"Woah!"
Fluttershy let out a loud exclamation as Snappy's portable hole opened in Toontown Central. She hopped out of the hole and stood aside, trying to get her footing, as Snappy popped out right behind her. A second later, the hole disappeared.
She wasn't sure if she liked portable hole travel. Sure, it got them where they needed to go in relative seconds, but it felt like she was falling through a deep, dark hole the entire time. Which, in retrospect, she probably was.
"Ah, home sweet home. I can never get enough of it." Snappy said, taking a deep breath of air. Clearly he seemed to like this place.
After taking a moment to get her bearings, Fluttershy realized they were behind a tall green hedge. Looking around, she noticed a small schoolhouse nearby, and next to it, a small colorful tunnel that looked like it lead to somewhere party-related. It even had a large party hat over the entrance. Fluttershy giggled upon seeing it, knowing Pinkie Pie would love to have seen this. A couple of Toons were on either side of this entrance, gazing at their clipboards and muttering nonstop under their voices.
Not far away, there was a tall stone tunnel with the words "Silly Street" over it. Judging from the picture below these words, she guessed it went toward that Daisy Gardens place she had seen earlier. She kind of wanted to go check that place out, but she knew there were more important things going on at the moment.
This didn't stop a couple of questions from tumbling out of her mouth, though.
"So, where are we now?" She asked, causing Snappy to smile at her.
"The Toontown Central Playground. Every neighborhood has a playground at its heart. It's pretty much a safe zone where no cogs can attack us, and where we can just hang out and whatnot." Snappy explained, before peeking over his shoulder and gazing around like a watchful hawk. He didn't want to be seen in Toontown Central right now, out of fear another angry mob might begin chasing him.
Despite this, however, he felt that now was the perfect time for Fluttershy to have a look at the rest of the playground.
"Let's go take a look. Over here." Snappy said, pointing past the tunnel and over to a large open area not far away. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.
"You mean, there's more?" She asked curiously. Snappy nodded to her, and together they walked along the hedge, past an opening in said hedge, through which Fluttershy could clearly see the back of a very large building, and along another stretch of hedge, which turned a corner and stopped at a massive potted plant atop a pedestal.
Fluttershy felt her eyes widen when she saw what was around this corner. From where they were standing, she could see a large gazebo overlooking a small pond where several Toons were fishing on small docks. There was a small shop nearby that had the large, orange words "Goofy's Gag Shop" over the door. There was an overhang with a giant hole in it nearby the door, with a large grand piano smashed halfway into the ground directly underneath it. She figured the piano had fallen through the overhang, ruining it. It made her giggle for some reason. Suspended over the same overhang, by a large rope, was an opened, empty safe.
Right next to this shop was, what appeared to be, a small single-compartment train. She could see a couple of Toons board it, and a few seconds later, it rolled away into a dark tunnel and out of sight. A couple of seconds later, a similar-looking vehicle pulled to a stop in place of the first one. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the strange vehicle, for it had no driver or driving compartment of any description that she could see.
In-between two more stone tunnels, which lead to "Loopy Lane" and "Punchline Place", there was a shop that was shaped like a giant fire hydrant, something Fluttershy had only seen very briefly in a book Twilight Sparkle owned about a year ago, and a couple of time in Manehatten. She never thought she'd live to see one this big in her life. Judging from the pictures in the windows, which showed Toons playing with strange-looking jellybean-like creatures in a similar manner to a pet, she guessed it was some kind of pet shop. She wanted to go have a closer look, but ultimately decided against it.
Taking a few, careful steps further past the corner in the hedge, she spotted another building nearby up a set of yellow-tiled stairs. This one had a firefighters helmet on top of it, with the words "Fire Chief" written on the front of the helmet. There was something rising up out of the top of the helmet, which looked strikingly like one of those radio tower things she had seen adorning the top of some of the buildings in Manehatten. A long white banner was strung up over the front doors which read "Head Quarters" in dark grey letters. She had the feeling this building was very important.
Snappy, who was watching as Fluttershy looked around the playground with both curiosity and wonder in her eyes, stepped up behind her and took out his Shticker Book. While he was looking for a specific page, Fluttershy wandered away to go see the rest of the playground.
Near the building with the firefighters hat on it, there were three more buildings, all of which towered over the other structures in the playground. A large green one, which sat next to the "Head Quarters", had the word "Bank" on the front of it. Across the way from it was another tall building, this one yellow in color, with the words "Toontown Library" atop it. Fluttershy knew Twilight Sparkle would want to check that place out in a heartbeat.
And at the far end of the playground, in-between both these buildings, was a grand-looking, tall structure with the words "Toon Hall" on the front of it. She could already tell that this building was the "Town Hall" of Toontown. It must have been where the mayor resided. She was sure she would be visiting that place at least once.
