Chapter 22 – The Cat, the Moon and the Singing Fairies

By the time morning came, the rain from the previous night had long since dried up, leavening nothing more than the morning dew as everyone in the Prancing Pony awoke from their slumber. After a lazy morning of lying in bed and taking it easy, it felt like the afternoon came all too quickly, granted the villains were still on the group's tail, but according to G they were at least another day away and by the time they would arrived, the group would have already gone. At first everyone was concerned about the army of orcs that would come to Bree in search for them, but since it's only G that they're leaders want, then they were more than likely to just leave the village alone after Kneesocks' tacker no longer detected their presence in that particular realm. After an afternoon of preparations, the sun finally began to set and everyone was soon gathered in the bar, once again disguised in their cloaks.

"Alright, almost time to head on out," G said as everyone sat around their table from the previous night. "Someone better make sure we got enough supplies for the trip before we go. Head down to a few of the shops before they close for the evening."

"I'll go," Edward said, standing up from his chair.

"I'll come with you Edward," Laura added.

G expected as much, knowing those two they would want to be as helpful as possible, Laura because she was so sweet with everyone around her and Edward because he liked taking part even though there was a risk of him accidently cutting someone. After giving them a small bag of gold from his vest pocket, one of the many items he was glad Bebop and Rocksteady DIDN'T find when they searched him, G then waved Laura and Edward goodbye as they left for the shops, all the while keeping themselves hidden in their hoods.

"Alright then," he continued, looking towards the Gizmonk to his right. "Goggles, you better head back to the van and make sure we're good to go in terms of repairs, we don't want that piece of junk breaking down on us again."

"I'm on it!" Goggles replied instantly, always eager to fiddle with machinery.

"Good," G said in response, once again pulling something from his pocket and giving in it to the Gizmonk. "Here are the keys, make sure you go over the rooftops and jump over the gate so no one can see you."

"What do I look like? A circus act?" Goggles replied sarcastically.

Deciding not to even dignify that question with an answer, G then allowed Goggles to sneak under the table and slip out of the open front door, making anyone none the wiser of his existence.

"What about us?" Nyx asked curiously, poking her head out of G's cloak pocket.

"We need to stay here and keep an eye on our new traveling companions for now," G explained, turning an eye towards the Dazzlings a few tables away. "They may be contracted but there's no telling whether those sirens will do a runner on us."

Needless to say, at the very mention of the Dazzlings, the other quickly became uneasy, mainly due to the fact that Nyx felt the need to share what she knew about them while G was making his deal, obviously they weren't too pleased.

"You sure we can actually trust them?" Lug asked sceptically.

"Not really," G admitted with a heavy sigh. "Trust is something that needs to be earned, and until those three do so then they are on thin ice with me."

Well at least it was nice to know that G shared in everyone's concern.

"I still think it's a bad idea lad," Mossy said cautiously. "I mean the cook is one thing but you said those three girls were villains in their world."

"Villains or not, they're in no position nor have any power to do anything stupid," G argued. "Besides, in a way I felt sorry for them. It can't be easy being stranded in a strange new world, you guys should know."

That statement hit home fairly quickly upon reaching everyone's ear, and to their dismay, everyone had to admit that G did have a good point, at the end of the day the Dazzlings were in the same boat they were. However even with that fact in mind, a veil of worry still shrouded Nyx's mind.

"It's not gonna be like this with every villain we come across, is it?" she asked, much to G's surprised. "I mean, the Dazzlings I understand, but what if we run into someone who's worse like the guys who are chasing us?"

G should have expected that a question like this would pop up eventually, and by the looks of Lug, Mossy and Spud's faces, he knew that they were all sharing the same concern. Obviously G couldn't blame Nyx for asking such a thing, after all she along with everyone else barely escaped Scanty and the other villains only yesterday. Plus even though she may act older than she was, Nyx was still only a filly and thus would definitely share the same fears as any child would. Finally with another heavy sigh, G did his best to give a reassuring answer to Nyx's question.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, ruffling her mane a little. "So don't worry about it, eh kiddo?"

It wasn't much but it was at least enough to make Nyx smile, even if it was only a small one. Meanwhile, sitting at their own table away from the group sat the Dazzlings, two of which seemed to be content with their situation, however Adagio was staring daggers in G's direction.

