The sun shone brightly over the vast green field they'd found themselves in, with birdsong filling the air and a cool and gentle breeze blowing favourably for them. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, once more found herself in the world of humans, alongside her number one assistant, Spike. Thankfully for the two of them, this visit was not to try and combat some kind of ancient menace, but rather to simply visit their friends. And so, here they were, Twilight and Spike sitting alongside her human companions, all students of the local Canterlot High School. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and of course, Twilight's fellow native Equestrian, Sunset Shimmer. All of the girls, as evidenced by the smiles on their faces, were clearly glad to see their royal friend return to them, especially on a pleasant day like today. The seven girls all sat upon a massive red and white chequered blanket, placed carefully in the middle of the field. Upon it was placed a single woven basket, containing many delicious-looking food items. With their impromptu picnic established, Applejack was the first to speak up.
"Well, Twi, it was mighty nice of y'all to come back like this."
Twilight smiled at that.
"You girls are my friends! If ever you need me, you just have to ask."
Applejack returned that smile, but this was when Rainbow Dash entered the picture.
"Yeah, that's all well and good, but I think we can all agree that you deserve a break from all that every once in a while. So, bottoms up!"
The rainbow-haired girl emphasised her point by raising a can of soda, which she promptly started to gulp down quickly. Although a few of the girls, Rarity especially, were somewhat taken aback by this behaviour, they all nevertheless chuckled to themselves and soon followed suit, grabbing their own sodas before ceremoniously tapping them against each other. With the group now busy with downing their drinks, Pinkie managing to do so while also stuffing a sandwich into her face, Twilight then notice Spike nearby, who was busy rolling around in the ground. Affording herself a brief chuckle, she considered her assistant's actions. Well, she thought, he certainly seems to have taken to a canine's life rather well. Though she knew she couldn't just say that out loud, instead gesturing to Spike to come over, which he soon noticed. After reaching the blanket, he sat down beside his lifelong friend before looking up at her.
"Sorry about that. Guess this whole dog thing just gets to me sometimes."
Twilight smiled and nodded at her young friend, raising a hand and patting him on the head. Although he would have balked at this kind of gesture back in Equestria, Spike actually seemed to enjoy the motion while in dog form, as evidenced by the wagging of his tail. Twilight would have commented on that further, but was interrupted by the sound of what she recognised instantly as barking off in the distance. Looking up, she saw a far-off creature, running towards them across the field. Applejack had also turned to look at the animal, and smiled when she caught sight of it.
"Oh yeah! I forgot! I hope y'all don't mind, but I thought I'd bring mah dog along today."
The young Princess nodded at that, remembering all too well that the Applejack in her world also had a pet dog, Winona. And as the dog in question began to get closer to their blanket, Twilight smiled as she realised that it was indeed the same dog. Brown and white in colour, she hung her tongue out happily and began licking her owner, much to Applejack's amusement.
"Down girl!" she said jovially.
Winona obeyed immediately, sitting beside the farm girl while Fluttershy, who had been sitting nearby, petted her affectionately. The wagging of her tail made it obvious that Winona appreciated it, but then Twilight noted that the dog suddenly sat far more upright, her ears perking up as she looked over in Twilight's direction. At first, Twilight didn't know why Winona would be looking at her, but then understanding dawned on her as she realised that it wasn't her, but the one beside her that had caught the dog's attention. Glancing down, she looked at Spike as he was scratching his ear with his hind leg, oblivious to the stare he was receiving. Staying silent, Twilight looked on as Winona took a few cautious steps forward, with many of the other girls noticing this behaviour at last, especially Applejack. Only once she came within a foot of Spike did the latter finally notice her, at which point he took an immediate step backwards.
"Oh...um...hi, Winona."
Winona took another step towards him, Spike growing more and more nervous with every passing moment, before taking a few sniffs. Needless to say, Spike didn't really know what to do in this situation, and so looked up to Twilight, hoping she would have some insight. Unfortunately, she was just as flummoxed as he was, and so Spike slowly looked down to his fellow dog, who thankfully had stopped trying to smell him. However, before any of them could react, Winona seemed to leap forward towards Spike, tackling him to the ground, so he was now on his back. Although Twilight was at first taken aback by this, she stopped once she realised what was happening. Winona, rather than trying to attack Spike, was instead busying herself with licking his face repeatedly, much to his chagrin. The look of discomfort on his face was clear, but what was even more obvious was the look on the other girls, all of whom knew exactly what was happening here.
"Oh...my!" Fluttershy remarked.
"Ha! The girl knows what she wants, I'll give her that much!" Rainbow added.
"Oh that is just the sweetest little thing! I really must try branching out into some new dog accessories in future. I can just put a bow around the two of them!" Rarity blurted.
But it was Applejack who was smiling the most at all this.
"Well shucks, Spike. Ah reckon little Winona's gone and taken a right liking to ya!"
Even Twilight was having trouble holding back just how adorable the scene before her appeared to be, though Spike was finding this less than amusing. After much effort, he finally managed to wriggle out of the hold Winona had on him, standing on all fours soon afterwards to brush himself off from the tackle. However, his new "playmate" didn't leave him alone for long, and soon approached him once more, nuzzling the side of his head with her own in a clear sign of affection. This display resulted in a well-earned "aw" from, all seven of the girls, Twilight included, thought Spike gave her and angry look for it. Chuckling at that, Twilight did her best to reassure him.
"Oh don't look at me like that, Spike, it’s all in good fun. You've got to admit though, you two make the most adorable couple!"
Spike slapped his forehead with frustration over that, but his attention was drawn to the girls yet again after he heard some kind of beeping sound. Looking up, he saw to his horror that several of them had pulled out their phones, and were in the process of taking several pictures of him and Winona together like this. Looking utterly mortified, Spike buried his face in his paws, all while Winona continued to adorably nuzzle him.
"I'm never going to live this down."
Although she knew it was probably a bad idea to bother him further, Twilight couldn't help but lean over and whisper to Sunset what she truly wanted at this moment in time.
"Could...erm...I have a copy of that picture to take back with me?"
