//------------------------------// // funeral part 2 // Story: Pony bound // by Shortcourt //------------------------------// After everyone finished greeting each other, we sat on the couch and became engrossed in multiple conversations. Yes, the limo was on its way fortunately.  There are actually going to be two limos, which makes it a little more complicated but it’s whatever.  Meeting everyone else will pale in comparison to meeting Grandpa. I really forgot how mean he was. I swear he wasn’t like this before. I guess when you get very old you think everyone younger than you is not worthy, therefore they’re your bitch.  Nevertheless, that still doesn’t explain the sudden animosity towards Dad, but I’m starting to get annoyed from it. Grandpa was always blunt, but he’s being straight ‘grimey’ as Kaise would say.  Same goes for Grandma.  I know Dad is a buffoon at times and always seems to be in party mode, but c’mon son. The thing is, Dad is just taking the brown-beating like it’s his fate or something. Usually he would say something back to defend himself, but it’s like he’s agreeing with every claim made. I don’t what makes me more bewildered: The fact I still don’t know why my uncle died or how my father is being ripped a new one by the elderly!   However, I didn’t stress it and decided to stay quiet. Kids are supposed to stay out of adult’s business after all, right?  I’ll admit I was kind of uncomfortable talking to my grandparents in the beginning, but now I feel… nothing. If it wasn’t for them expressing how they feel about my current situation, I don’t think I would have found comfort. Their reactions were mixed to say the least. Grandma was iffy about it and ridiculously made me promise I would continue the Hopkins ‘male’ legacy. I would love to, but right now it’s a little implausible. Grandpa is a different flavor.  I mean, I’m not saying he’s content about it, but he made light of it with his usual asshole-ish humor. Joking is his way of coping with something peculiar, so I’m just gonna assume it isn’t impeding him from sleeping at night. In other words, he is cool with it as long as he jokes about it towards my expense. I’m used to it anyways. Better than getting disowned by him. To be honest, I wouldn’t care.  “So Shawn…” Grandpa started, “how long have you been a zebra?”  “I’m a pony,” I corrected through gritted teeth, "and one week." "Hmmmmm... one week is how long it’s been since I lost my bet.”  “What bet?”          “I made a bet that Mayweather would lose his next fight. I had 1,000 dollars on his opponent, but I forgot how much of a tough s.o.b. he was.  He was kicked in his testicles supposedly, but the ref didn’t see it. You know how much that hurts, Shawn?” Before I can answer, he continued talking. “Oh wait, you can’t answer that because you lost your manhood. I guess we both lost something, right?” Everyone in the room (excluding me) unleashed a riot of laughter.  He held his hands on the couch to try to prevent him from rocking forward. “I’m just horsing around, Shawn.”  “Uh huh…” I brushed him off while rolling my eyes. Oh, it was a joke alright, but his sense of humor is too… retro for me to get the gist of it. Damn, that’s messed up.  “Sooo how was ya day?” Katie changed the subject. “We don’t know. It just started, but it’s been pretty great seeing all of you,” Grandma said with a smile.  “I told you you woke me up too early, Katie,” I whispered from the corner of my mouth. “Shut up, you woke up the same time as everyone else!” she shot back. “Well I’m not everyone else obviously!”  “It’s just unfortunate what happened to Ray…” Grandma sighed, causing our little scuffle to die down.  Mom huddled closer towards her and wrapped an arm around her neck. “It will be okay, Mom. He’s in a better place, right?” she said reassuringly, even though her despondent frown suggests she needs reassurance.  The best thing about funerals is they go past so quick, yet the memory is everlasting. I’m hoping that’s the case here. After a few moments of silence, the doorbell rung once again. Dad got up once again to answer the door. When he opened it, another human invited their self into the house, albeit more politely. “Kane… it’s been awhile,” he said while clutching Dad’s palm, transitioning into a handshake.  I noticed how similar his attire was to Dad, but it looked more…. opulent. Yes, it was all black, but it was a richer shade of black. I can’t describe it, but it’s in between dark maroon and dark black. It’s so weird seeing him in this part of town, but it’s not bad in the slightest bit at all.  