Winona the Cowardly Dog

by The Psychopath

Apple Farm

Big Mac was occupied with fixing the front door frame while Applejack was busy with breakfast, and so Winona was still in the living room, chewing on a squeaky apple-shaped chew toy. The dog was deep in her transient state of mastication when Applejack called for her, so she took her toy in her mouth and walked towards the kitchen. Unfortunately, she found herself blocked by a grumpy Big Mac who stopped hammering the door for a minute to look at the dog and resume his work. Winona whined a few times, and after the fourth time, Big Mac looked at her and went to what the dog thought was a toolbox. He popped back out with nails in place of teeth and nuts on his eyes.

"BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" he shouted.

The dog screamed so loud she was lifted and rocketed through the roof just by the lift power of her voice. Big Mac laughed joyously, but got conked hard on the noggin' by AJ's rolling pin.

Big Mac clutched his head. "OW! What did I do?!" he asked.

AJ shook her rolling pin at him. "I'm tired of you making fun of Winona. Go get her and bring her back inside, or no pie!"

"But AJ..."

"GO!"

The red pony grumbled his way outside, complaining about the 'stupid dog' and not getting his pie. He pushed the door open angrily and stomped towards the dog knocked out in the crater with her teeth sticking out of her mouth like stakes.

"Come on, dog!" he shouted. When she didn't respond, he growled even louder and stomped right next to her. "COME ON YOU...What's huh?"

A huge group of ponies pulling carts filled with giant apple trees were on Big Mac's land, as FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR as the eye could see.

"What do you want?!" he shouted.

A tall mare carrying a backpack and sporting resplendent red hair and a fit figure approached Mac, shaking his hood enthusiastically.

"Well hi there! We were just findin' some place ta plant our apple trees."

"Then look somewhere else!" Big Mac yelled when he removed his hoof.

The mare put on an innocent, defeated expression. "But, good sir. We haven't anyplace left for them, and they are oh so thirsty!"

"NOT my problem." He grabbed Winona and threw her at the house, whacking her head hard on the wood.

"We'll pay you bits for it, a-And you can take a profit of the apple sales," she added.

The mare pulled a few bits from her backpack, as did her fellows, creating a bright chain of golden light. A 'cha-ching' rang in Big Mac's head, and he joyously grabbed all the bits with laughter when the ponies stopped next to him for their 'deposit'.

"Where can we plant these, sir?" one of the ponies asked.

"Anywhere you want!" he answered without looking away from the pile of bits he was standing out of.

Winona whined with worry when she watched the strangers all come by with their trees, and the first mare with red hair saw him at the corner of his eyes and smiled.

"Awww, what a cute lil puppy," she said as she patted the dog on the head. Her face twisted into a huge grin with oversized teeth afterwards. "Dontcha worry, doggy." She tapped her tree. "You'll all make some fine fertilizer for these here trees!" she spoke with a strained tone.

Winona screamed internally, her whole body stretching from it. She rushed immediately to Applejack and pulled her outside despite her protests. The dog bounced up and down, pointing at the invaders. She turned into a monstrous demon tree with holes in place of eyes and a mouth that glowed green and depicted her eating the orange mare, then turned into a dead, almost zombie-like willow taking an apple out of its branches, pulling off the stem of the fruit, and throwing it like a grenade into the distance, letting it explode.

AJ didn't know what to say to this, but when she looked at the ponies, she clapped her hooves together. "Oh! New guests, and with apple trees, too! We haven't had trees here in ages!" She turned back to her home while Winona tried to keep her outside. "I'll get some drinks for our guests."

Winona bounced up and down, pointing at the guests, and whined when she noticed that Applejack was ignoring her. So focused on her worry, she didn't pay attention to the thin pony walking up behind.

"Hey, doggy!"

Winona spun around and yiped in fear. The mare pet the dog's head rather roughly, pulling Winona's skin back more and more as the pets continued.

"That's a good dog!" she said. "Can't wait to see what kind of soil ah'll be able to use with these...FERTILE lands!" she mused.

Winona whined in worry and watched the big mare walk away towards the others preparing their trees. She sneaked in after the mare and vanished behind the various pots and wagons, peering around the corners to see them mixing up compost in wooden crates. A group of the ponies dropped large blocks of leaves and rotten foods in the crate, prompting a sigh of relief from Winona.

"Got the compost workin' well?" the mare asked her companions.

A stallion mixing up the batch wiped his forehead and nodded. "Sure do, Apple Bloom. Now we just need the 'secret ingredient'," he joked.

Apple Bloom laughed. " 'Secret', he says."

Two ponies came by with a joined armful of white, powdery substances and plopped some into the box. They checked the interior before being sent off by the stallion to share with the others, but, without their notice, a bit of their hold fell onto the floor.

"Whoops!" Apple Bloom squeaked. She picked up the item, revealing a pony skull. "Can't have all that calcium 'n other things get lost in this dried land, can we?" she kicked the dry ground in response.

