My Little Willow

Chapters

Discovery
Willow
First Encounters
Making a Splash
Isolation
Identical

Discovery

This story would not be possible without the inspiration from My Little Dashie by ROBCakran53

I'm only 22 and I wish I could just die already.

I live my life one endless day at a time. Everyday was the same old, boring routine. I would wake up every morning at 8:45 on the dot, take a shower, get dressed, eat something quick, then go to my crappy job working at the local 7-11. Then after my shift ended around 5:30 p.m., I would come home, eat some crappy meal I picked up on the way home, binge on something on T.V, then crash every night around 10. Then the next day I would repeat. Its been that way for as long as I can remember. I guess after the death of my mother, everything had just been going downhill from then.

My mother died when I was only six years old. She had overdosed on pain medication and I was the one who found her. The image of her lifeless body sprawled out across the bed still haunts me to this day. I never understood why she had to take her own life. She always seemed happy when I was around. My father however, was never quite the same after that. Me and him used to go to baseball games together, just hanging out doing regular father-son things. After my mother died, he became a shell of his former self. He always had to be doing something, I guess to keep his mind of my mother. He worked 3 jobs and I always had to stay at my Grandmother's house, which is the house I live in now. So, I never really got to see much of him. Unfortunately, when I was 17, my father developed liver cancer. He had no choice but to quit his jobs almost 1 year after he found out due to his weakening condition. Right when I thought nothing in my life would get better, I met a beautiful, young woman my senior year of high school. I knew she was my soulmate and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so after our high school graduation, me and her got married. Soon after she became pregnant and I couldn't be more ecstatic. After months and months of preparing the arrival of my daughter, yet another bombshell had been dropped into my life. My wife had gotten in a deadly fender bender and had smashed her stomach against the dashboard, killing our baby instantly. As expected, we were both heartbroken and my wife and I begun to distance ourselves from each other, and begun fighting daily, before we decided we had had enough and got a divorce. I moved out of the apartment we shared when we got married and moved back in with my father at my grandmother's house, who had just recently died due to old age. For a year me and my dad talked like we had years ago, talked of sports and things that interested us and life was good, until he lost his battle with cancer...

So, here I am two years later stuck in this house, living the same endless schedule. I have no friends, I just don't enjoy the interactions with other people because every person I come in contact with ends up hurting me. The only time I talk to people is when I'm forced to at work... I really should have picked something better than a 7-11 cashier.

I thought I would never be happy again, that was the case, until I met her.

I woke up that morning to the sound of silence. It was a Saturday and I did not have to go into work at all that weekend. Which meant I could be as lazy as I wanted to be. It was almost 11 in the morning when I finally got out of my bed and I went into the kitchen to make myself a bowl of cereal, before sitting on my couch and watching back-to-back episodes of "Lost" on Netflix. It was almost 2 in the afternoon when my golden lab pup, Gracie begged me to take her outside. With much hesitation, I got up and placed a old brown coat of mine on and still wearing my pajamas, took Gracie outside.

I live in the middle of nowhere, it is literally nothing but grass and a one-way road for miles. There is a few houses here and there, but not too many, which is what I like. The nearest town takes 30 minutes to get to by car, and almost 2 hours on foot, so I'm a pretty good distance from a lot of things. I don't really mind it though, I don't have any friends after all.

I continued to steadily walk Gracie along the road, being a puppy meant that her curiosity was to the extreme. I couldn't walk more than a few feet without her having to stop and sniff every square inch of the ground. It got worse as we came towards an abandoned old house. This house had obviously been neglected for decades. Nearly all the siding was peeling off the two-story structure. The dark grey roof was sinking downwards pretty badly, you almost couldn't tell there was a roof unless you got closer. Overgrown plants covered a plentiful amount of space on the exterior. Broken windows, broken stairs, broken well..everything. I tried profusely to get Gracie out of there, the last thing I needed was to pay for a trip to the vet due to glass stuck in her paws. However, no matter how hard I tried to pull her, Gracie would just lug me with her like I was the dog. After realizing there was no way I could possibly win this fight, I went along with Gracie, letting her sniff whatever was needed to be sniffed so badly. She dragged me to the side of the house. Rusted pipes and tools scattered along the ground. She finally discovered the jackpot, a rather large hole. This hole was about the size of a squirrel..but wait..squirrels don't dig holes..do they? My worse fear suddenly crept itself into my mind..maybe it was a rat? Out of fear for either Gracie or I contracting a disease from the vermin, I tried yanking Gracie with all my might away from the hole, but the stubborn pup just would not let up. She dug her paws deep inside the hole, swaying dirt in all directions. All of a sudden I heard a loud cry along with whimpers of pain. It sounded like it came from inside the hole, but this sounded like a child crying..there couldn't possibly be a child stuck in that hole. Panicked, I heaved Gracie from the hole and quickly tied her up the nearest thing -- a rusty metal pole, that more than likely wouldn't hold up for long, and I dove myself into the hole, frantically finding the source of the painful cry. It didn't take me long to discover what it was that made the noise, but to my astonishment it wasn't a child, a squirrel, or even a rat..it was a little filly..a little bat filly..

I stared in shock at the little grey mass of fur in front of me. Her rose-colored, slitted-pupil eyes staring up at me, eyes that just screamed pain and confusion. Her light grey webbed wings were pressed firmly to her side as she shook in fear. I looked down and noticed a few slits of blood from her hooves..Gracie really must have scratched her up good. Not knowing what else to do I gently reached both arms down to pick her up, the little filly must not have liked that idea to much and darted right back inside the hole in a panic.

I immediately felt guilty, she had just been attacked by a dog, then some creature she has probably never even seen before tries to pick her up. I slowly carry myself closer to the opening of the hole and begun to coo her in to coming out.

"Hey..Hey..its okay..I'm not going to hurt you." I told her in my quietest manor.

Somehow it must have worked, because the filly slowly crept herself out of the hole and walked up to my lap, giving it a good sniff before climbing up on top. Now that I was getting a better look at her, I could see that Gracie scratched her on almost every part of her little darkish grey body. Dried dirt was inbedded long her tuffed ears and snowy grey mane. She needed to get clean.. badly. I scooped up the now sleeping filly in placed her on the inside of my coat, shielding her from the sun, she was a bat pony after all. I walked over towards Gracie, who had finally calmed down and untied her from the pole. Walking back to my house, I walked slowly and carefully as sure not to wake the perplex creature I was carrying beside me.

