Part 1: Down to Earth

View Online

The sun beamed brightly down on Ponyville. The day was still young and ponies were hustling and bustling across the town. It was a rather busy day for all the residence. One of the buildings, stood out amongst the rest. It had the same pale tan color, but with a chocolate brown roof, a middle spire that were shaped like cupcakes, and white trimming around the roof which gave the impression that it was caked with icing. Sugarcube Corner was the building's name, it was a bakery and confectionary where ponies would retrieve their filling of sugary goodness. It also happened to be the living quarters and workplace of Pinkie. Carrot Cake and Cup Cake were the married couple that owned and ran the place, along with being the parent of twins, Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake.

On this day, we see Fluttershy and Rarity having a conversation at one of the outdoor tables of the bakery. It had been about 2 months since their last friendship mission to another world. However, the memories were still fresh in their minds.

"I admit it. Though it was a bit awkward having to swim everywhere, it did feel quite free and relaxing." Rarity paused to take a sip of her milkshake. "Plus, it gave me some inspiration for my next line of dresses for the summer."

"That's sounds really nice, Rarity." Fluttershy responded warmly. "And I'm glad things turned out so well with us and the others. It was probably the most terrified I had been with any of the missions so far."

"Really?" Rarity gave a inquisitive look. "I would've thought having to fight that monster with the angel wing was the worst of the two."

"Well, he was pretty scary. But, those normal citizens of Bikini Bottom wanted to sacrifice all of us and SpongeBob just to get those Krabby Patties back." Fluttershy said.

"Yes. Well, that was pretty horrific." The fashionista said. "Let's try talking about more positive topics. Like, how have your animals been doing?"

Fluttershy finished chewing to rest of her cupcake before she answered.

"Oh, they have been doing alright. They’ve also been getting along better lately. But, I just can't help but feel that something is missing."

"Whatever do you mean, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, concerned for her friend.

"I-It's just that...I feel their getting bored of living with me." The shy pegasus sighed. "Don't get me wrong, we have tea parties and we do other things. But, sometimes I feel that I don't do enough for them."

"Oh, nonsense, Fluttershy." Rarity spoke firmly. "I've seen first-hoof that you've been the most caring and responsible care-taker out there. I can't think of any other pony who could give them a better, more relaxing life than you."

Fluttershy couldn't help but blush a little at the compliment.

"Thank you, Rarity. That means a lot to me. But, still, I feel that I should try something new with them."

"Well, It certainly wouldn't hurt. I'm sure others like you would do the same thing." Rarity attuned.

"Exactly!" Pinkie Pie popped up from under the table, scaring the two mares. "I remember when I wanted to do something new with the twins. So we played follow the leader around time while a made some deliveries. It was great fun."

"That's...nice, Pinkie." Rarity said catching her breath. "But, must you scare us like that?"

"Oh, oops. Sorry, Rarity. It just couldn't help but overhear you two talking about our last adventure." The pink mare giggled.

"You...You've been eavesdropping on us the whole time?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well not the whole time, but you said something about SpongeBob and it caught my attention." Pinkie answered with a grin.

"Well, please don't make a habit of it. It's quite rude to eavesdrop on somepony." Rarity sipped the rest of her milkshake.

"No promises." Pinkie said quickly.

Rarity was about to say something but Pinkie continued.

"Anyway, that got me thinking about what are next new-world mission is. I mean, it's been such a super-duper long time and just thinking about it gets my all excited!"

"It's only been two months, darling. But seeing that this has become a consistent part of our lives, I suppose there's always that thought in the back of our minds." The pristine unicorn said.

"And being that it has been such a long time, I kind of wonder how they're doing now." Fluttershy added.

"Perhaps the map can take back to those worlds so we can visit." Rarity said.

"That would be great!" Pinkie squealed with excitement. "I'll be sure to throw an extra big party for every world!"

Fluttershy and Rarity chuckled a bit at Pinkie's dreamy prospect.

Meanwhile, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle was almost finished completing the royal paperwork and reports for the day. She sat, focused at the table while writing. Spike came with a cup of tea for her.

"Here's some tea for you, Twilight." He said. "I'm sure you could use something to help you relax."

"You have no idea, Spike." Twilight took the cup in her magic. "When I became a princess, I understood how stressful it would be. But, I didn't think it would be this stressful! I mean, I've been stuck in my seat most of the morning just to get all this work done."

"Do you want to take a break?" Spike asked.

Twilight straightened herself and gave a deep breath to calm and refocus herself.

"Nope. I'm almost done with all of this anyway." Twilight arched her back, causing it to crack in several places. "After that I can just take it easy."

"Provided that nothing else comes up." The young drake said, almost in a teasing matter.

Twilight looked up from the paper just as she finished writing out the last of the report. She had an expression on her face that Spike couldn't decern. The purple alicorn then let out a sigh.

"Well, hopefully, that doesn't happen." She said flatly. "I think all this paperwork is enough for today."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but, it seems that fate has other ideas." Spike pointed at Twilight's flank.

Twilight sucked in a breath between her teeth. Turning her head, she saw her cutie mark was glowing. She let out a frustrated grown.

"Why now of all times? My schedule is jam-packed enough as is." Twilight complained.

"Well, look on the bright side. Maybe this time it will just be a normal friendship mission." Spike said, his spikes now glowing.

"Well seeing as how you're also glowing, I think it's safe to assume we're needed in another world." Twilight groaned.

Spike looked over himself and realized that Twilight was right. The fins on his head were indeed glowing.

"Maybe it won't be as extreme or chaotic as last time." Spike tried to reassure her. "Besides, it has been a while since the last adventure."

Twilight pondered for a second. It certainly had been a while since their aquatic escapade with SpongeBob and the others. Though, that was probably for the best. A lot did happen in that mission.

"You're right about that. Still wish it didn't happen today." She sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped. Let's go, I'm sure the girls are on their way over."

Twilight and Spike made their way to the Cutie Map room, all the while thinking of what the next world had in store for them. As they enter the room, they were surprised to see that the others were already there.

"You girls showed up quick." Twilight said, half-surprised, half-impressed.

"Oh, please. I could fly from my home to your castle in ten seconds flat." Rainbow boasted.

"Well, me, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were at Sugarcube Corner. So I guess it was good timing for us." Rarity explained.

"And ah was just havin' a stroll through town. Was a pretty light day at the farm today so ah figured to go out and stretch mah instead of sittin' round all day." Applejack said. "But, seein' as how we've been summoned for another mission, ah think we all will be gettin' more than our legs pumpin'."

"Yeah. I suppose it would be nice to stretch my legs a bit." Twilight chuckled dryly. "Though would've preferred I didn't."

"Is something wrong, darling?" Rarity asked with concern.

"Huh? Oh, not really. I've just been working all morning and I was hoping to just relax a bit." Twilight admitted sheepishly.

"Oh. Well we've all been there before, Twi. though, I'm sure being a princess and all brings a lot of extra work." Applejack said warmly. "You could take it easy for this mission if you want."

"I'm sure that will help." Twilight smiled. "But maybe not too much. A friendship mission is important no matter what."

They others nodded and waited for Twilight to do her thing. The princess charged up her magic and beamed it right at the table. The portal began to take form and enveloped the table before falling flat to the floor.

"Everypony ready?" Twilight asked.

The others nodded, except Rainbow who replied with a...

"Heck yeah!"

She dove into the portal. The rest of the Main 7 jumped in together. They flew through the spiraling space as they were being transported to their intended destination. It didn't take too long for another portal to form and spit them out in the middle of a flat field. Rarity was the first to speak.

"All right. Where are we now?" She asked.

The ponies and dragon looked all around, only seeing fields, stone walls, and the occasional farm house.

"I don't know, but it looks pretty bland to me." Rainbow said with a tinge of disappointment.

"Whatever the case, let's just find a place to get situated and then move from there." Twilight affirmed.

"Sounds good ta me." Applejack said.

And so, the Main 6 and Spike journeyed across the foreign lands to find a place to temporarily stay. However, as minutes turned to hours, they soon came to realize that there was hardly anypony or anybody around. It seemed the prominent species in this world were humans. However, the humans they did come across gave them weird looks before shrugging and continuing on with their business. Twilight was the first to try to speak with them, but this only resulted in them running away when they realize it was the weird, purple pony with wings was the one that spoke. Eventually, the the sun began to set and the day began to draw to a close. The Main 7 were still in search of a place to stay as it grew darker and darker.

"You'd think we would find somepony here that would be a bit more welcoming to us." Rainbow crossed her hooves, hovering in the air.

"Ah'd be surprise if they did. We are technically aliens." Applejack argued.

"Well, we need to find someplace to stay soon." Rarity complained. "I'm not sleeping out in the open and risking my splendid mane getting ruined to the elements."

No sooner had Rarity finished did a crash of thunder echoed across the land. Dark clouds covered the sky and rain began pelting the group.

"You can't be serious!" The white unicorn bellowed.

"Let's not panic. We just need to keep looking." Spike reassured.

"I don't mean to be a downer, Spike, but all our attempts have been for nothing at this point." Rainbow wiped her wet mane away from her eyes.

"We're bound to find somepony eventually." Pinkie chimed in. "My mom used to say that "Every pile of rocks is a gemstone."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Rainbow said, slightly annoyed.

"I think she's saying that there's a good pon-...er...human out there that will take us in." Fluttershy said.

"My mane will never be the same again!" Rarity cried.

"Girls, please!" Twilight shouted.

The others stopped talking and looked to her, surprise that Twilight raised her voice.

"I know these aren't starting off good, but arguing in the rain isn't going to get us anywhere." She pointed out. "Can we please try to remain calm and civil until after we find a place to stay."

Just then, the group heard a sharp whistle in the distance. They turned to see where it came from. Over a small stone wall, was a stone barn perpendicular to a road. The main barn doors were slightly open, revealing a sheep standing on it's hind legs peering through them. It gestured the Main 7 to come over to him. The Main 7 looked amongst themselves, unsure to obey or not.

"Should we...go there?" Spike asked, trusting the girls decision.

"He looks harmless enough." Fluttershy looked at the sheep.

"How do you know it's a guy?" Rainbow asked.

"He's fairly thin. Females are more...um, rotund. I guess." The yellow pegasus explained.

"It's clear he's willing to let us in." Twilight said, not longer wishing to stay out in the freezing rain. "He's probably our best option."

Knowing that Twilight was right, the rest of the Main 7 followed her to the barn.

"Isn't it strange how a farm animal is the one that saves us and not the people themselves?" Rainbow inquired.

"I'm willing to swallow my pride if it means we get to stay warm and dry." Rarity said, though sounding a bit discouraged.

The Main 6 and Spike climbed over the stone wall where the sheep opened the doors, allowing the ponies and dragon to enter. Soon as they were inside, he closed the doors back shut and locked them. The Main 7 noticed that there were several other sheep in the barn. All of which were staring at them.

"Uhm, Twilight." Spike stood be her, a little anxious.

Twilight cleared her throat.

"We don't bring any harm. We just needed out of the rain." She turned to the sheep that let them in. "Thank you, for that."

The sheep let out a "Bah" and a couple of grunts.

Twilight's smiled falter into a more confused expression. She had no idea what the sheep had just said.

"Do you know what he said?" Twilight asked to her dragon friend.

Spike shook his head.

"He said "You're welcome." Fluttershy spoke up.

The others turned to the pegasus with surprised looks.

"You know what he said?" Rainbow asked.

"Y-Yeah." Fluttershy responded. "I do live with a lot of animals after all."

"Makes sense. Though I am surprised you were able to understand him considerin' that we're...y'know." Applejack said.

"I...guess it comes naturally." Fluttershy chuckled sheepishly.

The earth pony nodded then walked up to the sheep.

"Well, we appreciate your accommodations, Mr..." Applejack stopped, whiling wringing out her soaking hat. "Sorry, do ya have a name, little feller?"

The sheep made a couple of noises. It sounded like he was trying to talk, but there were no coherent words.

"His name is Shaun." Fluttershy translated.

"Shaun, huh? Shaun the sheep." The farm pony said.

"Again, we thank you for your hospitality, Shaun." Twilight said kindly. "But, could you tell us where we are exactly?"

Shaun began to explain, while Fluttershy translated for him.

"This is Mossy Bottom farm, our home. We live with our owner, The Farmer and his dog, Bitzer." The pegasus said.

"The Farmer? What's his name?" Rarity asked.

"Bah-bah. Hmp." Shaun said.

"That's his name. He goes by The Farmer." Fluttershy translated.

"Well that's...a little odd." Applejack said. "Actually, it don't make no sense at all. Why doesn't he have a proper name?"

Shaun shrugged, not knowing the answer himself.

"I see. You wouldn't happen to know if there's any problems around here. Would you?" Twilight asked further.

"Yeah! It's what we do; travel to different, make new friends, and solve friendship problems along the way." Pinkie said happily.

Shaun gave the pink mare a confused look before continuing.

"No, they're not any problems at the moment...but I'll let you know if something comes up." Fluttershy translated. "He sounded a bit suspicious of us from that last part."

Twilight cleared her throat.

"Like Pinkie Pie said. Our job is to help those in need in one form or another." She explained with a more formal tone. "You see...we come from a different world and we were summoned here for a friendship problem or something like that. I know this is bit of a stretch, but we've done this before and we understand how you feel about all this."

Shaun looked to the ceiling, as if in thought. Before let out a couple of bahs.

"All right. I don't know why, but I'll trust you for now." Fluttershy translated.

"Thank you Shaun." The purple alicorn said. "Oh! My name is Twilight Sparkle by the way. But, you can just call me Twilight."

"Howdy, ya'll. Name's Applejack." Applejack said.

"Hi, I'm Fluttershy."

"Rarity."

"I'm Rainbow Dash."

"Hi-ya! My name's Pinkie Pie!"

"And I'm Spike."

Shaun let out a bah.

"Nice to meet you all." Fluttershy translated.

The other sheep waved at them in a greeting fashion. Then Shaun pulled up a couple of empty burlap sacks and some old pillows. He let out a bah.

"Get comfortable and make yourselves at home. It's almost time for sleep anyway." Fluttershy translated.

"Stuck inside a musty barn with nothing but a sack and pillow? These worlds are never kind to me." Rarity pouted.

"Probably because you ask for too much." Rainbow teased.

"Too much!?" Rarity shouted in dismay." Is it really too much to ask for a proper bed instead of this."

She pointed at the dusty, old sack. Rainbow just chuckled. Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back at Shaun.

"You get used to it." She said.

Shaun let out a "Hm" In an understanding manner. He pulled an old blanket over himself and closed his eyes. Twilight let out a sign, pulling Spike closer to her to get him as comfortable as possibly. By now, Rarity and Rainbow's bickering had ended, allowing peace and quiet in the barn. She looked over to see the rest of her friends were laying on their given sacks.

"Goodnight, Twilight." Spike yawned.

"Goodnight, Spike." Twilight held her baby dragon close.

Sleep came over her fast. She let out a yawn and closed her eyes, the gentle sound of the rain soothing her to sleep.

To be continued

Part 2: Life on the Farm

View Online

The bright, morning sun broke through over the horizon, spreading it's rays across the hills and fields throughout the county. The sky brightens from black to bright cyan, signifying a fresh new day. As the rays of sunshine seeped into the barn's windows, Shaun opens his eyes. He hears the call of the rooster coming from outside.

"Must he always do that every morning?" He thought to himself

Shaun looks up, staring at a spider that was in the midst of waking up. Then, he noticed the Main 7 beginning to wake up, too.

"Mornin', ya'll." Applejack stretches and arches her back.

"Good morning." Twilight responds groggily, still in the process of opening her eyes.

"Well, Rarity. How was sleeping with an old sack?" Rainbow asked in a teasing manner.

Rarity let out a sigh through her nostrils then made a collected smile.

"To be honest, Rainbow, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She admitted. "Though I still prefer a normal bed."

"Really?" Rainbow was rather surprise by her friend's answer. "That's a first."

"Oh, please. I know full well that complaining won't get me anywhere. So, I've made the notion to just stop whenever we're on these missions." The snow-colored unicorn said.

As Twilight lets out a yawn, she turns to Shaun who was stretching out his arms.

"Morning, Shaun." She said.

"Emph. Baah." Shaun grunted.

Even though Twilight couldn't understand what the sheep said exactly, she was able to picked up on the tone in which he said it. And it sounded rather unhappy.

"He said "Good morning." Fluttershy translated.

"He didn't sound very enthusiastic." Twilight observed.

Shaun let out a sigh and prepared for the morning routine.

Meanwhile, in the farmhouse, an alarm clock goes off, waking the owner of the farm. The Farmer whacks the clock off his nightstand and groggily sits up. He tears the page off a calendar as he gets ready for his morning routine. Outside, at a different part of the farm, Bitzer, a yellow sheepdog, was woken up by his alarm. He hits his head against his doghouse as he jolts awake. He stands up, craning his neck and heading over to a tree with a newspaper and a roll of toilet paper.

Meanwhile, Shaun brushes his hair. The other sheep were now awake and getting ready for the morning. Just then, Rarity came over to him with a squeamish look.

"Mind if I...borrow that?" She pointed at the brush.

Shaun hands it to Rarity and she begins brushing her mane.

At the same time, the balding farmer headed over to his bathroom. With his eyes still closed, he sprays deodorant under his armpits. Back inside the door, Shaun hands his little cousin, Timmy, his favorite Teddy bear.

"Um, Shaun." Fluttershy came up to him. "I'm worried that your owner might not take too kindly to us being here."

"Bah-ah. Bah." Shaun responded.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of that."

"O-Oh, okay." The shy pegasus said.

Back outside, Bitzer stands next to the farmhouse door with a salute. The Farmer, now wearing a thick pair of glasses and a green jacket, exits and unknowingly smashes Bitzer's nose. As The Farmer opens the barn doors, Bitzer blows on his whistle. The Farmer then looks through the schedule on the barn door. That's when he noticed the Main 7. Taken aback, he begins to stammer and shout. The ponies and dragon didn't know what he was saying, but they still felt a bit intimidated. Thankfully, Shaun was able to calm him down. He then began explaining the situation with Bitzer and The Farmer. The Main 6 and Spike watched with bated breaths.

"I don't know what they're saying, and I'm still freaking out." Pinkie said.

"I'm just hoping they'll understand." Twilight said.

After what seemed like an eternity, The Farmer gave a brief sigh and wave his hand in a dismissive manner. Shaun looked at the group and gave a thumbs-up. Twilight and her friends all shared a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's a relief." Spike said happily.

And with that, the ponies, dragon, and sheep all shuffled out of the barn. Using a hand-made traffic sign, Bitzer directs the herd across a road and into a waiting corral. As the Main 7 walked passed, they noticed Bitzer giving them a suspicious glare. Rainbow, being the impulsive one, was about to say snap at him, but Applejack put a hoof over her mouth and shook her head.

"We don't need any problems this early right now." She hissed.

Rainbow kept her mouth shut with a scornful look on her face. As the herd filed into the crowded corral, Shaun gets wedged between two other sheep. His feet were up in the air so he couldn't move around. All he could do was stay there with an annoyed look on his face.

"Not a lot of room in here." Twilight pushed against Shirley, the largest sheep of the group, to try to make room.

"I take it back. This. Is. The. Worst!" Rarity bellowed in despair.

"This is gonna be a long day." Applejack rubbed her forehead.

"Not if we make it into a montage." Pinkie said in a sing-song tone.

The orange earth pony looked at her in confusion.

"Wait. Wu-"

And so, that became the new routine for Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, and the others. Nightfall came and it was back into the barn for bed. The next morning came and the morning routine was repeated. After Shaun brushed his hair, he gave it to another sheep. The sheep squirted toothpaste on it and brushed her teeth with it. Rarity just looked on in disgust. She had used that brush to brush her mane and there it was being used as a toothbrush. She almost wanted to scream.

Bitzer blew his whistle and The Farmer looked through the schedule. The Farmer opens the barrier gate and bends over to anchor it into place. As he did so, the sheep and the Main 7 caught a view of his exposed butt-crack. Shaun covered Timmy's eyes while Twilight did the same with Spike. Rarity nearly fainted while the rest just looked away in disgust and shock. Another day in the corral and another night in the barn.

Wednesday morning, The Farmer pours animal feed into a trough. Shaun coughs and chokes on the dust.

"This is just dried up grains. We can't eat this." Rainbow complained bitterly.

"I concur. Does he think we're just farm animals or something." Rarity added.

The sheep all give her varying levels of glares.

