A few days went by as normal, nothing interesting happening. Everybody's just going about their daily routines. It was also 4 months until the next race and as usual Doc and Lightning are up at Willy’s Butte practicing. Scootaloo's with them watching while every so often giving what she thought was advise forgetting that Lightning is a human not a pegasus. Applebloom's listening to one of Sarge's war stories which is one of her favorite things about him. However Sweetie Belle was sitting in the shop bored stiff with absolutely nothing to do. Ramone noticed this and decided now was a good time to take a break from fabric searching and gave her his laptop (after blockingcertain websites) she went straight to watching those silly cartoon videos she loves so much.
While scrolling down looking for more videos she noticed one particular video about an abandoned pitbull. Because the thumbnail was of the dog, he looked so cute that she couldn’t help but click on the video and see it for herself. It started with a group of people posing and the title Pit Bulls and Parolees which is what she guessed is the name of the rescue group. They were driving through what looked like a small neighborhood, then the woman with bright red hair started talking about the situation. And as soon as she saw the dog she gasped seeing that it was just a little puppy, he was wandering around everywhere. As she watched Sweetie Belle was amazed at how gentle this lady was with him and how happy that little puppy was when she picked him up. After that first video Sweetie Belle started watching more about the dogs they’ve rescued. There was another video that got her attention, it was about a dog that was used for something called “Dog Fighting”. This was her first time hearing about this kind of thing, she had never heard of dog fighting before they didn’t have that back in Equestria. And Sweetie Belle was relieved about that, continuing the video she had learned all she wanted to know about dog fighting. How some people would be so cruel that they would force innocent dogs to fight each other then just abandoned them and leave them to die. After a few more videos she learned that Villalobos Rescue Center is the name of their rescue group, Pit Bulls and Parolees is the name of their show and that they have a website. She searched for it and was amazed at how many dogs they've rescued and everything they do to care for all of them.
She had been silent for a while now after watching all those videos and learning about all the horrible things that some humans do to these dog. And all of the effort other humans do to save them from the abuse, she was just... shocked and horrified. She was still learning a lot about this world but she'd never imagined that she'd see something so...evil. To Sweetie Belle what these people do is so much worst than what other villains in Equestria had done. She had always thought that Tirek was the most evil one of all. But after seeing all this compared to those people Tirek's a saint.
How could someone be so cruel?
She thought to herself wiping away a few tears that started to fall. Moments later Ramone walked in and noticed the tears in her eyes.
“Sweetie?... Are you alright?”
He sat at the edge of the bed and pulled Sweetie Belle into his arms, sitting her on his lap hugging her close. Sweetie Belle didn’t look at him but told him everything she'd learned about dog fighting and the people who just abandoned their dogs for no reason. Ramone was shocked and amazed at how she was so affected by this. Despite her being so young she understood a lot about one of the most serious problems that’s going on in this world right now.
During the rest of the day Sweetie Belle remained silent not saying a word to anyone, which only made everyone worried about her. Even at night she wasn’t able to get any sleep at all, she just couldn’t stop thinking about all of those dogs out there with no home and having gone through so much torture. The thought of it made her cry all over again.
. . .
The next day Ramone decided to take Sweetie Belle with him to the city to pick up some fabrics he ordered. Hoping that he could do something to cheer her up a little bit before the end of the day. While Ramone was inspecting his packages making sure that everything was intact Sweetie Belle just stayed put in a chair waiting for him to finish. After he finished inspecting everything and paying for it they left and started driving around.
“So Sweetie would you like to go to that park you love to play at so much?”
She didn’t saw anything and just shrugged. Ramone signed and turned into the direction of the park. While driving they past by a small vacant lot and for a moment Sweetie Belle could of swore she saw something move in there but she pushed it aside as nothing and just continued to look out the window.
When they arrived at the park Sweetie Belle’s mood lightened a little bit when she saw someone with a large dog crate and a sign saying “Free Puppies To Good Home”. That made Ramone smile seeing that Sweetie Belle was feeling a little better. They got out the car and she headed straight to the puppies. The owner smiled at her and she knelt down in front of the crate looking inside, there were six “pit bull” puppies. She didn’t pay any attention to the sudden coincidence that they were pit bulls and spent most of her time there playing with the puppies and their mother which made Ramone and the owner happy watching them play together. After a few hours Ramone called Sweetie Belle over saying it was time to go at that same time the owner had just adopted out their last puppy and was now packing up getting ready to leave. She waved goodbye to the owner skipping over to Ramone’s car and getting in the backseat buckling up.
While driving back they passed by that same lot and again Sweetie Belle saw something move in there. It wasn’t that late so the sun was still partly in the sky giving her enough light to see what looks like a tail. At that moment she turned to Ramone…
“Ramone can we stop?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
He slowed down pulling into a parking spot Sweetie Belle pointed back to the vacant lot.
“I saw something back there! Back in that old lot over there!”
“Now Sweetie are you sure you weren’t just seeing things?”
“I’m positive! I saw it before when we were heading to the park. And I saw it again just now when we passed by.”