Willow

I walk through the door with about a million different thoughts streaming through my mind. There was no scientific reasoning behind my discovery while on my walk with Gracie. How does a cartoon pony just come in to this world? How do you just randomly find a cartoon pony in a hole in the middle of nowhere? A bat pony nonetheless.

I take off Gracie' leash and place it on the hook near the entrance. Gracie excitedly runs throughout the house barking, looking for something to play with. That's when I felt the squirm and whimper of the creature in my coat, I knew I couldn't have Gracie around just yet, the poor foal was traumatized enough as it was. Grabbing a treat from the cubbard along with with one of Gracie's many balls scattered around the house, I walked towards the spare room that recently became Gracie's 'doggy room' and placed both beside her dark green dog bed. Sure enough Gracie came running towards the room, engulfing the treat in a matter of milliseconds. I bent down, still grabbing tightly to the filly inside my coat, and pet Gracie before walking out of the room closing the door behind me.

I walk out towards the living room and pull down all the blinds and closed all the curtains. It was nearly sundown and it wasn't all that bright, but I wasn't going to take anymore chances with hurting the little pony. I grab one of Gracie's nearby blankets and place it on the black leather couch. I then sit down and slowly and gently pull the now awake filly from out of my coat and placed her on top of the baby blue wool blanket. She lies down on top of the soft surface and immediately begins to lick her wounds, whimpering in pain. I thought of giving her a bath in the sink, but then giving up on that idea due to how traumatized she already was. I slowly got up and walked towards the linen closet and picked up a small washcloth along with a tube of Neosporin. Before returning, I also grabbed a glass of water to dip a bit of the washcloth in to help get rid of the dirt. I walked back to the filly still licking her scratches, and sat down beside her. Cooing her quietly.

"I know..it hurts a lot, but you know what? I'm going to help it feel a lot better." I said gently as I took a small dot of the Neosporin, placing it among each scratch mark.

I then proceeded with taking a bit of the washcloth and dipping it into the water, rubbing it smoothly along the tuffs of her ear and mane. I knew that in a few hours her fur would become a bit hard from the dried water and Neosporin, but decided it beat trying to give her a bath. It would best to give her at least one night to get used to me.

When I finally finished with doctoring her up a bit, she started to lick at her hooves. I gently grabbed the hoof she was licking and spoke to her calmly.

"No sweetheart you can't do that, the medicine is going to make you feel better, plus you could become ill."

I think she truly understood me because she stopped and instead started licking my hand slowly. I have to admit, it was pretty cute. Her tongue felt like a little piece of sandpaper being dragged along my hand while two little fangs bumped along behind it. It reminded me of when I first got Gracie and how she would just sit on my lap for hours just licking my arm not having a care in the world. However the little pony only licked for about 2 minutes before she carefully got up and walked slowly towards the cup of water I had placed beside me in the couch's built in cup holder. She looked inside not knowing what to do, I hadn't filled the cup up much so I knew she couldn't reach it.

"Are you thirsty?" I asked in a soft tone, her quickly turning towards my direction and staring close up at me.

I gave a quiet chuckle.

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes." I got up and walked into my kitchen, making sure she could still see me, and I received a small white bowl from the cubbard, filling it halfway with water from the sink. I then dawned on the fact that she might be hungry, who knows entirely how long she was inside that hole. My thoughts then turned towards the fact that she was a bat pony. Bat. As in drinks blood? My knowledge of anything cartoon horse was extremely limited. I've only seen a few episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and that was only because I was curious as to why so many men my age and older were so infatuated with a program for little girls. It was okay, but I didn't really get into it, I was not a brony by no means. In fact, I only knew she was Bat pony due to to tremendous amount of bat pony avatars there are on the internet. But something that I vaguely remember was that among those avatars some included those ponies eating an assortment of different fruits. It was worth a shot I guess. I grabbed a nearby red apple sitting on the counter and sliced it in half, taking the smaller half in cutting it into little bits and placing it on a paper plate. I then grab the bowl of water along with the plate of apple bites and brought it back into the living room.

I sit back on the couch placing both bowl and plate in front of the filly. The filly immediately goes towards the bowl of water and drinks it profusely, her little tongue making minuscule splashes with each sip. She then looks at the plate of apple bites and stares at it for what seems like the longest time. She then bends her muzzle down and sniffs it, no sooner than the whiff of apple aroma reached into her nose, the filly sunk her tiny fangs down into a piece of the apple one by one. I took notice that she wasn't exactly eating the apple, rather drinking the juice inside leaving a shriveled, almost colorless looking apple bites along the plate. After she was done with the last piece, she burped quietly before trotting herself slowly back over to me, placing herself on my lap and rubbing her head gently along my stomach. My heart felt like it was going to explode, as much as I hated to admit it, ponies were freakin' adorable. I chucked, placing my hand on top of her snow-grey mane, petting it gently as she screeched quietly. Her mane was one of the softest things I have ever felt. It felt like petting a giant box of feathers. She looked back over at me, her rose-slitted pupils focused on me as she gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen.

"You just know you're cute. Don't you little filly?" I asked.

Even though I thought it was impossible for her to smile any wider than before, she had done just that, before echoing and screeching a bit more, continuing to rub her head gently along side my stomach.

Yep. That settles it. She knows she's a cute little filly.

I then pondered as to why she didn't speak. The ponies in show spoke. I remembered one of the episodes I watched and how it involved a group of young ponies that dubbed themselves as the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. She looked a bit like them, maybe just a few years younger, as to her body looking slightly smaller in comparison. Was she just not old enough to speak? Maybe she couldn't speak in this world? I knew it wasn't because she was cautious around me, she was obviously too affectionate. I guess that would just have to be something I keep an eye on..If I even have her long enough for that..

Then suddenly something else had hit me, should I even give her a name? I mean, I don't know how long she is going to be here for. I might wake up and 'poof' she's gone. Not to mention if that does happen, won't it just be all the more tragic since I named her? Then again, I can't just call her 'filly' all the time. What if I have her forever, soon she'll be a full-grown mare and I doubt she'll appreciate being called that. So, I decided I should give her a name. I thought about my daughter..how she never got to have a chance of living..her life was over with before she even had a chance to breathe. Maybe this little filly was God's way of giving me my daughter back? As crazy as it sounds, I suppose anything is possible? Me and my wife were going to name her Willow..and honestly I like the way that name sounds for the little filly..It even sounds sort of night-like and woodsy.

