It's Pony: It Wasn't Pony!

"Hey, mom. What's that?" Annie asked.

"Well, Mum was cleaning out her attic and decided to mail me this." Helen, Annie's mother explained, holding up an old rag doll as she sighed nostalgically. "I used to love Denise here."

"Aw, that's cute." Pony cooed.

"I thought we agreed we'd never bring up that thing again." George shivered.

"Dad, are you afraid of Mom's doll?" Annie asked as she and Pony were trying to hold back a snicker.

"Still haven't changed a bit, have you, dear?' Helen teased.

"Just keep that thing from me. It's creeping me out." George said before walking out the door. "I'm going out to get some new flower pots."

Once he left, Annie went up to her.

"I could keep her." She offered. "She'll be well away from Dad in my room."

"That's sweet." Helen replied. "But, are you sure you'll be able to take care of her?"

"Don't worry, Mom. You can count on us to take good care of Diane." Pony assured, grabbing the the doll.

"Denise." Helen corrected.

"Right."

And so it was settled. Later that night as everyone got ready for bed, Pony curled up in his pile of hay and Annie pet him on his snout before snuggling up, the doll hugged close to her chest. Little did anyone know, the next several day were gonna be hell.

"PONY!" Helen's voice boomed the next morning.

The sound of the family matriarch's voice jolted both of them awake. They ran out of their room before getting to the kitchen. It was a mess and both parents were glaring.

"Pony, what did you do?" Helen asked.

"Why would it be me?" Pony asked.

"Your hoof prints are all over the walls and ceiling for some reason." George pointed out. "And you're the only nearby horse."

"That can't be right." Annie protested. "He was with me the whole night. I would've heard him."

"Well, whoever it was, I need help cleaning up."

Not wanting to irritate her, Annie and Pony quickly got to work to help with the cleanup. As they did, Pony saw from the corner of his eye something staring at him. When he turned to get a better look, it had vanished.

"Annie, did you see something?" He asked.

"See what?" Annie asked, pausing from sweeping up broken dishes.

"I saw something." He said.

"Whatever it was, it'll have to wait." Annie said as she handed him a garbage bag full of the plate shards. "Can you please take his out?"

And he did just that. But, when he got to the dumpster, he found four clay molds of his hooves.

"Who made these?" He wondered.

Next day, it was George's turn to be angry at the horse.

"Pony! I just bought these!" He boomed, referring to the flower pots he bought the previous day.

"Dad! It wasn't me! I swear it!" Pony pleaded. "I think I'm being set up."

Annie put a hand on him in comfort while at the same time trying to suppress the rising sense of doubt in her mind.

And so, for the next several days, some form of havoc would befall the family, their neighbors and friends. For example, the landlord, Mr. Pancks', apartment was trashed, when Heston and Beatrice came over, they somehow ended up in a hole, Heston had spiders dumped all over him, Annie's school project was found smashed up and all the blame was pinned on Pony. During all this, he always spotted the old raggedy doll nearby, which he told them later that night.

"Guys, I swear! It was the doll!" Pony cried.

"Pony, that's ridiculous." Annie said. "It's an inanimate thing, how could it do anything?"

"Pony, I think it's best you sleep outside for tonight." Helen said as she walked to the door.

"Mom, please!" Pony begged, eyes tearing up.

However, when she tried to open the door, she found that the doorknob had been broke off.

"That's strange." She commented. "The doorknob's gone."

"Oh, great. Now we're trapped in here." George groaned. "Keep an eye on Pony while I..."

He was cut off when a knife came flying out of nowhere and stuck itself in the wall. The family looked in the direction of where the knife flew and, sure enough, little Denise was on the counter, her stitched mouth grinned into a deranged grin. The family screamed and tipped over to hide behind the table as the doll began throwing a slew of knives and utensils at them, many sticking to the table.

"I can't believe it!" Helen gasped.

"Pony, we're so sorry we didn't believe you!" Annie cried.

"It's okay!" He replied as they shared a quick hug.

"Now's not really the time for hugs." George said.

Soon, the barrage stopped. Cautiously, the family stuck their heads out to peek. The doll was gone, but on the wall written in red marker was 'I thought we were friends, Helen!'.

"You think that doll could be jealous?" Pony asked.

"Considering she's trying to murder us, pretty sure." George said sarcastically.

The family then emerged from behind the table, Helen grabbing a knife which had stuck to it. He looked around carefully for any movement as they crept through the apartment. Just to be safe, Annie and George grabbed a shovel and rake from the balcony respectively.

"You and pony check your. Mom and I will check ours." He instructed.

With that instruction, Annie and Pony barged into their room. They looked around and saw nothing in there.

"All clear!" Annie called.

Suddenly, they heard George scream. The two ran out and saw with eyes wide with horror that the doll had latched onto his head. Helen couldn't ear to stab the doll, for fear she might injure her husband. The doll, meanwhile, evaded his attempts to knock it off, eventually tricking him into clonking himself on the head with his rake. Just as he was about to be finished off, Annie swatted the doll away and knocked it onto the balcony. She then ran up to it to smash it a second time when the doll, lunged into her face. She screamed, dropping her shovel. In her attempt to pry it off, Annie was knocked over the balcony's railing and left hanging there.

"Annie!" The rest of the family screamed.

The doll stared down at the terrified girl as it gave a wicked grin and was about to stab her fingers, when Helen grabbed it and Pony pulled her back up.

"That was so close." Pony sighed in relief as Annie clung to him.

Meanwhile, Helen was able to throw the knife away but the doll wouldn't give up. It squirmed relentlessly to get out of her grip.

"I need some help over here!" She called.

Pony and Annie obliged and each held the doll.

"Man, this rag doll is strong!" Annie strained.

"Quick! Get it in the oven!" Pony screamed.

Hearing what they were planning, George was able to get up and open the oven door. The three then chucked the doll inside as George closed it, locked it and turned the oven on to maximum heat. The family hugged and watched as the doll pounded away as the glass as the oven heated up. After several minutes, the oven dinged and turned off. They opened it and coughed as smoke poured out before clearing up to reveal nothing but ashes.

"Normally I hate well done." Pony commented.

"Oh, Pony." Annie giggled.

"Hey! What's going in on in there?!" Mr. Pancks called. "I've been getting noise complaints.

"Uh... nothing?" The family answered.