The wind gently blew as Celestia's sun shone on the spring day. Clouds were scattered around with no real pattern, flowers dotted the fields, and trees danced in the breeze. It was truely a peaceful day. On days like those, Rainbow Dash chose to just leisurely fly by and admire the view she had helped create. She flipped in small circles, sighing as her wings beat lazily just above the ground. She paused and looked behind her, searching for something. Her face lit in a grin as she found what she searched for: a tortoise floating as gentle as the wind with a contraption strapped to his back that allowed him to fly. He gave her a small smile as she laughed.
"Gosh Tank, don't get in too big of a hurry," she teased.
Tank just gave her another smile, wishing he could talk to her, tease her back. But he settled for the smile, letting his expressions be the bridge between words and understanding.
Her pink eyes shined as they entered the park, Tank slightly behind. She met up with her other friends and their pets, late as usual.
"Nice a' you ta join us, Dash," Applejack smiled.
"Ah, you know me," Rainbow said, folding her wings to her back as she landed. "If it feels good outside, I can't help but, y'know, take it easy."
"Did Rainbow just say that she likes to be slow?" Pinkie gasped, jumping up to Rainbow and comically inspected her. "Are we sure this is the real Dashie?"
As his owner defended herself and the others joked on, Tank landed with the other pets. Winona bounded up to him. "Hiya, Tank! How's your week been?"
He smiled at her enthusiasm. It was a wonder she wasn't Pinkie's dog with the way she presented herself. "I'm fine. Just trying to keep up, you know."
"Oh yeah! It must be so hard ta be with Rainbow Dash when she's SO super fast like she is!" Winona barked in her Southern twang.
Tank smiled and was going to mention his helicopter-like machine that let him go as fast as possible, but Opal interrupted. "Oh yes. Being a turtle must be hard. I don't think I could handle being so slow."
Tank frowned. Opal was mean more often than not, but she did have a soft side. She just had a temper, and by the way she was being rude, Rarity must have done something to tick the cat off. "Oh no, it's fine. The propellers have power behind them, so it's not hard to fly with her."
"Doesn't that thing ever get uncomfortable?" Angel asked, eying the strap with a critical eye. He snorted. "Fluttershy could never force me into THAT thing."
"If it means I get to live with Rainbow, then I don't mind," Tank said, looking gratefully at Rainbow.
Owlowicious noticed this. "You really care for her."
"Don't you?" Tank countered gently.
"Oh golly, a' course we do!" Winona shouted, jumping around the tortiose. "We wouldn't be nothin' 'thout our owners!"
Opal and Angel's eyes softened, Owlowicious nodded, and Gummy blinked. Around then, their owners came over and started to play with their respective pets. Tank looked for Rainbow, but couldn't find her. He looked to the air and gasped when he was nose-to-nose with the pegasus, who was hovering right above him. She burst out laughing.
"Y-You should have seen your FACE!" Rainbow giggled, pointing at him with one hoof and clutching her stomach with the other.
Tank slowly lost his look of surprise to replace it with a good-natured grin. They both took to the air for their version of play- training. While Rainbow liked to play, she was also very serious about her ariel stunts. And with Tank, she always kept him in the loop of her latest move, even teaching them to him. He could only do a few, since he couldn't quite maneuver like she could. That never stopped him from trying, though.
"Alright!" she shouted, saluting to him. "Today, the brave and awesomely amazing Rainbow Dash is going to give you a show unlike any other she has done before!" She glanced at him and leaned forward, whispering where his ear would be, "That is, if you don't mind."
She looked back, and his instant smile told her the answer. Of course he didn't care- getting a front-row-seat watching the amazing Rainbow Dash as she performed just for him? Who would disagree?