Walking further on, and past another tall hedge, which also started at another potted plant atop a pedestal and turned a corner, she could see a couple of more structures. There was another tunnel in the shape of a tire which lead to "Goofy Speedway", and not far from that was a clothing shop. She knew that Rarity would want to check that place out right away if she ever came here.
She turned and looked out over the rest of the playground. There were Toons of all kinds running around, looking happy and cheerful as Pinkie Pie. There were a few dogs and cats like Snappy and herself, but there were at least seven other kinds of Toons she could see. There were pigs, donkeys, mice, monkeys, rabbits, ducks and bears. She noticed they were all of various heights, had fur of many different colors, so many in fact, Fluttershy couldn't count them all, and all wore different clothing. She could see that some of them, no doubt girls, were wearing dresses like her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The air was so clean and refreshing here. And the light, gentle breeze going past helped to put her mind at ease, even if only for a moment.
Overall, she liked it here. It wasn't Ponyville by a long shot, but at least she wasn't out in the middle of the forest with a mob of robots chasing her.
"Hey, Fluttershy! Come over here!" Snappy called to her.
She turned around and saw him hiding behind the opposite hedge, waving her over to where he was hiding.
She started to approach Snappy's position, but stopped when she heard a commotion nearby. She turned around and looked. A small group of Toons had gathered near the gazebo. They were all tightly bunched together and whispering to one another under their breath. But Fluttershy was able to hear them just fine.
"So, is it all clear, then?" One of the Toons, a bright red mouse, whispered to his companions.
"Yep. I already sent the letter on its way. Those Bumblejinks' won't know what hit them!" A dark green rabbit responded, smirking happily. "Let's see how they handle having an angry mob of Toons right at their front doorstep AND a war party of the strongest cogs in town showing up to spoil the party! It's going to be one heck of a night!"
The rest of the Toons all grinned, looking from one to the other with pleased expressions on their faces.
"So, we let the cogs go in and cause as much mayhem as they can, then we step in and pick up the pieces. And have it out with that Snappy guy once and for all." A blue cat recalled to his companions, who all nodded their heads.
"Yep. With any luck, his brother will be too busy fending off both the mob and the cogs to notice us. We can slip in, grab Snappy, and get ou-" One of them, a purple bear, began to say, before looking up and spotting Fluttershy, who gasped when she noticed him looking at her. The rest of his companions all looked over and saw her, their eyes widening.
Fluttershy felt her face grow hot, and shot a sideways glance at Snappy, as if telling him "Help me!", before looking back at the group of Toons. She didn't know why, but something about these Toons in particular put a sense of dread in her heart. Maybe it was their white, sleeveless shirts covered with thick, long-sleeved black jackets, which had a picture of a smoke cloud with a red cross through it. Maybe it was the fact all four were wearing bandanas and black, fingerless gloves like Snappy's gloves. She had no idea.
Snappy peeked out from his hiding place and took a look. He sighed in frustration when he saw who it was.
"Darn it all... it's the Smog Smashers!" He muttered under his breath, watching them all turn around to face Fluttershy as she slowly backed up the tiled stairs.
The Smog Smashers were a very famous splinter group who loved to travel the Tooniverse, saving people from cogs or anything they deemed to be a threat to Toonkind, though it was always at a heavily inflated price. And they had a bad habit of getting on Toons nerves and getting into fights, which had earned them a rather shaky reputation in Toontown. The Toontown Police had attempted to capture them multiple times in the past, but always came up short for one reason or another. Their names were pretty much unknown.
And though nobody would say it out loud without slamming their fist into the nearest door or wall in frustration, they were known to be very abusive toward girls. Especially girl cats. They had also gotten in deep trouble multiple times for stealing. Snappy recalled several times where his brother had put them in their place for abusive behavior toward other Toons. But for one reason or another, they never seemed to learn their lesson.
"Well, well, well, looks like there's a new Toon in town." The cat commented, taking a second to look over Fluttershy. His attention was mainly on her golden scarf that she was wearing. "And I must say what a sight she is."
The red mouse stepped up next to him, clicking his tongue.
"Oooo... I second that emotion." He said to his friend. The other two stepped up next to them.
"I say, is that scarf she's wearing made of gold?" The purple bear asked, eyeing Fluttershy's golden scarf. She gasped, stopped dead in her tracks, and put a hand over it, as if attempting to block it out of view.
But the others had seen it, and she could tell from the malicious looks in their eyes that they had made up their minds.
"Well, it would be a shame to see a beautiful item like that be wasted on such a fine looking Toon, don't you agree, boys?" The cat asked, cracking his knuckles as if preparing for a fight. The rest all nodded in agreement, before cracking their knuckles as well.
Fluttershy, her eyes wide with terror, began to back away once again. Whatever these thugs had in store for her, she wasn't going to stick around and find out.
