Tale Chasing

Chapters

Meeting Man's Best Friend
Lost Dog Found
New Dog, New Tricks
No Love Like the Love of a Dog

Meeting Man's Best Friend

The day started off normally like any other day. It was cloudy with temperatures at low seventies and had just rained not too long ago. The chilly weather seemed fitting for winter in California. Anyway, I had just gotten home after finishing my classes and it was now getting dark. I pulled up to my driveway, pulled out my keys, and got into my house. I lived alone in my quiet little home, so when I got inside, only darkness and silence welcomed me home like usual. After I had put my stuff away, I was warming myself yesterday’s leftover pizza while thinking about my life at the moment.

God damn it’s really quiet in here. Maybe I should get a dog? From what I heard, getting a dog is an amazing experience. Who knows, maybe a dog will liven things up around here?

*BOOM* *CRACK*

Instead of the microwave’s beeping bringing me out of my thoughts, the sound of what I assumed was thunder and lightning ripped me away from my thoughts. The sound of where the lightning struck sounded really close judging by how loud and deafening it was.

Holy shit, that was fucking loud!

I went to the sliding glass door that led to my backyard to check on the weather and to assess for any damages. It was drizzling outside, and it had gotten dark already. I looked around from behind the glass door, expecting something to be burnt or on fire from the lightning. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find anything charred or burnt black, though it was dark and made it kind of hard to see anything that went beyond the light of my kitchen. However, I did notice something strange lying in the flowerbed of my backyard.

What the hell? I thought to myself. I waited a few minutes to see if anymore lightning would strike again. After waiting for about five minutes in silence, I grabbed my flashlight and opened the door to my backyard. I shined my flashlight at the odd figure in my flowerbed and what I saw surprised me. In the light of my flashlight, I saw a foot and trailed my flashlight up to the body that connected it. The person who was lying down on her stomach with her face in the flowers had light skin and long, brown hair.

So what’s the first thing you do when you see a naked and unconscious girl in your backyard? You freak the fuck out. When I saw the girl, I thought she was dead. Holy shit! What the fuck?! Oh god, oh god. Did somebody fucking drop a dead body in my backyard?! Oh shit, I do not want to go to jail if the cops get the wrong idea! Pull yourself together, Alex! Freak the fuck out later. Check to see if she’s alive now.

With my flashlight still shining on the girl, I used one hand to turn her over to see if she was wounded anywhere else on her body. Thankfully, there weren’t any injuries that covered her front, though she was partially covered in the mud from the garden. I took my trembling hand and placed two fingers on her neck to check her pulse. I let out a sigh of relief when I found out she was alive.

Oh thank god, she’s alive. I wouldn’t know what to do if she was dead. Now, what the hell do I do?

A chilling wind blew through me, and looking at the girl, I could see she was shivering with goosebumps starting to form on her skin. I didn’t want to leave the naked girl outside in the cold, so I placed both my arms under her and carried her inside. She was light in my arms as I carried her to the couch of my living room. She was still wet and covered in mud, but at the moment, this girl’s health was more important than the couch.

In the light of the living room, I got a better look at the girl. She looked like she was in her early twenties about my age, and she was about five feet five inches tall, just a few inches shorter than me. She had some freckles on her face and some above her breasts, which I realized were neither small nor too large. I tore my eyes away from her chest and kept myself from looking farther down. Even though she was cute, I didn’t want to take advantage of her vulnerability. I forced my eyes to look back at her face again. She looked peaceful while she was unconscious, that is until her eyes shot open.

Seeing how this girl was awake and naked in a stranger’s home, I tried to explain myself before any misunderstandings were made. “Hey, are you alrig-“ I didn’t get to finish my question as the girl leapt from where she was lying down and pinned me down to the floor. Hard. She had both of her arms keeping my arms pinned while she had her knees sitting on my thighs. Despite my efforts to get her off of me, she was deceptively strong for a girl her size. Her hold on me was firm and was causing some slight pain to me. When I looked at her face, she wore an angry scowl and even showed her teeth as she growled. Instead of the happy feeling of a naked girl being on top of me, I was scared shitless.

Great… I help out a girl in her time of need, only to find out she’s fucking batshit crazy. I thought if I did something nice, something good would happen to me. Isn’t that how karma works?

At last she finally spoke, or growled in this case. “Who are ya?” she asked with a slight southern accent. As soon as she said those words, she wore a look of confusion. “Why does my voice sound different?” Her eyes widened when she saw her hands. “What are these?!”

As soon as she took her hand off of my right arm, I used that chance to push her off of me and scramble away from her, hitting my back against the wall as I shakily tried to stand up. She glared back at me again and took on some sort of defensive stance while standing on all fours with her butt sticking upward. If she wasn’t a psychotic girl, I would have totally found this scene erotic.

She then pounced onto me, trapping me between her arms and the wall behind me. I was forced to look into her dark brown eyes since I couldn’t look anywhere else, especially with a hot, nude girl in front of me. “What did you do to me?!” she snarled. I could feel her piercing gaze burning into me.

“I-I didn’t do anything to you. Honest!” I blurted out.

She still kept her harsh gaze at me. “Okay, who are ya? What are ya?”

The first question I get, but the second question seemed very strange. Okay, she’s either crazy or on drugs. Both seem very likely at this point. “As for who I am, my name is Alex. And you and I are human,” I replied as calmly as I could. If I was going to deal with some psycho, I was going to have to calm her down so that she wouldn’t do anything rash.

Her glare softened a bit, but still held a bit of wariness. “Alright, where am I?”

“You’re at my house.”

“And where’s that at?” I could see her muscles starting to relax the more I answered her questions.

“California.” I got a blank stare from her. “The United States of America?” More blanks stares from her. “Earth?” She tilted her head in confusion.

Wow, she must be really drugged up if she doesn’t even know we’re on Earth. As soon as our interrogation reached a pause, I couldn’t help but look down. She was still covered in some mud, and she was starting to leave tracks of dirt on the floor. I couldn’t help blushing as soon as I saw the rest of her body. I tried to take my mind off of her body by asking her questions of my own. “So what’s your name?”

“Winona,” she simply replied. Winona? Why does that name sound familiar?

“Well Winona, it’s nice to meet you,” I said as I brought my right hand out between us for a handshake. She finally brought her arms down and released me, though she did something unexpected and started sniffing my hand instead of shaking it. Do my hands smell like leftover pizza? Oh I should probably get those out of the microwave now. She awkwardly sniffed my hand, and then walked around me while sniffing the rest of me.

“Why are you sniffing me?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable when she lingered behind me for quite a while.

“I’m gettin' your scent.”

“Okay…” I replied as I gently pushed her away from me. She seemed more relaxed around me now and was now sitting with her arms in front of her and her legs spread apart. I quickly looked away from her. This girl has no modesty. I don’t know whether I should be feeling happy or awkward. “Well, I can offer you my shower, some food, and a place to stay at for the night. You can use my phone to call your folks. How does that sound?” I asked.

She didn’t seem to have heard me while I was talking. Her face was scrunched up in a pained expression, and her legs were close together, no longer spread apart. I felt a bit of disappointment when she closed her legs, but I quickly shook off that perverted thought and focused on the girl who seemed troubled. “Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Her eyes were closed, and she was fidgeting in place. “Do you have a tree I can use?” she asked.

I was really confused by her question. Tree? Why would she need a tree? I then saw Winona give a sigh with a happy and relieved expression on her face. Looking down, I saw a yellow puddle spilling out from under her. Oh. So that’s what she meant…

She looked back at me with an apologetic, sad look. “Sorry…”

I gave a sigh and rubbed the temples of my head. “It’s…alright. I’ll just clean it up. Though first, I’ll show you the way to the bathroom.” I got a roll of paper towels and placed squares of paper towels on the floor leading towards the bathroom.

I put out my hand towards her in a gesture of helping her up. She slowly took my hand, which I found out was also covered in her piss when she had her hands on the floor but I ignored it so that I didn’t embarrass her further. I pulled her up so that she was on her feet. However as soon as she got onto her feet, she lost her balance and tipped forward, hugging onto my body. I knew that I was going to need a bath and a change of clothes after this ordeal. I brought my arms around her to help her steady herself and led her towards the bathroom. Even with her body pressed against mine, I tried my damnedest to ignore the piss and her naked body.

We had finally reached the bathroom after walking at a snail’s pace. She had a wondrous look in her eyes as she looked around my bathroom. To me, it was just a bathroom that everybody else had. It had a shower combined with a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet.

“What’s that?” she asked as she pointed at the showerhead.

“That’s a shower. You’ve never heard of a shower before?” I replied. She shook her head. Wow, what is she, Amish? “Well, now that I’ve shown you the bathroom, you can now clean yourself while I take care of the mess.”

I tried to walk out of the bathroom, but she still clung onto me. “Wait, aren’t you going to wash me?” What?

“What?” I asked, voicing my own thoughts.

“The Apple family usually gives me a bath, and since they’re not here right now, you’re goin' to have to do it,” she innocently replied.

My brain stopped processing for a second when she asked me to wash her. “I’m sorry, what?!” Wow, I didn’t think she would be so fucked up that she needed people to give her a bath. She gave me a sad and irresistibly cute pout when she looked up at me. Gah! I still have piss on the living room floor, and I need to get this girl cleaned up so that I can get cleaned up. “Fine…”

I waddled over to the bathtub with Winona still clinging onto me. I turned on the faucet so that warm water was pouring out. Once the tub was mostly filled, I had Winona let go of me and get into the tub. When she tried to get in the tub, she cautiously dipped her toes in the water before slowly submerging into the water. Now for the awkward part. Before the bath could begin, I told Winona to remember how I’m going to wash her so that she didn’t need my help, or anyone else’s help, for her future baths.

I got a small glob of shampoo in my hand. “Close your eyes. I don’t want you to get any of the shampoo in your eyes.” She did as she was told, and I lathered the shampoo in her hair. Once I finished lathering her hair, I began to rinse the suds out of her hair using the hand held shower head. She wasn’t kidding when she said she’s never heard of a shower because when the shower head sprayed water on her, she let out a yelp.

“Ah! It feels like rain,” she said as she started to shake her head to get the water out, covering me with water as well.

“Winona, stop! You’re getting me wet too.”

“Sorry,” she giggled as she saw my drenched hair and shirt.

I continued with her bath, trying really hard not to look at her chest or other private areas as I lathered, scrubbed, and rinsed her body. I avoided her privates, leaving them for last hoping Winona could take care of it. When I got to that point, I asked Winona: “Can you handle cleaning your private areas?” She tilted her head at me with a blank expression. Oh…wow. I guess this is my lucky (or unlucky) day.

