out of hiding. “Good going, comrades,” Garzooka whispered, impressed with the feat. “Let’s go!” Zipp encouraged. “Before the rest of the zombies figure out Garfield’s plan!”

Taking this as a sign to move, the Pet Force, the Unity Squad and the Royal Force continued moving toward the antenna while Garfield, Jasmine and Wally kept luring the zombies away.

At the same time, back on her ship, Vetvix was flying near the tower when she saw the fake Garzooka being chased by the zombie horde. “Look! My zombies have found Garzooka!”

That's when she turned the ship and headed that way to blast Garzooka with the moscram, unaware that it was really a trick organized by Garfield and the Crazy Crew. “Faster, Wally!” Jasmine said urgently as they continued to lead the zombies away. “Faster!”

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Wally whispered as he continued to run alongside the unicorn and lead the zombies in another direction.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the Unity Squad, the Pet Force and the Royal Force were climbing the ladder up to the antenna, with Garzooka and Sunny reaching the top first. “Phew…” Sunny sighed tiredly. “We made it!”

“Oh, thank hoofness!” sighed Lily, exhausted as the others reached the top a second or two later. “I thought that ladder was gonna go on forever!”

Unfortunately, as they all gathered themselves together, Vetvix’s ship could be seen circling the tower. “Vetvix’s ship is coming!” Garzooka said, tossing the blanket toward the Pet Force and Royal Force. “Get down!”

Diamond whimpered as the blanket went over them, hoping that Vetvix wouldn’t see them.

XXXXXXXX

Thankfully for the superheroes, Vetvix was more focused on the zombie horde chasing after Garfield, Wally and Jasmine. “Where are my zombies going now?!”

XXXXXXXX

“Okay, guys,” Zipp whispered sternly. “if we wanna take Vetvix's ship down, this might be our chance!”

“But how are we gonna get the antenna off of the tower?” Misty asked. “We’re not gonna be able to lift it by ourselves!”

“No… not on our own,” Sunny said slowly, thinking before she got an idea. “But, if us ponies work together with Garzooka, we might stand a fighting chance!”

“It’s the best plan I’ve heard of so far,” Hitch said, hiding Sparky underneath the blanket with the Pet Force and Royal Force. “Let’s give this a shot!”

Garzooka and the ponies proceeded to grab the antenna either in their hooves, paws or magic auras, and then together, straining, they lifted it right off its foundation, trying to stabilize it so they could toss it toward Vetvix’s ship. “A little to the left! Now to the right!” Zipp shouted to the others while they tried to stabilize the antenna. And once the antenna was in the perfect position, Zipp knew that this might be their only chance. “NOW!!”

Using all their strength, they shot the antenna straight at Vetvix's ship... resulting in a direct hit!

XXXXXXXX

Vetvix immediately felt the impact on her ship and then, something trying to tug the ship backwards, and panic immediately settled in. “What’s going on?!”

Deciding that there was no other option, she decided to try her best and pull away, hoping that whatever had latched itself onto her ship eventually got off.

XXXXXXXX

The Unity Squad and Garzooka strained and pulled against the electrical cable still connected to the antenna, and their feet and hooves dragged to the railing on the tower.

Sunny knew that this was going to take everyone working together… even if the temporary Pet Force was revealed. Seeing no other option, she turned her head back to Odie, Arlene, Nermal and the Royal Force with a desperate plea. “Give us a hand!”

“You heard her, team!” Diamond shouted. “Let’s go kick some flank!”

That’s when Odie tossed the blanket off of them, and they rushed over to help as much as they could.

Unfortunately, that’s when the villainess looked back and saw not just the ponies and Garzooka, but who she thought was the original Pet Force from the comic dimension. “The Pet Force!” she exclaimed in anger. “I left them back on Dorkon!”

XXXXXXXX
Back down on the ground, Garfield, Wally and Jasmine proceeded to try and lead the zombies away. “I am the great Garzooka! You can't stop me!” Garfield said with his best Garzooka impression. “Why, I'm more powerful than a supernova!”

“You know, I really oughta look up what a supernova is,” Jasmine panted as she continued galloping beside her friends. “That way, we can really see if Garzooka is more powerful than one!”

XXXXXXXX

The Pet Force, the Unity Squad and the Royal Force continued to strain as they pulled against the cable, and then… much to their relief… the ship was beginning to get closer!

Just a few more tugs and this would all be over!

XXXXXXXX

“Come on. Follow me!” Garfield cried as he, Wally and Jasmine led the zombie horde back to the studio. “The great Garzooka!”

Betty and Bonita were at the doors, ready to coax the zombies into the building as they came by.

“Move along, people, please. Come on now. We’re shuffling. We’re shuffling.”

“Move it. Move it.”

Once they were inside, Wally tripped and tumbled, sending not only himself and Garfield to the ground (ruining their disguise, I might add), but Jasmine fell alongside them as the zombies got closer and closer.

That's when Jasmine knew they had to strike at that moment, or they would lose their chance. “Now, Eli!”

“Here goes nothing…” Eli muttered before pushing a button to open a pit in the stage. “I am Garzooka!” Garfield continued fooling the zombies, jumping onto Jasmine’s back and letting the little unicorn leap to the other side of the pit. But when they turned around, they gasped-- the zombies were still coming!

Well, at least, they were… until one by one, they started to fall into the pit. Eli let out a cheer at this. “It’s working!”

A cheese-headed mouse had followed Jasmine and Garfield to the other side of the pit, closest to Jasmine, but Garfield kicked it back into the pit, a confident smile on his face.

XXXXXXXX

“Pull!” Garzooka shouted to the rest of the superheroes, pulling on the cable as hard as they possibly could. Then, with all the strength, bravery and effort they could muster, they managed to yank Vetvix's ship out of the sky, causing it to crash onto the portion of the tower directly below them.

Once they had achieved this, the group found themselves cheering and high-fiving one another at their victory... at least the first stage of it. “We did it!” Cobalt cheered.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the studio, the zombies continued to pile into the pit of the stage one by one, with Garfield still putting up his Garzooka act to fool them... at least for a few moments longer. “I am the great Garzooka!”

With that being said, the last of the zombies proceeded to fall into the pit. “That’s all of them, Eli!” Jasmine called, throwing what remained of the Garzooka disguise inside the pit before it closed.