And she knew better then to try and use "The Stare" on them. She had no idea if it worked on creatures in this world, which were very much different than anything she had ever encountered before. And this was NOT a good time to try and find out.
Snappy, sensing her distress, narrowed his eyes at the four, before pulling out what appeared to be a regular quicksand gag. However, this one was an experimental, non-lethal version that Snappy had developed after researching the real quicksand gag. It was specially designed to trap the target in sticky, blue goo for an extended period of time. He borrowed the idea from Sticky Lou, after hearing that he had gotten stuck in his own blue glue once again.
He had tested it before on some unsuspecting cogs, but now here he was trying to use it on four fellow Toons. Would it work?
He had no time to ponder this any longer; The four brutes were now making their way toward Fluttershy, who had tried to turn and run, but tripped and fell to the ground with a "Oof!". Sensing easy prey, the four quickly advanced on her.
Fluttershy gasped, trying to get to her feet, but she knew it was no use; the thugs would be upon her in seconds. She simply closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she knew was coming.
Snappy took dead aim with the gag and, with fingers crossed, pushed the button.
"Hey!"
"What the-"
"Ugh! I'm stuck!"
"Where the heck did this blue crud come from!?"
Snappy sighed with relief. The modified gag had worked, and the four Smog Smashers were stuck in the blue goo. They all yelled and roared and wrestled to get free, but it was no good; the sticky substance was too strong for them.
Fluttershy wasted no time in getting to her feet and dashing away toward Snappy, who quickly took her hand and proceeded to lead her away to somewhere else. Snappy was deeply hoping that blue goo would hold the Smog Smashers long enough for the two to get away.
However, the Smog Smashers had seen her leave. And when the cat of the bunch saw who she was with, he yelled and pointed at the pair, alerting every other Toon in the playground, who had all stopped to see what was going on.
"THERE! It's Snappy Bumblejinks! He's getting away! He's getting away!" The cat screamed. The Toons all gasped and looked over to the tunnel to Silly Street, and sure enough, there was Snappy attempting to lead Fluttershy away. He looked back, saw everyone else looking at him, and sighed.
"Well, here we go again." He muttered, before turning and taking off into the tunnel at full-speed, with a now startled Fluttershy in tow.
"AFTER HIM!" One of the Toons in the playground shouted. And sure enough, a small angry mob was formed, and they began to pursue Snappy.
The Smog Smashers all laughed in a wicked way, praising themselves for having stirred up so much confusion. That is, until the bear spoke up.
"You do know what'll happen if they don't find Snappy and come back here, right? We're wanted Toons, you know!" He told the cat, who looked over and gave him a blank expression.
The others were giving him similar blank expressions.
"Well, don't just stand there, stupid!" The cat complained, handing the bear a hacksaw. "You're the strongest of the group! Get us out of here!"
The bear sighed, regretting ever bringing up such a silly topic, and began to saw his way through the thick goo. This was going to take a while...
Upon exiting the tunnel, Snappy dashed down the street as fast as he could, nearly bowling over a wandering Flunky in the process, all the while pulling Fluttershy along behind him. He could hear that she was panting heavily, no doubt a result of all the running she had done today. They needed to get to safety.
A lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. His portable hole! He could just teleport back to the Bumblejinks estate! Rounding another corner, he quickly pulled out his portable hole and threw it on the ground.
"Inside, quick!" He instructed Fluttershy, who had sweat dripping down her face, before stepping over to peek around the corner.
He gasped when he saw what was back up the street. The angry mob was coming!
Fluttershy, after letting off a breath to calm herself and closing her eyes, once again jumped into the hole. It was definitely not her favorite way to travel. Oh, how she missed having her wings.
Snappy, after seeing her jump into the hole, quickly stepped over and hopped in himself. The hole closed and disappeared just as the mob was rounding the corner. They hadn't seen it close, though, and kept going down the street.
- Bossbot Headquarters -
"So, that little Pony girl was the one my machine sent into this world." Mystery said to Mildew, an ice pack on his forehead, as he and a bunch of cogs worked to clean up his lab. Ever since he got hit by Snappy's hammer, he had been nursing the mother of all headaches.
Mildew nodded to him, setting down her clipboard and tossing a piece of scrap metal into a nearby dustbin.
"Yes. Snappy accidently activated the machine, and then when he tricked me into destroying the controls, it went haywire." Mildew explained, wiping the sweat and oil from her brow. "The Bros. blew it up afterwards, but it succeeded in doing its job. Only, it wasn't a terrible monster that it brought here."
Mystery was half-and-half about this situation. He was glad his machine had worked in the end, but was upset that it hadn't brought a terrible, giant monster to destroy Toontown. Instead, it had brought an innocent young girl who, from the photo Mystery was holding of Fluttershy in her Pony form, looked as if she couldn't harm a fly.
