//------------------------------// // New Dog, New Tricks // Story: Tale Chasing // by Astrocity //------------------------------// 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.