Elderly Applejack sat in her rocking chair, petting Winona while said dog read a book detailing the adventures of a courageous knight. Sitting on a red chair across from the orange pony was Big Macintosh; Applejack's brother. He always carried a scowl on his face and a brown-red leather cap on his head. They sat in a humble living room made entirely from wood, and their few bits of furniture sat upon an ornate, circular carpet absorbing the entirety of space that was given to it. Behind the two ponies were the only stairs that led to the second floor, the rail and stairs themselves being painted turquoise while the walls were covered in floral wallpaper.
Macintosh was mashing a hoof on his excessively large remote control with a single button in an attempt to make the tv work, but it refused to show anything aside from black and white lines of fuzziness going up and down.
"Gaaah!" Big Macintosh growled. "The dern tv's broke."
Applejack continued rocking back and forth on her chair and noticed Winona laughing at the contents of her book. "Oh, Macintosh. Maybe you should do like Winona and read a book."
The stallion clenched his hooves and glared at Winona who noticed and just looked back at him with worry on her face. "Stupid dog," Macintosh grumbled. "I don't need no stinkin' book. They're for hippies! I want my tv! Me favorite show's on," he whined.
"Then maybe we should call a repair tah fix the tv."
Macintosh waved off Applejack's suggestion. "Don't need no tv repair man. Ah can fix it meself! Ah just need mah tools. Ah'm going out to the shed to get 'em."
Some time later, Macintosh returned with a belt full of tools and approached his tv, then the door rang, tearing Winona from her book and annoying Mac.
"What's huh?" he wondered.
"Macintosh, there's someone at the door. Could you get it for me, please?" Applejack asked kindly.
Macintosh grumbled and mumbled all the way to the door, then opened it to reveal a malformed pony wearing a black cloak. Her mane was pouring off on her right side and was a distinct purple color with a stripe of hot-pink and magenta going down the mane in a vertical line. Her body was a lavender color and her head was unusually big with a giant, yellow eye sticking out of her right socket like a dirty banana. Behind her was a cart full of books that she had been carrying around with her, most likely something she was peddling.
"Excuse me kind sir, but would you like a book? I heard that you had some trouble with your television, and books are much better than waiting on that unreliable piece of junk."
"No solicitors!" Mac shouted and slammed the door on the mare.
"Macintosh! Don't be so rude!"
Winona hopped off AJ's legs and clutched her book between her forelegs, watching her owner walk towards the door and open it to her 'guest' and Macintosh attempting fix the tv.
"Do come in, I'm certain you could do with a bit of rest and maybe some apple tea."
"Oooh, Apple tea. It helps the eyes for reading." She tugged on her cart and brought it up the two stairs leading to the porch. "Do you mind if I bring my cart in? I don't know this neighborhood so I'm afraid somepony might steal my books."
"Not at all. Come right in," Applejack walked to the kitchen while her guest followed suite.
When the guest passed by Winona, the pooch saw a book fall from the pile in the cart and moved forward to pick it up and look at the cover. It was straightforward in terms of book covers. Big letters at the top spelling out 'Claws of Doom'. Very standard title for the unimaginative, and the covered featured a mare in black-and-white running away from what appeared to be spears being thrown at her in a forest. Winona was about to bring it back to the lady, then she noticed the eyes twitch. Looking more closely, the picture sprung to life with the mare running away.
"Help me! I'm trapped in this boooooook!" the mare shouted.
Winona's mouth opened extremely wide and started to spew mist while her eyes turned into spinning disco balls projecting colorful lights. Winona ran to the kitchen to show Applejack the book. The guest was sat one one of the thin chairss besides a dining table while AJ stood at the kitchen-sink line along the wall, boiling tea. The dog pulled on her tail to grab her attention, which worked, then started to rabble incomprehensible noises and pointing to the book.
"What is it, Winona?"
Winona turned into a mare being chased by the spears, then a Frankenstein creature climbing out of the book in question, then returned to herself and whined. AJ picked up the book and looked at it briefly before chuckling to herself. "Y'all really do like yer adventurin' books."
