"Pardon me, but could my daughter say goodbye to your pony?  We're about to head home and she just wanted to see her once more."  

It was the mother and her daughter from earlier, the little girl still dressed in her Pony Master outfit.  Bertha hesitated at the sight of these two strangers, but realized that the little girl was going to raise a fuss if she said no.  Obviously Bertha didn't have any problem with making a small child cry, but she was afraid of the attention it might garner from those passing by and she didn't want anyone to possibly raise an alarm.  Reluctantly, she placed Theo on the ground in front of the small child.

  "You have one minute.  Go ahead, say goodbye" she said rudely to the child in the black cowboy outfit, pushing her towards Theo.  Luckily, the girl was so happy to see the pony, she paid Bertha no attention.
 
  "PONY!" the little Pony Master squealed, wrapping her little arms around Theo's neck.  Knowing this was his last chance to get help, Theo desperately tried to signal the mother with his eyes, trying to look at Bertha and look alarmed.  Being as loud as he could with the little girl hugging him, he tried to scream "HELP ME!".  It only came out as a very whispered 'ep ee' through the gag.  But the mother only had weepy eyes, tears of happiness, and a huge smile for her daughter saying goodbye to the adorable pony.  Of course the the little girl, saw none of it and just thought Theo was making a cute pony noise.  

  "Prissy Venus has been the absolutely highlight of the convention for my daughter" the mother said to Bertha, obviously trying to make conversation.  
  "Yeah yeah", Bertha responded, pointedly looking at her watch.  "Look, I got places to be..."

The child was, of course, completely focused on Theo.  She only had eyes for the adorable pink pony in front of her.  The little girl leapt up into the saddle, effortlessly mounting Theo, and began shaking Theo's reins.  "Go pony!" she said.  The mother let out an 'Awww' and even Bertha's frown cracked slightly at the heart-warming scene.  Theo was not smiling at all as the metal parts of the bit poked into his mouth again.  OW!  The little girl slowly became annoyed.  Why wasn't the pony moving?  So she yanked again harder on the reins to no avail except to make Theo wince in even more pain. OW OW!!  She looked around, wondering why her pony wouldn't move.  And, with the genius to find the exact thing that will cause the most trouble, a genius possessed by most small children, she reached up into the harness and unlocked it first try.  

It took Theo a moment to realize he could move again.  He moved slightly as the lock was released.  Bertha happened to catch the movement, and then slowly processed what the movement meant.  Everything happened the next second in a flurry.  The mother, realizing they had to go from Bertha's body language and urging, had picked that moment to reach down to pick up her daughter.  At the same moment, Bertha had quickly been reaching down to re-lock Theo's harness.  Their heads collided with a dull 'clunk' and both women staggered back.  Simultaneously, Theo was planning to run away from Bertha.  But the young girl, resisting her mothers attempts to remove her from the pony was snapping the reins and digging in her spurs as hard as she could.  That caused Theo to jump forward in pain...  Right into Bertha's knees.

As Bertha was recoiling in pain from the collision of heads, she leaned backwards off balance.  Theo, reacting in pain, involuntarily head-butted her knees, shoving her backwards unexpectedly.  Reeling, Bertha flew back, taking a step backwards to regain her balanced.  However her back leg went right into the stairs she'd been about to take Theo down and found nothing but air.  With nothing to stop her backwards tumble, she went right back to the railing of the convention center stairs and... Went over the side!

The last Theo saw of Bertha, her feet were disappearing over the stairway railing.  As she disappeared from sight, Theo could hear the mighty CRASH a second later, followed by cries of pain from Bertha.  'UHH UHHH UHHH' echoed up the stairs, obviously the sound of someone in excruciating pain.  Theo knew from when they'd entered that the fall was several floors.  He could hear people rushing over to help, saying 'Someone fell down the stairs!'.  Right away, someone screamed, and Theo could hear someone say "Someone call 911!".  As Theo froze in shock, the sound of someone in agony slowly faded... Then stopped.  And in the utter silence, Theo could hear someone say "I think she's dead."