"No...offense." She looked away in embarrassment.

"I'm sure it taste great." Pinkie dives her head into the feed.

She begins to chew. As she did so, she found it harder and harder to do so. Pinkie struggles to not spit it all out, tears well up in her eyes from the effort and horrible taste alone. She began to swallow the dry, tasteless flakes. The rest of her friends could only watch as the pink mare finally got the mouthful of feed down her throat. Pinkie did her best to not cough and gag.

"G-Good stuff." She wheezed, with a wavering smile.

"Pinkie, I hate to be that kind of pony. But, you're not satisfying anypony." Rainbow put a hoof over her friend's neck.

The pink mare looked down in the ground with a shell-shocked look on her face.

"I've had very few regrets in my life." Pinkie whispered, my mane flying flat just a little bit. "This...This is one of them."

Later, The Farmer was filling up the water trough with a hose. However, he got so distracted by his phone that he was inadvertently dousing Shaun in water. The young sheep just stood there with the same annoyed look on his face. The day after, as the herd made their into the corral, Bitzer was furiously blowing on his whistle. Shaun plugged the soundhole with his finger to get the sheepdog to stop. He lets go as he enters the fenced-in area while Bitzer stood there out of breath. This routine continued for a number of days for the Main 7 and it was slowly starting to become unbearable.

On one particular day, The Farmer grabbed an electric clipper from the storage shed. He enters the corral and cracks his knuckles, turning the clippers on. Rarity let out a screech.

"No! No, no, no, no! You are not ruining my mane!" She shouted.

The sheep all back away. The man closes in on them. Thinking fast, Shaun dashes in-between his legs. The other sheep follow. One sheep gets caught between The Farmer's legs, giving him around the corral and giving the Main 7 the perfect distraction to escape. Twilight took Spike in her magic and flew over the fence. The others followed, clambering over the fence.

"I ain't takin' any chances with him. Ah'm not losing mah coat over this!" Applejack said firmly.

"I swear, if he thinks he can do that us, he's got another thing coming!" Rarity hissed. "And I certainly would not let him lay a hand on poor Spikey-wikey. He doesn't even have fur."

"Exactly! That's just not happening." Twilight agreed.

"Yeah. But, what about Shaun and the others?" Spike said.

The Farmer, not back on his feet, is able to grab one of the sheep's leg. That leg belonged to Shaun. He was dragged out from the group and held in a firm grasp. He squirms as The Farmer gets to work and shears off his carefully-brush fleece and hairdo. The other sheep could only wince as Shaun's wool gets cut away. Once he was done, The Farmer let's Shaun go. Bitzer hauls over Shirley and plops her down onto the man. As Shaun walks away, he looks up and sees three pigs laughing at him from behind a stone wall.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size." Rainbow flew up to the pigs and waved her hoof at them.

That was enough to scare them off. They fled back to there home. Shaun looks back and glares at The Farmer, who was shearing off Shirley's fleece. The young sheep walks away. Fluttershy comes up to him.

"Doesn't it, at least, feel nice to get all that excess wool off?" She asked, trying to sound optimistic.

"Euh-uh." Shaun said bitterly and stomped off.

"You know, that's kinda what I thought how a sheep would feel when their wool is cut." Rainbow came up to her pegasus friend.

"I can't help but feel there's more to it than that." Fluttershy said.

"Maybe we can talk about it to him tonight." Twilight suggested.

Later on, the day began to come to an end. The sun started to dip below the horizon and the sky turned varying shades of red and orange. The Farmer filled out his schedule for the day as Bitzer directed the flock back into the barn. The man lets out a yawn and nudges Shaun into the old building. the annoyed sheep turns around and glares up at him. The Farmer just looks back, holding a pitchfork with his red, balding hair spiked up in two patches like two horns.

"Seems about right." Shaun thought to himself.

The Farmer closes the barn door leaving the sheep, ponies, and baby dragon by themselves. Night rolls around and Shaun is still pouting as he readies himself for bed.

"Um, Shaun?" Twilight says.

Shaun turns around and gives her a quizzical look.

"We couldn't help but notice that your mood seems a bit...miffed. Especially with The Farmer." The purple alicorn said. "Is there something going on between you two?"

Shaun gave a deep sigh.

"Bahah. Eum, hm. Bah." He grunted.

"Not exactly. It's more of that every day is the same. We wake up, we stay in the corral all day doing nothing, sometimes get sheared, which I hate. It's boring, it's dull, it's unfulfilling. It just frustrates me." Fluttershy translated.

"I can understand that." Rarity chimed in. "Being stuck in such a tight space can drive anypony crazy."

"But, you've probably been going through this for years. Surely you've gotten used to it by now." Twilight reasoned.

Sheep let out another long sigh.

"Bahbah. Bah, emha." He said.

"It wasn't always like this. Back when we were all much younger. It was more fun and wholesome..." Fluttershy translated.

the young farmer held a new-born lamb in his hand. With a milk bottle in the other hand, he fed the lamb for the first time. In fact, this his first time setting foot in his new home. The Farmer had recently gained the ownership of a farmhouse and it's land. Excitement was edged on his face, ready to begin life as a farmer. He gives a big grin at the camera that was filming them. Then, the lamb spat out some of the milk on The Farmer's denim jacket. He was surprised at first, but then chuckled in amusement. It was on that day he decided to name the lamb; Shaun.

The camera filmed all the happy moments with The Farmer and the others. He set Shaun down on the ground and nudged him forward. Taking his first steps, Shaun began frolicking with a sheepdog puppy. The Farmer smiled warmly.

The man puts a blue knit-cap on the dog's head. Bitzer hops around and crashes into Shaun. Three little piglets laugh in amusement from behind a low stone wall.

One sheep became a whole flock of sheep. They crowded around each other with Bitzer. Then, together, they ran toward the Farmer and tackled him to the ground, knocking the camera over in the process. The Farmer laughs and nuzzle little Shaun in his hands.

The Farmer waves a dog toy at Bitzer and Shaun, who look at it with excitement. He throws it and the two animals chase after it. The toy tumbles through a gate opening. Shaun chases after it. Bitzer was about to follow, but was chased off when Shaun ran back into the field as a baby bull charged after him.

Bitzer and the sheep happily run around the lush, green field as The Farmer dances.

Shaun stares at a tape player, his eyes following the spinning sprocket wheels of the tape. He steps away dizzily and loses his balance.

Bitzer and the sheep climb onto a haybale as The Farmer sets up a camera. He runs over to them and holds up Shaun and Bitzer. He and the sheep all smile as the camera flashes, giving them their first family photo.

"But, as time has gone on, all those fun times just became distant memories. It feels like that spark between all of us has gone out." Fluttershy finished.

The others looked at Shaun with sympathetic looks.

"Ah'm sorry to hear that, Shaun." Applejack put a hoof over his shoulder. "But, we all grow up an' things change. Not everything lasts forever, believe me. But, all those times have been cherished and, though it may not seem that way, that ther Farmer loves ya, Ah'm sure of it."

"Yeah, besides, I know just how to cheer you up." Pinkie grinned.

"Pinkie, ah'm all for makin' people happy, but ah don't think a party is the answer here." Applejack said.

"Ahh. Why not?" Pinkie pouted.

"Because this is my personal. A party won't gonna do much good." Twilight explained, turning back to Shaun. "I'm sure there's some enjoyment in the laugh you have. You just need to look for it."

Shaun only gave a dry reply.

"Hmfp. Bah-bah-bah." He said.

"I doubt it. I still would want to be back in the old days." Fluttershy translated.

Twilight was the one to let out a sigh this time.

"Maybe we can discuss this more tomorrow. For now, let's try to get some sleep." She said.

"Sounds good to me." Spike let out a yawn and rolled onto the burlap sack.

The others soon got under the covers to catch some sleep. Shaun, his mood barely improved, breathed out and closed his eyes. Twilight watched with a sympathetic look. She puts a wing over Spike and thinks to herself. Was there any way to help Shaun. That was something that would have to wait until morning. For now, it was best to get some rest. She closed eyes, letting her mind drift off and letting sleep take over.

To be continued

Part 3: The Not so Perfect Plan

View Online

Shaun cracked his eyes open upon hearing the amplified sound of the roosters call, wondering to himself if he always sounded that loud. It was an extra cloudy day this morning. The sun could barely break through the thick cloud cover. Shaun looked up, eyeing the spider who was munching on a recently-caught fly. The other sheep and the Main 7 all slowly began to wake up. Meanwhile, The Farmer sleepily sprayed shaving cream on his face And Bitzer was startled awake by his alarm, bumping his head against the doghouse door. Sulking on his sack bed, Shaun scratches his shortened hair and eyes the schedule on the barn door.

"Good morning, Shaun." Twilight stretches her wings. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Teh. Bah." He grumbled.

"Dreading another boring day." Fluttershy translated.

The yellow pegasus stood up and moved closer to the young sheep.

"I get it, Shaun, but, maybe today might be a bit more interesting." Fluttershy said in a wishful tone.

Shaun rolled his tired eye. He knew things were just going to stay the same. A shadow leaked from the barn window, which caught the sheep's attention. Shaun got up and looked out the window. He sees a double-decker bus making a stop on the road. An advertisement for a snack bar on it's side reads "Have a day off" with a picture of a woman reclining in bed while looking out her window at a meadow. Shaun pictures himself in her place. He smiles at such a prospect. Her lifts his eyes thoughtfully, then his dreamy smile turned into a scheming one.

Fluttershy and Twilight came up to the window and looked out, seeing the strange machine driving away. neither pony had ever seen such an odd contraption before.

"What in Equestria is that?" Twilight asked with perplexity.

"Baah." Shaun answered smartly.

"A double-decker...bus?" Fluttershy translated. "I don't know what that is."

"Bah-ah-ah. Emp." The sheep said.

"It doesn't matter. What's important is that I got an idea to make this day interesting." The butter-colored pegasus translated again.

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, her tone a mix of curiosity and wariness.

"Hm-mh." Shaun's smile only got wider.

"You'll see." Fluttershy translated.

The pegasus and alicorn looked at each other with worry as Shaun jumped back down to the floor.

Later on, Shaun points to a diagram on a chalkboard for the other sheep, the Main 6, and Spike to see. While the sheep were nodding in excitement, the ponies and dragon seemed a bit iffy by Shaun's plan.

"Ehm, Shaun? Ah understand that yer tired of this farm-life and all, but ah don't think this a good idea." Applejack spoke warily.

"I agree. We shouldn't impede on your owner like that." Twilight agreed.

"Bah-bah." Shaun retorted.

"Impeding or not, wouldn't it be great to spend the day in a more refreshing manner than sitting in a dirty corral all day?" Fluttershy translated.

"I have to hand it to him, he has a point." Spike said. "That doesn't mean I agree with the plan...even if I find it kind of funny."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Shaun a little." Rainbow appealed. "Being stuck in there all day is driving me crazy."

"My stomach still hasn't forgiven me from eating that...whatever it is." Pinkie muttered regretfully.

"I understand, girls, but this isn't the right way to go about this." Twilight defended. "This isn't what we stand for."

"I know, Twi. But this past few days have been boring!" The rainbow-maned pegasus complained.

"Girls, please, let's not start arguing again." Rarity stepped in. "I get it, we deserve better than this, but this plan is completely absurd. There are better ways to get better treatment than this. Besides, if that farmer finds out, he's not going to take well. I just know it."

"Bah." Shaun said.

"He's never going to know, neither he nor Bitzer will." Fluttershy translated.

Later still, and after some failed convincing from the others, Shaun picked at the latch of the barn door and sneaks out with a bag of bread in-hand.

"Shaun, this won't end well!" Twilight called out to him, but he was already gone.

Shaun cautiously walks behind a stone wall. He enticingly skims his thumb over the five bread slices before handing them over to a duck. The duck counts the slices. Unsatisfied, he gestures his wing for more. Shaun rolls his eyes and pulls another slice out of his fleece and hands it to the duck. The waterfowl gives a salute and waddles away, whistling an innocent tune.

"Talk about high standards." Shaun scoffs and walks away.

Meanwhile, two of the sheep, along with Pinkie, plant a scarecrow behind a hedge. One of them exchange a thumbs-up to Shaun, who gives a thumbs-up back. His aunt helps another sheep with hauling a sack on a wheelbarrow to the right spot. Timmy gives a double thumbs-up before Twilight came up to them.

"Shaun, seriously, this isn't going to end well." She said, almost begging.

"Bah-ah. Hmf." Shaun says.

"How would you know if this plan backfires?" Fluttershy translated.

"I think it's more of that your owner basically becomes a scapegoat for you all." Rainbow said.

"Bah-Bah." The young sheep said.

"Whatever. Let's just get back into the barn. Everything's in place." Fluttershy translated.

The sheep, ponies, and dragon quickly hustle back into the barn.

"I just know this will end badly." Twilight muttered to Spike.

"You sound awfully sure about that." Spike observed.

"When have plans like this ever work out? Especially in the long-term?" The Princess of Friendship inquired.

"...Fair enough." Spike shrugged his shoulders.

Before closing the door, Shaun spied out on Bitzer, who was blowing on a hot mug of coffee. As the sheepdog laps at it, he catches the smell of something. Turning around, Bitzer spots a bone on the ground. His eyes go wide and his mouth drops at the discovery. The enticing bone sits there, practically asking to be chewed on. Bitzer licks his lips hungrily. Suddenly, the bones flops away toward the hedge. Dropping his mug, Bitzer gives chase, failing to see the duck pulling it away into the bushes with a string Bitzer dives in after it, determined to retrieve the treat. Shaun watches the sheepdog disappear within the thick hedge. He closes the door and locks the latch. With Bitzer out of the picture, it was time for the second part of the plan.

The Farmer steps out of his house and heads over to the barn. Before opening the door, he pauses, realizing that Bitzer hadn't shown up. He whistles for him, but there was no sign of him. The Farmer opens the door, the sheep and the Main 7 all standing there. Shaun flashes an innocent smile at his owner while Twilight and Rarity exchange unamused glances. The Farmer was a bit surprised to see his sheep acting so unified. He looks over the schedule, every now and then peaking over the clipboard to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Once that was completed, he opens the gate that lead to the yard. As he bends over, Shaun wads up a piece of paper. He pulls it back with a rubber band and aims right for The Farmer's backside. He shoots and the paper makes contact. The Farmer yelps and turns back around. The sheep all nod to the left, presuming where the paper came from. The Farmer turns and begins shouting and waving his fist, but then stops upon realizing that he was yelling at a scarecrow.

Now that The Farmer was distracted, Shaun and the other sheep all dash out of the yard and down the road. The Farmer quickly chased after them. The Main 6 and Spike all stayed put.

"This is ridiculous. There's no way this plan is going to work." Twilight said.

"Well, it has worked this far." Pinkie mentioned as the group began making there way down the road.

"Sure, but, it's clear that Shaun doesn't completely understand the concept of counting sheep." Twilight argued. "Besides, The Farmer isn't going to fall that easily."

"Even though he was gullible enough to think a scarecrow through a piece of paper at him." Rainbow disputed.

"I don't think that was him being gullible." Spike said.

As the ponies and dragon discussed the flaws in Shaun's plan, the sheep galloped down the road, but The Farmer was catching up to them. Shaun, however, was counting on that. The Farmer was able to get in front of them and cut them off. He whistles out for Bitzer again then waves his fist at the sheep in irritation. He then points to the pasture, demanding them over there. Shaun smiles and leaps over the wood-rail fence. The others follow one-by-one as The Farmer counts them. As he counts, his eyes grew heavy and dreary, watching the sheep hop over the fence in a steady profession. The Farmer yawns as he continues to count. Shaun leads the sheep under the hedge and back to the road where the cycle continued. As Twilight and others arrived, they stared dumbfounded as The Farmer flops onto the wheelbarrow, fast asleep.

"You've got to be kiddin' me." Applejack said in disbelief.

"I knew it would work." Pinkie said happily.

The sheep all gather at the fence. They chuckle at the slumbering farmer, but Shaun immediately shushed them, so to not wake him up.

"Well, now what? You're not going to just leave him out here like this." Rarity said.

"Bah-ah. Bah." Shaun answered.

"That's where we move on to the next part of the plan." Fluttershy translated.

One of the sheep grab a pair of noise-canceling earmuffs from a tractor while another pulls a pair of pajama pants off a clothes drying-rack. The slip off the farmer's sweater and put the earmuffs on.

"Where exactly is Bitzer right now?" Twilight asked expectantly.

"Baah." Shaun answered.

"Occupied." Fluttershy translated.

The duck was joyfully munching on his bread while Bitzer tried grabbing the bone that was swaying in the air. The duck had managed to get the string over a tree branch, allowing the bone to seemingly hover in midair, just out of Bitzer's reach.

The sheep remove The Farmer's boots and pants and replace it with the pajama pants. Shaun then spots an old camper out in the distance. He rubs his hands together with the perfect idea in mind.

"Bah-bah-bah." He gestured his hand to the camper.

"Follow me." Fluttershy translated.

The other sheep and the Main 7 follow behind Shaun, with The Farmer still sleeping on the wheelbarrow in tow. They make their way to the camper.

"This is where we're gonna put him?" Rainbow asked.

Shaun nodded his head and gave the door and few tugs. The door swings open allowing the herd to peer inside the musty interior.

"Agh. It smells absolutely horrid in there!" Rarity exclaimed in disgust. "How long as this thing been sitting here for?"

"Mhm. Bah." Shaun retorted.

"I don't know, but it's the perfect place for The Farmer." Fluttershy translated. "Are you sure it's not dangerous?"

"Bah-bah?" Shaun questioned.

"Why would it be?" The timid pegasus translated. "Well..."

"Because it's old and moldy." Twilight answered. "There's a reason why places like this get torn down, you know. And it's for health and safety reasons."

"Bah-ah-ah. Bahbah." Shaun sighed.

"Enough of the environmental platitudes." Fluttershy translated, her expression soured just a little. "It's a bit more than just platitudes."

At this point, Shaun wasn’t listening. The other sheep laid The Farmer down on a bed and threw a blanket over him. Shaun pulls down the the window shade and uses chalk to sketch an image out on it of the barn at night, just to trick The Farmer into thinking it's still nighttime. When he finished, Shaun jumps down to the camper floor. The shudder knocks over an alarm clock on a high shelf. Twilight sucks in a breath and uses her magic to catch it before it could land on The Farmer's head. The others breath a sigh of relief as Shaun grabs it and gently sets it on a nightstand. The herd hurry out with the others and shut the door.

"That...was close." Spike was still reeling from the alarm clock.

"Okay, so that plan worked after all." Twilight grumbled." But, what exactly do you plan on doing now, Shaun?"

The young sheep pulls out the schedule paper and crumples it up. He throws as the sheep celebrate. A goat catches it with it's mouth and eats it. Now, that Shaun and the other sheep were free, they began to celebrate, frolicking and dancing across the field toward the farmhouse. Twilight and her friends followed not far behind. The alicorn was still monologuing about Shaun's action.

"I mean, I agree with the fact that a painfully routine and strict life is frustrating, but to literally take his owner and dump him in some weird, metal cart is just wrong. I should've talked to The Farmer about this."

"Should we go back and wake him up then? Tell him what's going on?" Spike suggested.

"And what? Have us get in trouble along with Shaun? Don't think so." Rainbow said.

"This ain't about us, Rainbow." Applejack rebuked. "It's about doin' the right thing."

"To be fair, girls, we never actually stopped Shaun from executing his plan to begin with.” Rarity mentioned.

"Yes, we should have done that. But, now I think it's best we do something about this now before it reaches the point of no return." Twilight said.

"But, wouldn't that put us in Shaun's bad graces. I wouldn't think he would be too pleased if we snitched on him." Spike said with concern.

"But what's more important. Morals or friendship?" Applejack said.

Twilight stopped for a second from her friend's question. At first, the answer seemed pretty clear to her. But, the more she thought, the more she started having doubts. Morals were very important, they pretty much morphed you into what you are. But, to tear apart a new friendship over it? It sounded strange and more complicated than she thought, but at the same time, they were living with Shaun and the others. If worst case scenario happened, they could...

Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts when Shaun whistled them over to the farmhouse. The other sheep excitedly made their way inside, leaving only Shaun and the Main 7.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, concerned for her friend.

"...We'll have to discuss this later, girls." Twilight trotted toward the house.

Her friends looked amongst themselves, confused and concerned for the purple alicorn. As they got closer to the entrance, they noticed the three pigs watching them over the stone wall with quizzical looks. They paid them no mind.

