The Insane Crossover Story Chapter Three


"Somehow, I never imagined the Milky Way looking like this," Merry Treat commented as she walked across the transparent, smooth surface, under which was an endless abyss of darkness with the occasional light of a star.

"Well, this is it, all right," Tarquin said, rolling his map of the universe back up.

"It's rather strange; we were walking across that grassland, and all of a sudden-- boom!-- here we are on the Milky Way," Tabby said.

"This thing is interesting," Tess said, sitting down on a yellow steel dome which suddenly appeared in front of the group as they trekked across the Milky Way.

"After what we've been seeing of the Milky Way, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a cover for a black hole," Tabby snorted.

"Actually, you're right," a cheerful voice suddenly rang out. Tabby looked around frantically. Who knew what strange creatures they'd run into in such an odd place as this?

"Are you new in the area?" the voice persisted. A slim, human figure suddenly stepped out from behind the yellow dome Tess was sitting on. The Meowth began to fall off in surprise, but Tarquin caught her in his paws.

"Umm... yes, actually," Merry Treat said to the aqua-haired girl that had appeared. She was dressed in a pretty metallic purple and silver outfit, complete with a glittery headband. "Do you live here?"

The girl giggled politely. "Oh, yes, definitely. I'm Whimzee, one of the Moon Dreamers--"

"What in the world is a Moon Dreamer?" Tabby interrupted.

"Well... well... oh, my, there's a lot to explain, isn't there?" Whimzee said, flustered. "But I am sorry for scaring your cat off the black hole cover-- that is what it is, just like you said." She turned to Tabby. "Anyway, perhaps all of you can introduce yourselves to me and I'll take you to Starry Up to get refreshed."

Merry Treat and Tabby looked ahead over the slick surface of the Milky Way, and saw an expanse of beautiful domed buildings of all colors, many decorated with stars. "First off, I'm Tabby," Tabby started. "Then Merry Treat." Merry Treat nodded as Tabby said this.

"And, of course, Tess and Tarquin. They're Meowth Pokemon. Have you heard of Pokemon?" Tabby chattered on. "Then Spearow-- he's another Pokemon-- the bird. Where is he by now? Oh, right here." Spearow chirped loudly at this remark.

Merry Treat took over at this point. "The three guys in the back are Tweeg, Orko, and He-Man--"

Tweeg, He-Man, and Orko had been hanging out in the back of the group and appeared to be sharing jokes. "..so then, all of a sudden, Skeletor whirls around and says..."

"...that reminds me of something my mother did to me once..."

"...Orko, remember that time a worm erupted out of your hat?..."

Whimzee gasped in excitement. "Oh, my stars! He-Man's here?! Are you serious?!" She stood on tip-toes to get a better view of this celebrity.

"He's quite a wonderful person," Tess agreed.

"When he doesn't mistake you for a snake-man," Tarquin added.

"Row, spear!" Spearow said, rolling his eyes at Tarquin's remark.

"I'm going to have to tell Crystal Starr about this right away!" Whimzee squealed. "I just know everyone's going to want to see him!" She broke out running at full-speed toward one of the larger, pink domed buildings. The ponies and their Pokemon scurried to keep up with her.

"Crystal! Crystal! Come quick!" Whimzee was shouting.

A figure, similar to Whimzee in size, appeared at the door of the building. This girl's hair was pink, however, and her clothing was made of beautiful silver and pink material. "Whimzee, what is it this time?" she questioned, somewhat exasperated, as Whimzee made it to the doorstep. However, her eyes opened wide as she saw who followed her aqua-haired friend. "Whimzee! Where did all... these come from?"

"Well, they're travelers, I guess-- from where, I don't know-- but, oh, Crystal, He-Man is with them!" Whimzee sighed happily.

"He-Man?" This other girl, who was apparently Crystal Starr, softened her gaze towards Whimzee. "Why, you're right!" she cried, looking towards the back of the group. "Come right on in, everyone!" She quickly shooed the entire group inside.

"Hey, cool!" Tabby exclaimed, looking at the bright and spacious interior of the place.

"This is Dream Central, in Starry Up," Crystal explained. "But that's enough about us for now. All of you must be famished, after traveling all the way to the Milky Way!"

