Submitted to Ethereal Tales

Yes. it's a horror tale based on the My Little Pony franchise.

My Pretty Pony (First Five Paragraphs)
by Alan Loewen



It was a given that when humanity made breakthroughs in genetic engineering and artificial wombs, our civilization would end in the insidious hell of a bioengineered microbe. I sometimes wonder in the Hour of the Rat, those early morning hours when my thoughts come out and gnaw on me, if we might have been better off?

When Hasbro released their first line of genetically-engineered, sentient ponies how could we have known the Apocalypse was already upon us? Though there were the scientists who muttered about ethics and fundamentalists who blathered on about souls and blasphemy, the children of the industrial nations cried out with one voice for these new novel companions.

And what companions they have proved to be! Equipped with all the strengths of the sanguine-melancholic personality without any of the inherent weaknesses, the ponies lavished upon our children unconditional love and joy. Life for young ones became an ongoing innocent adventure with the most perfect of friends.

Little did we care when adults began purchasing ponies for the elderly as companions, nor did we see any danger when normal, healthy adults started buying them for themselves.

Why not? They were the perfect companions to whom you could confess your deepest fears, your darkest secrets, and all they returned was unconditional acceptance. The counseling and therapy industry took a huge hit almost immediately.