• Published 2nd Jun 2013
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My Littlest Pet Shop: Escape from Equestria - Drizzle Quill



I'm not sure how we got here, really. I remember a lot of flashing colors, and then here we were: NOT Littlest Pet Shop. We've been having a chaotic time. No time to explain-the pets are being tracked down and it might be my fault.~Blythe B

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Chapter Eighteen: Circus Preperations

My Littlest Pet Shop: Escape from Equestria

By Drizzle Quill
With much help from nyc2dragon

Chapter Eighteen
Circus Preparations

Zoe loved the smell of the fresh grass and large, leafy trees. She loved the scent of the crisp air swirling around her. And she loved the smell of bright, new, exciting things, like the prospect of being in a circus, singing in front of others that could actually hear her song…

A rancid stench suddenly filled her nostrils; wrinkling her nose, the spaniel opened her eyes to see a large white goat staring down at her with beady black eyes like buttons.

“Hello,” he said cheerfully.

Zoe yelped in surprise and jumped backwards, cowering behind Vinnie, who rolled his eyes and began to shove her back in front of him. “Who are…what are…?”

“I’m Biff,” the goat announced happily.

“Are you the zebra’s assistant?” the gecko asked, stepping forward and lifting one eyebrow in curiosity, to which the goat nodded, grinning.

“I’m here to help you guys prepare for the circus,” Biff said, turning towards a den made of leaves and turning back, beckoning for them to follow by tipping his head to the side. With an excited little squeal, Vinnie charged after him, and, after a little reluctance, Zoe followed.

The cave was dark, and it gave the spaniel shivers. Once, her beret slipped off of her head, and when she picked it up again, it was wet and cold. She gave a yelp, but a glare from Biff’s beady black eyes made her whimper and place it on her head, sending a shudder down her spine.

Suddenly there was light; it was a light so brilliant that both Zoe and Vinnie squinted, looking away. The light seemed to come from a lantern, one hanging from the front of the cave, though there was no way to tell who had illuminated it.

“Welcome to the circus training!” Biff announced, eyes bright, yet there was something in his expression that seemed unnatural…like he was nervous. Or possibly confused. Zoe narrowed her gaze, trying to figure it out.

“So what are we going to do first?” Vinnie whipped his head back and forth, looking and searching. “Where’s the circus?”

“Being set up.” Biff began to push some makeshift stools against each other, precariously placing one hoof onto them and wobbling up.

“What are we going to do to prepare?” Vinnie was relentless with his questions.

“When Zelda comes back, we’re going to split into two rooms. She’ll take you, Zoe, and I’ll be taking Vinnie!” The mountain goat yelped as he wobbled back and forth atop the stools but luckily managed to keep his balance.

The gecko grinned, purple eyes accurately reflecting his excitement. Zoe rolled her eyes, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea. How long would they be here? What if Rarity got worried?

“Where’s Russell?” she asked all of a sudden, realizing that their hedgehog friend had not returned.

Biff looked away. Now she knew there was something up; when he spoke, his voice was hesitant and nervous. “Z-Zelda hasn’t finished with him yet. You’ll see him when you go to practice, Zoe.”

The spaniel was a little uncertain, but she nodded, gazing around the cave and drinking in the scents surrounding her like water sliding down her throat. Herbs and plants were easy to identify, while there was a more familiar smell lingering in the background. Zoe wrinkled her nose, trying to decipher it, when she head hoofsteps outside of the cave.

Zelda pushed her way through the fronds of grass and trotted into the den, beautiful aquamarine eyes bright and shiny, like freshly polished buttons. “Russell is already in the room,” she told Biff, who, for whatever reason, looked as if he was going to be sick.

Then the zebra trained her brilliant gaze on Zoe. “Come on, little doggie. Let’s go practice, shall we?”

Suddenly wondering if this had all been a huge mistake, Zoe thought about saying no. It would be so easy – two letters, one syllable, one phrase. And then she could leave without a second thought.

But then she remembered the fact that here, everyone could understand her…

…and her singing…her singing would finally be heard and loved and admired all around the country, even if it wasn’t her country.

Taking a deep breath in and releasing it out, Zoe put on a grin like a mask, nodded, and followed Zelda into the bushes.

As soon as the cave was out of sight, Zelda smirked, whispered in her ear, “Time to start training. Don’t worry – it won’t hurt.” She rolled her eyes and added, “…too much.”

That was the last thing Zoe heard before feeling a weight slam into her head; too weak to let out even a soft yip, she collapsed to the ground, tongue lolling out of her mouth as the world slowly faded into an eerie blackness.


The first thing she saw was light. Bright, bright light. It made her squint and look away, where she saw the pale green of the grass. Zoe struggled, trying to figure out where she was, and what had just happened. As she shifted slightly in her place, she felt something move against her body; it was something tight and itchy. A rope…am I tied up?

Turning her head to one side, Zoe, through still-dazed eyes, saw another shape, orange in color and resting against a tree, head drooped against his chest.

She would recognize that fur color anywhere.

“Russell!” she said to him, attempting to get out of the ropes. “Russell, wake u—”

A bright light flared in front of her, cutting her off. It came from another lantern, this one much bigger than the one inside of the cave. Zoe squinted and looked away as two shadows suddenly rose up in front of the light, twin in the way that they moved, grinned, and snickered in two high-pitched voices Zoe knew all too well…

“The Biskits,” she hissed, baring her teeth and letting out a ferocious yap. “How did they get here?”