"Famished? Oh, no, there's too much to do to stop and eat," Tabby murmured.

Nonetheless, Crystal and Whimzee led them into the dining room of Dream Central, whatever Dream Central was. Everyone was soon seated around the long, oval-shaped blue table while Whimzee scurried off to prepare the food.

"So tell us, what brings you to Starry Up?" Crystal addressed He-Man.

"We are out to destroy all of King Hiss' snake men!" He-Man boomed.

Merry Treat and Tabby exchanged glances. "No, no, He-Man," Merry Treat corrected. "We're going to seek revenge on an evil movie reviewer."

"We are? Oh, yes. But it's my suspicion that King Hiss is behind this reviewing business!" He-Man clarified.

"Last time you said it was Skeletor," Tarquin piped-up.

"They may be working together on this scheme," He-Man said mysteriously.

"We may not know exactly what we're doing any more," Tabby said to Crystal, "but what in the world is this Starria place all about, anyway?"

"That's Starry Up, actually, and not Starria," Whimzee corrected, walking back in the room carrying a tray of sandwiches.

"Starry Up?" Tabby echoed. "Wouldn't Starria sound better than Starry Up?"

"Well, no matter," Whimzee dismissed the subject, reaching for one of the star-shaped sandwiches.

"And we're the Moon Dreamers, in charge of giving all children good dreams," Crystal explained. "Dream Central here is our main base."

"That's right!" Another yellow-haired girl in pink glasses entered the room. "It's our responsibility everyone has good dreams, and that's not something I take lightly."

"Hello, Sparky!" Whimzee greeted the new girl. "See our guests? He-Man is here!"

"Don't we count for anything?" Tabby scowled to Tarquin. "Hey! Just wait a second, you Moon Dreamers! I've never had a good dream in my life!"

"Never?" Sparky looked intently at Tabby. "That's strange. Our dream crystals are sent to everyone, unless Scowlene gets in the way, but that isn't often."

"Look her up in the system," Crystal suggested.

"Excellent idea!" Sparky took a seat in front of a large machine, resembling a computer. "Tabby, your last and middle name?"

Tabby glanced around furtively. "Err... ehh..." She silenced Tess with a sharp glance as the Meowth started to giggle softly. "Couldn't I type it in myself?" Tabby suggested.

"I'm not sure..." Sparky frowned, looking down at the keyboard. "You wouldn't know about this system, and you might screw it up somehow. If you press one wrong button, it could screw up the entire protonic--"

Tabby scowled, but she was dying to find out what had become of all her good dreams. "First name, Tabitha. Middle name, Elaine. Last name, Fershund," she said quickly. Tarquin, Tess, Spearow, and Merry Treat couldn't contain themselves. They broke into fits of laughter.

Sparky typed this into the computer. "City and state?" she continued.

Tabby looked witheringly at her friends. "Dream Valley, Ponyland," she directed at Sparky.

"Hmm..." Sparky frowned in concentration at the screen that came up. "There's nothing here that says you shouldn't have been getting good dreams."

"Well, I haven't been, that's for sure," Tabby declared. "Unless you consider giant squid good dreams."

"Oh, never!" Whimzee gasped.

"Computers never work, anyway," Merry Treat said. "They say one thing, but probably mean something else entirely.

"Maybe I'll just sue you Moon Dreamers for lying to me about my dreams," Tabby said threateningly.

"Let's hold a court, right here," Orko said excitedly. "He-Man will be the judge, and--"

"Though I'm flattered you should pick me as the judge, Orko, I believe Tabby is not serious about suing them," He-Man said.

"Oh." Orko's spirits visibly dropped.

"I am serious!" Tabby said shrilly. "I want those dreams I'm supposed to be getting!"

Tess looked apologetically at Whimzee, Crystal, and Sparky. "Don't worry about Tabby. She'll get over it soon enough."

"That's okay," Crystal said understandingly. "I've seen the likes of her before."

"Tweeg, how about you? Have you ever had a good dream?" Tabby demanded.

Tweeg smiled, his mind beginning to slip off elsewhere. "Ah, yes, there was that time I dreamed I was rich, up to my elbows in gold..."

"And you, He-Man?" Tabby prodded.