Theo and the mother quickly exchanged glances.  Without a word being spoken, she lifted her child, the little girl, turned her back on Theo and began walking the other direction with purpose.  Theo realized that the mother was making her escape.  In a panic, Theo thought it might be best if he was nowhere near as well, so, with no other real destination, he quickly ran back to where the girls had left him locked up.  Then, he got the crazy idea that if anyone tried to link him to what happened with Bertha, he would claim that he was locked up, unable to move.  So he froze where he was, in the exact position the girls left him.  As Theo was still dealing with the shock, he couldn't really think to do much else. 

So that's where the girls found Theo when they finally returned.  They were all still overwhelmed having met their idol, Hina Yui and reliving every moment of it.  The conversation flowed freely in that manner common to most young girls, so Emily just grabbed Theo's reins and guided him as all the girls walked to meet Eden at the van without a moments break in their conversation.  Under normal circumstances, Theo would've been terribly jealous that they met the famous Hina Yui.  But instead, understandably, his mind was still processing what had happened with Bertha.  

Epilogue

The girls, all hungry, had decided to stop at a family restaurant on the way home and get some food.  They were getting more than their share of looks from the other patrons, but they didn't care.  They were still high on excitement.  Only a short time ago, they had been on a stage with the superstar Hina Yui.  She had absolutely fawned over their outfits and had asked them a few questions and had them do a little runway walk for the cheering crowd.  It was the event of a lifetime, a dream come true.  Aya, Sarah and Emily were buzzing and reliving every moment. 
  "Did you see when..."
  "That guy in the front row..."
  "She was so beautiful!"
  "Do you remember when..."

Madison had volunteered for Theo duty, so she had taken him over to the children's play area of the restaurant at the direction of Eden.  Meanwhile, the woman in the sexy black cowboy outfit and the cute lady in the flashy unicorn outfit were discussing something that would blow the minds of the girls even further if they knew.

They were discussing what Amy had said when she originally approached Eden.  The Planetary Ponies animated show was planning a special episode in which the show would come into the real world.  Amy had been in contact with a show producer and knew that the costumes the girls had, the costumes made by Theo's aunt Nancy, would be perfect.  After having seen them, Hina Yui and the producers both agreed.  Not only did they want the costumes and the costume maker for the show... They even thought the girls would be perfect!  They wanted the girls to play the roles.  And Eden's head was swimming with all the possibilities.

  "So basically they want to hire us to do this one show, with the potential of a live-action Planetary Ponies series if it does well?!", Eden said, still reeling from the possibilities.
  "Isn't it amazing?!" Amy exclaimed through the bite of burger in her mouth.  "They want it to look like a fan film, so they deliberately don't want professional actors.  They were going to have a contest to find fans for the roles, but their schedule got moved up."  Amy grabbed some fries.  "So there they are, on a tight schedule, and we walk up with everything they need ready to go.  It's like winning the lottery!"

Eden leaned back in her seat.  Things were almost perfect, it was almost unreal.  With such a huge potential big name client for her business, it would be easy for Eden to convince Nancy she had to get her business off the ground now.  Since that would leave her no time to take care of Goldilocks... Err, Theo... Eden would easily be able to convince Nancy to make her Theo's legal guardian.  And then she'd have the darling Goldilocks all to herself.  Eden was tingly at the thought.  But it did raise the one problem with this whole scenario.  The Planetary Ponies team, particularly Hina Yui, wanted the girls.  Oh, no doubt the girls would be excited.  Some of the girls would need more convincing than others, but she was confident they'd all do it.  No, the problem was that the producer wanted a Prissy Venus.  So the whole deal either needed them to find someone new to play Prissy or...  Eden would have to figure out how to get Goldilocks to agree to play the part for the world to see.  She wouldn't be able to rely on bondage and gags, she'd need to get inside his head and make him agree to the humiliation of playing a blonde, air-headed pony girl who wore outrageously feminine outfits and being seen nation-wide in that role.  The challenge of bending Theo to her will to such an extent excited Eden.  Now, most people would perhaps balk at the idea of using psychological manipulation on a young boy like that.  But Eden easily justified it by thinking of it as no different from a stage mother who forces her daughter to take singing or dance classes.  She would become his stage mom and 'No' would not be in his vocabulary...  

