My Little Pony this ain't.
Connie started smoking drugs and drinking, and Connie's sisters also started smoking drugs and drinking; so when Latawnya, the naughty horse, saw Connie smoking drugs and drinking, Latawnya started smoking drugs and drinking too.
In this self-published book from 1991, we learn the story of a horse named Latawnya, and the way she learns her lesson not to engage in "smoking games" and "drinking games", just because the other horses are doing it.
In 2010, a sequel was published, called simply Latawnya the Naughty Horse Two, which introduces a "low life drug pusher" as the antagonist.
This book contains examples of:
- And That's Terrible: The story often mentions just how bad using drugs is. The second line is "Using drugs is not a good idea", Connie and her sisters are near-constantly described as "bad", and Latawnya is frequently described as naughty.
- The Artifact: Judging by the blurb, in Latawnya the Naughty Horse Two, Latawnya is not only not naughty, she seems to be leading the charge against the evil drug pusher Spooky.
- Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Daisy and Latoya say, "We do not want to be with you because you are bad!" to Connie and her sisters.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: Latawnya has one drink and instantly becomes nauseated and dizzy (it is also partially caused by the "drug smoke", but still).
- Civilised Animal:
- The horses talk, use drugs, and have a civilisation but are otherwise normal horses.
- In the sequel, they play basketball in an organized league and organize a talent show. They're still drawn as non-anthropomorphic horses on the cover.
- Clueless Aesop: It's a children's book about a non-anthropomorphic horse who learns the dangers of drug abuse.
- Department of Redundancy Department:
- The author would like to thank God. "Thank you, God."
- "Connie started smoking drugs and drinking, and Connie's sisters also started smoking drugs and drinking; so when Latawnya, the naughty horse, saw Connie smoking drugs and drinking, Latawnya started smoking drugs and drinking too."
- There's quite a lot of reiterating the moral and repeating stuff in the same paragraph.
- Double Aesop: The story's two morals are "Don't do drugs" and "Don't do things just because you see other people doing them".
- Drugs Are Bad: So bad, that Latawnya gets sick the instant she tries them. She immediately regrets doing drugs even before her parents give her a lecture.
- Establishing Character Moment: Latawnya imitates a scary noise she hears. This is meant to show that Latawnya is naughty and prone to imitating others, which is why she's tempted to do drugs.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The story is indeed about a wayward equine who gets the Drugs Are Bad message dropped on her.
- Fantastic Aesop: According to the ASPCA
, marijuana is toxic to horses (fatalities are rare but possible). - Fatal Flaw: Latawyna's is being impressionable. She imitates a sound she hears for no reason and decides to do drugs just because other people are doing it.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Latawnya is the foolish sibling to Latoya and Daisy's Responsible. She's convinced to try drugs and alcohol while the other two warn her against it.
- Informed Flaw: Until she starts playing smoking games and drinking games, the naughtiest thing we see Latawnya do is mimic a noise she hears, which actually winds up scaring away the thing that made the noise in the first place (thus keeping it from attacking her and her sisters).
- Insistent Terminology: Latawnya's name is rarely mentioned without some variation of "the naughty horse" being tagged onto it.
- Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: The part about Father Horse's friend that died from overdosing.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Latawnya has eight siblings.
- Rule of Symbolism: In the second book, Spooky the drug dealer is black, with red horns and a cactus up his butt which is probably meant to be a horned tail.
- Scare 'Em Straight: The book is written with the idea of scaring readers from the idea of doing drugs, complete with a character dying of overdose.
- Species Surname: All the horses appear to have the last name "horse", not capitalized. This suggests that instead of it being Latawnya "The Naughty Horse," it's Latawnya "The Naughty" Horse.
- The Teetotaler: Daisy and Latoya outright say that they don't drink.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Latawnya's Establishing Character Moment shows her imitating a noise she heard, to establish that she's a bit of a copycat. However, it's never revealed what the noise was, and the issue of the noise is forgotten entirely once Connie and her sisters show up.
- The beginning reveals that Latawnya has five other sisters besides Daisy and Latoya, plus a brother named Gregory, but they're never seen or mentioned again for the remainder of the book.
- Work Info Title: One of those titles that sums up the entire book.
