Chapter 18: Opalescence vs. Carne
"You DID it!" squealed Opal as Winston let Tank back into the cage. As soon as he stepped foot inside and let the door close behind him, she grabbed him by the neck and squeezed him tight.
"E-easy, Opal!" said Tank, beginning to blush from Opal's affectionate display. Owlowiscious and Winona were tempted to step in and break it up, but they found the spectacle too amusing to interrupt.
"G-good *snicker* job, Tank," Owlowiscious uttered.
"Yeah, you *snort* really showed 'er, sugar," chuckled Winona.
Winston decided to give the pets a moment of privacy and took this time to pick up Tifa and walk her back to her cage. Every step of the way, Tifa could feel Winston's contemptuous glare boring through her.
"I did what I could, boss," Tifa said. "That tortoise's just-"
"Hush," chided Winston. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You had your chance, and now it's somebody else's turn."
Tifa just sighed and slunk into her cage with her head hanging in shame. Without another word to her, Winston slammed the gate shut, locked it, and turned around to face the rest of the store with a big smile on his face, immediately reassuming his affable demeanor.
"Well, that was quite a round, wasn't it?" he announced. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready for another one!"
With that, he marched out of the 'SMALL ANIMALS' aisle and into the one directly to its right, labeled 'CATS AND DOGS'.
"Well, I suppose this one could be for either of us," Opal whispered to Winona.
"Ah hope it's me," Winona responded. "Ah'm gettin' antsy." Her heart thumped with anticipation as she listened to Winston unlock the cage.
"Representing Pet Paradise," called Winston, "the Spawn of Tartarus... CARNE!"
All four of our heroes shuddered with fear upon catching a glimpse of the new challenger. Out of the aisle stepped a frighteningly large Germane Shepherd with jet black fur and blood red eyes that seemed to give off an ominous glow. As he paused to lick his chops, the pets caught sight of the two dagger-like fangs protruding from his upper jaw. Even through his thick coat, the pets could see massive slabs of muscle shifting around with every step he took.
"And his opponent," called Winston, "shall be... OPALESCENCE!"
Opalescence gasped in horror. "WHAT?!"
Winston strutted over to his cage. "Did I stutter?" he asked smugly. "Or do you prefer to go by your full name, Opalescence Luminosity Belle III?"
Winston swung open the cage door to find Opal backed up against the wall, trembling.
"S-sir," she stammered, "perhaps there's been s-some m-misunderstanding. I'm Opalescence."
Winston gave her a devilish smile. "I'm well aware," he said. "Now, please, step out of the cage."
This has to be a bad dream, Opal thought. What if he puts me in the hospital? What if I end up needing an operation? What if the operation fails? What if-
In the midst of her panic, Opal had failed to notice Tank inching towards her. Before she even realized he was next to her, she felt him lean in and give her a peck on the cheek. Opal looked to the left to see the tortoise inches away from her face, smiling warmly.
"You can do it, Opal," he said. "I believe in you."
And with that, the terror in Opal's eyes dissolved. With a renewed sense of vigor, she pushed herself off from the wall and stomped out of the cage. Mere moments after she felt Tank's lips against her, the fear that was dominating her mind seemed to relinquish its control over Opal's body. A new feeling of confidence and self-worth took command, driving Opal out of the cage and onto the battlefield to greet her opponent with her head held high and her chest out front.
Tank's right! she thought. I can do anything I set my mind to! I can... I can... oh, my...
But the closer she got to the looming figure in the center of the room, the harder it was for her to keep up her swagger. With his towering height, broad shoulders and trunk- like legs, Carne seemed to take up the entire room.
"Well, what do we have here?" he growled in a voice so thick and deep it made Opal's skin crawl. "I sure hope you've brushed your teeth, little lady."
"W-well, yes I have," Opal stammered. "I always brush before I-"
"'Cause it's bedtime."
Winston groaned and rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Carne, I could have come up with a better one liner than that," he scolded as he hopped back up onto the counter. "Oh, well, what's done is done. Round Three... FIGHT!"
Opal let out a shriek and leapt into action, tearing away at one of Carne's legs with her claws. Her claws, which had just started to dull from disuse, swiftly regained their sharpness with every slash. It was rare that Opal had the opportunity to really cut loose, but when she did, she could feel herself transform from a small, harmless house pet into a fearsome, ravenous beast.
Unfortunately, her joy was cut short when she felt a large, powerful hand grab her by the scruff of her neck and hoist her into the air. Before she knew it, Opal found herself face-to-face with the gargantuan hellhound, his crimson eyes staring into her soul. Opal cringed when she felt his hot, rancid breath buffeting her face, and shuddered with revulsion when she saw fresh saliva dripping from his jowls.
"My turn," he snarled. Carne reared himself back and hurled Opal across the room like a football, sending her crashing headfirst into the counter.
