Pony Plush Pt 4

    I wake from a dreamless sleep to the sound of someone sobbing. I look up to see who it is, and glumly notice I'm still a pony as I push the hair from my eyes. To my confusion and surprise, a yellowish-green unicorn with a curly yellow mane stands in the doorway to my room.
    "Oh," he remarks as I start to stand up. "You're awake. Good." I blink a few times in confusion. The voice is familiar, and the citrus shape that adorns his flank seems to be oddly familiar. All of a sudden, I recognize him as the guy I just talked to on Skype.
    "Wait," I say. "I know you. You're—"
    "Lime Zest," he finishes. "Not that it really matters to me, but it's how I introduced myself to your parents." I freeze, and realize that the wailing that woke me has ended. The middle-aged woman who pushes past the unicorn takes me by surprise and grabs me off the floor.
    "Victor?" asks my mother, cheeks wet from tears. "Is that really you?" Too ashamed to answer, I simply hang my head. "What happened to you?" she demands. Mom starts crying again, and squeezing me in her arms. While you might think a hug would be nice about now, as things turn out, I'm not made to withstand this kind of pressure. I can feel my ribs start to buckle as I just manage a soft, squeaky whimper.
    Lime Zest nudges my mother's leg, and she loosens her hold in response. "Mrs. Schaefer, I was actually just about to discuss that with him, if you wouldn't mind giving us a moment." I breathe deep in relief before I'm winded again by one last embrace before my mom sets me down. She tries to quiet her sobbing as she slowly walks out of my room. My heart sinks further as I catch a glimpse of her hugging my dad, crying too, before Lime Zest kicks the door shut.
    I really can't handle this now. My mom and dad just found out, and now they're acting like they've just lost a son. But how do I know they haven't? It feels like everything's changed. I reach for my plushie, and just stoke its soft mane as I try not to cry. I feel like I'm a kid again; clueless and powerless. I've never felt this hopeless, though, and it's the first time I've ever felt so alone.

    All of a sudden, a grassy green glow surrounds my doll. I try to hold tight, but when you're used to fingers, hooves don't have much grip. I stare in horror as the toy floats away toward the smiling unicorn in front of me.
    "So, Victor," Lime Zest prompts, "do you still have the box this thing came in? Or did it come with any sort of a note?" I snatch at the doll in the air (as best as I can without hands), but it hovers just out of my reach.
    "It's not up here," I reply spitefully as the unicorn idly manipulates my cotton Doppelgänger, making him dance in the air. I take a measured breath. It's hard for me to keep on feeling sorry for myself when this yahoo's invited himself into my house, and made himself into such a terrible nuisance. "I don't remember any note, either."
    The chipper stallion facing me stops juggling mini-me and drops him on my back with a soft 'pomf', and the plush falls off and onto the floor as I reflexively turn to check on it. "Let's go find it, then!" he shoots back, opening up the door and walking into the hallway. I pause to look at the stuffed pony lying on the carpet, just not knowing how to feel. I'm upset someone's turned me into a horse without asking, or giving me some sort of a heads-up— not that I'd be too likely to believe anyone who'd tried to warn me. I'm frustrated by all my plans, short term and long term, that becoming a pony's just fucked over royally. I'm upset that a guy I hardly know just cantered into my house, broke some big news to my parents, and then woke me from my nap. And I'm scared, because I have no idea what's going to happen next. I sigh deeply and pick the plushie up with my mouth before following Lime Zest down the hall, my head hung low.