"Look at him," she growled, much to aria's annoyance. "Acting all smug-like, I can't believe he was able to fool us like that!"

"Well it's not really a surprise since we basically went gaga over the thought of getting our powers back," Aria commented, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, we kinda made a booboo on that one," Sonata added in a cute manner.

At first Adagio looked as though she was going to flip the table, thankfully all she could manage was bending her fork in half and let it drop to the floor like a metal pretzel, before long she let out a heavy sigh and forced herself to calm down.

"Alright, I admit it," she said reluctantly. "I suppose I should have suspected that sort of thing from the little turd, after all he knew enough about us to know what we've done in the past. Of course he was expecting such a trick from us."

Aria couldn't help but scratch her at that.

"Which begs the question as to HOW he knew that sort of info," she pointed out. "Was he spying on us or something?"

It was then that chef came over to the table and slammed a set of bags of what the Dazzlings assumed to be their stuff on the table and once again gave them a stern glare.

"Aw, don't get your panties in a twist over it!" he snapped, causing Sonata to whimper. "Just be glad y'all are getting out of this craphole tonight, and quit whining over every little detail!"

"Why is Chef so mean!?" Sonata wailed as comical tears flowed down her face like waterfalls and she hid behind Aria, much to her annoyance.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Chef continued. "I'm gonna go over to my new traveling group."

After that he picked up one of the bags off the table and walked towards G's table, once again leaving the Dazzlings alone at their own.

"You know, we ARE gonna have to go over there eventually," Aria stated.

"Yeah, they are our ride out of here after all," Sonata added.

Once again Adagio growled angrily.

"Fine, she grumbled. "But if that little freak starts to annoy me then I'm gonna hurt him!"

"Sounds good to me," Aria replied, once again rolling her eyes and picking up one of the bags.

On that final note, the other Dazzlings then followed Aria's example by picking up a bag each and walking over towards G's table.

"Well look who decided to join us," Chef replied snidely as the girls took the extra seats around the table. "I just finished telling G-man here that we handed in our resignation this morning, so we're free to leave whenever we like."

"Swell," Adagio forced out, not really in the mood to say anything else at this point.

"We're just waiting on two more of our group to come back with supplies," G explained. "After that we'll be on our way."

However that explanation was quickly met with a few moments of awkward silence, with the Dazzlings too stubborn to start a conversation, and the others being too scared of what they or Chef might do if they did. However getting sick of the silence fairly quickly, Aria became the first one to speak.

"So you guys are who we're traveling with?" she asked, looking towards the three fairies, partically their height. "Have to say I'm not impressed."

"What'd you say!?" Lug snapped, obviously not liking what this girl was implying.

"Now come on let's be nice," G said sternly. "After all we're going to be traveling together so let's make the best of it, eh?"

Once again the table then sat in silence, only this time the awkwardness skyrocketed, especially since it was making Nyx cower in fear after seeing Chef's terrifying glare. Not wanting this to continue, G felt it was his turn to start breaking the ice, or at the very least attempt it.

"So… introduction time!" he said gauchely before gesturing a hand to the Dazzlings. "Guys, this is Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze, Adagio Dazzle and Chef Hatchet."

The Dazzlings didn't give much of a response aside from a small nod from Aria and Adagio, only Sonata and Chef seemed to be the more vocal ones.

"Hi," Sonata said, giving a playful wave.

"What up," Chef added, before G gestured towards everyone else.

"And these are my friends," he continued. "Nyx, Lug, Mossy and Spud, gifted and talented in many forms of music and legends in their own right."

However that statement only seemed to piss Adagio off even more than she was already, so much so that she was literally digging claw marks into the table. Sensing that this was going to quickly escalate into something bad, G tried to change the subject.

"So… um… I'm sure you girls are eager to get out of this backwater realm eh?" he said nervously, knowing full well of what could happen if one pushes a ladies anger too far.

"That's putting it mildly," Aria commented.

"Yeah," Sonata added. "It sucks being in a place with no indoor plumbing."

G couldn't help but cringe at that, however Chef's attitude was a different story.

"Man, get over it already!" he growled. "I swear you three wouldn't last ten minutes with my old platoon, we didn't have bathrooms back in the day so we made do with just a hole in the ground."