I had no idea how I was going to approach this. She pretty much gave me permission to touch her naked body, but that was mostly because of her ignorance to the concept of modesty. I took some body soap in my hands and hesitantly brought my hands closer to her breasts. I can’t believe I’m doing this. As soon as my hands made contact with her soft skin, she let out a gasp of air. I backed away as fast as possible while spouting apologies. “I am so sorry! Please don’t think I’m some kind of pervert.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked innocently. She is really naïve.

“What am I talking about? I’m talking about me being a guy and you being a girl who doesn’t mind being naked and touched by said guy!”

“Where I come from, everyone’s naked.” Oh, so she’s from a nudist colony. That explains the whole being naked thing. “I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a bath.”

I gave a groan at her obliviousness. “It may work that way wherever you’re from. But here and in most parts of the world, when a girl let’s a guy touch her breasts and other parts, it usually means she wants sex.”

Winona looked shocked as my words finally sunk in. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean ta cause trouble,” she apologized. “Everything seems really different here. I don’t feel like I’m in heat in this body.”

Ignore that last part, Alex. She’s already confused, so there’s no need to make sense of it. “It’s okay. If I tell you how to wash the rest of yourself, do you think you can handle it?” she gave a small nod.

“Alright, just let me go on Google to find out how to go about washing the rest of you because even I don’t know.” Winona again gave me the same look of confusion as I walked out the bathroom to get my laptop. Of course I wouldn’t know how women wash themselves. I’m a guy. Thankfully, the internet has the answers to everything.

So one awkward explanation and a bath later, Winona was finally cleaned and wrapped in clean towels. I brought her some of my clothes – my black gym shorts and an old white shirt. Like everything else so far, I had to put the clothes on for her while at the same time forcing my eyes not to look down. Putting a shirt on her was more difficult than it should have been since I had to explain to her which hole to put her arms and head through. Even when I wasn't looking, I felt something soft brush against my hands as I was pulling down the shirt. Temptation is a dirty bastard. It was a miracle that I was even able to put the shorts on her. After I dressed her, she looked pretty good with the clothes I gave her. The clothes didn’t look too big on her since I’ve always been scrawny. I didn’t have any underwear to give her, so I hoped she wouldn’t mind.

With Winona taken care of, I brought her to another chair in the living room to sit in while I cleaned up the mess she made. After about twenty minutes of scrubbing the floors and cleaning the couch, I put away all the cleaning supplies and looked at the clock. It was 7:22 PM and I still hadn’t eaten dinner yet. My pizza was probably cold by now and would need to be reheated again.

Food later, shower first. After cleaning up Winona and her mess, I could really use a shower. I grabbed a new change of clothes - a black T-shirt and jeans - and a towel before heading towards the bathroom. I turned on the shower and hopped in, letting the warm water hit me. While I was washing myself, I heard the door open. Did I lock the door...? SHIT! I had gotten so used to living alone that I didn't even bother locking the door. Sitting on the floor of the doorway was Winona, staring at my naked body curiously.

I grabbed the shower curtains and tried to cover myself, though that didn’t do much since the curtains were translucent. “Winona, what are you doing here?!”

She crawled on all fours up to the shower I was in while trying to get a good look at my body. “You’ve done so much for me. I thought I could pay ya back by helpin' you now that I have this new body.”

“I-It’s fine, Winona. I don’t need your help. Really! Just go wait in the living room, and I’ll be right out. Also close the door on the way out.”

She shrugged her shoulders before leaving the bathroom and closing the door with her mouth. I’m going to have to clean that later. After finishing my shower and cleaning the doorknob of the bathroom, I went back to the living room to see Winona curled up on the couch.

I looked at Winona, who was starting to look sleepy. “Hey, do you want something to eat? Right now I’ve got leftover pizza if that’s okay with you.”

She perked up at the mention of food. “Pizza? What’s that? Is it good?”

I wasn’t surprised anymore when she said she didn’t know what pizza was. “I got the Smokehouse Pizza, which is pretty much bread with a bunch of toppings, and it’s really good.” I warmed up the slices of pizza again. There were only three slices, but I decided I would let her have two and I could get something else to eat later.

Once the slices were warmed up, I went back to the living room and handed her a plate with two slices. While I dug into my own slice, she stared at hers. “Is there a problem?” I asked.

“Yeah, how do I eat it?”

I gave a small chuckle. “You eat it with your hands like so,” I said as I demonstrated how to eat a pizza by holding the slice up with one hand and taking a bite out of it.

She looked at her hand and then back at her pizza. It looked like she was having trouble just holding one of the slices up. It’s like she had no control of her fingers, and she would end up pawing at the slices in front of her. She then gave up holding it up and dug her face into the slices, ripping them apart with her teeth. I couldn’t help but stare at her as she ate like an animal, while I continued eating.

“It’s delicious!” she said with pizza still in her mouth.

“Glad you like it,” I replied with a smile.

Once dinner was finished, I decided now was a good time for her to explain how she ended up in my backyard. We both sat on the now-cleaned couch and got ourselves comfortable. “So Winona, how did you end up in my backyard?” I asked.

She thought about it for a minute. “Well, the day started off normal until cotton candy clouds began raining chocolate milk.” This explanation started off so normally and then it took a sharp turn towards crazy town. I didn’t interrupt her explanation and let her continued, even though I was sure that her explanation was going to get crazier and more far-fetched. “I was watching over the rest of the Apple family while Applejack went off to save Equestria. Then, a weird-looking creature with different body parts showed up and started causing chaos.”

Equestria and Applejack? Those sound really familiar now. But where did I hear it from? “Uh huh, and this creature you saw had something to do with you being here?”

She gave a nod. “Yeah, and when he stopped by the farm, I did my best to protect the family and managed to chomp on his tail. The next thing I know, he threw me into a hole in the air and here I am.”

I tried my best to make sense of her explanation, but the problem was that there was no sense in it at all. A hole in the air? What the hell? That doesn’t even make sense. I let out a frustrated sigh and ran my fingers through my black hair. “Okay, can you just call your folks and tell them where you are?”

“How? I can’t find their scent here.”

Now it’s my turn to be confused. “What? I meant give them a call on the phone.”

“Phone?” she asked tilting her head.

“You know, a phone. A device used to talk to other people.” I pulled out my cellphone to show her what I mean. “One of these?” I asked as I turned my phone’s screen on.

She let out another yelp of surprise when she saw the screen light up. She jumped off the couch and hid behind the other side of it. “H-How did you do that? Do you know magic?”

I raised my brow at this. “Magic? It’s technology. Now can you call your family and let them know how you are?”

“My family doesn’t own a phone, and I’ve never seen one in Equestria.”

What the hell? Is her entire town filled with Amish people? Just how isolated from modern society is she? I checked the clock again and it read 10:44 PM. Looking back at Winona, who was still hiding behind the couch, I saw that she looked tired and sleepy when she let out a yawn. I was starting to feel tired too after what I just went through. “How about we continue this talk tomorrow? It’s getting pretty late.”

She gave a nod of agreement. When I walked towards the stairs that led upstairs to show her the guest room, she followed behind me still crawling on all fours. I paid no attention to it and began walking up the stairs. I looked back to see if she followed me, but I found her still at the bottom of the stairs, looking at the steps hesitantly. I went back downstairs to help her. “Need a hand?” I asked.

She looked puzzled at the figure of speech. “What?”

“It’s just a way of asking ‘Need some help?’”

She then smiled and held tightly onto my arm. She had a death grip on my arm as we slowly walked upstairs. I was starting to lose feeling in my arm by the time we reached the top of the stairs. She then went back to standing on all fours and followed me to the guest room.

I opened the door to the guest room for her. “Here’s where you’ll be staying for the night.” The room was plain and contained only a bed and an empty dresser. The only thing that stood out from the whole room was the window, which was currently covered by the curtains. I left her to do what she wants while I went to my own room. “If you need me, I’ll be just down the hall in the room next to this one.” I then went to my room and closed the door behind me.

I didn’t know if it was smart to leave a crazy/drugged girl alone while I slept, but I was too tired to even think about the consequences. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled into bed and let sleep takeover. I would find out more about her the next day. All that mattered at the moment was sleep. The night was quiet with only the sound of rain falling.

For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night. I heard my door open and close, followed by the soft thumps of something hitting the floor. I felt someone get into my bed and snuggle up to me. Without even opening my eyes, I knew Winona had crawled into bed with me. “Winona, what are you doing over here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping in your room?”

I heard some quiet sniffling and crying coming from the girl next to me. “Can I sleep with you?” I couldn’t say no to a girl who was crying.

“Sure, Winona,” I said in a soothing tone.

“Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I miss my home and family.”

I felt a tug on my heartstrings when I heard her say that. I wrapped my arms around Winona in a comforting embrace. “I’ll help you get you home, Winona.”

I could feel her bury her head in my chest, and I felt the dampness of her tears. “Thank you,” she said. I didn’t care if she was in bed with me when I only had boxers on. Right now, there was a girl in need of help and someone to comfort her. I slept with Winona that night, our bodies’ heat keeping us warm on a cold winter night.

Author's Note

This is just a little story I'm going to work on whenever I need a break from my other story. Hope you enjoyed it.

Lost Dog Found

My eyes cracked open, revealing my dimly lit bedroom. Rays of light seeped through the small opening between the curtains, signaling the arrival of morning. I woke up well-rested and ready to tackle my day.

That was the best sleep I have ever had. That dream last night with the naked girl was awesome! Crazy, but awesome!

I didn’t notice it at first, but as my grogginess wore off, I became more aware of the pressure on my right leg and arm. I slowly turned my head towards the source of the pressure and froze at what I saw. I found a naked brunette sleeping with her head on my arm and one of her legs draped over mine. Did I mention she was naked? The covers of my bed managed to cover her from the waist below, but still there was a hot, naked girl sleeping right next to me. Using my other arm, I pinched myself to wake myself up. The girl still remained in my bed and I definitely felt my pinch.

Okay…so that wasn’t a dream.

My arm fell asleep with Winona lying on it, so I decided to extract myself from her. First, I slipped my legs out from under her leg. That was the easy part. The hard part was trying to get my arm out without waking her up. How the hell am I going to do this? I thought to myself. I decided to do something risky and started slowly sliding my arm out. For a second, I thought I woke her up but instead she cuddled closer to me so that a good portion of her body was now touching me. I wanted to stay in the position we were in, but I had to go pee.

All my efforts to sneak away quietly were futile because when she moved closer to me, a strand of her hair tickled my nose. I tried my best to not sneeze but the feeling didn’t go away, and I let out a quiet sneeze.

*Achoo*

Apparently that was enough to wake up Winona as she opened her eyes. When she saw me, she pinned my arms to the bed much like she did yesterday. She had a scowl on her face, but when she looked at my face, hers softened into a smile. “Oh hi Alex! I thought you were a scary monster, but it turned out to be you, not that I think you’re a monster since I found out you were nice yesterday. Though, I still think you look as weird as one.”