Sweetie Belle starred at him with pleading eyes, he signed and put the car in drive making a U-turn.
. .
Parking in front of the lot Ramone pulled out a flashlight from his glove compartment and they headed into the lot. Sweetie Belle started calling out to whatever she saw while Ramone kept a tight grip on her hand. About a few minutes later she tugged on his arm pointing to a pile of garbage in the corner at the end of the lot.
“Right there Ramone! I saw it again!”
Before he could say anything Sweetie Belle broke away from his grip and raced over to the end of the lot.
“Sweetie Belle! Get back here!”
He ran after her and when he got there he was about to yell at Sweetie Belle for running off without him, but stopped when he saw what was under all the pile of garbage. It was a white pit bull that looked to be about one year old. It’s fur was more brown than white because of all the dirt and garbage it was lying in. He looked back over to Sweetie Belle who was sitting on the dirt in front of it just staring the dog it was clear that the dog's very scared and hurt too. Slowly Sweetie Belle reached her hand out to the dog, Ramone was about to tell her to step back but to his surprise the dog neither bit her nor backed away further into the hole. In stand it slowly inched closer sniffing her hand very carefully and when she went to pet it the dog didn’t flinch, but actually very slowly cradled out from it's hiding spot and nestled itself closer to her. Sweetie Belle didn’t really smile and just continued softly petting his head. It was then Ramone noticed that the dog is a boy as well as all of the bite marks and a huge chain attached to a rope wrapped around his neck. There was no doubt about it it was clear to both of them what happened to this little guy. Sweetie Belle was both horrified and confused, first she had seen a video just yesterday about a pit bull being used in dog fight, then today she met “pit bull” puppies, and now here she is a pit bull that looked like it had been through one of those horrible fights. Three coincidences in a row and all of them about pit bulls and dog fights.
I don’t get it what’s this suppose to mean? And why me of all people?
Ramone told Sweetie Belle to stay put and ran back to his car, he came back moments later with his jacket and pocket knife, telling Sweetie Belle to step back he pulled out the pocket knife and started cutting the rope from around his neck. It took a really long time for him to finally get the rope off especially since he was being very very careful not to hurt the dog. After finally getting the rope off Ramone grabbed his jacket and very gentle trying to be mindful of his injuries, picked him up and they walked back to the car. Sweetie Belle opened the back door and got in then helped Ramone set the dog down carefully on the back seat next to her. Ramone got in the driver’s seat they buckled their seat belts and Sweetie Belle kept both arms around the dog petting him gently while he kept his head on her lap.
. . .
When they arrived in town Ramone headed straight to Doc’s clinic. They got out the car and he carried the dog to the front door Sweetie Belle knocked and Doc opened up a smile on his face but that smile soon faded when he caught sight of the dog in Ramone’s arms.
“Oh my god What happened?”
“We found him out in a vacant lot chained up in a pile of garbage. I know you’re not a vet but do you think you could take a look at him?”
“Of course! Come on in.”
He made room for them in the doorway and told Ramone to set the dog down on his examination table picking up his stethoscope he started his examination on the dog.
Looks like those veterinary books I bought came in handy after all.
After a certain incident during his first few months in Radiator Springs when a customer’s dog had gotten injured playing near Willy’s Butte. He told them that he wasn’t a vet and that he couldn’t (and didn’t know how to) help them and that there was a veterinary clinic near by not to far from town. Not being able to help them had made him feel so useless that he went out and bought every book he could find on basic vet skills.
After the examination Doc had a very disgusted look on his, he knew exactly where those bite marks had come from and the thought of it made him furious.
Grrr! Are. You. Serious!
Doc internally shouted dog fighting was one of the worst things he hated. Fortnightly nothing was to serious the bits aren't that deep. Which made things easier for Doc since he still only knows the basics. After cleaning the wounds and bandaging them up he called for Ramone and Sweetie Belle to come back in and the dog’s tail immediately started wagging as soon as he caught sight of Sweetie Belle. She gave him a huge smile running over to the table and began petting her new friend while he licked her face. Ramone smiled at the sight but it soon changed to concern when he saw the look on Doc’s face.
“Doc? You ok man?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. But I will be contacting the city police informing them on what happened. I’m not even sure if they’re aware or not that there’s a possible dog fighting ring going on there. Sometimes those people can be real absentminded.”
Ramone was about to say something but closed his mouth when he didn’t have anything to say since he agreed with him. They both continue to talk about the situation for about a half an hour then went back into the room seeing Sweetie Belle scratching the dog’s ear. Before either of them could say anything Sweetie Belle looked at them and smiled.
“Bulk!”
“Huh?”
Both of them looked at her confused then she said
“What I mean is I’m gonna name him Bulk.”
“And why did you pick that?”
Doc asked her, his mood had changed and he smiled at her.
“You see there’s this one pegasus that lives in Ponyville. He’s like… really big and muscular. And he’s got white fur with really really tiny wings about the size of his ears. And he looks like him.”
Doc and Ramone tried their best not to laugh
“So how exactly can he fly?”
“I have no idea.”