This allowed the Crazy Crew to reunite and cheer-- their plan had worked like a charm!

Now all they needed was for the Pet Force and the other superheroes to get the moscram back, and everything would be back to normal in no time.

XXXXXXXX

“Very good, my new Pet Force,” Garzooka praised with a smile. “You and our comrades seem re-energized with victory.”

“Heck yeah we do! That was a TOTAL adrenaline rush!” Diamond cheered. “Is this what being a superhero is like on a daily basis?! Man, we gotta do this more often! Like… maybe once a week!”

“To be honest… I would actually be down for defeating evil and getting excitement levels up every once in a while,” Arlene admitted. “Me too!” Cobalt agreed. “This was actually kind of fun! I-In a totally terrifying kind of way, I mean.”

Garzooka chuckled at the young ponies’ enthusiasm. “I like your adventurous spirit, young ones.”

“Uh, guys? Hate to interrupt the moment here,” said Zipp, tapping Garzooka's shoulder, “but we still have a crazed, power-hungry villain to deal with… and for once, it's someone WORSe than Opaline and Allura put together.”

Suddenly, the ship’s hatch opened, causing the superheroes to gasp and freeze in place as Vetvix rose into view, holding the moscram rather tightly. “I don't know how you did it, Garzooka,” she sneered, letting the young ponies’ ears flatten in worry, “but I've had it with you and your Pet Force!”

After dodging one of the moscram's power blasts, Nermal, Zipp and Pipp sped/flew around Vetvix while Misty, Izzy and Odie (using their horns and tongue respectively) grabbed a part of the tower to fling near Vetvix, who narrowly dodged before firing another blast. This time, Sunny was able to use her light shield in order to deflect it, and Garzooka spit a hairball at her, knocking Vetvix down.

However, the weapon’s Super Scramble is pressed upon impact on the ground.

As Vetvix wiped the glowing green hairball off of her, she noticed the warning that kept coming from the device. “Super Scramble mode engaged. Danger.”

This immediately gave her an idea... a VERY wicked idea. “Super Scramble… all right. Let’s kick this up a notch!”

Misty, upon hearing this, gasped and immediately turned toward the others. “Duck and dive!” she shouted. “Take cover!”

The Mane 6, Sparky and the Royal Force leapt away just as Vetvix cocked the weapon and fired.

However… the Pet Force wasn’t able to move in time, and they were immediately hit with the blast from the moscram. “NO!!!” the Royal Force shrieked and tried to reach their friends, but the Mane 6 held them back for their own well-being.

Once the blast had taken full effect, the Pet Force had been turned into a cluster monster with all their superpowers, allowing Vetvix to laugh victoriously. “Who’s your daddy now?”

“Vetvix,” the Pet Force groaned obediently. “Must obey Vetvix.”

“Odie, guys! No!” Diamond shrieked, visibly terrified while crying, and tried to go to them, but Pipp held her back. “I’m sorry, Diamond, but you can’t get close to them like this!” Pipp said, fearful as well for the sake of their friends. “You, me or any one of our friends could get seriously hurt!”

“Your friend is right!” Vetvix shouted, coming up with another idea to get rid of the pony superheroes. “But since I think you're going to be less fun when you're scrambled... Pet Force! Get those foolish ponies before they ruin my plans!”

“Must obey Vetvix…” the Pet Force groaned obediently before rolling toward the ponies, causing Sunny to make a last minute decision. “Everypony, scatter!”

As they did this, flying and running in different directions, all of our heroes could hope that it wasn’t too late to turn things around…

…for all everyone's sakes.

Rainbows to the Rescue/The Final Fight Plan

Things were going from bad to worse for the Unity Squad and their Cartoon World friends.

The Pet Force (consisting of the original Garzooka, Odie, Arlene and Nermal) had been blasted by the moscram's Super Scramble mode, and now, they were going after the Unity Squad and the three members of the Royal Force present, since they were now obeying Vetvix's orders.

Of course, our pony friends didn't want to hurt the Pet Force, even if they were scrambled zombies, but they knew that they couldn't be caught either.

This left them with the hardest choice they could ever make... what were they going to do now?

XXXXXXXX

“NOOOO!!!” Jasmine shrieked as soon as she saw the Pet Force get scrambled, since the whole thing was being viewed from inside the studio. “This… this can’t be happening!”

“Odie, Arlene and Nermal are part of a huge monster thing that’s gonna attack the ponies!” Betty gasped in horror. “We’ve got to help them!”

“But what can we do against the Pet Force and their superpowers?” Wally wondered. “The Crazy Crew always has a plan!” Garfield declared before looking over at Jasmine. “...right, Jazzy?”

However, when Garfield looked at Jasmine, he honestly wished that he hadn't.

Jasmine looked livid at what Vetvix did to her friends.

In fact, Garfield had never seen Jasmine look so mad in her entire life... and that's saying something right there.

Finally… Jasmine spoke in a voice that bore hatred at every turn. “Garfield… get on my back… NOW!!”

Garfield wasted no time in following her directions. “Eli, you’re in charge until we get back,” Jasmine said seriously. “And I suggest you take this seriously… cause Vetvix is gonna know how seriously I take payback.”

And just like that, she galloped out of the room, leaving Garfield to hang onto her for dear life.

XXXXXXXX

Diamond yelped repeatedly as she tried to avoid attacks from Odie's stun tongue, but she didn't fire her diamond attacks in return. “Odie, please, stop!” she begged. “You have to snap out of Vetvix’s control! This isn't the real you, buddy!”

However, like the Mane 6 predicted, Odie didn't listen to her, and just kept attacking, just like the rest of the Pet Force was doing until all of the ponies were backed into a corner... and quite literally too. “What do we do, Sunny?!” Izzy asked. “Yeah! We can’t hurt our friends,” Misty pointed out, “but if we don’t do SOMETHING, they might end up hurting us!”

“And then,” Cobalt pointed out with deep concern, “there’d be nopony to stop Vetvix!”

“Uh… h-hang on, guys!” Sunny tried to think of a solution. “I’m thinking!”

“Well, think faster!” Pipp shrieked. “We’re about to be moscramed any second!”

But, as the group prepared themselves for the Pet Force to attack…

… a sudden rainbow blast of energy firing from one unicorn filly caused the Pet Force to fly into a nearby wall, disoriented and dazed. “LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!!”