"Would you like that name..Willow?" I asked, not sure if she could even understand the full grasp of a name.

Sure enough however, she smiled once more, this time placing her fore hooves on my chest, carefully climbing herself up to my face. She placed her muzzle against my nose, giving a gentle boop, before carefully licking me once on the cheek.

"Willow it is then." I say smiling and laughing at the same time.

Willow then proceeds to drop herself back down to my lap, giving a muffled yawn and wrapping herself up like a little furball. Its nighttime now and it kind of wonders me as to why she is going to sleep right now. I thought bats were suppose to be nocturnal. Unless its because she's still a filly and maybe her sleep patterns are more consistent to being diurnal. Ether way, while I didn't know how long she'll be here, I'm going to make the most of it for her.

I then look over at the clock that was hung on the wall, directly above the flat screen TV. It read 11:23 p.m. Almost an hour and an half past my normal bedtime. I stroked Willow's soft mane gently. Speaking quietly as sure as not to wake her up.

"I've know you less than a day and you've already shook my life up some."

I gave a small little chuckle, before closing my eyes and falling asleep, holding on to the filly that would drastically change my life forever.

First Encounters

5 WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

I awoke to the sound of loud, ear piercing barks and howls. I immediately knew at that point it was Gracie.

What was she barking at?.

Sitting up, I took a deep yawn and stretched the best that I could given the confined space of the couch.

I must have crashed here watching TV last night.

I then looked towards the front of the room to the clock that read 8:52 a.m.

Well at least I don't have to go into work today.

Growing relentless of Gracie's constant barking, I stood up intended on going to see what in in the hell her problem was. My mind, that was slow working that morning, started to remember that of a grey, little, bat filly.

Willow.

But wait..wasn't that just a dream?

I then started to recall the events that had happened yesterday. The walk with Gracie, the discovery of the so-called filly, bringing her home feeding her apples, doctoring her up, falling asleep on the couch with her..I turned behind me, expecting to see a sleeping little filly.

However, the filly was no where near in sight.

Frantically, I looked all around me. I looked inside every tiny crevasse of the couch to make sure she had not fallen inside. I removed several throw pillows from their spot only to no avail. I also looked under tables, under shelves, and in my utter desperation, I even looked inside bowls and potted plants, unfortunately there was absolutely no sign of Willow anywhere.

Come on, this all had to be a dream. No, it couldn't have been. Why else would Gracie be locked inside the other room? Unless my sheer boredom and depression just made me think that I had found some cartoon horse. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

That's when I saw it. A small, light-grey tuff of fur under the matching black leather recliner.

I slowly walked towards the seat, kneeling down before it, taking a look underneath. Sure enough there she was, hiding with her hooves pressed against her face and a majority of her tail covering her small frail body. She shook steadily, overcome with fear. Small whimpering sounds slowly making their way out her mouth.

At that moment I knew Gracie's barking was what upset her so much. Gracie must have woke up and realized I wasn't there with her and that she was trapped. In her need to escape, she had started barking desperately for me to come and rescue her. Willow hearing this must have got startled and wanted to protect herself from the creature that so brutally attacked her yesterday. I felt so guilty..for them both.

Calmly, I reached my hand under the chair and begun gently stroking Willow's mane. She jumped a little, but continued to let me comfort her.

"Shh..its okay.." I cooed. Willow slowly poked her head from under her hooves, revealing only her rose-slitted eyes that were now glossed over from all the tears she had produced.

"Come on out..you know I won't hurt you.."

Cautiously, Willow leisurely begun to creep herself out from underneath the chair. She was almost out when Gracie decided to continue her barking tantrum.

Alarmed, the grey filly darted back inside her shelter under the chair. I knew at this point it was going to be a while before I could persuade her out.

I got up and walked into the kitchen, I grabbed both a dog treat and one of the apple halves from the night before. I then proceeded to walk to the room that Gracie was in, leaving the apple half on the table just outside the living room. As soon as I opened the door, Gracie attacked me with jumps and slobbered licks to the face. I gave her a rub down, rubbing every part of her belly as she rolled around the floor, kicking her right back paw in the air. When I was finished I gave her the treat, which she once again gobbled in a matter of seconds, and continued to pet her soothinly.

"Good girl. I'll be right back, be good. Okay?"

Gracie looked me right in the eyes before giving me a good slobbery kiss in the face before trotting back towards her dog bed and laying inside it.

I smiled and closed the door behind me. I walked back towards the living room, making sure to grab the apple half on the way. I reached the recliner once more and immediately heard nothing but the sound of whimpers coming from underneath. I sat down and proceeded to hover the apple half along the bottom, trying my best to mimic her echoing noises she made last night.

"Come on Willow, its safe now. I promise." I said quietly between my failed attempt at echos.

Sure enough, a little dark-grey muzzle poked itself from the bottom of the chair. The lost, painful whimpers replaced with the sound of sniffs and small echos of glee. Poking her head out first, Willow examined the apple and traced her eyes up to me. As fast enough as she had went inside, Willow darted herself out from the bottom of the recliner, but to my surprise lunged on to my lap, ignoring the apple completely. She turned to face me, looking at me with her wide rose eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Not moving a single muscle.

Was..she asking for my permission?

I smiled at her, stroking her mane once more and nodded my head slowly.

"Its okay Willow, you can have some."

She smiled at me, fangs showing and all. She then reached over towards the apple half that I had now placed in front of her, gently digging her small fangs inside. Slowly she sucked, the apple begun to grew more shriveled and started to loose some of its bright red color. After a few minutes, she had finished and was now rubbing her head along my stomach once more, smiling with the cutest grin I had ever seen. Laughing, I rubbed her mane, sparking giggles and echos that well..echoed along the walls of the room.

This process continued for about ten minutes. Me, petting and gently tickling her. Willow, rubbing her head on me and giggling and echoing as loud as can be. When all of a sudden it happened again, Gracie started to bark at the sound of the loud echos coming from Willow's mouth. Startled, the bat filly froze. The tears slowly begun to fill the inside of her eyes. She was about to dart back inside her homemade shelter, before I pressed her against my chest. Continuing to stroke her mane, and whispering comforting words to try my best to reassure her.

"Willow..shh..its okay honey. It's just Gracie..she won't hurt you.."

