> Winona Has Puppies > by Creativa-Artly01 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day, a Saturday, around sunrise, Applejack wakes up to several barks, whines, and whimpers coming from the barn. She then hops out of bed and tosses on her hat and a sweater as it's cold outside. She then dashes outside and down to the barn. Once there, she opens the door to find Winona with ten puppies at her side. "Winona, you're a momma!" Applejack exclaims. "But how? We don't have a male dog on the farm for you to mate with." Winona just looks up at Applejack and barks before getting back to licking the puppies as they suckle away at her teets. Applejack then goes over and pets her before she leaves the barn and returns back to the farmhouse. She'll figure this mystery out if it takes all day. She knows that much for sure. Back at the farmhouse, Applejack sits back down on her bed and begins to look through pictures of the barn over the last two years in search for the male dog that could've gotten her Winona pregnant. After looking through around ten pictures, she finds one with a dog in it, a male, a dog unfamiliar to her. She then spots something on the dog in the picture, a name tag that reads Spotty. "Spotty, that's Wrangler's dog," says Applejack in shock. "How'd he get to the farm and does she know?" Around noon, that same day, Applejack takes a trip down to Appleloosa where she enjoys a nice lunch with Wrangler. "Hey Wrangler," she says as she puts the pictures in question in front of her friend, "did you and Spotty come to Ponyville within the past few weeks? Possibly long enough for him to get all cuddly with my Winona?" "Oh yes, he and I came down there not long after you asked us to help with Fluttershy's sanctuary. While I was visiting the sanctuary, he must've slipped away to the farm where he ended up meeting your Winona and getting all snuggly with her. After all, collies do love to interact with other collies. You. know that," replies Wrangler. "Thanks," replies Applejack. "No problem, you're welcome to come for a visit anytime," responds Wrangler. The two then finish up their coffee and sandwiches before sharing a goodbye hug and finally parting ways. Wrangler returns to her home and her Spotty while Applejack returns to her home in Ponyville and her Winona and all the puppies. She can't wait to tell her siblings that Winona had puppies. She just hopes they haven't already found out. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- An hour later, Applejack arrives back at home and returns to the barn where she sees Winona sleeping with all the little pups curled up beside her fast asleep as well. She smiles. "Oh Winona," she sighs. "You and Spotty really did a number together, didn't you? Ten puppies, that's a lot, little girl." A few minutes later, Apple Bloom, Big Mack, and Granny Smith join Applejack in the barn. "Well! I...wow!" says Granny. "Winona has puppies! Winona has puppies!" says a flipping out Apple Bloom as she jumps all around in a fit of cheer and excitement. "What are we gonna do with all them puppies, Applejack?" asks Granny Smith. "When they're older, maybe we can make them herd dogs or sell some of them?" responds Applejack. "Well, at least you have a plan, dearie," responds Granny Smith. She then leaves the barn and returns to the farmhouse to get a head start on the chores. "Winona got frisky with Spotty, didn't she?" asks Big Mack. "Yep," responds Applejack. "But it's okay. I have everything under control." "I sure hope so," responds Big Mack as he leaves the barn and goes to hook up the cart to take some apples into town to sell. Apple Bloom then leaves the barn and heads off to join Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the movie theater for the afternoon. Now Applejack is alone with Winona and the puppies and for that, she is grateful. Now, she can focus on what to do with the puppies when they are old enough to be sold or trained or whatever she's gonna end up doing with them in the long run. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Six months later, Applejack finally decides what to do with the puppies. She will keep five of them and sells the other five. The five she decides to keep are one that is light brown with a black eye spot, one that's pure black, one that's black with a white tipped tail, another that's brown with a white tipped tail, and one that is light brown with a light brown mask pattern around it's eyes. The next day, she puts the other five up for sale, the ones that are mainly white with only a few brown or black markings. After an hour of standing there with the box of puppies, Applejack finally sells all five off. She sold the first one to a mare named Alabaster Pearl. She