Katz stared at the three girls who had entered his shop, and the three girls stared back. They had no clear idea who he was, nor he them. The only common denominator in this situation was Courage, who hadn't stopped his babbling since they'd walked through the door. Katz stared at the dog with contempt, and slowly came around the counter on his long and skinny legs.
"I... despise... dogs," he said coldly, and walked over to where Courage was jumping up and down, trying his hardest to push the trio of mares back out the door. The mares would not budge however, and he picked up Courage in one hand, tossing him nimbly into the air and punting him out the door like a football. Courage's howls receded into the distance as he was lost to view.
Fluttershy was on him instantly, her face flushed red with anger. "How... DARE you!" She exclaimed. "What kind of pyscho just kicks a dog like that?!" She demanded.
"That dog and I go way back," Katz said simply. "He's more annoying then he looks. In any case, do not concern yourself with him." He tapped a sign on the wall, declaring -NO DOGS ALLOWED- in bold black lettering. "I have a shop to run, and animals tend to make a mess of things.
"That still doesn't excuse treating animals like that!" Fluttershy said.
Katz tapped his fingers together. "Dreadfully sorry," he said. "You're right of course. What was I thinking?" He snapped his fingers suddenly, looking brighter. "Say, I know, why don't I show you the back of my shop?" He offered. "I have some lovely new shipments in, I think you ladies might be interested in."
"Well," Twilight began. "We really are in a hurry, so if we could just look around for a moment-"
"Nonsense!" Katz insisted, and swept them towards the back with a grand gesture of his arm. "It'll only take a moment, and you'll be back outside in no time!" The girls, reluctant, but wanting to appear well mannered, followed him into the back room.
Courage had landed in the mud in the street, and pulled himself to his feet; covered in muck. He groaned and shook himself with the force that only a dog could manage, debris flying in every direction. It took only a moment to get his bearings again, and he ran back towards the shop, tugging fiercely on the front door, but the door was locked. Katz emerged from the back room, smiling devilishly at him. "Stupid dog," the cat said, and yanked down the blinds in the door, obscuring his view completely.
Whining, Courage paced up and down in front of the store. Glancing at the horizon, he saw the sun was starting to go down, and if anything at all was going to happen, it was going to happen soon.
Inside the shop, Courage heard an assortment of random noises, but the noises he could identify were perhaps the most terrifying of all. Someone was screaming back there! It was faint and muffled, but someone was definitely screaming.
"I'm coming!" the pup yelled, but he wasn't getting in the front door. Looking around desperately for some way to improvise, he settled on the tree he'd landed next to when being thrown out of the store. He took only a moment to run back over to the tree and climb to its lower branch, the bark rough and cold due to the chilly advancing evening. Courage reached behind him and pulled out the yo yo he'd bought earlier, looping it around the lowest branch and looking reluctantly down at the storefront.
"The things I do for love," Courage complained, and leaped off the branch, all the while making a bugling trumpet noise.
"Brr brr brrrrrr!" He announced, swinging on the string right through the window. Courage ducked and rolled, landing on his feet, the string swinging freely outside the window. He tugged on it several times, but it was fastened securely to the branch and would not come off. He eventually gave up and left the string there, dangling in the faint wind. The screaming from the back of the shop continued, reminding him of his mission, and the dog leaped into action.
Courage kicked open the door to the back of the shop, and gaped at the sight that met him. His jaw dropped so far that it actually became unhinged, and hit the floor with a crash like an anvil that had been dropped off the roof of a building.
Katz stood on the top of a remarkably unstable structure, all three mares tied together with ridiculously thick rope. At the bottom of the structure, sitting on the floor, was the most massive cauldron Courage had ever seen. So large in fact that he couldn't even see what was in it beyond the top of it. Twilight was desperately trying to use her horn, and it was sputtering on and off, but nothing good seemed to come of it. Pinkie was attempting to change into different things, but no matter how many times her body was covered in green fire, she remained Pinkie.
"Try all you want," Katz announced. "Your magic won't work here!" Looking down, he grinned at Courage. "Nice of you to join us, just in time," Katz said. "Welcome to the show, Courage!" And with hardly any more fanfare than that, he pushed the three tied mares over the edge into the massive cauldron.
"NO!" Courage screamed, but there was nothing he could do. The screaming of his friends was silenced only by a tremendous splash, and Katz' laughter.
"Muahahahahaha!" Katz cackled, and pointed a red finger at Courage. "Get him!" He yelled. "GET HIM!"
The cauldron began bubbling over with purple fog, rolling down the side of its metal and hitting the floor with sizzling steam. Courage took several steps backwards as sunset finally arrived, and three silver, blank eyed figure rose from the fog quickly filling the back room of the store. One pegasus, one earth pony, one unicorn. All three of them stared at him for a moment, hissed their terrible screech, and lunged for him.
Without any other choice, Courage ran for his life.