A Gizmonk in Ponyville

by Moheart7

Chapter 30 - Gizmonk in a Barrel

About an hour had passed since the Cutie Mark Crusaders had found Goggles hiding in their clubhouse, and things down in Ponyville had seem to have gotten much worse, needless to say no pony was happy about it.

“This is an outrage!” Twilight shouted in anger as she continued following Captain Tod, much to the Gem Fox’s distain. “I don’t care if you ARE following orders, no authority in Equestria would allow you to attack a defenceless town just to search for a fugitive, much less put it in writing!”

“Oh put a sock in it Princess!” Tod snapped back, pointing a clawed finger at Twilight’s nose. “The document says by any means necessary, and we are doing what is necessary yo.”

“Princess Celestia will hear of this!” Twilight argued, only for Tod to laugh in her face upon hearing it.

“Go ahead and tell her then,” he chuckled. “But Queen Icicle is the only authority WE follow Princess, and if she wants us to tear apart every town we come across to find that Gizmonk, then that’s what we’re gonna do. So why don’t you do me a favour and just toddle off, yeah?”

Twilight gasped at that, she had never met anyone who would treat anyone, much less a Princess with so little respect, it was almost as if he didn’t care what happens so long as his Queen gets what she wants. As she watched Tod walk away from her, she couldn’t help but growl with anger, suddenly her mind turned to the very individual who was the reason behind this whole mess.

“Oh Goggles, where are you?” she whispered to herself.

#

Meanwhile, back at the CMC’s clubhouse, Apple Bloom’s plan was being put into action.

“You sure this is gonna work?” Scootaloo asked nervously as she helped Goggles into a large barrel.

“No, but there’s only one way to find out,” Apple Bloom answered honestly, as she watched her and Silver Spoon close up the barrel. “This may be a long shot but it’s all we got.”

“So remind me again,” Silver Spoon said, placing the lid of the barrel why are we doing this?

At those words, Goggles felt inclined to answer from inside the barrel.

“As I have mentioned, Gem Foxes have a powerful sense of smell,” he said, his voice echoing from inside the barrel. “If Apple Bloom’s plan works, then if you roll me in this barrel of cider towards Silver Spoon’s mansion, hopefully the smell of the cider with mask my own scent and I’ll be able to wait everything out until the Foxes eventually give up and leave.”

“It’s as good a plan as any,” Scootaloo admitted.

“Yeah, but what if they DON’T give up and leave?” Silver Spoon asked.

Everyone grew silent at that, for a moment no one knew what to say to that.

“Well like ah said it’s a long shot,” Apple Bloom admitted. “You ready Goggles?”

“Not really but what choice do I have,” Goggles answered sarcastically. “By my calculations, I should have enough air in here to last me about 30 minutes, you think you can get it to the mansion in that time?”

“We should,” Apple Bloom replied. “Me and Scootaloo only filled the barrel up half full.”

“Alright then, let’s go,” Scootaloo said confidently.

On that note all three fillies nodded, slammed the barrel shut with their hooves, sealing Goggles in with a half-gallon of Apple Cider.

“I just hope Sweetie Belle is going okay on her end,” Silver Spoon said worryingly as she helped Apple Bloom and Scootaloo roll the barrel down the ramp of the clubhouse.

#

As it turned out, Sweetie Belle was doing more than okay, as soon as she was able to reach her Sweetie Belle had managed to tell Applejack everything that Goggles had told her, as per Apple Bloom’s instructions. As soon as that seed of information was planted, it soon began to spread out rapidly as Applejack and Sweetie Belle quickly told the same thing to Trixie, who then told Twilight and the Diamond Dogs, within the hour, almost every one Of Goggles’ closest friends had been told the whole story, and while some were sceptical about it, some even said that Goggles was nothing more than a liar, most of them believed his story in an instant. The only trick was to make sure that they weren’t overheard by any foxes that walked by, who at this moment were seriously beginning to get irritated by their lack of success in finding the Gizmonk.