"Argh... I set that stupid machine to find a monster, not a miniature horse! And why in the world did it dump her in the middle of the forest!?" Mystery exclaimed in fury, slamming the photo onto a desk nearby and grabbing his head. It felt as if a giant gong was pounding away inside his head.
Mildew looked down at her clipboard again.
"My guess is the machine thought she counted as a terrible monster, considering the amazing and powerful things she and her friends can do when they're together. Plus, her world is full of devious villains that rival even yourself. Though why it picked HER, of all the creatures in her world, I have no idea." Mildew told Mystery, a finger on her chin, as she pursed over the clipboard and shook her head slightly. "As for her ending up in the forest, I'm assuming the machine succeeded in sending her here, but because it was destroyed before it could bring her into the lab, it instead dumped her in the forest so she wouldn't be trapped in the void between worlds. If that makes any sense. Either that, or Snappy or myself accidently changed the coordinates for the machine while it was teleporting the girl. I spotted a bright flash out in the forest, which I assume was her being teleported, and sent out some Bossbots to investigate, but I haven't heard back from any of them. My guess is one of the Bumblejinks Bros. got there first and destroyed them."
Mystery nodded to her, having taken in every word of her speech, before taking another dose of Ibprofen; His third one that day.
"Oooo, I'm going to get that Snappy Bumblejinks back for this, mark my words..." He grumbled to himself, before turning and addressing Mildew once again. "Tell me, is it true? Has the entire town turned on him?"
Mildew nodded, smiling to Mystery as she walked over.
"Yes, the entire town is furious at him for killing one of the prisoners. He was chased by an angry mob in Donald's Dock about twenty-five minutes ago." She told him, which made him grin.
"Hmm, that could work out to our advantage. And so might that little Pony girl." He mused to himself, sneering in a wicked way, before turning around and heading out of the lab to go and lay down.
"Sir, you're instructions?" Mildew asked, getting the attention of the various cogs in the room. They all wanted to hear his orders.
"Continue working on the lab. I want it ready to go by tonight." He told everyone in the room, continuing on his way to the door. He had to go and rest his head for a while. At least until he could think clearly.
However, before he could reach the door, a Pencil Pusher burst into the room. He had clearly been looking for Mystery, for he approached his boss quickly.
"Sir, a letter for you." The lower level Cog said, handing over a scarlet red envelope. Mystery took it and looked at it suspiciously, unable to make out any of the text as his cyborg eye was currently out of commission, before turning around and waving Mildew over.
"My eye's still offline, you'll have to read it." He instructed her, handing the envelope over to her. She took it and examined it carefully, before opening it and extracting the message it contained.
"Sir, this is Number Four. Good news. We've discovered when the Bumblejinks guard will be down. There are rumors flying around town that an angry mob is going to stage a raid on the Bumblejinks estate in order to capture Snappy tonight. Now's the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot! The cogs can sneak in, grab whatever they need, and get out while the Bros. are busy dealing with the mob! We're awaiting your confirmation to begin the operation.
P.S. Dusty Bumblejinks foiled your attack on The Brrrgh. The entire attack team was wiped out. We're returning to Sellbot HQ."
When she had finished, she noticed Mystery had a vile look in his left eye. She could already tell a plan was forming in his mind.
"Hmm... there's been a change in plan, Mildew." Mystery said happily, who had a look of pure evil on his face. "Schedule an urgent meeting in the Executive Office Tower for tonight at nine. Get as many of our higher level cogs as you can." He ordered.
"Yes, sir!" She replied, giving Mystery a salute, same as the Pencil Pusher, as Mystery walked past them and out of the lab. He needed to lie down and sleep off this headache... as well as plan out his next scheme against the Bumblejinks. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy this fine night...
- The Bumblejinks Estate -
The portable hole opened up outside of Snappy's house within the Bumblejinks estate. Fluttershy popped out, landed without a scratch on both feet, and quickly stepped aside as Snappy popped out a couple of seconds afterwards. The hole quickly disappeared.
"Wow, that was close." Snappy muttered to himself, letting out another sigh. He had eluded an angry mob once again, and this time he had been able to do it without blowing up half a street, flooding a shop or dropping pianos on unsuspecting Toons. A victory for him, he supposed.
Fluttershy took a moment to look around the area. There were several houses in the place she was now in, all of which looked decently sized and cheerful. They were all different colors. The one they were in front of was the same shade of blue as Snappy, which lead her to believe this was where he lived. There was also a small building not far away that had another radio antenna on top of it. Many of the houses had flower boxes with flowers growing in them, along with tall, green, healthy trees surrounding them.
She felt her eyes widen when she saw what was in these trees. Pies, cupcakes, trapdoors, TNT, seltzer bottles and fire hoses. There was one that even had what appeared to be train tracks growing on it.