As Eden looked over towards Goldilocks, she saw he was still where they'd sent him.  He was in the children's play area of the family restaurant, with a stream of children poking him and prodding him and jumping on him, something that made Eden grin.  Madison was with him, shooing the children away from touching his tail and yelling if they were mean or violent with the pink pony.  Eden realized that Madison seemed to fall naturally into a more 'dominant' role.  She could feel an intimidating, no nonsense energy from Madison that would be perfect for a dominatrix.  Eden realized that her plan was going to take a lot of effort, and she wouldn't be able to be with Theo 24/7.  Eden toyed with the idea that she could take an apprentice.  She would need some help.  And Madison seemed to like being in control of Theo.  Besides, who else could she use?  Goodness knows Emily, Eden's sister, had absolutely rejected anything like that.  She was just too nice.  And of course Nancy would be too busy with her new company.  Eden began to plot out how exactly she'd approach Goldilocks to lure him into her plan and how she'd see if she could possibly entice Madison into being her assistant...

---

Madison continued to wrestle with the small children.  She couldn't believe how these cute kids were really such animals.  While most were content to stroke and pet Theo,  A few had tried to poke Theo in the eye!  Guarding the poor boy from the kids was exhausting work, made even worse by the ridiculous wig and large frilly dress she was trapped in.  Once again, Madison resolved this was the last time she'd ever put on a dress, a wig and makeup.  She felt like a drag queen and hated every minute of it.  Pausing briefly to fend off another small child grasping at Theo's tail, she thought about how much she admired the beautiful blond boy trapped in the pony outfit.

That Madison admired Theo might come as a bit of a surprise.  You'd probably think that Madison had every reason to despise Theo, particularly for the horrible prank he'd pulled on her.  After she'd cut her hair short, he'd spread the rumor she had been born a boy, intending to humiliate her.  It escalated until some religious group had picketed the school protesting against trans-gendered kids.  But things weren't as they seemed.  You see, ever since she was little, Madison had felt like she was a boy.  She'd never wanted to play with dolls or dress up.  She was drawn to sports and cars and all the cool stuff boys got to do, a classic tomboy.  And when she was a kid, that's exactly what she did.  Her cousins had treated her like one of the boys, even gave her the nickname 'Mason'.  She'd raced motocross and competed in the boys divisions using that name instead of her real one and she regularly won.  Strangers would see the grimy kid who rough-housed and drove with no fear and assume she was a boy.  For that part of her life, she was happy to just be herself.

But then puberty hit.  It was bad enough she started to get breasts and hips that made her feel like her body wasn't her own.  But worse, she hadn't grown.  She remained delicate and petite and the tiniest person in her grade.  People described her as elven or waif-like and she hated it.  That's what had drawn her to Theo.  Theo was small too.  He was easily the tiniest boy in her grade, not much bigger than her.  Yet he walked with a swagger, with an arrogance that made people get out of his path.  He might be seen as cruel, but he also seen as aggressive and confident and... masculine.  The guy was small, and had long blond hair and blue eyes!  How could someone look like that and not be teased for looking girly?  Yet Theo projected not one bit of femininity.  Madison paused to look down at Theo in the fuzzy pink pony suit and giggled.  Well, not back then, anyway. 

It was Theo that had inspired Madison to try, to cut her hair in the first place, and to actually emulate Theo as a role model.  He was the one who gave her hope that her size and her physical gender wouldn't get in the way of her being who she was.  So it had greatly upset her when her role-model had turned his sights on her and made her the subject of derision.  It had thrown doubt into Madison and was at least partially why she'd agreed to this whole Planetary Ponies thing.  Her doubt made her second-guess herself.  Maybe she just couldn't emulate Theo and maybe she should wear make-up and dresses and embrace who the world expected her to be.  Now she realized that putting on the dress had been the mistake.  But she wasn't unhappy about it, it was a good mistake because she'd learned so much from it.  For example, she now realized make-up and dresses were not her.  That was clear.  Also, her sexuality had always confused her.  She was always mildly attracted to girly-girls.  There was something about their embrace of their femininity that intrigued her.  But she wasn't attracted to girls at all.  And when her friends had ooohed and awwed over boy bands, she hadn't really felt anything.  They were nice to look at, but there was no attraction.  She felt like she would be forever alone.  If she hadn't agreed to the convention, that's probably how she'd still feel.