“Well?” Tod asked one of his comrade, really hoping for a positive answer that never came.

“There’s nothing boss,” the other fox said nervously, receiving an angry glare in response from his Captain. “We’ve searched everywhere we can think of.”

At those words, Tod growled and rubbed his temples with anguish.

“This is getting ridiculous,” he complained. “There’s only so many places in this dump of a town that he could hide.”

“The little punk must have skipped town already,” the other fox suggested with a slight gulp. “We probably only just missed him.”

Tod sighed at that.

“Undoubtedly,” he said in defeat. “Gather the boys, we move out within the hour.”

“Yes sir,” the other fox quickly said with a salute before running off to follow his Captain’s command.

“Aw man,” Tod groaned, scratching his head with disappointment. “Icy-baby’s gonna throw a fit when she hears about this.”

As much of a relief it was for those who managed to overhear Tod’s complaints of the matter, the problem was not over yet, especially for a certain group of fillies rolling a somewhat heavy barrel with their Gizmonk friend inside it. After what felt like ages pushing the barrel through the cold slush, Silver Spoon, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were finally reaching the half-way point of their journey.

“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom whispered. “Go find Sweetie Belle and make sure she’s okay.”

“Got it,” Scootaloo responded with a nod before running ahead, leaving Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom alone with the barrel.

“I really hope we can pull this off,” Silver Spoon said with a gulp. “I really don’t want to get up and close with one of those foxes if they find out we’re helping Goggles.”

“Neither do ah,” Apple Bloom admitted. “But look ahead, ah think they’re getting ready to leave.”

At those words, Silver Soon looked over the barrel to see what Apple Bloom was talking about, just like her friend said, all the Gem foxes seem to be gathering together in their group just about ready to leave.

“They must be giving up,” Apple Bloom continued. “But we can’t stand around with this barrel so we have to keep going.”

“No arguments there,” Silver Spoon said in agreement.

On that note the two fillies continued to roll the barrel, trying carefully to avoid the Gem Foxes’ attention. Once the final fox managed to find his way back to the group, Tod looked back towards the crowd of ponies standing behind him.

“It would seem that our efforts here have been a waste of both our times!” he called out, instantaneously receiving many angry glares and curses from the ponies, and a loud ferocious growl from the all three of the Diamond Dogs. “But if it’s any consolation, I’m sure the damages can be fixed.”

Those words, of course, Tod only used to mock the ponies in the crowd, which he made obvious with the snide tone he used. Needless to say, the crowd only reacted with a small uproar.

“Oh that’s it!” Rainbow Dash snapped as she attempted to lunge at Tod, only to be held back by her tail by Applejack. “Let me at him!”

Seeing Rainbow Dash’s display, Tod couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Go head,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Let her go, I could use a good fight after tonight.”

However before either of them could even take another step forward, Tod managed to catch something at the corner of his eye, specifically two small fillies rolling a large barrel just a few feet away from him and his comrades.

“Yo! Stop right there!” he shouted, instantly grabbing the attention of Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom. “What’ve you got there?”

At first both fillies said nothing out of fear, and those watching from the crowd couldn’t help but share in their terror, luckily since she was still following her plan, Apple Bloom soon found the courage to say what she needed to.

“Um, nothing,” she said nervously. “Just some warm cider for the cold winter night.”

“Uh yeah,” Silver Spoon added. “We thought it would take the chill off, with everything that has been going on.”

If either filly could see through Tod’s sunglasses, they would have seen his eyes narrow with suspicion.

“Really?” he said, before leaning to take a sniff at the barrel. “Hmm, smells nice, maybe we should just crack it open then.”

At those words, both fillies gulped with fear.

“What you say boys!?!” Tod called out to his cohorts. “You all fancy a drink before we go?”

The other foxes smiled and chuckled inanely at that.

“Go ahead Cutie-pie,” Tod said, leaning in towards Apple Bloom so close that his nose was at an extremely uncomfortable distance from her own. “Open it.”

