Congratulations New Pony!

When she opens the box her expression will pitch from joy to terror in a heartbeat.

"Oh god," he'll mutter.  "Daddy, what did you do?"

Her father will peek his head over her shoulder and gasp.

He knew that you couldn't stay in the box for long, but he underestimated just how deleterious a weekend spent in a wooden crate would be to the health of a maturing horse.  Your legs will be slumped beneath you, bent in wrong directions, muscles cramping in such a way that you fell kicking, bloodying your own pony-shins against the walls of your enclosure.  Your eyes will be dull from lack of light and lack of food, your coat threadbare.  Sores will be oozing all over your body, most of them concentrated where you've been laying for the last few days.

The little girl's father will try to rip apart the crate, but he'll be unable to do so.  He'll call the people who sold you to him to ask what he should do, what he can do, while the little girl pats your head and makes soothing noises at you.  She'll promise to take you to a doctor, to get you all fixed up and better, but as a pony you won't speak English, and so you won't understand a god damn word she'll be saying.  You'll simply see a strange creature yammering at you, making alien sounds, invading your personal space.  You'll try to kick out of the crate, to get away from the young girl, but the sturdy construction that thwarted your previous efforts as well as the father's efforts to free you, will stall your efforts afresh.  The pain of these failed attempts, of raw meat grinding against wood, will overwhelm all of your other senses, and a cry will be ripped from you, a howl of absolute pain.

The little girl will never forget that cry, the horrible sound you'll have made, the manner in which you made it.  Years from now, after you've recovered, after she's taken to riding you, after she's buried you in a horse-grave, she'll still remember that day, when her father tried to give her the thing she wanted most in the world for her birthday and it turned on her out of the box, became a twisted symbol of the man he really was, the monster he really was.  It'll be an important learning experience for her, one you will be a crucial participant in.

Congratulations New Pony!