As soon as they presented their tickets to the guard, the doors creaked open and for the six friends. And then they saw it.
Ponies from all over Equestria had arrived with their own little animal friends to the first annual Pet Gala in New Horsey. The ballroom was absolutely packed with all kinds of adorable critters. Dogs, cats, birds, fish, small rodents and even some more exotic pets like snakes and monkeys.
Fluttershy could hardly contain her excitement as she looked out on every last one of them. She and her friends had brought along their own pets to socialize with. Applejack brought her Border collie Winona, who was rather excited to be there, though didn't really mix well with Rarity's pampered puffball cat Opalescence. Rainbow Dash was keeping a close eye on Tank, her helicopter propelled flying tortoise, to make sure he didn't accidentally bonk anyone on the head. Gummy the baby alligator had a firm mouth grip on Pinkie Pie's tail on which he rode, and Owlowicious sat perched comfortably on Twilight's back.
Lastly, Fluttershy had of course brought along her little bunny rabbit Angel, who was far from being what his name implied. The other pets all knew what a rotten little demon he was and hated him, but Fluttershy still loved him anyway. Of all the animals in her cottage, they wondered why it always had to be Angel. No matter. This was a special day just for them and these animals weren't gonna let him ruin it for them.
"Oh, this is so wonderful!" Fluttershy expressed with excitement. "I can't believe we're actually here. Just look at all these adorable little critters." She was so excited, she could barely stay focused on one animal before quickly moving on to admire another.
"Take it easy, Fluttershy." Applejack said. "You don't wanna spook any of 'em like you did at the Grand Galloping Gala." Fluttershy's face turned a little red as she remembered that humiliating evening. She decided to calm down and leave the pets be for now.
"This really is quite an event." Twilight stated. "This gala looks like so much fun. I'm sure Owlowicious and the other pets will just love it here."
"This place sure does look like a hoot and a half, huh Tank." Winona said, though all that the ponies heard was light barking and animal sounds.
"Yeah." the flying tortoise agreed. "I can't wait to get around and make some new friends with these other pets." He spun around a few times with anticipation, making himself a little dizzy. Rainbow Dash tried to keep him steady. "Easy there, Tank. Save a little action for later."
"Yes, well, you do zat." Opal commented with a rather snobbish french accent. "Meanwhile, I will seeking to create a, how you say, much closer relationship." She spied a group of handsome male cats socializing. "Ou la la."
Then there came a bright light out of nowhere and everypony stopped talking and turned their attention towards the stage at the front of the room, where Princess Celestia appeared. Everyone bowed in respect.
"Welcome, everypony," she announced "to the first ever Pet Gala in the town of New Horsey." she announced. Suddenly, Philomena, the princess's royal fiery feathered phoenix friend, swooped in gracefully and majestically from across the ball room. Celestia raised a hoof for her to land on, which she did. Everypony applauded and Philomena took a bow.
"As you all know," the princess continued "this is the first grand event made specifically to celebrate the furry, scaly, and of course, feathery little friends that make our lives so wonderful." She and her phoenix nuzzled each other affectionately. "Before we begin, I'd like to make one thing clear. While you may allow your pets roam free as they please, we ask that you please keep a vigil eye on them to avoid any mishaps. Thank you and have a wonderful time. Now let the Pet Gala begin."
There was another round of applause before almost all of the pets were released to play and socialize.
"Okie dokie, Gummy-wummy." Pinkie said. "Time to go off and make lots of new friends." Gummy just dangled there from her tale, barely even blinking. "Aw, come on. Don't be shy." He just blinked again. His owner was growing impatient. She tried to yank him off her tail for about a minute before she finally got him off. "Gummy! You are gonna have fun and enjoy yourself and you are gonna like it!"
She plopped the baby alligator down in front of an iguana. The two of them exchanged a couple of awkward blinks before each managing a "Hi. How are you?"
Opal strutted past the male cats she had seen earlier. Once they were all staring at her, she wowed them with her finest upperclass tail whip, earning several "Mee-Yow!'s" from her admirers. They were yarn in her claws.
Angel decided to try his luck on the dating scene, too, when he spotted three cute lady bunnies conversing with each other.
"Hey, bunny babes." he greeted with a flirtatious tone. "Which one of you wants to multiply with a real rugged rabbit?" He flexed his arms and ears to try and impress them. No such luck.
"I don't think so." one of them said. "I think I'd rather multiply with a rat, dude."
"Well then, by that logic, you two would be a perfect match." another one mocked before they all hopped away laughing. Angel was left feeling very insulted. "Ah, who cares? Your loss, toots." he mumbled to himself. "So much for that. Let's see what other kinds of fun I can have around here."
Owlowicious found himself trapped in a conversation with a particularly chatty parrot. At least, he thought it was a conversation. Hard to tell since all he could hear was an incessant stream of syllables. His head was spinning into oblivion until he finally raised a wing to make it stop. "Thank you, my good fellow, for that stimulating conversation." he interrupted. "But I do believe I hear my owner calling. Farewell." He flew off as quickly as he could, feeling free as a bird.
Angel figured it was time to make a pest of himself when he spotted Tank being shown off by his owner to a bunch of other ponies. Of course, nopony had ever seen a flying tortoise before and Tank loved making Rainbow Dash so proud of him.
"Hey Tank!" he said quietly. The tortoise didn't hear him, so he tried again a bit louder. "Tank!" Tank turned around and saw Angel waving at him. He was annoyed, but he hovered down anyway to meet with him. Rainbow didn't even notice.
"What do you want, Angel?" he asked a bit crossly. "Can't you see I'm a little busy?"
"I just need you to do something for me real quick." Angel responded.
"What is it?"
"First, I need you to turn around."
"Why?"
"Just do it." Tank reluctantly did as he was instructed. "Good. Now just hold still and..." Before finishing his sentence, the mischievous rabbit gave a swift kick which sent the tortoise spinning uncontrollably all over the floor. He crashed into several animals and ponies, but none of them stopped him.
Winona was wrestling with a Rottweiler and she was just about to win until the out-of-control tornado tortoise plowed right through them and made both dogs land flat on their backs. "Sorry!" he called back.
"What in the name of Lassie?" Winona barked, although she had a pretty good idea of who had caused this.
Tank managed to get his propeller started, which lifted him off the ground. He had stopped spinning, but he was still really dizzy. He flew right into Gummy, who latched onto his leg with his mouth. "Hi Tank." the naive hatchling muffled.
Opal was still being admired by her gang of male cats when the big green flying pinball accidentally snatched her up, too. Her claws dug deep into his shell as she held on for dear life. Owlowicious noticed them coming right at him and he flew as fast as he could to get away from them.
"SOMEBODY STOP ZIS CRAZY SING!" Opal screamed. Rarity heard her screeching meow and Rainbow Dash finally noticed Tank zipping around haphazardly.
"Hang on, buddy. I'm coming." she announced. She flew as fast as she could and threw herself right in front of the flying mess of critters, which crashed right into her and made them all smash against the wall.
When it was over, all of the six friends saw what a big mess their pets had made. Angel rolled on the floor laughing his cottontail off, earning a glare from Winona. Having been officially embarrassed, the ponies decided it would be best to collect their pets and leave before anything else happened.
Philomena couldn't help but notice and worry about the behavior of all of those animals as they made a hasty retreat.