//------------------------------// // Chap 22 // Story: A Stallion with a Question // by Ugly-Duckling123 //------------------------------// "Ok here we are..." Fluttershy said unlocking the veterinary and walking in, nearly tripping over Angel who was right in front of the door, his fore legs crossed and thumping his foot a scowl on his cute little face. "Err... mind telling us why that fuzz ball looks so annoyed at you Flutters?" Mac asked helping his sister off Honey Crisp. Taking a moment to think Fluttershy gasped and looked to the feeding chart and saw that last night, and this morning were unsigned. "Oh Angel I'm so sorry," She said getting onto her knees and reaching out to scratch her favorite bunny behind the ears. "I was busy last night, and got distracted this morning," she said using her eyes to point to Mac, a blush coming to her cheeks. "I hope no one else is upset. Would you two mind helping me feed the animals while I tend to this little pup here please?" she asked getting up and showing the two Apples the animals and what to do. "We'll try," Mac said shrugging, as Apple Bloom who was now holding the pup, now asleep, nodded along giving it to Fluttershy and went straight to measuring out the food. ~~*~~ After ten minutes the siblings agreed that Bloom should measure out the food and mix it up, while Mac took them to the animals since that needed more walking. "Hey Mac," Bloom spoke up at last. "Yes Bloom..." Mac said in the same tone of voice she gave him. "What are we going to do with that puppy when she's all better?" she asked "I mean we can't 'put her back where we found her' can we? And as Fluttershy said she seems to like you a lot, so it would be mean if we give her to someone she doesn't like wont it?" she said her voice full of hinting tones that Mac was picking up on. "Sis, is this your way of saying you want a puppy?" he asked setting a bowl of food in front of a mothering cat scratching her behind the ear to calm her down seeing she thought him a threat to her kittens. "May... be..." she said avoiding her brothers eyes kicking her legs a bit. "Ok. We'll see what Granny and AJ have to say first," Mac said coming over "And check if she already belongs to someone. I mean you wouldn't want the owner to loose their pet would you?" he asked getting a shake of the head. "But then... I suppose... If no one clams her, I don't see why you can't have a puppy, as long as you take care of it." "Yay!" Apple Bloom said smiling hugging her big brother smiling. Just then Fluttershy came in the pup in her arms, still asleep, and gently placed her in a medium sized cadge so she could rest and get better. "She has a broken wrist," Fluttershy said before anyone could ask her, "So I've bandaged it up to set it going to fix itself but it will take a while, good thing you found her when you did Mac, my guess, any longer and we wouldn't of been able to do it. 'Sadly though, she doesn't have a collar, and when I ran the scanner over her to see if she was chipped instead, nothing came up." she carried on "Meaning the only thing we can do is wait and see if someone comes looking for her." "So why's she still asleep?" Bloom asked coming over and gently patting the pup on it's head. "Puppies need to sleep more than grown up dogs do," Fluttershy said smiling. "Sort of like human babies and their sleeping habits." "Yeah asleep all day, then crying all night." Mac said smirking "I tell you that line 'Sleep like a baby' is all wrong. And anyone who says it obviously does not have one." "Yeah well, I took some pictures of her before I came in here," Fluttershy said "Later I'll print them off and stick them up around town. See if anything comes back. Thanks again for the great afternoon guys oh and for feeding my animals for me." "Your welcome Fluttershy," the siblings said together, smiling as they left after saying goodbye to the unnamed pup. After Bloom was back on top of Honey, and everyone was heading back to the forest for their last night of camping, Fluttershy whipped out her phone and called the others to tell them the coast was now clear. "So where's this little ball of fur that set us back one hour, according to Twilight, then Shy?" was Rainbow's first question when she and Applejack rolled up in the truck outside the clinic fifteen minutes later. "Come on, but you need to be quiet," Fluttershy said lowering her voice "She's sleeping." Getting nods of understanding Fluttershy led Rainbow and AJ to the lost pup and opened the door so they could see her better. "All this fuss over that?" Rainbow asked trying to not go Aww... at the cute sight of the puppy in a blanket, using a teddy bear as a pillow. "What it's name? Where's she from?" Applejack asked reaching in and setting the blanket back right. "We don't