“I said stay!”
Winona whimpered and backed up to where her blanket was. As soon as it touched her paw she sat down with a solid thump.
Applejack nodded in satisfaction and grabbed the broom in her teeth, making quick, angry sweeps with it. Dust began flying into the air. The mare continued, getting more frustrated with every stroke, until she finally threw the broom in the corner. It fell with a clatter and slid across the floor.
Something isn’t right. Winona whimpered.
Applejack jumped at the sound. Her eyes darted around her bedroom. Sunlight was blocked from streaming through the windows with thick, flowered curtains. The lamp by her bed was on, but muted by the old shawl Applejack had wrapped around it in a hurry. The result was a dimly lit room, with apple-related decor and a couple of personal touches. Her eyes finally fell on Winona, whose bed was in front of the bookcase, which mostly held farming information, but a couple of Applejack’s favorite books were lying there as well, dog-eared and worn.
Applejack knelt in front of the dog, who automatically stretched up to lick her. She chuckled and rubbed Winona’s head. “ Sorry girl,” she mumbled. “These headaches are making me a real grump.”
Winona licked her face again. It’s okay, everything is fine.
She watched Applejack stand up again, wobbling a little. Winona whined in concern.
"Now don't be like that, Winona. I'll be right back, I forgot a rag." Winona began to stand to follow Applejack down the stairs, but was cut off with a sharp command. "No, Winona, I said stay!" Applejack's eyes softened, and she added, "I'll bring you up your favorite chew toy, all right?"
Winona sat. Her eyes watched Applejack leave the room and shut the door behind her. Winona closed her eyes.
Something isn't right.
A thump came from the hall. One that sounded an awful lot like somepony falling. A dreadful silence.
Hoofsteps clapped up the stairs. "Applejack?" came a sweet voice.
In a second, it wasn't so sweet. "Applejack? Applejack? Get up! Oh, Celestia, Celestia, Applejack, please get up. GRANNY SMITH!"
More steps on the stairs. Winona buried her head under her paws. She heard the door slam open and peeked out. Applebloom was in the room, rummaging through the drawers and shelves. In her hurry, she tugged on one of the drawers and it flew out of the nightstand, its contents scattering everywhere. A pen landed in front of Winona's face, and she sniffed it. Blue ink. She glanced back up at Applebloom. "Oh, no," the filly moaned, and began digging through the various pamphlets, pens and hair elastics. Under a blue sheet of paper Applebloom seemed to find what she wanted. She unearthed a small orange bottle and ran back in the hall with it in her mouth, the little balls inside sounding like Winona's toy with all the beans in it. Applejack had made her that toy.
It was laying on the floor not far from Winona. She reached a paw out and scooped it to her bed. It smelled like Applejack and rain and spit and dirt.
Winona could hear the rumble of Big Macintosh. "Put 'em in her mouth, I'll carry her to Ponyville, maybe the pills will help. No, Granny, I can handle her on my own. Applebloom, you go tell Twilight and them." Winona had never heard him talk so much or so fast. Something must be wrong. She whimpered again.
Big Mac grunted, and his voice began trailing off as his feet slammed down the stairs. "Applebloom, listen to me," he called up the stairs. "You bring that paper you found in the drawer when you come to the hospital." Then, in a whisper that Winona barely heard, "Everything will be okay."
Winona's ears flattened as Applebloom ran back into the room and grabbed the blue flier in her mouth. The mare's eyes slid over to where Winona was sitting, and the dog saw herself reflected in them, a brown blob. Winona hoped that she would receive some comfort, like maybe a smile or a pat on the head.
She didn't. Applebloom just averted her eyes and galloped out.
The voices of the family could be heard floating through the window. Big Mac's hooves began pounding towards Ponyville.
Winona wanted to join them and make sure Applejack was okay. Instead, she just put her head in her paws and waited.
Applejack had told her to stay.
Playing!
Winona jumped high into the air and barked joyously.
"Want me to throw it?" Applejack asked, wiggling the stick in the air.
Yes, yes, throw it!
Applejack heaved the makeshift toy as far as she could, which was quite far. Winona chased after it, skipping and leaping. She even veered to the left to chase through a flock of geese. Most flew away, leaving the scent of feathers and dust, but one stood his ground and hissed. Winona decided to leave him alone.
She dove after the stick, which sat on the ground under an apple tree. The dirt was rich, and Winona inhaled the deep scent.
Something twitched in the tree. Winona made sure it wasn't a squirrel. Then she ran back to where Applejack was.
Or had been. Did she go back to the house?
Winona snuffled at the ground. There was no trace of her.
She sat to wait.
Winona yawned happily. Outside the window, she could see the sun peeking over the apple trees. Usually Applejack was up by now and nudging Winona out of bed to help with the chores. She stood and stretched slowly, as she normally did, and pawed softly to the bed. I'll nose her side, that always wakes her up.
Halfway to the bed, she realized Applejack's normal sleeping lump wasn't there.
Stay, Winona.
Winona slunk back to her cushion with her head down, ashamed she had forgotten.
She couldn't hear the family moving in the hallway, or smell delicious things cooking from downstairs.
Winona buried her head under the blanket.
When she unearthed herself, it was nearly noon. A soft voice came from the hallway.
"...and the funeral will begin at two." The voice was gravelly, like when she licked the crumbs out of her bowl or scratched her nails on rocks. Winona's ears perked. Somepony had died.
"Thank you for telling me. I know this is hard," said another. It sounded like when the apple trees had just begun to be green again. "We're all here for you."
A smaller voice asked, "D'you know what was wrong with her?"