“Uh, thanks?” I wasn’t sure if what she said was a compliment or an insult. Winona was still on top of me without clothes, and without the blanket covering her bottom half, I got a full view of her. I tore my eyes away to look back at her face and she was still wearing a grin, oblivious to our current position. “Um Winona, could you please get off of me now?”

It was then she noticed that she still had me pinned down. “Oh! Sorry.” She released me from her hold and sat down on the bed in the same odd sitting position she did yesterday. Again, her lack of clothes exposed everything to me. I looked around my room to find her clothes, which were lying on the floor.

I picked up her clothes while getting a set of clothes for myself. I threw her the clothes she had on yesterday. “Winona, why are naked again?” I asked as I pulled on a pair of jeans.

“Clothes make me feel hot and uncomfortable. I don’t understand why ya need to wear so much.”

I slipped a white T-shirt over me. “It just makes me uncomfortable when there’s a naked girl next to me. Also, you have to wear clothes when you go out.”

“Well that’s stupid. Can ya help me with this again?” she said as she struggled to put on the shirt. I gave a sigh after I got dressed and went over to her to help her put on her clothes. Thankfully, it was just the shirt this time. “Thanks.” What she did caught me off guard when she crawled over to me on the bed and gave me a lick on the cheek.

I, however, backed away from her, resulting in me falling on the floor. “What the hell, Winona?!” I shouted as I wiped the saliva off my face with my hand.

She winced at my shouting and had a sad look on her face. “Sorry, was it something I did? Are you mad at me?”

I managed to calm my pounding heart down. “I’m not mad, just surprised is all. Why did you lick me all of a sudden?”

“It’s just to show that I like ya.”

She likes me? We haven’t even known each other that long. Winona was beautiful and when she wasn’t pinning me down, she was really nice. I wouldn’t mind having her around even though she was strange, but then again I have said that I always wanted to meet an interesting girl. Winona just took it a step further in being interesting.

"Well...the gesture is nice and all, but can you not lick my face or at least give me a warning next time?" I said.

She tilted her to the side. "Why?"

"It's just...not normal for a girl, or anybody, to lick another person's face. People usually show their affection in other ways."

"Oh..." she said as she looked down at her hands.

I gently cupped her face in my hand and lifted it up so that we were looking at each other. "It's okay. You didn't know. We all make mistakes sometimes so cheer up." I emphasized my last statement with a warm smile, which she returned.

Now that we were clothed, I went to my bathroom to do my morning business, making sure to lock the door this time. When I went to the kitchen, I found Winona looking at the many objects that were lying around my kitchen. I found her, still on all fours, sniffing at the refrigerator when I walked in. When she noticed me, she asked, “Where do you keep your food? And what is this thing?” she asked as she pointed at the object she was sniffing.

I walked up to the refrigerator and put a hand on the door’s handle. “This, my dear Winona, is a remarkable invention crafted by mankind.” I decided to entertain my guest by introducing to her to some common household appliances.

“It looks like a shiny box,” she said as she gave a knock on the side of the fridge.

“Ah, but it’s no ordinary box! You see, this box can make anything inside it cold, thus preserving any kind of food for a longer period of time. I give you, the refrigerator!” I exclaimed as I opened the door of my fridge, revealing the variety of food stored inside it.

Winona’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. She let out an “Ooooh” and got a closer look inside. There wasn’t much inside since I cleaned out the last of my leftovers yesterday. I had milk, orange juice, soda, bread, butter, eggs, and some fruits. It was pretty much what you would find in any other person’s fridge. I took out two eggs, bread, and orange juice and began working on breakfast. “What makes the box so cool inside without any ice and what lights it up? Is this magic?” Winona asked as she repetitively opened and close the fridge door so that the light inside turned on and off.

I gave a chuckle at her simple pleasure in the workings of a fridge. “Like I said about the phone, it’s technology. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I know it’s not magic,” I replied as I started cooking the eggs on the hot pan.

I saw Winona poke her head in the fridge and brought her head out with an apple in her mouth. She took a bite of it and held the apple with both her hands. “You have apples here too!” she said after swallowing. “It’s not as great as my family’s apples, but it’s still pretty good.” She took another bite out of the red apple.

“So you and your family are apple farmers?” I asked as I put the eggs on some plates and dropped two slices of bread in the toaster.

She took another bite of her apple. “Yeah! Applejack and Big Macintosh do most of the bucking around the orchard since Granny Smith is too old and Apple Bloom is too little. I usually help Applejack corral the sheep.”

I’m really hoping ‘bucking’ isn’t what I think it means. Get your mind out of the gutter, Alex. It’s probably their term for picking the apples. But where does Winona live? There isn’t an apple farm around here.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the toast popped out of the toaster, startling Winona who hid behind me. I stifled my laughter at seeing Winona cling to me as she watched the toaster warily.. "There's no need to be afraid, Winona. It's just the toaster." Before she could ask what it was, I explained what a toaster was. "It's a machine that toasts bread by heating it up. Again, it's technology." She loosened her grip on me but still remained wary of the toaster.

I grabbed the toast out of the toaster and set them on another plate. I then got two glass cups and filled them with orange juice, completing the breakfast meal. I placed everything on the dining table including utensils and pulled a seat out for Winona. "Breakfast is ready. Hope you like eggs and toast."

She gave me a smile and sat on the chair in her odd way of sitting. I didn't want to point it out since she was probably used to sitting like that. I moved to my seat and began eating my eggs. When I looked back at Winona, I saw her looking at me before mirroring my sitting position. I saw her staring at her fingers and flexing them. She carefully closed her fingers around a fork and lifted it up. She stabbed the egg with her fork and lifted the whole thing up. Winona then took a large bite out of her egg, causing the yolk to drip onto her plate as well as the table.

"Thish taysh great!" Winona exclaimed with her mouth full.

"I'm glad you like my cooking." I drank some of my orange juice. Winona used two hands to hold up her glass of juice and lapped the drink with her tongue. I raised one eye brow at this. Ever since I found her, she's been behaving like some kind of wild animal. After waiting for Winona to finish scarfing down her breakfast, I brought the dirty dishes to the sink and washed them and also cleaned up the mess on the table. I decided now was the time to do some research on where she came from. "Winona, stay right here. I need to go get something."

I went up to my room to get my laptop and came back to see Winona unsuccessfully trying to scratch herself with her foot. I brought the laptop to the table and opened it.

"What's that?" She asked while sniffing the laptop.

"It's called a computer. It's what I use to do my work, play games, listen to music, and a bunch of other stuff."

"This box thingy can do all that?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yep and we're going to use it to find out where you live and get some directions there." I turned on the laptop and it whirred to life. The screen lit up with a wallpaper of the Royal Crest from The Legend of Zelda. Winona watched with awe while I moved the cursor around the screen and opened up a browser. I got on Google and turned to Winona. "So where do you live?"

"Sweet Apple Acres."

I typed the name of the place and a bunch of results filled the screen. The strange part about the list of results was that all of them had something to do with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There were some image results depicting a red house that looked almost like a barn. Now I remember where I heard those names. My friend, Lyle, introduced me to the show since he was a brony. He's really into the show and even wrote a fanfic about meeting one of the ponies. He showed me a few episodes like the one where Applejack was tired and loopy from the lack of rest. The show was okay, but I didn't see the big deal about it so I never really got into the show as he did.

"That's my home!" Winona shouted while pointing at the picture on the screen.

"You're from My Little Pony?" I found that really hard to believe. I assumed she was just a fan of the show.

"What's My Little Pony?"

I found it unbelievable that she didn't what the show was while claiming that she's from a fictional place in the show. "It's the show about colorful talking ponies and the magic of friendship?" I got a blank stare as her answer. I clicked one of the links and opened up a page about the Apple family.

"It's the entire Apple family! Applejack, it's me Winona!" She pawed at the screen. "Why are they standing still? Can't they hear me?"

Her mental instability was starting to show again. "Winona...that's just a picture of them from the show." I hesitated on what I was about to say next. "They're not real like everything else in the show."

"What do you mean they're not real?! Of course they're real! They're my family!" she shouted, her anger starting to show.

I was starting to worry about Winona's mental state, but I couldn't let her go on believing in this fantasy. There were probably people worried about her, and her pretending to live in ponyland was not going to help. "Winona is your name, right?"

She crossed her arms and gave a nod. "It's the name I was given by my own family."

I typed Winona's name in the search bar of the page I was on and brought up a page with a picture of a smiling dog with brown and white fur. I looked at Winona who had a shocked expression on her face. "Winona from the show is a dog and you're...not."

"I was a dog! I just got turned into one of you huma-whatchamacallits."

"Humans," I corrected.

"Whatever! The point is that I was a dog before and they're my family and I want ta go home!" She was mad at this point and was now shouting at me.

"Winona, Equestria isn't real and neither is anybody else in the show!" There was a brief, tense silence until it was shattered by Winona's quiet sobbing. Oh no. What have I done...

After an awkward minute filled with Winona's crying, she spoke up. "I thought you were my friend. But I guess we're not since you don't think I'm real."

"Winona, that's not what I said. I'm just trying to help."

"Alex, they may not seem real to you, but they are real to me. I had a family that loved and cared about me - a home."

Before I could say anything else, she ran off on all fours and went to my room, slamming the door behind her. "Why did things have to get so complicated?" I groaned as I dropped my head on the table, not caring about the pain on my forehead. I didn't mean to make Winona get so upset. I just wanted her to face reality and get her home. I am such an idiot.

I turned my head so that I was looking out at my backyard as I thought of a way to apologize to Winona. Everything outside glimmered in the sunlight as the rays hit the droplets of rain that clung on the leaves, flowers, and grass. However, there was something else shining brightly that caught my attention. I stood up out of my chair and opened the door to my backyard. There was something that was a golden color that was shining in the light. I walked outside in my bare feet and crossed the wet grass towards the flowerbed where I found Winona. There was a small object sticking out of the flowerbed, and I carefully picked it up.

It was the tag of a red dog collar that was shining. It wasn't there before so it could have been with Winona when I found her. I probably missed it since it was too dark to see it last night. On the dog tag, it read:

"Winona
Apple family
Sweet Apple Acres
Ponyville"

The tag was engraved with the location of "Winona's" home. The collar looked familiar, and after going back inside and checking, I found out that the collar I was holding and the one in dog Winona's picture looked strikingly similar. It wasn’t really concrete evidence of the Winona with me being the Winona from the show, but it was still suspicious to find Winona carrying a dog collar. She behaved like a dog and genuinely looked like she didn’t know the things everyone should know, like being human. Her story seemed somewhat believable despite how crazy it sounds. I felt a headache growing as I tried to make sense of Winona’s situation.