know her name," Fluttershy said quietly "Or where she's from. She doesn't have a collar of a chip so we can't find out." "How'd you know if the owner made sure of that?" Rainbow asked a bit behind them her arms crossed looking angry for some reason. "What you talking about Sugarcube?" AJ asked shutting the door again as quietly as she could. "I'm talking about the possibility that this pup might of been abandoned," Rainbow replied. "It adds up... more or less... Lost pup, no known name, no way to get her back to her family, lost in the woods, gets attached to the first thing that shows it kindness AKA Mac... You see where I'm getting at here?" "Yes but who would do such a thing?" Fluttershy asked going back outside and began to unload the truck. "Yeah and 'aint she a bit too healthy looking to be abandoned?" Applejack asked raising an eyebrow, shouldering the banner and taking it to the cottage next door. "Hey it's just a possibility..." Rainbow Dash said carrying a box of party plates and napkins. "Well in case she wasn't," Fluttershy said going over to her computer and hitting 'print' the pups photo coming out a few times "I've made these. But if nothing comes back," she said looking to AJ smirking a bit "You might be getting a new dog AJ." "Wait what?" Applejack asked pausing in unloading the truck for a bit, blinking slightly. Giggling at the reaction Fluttershy repeated what she heard the other two Apples talk about earlier. In the grotto, Mac was just about to have a bit of a snooze, Apple Bloom playing a game of solitaire by the river, when his phone went off. Confused, Mac got up and saw it was Applejack calling. He had just accepted the call, and placed the phone to his ear, when he had to hold it at arms length, AJ's voice screaming down the phone "HOW CAN YOU TELL BLOOM SHE CAN HAVE A PUPPY?" "Err... mind repeating that a bit quieter sis?" Mac asked returning the phone to his other ear his right one not working anymore. "I asked Big Brother..." Applejack said annoyance on her vocal cords, "How can you tell Bloom she can have a puppy?" "I didn't say she can have a puppy," Mac said getting up and walking into the forest a bit to talk about this. "I said 'I suppose if no one clams her, I don't see why you can't have a puppy, as long as you take care of it.' And I also said that we need to ask you and Granny first so back off will ya?" "I'm sorry," Applejack said groaning "It's just... Well I don't know what it is. I think it's got something to do with she went to you, before she came to me." "Well I was the one there for her to ask the question to," Mac said smirking slightly "But come on AJ, Blooms not something like a prize to be won and set as a competition to see who she goes to for advice and or requests," he carried on. "I know, I know," Applejack said coming around "And I s'pose it wouldn't be too bad... I mean we already have Winnona, the horses and the other live stock right?" "Exactly," Mac said smile and surprised it was so easy "So... how's everything going?" "All the food's in the hay loft, and now all the decorations and other stuff's here," Applejack answered "All that's need is the tables, chairs etc and those speical glasses Twilight's been talking about." "And a way to get it all here," Mac said. "Yeah..." AJ said in reply. "Well you can rip off the old hay cart ride path, that's how I found the pup," Mac said "I'm sure Shy said this but it's blocked and there's too much there to get it sorted out in time." "So what we going to do?" "I don't know," Mac said sighing "But we will get this done, for Bloom." "For Bloom," Applejack replied "Well bye then, see you when you come home tomorrow." Finally she hung up and Mac went back seeing a slightly confused slightly angry Bloom before him when he got there. "Who was that then big brother?" she asked "Why all the secrecy?" "That was AJ," Mac said returning to his place he was in before "Wanted to shout at me for saying you might be allowed that pup we found." "Took a bit long for it to be just that?" Bloom said eyes still on her brother. "Well you know how long AJ can go when she starts ranting..." he replied smirking, ears picking up a bit of stifled laughter. "So am I getting her or am I not getting her?" Bloom asked, her voice returning to normal. "We'll find out, when the times come Bloom." Mac said not wanting to get her spirits up too much. "We need a name for her," Apple Bloom carried on getting Mac to open his eye a bit "I mean we can't just keep calling her 'Her', or 'The Pup', or 'It'..." "How's about you think up some names then," Mac said getting up and fishishing out some pens and paper for her, "And I'll judge them when I wake back up." "Ok," Bloom said as she got to her tummy and began to think, and Mac finally began his nap.