The whimpering and crying didn't stop though. Gracie had already stopped barking, but Willow was still scared out of her mind. I felt her hooves wrap tighter against my arms as she shook in fear. Her small wings, webbed and the same shade as her mane and fur, flapped frantically. She wanted to try and fly away from here and hopefully be able to take me with her, only her weak muscles and me weighing probably 150 pounds more than her, stopped her from doing just that. I felt my arms slowly became drenched in tears as she had buried her face against them, clutching tighter and tighter for dear life. It broke my heart to see her in such fear..

At that moment I knew it was time. I couldn't hold it off any longer. It wasn't fair for Gracie to be closed up in a cramp space, having hardly any room to run around. It also wasn't right for Willow to have to be scared every time Gracie barked, which she did a lot. Slowly and gently, I pried Willow off my arms, still holding her tightly to my chest. She looked up at me, screeching quietly in fear, tears glossing all over her eyes. The few tears that were slowly rolling down her face I carefully wiped away. She continued to stare at me, for now it seemed as though she was done crying.

"Willow..its okay..that noise is Gracie. Now I know you two didn't exactly meet on the right terms yesterday...but I know you two will be the best of friends once you get to know one another..She'll protect you, and you can protect her, she won't hurt you at all..I promise."

Willow continued to stare at me. She responded with a very quiet echo. Which told me she rather not, but she would do what I asked her anyways.

Holding her tightly in my arms I got up. Slowly I walked towards the room Gracie was in. As I turned the door knob I rubbed Willow's mane, I looked down and noticed her once again hiding against my arms. I opened the door and Gracie immediately ran toward me, wagging her tail frantically.

"Hello Gracie..who's my good girl?" Gracie responded by attempting to jump up and lick me before I stopped her mid-jump.

"No Gracie..I have someone I would like you to meet."

Very cautiously, I sat down on the floor beside Gracie, holding on to the hiding Willow. Gracie reached down and begun to sniff the mysterious dark-grey bundle. I could feel Willow wrap her hooves tighter around me once more as the sound of whimpering became a bit louder. Gracie stopped sniffing. She looked more down at the ball of fur I was holding and gave her a lick behind the ear.

Surprised, Willow slowly lifted her head from my arm and gazed at the big yellow creature in front of her. Gracie wagged her tail more speedily and began to lick Willow more and more behind the ear, causing giggles and echos to erupt out of the little filly. I smiled and I slowly took Willow out of my arms and placed her on the floor beside Gracie.

Willow didn't even flinch. She continue to giggle as Gracie continued to lick her mane and ears. Gracie then barked playfully in which Willow respond with high-pitched echos. Gracie proceeded to run around the room before running out the door, almost knocking me down with her. Willow continued to echo playfully before stopping and looking back at me again with those huge, wide eyes of hers. Asking me for permission once more.

I smiled, rubbing my hand playfully atop her head.

"Go ahead."

She smiled at me and ran as fast as she could to find her new friend. Her run look more of a fast-paced waddle, her hooves sliding slightly against the hard wood floor. She finally reached Gracie, who stood there watching the tiny fur ball walk steadily towards her.

I believe Gracie knew that the little filly could not keep up with her and decided to lay beside Willow, letting the new, strange creature craw atop her. Willow echoed in delight, thinking she had won the game. She stood on top of Gracie, giggling happily, staring at me who was now standing in in the hallway across from them. She wanted to make sure I saw her..so I could see she had conquered her fear and be proud of her..and I was..I was extremely proud of her.

I gave a big ear-to-ear smile at her and she returned it by doing the same. She then slowly slid off Gracie, falling in between her front paws. She echoed cheerfully before she gave a quiet yawn, and proceeded in curling up in Gracie's grasp, pressed against her fur. Gracie then continued to lick Willow before placing her head on top of Willow's soft little body. The two of them were asleep in a matter of seconds.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, just a few minutes ago Willow was scared to tears about Gracie and now here they both were, sleeping with one another, using each other as a pillow. I knew I had to take a picture of this, it was just too adorable to pass up. Tiptoeing quietly to my bedroom I grabbed my phone. I walked back soundlessly and snapped a picture of the two of them...my two girls..

I looked at Willow, her quiet little snoring being muffled against Gracie's barbaric snores. A smile pressed along her face as she snuggles her head more against Gracie's warm coat.

"You're a strange little creature Willow..but I'm sure glad I met you..."

Making a Splash

Trying to be quiet around a sleeping filly is not easy.

Especially when said filly is sleeping in the middle of your floor.

It had been about an hour since both Willow and Gracie had curled up and fallen asleep together. I left the two alone and scattered around trying to do my own thing for a while. It was going great until about twenty minutes ago Gracie had woken up to me accidentally bumping one of her many rope toys against the wall. Just by looking at her I could tell that Gracie was more than ready to get up and run around after being enclosed in a tight area all night. However, every time Gracie would make the attempt to stand up, Willow would press herself tighter against her furry embrace, leaving Gracie trapped. Gracie would look at me with pleading eyes that just screamed 'please get this furry little rat off of me'. I finally decided to give in to Gracie's demands and proceeded to reach down and pick up the filly who was fast asleep. Gracie got up and licked me in the face about a dozen times before running away before her 'pest' woke up, but not before grabbing her favorite multicolored rope toy that laid near the wall. I chucked as I watched her run around with her toy, swaying it rapidly in her mouth.

I carried the sleeping Willow towards the leather couch and placed her tiny body atop the crimson, satin throw pillow. She didn't even flinch. She continued to snore as quiet as a mouse, a few subtle echos escaping her mouth from time-to-time. I sat beside her and caressed her cotton-like mane for a few minutes, before getting up and deciding to tidy up a bit. I had only had Willow for a day and this place was a mess. Dried apple bites, along with a few pieces of shredded up paper she must have gotten into once I fell asleep last night, covered a sufficient amount of space in the living room. I didn't really know if ponies even chewed things. I just really hoped that it wouldn't be an issue with Willow. I had finally gotten Gracie out of the habit and I did not want to go through that again. I can't even explain how many shoes I had lost on that journey.

As I was meticulously washing the dishes in the kitchen, I heard the soft echoing mumbles coming from the living room. I finished drying the current plate in my hand, placing it in the plate cub bard before walking back towards the little bat filly. She sat on top of the pillow,tediously rubbing her eyes with her hooves, trying to recover from her unplanned nap. A grumpy look sprouted across her face. I slowly inched my way closer towards her, trying to be as quiet as possible. While in the middle of rubbing her eyes she suddenly stopped, her fuzzy tuffed ears moving up and down, detecting the suspicious sounds coming towards her.

