//------------------------------// // Chapter Fifteen: The First Move // Story: My Littlest Pet Shop: Escape from Equestria // by Drizzle Quill //------------------------------// My Littlest Pet Shop: Escape from Equestria By Drizzle Quill With much help from nyc2dragon Chapter Fifteen The First Move Vinnie Terrio was in a rather good mood. He was surrounded in books, which could be interpreted as a good or bad thing, but they were dancing books, and he was learning how to dance better. Spike, his companion in all of this, had already told him he had seen tremendous improvement. Everything was going well, just as expected. The gecko proceeded to flip another page in his book. He was disappointed to see a large wall of text before him, filled to the brink with large, hard-to-read words. Vinnie hated large, hard-to-read words. He decided to read it out loud, just to try. “To perform the most deli-cattee…how do you…anyways, the most deli-cattee of dance moves, one must have a consid-er-atte knowledge of the specific steps performed in the lower joint of one’s leg…” Vinnie groaned. “This is ridiculous! How am I supposed to read big letters…and stuff…like this?” Slamming the book closed, he stood up and looked around. Spike was in the next room over sorting books, while Russell and Twilight were up in the top level, discussing the next friendly competition “Are YOU Smarter than a Unicorn” they would have. Vinnie was utterly bored, and had nothing whatsoever to do. He sighed. What to do, what to do… Suddenly there was a knock on the door; Vinnie peeked out the window to see a very disgruntled Cavalier King Charles Spaniel plastered with various food items; he stifled a laugh and opened the wooden door. “Hey, Zo.” Zoe sauntered in, head held high. “That was disgraceful,” she sniffed. “How’d you get covered in food like that?” Vinnie asked, giggling as he followed. She turned back with a resentful glare. “Turns out Rarity already has a pet,” she barked in annoyance. “The most…despicable of creatures, almost as vile as that creep Madame Pom!” Vinnie whistled. “You must hate this new gal a lot, then.” “She’s a cat!” Zoe screeched, as if that would suddenly make everything clear. “She’s a puffy white-and-purple ball of stuck-up fuzz, that’s what she is!” Her nose wrinkled. “And she wears a bow.” The gecko tried to sustain his laughter by seeming sincere. “Wow, a bow…terrifying,” he snickered, looking away so she couldn’t see his expression. “Yes! I have my beret, and she has her bow…and I’m the only pet allowed to wear a beautiful accessory, don’t you see?” Zoe pleaded, ice blue eyes going wide. Vinnie, honestly, did not see. “Um…well, then…” Zoe seemed not to hear and continued to ramble. “We were in the kitchen, dressed up in the most fashionable suits, and the war raged for one thousand nights and years.” Her eyes hardened as she ranted, waving around her paws for dramatic effect. “The food was flying, the words were raging, and Opalescence—” she spat the name out like it was a curse word under her tongue, “—hit me with an egg. An egg!” Zoe sighed. “So I left.” “Just like that?” “Just like that.” Vinnie rolled his eyes. “Wow, Zo.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say after that, so followed up with, “Cool.” “And now I need to go walking to get the stench out of my fur,” the spaniel continued, evidentially not done with what she had been saying earlier. “All the others are busy, so will you come with me, Vinnie?” She made puppy dog eyes. “Please?” The gecko looked at her. “You want me to walk with you so you can get eggs out of your fur?” “Yes,” Zoe replied confidently. Vinnie snorted. “Forget about it.” Waving his hand, he started to walk off when he felt tiny paws grab his tail, making him freeze. Ever since his tail had fallen off in an accident involving cans of cat food, he had been very protective of it. Turning, he saw Zoe’s bottom lip quivering. “Puh-lease!” the violet spaniel whimpered. Sighing, the gecko pushed her off. “Fine, fine. Just get off of me, m’kay?” “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Zoe squealed, bouncing in circles. “I don’t want to have to be alone in such a…strange place.” She shuddered and turned away, lowering her head. “Spike, I’m going on a walk,” Vinnie called, ignoring his often melodramatic companion. The baby dragon’s head poked out of the next room, and he gave Vinnie a thumb’s up, signaling he had it under control. Together, Vinnie and Zoe headed out into the town of Ponyville, on their own for the very first time. -------------------------------------------------------------- Vinnie covered his ears and winced as, for the fifth time at least, Zoe burst out into a random song. She had been doing this for quite a while now, and it was causing ponies to stare, dropping whatever they were doing as they continued on their daily routine. “Zo,” he hissed, elbowing her in the side. “Can you stop that?” “The morning is bright and the eggs are near gone, I’m dancing about while singing this here song~” “Zoe!” Vinnie snapped. “Can you just be quiet?” He glanced around nervously. “I think ponies are starting to stare.” Indeed, several of the citizens were looking at them curiously, evidentially wondering what