Inside, the sheep were busy with moving a couch and chair closer to the TV. In the kitchen, Shaun was putting ingredient into a blender. Another sheep opens the freezer and finds a tub of ice cream inside. Pinkie spots it and zooms over to the freezer.

"Ice cream!" She grabs the tub and tries to yank it out, but it was frozen solid to the bottom.

The sheep also grabs the tub and the two pull with all their might, but it was no use. Meanwhile, another sheep holds up a popcorn bag with a fork stuck to it. Without so much as a single thought, she puts it in the microwave and turns to on. Sparks zap about inside.

Shaun adds flower into his mix and turns the blender on. Twilight and Fluttershy come up to him.

"Are you sure this well be okay, Shaun?" Twilight asked.

"Bah-bah. Empf, bah." Shaun replied.

"Come on, show some enthusiasm. Besides, this will only be for a while. By the time The Farmer and Bitzer come back, we'll make it look like nothing ever happen." Fluttershy translated.

Twilight didn't say anything, but she still had her doubts.

While that was going on, two sheep folded up a pizza and stuffed in the toaster. They high-five each other and turn the appliance on.

"I think that's supposed to go in here." Rainbow tapped the door of an oven.

The two sheep look at her in confusion, then gesture to the pizza that was already sizzling inside the toaster.

"Whatever." She shrugged.

"Maybe I ought to try that. Just to see if it makes a difference." She thought to herself.

Pinkie and the first sheep were still trying to pry the ice cream out of the freezer while the second sheep whistles as the popcorn sparks in the microwave. Suddenly, there was an explosion and a blast of popcorn shot everywhere.

"What'n tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack spits a piece of burnt popcorn out of her mouth.

Another sheep sorts through a selection of DVDs and lands on a western film that read "The Return of the Curly Kid." Shaun the other sheep, now with their snacks, head back out to the living room. Except for Pinkie and the first sheep, who were now half-frozen against the freezer.

"G-Girls, a little help, please." The pink mare chattered.

Rarity took her in her magic and managed to pull her free from the freezing compartment.

"T-Thanks, R-R-Rarity." Pinkie shivered.

"Don't mention it, Pinkie." Rarity smiled.

The two walked out of the kitchen, leaving the still half-frozen sheep behind.

The sheep, ponies, and dragon sit down around the TV as the movie played.

Shaun holds his drink near Twilight.

"Bah." He said.

"Wanna sip?" Fluttershy translated.

"...Fine." Twilight sighed and took a sip of the drink.

"I'm still worried that we might get caught.”

Shaun chuckles.

"Bah. Epada." He ressaures.

"Trust me, that won't happen." Fluttershy translated.

Just as the pegasus finished talking, the door slammed open. The group all turned to see an angry Bitzer holding the duck in his arm.

"You were saying." Rainbow said to Shaun.

The young sheep sighs and puts down his drink, knowing full well what Bitzer was expecting him to do.

Bitzer looks inside the old camper, where The Farmer was sleeping peacefully. He glares at the group and tries to open the door, but it didn't budge. Bitzer yanked and pulled on the latch, the camper lurching from side to side. The back tire pushed against an old log that was meant to keep the camper from rolling down the hill.

Shaun rolled his eyes and grabbed Bitzer's shoulder to help open to door. The other sheep and the Main 7 formed a line to help.

"Man, this door is stubborn." Rainbow observed.

All of a sudden the back tire rolls of the log and breaks it. The camper lurches forward, knocking Shaun and the others to the ground. Bitzer holds the broken door handle in his hand, the horrifying realization hitting him like a stack of bricks. He grabs at the side of the camper, managing to get a hold of a back handle. The camper drags him down the driveway.

"Oh, that's not good." Spike grimaced.

"Come on, we've got to stop that cart!" Rainbow yelled.

"Bah!" Shaun said.

"Camper." Fluttershy translated.

"Whatever!" Rainbow flies off after it.

Bitzer holds on for dear life as the back handles began to unscrew itself. Grabbing a screwdriver, he tries to screw the handle back in place. Shaun grabs onto him, along with the other sheep and the Main 7, minus Twilight and Rainbow, causing him the drop his screwdriver. Rainbow and Twilight fly to the other side of the camper and push against it to get it to stop.

As the line of sheep, ponies, and dragon get dragged along the dirt road, a hedgehog slowly waddles across the road. Spotting the oncoming camper, it fearfully rolls up into a ball. the camper misses it, but the group get pricked against it, causing cries and yelps of pain. Once they were gone, the hedgehog unfurls itself and wave at them. his face and back were covered in wool and multi-colored fur. The back handle breaks from the camper. the line of creatures grind to a stop into the dirt and mud. Seeing this, Rainbow and Twilight let go of the camper and fly back to check on their friends.

The camper crashes through a gate, leaving the Mossy Bottom farm. It's wheel bumps against a large rock, causing it to swing to the left and roll down another road. Bitzer runs up to the destroyed gate and shakes the mud off his face. He watches the camper pass over a bridge and disappear around a corner. The sheep, ponies, and dragon run up to the opening. Shaun gestures them to follow after them, but Bitzer stops them in their tracks. He growls and yells at them, pointing back toward the farm.

"Get back to the farm and wait. I'll save The Farmer myself." Fluttershy translated. "Uhm. Though, he's a lot more angry than how I sounded."

"Oh, come on, man. We weren't even in on the plan that much anyway. Besides, it's our job to save people." Rainbow got in Bitzer's face.

Bitzer only yelled some more.

"I don't care who was in on the plan or not. Do as I say." Fluttershy translated.

One of the sheep, hands him the broken handle with a...sheepish smile. Bitzer throws it down and runs after the camper. Rainbow was about to chase after, but Twilight stopped her by putting a hoof on her shoulder.

"I think it's best that we do as he says. He is practically second-in-command, after all." The purple alicorn said.

"But, it's our job. We're supposed to save others." Rainbow argued.

"From evil, not others' stupid ideas." Applejack looked back at Shaun with a judgmental glare.

Meanwhile, Bitzer was desperately trying to catch up to the runaway camper. it rolls pass a traffic signal at a construction sight. Before, Bitzer could pass, the light turned red, forcing him to skid to a stop. The sheepdog scratches at his ears and waits for the green light.

The camper crashes through a barricade and into a golf course. golfing equipment and a golfer go flying. The camper then whisks a camoflauge tent off a bird-watcher, who was watching a pair of mating birds. The birds angrily peck at him for disturbing their peace. A cow was grazing in a field when the camper ran into it. The cow was pinned against the front, having the ride of a life-time.

Back at the construction sight, Bitzer impatiently, checked his watch while waiting for the light to turn green. Finally, it did and he takes off running. Meanwhile, the cow hits a speed bump, sending the cow flying through the sky and crashing behind a hedge. The camper began to lose speed while rolling up a hill, allowing Bitzer the catch up to it. But, before he could grab onto the second handle, the camper rolled down the other side, picking up speed. He lets out a squeak as he watches it head for the big city.

Back at the farm entrance, Twilight was giving Shaun a stern talking while the others stood around.

"I told you this wouldn't end well. You need to understand that there were much better ways to go about just having the "day off" that trapping your owner in a camper and acting like you have control over everything! And now look what's happened and best believe that Farmer isn't going to be happy when he comes back."

Shaun, who was just looking off into space with an annoyed expression, looked down the road. Neither Bitzer nor The Farmer had returned yet, which meant that they could continue their day off. And if he played his cards right, he'd be able to get away with it without repercussion.

"Bah-bah. Bah." Shaun bleated.

"Assuming that they come back anytime soon. Until then, let's just go back to the house and continue where we left off." Fluttershy translated

"Continue where we left off?!" Twilight yelled in anger and disbelief. "Do you not realize what you've done?"

Shaun ignored her and walked back to the farm with the other sheep following him.

"Grah! That sheep frustrates me so much." The princess gritted her teeth.

"Take it easy, Twi. Ah'll go try talkin' to 'im." Applejack said.

The Main 6 and Spike follow after the sheep.

"I've never seen Twilight so upset before." Spike said.

"She'll calm down eventually." Rarity comforted the dragon. "For now, maybe we should just relax a little."

"Dibs on the ice cream!" Pinkie hopped toward the farm.

One sheep stayed behind. She noticed a small sign on the splintered wood that read "Please close gate." She grabbed the remaining piece on the post and closed it shut before running to catch up with the others.

The camper, The Farmer's hand swats the alarm clock off the nightstand to get it to stop beeping. The clock, however, was not making the noise, the window shade curled up, allowing sunlight to spill into the camper. The Farmer groggily wakes up. The camper rolls toward a railroad crossing. The lights were flashing, the bell was blaring, the gates were down. The camper crashed through the gates and rattled over the tracks just before a trains thundered by.

The Farmer yawns, still half-asleep. He instinctively tears off page on a pop calendar, thinking that he was still in his house. grabs an old can of bug spray and sprays it on his armpits. Cockroaches drop to the floor. A delivery van drove alongside the camper, displaying a model on it's side. The Farmer looks at a mirror-sized window and sees the model. He chuckles and laughs cockily, thinking he was looking at himself in a mirror.

The camper rolls down the street, forcing a bicyclist off the road and into a garbage can. It then rolled up a ramp on a construction bin and goes flying. the Farmer looks around in confusion while suspended in free-fall. The camper crashes down on the road, a man in a restaurant mascot barely getting out of the way in time. Now on it's hitch, the camper heads toward a busy intersection. Bystanders look on in horror as the camper gets closer and closer toward the intersection. The Farmer sees this and panics, but, all he could do was duck underneath the window and brace for the worst. Thankfully, the camper comes to a grinding stop just a few feet from the line of cars.

Bystanders gather around the camper. The Farmer opens the door and unknowingly dislodges the globe of a street light onto the roof of the camper. The Farmer looks around in confusion at the people around him. He was in a place he was not familiar with. A whistles out to Bitzer, unsure if he would even come. As he looks around, the light globe falls off the roof and clonks The Farmer in the head, knocking him out.

A few minutes later, Bitzer finally makes it to the scene. He pushes his way through the crowd and sees The Farmer being taken away in an ambulance. It drives away, Bitzer hurries after it on all fours. He only hoped that this chase in the city would end at the hospital.

To be continued

Part 4: Get Going

View Online

"Eh-heem!" Shaun waved the others back over to the farmhouse.

Twilight was still grumbling over Shaun's lack of consideration and responsibility. Her friends were in agreement. Shaun went to open the door, but discovered that it was locked. He didn't remember locking the door before he left. The others picked up on this, too.

"Is something wrong, Shaun?" Pinkie asked, her eyes perked up. "Hey, that rhymes!"

"Good for you, Pinkie." Rainbow said in mild sarcasm. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Shaun stepped over to the window just as an egg smashed into it from the inside. He, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike peered through the glass to see the pigs from earlier had made the farmhouse into their own home. Two of the pigs were disgustingly feasting on The Farmer's food.

"Argh. Absolutely revolting!" Rarity guffawed.

"Bah." Shaun pointed to the third pig, who was near the stereo, dancing in a pair of underwear, flip-flops, and a fisher's hat.

"Oh, that is on so many levels of wrong." Spike looked away.

Rarity went slack-jawed while Fluttershy sucked in a breath and peeled her eyes away from the window.

"I-I don't think we're going back in there any time soon." She told the others.

"Why, what's wrong." Rainbow and Twilight looked through the window.

"Welp, can't unsee that." Twilight turned away in an exaggerated manner.

"That is just wrong." Rainbow said in disgust.

"That's what I said." Spike said.

Shaun angrily knocked on the window, demanding to be let inside. The pigs' response was to lock the windows and close the drapes. Shaun turned to the other sheep and pointed his thumb back at the window.

"Bah-ee." He grunted.

"Can you believe those guys?" Fluttershy translated. "I wish I didn't."

"Ah think yer friends are worried 'bout more important things." Applejack said.

Shaun looked to see the other sheep looming over an empty food trough.

"Bah." He observed.

"Oh, I suppose that's going to be a problem given the circumstances." Fluttershy translated.

"For them. I'm not eating whatever that abomination that farmer was trying to feed us!" Rarity huffed.

All the sheep glared at her. He displeased look contorted into a more embarrassed one.

"Let's worry about ourselves later. We need to find more sheep food for Shaun and the others." Twilight said.

Shaun puts a hand to his chin, thinking of what to do. He and the Main 7 search around for any source of food. Shaun finds a feed sack on the ground. He hastily grabs it and opens it up, revealing only dust and vague crumbs. Disappointed he threw it over his shoulder.

"Oh, oh, girls! I think I found the ticket." Pinkie hopped over to a closed gate housing an open-sided storage shack. On the top shelf was a stack of animal feed.

The others came over to her.

"But, how are we going to get to it?" Spike wonder out-loud.

"Ha! Leave that to me!" Rainbow craned her neck and flew up to the top shelf. She grabbed onto one of the sacks with her teeth and drag it off the shelf. As soon as it slipped off it, the sack dropped to the ground, taking Rainbow with it. She crashed into the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Oh, my gosh! Rainbow!" Fluttershy cried out.

Rainbow got up dizzily and shook her head.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." She rubbed her head. "But, these things are heavier than I thought."

She heaved the sack over the fence before catching her breath.

"We're going to need a faster option to get those sacks." Twilight lifted the sack up with her magic, straining from the weight.

"Isn't just one sack enough." Spike mentioned.

"I was thinking more in the long-term." The purple alicorn replied thoughtfully.

Shaun looked around for a solution then spotted The Farmer's old tractor sitting in the field. He snapped his fingers and climbed inside. The others took notice, though none of them knew what the machine was.

"Umm, Shaun. Do you know how to operate a...whatever that is?" Twilight asked in concern.

"Bah-bah. Eh-eem." Shaun replied.

"For the record, it's called a tractor. And I've seen The Farmer use it all the time. How hard could it be?" Fluttershy translated.

"Famous last words." Rainbow whispered to Applejack, who nodded lightly.

By this time, the other sheep had came over to see what was going on. Shaun put on a pair of ear-cancelling earmuffs and rubbed his hands together. He turned on the engine and the tractor sputtered to life. Messing with the controls, he lifts the grapple claws high up before stepping on the gas. The tractor immediately shot backwards and through a hedge.

"Yep, about as much as I expected." Rainbow said bluntly.

The ponies, sheep, and dragon head over to the flattened hedge.

"Hey, Shaun. Are you oka-YIKE!" Twilight let a shrieked as Shaun ran toward being chased by a giant bull.

The Main 7 and the sheep made a run for it as the angry bull charged for them. The gang clamber over a wall just as the massive animal thundered by. All of them were petrified at what just happened, except for Shaun.

"What'n tarnation was that about?" Applejack asked in shock.

"Bah." Shaun replied flatly.

"He does this all the time." Fluttershy translated.

The bull continued to charge forward, right through the goat's tether. Realizing the he was now free, the goat excitedly hopped around and on top of a chicken coop. He let out a goofy scream as the coop tipped over on it's side. The chicken were understandably upset, but soon ran for cover as the out-of-control tractor rolled by.

The sheep, along with the Main 6 and Spike, look over at Shaun. The young sheep shrugs and chuckles sheepishly.

"See what I mean. I told you this plan wouldn't end well. None of this would be happening if you had just listened." Twilight said in irritation.

"Exactly. You should've thought of the consequences should your plan had fallen apart. Which is exactly whut happened." Applejack added.

"Bah-eem. Bah." Shaun said.

"Okay, I'll admit it, I didn't think this all the way through." Fluttershy translated.

"You think!?" Rainbow shouted.

Deep in the heart of the big city, a paramedic wheels The Farmer through the automatic doors of a hospital. Not a even moment later, Bitzer runs up to the entrance. The doors open, allowing Bitzer inside. But, before he could begin his search, he was chased out by a guard. The guard points to a no-dogs-allowed sign on a window before walking back inside. Bitzer was upset, but hadn't completely given up. He took a few steps back before heading for the doors again. But, before he could enter, the guard steps back out with an authoritative glare. The sheepdog quickly changed direction and walked away. Bitzer took a seat on a bench and patiently waited for The Farmer to come back.

"He shouldn't be gone long, right?" He thought to himself.

Meanwhile, inside the hospital, two doctors follow a nurse into a patient's room. inside the room was The Farmer, who was eating a meal. The nurse takes the plate away, allowing the two doctors to do their job. The senior doctor sticks an otoscope into the man's ear then slowly waves a finger in front of his eyes to check his vision. Meanwhile, the junior doctor whacks The Farmer's elbow with reflex hammer, causing him to throw his fork into a painting which falls to the ground. The Farmer laughs in amusement.

The senior doctor looks over the man's chart. He signals something to the junior doctor, who nods in understanding. The Farmer watches them with a confused look. The junior doctor pulls out a deck of cards from his pocket. He puts the first one on the overbed table. He points at the card then at the man. The card shows a picture of a construction worker, insinuating the question of if The Farmer had that career. The man lets out a dry laugh and shakes his head. The junior doctor sets down more cards with pictures of a fireman, a business man, a chef, a clown, and finally a farmer. The man studies the farmer card closely. Finally, he shrugs, thinking he wasn't a farmer. The senior doctors quietly confers with his colleague before writing a diagnosis of memory loss on the patient's chart.

With that, he hangs it on the hospital bed before the two doctors wave goodbye to the man. As they head at, the two begin to discuss others things, the senior doctor even mimes a golf swing. The Farmer holds up a hand to try an ask a question, but the doctors had already left and closed the door. He mumbles to himself, confused on so many things.

Back with Twilight, Shaun, and the others, the farm had fallen into complete chaos. Farm animals ran all over the place with a runaway tractor driving about.

"Well, how do you suppose we're gonna fix this mess?" Rainbow asked to no one in particular.

"I think we might need The Farmer's help for this." Spike said.

Just then, one of the pig flew through the window and crashed right next to Shaun, scaring the other sheep away. The pig holds his head in a daze. He shakes the dizziness away and leaps back through the broken window.

"Especially when it comes to those three." Spike continued.

Shaun finds the rest of the sheep cowering behind a coat on the drying rack. Timmy was hiding behind a pair of boots while another sheep cried into a pair of underwear, soaking it with his tears.

"It'll be okay, ya'll. We'll think of somethin' to fix all this." Applejack tried to reassure them.

"And maybe try not to defile your owner's clothing." Twilight took the pair of underwear in her magic and wrung it dry.

Shaun shuts his eyes and rubs his head, now fully realizing the mess he put all of his friends in. He folds his arms and looks to the road, spotting a bus making a stop at the gate. An ad for running shoes on it's side reads "Get going." The young sheep narrows his eyes then punches his fists on his palm and runs off.

"Hey, wait. Shaun, where are you going." Twilight notices him heading for the storage room and gallops after him.

Hey other friend notice, too and follow after. Shaun kicks the storage room door open and prepares himself for a search mission. Grabbing a nap-sack off the wall, he puts a pair of binoculars inside and empties out a piggy bank. He sweeps up the lose change and picks up the old photo of the young farmer with his flock.

"Shaun, what are you doing?" Twilight asks as she reaches him.

"Bah-bah, bah. Ehem. Bah." Shaun explains.

"Taking what I need for a rescue mission." Fluttershy translated. "Wait. You're going to look for The Farmer?"

Shaun nods his head and continues to pack.

"Bah-bah." He said.

"I understand this is pretty much my fault. The least I can do is fix this mess right now." The shy pegasus translated again.

"Well, I'm glad you're taking some responsibility and doing the right thing this time." Twilight stated. "But, you don't have to do this alone. We'll be more than happy to help you."

"Emph-pha. Bah. Emph." Shaun said.

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to drag you guys into my problems. You weren't very happy about it last time." Fluttershy translated.

"But, that was for a half-baked plan instead of an rescue mission." Twilight argued. "Look, I understand that you want to fix those yourself, but we genuinely want to help. We were brought to this world for a reason; to solve problems and teach friendship. And if that means venturing into an unknown place to find your owner, then that's exactly what we'll do. Right, girls?"

"Yeah. You can count on us, Shaun. We'll help you find The Farmer fasting than you can thank us." Rainbow boasted.

"Darn tootin'. That's what friends do." Applejack said confidently.

"Yeah. And we'll get to have lots of fun, too!" Pinkie added.

"It's what we do." Spike said.

"Right. The map summoned us here to help and fix problems. It's what we do. And Twilight is right. We'll be more than happy to help." Rarity remarked.

"I-if that's okay with you." Fluttershy added softly

"As your friend and the Elements of Harmony, it's our duty to solve friendship problems. Or problems in general." The purple alicorn finished.