“Jasmine, Garfield!” Misty cried in relief. “Boy, are we glad to see you!”

“Quick!” Cobalt cried out in panic. “We gotta get out of here!”

“But we can’t leave Nermal and the others like this!” Lily argued. “We won’t! I mean, we will,” Zipp said, trying to be comforting, “but we’ll be back for them as soon as we have a plan!”

Jasmine nodded before slamming her front hooves on the ground, and when she did this, a rainbow of light stretched from the top of the tower all the way through the city. “Follow me!” Jasmine cried with Garfield on her back. “We haven’t a second to lose!”

Jasmine leapt onto the rainbow and began sliding down it, and the others swiftly followed, yelling out and screaming at the fast-paced ride that they were getting.

Finally, the ride ended as soon as they tumbled into the studio, dizzy and out of breath. “Man… I love slides,” Izzy panted, “but the whole Vetvix thing gives them a whole new meaning!”

“Eli, quick-- turn on the camera system again,” Jasmine said, letting Garfield off her back. “We need to see what Vetvix is going to do next... for better or for worse.”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the tower, the Pet Force cluster argued about which direction to go in to pursue the Unity Squad, the Royal Force and Garfield and ended up falling off of the tower all together... something that made the Mane 6 and the others cringe after watching.

XXXXXXXX

Inside Vetvix's ship, Professor Wally freed himself from the ropes and stood up while the dog guards were still disoriented from the crash. “Ah, all right, Professor!” Emperor Jon cheered. “Way to…”

“Shh!” Professor Wally covered the emperor’s mouth before he could give them both away. The professor then proceeded to free Emperor Jon from his ropes. When the purple dog guard got up, the emperor shoved his crown onto his head and spun him around. “They went thataway!” Emperor Jon told him. “Get them before they escape!”

And like he expected, the guard clumsily walked into a wall and slumped down. “Yes!” Emperor Jon cheered. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” Professor Wally added before moving to the controls of the ship.

XXXXXXXX

As the ship began to start up, Vetvix fell off of the wing, yelping in surprise as she watched her ship fly off without her. “Wait! Where are you going?!” she cried, but no one answered as the ship took off. However… looking at the moscram gave her another idea. “Let’s see what this baby can really do.”

Setting her eyes on some buildings below, she fired the moscram at them and they all clustered together into a huge, spiraling tornado. That's when the tornado formed into a huge building-made monster, which roared in command to its leader. “Come to me, my lovely!” Vetvix beckoned it. That’s when the monster began to scale the building, only arriving in just a few seconds. And once it got to the top, Vetvix climbed right into the palm of its hand. “That way! Let’s go get my ship back!”

With this being said, the monster dropped from the top of the tower and began to march through Grin City. “Destroy everything!” Vetvix commanded, and the monster began to use its large stature to try and smash through buildings of different varieties. And as it did so, the Pet Force cluster rolled along behind it. “Must obey Vetvix…”

XXXXXXXX

Having seen all of this on the screen, the pony superheroes and all their remaining friends became increasingly worried about their current circumstances. “What can we possibly do against that thing?!” Hitch wondered, cradling a nervous Sparky in his hooves. “Poor Garzooka…” whimpered Betty. “All is lost…” Bonita muttered. “We can’t give up that easily!” Sunny tried to encourage. “Yes, we’re scared, and we’re the only ones in Grin City that HAVEN’T been turned into zombies, but we can still make a difference-- we can still help!”

“It’s already over...” Lily muttered, worried sick about Nermal and the others. “No! When you have hope, it’s never over!” Sunny declared as she flew up and showed her alicorn form, causing the others to gasp. “And we know you still have a shimmer of it.”

Suddenly, Cobalt's cutie mark began to glow, causing him to gasp and giggle. “I see what you mean!”

“Sunny is totally right!” Diamond said as she watched her cutie mark glow as well. “We can do ANYTHING as long as we stick together as a team!”

“Okay… so, what do we do next?” Lily asked, still rather unsure. But before anyone else could answer, an alarm came up on Eli’s computer, and it showed Vetvix’s ship coming down out in the parking lot, causing Jasmine and Garfield to look worried. “Uh-oh!”

Now their objective was clear… they had to deal with this the old-fashioned way.

XXXXXXXX

With bats, golf clubs and any other items they could find in hand, the group snuck out of the studio doors and looked over at Vetvix's ship, which was parked not too far away. “Let’s go,” Garfield whispered, and the group tiptoed as best they could to the other side of the ship, where they would be out of sight for now.

And then, when they saw the ship's door begin to open, Garfield knew that this was the best time to make their move. “NOW!!”

They yelled out and charged at the figures leaving the ship, but once they saw who it was, Garfield smiled and took the initiative to introduce everyone. “Unity Squad, Royal Force and Crazy Crew, meet Emperor Jon and Professor Wally.”

“Hi…” Emperor Jon greeted nervously while Bonita looked shocked. “Wally?”

“Me?” Wally looked at his counterpart with wide eyes. “Fascinating…” the professor muttered, looking at his counterpart as well. “Looks like the Crazy Crew just got crazier,” Eli spoke. “I’ll say,” Zipp spoke as she shook her head. “But can we worry about this later and try and focus on saving the universe?”

Just then, they saw the giant building monster rampaging through Cartoon World... and it was heading in their direction! “Oh no!!” Pipp yelped in terror. “We need a plan!” Bonita declared. “Like what?” Jasmine asked, hoping she had a good idea. “Well,” Bonita said, “fainting comes to mind.”

“The Crazy Crew never panics!” Izzy chirped as the monster drew closer and closer to the studio. “Now might be a good time to start,” Cobalt said nervously. “Good idea,” Betty told the colt before she and Bonita fainted right on the ground next to them. “No no no! Guys, come on!” Jasmine said in exasperation. “You can’t save the universe that way!”

But as she looked across the street, the monster was quickly approaching, and Garfield knew that there had to be a solution. Suddenly... he thought of a plan. “Eli, you and the Royal Force better get the Crazy Crew to safety.”

“You got it,” Eli nodded, and went off to do as told as the monster began to get closer. “Time for me to get involved,” Garfield declared, “big time!”

“Wait, Garfield!” Jasmine interrupted. “I’m going with you!”