No, I’m not planning of mooching money off him. “It’s great to see you too, Rolando,” Dad replied with a slight smile. Rolando walked further into the house, taking off his bucket hat while bowing slightly. Woah, why is he bowing for? Did he come from china or something? His mannerisms and outfit suggests that. “Hello, Diane. I’m deeply sorry for your lost. ” “Thank you, Rolando. I appreciate it .” “I just want you to know that one of the limos are here. I’ll be driving it, so no need to worry about heavy traffic, because I know all the shortcuts.” “There are shortcuts to where we’re going?” Mom asked with brooding eyes. “No, but I can create shortcuts,” he said while winking mischievously. She held a hand on her chest and sighed. “Please don’t, Rolando. We’re not trying to get hospitalized in the middle of-“ “I know I know, I’m joking, ha! But enough with the jokes, I’m ready whenever you guys are.” Dad turned around to face all of us. “Well, are you ready, crew?” Grandpa’s gaze clouded as his eyes went distant. “Who the hell are you? Saying ‘are you ready crew’ like you hold some type of authority or something!”   “Fine. Why don’t lead the way then, ‘Richard’?” Dad countered while gesturing his hands towards the door.  “I certainly will,” he snarled while getting into Dad’s face, balling his fists up. However, Dad didn’t seem moved by it at all and continued standing his ground. I rolled my eyes. “Can you two just go? Ya’ll annoying, arguing before a funereal.” Dad’s expression softened. “But Shawn, he-“ “I don’t care! Just get into the friggin vehicle!” I snapped, grinding my hindlegs  on the ground.  “Just keep him away from me!” Grandpa fumed while walking out the door, keeping his glare focused on Grandpa. “Because I might hurt him…” “No you won’t, Gramps,” I interjected, “you might hurt yourself by accident. Just move on and be the bigger man for once.” How sad, a mare has to dictate the two major males in the household. What has this generation come to?   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 hour later After all the drama that happened, we finally arrived. The funeral was held in a church as expected, but the church was located in a cemetery.  It’s kinda creepy but it’s actually accommodating because he needs to be buried anyways. As for the trip on the way here, it was uneventful. I think it’s due to my father and grandfather being split up. Mom was with her grandparents, and Dad was with Katie and I. Dante was with grandpa for some reason I don’t care about, but I’m glad he was; he would've said some dumb shit to embarrass me in front of my cousins, who were also present. They were actually cool and partook in their own conversations, giving me privacy because from the get-go I told them I didn’t feel like talking. Hell, I wasn’t even talking to Katie. Dad was talking, but he evaded topics such as, ‘What happened to Uncle Ray?’ and ‘Why are your step parents so angry?’ Yup, uneventful. As for the entrance , it was ehhhh. Just know when I left the limo a swarm of questions were thrown at me. Out of all the people there, I was the only pony, which means the pastor paid extra attention to me. It was like an interview or something. I came prepared though and half-answered every question… kinda. Right now, the funeral viewing is about to start. My heart started to beat louder, quicker, and attributed more ‘thump’ as the time approached. This is probably the most difficult part of a funereal, seeing your family member’s body one last time in the flesh.  It doesn’t help that the piano playing in the background is very dark. Like, it has an echo so loud you would believe we’re in a tunnel or something…  Why aren’t they playing some happy tunes? Uncle Ray favorite type of music was rock&roll so where the hell is it?  This isn’t Rock&Roll! I don’t care it’s John Lennon playing the piano, it doesn’t make it rock&roll in the slightest! I sighed and forced myself to look at the black casket in front of me. It had a very plain appearance with no type of decorations, which is expected since we didn’t get to the part where everyone gives their few words and adorn the casket with flowers. I still like the presentation, though. The casket was in between two large picture frames, which displayed a photo of Uncle Ray smiling during his prime (mid twenties). Ah yes, I remember seeing that smile just like yesterday.  It looked so similar to Mom’s, which makes sense since they are related. I never noticed but every time Mom smiles I’m reminded of him.  I guess his face won’t be removed from my head permanently then… My thoughts quelled when I felt a finger poke me in the sides. “What?” I asked hotly while turning towards the source. It was Medusa! Oh my fault, it’s just Mom with her temporary snake-looking braids.  