was going on, and why two animals were roaming in the streets alone. “They’re admiring my singing,” Zoe reminded the gecko for the millionth time. “Now, why don’t you be quiet so they can hear some more!” It was really more of an order than a question, and Vinnie sighed, preparing to cover his small ears again. It was nearing summertime, and the weather was perfect – not too warm but not too cold, either. The dusty roads felt weird on Vinnie’s scales, but he imagined he would get used to that. However, it was making the bottom of his feet feel weird, and he didn’t like it. “Zoe?” Vinnie poked his spaniel companion, and she blinked at him. “Can we go to the grassy forest over there?” He pointed at the woods he had noticed only a second ago. Zoe looked confused. “What’s wrong with walking here?” She put one paw to her chest and swooned. “Everyone can admire my gorgeous singing!” Vinnie rolled his eyes. “The dirt feels wrong on my foot scales.” He stopped walking. That didn’t sound right. “My feet scales.” That sounded even weirder. “My…foots?” “Enough!” Zoe covered her ears and sighed. “Let’s go.” They trotted over to the grass, and when it was reached, Vinnie was glad for the comfort it brought to his dust-ridden feet. It was soft and plush, unlike grass back at Downtown City, which was often brittle and dry, and the gecko collapsed back with a loud sigh, flapping his arms up and down in the grass. “Now this is nice.” The spaniel sniffed. “I suppose so.” Upon sniffing, her eyes suddenly lit up like a lightbulb. “Oh! The smell of the eggs is gone!” “Probably ‘cause you’ve been trotting around in the sun and dirt for, like, half an hour,” Vinnie pointed out, though Zoe pretended not to notice and proceeded to sing loudly her incredible success. So it was Vinnie who heard the voice first. Calm and smooth, it was like a cat’s purr mixed with honey, and sent shivers throughout all of his body. “Hello, little gecko. How are you?” Vinnie whipped around. “W-Who’s there? I…I know karate!” He feigned making random chops with his hands but ended up spinning around and landing flat on his face. Pushing himself up, the owner of the voice made herself clear, and his eyes widened. It was a zebra. A zebra with a long black-and-white mane and turquoise eyes that looked both wise and cunning. A zebra with golden rings around her neck and grey and black fur that looked incredibly soft. A zebra that was heading right towards him. Zoe turned and screamed. “Who are you?” The zebra ignored the question. “You have a lovely voice,” she remarked to Zoe. The spaniel blushed and turned away. Vinnie lifted one eyebrow. “Do you think you can mess with the Vinnie Terrio?” he growled, instantly on the defense, but before he could continue, he was shoved to the right by Zoe, who had darted forward, tail wagging eagerly and ice blue eyes excited. “You really mean I have a lovely voice?” she squealed. “Of course.” The zebra’s eyes glinted. Vinnie noticed this and narrowed his own. He wasn’t the smartest one in the world, but he could tell when his friends were possibly in danger (an example was Esteban the parrot, but that was another story). “Such a shame you’re not working in the circus.” “The circus?” Zoe asked, head cocked to one side. “Oh, yes,” the zebra replied, smiling. “My friend and I are starting a grand circus that will gain popularity all over Equestria…and we need the best of singers to pull it off.” “Like me?” “Like you.” Vinnie couldn’t take this anymore. He stomped in. “Hey, Zo, look, I know I’m not the brightest guy, but can’t you see what’s going on he—” He stopped as the zebra trained those eyes on him next. “And what can you do, little gecko?” She looked so genuinely interested, for a second Vinnie forgot to be irritated. His violet eyes widened. “I…I dance…” “Then you could join too!” The zebra’s eyes sparkled; she wrapped one hoof around Vinnie, lifting him into the air. “Can’t you see it now – you dancing while all of Equestria applauds…” “All of them? Because wouldn’t that be a lot?” The zebra groaned. “Most of them! And—” “Would there be clowns?” Zoe asked nervously. “Because, darling, I’ve always hated clowns.” “No. No clowns—” “Except Pepper! Pepper would have to be in it,” Vinnie replied, suspicions forgotten for the moment. “She could do her comedy act while Sunil does magic and Penny dances…” He turned back to the zebra, eyes now flashing. “When would we start?” “You’ll come to the meeting?” The zebra seemed surprised that they had agreed so quickly; she even took a step back in surprise. “Of course, darling!” Zoe cheered, bouncing around. “If all of Equestria gets to hear my voice—” “—and see me dance!” “Then we’d love to come! When is it?” The zebra smirked. “How about tomorrow, at noon, right under this bush? I’ll bring my partner, and we can see if we can set up some deals, m’kay?” Zoe grabbed her hoof. “Okay!” she cheered, shaking it rapidly. “We’ll be there!” Vinnie smiled, though something in the back of his mind was telling him danger, danger, danger! Pushing the feeling away, he let a large grin cover his face. He was going to be seen dancing by millions of ponies. He would be famous! And life in this twisted world of talking genius horses would be good.