All that had changed in an instant.  When she'd first seen Theo in his adorable little baby outfit, it was like something awoke deep within her.  Like a starving tiger breaking free from a cage.  Madison was nearly bowled over with its power.  Seeing the strong and masculine Theo dressed in a frilly pink dress with ribbons and bows at the beck and call of Eden... She was almost overwhelmed with how turned on that contrast made her.  Her knees had turned to jelly.  For someone who had never been attracted to anyone sexually, she wanted to jump Theo right then and there.  And once Theo had come out in the guise of Prissy Venus with his long flowing mane... Well, Madison could barely keep her hands off him.  There was no denying it.  There was just something about a hyper-masculine boy in a dress looking so feminine that almost reduced Madison to a puddle.

And that's why Madison was kneeling by Theo even now, why she had volunteered to protect him while they were at the restaurant.  Because she had resolved that somehow Theo was going to be hers.  Her head was full of all sorts of daydreams of them as a couple.  She'd go off and put in a hard day at the garage.  When she'd come home, there would be Theo in the kitchen, surrounded by the smell of homemade apple pie.  He'd be standing there, in his little kitten heels, wearing his 50's pinafored petticoated gingham housewife dress with his blond hair in a bouffant flip style and wearing make-up that made him look like a doll.  Theo would bat his eyes at Madison and Madison would walk up, taking Theo in her arms, then put a deep, wet kiss on him, feeling his lipstick on her lips...

Madison felt light-headed and her heart beat like a drum as she fantasized.  An electric current seemed to run through her body.  As she offhandedly smacked the probing fingers of another child reaching for Theo's tail, she knew she'd do whatever she needed to do to be part of Theo's life and make that fantasy happen.  They were destined to be together, she felt.  Without warning, she grabbed Theo and embraced him in a big hug.  She'd never felt closer to another human being.

---

Theo barely noticed the bear hug, much as he barely noticed the children.  His mind was a million miles away. 

He'd killed Bertha. 

Oh sure, it was obviously completely accidental and even if it wasn't, clearly self-defense.  With what Bertha had told him, no court would convict him.  But that was what weighed on Theo's mind.  No one witnessed that part.  Not one person heard Bertha's threats.  Even if they said it was an accident, Theo knew that accidentally killing someone was still a crime.  He'd got to jail for years.  At first he wanted to tell someone, anyone.  But as he'd thought it over in the van on the drive to the restaurant, he knew that anyone he told would either have to turn him in, or they could go to jail as an accessory.  Theo couldn't risk it.  As furious as he was with Eden, Emily, her friends and even his aunt Nancy... He didn't want any of them in jail.  So he couldn't tell anyone.  It was a secret he'd keep to his grave.  He felt pretty sure the little girl's mother wouldn't say anything.  After all, she was the one who had first struck Bertha.  Sure, they'd clunked heads when they both bent down, but it counted.

So his decision was made.  He would never speak about anything that happened at the convention.  It would remain his secret forever.  But the convention had changed him.  The little Pony Master had made him finally understand the enormity of what he'd done as a bully.  And it made him feel horrible.  He also thought about how, no matter the circumstances, he had killed someone.  And the weight of guilt almost was too much.  He was a bad person.  He was everything everyone had said about him.  He didn't want to go to jail, but he did need to be punished.  And Theo realized there was only one person who had ever punished him.  Eden.  With newfound clarity, Theo realized that the only thing that could make him feel less horrible about himself was Eden.  His aunt Nancy couldn't do it.  She was too nice.  She hadn't been able to punish him, just to trick him and try to blackmail him into behaving.  No, in his whole life, Eden was the only one who had made him feel like he mattered.  Like he was worthy of being punished and corrected.   

Theo twisted his neck around to look at Eden.  First, he had to figure out how to stay with Eden.  Then, he had to figure out how to get her to punish him.  He knew Eden was one to set limits, so that part would be easy.  Only once he felt properly punished could he feel like he was forgiven.  Only once he'd been punished could he feel like he was redeemed.  And, finally, he couldn't risk ever being connected to the events at the convention.  So no matter what, Theo could never again be Prissy Venus.  He could never again be associated with the Planetary Ponies.  The danger of being linked to what happened to Bertha was too great.  Theo was sure he could make Eden understand without actually telling her why.  And with the intense cunning that Theo had always possessed, he began to set his mind on how he could make that happen.

Thus ends THEO 2:  THE CONVENTION!

Writing is already underway for THEO 3: WHO SAID YOU HAD A CHOICE?