Shaun looked at them, seemingly weighing his option. He already observed that three of them could fly, which definitely was useful, and Twilight was able carry things with her magic, which could also be useful. Besides that, having eight individuals search for someone was miles better than just one.

"Bah-bah." The young sheep finally said.

"Alright, you can come along." Fluttershy translated happily.

The Main 6 cheer happily.

"All right, let's get going." Twilight declared.

Shaun removed the photo from it's frame and slipped it into his sack. The rest of the flock watched as Shaun, Spike, and the Main 6 leave the storage room and head for the gate. As the herd follow out, Shaun gestures to them to stay put.

"We're goin' to look for The Farmer. Just stay here for now 'til we get'im back." Applejack said to them.

Shaun opened the gate and the team head for the bus. The other sheep wanted to follow, but Shaun closed the gate behind him. The flock could only watch as the sheep, ponies, and dragon carefully sneak around the front of the bus. Luckily, the bus driver was filling out paper work, so she didn't take notice. They team were able to sneak inside and reach the top deck.

"It's actually quite nice up here." Rarity looked around the clean seats.

"Plus, you can see for miles." Pinkie pressed her face against the window.

Shaun took a seat at the front then pulled out the photo. The other sheep with big eyes from behind the hedge. Shaun carefully tears a section of the photo that only showed The Farmer's youthful face. With a marker, he writes the word "missing" at the top. He holds it up to the window for the other sheep to see. The bus lurched lurched forward and drove off as the other sheep cheer and clap for their friends. They stopped as the bus went out of view.

"Now what?" They thought to themselves.

In the bus, Shaun pulls out a tape player and starts messing with the buttons, turning it on and off. He then turns to the Main 6 and Spike

"Bah, Bah-bah. Bah." Shaun said.

"All right, we need to keep a low profile. It would be weird enough seeing a sheep, a bunch of ponies, and...a lizard?" Fluttershy started translated.

"Hey, I'm a dragon!" Spike said.

"Bah-Bah." Shaun apologized.

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, it's safe to stay hidden once we reach The Big City." Fluttershy finished translating.

"Agreed. Considering how some of the people reacted to us when we first got here, I think it's best we be discreet when searching for The Farmer." Twilight said.

"Discreet? How discreet?" Rainbow asked.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of steps coming up the bus stairs. Quickly, the team hide underneath the seats just a lady came up to the second deck. She took a seat right where Shaun was sitting. Shaun, Rainbow, and Twilight were mere inches from the lady's legs.

"Very." Twilight whispered.

The bus trailed down the road, often stopping to let passengers board and exit. The trip itself didn't take too long, surprisingly. The bus trailed down city streets toward the city center. moving toward the back of the bottom deck, The Main 7 and Shaun looked out through the windows as the bus roared down the busy freeway, passing by numerous skyscrapers.

"This place reminds me of Manehattan." Rarity said in awe.

"Bah?" Shaun asked.

"Oh, it's a city where a lot of the wealthier ponies live." Fluttershy explained.

The bus made a left turn and drove into a parking area of a terminal station. A stray dog scurried out of the way as the double-decker came to a stop at a parking space. The Shaun and the others waited as the passengers disembarked the bus. Once it was empty, they carefully neared the exit doors. Shaun peers out and looks around.

"Bah, bah-bah." He cautioned.

"Stick together and try to stay quiet." Fluttershy translated.

"Way 'head of ya, Shaun." Applejack said.

Shaun was about to step out when a skateboarder zoomed by right in front of them. The team jumped back in surprise.

"Well, that was rude." Rarity grunted.

Shaun spots the stray dog from earlier jump on top of a trash can and digs her snout inside. As she ate away at the garbage, she spotted the eight creatures peering past the open bus. The mangy mutt flashes them a gap-tooth smile.

"Poor thing must be lost." Applejack sympathized.

"M-Maybe she could help us. She might know where The Farmer is." Fluttershy suggested.

Suddenly, a caution sign slammed onto the concrete sidewalk, startling the mutt off the garbage can. The team watched as an animal control officer sealed off the area with caution tape. He put on a pair of gloves and captures the frightened dog with a catch pole. A photo of the stray gets stamped with the word "Contained" before the officer caged her in an animal containment truck. Claps and cheers erupted. The officer turns around modestly, but realizes the crowd was cheering at the skateboarder doing tricks.

That's so cruel." Fluttershy whimpered.

"He's only doing his job." Twilight said. "Then again, that seemed a little over-the-top."

The officer looked over at the bus. Shaun quickly ushered the ponies and dragon back away from view. The officer, however, was able to catch a glimpse of the sheep. He takes off his goggles and squints suspiciously at the bus.

"Things just got ten times more difficult." Spike said warily.

"No kidding." Rainbow said.

The stray dog whined and clawed against the caged window, distracting the officer. He waved her away and headed for the front seat as another bus came in.

"Okay. So does anypony have any idea to get out of this place without getting spotted?" Rarity asked.

There would be no time for planning because the bus doors suddenly closed shut, forcing the eight creatures into the outside right in front of the second bus that had just parked itself. To make things worse, Little Timmy peered from behind the bus's top window. He knocked on the glass and waved at the team.

"What the!? Why is he here!?" Twilight asked in shock.

To make things even more worse, the rest of the flock peered behind the window and waved at them.

Shaun and the Main 7 all gasped.

"You've got to be kidding me. They followed us." Rainbow said with a mix of shock and ire.

Shaun quickly shushed the cyan pegasus then pointed at the animal control officer sitting in his truck. He looks out the window, but doesn't spot anything. While his attention went back to his paperwork, the sheep flooded out of the bus while Shaun and the others tried to help them. The officer glances back, but another bus obstructs his view. By the time the third bus was gone, the entire flock was gone, too. But that's when the officer noticed something on the sidewalk. He gets out and walks over for a closer look. With his catch pole, he picks up a wad of fleece and inspects it. Shaun and the others hid underneath the bus's chassie.

"Why did you follow us?" Twilight hissed angrily, but quietly to the other sheep.

Shaun immediately shushed her and looked around for a means of escape. That's when he noticed a second-hand shop for an animal help charity on the opposite side of the parking station. He crawls out from under the bus and gestures for the others to follow. The Main 6 and Spike trail after followed by the other sheep. They quickly and quietly hurry to the other side of the bus as the officer sniffed at the fleece. He glances over his shoulder, but doesn't see anything, but, he was also getting more suspicious.

"Bah-bah." Shaun pointed at the shop.

"We need to get there. Hurry." Fluttershy quickly translated.

The sheep, ponies, and dragon make a run for it, but, suddenly the officer dashes out from behind the bus. They all stand frozen in place, thinking they had gotten caught. However, the flock find themselves in front of a pastel billboard, commercializing the countryside. The officer thought they were just part of the billboard, though he gave a suspicious glare at the colorful equines in the mix. The officer looks around a bit and then turns back, only to realize the sheep, ponies, and dragon were missing. He frantically searched around again and was able to catch a glimpse of a fluffy tail galloping into the store. His jaw drops in astonishment.

The team ran past an oblivious old lady at the register and picked up pieces of clothing.

"Will this hat work?" Pinkie asked.

"That's mah hat, Pinkie." Applejack said.

"You wouldn't catch me dead wearing that." Rarity eye a dark-colored sweater in disgust.

"Don't really have much of a choice." Rainbow shoves her into it.

The pristine unicorn's complaints were muffled against the thick fabric.

"How are we gonna to convince everyone that we're human? We can barely stand in a bipedal position?" Rainbow asked Twilight.

"We'll think of something." Was all the friendship princess could respond.

"Way ahead of you, Twilight." Pinkie sat on Twilight's shoulders.

"Augh! Pinkie." The alicorn stammered.

Outside, the animal control officer hurried to the shop entrance. Inside, the team grabbed more articles of clothing and cleaning supplies. Trying to stand and sit on top of each other, they frantically put on the clothes. A gloved hand leaves money on the counter just as the officer barges into the shop, showing is I.D. that said "A. Trumper. Chief Containment Officer." He sees the team wearing winter clothing and coats.

Pinkie was still sitting on Twilight's shoulder with a fake moustache. Rarity stood atop applejack in a thick sweater with an innocent smile. Fluttershy and Rainbow were able to stand on their hindlegs thanks to their hidden, fluttering wings. Rainbow, however had a large bulge on her stomach area, making her look like she was pregnant.

The disguises were convincing enough and the officer politely moved away from the door to let the "people" pass. The herd waddled out of the store. Timmy hangs from one sheep's back and waves his hands. Trumper looks back, forcing Timmy to act like an stuffed animal.

"How do you do, kind sir." Pinkie said in a fake accent.

Trumper gave her a weird look while she walked away. As the last sheep was leaving the shop, the officer tapped it on the shoulder. The others look back nervously, sweat pouring down their faces. Trumper picks up a bright, red purse and politely hands it to the sheep. Noticing it's own feminine disguise, the sheep accepts it from him. The officer gives the sheep a wink. and the sheep waves flirtatiously back, acting like a lady. The officer closes the door and looks around inside the shop.

"That...was close." Twilight poked her head from the large winter coat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ugh. This stuff is itchy." Rainbow scratched at her covered coat.

Spike crawled up from underneath the pegasus's shirt and peers out from below her head.

"This feels weird." He struggles to get comfortable.

"How do you think I feel?" Rainbow asked rheotrically.

"Once this is over, we'll never have to do this again...hopefully." Twilight.

"Just so we're clear, we're taking this to our graves, girls.” Rarity hissed bitterly.

"Ah'm with ya on that, Rares." Applejack poked her head from behind the trenchcoat.

The sheep began to quietly celebrate, but Shaun quickly shushed them. They shushed back in response.

"Guys, please. Can we just move on to the search." Twilight pleaded.

"I hope The Farmer is alright." Fluttershy adjusted her fake glasses.

Walking with floppy steps, the team head up a flight of stairs to street level. The find themselves in a city neighborhood teeming with cars and pedestrians.

"This...might be a lot tougher than we thought." Twilight said.

"Bah. Emph bah-bah." Shaun reassured.

"Just stick with the plan. As long as we have the photo, we have a chance." Fluttershy translated.

Shaun takes out his missing person photo of The Farmer. The search was on.

To be continued

Part 5: Big City Escapades

View Online

Bitzer sat, downcast, on the bench near the hospital entrance. He had been waiting for what seemed like forever, hoping The Farmer would walk out of those doors so they could arrive back at the farm so everything could go back to normal. As the time agonizingly ticked by, Bitzer was growing more anxious and impatient. He stared at the guard that was leisurely patrolling around the entrance. He also looked at the patient sitting beside him, sporting a neck brace, arm cast, and a sling, while holding a cup of coffee. Bitzer then noticed an orderly, pushing a cart full of laundry, heading to them. The sheepdog quickly and secretly disappears inside the cart, leaving the injured patient confused.

The orderly and the guard exchange greetings as the orderly entered the hospital. As he passed the main desk, Bitzer hops out of the cart, now where surgeon's scrubs and a mask. He sniffs around then races down a hallway on all fours. He quickly stood back up when a noticed a doctor about to face him. They walked by each other without so much as a glance. Bitzer pushed through a set of double-doors to another hallway. The sheepdog sniffs around a corner as another orderly walked past by. He peaks into a patient's room and, lo and behold, he finds The Farmer eating a plate of hospital food. The Farmer looks over and stares at him blankly. Bitzer smiles behind his masks, thinking they could now leave, but then he heard two voices heading toward him. He ducks back out, leaving The Farmer looking on in confusion. He shrugs and continues eating.

Bitzer begins to walk away from the door as two doctors head for it. Just then, two guards, conversing with each other, walk a corner toward him. Bitzer, realizing that his cornered, backs up through a set of sliding doors. Now out of sight, he wipes the sweat off his brow and turns around, only to discover he unknowingly walked into a operating room. He eyes widened as two nurses, an anesthesiologist and the patient look up at him. Bitzer holds his hands up and tries to back away, but one of the nurses, thinking he was the surgeon assigned to the operation, hands the sheepdog a chart. He begrudgingly takes it while another one of the nurses straightens out a set of surgical instruments. Bitzer reluctantly steps forward and looks through the chart. the descriptive contents was enough for him to lurch forward and cover his masked mouth, trying to keep himself for throwing up. The other people in the room stare at him with weird looks. The sheepdog pretends to tap his chin thoughtfully. He sets the chart aside as sweat drips down his face.

The patient noticed the dog's tail. Bitzer looked back and realized what the patient was staring and quickly concealed his tail, trying to act as casual as possible. The patient, however, began to panic. The anesthesiologist covers the patient's mouth and nose with a mask and the patient went limp on the table. Bitzer looks through the door windows and sees the two guards still outside. At this point, he might as well keep up the act until the guards were gone. Bitzer walked up to the patient's exposed belly, watching rise and fall with every breath. He grabs a bone saw and inches it to the exposed skin. A nurse clears her throat and exchange large tool with a small scalpel. Bitzer gives an innocent chuckle and waves his hand jokingly, then practices the scalpel with every angle. The nurse whispers to the anesthesiologist allowing Bitzer to spot a fake skeleton model sitting against the far wall. He eyes the leg bone, enticement gleaming in his eyes. He licks his chops underneath his mask. Unable to hold back any longer, he drops the scalpel and scrambles over the patient. He begins to gnaw and lick the bone making the skeleton shake and jitter. The two nurses and anesthesiologist watch in shock and confusion, then the sliding doors open to reveal the actual surgeons assigned to the operation. He looks at the sheepdog with just as much shock. Bitzer looks up with a joyfully.

The Farmer peers through the crack in the open door, seeing hospital personnel racing down the hallway. He closes the door and picks up the chart at the end of his bed. he finds his name listed as "Mr. X" and a diagnosis of memory loss written on it. He hears someone coming and quickly takes out the page from the chart, folds it, and puts it in his pocket. A man in a lab coat enters just as The Farmer climbs back into bed. he gives the patient a casual grin and lays a set of tools on the bed. The man grabs a hammer and flips it in his hand. The Farmer panics, thinking the hammer was going to be used on him. He jumped out of the bed and ran off down the hall. The man stares after him curiously before hammering a nail into the wall and rehanging the damaged painting.

The Farmer hurries through the entrance and into the outside world. He looks over himself, staring at his patient wristband and food-stained shirt. Now that he was on his own, all he could wonder was what was he to do now?

At a lost property station, Shaun hands the clerk his missing persons photo.

"have you seen this stal-...guy? Have ya? Have ya?" Pinkie got right in the clerk's face.

"Pinkie." Twilight whispered harshly at the mare sitting atop of her.

The clerk steps back and scans through shelves of missing belongings and an old man sitting in a corner. They all look at him. The old man puts on a pair of women's sunglasses and tries to smile like The Farmer. The clerk turns back to flock. Shaun shakes his head and the clerk hands back the photo.

"Thanks, anyways." Fluttershy said.

That's when one of the sheep noticed a red-headed man walk by with a cellphone to his ear.

"That has to be him. He's wearing the green coat." Rarity said confidently.

Shaun waved to the others to follow. The flock caught up to the man, who turned around at them. It wasn't The Farmer. Shaun waved him away.

"S-Sorry. We thought you were sompo-...somebody else." Fluttershy apologized.

Shaun scratches his head, looking around for any possible leads.

"Let's just keep looking." Twilight said from under the winter coat.

Meanwhile, The Farmer meandered around the hospital entrance, still confused. The automatic doors open, startling him away. Elsewhere, Shaun clings onto a light pole, looking through crowds of people with a pair of binoculars.

"Anythin' yet?" Applejack asked, her voice muffled under the sweater.

"Unfortunately, not." Rarity replied.

A crowd of people walk past them, unintentionally sweeping up the two sheep dress as a woman with them. The sheep escape the crowd and stumble into a department store. The upper sheep's attention was caught by the automatic glass doors.

Shaun then spotted another red-headed man purchasing something at technology boutique. He quickly retrieves the female imposter playing with the automatic doors.

"Ya'll, now ain't the time fer dilly-dallyin'." Applejack said, as the flock headed for the store.

Together, the flock approach the boutique. the female imposter smacks into the glass doors, thinking they were automatic. The rest of the team were to their aid.

"Are you two, okay?" Twilight poked her head out, then immediately pulled it back in as the man exited the boutique.

It was another stranger.

"This is starting to become frustrating." Rainbow rubbed her forehead.

"That's why we should make a game out of it." Pinkie pulled the blue pegasus close to her.

Later on, the team stood behind a stone wall as spikey hair could be seen on the other side.

"Surely, it's him this time." Rarity said, sounding not as confident as last time.

It turned out to be a flower on a potted cactus being carried by a brown-headed man. Shaun face-palmed, clearly getting fed up by all the mistaken identities. Over the course of several hours, the team spotted several red-headed humans, but none of them were The Farmer. One of them ended up being a mannequin.

"How hard is it to just find one guy." Rainbow vented in frustration.

"Well for starters, it's a pretty big city." Twilight acknowledged. "And, secondly, we've spotted like a dozen people with the same hair color and coat. Is it just me? Or is The Farmer's attire and hair-style seem like some kind of visual style."

"Well, it's certainly a bland one, if that's the case." Rarity huffed.

The team crossed a pedestrian crossing and onto another city block. As they travelled past a park bench, Timmy snatched a man's toupee. The man looked around angrily, realizing it was missing. Timmy just whistled innocently while wearing the toupee. The team continued their search at a deli market stall. One of them sheep, under the trench coat, eyed a basket of chili peppers. Poking out of the pocket, he eats a few. Immediately, the mustached sheep begin to shutter and shake. The bottom sheep pokes back out with steam shooting from his ears and nostrils. He runs past the rest of the group. He crashes through a two-person horse costume, ripping it in half. He laps up water from a fountain. The two men in the horse costume glare at the mustached imposter. The upper sheep smiles innocently, but from their perspective, it looked like the imposter was peeing in the fountain. The two men shared disgusted looks with each other.

"This is why we keep to ourselves!" Twilight whispered harshly as the team was being chased by an angry mob.

The mob march past a fancy restaurant, where the flock was hiding. As the mob past, the team peek from behind the window to see if the coast was clear. Shaun wiped the sweat off his brow in relief.

"Seriously. Whatever happen to "keeping a low profile?" Twilight reprimanded the sheep inside the trench coat.

"Bah." He said.

"I was hungry." Fluttershy translated.

Timmy chuckles eagerly and points behind them. The team turn to view the restaurant. The sheep ogle the trays of desserts as they pass.

"Guys, we've got to stay focused. We can't distract ourselves with sweets." Twilight said.

Numerous stomachs growled, signifying their hunger.

"Come on, Twilight. My stomach STILL hasn't forgiven me for that mouthful of grain." Pinkie whined.

"I do feel a bit peckish." Rarity added.

"Ah'm sure it wouldn't hurt ta just grab a bite. Just as long as we act "natural." Applejack finished in quotations.

Twilight pondered in thought. She, herself, was getting a bit hungry, but to jeopardize the entire operation? She reckoned that it was better to eat something than continue the search on empty stomachs.

"All right. But, just be careful." The alicorn caution.

Shaun chuckled and waved the others to follow.

Outside, The Farmer walked by the restaurant front, looking at his unfamiliar surroundings.

Back inside, a man elegantly plays the piano as waiters seat the team down. Shaun rubs his gloved hands eagerly, while Timmy's mom sets Timmy under the table with his teddy bear. A waiter tries to seat the mustached imposter, but the bottom sheep was facing the wrong way. He discreetly grabs the chair's legs to keep it from slipping away.

A diner with a blonde pompadour sneers at the group, while his female date shows a more curious expression. Woman knocks on the window next to them. The celebrity poses while she takes a picture.

Timmy, still under the table, eyes a dessert tray not far from him. He smiles with excitement, but ducks back underneath the table as a maitre d' hands out menus to the flock.

"Okay, let's see what they got here." Rarity studied the menu.

The female imposter took a big bite out of their menu. One of the other imposter sheep tries cutting the menu with a fork and knife, while the other seasons theirs with salt.

"What are you guys doing?" Rarity asked, floored by their actions.

"Wut's goin' on, Rares?"Applejack asked.

"Apparently, the sheep don't know anything about fine dining." The snow-white unicorn huffed.

Shaun stops them and watches the celebrity open the menu and look through. Shaun demonstrated this to the others by opening his menu. The other sheep copy him. The female's menu now had a bite-sized hole in the center.

"Uncouth." Rarity sighed.