At first Apple Bloom couldn’t find the courage to even move, but upon catching a glimpse of Tod’s narrowed red eyes through the lenses of his sunglasses, she took a few steps back and she and Silver Spoon tilted the barrel upward so the lid was easy to access. Slowly but surely, she then knocked her hoof against the edge of the lid, loosening it and allowing Tod to carelessly rip it away. Peering into the barrel, all Tod saw was a gallon of golden Apple Cider. At first Tod looked disappointed since he was hoping to see something else inside rather than just a simple drink, however upon dipping his muzzle into the beverage to have a taste, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Good stuff,” he complimented, licking his chops. “Come on Yo! Drink your fill boys!

And with that, Tod’s hoard of foxes began to swarm over the barrel and started fighting over the contents of the barrel, Leaving Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon to run back to Applejack, who was watching the whole scenario from the sidelines.

“You okay?” she asked, giving them both a hug and receiving a grateful nod in response. “What happened to Goggles?”

Apple Bloom smiled at that.

“He’s still in transit,” she answered simply.

#

What the foxes didn’t realise of course, was the fact that both Goggles and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were prepared for such an event when Tod would obviously go for a suspicious pair of fillies rolling a barrel across the street. So while Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom distracted the foxes with a REAL barrel of cider, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took a different path and kept out of sight with the one Goggles was hiding in. However that distraction took a little more time than they expected so they had to stop in a nearby alleyway so that they could allow Goggles some time to breath.

“You doing alright Goggles?” Scootaloo asked as she and Sweetie Belle lifted up the lid of the barrel.

“So far,” Goggles coughed, almost feeling like he was just about to pass out from the lack of air. “But we’re not out of this yet, that distraction won’t keep the foxes occupied for long so we need to… Scrap-bunnies!”

Instantly reacting to Goggles sudden outburst, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned to face the same direction he was, much to their shock and horror, one of the Gem Foxes walked by and stopped by the end of the alleyway, tatty-furred and sniffing the air around him. Not knowing what else to do, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slammed the lid down on the barrel and hid behind it, luckily the fox was too busy trying to catch a whiff of something to notice them yet, however Goggles knew what would inevitably happen sooner or later so he whispered something to the two fillies from inside the barrel.

“Girls go,” he said, instantly shocking the two girls.

“Goggles we’re not just gonna…” Sweetie Belle tried to protest, only to be cut off by Goggles’ harsh comeback.

“Do as I say!” he snapped. “I will NOT let you girls get captured as my accomplices! Just run!”

At those words both fillies were taken aback, and with the foxes finally turning his attention to the barrel, both of them had no choice but to obey the Gizmonk’s request, at the first chance they got they bolted away from the barrel and disappeared down the other end of the alleyway, leaving Goggles alone with the satisfied Gem Fox.

#

As soon as the rest of the pack had their fill of the cider Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon had used as a distraction, all of them licked their chops with satisfaction.

“Ah,” Tod sighed with approval. “Almost makes tonight seem that much less annoying.”

Happy in the knowledge that the plan seemed to be working, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but let out a small smirk. However that was when things went terribly wrong.

“Hey boss!” cried a voice from behind Tod. “I’ve found another one.”

Turning their heads towards the fox who spoke, Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom’s eyes widened with horror as they saw the barrel he was carrying. Tod however merely groaned upon seeing him.

“Please tell me you didn’t just grab a barrel out of the garbage again,” he said, face-palming, apparently this particular fox had that sort of habit, obviously noticeable by his tatty fur.

“Na boss,” the tatty fox chuckled. “This stuff’s as fresh as they come, take a whiff for yourself.”