There was a tiny flicker in his chest as he watched her twist and twirl, a move he had never seen before. It was slow and graceful, a dance, almost. Her body moved with the wind, calm and controlled. It was a major change from her usual wild and flamboyant stunts. Her mane flowed gracefully as she twirled in mid-air. She broke her spin and lazily flapped higher, flipping backwards and dragging her hoof along a cloud. She produced a small ball of cotton. She shifted it as she approached him. She produced a heart, which she blew in his face like she was blowing him a kiss. It dissipated as it touched his nose. His jaw dropped.
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Did you like it?"
Tank blinked and collected himself, nodding. There was another flicker in his chest, but he pushed it away.
"You know, I came up with that," she boasted.
He blinked again. He expected it to be choreographed by Fluttershy, or maybe Rarity, but Rainbow herself?
"I made it up 'cause I just felt really inspired to dedicate a move to my favorite pet," she winked. "I wanted it to be really relaxing and what-not 'cause you're really relaxing and calm, y'know?"
Tank felt the flicker in his chest and ducked his head in embarrassment. She made a move? For him?
She hugged his shell, careful of the propellers that kept him afloat. "Aw, don't go gettin' shy on me."
He nuzzled her cheek lovingly, wishing more than ever to be able to talk to her to express his gratitude. They soared up to a cloud and mutually agreed to cuddle up and take a nap. With a yawn, Rainbow nuzzled her head under his chin, draping a wing across his shell as though to shelter him- even though he didn't need it, it was still a considerate thought. He snoozed lightly, stuck between consciousness and being asleep. His mind wondered to his owner, one of his only friends and by far his closest. Even though they had no way to verbally communicate together, they both felt like they knew everything about each other.
Tank mulled over the past stories Rainbow had told him just to clear her mind. She had told him of how her parents had pulled her out of school when they found out she liked both mares and stallions. She lost contact with her marefriend, and had ended up breaking up with her after a huge fight together one night when Rainbow sneaked out. She ran away from home not long after that since her parents were even more strict than they previously were, which he understood to be alot. But despite her rough patch, she had made a living in Ponyville on the weather team at the age of sixteen. She studied weather so she wouldn't get fired since the manager had been wary of giving the young mare a job. She quickly excelled in ranks and skills and managed to clear the weather in less than a minute. The manager had promoted her as highly as he could, and when he retired, she had stepped into his place. She was in charge of the weather- so long as she got it cleared by Canterlot officials, of course.
Her pay increased and she had moved out of her cardboard box behind Sugarcube Corner and had bought the best house she could. Ever since, she had never wasted any money, knowing the value of a dollar better than other ponies thought.
Tank sighed, listening to Rainbow's gentle breathing as she napped on the cloud beneath them. He wished she knew of his past. It wasn't anything special; it would just be nice for him if she knew more about him. If only they could talk with each other, just for a day.
Rainbow had been very nostaglic lately, and even suffering from insomnia. Her sleeping patterns had been out of line for the past week, and every time she was alone- or thought she was- she was sad. He wished he could ask her what was wrong or offer words of comfort. But he did what he could, whether it be her teddy bear to clutch when she needed help falling asleep or nuzzling away her tears- which she refused to acknowledge- that runned down her face.
"Hey, Rainbow! I thought we were supposed to be playing, not napping!"
Both pet and owner opened their eyes and looked over the edge. Everypony was looking at them, amusement in their eyes. Rainbow grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, we all have our own definition of 'fun'. Mine just happens to be napping."
Bull. He knew she needed the sleep because she hadn't slept in two days. But, once again, he was forced to keep quiet.
"Well, come down here!" Rarity shouted. "My Opal wants to play with the others, and I assume Tank would want the same, hm?"
No. He'd much rather be Rainbow's teddy bear.
Rainbow stuck her tongue at them, but smiled and said, "Alright, fine!" She turned to him, revealing the subtle bags under her eyes. "C'mon, Tank. Go show those pets who's the boss around here!"
Tank begrudgingly agreed and lifted off of the cloud- just before he remembered his propellers were off and he went crashing down to earth.