She looked in disbelief at the strange trees. What kind of trees were these?
"I see you're interested in those gag trees." Snappy commented, noticing Fluttershy was looking at the trees in the area. She looked over at him and gave him a confused look.
"Gag what?" She asked. She had never heard of something like that before.
Snappy just chuckled.
"Ah, you'll find out later. How about we get inside the little outpost over here?" He suggested, heading over to the small building with the radio antenna on top of it.
Fluttershy gave him another confused look, but followed him nonetheless.
They were just about to step inside, when...
BARK!
A loud bark stopped them in their tracks. They both looked down to see what it was.
There was a bright blue creature sitting on the front doormat. It was shaped like a large jellybean and had two feet that weren't joined to its body. It had a full head of blue hair, a long, blue, fluffy tail, and was bright blue in color. And from the way it was looking at the pair with its tall, oval-shaped eyes as they approached, it was very excited and happy to see them.
"Aww, Waffles. You were waiting here for us the whole time?" Snappy said to the little creature, bending down to scratch it on the chin. The little creature barked again and panted happily as Snappy did so.
Fluttershy felt herself smile. For as much insanity as she had seen today, she had to admit, the little creature was adorable!
"Wow, what is that?" She asked curiously, walking closer to the creature. Snappy laughed as it licked him on the cheek.
"He's a Doodle. They're our pets in this town. They have tons of them over at the pet shops." He explained, standing upright and stepping toward the door. "And boy, do they make excellent pets. They'll even help you out in combat, if you train them."
Fluttershy smiled as she bent down and petted the Doodle on the head. Waffles barked happily and licked her on the cheek in return. She giggled and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
"Aww, he's so cute!" She exclaimed happily, as she patted the happy Doodles back, making Snappy smile.
"Just wait until you see Dusty and Melody's Doodles. They're just as cool. But we should get in here before something else happens." He told her, opening the door and disappearing inside the building.
Fluttershy gave the little Doodle one more cheerful look, before standing up and entering the building herself. She made it a priority to play with the little guy some more later. She may as well try to have SOME kind of fun while she was here, to keep her spirits up, if nothing else.
"Here we are." Snappy said, flipping a light switch next to the door. The lights to the building came on at once.
Fluttershy could clearly see this was a very important place they were in. Multiple couches and chairs surrounded a large table in the middle of the room, where several documents lay scattered. A desk and office chair were in the corner of the room, next to a tall filing cabinet. There was a smaller table with a radio sitting atop it on the other end of the room, which Snappy was currently walking towards.
Stepping around the large table and its chairs, Fluttershy looked inside the next room. It looked like some kind of infirmary. There were three beds with small bedside tables next to them, as well as shelves and cabinets full of various medical supplies. The beds looked comfy from where she was standing.
Snappy picked up the radio from the table and clicked a button on it.
"Dusty, are you there?" He spoke into the radio. A second later, his brother's voice came through on the other end.
"Yeah, I'm here. Just helping clean up the mess these cogs left behind. How'd things go on your end?" Dusty asked. Fluttershy could hear the pair clearly from where she was standing.
"Well, long story short: Mission completed. But there were a couple of, uh... complications." He said, looking over at Fluttershy.
"What do you mean complications? I got a letter from Melody about a situation that developed up in the forest, but I'm not sure if it's true or if she's just playing around." Dusty asked. Snappy just looked down, lowering the radio for a second, before raising it again.
"It's a long story. And believe me, it's real alright. I'll tell you all about it when you get back here." Snappy told him.
"Alright, I got you. We're almost done here, I'll be back in a few of minutes. Just make sure nothing stupid happens, alright?" Dusty told his little brother, shortly before the line went dead. Snappy set the radio down on the table and sighed.
Something stupid had happened, alright. And Snappy was still unsure if it was real, or some crazy, wild dream that he was inventing as it went on.
He looked over at Fluttershy and gave her a weak smile. She smiled back, giving him a reassuring nod. Clearly, she didn't mind waiting here for a few minutes. As long as it was safe from those evil cogs, and those brutish Toons she had encountered, she was perfectly fine with staying here.
"Guess we're going to have to wait here for a bit... why don't you go lie down and rest for a bit? I'm sure you're exhausted after everything that's happened." Snappy suggested, turning to walk over to the desk. He needed to have a look at something before Dusty got back.
Fluttershy let out a low yawn. Snappy had a point; she was pretty tired after everything that had happened in such a short span of time. Perhaps now she could relax for a moment.
She turned and walked into the infirmary. She climbed up onto the nearest bed, which was fairly soft and comfortable and sat down. And finally, she allowed herself to calm down and take in the situation.
She was in some strange, foreign world that neither she, nor any of her friends had ever seen or heard of. Nothing she knew or grew up with existed here. And as far as she could tell, all of her friends were still in Ponyville, probably worried to death over what had happened to her. She had no way of letting them know she was alive.