"I have wonderful dreams every night," He-Man said energetically. "I'm right there, fighting with Skeletor like I've done many a time, and suddenly-- I've defeated him!"

"I dream about flower bouquets from Tarquin," Tess sighed happily.

Tabby looked dejected. "That does it. I'm the only creature in all the universe that doesn't have good dreams."

Merry Treat patted her on the back. "It's okay, Tabby. I'm sure the computer has made mistakes for others, too."

"Oh, well." Tabby rested her head down on the table.

"Can I have your sandwich?" Tarquin asked of Tabby, inching his paw towards Tabby's untouched plate.

"Sure," Tabby said absentmindedly.

Tarquin immediately took Tabby's plate, gave half the sandwich to Tess, and kept the other half for himself.

All of a sudden, a little white bear with wings and patterned with an occasional yellow star, bounded into the room. "Why're there so many creatures around, huh, guys?" she squealed excitedly.

"These are guests, Ursa Minor," Crystal informed the bear. "They're stopping here, but they're on a quest to seek revenge on King Hiss and his evil band of movie reviewers."

"Why are they going?" Ursa Minor went on in the same excited tone.

"Ursa Minor, behave yourself," Sparky said sharply.

"Why?"

"Now, Ursa Minor, why don't you go play somewhere else?" Whimzee suggested.

"Why?"

Tabby gasped and pointed at the cute little bear. "She is-- she is-- she is-- exactly like a baby pony!"

Orko nervously hid under the table. "I think we're in for another ten minutes of complaining from Tabby."

"If this creature makes a sinister move towards you, Tabby, have no fear." He-Man drew his sword.

Ursa Minor's eyes opened wide. "I think I'm in trouble." She scurried out the doorway.

"I hate baby ponies," Tabby muttered under her breath.

Merry Treat began to push back her chair. "It's been really nice of you Moon Dreamers to invite us," she began, "but we really should be starting out again, if we ever want to complete our quest."

"Oh, we understand completely." Sparky nodded.

"We've been honored to have He-Man as our guest, even if it was for just a short while," Crystal added sincerely. "Stop in again if you're ever in this part of the galaxy in the future."

Whimzee silently stood back as she watched the travelers prepare for their leave. Just as Tabby began to walk out the door, Whimzee suddenly cried out, "Oh, please, wouldn't you let me go with you on your quest?"

Crystal looked sharply at her aqua-haired friend. "Whimzee! Think of how our dream production would slow down if you left!"

"Oh, fiddlestars!" Whimzee exclaimed. "It'd be so much fun."

"Besides, they may not want another person in their group," Sparky added.

"Who said that?" He-Man said cheerfully. "We're just one big happy party here. There's always room for another!"

Merry Treat looked over at He-Man strangely at his sudden burst of happiness. Had there been something in those sandwiches... no, it was probably just He-Man's way.

Merry Treat, however, did turn to Crystal and Sparky. "Well, Whimzee would be welcome to come along... if you'd allow it, that is."

At this instant, Tess wound around Whimzee's legs, making the girl giggle. "Oh, you're a sweetie, aren't you?" She picked the cat-like creature up and cradled her in her arms.

"I suppose..." Crystal pursed her lips. "If you'd really be happy, Whimzee..."

"Oh, Crystal, I would, I would!" Whimzee said earnestly.

"You have our okay, then," Sparky said slowly. "You can go along with them."

"That's wonderful!" Whimzee squealed gleefully. "And just think of all the subjects for dreams I'll see along the way!" She hugged Tess again from excitement.

"This will be fun," Tess said blissfully, beginning to purr slightly.

"Then it's settled," Crystal announced. "Whimzee, have fun. And we'll look forward to your return."

"I'll be back before you know it!" Whimzee promised.

"Welcome to the team, Whimzee," Tarquin said. "Of course, you'll have to--"

"--sign this agreement," Tabby finished for her Meowth, whipping a paper out of her backpack. "Just read through this quick list of rules and regulations, sign your name if you agree to them, and you're all set."

"...no Tweeg insults... no demon summoning... hmm... hmm... yes, this sounds simple enough," Whimzee murmured, quickly scrawling her name at the bottom, below Orko's simple signature.