Opal moaned in pain as she picked herself back up, her head throbbing from the impact. Before she could recover from the crash, she saw Carne looming over her once again. She raised her paw, ready to strike, but Carne cut her off with a vicious slap to the face that sent her crumpling to the floor. A moment later, Opal felt his powerful jaw clamp down around her neck. In a frightening display of strength, Carne kicked his head back and flung Opal up into the air.
Opal took a deep breath and repositioned herself in midair, preparing to land on her feet. But just before she touched down, Carne cracked her in the jaw with his hind legs, which sent her rocketing into the glass Pet Paradise door. Opal hit the glass with a sickening smack, leaving a small crack at the point of impact after falling to the floor.
Just a couple feet away from her point of landing were her three friends, who could scarcely bear to watch. Just over a minute into the fight, Opal was already sporting a black eye and a gash mark across her back. In spite of the searing pain coursing through all her joints, Opal found the willpower to pick herself back up. Tank shuddered, feeling a twinge of guilt for putting Opal in this position.
Before she knew it, Carne was upon her again. He grabbed the scruff of her neck, lifted her up and pinned her against the wall. "It's way past your bedtime, kitty," he said, delivering punch after punch to her face. At this point, her entire body was begging her to give up, and the only thing keeping her conscious was her staunch refusal to let her friends down.
"Opal!" called a voice just behind Carne. Over his shoulder, she could see Tank peeking his head out of the cage. "Opal, listen to me. I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but you have to-"
He stopped cold when he saw Carne crane his head back, delivering an ominous glare. He dropped Opal, turned himself around and stepped over to confront her friend.
"There somethin' you want to say, little tortoise?" he asked.
Tank shook his head and began to retreat into the cage, only for Carne to grab him by the neck and pull his head back out.
"Then SHUT UP!" he roared, giving Tank a hard punch across the face that knocked him senseless.
Opal let out a huge gasp and rushed over towards the cage, ignoring her pain. Before Carne could even notice her, she rammed headfirst into his gut, sending him down onto the floor, doubling over in pain.
"Tank, are you okay?!" she cried, grasping Tank by the head and inspecting his face for any scars. "He didn't hurt you too bad, did he?"
"Opal, it's fine. I'm a little rattled, but I- OPAL!"
In the background, Tank noticed Carne picking himself off the floor, letting out a furious roar as he towered over the pets. "You'll pay for that!" he seethed. While her back was still turned, Carne reared back and threw a mighty punch, aimed at the back of her head.
*thunk*
In the blink of an eye, Opal swiveled herself around and caught the blow with her paw, inches before it connected with her head. Carne couldn't help but notice that the fear he had seen on her face before had completely dissipated. In its place was a furious glower and a contemptuous scowl.
"That was very rude," she scolded. "You do not strike a lady when her back is turned, especially not when she's tending to her friend. More importantly, your attack on my friend was entirely uncalled for."
Carne just growled and threw another punch at her with his free paw, which Opal also caught.
"And that is quite another thing. When someone is talking, you sit patiently and listen until the other person is done."
Carne, feeling an odd combination of confusion and frustration, jerked his paws away from Opal and set himself back on the ground. "You're dead meat!" he shouted, backing up and readying himself for a charge. Once he was a few feet back, he thrust himself headfirst towards Opal at full force.
*SMACK*
Opal backhanded Carne in the face mid-charge, sending him skittering onto the floor. This move shocked her three friends, as well as the rest of the store, into an awed silence. As he tried to pick himself up off the floor, Carne shook his head in disbelief, struggling to process what just happened. As soon as he got back up, he saw a very annoyed looking cat marching towards him without the slightest hint of apprehension.
On an impulse, Carne thrust his head forward and snapped his jaws at her. Opal ducked under the bite with no visible effort, her demeanor and disposition unchanged by the sudden attack. Before Carne could ready another bite, Opal wrapped her arms and tail around his jaw, sealing it shut. Carne tried to fling her off, but Opal managed to keep herself planted firmly upon the ground.
"No!" she barked. "Naughty, naughty dog!"
The crowd watched with rapt attention as she tightened her grip around Carne's head. All of her muscles were throbbing with strain, leading the audience to wonder what exactly she was trying to accomplish. Their answer came mere moments later, when they saw all four of Carne's feet leave the floor. The entire store gasped when they saw Opal lift him off the ground, hold him aloft for a second or two, and body slam him back down belly-first.
"That was for TANK!" she bellowed as his body collided with the floor.
Carne writhed in pain from the sudden impact, clutching his ribs. As he saw Opal's contempt-laden face looming over his, he realized that, for the first time, he was the one who was afraid.
"I thought you were scary," Opal said chidingly as she gazed downward into his eyes. "But you're not. You're just a naughty little boy who needs some discipline."
She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in, until his face was inches away from hers. All of a sudden, those blood red eyes and razor sharp fangs didn't seem all that threatening anymore.
"And you'd better believe that you're going to get some," she said, dragging him to the center of the room. "How old are you?"
Carne just whimpered in response.
"I said, how old are you?!" she demanded.
"T-three?" he squeaked, his voice at least an octave higher than it was before.