And to top it off, she had been transformed into one of these "Toons", which appeared to be the dominant species of this world. Melody had said this was done so she could blend in more effectively, and avoid raising a ruckus, but she wished Melody had left her wings intact. If there was one thing Fluttershy loved about being a Pegasi, it was her ability to fly to escape from danger. But without it, she felt... strangely powerless. It was as if someone had taken her special talent away, and her cutie mark meant nothing as a result.
Or at the very least, if she still had her cutie mark. But as far as she knew, it was long gone as well.
"What they say is true..." she thought to herself, looking behind her back as if checking to see if her wings were there, but there was nothing. "You don't really know what it is you have, until it's gone."
She sighed sadly once again. No friends, no Elements of Harmony, no wings, no cutie mark, and she only had Melody's word to go by at this point. She truly felt like she had been flung into some crazy, insane nightmare that had stripped her of everything she ever had. Only she couldn't wake up from this nightmare.
But at least she was safe. Even if it was only for the time being, she felt she was safe, and could take some time to formulate a plan on how to get home, without being chased by this and that through the streets like a scared little rabbit.
And she had met up with some allies. Snappy himself seemed to be a very strong Cog fighter, and she could tell that he was genuinely concerned about her wellbeing and the situation she was currently in. But then again, being a sidekick to a superhero, she figured it just came with the job. And if his brother was anything like him, she could tell she was in good hands. At least she wasn't alone.
She raised a hand and lifted up the golden scarf from her neck. The only thing she had to remind her of Equestria, apart from memories of her friends. Back at her house, she had yet to fully take in just how precious this thing was, and how valuable of a gift it was, coming from all of her friends. Now that she was in this strange, alternate world, completely cut off from her friends, it truly felt like her last link to her old home, and she somehow felt that if anything were to happen to it, she would never see Equestria or her friends again. Even though this couldn't have been further from the truth.
And then there was Melody. She had sounded no older then Fluttershy herself, yet there was an unexplainable power, along with a very warm and welcome sage like wisdom around her that would have left Princess Celestia speechless. She was almost certain that Melody was not from this world. She was still having a hard time believing that this was a world that could survive and thrive entirely off of silliness and insanity, but something about Melody told her she hailed from a world with some sort of powerful magic about it, such as Equestria, who had decided to come here and live out her life as one of these Toons. That, or she was here doing some kind of research on the Toons and was maintaining a low profile by disguising herself as one of them.
"I'll have to ask her about that later." She thought to herself. "If I ever get the chance."
At least Melody seemed friendly enough. And she HAD said that she may know of a way to send Fluttershy home. While that sounded like a giant "Maybe" to Fluttershy, at least it was SOMETHING to go off of, so she wasn't left flying completely in the dark.
Speaking of Melody, Fluttershy finally decided it was time to take a look at that bag she had given her. Carefully, she removed the strap, set it down on the bed next to her, and opened it.
She raised an eyebrow at the contents. There was a small, grey, round object inside of it that had a pair of white eyes, a large smile, and a clip on the back. As soon as she picked it up though, it turned yellow and grew cat ears at the top. Numbers had also appeared in the eyes. They both read fifthteen.
Setting that down, she took out the next item from the bag. It looked like a small pouch that she could strap around her waist. It was even colored pink to match her dress.
She set it down and pulled something else out of the bag. It was a portable hole just like Snappy's. She raised an eyebrow at it, but ultimately decided not to try and use it until she could be shown how to use it, preferably by Snappy or his brother.
Setting it down, she grabbed another item from the bag. It was a book identical to the one she had seen Snappy holding before. It had the words "Official Toontown Shticker Book" on the back of it. She wanted to take a look at it, but there was one more thing in the bag to look at.
She reached inside and pulled out what appeared to be a small jellybean jar. It already had some jellybeans inside of it. She gave it a funny look, as if trying to decide if it was something useful or a practical joke, before setting it down.
There was nothing else in the bag to be spoken of, apart from Applejack's hat. She took a look down at the golden scarf her friends had made for her, and pulled it off the rest of the way. If that encounter with those thugs were an indication of anything, she figured she shouldn't wear it around town, as it might draw the wrong kind of attention. She carefully put it into the bag with Applejack's hat.
She was just about to put the rest of the bags contents back inside of it, when the front door to the building suddenly burst open, giving her a minor shock from how sudden it was.
"Who's there?" A young and silly voice called out to nobody in particular, causing Fluttershy to raise an eyebrow. She quickly slid off of the bed and ran over to the doorway.
"Daffy, what are you doing? You know you're not allowed in here!" Snappy yelled. Clearly, he was in objection to the rather loud entrance.