It’s pretty ironic though because a snake did deceive God in the bible. “Hey, Shawn… how are you doing?” she said weekly, which almost made me direct the same question towards her. “I don’t know,” I responded with candor, yet no sense of life was traceable in my tone. “Are you ready to see him? Or do you want to go-“ “No,” I cut in sharply, “I gotta see him. I need a few last words with him face-to-face, you know what I mean?”  “Okay. Well, they’re about to open it. Be ready...,” she said while stroking my neck. The sensation from Mom’s tender touch made me shiver, but I ultimately remained calm. “Okay.” A few minutes later, the pastor unlatched the casket and allowed it to open fully.   Because I couldn’t see inside, I exited my seating row and trotted down the aisle in attempt to get closer. For such a big church, the aisles were very narrow and extremely close to the seats.  It added more of a chilly factor to the setting. Did I mention the church wasn’t fully lit up? I don’t know if they light it up when the service officially starts or it’s like this full time, but I am convinced that the person who arranged this has a conservative definition of what a funereal is. I took a deep breath.  Am I nervous? Hell yeah.  I’d never been to a funeral before nor have I ever seen a dead body in the flesh, excluding the time I murdered those human wannabe aliens. Let me rephrase myself: I’ve never seen someone I care about ‘dead’ before. When I was close enough to the casket, I extended my head to get a view of the inside.   What I saw completely numbed my body. Wait, am I going blind? I lifted my hooves up and made a scrubbing motion against my eyes, trying to confirm my suspicion. Maybe one of my eyelashes broke off and went down the wrong part of my eye? After I finished rubbing, I looked again and was faced with the same disappointment: Still so no sign of him. What I did see was an unconscious orange stallion, no, colt resting in peace. The colt was 1/3 the size of the casket, sported a flaming red/orange mane, similar to spitfire's but shorter; and had a very round snout. My vision flashed uncontrollably. Is that supposed to be him? My eyes darted from the picture to the equestrian figure at least five times in the span of five seconds. Last time I checked he wasn't a kid, or a pony... Uncle Ray became a pony and died as one... Right next to me Mom broke out crying and dropped to her knees, holding on to the edge of the casket. However, Katie, Dante, and me shared the same confused expression . W-what the… that wasn’t the body I remember Uncle Ray in. How can you cry about seeing a body you’re not familiar with? I mean, it is Uncle Ray, but why the hell aren’t I feeling any type of way?  I mean, he was a pony the whole time and nobody told me… they just left me to believe he had a natural death?  I jerked my head away and stared aimlessly at the floor. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this for? Why was I given no input to something like this? Were they afraid I would react negatively to seeing a pony dead or something? Is this somehow related to my grandparents being angry with Dad? I glanced at Dad.  He somehow sneaked next to Mom, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. I studied his facial expression, which seemed to mingle guilt and lack of comfort, but mainly guilt!  I’m not erudite when it comes to studying expressions, but Dad looks like he played a major role in Ray’s abrupt death. Now that I think of it, maybe he killed Uncle Ray? Sure, it sounds absurd, but the hints are irrefutable. Not only did my grandparents ostracize him but my family tried the best to conceal the cause of Uncle Ray’s death.  And here I am, watching Dad give not a remorseful look, but an accountable one. When I think about it, Dad didn’t look too hot when he first saw my pony form. I actually thought I was going to be attacked for a second. Maybe he was ready to kill me… or maybe he was still suffering from the hangover? Either way, his reaction gives me the feeling he killed Uncle Ray out of panic, like it wasn’t a conscious thought. I sighed. I hope not. I hope that was just another bullshit theory I drawn up in a short span of time. If it was real, I don’t know what I would do. I have to face my fears and confirm this though. “Dad…” I whispered. He raised an eyebrow. “Hmmm?”   “You killed Uncle Ray, didn’t you?”  