“Hold her down!”
“Scootaloo! Watch the suds!”
“You’re both doing it wrong! We’re not trying to drown her!”
Applejack watched with a smile on her face as the three hapless fillies known as the cutie mark crusaders struggled to get a certain ball of brown fur and energy to take a bath. From the moment AJ had seen the look in Winona’s eyes when the crusaders began to draw the water for her bath, she knew she wouldn’t go down without a fight. A fight it had been. (still was in fact)
Winona was without a doubt the most cooperative dog Applejack had ever seen. That was for everything except bathing, which Applebloom and her friends had come to have found out. It had taken the three of them half the morning just to catch her long enough to practically drag her to the tub.
They seemed to have gotten the hang of it however, with Applebloom trying to talk her down as Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell splashed suds over her then attacked with wet towels. With every splash however, Winona gave it all she had to try and escape the tub. All three of the would be dog groomers had all been thoroughly soaked.
Applejack chuckled as she watched her faithful dog’s latest attempt to escape.
“What in the Sam heck is that dog thinking?”
* * *
Earlier that morning
* * *
Winona cautiously sniffed the air, something was amiss. The noble collie went about her divine given duty of running in several circles before following her nose to the root of the discrepancy. There was Bloom, one of her ponies with two other familiar ones. These ones followed Bloom around a lot so Winona assumed they were Bloom’s ponies.
Now the odd smell was not coming directly from Bloom and her ponies, it was coming from the bottle of green liquid they were dumping into a tub- Wait a second! Winona did know that smell! It was the smell of soap! And soap, combined with tub meant…
“*blah blah* Winona *blah blah blah* bath!”
There it was! Bloom herself said it! They were going to try and give her an accursed bath! How dare they! She made an oath right then and there that she would not go into that water filled tub quietly. No sir! She was Winona the magnificent border collie! Oddly enough, one of her other ponies (Apple) smiled at her when she made this solemn vow. Winona made a note to herself (that was quickly forgotten) to ask Apple about that smile.
But that would have to wait, for Bloom and her minions were almost upon her! They initially tried calling her but she ignored them. Thus the traditional chase began, with Bloom and her ponies following Winona into the apple orchard. She would allow them to get maddeningly close before darting away again, always staying just out of reach. Winona was very good at this game.
The chase went on for some time like this, it becoming a test of endurance. Who would wear out first Winona asked herself? She surely wouldn’t, for she was Winona! Perhaps the greatest player of the chase that had ever lived! There was absolutely nothing Bloo-
“Winona! *blah blah blah* bone *blah blah*!”
Huzzah! A bone! Bloom was finally admitting defeat and granting Winona a mighty gift as apology for even considering that they could-
With a coordinated effort the three fillies performed a dastardly sneak attack on the distracted dog. Each coming from a different angle, with the white one managing to place a magic leash on her.
No matter! Though they had her leashed Winona wasn’t giving up, not by any means! For there were ways to show them (even while leashed) why Winona was the dog and they were naught but ponies.
* * *
“Phew! That took longer than expected!” Sweetie Bell wiped the sweat from her brow as she finished using her magic to clip the leash into Winona’s collar.
“Now all we need to do is get her back to the barn.”
Scootaloo picked up the leash in her teeth. Applebloom tried to shout a warning but it was too late.
* * *
As soon as the orange one had the leash in her teeth, Winona was off and running, dragging the unfortunate pegasus several feet in the dirt before she could find her hoofs again. When the white one grabbed hold of the leash to help, Winona let her taste the ground as well. When Bloom finally grabbed hold, Winona decided to stop pulling for a moment, allowing the three of them to bump into each other only to bolt off again causing them to fall. (again)
Needless to say, it was quite the battle for the three fillies to get her to the barn. But as the day dragged on, even the great Winona grew tired and the fillies’ numbers were beginning to tell. After tangling their legs up with the leash for the third time, she ceded their greater strength and flopped to the ground.
As a final show of defiance, she tried to make herself as much dead weight as possible. After about ten minutes of being dragged, Winona found herself within the confines of the barn, the dreaded tub sitting full of the cursed soapy water in the center. As she neared it, she remembered her oath.
With a loud bark, she began to thrash violently against her captors. She broke free of their grasp and made a beeline for the open door before being yanked back by the leash attached to her collar. She then ran between the legs of the clearly exhausted white one, ensnaring one of her forelegs and sending her tumbling to the ground.
The orange one was next. Winona allowed her to get a small running start before dodging to the left, letting her slide by, her hooves scrabbling for purchase.
Huzzah! None remained but Bloom! It would be a simple matter to out maneuver her and make her escape, though somehow Bloom had escaped her field of vision. Winona tensed as she felt something was not right. She sniffed the air and glanced to her right, and to her left. Where had Bloom gotten to? But she couldn’t dwell on it, time was running short, Bloom’s two compatriots were finding their hooves again.
As Winona made for the closed door (she was sure she’d find a way to open it) a blur of yellow and red descended from above. It was Bloom, cleverly attacking her from atop a hay bale. She struggled against her of course, just as she struggled when the orange and white ones joined in as well, but regardless of her struggle, she was tired and their combined effort soon won out. She dragged to her fate, the sudsy water of the readied tub.
The moment the cold water came into contact with her fur she was fighting again. Winona couldn’t remember what in Equestria had possessed her to stop fighting in the first place, now the water had her in it’s frigid clutches again. Bloom’s compatriots were splashing soap over her now, and every time she tried to jump out they pushed her legs off the sides of the tub. With every attempt at escape, her three assailants seemed to grow more on edge. She decided to take full advantage of this.
She began to let out pitiful whimpers and howls. Only when she was completely out of options would the mighty Winona stoop to such measures but they had proven effective in the past. She was expecting them to release her on the spot, or at least give her an opportunity to escape. She was not expecting Bloom to take her head in her hooves and look into her eyes.
“ *blah blah* calm. *blah blah blah* Winona calm.”
She wore the same eyes that she wore when she’d come home crying, those days that Bloom was especially worried about the lack of a picture on her rump, and was upset by something some other pony had said at school. Those days that she’d come find Winona and they’d sit together for some time and talk. Now Winona stopped struggling. Instead she looked into Bloom, her Bloom’s eyes. Whatever she was saying, she seemed very sincere about it. Winona stopped struggling, well she stopped trying to escape.
She allowed herself to be washed and cleaned. She wasn’t quite sure why Bloom had that effect on her, but not even the powerful Winona could withstand those eyes.
As soon as they allowed her to clear the tub she gave them a good soaking via a quick shake for their troubles. By then they were laughing and chatting to each other as if they had won a great victory. Winona waited patiently for them to open the barn doors to let her out.
The smiles died on their faces as Winona walked calmly up to a mud puddle, and promptly rolled in it, a large grin on her face.
Dogs-1
Equines-0
Author's Note
Just a little something that was mostly put together at the vet’s office a while back while I was waiting for my dog’s blood results. He’s alright thank goodness, but he gave me one heck of a scare for a while. I wanted to get the last fond memory with him down on paper in case the worst happened, and that’s what most of this was.
I swear, everytime I give that beagle a bath it feels like this, except I don’t have two friends helping me out. Then again, Kobe the Noble of the house Hound doesn’t put up this much of a fight.(normally)
(dog/cat owners I know you can relate)