“Jazzy, it could be dangerous!” Lily pointed out. “But then again,” Diamond argued, “she and Garfield did just save our necks back at the tower, so… she kinda has the ability to kick butt.”

“And we’ll be part of whatever Garfield has planned too, I’m sure of it,” Sunny said. “We’ll be there to keep your friends safe.”

“Actually… you won’t,” Garfield told the Mane 6. “We need you guys to lure the Pet Force back to the studio while Jazzy and I take care of that monster.”

“What?!” Zipp cried. “We can’t let you take on that thing with only one of you having powers!”

“We’ll be fine, Zipp… trust us,” Jasmine said confidently, and after a few moments, the Mane 6 nodded. “Okay,” Sunny sighed, “but be careful.”

“Cobalt, take Sparky into the studio with you,” Hitch said, handing the baby dragon over. “This may be a little too dangerous for him to handle.”

“Got it,” Cobalt nodded firmly. “Okay, guys… go find the Pet Force and lure them to the studio as fast as you can,” Jasmine told the Mane 6 before turning to the emperor and Professor Wally. “Could you guys give us a lift?”

“Of course!” Professor Wally responded back without hesitation. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Pipp asked with a smile. “We have a mission to get underway!”

A Super Heroic Final Battle

Immediately after the defeat of the Pet Force, Jasmine Wildbloom (aka Spectrum) and Garfield launched a rescue mission that brought the Mane 6, Diamond Heart, Lily Moontwirl and Cobalt Skies back to the studio before they could get hit by the moscram's ray as well.

However, once they had left, Vetvix used the moscram and its Super Scramble mode to create a huge building-made monster to destroy Cartoon World.

Luckily, Garfield and Jasmine had a plan.

While the rest of the Royal Force went to protect Eli, Bonita, Wally and Betty inside the studio, Emperor Jon and Professor Wally would airlift Jasmine and Garfield over to the monster for them to take on Vetvix, and the Mane 6 would lead Garzooka and the rest of the Pet Force (still clustered if you remember) back to the studio for another part of Garfield and Jasmine's plan.

All the worlds the Mane 6 ever visited would rest on this plan succeeding... and the fate of Equestria hung in the balance as well.

This plan had to work... it just had to.

XXXXXXXX

“I don’t see Garzooka and the mixed-up Pet Force anywhere!” Misty said as the Mane 6 trotted down one of the streets, careful to avoid the debris. “If we don’t find them, we won’t be able to help in Garfield’s plan!”

“Okay, let’s just think a minute,” Sunny said, trying to think. “If we were clustered together and obeying Vetvix’s orders, where would we be going?”

“I don’t think finding them is gonna be too hard!” Zipp said. “Look!”

The others glanced where she was pointing, and this caused them to gasp. The Pet Force was rolling in their direction, but they hadn’t seen the ponies yet. “There they are!” Izzy cried. “Now what?”

“Now,” said Sunny, “we need to find a way to get their attention so they can follow us back to the studio!”

“Leave that one to me!” Pipp said before getting out her lucky mic and flying where the Pet Force could see her. “Hey, Pet Force! Listen to my incredible singing voice!”

Pipp: First things first
You gotta look for the spark
That bit of magic
Way deep down in your heart (Hey!)

You gotta follow your beat (Beat, beat)
And then soon you will see (See, see)
You won't have that far to go
Until your song starts to grow
All you need is your beat (Your beat, your beat)

Hearing Pipp singing was enough to get the Pet Force’s attention, prompting Pipp to keep singing.

Pipp: All you need is your groove (Groove, groove)
(Hey, come on!)
To get them stompin' their hooves
And then the next thing you'll know
Imagination will flow

All you need is your beat
All you need is your beat
All you need is your beat
Bah-dah-dah, bah-dah-dah!

“And if you wanna hear more,” Pipp said as she finished her song, “you’re gonna have to come and get us first!”

“Pipp, don’t get me wrong, I love your singing,” said Misty, “but is the Pet Force really gonna follow us just for that reason?”

“Uh, you better ask them that!” Hitch said, pointing to the Pet Force, who was rolling their way. “Here they come!”

“Run for the studio, guys!” Zipp encouraged as they broke out into a fast gallop. “We have to get them back there for phase 2 of Garfield’s plan!”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, as she guided her monster through the streets, Vetvix looked out and her ship getting ready to leave. “My ship!” she cried out. “It’s getting away!”

However, before they could get there, the ship had already taken off into the sky, with Professor Wally piloting. Vetvix fired the moscram at it, but missed as the ship began to zoom towards the monster. Garfield and Jasmine were onboard with the professor and Emperor Jon, ready to do their part of the plan. “Okay, professor-- pull around and drop us off at the monster there,” Garfield instructed before he and Jasmine, as well as Emperor Jon, rushed for the hatch. “Emperor?” Jasmine looked toward the ruler of Dorkon. “I hope this works.”

“Well, we’ll give it the old royal try,” Emperor Jon said as he pulled a lever that opened the hatch. “Ready, Garfield?” Jasmine asked her best friend. “All right... LET THE FUR FLY!!!”

And just like that, when the ship drew close enough, Jasmine and Garfield leapt from the hatch, screaming their heads off, and right on top of the monster… just before the monster grabbed the ship and ripped the wings off it, thankfully not hurting Emperor Jon or Professor Wally. “I told you to grab my ship!” Vetvix scolded the monster. “Not break it!”

“Remember the plan,” whispered Jasmine. “We have to lure the monster back to the studio to meet the others, and then we’ll take it and Vetvix down all at once.”

“Hey, Vetvix!” Garfield shouted, gaining Vetvix’s attention. “Yoo-hoo!”

“Neener-neener-neener!” Jasmine said, wiggling her butt at the villain in sort of a mocking manner… something Izzy and Zipp would honestly be impressed by.

However, Vetvix fired her moscram at the duo, but they dodged the laser and hid behind some of the junk that made up the monster. However, the monster’s hand was rising towards them, to which Garfield and Jasmine eventually noticed... but not in time.

The monster's hand slammed down near them, sending the two flying onto the roof of a nearby building. In an attempt to escape, they ran to the windmill as it smashed the building. After the windmill itself was destroyed, they ran from building to building as more were being destroyed.

