Tale of a Pup: Showbiz is for the Dogs

[Isabelle]

Continued from Ambrosia Crossing: New Leaf

It was a hot day in the village. The main office air conditioner was on the fritz and the repair guy was a sloth so it was a grueling. The mayor mercifully requested Wisp to take Isabelle’s place in the town hall so she had the day off.

Izzy wound up wearing a pink tank top, the only tank she had in her wardrobe, and she wore a pair of hot pants that read “Bad Dog” on the bum that the mayor got her as a joke last month. She usually avoided scanty clothing like this, but with the heat, she had to choose the lesser of the two evils. Plus anyways, she didn’t think anyone could see her from the campgrounds.

She spent much of the day lounging around her trailer catching up on a pile of books she always intended to read. She only ever came out to cook meals in the firepit.

But late in the afternoon, as she was catching up on the book “Puppy Love in the Streets,” she heard a rapping on the door.

She wasn’t sure who would be visiting Izzy outside of town like this. She wasn’t sure if she could even answer the door considering what she was wearing.

“Um...” She immediately regretted calling out, she hadn’t considered the option of pretending to not be home. Well, it was too late now. “Who is it?”

“It’s me.” Said a deep handsome voice from beyond the door.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She didn’t even anticipate he’d come to visit. Considering half the outfit was his fault, it might be safe if he saw her like this. Maybe it’d be a conversation piece? Maybe she could play it off as a joke?

Finally committing to her decision, she put away her book and clamored to the door, opening it for her beloved boss.

And there he stood, his blonde hair combed over to hover over his forehead. His beautiful blue eyes, despite seeing them so many times over the past months, still made Izzy’s knees a little shaky. He wore a vest jacket over a dress shirt. Go figure, even in a hot day the mayor didn’t neglect on being fashionable.

“Can I come in?” He asked politely.

Isabelle found her tongue motionless, frozen in place at the presence of the mayor. She was forced to nod her head before making way from him.

The mayor took off the vest jacket into a tank top they had underneath. The mayor tied their hair into a bun and sat down next to Isabelle on the bed. Izzy was beet red at this point. Suddenly, the mayor turned towards her and looked her in the eyes with those stunning brown eyes of her’s

“Miss Mayor!” Izzy cried out in surprise, but she quickly found her lips no longer available to talk, occupied by the mayor’s supple, lipstick covered lips.

Part way through the smooch, the two topple over and onto the bed. As they pulled away, izzy looked deep into her green eyes and smiled. The two cuddled under the roof the trailer, blissfully unaware of the world outside.

Izzy woke up cuddling an unconscious Rosie. She wanted to pretend for a second that the cat was her beloved mayor, but she knew for a fact her mayor lacked dark blue skin. Then again, considering how inconsistent her dreams were, she wouldn’t be shocked if the next one had a mayor with green scales and wings.

This latest dream couldn’t even decide on what the mayor looked like, heck it couldn’t even settle on a gender. It was like her subconscious was mocking the futility of her search. For all she knew, these aren’t even memories. Could she be making them all up? Maybe she never had a relationship with a mayor, were these all fantasies she had before the Omniverse? But that doesn’t make sense! Why would her fantasies be unable to decide on a basic appearance?

She could remember hundreds, no thousands of kisses with the mayor, each smooch so vivid she could practically feel the lips pressed against her’s, but she can’t remember a single face.

She released her grasp on her cat companion so she could roll on her back when her right foot landed in water. The splash caused Izzy to jump as she struggled to get back on her feet, only for her paws to meet resistance from loose sand.

After a minute or so of fumbling about, she settled with sitting up and scanning around to get her bearings, though she wasn’t sure if that helped considering she was immediately greeted with endless landscapes of sand.

“Th-the desert?” She cried out in surprise.

She had never been in a landscape like this before, and even then she never really expect it to be exactly like the stereotypes. She always thought the common media depiction of the desert was just a thing, people wouldn’t really live in places like that if it was as desolate as every movie ever depicts it. But seeing it up close, she has some really strong lines of questions for camels and lizards.