I decided the first thing I had to do was apologize to her even the story of how she ended up in my backyard seemed impossible. The way she cried and talked about her family made me believe her a little. There was no way those tears were fake and from acting. She actually missed her family and home and really believed that her family was a group of colorful ponies. I may seem just as crazy as she is, but I was starting to believe she was telling the truth. I had to go apologize to her and hopefully amend our friendship.

I walked upstairs towards my bedroom. The door was shut, and I was about to knock on the door but then I heard some light snoring coming from the other side. I reached for the doorknob and slowly and quietly opened the door. The clothes Winona borrowed were lying on the floor again, and I found Winona sleeping peacefully on my bed naked again. I started picking up the clothes on the floor to keep myself from looking at her body. With the clothes picked up and folded, I set them on the chair in my room. I then sat down on the edge of my bed next to the sleeping girl. She didn’t wake up when I sat down.

“Winona, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said the things I said about you and your family. I shouldn’t have said they weren’t real because if you’re real and you say they’re real, then I guess they’re real too.” I looked back at Winona, who was still sleeping and quietly breathing. “Winona, I really meant it when I said I would help you get home. I hope we could be friends again, but I don’t blame you if you still hate me. I’m really sorry and I hope you can forgive me.”

I was about to get up and walk out the room, but then two arms latched around me and I felt something press against my back. “Do ya really mean it?” she asked as she hugged me from behind.

I gave a nod. “Yes. I meant every single word.”

I couldn’t see her face from behind me, but I could tell she was smiling. “Then of course we can be friends!” I saw her face appear on the left side of me, and she gave me another wet lick on the cheek, causing me to blush a bit. Winona realized what she did and began apologizing. “Sorry about that. It’s kind of a habit.”

I gave a chuckle. “It’s alright. It’s who you are, or were. Just one question, how long were you awake? You looked like you were sleeping the whole time.”

She sat down next to me on the edge of the bed. “Oh I woke up the moment you opened the door,” she replied.

“Wow, you must have some really good ears.”

She let out a giggle. “I used to be a dog, remember?”

I gave her a smile. “Right. Well now that we know you’re from another universe or dimension or whatever, Applejack and her friends are probably trying to find you now. I’m sure they’ll find you since they have magic and all that. So until then, you’re welcome to stay at my place for as long as you like.”

She wrapped her arms around me, almost cutting off my air supply, and began licking all over my face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You really are a good friend.”

As she was covering my face in her saliva, I became more aware of the soft mounds that were pressing against me. “Winona…air…let go,” I managed to wheeze out. She released me and my lungs were refilled with precious air.

“Oops. Sorry!” She gave a sheepish grin as I wiped my face again. She noticed the dog collar that was in my hand. “Hey, it’s my collar!” I gave her the collar and she held it to her chest, showing how precious it was to her. “Alex, can you help me put on this collar?”

“Wait, what?!”

“I’m still not used to using these, what do you call them, hands? So can you put it on for me?” she asked innocently.

“Is that really necessary? What if you have trouble breathing?”

She looked at me and gave me her cutest pout. “Please? I just don’t feel like myself without it, and it’s one of the few things that remind me of home.”

I couldn’t say no to her face. “Okay, fine.” I fastened the collar around her neck, making sure that it wasn’t too tight and didn’t suffocate her. Once the collar was around her, she perked up.

“Thanks, Alex. I’m feeling more like myself again.”

Winona looked kinky being naked with the collar around her neck. The collar was like a necklace around her neck. I found myself staring again and blushing at her nudity. “Again, it’s no problem, but could you, uh, cover yourself?” I asked, trying not to gawk at her, while I gave her the set of clothes I let her borrow.

Once she made herself presentable, she said, “You keep mentioning this 'My Little Pony'. Can I see what it is?”

“Sure. Let me just get my computer.” I walked downstairs, got my laptop, and went back to my room. We both sat on the bed with the laptop sitting on my lap. I opened up the browser again and went on Youtube. I searched for the My Little Pony episode called “Applebuck Season”. I clicked on one of the high-definition videos and played it. The video opened with Applejack and Big Macintosh.

“Hey, it’s Applejack and Big Macintosh!” she exclaimed. She watched the rest of the opening scene with awe. As soon as it got to the part with the stampede, she said, “I remember this day. I remember Applejack being tired when she went to buck apples almost nonstop. I saw her sleeping with her face in her dinner during that week.” Winona laughed as she reminisced that time during applebuck season. “It’s so weird to watch myself.” While Winona was basking in nostalgia, I could see her mood dampen when she thought of her family and friends.

“Do you want me to stop the video?” I asked. She gave a small nod. I stopped the video and closed the laptop.

“How are you watchin' us?” she asked.

“Er, this may seem hard to believe for you but your world is a show people watch for entertainment.” When she looked like she was about to cry again, I put a hand on her shoulder. “But since you’re here, I now know that you and everyone else in the show are real.”

She wiped away the tears that were in the corners of her eyes. “Thank you fer everything, Alex.” Her face was inches away from mine, and we gazed into each other’s eyes. My ice-blue eyes were locked on to hers, and time seemed to stand still. I could feel myself lean forward slightly, but I pulled away and looked away from her shyly.

“You’re welcome.” What am I doing? I just found out she was a dog. This isn’t right. But then again, she’s a beautiful girl at the moment…

I felt a tug on my shirt, and I found Winona looking at me. “Um Alex, where’s your tree again?” she asked while blushing.

But she’s still a dog… Well, I asked for a dog, and I got one. When I said I wanted to liven up this place, I didn’t mean like this. At least things are going to get interesting around here.

Author's Note

This story is non-canon to Follow the Melody.

New Dog, New Tricks

I charged out of my room while carry Winona in my arms. I wasn't going to have her soiling my room or any part of the house again, and I wasted no time bringing her to the bathroom. Also, carrying her was much faster than dragging her by the arm, especially since she only knew how to walk on all fours. Once I barged into the bathroom, I set her down on the toilet.

“Winona, please tell me you know how to use a toilet.” All I got in response was a questioning look from her as she tilted her head. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Aw god dammit. I looked back at the girl before me, who was examining the toilet she was sitting on. “Okay, here’s what you do. Just pull down your shorts, do your…business…in the toilet, use the toilet paper when you’re done, then flush the toilet with the lever. Oh and remember to wash your hands. Got it?”

She gave me a smile and nodded her head. “Sounds easy enough,” she said. I wasn’t even out of the room when she pulled down her shorts, reminding me that I really needed to buy her some undergarments.

“Winona! Wait for me to leave first!” I managed to cover my eyes a moment later while trying to find my way out the door. I slammed the door behind me, my face still flushed from getting a peek at Winona. “I’ll be right here if you need help or anything,” I said from behind the door.

I didn’t realize how awkward it would be to stand outside the bathroom until I heard the trickling sound. I decided I would use this time to go over what I needed to do now that there was a dog-turned-human staying with me at the moment, and I needed to distract myself until Winona was finished. I should probably get her some clothes and underwear if she’s going to be staying here for the time being. Since there’s now another mouth to feed, I should also stop by the store to get some groceries. Today was Friday, and I was already late to my class, though I could always find out what I missed out from a friend. So, I had the whole day to get Winona settled in her temporary home, even though I wasn’t sure when she would return to Equestria.

While in the middle of my thoughts, I heard the toilet flush followed by a yelp. I knocked on the door. “Is everything alright in there?” I asked.

“Yeah, it just surprised me is all,” she replied back. I heard the sink’s faucets turn on and off. The door knob turned and opened up to reveal Winona smiling at me and still walking on her hands and knees, which reminded me to add another thing to the list of things to do.

“I really need to teach you how to walk.”

She gave me a puzzled look. “But I already am walking.”

“No, that’s crawling. I’m going to teach you how to walk on two legs,” I said pointing down at my own legs.

“I don’t know…” Winona said hesitantly.

“You can’t be walking like that all around. Your hands and knees will get sore. I’ll show you how. It’s easy.” I extended an arm out and offered her a hand.

“Well, as long as you’re helpin' me I’ll do it.” She took my hand, and I helped her onto her feet.

She was wobbly on her feet, and she clung forcefully to me to keep herself up. Once again, I ignored the soft feeling that was pressing against me as Winona clung to my chest. After a few minutes, she was finally standing on her own two feet, though she still kept a strong grip on my arm. Now it was time for the hard part.

“Okay, we’re going to start walking now. Just take one step at a time.” She gave a nervous nod and took a shaky step forward.

I led Winona by the hand towards the stairs while she pretty much crushed my hand with her grip and used her other hand to steady herself against the wall. After six steps, she looked like she was getting the hang of walking on two legs, and she looked less apprehensive then before.

I turned to her with a smile. “See? It isn’t so hard. You’re already doing great.”

She gave a grin. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

Just seeing her smile was making my heart beat faster. I quickly shook off any thoughts of her. She’s a dog. She’s just a dog. She’s just a dog that happens to look cute in a human body. Gah! What am I think?! Me and a dog? Nope! No bestiality for me. Besides, she’ll just be in and out of my life, and things will go on as usual. Even if I did have feelings for her, it’ll just be harder to say goodbye for when she goes back home. The thought of saying goodbye to Winona was making me depressed, even though I only knew her for less than a day. I guess I was just happy that something exciting was happening around here. It’s not every day that a dog from a cartoon world filled with ponies travels dimensions and becomes human.

When we had finally reached the stairs, Winona’s anxiety returned and she held a death grip on my hand, sending a new wave of pain through my arm. She was pretty strong for someone who was a dog not twenty-four hours ago. I comforted Winona with words of encouragement to keep her from breaking my hand.

“Just take it nice and slow down the stairs, and I’ll be right here to keep anything bad from happening to you. But right now, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down because you’re crushing my hand.”

She took a deep breath and slightly calmed down, but at least her grip on my hand went from a death grip to a firm grip that wasn’t squeezing my hand like a constrictor. “Sorry…”

“It’s okay. Now, just focus on where you put your feet.”

We went down the stairs at an agonizing pace. I had her walk on the side with the handrail so she had something else to hold onto that wasn’t a part of my body. The entire time I was praising her for how far she had gotten without any incident. That is until we got near the bottom of the steps. It was at the last two steps that she placed her foot a step lower than she wanted it and ended up falling forward with a yelp. Luckily, I was already at the bottom of the stairs when she started falling forward, and I caught her. However, what I wasn’t anticipating was when her lips met mine as she fell. I was so surprised that I didn’t notice her momentum sending us both falling towards the ground. At least she had a soft landing with me acting as her cushion. I fell flat on my back on the hard floor.

Of course the soft sensation on my lips overwhelmed the painful sensation on my back. She, however, was oblivious to the act. She got off of me, wearing an apologetic look. “Sorry Alex! Are ya alright?”