Jasmine was a pretty agile young filly, especially with her superpowers, but she knew that she and Garfield could never outrun this thing for long-- hopefully, the Unity Squad had lured the Pet Force to the studio by now.

As the monster destroyed one of the buildings that they were standing on, sending the duo flying into the air, Garfield saw a hot dog flying by, and out of his hungry personality, tried to grab it, but failed. “Noooooooo!!!”

Soon enough, all the buildings on that street were destroyed, and Garfield and Jasmine landed on the street, thankfully unharmed.

However, as the monster took a step closer to them, his foot came right on top of the special tree that the Mane 6 and their Cartoon World friends planted the last time they were there, completely demolishing it.

Jasmine gasped in horror at this. “NO!!” she cried out. “Our tree, it’s gone!”

“Oh, Jazzy, I’m so sorry…” Garfield whispered, saddened at the filly’s heartbroken nature and hugging her, despite the monster getting closer. Eventually, the duo heard a voice getting closer. “Jasmine! Garfield!”

This caused the duo to look and see the Mane 6 galloping closer, clearly out of breath. “We saw what happened to you guys! And to the tree!” Sunny said, clearly concerned. “Are you okay?”

“...we will be,” Jasmine muttered. “But that doesn’t matter right now… where’s the Pet Force?”

“They’re right over there,” Hitch said as the Pet Force rolled into sight, “but we still have no idea what you wanted them here for.”

“You’ll see, but get ready to duck and dive,” Garfield told them before calling out to the Pet Force. “Yoo-hoo! Pet Force!”

The Garzooka head turned at this and spit out a hairball at the group, causing most of them to shriek and dive before it could hit them. However, much to the Mane 6’s bewilderment, the hairball went and destroyed part of the building monster’s right foot.

That gave them a direct insight into Garfield's plan! “Oh, come on!” Misty said tauntingly, playing along with Garfield’s plan. “You can do better than that!”

The Garzooka head puked out another hairball, but Misty thankfully dodged it, and this hairball destroyed part of the monster’s left foot.

If they could use something to trip the monster up, it could potentially fling Vetvix and the moscram off it, and then they could use the moscram to turn everything back to normal!

That's when Zipp got an idea. “Hey, Odie!” she called, and Odie head turned around to face her. “Got tongue?”

The dog flicks off his tongue and it chased the ponies and Garfield around the monster. It wrapped around the monster’s legs a couple of times and Izzy tied it in a swift knot. “There! Crocheting class really set a tight bar for me, but I think I did particularly well!”

“Great job, Iz!” Jasmine smiled. “Now come on! We gotta take cover!”

“No need to tell me twice!” Hitch said as the group ran further away from the monster as the Odie head tried to pull its tongue back. Soon, the monster lost its footing (due to the tongue wrapped around its legs), tripped and fell over, launching Vetvix, who screamed and let go of the moscram, into the studio. Garfield smiled in contentment at this. “Nice shot.”

And then, the moscram fell into Garfield’s paws, much to the Mane 6 and Jasmine's delight. “Garfield, you did it!” Sunny smiled. “You got the moscram!”

“We always knew you had it in you, buddy!” Zipp said as she noogied Garfield on the head. “Okay… I had my doubts at first, I admit it. But somehow, I had a feeling you would pull us through!”

“Uh, guys? Hate to break up the sweet moment,” Pipp said, “but we still have a gigantic monster to deal with!”

As Pipp had stated, the building monster was about to get up. But luckily, Garfield had the situation all under control now. “Time to take out the trash!”

With steady aim and tight-knit precision, Garfield fired the moscram at the building monster, and after a moment, the monster reverted itself back to the buildings that it once was. However, as the group celebrated their success, the Pet Force cluster noticed them. “Get Garfield!”

“Uh-oh!” Izzy, Misty and Jasmine yelped as the Pet Force rolled closer. “No need to panic, guys,” Garfield brushed off. “I’ve got this one, too.”

Garfield took the chance to zap the Pet Force cluster with the moscram, causing the Mane 6 to shield their eyes from the light. Soon, they were back to being separate members of the Pet Force, and although they looked quite dazed, they looked to be in good health condition. “Well, guys, there’s still one thing we have to do,” Zipp said with a narrowed gaze. “Take care of Vetvix once and for all!”

“You’re right,” Jasmine nodded and turned to the Pet Force. “Gotta run, guys!”

And so, Jasmine and Garfield led the Unity Squad back toward the studio and past the confused Pet Force in order to finally take care of the villain that started all this to begin with.

Saying Goodbye/A Treemendous Rebuild

Upon reaching the studio doors, Jasmine kicked the door to the studio open with all her might as the ponies and Garfield ran into the room, with Garfield holding the moscram tight within his paws.

Vetvix may have been flung into the studio, but that didn't mean she was defeated...

...at least, she had not been defeated yet.

The Unity Squad, Garfield and Jasmine had to make sure that Vetvix was out of the picture for good before they could put their troubles at ease.

Eli was the first to greet the group after they entered the studio space. “Way to go, you crazy kids!”

Wally, Betty, Bonita and the rest of the Royal Force cheered as they entered behind the heroes, and Jasmine hugged her friends out of relief that they were safe. However, Garfield still remained firm in what they had to do next. “There’s just one more thing to do.”

The group glanced over at Vetvix, who was, surprisingly, still alive after how far she had been flung. That’s when they took the chance to approach, with Sunny activating her alicorn form and lifting her wings. “It’s all over, Vetvix!”

“That’s what you think, alicorn,” Vetvix sneered. “You’ll never stop me!”

However, Diamond and Wally were able to block her path to prevent her from moving. “Stop right there!” Diamond sneered with hatred in her gaze as the rest of the Crazy Crew and the ponies backed Vetvix into the smile section. That gave Garfield just the opportunity to make his move. “Say cheese!”

And just like that, the ponies watched as Garfield blasted the beam at Vetvix, fusing her with the positive energy of the smile section. After the blast was over, Vetvix had become a source of good vibes all around-- even the paw prints on her suit had been changed into smiley faces. “Have a nice day, everybody!”

“Yes!” Zipp cheered as everyone else surrounded her. “We did it!”

“Not in the way that I personally expected,” Cobalt shrugged, “but I’m honestly okay with that.”