Fluttershy paused in the doorway to look at the Toon Snappy had just called Daffy. Daffy was also a dog, and was shorter then Snappy was, though only slightly. He was lime green in color and wore a blue t-shirt and blue knee-length shorts. At that moment, he had a goofy grin on his face that told Fluttershy he was about as crazy as everything else in this wacky world.
Daffy took a quick look around, and when he spotted Fluttershy, his eyes bugged out in a comedic fashion, and his jaw, quite literally, unhinged from his head and hit the floor for a few seconds.
Fluttershy gave Daffy a strange look, as if she were trying to decide if he was just strange, or completely crazy.
Snappy, on the other hand, just sighed and crossed his arms.
"Here we go..." He muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes at Daffy.
Daffy's eyes then retracted into his head and his jaw returned to its original place, before grinning widely and pointing at Fluttershy.
"KITTENS!" He screamed, so loudly that Fluttershy let out a surprised squeak and covered her ears, before she was tackled back into the infirmary by Daffy.
"Ouch! Let me go! That hurts!" Fluttershy exclaimed in a heavily strained voice, trying her best to pry Daffy off of her, who currently had her trapped in a giant bear hug. She didn't mind hugs, to be sure, but she really hated it when people tried to squeeze the life out of her. She felt like her head was going to pop like one of Pinkie Pie's balloons.
"Hug the kitty, hug the kitty, hug the kitty, hug the kitty!" Daffy chanted, squeezing Fluttershy even tighter. Clearly, he liked cats. Perhaps a bit too much...
Snappy quickly ran over and pried the two apart, using a special technique he had learned from Dusty. Fluttershy staggered to her feet, coughed a couple of times, and stood in place as Snappy slammed Daffy into a nearby wall, struggling to catch her breath. Daffy had quite literally knocked and squeezed the wind out of her.
"Daffy, what did I tell you about trying to bear hug cats? You know they hate that!" Snappy scolded, giving Daffy a furious look.
Daffy just laughed like someone who had just heard the most ridiculous joke of all time.
"Sushi and tires!" Daffy stated, smiling widely at his own sentence. Snappy's palm met his forehead.
"You're just a lost cause, aren't you, Daffy?" Snappy inquired, turning around to face Fluttershy, whose face was currently red. "Are you alright? You're red as a tomato."
Fluttershy continued to take deep breaths, but nodded to Snappy. Already her face was returning to its normal color. Snappy smiled at her.
"Batten down the hatches like something from a Short Change!" Daffy suddenly exclaimed, before bouncing out of the room like a little green and blue rubber ball. Fluttershy gave him a blank expression as she watched him go. What the heck did THAT mean?
Snappy walked over to her to make sure she was alright.
"That was Daffy, my little brother. As you could probably tell..." Snappy started, looking back at the doorway to see if Daffy was there. "He's not very bright. As a cog fighter? Ah, there's room for improvement. But we're talking about a Toon whose brain power is just north of a bedroom slipper."
Something about that line made Fluttershy giggle. Snappy smiled at her.
"Well, it's the truth. That dog was born stupid, and he's getting worse every day, I swear!" Snappy exclaimed, gesturing dramatically toward the doorway to emphasis his point. Fluttershy let out another giggle and looked over at the doorway. Daffy had just reappeared, and he was holding what appeared to be a small shovel.
"Just changing some lightbulbs, Snappy!" He exclaimed, before charging out of the room again. The two heard him leave the building, slamming the door loudly behind him.
"I see what you mean." Fluttershy said to Snappy, a smile on her face. Even though Daffy had just attempted to suffocate her, she couldn't deny that there was something funny about Daffy and the way he behaved.
"Most of the stuff he says is completely random, so just ignore him if he says something that sounds important." Snappy instructed, before walking out of the room and back to the desk. He had just been looking at an important file when Daffy burst into the building. He wanted to get back to it before Dusty got here.
"I AM SHOVELMAN!" Fluttershy heard Daffy shout outside, followed shortly by the sound of the shovel hitting something wooden. It sounded like he had just driven the thing into a tree.
Fluttershy slowly exhaled, allowing herself to calm down once again, before turning back to the bag of items, the contents of which were scattered around the bag. She had just picked up the little yellow object again when the door to the building burst open again.
"Cheese and cucumbers!" Daffy shouted, before throwing a tennis across the room with the force of a cannonball. The ball hit the back of Snappy's head, knocking him out of his chair and onto the floor. Hit hat fell off.
"OUCH! Why, you little..." Snappy growled, getting to his feet and quickly grabbing Daffy by the back of his head the belt of his shorts.
Fluttershy hurried over to see what was going on.
"Daffy, I have HAD IT with you today!" Snappy shouted, before giving Daffy a swift kick to the rear, sending the little green dog flying through the air and slamming face-first into a tree.
"I'm okay!" Daffy shouted, before standing up and slamming his face into the tree repeatedly, pretending to be a woodpecker. "Look at me! I'm a triceratops!"
