Ponies (Short Story)

"Ponies" is a two-page short story written by Kij Johnson. It is the winner of the 2010 Nebula Award for Short Story, (tied with "How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by Harlan Ellison), and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story and the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.

It was first published on Tor.com

Read It [https://www.tor.com/2010/11/17/ponies/#:~:text=Enjoy%20%E2%80%9CPonies%2C%E2%80%9D%20a%20short,Nebula%20Award%20for%20Short%20Story.&text=Along%20its%20margins%2C%20cartoon%20girls,horns%20and%20small%20fluffy%20wings. here]



Plot
The setting is in a world where each girl has her own pony, and each pony must attend a "cutting-out-party" and they must have two of three major body parts cut out: the wings, horn, and the voice. All girls must do this if they want to fit in with TheOtherGirls. Barbara, like all little girls, has a magic talking pony with wings and a horn. She is invited to a ritual "cutting-out party", where she must destroy two of the three things that make her pony special. When it's time for Barbara's pony, Sunny, to attend the cutting-out-party, Sunny prefers to keep her voice and get rid of her wings and horn.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The main character, Barbara, is selfish and wants to fit in with TheOtherGirls so badly that she will do anything. Even if it means hurting her own pony.
 * 2) The entire plot of the story is messed up and extremely disturbing. For example, when Barbara is cutting off her Sunny's wings and horns, her blood, for some reason, smells like Cotton Candy, and there's an oval where her wing is supposed to be.
 * 3) Topgirl, the antagonist, is a downright bully. She has no genuine friends, rather a group of fearful minions. She seems to be an extreme type of bully, and having power makes her who she is. She doesn't want anyone to be more powerful than her, not even her own pony. That is why she forces all ponies to have their horns, wings, and voice removed.
 * 4) On the invitation card, Barbara is told her pony gets to choose one ability to keep, but when she's at the cutting-out party she's told she has to take away the voice too.
 * 5) TheOtherGirls force Barbara to remove her pony's voice.
 * 6) The ending of the story is sad, because Sunny tries to run away before Barbara can remove her voice. Her horns and wings are already gone, so she is left defenseless. She is trampled and killed by the other ponies. It's also done in just about the most mean-spirited way possible, treating the horrific event like some sort of joke and TheOtherGirls pointing out that Barbara can't join them now as she doesn't have a pony.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Sunny finally decides that she's had enough. She chooses not to obey Barbara, because Barbara was trying to take away her ability to speak just so she can fit in with TheOtherGirls.
 * 2) The moral of the story is that you can lose what you already have if you try to fit in.

Trivia

 * * Strange Horizons called the story a "grotesque". Lois Tilton considered the story to be "Highly Unsubtle." Chad Orzel described the story as "just dreadful", based on a central idea that was "preposterously contrived" and "a gigantic and unsubtle literalized metaphor", and with "essentially no plot."

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