Upon reaching the studio doors, Jasmine kicked the door to the studio open with all her might as the ponies and Garfield ran into the room, with Garfield holding the moscram tight within his paws.
Vetvix may have been flung into the studio, but that didn't mean she was defeated...
...at least, she had not been defeated yet.
The Unity Squad, Garfield and Jasmine had to make sure that Vetvix was out of the picture for good before they could put their troubles at ease.
Eli was the first to greet the group after they entered the studio space. “Way to go, you crazy kids!”
Wally, Betty, Bonita and the rest of the Royal Force cheered as they entered behind the heroes, and Jasmine hugged her friends out of relief that they were safe. However, Garfield still remained firm in what they had to do next. “There’s just one more thing to do.”
The group glanced over at Vetvix, who was, surprisingly, still alive after how far she had been flung. That’s when they took the chance to approach, with Sunny activating her alicorn form and lifting her wings. “It’s all over, Vetvix!”
“That’s what you think, alicorn,” Vetvix sneered. “You’ll never stop me!”
However, Diamond and Wally were able to block her path to prevent her from moving. “Stop right there!” Diamond sneered with hatred in her gaze as the rest of the Crazy Crew and the ponies backed Vetvix into the smile section. That gave Garfield just the opportunity to make his move. “Say cheese!”
And just like that, the ponies watched as Garfield blasted the beam at Vetvix, fusing her with the positive energy of the smile section. After the blast was over, Vetvix had become a source of good vibes all around-- even the paw prints on her suit had been changed into smiley faces. “Have a nice day, everybody!”
“Yes!” Zipp cheered as everyone else surrounded her. “We did it!”
“Not in the way that I personally expected,” Cobalt shrugged, “but I’m honestly okay with that.”
“Open the pit, Eli!” Garfield called. “You got it,” Eli nodded and did as told. And once the pit was open, Garfield zapped all of the zombies back to normal. All of the citizens went back to town, and everyone cheered as the Pet Force, Emperor Jon and Professor Wally entered the room to greet them. “Good job, comrades!” Garzooka smiled. “I knew you could do it.”
“Garzooka!” Cobalt gasped. “Arlene!”
“Odie! Nermal!” Lily exclaimed. “You’re all okay!”
The Royal Force ran forward and hugged their superhero-turned friends and Garzooka, relieved that they were no longer scrambled. “Never scare me like that again!” Lily said to Nermal in a scolding tone of voice. “I was so scared for you!”
“We all were!” Diamond told Odie. “Now, we don’t ever have to worry about you getting scrambled again!”
However, Betty rushed forward and caused Garzooka to panic somewhat. “Uh… Betty, wait!”
Betty pounced on Garzooka without warning, still completely entranced. “My hero…”
“Your highness…” Jon bowed to Emperor Jon, and the emperor realized how much they looked alike. “Lookin’ good!” they both said to each other, and Garfield gave Professor Wally the moscram back. “Might be a good idea to keep this locked up from now on, professor.”
“I’ve learned my lesson,” said Professor Wally. “Once I use it to reverse the damage done on Dorkon, I'm going to destroy it for good.”
“I wanna thank you all for what you've done,” Emperor Jon said to the heroes in the room, whether they had superpowers or not. “And thanks from the people of Dorkon too.”
“Emperor Jon? Hi…” Vetvix happily waved before approaching him… and it was clear that Emperor Jon was still entranced with her. “What can I say?” Vetvix asked with a sweet tone. “What can I say? I was a bad girl. Can you forgive me?”
“Hey, nobody’s perfect,” Emperor Jon said back. “Of course I forgive you.”
“Oh, boy…” Hitch and Professor Wally muttered in unison as Vetvix began to kiss Emperor Jon all over, much to the disgust of the Royal Force. “The new Pet Force was very courageous today,” Garzooka told the gang with a proud smile. “ But now I'm afraid you're going to have to relinquish those bodies. After all, there can only be one Pet Force.”
“Oh, but I don’t want to,” Nermal pouted. “I like being fast!”
That’s when Garzooka knelt down next to Nermal and rubbed his head with a smile. “You don't need that superpower, Nermal. You're a pretty super kid without it.”