He was caught, though. He didn't fear for his life for one second. He had Rainbow to catch him, and even if for some reason she was delayed, his shell would always be an extra precaution so at least he wouldn't get hurt.
Rainbow let out a sigh of relief as she hovered in the air, squeezing him in a hug. "Silly Tank. Always trying to make my heart race," she joked, but only his trained hearing caught when her voice hitched with worry. His contraption was turned on and he floated lazily to the ground. The mares went off on their own, leaving him with a whimpering Winona nudging him.
"Ya' had us worried, Tank. We thought you was gonna crash and split open and be all turtle soup-y!" she whined.
Tank smiled. "You know my shell is strong enought to withstand a little fall like that," he joked.
"Nice going," Angel sneered. "That was really dumb, you know that?"
Opal looked horrified. "Oh, the mess it would have made! Imagine the poor fellow who would have to clean it up!"
Owlowicious rolled his dark eyes. "So you were more worried about the mess than his safety?"
"You know they were joking," the voice of Gummy spoke up, timid and distant as ever.
"Of course," the tortoise agreed, being the mediator of the group. "Now, why don't we all calm down and go for a walk?"
Everyone agreed, so they trekked along the grass in no specific direction. Tank made a note of where they were headed, since no one usually did and almost always ended up getting lost and unable to make it back to their owners. They were soon in a heated debate about who the best vet in town was- Owlowicious, Tank, Winona, and Angel being with Fluttershy and Gummy and Opal (more of Opal) being with another local vet. They approached the edge of the park when they decided to head back by the guidance of Tank.
"... and Fluttershy is SO much nicer than that uptight ole' stallion that pokes the most random pla- hey, those flowers 'r pretty!"
Everyone looked to where Winona had pointed out and found a very small patch of blue flowers. They all approached them, Winona being the most excited and Owlowicious being the most cautious. "I don't know, guys... I've never seen this kind of flower before, and I've read many books in the library about-"
"Aw, c'mon!" Winona barked happily, tail wagging as she pranced through the flowers. "Somethin' this pretty can't be bad!"
"Yes, lighten up," Opal chided, strangely in a good mood. She sniffed one in a deep breath. "They smell wonderful!"
Angel felt one in his paws, rubbing the petals with his padded paws. "You gotta admit, they feel really soft."
Tank flew through the batch, dragging along some petals as the wind picked them up. One fell on Gummy's nose, prompting him to sneeze.
"See, Owlowicious? Other than Gummy, everyone else is enjoying them," Opal purred.
Winona laughed and giggled as she and Tank raced through a tiny patch, the latter letting the former win. Tank sighed happily, floating by where Owlowicious had flown up next to him. The propellers and his wings caused petals to flutter around them, several landing on them. "See? There's nothing wrong with them."
Owlowicious frowned. "I suppose."
"Hey! Hey, I got an idea!" Winona jumped. "Let's head back!"
Tank and Owlowicious both tilted their heads at the odd request, but decided against pointing it out. "Alright," the owl said. "I guess it would be wise if we chose to head back now."
Winona burst out laughing, receiving weird looks from all of the animals there. "Get it?" she cried. "Cause he's an owl? WISE!" She continued to giggled uncontrollably. Owlowicious rolled his eyes, grabbing her with his talons and taking off in the direction of where Tank had been going first. The others followed, eager to re-unite with their true best friends.
The trip back seemed to take more time-consuming than the previous one, but Tank wasn't bothered by it. He wanted to get home and cuddle back up with Rainbow and just sleep for the rest of the afternoon. They climbed a hill and on the other side hovered his owner, Rainbow Dash. He zipped over to her and accepted her hug, surprised but not ungrateful for the extra attention she seemed to be giving him. "Heya, boy! Have you had fun today?"
He smiled his answer.
"Perfect!" she shouted, but exhaustion was creeping into her voice. "How would you like to just sleep the rest of the day away?"
He nodded in his slow way.
"Awesome! I'm really tired. Well, let's get going!"
