The Red "Menace"
Oh My Celestia, A Giant Dog!
“C’mon Fluttershy, ya’ll gotta keep up now! We gotta get back to Sweet Apple Acres before that thing tears it apart!” Applejack called back to her Pegasus friend, who wasn’t far behind her, her lungs failing to keep up with the fast-paced running she was doing.
“(Pant Pant) Can y-you please slow down a little Applejack? I-I’m not as fast as you are.” Fluttershy panted, sweat dripping down her forehead as she ran.
Applejack turned around and shook her head.
“Sorry Flutters, no can do. Mah whole farm’ll be destroyed by that…that…whatever it is if we don’t get there now!” Applejack said.
“Pardon me AJ, but from what you told me, it’s just a dog. How much trouble can ONE harmless dog cause...if you don’t mind me asking.” Fluttershy asked in a whimper.
Applejack sighed at her friend’s misunderstanding of the subject.
“Ah told ya Fluttershy, this thing just ain’t normal. One minute everything’s fine n’ dandy in the orchard, and the next minute, this varmint comes barreling in here like a manticore at a tea party. Must’ve come outta the Everfree Forest overnight or somethin’” Applejack replied.
Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth.
“Relax Applejack. I’m sure it’s just a little scared and confused is all. I’ll handle it when we get there.” Fluttershy assured her.
Applejack gave her friend a smile.
“Thanks Fluttershy. I knew ya’ll would be the one for the job. Now, let’s get a move on!” Applejack said, galloping at breakneck speeds to her home, Fluttershy hot on her tail, still trying to catch her breath.
‘I wonder how a harmless little puppy could cause Applejack so much trouble.’ Fluttershy thought to herself.
Soon, the pair arrived to Sweet Apple Acres, most if it looking pretty messed up. Several of the thousands of apple trees had been uprooted, the barn had been crushed, and the animals were scurrying around the farm in fear.
“Oh my Celestia! Would ya’ll look at this mess!? It’ll take us forever to get all these trees back in the ground!” Applejack shouted.
Fluttershy, presented with the scene before her, gasped.
“How does a dog cause all of this?!” She exclaimed.
Applejack turned to her.
“You’ll find out. Big Mac, lead that thing over here; hurry!” Applejack yelled.
From across the hills, a red stallion pulling an apple-cart, which had an older green mare and a young, yellow filly riding inside, both of them wearing army helmets, galloped into view and stopped just inches in front of them.
“Ya’ll got that thing to follow you?” Applejack asked.
“E-(Pant) E-Eeyup.” Big Macintosh responded.
All of a sudden, the ground beneath the ponies’ hooves started to rumble and an extremely loud sound bellowed across the farm.
RUFF RUFF!
“It’sa comin’! Head fer the hills!” Granny Smith shouted.
“That thing’s gonna eat us all! Go Big Mac, get us outta here!” Applebloom yelled.
Big Mac wasted no time in galloping away from the area, leaving the two mares to handle the problem.
“Ya’ll sure you can handle this Flutters? Ah know ya’ll have dealt with worse, but ah don’t think you’ve ever seen anything THIS bizarre.” Applejack asked.
“Applejack, I live with Discord. There is nothing that could ever be more bizarre than anything I’ve already...O-Oh…m-my...”
Fluttershy trailed off when she saw the creature Applejack had mentioned so many times before run towards them. The ground trembled when its gigantic paws made thundering contact with the ground, and its heavy breathing could be heard from miles away. The animal was obviously a dog, but it didn’t look like any dog Fluttershy had ever seen. It appeared to be much larger than Applejack’s barn; and if that isn’t strange enough, its fur was also hued a bright red color. As the behemoth of a dog continued to barrel toward them, Fluttershy noticed it had several dozen apple trees clamped tight in its maw.
Fluttershy was about to tell it to stop, but the dog halted directly in front of the two without even needing to be told to do so. It also dropped the trees on the ground with a loud THUD at the ponies’ hooves.
“RUFF RUFF!” It barked, causing the leaves on the still-standing trees to shake, and the mares’ eardrums to nearly burst.
“Arrrgh! Fluttershy, pleeease do somethin’!” Applejack pleaded, holding her hooves to her ears.
Fluttershy nodded and flew up to the dog’s eyelevel.
“No! Bad boy! Sit!” Fluttershy scolded.
The dog sat down without defiance, thumping his gigantic tail on the ground, rumbling the entire farm.
‘That’s weird. It looks like he’s already been trained.’ Fluttershy thought.
“That’s better. Now can you please tell me why you’re making such a huge mess of my friend’s home?” She asked.
“RUFF RUFF, RUFF!” he bellowed.
Fluttershy nodded her head in understanding.
“What’s the story Shy?" Applejack shouted
“It’s alright! He says he just wanted to play and he’s really sorry for destroying your farm!” Fluttershy called back.
“Well can ya’ll tell em’ to go play somewhere else? He’s kinda causin’ too much havoc to stay here!” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy turned back to the dog, who now had an air of guilt mixed in with sadness about him, indicated by his drooped ears and pouty eyes.
Fluttershy tried to comfort him by petting his head.
“There there. It’s alright…Umm, would you want to come and stay at my cottage for a while…uhh…”little” fella?” Fluttershy asked, slightly chuckling at her poor choice of words.
The dog immediately perked up, his face turning happy and playful once again, and he resumed wagging his tail. He then proceeded to lick Fluttershy’s entire body with his humongous tongue, leaving the mare dripping with dog slobber.
“Hehehe. You’re quite the playful one aren’t you?” Fluttershy laughed.
“RUFF!” he bellowed.
Fluttershy then noticed something around the dog’s neck. It appeared to be a huge collar with a dog tag the size of a carriage wheel attached to it.
‘Oh. He has an owner? Well that would explain why he’s acting so well trained.’ Fluttershy thought.
“Did you run away from home big boy? Oh you’re owner must be worried sick about you. You can stay at my home until they come and find you. Okay?” She asked.
The dog nodded in approval and once again, let out a booming bark.
Fluttershy took a closer look at his dog tag and read the name engraved in its shiny, metal surface.
“So your name’s…Clifford right?” she asked.
“RUFF RUFF RUFF!” Clifford barked.
“Alright then Clifford, I’ll lead the way back to my home and you can follow…oh but one word of warning. My roommate can be a little…unpredictable…so don’t pay him any mind if he tries to make you angry. Ok?” Fluttershy asked.
Clifford raised an eyebrow.
“Trust me, you’ll find out.” Fluttershy said, flying off into the direction of her cottage, with Clifford stomping loudly behind her, trying to keep up with his new friend.
“Thanks fer the help Flutters! I’ll take care of things from here!” Applejack shouted, glad that the “Red Menace” was finally off of her property. She looked at what remained of Sweet Apple Acres, seeing how big of a job was ahead of her.
“…Hoooo boy. THIS may take a while…” She said.