I was brought out of my stupor by the sound of Winona’s voice. I just gave a simple reply. “Yup.”

I was just kissed by a dog. It wasn’t a slobbery lick. It was mouth to mouth contact with a pair of human lips from an attractive girl. I was having an internal struggle with myself, convincing myself that she was just a dog. Yet, another part of me saw her as a girl, albeit an odd one, but nevertheless a girl in every way.

Winona got off of me, and with the extra weight off of me, I was able to stand up, although I was still sore where I landed. Winona managed to shakily get onto her feet again, all the while spewing apologies. I managed to stop her apologizing after the twentieth or so time, but I still praised her for walking down through most of the stairs. Out of instinct, I petted her head and it wasn’t until a few minutes that I realized what I was doing. Winona had a blissful look on her face as I was petting her head.

Quickly, I pulled my hand back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

When my hand was no longer petting her head, she gave a pout. “Aw, now why did ya have to go and stop?”

"Uh, we should really get going. Did you get used to walking?"

"More or less. Where are we going?"

I ran back upstairs to grab my keys, wallet, and phone and returned downstairs. “You and I are going shopping.” I gave Winona my pair of sandals, and we made our way to the convertible outside.

When we got to the car, Winona asked, “What in tarnation is that?”

“It’s a car, a machine people use to get around to places.” I opened the passenger side door for Winona. She approached the car cautiously, as if it would attack her at any moment, and got in the car. I went to the other side, got into my own seat, and buckled my seatbelt as well as Winona’s. She was fidgeting in the restraints of her seatbelt. I turned the key in the ignition, causing the car to roar to life.

Winona was startled by the sound as shown by her surprised yelp and slightly panicked tone. “Ah! What was that?” Her hand was clinging on the armrest of her seat, and if she wasn’t strapped in her seatbelt, I was pretty sure she would have jumped out of her seat.

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her in a soothing manner. “It’s going to be alright. Nothing’s going to hurt you. It’s just the car turning on. I should have probably warned you first.” She nodded her head and relaxed just a bit. “Okay, now we are going to start moving and I will try to drive as smooth as possible. Also please keep all parts of your body inside for your own safety.”

I put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. We left the neighborhood and were now driving down the street at 35 miles an hour, 10 miles under the speed limit. I wasn’t worried about going that slow since there were only a few cars around and they went around me anyway. From the corner of my eye, I could see Winona’s anxiety slowly fade away, and she seemed to be enjoying the ride by the smile on her face. I took that as my cue to speed up.

I could feel the cool breeze blowing through my hair. Taking a glance at Winona, I saw strands of her long hair waving in the wind. Her head was leaning close to the side of the door so that she was feeling the wind against her face. She had her tongue sticking out of her mouth while the wind was in her face. She looked ridiculous by the way she acted like how a dog does in a car. Pedestrians that were walking by gave us a strange look when they saw Winona but went on with their business. I couldn’t help but give a chuckle.

“What are ya laughin’ about?” Winona asked.

“It’s nothing. I just keep forgetting that you were a dog before. I take it that you’re enjoying the ride?”

She gave a nod. “It feels great to have the wind in your face. It’s like when I’m running but faster, almost as if I can keep running forever." I watched as Winona closed her eyes and just let the breeze brush her face and hair. If I wasn't focused on driving, I would have watched the peaceful look on her face a little longer. The way her hair was blowing, plus her beautiful features, made her look like a timeless portrayal of a goddess, although the clothes I let her borrow didn't belong in this picture.

I focused my attention back on the road in an effort to tear my thoughts away from the former-dog next to me. I found it harder and harder to resist the thoughts of her. It wasn't long until we finally reached our stop - Target. I parked the car, unbuckled both our seatbelts, and went around the other side to open the door for Winona. She looked in wonder at all the cars, the people, and the buildings.

"Wow, there's so many humans and so many of those moving wagons!"

I locked the car doors once I made sure I had everything with me. "And this is just the parking lot. There are a lot more places with even more people, or humans, and larger and taller buildings." She could only look in awe as she took in the sights around her.

We were walking towards the store until a dog walking with its owner caught our attention. Winona noticed the dog and pulled my arm to grab my attention. "Look Alex! It's another dog! Maybe he'll know how to get Equestria," she said hopefully.

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, Winona, but in this world dogs don't ta--" I didn't get to finish my sentence when Winona dragged me by the arm towards the little dachsund. Right away she started talking to the dog and asking it questions like you would for any person. The strangest part wasn't when Winona started talking to the dog and asking it questions, though that was still really weird, but it was when the dog started barking back and engaged in an incomprehensible conversation with her.

The owner gave me a strange look. "Excuse me, is she with you?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Yeah, she is. She just loves dogs. You know, studies have shown that talking to your dog will make them more responsive," I said as I tried to pull Winona away.

"Really? Maybe I should give that a try later."

I can't believe she bought that, I thought to myself. "Come on Winona. Let's not bother her and her dog any longer." I managed to drag Winona away with me. But as I was walking away, I thought I heard the woman call us a "lovely couple".

Once I got a shopping cart, we went inside the store. "So, you can still talk to dogs?" I asked as I pushed the cart.

"Yeah! His name is Oscar, according to what his owner called him. He was a real nice fella. But, he didn't know how to get to Equestria."

I was amazed that Winona was able to hold a conversation with another dog. Something tells me that I'll never look at a dog the same way ever again when this is all over.

We made our way to the produce section. I grabbed some junk food and some frozen food off the shelves and threw it in the cart. The entire time Winona was asking what each packaged food was and admiring everything she saw. When I told her that humans ate meat, she grew a little green, which was only made worse when I told her that the pizza she ate also contained meat. I thought she was okay with meat with her being a dog and all, but apparently the dog food she ate was vegetarian. She explained to me about the sentient animals in Equestria, and she reproached me for eating “kind folk” who "didn’t do anything" to me. It was hard to explain to her that the animals here weren’t sentient, but I eventually calmed her down to the point where she just remained silent. To appease her, I put back all the products containing meat and went for the vegetarian meals.

Once that ordeal was done, it was time I got her some clothes that suited her. For her clothes, I took a rough guess at her size for her shirt and pants. I chose a pair of blue jeans and a plain brown T-shirt. I decided that Winona could just keep the sandals. Now comes the awkward part. Well, awkward for me. I looked around until I found a female Target employee that could help me. I noticed a blonde woman, probably around her early-twenties, helping out customers. I went up to her hoping customer service was good.

“Um, excuse me?” I asked.

She turned around and greeted me with a smile. “Hi, how can I help you?”

“Uh yeah, this may seem like a strange request, and don’t get the wrong idea, but can you help this woman here find underwear the right size for her?” I asked pointed towards Winona. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I asked the awkward request. The woman gave me a strange look. “You see, she’s my cousin and she’s kind of special, if you know what I mean.”

She gave a look of understanding when I tossed out that small lie about Winona. “Sure, no problem. Come right this way, miss.”

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much of a help this is,” I replied. I turned to Winona. “Alright, I want you to follow her while she finds you some underwear.” I leaned a little closer so only Winona could hear my whisper. “Also, don’t mention anything about being a dog and being in Equestria. It’d be hard to explain everything to her.” Winona gave a nod before following the employee.

Winona and the woman helping us returned with an armful of different undergarments, and we led her to the changing room where I gave Winona her other clothes to try on. I thanked the woman who didn’t seem that bothered by the whole request. I waited outside the changing room Winona was in. I had only been standing for a few minutes until the door to the changing room opened to reveal a half-naked Winona wearing only the bottom part of her underwear and fumbling with her unstrapped bra.

“Alex, can you help me put this on?” she asked.

My face blushed fiercely and I pushed her back in the room and closed the door behind me while still in the room. “Winona, what did I tell you about going outside naked?!” I half shouted, half whispered.

“I’m not naked. I’m wearing this part see?” she replied while pointing to her panties.

I facepalmed. “That still not considered dressed.”

“Well, I’m having problems with this darn cloth.” Looking down, I saw her arms were in what I assumed was the correct way to put on a bra except that the strap on the back was unhooked and the straps on her shoulders fell to the side of her arms. I also got a look at a good portion of her bare chest, causing me to mentally slap myself as I try to get a hold of my libido.

I turned her around so that her chest wasn’t facing me anymore and so that the strap of the bra was in front of me. However, the mirror in the changing room still revealed her breasts in the reflection. I tore my eyes away and focused on the task in front of me. I pulled the straps up to her shoulders and I began hooking the bra, not knowing if I was doing it right or not. Luckily, I got it right on the first try and Winona was now standing, clothed in her black underwear. The fact that she was wearing underwear did nothing to cool my still burning blush. It just made her seem sexier.

I handed her the clothes I picked out for her, while closing my eyes. “Here try these. I’ll be waiting outside when you’re done.”

I quickly ran out of the changing room and closed the door. I was trying to get the recent image of Winona out of my head. It wasn’t long until Winona opened the door, thankfully this time with all her clothes on. The brown shirt and jeans looked really nice on her. The shirt and pants hugged her body, accenting the curves of her slim and toned body.

“These clothes are so uncomfortable and pointless,” she said.

“Wow, you look great,” I replied.

“Really?” she asked with a smile and a tinge of pink in her cheeks. I nodded wordlessly. She let out a cute giggle. “Aw well ain’t you sweet.” She wrapped me in a hug and I once again fought my feelings for her.

Once we found the clothes to our liking, Winona changed back into the clothes I let her borrow, and we made our way to the cash register. However while walking to checkout, we passed by the toys sections, specifically the My Little Pony merchandise. Winona noticed the little ponies on display and ran over to them.

“Hey, it’s Applejack!” she yelled as she picked up the packaged toy of the orange pony. The toy figure didn’t really look like the pony from the show, the only thing in common between the two were their color schemes. Next to the pony figure in the package was a small, brown puppy and a comb. Winona scrunched her face when she saw the little puppy. “Is that supposed to be me?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“This looks nothing like me or Applejack!” she exclaimed as she shoved the toy figures closer to my face.

“Well manufacturers never create figurines accurately anyway.”

She pouted a bit as she stared contemptuously at the figurines. “Can I get this please?” Her face was now starting to soften from its previous expression.

“I thought you said it looked nothing like you or Applejack?”

“They don’t, but I really miss Applejack…” She had that sad look on her face again, so I did the only thing I could think of to cheer her up and hugged her.

“I’m sure she’s looking for you right now, and then you’ll be home in no time.” She gave a small smile when she looked at me. I put the Applejack figure in the cart with the clothes and food and purchased them at the checkout. When we got to the car with the groceries and clothes, I took out the box with Applejack and opened it for her and handed her the figurines. She didn’t care much about her own figurine and just took the Applejack figure and hugged the toy to her chest, like it was the most important thing in the world.