As he rode off with Rainbow, he heard the excited bark of Winona as she shouted, "Bye-bye, Tanky! Have a good day!"
When they got to their house, Rainbow all but stumbled to her room and collapsed onto her cloud bed. Tank nuzzled up beside her and they continued what they were doing earlier at the park. Just as he was dozing off, he heard Rainbow mumble, "Why do I always sleep my best when you sleep by me?"
Tank smiled, because he didn't know.
When Tank woke up, he immediately knew something was wrong.
Firstly, he felt something on his back. In his groggy state of mind, he thought it was his shell, but then crossed that out since it never felt so... light. Like it was an apendage. He didn't feel the helicopter-like machine that helped him stay with his owner in her cloud home. He felt larger, too. He felt like he had grown five times his regular size, even a little larger if he felt like stretching his "shell" that he could now move, even if it wasn't the most graceful he had been. There was something that felt like hair on his head and lower back, but he ruled that out as Rainbow Dash's mane or tail on him. And- wait. He had... ears?
Finally fed up with guessing and confusion, he untangled himself from Rainbow's grasp- when did she get so small looking?- and walked around her house clumsily. Luckily, Rainbow had taken him on the "Grandly Awesome Tour", so he found the bathroom with relative ease. He stumbled his way over to the modest mirror Rainbow had- only used on the occasional time where looks matter, like a Wonderbolts show or the Grand Galloping Gala.
His calm exterior had a relapse when he saw what was in the mirror.
At first, he noticed his fur. It was a soft green, much like his old skin but smoother-looking. His coat glowed slightly in the dawn light. He had a spikey mane- he had a MANE!- with both a deep green and light green, with his tail with the same design. His deep blue eyes widened larger as he saw that he had wings. He was a pony, and a pegasus at that. His cutie mark was of propellers. Well, he did know alot about them since he was owned by the most awesome pegasus in the world.
Okay, he had to admit that by pony standards, he was a good-looking stallion.
'No!' he thought. 'Now's not the time to focus on that! Now's a time to calm down and think of how this can be possible.'
"Hey! What the heck are you doin' in my house?!"
'Or I could be tackled by my owner. Great, this is just great!'
"Well?" Rainbow shouted, her face inches from his, hooves pinning his forelegs to the ground and straddling him. She had a snarl firmly placed on her muzzle. "Are you a spy?"
Were it any other situation, he would have laughed. But the way that Rainbow was looking at him, he knew that if he laughed, he would be eating his own shell- er, WINGS.
"Uh..." He blinked. Huh, his voice was deeper as a stallion.
"Explain now before I Sonic Rainboom your flank out of Equestria!"
Okay, she sounded mad. He opened his mouth to explain...
And then closed it again.
How do you explain what you don't understand? Why was he a stallion all of the sudden? More importantly, would Rainbow believe him?
"I'm you're pet tortoise..."
Okay, that sounded WAY better in his head.
Rainbow burst out laughing, but kept her iron grip on his forelegs. "Yeah right! Tank's a tortoise! And you aren't, buddy- if you haven't noticed."
"Please, just hear me out." Great, he was begging. Well, whatever kept him from getting bucked into next week.
She narrowed her beautiful magenta eyes. "Grahh... Alright. But only because I could use a good laugh..."
She cautiously let Tank get to his hooves, which he did sloppily. She sat on her cloud floor, impatiently waiting for the so-called stranger to tell his wacky tale.
"I don't know how it happened, but I woke up this morning feeling weird and when I came in here to check what was wrong, I was, well, a stallion," he explained. "Please, what can I do to make you believe me?"
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "Tell me something about me that only me and Tank would know."
He sighed. "I was the one that saved you in the Ghastly Gorge when your wing was trapped under that boulder."
"Which wing?" Rainbow snapped.
"The right one," he replied without missing a beat.
She growled. "Not good enough! Something else..."
Tank rolled his eyes. He knew she would be difficult, but was hoping she would just accept the truth in his words. Even his patience was tested around Rainbow. "Yesterday, you made up a move."