At this point Apple Bloom was sweating pints upon seeing everything begin to fall apart with a just a single mistake, and the worst part is that she couldn’t do anything without guaranteeing Goggles being discovered. However the Gizmonk in question seemed to take care of that issue all by himself, to prove his point the tatty fox felt the need to bust open the top of the cider barrel with his paw so that Tod could get a better whiff of the contents, as soon as the fox’s paw was inside the barrel the amount of fear Goggles was feeling at that point made his primal instincts take over for a brief moment, it was then that the Gizmonk did something extremely stupid. As soon as it got too close to his face, all it took was one quick snap of his buck-toothed mouth and Goggles bit down hard on the fox’s paw.

“YEOOOOWWWWW!!!!!” the fox screamed as he pulled the Gizmonk out of the barrel, still biting down hard as he was shaken like a ragdoll.

After about a minute of shaking, Goggles finally let go and was thrown into the snow, within minutes he then found himself being picked up by his throat by a very satisfied Tod.

“Well, well lookie what we got here,” Tod said with a smirk as the masses of ponies behind him looked at him with horror, helpless to do anything without stirring the other foxes. “It would seem that our efforts weren’t in vain after all.”

“Oh hello Tod,” Goggles replied, with a frightened laugh. “Long time no see,”

Tod’s eyes widened at that, so much so that Goggles was just able to make them out over his sunglasses.

“So it’s true then,” he said with a look of interest. “You CAN talk.”

It was then that Goggles groaned, feeling like a fool for completely forgetting that he had never spoken in front of Tod nor his foxes before, however by the sound of it Tod had already been told about his ability to speak already, something else that clearly Diamond Tiara told him too. As he struggled to breathe in Tod’s grip, Goggles looked over the Gem Fox’s shoulder, there he saw many frightened and angered faces of his many friends, some were even trying to get pass the wall of fox’s blocking their path in order to get to him. Suddenly and idea popped into his head.

“Oh yeah,” he said, a small smile suddenly appearing on his face. “I can talk, shame I can also smell the reek coming off your fur too.”

As Goggles came to expect, Tod reacted to that insult like a moth to a flame.

“Why you impudent little…” he growled angrily.

But Tod couldn’t even finish his sentence with the amount of anger that was building up inside him, if there was one thing that one should never do it was insult a Gem Fox’s pride, and Goggles just gave him what felt like a massive kick to the groin with his words. In a matter of moments, Goggles found himself slammed into a nearby tree and pinned there by his throat, the hoard of foxes cheering him on as he unsheathed the claws on his other paw.

“Yeah!” one of them screamed. “Slice him boss!”

The ponies however, were not happy in the slightest, in fact upon seeing their little friend being treated in such a manner, many of them instantly began trying even harder to get past the foxes blocking their way in a fit of fury.

“Any last words, Gizmonk?” Tod mocked as he put a claw to Goggles’ neck. “Icy-baby may want you alive, but she wouldn’t mind if we… HEY!”

At that moment Tod suddenly found himself being cut-off midsentence by a snowball to the face, which was then followed by many more, some of which even had small stones inside them to make the impact that much harder. Upon being overwhelmed by the mass of snowballs heading for him, Tod soon found himself dropping Goggles so that he could use both paws to shield himself. Finally managing to get a real breath of air, Goggles was able to see for a brief moment, a glimpse of his saviours. As he had expected, the reaction of seeing Tod mistreat him in such a way had given his friends in the crowd to finally take some action, while many ponies were throwing snowballs at the foxes to distract them, others were trying to force their way through them in hopes of at least overpowering some of them, either way all of them seem to be trying to come to his aid.

“Run for it boy!!!” Silver Lining screamed amongst the other shouts of the crowd,

Hearing this Goggles gave a slight nod and saw his chance, while Tod and the other Gem Foxes were briefly distracted, he quickly slipped past their paws and started to run for his life. Finally snapping back into reality after his snow shower, Tod growled with fury at his failure.

“Yo! Get after him!” he screamed, instantly running after the Gizmonk with his whole hoard following behind him.

Comments

[Tatsurou]

And now Goggles runs to the Everfree...where Zecora hides him and the Gem Foxes have to face the entire Everfree Forest attacking them.

[Moheart7]

5924502 Interesting theory ;)