With the stuff put away in the car, we got in. Winona was a quick learner and managed to buckle herself on her own. We drove home with Winona cradling Applejack in her hands the entire time. While driving, I turned on the radio and the car was filled with the sound of music. Every now and then I looked at Winona, and each time, I found it harder to look away.

“I threw a wish in the well,
Don't ask me, I'll never tell
I looked to you as it fell,
And now you're in my way
I'd trade my soul for a wish,
Pennies and dimes for a kiss
I wasn't looking for this,
But now you're in my way”

What is Winona to me? She’s just a total stranger that fell in to my life. Why am I doing all this for her? Her problem has nothing to do with me.

“Your stare was holdin',
Ripped jeans, skin was showin'
Hot night, wind was blowin'
Where you think you're going, baby?”

Yet, every time I look at her, my chest feels tight. She’s beautiful. She’s nice.

“Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe?”

This is crazy! I couldn’t possibly be falling in love with her, could I? She’s a dog! I can’t fall in love with her. We’re different species. I barely know her for a day, how could I possibly fall for her? Love at first sight? That’s ridiculous. So why am I feeling like this? Winona was cradling Applejack in her hands and was busy stroking her mane. She had a smile on her face while she was playing with Applejack and that brought a smile to my face as well.

“Before you came into my life
I missed you so bad
And you should know that
I missed you so, so bad

It's hard to look right,
At you baby,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe?”

Why is this so complicated?

We have gotten home, and I was carrying all our purchases while I fumbled for the keys. When the door opened, we went inside. I put away all the groceries while Winona changed into her clothes in my room after I had pulled off all the tags. When she returned downstairs, she was wearing her new clothes with Applejack sticking out of one of the pockets of her jeans.

“So what else are we doing?” she asked as she sat on the chair in the kitchen.

We had already shopped for what we needed so we were free to do anything we wanted. “Want to go walk to the park?” I suggested.

She beamed at the idea. “Sure, let’s go!” I gave a chuckle when she started pulling my arm as we headed out the door.

The park wasn’t that far from my house. It was only a five minute walk. However during the walk, one of her old habits showed up again. I had to stop Winona from pulling her pants down in public when she tried to “mark her territory” on a lamppost. As soon as we reached the park and entered a wide open field, Winona immediately took off in a sprint and ran through the field, laughing and enjoying herself. I decided to join in on the fun and ran after her, joining in in her laughter.

We chased each other like little kids on a playground. At one point, Winona actually caught someone’s flying Frisbee with her mouth, and I had to awkwardly apologize to the guys who tossed the Frisbee. We eventually tired ourselves out, and we fell on the soft grass, our hearts racing. We lied on the ground next to each other. The only sound heard was our breathing. Winona and I gazed at the sky, watching the white clouds lazily drift across a blue canvas. It was nice, just watching the clouds together and enjoying each other’s company. No talking was needed. We were content with the comfortable silence.

We stayed like this for a few minutes to catch our breaths. After a while, Winona was the first to break the silence. “Everything is so different here. Clouds are movin’ on their own without them ponies. Wagons can move on their own. And there are stores where you can find just about anythin’.” I remained silent, just listening to her words. “I would have been lost if I hadn’t met you, Alex. Why did you help me anyway?”

I gave the question some thought. “I asked myself that same question too. To be honest, I don’t really know. I guess it just felt like the right thing to do, and maybe I was hoping that something exciting would happen to me.”

She seemed to be satisfied with my answer. Her eyes wandered around the park, which was basically made up of a big open field, a playground, some tables and benches, and a basketball court. She spied a young couple sitting on a bench and kissing. Of course, she has never done the gesture of kissing as a dog. I had my eyes closed while I rested on the ground. I was unaware of Winona leaning over me, her face inching closer to mine. My eyes shot open at the familiar sensation on my lips. I saw Winona's face close to mine with her eyes closed. My mind was having a tough time registering what was happening. We held the kiss for a minute but to me it felt like an eternity.

When Winona finally broke away, I spoke up. "W-Why did you kiss me?" I asked with my cheeks flushed.

"I saw other humans do it, and I wanted to show that I like you but like you said before, humans don't lick. Did I do something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I was just surprised. And...I like you too." I blushed when the words left my mouth. She was beaming when I said the last part. I realized while spending time with her that I harbored affections for Winona even though she was a dog. But dog or not, she was a girl, a girl who I'm falling for. She liked to laugh and play and she cherished her family. She may be clueless when it came to modesty and to a bunch of things, but I found that cute about her. Her good looks were another bonus to her whole character. It was getting dark, and I figured that we had spent enough time at the park. “Come on, Winona. Let’s go back.”

“Sure!” she happily replied back.

We made our way back to my place. We walked side by side, just the two of us. I soon found myself holding Winona's hand as I led her home. I never realized the simple pleasure of holding hands until I held on to her soft hand. We didn't talk as we walked home. Just holding each other's hand was all the communication we needed.

Author's Note

Even with the flu, I tried to work on this chapter as much as possible and finally here it is! Enjoy.

No Love Like the Love of a Dog

We got back to my house by the time night had fallen. Winona relaxed on the couch after our exhausting time at the park, while I went into the kitchen to warm up some dinner. Tonight’s dinner was lacking meat since Winona refused to eat any other animal, so I just warmed up some cheddar and broccoli soup that I bought from the store. I was setting up the table when Winona walked in.

“Something smells good. Whatcha makin’?” she asked as she inhaled the delicious aroma.

The microwave started beeping, signaling that it was done heating up the contents. I carefully took out the container with the soup, making sure not to burn myself, and set it on the table. “It’s cheddar and broccoli. It’s really good, and no, there isn’t any meat in there,” I replied back. The soup was still steaming and was probably hot enough to scald someone’s tongue. “You might want to wait a while though. It’s kinda hot. I’m going to go take a quick shower first. All that running made me sweaty.”

"Okay, let me join you," she innocently replied as she followed me to the bathroom.

I stopped dead in my tracks. "No! I mean, you can't come with me."

"Why not? You said that when I let you touch these-" She cupped her breasts in her hands. "-you would see me as a mate. So as long as you don't touch them, we can still have a bath together."

"Why not?! Because, um..." I should have more specific. I was trying to find the right words while trying to fight the blush that was starting to form on my face. I've always wanted to get in a shower with a hot naked girl, but I couldn't take advantage of Winona's naiveté like that, no matter how tempting the idea was. "Because...there's not enough room for the both us?"

"I think there's plenty enough room fer the two of us," she said as she pushed me towards the bathroom.

Like I said before, she was pretty strong so she got me into the bathroom easily. Before I could voice why I was against the idea, she was already taking off her shirt and stripping down to her birthday suit. "Come on, Alex! Hurry up!"

I averted my eyes as soon as I got a full view of her naked body. I couldn’t think straight with Winona standing naked next to me and urging me to take a bath with her. My face was burning fiercely, and the lower part of my body was getting a wakeup call from the scene before me. I tried to distract myself and veer away from that line of thought by thinking about other things, like how great the floor and ceiling looked when there’s a naked girl standing in front of me.

“Um, y-you go ahead and take a bath without me. I just realize that I need to go, um, check on the garbage and take out dinner.” I bolted out of the room and shut the door before Winona could utter another word. “When you’re done taking your bath, go change into a new set of clothes!” I yelled as I left.

I ran downstairs and into the kitchen and proceeded to bang my head against the refrigerator door. Snap out of it! Sure, you like her, but how would she feel about it? You don’t even know if she feels same way. You can’t fall in love with her. She’s got a family to get to. You’ll just cause problems for her if you make her stay with you. I knew that I couldn’t make Winona stay because of me. It would just be better if she didn’t know how I felt, and we just acted like friends, who happen to live under the same roof. I didn’t want to complicate things for her and add on to the problem of trying to get her home.

My forehead was sore from repeatedly smacking it against the refrigerator. I went over to the kitchen sink and splashed some cold water on my face. I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. Slowly, I turned around and let out a sigh of relief. I saw Winona standing behind me wearing the other change of clothes I bought for her. She was wearing white shorts, a brown tank top, and her dog collar. I saw a worried look on her face, like when children think they’ve done something bad.

“Alex, you okay? Did I do something wrong again?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a bit of a headache.” By the throbbing pain on my forehead, I wasn’t really lying when I said that I had a headache. “I think the soup should be cool by now. You go ahead and eat. I’ll be right back after a quick shower.” I poured Winona a bowl full of the soup and left to take a shower.

After a quick shower, I walked into the kitchen to see Winona eating her soup while holding her spoon incorrectly like she was going to stab someone. She didn’t look at me when I took a seat and poured myself some soup. We ate quietly. Neither of us knew what to say.

A few minutes passed before Winona finally spoke up. “This is good,” she said as she finished the last of her soup.

“Yeah,” I replied.

The uncomfortable tension between the two of us didn’t let up. I didn’t know how I should act towards her. I didn’t want to come off as too friendly because then saying goodbye would be harder. I took the empty bowls and utensils to the sink. I washed the dishes in silence, which was broken by the sound of Winona’s voice.

“Do you hate me, Alex?”

I wasn't expecting that kind of question from her. I stopped what I was doing to look and turned around to see her looking down and avoiding my gaze. “No, I don’t hate you. What made you think that I hated you?”

She looked at me, and I could tell she was trying to hold back her tears. “You’ve been avoiding me and not talking as much ever since you left me in the bathroom. Did I do something wrong? Please, tell me what I did wrong. I won’t do it again. I promise! I don’t want you to hate me.”

Crap, I really fucked up. I didn’t realize how cold I’ve been acting towards her. I just didn’t want her to make a painful, life-changing decision, but instead I’ve been avoiding her and making her feel bad like it was her fault. I put my arms around Winona and wrapped her in a warm embrace. “I’m sorry for acting like a jerk. I’m not mad at you. It’s just…” I tried to find the right words to say. “How do you…feel about me?”

She looked at me with a smile and returned the hug. “I think you’re the most special friend I’ve ever had. When you found me, you let me in yer home, fed me, gave me a bath, and even a place to sleep. You’re kind and caring, kinda like Applejack. But what I like about you most is that whenever you’re around, I feel really warm inside, and my chest feels tight. I feel like I can count on you to be there when I’m lost, like when I showed up here.”

Words could not describe how delighted I was to hear how she felt about me, but at the same time, the fear that there will be a time when Winona will have to choose between me and her home consumed my thoughts. A small part of me wanted her to stay here with me, but I couldn’t do that to her. I couldn’t keep her away from the people, or ponies, who cared about her and are worried sick about her.

“Winona, there’s one other thing I have to ask you.”

“What is it?”

I mentally prepared myself for the question I was going to ask. “If you could go back to Equestria, would you go back to your home?”

“Of course I would go back home!” she exclaimed.

“Even if it meant leaving me?” I asked.