"You finally up sleepy head?" I said in a playful tone.

She moved her hooves and instantly locked her rose eyes on me. Her unhappy frown quickly turning into a wide, ear-to-ear grin as she begun to echo loudly on repeat. I smiled back at her, laughing as I sat beside her, picking her up and moving her on to my lap. Willow continued her echo marathon as she rubbed her head along my stomach once more. I honestly could never understand why she enjoyed partaking in that activity so much. Wanting to try something new, I slowly dragged my hand along the couch in front of her, instantly grabbing the young filly's attention. She stopped rubbing her head and focused entirely on my hand, her eyes following every movement I made. I started to speed my hand motions up a tad, rubbing it along the couch in a circular motion. Willow kept staring at my hand, not taking her eyes off for a second. She laid down on my lap, crouching with her silver-webbed wings pointed towards the ceiling. I slowed my hand movements, moving them closer towards Willow, only to quickly move them back as she began to get near it. Willow echoed in an annoyed tone as she watched my hand drag away from her. I chucked, bringing it back towards her. Until she finally pounced onto my hand, pressing her hooves firmly on it as sure as not to let it get away from her. Even while she was placing all her weight upon my hand, it obviously didn't matter considering she had to weigh no more than 5 or 10 pounds. I quickly dragged my hand away from her, rotating it in a circle once more. Willow chased after it, her stubby hooves preventing her from keeping up. She continued to echo aggravatingly, getting upset that she could not catch her prey. I slowed my dragging and started inching it towards her. Willow immediately jumped upon my hand, this time laying her body on top of it. She echoed excitedly as she turned to face me for my seal of approval. At this point I was already chuckling like a crazy person and I gave her a big smile, nodding my head. I decided to slowly move my hand from beneath her, dangling my hand above her head. Willow turned her eyes from me and watched as her prey somehow retreated from her and was now above her, almost mocking her since it escaped. She sat up and placed her right hoof in the air, punching my hand softly. I then started to mimic one of those cat spring toys, making my hand sway in the air slowly. Willow smiled, jumping and placing her fore hooves around my hand, bringing it back down on the couch. She giggled and echoed, pleased with herself for outsmarting her prey. She tried rolling my hand towards me using her head. To help her out I slowly rolled my hand along with the way she was attempting to move it to. She stopped when I placed it on my thigh, her looking back at me with a wide toothy grin. I laughed, placing the hand on her head and rubbed it playfully. She climbed back atop my lap, sitting down. I dangled my hand back in front of her, causing the little filly to fall on her back against my stomach. She smiled wildly as I placed my hand closer towards her and she begun to play friskily with it, punching her hooves in the air trying to take it back down. Willow reminded me of a kitten and how they constantly pounce on things and try to catch things with their paws. If ponies really acted like this then I understand all the fan art out there with them as cats. Both me and Willow sat there laughing as she tried dutifully to capture the hand. However, as she laid there playing, I begun to smell a pretty pungent fume circling around me. The smell of dirt, sweat and mud danced through my nostrils. I knew at that moment it had to be Willow. She had been stuck in that dirt hole for god knows how long and the stench was embedded through her fur. I was shocked I didn't smell it yesterday. I took a closer look and saw bits of apple in her mane along with the now dried Neosporin I placed on her scratches last night. It was evident that a certain bat pony desperately needed a bath..the sooner the stink was gone the better. I focused back down on Willow who had finally caught my hand and had it placed between her fore hooves, holding it against her as she echoed happily.

"Who wants to play an exciting game?" I said in my most playful voice as possible.

Willow perked up, letting go of my hand and rolled herself back on to her stomach, staring at me. She smiled and begun jumping on my lap, echoing delightfully. I wrapped my arms around her small body, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. I decided it would be best to wash her in the sink. I figured even if I didn't fill the tub with much water, the tall white walls would probably freak her out a bit, traumatizing her from ever wanting to take a bath again. I walked into the kitchen and placed her on the granite counter beside the sink. She looked around her surroundings before gazing right up at me, her rose eyes glazed with a look of confusion.

"Its okay Willow, I'm only going to give you a quick little bath. You'll be squeaky clean in no time. Don't worry, it'll be fun I promise."

The look of confusion didn't leave her eyes. It was like she never heard of the premise of getting clean before.

Did she not get baths in Equestria?

I rubbed my hand on her head, giving her a reassuring smile as I started to drain the dish water I had sitting in the sink. After telling her not to move a single hoof, I walked to the bathroom and picked up a bottle of my Suave Men's Ocean Charge shampoo. It wasn't an ideal choice, seeing as though she would smell like a guy afterwards, but it had to make due until I could go to the store and get her more 'feminine' ones. I walked back to the kitchen to see Willow, still perched up on the sink where I left her, looking down towards the sink. I stood next to her and begun stroking her mane, trying to comfort her as I started the water. I made sure to turn the cold two times more than the hot so that the water wouldn't be like a bubbling lava pool that would surly burn the poor filly. Willow's slitted pupils grew wide as she watched the water pour from the faucet. She slowly inched herself towards it, sticking her tongue through the miniature waterfall before her. She immediately begun to giggle, sticking her tongue in-and-out of her mouth, drinking the cool water. I smiled, this was just too precious. Once the water filled a little less than half of the not-so-deep sink, I turned the water off, leaving a disappointed Willow to stare at me with her big rose eyes. I chuckled and picked her up, slowly starting to lower her into the warm water below. As one hoof touched the water she begun to freak out. Her wings flapped vigorously as she screeched, looking at me with pain in her eyes. Startled, I pulled her away from the water and placed her back on the counter. She stared at me with the look of both pain and confusion. I didn't understand why she was acting like this. It wasn't like I made the water too hot for her. Not to mention she had just licked the water as it poured from the faucet.

Maybe something bad happened to her involving baths while in Equestria?

I patted my hand against her head gently in an effort to help comfort the terrified filly. I then kneeled down to her height, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Sweetheart..its okay. Now, I don't know if something awful happened to you in the past.. but you don't need to worry around me. I'll protect you. Baths aren't scary. I promise." I cooed quietly, barely above a whisper.

Willow continued to stare up at me, the expression on her face not changing a bit.

"Come on Willow you can trust me..Could you please give it another chance..for me?"