Rainbow snorted. "Lotsa' ponies could have seen tha-"
"You said that you made it up to dedicate it to your 'favorite pet' because I'm calm and relaxing."
Her jaw dropped. Her eyes widened. Seconds turned to minutes. Rainbow Dash stared at him incredulously while Tank met her gaze with a leveled look. "B-But I only told T-Tank that!"
Tank nodded. 'Give her another minute. She'll get it eventually.'
"B-But then h-how do you know it? W-Were you-? No, nopony was around... B-But that means..."
Her pink eyes connected with his deep blue ones. Tank saw his reflection in her glassy orbs, and was surprised that she was grasping the concept that he was turned into a stallion. She then jumped at him again.
He expected to be pounded into the ground, or maybe laughed at for his ridiculous attempts to fool her. But instead, she hugged him.
His heart lurched and he blushed, but shook it off. First they needed to figure out what the hay was going on.
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! Ican'tbelieveyou'reanactualstallion! Ohhowdidthishappen? Whydidn'tyoudothisbefore? Waitcanyoucontrolit? Aretheothers'petsthesame?"
Tank could almost feel his eyes spinning. He shook his head. "Um, what?"
Rainbow huffed, raising her head to look into his eyes. "How did this happen?"
"I have no idea."
"Why didn't you do this before?"
"Um, I didn't know how?"
"So you can't control it?"
"Eenope."
"Are the others' pets like this?"
A pause. "I don't know."
"..."
"..."
"I can't believe I'm having a conversation with my tortoise who's now a stallion!"
"..."
"...?"
"You can get off of me now."
Rainbow blushed and got off of her former pet. "Sorry about that..."
There was a pregnant pause in which they both averted their eyes from the other. 'Well, this is awkward...' Tank thought, looking back at himself in the mirror. His eyes caught Rainbow's staring at his new pegasus body. She coughed and looked away quickly.
'Was I just checking out my pet?' She shook her head. "Well, uh, we might as well go to Twilight's." At his confused glance, she rubbed the back of her head. "Y'know, cause Twilight will know what's happening if anypony would."
He nodded and rose to his hooves. He and Rainbow made their way to the outside of the house, him stumbling occasionally. They made as far as her "yard" before they had to stop. "How do you work these things?" Tank asked, trying to spread his wings. He only managed to ruffle them.
Rainbow groaned and smacked a hoof to her face. "Great. A flying lesson. As if the squirt wasn't enough," she murmered to herself. She cleared her throat and raised her voice. "Alright, first you have to extend them out. Y'know, like you do a leg? It's basically the same, just focusing on a different limb."
His brow crinkled as he concentrated on his wings. Much to his and Rainbow's surprise, they shot open. Giving Rainbow Dash a mouthful of Tank's feathers.
She gagged and spit out the green feathers, glaring at the sheepish-looking Tank. "Nice. Anyway, now try to flap them. But not too fast, or you'll get really tired really quick."
Tank nodded and did as he was told. Slowly, he was being lifted off of the cloud. He was strong and was hovering almost expertly in no time. "I think you've got it. Now we need to work on motion. To move forward, you need to lean and-"
But Tank had already started moving. With an excited smile, he flew into the air and flipped multiple times. "Hey, this isn't so hard!"
Rainbow was shocked, but quickly shook that away and smiled brightly. "Damn, I knew I had an awesome pet, but I didn't think you would get so used to flying so fast!"
"Heh, when you're a tortoise and your owner is the fastest flier in all of Equestria, you learn to keep up," he smiled. "Shouldn't we be heading out?"
Rainbow Dash took to the skies, zooming past him and hollering back, "See if you can keep up now!"