She dropped her smile. “Oh… Well, what if you came with me to Equestria?”

I shook my head. “I can’t Winona. I’ve got a life here. You, however, have family and friends waiting for you in Equestria. I’m sorry Winona, but I don't think I can give up my life here.”

“I can’t choose between you and my family. I just can’t. You’re both special to me. I don’t’ want to leave any of ya behind.”

“I’ve thought about this, and I think you should go back to Equestria the first chance you get.”

“But—“

“No buts,” I interrupted. “I said I would help get you back home, and that’s what I’m going to do. So, it only makes sense that you should go back.” I used one hand to bring her chin up so that she was now looking into my eyes. “Besides, it’s not like you’re going away now. I’m saying if this happened, what would you do? But until then, let’s just enjoy the ride and make the most of your stay here on Earth. You won’t have to worry about that until it happens.”

She held me tightly, as if she was afraid that she would lose me forever, and laid her head on my chest. “Yeah, I guess we can worry about that when the time comes.”

We stayed like this for a few minutes and eventually broke the hug. “Now, there’s something I want to show you before you go back to Equestria,” I said as I walked upstairs.

“What do you want to show me?”

“Have you ever watched a movie?”

~~~~~~~

We were lying on my bed with the laptop on my lap. We had been watching a bunch of movies, and it was now midnight. My room was dark with the only source of light coming from my laptop. Winona laid beside me and had her head resting on my shoulder. Beside us was a tall stack of movies we watched. I made sure not to show her anything gorey, violent, or scary because I didn't want to give her nightmares. The pile of movies consisted of mostly family movies from Disney. Winona really liked The Fox and the Hound.

We were now watching our fifth film, Bolt. Our yawning has become more frequent, and looking at Winona, I saw that her eyelids were growing heavy. The movie has just reached the musical scene where the characters are finding their way home while at the same time teaching the protagonist to be a normal dog. From the corner of my eye, I could see Winona smiling as we listened to the lyrics of the song.

"I have got so much to give, I swear I do
I may not have nine lives, this one feels brand new
Yes, I've lived a good one, I have tried to be true
There are some things I never realized till I met you
How the wind feels on my cheeks when I'm barking at the moon

There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you
Woo, woo, here I come, woo, woo, back to you
There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you"

Winona snuggled closer to me as we listened to the song. She had that homesick look again. I guessed that she was reminded of her home again with the song. In an effort to cheer her up, I hummed along with the song. She looked at me. I gave her a warm smile in return.

"Well, I was in trouble, bad, I was so confused
I may not see in color, babe, but I sure can feel blue
I have been a lot of things, they may not all be true
My experience was so mysterious till I met you
Now the sun may rise in the east but I'm barking at the moon"

My effort to cheer her up was rewarded by her smile. She then sang along the chorus of the song, and I joined her.

"There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you
Woo, woo, here I come, woo, woo, back to you
There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you"

Our focus was no longer on the movie but on each other. We were both mesmerized in each other's gaze, and our faces were drawing closer.

"There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you
There is no home like the one you've got
'Cause that home belongs to you"

The song had ended and the movie continued, but we weren't paying attention to it anymore. My heart was racing, urging me to follow my instinct, so I leaned my head forward. The soft sensation on my lips overwhelmed any thoughts I had. It wasn't sloppy or filled with lust. No, it was a simple kiss. Yet, I savored every second of it. I wasn't thinking about anything else, just the girl in front of me. The past, the future, what she was, or what will happen didn't matter anymore. All that mattered right now was this moment, a moment that I wouldn't give up for anything. It was just me and her, nothing else. Winona had her eyes closed, focusing only the feeling on her lips. I had one hand cradling the back of her head while stroking her long brown hair.

After what felt like an eternity, we broke the contact. She opened her eyes with a dreamy look and a grin to go with it. Also her cheeks were tinted light red when she looked at me.

"Wow..." she said at last.

"Wow..." I replied back. We sunk into a brief moment of silence between us, though it wasn't out of awkwardness. We were both thinking about what just happened. When we made eye contact, she smiled, which I returned with a smile of my own. I broke the tranquil silence first. "We may not know when you'll go back home, but I'll make sure to make every moment with you last and create new memories that we'll look back on fondly."

She nuzzled the side of my face, sending a wave of warmth and happiness through me. "I'm glad you were the one to find me. If I ever do go back home--"

"When you do go back home," I corrected.

"When I do go back home, I'll always remember you. I'll never forget my special human friend." She gave me a peck on the cheek.

"And I'll never forget my special canine friend," I said before giving her a kiss on her forehead.

She let out a large yawn and gave in to her urge to sleep. She cuddled close to me and rested her head on my chest. I closed my laptop and carefully set it at the side of my bed. Winona remained undisturbed. She breathed softly with the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. I put an arm around her sleeping form and closed my eyes. I didn't need to dream of anything that night. It felt as if I was already in one, only better because this wasn't a dream. From mundane to weird and exciting, my life was flipped upside down, all because she fell into my life like an angel from the heavens. All because of Winona - a dog, a friend, and most of all, the love of my life. I only wish she didn't have to go, but that was only my selfishness talking. In my heart, I knew that good things don’t last forever.

~~~~~~~

I woke up to the sight of Winona still sleeping by my side, though at some time during the night she had taken off her tank top and her shorts were now around her ankles. Thankfully, she still had her underwear on so that she wasn’t completely naked. I could understand that she wasn’t comfortable with wearing clothes since she was a dog, but I still couldn’t get used to the sight of an attractive, unclothed girl in front of me. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the view. I forced my eyes away from her to look at the time on my clock, which read 9:38 AM.

I slipped out of my bed, letting Winona enjoy her sleep. I pulled the covers over her so that she wasn’t completely exposed and quietly made my way to the bathroom to do my morning routine. Once that was done, I went to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. After last night, I was in high spirits. I was making pancakes for the occasion.

Winona enter the kitchen as I was making breakfast. Her hair was a slightly tangled mess, and she now had all her clothes on this time. She let out a yawn.

"Morning," I said as I flipped a flapjack.

She smiled upon noticing me. "Morning, Alex." She inhaled the delicious aroma of pancakes and saw the breakfast I was making. "Oh, I’ve seen these before!”

I placed the last of the pancakes on top of the stack of other pancakes. “Have you eaten pancakes before?” I asked.

“Yeah. Sometimes, Big Mac makes a few extras and gives some to me,” she replied.

Winona helped me set the table and bring over the plates of pancakes while I got out some cups and poured us some orange juice. Once the table was set and our breakfast was ready, we sat at the table and got started on breakfast. I poured some syrup over both our stacks and added a slice of butter on top of each. Winona thanked me and began eating her pancakes. She still had some trouble holding the utensils, but I could see she was improving. She brought an entire pancake up to her mouth and took a large bite out of it, causing the syrup to drip down on the plate. From the smile on her face, I could tell that she was pleased with my cooking.

Mmmm. This is great, Alex! It’s kinda like how Big Mac makes it,” she said before taking another bite.

I should have taught her how to eat properly. She had syrup all over her mouth. I got a napkin and wiped some of the syrup off her face. “You know, I think I should have taught you how to use a knife to cut your food so that you didn’t make a mess when eating.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “Huh?”

I got another knife for Winona to use. It was a butter knife, so I didn’t have to worry about any of us getting stabbed or seriously injured in some accident. I showed her how to hold the utensils in each hand and used my own hands to guide her through the motion of cutting things with a knife. She was a quick learner and was to cut her pancakes into smaller pieces. Sure, she wasn’t as proficient as the average adult when it came to using utensils, or hands for that matter, but at least she wasn’t making a mess. Once breakfast was finished and cleaned up, I went over today’s plans with Winona.

“Since we don’t know when you’ll go back home, I’ll let you decide what we do today. Today will be all about what you want.”

She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow in thought. “I don’t know. What is there to do?”

“Well, we could do something here like watch another movie, but I’m guessing you would rather stretch your legs than be cooped in here.” She nodded her head. “Hmmm, what else can we do? We could go to the mall.”

“What’s a mall?” asked Winona.

“They don’t have malls in Equestria? Well, you’ve seen a market, right?” I got another nod from her. “A mall is kind of like a market, only a lot bigger with a bunch more things to see and buy.”

“I guess we can go there.”

“Alright, let me go get my keys.”

After getting my keys, wallet, and phone, we got in the car and drove towards our destination. It wasn't long until we arrived at the mall. I parked the car, helped Winona out, and entered the building with Winona holding onto my hand. I asked that she held my hand so that I didn't lose her in the crowd of shoppers. If she thought going to Target was amazing, then going to was going to be an even bigger deal to her. Winona took in the scene around her like she was looking at one of the Wonders of the World. We would stop every now and then so Winona can look at the stores’ displays.

“Oh, what’s this store?” she asked when we stopped in front of the Microsoft store.

“It’s a store that sells technology and gadgets like my laptop.”

“Let’s go check it out!” She pulled me by the hand into the store while I tried to keep up with her and not fall on my face. Once inside, she barraged me with questions about each device and product. We were touring around the shop until we heard the sound of music coming from one corner of the store. “Hey, what are those humans doing?” she asked while pointing towards a group of people dancing in front of an Xbox Kinect.

“They’re playing a game where you dance. I think it’s one of the newest games for the game console,” I replied.

She beamed at me. “We should go play too!”

Winona began dragging me towards the group of spectators and dancers. I tried pulling in the other direction and stopping Winona from dragging me. “Winona, I can’t go up there! I’m no good at dancing! I’ve never danced in my life!”

She remained stubborn. “Aw, come on! It looks so much fun.”

The group of people who were dancing left the dance floor, and Winona dragged me with her onto the floor. Some of the spectators watching cheered for us, but that didn’t do anything to boost my confidence. I felt uncomfortable that there were a bunch of people watching me. Winona, however, looked like she didn’t mind the attention. A random song was chosen for us, and the game started. Well, here goes nothing.

The speakers began pumping music. On the screen there were two figures dressed in black and white suits, representing me and Winona. The lyrics and dance moves appeared on the screen, and I did my best to imitate them. Winona looked at me and copied everything I did. It didn’t take her long to figure out that she was supposed to copy the moves on the screen. I made more than a few mistakes that were really noticeable. Winona, on the other hand, was doing a lot better I was. For someone who was dancing for the first time in a new body, she was dancing like it came naturally to her. While dancing, I took a glance at her. She was laughing and having a great time dancing. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her this happy. She noticed me looking at her and flashed a smile at me. It was then that I forgot about my worries and actually enjoyed myself. I got more into the dance, no longer being held back by stage fright. People were cheering for us as we danced. Our arms and legs were moving in sync to the rhythm of the song.

The song ended. Winona and I were both panting after that little workout. We received applause from our audience, and Winona got a ton of compliments for her dance skills. We left the store and continued the tour of the mall. As we were walking, she leaned against me, probably tired from dancing. She clung to my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. I found a bench for her to sit on.