Willow slowly dragged her eyes from me and instead focused them upon the sink. She gave a quiet sigh before turning back towards me and giving a reluctant nod. I smiled and picked her up once more, slowly lowering her into the sink once again. As she stood there, the water only went up halfway up her hooves. She continued to look a bit panicked and I knew she wanted desperately to get out of there. In order to help relieve the tension, I dangled my hand in front of her once more. Her terrified expression quickly turning into a wide, toothy smile. She inched her muzzle on to my hand and begun to slowly rub it up against it. She then started to gently lick my hand, thanking me for protecting her. I continued to smile as I steadily moved my hand from her and placed it in the sink, getting water on my hand and slowly starting to pour it on her. Once I felt she was wet enough, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squirted a small droplet onto my hand.

"Alright Willow, its very important you close your eyes until I tell you to open them. We wouldn't want this to get inside you eyes, it would hurt. Do you understand?"

Willow looked at me, a smile crept on to her face and a quiet echo through her lips as she closed her eyes tightly. I lathered the shampoo in my hands before gently rubbing it throughout her body, making sure to get the dried dirt that engraved her mane and hooves. As I massaged the shampoo through her mane, Willow giggled, making sure not to open her eyes. Once I was finished getting all the dirt and mud off of her, I reached for the hose beside the faucet and set it to the low setting and started spraying the little filly with it, making sure to get all the shampoo off her body. This only erupted more giggles out of the filly as she begun to splash her hooves along the bottom of the sink. Once I was finished, I placed the hose back on its hook, staring and smiling as Willow splashed her hooves around the water, laughing louder and keeping her eyes tightly shut.

"Alright Willow, you can open your eyes now." I said through laughter.

She opened her eyes and echoed cheerfully at me. I let her splash through the little puddle of water she was in for a few more minutes, before picking her back up and placing her on the counter. I reached across the sink to receive the towel I had placed there to dry her off with. However, Willow had other plans to dry herself off, she begun to shook viciously, sending water all over the counter and myself.

"Hey. Hey Willow stop it. That's what the towel is for silly." I laughed, trying to doge the water.

I held up the towel and she stopped, staring at me covered in water. Instantly she started to laugh, flapping her tiny wings rapidly. I smiled as I placed the towel on top of her, rubbing it against her. Once I got her dry as good as I could, I stared at her an she was quite the sight. Her snowy grey mane, which once looked as if it was about the same mane style as Rainbow Dash was now flat and pressed against her, still pretty soaked. Her fur was puffed out a bit, making her look more like a fuzzball than usual. She was adorable. Not to mention she finally smelled good. She smelt like a man, but at least that's better than smelling like dirt and mud.

"See Willow, that wasn't so bad was it?"

She smiled ear-to-ear, revealing her fangs. Once again I was proud of her. She had conquered another fear of hers. I was glad I was there to help her..

I picked her up and carried her into the living room. For the rest of the day we played 'the hand game' and I introduced her to a few of Gracie's old toys. I found out that balls are her favorite. Most of the day was spent with me throwing them and her bringing them back, only to hoard them and chew on each one individually. She also played tug-of-war with Gracie. Gracie of course won every time, many times picking up the rope and having a dangling Willow on the other end, holding on as tightly as she could. Then for dinner I served her more apple bites and afterwards we played more of 'the hand game'. Around 9:45 I could tell Willow was growing tired. It was nice having her be a filly and be on the same sleep scheduled as me, I really have no idea what I'll do when she gets older. I carried her to my room and opened up a spare drawer of mine. I would have her just sleep on the bed with me, but I was worried I might accidentally squish her in the middle of the night. I tend to roll around a lot. I placed two sheets inside the drawer before grabbing Willow and placing her inside. She sat and looked up at me in confusment.

"Its alright honey, just lay down."

She laid down and I placed a baby blanket that once belonged to Gracie on top of her. She continued to stare at me as I reached down and gently rubbed her mane, smiling down at her.

"Goodnight sweetheart." I cooed.

I walked back to bed, pulling back the covers before laying down between them. I reached over to turn off the light when I heard the sound of whimpering and confused echoing. I pulled back the covers, walking back towards Willow, who had squirmed out of the blanket and was now sitting up, dumbfounded.

"You don't want to sleep in here..do you?"

She looked at me and smiled widely, echoing awfully chipper for someone who was just yawning and about to pass out a minute ago. The adorable card was definitely working.

"Alright.." I said, defeated. Her cuteness was too powerful.

I picked her up along with the blanket and carried her to my bed. I laid the blanket down and placed her on top of it. Then I got situated under the covers and finally turned the light off. As I closed my eyes I heard tiny hoof prints slowly making their way along the mattress. A second later I felt a tiny mass of fur pressed up against my side. A quiet yawn and loving echo passing through its lips. I opened my eyes and looked down. She was cuddled up tightly against my side, eyes closed and smile perched along her face. I smiled down at her, knowing that there was absolutely know way I would win this fight. I placed my hand on top of her, petting her little body slowly and gently as I closed my eyes.

This was going to be quite the journey..but I'm going to love every minute of it.

Isolation

I had difficulty sleeping that night. Willow's warm body was pressed up against me. Her fur felt like a pile of hot rocks piled on top of my legs. Every time I tried to gently push her away, she would worm her way back in as soon as I closed my eyes. Around 5:00 I just gave up, I left her beside me and I tried to sleep the best that I could, sweating like I was trapped in a sauna. She would be handy come in the winter, but as far as the middle of the summer, not so much.

After a grand total of 2 hours of actual sleep, I awoke to the sound of my alarm. I quickly turned it off as sure as not to wake Willow. It was 8:45 a.m. on a Monday, which meant I had to go into work today. I quietly got up out of bed, gently pushing the sleeping Willow on to her blanket. I walked across the room towards my drawer and quietly slid it open, grabbing my black pants and red 7/11 polo shirt. I kneeled down to the drawer below and grabbed a pair of socks along with a pair of boxers. I then walked out of my room towards the bathroom, where I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on all my clothes. I didn't normally eat breakfast since it often made me feel sick later on in the day, which meant I was all done with my morning routine. Except for one thing. What in the world was I going to do with Willow?

I couldn't leave her out all day unsupervised. Although she listened remarkably well for someone who probably only had the mindset of a 3 or 4 year old, I would still fear all day if she got into something that seriously injured her. I looked around, searching for anything that I could put her in. That's when I found it, Gracie's old cage placed beside the TV. Gracie had recently outgrown it and due to her stoppage of chewing everything in her path, I had been letting her have free reign around the house when I'm gone. I looked inside, it would be pretty spacious for the little filly. I pulled out the old blanket inside and replaced it with the baby blue one that laid on the couch from yesterday. I then went into the kitchen and pulled out two small white bowls. The first one I filled halfway up with water and the other I filled to the top with apple bites I had prepared. I placed both inside the cage before walking back towards my room and gently waking the sleeping filly.