"Come on, Rarity. They clearly haven't been to a city. It would make sense if they aren't familiar with this kind of behavior." Fluttershy said. "N-No offense."

Shaun shrugged.

"Yeah. but, you have to admit. It was pretty funny." Raibbow giggled.

"No, Rainbow, it wasn't." Rarity said in annoyance.

The celebrity takes a sip of champagne from his glass. Shaun tries to drink from his water glass, but couldn't because of his turtle-neck sweater. mimicking him, the other sheep spill water into their laps. Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy just looked on at the sheep's mediocre attempts to act like fine diners.

"Th-This...This is painful." Rarity holds her hooves to her face in embarrassment.

The celebrity accidently knocks over a knife onto the floor. As he goes to pick it up, the sheep copy him, knocking their silverware to the floor which startled the other customers.

"What in Equestria is going on up there?" Twilight whispered to Pinkie.

"Mimicry." Pinkie simply replied.

"That doesn't answer my question." Twilight said.

The celebrity daintily picks up the knife then burps. Shaun tries to stop the sheep, but it was already too late. The three sheep let out long, loud burps. The other customers stare at them with judgmental and disgusted looks. Shaun angrily shushes them. The maitre d' stares dissaprovingly at them. The young sheep chuckles at of embarrassment and buries his face in his menu. The other sheep copy him.

"This was a mistake." Rarity murmurs.

"Um, Dash?" Spike wriggles out from Rainbow's shirt.

"Spike, what are you doing? Do you want us to get caught?" Rainbow asked.

"No. But, I really need to use the bathroom." Spike whimpered.

"Oh, dear." Twilight said.

"Now? Can't you hold it?" Rainbow asked.

"No, I can't." The young dragon clutched his legs.

"Well, did you try crossing your legs?"

"Yes."

"Holding your breath?"

"Yes. Almost passed out."

"Closing your eyes and..."

"Rainbow. I'll take him to the bathroom." Fluttershy cut in.

"Okay, but make it quick. These guys know he to draw a crowd. And not in a good way." Rainbow sighed.

"And be extra careful." Twilight added.

"I will, Twilight." Fluttershy said softly. "Come on, Spike."

Spike quietly crawled over to her and climbed underneath her purple jacket. Fluttershy left her seat to search for a bathroom. At the same time, Shaun spots Timmy scampering to the dessert tray. Shaun gasped and gestures emphatically for the little sheep to come back over. Timmy, misinterpreting to gesture, dunks his face into one of the cakes. He pulls back up, frosting covering his face, and gives a thumbs up.

"Lucky." Pinkie pouts and squints at Timmy.

Shaun rolls his eyes and walks over inconspicuously to Timmy and grabs him, stuffing him and his teddy bear under his turtle-neck. One of the knitted fabrics catches a hook on the tray. As a waiter walks over to him, Shaun pats his belly, pretending to have a full stomach. The waiter pushes the cart away, while Shaun heads back to the table. he fails to notice his sweater beginning to unravel. The sheep and ponies notice, though, and motion to him.

"Shaun! Shaun your sweater!" Rainbow loudly whispered.

"Oh, nelly. That ain't good." Applejack pokes her head out.

Before Shaun could realize, he trips, launching Timmy onto the table. His mom grabs him and hides him underneath the table. Shaun shakes his heads and notices all the customers staring and gaping at him. The maitre d' stammers and dials a phone. Shaun, meanwhile, panics and runs around the restaurant as waiters chase after him. The pianist begins to play a more intense song, while Shaun gallops into the kitchen. Clatters and crashes could be heard inside. The sheep darts back out, being chased out by a chef. One of the waiters chasing Shaun bumps into another waiter carrying a whole fish. The fish goes flying and engulfs a man's head. Shaun dives under a table, while the man panics and staggers to a lobster tank where a lobster clamps his claw down on his finger. He screams in pain and shakes it off. The lobster flies across the restaurant and clamps down on a waitress's backside. She lets out a shriek and slaps a man across the face, thinking he had pinched her. As he falls, he knocks over a table sending a plate of food sailing into the air and into the face of the celebrity's date.

The celebrity laughs, invoking her to clonk him in the head with her purse, knocking his hair out of place. The celebrity checks his reflection on a spoon. He gasps at his ruined hair. Outside, the animal control truck showed up at the front entrance.

Meanwhile, Spike had just left the bathroom. He lets out a satisfied sigh, when he noticed the restaurant in complete chaos.

"What is happening?" He turned to a scared Fluttershy.

"I-I-I think S-Shuan got caught." Fluttershy stammered.

Suddenly, the lobster from earlier flew through the air and clamped down on Fluttershy's muzzle. She let out a shriek and galloped around in a pained panic. Spike chased after her. He was able to grab the lobster and yank it away before throwing to the floor.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Spike asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah. Thank you." She whimpered, wiping the tears away.

Shaun crawled out from under the table which just so happened to be right next to the pegasus and dragon.

"Shaun, we have to get out of here right now." Spike warned.

"Bah." He agreed.

"I know. Let's go." Fluttershy translated, rubbing her sore nose.

But, before they could make an escape, a caution sign slammed down in front of them. They stepped back in fear and saw the animal control officer, Trumper, squinting down on them. The officer sealed the three off with caution tape before putting on a pair of gloves and safety goggles. The three hold each other fearfully. He nabs Spike, Shaun, and Fluttershy with his catch pole and laughs victoriously. The photos of the three creatures get stamped with the word "contained" on it, their looks of trepidation etched on their faces.

"We have to do something." Rainbow was about to intervene when she felt something tug on her tail. She saw Applejack giving her a discouraging look.

"And cause more problems? We can't risk ourselves gettin' caught." The farm pony said.

"But...But, we can't..." Rainbow immediately shuts up when she noticed Trumper staring at the team. They all face away from him, trying not to act or look suspicious. Trumper walks over to the table. He leans down toward the female imposter and holds up her purse with a smile.

As Timmy peaks up underneath the tablecloth, he faces Shaun who shakes his head at him. Timmy retreats. Trumper gives the female imposter her purse, then lays his card down on her plate. He winks and walks away with Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy in his catch pole. The three looked back to see the rest of the group, mostly the ponies, with looks of worry, anger, and horror on their faces. Shaun notices Timmy's teddy bear on the floor. Twilight peeks through the coat, holding out her hoof to Spike.

"Spike." She whispered in despair.

Spike held out his hand, but was pulled away by the officer.

The waitress puts the lobster back in the tank where it bumps claws with it's buddy. Outside, the officer dumps the dragon, pony, and sheep into the back of his truck and drives off.

"We never should've gone into that restaurant." Spike lamented. "In fact, I should've just held it in."

"Spike, this wasn't your fault. And it's not yours either, Shaun." Fluttershy spoke a bit more firmly. "This was just a freak accident. Nopony, or dragon, or sheep is to blame."

"Bah-bah?" Shaun asked.

"What's going to happen now? Well, all we can hope is that are friends can save us." Fluttershy said.

"But, what will happen to us." Spike asked fearfully.

Fluttershy struggled to come up with an uplifting answer.

"...I don't know, Spike. I really don't know." She said sadly.

Spike began to tear up. He was scared. Scared for them, himself, and the others. Fluttershy put a wing around him to comfort. Shaun sighs and peers through the window as the restaurant disappeared around the corner. That's when he saw The Farmer walking aimlessly down the sidewalk. Shaun gasped and cried out to him. This caught Spike and Fluttershy's attention and saw The Farmer, too.

"Wait...that's. Hey! Hey, Mr. Farmer, help us!" Spike cried.

"Help us, please!" Fluttershy cried out, as well.

But, their pleas and cries fell on deaf ears and The Farmer didn't take any notice of them. The truck disappeared down the street.

A stretch limousine parked alongside a salon. The bald, burly drive opens the passenger door, knocks an old lady out of the way, and rushes the celebrity into the salon. The manager sits him down on a chair. Two stylists walk over and took a look at his messed up hair. the celebrity cries and looks away at the mirror in shame. The manager props his feet up on an ottoman and offers him an expresso, which he declines. One of the stylists, wearing a headband, a splotchy designer T-shirt, bracelets, and striped pants, backs up for a better look. He then notices The Farmer outside the window in his similar head bandage, stained shirt, hospital ID bracelet, and pajama. The stylists looks at him indignantly before continuing to look over the celebrity's ruined hair. The Farmer eyes a pair of head clippers dangling from a hook. A memory sparks in his head, a memory of him holding a pair of electric sheep shearers. His fingers twitch.

The two stylists argue over the celebrity's hair. As they step aside, The Farmer enters. The celebrity snaps his fingers and points to his hair expectantly. The Farmer cracks his knuckles and picks up the head clippers. He yanks the celebrity off of the chair and sits him down onto his knee as he has a flashback of shearing Shirley. The man shaves large clumps of white blond hair of the celebrity's head. The manager and a customer scream, even the burly driver lets out a girlish scream. The distracted stylists douses a woman's face in water. The driver tackles The Farmer. As the celebrity stands up, thick clumps of hair fall off his head and land in piles on the floor. He growls at The Farmer, ready to yell, but then catches his reflection. Anger turned to astonishment as he feels the close-shaven back of his head. This haircut...was actually really good. He laughs and points happily at his knew hairstyle. The manager breaths a sigh of relief and the stylists smile. the celebrity yanks The Farmer to his feet and gives a high-five and a noogie. The other people begin clapping, while the celebrity pats The Farmer on the shoulder. He holds up a handful of cash and the manager takes. He walks off, The Farmer was about to follow when the manager stopped him and handed him a five-pound note. She walks him to an empty stylish station. Outside, fans take pictures of the celebrity's new hairdo as he gets back in his limo.

In the salon, The Farmer styles another customer's hair. None of them noticed a flock of sheep and ponies race down the street and into a secluded alley.

"They couldn't have gone far." Rarity said, her voice wavering.

"We still don't know where they went. They could be on the other side of the city fer all we know." Applejack pointed out.

"This wouldn't be an issue if we had just intervened." Rainbow argued.

"Then we all would've gotten caught." Applejack said harshly.

"That would've been better than just Spike, Shaun, and Fluttershy getting separated." Rainbow snapped.

"Bah, bah-bah." One of the sheep said.

"And without, Fluttershy, we have no idea what they're saying!" The pegasus added.

"B-But, we need to find them. Not argue." Pinkie tried to calm down the situation.

"Do you have an idea where they are?" Rainbow asked angrily.

"Well...no..." Pinkie said.

"Exactly! We have no idea where they're being transported to and where to even find it!" The cyan pegasus yelled.

The ponies and sheep continued to argue and emotions grew more intense.

"EVERYPONY STOP!" Applejack yelled.

The group went silent and looked at the orange earth pony. She slowly walked over to Twilight, who wasn't in on the argument. Instead, she was quietly sobbing against a trash can.

"Sugarcube, are you okay?" Applejack asked,

"Okay!? Two of our friends and my son just got kidnapped by an animal control officer and are being led to Celestia know's where, and all you guys can think right now is to argue with each other!" Twilight shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "No, Applejack! I'm not okay."

The princess cried harder and buried her face into her hooves.

"I'm a failure." She muttered.

"Twi, you're not a failure..." Applejack tried to comfort her.

"I am, Applejack!" Twilight cried. "I failed to save Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy. I should've never allow to go into that restaurant. I should've done better."

"Twilight, you couldn't possibly have known of this outcome. It wasn't your fault." Rarity came up to her.

"I should've saved them. I should've done something." The alicorn smiffled. "I'm a terrible friend and a terrible mother."

"Twilight, look at me." Applejack held Twilight's face up to hers. "Don't blame yourself fer any of this. None of this is your fault."

"But, I let them down..." Twilight tried to say.

"Ya didn't let anypony down." Applejack cut her off. "I know none of us wanted this to happen, but it can't be helped. The only thing we can do now is the remain strong and save them now. And ah don't want to hear any of that "terrible friend" or "terrible mother," either. You've been the greatest friend to not just Fluttershy, but tah all of us. And you've raised Spike, loved him, and shaped him into who he is now. Ah can't think of anypony of being a better mother to Spike than you. Neither he, Fluttershy, or Shaun would think of you as either a terrible friend or mother. I know that they have faith that we'll rescue 'em. But, we need to have faith in ourselves to rescue 'em. We're here for each other, no matter how hopeless the situation is."

At this point, more tears flowed down Twilight's face, but this time, they were tears of confidence. She sniffled and hugged Applejack.

"It's okay, Twi. We'll find 'em." The earth pony rubbed her friend's back.

"Yeah. We'll find a way to rescue them. No matter what!" Rainbow said confidently.

"Even if it means crawling through the trenches. Figuratively and literally." Rarity added.

"And we'll all have a good laugh about years later." Pinkie hopped around.

The sheep all bah'd in agreement. Twilight wiped her tears away and stood proudly with her friends.

"All right. Let's go save our friends." She said.

To be continued

Part 6: Hard Time

View Online

The animal containment truck sits, parked next to the animal containment building. Inside, Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy watch as a barred door slid open, leading to a hallway sided with cells. Shaun gulped.

"I'm starting to get the impression that this guy doesn't like animals." Spike whispered.

The sheep and mare nod. Trumper yanks them forward with the catch pole. A dog reached out for them through a set of bars. The three jumped in startlement. The dog growled and clutched the cell bars. His poodle cellmate does bicep curls with a large bone. As the three continued to be dragged further into the prison-like station, they pass a glass cell housing a cat wearing a cone collar. It hisses at them cryptically. Another cell housed a turtle, who was marking to amount of days it had spent in the shelter. A goldfish was playing a harmonica in it's fish bowl. It quickly hides it away as Trumper walks by. The officer opened a cell and kicked the sheep, dragon, and pegasus inside. He slams the door, snorts at them, and walks away.

"We're never getting out of here." Spike said hopelessly.

"Don't say that, Spike." Fluttershy tries to comfort him. "Twilight and the others will find us. I know they will."

"It's more the "breaking us out of here" part that gives me doubt." Spike said, his tone unchanging.

"Spike, look at me." Fluttershy cupped Spike's face in her front hooves. "I know the situation looks bleak right now, but remember, we still have our other friends, too. They'll look for us and they will find a way to get us out of here. They're our friends, Spike. They do anything to save us. Especially Twilight.

A small smile managed to form on Spike's face. Not only reassuring him, but reassuring Fluttershy, as well. Shaun, however, continued to glare at Trumper.

"Bah." He said.

"Shaun! Language." Fluttershy reprimanded.

Just then, there was a low growl coming from the darkest part of their cell. The three looked back fearfully, thinking some mean animal was about to attack them. Spike hid behind Fluttershy as the creature stepped forward. Said creature turned out to be Bitzer, who yawned and stretched.

"Bitzer? Is that you?" Spike said in surprise.

Shaun was equally surprised, but his shock turned to happiness and relief. Bitzer smacked his lips and peeled open his eyes. Realizing the familiar faces in his cell, he grinned then gaped at them.

"Are we glad to see you." Fluttershy said with relief.

"Bwar?" The sheepdog asked.

"Why are we here?" Fluttershy repeated. "...It's a long story."

She turned away sheepishly, while Shaun's grin turned to a disheartened frown. He clutched Timmy's teddy bear. Bitzer sticks his head through the bars and looks around the cell block.

"So, how did you get in here?" Spike asked.

Bitzer didn't respond. He ran his paw down his face in frustration. He growled and then began to yell out the three.

Meanwhile, one of the security cameras showed the verbal smackdown through the live feed in the security room. Trumper takes no notice, instead, picks up a cup of coffee and pins photos of Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy to a board along with all the other animals he's contained. He sips his coffee and catches his reflection in a mirror. He straightens his posture then pulls out his catch pole like a gun and snaps the clamp. He turns his back from the mirror. He quickly turns back around and draws again.

Bitzer, by this point, had stopped with the yelling and had sat down on the bench, looking away at his new cellmates.

"Come on, dude. At least we tried to look for The Farmer." Spike tried to argue.

"Grrff." Bitzer growled.

"But, you ended up in here. If we didn't get thrown in here, we may never have been able to find you." Fluttershy tried to calm the situation.

Bitzer didn't respond, continuing to glare at the wall.

"We didn't do this out of obligation. Shaun chose to search for him. We chose to search for him." Spike argued further.

"Bah!" Shaun yelled.

The dragon and pegasus turn to the disheartened sheep.

Bah-bah. Bah. hmm." Shaun said sadly.

"It doesn't matter if we chose to look for The Farmer or not. Bitzer has every right to be upset with me. Twilight was right, it was selfish of me to isolate The Farmer from the farm all because I was sick and tired of the same routine. This is all my fault that we're in this mess."

"Shaun, it's not..." Fluttershy stopped herself. She wanted to say it wasn't Shaun's fault, but couldn't deny the fact that it was. Shaun was the one who came up with the plan to get The Farmer out of the equation in the first place. And he was the one who instigated it.

"...At least you realized your mistake and tried to correct it." She finished.

"Bah." Shaun replied solemnly.

"Your right, it doesn't make what you did right. But, you've clearly shown regret and remorse for your actions and have tried to fix them. That's one of the first steps toward redemption." The timid pegasus explained.

Shaun looked up at Fluttershy, who gave him a comforting smile.

"And even after what you did, your friends will find and rescue you. Rescue us. I should know, they're my friends, too. Even you Shaun." She finished.

"Yeah, we have hope that Twilight and the others will come and rescue us." Spike said.

Fluttershy pulled Shaun in for a comforting hug. Shaun let out a sad sigh and hugged the mare back.

Bitzer wasn't moved by Fluttershy's speech. He sat as far away from them as possible. He was about to start chastising them again, but then Spike glared at him defensively.

"Let him have this moment." He hissed quietly at the sheepdog

Frustrated, Bitzer crossed his arms and stared into a cell across the corridor. A dog was giving them a judgmental glare with bloodshot eyes. Bitzer, unnerved, flashes him a friendly smile. The dog continues to glare. The sheepdog grows increasingly uncomfortable and taps his fingers together. Faking a stretch, he hide his face behind his hand. He peaks up and sees the dog's beady eyes still glued to him.

"I already hate this place." Spike grumbled to himself.

Once the hug broke up, Shaun looked over and spotted the stray mutt from earlier in another cell. He gives her a friendly smile. She wags her tail and smiles back.

Outside, a couple stand outside the entrance of the containment building. They read a sign at the front entrance saying "Adopt a stray day." An administrator shows the couple inside. Once inside, Trumper steps out and looks around the streets. He kicks down the sign and casually strolls back inside.

Back at the cell block, Shaun, Spike, Fluttershy take notice of the couple at the end of the hallway. The other animals got into position to look as cute and cuddly as possible. The cat folds down at cone collar and meows with excitement. The turtle buffs it's shell with a sheet. The mutt wets her paws and tries to smooth out her hair.

"Huh. Talk about a change of mood." Spike said.

"We can't let them choose us though. That will complicate things." Fluttershy pointed out.

The three friends watch as the administrator shows the two inside. One of them gives her a donation.

The first dog sniffs his armpit and smiles, while rocking from side to side, attempting to look and act as innocent as possible. His poodle cellmate cheerfully holds a bone in it's mouth. The female shakes her head and couple move on. The poodle snaps the bone in it's mouth. The goldfish hides coyly behind a seashell. Again, the couple move on. The mangy mutt holds her paws together pleadingly. The male points to her. She flashes them a gap-tooth smile. The couple looked a bit disappointed in the fact that the mutt had such crooked teeth. They move on, leaving the mutt heartbroken. Next, the couple stared into the cell of Shaun, Spike, Fluttershy, and Bitzer. The male whispered to the female in confusion. She shrugs. Spike and Fluttershy exchange glances. The couple move on again.

They find a iguana in it's own sell. The administrator opens the cell and hands them the iguana. Satisfied, the couple begin to leave with their new pet. Shaun sees the mutt begin to tear up. The iguana pumps it's fist victoriously and sticks out it's tongue. The two dogs growl with envy. Trumper stands in front of the barred door. The administrator hands him a clipboard which he takes it and signs it, all the while, with a forced smile. He opens the door and lets the couple past. As the female steps past, Trumper points his fingers to his eyes, then to the iguana, who looked away fearfully.

Shaun tries to cheer up the mutt by giving her by giving her a sympathetic smile. The mutt wipes away a tear, then sulks in a corner of her cell.

"The poor thing." Fluttershy said sorrowfully.

Shaun sighs sadly.