Again G cringed, only this time everyone else joined him.

"Okay, eww!" Adagio openly stated.

Suddenly Sonata noticed something that the others didn't, something that even G didn't notice until she pointed it out.

""You okay there Mr G?" she asked, pointing to the small trickle of blood oozing down G's face. "You got a bit of a nosebleed."

"Aye, she's right," Spud added, looking at G and seeing what she was talking about. "You alright there laddie?"

Quickly taking out a hanky from his pocket and placing it over his nose, G quickly tried his best to hide his bleeding nostrils.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," he quickly said. "Just the heat in here is all."

Obviously this was a lie, granted it was a warm evening but the trues reason as to why G would get a nosebleed was something he wanted to keep hidden, and I'm sure that he were able to break the fourth wall right now, I'm sure he would tell me to shut my trap about it too, so I'm just gonna respect his wished and leave it at that for now. Thankfully before anyone else could push G further for more information, the Prancing Pony's innkeeper came over to their table with another round of drinks.

"Here you go fellas," he said with a light smile, almost shrinking back in terror upon seeing Chef at their table as he passed over the ale. "So I hear that you folks have been doing a bit of traveling, from across the sea, yes?"

"Aye, that be true," Mossy replied.

"And you'll be taking this lot with you when you leave as I recall?" he asked. "They told me that you've offered them a great opportunity, whatever that means."

At those words, G's eye shifted towards chef and the Dazzlings, hopefully they weren't stupid enough to give away too much information.

"In a manner of speaking," G answered, causing the innkeeper to smile.

Suddenly before anyone knew it, the innkeeper began to hush the crowd of people in the room.

"Quiet!" he called out. "Quiet, all!"

As the room quickly began to grow silent, everyone at the table were beginning to wonder just what the big fellow was up to, however G quickly began to have a rough idea since he had seen something similar before.

"Now we have a few visitors with us tonight, all the way from across the sea!" the innkeeper called out much to everyone's embarrassment. "Uh… what was your name again, sir?"

Seeing that there was no escaping this situation, G did his best to give a convincing answer.

"Um… it's Mr Shailee," he said, causing the innkeeper to smile once again.

"Mr Shailee and his party!" he called out, causing a few cheers from the drunken crowd.

As embarrassing as this moment was, the group gave a few small waves to the crowd, after all they didn't want to be rude, even Chef and the Dazzlings couldn't help but feel self-conscious and they were used to being in the spotlight during their old day-to day lives.

"Now they won't be staying long so I humbly as Mr Shailee to sing us a song before they leave!" the innkeeper continued, much to everyone's shock. "Come now good sir, surely you must know of a fine tune for our humble inn!"

At this point G felt like banging his head against the table, he and the group were supposed to be laying low, and now the innkeeper was demanding a song from them!? It would seem that telling everyone that they were from across the sea was a bad idea. Obviously they would have needed to come up with a batter plan for next time, however right now G knew the group had to play along or else insult the crowd, and trust me when I say you do NOT want to insult a group of drunk people. With yet another idea popping into his mind, G quickly ushered Lug, Mossy and Spud closer towards him and talked to them in a hushed ton.

"Okay, as much I would love to get going right here and now, I'm afraid I can't ignore the requests of an audience," he whispered. "And I'll need you guys to help me for this one."

"Us!?" Lug exclaimed, not liking where this was going.

"Sorry in advance," G quickly replied, before giving each of the three fairies a small flick in the forehead.

"Ow!" Spud whimpered, rubbing his fore head. "What did you…?"

Suddenly before Spud could finish his sentence, a series of images and words began flashing before his eyes, a new series of ideas flowing directly into his head, what's more the same seemed to be happening to Lug and Mossy too. Once their eyes had finally readjusted their vision, the three fairies were left with a light headache.

"A simple download of music and songs directly into your heads," G explained as the fairies rubbed their heads. "I figured you three might need to learn some new materiel before we begin."

As soon as that new piece of information was heard, Lug couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"We aren't gonna get a say in this are we?" he asked bluntly.

"Nope," G replied with a smug smile, causing Lug to sigh.

"Alright," he said in defeat. "So what tune do you propose we sing?"