After exchanging quick hugs with Sparky and Crystal, Whimzee ran along on her way with the rest of the questers. "Be safe!" Sparky called after her.

"My stars, this is going to be fun!" Whimzee bubbled over with excitement as she followed Merry Treat and Tabby over the Milky Way. "Who knows what we'll see as we go to find that nasty King Snake and his evil movie men!"

"And maybe he'll even have some treasure hidden," Tweeg plotted to himself.

"We'll help you get whatever treasure you want, Tweeg!" He-Man boomed.

Tweeg brightened. "Wonderful! Won't Mommy be proud of me once I'm Supreme Oppressor, and rich on top of it? He-Man, I'm so lucky I ran across you."

Orko floated in back of the group, glancing back once in awhile. "I think we're being followed," he said nervously.

"I'll get the evil movie-snake!" He-Man said immediately, whipping out his sword again.

A giggle erupted from behind another black-hole cover they happened to be passing by.

"I know that sound; it's the hiss of an evil movie-snake!" He-Man said viciously.

"Ehh..." Merry Treat hesitated. "He-Man, don't go jumping to conclusions now..."

The same small white bear they'd encountered earlier suddenly appeared from behind the cover. She was overcome with laughter. "Oh, you silly He-Man! I'm not one of those snake-reviewers, or whatever you keep talking about!"

He-Man put his sword back. "Ahh, it's just you again! Shouldn't you be back at home with your mother?"

"Aunt, actually," Whimzee corrected him, but did a double-take as she saw the baby bear. "Ursa Minor!! What in the world are you doing here?!"

"I followed you," Ursa Minor explained simply, giggling again.

"You should go home immediately," Whimzee said sternly. "What will your aunty think?"

Ursa Minor glanced behind her. "Gosh... Starry Up is a lo-o-ong way back now..."

"Fiddlestars!" Whimzee exclaimed, glancing back at the small dot on the horizon which was all they could see now of Starry Up. "Ursa Minor, how did you follow us so far? We can't just let you go back on your own now!"

"I'll come with you, too," the mischievous bear suggested.

"Oh, dear," Whimzee fretted. "Ursa Minor, you are so troublesome." The bear just giggled in response.

"I don't want any baby pony following us around," Tabby said sharply.

"Aww, I think she's cute," Merry Treat laughed, patting Ursa Minor on the head.

"I guess it's the only thing we can do," Whimzee sighed. "I wouldn't want to set us behind on our journey by back-tracking to take Ursa Minor back home."

"Yipee!!!" Ursa Minor exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"I'll leave a note on this black hole cover," Whimzee decided. "Bucky will find it the next time he checks all these, and everyone back home will know not to worry about you." Scribbling out a note, she tacked it on the yellow dome. "And Ursa Minor, you will follow those rules they have written up, won't you?"

"Sure!" the bear said immediately.

Merry Treat fished the paper out of Tabby's backpack again. "See, here they are."

Ursa Minor glanced at them for a second, scribbled her name down, and exclaimed, "Sounds fun!"

Tabby just scowled at the little bear. "I knew this trip couldn't be perfect."

"Why?" Ursa Minor prodded.

"Because of pesky baby ponies like you," Tabby said impatiently.

"Why?"

"Because... ohhh!! Just be quiet!!"

* * *

The travelers, with two added to their group since their last stop, continued on along the path of the Milky Way. Merry Treat was walking at a faster pace than the others, as she was prone to do, and was several yards ahead. She was humming to herself as she glanced at the stars around her when something of interest caught her eye. She stopped and gazed with wonder at what she saw. Calling over her shoulder, she shouted to the others, "Hey, guys! Check this out!"

A moment later, her friends caught up to her and spotted the planet that Merry Treat had been admiring. "What do you think it's called? Do you suppose it's inhabited?" the excited pony asked.

"It's probably full of hostile aliens that will turn us into little piles of dust if we go there," Tabby commented, always the pessimist.

Tarquin rolled his eyes and reached into his pack, extracting his map of the universe once more. "Let's se-e-e... it's called Naboo," he informed his companions. "As for hostile aliens, the map doesn't say."

"You should really upgrade that map, Orko," He-Man suggested to his friend.

"I might be able to zap up a demo upgrade version later," Orko replied.

