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When PARTY got the call from LA, he knew he couldn't say no. He was being asked to come out to do some guest drumming on a friend-of-a-friend's album, and they were willing to put him up and comp him with an extremely nice per diem, as well as a cut of the royalties. He would have gone without that much incentive, but that was just icing on the proverbial cake. He didn't have too much going on back in Phony City; there weren't too many responsibilities he had to deal with that couldn't be easily and effortlessly covered by his dad, half-sister, or brother while he was gone.

There was just one problem: Elvis.

PARTY's best friend in the entire world was his beagle, Elvis. He'd adopted him as puppy a few winters ago; much to his surprise, the skinny little pup with the soulful eyes turned out to be a full-blooded beagle. The two of them were nigh-inseperable; one of the decals on the side of PARTY's drum kit was a stylized version of the dog's head, chewing a drumstick. It was no secret that the beagle slept in bed with him, and when he practiced, Elvis would howl along. But it wasn't fair to make the dog go to LA with him. Elvis didn't much care for airplane rides, and there was no way he'd enjoy a week cooped up in a hotel room. PARTY would be out in the studio for almost the entire day, and he needed to find a pet sitter. Boho was allergic to dogs, and his dad had a cat. One of his other half-sisters, Candy, might be able to take him; she had a dog of her own, after all- but then an idea struck him. One of his nephews, Blue Suede Horseshoes, might particularly enjoy taking care of a dog named Elvis. His brother's brood was a loud, rowdy bunch- perfect for a dog. And hadn't Draft mentioned once in passing that they might like a pet? It'd be a perfect trial run.

So it was on a sunny morning, a few hours before his evening flight, that PARTY was meeting his nephew in the park. He had Elvis's bowls, food, favorite squeaky toys, and blanket in a duffel bag; the beagle himself was leashed and happy, barking at squirrels and falling leaves. PARTY reached down and tousled the beagle's floppy ears. Even though it was only for a week, he was really gonna miss his buddy.

"No problemo, little monster!" His nephew's use of 1950s slang always amused PARTY. It was pretty cute- and his love of the classics was just plain great. "He's pretty easy-going. Feed him in the morning, and watch him around the table, because he's a terrible mooch. He loves cheese and he really loves peanut butter and banana sandwiches, so if you make one of those around him, he'll mope after you all day if you don't share. He likes to sleep on the bed, but if your parents aren't cool with that, just tell him to hop down and he'll sleep on the floor just fine. He likes to jump up on phonies. I usually tell him down, and he's pretty good at listening. He's housebroken, and will bark if he needs to go out. Let's see, what else... oh! He likes going for walks and rides, and fair warning- if you play music, he WILL sing along. And for a beagle, his voice isn't too bad. There's some money in the bag if you need to pick up anything more than what's in there, food-wise." He smiled fondly at the dog. "He's a good boy. He really is, and I trust entirely that you'll do a GREAT job taking care of him!"

He knelt down to hand the leash to Blue and to hug his dog. Elvis licked his face as he rubbed the dog's head. "Bye, fella! See you in a week!"

The dog cocked his head at his master as he walked away. He knew that bags meant car ride, but where was the car? And why was he with this little kid? He sniffed the phony carefully. Ah, yes. This was one of the relatives. Somebody he could trust. This was good. To demonstrate this trust, he put his paws on the little phony's chest and licked at his face while wagging his tail and barking. Maybe they could play!

Elvis wagged his tail to show that he was willing to play along and be a good dog- the colt seemed plenty friendly, and if his master liked him, well then, that was good enough for Elvis. He followed him down the path, even remembering to heel and not tug at the leash.

But then he saw it.

Rabbit.

Now, Elvis had never caught a rabbit in his entire life, but that didn't mean he was a friend to them. Forgetting his manners, he took off like a shot across the grass, disappearing behind a hill, trailing his leash behind him.

As it so happened, there were plenty of other phonies in the park that day. Taters was running around, chasing butterflies and jumping off of playground equipment without a care in the world, when she spotted a forlorn-looking foal in the distance. The blue colt seemed pretty sad, so she thought she'd go over and cheer him up by telling jokes or something- maybe making funny faces? Surely today was too nice to be sad! So, fluttering her wings and half flying, half skipping, she headed over towards the foal.

"Why so glum, chum?" she said with a giggle. "It's a super nice day today; laugh a little! You'll feel better!"

Hrm. Perhaps laughter wasn't at all the most appropriate response here. Taters liked to respond to nearly everything with a laugh, but maybe there were some problems that couldn't be fixed with giggles alone. "Hmm. That sounds awful. Of course I'll help!" She wasn't the fastest flier, but she was fairly strong for her age. Little wings pumping, she circled upward, looking for the lost pup.

From the sky, the park looked so different. The colors of the phonies enjoying the day out against the bright grass looked like a quilt or a bright diorama- little worlds set against each other. But where was the dog? Motion below caught her eye. A smallish, floppy-eared canine was running about, trailing a leash behind him. That had to be it!

"He went that-away!" she called down, pointing. "I'll help you catch him from up here!" Away she flew after the dog, hoping that between the two of them, they could catch him before he got into too much trouble.


Now where did that rabbit go? The trail had gone cold. Well, cold-ish. The excited beagle sniffed around the bushes, wondering where that rascal had gone- but then a new smell enticed him. Somebody was having a picnic! Barking happily, he ran towards the new smell.

Taking a look at the situation, Taters saw how it could turn into something truly hilarious- if the dog got to those sausages, it'd be a funny mess!

Well. She might find it funny, but would it be funny to the poor earth foal? Or the poor family whose picnic got spoiled? It might be funny in a comic book or a story, but maybe not so much in real life. Laughter should never come at the expense of others- not that family, and not that poor earth phony. So instead of letting the joke-in-progress continue, she tucked in her legs and angled her wings down for a dive. She could probably... what was the word? Triangulate? She could do that thing that hunting hawks do- and get to the pup before he caused even more of a scene! Flying as fast as she could, she hit the ground with all four hooves- kind of a jarring landing, but she came down right in front of the dog. "Hold it right there, puppy!" she shouted, ready to grab him if she had to.


SAUSAGE. SAUSAGE. SAUSAGE. SAUSAGE. SAUSAGE.

Slobber dripped from the dog's jowls as Elvis realized precisely what was on the plate. But before he could lunge, a pegasus landed in front of him! Confused, the dog took a step back and sank to his haunches. What trickery was this? A sausage guardian? He tilted his head to one side. "Aroo?" The world had gotten confusing. Sausage guardian... and was that his name he heard? The leash trailed behind him; all anybody would have to would be grab it and he'd be under control once more.

"No problemo, amigo!" Taters chirped. "I'm just glad I was able to help- dogs can be such a handful, right? Maybe you oughta take him home, though? He kinda looks tired."


Elvis too was panting heavily. This had been a big adventure for the little dog- taking him home would probably be the best thing to do.

"After while, crocodile!" Taters called back as her new friend left. She fluttered off as well, in search of somebody to play tetherball with.


Hours later, PARTY flopped on the bed of his hotel room and looked at his phone to check the time. It'd been a busy day, and the night was going to be just as packed- but he wanted to check in and see how Elvis was doing and how Blue Suede Horseshoes was feeling after his first day petsitting. It was nighttime back in Phonyland now, but still earlier than the kiddo's bedtime. Punching in the number, he waited for Blue to pick up.

"Hey kiddo!" he sang, stretching out. "How'd today go?"