“Open the pit, Eli!” Garfield called. “You got it,” Eli nodded and did as told. And once the pit was open, Garfield zapped all of the zombies back to normal. All of the citizens went back to town, and everyone cheered as the Pet Force, Emperor Jon and Professor Wally entered the room to greet them. “Good job, comrades!” Garzooka smiled. “I knew you could do it.”

“Garzooka!” Cobalt gasped. “Arlene!”

“Odie! Nermal!” Lily exclaimed. “You’re all okay!”

The Royal Force ran forward and hugged their superhero-turned friends and Garzooka, relieved that they were no longer scrambled. “Never scare me like that again!” Lily said to Nermal in a scolding tone of voice. “I was so scared for you!”

“We all were!” Diamond told Odie. “Now, we don’t ever have to worry about you getting scrambled again!”

However, Betty rushed forward and caused Garzooka to panic somewhat. “Uh… Betty, wait!”

Betty pounced on Garzooka without warning, still completely entranced. “My hero…”

“Your highness…” Jon bowed to Emperor Jon, and the emperor realized how much they looked alike. “Lookin’ good!” they both said to each other, and Garfield gave Professor Wally the moscram back. “Might be a good idea to keep this locked up from now on, professor.”

“I’ve learned my lesson,” said Professor Wally. “Once I use it to reverse the damage done on Dorkon, I'm going to destroy it for good.”

“I wanna thank you all for what you've done,” Emperor Jon said to the heroes in the room, whether they had superpowers or not. “And thanks from the people of Dorkon too.”

“Emperor Jon? Hi…” Vetvix happily waved before approaching him… and it was clear that Emperor Jon was still entranced with her. “What can I say?” Vetvix asked with a sweet tone. “What can I say? I was a bad girl. Can you forgive me?”

“Hey, nobody’s perfect,” Emperor Jon said back. “Of course I forgive you.”

“Oh, boy…” Hitch and Professor Wally muttered in unison as Vetvix began to kiss Emperor Jon all over, much to the disgust of the Royal Force. “The new Pet Force was very courageous today,” Garzooka told the gang with a proud smile. “ But now I'm afraid you're going to have to relinquish those bodies. After all, there can only be one Pet Force.”

“Oh, but I don’t want to,” Nermal pouted. “I like being fast!”

That’s when Garzooka knelt down next to Nermal and rubbed his head with a smile. “You don't need that superpower, Nermal. You're a pretty super kid without it.”

After comforting Nermal… somewhat, Garzooka opened the suitcase with red serum and Odie, Nermal and Arlene drank the serum matching them and their superpowers. One by one, they were reverted back to their regular forms, much to Nermal’s disappointment… and Garfield’s relief. “Welcome back, baby!”

He and Arlene kissed on the lips, causing Jasmine to gag. “Garfield, get a room or something! Jeez!”

“Um… Garzooka?” Lily said, about ready to remove her crown. “Will you be needing our crowns back too?”

“It was really fun being a superhero,” Diamond said, “and we would love to experiment with our powers some more.”

“Who knows?” Jasmine added with a slight shrug. “Maybe being a superhero is my true destiny, and this can help me find my biological family.”

However, Garzooka smiled down at the four younger ponies. “Actually… I want you four to hold onto those crowns-- after all, the official new Royal Force will need them to protect Cartoon World.”

Jasmine gasped in shock at this. “Really? Y-You’re serious?!”

“Indeed I am,” Garzooka nodded. “Your four deserve it.”

“YES!!!” Cobalt cheered, flipping up into the air. “BEST DAY EVER!!!”

“Thank you, Garzooka!” Diamond said gratefully. “We’ll do you and the rest of Dorkon proud!”

That's when all four of the younger ponies brought Garzooka in for a huge hug to thank him, and although he was a bit surprised at first, Garzooka smiled and melted into the embrace, which the Mane 6 and Sparky soon joined in as well. “Well,” said Garzooka, breaking away from the hug after a few moments, “we've gotta be going. And again, thank you all. You're the real heroes today. Farewell.”

And as he began to leave, Garzooka suddenly turned around. “Oh, uh, Nermal. This is for you.”

He threw Nermal an Abnermal-styled costume, much to the kitten’s delight. “Ha ha! Sweet!”

“Oh, and Cosmic Sunlight?” Garzooka reached into his pocket and pulled out a shimmering item. “I believe this will do your team wonders.”

Sunny gasped and grabbed the shard immediately, a huge grin implanted on her face. “Another shard of the star! Garzooka, you’re absolutely amazing!”

“We’ll never forget today, or you,” Misty smiled. “If you ever come to Equestria, just look us up!”

“I’ll do that, Butterfly Whisperer. Thank you all once again,” Garzooka said before saluting to them, causing the ponies to salute back. Then, Garzooka began to leave… but not before being chased the love-crazed Betty.

XXXXXXXX

Soon, the spaceship started to leave for home, and everyone in the studio went outside wave goodbye.

“So long, Garzooka!”

“We’ll miss you!”

“Don’t forget to write!”

“Until next we meet, comrades!” Garzooka called before the ship zoomed away.

At the newspaper stand, the boy had finished putting the books in the racks when he heard the ship approaching. “Oh no…”

The spaceship zoomed into the Pet Force issue and all the books fell to the floor, much to the boy’s dismay. “Oh, well…” he sighed. “Third time’s the charm, I guess.”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the comic studio, the others gathered around the special tree they had planted weeks before this event, and the very one that Vetvix's monster destroyed by stomping on it.

Jon shook his head with a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry, guys… I know how much this tree meant to you.”

“If only Vetvix was still evil and here,” Cobalt stomped his hoof angrily. “Then we could teach her a lesson!”

“But that wouldn’t do anything except stir up anger,” Jasmine pointed out. “It wouldn’t bring the tree back, no matter how much we wanted it to.”

“Maybe… maybe we could have done something different,” Lily said with a sigh. “Something that could have saved the tree from being a pile of wood.”

“Well, if we can’t do anything to bring it back,” said Nermal, “then we need to do something to honor it!”

“Oh… good idea, Nermal!” Misty nodded in agreement. “But… what can we do to honor its memory?”

“I think it should be something that represents what the tree is,” Arlene suggested. “The gateway to our friendship!”

“Yes! I totally agree” Lily nodded in agreement. “But… what would ‘a gateway to our friendship’ look like?”