Winona howled quietly in worry, then looked at the book pony wave at her with a smile, but the dog wasn't taking kindly to that and frowned at her.
"Here you are," AJ passed her cup to the book pony and sat across from her, drinking her own tea.
"Oh, is that Claws of Doom? I love that book! It's one of my favorites," the book pony emphasized.
"Really? What is it about?"
"Look inside the book and you'll see. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you."
AJ chuckled and opened the book. "If you say so."
Winona winced and watched her owner gasp at the contents of the book. She seemed excited.
"Oh my. This is quite well detailed for a book."
"Yes. One could say it," The book pony lowered her glass so that only her left eye was showing. "sucks you in."
AJ started to yell and Winona looked at her to see that she was being pulled right into the book which clamped shut after her. The dog widened her eyes in horror then went onto an opera stage where she was playing a valkyrie. She yelled so loud with such a powerful voice that she quite literally blew away the whole opera by her third volume raise. Two of the spectators pulled themselves out of the rubble and started laughing.
"Well, I say her performance blew the house down and made me deaf."
"Then I guess we should stay for later performances."
"Why?"
"Because we won't hear them!"
Winona returned to her home where the book pony was reading the book AJ was now trapped in and started panicking and hopping in place.
"What's wrong, dog? Your master is in a happier place and I now have a new book to read. I'm tired of always reading the same things over and over again. She might get out if she reaches the end of the story, but they never do! Ahahahaha!"
The dog stopped for a minute then pulled out a giant mallet from a...pocket. It was disproportionately sized, but she still used its enormousness to smash the pony over the head with it, turning her into a pancake then grabbing the book and running away with it. Winona used Big Mac's turquoise pick up truck and drove off.
"Stupid dog! That's my book!"
The book pony chased after the truck, dropping one of her literary pieces on the floor in front of the tv.
"What's huh?" Macintosh grumbled while scratching the back of his head with a wrench.
The book's title was 'How to get rich quick'.
"Ooooh! Eheheheh. Let's see here," Macintosh said to himself.
Before the stallion knew it, he was sucked into the book and it clamped shut afterwards. His voice could be heard grumbling with a muffled tone. "Stupid book!"
The truck stopped next to an old caravan on the outskirts of the town where an old shaman lived. Winona burst in and started blabbering about her book. The shaman was very tiny, even smaller than Winona, but her striped, black and white coat really let her stand out, as did her wonky right eye that was colored strangely with rings of orange, red, and yellow.
"The fat lady is stuck in the book?"
"Uhuh!" Winona nodded wildly.
"There is nothing I can do...but I can prevent you from being stuck in that book with this belt." The shaman pulled a brown belt out from a chest next to her and held it out. "You can have it...for fifteen bits."
Winona sighed and pulled her wallet out from her pocket. It was as big as she was. She pulled out a single, giant coin, handed it over, then put the belt on. The dog did not wait to simply jump into the book after AJ, letting the book flop down onto the ground. Mere seconds later, the book pony barged into the caravan as well, gasping for breath.
"Have you seen a dog with a book run around here?" the book pony asked.
"No, I did not, but I have this new one for sale. Just five bits."
The book pony shook her forelegs together in excitement. "Ooooo! Here you go."
"Thank you."
In the book, Winona found herself in a thick rain forest. It was pretty hot, so she took out a giant glass of lemonade and drank its contents through a straw, then stuffed the glass back into her...pockets (HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!). Screams attracted her attention to an event occurring behind a wall of bushes behind her, so she pushed them apart and saw that Applejack was tied to a pole and being roasted atop a fire by tribal ponies wearing strange, giant masks. Winona gasped so hard she sucked herself in and turned into a solid marble then bounced on the floor a few times.
The tribal ponies spoke to each other by clicking and using armpit farts and were just about to take their meal off its spit when Winona popped up, holding a giant jack-in-the-box and dropped it before jumping back into the forest to hide. The tribals approached it with caution. Some were more daring and decided to gnaw on it, only to find their teeth shattering into several pieces. Others were more logical and...used a jackhammer to break the box open, but it failed. One of the ponies, with a bigger mask, approached it and pondered deeply. It took several minutes before the pony noticed the lever and started to rotate it. The box flung open to show a giant, cartoonish glove holding an equally giant frying pan which was used to smash the tribals multiple times deep into the ground.