"She had a medical condition, and didn't take her pills," said the spring voice. "It wasn't anypony's fault. No one knew."
"Can you take all the information to the doctor? It's upstairs, in her drawer."
Of course," the spring voice said, and light hoofsteps fell on the stairs. The door was pushed open. A purple version of Applejack, with something on her head, walked in. Owl, Winona suddenly remembered. Friend. She didn't growl.
The unicorn began rummaging through the papers spread on the floor without touching them. Puzzled, Winona watched as she made a neat pile, then carefully placed the documents in her bags. She took one more glance around the room and noticed Winona.
"Oh," she said.
Winona watched.
The purple, spring pony walked over to her and knelt, petting her head with a gently hoof. "You okay, girl?" she asked.
Winona stared into her eyes, entranced by the color. None of her family had those color eyes.
The unicorn broke the contact and stood after a moment. She was uncomfortable. Winona could smell it. She could also smell lilacs, sadness, and death. But mostly lilacs. This pony was obviously not the dead one.
The pony gave her one last pat, smiling with only her mouth, and walked out.
She glanced at the window, and her eyes were burned. Usually Applejack came inside right about now to escape the heat of the day.
Not today, though. Maybe it was a nice day, so Applejack never needed a break. That happened sometimes.
"Hey, girl!"
Winona's head whipped up. She had fallen asleep in the north field, which was silly, because she was supposed to be making sure crows stayed away. She rolled on her back so Applejack would know she was sorry.
Her tummy got rubbed. As soon as the hoof left her fur, she jumped up to see what Applejack wanted. The mare smiled down at her and kicked a stick on the ground. "I figured it was a good time for some fetch. I need a break."
Winona's entire body wagged with excitement, and she bumped up against Applejack's leg. There was no smell.
There was always smell. Sawdust, sweat, happiness, apples, confusion, shampoo. But now there wasn't.
Before she could double-check, Applejack waved the stick in the air, and Winona completely forgot. The stick was thrown down the hill, and Winona chased after it.
She caught it before it even touched the ground. She turned, tail wagging triumphantly, to show Applejack.
But Applejack was gone.
Something was prodding her side, and she happily turned, sure that Applejack would be standing there. Instead, two big, sunset-colored eyes stared at her.
Winona woke up with a start.
Apple Bloom was watching her. She held a bowl in her mouth, and Winona could smell her food inside. Only dry food, though- not the glop of yogurt Applejack always mixed in for a treat.
Apple Bloom dropped the bowl on the ground. "Sorry we've been ignorin' you fer a coupla days. Ah gave you some extra food to make up for it." Apple Bloom's eyes were red.
Winona buried her head in her paws.
After a few beats of silence, Apple Bloom's quiet hoofsteps led out of the room.
There were less moments with Applejack as the days passed. Winona wasn't sure where they were going, or why Applejack's face was getting blurrier as time went on, but no matter how hard it was to make out the mare's features, Winona was always overjoyed when they got to play.
And every day, Apple Bloom visited to leave her yet another bowl of food that Winona wouldn't eat.
One day, Apple Bloom plopped the bowl down and glared at Winona. "C'mon, Winona. Eat. Yer getting super skinny and I want you to come downstairs. Ah know you miss Applejack, but-" her voice broke. "Just eat yer food, you dumb dog."
Winona sighed and shifted on the bed. Apple Bloom mad an angry exclaim, and began pushing on Winona's rump. "Come... on... Winona," she grunted. "You are... my dog now." When Winona still did not move, she shrieked, "Git yourself downstairs. Now." Her voice broke, and she began to sob. "Yer... my dog now. You have to listen to me."
Winona curled into a smaller ball and ignored the sniffles behind her. Finally, they died down. The filly was silent, and finally, in a raspy, quiet voice, she told Winona to eat.
And she left.
Winona left the food alone, and barely felt her stomach ache from all the meals she had missed.
She went back to sleep, smelling the fading scent of Applejack.
Winona awoke. She blinked blearily. For some reason, she had been sleeping in the field next to the Zapapples. These acres were hardly used for anything other than recreation, like picnics or playtime with the Apple family. The Zapapples made any building nearby have a high chance of catching fire- in fact, the area Winona was laying on was singed. Apples would literally melt- and sometimes explode- from the excess magic in the area.
Her nose wiggled. It smelled like lightning, burnt dirt, and... Applejack. Winona could see her face, as clear as day.
She leapt into the air and rocketed towards the mare, who was sitting on a blanket near the edge of the Zapapple trees. She was laughing. "Did'ja have a good nap? You silly dog. I swear, you're lazier than-"
But Winona didn't let her finish. She jumped straight into Applejack's chest, who let out a woof of air. Winona licked the mare's orange face with glee. "Jeez! You're actin' like you haven't seen me in days, Winona. Calm down, girl."
Winona happily slid off Applejack and onto the blanket. Applejack grinned down at her. "Welp, this picnic's just about over. You know, I fancy a nice trip to the lake, maybe do some fishing. Sound good?"
Winona woofed in agreement.
Applejack stood and shook herself off. "I'll even let you go swimmin'. Can't really get smelly here, eh? Let's go grab the fishin' gear and some snacks, then we can head out."
Joyfully, Winona stood and began to follow Applejack. Then she glanced down, at the blanket that was the same color as her bed.
Stay.
She whimpered in confusion, and stared after Applejack's retreating figure. Her tail lowered to between her legs, unsure. Applejack's ears perked back, and she turned to see where Winona was.
Applejack's brow furrowed in confusion. "What're you doin', sugarcube? Come. "
It was the best command Winona had ever gotten.