That was when Zelda approached, heading in-between the two girls, who obediently stepped to one side as the zebra passed through. “Hello, Zoe,” she grinned. “Looks like poor Russell hasn’t woken up yet, hrm? Did I hit him too hard? Hope he doesn’t get a bruise.”

“What are you doing to us? Why are you doing this?” Zoe barked frantically, struggling to get free, but was stopped as Zelda reached out and placed one hoof on her chest.

“We need the bits,” she hissed in the dog’s ear. “We need the performance to be its very best. Not some sort of play-thing you do in your free time.”

The zebra withdrew, trotting around. She tipped her head at one of the twins – Whitney – and spoke without addressing the now growling dog, still watching the girl run to grab something from a nearby shelf. “We knew that you wouldn’t spend all of your time working for us. So we had to come up with an alternative.”

As Whitney approached with a small cup of tea in her hands, Zelda took it and sipped a delicate sip before turning back to meet Zoe’s furious ice blue eyes straight on. “You will work for us now, until we have enough bits.” Her aquamarine eyes flashed. “That might not be for a very, very long time.”

“You kidnapped us,” Zoe growled.

“Ah! Such a harsh way to put it. Could we use the term...borrowed, perhaps?” Zelda finished her tea with a flourish and placed it back down upon the stool. “After all, we will only need you for the performances. And you will need to shed blood, sweat, and tears before you are perfect.”

Liquid, warm and salty, bubbled in the corners of Zoe’s ice blue eyes; glancing towards the ground, she blinked them away. “But…but why isn’t Vinnie here?”

“He’s with Biff. See, we need one of you to tell your friends to come here, right?” Zelda’s smile was so eerie and strangely beautiful it was simply terrifying. “Biff is training him to dance on a tightrope. He’ll have so much fun he’ll tell some of your friends to come back here tomorrow…and the next day…and the next…”

Zoe’s next words were a breath of a whisper. “…and he’s just dumb enough to fall for it.”

“Ha-ha! I knew you were smart, Zoe,” Zelda cheered, clapping her hooves on the side of the table. Brittany appeared, smirked at the dog and the unconscious hedgehog, and handed the zebra a rolled up scroll, which Zelda took and placed next to her, smiling. “You see, that’s why we had to take you now. Biff didn’t realize it, but he was going to start giving everything away. We knew you would be starstruck, but not too starstruck to realize what was going on.”

The spaniel stared in disbelief, feeling her chest heave in and out as she realized what was going on.

She had been duped.

She had been duped.

“You are going to let us go, or I’m going to call Vinnie, now,” she snarled, wrinkling her nose in preparation of letting out the loudest bark she had ever managed.

But Zoe was stopped by a hoof covering her mouth, a black and grey hoof that smelled like herbs and spices. A voice, silky sweet as honey, whispered in her ear, “Quiet now, Zoe. Quiet. Let’s watch Vinnie practice, shall we?”

Zelda cautiously folded down a few blades of grass directly in front of them, revealing the entrance to the cave. There the spaniel could see her gecko friend, laughing with the mountain goat as he hopped and twirled upon a tightrope.

“You’ll bring some of your friends next time?” Biff asked.

Vinnie skidded to a halt and drew one arm across his brow. “Phew! Yeah, yeah, I will! Pepper will love this! And Sunil too! Would a clown and a magician add to your act?”

Biff grinned, showing yellowed teeth. “Perfectly! That would be great!”

At the thought of poor Pepper tied up beside her, being forced to make others laugh…and Sunil, who would be so scared out of his wits he might just die of fright tied up next to her, unconscious against the tree, Zoe’s eyes widened and she began to thrash wildly in her ropes, causing Zelda to squeeze her tighter.

“Zoe and Russell will take a little longer,” the mountain goat called as Vinnie headed out of the cave door. “They’ll be here a little early, too. When you get selected for Zelda’s training, you train hard. So don’t look for them at their homes, alright?”

“Okay! Bye!” Vinnie replied, waving his small green hand as he vanished into the distance.

Tears were already flowing down the spaniel’s cheeks, wetting her fur and making it appear darker than it was. “You…you…you…” she sputtered as Zelda let her go, grinning. “You…monster. How could you do this?”

“Monster, me?” the zebra mocked, looking away. “We just need your help. However long it takes.”

Zoe’s ice blue eyes went wide as she pictured slaving away, never getting home to Littlest Pet Shop, stuck in this monstrosity of a circus forever…

Russell was unconscious next to her, and when he awoke, he would be in such a frazzle it was unlikely he would be an incredible help.

The other pets were sitting at home, unaware of the current situation, and when they actually got to the rescue, led by an unsuspecting Vinnie, it would be much, much too late, and no one, not even Blythe, would know of their horrible fate…

Zoe stared with a whimper, when Zelda turned to her and said in a bright, cheery voice much unlike her other, harder, honey-sweet tone, “Come now, Zo! Time for circus practicing! Need to get that beautiful voice up and running, right?”

That was it. That was all Zoe needed to hear. Combined with everything else that had just happened…it was too much.

The tears began to fall.