But then she remembered the water her foot fell into earlier, and it was then she realized she wasn’t just in the desert. Palm trees overhead gave them shade, small sprouts of grass had taken refuge near their bodies, and the water was just a simple pool in the middle of the sand.

And Oasis, they landed in an Oasis.

Immediately after, she turned to shake her friend violently.

‘Rosie!’ She called out.

“But mom, I don’t want to use the litterbox, I want to use the toilet!” cried out her friend in protest, pawing as the sand floor.

“Wake up!” Yelled Isabelle

Rosie’s eyes finally opened, slowly as they peered up on Izzy.

“Oh, It’s just you Izzy.” Rosie said dreamily. ‘I think I was just dreaming about my childhood or somethin-’

She caught a glimpse of the palm leaf above and immediately shot up to a sitting position. Confused and disoriented, Rosie looked around at the endless expanse of desert.

“I think you accidentally touched one of my teleportation books. I think we’re in another verse entirely! But it’s okay. I’m sure i can find a way back on my pho-”

Rose slapped her paw onto the sides of her head and started screaming bloody murder.

“Rosie, calm down! We’ll make it out of this!”

But the feline continued to wail, added with tears and flailing about on the ground. Isabelle, not sure what to do, pulled out her phone and hurriedly did research.

[Isabelle]

Twenty hyperventilating minutes later, Rosie finally calmed down enough to be on speaking terms, barely. Isabelle had taken the time to do research on the Endless Dunes, a good portion of it just finding out that the place is called the Endless Dunes (stupid trolls!)

“Well, we’re in a verse that’s entirely a desert, there’s two known exits, both in some metropolis called Carrefore.”

“Doweevenknowwheretogotofindthem?” Rosie said in one big breath before going back to quiet hyperventilating.

“Well, no,” began isabelle, causing her companion to cringe, “but with my omnilium, we don’t have much to worry about with supplies and stuff. I figured I can just summon a vehicle that works out here and if we don’t find an outpost before dark, we can easily set up camp.”

However, when she turned back to face her friend, she was met with a scrunched up, tear soaked face,

“We’re going to die out here!” Rosie cried out. “That’s what happens to things in the desert, they die!”

Isabelle reached over and pressed a comforting paw on Rosie’s cheek, wiping away one stream of tears with her thumb.

“I will take care of you, no matter what!” She said with a gentle smile. “I have the power of god on my side, and I’d spend every one of his wishes to keep you safe if it came to it!”

Rosie’s eyes glistened in the sunlight as Izzy’s words landed.

“Izzy...” She said as she reached up to touch her paw, but Isabelle pulled away,

“And plus anyways, I’ve survived the city, this is a cakewalk compared to that!!”

This got a chuckle out of the feline.

Isabelle would go on and summon a sand skiff. She intentionally made it pink with a floral print design and gave it cushy velvet seats. It was the most gaudy thing ever but Rosie ate it all up.

The canine would summon them a pair of summer dresses, Rosie’s was a pink checkerboard, while Izzy made herself a warm orange autumn design with falling leaves. “Travel in style!” She called it. The cat knew isabelle was acting up to raise their spirits, and she knew they were still somewhat in danger. But after what her friend just said, she didn’t care. Despite her fear, she was more than excited to ride the Isabelle train, see where it took her.


The pair rode for hours, the gusts of wind from the high speeds cooling them from the heat of the desert sun. With nothing in their way for miles, Isabelle had no calms going top speed, getting air as they went over dunes, causing Rosie to scream with delight every time they set a new record in height.

As soon as the sun touched the horizon, Isabelle set up camp, summoning a small half exposed hut for shelter and making a tiny fire, enough to keep them warm at least. She roasted salmon steaks and served them over rice.

“I hope you don’t mind I didn’t summon something fancy, but I figured we’d stick to a camping theme.”