Winona took the opportunity to hobble to her owner and take her off the spit just to flee. The tribesponies chased after, throwing javelins at her until she jumped out of the book, making the ponies shake their hooves at Winona disappearing into the sky. Disappointed, they all turned around to return to their huts while the one wearing the bigger mask yelled "Stupid dog!"
The book pony was humming quietly to herself when she heard a rumbling amongst her books. Turning around, she saw Winona pop out with AJ above her. The dog chuckled stupidly?
"What the?! My books! What did you do?!"
Winona screamed at the top of her lungs and hopped back into another book, the pony giving chase.
"Come back here with my protagonist!" she shouted.
Winona ran along a dirt path akin to the Everfree and stopped in front of an old, two-story house in complete ruins surrounded by the Everfree. A sickly, tan-colored mare with brown hair was standing on her porch and sniffling when she caught sight of Winona and Applejack. Winona and the pony stared at each other for a lengthy amount of time before the dog opened her mouth to scream like crazy and to F1s sped off her tongue, drove around in circles, then went back into her mouth. The dog jumped out of the book before her pursuer could catch up.
"What was wrong with her?" the sickly pony wondered.
When the book pony chased after, she turned to notice the sickly pony and looked at her for just a few seconds before screaming in terror and running away. The tan pony crossed her forelegs and pouted.
The three when through another book where two bipedal creatures were yelling at each other about who was better than the other when the three ran over a flying ship with the shape of a bird-head, damaging it and having it crash.
"Not again," the owner of the ship whined.
The next book was in the water, and Winona and the book pony both had jet skis available. The book pony started throwing octopi and sharks at the dog in front of her, prompting Winona to scream loudly when one of the shark clamped shut onto the back seat. Luckily, the dog had an anti-shark repellent and sprayed it on the fish. It let go then casually exploded next to the book pony. The dog was confused and scratched her head. She just couldn't figure out what happened.
The two narrowly missed a pirate ship in the pursuit. The occupants of the boat teetered over to get a better look at whatever the commotion was and were confused at the sight.
"What's that supposed to be?" the youngest of the crew wondered aloud.
Finally out of the last book, Winona hid behind the cart and waited for the book pony to jump into another literary piece. Finally, she got a hold of the book and wrapped a huge amount of chains onto it and clamped it shut with a lock. When the pony tried to get out but failed, Winona rewarded herself with a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forward. It wasn't over yet, as the trapped pony still found time to yell at her.
"Let me out of here! Let me--Oh? Ohohoho. Oh dear. Well, I guess I could get used to this. I should've done this years ago! Thanks, dog! Aaaaaaaaahahaha!"
Winona scratched her and picked the box up to see why the book pony was acting that way. It turned out the book was titled 'Hunks of Equestria' on it, making the dog shove a finger in the back of her throat and display her disgust very openly.
The two were finally back home, and Winona was enjoying Applejack's petting whilst laying down comfortably on her lap. The rocking chair was making all of it even better and more calming, although Applejack stopped briefly and looked around.
"I wonder where Macintosh went," she wondered aloud.
On the floor, in front of the tv, remained a book the book pony forgot to recover.
"Hohohaha! I'm rich, rich, rich!" a voice cheered within it.
Am I in the year where ponies and good memories mix together?
Because I'm lovin' it so far. First Pajama Sam, now this. I'll read this later to see how this holds.
EDIT: God dammit, I haven't had a chuckle this good since trying to pretend I was Santa for my younger sister. Excellent stuff in here. :)
7014771 Huzzah! He has finally returned and commented on one my stories...*takes out giant clippers* Now to steal his scales.
7014780 Aye! After 2-3 years on complete silence, I return to write stories (and remake that GOD AWFUL HiE I started long ago.)
You'll never catch me alive, coppers!