After comforting Nermal… somewhat, Garzooka opened the suitcase with red serum and Odie, Nermal and Arlene drank the serum matching them and their superpowers. One by one, they were reverted back to their regular forms, much to Nermal’s disappointment… and Garfield’s relief. “Welcome back, baby!”
He and Arlene kissed on the lips, causing Jasmine to gag. “Garfield, get a room or something! Jeez!”
“Um… Garzooka?” Lily said, about ready to remove her crown. “Will you be needing our crowns back too?”
“It was really fun being a superhero,” Diamond said, “and we would love to experiment with our powers some more.”
“Who knows?” Jasmine added with a slight shrug. “Maybe being a superhero is my true destiny, and this can help me find my biological family.”
However, Garzooka smiled down at the four younger ponies. “Actually… I want you four to hold onto those crowns-- after all, the official new Royal Force will need them to protect Cartoon World.”
Jasmine gasped in shock at this. “Really? Y-You’re serious?!”
“Indeed I am,” Garzooka nodded. “Your four deserve it.”
“YES!!!” Cobalt cheered, flipping up into the air. “BEST DAY EVER!!!”
“Thank you, Garzooka!” Diamond said gratefully. “We’ll do you and the rest of Dorkon proud!”
That's when all four of the younger ponies brought Garzooka in for a huge hug to thank him, and although he was a bit surprised at first, Garzooka smiled and melted into the embrace, which the Mane 6 and Sparky soon joined in as well. “Well,” said Garzooka, breaking away from the hug after a few moments, “we've gotta be going. And again, thank you all. You're the real heroes today. Farewell.”
And as he began to leave, Garzooka suddenly turned around. “Oh, uh, Nermal. This is for you.”
He threw Nermal an Abnermal-styled costume, much to the kitten’s delight. “Ha ha! Sweet!”
“Oh, and Cosmic Sunlight?” Garzooka reached into his pocket and pulled out a shimmering item. “I believe this will do your team wonders.”
Sunny gasped and grabbed the shard immediately, a huge grin implanted on her face. “Another shard of the star! Garzooka, you’re absolutely amazing!”
“We’ll never forget today, or you,” Misty smiled. “If you ever come to Equestria, just look us up!”
“I’ll do that, Butterfly Whisperer. Thank you all once again,” Garzooka said before saluting to them, causing the ponies to salute back. Then, Garzooka began to leave… but not before being chased the love-crazed Betty.
XXXXXXXX
Soon, the spaceship started to leave for home, and everyone in the studio went outside wave goodbye.
“So long, Garzooka!”
“We’ll miss you!”
“Don’t forget to write!”
“Until next we meet, comrades!” Garzooka called before the ship zoomed away.
At the newspaper stand, the boy had finished putting the books in the racks when he heard the ship approaching. “Oh no…”
The spaceship zoomed into the Pet Force issue and all the books fell to the floor, much to the boy’s dismay. “Oh, well…” he sighed. “Third time’s the charm, I guess.”
XXXXXXXX
Back at the comic studio, the others gathered around the special tree they had planted weeks before this event, and the very one that Vetvix's monster destroyed by stomping on it.
Jon shook his head with a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry, guys… I know how much this tree meant to you.”
“If only Vetvix was still evil and here,” Cobalt stomped his hoof angrily. “Then we could teach her a lesson!”
“But that wouldn’t do anything except stir up anger,” Jasmine pointed out. “It wouldn’t bring the tree back, no matter how much we wanted it to.”
“Maybe… maybe we could have done something different,” Lily said with a sigh. “Something that could have saved the tree from being a pile of wood.”
“Well, if we can’t do anything to bring it back,” said Nermal, “then we need to do something to honor it!”
“Oh… good idea, Nermal!” Misty nodded in agreement. “But… what can we do to honor its memory?”
“I think it should be something that represents what the tree is,” Arlene suggested. “The gateway to our friendship!”
“Yes! I totally agree” Lily nodded in agreement. “But… what would ‘a gateway to our friendship’ look like?”