Snappy just lowered his upper eyelids at Daffy.
"Idiot." Snappy muttered, before slamming the door. He then walked past Fluttershy and back over to the desk, picking up his hat off the floor and rubbing the back of his head. That ball hurt!
"Did he throw something at you?" Fluttershy asked, concern in her eyes, walking over to Snappy.
"Sure feels like it." He complained, slipping his hat back on. "Sheesh, what's his problem?"
Just when it seemed like the two would finally get a little bit of peace, there was a knock at the door. Snappy sighed and approached, still rubbing the back of his head.
"Now what?" He asked in a grumpy tone, before opening the door to see who it was.
There stood Dusty Bumblejinks, his older brother and resident superhero of Toontown. Fluttershy let out a low gasp when she saw who it was. Snappy just smiled.
"Hey, Dusty! It's about time!" Snappy happily exclaimed, stepping aside so Dusty could come in.
"Sorry, little Snap. I got help up on the way here." Dusty told his little brother, in a very tough, yet kind voice, as he walked in and closed the door behind him. "Apparently there was a commotion in Donald's Dock and Toontown Central. I went to go take a look. You're doing, I suppose?"
Snappy sighed sadly and nodded his head.
Fluttershy clutched both hands behind her back and slowly approached Dusty. He was about a head or so taller than Snappy, and was crimson red in terms of fur and hair color, but apart from that they looked identical. They were both dogs, they both wore black boots and black fingerless gloves, and both had black pilots hats with golden letters. She noticed that Dusty was wearing a different colored battle outfit then Snappy; His was purple in color. Dusty's hat had a "D" on it. Fluttershy could also see that Dusty was carrying a black policeman's billy club on his belt, and there was a seltzer bottle strapped to his back. She had seen a picture of it in one of Twilight's books once.
Dusty then looked over and spotted Fluttershy. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hello. Who's this?" He asked, turning around to face her. Snappy walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You remember what that letter you got from Melody told you? Mystery's machine taking a little Pony from another world and bringing her into ours?" Snappy asked his older brother, who looked over at him and nodded.
Snappy gestured with his head towards Fluttershy, who looked between the two brothers curiously.
"Well, that's her." Snappy said. Dusty gave Fluttershy a surprised look.
"Oh dear. I was afraid of this." Dusty exclaimed, walking over and dropping to one knee so he was on level with Fluttershy. "Are you alright? I heard you've had a pretty rough ride into this world, being torn from you're comfort zone and all."
Fluttershy lowered her gaze to the floor.
"Um... I think so." She silently answered. Dusty then put a hand to his chin, before looking at Snappy.
"So, what'll we do, Dusty? She's stuck here without her friends, and if Melody can't come up with a way to get her home, she could be trapped here forever." Snappy said to Dusty, worry in his face. He really wanted to help Fluttershy get home. She didn't deserve to be ripped out of her own world like this, stuck in this world, separated from her friends.
Dusty gave Snappy a reassuring look and a thumbs up.
"Don't worry about it, Snappy. If anyone can find a way to get her home, it's Melody. She can do anything, you know." Dusty told his younger brother, before looking back at Fluttershy. "It's Fluttershy, isn't it?"
She looked back up at him and nodded with a sad expression on her face.
"Sounds like you've had one heck of a rough day. I heard you ended up here on account of a portal in time and space." Dusty said to her, as if hoping she could confirm this for him. She wiped away a lone tear that had formed in her eye.
"I honestly have no idea how I got here. This giant purple portal opened in the middle of my house, me and my friends approached it, it turned red and..." Her voice trailed off. Dusty could already tell where she was going. And so could Snappy.
"A purple and red portal. Just like the one that appeared in Mystery's machine yesterday. And somehow I just know this is my fault." Snappy said with a hint of guilt in his tone.
Dusty just sighed and put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder.
"Well, at least you're alive. And that's what matters. And like Melody said in her letter, we can worry about getting you home tomorrow, when the suns up." He told her, turning around to look out the nearby window. The sky outside had turned a bright orange. "The suns just about gone by now. And nobody is stupid enough to go up to Melody's place after dark. Way to dangerous."
Snappy reached behind him and put a hand on the table, pulling out the note from Melody Fluttershy had given him.
"So, what'll we do until then? Even if Melody can find a way to get her home, she'll need to know how to defend herself from the cogs in the meantime." Snappy asked Dusty, who turned around again to face his little brother.
Dusty smiled at his little brother in a reassuring way.
"I think I know what we can do."
Dusty Bumblejinks and all associated characters are owned and copyright by Bulldozer Studios.
Fluttershy, My Little Pony and all associated characters are owned and copyright by Hasbro.
Toontown and all associated characters, including the cogs, are owned and copyright by The Walt Disney Company.
