//------------------------------// // Where Are We? // Story: The Animals of Ponyville // by Zexoguy //------------------------------// It was late at night. The ponies and the pets entered their hotel after returning from an... eventful evening. "Well, that could've gone better." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, stating the elephant in the room. "Just once, I'd like to attend a grand social event that doesn't end in disaster." Rarity stated in annoyance. Winona, Owlowiscious, Gummy and especially Tank all felt sorry for ruining the gala and humiliating their masters. Opal was simply bitter, feeling that she was the biggest victim of the whole situation, while Angel just laid down on Fluttershy's back and enjoyed the ride, satisfied with his evening. Winona let out a small whimper which didn't go undetected. "Hey now, don't worry about it, Winona." Applejack said softly trying to reassure her canine companion. "I ain't blaming you, so don't you go feeling sorry about what happened." Winona then proceeded to lick her face happily. "I'm sure they didn't mean to do it." Fluttershy spoke up. "Right, Angel?" The little white fuzzball perked up and gave a sweet smile, displaying a halo over his head. His owner may have been a sucker for it, but the other animals knew the real story. All they could do was role their eyes. "Well I'm kinda pooped." Twilight said with a yawn. "Let's go drop off the animals in the kennel and and hit the hay, okay?" The ponies all agreed with the idea. Animals weren't allowed in the hotel rooms, so all pets had to stay in the kennel behind the receptionist desk. It was a decent sized place cozy enough to accommodate many different kinds of pets. Since all the other pets staying in the kennel were still at the gala, they had the place all to themselves for now. Each of the ponies said goodnight to their respective critters before heading upstairs to their room to go to bed. "Turtle, may I have word with you?" Opal said calmly. Tank floated down to meet her at eye level. "What is it?" he asked. The grumpy cat shot out her claws and swiped at his face. Luckily, he popped his head inside his shell quickly, so all she scratched was hard shell. "Zhat was for ze utter humiliation you caused me tonight, you stupid flying klutz!" "Hey! Don't get mad at me." the scared tortoise retorted, popping his head back out. "I told you Angel was the one who kicked me so hard, I couldn't control myself." "Come on. You walked right into that one, shell head." Angel chimed in as he hopped into bed. "What are we ever gonna do with you, Angel?" Winona asked with a soar tone. "Indeed." hooted Owlowicious. "Of all the animals that inhabit Fluttershy's cottage, I don't see why she must always bring you." "Cause I'm more adorable than all of you clowns combined." The annoyed owl simply turned his head and scowled. "That's debatable." he said under his breath before closing his eyes to go to sleep. "I thought it was a blast." Gummy spoke up. "I got to fly!" "There, you see?" Angel said. "Someone who appreciates me." He noticed Opal curling up in her own cat bed with her squeaky toy mouse and got an idea. A wonderful, AWFUL idea. "In fact," he continued. "why don't we see if we can have even more fun?" Ever so quietly, he tip-toed and snuck up right behind Opal. "Starting right... Now!" The sneaky little rabbit snatched the mouse right out from under the sleeping cat, who quickly snapped awake and gave a fast swipe at him. But he jumped over her and out of the way just in the nick of time. Now Opal was really angry. If there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was having her mouse taken away from her. The others couldn't believe that anyone, not even Angel, could be so insane as to make that mistake. "Give me back ze mouse at once, you slimy little rodent!" "You want it?" Angel mocked. "Come and get it, sweetheart." "Gladly!" Opal bared her claws and Angel commenced hopping all up and down the kennel with the angry feline right behind him. Together, their chase tour up just about the entire place as Winona tried to get them to settle down. The devilish rabbit was so caught up in the thrill of the chase that he jumped onto the window ledge, opened the window and hopped right outside off into the night with Opal still on his tail. Winona followed after them, barking at the two of them to stop. "Yay! More fun!" Gummy shouted as he ran out the window wanting to join in on what he perceived to be the 'fun.' "Gummy. Wait up." Tank flew off to try and catch the excited baby gator, much to Owlowiscious's dismay. "What? Now where are you two going? Come back here." And so the panicking owl flew off after the rest of them. And just like that, every one of the pets was caught up in a chasing down one another into the night. The chase lead them all right out the back of the hotel and into the neighboring forest. That was one of the luxuries that a room at the hotel offered; a natural forest view. And these six animals were about to get a lot more than just a view from where they were going to be standing. ---- By this point, they were deep into the forest, far away from any spot where they could see any buildings. Out of a bush popped Angel still holding Opal's mouse and taunting her. "You're almost there, kitty litter." "Get back here, you filthy rat!" Opal hissed as she was the next to jump out. Followed by Winona. "Angel, give back the mouse!" Then Gummy, Tank and finally Owlowiscious, begging them all to stop running. Angel was starting to run out of breath, so he finally stopped in a clear spot to take a rest, allowing Opal to pounce him and retrieve her precious toy. "Don't EVER touch my mouse again!" she hissed threateningly at him. "Alright. Alright. Yeesh! Calm down, already." Angel submitted as he got up and brushed off his fur. When the others all finally caught up to them, they were all completely winded. "Oh thank goodness." Owlowiscious declared plopping down on the ground, too exhausted to do one more flap. "I haven't flown like that since my owner made me race her all the way across town." Tank said in between breaths. Winona looked around and noticed that they were completely surrounded by tall trees and bushes as far as the eye could see. "Um. Guys." she said starting to get worried. "Where are we?"