Marcia pranced into Terry’s Collectible shop draped in a heavy hoodie and sweats, despite how warm it was outside. Hefting the cardboard boxes, she went up to the counter.

“How much can you give me for these?” Marcia nodded to the box of ponies. Most were in their original packaging, and those that weren’t were in near mint condition. It was a lot of dolls. Too many, and she was having trouble fencing them all.

A woman strode over, a bit of a frown on her face as she made a cursory appraisal of the toys. She looked from the colorful horses to Marcia.

“You a collector?” The woman asked.

Marcia fidgeted. “Was,” she said. “But I’m moving out of town and won’t have space.”

“Ahh. Terrible shame. I’ve only seen a few collections this complete.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Do you have any idea how much you can give me for these?”

“For the lot?” The woman blew out a long breath while she thought. “Four hundred.”

“Four hundred!” Marcia shouted, throwing her hands up. “There’s dozens of ponies in there! That collection is worth a thousand at least.”

The woman thought about it, then draped her arm across the boxes, pulling them closer to her. “How about, I’ll hold on to these,” she said, “and call the customer you stole them from.”

“What!? How dare you! I’ll call the cops! You can’t just—”

“Now, how are you going to call the cops, when you don’t have fingers to press the buttons?”

A tingling feeling went up Marcia’s arms, strange and exciting, and she jumped when she looked. From her elbow on down, she no longer had hands, but soft pink plush ending in round hooves.

“Wha-what?!” She said, stumbling as another wave of tingles swept up from her feet. Already suspecting, her stomach queased when she saw the pink hooves that had overtaken her legs, and the continued progress of pink tights. A moment later, she wore a sparkling blue dress that somehow felt a part of her.

“You see,” the woman said, holding up an indigo-colored pony with a slight scratch on one of the back legs. “I sold this exact pony to a longtime customer not too long ago. I suspect, when I look through this collection, I’ll find some more that had once graced this store, which I sold to him. In any case, he would never give up his collection. So I wonder how you acquired it?”

Marcia started to speak when a new wave of tingles spread across her back as wings, adorable and colorful, sprouted and grew. She could feel them, not just their weight, but their presence, as if they were an integral part of her. With a further spread of magic, a tail, long, brushable, and blue, appeared from her backside.

“No, wait, I didn’t steal them! I-I’m his girlfriend! He was wasting too much money on his doll collection, and I told him he had to sell them, or we were breaking up!” Marcia tried to explain, as she pushed herself backward, edging toward the front door. She would figure out the problem of her new hooves later. Now, she just needed to get out.

“Was he aware that you were taking matters into your own hooves?” The woman teased, as the door to a display case clicked open. A case with prized items, all ponies, beckoned to Marcia. Her eyes went wide as a horn and pony ears grew into being on her head, and her once brown hair turned a white and blue ombre, perfect for brushing.

“I was going to tell him!” She was almost to the door. If she could just—there was a rush, a grasping of air that surrounded Marcia, tightening around her. Then, it dragged her, hauling her toward the display case. There was nothing she could do as she was claimed, taken to be an item of the store.

The door slammed shut behind her with a lock.

Marcia spun around, putting her hooves upon the glass, looking at the store from her new spot as a collector’s item. The woman, the witch, stalked from behind her counter. “Then, I’ll let your boyfriend decide what to do with you.”

Marcia’s mouth went dry, thinking about how he wasn’t so much her boyfriend anymore. More like ex-boyfriend, and she wasn’t sure how he’d react to her becoming a collectible.

“To be honest, I have a feeling he won’t be that interested in keeping you. Which is fantastic for me, since I think you’ll fetch me a good profit. You are, after all, a rather unique pony.”