While Rainbow Dash was frantically working to unclog her toilet stuffed full of clouds (including some noticeably stained ones), Pumpkin was enjoying her alone time at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and Granny Smith.
"She sure is a lively one," Applejack commented. "I can barely keep up with her."
Granny Smith giggled. "Reminds me an awful lot of a little pony who just loved to play run around with her granny, especially when it was time for baths and naps."
Applejack blushed and covered her face with her hat. "Granny, for the last time, I was just a foal."
"So, don't change the fact that you were a little blur," Granny Smith teased. "Even Apple Bloom never ran as much as you did. Of your siblings, you were the one who seemed to most enjoy bein' a foal. And it looks like some of that there energy got transferred to Pumpkin."
Pumpkin chuckled, she loved hearing Granny Smith's stories, especially the ones about various big ponies she knew when their foals (for example, she learned from Granny Smith that her father used to have a stuffed bear named Mr. Snuggles that he could never go to sleep without, and that her mother had once tried to use her training potty as an oven to bake a cake in).
Just then, Winona came panting up to Applejack and Granny Smith, a squeaky chew toy held in her mouth. She placed the object on the ground, and eagerly wagged her tail while playfully barking.
"Doggy." Pumpkin giggled, curiously picking up the chew toy with her magic. She watched as Winona's eyes focused solely on the toy, the farm dog obediently sitting still, but also panting with anticipation.
Applejack smiled brightly, as she turned her attention to Pumpkin and Winona. "Winona just wants to play fetch, Pumpkin," She told the unicorn toddler. "You throw the toy, and she'll go running to fetch it. Sometimes she'll also do it with a stick," She then took the toy out of Pumpkin's magical hold. "Just like this, watch!" She declared, then said to Winona. "Hey Winona, go fetch!"
Winona darted after the squeaky toy, as it bounced out of the room and towards the front door. Even as she was running though, she could hear Applejack playfully tease her with "Go long, Winona!". The farm dog returned shortly with her chew toy and placed it on the ground in front of her owner, her tail wagging even more than it had before.
"Okay, Pumpkin, your turn now!" Applejack encouraged. "Pick up the toy and throw it, then leave the rest to Winona." She then set the unicorn toddler down on the floor.
Pumpkin looked up at Winona, her pull-up crinkling slightly as she used her magic to retrieve the farm dog's squeaky toy bone and hold it aloft. "Doggy, fetch!" She cooed and giggled, tossing the bone as far away from the kitchen as she could.
Winona took off at a speed that would make even Rainbow Dash envious, darting after the toy like there was no tomorrow. Pumpkin watched with delight, happily clapping her hooves when the farm dog returned and deposited her prize before her new friend. She then bent her muzzle down, and licked Pumpkin.
Pumpkin giggled. "Ew!" She said with pretend disgust.
"Heh, that's just Winona's way of sayin' she loves ya," Applejack replied with a smile. "Looks like you're her new best friend. Why don't you two spend a little time playin' together and wear each other out? We gotta give Winona a bath later, and it always goes better if she's too pooped to splash us."
"Otay, bu how can she pooped if she dun use the potty wike a pony?" Pumpkin asked.
"It's just an expression," Applejack responded. "Now go ahead, throw the toy."
"Otay!" Pumpkin nodded, and tossed the toy bone as best she could. "Fetch!" She said to Winona, then darted off with the farm dog, even panting like a dog for good measure.
When Winona came back with the toy once again, Pumpkin crawled next to her and panted. Then she barked and said to Applejack and Granny Smith. "Woof woof, I a doggy!"
"Oh you are?" Granny Smith asked, trying to keep a straight face.
"Uh-huh, I a doggy wike Winona," Pumpkin replied, panting and barking like an actual dog. Winona barked too. "I gonna wearn fwom Winona how to be a weal doggy! Then we can be doggy pwaymates fow a while!"
"Well then, which one of you dogs is gonna be the first one to grab this here chew toy and bring it back to me?" Applejack asked in a teasing voice, joining in on the fun. She carefully picked up the rubber bone, and held it high in the air. Both Winona and Pumpkin panted and barked, and when Winona leaped up to try and grab it with her paws, Pumpkin did the same with her hooves.
Applejack tossed the toy bone, and it flew out of the kitchen, down the hall, and out of sight while still bouncing! Pumpkin followed Winona, as they both bolted out of the kitchen in an attempt to be the first one to find and grab it.
Pumpkin tried her hardest, but she soon fell behind Winona in the chase for the toy bone. Winona clearly didn't like anything or anyone coming between her and her favorite toy. But Pumpkin didn't mind, she was having fun either way, and maybe she would do this again at home sometime. It would be interesting to see how her parents, her brother, and her big sister would react.
While on the subject of her brother, Pumpkin thought about his feather flu and his trip up to Cloudsdale. "I hope he's feeling better," She thought to herself. "Between the feather flu and the toilet at home not working, he's been having a hard time. At least he's in pull-ups now though, pull-ups are definitely better than diapers. They may not hold as much, but they give you more freedom to move about. I could never act like a doggy with a diaper on."
When Pumpkin turned her thoughts back to Winona and snatching the toy, she found that Winona was suddenly nowhere to be seen. It was as if the farm dog had vanished. Pumpkin found this most odd when she stumbled the chew toy Applejack had tossed, she thought for sure Winona would have found it first.
But Pumpkin soon discovered why Winona had given up on trying to catch the chew toy. On her way back to the kitchen to deliver the toy to Applejack, Pumpkin noticed the bathroom door had been left open as if someone had pushed it, and she could swear she heard the sound of Winona panting coming from it. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Pumpkin put the chew toy on the ground and crawled into the bathroom to investigate.
Winona was indeed in the bathroom, Pumpkin spotted her next to the toilet. Much to the toddler's surprise, the farm dog was sticking her head into the bowl and drinking from it, something that Pumpkin herself found most disgusting. "Ew!" She said, this time truly being disgusted. "Tat's gwoss, who dwinks out of the toilet?"
Winona didn't seem to mind, she just continued drinking until she was certain her thirst was satisfied, then she turned to Pumpkin and seemed to suggest "Why don't you have a drink as well? You look thirsty."
But Pumpkin replied. "I not gonna dwink out of the toilet, it nasty. You know what goes in tat ting?"
Winona just seemed to shrug and respond with a look that said. "Hey, don't knock it til you've tried it. It's very thirst quenching." Then she exited the bathroom as if nothing had happened.
Pumpkin looked at the toilet bowl, the water appeared to be clean and there was nopony around to see her. Maybe she should drink from the bowl, just to see why dogs liked it so much? Nopony would ever know if she did. She shook her head, milk was much better than water and she wasn't going to make herself sick by drinking icky toilet water. Why dogs liked to do it, she didn't know and she was pretty sure she didn't want to find out.