I asked, predicting the answer already. “Did I wha-“ “I said did you kill Uncle Ray?!” I repeated, albeit at a higher volume. His right eye twitched. “What? Hell no! Of course I didn’t!” he retorted while holding his hands up, keeping up his innocent act. However, his eye twitched again, which means he is still trying to treasure the truth from me. I learned all his quirks when I was a kid, and those quirks taught me he is a horrible liar. I wouldn’t sell drugs with him, that’s for sure. “YOU LIAR! I KNOW YOU DID!” I wanted to yell out, but this is a funeral. I need to stay civil and respectful. I took a deep breath whilst shifting my eyes towards Mom. Let me not dwell on that right now and concentrate on my dear mother, the one who thought it was such a great idea to hide this from me. In fact, most of my family thought it was great to hide it from me. Mom jerked back when she met my fiery, sparkling, ferocious and unfamiliar eyes. I mean, Mom seen me angry before, but this is the first time I ever straight out glared the life out of her. She shouldn’t be surprised, she knows what she did. Keeping something like this from me makes me wonder… can I trust my family as much as I think? If they’re keeping this from me, I’m sure there are a plethora of other secrets they're hiding…  “Mom… why did you hide this from me? I thought I could trust you…” I said pathetically, sounding more heartbroken than angry. “Shawn… it’s not like that! He didn’t kill him…” she insisted. I sniffed but still managed to chuckle, finding it amusing that they find my intelligence that low. I may act slow sometimes, but this is hilarious.  “He didn’t? Then why are my grandparents so mad, huh? Why is he twitching? Why do you look like you’re lying!?” “Alright he did… but he had to!” “Why!?” I yelled, on the verge of breaking out crying. “He didn’t have to kill him!”  My voice disturbed everyone present in the room, and they didn’t hesitate to express it as they stared at me as if I was crazy. Dad sighed. “But it was the only thing I could think of… he was talking crazy!” “W-what do you mean he was talking crazy?” The man tried to seize the moment and tired to get closer to me, but my aggressive stance made him fall back. “Don’t come near me! You got one minute to explain yourself!” I threatened. Dad held his hands up as if he was being robbed/arrested. “Okay, this is what happened! We actually knew about him turning into a pony for a while. Two days after he told us we decided to visit his house to check up on him. Sadly, we found a pony in his house claiming to be him instead.  The pony claimed to be Ray, but I didn’t believe him at first. He didn’t act like Ray at all… he acted slower than usual. He was struggling using the bathroom among other things...” I stomped on the ground so forcefully a small crack was manifested. “Get to the point, man!” I shouted impatiently. Dad scowled.  “Fine. Long story short: I told Ray he should go to the hospital because he was acting weird. Talking about how disgusting humans were or something, even though he was one a few days ago. What shocked me the most was when asked me, ‘who in the world is this parasite Hitler?’ that’s when I knew he hit his head. When he refused to go to the hospital, I took matters in my own hand and tried to call the ambulance, but he attacked me! He started biting me, punching me, doing all in his power to not get me to make that call! Diane tried to pull him off me, but then he started to go after her! So you know what I did?  I grabbed his neck and strangled it till my fingers started to cramp, which was not long but long enough to make him pass out.” His explanation left me slack-jawed.  He said that too quickly for my liking, but it was articulate enough for me to grasp the main parts.  “Oh my god… you killed Uncle Ray!?” Katie exclaimed. “You bathturd!”  Dante shouted while pointing an accusing finger. Damn, I didn’t even know Dante had lisp that badly. Even though that South Park reference is ubiquitous, it’s perfectly fitting in this situation. Even if Uncle Ray was acting out of character, he didn’t have to kill him. In fact, if he’s an alien like I suspect, than killing was totally useless… but he wouldn’t know about that though. How ironic, this is coming from the person who killed that doctor yesterday. You hypocritical crumb of shit. I TOLD YOU HIS BODY WAS ALREADY MESSED UP! HE WOULDN’T WANT TO LIVE AS A CRIPPLE! I looked at the fallen colt once again, sighing. “I don’t know… I don’t think something is right here.” “Exactly,” Dad agreed, “why would he call humans disgusting for? We did invent bathing, correct?”  I slapped my face in frustration. “No, Dad, I’m talking about the fact that he showed disdain to Hitler! Ya’ll knew Uncle Ray longer than me but I can tell for a fact that’s not how he acts!”  