“...I got it!” Hitch said before making a little house drawing in the dirt. “What if we made all these broken parts into… this?”

The group looked at his drawing, and Cobalt was able to easily figure it out. “A clubhouse!”

Diamond gasped in delight. “That’s a great idea!”

“I know the tree would like that!” Sunny nodded. “Okay, let’s draw up the plan and get to work!”

And so, the plans were quickly being devised by the Royal Force and their feline/canine companions, and once plans were made, work on the new clubhouse began shortly after...

...with a song in between.

Jasmine: We celebrate our friendship

Diamond: We celebrate the tree

Nermal: The memories inside us

All: We'll build for all to see

Zipp: The tree brought us together (Brought us together)

Cobalt: And even though it's gone (Even though it's gone)

Hitch: Our monument of friendship (Of friendship)

All: Can make the gift live on

Izzy: A piece from me, a piece from you

Misty: We'll use the tree and we'll make do

Lily: If things don't fit, there's lots of glue

All: Friends don't quit in the end
And together, we'll see this through

Arlene: It's hard to say farewell

Hitch: To something you hold dear

Royal Force: But goodbye isn't forever

All: As long as we are here

The tree is in our memory (Ahh-ahh-ahh)
Its roots have grown deep in our hearts
(Deep in our hearts, deep in our hearts)
Its branches raise our spirits, together we're all bound
Forever it stands, lost but now it's found

Sunny: So lift a beam

Pipp: And built it strong

Diamond: Work as a team, it won't take long

Jasmine: Hey, Diamond Heart, I think that's wrong

Garfield, Odie, Diamond and Jasmine: We'll live the dream and sing our song

All: And make the tree something all can see
In a place where we belong!

And as the song reached its end, the clubhouse itself was finished, composed of the tree's branches, roots, trunk and a few other things that Izzy had thought would make a good alteration. “Well?” Sunny asked her friends. “What do you think?”

“Well, uh… it’s kind of messy,” Arlene tried to smile. “Yeah,” Garfield nodded. “It’s like a bunch of different parts all smushed together.”

However, Diamond giggled and hugged Odie tightly. “It’s just like us!”

“Well… if Diamond likes it, then yeah,” Cobalt nodded with a smile. “I think it’s perfect too.”

“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Jasmine asked, beaming with excitement. “Let’s give it a try!”

The Cartoon World gang climbed into the clubhouse one by one, giggling and happy with the message it represented, and the Mane 6 shortly joined them, laughing and giggling as well.

However, as they were beginning to enjoy the moment, the entire clubhouse began to glow and rumble. “Whoa!!” Nermal struggled to keep balance. “What’s happening?!”

“I don’t know,” Misty shook her head, “but it looks like magic!”

“Everypony out!!!” Hitch shouted, causing everyone to leap from the treehouse to a much safer place. The magic continued to envelope the shabby little clubhouse more and more, causing the group to shield their eyes from the bright light. When the light finally faded, they couldn't help but stare at what they witnessed.

That small clubhouse, built to honor their friendship, turned into a glorious clubhouse... something that Jasmine and her friends always wanted to build, but never had the opportunity. “Whoaaaaaaaa….!!!!!!!”

“Hold it… back it up,” Cobalt said with wide eyes. “How… did that… happen?”

“I think I have some sort of idea,” said Sunny with a pleased smile. “Magic has always been good at surprises. If I had to guess, I'd say our friendship is more powerful than even we know.”

“Oh… I have a feeling that we know how powerful it is,” Jasmine said. “We just needed a life-changing adventure to help us realize it.”

“And now, we have a really cool place to hang out whenever you guys are back in Cartoon World!” Nermal added. “A total bonus!”

This caused the entire group to laugh before they realized a portal was opening up nearby, causing Zipp to sigh. “Well, guys… that’s our ticket home. We better get going before it closes.”

“We’ll be waiting for you guys every minute of every day for you to come back!” Diamond said as the group exchanged final farewells. “We promise!”

“See you guys soon!” called Sunny as the Mane 6 dove into the portal with Sparky before it closed, leaving their Cartoon World friends to enjoy the wonderful reminder of their true friendship for the rest of the day.

Author's Note

I thought The Place Where We Belong, sung by the Young Six in season 9, was such a good song, and I wanted to base this monumental scene off of that.

A Starlit Finale/Allura's Song and a Warning Sign

The Unity Quest of the season was finally over.

Vetvix had been reformed, Jasmine and her friends were crowned the new Royal Force, ans now, the Cartoon World gang and the ponies had a fun place to gather whenever the Mane 6 were back in their neck of the woods.

But right now... the Mane 6 were on their way home, to wrap their heads around the chaotic mission surrounding that very day.

XXXXXXXX

The next thing the Mane 6 remembered after jumping into that portal home was them appearing back in the Crystal Room, their superhero forms having disappeared from sight.

Zipp was the first to sigh in relief at this. “It is SO good to be home.”

“I’ll say,” Hitch sighed in agreement. “That adventure was good in more ways than one, but… I really don’t wanna face a tyrannical supervillain again anytime soon.”

“Speaking of superheroes and stuff like that,” said Pipp as they walked downstairs, “we never agreed what we were going to do with those comic books you and Hitch have been making.”

“Oh, you’re right!” Misty realized. “Didn’t Izzy have the final vote?”

“I did, but… I think we should hold off on publishing them for now,” Izzy said. “These adventures are special to us, and I think we should take a break before we publish any of them… at least until the Allura situation dies down.”

“Izzy… I think you’re absolutely right,” Sunny smiled. “And with another one of the star pieces tracked down, we only have three more star shards to go!”

“And then, once we have those last star shards,” said Zipp, “we won’t have to worry about Allura and Twitch again.”

“A good thing too. Now, if we’re all hoping to relax a bit,” said Hitch, sitting on the couch with his friends, “I have another idea for another installment to our comics, if you all wanna help.”

“Really? That would be really fun, Hitch!” Sunny smiled. “What’s this one gonna be called?”

“Well… I’m still workshopping a title, but I think we should call it… Garfield’s Pet Force.”

Misty giggled at this. “I think Garfield would love that.”