The celebrity's new pompadour was quickly going viral on the internet. A woman resizes the photo and uploads it. Hundreds upon thousands receive the viral hairdo and share with their peers. vlog and news article litter the cyber landscape with the growing-popular photo. Calls and appointments filled the salon every waking hour and The Farmer went to work with giving everybody the same hairdo. The customers take selfies with him, increasing his fame even further.

A photo sharing page showcased other pictures and gifs with the caption "Mr. X" on them. During a photo shoot, The Farmer stands with two pairs of hair clippers crossed together. The photographer instructs him to show a serious frown. the Farmer, however, flashes a big smile as soon as the picture is taken. Other pictures show him in different poses holding his clippers, a skull, and straddling a chair while naked. Touching up a photo, the photographer edits out The Farmer's grin and replaces it with a serious frown.

At an event, the salon staff gifts him flowers and champagne. He holds them up as people take his picture.

Back at the animal containment unit, Shaun rattles the bar of his cell.

"How long has it been?" Flutttershy asked while stretching.

"I don't know. I lost track after the first hour." Spike sits on the floor, his legs tucked against his stomach.

Bitzer just lies on his side on the bench. The dog was still glaring at him. He sighs and turns on his other side, facing the wall. Trumper walks the cell block. Shaun backs away from the bars as he nears them.

"Bah-ah-ah-ah." The officer mocked and laughed at the young sheep.

Shaun just gave him an insulted glare.

The mangy mutt was happily chowed down on a bowl of dog food. Trumper began grunting and snorting at her mockingly. The mutt growled back.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly and sigh. Shaun then noticed a ring of keys on Trumper's belt. He was still mocking the mutt, laughing and stuffing chips into his mouth. Shaun reaches out for the keys. Spike and Fluttershy could only look on in anticipation. The officer reaches his hand back to scratch his backside. Shaun pulls his hand back to avoid making contact. Trumper lets out a small fart. Shaun winces back in disgust.

"Gross." Spike murmured, also in disgust.

The sheep reaches out again, but before he could firmly grabbed the keys, a doorbell sounded at the end of the cell block. Trumper turns and walks away.

"So close." Spike whispered.

Shaun shares a look of disappointment with the mutt. She looks back with confusion. Trumper presses a green button and the barred door slides open to reveal the two disguised sheep dressed as a woman.

Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy gasp quietly.

"They found us." Fluttershy whispered happily.

Trumper looks on with surprise. The imposter showed him his card with a bright, red kiss stain on it. Trumper smiled flirtatiously and showed her inside. The two dogs sniffed out the sheep and growled at it. She whacks them with her purse. Meanwhile, outside, another sheep maneuvers underneath a barred window. He motioned to the others. The other sheep, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity peaked out from behind the corner.

"All right, let's do this." Rainbow pumped her hoof.

One of the sheep barrel-rolls past a dumpster, holding a line of tied cloths. Timmy's mom sighs and carries the other end.

"We got to keep a low-profile." Pinkie peered over her. "Never let anypony know your next move."

The pink mare looked around with squinted eyes and tip-toed against the wall over to the barred window. Back inside, Trumper and the female imposter walk down the cell block. The top sheep shushes at Shaun, Spike, and Fluttershy to keep them quiet. They watch them pass with confusion.

"What are they planning?" Spike asked.

The other two shrugged. Outside, Timmy and Rarity finish tying the makeshift rope around the bars.

"Okay, everypony. It's secured." Rarity said.

"You three ready?" Twilight asked.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Shirley stand within the tied rope.

"More than ready, Twi." Applejack responded with conviction

"I was born ready!" Rainbow said confidently.

One sheep holds out a cloth with a picture of a banana on it. That gets Shirley going and she pulls forward. Applejack and Rainbow pull against the rope with all their strength, while the others cheered with encouragement. Cracks begin to form around the window of the building. The sound of crumbling bricks resonated within the cells.

"What's going on?" Spike asked, sounding more afraid.

"I-I don't know." Fluttershy said.

With one last tug of strength, a section of the wall rips from the building. The sheep and ponies clatter around the hole.

"Guys, we're here to save..." Twilight stopped when she realized that neither Shaun, Spike, nor Fluttershy were there. A clueless construction worker was sitting on a toilet, wearing a pair of earmuffs and reading a book.

"What!? Where are Spike, Fluttershy, and Shaun?" Rainbow asked in frustration.

"Uh...girls?" Fluttershy's voice called out to them.

The others turned to see their friends peering through a barred window in a building adjacent to them. Shaun put a hoof to his face.

"You got the wrong building, guys." Spike stated.

"...Oh." Rainbow said sheepishly.

"But, if they're there, then that means." Twilight looks back at hole in the wall. "Uh, oh."

Suddenly, an alarm bell went off and the sheep and ponies flew into a panic. A security camera, mounted on the barbed-wire fence, picked up on the action. Meanwhile, Trumper and female imposter were flirting with each other when the sheep noticed their friends panicking on camera. Trumper could hear the commotion and turned toward the security monitor to see what was going on. The imposter pulled him back and into a kiss to try and distract him further. He pushed back and saw the sheep and ponies trying to flee the scene. He gasped and drew his catch pole. He was about to run out the room when the female imposter, thinking fast, pushes him back. He stumbles onto his chair and falls to the ground, his head getting stuck in a trash bin. The sheep flee the room and hurriedly stumbles toward Shaun and the others. She trips and the two stacked sheep break apart. The bottom half bumps into the cat's glass cell. The three friend watch as both sheep hurry out of the containment building. Trumper gets back up and lifts the trash bin off of his head.

"Now what? We're still stuck in here." Spike said, put off by the failed prison break attempt.

"Maybe they'll think of something else. They won't give up like that." Fluttershy said reassuringly.

Shaun peered out through the barred window again, eyeing the hole in the adjacent building's wall. An idea hits him. He pulls out a piece of chalk from his fleece and starts to draw on the wall. The other three creatures watch him with befuddlement.

"Shaun, now is not the time for chalk art." Spike pointed out.

"Bah-ah." Shaun said.

"Trust me." Fluttershy translated. "What are you planning?"

A door slams opening, causing them to freeze. Shaun quickens his pace. Trumper races down the cell block with a look of ire. The mutt sticks her paw out through the bars. Trumper trips over it and face-plants into the cold, concrete floor. He looks up at Shaun's cell and sees a hole in the wall. He gasps and quickly unlocks the cell door. Unknown to him, Shaun, Spike, Fluttershy, and Bitzer were hiding underneath the cell bench. The officer tries to reach through the hole but is met with a solid wall. He looks at the hands, which were now covered with chalk dust, then to the realistic hole, which now sported a large smear on it.

"Bah-ee." Shaun mocks at him.

Trumper turns to see the sheep, dragon, pegasus, sheepdog, and even the stray mutt now outside their cells. Shaun jiggles the keys and throws them into one of the cells.

"Tricked ya!" Spike said brashly. "Now let's get out of here!"

The five of them make a run for it, while Trumper angrily rattles the bars and shouts in fury. The other caged animals howl and cheer them on as the break out of the building and rejoin the flock. The rest of the Main 6 rally together for a group around Spike and Fluttershy.

"Thank, Celestia you two are okay." Rarity said, on the verge of tears.

"That Trumper jerk didn't hurt you. Did he?" Rainbow asked to her pegasus friend. "Because if he did, I swear I'll give him Tarturus!"

"It's okay, Rainbow. He didn't hurt us." Fluttershy assured her.

"And, Spike. I'm so, so sorry I let this happen." Twilight held her dragon close. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Spike wrapped his arms around her neck and looked up to her.

"It's okay, Twilight. There wasn't much you could do without getting caught, too." He said soothingly. "You didn't fail me, Twilight. I'm just so relieved that you came and rescued us."

"Of course, Spike. I could never leave you like that. Or any of the others." Twilight sniffled.

"Darn tootin'. We would never abandon ya'll, ever." Applejack added.

"I'll make a saved-our-friends-from-prison party for posterity!" Pinkie said happily.

The ponies and dragon shared another group hug, all overwhelmed by emotions. Meanwhile, Shaun high-fives his friends and retrieves his nap-sack. The mutt whistles to them and signals them through a hole in the fence.

"Where's she goin'?" Applejack asked.

"She wants us to follow her." Fluttershy said.

"But, why?" Spike asked further.

"Maybe she knows where The Farmer is." Fluttershy said.

The other sheep cheer happily and begin to follow after the mutt.

"Guess we're doing that." Twilight and the others follow, too. "Come on, everypony."

Shaun lifts up his hand to Bitzer, hoping for a high-five. Bitzer just growls at him. He was still angry at him for causing all this kerfuffle. Shaun, realizing the sheepdog was going to leave him hanging, decides to follow after the rest of the group. Bitzer follows soon after.

Back inside the cell block, Trumper shakes the bars furiously. He yells in frustration and gives up. He plops down and the bench and crosses his arms. The officer looks up at the adjacent cell and his anger drains away upon noticing the dog with bloodshot eyes giving him a judgmental glare.

To be continued.

Part 7: A Journey in Vain

View Online

Now that the entire team was reunited, it was time to shift back to their original priority; searching for The Farmer. The herd peered around a corner that led into an alley.

"Glad that ordeal is over." Rainbow said.

"Agreed. But, now we're back to our original problem." Twilight pointed out. "We still have no idea where The Farmer is."

"Actually, we saw him walking down the street when that animal control officer carted us off to the shelter." Spike said.

"That's right. We did." Fluttershy perked.

"Wait, really?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I think it was right around the corner of that fancy restaurant." Fluttershy explained.

"But, he's prolly miles away from that location, since ya saw 'em when ya were bein' taken away." Applejack pointed out.

"Oh, you're right." Spike said woefully.

The rest of the Main 7 were brought down by that presumption. Shaun, however, remained strong. Then he remembered something. He tapped Timmy's shoulder. The little sheep turned to him and Shaun pulled out his teddy bear out of his nap sack. Timmy grabbed and hugged it close, then hugged Shaun in appreciation, which Shaun happily accepted.

"Oh, that's so sweet." Rarity cooed at the happy moment.

Shaun opens his eyes and sees something that makes him gasp. The mangy mutt runs out into the alley. The group follow her and stop to see a giant billboard on a wall. But, it's what was on the billboard that caught their attention.

"Is that..." Twilight started off.

"It is! It is!" Pinkie hopped in place.

The billboard showed a picture of The Farmer holding the hair clippers that said "Mr. X. He's Here!" on it. With an optimistic grin, Shaun pointed to the billboard. The sheep ran closer to the billboard of their owner.

"I-I can't believe it. This might actually be easier than I thought." Twilight said, but then began to think. "But, why would he be on a billboard? And why the hair clippers?"

"Who cares? We're one step closer to finding him." Rainbow said.

Shaun walked up to the billboard where a map of a city block was shown. The mutt clambers onto a trash can to study the map. She barked and gestured to Shaun to follow her.

"I think she knows where that location is." Fluttershy presumed.

"Then let's follow her." Applejack said.

The sheep, ponies, and dragon all followed after the mutt. Bitzer lingers behind a bit. He looks at the billboard skeptically before running after the others. The mutt climbs up a dumpster and throws down the lid. She opens a grate in a brick wall and crawls into a vent.

"The things we do to complete these missions." Rarity sighed as she crawled into the dusty vent.

"How's the big one supposed to get through there?" Rainbow pointed to Shirley.

Applejack and Pinkie exchanged glances.

"Heave!" Applejack yelled as the three ponies pushed hard to get Shirley through the vent.

"How do we always get ourselves into these situations?" Rainbow said to herself.

Further on, the mutt opens a skylight and directs the herd over a rooftop. The sheep, along with Pinkie, playfully slide down the rooftops, while the others carefully stepped across. They leapt from one building roof to another, right above an oblivious window washer.

"Hi, there!" Pinkie waved to him before disappearing over a building.

The window washer looked up after hearing the voice, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The sheep frolicked across a high ledge, while the main 7 treaded carefully. One sheep pirouettes and slips. Luckily, Rainbow was fast enough to grab him before he could fall over the ledge.

"Gotta be careful, man." The cyan pegasus pulled the sheep back onto the ledge.

The mutt, sheep, ponies, and dragon bound across scaffolding and down a ventilation duct.

"This is so. Much. Fun!" Pinkie slid down the duct.

The flock bounced off an old mattress and into a pyramid formation.

"Wait, where's the big one?" Spike asked.

The duct began to shake as the sound of a sheep echoing from it.

"Oh, no." Rarity squeaked.

Shirley shot out from the duct and crashed into the group like a bowling ball. The ponies, sheep, and dragon scattered everywhere like bowling pins.

At long last, the flock had finally made it to their destination. Shaun and the mutt were the first to make it to the hair salon. The young sheep saw The Farmer working on a customer and smiled happily. The two made it to the window and bumped fists. They watch as a satisfied customer feels over his hair and shakes The Farmer's hand before leaving. The Farmer sips on a cup of coffee as Shaun slowly walked into the salon. He taps The Farmer on the back of the leg. He turns around, confused, then looks down at the sheep in front of him. Shaun smiles up at him warmly. The other sheep, bitzer, and the Main 7 reach the salon in the meantime.

"We finally made it." Twilight said, satisfied.

"Go on, Shaun, reunite with him." Fluttershy encourage quietly.

Shuan gazes up, while The Farmer remains slack-jawed, almost seeming confused. Shaun steps closer, but The Farmer shrinks back. He then begin to try and shoo him away. Shaun gasps in disbelief. The others outside watch, distraught.

"W-What's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't think he's happy to see him." Rainbow assumed bluntly.

"I guess that whole ordeal create more animosity than we thought." Twilight said, her ears drooping.

The manager and other stylists watch in surprise as The Farmer tries to wave off the sheep. Shaun's eyes fill with tears. Bitzer runs into the salon and protectively nudges Shaun away. One of the stylish, wielding a broom, shoos off the sheep and sheepdog.

"We need to leave." Applejack calls out.

The rest make a run for it down the street. Shaun glances back sadly to The Farmer, who continues with his work with a dismissive wave. Tears stream down Shaun's cheeks as he lopes after the others. The mutt directs him down a manhole and into a sewer. When he reaches the bottom, Shaun and Bitzer shared a disheartened look, while the mutt closes the manhole.

"Are you going to be okay, darling?" Rarity asked.

Shaun looks at her with tearful eyes and shakes his head.

"Well, that was a bust! Now what do we do?" Rainbow asked, upset.

The mutt nudges aside a sheet of metal, revealing a tunnel. She nods for the others to follow her. Bitzer waves over the others, who follow him. Shaun, stays behind with a discouraged look. Twilight stopped and turn to face him.

"Shaun, is everything okay?" She walked up to him.

Fluttershy noticed her alicorn friend talking to the sheep and walks over.

"Hemph." Shaun muttered.

"No, everything is not alright. The Farmer hates me now, all because of that stupid plan. You were right, Twilight. I shouldn't-" Fluttershy stopped her translation and gave Shaun a serious look. "Shaun, we've been over this. You shouldn't go beating yourself up over this."

"Bah-bah?" Shaun asked.

"Then why did The Farmer shoo us away? Why did he act like he didn't recognize me? He hates me for what I've done. We've lost everything because of my actions."

"Shaun, please, you're hurting. I'm sure we'll be able to fix things." Fluttershy try to reassure him.

"Bah?" Shaun asked.

"How?" She translated. Fluttershy tried to think of a solution, but she couldn't. Trying to talk to The Farmer seemed like a no-go. "W-Well..."

"Bah."

"There's nothing we can do. It's hopeless." Fluttershy translated.

"But Shaun..." Twilight tried to say something, but the sheep just walked sadly away.

The two mares exchanged worried and sorrowful looks.

"I know what he did was wrong. But, he doesn't deserve this." Twilight said with regret.

"I feel so awful." Fluttershy's lips qivered. "All we can hope for now is a miracle."

"I don't even think a miracle is possible." Twilight said dejectedly.

The mutt leads the group out to an abandoned area underneath a freeway. Bringing up the rear, Shaun slips through an opening in a chain-link fence.

"Wait, you expects us to live here?" Rarity asked dismay.

The mutt steps inside a cardboard box and turns around. She smiles and gestures welcomingly around the industrial wasteland.

"Oh, no! No, no, no! We are not living in this dump!" Rarity opposed.

"Yeah. We already have our own homes in our world. We can't just stay here forever." Rainbow agreed.

"And some of us have families to look after." Applejack added.

"But...how are we going to get home?" Fluttershy ask. "W-We failed our mission."

The rest of the Main 7 we at a loss. The Farmer wanted nothing to do with them.

"Well...maybe we could try and convince him to come back." Rainbow suggetsed.

"He seems vehemently against us, though." Rarity said.

"Oh, oh. I know. Maybe all he needs is a bit of cheering up with a party. A sorry-for-locking-you-in-a-camper party." Pinkie said.

"Pinkie, for the umpteenth time, a party is not going to fix this." Rainbow argued.

"You do know that for sure." Pinkie argued back. "Don't knock it till you try it. That's what I always say."

"Oh, who will look after my boutique if I can't make it back." Rarity lamented dramatically. "...And look after Sweetie Belle."

Rainbow groaned in frustration.

"You know what? I blame Shaun for all of this." She yelled. "He was the one who acted in the plan first. None of this would've happened if it wasn't for him."

"Agreed. He was bein' too dreamy about a farm life. There ain't nothin' borin' 'bout that." Applejack agreed.

"You can't blame him for all of this. He pretty much had no control over it." Fluttershy defended.

"Oh, come on, Fluttershy. It was a stupid idea from the start. He was just being selfish." the pent-up pegasus snapped back.

While the others were arguing, the other sheep chose to ignore them began picking up stuff around the area to feel more at home. Shaun just stood, guilt-stricken and heartbroken. He looked down and walked glumly over to a pile of crushed building materials. He lies back against a wooden palette and stares up at a piece of graffiti art, depicting a spider in it's web. It reminded him of the spider that live in the upper corner of the barn back home.

The ponies were still arguing with each other, until Twilight finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Enough!" She yelled, her wings flaring out and magic sparks fizzled from here horn.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stopped arguing and turned to the frustrated alicorn.

"For Celestia sake, girls, I understand you all are upset, but blaming Shaun for all this is not helping the situation." Twilight said fiercely.

"But, Twilight, he was way over his head on his plan. You showed clear frustration toward him when The Farmer first got lost." Rainbow walked up to her.

"Yes, I was. But, I understand that now is not the appropriate time for being mad at him." Twilight argued.

"Of course it is. We're at our lowest point right now." Rarity butted in.

"So you think we should make the already negative atmosphere even worse with your animosity?" Twilight questioned them. "I'm not happy about it either, but I'm not going to point hooves at the guilty party when there's more productive things to do."

"Like what?" Rainbow asked.

"Helping them out." Twilight to the other sheep gathering items around the wasteyard. "And maybe thinking of a way to still fix this."

She walked away with Spike, who stayed silent to whole time, following just behind her. Using her magic, she picked up several items for the sheep and carried them over to them.

"M-Maybe she has a point, girls. Perhaps it's best we just try and think of a plan of action instead of being bitter." Rarity spoke first.

"Yeah. I can't be the Element of Laughter without showing positivity first." Pinkie agreed and hopped over to the makeshift living quarters of the sheep.

Applejack straightened her hat with a solemn expression.

"She's right. It's better to look past this fer the time bein'." She said to Rainbow.

"Alright, but I still don't how things can magically become better." Rainbow sighed and followed.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, walked over to the depressed Shaun.

"Shaun, I...I'm sorry for what my friends said. I don't blame you for this. You only wanted some more enjoyment in life. I understand that." Fluttershy said.

Shaun didn't respond. He rolled onto his side and pulled out the missing persons poster of The Farmer.

Literally at the same time, The Farmer stared out uncannily through the salon window. He looked back at his clippers. He had no idea why a sheep was in the city, much less looking for him. But, for some reason, that sheep sparked something deep inside a head. It felt like an itch, but The Farmer just didn't know why.

Back at the wasteyard, Shaun was still looking at the missing persons poster. Fluttershy put a hoof on his shoulder to try and comfort him. A strong breeze came in and blew the poster out of Shaun's hoof. It carried the piece of paper across the cloud-covered city. Shaun sighed and looked down, while Fluttershy, the caring mare that she was, rubbed his shoulder.

At the animal containment unit, Trumper was just sitting around in the still locked cell. Two workers enter the cell block, looking for their boss. Hearing them Trumper grabs the cell bars and clears his throat to get there attention. They found the keys and set him free. Now out of the cell he made his way over to his office.