Winona's ears took off her head like rockets and exploded just above her in a fireworks display of her screaming. She rushed towards AJ cleaning dishes in the kitchen, babbling incomprehensibly and pointing to the outside.

"What's wrong, Winona?" she asked. She leaned down and scratched her behind the ears. "Say, have you seen Big Mac anywhere? I can't find him." She pouted and put her hands to her hips. "That stallion is always wandering around."

To AJ's protests, Winona hopped onto the kitchen sink and looked out of the window to see the group toss Big Mac's cap away. She screamed so powerfully that she collapsed upon herself and vanished into a blink. The dog reappeared behind AJ after coming in from the living room and squeaked in confusion.

"Winona, stop being silly and bring these pies to our guests. I'm sure they would lo--"

The mare screamed when a tree root burst through the windows and grabbed her, slowly lifting her into the air while she screamed.

"Applejack!" Winona screamed.

She tried to pry her owner out of the root's grasp, but she was only met with another one slapping her away and into the wall. They went for the dazed Winona next. She recovered her senses and pulled out hedge clippers from...She started clipping at the roots, or attempting to. They snapped in half after a few attempts, forcing the dog to pull out a chainsaw and get to work, making the new item grind itself down to a stub.

Winona scratched her head in confusion. "What the...What's in these roots?" she wondered.

She screamed again and rushed upstairs to the super computer sitting in the creaky attic all alone, hoping that she could find an answer.

"Help!" she pleaded. "Weird indestructible tree things kidnapped AJ!"

"Weird indestructible tree things?" the computer repeated. "This is why you should've gone vegan like I asked."

"What? Why?" Winona typed.

"To lose your waistline, and to kill all the plants."

A tree branch burst through the window to the left of the two, terrifying Winona. The dog bolted to the window and hammered in multiple planks of wood over them, causing them to screech in pain.

"EAT THE PLANTS BEFORE THEY EAT YOU!" the computer shouted. "Oh, and they're just soul trees. Maybe...I would shrug if I had shoulders." There was a long pause. "Just eat them or burn them. You could also...I don't know. Throw compost or something on those controlling them."

Winona tapped on the keyboard, a frown adorning her face. "You're not very useful," she complained.

"Not very useful?! They're blood trees! Just throw a match on them or something! You're in the middle of nowhere! They're all dried out!"

Winona blinked a few times in response. "Oh yeah..."

Back outside, Apple Bloom and her companions were cheering for the growth of their trees and shoveling more compost onto the roots of these plants.

"Growin' nice 'n big." She patted her tree's trunk. "Gonna make the best white apple ever!" she cheered.

"Hey, it's that dog," another pointed out.

Everyone turned to see Winona standing in front of everyone, her face painted with worry and her paws behind her back. She looked up to AJ screaming and pleading for her help, but the dog did not move.

"Hm?" Apple Bloom leaned in. "It's that cute li'l doggy from earlier."

"Oh, he'll make the cutest white apples this side of nowhere," one of the ponies said.

Apple Bloom frowned and patted Winona on the head. "Sorry li'l doggy, but they're right. We need ya ta be good 'n solid fer the trees." Several roots from the dozens of nearby trees erupted from the ground and bolted towards Winona. "Bye, doggy!" Then Winona pulled a lit match from behind her back. "Wait, what's that?" Apple Bloom asked while squinting her eyes.

The tiny flame poked a tree root, then the match extinguished and plopped to the ground. Winona brought her paws to her face.

"What was that supposed to--"

The trees and everyone but Winona and AJ were immediately engulfed in a fire then suddenly extinguished, leaving behind blackened husks.

"--be..." Apple Bloom coughed.

"Huh. That was easy," Winona noticed. "I don't know why...but I feel disappointed."

Everything disappeared into a gentle gust of wind, leaving AJ to fall helplessly from her height and crush a frantic Winona who did her best to catch her.

"Oh my." AJ picked Winona up and pet her. "Thank you, Winona. I had no idea those people were up to no good. I'll make you some happy apples. Whadda ya say?" Winona nodded excitedly. "Great!" AJ looked around and sighed. "Remind me to keep one ready for when Big Mac comes back."

As they returned to the house, a tiny sprout bloomed from the blackened land. It sported Big Mac's face. He groaned angrily, but before he could say anything, a stray ember hit him, turning him to ash. Winona just shrugged at the sight and nuzzled more deeply in AJ's arms.

"Stupid dog!"

Author's Note:

RED hair. NOT orange. Ya color blind gumps.

Comments

[PickleRickInAPickle]

I don't know how you managed to pull it off, but this is wonderful.

[The Psychopath]

8869088
You challenge my power?

[Starlight Nova]

8869146
What cartoon is that from, and why is this story only three chapters long?

[The Psychopath]

8869276
It's a movie. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

It's only three chapters long because this was only being written for fun. I might write a fourth, but...eh.