~Sweet Apple Acres~
Applejack woke up later than her usual time. On most mornings, the sun had to wait to greet her. But she must have had the best night or the worst to make her pass out like that, but since she had no horrible headache or memories, she bet it was the former. There was no set time to get up at the farmhouse, but it was frowned upon and called slacking off if you weren't up within an hour of dawn. She yawned, her mouth stretched wide, before groggily dragging her hooves from the covers and plopping them on the hardwood of her floor, a muffled clop coming from the sturdy oak. She shook out her wild mane, jerking the brush through her hair begrudgingly. Despite what Rarity may have thought, Applejack combed her mane every day. She had to since she slept with her mane loose and the tangles just loved to attack her hair every morning. At least she was no Rainbow Dash- that mare maybe combed it once a month, and the only exception to that was if the Wonderbolts were involveed.
Snorting half-heartedly at her friend/rival's ways, she managed to expertly tie her mane and tail together with her signature red bands. She put on her stetson, but something in the mirror made her freeze.
There was another mare- an unfamiliar one, at that- curled up at the foot of her bed, slumbering to her heart's content.
Applejack shook her head, seriously doubting her night being alcohol-free at that point, and wiped her eyes to see if she were just hallucinating. No, the mare was still there when her eyes opened again.
'What in the hay-? Who in the hay is that?'
She crept closer, careful to not make much noise as to not wake up the stranger before she could have a good look at her. She was a brown mare with an equally brown, slightly messy mane and tail with white streaks in her hair. There was a bright red stetson placed over her face, but Applejack could just make out the dark brown freckles the mysterious mare had on her cheeks. The tips of her hooves looked as though they were dipped in white chocolate, and so was her muzzle that just barely peeked out from below her hat. Her cutie mark intrigued Applejack. It was a rope, positioned in a lasso position, with a triangular white glow around it.
'Well, she's obviously a farm pony,' Applejack thought. 'Now why is she here?'
Steeling herself for a fight, she poked the pony on her side. This only made the mare turn over on her back, legs in the air and mumbling something that Applejack couldn't understand. Applejack huffed and pushed her off of her bed, wincing at the hollow thud and yelp that came after. She poked her head around the post of her bed, looking into the dazed, deep brown eyes of the mare.
"Sorry 'bout the rude awakenin' there, partn'r, but would ya kindly explain what yer doin' in ma house?" Applejack asked, not unkindly but not particularly friendly.
The brown pony tilted her head, confusion and hurt shining in her eyes. "But I always sleep on yer bed, AJ."
Applejack rose an eyebrow at her. "I think I woulda noticed if'n a full-grown mare who Ah've never met before was a' sleepin' on ma bed ev'ry night."
The pony's eyes widened and she gave out a strange, dog-like whine. "W-Wait, y'all can un-understand me?"
Applejack blinked. "Well, why wouldn't Ah be able to? Yer speakin' plain Equestrian..."
The pony jumped up, startling Applejack. But since she didn't make a run for the door, and probably wouldn't from the looks of things, Applejack decided the stranger could be somewhat trusted, even though her question hadn't really been answered. The brown pony's eyes widened when she saw herself in the mirror. Applejack gave a snort of laughter, despite the circumstance. "Aw, c'mon now. Y'all don't look too bad, now."
The pony, oddly enough, barked. Just like a dog. She looked like she was excited, if not a little confused, and started jumping around the room like Pinkie Pie. Applejack leaned against the bedpost, crossing her forlegs and watching the spectacle with an amused glint in her eye. Even if she had just met this pony, and even if she may or may not have broken into her house, she seemed like a good pony to be around. After she stopped bouncing around, she started making strange whines, whimpers, and growls.
Applejack cleared her throat, making the brown mare jump. "If'n ya'll're done there, I'd like it if you would answer some a' my questions, since you were in ma house n' all."
