AUTHOR'S NOTE: A new take on an MLP story. This one features the little animal buddies that came with the Pretty Parlor (Twinkles the cat), the Show Stable (Brandy the dog), the Waterfall (Duck Soup the . . . . errrr, duck), and Dream Castle (Spike the dragon, of course!) In the UK comics I've seen, Brandy, Twinkles, and Duck Soup were able to talk to the ponies. However, in my MLP world, only Spike can understand them, and the four animals can talk to each other, too. It should also be noted, though I'm not terribly fond of "Gender Switching," which is somewhat of a common trend in the MLP fandom, I do this here, only because the toy version of Duck Soup looks like a boy to me, whereas box stories, the UK comics, and the like have Duck Soup as a girl.

It was a bright, sunny day in Ponyland. Twinkles the cat was sleeping in a patch of sunlight that was pouring through the windows of Paradise Estate. It was the perfect spot for a little cat nap. Unfortunately, Brandy the dog wasn't about to let her sleep in. He snuck up on the little orange kitten.

"Rowf, rowf, rowf, rowf!" he barked.

"MEOW!" Twinkles screeched, as she literally hit the roof. She was hanging upside down from the ceiling, digging her claws in so she could stay there without falling. Brandy was rolling on his back laughing.

"Very funny!" Twinkles shouted.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Brandy laughed.

"Oh go bury a bone!"

Twinkles let her claws go, and she ended up crash landing on Brandy's back.

"Oof!" Brandy shouted. "Hey, watch it! I thought cats always land on their feet!"

"Sometimes," Twinkles said, climbing off Brandy with as much dignity as she could muster. "But I'm just a little kitten! I'm still practicing to land on my feet."

Twinkles started back to her sunbeam, when Brandy let out a bark, and jumped on top of Twinkles.

"Hey!" the little orange kitten shouted.

"Cats always land on their feet," Brandy said. "And dogs always land on their cats!"

"Get offa me, you . . . . . you . . . . you dog!"

"Make me!"

Twinkles hissed, and swiped Brandy with her claws. She got him in the nose. He let out a yelp and jumped off.

"Ouch! Owie, owie, owie, owie!" Brandy whimpered.

"Big baby," Twinkles muttered.

"That does it!"

Brandy began growling. Twinkle's fur bristled, and she went running, mewing her head off, as Brandy followed after her, barking like crazy. They ran past Peachy and Lemon Drop, and the two ponies just stared after their pets.

"There they go again," they said in unison.

Twinkles and Brandy continued running around, mewing and barking, until they came to the waterfall where Sprinkles, Bubbles, and Duck Soup were sitting, washing themselves.

"What's all that noise?" Bubbles asked.

"Look out!" Sprinkles shouted, flapping her wings as hard as she could.

"Yikes!" Bubbles shouted, jumping out of the water, as she saw Twinkles and Brandy come running.

Duck Soup hadn't gotten away in time, and Twinkles and Brandy ended up trampling him.

"Hey!" he quacked. "Hey, come back here! Why I oughta . . . ."

Duck Soup ran off after the dog and cat, quacking all the way, mad as a hornet! Sprinkles and Bubbles looked at them as if they were crazy.

"Never a dull moment," Sprinkles sighed, with a shake of her head.

The three animals circled back to Paradise Estate, mewing, barking, and quacking all the way. Spike the dragon was sitting at a picnic table eating some ice cream. He heard all the commotion, and turned around to see what was going on.

"Huh?" he asked. Twinkles jumped on him.

"Ooh!" Spike shouted. "Twinkles!"

Before he could say anything else, Brandy came running by, and hit Spike as well. But he kept on running.

"Oof!" Spike shouted. "What was that?"

In a fury of feathers, Duck Soup came quacking by, and he plowed into Spike. That last one did it. Spike was knocked into his bowl of ice cream, spilling it all over.

"That does it!" he shouted. "Come back here!"

Spike took off running after Twinkles, Brandy, and Duck Soup, yelling at them as he went. Duck Soup kept quacking, Brandy kept barking, and Twinkles kept mewing. Twinkles was running as fast as she could, until she saw Peachy. She jumped onto her back and stayed there.

"Huh?" Peachy asked. Then she saw the procession behind the cat. "Whoa! Whoa, hold it! Hold it. STOP!"

But it was too late. All the animals plowed into Peachy, and knocked her off her feet. That stopped the chase. Julie, who was standing in the distance, began giggling. She wasn't making fun of what just happened. But the sight of Peachy laying on the ground in a tangle of her legs, plus Spike, Duck Soup, and Brandy, with Twinkles on the pony's back, was pretty funny.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Julie called. Twinkles mewed happily and trotted over to Julie. The little girl picked up the little orange kitten and gave her a hug. Twinkles rubbed against Julie's chin and purred contently.

"Favorite," Brandy mumbled.

Twinkles glared at Brandy and blew him a raspberry. Julie didn't notice. She took Twinkles, and started for the fields of Dream Valley. She lay down on her back, and held Twinkles in the air. By far, her favorite pony was Medley, followed by Cupcake. But of all the little ponies' little animal friends, Twinkles was her favorite. Julie giggled, and put Twinkles on her stomach, and stroked her from her head to her tail. Twinkles purred like an outboard motor.