Sweetie Belle replied with a giggle and a yawn now it was late and time for her to go to bed. Ramone walked over to the table and picked up her and headed for the door but before leaving he turned back to Doc.
“Thanks for the help Doc. No doubt Sweetie will be coming back in the morning to see Bulk.”
“He’ll be waiting Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
. . .
The next morning, as expected as soon as Sweetie Belle was dressed she raced over to Doc’s clinic not paying any attention to the others when she passed by, that got Applebloom and Scootaloo’s attention and they raced after her.
“Hey Sweetie Belle! Slow down will ya!”
“Huh...Oh Applebloom Scootaloo! This is perfect! Come on I wanna show ya something!”
Well that easy…
Applebloom thought to herself following Sweetie Belle to the clinic front door. She knocked and Doc opened the door smiling at her.
“Just as I was expecting come on in he’s been waiting for you.”
Wait! He!? Did Sweetie Belle find a boyfriend or something? And what’s he’s doing at Doc’s clinic?
Scootaloo thought to herself shocked and curious she looked over to Applebloom who was just as confused. But as soon as they entered the room their questions were answered when they saw a white pit bull dog sitting on the examination table. He stood up wagging his tail fiercely licking Sweetie Belle’s cheek, unexpectedly Scootaloo jumped behind Applebloom a look a fear in her eyes.
“Scoots! What’s the matta’ with ya? Why are ya acting so scared all of a sudden?”
“I-I don’t do so good around dogs.”
Scootaloo said shaken keeping her eyes on Bulk, Doc walked over to Scootaloo taking her hand and she immediately dashed behind him. Applebloom took this chance before Scootaloo did a slingshot and latched back onto her and walked over to Bulk slowly extending her hand toward him waiting for him to give it a sniff then started petting his back Bulk’s tail wagged even faster.
“What’s his name?”
“Bulk”
Applebloom snorted at that
“Snort Bulk? As in Bulk Biceps?”
“Yep!”
Both girls started laughing continuing to pet Bulk while Scootaloo remained hidden behind Doc. He bent down to meet her at eye level.
“Come on Scootaloo there’s nothing to be afraid of. Bulk’s not going to hurt you I promise.”
“I-I-I um gulp."
He picked up Scootaloo’s arm and led her across the room over to Bulk despite her trying hard to pull away.
“D-Doc! I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Shh it’s ok all ya gotta do is let him sniff your hand.”
She gulped, holding out her hand and Bulk began sniffing it then she felt something sloppy on her palm and opened her eyes to see Bulk licking her hand. She giggled at the feeling and nervously move her hand up slowly stroking his head. When she looked back at Doc he smiled at her, she blushed embarrassingly and turned back to Bulk as soon as she did he gave her a big sloppy lick to the face.
“AHAHAHA! EWWW! That’s gross!”
Sweetie Belle turned her attention to Doc
“Hey Doc is it ok to take him outside now? I wanna introduce him to everyone!”
"Eh..not today Sweetie Belle Bulk needs to stay here until his heal."
"When will that be?"
Doc thought for a moment The wound aren't that deep and with enough rest and the right medicines which I have. Should be about 3 to 5 days till I can remove the bandages.
"Give him about 5 days to rest up and heal."
"Ok! Um..Doc can you keep Bulk a secret?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I want it to be surprise when I introduce him to everyone."
That got her a small chuckle from Doc and a round of giggles from Applebloom and Scootaloo.
5 days later
The girls ran off to Doc's clinic and as Sweetie did ignored everyone at the cafe. For the past five days they all managed to keep Bulk a secret as Sweetie Belle wanted. But they still had the whole town suspicious Lightning watched the girls leave then looked to everyone.
"Does anyone else think those three are hiding something?" Everyone gave a nod and Lightning continued eating wondering what it was the girls Doc and Ramone are hiding it must be something something for even Doc to keep to himself.
Inside Doc's clinic the girls were playing with Bulk while Doc removed his bandages. After checking him over one last time and giving him a clean bill of health Sweetie Belle beamed at him.
"Can we take him outside now Doc? Can we?"
“Of course you can just let me get a leash for him.”
Just like with the books Doc had bought a couple of leashes and collars, including one mussel for more difficult patients. He came out with a yellow collar and leash in hand which made all three girls burst out laughing and Doc gave them a look.
“And just what exactly is so funny?”
“Bulk’s mane is yellow.”
Scootaloo said between gasp of laughter even Doc chuckled a little bit.
I should have seen that coming
He adjusted the collar a little and clicked it around Bulk’s neck then took the leash and clipped it on, picking up Bulk and setting him down on the floor Bulk immediately started tugging on the leash excited to get outside. This made Doc laugh as he pulled back a bit telling Bulk to heal then all five of them headed out. Everybody in town was surprised when they first saw Bulk at least now they know what the big secret was. Lightning was the first one to introduce himself to Bulk, then Mater, Sally and everyone else. It didn’t take long for Bulk to get familiar with everyone then headed back over to Sweetie Belle licking her cheek she then kissed to top of his head Doc smiled at the sight.
Well Bulk, looks like Sweetie Belle gave you a second chance.