The oblivion never lifted from anybody’s face. Look like I need to get into explicit detail. “Ray liked Hitler. Does that answer your questions?” Grandma’s mouth widened, but she quickly used her hand to cover it. “You mean he was a Nazi?” Why does everyone always have to come to that conclusion? “No, he just liked his leadership, that’s all,” I said calmly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Hey, it’s his opinion, even though I strongly disagree. Grandpa cracked a smile. “Haha, that’s my boy! I knew my brilliance would rub off on him.” I rolled my eyes. “Grandpa, just because he think he was a good ruler doesn’t mean he straight out hate Jews like you.” “Is there a problem going on?” The prophet spoke this time.  “Yes,” I broke in, “First of all, cancel the funereal.” “What do you mean cancel the funereal?” Grandma interjected. “You can’t cancel it! My grandson might appreciate an evil man and might have attacked my daughter, but he still deserves to have a-“ “Your ‘son’ isn’t lying there right now!” I shot back.  That seemed to generate confusion from everyone, but I didn’t bother on elaborating and started walking towards the exit of the church. “Bring the casket outside, please; I have to show all of you something…”   “You better not be embarrassing me, boy!” Was the last thing I heard before I left the building. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  Everyone relocated outside, forming a circle in the middle of the graveyard. I still have no idea what I’m getting myself into, but I’ll find out soon. I was standing adjacent to the opened casket, waiting for everyone to settle down. Wait, everyone is already settled down. I forged a cough before speaking. “First of all, Ray isn’t dead… yet. Right now he’s possessed, but that’s a problem.” “How is he possessed? Did Lucifer enter him? What do you mean it’s a problem?  I thought that was self-explanatory it's a problem. ” The pastor directed me a series of questions. “If you would let me finish…”  I said through gritted teeth. “I’m sure you ALL heard about the needles the hospitals were giving, right?” Everyone nodded. “Well, Ray is possessed because of it. He went to the hospital, got the shot, then BLOW! Now an alien is apparently controlling his body.” “I heard of that,” Katie spoke up, “but, if it's an alien, isn't the body supposed to disappear when he dies?” “He’s not dead,” I asserted. “What do you mean? Dude, he’s not breathing!” Dante retorted. “It’s obvious he’s dead. And if didn’t disappear, then I guess it really is Ray…” “Would you let me finish?!” I shrilled. “Listen, I don’t know what’s up with that, but these are aliens, man. Anything is possible with them. I just know when they die their ‘host’ body disappears… but it’s still here!” “Okay, but what is your point?” Everyone started gazing at me crossly. I don’t care, I know I’m right; I just need more evidence.  I need to channel prior knowledge I have of aliens and apply it to this situation. Let’s see, when I killed that last alien's hosted body, I could’ve sworn he functioned exactly like a human. No extra powers or perks that I was aware of. I put my head on the unconscious body’s chest, inspecting even further.  Let’s see, it doesn’t sound like his heart is beating, the ‘corpse’ seems cold, and there seems to be no expression apparent on his face. Maybe they’re right… maybe it really is Uncle Ray. Nah, it can’t be. I know Ray from inside to outside, which means I have to use my final resort.  I leaned my head towards the pony ear and whispered a threat that went into graphic details of sexual harassment. Not one slight movement was made. I sighed. Well, I guess I was wrong. Once again, I made a complete tool out of myself, but this time it was during a special occasion. Man oh man, I’m such a stupid, nimrotted, brisk, over-thinking- I flinched. Huh, that’s weird.  I swear I saw his mouth twist a little. Am I hallucinating or am I- “Okay, you got it,” a very scratchy voice piped in. Huh! I slowly twisted my head at the pony. On instinct, one of his eye muscles contracted, which bends thelast straw of the day. He isn’t dead. “Ahhh!” I lightly shrieked (yeah, embarrassing right?) and stumbled back  “What happened, Shawn?!” Dad called out. I ignored Dad and concentrated my eyes on the arising pony. My shock was immediately replaced with ferocity.  T-this punk was faking it the whole time… and everyone believed it? HOW! “Look! It’s alive!” One of my cousins from the crowd of people pointed out.  However, I kept my eyes on the colt, making sure he doesn’t try to pull anything slick. Instead of uttering something ‘arrogant’ that is expected out of the generic aliens they are, he just matched my stare. While I was scowling, he had the straightest face I ever seen before.  