"Willow, its time to wake up sweetie." I whispered as I gently stroked her mane, causing her to open her eyes slowly, staring at me with tired rose eyes.

"I know. Waking up isn't much fun, but you really need to wake up."

Willow rubbed her face along her hooves, groaning and yawning at the same same. She really did not want to be up right now.

I don't know why she's so tired. I'm the one who didn't sleep at all while she slept like a baby last night.

I picked her up, placing her in front of me while I gently booped her muzzle with my nose, causing the grumpy filly to smile. I carried her out in the living room, placing her in front of the cage as I sat on the floor beside her.

"Alright, if I had the choice to do something better for you, believe me I would, but I have to go to work, which means you have to be in here..all day."

Willow looked inside the cage then back towards me. She continued to look at me with the same sprout of confusion she had yesterday about the bath. I picked her up, hugging her to my chest, causing echos to flow out from her lips. Hesitatingly, I slowly placed her inside the cage. Once she was in, I closed the door, locking the latch placed along the side of the barred door. She stared at me, her rose pupils now widen, smile gone, and the same look of confusion along her face. I placed my right index finger through the bars, gently rubbing the side of Willow's now bent back ears. I forced a smile, trying my hardest to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

"Its okay Willow..I'll be home as soon as possible..be a good girl..okay?" I whispered, forcing back the tears. She looked so sad..

She continue to stare at me, a small echo making its way out of her mouth. I slowly got up and grabbed my car keys placed on the kitchen counter. I walked to the front door, looking back at the black cage with the little cartoon filly placed inside. I felt guilty. She didn't deserve this. I gave a deep sigh as I pulled back the door and walked out, locking the door behind me. I then got into my car and drove off.

W-Whats going on?

What is this place?

Where is that strange creature going, why won't he come back?

I want out of this place.

Help.

All I see is darkness.

These tight walls are cramping up around me.

It smells like that yellow thing.

Please strange creature let me out.

I'll be good.

Does it hate me?

I don't want it to hate me.

Everypony else hates me.

I just want to be loved.

Why don't you love me strange hairless creature?

I'm not good enough.

Just like she always told me.

I really hope the strange creature loves me.

I love it.

It's taken better care of me than she ever had.

I hope it doesn't send me back to her.

I don't want to go back.

The hairless creature is my family now.

At least, if it even wants me.

It probably doesn't.

I'm sorry I'm not good enough stranger.

I'll try.

I promise.

Please love me..

It's okay if you don't..

Nopony else loves me.

I don't even love me.

I'm as worthless as they come..

Stranger...Please come back...

Identical

After a grueling 8 hour day at my shitty job at 7/11 I finally returned home. I was anxious to come home and let Willow out of the cage. All day I kept replaying the morning in my head, the look on her face as I walked away from her was one of pure sadness..and I was the one who made her that way. However, as I left work that evening, I couldn't help but be tempted by the PetSmart located across the street. I thought that maybe if I got her a few toys for inside her cage, she wouldn't be in the same heartbroken state anymore. Not to mention I felt incredibly guilty and would do just about anything for that sweet little filly at this point. So, that is exactly what I did. I picked up a fuzzy stuffed duck that would squeak every time she decided to chew on it. Along with that I also picked up a few balls that she could roll around the cage as she pleased. I even got Gracie a new ball, seeing as how I knew she would be jealous of seeing someone who had only be there for three days get a load of new toys. Carrying the PetSmart bag in my hands, I walked to the door, reaching in my pocket for the key. I unlocked the door and walked inside, placing the bag on the kitchen counter just a few feet away. As soon as I managed to close the door, who else would be running frantically towards me than Gracie. Wagging her tail, jumping up on to me, almost knocking me down to the floor. Before I could manage to say anything, I was interrupted by warm, wet licks across the face.

"Gracie..stop..Good girl..stop..Gracie.." I tried to say through the laughter and the kisses.

"You want a ball?" I said playfully, halting any further licking from the pup. She got off of me and instead ran around me in a circle, barking profusely. I took that a yes. Walking back into the kitchen, I reached inside the bag and pulled out the bright blue ball I had gotten for Gracie. The barking stopped and she sat in front of me, eyes glued on the shiny blue ball in front of her. I arched my arm back before sending it forward, throwing the ball all the way across the house, making Gracie immediately sail towards it. I then looked back towards the bag and thought of the whole reason I went to the store in the first place. Leaving the contents inside, I picked up the bag and walked towards the living room, more precisely the black cage located beside the TV. Kneeling down towards the entrance of the cage, I looked inside to see the dark grey mass of fur bundled up, facing the backside. She must be sleeping. Carefully and quietly, I unlatched the barred door, slowly inching my hand inside, placing it atop her snowy grey mane. To my surprise, she didn't even perk up.

"Willow..its me..you can come out now." I spoke calmly as I gently stroked her mane.

Nothing.

I decided to tickle her gently along the backside of her ear. I was hoping that would wake her and also erupt some cute little giggles, but alas to no avail. The only movement that came from her was her little body moving up and down with each breath.

"Um..I have some toys for you. Won't that be fun?"

Still nothing.

"Come on Willow..its okay." I cooed, beginning to stroke her mane once more.

Slowly, the grey fur ball begun to move, turning her head towards me. Only, there was something wrong. Her rose-silted eyes were glossed over and the fur along her face and chest were saturated with tears. She stared at me, tears still slowly flowing from her eyes. I released my hand from her mane, taking it out of the cage, not taking my eyes off of her.

Was she really that upset with me leaving her in the cage all day?

"Willow..sweetie..whats wrong?" I spoke barely above a whisper.

She continued to cry, beginning to turn back away from me before I reached inside and gently grabbed her, pulling her out and placing her on top of my lap. She rolled herself back into a ball, her tear-covered face buried against my legs.

"It's okay. I'm so sorry I had to put you in there." I whispered.

I started to rub her mane once more, trying to calm her down. Unfortunately this didn't work. A few seconds later she climbed off of me, scampering back inside the cage.

This didn't make any sense. She loved her mane rubs. Was she really mad at me?