Opal used her free paw to give him a hard slap across the face. "I'm FOUR!" she shouted. "And I think YOU need to respect your elders!"
Opal then proceeded to slap him back and forth, over and over again, each slap sounding like a firecracker going off. All the while, Owlowiscious, Tank and Winona just looked on in total awe, barely able to comprehend how quickly Opal had turned the tables.
By the time she was done slapping him, Carne was reduced to a whimpering, simpering mess, silently begging Opal to have mercy on him.
"Now say you're sorry!" she demanded.
"S-sorry," he uttered.
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for...sorry for everything."
Opal shook her head and released his neck, letting him collapse onto the floor. "I'm sorry, but that's not good enough. I'm afraid you'll have to be punished some more." She walked around him, grabbed him by his tail with her left paw and hoisted it upward. She then pulled back her right paw and gave him a massive smack across his backside. Carne howled in pain.
"Now give me a REAL apology!" she yelled as she smacked him again and again.
"I'M SORRY!" he wailed, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.
"Sorry for what?!"
"I'M... I'M SORRY FOR BEING A NAUGHTY DOG!"
"ENOUGH!" cried Winston from his perch atop the counter. "I think we've all seen more than enough of this, so I'm stopping the match right now.
"The winner is... good lord, I can't believe I'm saying this, but the winner is Opalescence!"
***
By a stroke of luck, the two had managed to wander into one of the more affluent sectors of Manehattan in the midst of their journey. The dingy, unkempt apartment buildings had since given way to luxurious high rises, swanky restaurants and coffee shops, all lined with elms and maples across the block.
But the natural beauty of their environment mattered little to Angel at this point. After block after block of trekking in search of a drink, Angel's dehydration was beginning to take his toll on him. Due to the dryness of his throat, his voice was reduced to a wheezy rasp, his head was beginning to throb from pain, and each step he took felt more laborious than the last.
"Gummy, I'm dyin' here," he gasped. "If we don't find some water soon, I'm gonna keel over. You still don't see anything?"
Suddenly, Gummy tapped Angel on the shoulder and pointed forward, directing his attention down the block.
"Eh? What're you pointing a-"
And then, Angel saw it. In the center of the square, Gummy spied a marble statue of Princess Platinum overlooking a large fountain. Angel gasped with joy at the sight of water gushing in seemingly endless amounts from the statue's top. How could he possibly have missed it?
With no time to waste, Angel grabbed Gummy by the hand and rushed towards the fountain, running across the street and darting under ponies' legs. His mad dash earned him the bemused stares of the few ponies who managed to notice them, but Angel paid them no heed. Upon reaching the fountain, Angel was delighted to find that the water in the fountain was as clear as it could be, free of any sign of grime or sludge. Angel reached into the fountain, scooped up some water into his paw and brought it to his lips, confident in the knowledge that it was perfectly safe to drink.
Or was it?
---
"Angel, no!" cried Fluttershy. Before he could tip his hand into the lake, Fluttershy grabbed him and yanked him away from it.
"Never, EVER drink water from a public lake like that," she said. "It'll make you sick."
Angel eyed her skeptically and pointed towards the lake, beckoning her to take note of the clear, pristine appearance of the water.
"Oh, Angel, I know it looks clean, but that only means that nothing lives in it. There could be arsenic in it, or even cyanide! And you DON'T want to put those in your mouth."
Fluttershy picked up Angel and hoisted him onto her back. "Come on, let's go home and I'll give you a glass of water from the tap. THAT water is safe."
---
Angel grumbled and grudgingly let the water fall from his paw. Better safe than sorry, he thought.
"I hate to say this, Gummy, but I don't think this is gonna work. For all we know, this stuff could make us crap out our own intestines. The only way we'll know for sure if the water is safe to drink is if we see someone else drinking it."
Then, just beyond the fountain, Angel found a particularly enticing store on the block just beyond the fountain. The awning was topped with a neon sign that read 'The Watering Hole', accompanied by a picture of a pony guzzling a glass of what was presumably a cold, refreshing beverage.
"Eh, close enough."
Angel and Gummy hopped off the fountain and strolled up to the awning. In front of the store was a line of young stallions and mares waiting to get in, headed by a brawny brown earth pony with a boot emblazoned on his flank.
"Alright, lemme see yours," the earth pony said. The pony at the front of the line, an orange unicorn mare in a modest skirt and a heavy overcoat, pulled her ID out of her wallet and held it up for the earth pony to see.
"Hmm... okay, you're good," the earth pony said, stepping to the side and letting the unicorn walk in.
Angel sighed. "I dunno if we're gonna make it in, Gummy," he said. "I mean, this place's pretty exclusive. You think we should just move on and look somewhere else?
"...Gummy?"
Suddenly, Angel realized that his bug eyed companion had vanished from his side. Angel's eyes darted around his surroundings in search of the alligator, only to find his head peeking out of the unicorn mare's overcoat pocket. Before Angel knew it, both she and Gummy had disappeared into the building.
"Damn it, Gummy."