“It’s fine!” Rosie said with a chuckle as she sat down on a beach chair and ate her meal.

As the orange in the sky dissipated and the night fully took hold, the pair got into color coded sleeping bags and cuddled up next to each other. Isabelle held Rosie hand, hoping the support would prevent any nightmares during the night. With each other by their sides, they drifted off into sleep.

[Isabelle]

Isabelle had another dream that night, but this time wasn’t a happy memory involving the mayor. No, all she could feel was smothering. Something was holding her down. She felt a pinch. And darkness.

She woke to the visage of someone standing over her. The sun above obscured them into a dark figure. It was shouting something to someone outside her view, before reaching over and shaking the barely awake dog.

She didn’t react at first, her mind was heavy as a boulder, she could barely lift herself from its anchor. But as she slowly came to, the words of the stranger eventually became clear.

“Isabelle!” The figure cried out. “Oh my god, are you alright? What happened to you?”

“Happened?” Izzy said dazed. “What happened? I was just sleeping.”

“Sleeping? I thought you passed out from thirst or something. Don’t worry, I’m not letting the men see you.”

“Passed out from thirst?” Isabelle responded. “We camped out here. Sleeping bag and everything.”

“Then why are the two of you sleeping naked uncovered on the desert?”

“Sleeping naked...” It was just then her senses kicked in. She wasn’t lying in a sleeping bag, the weight of her body was currently digging into loose sand. She could feel it getting into her fur. As her eyes came into focus, she sat up and look down on herself. Just as the stranger had mentioned, the clothing she wore when she went to bed was gone.

Her paw reflexively shot between her legs as her face went beet red. While she was used to animals in her village going partially naked, heck Rosie was known to go without pants, Izzy couldn’t help feel exposed. Years of wearing skirts and pants could do that to you. Finally a tall woman came by and handed her a piece of clothing.

“Put on this cloak. Don’t worry, none of the men in our group saw you.” Said the tall woman.

Isabelle climbed to her feet and nervously slipped on the cloak, which was green with white designs on it. The tall woman stepped to Izzy’s side, and reached down to slip a cloak on a still napping still very naked Rosie, a cloak with purple on white designs.

With blood rushing away from her head and a fresh batch of adrenaline pumping through her system, she finally took a closer note of the two women helping them. One was a tall human woman, an orange cloak very much like the ones the two confused animals were being dressed in. her ears were pointed, reaching well passed her head. Her hair was a golden blond, her eyes were a bright magenta. Her expression was stern, came off someone who took her job way too seriously.

The second woman, the one that was first talking to Isabelle was a sheep. Her wool coat was a golden yellow; same was her hair and horns. Each horn had a red stripe painted in the middle. The short coat on her face was brown, he eyes was a deep blue. At first, the girl seemed familiar, but her green, yellow, and orange scarf around her neck was what made it all click.

“Frita?” Isabelle said, her mind processing.

The sheep girl smiled upon hearing her named called.

“I was worried you might not remember me...” She said sheepishly.

“How could I forget? Your fries were the best I ever tasted!” Said Isabelle enthusiastically,

“Aww shucks, it wasn’t that great...” Frita responded with a blush.

“What luck I happened to run into someone I knew out here!” Isabelle stated. “Imagine if I woke up to strangers!”

“Well, it was Catalina that spotted you in the desert.”

“Catalina?”

The elf lady stood up from finally getting the cloak on Rosie.

“Yes, luck of the draw really.” The elf said. She lifted up a large piece of sand skiff remains, that has a cartoon picture of a fox graffitied on where izzy’s leaf logo was. “It looks like you were robbed in your sleep, the Femme Fatale Bandits to be exact.”

“I was robbed? Wait, they went through the trouble of stealing my clothes?” The dog cried out confused, but then she had a frightening realization. She suddenly felt a vile feeling in the pit of her stomach.. “Wha-what if they… Do you think Rosie and I… were we…?”