I then focused my attention back on the bag with the toys inside. Reaching in, I pulled out the stuffed duck, I knew this would probably be the thing she would like the most. I placed the fuzzy duck on the very inside of the cage, holding it loosely.

"Hello there Miss Willow. I'm..Ducky and I want to be your best friend." I said in a playful, probably cringe-worthy tone.

For an added affect I even squeezed the belly of the duck, causing a rather loud squeak to fill the room. Willow slowly moved her face from her hooves, staring at the duck and then back at me. I think she was asking for my permission again.

"It's alright Willow. Go ahead." Lightening up my voice, adding a smile.

She continued to stare back-and-forth between me and the duck. She stopped crying, but her eyes still displayed the same amount of pain. She echoed quietly before turning away from me once more, covering her face within her hooves.

My smile broke. In fact at that moment all of me felt broken. I dropped the stuffed duck in the cage and I just sat there. She was mad at me. She was upset. And it was all my fault. I tried to keep her safe for when I'm not around and instead I ended up hurting her emotionally rather than physically. Maybe I'm just not meant to take care of anything..I let everything I meet down in some way or another. I'm worthless..

That's when I remembered the look on Willow's face before she covered herself up again.

How did I not figure it out sooner?

She was punishing herself.

The tears, the look on her face was not one of anger, but rather shamefulness.

She thought she had done wrong, so in return she thought she didn't deserve any of the affection I gave her.

I knew that was exactly what she was doing, I did that all the time growing up.

When my mother killed herself..I always thought it was somehow my fault. Though both my father, grandmother, and everyone around me told me other wise, I always felt it was somehow because I wasn't good enough. Maybe if I gotten better grades in school she wouldn't had felt so ashamed. I felt as though I should have been a better son. I regretted not making her birthday card a few months prior. For years I felt as I didn't deserve the toys I received on Christmas, or the cookies my Grandmother would make time-to-time. In my young six-year-old mind, even all the way up to my teens I felt I didn't deserve any thing. Hell, I still don't. It only got worse after the death of my daughter..if only I went to the store rather than my wife..my daughter would be alive and walking the floor of this house today. What was I even thinking..letting my 8-month-pregnant wife run errands anyway? After that I didn't deserve my wife. Obviously the universe decided I didn't deserve my father either and he died a year later. All my life I missed out on things..amazing things because I felt I didn't deserve them because of the way I affected other people's lives. I bet that is exactly how Willow feels and I know I don't want her to go down the same path. Maybe I have more in common with a cartoon bat pony than I thought.

I reached back inside the cage, gently pulling Willow out and holding her in my arms. She glued her eyes on to me, she had started crying once more. I couldn't help it as I stared at her I teared up as well, as I begun petting her soft, frail body.

"Its alright Willow." I spoke quietly through the tears. "I'm not mad at you..I never was. Listen, I only put you in there because I wanted you to be safe when I'm not around. I'm sorry, I should have prepared you more. Please don't think you did anything wrong. I know we've only known each other for a very short time, but you are a wonderful pony Willow. You're sweet, caring, and very affectionate. I just want you to know that. So, hopefully you can avoid what I've been dealing with my entire life.."

At this point I was in full on tears. I meant every word I had said. It had only been about three days and I truly cared for this little pony. I felt so bad that I had made her feel like I had felt for all these years. I hugged her to my chest, holding her tightly, causing her to echo quietly. I didn't know if this was her way of comforting me, but I took it. A few minutes later, after I was sure all the tears had flowed from my eyes, I placed Willow back on the floor beside me. She looked up at me and instead of a heartbroken frown, she gave me a large ear-to-ear smile, and I gave her the same.

"We good?" I said happily.

She continue to smile, echoing playfully in response before running back against me and rubbing her head alongside my stomach. I laughed as she then started to paw..or rather hoof at my hand I had placed on top my lap.

"I guess I'll take that a yes."

We then played a few rounds of the 'hand game' before I re-introduced her to Ducky. Who she absolutely loved. I was expecting her to act like Gracie and immediately start digging her tiny fangs into it, but instead she gave it a hug and carried it around on her back. It was pretty adorable actually. If she would drop it, which was often, she would squirm trying to place it back atop her back. That pretty much meant I had a new job: placing stuffed ducks on a cartoon filly's back. I swear my life is strange. Later that night when I fed her the apple bites, she would pretend she was feeding Ducky too, echoing in delight as I would make the eating noises for the duck so she would believe he was actually eating. She would then repeatedly place her hooves on it's belly making that god-awful squeak noise. It got on my nerves after awhile, even more so since I was extremely tired and running on about two-hours sleep, but I decided to let her be. She was happy. Plus it was adorable, watching her echo in response and flap her wings frantically in excitement. She was just too cute.

Around 10:07 p.m the squeaking had finally wore Willow out. She was passed out in the middle of the living room floor, snuggling close with her new duck pal. I quietly bent down and picked her up, causing her to instinctively grab on to Ducky more tightly. I walked in my room and placed her on the little blanket I had put on the bed the night prior. I gently tipped-toed out of my room, cracking the door slightly. I walked back into the living room and stared at the cage.

When I put Willow in there that morning it was so I would keep her safe..but she didn't deserve to be locked up like an animal. I've been treating her like a pet, hell I went to PetSmart for god's sake. It didn't occur to me that she displays real emotion just like a human being. She is capable of expressing pain, joy, and more importantly love. Sure she might be a pony. A cartoon one at that, but I know she is just as real..as me. Tonight proved that more than ever. Although, one thing I felt was odd was the fact that she was punishing herself. She seemed kind of young for that..didn't she? I'm no pony expert, but she does seem pretty young to be displaying that sort of emotion. Honestly, it just makes me all the more curious about her life in Equestria..nevertheless I know I'm not putting her in that cage anymore.

I picked up the cage and carried it towards the door. I then walked outside and placed it near the trash can to be picked up in the morning. I went back inside, locking the door, turning the lights off, and said good night to Gracie, before I went back in room. I stared at the grey bundle sleeping along my bed, spread out along her blanket like she was the queen of the world. I smiled. As long as this loving little filly is in this world, in my care, I am determined to make sure she has the most prosperous life imaginable.

I got down onto the bed and adjusted myself under the covers. I took one last look at Willow and smiled.

"Well, hopefully I actually get some sleep tonight."

I chuckled before petting her mane one more time, before pulling my hand away and closing my eyes.

Goodnight, my little Willow.