Maybe I’ll get him to talk if I say something? “Yo,” I said casually. “Y-yo,” he replied nervously. Suddenly, I smirked. Ahhh, I knew my threat would work. If I learned anything, I learned that being raped just isn’t funny, no matter what the circumstances are. Since these aliens are new to earth, they are new to these human practices. Not even the most menacing, stoic person can downplay it like it’s nothing. “Oh my god… he’s up…” Dante muttered. Yes he is, Dante, yes he is… “Umm…” he started while fidgeting nervously, “you’re not gonna rape my no-no, right?” “What!?” Everybody excluding me and him chorused.  Man, times like this makes me wish I had fingers so I can flip him the bird. I sighed and clutched an arm around his neck, which seemed to stir his nerves up even more. “Of course not… “ I said with false kindness, “unless you get out of my uncle’s body right this instant.” Following my change of tone, he shivered. “What?” “GET OUT OF MY SON’S BODY YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Grandpa yelled. “W-why is he yelling at me for?” he nearly squealed. For some reason, the voice didn’t’ resemble Uncle Ray’s at all and sounded pretty… prepubescent. I mean, it’s a colt’s body of course, but he is talking like a colt, not an adult in a colt’s body!  Something isn’t right here. I looked deeper into his golden pupils, immediately regretting it soon after. I didn’t see it coming, but he hit me with the puppy dog eyes.  For some reason, my empathy for him skyrocketed as I felt the urge to suddenly wrap him in a hug and not let go. He looks so fragile and innocent… but why? What’s with this sudden innocence? Is this the same person that allegedly attacked Dad?  It doesn’t seem like it. It looks like so many thoughts are running through his head. Could he be a victim of…  being coerced into a villainous plan? I mentally slapped myself.  No! What am I doing? He’s just trying to emotion trap me by  putting up a harmless façade! Well he ain’t fooling me, because I have no problem kicking a kid if they’re trying to manipulate my family! I growled and started shaking him frantically. “Stop playing with me! Get out of his body right now you little asshole!” “I’m serious! I don’t know how to! I wasn’t taught how!” he snapped back, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. “Shawn! Leave him alone!” Mom shouted. Leave him alone? Leave him alone??!!   So let me get this straight: He’s with a species that’s plotting the eradication of humanity and I’m trying to stop him, but I’m the bad guy?   I stopped shaking him but went a step further and began to choke the him. It sounds retarded since I lack hands, but it damn sure constitutes as a choke. Before I could finish, I felt a pair of hands slide under my armpits and lift off the ground. What the fuck? Who can possibly be restraining me from calmly choking the living chakra out of this little- When I met the eyes of my restrainer, I felt my vision turn red. Red… that’s what happened to my eyes when I first became a pony.  Only one person is capable right now of making me see red… Dad…   “Get the hell off me…” I mumbled. “Shawn! You stop right now and calm down a little for me too-“ “LET GO OF ME YOU WIFE-BEATER!” I bellowed. Dad’s face paled, but he eventually lowered me to the ground. I know that comment I made was gratuitous, but I don’t care anymore. I’m done caring, I’m going to say what I have to say and walk way. “Shawn!” Grandma called out in an offended, yet scolding tone. “Don’t Shawn me!” I shouted. “I’m tired of this… tired of it all! Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner or later? W-why w-w ould you…” My lungs started to clog up as my face began to irrationally burn.  My vision fazed as I tried my best to stand straight, for my legs were wobbling out of control. What is this… feeling I’m getting. “I-“ I quickly shut my sentence down as the words that left my mouth sounded like a squeak. Oh no, don’t tell me I’m about to cry. No no, not in front of everyone here!  I finally gave in and felt my hind legs buckle. I instinctively pushed my face into my hooves and began to lightly sob into my face.  Dad rested a hand on my head in attempt tried to comfort me, but I quickly jerked away. No, I don’t want his comfort, I don’t want anyone’s comfort! This is so stupid!   I got back on all fours and quickly galloped away from the huge crowd of people. “Shawn!” Mom cried. I was too busy trying to hit home base to notice that someone threw something at me. I’m guessing that was an attempt to slow me down, but I didn’t budge in the slightest. Nope, I want out this instant! I can’t stand seeing that… colt! How they are gonna defend him like that? Fuck that. It's either me or him... ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….