“Not likely.” Responded the elf as she looked around for more of their stuff. “The Femme Fatale’s are an all women's group, and even if some of them were into that sort of thing, they are pretty strict about their ethics. Stealing only.”

Isabelle was relieved, though she couldn’t help be weirded out by the fact that they had to steal the clothes on their back. You’d think a sand skiff would be enough.

“Mother, why do I have to wear pajamas to bed?” Cried out Rosie sleepily.

“Anyways,” Frita interjected, trying not to think about the cat’s ramblings. “Our skiff is headed for the Town with No Name. I’d be more than happy give you a lift!”

“Thank you Frita! We’d much appreciate it!” Isabelle said with a smile.

The elf lady appeared in front of the dog and shoved a phone in front of her.

“Found this over there, apparently it was dropped while leaving.”

Izzy eagerly took the phone.

“Thank you!” She said with a smile and a polite bow. She knelt down to Rosie and shook her. “Come on! Time to wake up! We’ve got a ride!”

“Oh yes, lower.” Cried out Rosie in her sleep.

Silence fell on the group.



Within ten minutes, the couple had boarded their friend’s sandskiff. Apparently Frita was being accompanied by a ragtag team of grizzled bodyguards, each wearing stereotypical post-apocalyptic gear. Isabelle knew that the sheep had been travelling with them for a while, and that things wouldn’t go sour just because she had joined the crew, but she couldn’t help be a little intimidated by the pack.

“So what brought you to the Endless Dunes?” Asked her woolen friend, trying to dissuade Izzy’s discomfort.

“My house in the Tangled has Teleporters,” began Isabelle, half realizing her explanation was kind of ridiculous but couldn’t think up a lie, “Rosie accidentally used one and we wound up here. Just trying to get back.”

Rosie sat beside her, zoned out, still not 100% awake. She held a hot fish soup cup in her paws, which she occasionally took a slurp from. She raised her other paw and rubbed the side of her head, wincing in pain

“Why is my brain pounding?.” She cried out.

“Catalina said that group of bandits often used chloroform to keep you asleep. You must be suffering side effects.”

Isabelle didn’t want to know too much of what happened to her the night before, she didn’t want to think about it. She immediately changed the subject.

“What are you doing out here Frita?”

“Oh, I’m out here to do a movie.” She said, sheepishly.

“Wait, really? You’re a movie star?”

“Yeah, this’ll be my second picture. Can’t really talk about it but yeah, it’s a thing.”

“How exciting!” The dog responded. “Wow! I know a movie star!”

“Hoo boy…” Frita blushed, “Sorry, still not used to the thought. ”

“Town with No Name up ahead!” Yelled one of the bodyguards.

Sure enough, a town was coming into view in the distance. Old grungy buildings, reminiscent of a western. If they were riding in on horses, she would have half expected a gun duel to break out.

“If you told me this is the same universe that houses Ambrosia, I would have told you you were crazy.” Stated Isabelle.

“The Town with No Name,” began another bodyguard, “you’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

“Really?” Said Frita, shooting him a look.




As soon as they made it in, their first stop was the doctor’s office. Luckily, they had some technology left over from the coruscant occupation. The doctor confirmed they weren’t… messed with… outside of getting robbed. He even gave some medicine to help Rosie with the drug in her system.

Most of the bodyguards went their separate ways, only Catalina and a few others stayed to guard Frita. The Elf only left the sheep’s side to take a phone call. When she recognized the number, she left the hospital building and ducked into a nearby alleyway for added privacy.

“Yes?”

“Were you successful?”

“Yes, she’s in the Town right now.”

“I know that already. Did you make it clear her purity was preserved?”

“Yes, I told her. The doctor should be confirming it right now.”

“Perfect.”

“Do you want me to go meet up with the other fatales for the drop off?”

“No, it’s more important that Isabelle is safe. Your sisters can handle the delivery, keeping an eye on the dog is more crucial right now.”

“Okay, I’ll be on it, sir.”

“Good, you have your orders. Farewell.”

“Goodbye, sir.”