After a small discussion of what out of the many songs G had placed in the fairies heads, he soon sat Nyx next to Chef so she wasn't seen and stood up on the table while Lug, Mossy and Spud bulled out their instrument from their cloaks. After that, G address the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Bree," he announced. "I'm sure you have heard many a tune in your lifetime, but I guarantee that you have not heard one like this… HIT IT!"

Hearing this Lug then proceeded to begin the song by playing his fiddle and G took the first verse:

G:

There's an inn of old renown

Where they brew a beer so brown

Moon came rolling down the hill

One Hevensday night to drink his fill.

LUG, MOSSY + SPUD:

On a three-stringed fiddle there

Played the Ostler's cat so fair

The horned Cow that night was seen

To dance a jig upon the green.

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Called by the fiddle to the

Middle of the muddle where the

Cow with a caper sent the

Small dog squealing.

Moon in a fuddle went to

Huddle by the griddle but he

Slipped in a puddle and the

World went reeling.

Downsides went up- hey!

Outsides went wide.

As the fiddle

Played a twiddle

And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.

Upsides went west- hey!

Broadsides went boom.

With a twiddle on the fiddle

In the middle by the griddle

And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.

As the music began to pick up and the crowd started to cheer for their new minstrels, Lug couldn't help but smile as every person in the room seemed to be applauding for them, in fact he and the other fairies were so happy that the began tapping their feet and dancing around the table just to get into the music even more. The only ones who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves were Chef, the Dazzlings, and of course Nyx, who at this point felt a little left out. However that didn't stop the little filly from smiling as Lug took the next verse of the song.

LUG:

Dish from off the dresser pranced,

Found a spoon and gaily danced.

MOSSY:

Horses neighed and champed their bits

For the bloodshot Moon had lost his wits.

SPUD:

Well, cow jumped over, Dog barked wild,

Moon lay prone and sweetly smiled.

G:

Ostler cried, "Play faster, Cat!"

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Because we all want to dance like that!

Gambol and totter till you're

Hotter than a hatter and you

Spin all akimbo

Like a windmill flailing.

Whirl with a clatter till you

Scatter every cotter and the

Strings start a-pinging as the

World goes sailing.

Downsides go up- hey!

Outsides go wide.

You can clatter

With your platter

But the Moon slept till Sterrenday.

Upsides go west- hey!

Broadsides go boom.

With a batter and a clatter

You can shatter every platter

But the Moon slept till Sterrenday.

At this point everyone in the room was in a drunken state of joy, not only was the music fantastic, but the ones playing it were putting everything they got into every note, which made the song all the more enjoyable. Even Chef couldn't help but feel enticed by the music judging by the way he was tapping his foot, and although the Dazzlings tried to make themselves look like they despised every minute of this, Sonata didn't make things easy when she decided to ditch her two sister and dance along with the crowd.

"Ugh… it's always the youngest one isn't it," Adagio moaned smacking her head.

Seeing that the other two Dazzlings were still being as moody as ever, G finally decided it was time to stop being diffident, if he was going to break the ice with these girls then he needed to put his foot down to do it.

"Oh will you two just shut up and dance!" he said, pulling them out of their seats and tossing them into the crowd, after which they were trapped in what appeared to be a Middle-Earth version of the conga line.

After Chef decided to give his own dancing shoes a try, the only one left at the table was Nyx, looking a little down after being forced to hide under the table. However now that the crowd had been riled up enough to be oblivious to anything else that happened in the bar, G felt confident enough that he was able to bend one of his own rules once again.

"May I have this dance, M'lady?" he said, holding out a hand to the filly like a caring uncle.

Seeing the genuine smile on G's face, Nyx couldn't help but giggle as G took her hoof and placed her on his shoulders, all the while performing a Russian folk dance whilst singing the next few words of the tune.

G:

Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle

Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle

It was then that G noticed that the other Dazzlings finally began to enjoy themselves amongst the crowd, they may have been villains in their former life but right now they were just a trio of girls in need of a good time, and THIS was a sure fire way to give them that. Seeing the genuine laughter on their faces, G felt it was time to include everyone else in the festivities, and of course the fairies must have felt the same way since they all came up with the same thought.

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Hey-yey-yey-yey-oh-ho!

CROWD:

Hey-yey-yey-yey-oh-ho!

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Hey-hey-din-gen-do!