“I’m going to go find something for us to eat or drink. Do you mind waiting here for a little while, Winona?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not at all. I’m still a little tired from that game we played.”

“Alright, just stay here until I come back. Please don’t wander off on your own. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I remembered passing by an ice cream stand when we were walking around the mall. So, I did a bit of backtracking until I found what I was looking for. I ordered two double scoop ice cream cones, both of which had vanilla and chocolate. When I came back to where Winona was waiting, I found her curled up on the bench asleep. She looked adorable, and I would have let her sleep but I didn’t think it would be safe for her to be sleeping in such a place. I mean who knows what kind of sick fuck would take advantage of her? That and because the ice cream would melt in my hands if it wasn’t eaten soon.

I crouched beside her close to her head and spoke in a soft voice. “Winona, wake up. I’ve got ice cream.”

She stirred a little before her eyes fluttered opened. She slowly sat up and stretched. When she noticed me, she gave me a smile that I’ve grown used to by now. Her eyes drifted toward the two ice cream cones in my hand. “Oh, that looks like the thing that Apple Bloom likes ta eat!”

I gave a chuckle when Winona started sniffing the ice cream. “It’s ice cream. You lick the part that’s melting and eat the cone, that’s the part you hold onto.”

I handed her the treat, which she held carefully with both hands like some kind of fragile treasure. I already began eating the refreshing treat. Winona looked at me and then her ice cream before gingerly taking her first lick on the vanilla scoop. Her face lit up as soon as her tongue made contact with the cold treat.

“It’s cold!” She gave a few more licks. “And it’s really sweet!”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said before taking another lick at my ice cream, which was now half gone. While we were eating, a thought just hit me. Is this a date? I didn’t realize that from an outsider’s perspective we looked like a couple going on a date at the mall by the way we were holding hands, shopping, and doing things a couple would usually do together. I enjoyed being with Winona, and from the looks of it, I think she enjoyed it too. And speaking of Winona…

Winona’s face and hands were covered in the sticky remains of her ice cream, the only evidence that she ever had an ice cream cone. She licked her lips of some of the ice cream that stuck. “That was really good! Now I know why Apple Bloom loves it so much.”

“It’s great that you’re enjoyed it, but you kind of left a mess all over yourself.” She then noticed the sticky mess that was on her hands. “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

I grabbed her by the wrist, since her hands were currently sticky, and led her to the restrooms. As soon as we reached the restrooms, another problem presented itself to me. Aw great. How am I going to clean up Winona? I couldn’t take Winona with me to the men’s restroom, and I couldn’t follow her into the women’s restroom. I turned towards Winona.

“Winona, I want you to listen very carefully. You’re going to go inside that room.” I pointed towards the women’s restroom. “And I want you to go to the sinks and wash your hands, and if you have to, you can use the toilets there and do whatever you need to. Got it?” She nodded her head. “Good. I’ll be waiting outside.”

Winona went inside while I waited outside. Only a few minutes have passed until I heard a shriek coming from the bathroom, startling the crap out of me. The next minute, a woman walked out of the bathroom looking really pissed off, followed by a now clean Winona a few seconds later.

“Winona, what happened in there?!” I asked her.

“All I did was say hi to her. I don’t get why she gotta scream like that.”

“Tell me exactly what you did inside.”

“Well first, I washed my hands like you told me. And then I went to find the toilet. Did you know there are more toilets in there with walls between them?”

“Winona. Focus.”

Right. So after I found a toilet, I pulled down my pants and –“

“Skip that part!” I interrupted.

“Okay. So when I finished, I heard noticed someone’s feet on the other side of the wall. I wanted to say hi so I stood on the toilet, looked over the wall, and said hi. Then she screamed, telling me to go away, but I don’t see what I did wrong there. And then she left. I washed my hands again and left and here we are.”

I gave a sigh. “You and I need to have a little chat about personal privacy later. But what’s done is done.” I took a hold of her hand again. “What else do you want to do now?”

She took a quick look around us before turning to me. “Oh let’s go on that thing!” she exclaimed while pointing at the merry-go-round at the center of the mall.

“Sure,” I said. Once again, Winona took off in a sprint while I tried to keep up with her.

The merry-go-round had a bunch of horses attached to the poles that went up and down as the ride spun around. There were only kids and a couple of parents riding on it. I paid two tickets for a ride on the merry-go-round. As we were waiting in line, Winona was jumping with excitement as she watched the ride. When it was finally our turn to ride, she took us to the closest pair of horses.

“Wow, the ponies here are really different! They’re a lot bigger.”

I helped her get on her horse and buckled her in before getting onto my own horse. “That’s because they aren’t ponies. They’re horses. Ponies are still kind of small here.”

The ride began, and we started moving up and down on our horses as the carousel spun. Winona looked like she was having a great time on the ride by the smile on her face. Winona took out Applejack out of the pocket of her shorts and held the figurine in her hand. “I wish Applejack was here. She would just love it.”

In my mind I was picturing an orange cowpony riding a horse on the carousel. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea. “I’m sure she would.”

The ride didn't last that long, just a few minutes. I helped Winona off her horse, and we continued our date. She was back to holding my arm again with Applejack still clutched in her hand. While walking with no specific destination in mind, I decided to use this time to get to know Winona.

"So Winona, what's it like being a dog?" I asked.

"It's okay, I guess? I don't know. It's like asking you what's it like to be human."

"Maybe I should have been more specific. What was life like back at home on Sweet Apple Acres?"

"It was really great. The Apples took care of me, and I helped out on the farm. Applejack would play with whenever she could. We would run around a lot, and sometimes we would play a game where she would throw a stick while I go get it. And on some days we would spend the afternoon sleeping under the apple tree."

"That sounds nice. Sounds very peaceful. Can you tell me more about your family? How did you meet?"

"I can't remember much of how I met them. I was only a pup when they took me in. As for what they're like, they're the nicest folks you'll ever meet. Granny is kinda old, but she sure has a lotta life in her. Big Mac is strong and quiet, but don't let that fool you 'cause he's actually really smart. Apple Bloom is the youngest and still hasn't gotten her mark thing on her flank yet, so she and her friends would get in trouble every now and then when they try to get their marks. But, she's a good girl. She would sometimes give me her food from under the dining table when no one is looking. And finally there's Applejack..."

She held the Applejack figurine up to her face, and I saw a small grin and a wistful look on her face. "She's my best friend, the longest I've known since I was a pup. We grew up together. She's honest and hardworking and is always thinking about her friends and family. She can be a might stubborn sometimes, but her heart will always be in the right place." Winona giggled. "You know, you remind me of her."

"I do?"

"Yeah. You're kind of like her. But enough about me and my family. What about you?"

I remained silent for a moment. "My parents were very kind. It's funny how they were like opposites of each other. Dad always seemed stern and strict with me, but that's because he cares about me and doesn't want me to do something stupid. Mom, on the other, was the more easy-going of the two. She was always concerned about my health and would often fret about what I eat and what I wear." Thinking about my parents was causing old wounds to reopen.

"So where are they now?"

We stopped walking. There was another uncomfortable silence between the two of us. "They died..."

"Oh... I'm sorry for dragging up any bad memories."

"It's alright. You didn't know, and it's been a long time since the day they died.” I took a deep breath. “It still hurts to think about them but not as much as the day when I about it. I was only in high school when it happened. The day started off like any other day, except that my parents never came back home. I remember my grandma visiting me to tell me of the grave news. They were going grocery shopping when they had gotten into a car accident. It was so unexpected, so spontaneous. That was the nature of death. I was devastated to the point where I kept myself in solitude, avoiding everyone including my friends. I spent all of high school alone, and it wasn't until college that I broke out of that. It took a while, but I managed to pull myself together."

I could feel some tears gathering in the corner of my eyes and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I don’t bring this up a lot for a reason.”

I felt something warm press against my chest. Winona had her arms around me, and she was nuzzling the side of my face. “There’s no need to apologize, Alex. You’ve been through a lot alone.” I looked into her eyes as she looked into mine. She smiled. “But you’re not alone anymore, and you don’t have to be.”

I placed my arms around Winona, and we were now locked in an embrace. We stayed like this for about a minute which was when we heard the sound of water spurting. I didn’t realize that we had walked outside during the entire conversation. We were standing by a water fountain in front of the mall. It was now some time in the afternoon, and the sun was setting, painting everything in an orange hue. The water fountain let out streams of water that left a sparkling mist in the air. The combination of the sun’s rays and the mist left a small rainbow in front of us. Winona and I gazed at the spectacle, still holding each other.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

I turned my head towards her. “Yeah… But not as beautiful as you.”

“Y-you think I’m beautiful?” she asked with a hint of blush on her cheeks.

I gave her a peck on the lips. "The most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Just looking at her was enough to take my breath away.

I had my arms around Winona’s waist, and she had her arms around my neck. We stared into each other's eyes for a while before slowly closing the distance between us. My heart was beating faster and faster as we inched closer. Our lips came into contact with each other in this heated moment of passion. Time seemed to stand still in this moment. It was in this moment when dream and reality blended together in which we were no longer on Earth but in a world of our own, a world where it was just me and Winona. While we were locked in our kiss, I closed my eyes, focusing only on the pleasant sensation. I could feel the warmth emanating from Winona’s body and the soft pair of lips on mine. A small breeze would caress us, causing a few strands of Winona’s hair to tickle my face. Winona’s scent was intoxicating to me. As I inhaled her scent, an image of an apple orchard came to my mind. I didn’t want to let her go. I wished that we could stay like this forever, trapped in this moment of ecstasy. But we couldn’t. The dream faded into reality, and we were once again standing in front of the fountain. We broke our kiss and refilled our lungs of the air they’ve been deprived of when we were kissing.

I opened my eyes to see hers flutter open. There was a comfortable moment of silence before I spoke up. “Winona.” I felt like I could say that name a million times and never get tired of it.

“Yeah Alex?”

“Do you think that we could be…more than just friends?”

Instead of answering, she gave me another peck on the lips. “Does that answer your question?” she asked.

I nodded my head in response, a goofy grin now on my face. I couldn’t have been happier than I was now. It was getting dark, so we made our way towards the car, still holding hands though for a different reason this time. As we departed for home, I couldn’t stop thinking about Winona. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped thinking about her in the first place ever since she showed up in my life. A new chapter has opened up in my life, one filled with excitement and romance. Winona is the one writing on the blank pages of my life now, while I’m taking a glimpse into hers. In the short time I’ve been with her, it felt like I’ve known her forever. If only she could stay forever.

Author's Note

Finally it's out! I can't update this story as often as I would like to, but I'll try to get those chapters out sooner. Hope you enjoy the story.