sold the second one to the Cakes since the twins were begging for a puppy to call their own. The third she sold to a stallion named Flathoof. The fourth she sold to Twilight's parents. The final puppy she sold to Rara. She's glad some of the puppies went to her friends or her friends' families. To her, that means the world. Now, she has to train the remaining five puppies how to herd and that's going to be the trickiest challenge of all. Two years later, the other five puppies, whom she named Winnie, Spot, Tubby, Minnie, and Applett, are proper herd dogs. They do every roundup with her and Winona. They help keep bats out of the orchards. Applejack is glad she kept them around. She now knows that that was the best choice she could've made. In a few weeks time, now, she's going to enter them in the Youth Herd Dog Show in Appleloosa. She can't wait! > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A week later, Applejack and the pups head off to Appleloosa. Once there, Applejack signs them up for the Youth Herd Dogs Show. They then go and get in line with the rest of the young herd dogs and other competitors. Applejack is excited. "So excited, we're gonna do great," Applejack whispers to the puppies. They just sit there and look up at her as they let out a bark. A few minutes later, the first event of the show takes place. It's the obstacle course. The puppies line up and happily run through the course in perfect sync at the start but eventually, one of Applejack's pups, Minnie, takes the lead. She continues to keep the lead for the rest of the course. "Go, Minnie! Whoo hoo!" cheered Applejack. "Go Silo!" yelled a stallion next to her on the fence. Silo was the dog hot on Minnie's tail. Eventually, Minnie comes out the winner of the event. Silo, however, still comes in second and the two then head off to compete in the Race for the Crown. As soon as the horn sounds, the two puppies head off at full speed. The two continue to inch ahead of each other throughout the entire race, but despite this, Minnie still manages to come out the winner. Applejack couldn't be prouder. Her little pup is the winner of her first ever Youth Herd Dog Show. Applejack then stands with Minnie on the winner's podium while Apple Bloom keeps the other four pups at bay. Apple Bloom smiles as she does so. She's so glad her sister and Minnie came out on top. Now, if only she could do the Youth Herd Dog Show. Maybe in two years when she's old enough, she'll just have to wait and see. > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two years later, the pups return to the Youth Herd Dogs Show, but this time accompanied by Apple Bloom. The first thing she does when she gets there is sign in the dogs. They then go and get into their places. A few minutes later, the first event begins. It's a new activity called Sheep Herding. For this event, the puppies are put in a pen of lambs and round them up as fast as possible as it's a timed event. The first pups to go are the Apple family puppies. They get a score of ten seconds flat. Apple Bloom is thrilled and quite impressed. Her puppies are in the lead. She couldn't be prouder. An hour later, after the rest of the puppies finish up Sheep Herding. None of them knocked the Apple family dogs out of the lead. It's now time for the next event: Mud Crawl. The puppies all line up in their spots and then begin the Mud Crawl as soon as the horn sounds. Immediately at the start, Tubby takes the lead. Apple Bloom is impressed. Her little Tubby has already taken the lead. He keeps the lead all the way to the end of the mud slip and wins the event. Apple Bloom cheers. She's so proud of her little Tubby. The puppies then crawl into a pool of water and wash off and then shake off the water and the excess mud. Tubby then runs over to Apple Bloom and nuzzles her leg. "I'm so proud of you, little Tubby," says Apple Bloom as she pets him on the head. She then takes him and her other puppies over to the obstacle course. It's the final event of the day. Apple Bloom knows Minnie has this in the bag. She is by far the fastest of the five pups after all. A few minutes later, the horn sounds and the pups are off and Minnie is once again in the lead. Apple Bloom cheers ecstatically. Minnie stays in the lead the entire time and comes out the winner once again. Fifteen minutes later, the event comes to an end and Minnie is given her ribbon and her winning medal. Apple Bloom is ecstatic. It's her first Youth Herd Dogs Show and Minnie and Tubby rocked it, all her puppies did. Now, it's time to celebrate. She can't wait to tell Applejack all about it. She absolutely can't wait. She's sure her sister is going to be so proud of her. She knows AJ is going to be so proud of her.