My mind is on the cartoon filly back in my bedroom as I quickkly head back home from work later that night. I can't help but worry that something went wrong. What if she got out of my window? What if someone saw her?
I trample over the front weeds of our yard and re-collect myself before entering inside the house, so as not to appear anxious to my parents if I come across them.
I speed walk to my room, still worrying. What if my mom or dad got into my room and found her?
I open the door to my room, and close it immediately. What if-
...What if she pooped all over my floor?
My room stinks like a sewer. She pooped...a lot. She's currently comfy up on my pillow, right where she was when I left for work...not a care in the world.
I sigh heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose. Why can't cartoon ponies poop rainbows and butterflies? I'm going to need to put newspaper all over my floor.
I go to my window and open it to let some fresh air inside. Sighing again, I resign myself to a long clean-up.
.............................................
One month has passed since I found Cozy. She's pretty bored these days. I try to play with her as much as possible and keep her occupied. But with school and work everyday, it's difficult to actually do so. I really don't have much extra time.
As an extra pre-caution, I have blocked off my window from her, to prevent her from getting out, or even looking out and being seen as a result...I didn't want to. I really didn't. It only served to make her depressed. But when you have a cartoon pony, it is imperative that said pony is not seen.
.............................................
Birds singing, sun shining into my room, and it is 10:15 AM on a saturday...
10:15AM on a saturday?!! Sweet Celestia's barbequed alicorn wings!!
I basically jump out of bed, startling Cozy awake as she tries to figure out what's going on.
I scramble to get changed and get my things together. I can't possibly be this late. Tell me this is a bad dream. I was supposed to be at work at 9:00 AM.
I get some food out of the cooler for Cozy, and rush out of my room, making sure to close the door.
When I open the front door to leave though, I'm greeted by a man in black.
"Um, hi..." I say awkardly. "Look, I'm late for work right now, so I've got to-"
"Your work shift can wait. I've taken care of it." The man cuts me off. I'm about to protest that there is no way he can even know where I work, when he begins talking again.
"I'm going to be needing your mythological pegasus though." He crosses his arms.
My blood goes cold.
"What in the world are you smoking?" I put on my best confused face.
"I assure you, I do not smoke anything. However, I do have video evidence from a street camera of you finding, and taking a pegasus filly. I could hardly believe it myself, but the video does not lie."
Suddenly, my dad appears, as if this couldn't get any worse.
"What's going on?" He asks gruffly.
"Sir, are you aware that there is a pegasus pony in this house?"
My dad then proceeds to give the man a trail mix of colorful language, before attempting to slam the door in his face.
Unfortunately, the man catches it before it can close.
"I know it sounds insane sir, but I have video evidence of your kid finding, and taking a pegasus filly." He looks at me. "I'd say there is a pretty decent chance that said pegasus is in your bedroom."
"You want proof that you're a few quarters short of a dollar buddy?? Fine then, I'll go check. But a loony like you is not setting foot in my house. So wait here!" He shuts the door and locks it.
"What a crack pot!" He stomps down to my room.
"Ya, a real loony like you said!" I hurriedly agree. "Why even check to give the guy the satisfaction?"
"Well, I haven't been in your room for a long time. What kind of disaster is it in anyway?"
He gets to my door, and opens it.
"WHAT. THE. WHAT??!" He basically screams.
This cannot be happening...
Cozy is sitting innocently on the floor, munching a carrot, before looking up at my dad and I.
"What is going on around here?" My mom appears, having heard all the noise, and sees Cozy.
"Oh, not again..." She groans and leaves, muttering something about having taken too much again.
My dad ignores her, being transfixed on the little cartoon pegasus.
He stares at her, pointing, with his jaw moving up and down, but no sound being made.
Finally, he finds his voice.
"How...how is this possible?" He asks quietly.
I sigh. Cat's out of the bag now...
"I don't know." I answer honestly. "I just found her one day while going to school." I admit.
"So...that guy at the door's not insane?" He asks.
"No...he's not."
Cozy, by this point, has trotted up to my dad and is sniffing him.
He bends down and picks her up, still staring at her and not believing his eyes.
"...We are so rich." He says quietly.
My heart drops. This is exactly what I did NOT want to have happen. I can almost see the dollar symbols in my dad's eyes.
"That man wants this pegasus, he can have her... for a hefty price." He turns and makes his way back to the main front entrance, retrieving a box on the way, and putting Cozy inside it.
He opens the door. The man is still waiting there.
"My apologies sir. I had absolutely no idea of this."
"Oh, that is quite alright." The man assured. "Now, the pegasus, if you please?"
"Ah yes, that will be one billion dollars." My dad replied, basically on cloud nine.
The man chuckled. "I assure you, the government will reward you for this. In the meantime, take this."
He held out a cheque for one hundred thousand dollars, which my dad immediately accepted, despite my attempted protests.
"Pleasure doing business with you!" My dad says happily, and hands the box over.
The man checks inside to make sure the pegasus is indeed in there. Satisfied, he closes it again.
"The pleasure is all mine. Good day."
"No!" I shout, lunging for the box. It slips out of the man's grasp, but unfortunately, I don't get a good grip on it either. It tumbles to the ground, coming open as it does so.
Cozy hits her head on the edge of our cement step, blood splattering around her.
She doesn't move.
"Cozy!!"
.........................................
I wake up with a start.
The soft glow of the moon is shining into my room.
A dream.
It was only a dream. Nobody knows about Cozy. Nobody came for her. She's fine. Cozy is right here with me...and I am never letting her go.
.............................................
It happened four months after I brought Cozy Glow home. She was depressed. There was no other way to put it. Being holed up in my bedroom for so long was not healthy...I was just trying to keep her safe. I...I never wanted this to happen.
It was a normal day for me...school, then my job. I really should have seen this coming. With school and work, I don't really see Cozy much. I'm at home to sleep. That's about it. I leave the house at 8:00 Am, and don't return until after 9:00 Pm most of the time. Weekends are no different. Someone has to provide in this house, and it's not my parents. So, I really have no choice. Most of the time, I just leave a bunch of food in my bedroom for Cozy.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I entered my room.
Cozy was in a corner of my room, curled up in a ball. It didn't look like she had eaten a single morsel of what I had left for her that morning. But, it wasn't until my eyes fell on her rump, that my heart truly sank, and I realized just how serious this was.
She had gotten her cutiemark...but it wasn't a rook. It was a lock...a closed padlock.
I quietly swore.
Could I even fix this? Can ponies change their cutiemarks once they get them? Or is Cozy now cursed to live with a closed padlock cutiemark all because of me?
I realized then and there that this cannot continue. I can't keep her here any longer. But then, what do I do with her?
What she really needs, is a way to get back to Equestria. This world is not for her. But even if she could go back, what would happen to her? Would she revert to her original evil self, and be locked away again? I guess that's kind of up to her.
Then, there is the issue of her cutiemark. Would it change back to the rook? Would it always be a closed padlock now? How would it affect her if it stayed as a padlock? Would she always feel caged, or locked away?
What if they actually did lock her away if she went back? Would her new cutiemark make her feel abandoned?
How would this new cutiemark affect her psychologically?
How do I fix this?