He grabbed the pictures of Shaun, Bitzer, Spike, Fluttershy, and the mutt off his board. He crumpled them angrily and walked over to a frame that showed off his achievement as a animal control officer. He tapped the frames and a section of the wall receded and split apart. However, it got jammed halfway through opening. Trumper bumps it with his fist, unjamming it. He smirks, while is coworkers stand startled upon seeing high-voltage catch gun along with pair of red gloves and a sleek pair of goggles.

Trumper puts on the gear and powers up the gun. It lights up, showing a red glow from the skull-shaped indicator. He pulls the trigger and an electrified harpoon clamp shoots out and completely fries a teddy bear sitting on a high shelf. A toy robot stares at it, then raises it's arms in surrender. The coworkers stand there, mortified, while Trumper let's out a dark chuckle.

Back at the wasteyard, the sheep, ponies, and dragon, and sheepdog did their best to get comfortable amongst the grimy junk. One sheep draws a picture of a pillow and lays on it, while another tries to stay warm with a space heater that wasn't even plugged in. Shirley was hungrily munching on a piece of packing foam from a cardboard box.

"You do realize that's not food right?" Spike asked.

Shirley responded with spitting out the foam in disgust. Timmy, meanwhile, was whimpered in his mom's arm.

"There, there, Sugarcube. Everything all be all right." Applejack tried to reassure him.

Bitzer even tried to cheer up the crying lamb with his teddy bear. Fluttershy and Shaun, who were still sitting at the other end of the wasteyard, sat sadly at the situation.

"Oh, if only there was something we can do to cheer him up." Fluttershy sighed.

That's when Shaun remembered something in his nap-sack. He pulled out his tape player and pressed play. The familiar song sounded through the wasteyard. Timmy looked up and saw Shaun walking over to him with the tape player. He smiled happily.

"Well, at least it'll brighten up the mood a bit." Spike said.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The tape player suddenly popped open and a tangled mass of film spewed out of the device. Timmy, now mortified, when back to crying.

"Nice one, bud." Rainbow sarcastically rolled her eyes.

With the tape player out of action, Shaun was forced to improvise. He began to whistle the song. Timmy stopped crying again and turned back. Shaun continued to whistle.

(Pause at 1:36)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzTcXDRt358

At the salon, The Farmer was at work shaving a customer's head. He pauses and drops the customer from his knee. He wanders into a supply closet where a window lies, slightly ajar. The Farmer could hear a song that he swore sounded familiar. He opened the window the rest way and began mouthing along with the song.

(Continue video)

Timmy, now happy and content again, fell asleep in his mom's arms. Bitzer nods his head stoically and Shaun smiles back at him.

"That was beautiful, guys." Fluttershy said warmly.

"Agreed." Rarity said.

Twilight bumped Rainbow in her side. The pegasus sighed.

"All right, all right. That honestly wasn't very bad." Rainbow admitted.

"That was amazing! I loved it!" Pinkie said happily.

Shaun was quick to shush her, so as to not wake Timmy.

"Oh, sorry." Pinkie whispered, but with a large grin.

The Farmer stares as his medical chart, still unsure of what to make of it. The manager then came in and tapped her wrist, basically telling him the time was of the essence, before leaving. The Farmer crumples up the paper into a ball and leaves it on the windowsill before leaving, too. It rolls over the edge and down a rain gutter onto the busy freeway. It whipped up into the air from the flow of rush-hour traffic and floated down into the wasteyard. Below, one sheep was still singing, while another plucks the spokes of a bicycle tire.

"Guys, we're past that now." Rainbow told them.

They stop and head over to the rest of group where a fire was burning in an old, industrial garbage can. The paper falls to the ground. Shaun picks it up and adds it with the collection of junk carried in his arm. He joins the rest of the herd and drops the materials into the fire. Bitzer sniffs around, catching a familiar scent.

"What's wrong, Bitzer?" Twilight asked.

Bitzer spotted the picture of The Farmer was the chart began to burn. He quickly tried to grab it, but the flames were much too hot. He winced away. Shaun noticed the picture, too and gasped. He grabbed Bitzer knit cap and uses it as a pot-holder to grab stick and fish the chart out from the fire.

"Hey, what's going on?" Rainbow asked.

"Bah." Shaun told them.

"Check this out." Fluttershy translated.

The Main 7 gathered around Shaun and Bitzer to look at the smoldering piece of paper. There, in bold, blue lettering, was the diagnosis of memory loss on The Farmer's medical chart. Shaun's eyes widened as he remembered the man aggressively shooing him away at the salon. That's when he realized the connection of his behavior and the diagnosis and so did the others.

"He must remember anything from the farm." Fluttershy said.

"So, he didn't shoo Shaun away because he hated him. He shooed him away because he didn't recognize him!" Twilight concluded.

The others gasped in shock.

"That means..." Rainbow started

"There's still hope!" Rarity beamed happily.

Both Shaun and Bitzer tremble clutch each other and tremble. The other sheep and the Main 7 began to celebrate in excitement. There was still a chance the mission could be saved.

Back at the animal containment unit, Trumper shines a flashlight through a hole in the chain-link fence. Walking over to it, he discovers clumps of fleece stuck around the hole. He grabs one and takes a quick whiff before tasting it. He spits it out in disgust. With a hardened expression, he presses a button on the side of his goggles, which activates an infrared view that showed animal tracks leading down an alleyway. He crawls through the whole with his gun in-hand. A cynical grin formed on his face. Those animals...were as good as his.

To be continued

Part 8: Plan of Escape

View Online

With the revelation of The Farmer's amnesia coming to light, the Shaun, Bitzer, The main 7, and the others had a renewed sense of determination to get themselves and The Farmer back home. The sheep, ponies, and dragon surround an old chalkboard. Shaun taps a drawing of the amnesiac farmer with an arrow pointing a drawing of a farmhouse, which led an equal sign pointing at the normal farmer. Shaun draws a circle around the arrow and draws a question mark under it before shrugging.

"How are we going to get him out of the salon and back home without being conspicuous?" Twilight asked.

"Bah." Shaun said.

"Any ideas are welcome to be heard." Fluttershy translated.

They all got to thinking of any ways to get The Farmer back.

"How about we just take him and run off back to the farm." Rainbow suggested.

"Oh, like that's going to go well in a city." Rarity said sarcastically.

"What if we try ta lure 'im out?" Applejack suggested.

"But, with what?" Twilight asked.

One of the sheep lifts up his finger, as if to show he had an idea. The others turned to him, but then he shook his head sadly. The others got back to thinking and the sheep raised his finger again. The others turned again, but he shook his head once again.

"Come on, dude. Stop having us on." Rainbow said in frustration.

Shaun looked past the group and toward a large pile of debris. The sheep, ponies, and dragon follow his gaze.

"What is it, Shaun?" Spike asked.

They spotted the mutt tugging on a piece of cloth in the debris. Shaun narrows his eyes and walks over to the pile of debris. Climbing up it, he picks the yellow cloth as well as a beaten up police helmet.

"Maybe, there's something here that could help us." Fluttershy said quietly.

"But...what exactly?" Twilight asked skeptically. "There's nothing but junk and broken parts around here."

That's when Shaun got an idea. A big idea. His eyes widened as the plan unfurled in it's entirety in his head. Coming back to the chalkboard, he erases the bandage on the chalk sketch of the amnesia farmer and draws a police helmet instead. He addresses his plan to the rest of the team. Fluttershy helped translated to her friends.

"Wait, they do that?" Twilight asked in a bit of disbelief.

"Apparently." Fluttershy responded.

"Well, I found that quite offensive. Using our kind like that." Rarity scoffed.

"Let's not dwell on that. This is a different world after all. It would make sense that some things are different here compared to our world." Twilight pointed out. "Besides, what other ideas do we have right now?"

"I'm all for it." Pinkie put on a pair of disguise glasses and and mustache. "I love the thrill of disguises!"

"I think we're aimin' for somethin' a bit more extensive than that." Applejack said.

"Can we all just agree with the plan?" The purple alicorn asked.

"...I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world." Rarity sighed in admittance.

The rest of the Main 7 came together with the rest of the sheep and Bitzer. Shaun held out his hoof and the others bump fists and hooves together.

The first part of the plan was to gather up necessary parts and assemble the contraption. Shaun. Bitzer, and Twilight discussed calculations on the chalkboard. Rainbow helps two sheep bend a piece of pipe over Shirley's back, while Pinkie and Spike helped perform a chemical experiment. Spike blew a wave of fire over a pot of chemicals while a sheep pour a solution into it. The concoction bursts into green flames.

"Yipe!" Pinkie jumped back.

The sheep grabs a fire extinguisher and puts out the fire. Another sheep writes down the information on a clipboard. Cloth was cut and parts were hammered into place. The ponies and dragon helped with other experiments with springs and even a fishing rod. Rarity helped stitch together to cloth, which was soon draped over a large frame. The completed contraption slowly exited the wasteyard, it's shadow looming against the tunnel walls. The mutt wags her tail and smiles up at Shaun, who waves at her from atop his creation. Now it was time for the real part of the plan to begin.

By this point, night had casted itself over the entire city. Most of inhabitants were off work and relaxing at home or fast asleep. Trumper, on the other hand, was not. He was still on the trail of those blasted sheep, ponies, and weird lizard. He was pulling himself the steep incline of the rooftop. Then, came the sound of fabric tearing. The officer froze, realizing what had just happened.

The salon was nearing closing time. The Farmer was at work sweeping up the floor before calling it a day. From the darkness of the nearby alley, the mutt wheels a fence barricade on roller skates to the window. Shaun eyes her through a crack mirror. She gestures her paws to him, giving him the signal.

"It's showtime!" Pinkie said excitedly..

Shaun waves several sheep ahead to the sidewalk. They carefully walk to the make-shift fence. The mutt kicks at the door to get the occupants attention. The Farmer looks up, expecting another customer, but he was met with a line of sheep hopping over the barricade. Instinctively, he began to count them. He let out a tired yawn. Other people came around to watch the spectacle.

"Is it working?" Spike asked.

Twilight looked through the crack mirror to see what was happening. Two bystanders nodded off, smashing their faces against their ice cream. On a bus, several passengers and a conductor fall asleep against the windows. A man in a trampoline store fell asleep, too, and bounces against a trampoline. The two stylists doze off while pouring coffee and cream. The manager falls asleep on her calculator. Finally, The Farmer collapses on a chair, snoring loudly.

"Yeah, I think it is." Twilight smirked.

The sheep quietly enter the salon to retrieve The Farmer.

At the construction site, Trumper shoots down the ventilation chute, but gets halfway out of the opening. His catch gun tumbles onto the old mattress. He diligently tries to pull himself free from the tight constraint.

Back at the salon, the sheep walk back outside, carrying the slumbering farmer on their backs.

"Okay, phase one is complete." Rainbow pumped her hoof.

"Bah-bah." Shaun said quietly.

"Now we move on to the next part of our plan." Fluttershy translated.

The sheep, ponies, and dragon head back into the alley. They sit The Farmer on top of their contraption and put the police helmet on him. they pile inside the fabric creation. Shaun gives a thumbs up.

"All right, we're all set to go." Twilight said.

Bitzer pulled a string and a bell jingles. He mans a steering wheel as a giant horse costume walks out from the alley with The Farmer on it's back. Inside, a sheep was profusely clapping tow halves of a coconut together, creating the sounding of galloping hooves. Shaun puts a hoof on his shoulder to get him to slow down.

"Take it easy, darling." Rarity said calmly. "It's not like we're running away from something."

"Let's just get goin'." Applejack advised.

The clapping continued at a slower rate and the horse lumbered forward down the street.

Unknown to them, Trumper was slowly catching up to them. He eyed the trail of fleece down to the alleyway with his infrared goggles. He grits his teeth callously as he heads into the alley.

Meanwhile, Shaun directs the sheep in the leg sections to make the horse walk. Bitzer directs them toward a city directory map in a plaza. The slumbering farmer leans from side-to-side soothingly as the horse stops at the map right next to a tourist studying it. She turns and takes a step back at the horse. She glances up at the rider, who just leans forward with a blank expression. She slowly steps away, clearly weirded out. A flap containing the eyes of the horse open up and a pair of binoculars peer out to study the map. Bitzer zeros in on the "You are here" arrow, then follows a road leading all the way back to Mossy Bottom Farm. He looks at his watch and gestures in the direction of the road.

"Got it." Twilight nodded. "All right, guys, let's go."

The horse contraption turns toward the right direction, when Bitzer and Shaun were met with the bright, red goggles of Trumper. The sudden surprise caused everyone to gasp and yell in surprise, causing the horse to rear up from the uproar.

"He's back." Spike squeaked.

"Does this guy ever give up?" Rainbow asked in frustration.

"Probably not. It's part of the job." Twilight answered, on edge.

Fluttershy gasp quietly.

Trumper inspects the large animal closely, then glances up at The Farmer. He clears his throat and begins talking to The Farmer. Shaun peaks from behind the fabric to see the officer showing the rider the pictures of him, Bitzer, the mutt, Spike, and Fluttershy. He quickly gestures to the others. Spike and another sheep control a pole to guide The Farmer's hand. The hand knocks the photos out of Trumper hand before giving him a salute. The horse walks away, however, clumps of fleece flutter out from behind it. Squinting his eyes suspiciously, Trumper chases after it. He trips on a step and his head slips through the costume's rear end. The sheep, ponies, dragon, and two dogs look at him in shock.

"Oh, no. That's not good." Spike said nervously.

Trumper begins flailing. A bystander takes notice of the officer in the horses rear end. As the sheep try to twist him free from the fabric, the rest of his body spins around. The creeped bystander walks away from the messed up spectacle.

"Ah got this, ya'll." Applejack rears up her hind legs and bucks Trumper out from the contraption.

Pinkie quickly pokes her head out a blows a raspberry at the daze officer before slipping back in.

"The plan has been compromised. We need to get out of here fast!" Rarity said anxiously.

"Bah." Shaun said affirmingly.

"Say no more." Fluttershy translated.

Shaun pulls down on the bell string. A set of wheels pop out from the horses hooves and a pair goggles cover it's eyes. Two sheep shove the nozzle of a fire extinguisher through the rear end and Timmy hops up to turn it on. As Trumper gets back up, he stares in shock as the horse rockets down the plaza. Thinking quickly, he activates his catch gun and fires. Shaun veers wildly to the right, sending the other occupants reeling. The clamp misses and bounces off a light pole, a trash bin, and a man's cup, while looping around the horse. It clamps down on it's own wire, electrocuting Trumper, before being dragged down the street.

"Warn us next time you do that." Twilight rubs her head.

Shaun bah's out an apology, before veering down a cobblestone alley to avoid an oncoming car. Trumper jitters and shakes against the rough ground, while the sleeping farmer dreams of receiving a massage. Up ahead, a fence blocks the end of the alley.

"Bah-bah!" Shan shouts.

"Incoming?" Fluttershy translates questionably. "What does that mea-Oh, my gosh!"

She peers through the flap opening and sees the fence getting closer.

"Jump! Jump!" She yells a little too loudly.

The sheep in the leg segments jump as hard as they could, allowing the horse the clear the fence. Trumper crashes through it and his feet land on two wood planks, like skis.

"Wow. I haven't heard speak that loudly in a while." Rainbow stands at Fluttershy's side.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that." She blushes apologetically.

"I'd say that was a good thing. It did save us from disaster." Twilight said passionately.

"Hurray for Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheers.

The timid mare only blushed even harder, but with a appreciative smile. The congratulations was cut short when Shaun makes another hard right. Trumper launches into the air and arcs around a curved railing. Two skateboarders watch in astonishment. Shaun cranks the wheel again and the gun yanks free from Trumper's hands. The speeding horse turns down an intersection with Trumper following behind.

Trumper skis wildly toward a ramp leading up to a construction bin. He eyes the yellow bin and readies himself for the jump. He races up the ramp, but falls flat on his face inside the bin and it's contents.

Shaun and Bitzer smile at each other in satisfaction. The horse races toward the camper trailer. Shaun pulls and level and an umbrella, pantaloons, underwear unfurl from the back of the costume like parachutes. The horse comes to a stop next to the camper.

"We made it." Twilight called to the others.

The sheep, ponies, dragon, and dogs disembark the costume and pull The Farmer off it's back. Further back, a bus turns down the road and passes by the construction bin. Trumper pokes his head out, covered in debris, and yells angrily at the group. The team pile into the camper, while Shaun ties a rope around the trailer hitch. As the bus passes by, he throws the lassoed rope at it. It wraps around a back hitch on the bus and the camper jumps forward.

Shaun runs after it, however, Trumper isn't far behind with his normal catch-pole in his hand. Bitzer holds out his hand for Shaun.

"Come on, Shaun, you can do it!" Rainbow encourages.

The young sheep grabs Bitzer's hand and the sheepdog pulls him into the camper. Trumper refused to give up. He fires his catch-pole, which clamps down on the back of the camper. He pulls himself up to it. The team jump back.

"Leave us alone!" Spike yells defensively.

The animal control officer shouts and bangs on the window. Then suddenly, the bus makes a hard turn and Trumper slips out of sight. Shaun and Bitzer look out the window to see the catch-pole still clinging on to the camper, but with no sign of Trumper.

"He's gone!" Twilight stated with delight.

The others begin to celebrate in joy and relief. The sheep and sheepdog both share a smile.

"Best. Rescue. Mission. Ever!" Pinkie holds the two in a crushing hug.

The bus tows the camper through the freeway and, soon, into the countryside.

"I believe this is our stop." Rarity said in a sing-song tone.

Shaun directs them and on the count of three, they all jump, causing the rope to detach from the hitch. Shirley leans to one side of the camper, causing it to veer up the farm driveway. The team begin to celebrate again. Once it reaches the top, the camper's tires climb up the log, but they don't quite make it. The camper slowly begins to slide back down the driveway.

"Oh, Not again!" Applejack yell with dread.

The camper then abruptly stops, then slowly inches back up the hill.

"Uh, Twi, is that you?" The farm pony asks.

"No, I'm not using my magic." Twilight looks up at her unlit horn.

She, along with Spike and Shaun look through the window to see the bull, that chased Shaun through the farm from earlier, was pushing the camper the rest of the way.

"He's...helping us?" Spike asked in confusion.

"Apparently." Twilight said. "But, my question is why?"

"Who cares? We're being saved!" Pinkie said with excitement.

"You got it, man! Keep going!" Rainbow begins to cheer.

The others follow in her hoof-steps and begin cheering the bull. Finally, the camper makes it back over the log. The bull breaths a relieved sigh as the team clamber out of the trailer.

"Thank you, Mr. Bull." Fluttershy said warmly.

The bull grunts out something, causing the pegasus to blush.

"Ah, thank you." She giggles.

"Fluttershy, we need to go." Rainbow flies up into the air and races toward the farmhouse.

"Bye." Fluttershy waves to the bull before leaving.

The team run through the darkened meadow with The Farmer in a wheelbarrow. The bull walks away from the camper, when a gloved hand reaches out from underneath. Trumper pokes his head out, covered in soot and with his eyes bloodshot and twitching. He growls and crawls to his feet. The back of his pants was in tatters, showing off his underwear. He stiffly walks after the herd. He was not throwing in the towel, he was not going loose his perfect animal capturing record, and he was not going to let a group of farm animals best him.

To be continued

Part 9: Trumper's Last Stand

View Online

The three pigs were lazily lounging inside the, now trashed, farmhouse. One of them points at a picture of a cupcake in a cookbook. Another licks his lips hungrily. The first pig tears the page out and eats it. The third pig was lounging on a nearby chair, still wearing the fishing hat and underwear. That's when the two pigs notice The Farmer through the shattered window. they panic and frantically begin cleaning the house.

One hurriedly vacuums up all the half-eaten food and other garbage on the floor as well as a few items on a shelf over the fireplace. The other begins washing all the dirty dishes that towered over the kitchen sink. Once that was done, he frantically sorted them away into the cabinet, while the other replaced the broken window with a new one. One pig wipes a smudge off a family portrait, then accidentally wipes away another man's mustache on another portrait. He shrieks and races off to fetch a paint palette. A paints a bushy beard to hide his mistake. The other pig stomps on the third pig's foot, causing his mouth to open. He then dumps the contents of a dustpan down the pig's throat.

Meanwhile, outside, The sheep, Main 7, and Bitzer dress the sleeping farmer in a green coat and a pair of thick boots. The pigs hurriedly run out of the house, unnoticed, but not before one of them wipes the doorknob clean.