And so, they all got to work, secretly wondering if their Cartoon World friends were really all right after they had left.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the comic studio, the gang watched Emperor Jon and Vetvix’s wedding on the big screen. “They’re renewing their vows,” Arlene cooed, wrapping an arm around Garfield’s. “Oh, isn't that romantic?”

“Eh, I still think it's kind of gross, but... seeing Emperor Jon happy is pretty satisfying,” Lily smiled sweetly. “Especially after what we've all been through in the past day or so.”

“I once again pronounce you emperor and queen,” Professor Wally declared. “You may kiss the bride.”

The emperor prepared to kiss his new bride, but Vetvix grabs him and kissed him rather dramatically, but strangely... no one really minded.

Everyone on Planet Dorkon, including the rejuvenated Pet Force members, all celebrated the momentous occasion with fireworks.

In fact, everyone in the studio was cheering in the same manner... that is, until Arlene noticed that Garfield had disappeared from sight. “Hey, Jasmine... have you and Cobalt seen Garfield anywhere?”

Jasmine took her eyes off the screen to look around, noticing that her best friend had indeed disappeared. “Huh... no, I was so focused on the wedding, I didn't notice he had left.”

“We'll go and help you find him,” Cobalt offered before thinking of a place that Garfield might be. “And I think I know where we can start.”

XXXXXXXX

Bright stars filled the dark sky, swirling in a beautiful aurora-like pattern as Garfield sat outside to watch it all. And after a few minutes, Arlene, Jasmine and Cobalt came outside to check on him, Arlene being the first to say anything. “What are you doing out here, Garfield?”

“Oh, I was just getting a breath of fresh air, wondering how much I've missed out on in life,” Garfield said, looking up at the stars with a thoughtful expression. However, what Garfield said caused Jasmine to look at her best friend rather strangely. “Wait... missed out on?”

“Yeah,” Garfield said, standing up. “By not getting involved more often.”

However, Arlene took him by the paw with a loving expression. “Well, you haven’t missed out on me... or these foals.”

Jasmine, Cobalt and Garfield smiled at these words, and Garfield decided to take the trio on a special outing, just the four of them. “Hey... what do you three wanna do tonight? Save the universe?”

Arlene groaned in disgust at the idea, prompting Jasmine to try and come up with her own suggestion. “Fight evil wherever it may lurk?”

“Boring...” Cobalt singsonged with a playful look, causing Garfield to hum in thought. “How about...?”

However, before he could finish what he was saying, that same swirl of starlight came down from the sky and appeared under their feet, giving Garfield the perfect idea. “Dancing?”

“Now you're talking!” Cobalt said with a smile. “If it's with you guys, I'm totally up for it.”

So, taking each other by the paw and hoof, the four of them flew up into the sky and danced the night away. Garfield had Arlene while Cobalt and Jasmine danced with one another.

They twirled and skipped across the star trail. Then, they spun and float through outer space, gazing around the Milky Way and enjoying a different perspective of their world.

This was surely an adventure that they were never going to forget...

...and they were sure that the Mane 6 were going to come back at some point.

And then, the adventures would begin all over again.

XXXXXXXX

However, they had no idea that in the mortal world, Allura was lurking over the side of the mountain she had been resting on, with Twitch sleeping beside her.

She fiddled with the star shard around her neck, sighing in deep thought.

Once she got all the star shards those ponies had claimed, and found those that were remaining in all the different worlds in the universe, she was going to make a new home in Equestria and free her brother from his prison.

Eventually, she decided to sing a soft tune to herself, unaware that Twitch had stirred and woken up to the singing.

Allura: You say I'm a monster
You say I'm a bully
If that's how you paint me
Well, you never knew me

Spend my life on the outside lookin' in
Can't remember what it feels like (Feels like)
Now, I must begin all over again
Another place that never fit right

I would have done it all so differently (and I don't)
Say I'm a bully, you can make believe (if you want it)
Now everypony thinks the worst of me (worst of me)
Oh, well

They won't stop 'til they make a monster out of me
They got their minds made up, but they just can't see
'Cause all I really wanna do is find my way back to you
Always find my way right back to you

I'll find my way right back to you
Find my way right back to you (Ha, ha)
Always find my way right back to you (Ha, ha)
You, ooh-ooh-ooh (Ha, ha)

All my life then bouncing place to place
Never welcomed, always chased away ('way)
Always made to wander near the edge
In the distance I'm afraid

I would have done it all so differently (and I don't)
Say I'm a bully, you can make believe (if you want it)
Now everypony thinks the worst of me (better run)
I'm used to it

They won't stop 'til they make a monster out of me
They got their minds made up, but they just can't see
'Cause all I really wanna do is find my way back to you
Always find my way right back to you

I'll find my way right back
Find my way right back to you (Ha, ha)
Always find my way right back (Ha, ha)
You, ooh-ooh-ooh (Ha, ha)

You say I'm a monster
You say I'm a bully
If that's how you paint me
Well, you never knew me

Finally, she stopped her song when she heard Twitch yawn and squeak to her, causing her to clear her throat and retain composure. “It’s really nothing, Twitch... just thinking about my dear brother, still imprisoned in some far off realm. We will rescue him, my little pet... and nopony is going to get in our way. Count on that.”

XXXXXXXX

Back in Equestria, as the group took a break from the comic creating to play a nice relaxing board game, Sunny felt a sudden shiver going down her neck.

Like... something within her was trying to warn her about something.

But... what in the world could that be?

Zipp blinked, noticing Sunny's change in demeanor almost immediately. “Sunny? Is everything okay?”

“Well, I just thought that I felt something... like a sort of warning sign,” Sunny said as the rest of the group turned to look at her in concern. “It was just here for a minute, and then... it just disappeared into thin air!”

Hitch shuddered at this. “Sounds creepy if you ask me.”

“Do you think it has something to do with Allura?” Misty asked, frowning in deep concern. “Do you think she's found another star shard?”

“I hope not,” Pipp said in worry. “The more star shards she collects, the creepier and more dangerous she gets!”

“Don't worry, guys,” Sunny said, trying to comfort her friends as well as herself. “Even if Allura is getting more powerful, we'll be able to take her on... cause we have nothing to fear as long as we stick together.”

Author's Note

And before anyone else asks, I was working on Space Buddies and this story at the same time, keeping a very stern schedule between the two, so that's why they're going to be published around the same time.

This was a really great story to make, guys-- I hope you enjoy it!