"My name's Winona and Ah was yer pet dog! Wow, my voice sounds weird when Ah'm a pony! Oh well! Anyway, Ah dunno how Ah ended up like this, but Ah hope it don't go away or stop 'cause now Ah can talk to ya and you can understand me now and Ah'm not a dog- not that Ah didn't like bein' a dog, but wow! Ah can see in color! Oh, Applejack, you have really purdy eyes! What color is that? Ah thank Tank said it was green, but it's a differ'nt shade then him 'r Gummy but Ah guess that makes ya special! Oh, Ah'm sorry! Ah went off ramblin' like that 'gain! What do ya have ta ask me?" the hyperactive pony said all in one breath.
Applejack blinked. Then blinked again. She squinted at the pony, who was sitting in front of her and scratching the back of her ear like a- surprise- dog would. She combed through what she had said, lucky enough to have experience with Pinkie Pie, and could not find any sense in it. But at the same time, she could see no lie in the words of the mare. She was no living lie detector, but the Element of Honesty made it pretty hard to lie and be lied to. There was some pretty strange things she had seen in the past year or two since Twilight had been around, so why couldn't her dog just suddenly turn into a mare? Plus, the pony looked like Winona would if she was a pony.
"Um, you okay, Applejack? Ah mean, Ah'm as confused as you are, but... Do... Do ya not believe me?" Winona's tail tucked itself closer to it's sitting occupant as she deployed her most powerful weapon even as a mare- her signature puppy-dog eyes.
Applejack smiled. "Well, butter me up 'n call me a biscuit! Those're Winona's eyes, alright! Um, how did this happen, exactly?"
Winona laughed. "Oh, Ah dunno! Ah just woke up on th' floor n' you standin' over me 'n suddenly Ah'm a pony!"
"Ah think we best go visit Twilight with this 'n. Sure is a doozy," Applejack said as she walked toward the door. She heard the excited skipping of her former pet behind her as they walked down the steps, out the front door, and off into the orchards.
"Hey, AJ! Why we goin' to th' apple trees!" Winona half-barked as she bound up next to the orange mare.
"Hmm?" Applejack asked, looking questioningly at Winona. "Ya barked the first half, sugarcube. All Ah heard was '... goin' to th' apple trees'?"
"Oh wow, getting used ta talkin' in one language's hard," Winona laughed. "Ah asked why we's goin' to th' orchards."
"Oh," Applejack sighed. "Well, we gotta find Big Mac 'n let 'im know what's goin' on 'n where we're goin'."
Winona giggled and took off running, her nose to the ground. "I caught 'is scent! C'mon, AJ!"
Applejack contained her shock at this discovery and ran after the energetic mare. 'She sure does act like she did as a dog,' Applejack thought with a smile. 'Still got the same spirit.'
She quickly caught up to Winona, who had to slow down to keep the good scent trail going. Applejack jogged slowly behind her, looking her over again. There was no doubt in her mind at that point that the pony was her dog. Winona had a Southern accent, presumably picking it up from the Apple family. She was shorter than Applejack- almost a full head below her- but was around the same age. She looked like she had been applebucking her entire life, which she might as well have been from how much she actually worked on the farm. She helped herd cows and pigs if they ever got away, and could even work a lasso pretty well for a dog. She spent most of her time bouncing around and running, so her legs were well-toned.
Applejack blinked as she heard Winona shout out, "Heya, Big Macintosh! What's goin' on? Guess what, Ah'm a PONY now!"
Applejack stepped between Big Mac, who looked extremely lost, and Winona, who was wagging her tail with her tongue lolling out. "Uh, Big Mac? Somehow, Winona's been turned inta..." she paused when she realized how ridiculous it would sound, so she just pointed at the mare, "that. We're gonna head over ta Twilight's 'n see if we can figure out how this happened, so can you handle th' orchard just fer taday?"
Big Mac, to his credit, didn't completely freak out. He just nodded, wide-eyed. Applejack smiled gratefully at him and turned to leave. Before he could process any information, Winona barked and waved goodbye to him before running over the hill to catch up with his little sister. He waved back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(A/N): Sorry for being so late, folks. Vacation for me! But here is Chapter 2! Please tell me if you see any errors so I can fix them! Hope you all enjoyed!