"Well, let's go! To Naboo, that is!" Merry Treat said eagerly.

"Ooh! Ooh! Yes!!" Tabby exclaimed, in the same excited tone as her friend. She had decided to forget about hostile aliens and piles of dust.

"Spearow, row, spear," Spearow warned cautiously. Merry Treat started laughing at his comment.

"Oh, don't be silly, Spearow!" she laughed. "I doubt that we have anything to fear from that planet."

"You can understand all that!?" asked a confused Orko, eyeing the bird Pokèmon.

"Of course! It's my Pokèmon, and to be a good trainer, I have to understand what he's saying! Now, let's go!" Merry Treat responded simply.

"I do hope there's water there; we need to refill our canteens," Tess stated as the group started down.

"I still think it's full of hostile aliens..." Tabby commented nervously. Yes, her pessimistic side always came back to her.

"Stop being so gloomy!" Merry Treat chided. "Just cool down and relax. See, it's a swamp. How many aliens could possibly be living in a swamp?" she asked as the ground of the planet came into view off the Milky Way.

"Oh... lots of things... like monsters from the Dark Forest... giant squid... I sure hope there are no ducks living here..." Tabby trailed off, shuddering at the memory.

"What's she talking about?" Tweeg asked Tarquin, who just grinned.

"Long story. She hates to talk about it. Let's just say she hates ducks," Tarquin explained, a smile playing on his lips.

Just then, they reached the ground and looked at their new surroundings. "This place is cool!" Merry Treat grinned as she admired the leafy green swamp they had landed in.

"Oh, my stars!" Whimzee said in wonder.

"Yes, this is a lovely place!" Tess breathed. "Let's set up camp."

About an hour later, they had everything set up. Merry Treat turned to Spearow. "Spearie, go see if there is a lake or stream nearby. We still need those canteens filled."

The bird obediently took off and wasn't gone more then five minutes before he returned and squawked something at Merry Treat. Seeing the looks on the faces of her companions, she quickly explained that Spearow had seen a lake close to the camp.

"How can you understand all that?" Orko demanded again.

"Let's just say I have a natural touch when it comes to creatures," Merry Treat responded with a wink. "Spearow also saw some berry bushes at the far edge of the camp," she added, glancing at Tabby.

"Ooh! Berries! I love those!" Tabby squealed.

"Good! Why don't you go pick some?" Tess asked politely.

"Okay! Anyone wanna come?" Tabby glanced around the camp.

"I'll go with you!" Tarquin cried loyally, grabbing a bucket.

"Spearow and I will attend to the canteens," Merry Treat said quickly, and the four set off in different directions while the others went about starting a fire and doing other necessary things. However, Ursa Minor, was causing trouble-- currently, she was walking off with a load of twigs Whimzee had just gathered while the girl had her back turned.

* * *

Merry Treat dipped the canteen to the surface of the water, and then her eyes grew wide. Bubbles were rising to the surface of the water about ten feet away from her.

"Sp-Spearow..." she trailed off nervously. The bubbles continued to rise... "Sp-Spearow..." she repeated as she began to hunt around for her special transformation pen, which would turn her into the powerful Sailor Scout, Sailor Fauna, in the blink of an eye. "Sp-Spear-r-row... I... th-think you'd better take a look at this... Spearow!?"

Just then, two yellow eyes appeared above the surface. Merry Treat let out a shriek and fell backwards. The creature-- whatever it was -- had started to rise up out of the waters. She had obviously scared it, because it, too, fell backwards into the lake, causing a cascade of water to fall down on Merry Treat, leaving her thoroughly soaked. The two sat on the swampy ground, dripping, and stared at each other.

The creature was obviously an alien. It had a face that looked a bit like a giraffe's, minus the horns. On top of his head were two yellow eyes. He also had long floppy ears like a lop-eared rabbit. He was dressed like a hippie, in a sleeveless shirt and bell-bottoms. His skin was a weird pinkish-brown color. He had some muscle, but not enough to even look menacing. Merry Treat realized with slight surprise that he only had four fingers on each hand.