CROWD:

Hey-hey-din-geli-do!

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Hoo-rye-and-hott-a-cott-a ho!

CROWD:

Hoo-rye-and-hott-a-cott-a ho ho!

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Hott-a-cott-a-hotta-ko

CROWD:

Hott-a-cott-a-ko-cott-a-ko-hoooooooooooooooo!

Now that everyone was joining in with the song, the entirety of the Prancing Pony was shaking with excitement, both literally and figuratively depending on how drunk everyone was. At this point Nyx couldn't help but fly off G's shoulders and start dancing on the tables along with him, it may have been risky but she didn't care, the excitement was far too much to handle. As she and G began performing numerous folk dances in sync with the Living Genre, the Dazzlings couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this creature wasn't so bad after all. Either way the song was beginning to reach its end and Lug, Mossy and Spud were giving it their very best performance.

LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:

Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle-hi-ho

Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle-hi-ho

Ho fiddlee-ding-galli-do

Ho fiddlee-ding-galli-do

Hoo-rye-hoo-rye oops-oops- ay!

Hoo-rye-hoo-rye oops-oops- ay!

Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-fo

Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-fo

Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-foooooooooooooooooo!

And with that final verse echoing throughout the entire inn, both G and Nyx banks away from each other whilst still dancing, giving G the chance to jump down on the end of the table, seesawing it and send Nyx flying into the air and landing back onto his shoulder. After that all that was left to do was sing the final chorus with everyone else.

ALL:

Downsides go up- hey!

Outsides go wide.

With a twiddle on the fiddle

In the middle by the griddle

And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.

Upsides go west- hey!

Broadsides go boom.

With a batter and a clatter

You can shatter every platter

But the Moon slept till Sterrendaaaaaaaaaaay!

With that final note, the music then stopped and the entire inn was filled with the jolly sounds of cheering and laughter.

#

Meanwhile on the outskirts of Bree, hidden amongst the foliage of the surrounding forest, sat the group's van, inside, a certain Gizmonk tinkering with a few wires underneath the steering wheel. Though as much as he enjoyed toying about with machinery, the loud echoes of cheers coming from the village seemed to be making him jealous that he wasn't back at the inn.

"Sounds like their having a good time in there," he complained to himself with a heavy sigh. "Okay, just a few more bits of tinkering and she's good to go. Geez this pile of scrap is hard work, did the last owner even take care of this thing?"

Even though he wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, Goggles always liked to make some small form of conversation while he worked, in a way it was more of a habit that he just couldn't get out of. However little did he realise at the time, Goggles was about to become one of many beings that were skulking about on the edge of Bree, hearing a loud bump from on top of the van, the Gizmonk scratched his head and took a peak out the driver's window… and almost screamed when he saw what was outside.

"Oh Scrap-bunnies!" he yelped before diving back under the window to avoid the gaze of the Warg that had just past the van.

As it turns out, the villains took a little less time to follow the groups' sent all the way to be than G had first expected, by an entire day in fact. Goggles didn't know how they did it but somehow the villains must have managed to find a shorter route and were now at this moment beginning to surround the van while Bebop smugly danced on top of it.

"Oho snap!" he said proudly, stamping his foot on the roof for emphasis. "This is the place yo!"

"Good," Scanty said bluntly while she dismounted her Warg. "I want that little freak's head by the time this is over, I don't care about what he has to say any more."

This was bad, so very, very bad, not only were the villains closing in on Bree, but Goggles now found himself trapped inside the van with no way of escaping without attracted some very unwanted attention. Hopefully the closed windows and the stench of booze from the van would be enough to mask his scent… right?

"Something wrong Rahzar?" Porche asked, looking towards Rahzar, who had begun frantically sniffing the air.

"I smell something," he answered, edging a little closer towards the van. "Something… hairy."

"Bah, it's probably just the Wargs," Rocksteady scoffed. "Even Rocksteady could make whiff of stench."

"No it's something else," Rahzar argued, continuing to sniff the air. "It smells like… monkey."

Hearing this, Goggles gulped with terror.

"Oh no," he whimpered.

#

Author's Notes:

The Featured Song was inspired by "The Cat and the Moon" All credit goes to the Original Composer

watch?v=CTTwpZ3noFA

The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:

The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:

The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman: