//------------------------------// // 102. Are oddball and friendly. // Story: Baa-Ram-Ewe! // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// -Equus, morning, Ponyville, Cadence the Princess of Love- “I really needed this break and… what the?” Stepping off the train I heard something strange and moved over to see something very odd. What looked to be a turtle teaching an earth pony about… yak culture? “So… me and Yona can make things work out provided I don’t back down to her parents?” The earth pony had a cutie mark with three turtles on his flank, the turtle he was addressing glared at him and clacked at the chalkboard with a pointer. “Oh… right… sorry. Coo, coo, coo, hiss, coo, coo, hissy coo?” The turtle nodded and then looked to me as I approached the two, the turtle then revealed its true nature by spreading a pair of green feathered wings and flying into my face. Her tiny flippers clutched onto my face and hugged it with an adorable amount of affection. After a moment the turtle dove released me and went back to the chalkboard and started to playfully circle the earth pony. “Sorry about that princess, Snickers here has been coaching me about yaks. I’m Sandbar by the way.” Looking from Sandbar to the turtle dove, I could see Snickers was smiling at me brightly and she titled her head ever so slightly and made a gesture I recognized as helping her out with a flipper. “Oh don’t worry about Snickers, we know each other and she’s always been affectionate around me.” As a Goddess of Love, I would of course be on good terms with Jaded’s adorable familiar with a moderately problematic fast food addiction. “So this yak is quite special to you? I believe I can lend some aid to what Snickers has been teaching you.” “Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Sandbar stated while rubbing the back of his head, until I brought my face up against his. “I insist, I need to live up to being the Princess of Love or else I… am going… to explode.” I stated quite seriously. “I mean this quite literally. I’m taking a vacation to vent my need to act upon my rather specific domain all over everyone here in Ponyville. You would be doing me, and everyone else, a big favor if you let me help you with your relationship. Snickers here probably gave you positive and good advice, now let me help you on the logistics side of things! What kind of job will you get that can support a yak of assumedly exceptional, and large, beauty if you do eventually decide to live together?” “Er…” Sandbar’s fear felt tangible to me, he should have known better than that… all that would make me do is pounce on helping him! I looked to Snickers and she had a subtle evil grin and was rubbing her flippers together, we were already sharing a wavelength. -Earth, the next morning, Camden Town, Shanty- I stretched out and be poking a Dalmatian that be falling asleep on me, they stretched out yawned and sat up to look down on me from my back. “Do you need a shower?” The Dalmatian be asking me and I was about to respond when I froze. “I could probably go for one myself before another day of dealing with Dolly’s duties… and actually doing them. Love my sister, but she did make Dylan do seventy five percent of the work. To think I’m the runner up top dog for my side of the family now.” “Why do I suddenly be understanding you?” The Dalmatian in question was named Dante, Spot said he be having magical dog blood in him. “I don’t know how to respond to that… weren’t you hearing nothing but barks from us yesterday? Spot said that neither you nor Mopsy have the ability to speak dog like Pom or Hunter can, she sounds like she has more expertise on the magic of our world compared to yours.” Nodding to Dante, he looked thoughtful while poking his black paw against his chin in thought. “Normally I’d freak out about this, declare the end of the world and cause a panic among all my siblings… but I just feel like chilling out.” “Yes, you be doing nothing but barking before.” I be getting up off the pillow and carefully stepping around the still sleeping puppies. “So where is the shower being, we be coming in pretty late last night and we didn’t exactly get a tour with Spot telling so many interesting stories.” “Yeah, who knew Cruella had a ferret that she actually truly ‘loved’ and didn’t skin until after it died of natural causes, mostly because it was as evil as she was. Doesn’t make Cruella any less of a danger to all Dalmatians as long as she lives… specifically our stepmom’s side of the family.” He be finally hopping off my back. “Follow me to the bathroom.” We be going for the hallway when we saw Spot doing something odd, we stopped and she looked up at us. “Oh… you’re up… I don’t need sleep, but I can. All I get are nightmares of my past these days, I prefer having all that free time to do things with. So I did some checking, nothing invasive mind you, but the puppies did want to know who among you were magical… and capable of using it among other things.” Spot popped a bone in her spine as she stood up from what she was doing and stretched her wings with a flap or two. “The simple answer is… all of the Dalmatians in this home are magical. Whether you can actually make use of that magic or not is the question. Your family, adoptive or not, has a stupidly high potential for friendship and family magic. Also don’t be alarmed if anyone friendly can understand you inside the house, the keywords here are ‘friendly’ and ‘in your home’. One of my ancestors was the chicken of a witch that loved animals that had a slight De Vil problem that was dealt with in an unusual manner… I wonder if Rebecca is still alive because of that curse… something to look into later. Anyway, one of the tricks I’ve learned is how to make other animals capable of being understood… but there are some huge limitations to setting it up. At best your family will likely be capable of successfully ordering out for dinner by voice with this setup.” “That sounds kind of cool.” Dante stated with a wagging tail. “Don’t abuse it though and don’t attract attention to yourselves.” Spot commented before going back to what she was doing. “Also, Cruella shouldn’t be able to come near your home anymore personally… but anyone she hires can still get through. So spread that information around to everyone who needs to know.” -One shower and breakfast later- I am finding out that Dalmatians be very quirky, Spot be underselling it. After some introductions I be finding the Dalmatian other than Dante that Pom had a decent relationship with, before she got lost with their older sister Dolly. All the puppies be excited to be able to talk with Mopsy and me, to be fair I be just as excited to talk to the puppies. Mopsy currently be with Dylan teaching him how to dance a bit better, I think he be halfway decent. “It’s amazing that we’re making so many new friends in such a short amount of time…” The soft spoken Da Vinci stated as she be painting a picture of me, I be complimenting her on the portrait of Pom and she be asking to make one of me. She be wanting to remember me too. “Pom helped us recover a lot, her presence was nearly indescribable… Anyway, meeting art appreciating strangers from other worlds and creating new friendships let us really spread our metaphorical wings a bit. I’m still not good with big crowds though…” The dog known as Deepak be friendly and peaceful, he also be meditating and I not be doing much of that without Pom. He be helping his family stay calm with his peaceful nature. “Yes, her presence was a balm for many of us that were still having nightmares.” Deepak muttered calmly while meditating, he be looking like a yin-yang symbol in the form of a dog and he liked making cat noises. “Our spirits can continue healing even if she is no longer with us… though there will be a gap left behind that can’t quite be filled thanks to Dolly not being here. She is and will always be a loved bundle of chaos to us.” Like Pom didn’t be getting enough chaos already. “Hey, I’m doing my best here Deepak!” Dante passed by with a dour attitude heading for the door to the backyard, but he be having his little sister Dorothy on his back who seemed to be cheerful despite that. “Pom is being like that for a fox, so she be having that effect on most dog like beings.” Though the two Yellow Dog factions be having different reactions to her. I think the mostly bad side didn’t be caring if they hurt Pom, they just wanted to be keeping her all to their selves. “I would say you were like Cadpig in the spiritual sense Deepak, like how Dolly looked something like her except larger. Cadpig could get rather aggressive when you set her off in just the right way.” Spot be joining us with Delilah and the father of the house Doug, he be giving good hugs and they were on their way out the door to work. Dogs being capable of paying job was a little strange. “Despite Lucky almost being a stillborn, Cadpig was the, excuse my language here because I know dogs hate this one word in particular, ‘runt’ of her litter. Her small size really put a real chip in her shoulder, so she went with being more knowledgeable and worldly than the rest of her family to stand out. Sure she had that, and biting sarcasm, but she was also able to physically take dogs three times her size whenever she got seriously mad and usually every dog around her was twice her size already. She was ‘mostly’ a pacifist, one you didn’t want to be on the wrong end of.” None of the puppies around us be liking the word ‘runt’, but they be understanding at least and be excusing Spot’s words or at least I think they did. They not be bringing it up. “Can I get a hug from my spotty dotties before I leave for work?” Doug, the largest dog around, be happily taking a pile of puppies onto himself. “Are you going to go on about the old days all the time or are you going to help out back here Aunty Chicken?” Dante muttered as he came back in. “I’m not going to answer to that name… even if I am technically an adoptive long lost aunt of Delilah’s side of our family. I’d prefer Aunt Marlow to Aunt Chicken.” Spot grumbled and be going out back to assist Dante with the puppies out there, she stopped and poked her head back in. “Oh, Shanty, if you hear a knock on the door, it’s probably the Cooper Gang. They say Dodo looks tired of sitting on their van all the time, apparently they wanted you to know todays theme was fried chicken for some reason? I think it’s a joke at my expense… anyway the speech spell isn’t going to work on Dodo, too incompatible with his nature.” I be nodding and turned back to Da Vinci and she continued to paint with her paws, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. These puppies be very adorable, I’m glad Pom met them… she be needing that break she got before getting into more fights. -One hour later- I be standing next to Dylan and Mopsy as he opened the door, Dylan be looking a little afraid of Murray despite his goofy grin. Dylan be a lot like Pom, a mothering hen could hardly be matching their ability to love. “Hey Shanty, did you find Pom?” We still haven’t be telling the Cooper Gang about Pom being lost in Africa now. “Well…” I wilted. “It’s a long story, but our sister is currently with her.” Dylan muttered and all the gang looked between themselves. “I take it magic was used by Spot to make communicating easier.” Hummed Bentley with curiosity. “Bentley might be liking some time with Dawkins, he be a very smart dog.” After a moment they looked like they would come in, I gave them a questioning look, but they motioned to Dylan and waited politely. “They be waiting for you to invite them in.” “Okay… come on in. Just don’t make me regret this.” Slowly getting some courage back into him about having more bipeds in the house other than Hunter, Dylan motioned with his paw to let them through the door. “Dawkins!” “Yes?” Dawkins be poking his head from the kitchen with a screwdriver in paw. “Shanty and Mopsy’s friends are here and one of them is an engineer and since they can understand us…” Dylan trailed off with a weak smile, he obviously wasn’t happy to be letting so many people into their home. I be getting it, nobody would be wanting me in their home when I was younger too. A second later after the three came in, a mechanical warble followed them in and Dodo squeezed in through the doorway after the trio. “That… must be Dodo.” Dylan stated in an unsure manner looking up at the mechanical ostrich that snuck into the house when no one on the street was looking. “Well… everything Pom wrote down for us is certainly confirmed now.” “He’s beautiful, the engineering put into him is so amazing!” Dawkins stated while wiping some tears from his eyes as he be looking closely at Dodo, he then turned to Bentley. “While I’m interested, I’m not about to mess with a machine that’s said to be literally alive unless he direly needed repair. Pom told us that Dodo was a living being and seeing it personally… oh, it’s so fascinating! So what do you know about mandrill robots?” “A lot, given we pulled some information from Dr. M’s crashed airship.” Adjusting his glasses Bentley took a keen interest in Dawkins. “We may have to be on the lookout for the name Arpeggio in the future Sly, he apparently frequents London opera halls and might have connections with a lion by the name of Don Octavio. There’s always names to watch out for.” “I think I preferred Dolly making a mess or causing misadventures to all the weirdness that Pom brought to our home.” Sighing loudly, Dylan looked around outside quickly before closing the front door. “We were always a little weird already anyways, come on Dawkins let’s see what problems you’re having with the mandrill robot parts now. Maybe Bentley might know how to help with what you want to do.” Those three be going off and I turned to Sly. “So… no Pom huh?” Said Sly as he crouched down next to me and be giving me a quick hug, he was joined by Murray who had been snuggling an armful of happy puppies proclaiming him to look like the mascot of Hamburger Hippo. “No… she’s now lost in Africa. Nobody be knowing where she is now, but at least I know she will be fine.” I wasn’t happy about any of this, Pom was here! “She be having someone to protect and she’s being a very good guard.” The floor erupted in front of us making us jump, the muddy dog Diesel poked his head up and sniffed at us. “Oh neat… you were some place that smelled like plants and giant insects!” Diesel pulled himself out and took a sniff of Dodo. “You smell like a friend, my nose wouldn’t lie about that!” “Diesel, what did I say about digging up the foundations of our home!” Dylan yelled from the other room and Diesel immediately jumped into the open floor sending a mound of dirt flying upwards. Dodo warbled happily and then started to wander around the ground floor looking at all the puppies that be taking an interest in him. “If mom and dad didn’t have work, then I would think they’d be worried about a gang of thieves coming into our house.” Dante grumbled with his paws crossed. “We only steal from other criminals or steal as a prank. In the case of a prank, we return what was stolen through the mail… at our expense no less!” Stated a proudly chuckling Murray with his fist on his hips. “The Murray can guarantee that we’re not bad guys, also your all really fun to hug!” The shouting of many puppies could be heard and all of them be saying the word ‘hug’ as they bowl a laughing Murray over. Nuzzling and licking him with affection. “Yeah, watch what you say around here, we have these things called ‘trigger words’ that’ll set off a large portion of our family into running in certain directions related to them.” As Dante watched his brothers and sisters crawl all over Murray, took interest in Dodo or were playing with each other, he took small moment to look at a picture of a smiling Dolly on the wall. “It’s still not the end of the world if you do trigger them though. Please keep our home a secret, we’re not actually watched by bipeds and we don’t want to be split up.” “Don’t worry about that, why would the soon to be world famous Bentley, Murray and Sly ever say anything about knowing a house full of dogs with no bipeds to watch over them?” Sly said with a smile, then three dogs with golden chains with the numbering one, two and three be running up to him. “You guys seem to be taking care of yourself well enough.” “You’re a thief?” The one with a golden three said tail wagging. “That’s awesome.” The one with the golden one said looking adoringly at Sly. “What kind of cool stuff have you done?” The one with the golden two said. “I’m Dimitri Two!” -Two hours later- Sly’s friend be having a fun time with the Dalmatians Pom befriended. “A rocket powered elevators would just blast through the roof of your home if it was made like that!” An upset Bentley stated to Dawkins. “…” Dawkins didn’t look like he was going to say anything to the accusation. “That… did take a bit of money to repair.” “You actually made one with what you have here?” Bentley looked a bit surprised. “Color me impressed, but I think you should have been more careful. How did you dogs get away with that without the authorities ever catching on to all of this?” “Oh we have our ways, but it is quite hard to keep a lid on our situation given all the trouble we cause around here.” Dawkins is being good friends with Bentley already. Looking over to Murray, he be jovially playing tug of war with more than half the puppies in the family working against him. Dodo is having fun and he be trying very hard not to hurt any of the puppies with any sudden movements, Dylan be eyeing him because of his size and it be clearly understandable that he be worrying about Dodo being around his family. “Thanks for the discussion.” Dante be sharing ideas with Sly about how to be stealthy. “But I think you should talk to Shanty about what you’re going to do going forward from here.” “Shanty, I want to know what you want to do going forward. Do you want to go to China with us or do you want to stay here and wait for Pom to show up again?” He crouched down and looked me in the eye. “Pom will want to bring their sister Dolly back here eventually. This place is rather safe and Mopsy can get back to The Prance Dance in Mesa City. Also it’ll be dangerous if you go with us and Mopsy will go if you do.” “I not be running from danger. You be needing my help and I be needing yours, also we are being friends!” I do not abandon my friends, because I don’t be having many to be abandoning in the first place. “The faster we deal with the Fiendish Five, then the quicker we can be tracking Pom down. Mopsy doesn’t have to be doing anything dangerous and Dodo could be being a big help in protecting her.” “Well, if you’re sure… I just want you to know that I’m fairly uncomfortable with putting you in danger again, but if you’re going to do that yourself anyway. Why wouldn’t I want you with us to keep you out trouble?” Sly be receiving the biggest smile I can be giving him. “We’ll stay a day or two then set out, but we will be coming back here afterwards to see if she showed up in our absence.” “That being good enough for me, because I be wanting to work on holding my breath. Real pirates can be holding their breath for five minutes!” I would not be stating that a second longer than nine minutes and fifty nine second would end up with the pirate dying immediately. “It be quite deadly to be learning the technique alone past a certain point. I be needing help to get up to eight minutes as that be a great achievement, only truly legendary pirates can be doing that!” “Hearing things like that is making me waffle on whether or not we should actually start teaching you escape artist tricks.” Sly commented dryly. -That morning, Africa, Dolly- I yawned and blinked, oh right, we’re in Africa. The tree we were in wasn’t exactly comfortable to sleep in, but we were securely in place thanks to my skateboard. “Hey Pom, how are you feeling after yesterday?” I asked as the she shifted and opened her eyes, she gave me a frown. “Like that huh… yeah, you’re still badly bruised. At least you aren’t bleeding anymore.” The things Pom could do with her wool was amazing, making her wool act like gauze was a neat ability when we lacked medical supplies. Even if she looked rested, Pom still didn’t look one hundred percent. “How many more of those…” Feeling my stomach grumble, I looked to Pom and whined hungrily. “Uh... was that tree always there?” Pom sat up and looked at the small tree and quirked an eye in confusion, before she gained a slight look of panic. “What’s wrong Pom?” Shifting about Pom moved her backside to a nearby branch and let me have my skateboard back, which I strapped onto my back. Pom be pointing to the small tree and pulled out a small banana bunch. “Oh… alien banana peels shouldn’t really be growing into trees that fast huh?” I didn’t mind bananas, but I was going to need something better eventually. Pom nodded as she stared at the tree wide eyed. -Pom- Note to self, get back to Camden Town and check if there’s an Elhorn apple tree now growing in the park there. I might have started an epidemic of odd flavored fruit trees… not the worst thing in the world really. Except it was mildly worrying given how saturated Elhorn was with its version of apple and banana trees. “Excuse Rafiki, but you two look like wayward souls that could use aid.” A mandrill with a staff stated as he joined us on the tree. “Need a guide? Follow Rafiki to his home and he will see to your pain after dealing with that horrible sky beast.”