While they were studying each other, a loud cry could be heard. Both Merry Treat and the alien turned to see Spearow swooping down, full-speed, at the creature. Thinking fast, Merry Treat leaped in the way of her Pokèmon. "Spearow, stop! He's a good alien!" she cried out, realizing in her heart that the creature was harmless.

At the last second, the bird changed his direction, and swooped high above them, circled, and settled down on the bank in front of them. Merry Treat heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" She then turned to the creature. "Are you all--"

"Yousa saved my life!" he interrupted, and jumped to his full height, which was about seven feet tall.

He could pass for a slightly funny-looking basketball player, Merry Treat thought as he threw his arms around her neck. He had a funny accent that sounded like African, American, and Jamaican jumbled together.

"It was nothing, really!" she said in astonishment.

"No, no, no! Meesa owes you my life!" he continued.

"Uhh... you really don't have too... it's all right. I'm just glad you're okay," Merry Treat responded as she pulled back from the embrace. "Uh... what's your name? You do have one, don't you?"

"Meesa called Jar Jar Binks," the creature introduced himself.

"I'm Merry Treat. The bird is Spearow. I'm sorry he tried to attack you," Merry Treat replied. She was starting to like this strange-looking thing.

Then they heard footsteps coming toward them. They turned again, and while Jar Jar's eyes grew wide, Merry Treat just sighed with a groan. "Oh no, not this again!" She suddenly realized how Tabby had felt when He-Man had made a move like this towards Tweeg.

Merry Treat didn't want to lose her new friend to He-Man's confusion. She grabbed Jar Jar's arm and pulled him out of the way. A moment later, He-Man's sword crashed down into the water right where Jar Jar had been standing, making a cascade splash up in his face.

"Merry Treat, why are you defending a reviewer-snake!?" asked a bewildered and wet He-Man.

Merry Treat rolled her eyes. "He's not a reviewer-snake! Or whatever they are... he's a... uh... what are you?" She turned to Jar Jar with a curious look.

"Yousa saved me again!" Jar Jar cried and threw his arms around Merry Treat once more, not answering her question.

"Really, it was nothing. But you didn't answer my question," she replied as she pulled back from him.

"Oh! Meesa be a Gungan," he responded.

"Hey, MT! Who's your friend?" Tabby called as she and the rest of the group came up to the scene.

"Guys, this is Jar Jar; he's a Gungan, not a snake-thingy!" she directed at He-Man.

"He did it again!? Oh, He-Man, you need to really find out what these snake guys look like so you don't try to hurt innocent bystanders!" Tabby sighed. "We have got to put a stop to this!"

"Yeah, He-Man! But in case of an emergency, let's make a rule that if any evil guys show up-- truly evil guys, He-Man-- we make sure that only He-Man and I-- err, Sailor Fauna, that is-- take care of them."

"Who's Sailor Fauna?" Whimzee asked curiously.

"One of the Sailor Scouts," Merry Treat clarified quickly. "I'm, umm, good friends with her. Tabby, let's see those rules we planned out!" Merry Treat held out her hoof.

Tabby dug around in her backpack until she found the sheet. "Here ya go!" she said and handed it to Merry Treat.

"Thanks! Hmm... now... that might work... no..." Merry Treat scribbled something down on the paper and presented it to Tabby. "How's that?"

Tabby glanced down and read the rule that Merry Treat had added:



#4-- Any evil monsters will be dealt with by Sailor Fauna and/or He-Man. The rest of the group-- steer clear!



"Okay, that's good! Now I have one to add!" Tabby took the pen and scribbled down:



#5-- If He-Man attacks any more innocent victims thinking they are snake-whatevers, he will be severely dealt with by Tarquin, Tess, and/or Spearow.



She presented it to the rest of the group. "Two more rules, guys, and we expect you to follow them!"

Something occurred to Merry Treat. "Hey, Jar Jar, wanna come with us? We're on a quest to seek revenge on an evil snake king and his reviewers," she asked as she turned to him.

"Sounds like fun, methinks!" Jar Jar replied happily.

"Okay, then you have to sign the Rules and Regulation list." Tabby handed him the paper and pen.

He glanced over the list and scribbled his name down and then handed the paper back to Tabby, who grinned. "Welcome to the team, Jar Jar!"

With that taken care of, the group set off... again.

To be continued...


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