“...I got it!” Hitch said before making a little house drawing in the dirt. “What if we made all these broken parts into… this?”
The group looked at his drawing, and Cobalt was able to easily figure it out. “A clubhouse!”
Diamond gasped in delight. “That’s a great idea!”
“I know the tree would like that!” Sunny nodded. “Okay, let’s draw up the plan and get to work!”
And so, the plans were quickly being devised by the Royal Force and their feline/canine companions, and once plans were made, work on the new clubhouse began shortly after...
...with a song in between.
Jasmine: We celebrate our friendship
Diamond: We celebrate the tree
Nermal: The memories inside us
All: We'll build for all to see
Zipp: The tree brought us together (Brought us together)
Cobalt: And even though it's gone (Even though it's gone)
Hitch: Our monument of friendship (Of friendship)
All: Can make the gift live on
Izzy: A piece from me, a piece from you
Misty: We'll use the tree and we'll make do
Lily: If things don't fit, there's lots of glue
All: Friends don't quit in the end
And together, we'll see this through
Arlene: It's hard to say farewell
Hitch: To something you hold dear
Royal Force: But goodbye isn't forever
All: As long as we are here
The tree is in our memory (Ahh-ahh-ahh)
Its roots have grown deep in our hearts
(Deep in our hearts, deep in our hearts)
Its branches raise our spirits, together we're all bound
Forever it stands, lost but now it's found
Sunny: So lift a beam
Pipp: And built it strong
Diamond: Work as a team, it won't take long
Jasmine: Hey, Diamond Heart, I think that's wrong
Garfield, Odie, Diamond and Jasmine: We'll live the dream and sing our song
All: And make the tree something all can see
In a place where we belong!
And as the song reached its end, the clubhouse itself was finished, composed of the tree's branches, roots, trunk and a few other things that Izzy had thought would make a good alteration. “Well?” Sunny asked her friends. “What do you think?”
“Well, uh… it’s kind of messy,” Arlene tried to smile. “Yeah,” Garfield nodded. “It’s like a bunch of different parts all smushed together.”
However, Diamond giggled and hugged Odie tightly. “It’s just like us!”
“Well… if Diamond likes it, then yeah,” Cobalt nodded with a smile. “I think it’s perfect too.”
“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Jasmine asked, beaming with excitement. “Let’s give it a try!”
The Cartoon World gang climbed into the clubhouse one by one, giggling and happy with the message it represented, and the Mane 6 shortly joined them, laughing and giggling as well.
However, as they were beginning to enjoy the moment, the entire clubhouse began to glow and rumble. “Whoa!!” Nermal struggled to keep balance. “What’s happening?!”
“I don’t know,” Misty shook her head, “but it looks like magic!”
“Everypony out!!!” Hitch shouted, causing everyone to leap from the treehouse to a much safer place. The magic continued to envelope the shabby little clubhouse more and more, causing the group to shield their eyes from the bright light. When the light finally faded, they couldn't help but stare at what they witnessed.
That small clubhouse, built to honor their friendship, turned into a glorious clubhouse... something that Jasmine and her friends always wanted to build, but never had the opportunity. “Whoaaaaaaaa….!!!!!!!”
“Hold it… back it up,” Cobalt said with wide eyes. “How… did that… happen?”
“I think I have some sort of idea,” said Sunny with a pleased smile. “Magic has always been good at surprises. If I had to guess, I'd say our friendship is more powerful than even we know.”
“Oh… I have a feeling that we know how powerful it is,” Jasmine said. “We just needed a life-changing adventure to help us realize it.”
“And now, we have a really cool place to hang out whenever you guys are back in Cartoon World!” Nermal added. “A total bonus!”
This caused the entire group to laugh before they realized a portal was opening up nearby, causing Zipp to sigh. “Well, guys… that’s our ticket home. We better get going before it closes.”
“We’ll be waiting for you guys every minute of every day for you to come back!” Diamond said as the group exchanged final farewells. “We promise!”
“See you guys soon!” called Sunny as the Mane 6 dove into the portal with Sparky before it closed, leaving their Cartoon World friends to enjoy the wonderful reminder of their true friendship for the rest of the day.