Liked just for the throwback to courage the cowardly dog. That cartoon was my childhood.
7014800
7014802
Even Heavy is back!
Nicely done.
7015061 I tried to pace it like it were an actual episode. It didn't seem too rushed because of it, though, did it?
7015067 I think the pacing was fine and I got a good sense of nostalgia from reading it. I grew up watching that dog and you did him justice.
Sequel?
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/8f/Pinkie_Pie_Making_Puppy_dog_eyes.gif/revision/latest?cb=20130329184126
Retuurrrnnnn the sssssllaaaaaaaab...
7015880 What's Yer Offer?!
Deleted scene (of course, by "deleted" I mean I totally just made it up):
Winona (while typing): Help... Applejack... trapped in book... must get her out!
Computer: Hmm... trapped in a book you say? Well, obviously that book must be magic, you twit.
Winona: Tell me something I don't know!
Computer: I suppose you want to get her out?
Winona: Just help me out already!
Computer: Alright, already! You don't have to get so defensive. if you want to get her out, perhaps the shaman can help you. For a price, of course...
IDK about you, but I wanted a scene with the computer in it. His sassy sarcasm was simply irresistible (try saying that three times fast, you twit!).
7016545 If you don't return the slab, you will be visited by three Christmas spirits...
7016558 You mean these Christmas spirits?
7015812 If you want a sequel it will have to be part of this story.
7016554 I actually thought about Jeeves' ancestor, but forgot about it and replaced it with the shaman.
7014818 Isn't it glorious? :D
7014802 Good to see you back, dude!
7017300 So what'd you think of the story?
7017326 The story itself is a story I'm enjoying so far for being as close to the comedy of the show as possible, given that it's in fanfic format.
It definitely feels like a play, where characters we know are playing the part of the Courage Cast, which is not bad at all. There are spots where it feels just a tad empty, like a pause, but then again, Courage had those moments too.
Overall, I look forward to reading more of these, and I'm glad that a memory like Courage is being handled by who I believe is doing well. Keep it up. :)
7017411 Well, I'm going to try and think up some new scenarios, then. I'm getting two in mind with Pinkie and Rarity.
7017417 Then I look forward to it! :D
7017419 Jus finalized Rarity idea. Must finish Deer Me chapter first.
Two of my fav shows combined my only problem is Mac as Eustace he's too much of a gentlecolt to be that bastard
7018030 I know, but he was the only one that fit, hence the AU tag (if only thinking about that).
Also, yo commented?! WHAT FOUL SORCERY?!
Being Courage one of my favorite shows of all time, I had to read this and... it captures the spirit of the cartoon really, even if Applejack and Big Mac are a little out of character (it's comprehensible though).
May I give you some ideas? Just think about it:
Opal as Katz
Scootaloo as the Chicken from Outer Space
Trixie as Le Quack
Gummy as The Great Fusilli
Angel as Dr. Gerbil or a Weremole-like creature
Tank as the Hunchback
Bloomberg as the Magic Tree
Rarity as the Queen of the Black Puddle
Sweetie Belle as Shirley
Flim and Flam as the King of Flan
Apple Bloom as Freaky Fred
Ahuizotl as King Ramses
Cheerilee as The Teacher
7018065 Qu'est ce que c'est? Wouldn't Fleur De Lis be more befitting as Dr. LeQuack? Also, I'm not recasting everyone as a creature we've already seen, hence why Twilight was that book person. I have Rarity figured out, but still working on the rest. Could probably do something with the Spa Sisters.
Psycho... You fantastic beast!
7018045 Makes sense I guess
Only comment rarely I'm afraid depending
7018358 Now for the next chapter.
That was awesome!
I'm not the only one that read the synopsis for this story and heard the reporter like at the beginning of Courage am I?
7020177 That was the purpose!
I FOKIN' LOVE CROSSOVERS M80!!! GIMME MORE O' DIS -neigh- Neigh.... neigh.... puyfection... puyfection that only such a cutie horse psycho can bring.
I loved it! Especially the way you had written the story altogether, it was very interesting and unique. Could you maybe do a sequel please?