Chapter 12: A Band Divided
"Tank?!" yelled Owlowiscious. "Opal?! Winona?! What on EARTH are you dawdling for?!"
"Ah-ah'm sorry," Winona whimpered, wrinkling her brow. "Ah don't wanna lose Angel or Gummy but- but- ah can't leave them pets hangin'!"
"And I'm not about to let her try to free them alone," said Tank, draping a leg around Winona's back and pulling her close. "If she stays, I stay."
"Are you serious?!" Owlowiscious cried. "Your friends could end up anywhere in this God forsaken city if we don't find them quickly, and you're more concerned about some... some animals you don't even know?!"
Winona shot Owlowiscious a dirty look.
"What? Am I wrong?" he asked, prompting Winona to march up to him, pull him in and look him straight in the eye.
"Owl, listen to me. We dogs have a way of knowin' where a critter's been and what a critter's seen just by lookin' into its eyes. And when ah looked into the eyes of them pets, ah was horrified. Ah saw months upon months of abuse 'n pain 'n trauma. For each of 'em. An' I refuse to let 'em suffer for just a moment more.
"'Sides, Angel's a tough lil' varmint. Ah'm sure he 'n Gummy'll be fine as long as they don't get too far."
Owlowiscious let out a weary sigh. "Fine, then. Opal, come with me."
"But I haven't finished eating yet," said Opal, pointing towards the sizable portion of falafel at her feet.
"Wha- SO?!" squawked Owlowiscious. "Just pick up what's left of your dinner and come help me look, for Celestia's sake!"
Opalescence gulped, and beads of sweat started accumulating on her brow. "C-can't do that," she croaked. "Not allowed."
"Not allowed?! According to who?!"
---
"You get back here this instant!" barked Rarity. In a moment, Opal was enveloped in a sapphire aura and dragged straight back into the kitchen, where her still half-full food bowl was waiting for her. Once there, Rarity knelt down on the floor and glared Opal right in the eyes.
"Let me make something abundantly clear to you, young lady," she hissed. "You are allowed to leave this table AFTER you finish your food. Understood?
---
"I... well... look, I'd rather not talk about it."
"Fine," huffed Owlowiscious. "But please don't dawdle. Who knows how far away they could be by now? What if they end up in that... that horrid prison?!"
"I wouldn't be concerned about that," croaked a hoarse, musky voice from under the curb.
***
"GOTCHA!" hollered Angel. After a breathless sprint, he was able to catch up to the bike and grab hold of the tail light, scarcely even noticing the baby alligator dangling from his tail. His face was buffeted with wind as he slowly scaled his way up to the seat, motivated by the strong, pungent aroma of pizza emanating from the delivery pony's backpack.
Unfortunately, Angel's presence did not go unnoticed. As soon as he climbed his way onto the seat, the delivery pony was tickled by the sensation of a animal fur brushing up against his flank. "Wha...?" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder, only to see a rabbit and an alligator perched on the seat beside him. "What?!"
The pizza pony promptly pulled over and hopped off the bike. "How in the hell did you guys get on here?!"
Angel ignored the question and leaped over the pizza pony's head, perching himself on his backpack. But just as he was about to grab hold of the zipper, the pony grabbed him by the ears and pulled him off. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What's wrong with you, dude?!"
Angel futilely squirmed and fidgeted in his grip, salivating from the pizza's scent all the while. Drool began to drip off of his jowls on to the pony's feet.
"What was tha-" the pizza pony began, before taking notice of the bunny's moistened maw. "Oh, you're hungry. Sorry, man, but these aren't for you."
Angel ignored him and continued to try to break free. The pizza pony sighed and pulled Angel closer. "All right, let me level with you, because you're obviously not gettin' it. I gotta deliver these. There are ponies all around the city waiting for me, and if I had the cojones to serve any of them a half-eaten pizza, my boss would toss me off a freakin' bridge. I can't be doin' that.
"But I'll tell you what: I'll let you and the crocodile stick around until I'm done delivering these pies. And if you're good, I'll sneak you and croc a slice once I get back to the pizzeria. That sound good to you?"
Angel grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
"All right, then, let's get a move on," said the pizza pony, dropping Angel and Gummy into his bike's basket. "You know, after all this, I'm gonna have to try and find out where the hell you two came from," he added with a chuckle.
Angel gulped.