A pony sat upon its shelf, wrapped in its plastic & card container. It was warm, dry & usually an interesting place to sit, much more interesting than lying in her packaging in a pitch black, musty smelling box.
Though surrounded by other Ponies, each in their own packaging, she was very lonely.
One day a woman came in & picked her up, before taking her to the counter where she was placed inside the bag. She lay in the bag for who knows how long, it could have been hours, days or even weeks. There was no way of knowing, no way of tracking time passing by.
Suddenly the pony felt a jolt as she was lifted out of the bag & out of the packaging. Fresh air!! The air was warm & she could hear the laughter of children in another room. Adults were chatting away & there was the aroma of freshly cooked food. The pony was gently placed down on her hoofs, the ground was sticky and soft, not particularly big & circular in shape. The pony stood very still, taking in her surroundings when suddenly the lady who had taken her from the shop stood behind the Pony & lifted the circular ground up with the pony still on it.
Through a door & into the hallway went the lady, still carrying the pony on her circular mound. As a second door opened the lady began to sing "Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you...", Others joined in the singing & the pony was placed on a table facing a little girl, still standing on her circular mound. The girl, with short brown curly hair gave a grin & blew towards the pony, it was then that the pony noticed that there were 2 candles either side of her which, by the spiral of smoke arising from them, had obviously just been blown out.
The pony was taken off her circular mound, which she could now see was a birthday cake, covered in butter icing, and taken to have her hoofs washed before being given to the little girl.
The pony was over joyed, here was a little girl who would play with her, & be her friend! Not only that but she would finally have a name, her own name, not Cherry Jubilee like all her identical sisters but one of her very own.
The little girl placed her down and ran off but another girl quickly grabbed her and helped the pony gallop around the room.
Later that day, when it had all quietened down & most people had left, the birthday girl picked the pony up again. She dressed her in a tennis outfit, brushed her hair & put a head band on her.
She then swapped it for a rain coat & hat.
Over the course of the next few days the pony found she had several new outfits - a bedtime outfit, complete with slippers & a roller skating outfit, which the wheels really turned so she could glide along.
The pony sporadically had her hair brushed & plaited, sporadically had her clothes changed, & sporadically played with in the bath along with another pony & a sea pony, but was never really played with. The little girl seemed happier drawing, gluing or playing lego than paying attention to a little pony.
As the little girl grew up the Pony was given to her younger sister, who played with her a little bit more before the pony was packed away in a box, along with barbies, doll furniture & lots of dolls clothes.
There the Little Pony lay, wondering if she'd ever see the light of day again, feel the small hands of a child, hear giggling laughter. Years went by, every now & then the Pony felt the box move. She would hope & hope that she was going to be taken out by a child, & at the same time dreaded it incase she was destined for the dustbin.
Even more years went by before she felt the box move again, she slid from side to side but thankfully the dolls clothes padded her from potential damage. Then the box was again still, she could see a chink of light from the gap in the box where the flaps of the lid didnt quite meet. Who knew where she was now.
A month went by before the box was opened, there stood a woman with green curly hair, it reminded her of her sister, clover. There was something familiar about this woman, something the pony half recognised. "Oh my gosh!!!" the woman said "its my old My Little Pony, ooooooooo, I have plans for her!!!"
"plans?" another voice asked before another female came into view, it was the woman who had bought the pony, older, yes, but definitely her.
"Yep, there are some amazing altered ponies out there, AMAZING, I've been wanting to give one a go at somepoint"
The pony wasnt sure she liked the sound of it, a make over would be lovely, she felt grubby having sat in a box for so long ...... but how far did this woman want to alter her look?
Into a handbag she went, along with a sea pony generically called Sea Winkle & her sister Bow-Tie
On a warm day the woman took her out of a bag & handed her, with the other Ponies, to a little boy who'd got a tub of bubbly water outside. The little boy carefully washed them, dried them & combed their hair. He then placed them on the outer ring of a trampoline.
The pony could see him at a little desk, drawing them.
As the woman came out the little boy showed her the picture & pointed at the pony saying "I'm calling that one Mario"
She had a name, a name of her own, not a name she would have guessed but it was hers.
The little boy often played with the ponies, galloping them over the hills of the sofa, across the grass of his bed and "Mario" was finally content, here was someone who played with her, someone who'd given her a new name, someone who was her friend.