"This is it. Let's get The Farmer inside and we can call it a success." Rainbow said.

"...W-Wait, what about the pigs." Fluttershy spoke up quietly. "They were making a mess out of the house before we left."

"Oh, right. Ah forgot 'bout them." Applejack said.

Rainbow flew over to a window and looked through the farmhouse. There was no sign of the pigs or that the house was trashed.

"Well, it seems they got bored and left." The surprised pegasus said. "Also seems they were generous enough to clean up after themselves."

The other ponies and dragon and looked through the window to see for themselves.

"Well, ah'll be." The farm pony said in amazement.

"Guess they're not so bad after all." Spike said.

"Debatable." Twilight replied suspectedly. "But, whatever, let's worry about Shaun and The Farmer for now."

Shaun and Bitzer were currently trying to pull the slumbering man off the wheelbarrow. That's when the mutt heard shouting in the distance. She turned around and let out a bark, getting the others' attnetion.

"Oh, what is it now?" Rainbow asked, getting more put off with the inconveniences.

Frustration and confusion turned to horror when the group spotted the crazed Trumper stumbling after them over the hill, wielding a giant scythe in his hands. Panic ensued throughout the herd.

"I thought we got rid of him." Rarity said fearfully.

"Good grief. This guys more stubborn than Applejack." Rainbow said.

"Ah take offense ta that and ah still agree with ya." Applejack didn't even deny the fact.

"Not the time for jokes, Rainbow!" Rarity shrieked dramatically. "That guy is going to kill us."

"Pfft. We'll see about that. We can take this guy, girls." The overconfident pegasus said.

"Do you see the scythe he has with him?" Twilight thwarted. "He's literally going to kill us!"

"Not if he can't catch us." Rainbow rolled her eyes playfully.

She was about to fly over and confront the officer, when Applejack put a stop to it by grabbing the cyan pegasus by her rainbow-colored tail.

"Twilight's right. It's too risky." The earth pony said.

"Well, then, what are we supposed to do?" Rainbow asked indignantly.

Shaun takes charge and points off to the pasture. The group run off in that direction. The young sheep ushers them into an old shed. He closes the door and Bitzer bolts the three locks, hammers boards to the door, and braces it with a sack of manure.

"Ugh. It smells absolutely atrocious in here." Rarity gags and covers her muzzle.

"How exactly is hiding in here going to help?" Rainbow asked, unamused. "Here's going to find us eventually unless we actually do something."

Bitzer shushes her along with the other fear-ridden sheep and ponies. The Farmer began to snore, but Shaun was quick to cover his mouth.

Pinkie decides to peek through a window to look around. The farmland was empty as far as she could see.

"I think he's gone..." Pinkie was suddenly interrupted when caution tape stretches over the window and all around the shed.

Panic ensued once again.

"What's going on?" Spike fearfully clung to Twilight's front hooves.

Bitzer removes all the braces and locks and tries to shoulder the door open, but the ribbons of tape keep the door from budge.

"Great. Now we're stuck in here." Rainbow groaned in frustration.

"Rainbow, will you stop with the sarcastic judgement?" Twilight asked in frustration.

Shaun and Bitzer desperately try to wake The Farmer, but he was a heavy sleeper. Ominous lights seeped into the shed and the sound of an engine could be heard. Trumper had taken the tractor. folding open the grapple claws, he dug them into one side of the shed, causing it to tip over. The sheep, Main 7, Bitzer, The Farmer, and the mutt get tossed around inside the shed. The Farmer stays asleep, cozily resting on top of one sheep, thinking it was a giant pillow.

The tractor pushes the shed across the farm. Trumper then notices a sign that pointed to a nearby quarry. Inside the shed, the others keep trying to wake up The Farmer.

"WAKE UP!" Pinkie shouted into a megaphone, but the man remained unfazed.

"Just how deep can this guy sleep?" Spike asked.

Shaun then got an idea. He grabbed a wad of manure from an open sack and wafts it under The Farmer's nose. Immediately, The Farmer gags and sputters awake.

"Huh, who would've thought?" Rainbow wonder out loud.

The shed crashed through a stone wall and a tree branch lobs off the tractor's roof canopy, exposing the driver. the Farmer shakes his head and finds himself surrounded by sheep, ponies, a dragon, and two dogs, none of which he recognized. he defensively shields his face from them.

"He still doesn't remember us." Fluttershy said solemnly.

Shaun shrugs uncertainly. The shed began rolling again, causing the occupants to be toss around like a tumble dryer. It crashes through a hedge as the claws continue to spin it. They crash through a warning sign. Spike was able to see through a window what lay in front of them. What he saw made his blood run cold.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" He panics.

"Spike, what's happening?" Twilight asked, worried for the baby dragon.

Trumper pushes the shed against a wire fence just before the quarry. The entire team is thrust forward against the front wall. The fence begins to buckle, but remains together, keeping the shed from going over completely. Trumper floors it in attempt to break the fence. The tractor's massive tires dig into the dirt. Shaun and the ponies peer down a hole in the shed wall, revealing the rocky chasm of the quarry. They gasp in sheer terror.

"Oh, my Celestia, save us please." Rarity begins to tear up.

Fluttershy quivers, on the brink of fainting.

"Okay, we need to do something now." Rainbow said with a mix of anger and fear.

"This can't...end like this." Pinkie tries to climb up the shed floor, but it was such an angle that it was impossible.

Shaun and Bitzer fearfully cling to The Farmer. The others join them. The Farmer awkwardly holds them, unsure of what else to do. That's when he catches the reflection of himself and the others off a window. He looks amongst the terrified, sheep, ponies, dragon, and dogs, then looks back at the window.

The reflection ripples and changes to a young farmer in a meadow, holding his baby animals close to them. The memories...the memories were all coming back to him. The farm, Shaun, Bitzer, the pigs, even the ponies and the weird-looking lizard he met a while ago. Tears stream down The Farmer's cheeks. He kisses Shaun and Bitzer on their heads. The realization hit all at once and the atmosphere shifted from fear to pure joy. Shaun and Bitzer clung to The Farmer happily.

"He's...back. He's got his memories back!" Rarity said, overjoyed.

"But, how?" Twilight asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is he's back!" Pinkie hugged the man. "I miss you so much!"

Admittedly, The Farmer didn't have as much as a connection to the Main 6 and Spike, seeing as how he only knew them for a couple weeks, but seeing them again brought an indescribable sense of happiness. He gave a hearty chuckle at the ponies. The happy moment was suddenly ruined when the tractor's grapple claws smashed through the window and tore into the corrugated shed walls. Everyone was sent back into a full-blown panic, except for The Farmer. He growled angrily at the situation.

The tractor picks up the shed. Trumper laughs maniacally and drives the machine forward. Now the shed hung over the rocky abyss. The Farmer burst through the door, tearing away the caution tape. He shakes his fist angrily and yells. He takes off his head bandage and whistles for Bitzer. The Farmer marches forward, not realizing there was no ground beneath him. He plummets, but luckily, his foot gets entangled in a strip of caution tape. The herd all gasp in horror.

"Oh, shoot! What do we do now?!" Spike asked fearfully.

Taking initiative, Bitzer swings down after him with the sheep holding his ankles. The caution tape snaps, but The Farmer was able to grab Bitzer by the ears, much to the sheepdog’s pain. He grabs the man's hands. Twilight flies down and pushes against The Farmer's back to get him back onto steady ground.

"It's okay. We got you." The alicorn affirmed, straining herself the keep the man from falling.

Trumper angrily fiddles with the tractor's controls, trying to dislodge the shed. Shaun looks back at the broken window, then back at The Farmer and Bitzer. He narrows his eyes and climbs out the window. Rainbow saw him and decided to take matters into her own hooves.

"Okay, forget this." She said firmly. "You girls help The Farmer. I'll help out Shaun."

"Dash, what do yo think you're doin'?" Applejack questioned.

"I’m done trying to play safe. If we don't stop that maniac now, we're all dead." The determined pegasus said. "Remember, AJ. Remember me."

"At least be careful, Rainbow." Fluttershy pleaded.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'll be fine." Rainbow assured.

She flies through the window, spotting Shaun holding onto the claw arm. Gritting his teeth, Trumper messes with the controls, trying to let go of the shed. Rainbow grabs Shaun and lifts him in the air, positioning him right above Trumper. Shaun looks up at her and nods in understanding. She nods back.

"Bombs away!" She shouts and drops the sheep right on top of the animal control officer.

Shaun lands on top of him. Trumper attempts to yank him off, but Rainbow came swooping in and delivering a kick to the face. Shaun begins presses buttons on the console, drenching the officer in cleaning fluid, whacking his face with the windshield wiper, and blows him with the air conditioner. Trumper grabs Shaun, but Rainbow was there to keep him from trying anything. She pulled on his hair, trying to pull him off the seat.

This allowed Shaun to kick on a lever, which threw to tractor in reverse. The machine strikes a large rock, knocking Trumper off the seat. the sudden reverse, also threw Bitzer, The Farmer, and Twilight back into the shed.

"Okay, how do this thing work?" Rainbow pushes down on a joystick, which lowered the grapple claws, slamming the shed to the ground in the process.

The shed was still teetering over the ledge, however. It began to tip.

"Oh." Rainbow said.

Shaun stomped on the gas and the tractor lunged backward, pulling the shed away from the quarry's edge. Shaun cheers victoriously.

"Ha, ha, yeah! That's how to defeat an enemy!" Rainbow pumps her hoof and gives Shaun a high-five.

The rest of the group begin filing out of the shed. Rainbow flew over to her friends. Pinkie brought her into a bone-crushing hug.

"You did it Dashie!" The pink mare squealed happily.

"Thanks...Pinkie." Rainbow wheezed. "Not too hard now."

"We're just glad you're okay, Rainbow." Twilight said.

The sheep were coming over to be with Shaun, but they all gasped as a shadow loomed over the young sheep. The ponies and dragon all looked to see Trumper standing over Shaun. Before he could turn around, the crazed officer grabs him and holds him over his head.

"Oh, no! Shaun!" Fluttershy said in horror.

The group all try to save him from Trumper's grasp, But not even Rainbow Dash was fast enough to stop Trumper from throwing Shaun over the quarry ledge. Shaun covers his eyes, fearing the inevitable. Rainbow and Fluttershy take to the air to try a save Shaun, but they were beaten to it. Shaun opened his eyes to see that he was suspended just in front of the quarry. The Farmer was holding him, right behind the edge. The others watch in shock and relief.

The Farmer lowers to young sheep and gives him a hug. Shaun gives a relieved and warm smile. The others gather around with joy.

"Thank goodness. I'm so happy you're back to normal." Rarity said softly.

"And nice one with saving Shaun, too." Rainbow added.

The other sheep and Bitzer crowd around, ecstatic to have there owner back. Trumper awkwardly tries backing away. The mutt clamps down on his foot and a rope wraps around him, keeping him from escaping.

"You ain't gettin' away that easily, ya varmin." Applejack said, clenching the rope with her teeth.

The Farmer turns around to face him and starts shouting and waving his fist at the officer. The Main 7 join in.

"You have a lot of nerve thinking you can just get away like that." Rarity huffed.

"What is wrong with you?" Rainbow angrily gets right in Trumper's face. "Nobody endangers my friends on my watch."

"If this wasn't Equestria, I'd have escorted to the Canterlot dungeons for endangering a princess." Twilight said defensively.

"You're a no-good meanie." Pinkie gives him a sour look.

Trumper waves his hands defensively, trying to act all innocent, but nobody was falling for it. Suddenly, the bull sprang from the bushes and charged at the officer. It headbutts him high into the air. The mutt looks around in confusion, holding his shoe in her mouth. the group watch as Trumper sails high across the quarry, screaming his lungs out. He smiles cockily, seeing he made it across safely, but then he goes back to screaming before in lands right into a large pile of manure.

The Farmer laughs and others laugh along.

"Serves him right." Rarity said.

"Hope you enjoy the smell." Spike yells across the quarry.

The Farmer pets his sheep. The mutt watches before discretely leaving. The Farmer checks his watch, realizing how late it was.

"We've had enough chaos for one day. I think it's time we head to sleep." Twilight said.

"Best idea I've heard all day." Rarity said tiredly.

"Come on, ya'll. Let's get back to the farm." Applejack led the group back.

The lights of the farmhouse go out. Bitzer and Shaun stand in the field, staring fondly at the it. They face each other with smiles and begin playfully slugging each other in the shoulders, then pretend to pull there dukes up. They hug, but then the sound of someone clearing there throat interrupted them. They look back to the other sheep, ponies and dragon. at the barn's entrance, who look away innocently.

"Bit of a bromance thing going on, huh?" Rainbow teased.

The sheep and dog quickly separate and wave each other goodnight.

"Say. Whatever happened to the stray dog that helped us get back to the farm?" Spike remembered.

The Main 6 all look around trying to find her.

"Maybe she left to go back to the city?" Rainbow presumed.

"Wait, look." Pinkie pointed to a note with a paw print tacked to a fence post.

Shaun noticed it. He pulled it off and read it. The Main 6 join in.

"It's all just woof's." Rainbow said flatly. "Fluttershy, can you translate?"

"Oh, um. I'm s-sorry, but I can only understand what animals are saying when they're talking. I-I can't translate writing." Fluttershy looked down in shame.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. Shaun seems to understand. He could tell us." Twilight comforted.

When Shaun finished reading, he only stared down the road.

The mutt was making her way back to The Big City. Lights illuminate the road, causing her to look back. A bus was barreling down the road. The bus driver spots the wayward stray and slams on the brakes. The mutt shuts her eyes and braces, but the bus is able to come to a stop in time. Shaun and the Main 7 bound over and see the bus driver crouched to the road, coaxing the dog to come closer. The stray dog flashes her a gap-tooth smile. Surprisingly, the bus driver flashes a gap-tooth smile back.

The gang all smile warmly, as the bus driver carries the mutt back into the mutt. Inside, the dog sees Shaun and the Main 7. She waves and smiles at them as the bus drives off.

"Oh, how heartwarming." Rarity waves as the bus drives away.

"Goodbye, whatever your name is." Rainbow said, earning a glare from Applejack. "What? We never got to know her name."

Twilight waves to mutt goodbye, then notices tears running down Spike's face.

"Spike? Are you crying?" She asked, at first worried for the baby dragon.

"No." Spike wipes the tears away. "I just have something in my eye."

Twilight smiles at him.

"Goodbye, dog friend. I'm gonna miss you." Pinkie cries, a fountain of tears spraying from her eyes.

"All right, settle down there, Pinkie." Applejack pulls the mare into a hug. "I'm sure we'll get to see her again."

Pinkie sniffles, then smiles.

"Yeah, then I'll give her a Happy Adoption party." She said happily.

"Well, for now, I think it's best we get some shut-eye. We had a long day today." Twilight said.

And with that, Shaun, the Main 6, and Spike all head back to the farm for some well-deserved rest.

The next morning, the rooster poses as he let's out a morning cry. Shaun wakes up and rises from his sack bed. He gives the spider on the top corner two thumbs-up, which gives four thumbs-up in return.

"I never that I'd say this, but I missed sleeping on this thing." Rarity rises from her sack and yawns.

"I bet you'll be even more happy when you're back in your actual bed. Right?" Rainbow smirks teasingly.

"Ha, ha, very funny." The white unicorn said sarcastically, but in a playful matter.

In the farmhouse, an alarm clock goes off, waking The Farmer. He turns it off and leaves the bed to open the window. He looks out at his pastoral farm. Bitzer awakes in his doghouse and doesn't bump his head. He grabs a newspaper and tosses a roll of toilet paper in his paw. He heads for a tree with a click of his heels. At the barn, Shaun throws open the loft barn. The other sheep, ponies, and dragon look out through the farm.

"Ah, fresh air. Reminds me of mah farm back home." Applejack breaths deeply.

Bitzer stands in salute next to the farmhouse's backdoor. He winces, expecting to smash against the door as The Farmer exits. But, that doesn't happen, instead, The Farmer looks at him and pats his head. Bitzer smiles, but then the door smashes him against the door as the pig wearing the fishing hat staggers out of the house. The sheepdog glares at him.

The Farmer and Bitzer make their way to the barn and throw open the doors. Shaun and the sheep happily run and greet the man. The Main 6 and Spike follow after.

"Good morning, you two." Twilight said gracefully.

The Farmer picks up the schedule and his smile falters, seeing the list of things to do. Shaun bats his big eyes.

"Oh, right. Farm stuff." Rainbow grumbled.

Bitzer, however, had other ideas. He tore the paper off the clipboard and chucks it away, where a goat catches it in it's mouth.

"...Forget the schedule. The jobs can wait just one day." Fluttershy translated.

"You hesitated there fer a second there, Flutters." Applejack said. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"Ummm..." The timid pegasus hesitated to answer.

"Oh, don't worry. She's just trying to keep this story family friendly." Pinkie chimed in.

Wait, wut?" Applejack said in confusion.

"How do you know? Are you telling us you've known what Shaun and the others have been saying this while time?" Rainbow question suspiciously.

"Nope, but it's obvious Bitzer said something on the more vulgar side in terms of vocabulary. So, Fluttershy had to improvise." Pinkie answered cheerfully.

"...Well..." Fluttershy tried to say something.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. Like I said, we got to keep this family friendly somehow." Pinkie wrapped a hoof around the yellow pegasus's neck.

"...Okay, seriously. Pinkie, what in Equestria are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie merely giggled.

"You know what, let's not dwell on that and let's enjoy the day off." Spike said.

That was something, everybody agreed upon. That day was spent with a big picnic and fun in the sun. It was the most fun The Farmer, Bitzer, the sheep, and the Main 7 had in a long time.

Things turned out better in the long-run, too. The mutt now happily lived with her new owner, both now wearing braces to fix their misaligned teeth. The Animal Containment Unit was rebranded into an Animal Protection Unit, where the animals were cared for and treated better. The animals grew more happy and friendlier. the glaring dog remained unchanged, however. But, as it turned out, it was a cardboard cut-out that hid a hole in the wall the entire time. The real dog was out there somewhere, hopefully living life to the fullest. But, what became of Trumper? Well, he lost his job and license and was forced into a different line of work, which happened to be wearing a chicken suit for a frozen food mascot. To be honest, that's pretty generous.

The Farmer places a new framed picture with him, the sheep, Bitzer, and the Main 7 on the shelf over the fireplace. he dusts it off and chuckles. The group all watch through the window as The Farmer sits down with a cup of tea and turns on the TV.

"Welp, as well, it ends well." Spike said.

"It wasn't all well, but it did end well. That's for sure." Rarity said. "And that's what matters the most."

"Agreed." Pinkie said happily.

As they watch the television as news report shows Mr. X with clippers in-hand and then The Farmer riding on the fake horse. The Farmer spits out his tea in shock. A sense of dread washed over the herd.

"Oh, boy. That's going to be a lot to explain." Rainbow said uneasily.

"Well, I think it's about we should get going back to our world." Just as Rarity finished, their cutie marks began glowing and the portal formed behind them.

"Yup, right on time. See you some other time." Rarity galloped into the portal.

"Uh, yeah. it's now just occurred to me that I left my...stove on back home." Rainbow backed away. "See you soon."

She flew into the portal.

"Sorry, Shaun. We'll keep in touch." Twilight grabbed the rest of her friends with her magic and dashes into the portal.

With the Main 7 now gone, that left Shaun, Bitzer, and the sheep with the now angry farmer. Shaun and Bitzer exchange dreadful looks at each other. At least Rainbow was right about one thing: There was a lot to explain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS3YjzEpuRc

Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle

Ashleigh Ball - Rainbow Dash & Applejack

Andrea Libman - Fluttershy & Pinkie Pie

Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity

Cathy Weseluck - Spike

Justin Fletcher - Shaun & Timmy

John Sparkes - The Farmer and Bitzer

Omid Djalili - Trumper

Richard Webber - Shirley

Kate Harbour - Timmy's Mum & Meryl

Tim Hands - Slip

Andy Nyman - Nuts

Simon Greenall - Twins

Emma Tate - Hazel

Jack Paulson - Celebrity with hair trouble

My Little Pony: Friendship is Cine-magic: Shaun the Sheep Movie

by IndyWriter Productions

Part 1: Down to Earth

Part 2: Life on the Farm

Part 3: The Not so Perfect Plan

Part 4: Get Going

Part 5: Big City Escapades

Part 6: Hard Time

Part 7: A Journey in Vain

Part 8: Plan of Escape

Part 9: Trumper's Last Stand