Erastus: Replacing a lost story

2011-07-25T01:57:06Z

Replacing a lost story

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{{title|name= Serving the Sentence - Part 11/14|author=Erastus Centaur|user=Erastus}}

Dave awoke on the first warm day in March to a wonderful rich aroma.
Dave doubted it was flowers because his body had never responded to
flowers in the way it did now.

Dave tracked the aroma to Amos, who was already in the paddock. "Ah,
here's my stallion," she said. "I've got an itch that needs a good
scratching and it seems you are the only one equipped to do the job."

Amos studied the motionless Dave for a moment. "It appears I have
embarrassed my stallion. I'm sorry." She ambled over to him and
nuzzled for a moment. "While neither one of us can commit to 'Death
do us part,' I want you to know that I love my stallion and I'm
proud of what you've done over the last year. I would be honored to
bear a foal for you."

Dave still seemed hesitant, so she said, "Though I can't offer a
candlelit moment at the feed trough, I think what we need now is a
bit of privacy. The space behind the willow in the south pasture
should serve nicely."

Dave had a sharp need of his own so he trotted eagerly to the tree.
His embarrassment didn't last long. A half hour later, Dave thought,
so this is what it is like to be a stallion.

Piet came into heat two days later and Zane the day after that. With
three mares, Dave was in heaven.

Jack came into heat the same day as Zane. She watched from the far
end of the pasture as Dave made trips to the willow tree with each
mare over the course of the morning.

Jack cautiously approached the group in the south pasture, hoping to
be included. Dave chased her away. Jack sulked at the far end of the
pasture for a while, but her need was too great. The physical need
was bad enough. The thought of even an extra three weeks as a horse
-- three weeks without her human form, three weeks without a cock,
three extra weeks enduring the twelve-year-old girls that wanted to
braid her mane -- was making her desperate. From the way Dave had
been mounting the other mares, they would have no trouble satisfying
the curse. They would get to return to human. She would be stuck as
a mare. Damn that cocky little dictator!

Jack cautiously returned, stopping a safe distance away -- as close
as she figured she could come without prompting Dave to charge at
her, but carefully placing herself upwind of the stallion. "Please, Dave."

"Go away," said Dave.

"I don't want to wait any longer than I have to. I want my cock
back."

"That is not my concern," said Dave. He had taken a couple steps
towards Jack. "My life might actually be better if you didn't get
your cock back. All you did with it was torture me -- try to prove
that your manhood was better than mine. We're all better off while
you are female."

Jack backed up a step. "Please, Dave. I need you."

"Well, I don't need you. I have enough mares to satisfy me and to
serve out my sentence. Just go away." He charged at her again. She
fled.

It wasn't long before Jack was back. Again, she stopped a safe
distance away and directly upwind of him. "Please, Dave. I'll make
it up to you."

They all could see that Jack's aroma had an effect on Dave. He took
a few steps to the side, then said, "It's too late for that."

"No, it's not," she protested.

"You're never going to change," Dave said. "But a year from now, I
see two very nice possibilities. The first is that I'll be human and
you will still be a horse. I can walk away and not have to deal with
you again." He glared at Jack a moment.

Zane took that moment to say, "Dave, you will have foals by then,
you may not want to leave."

Dave glanced at her and nodded. "I know. There is the other
possibility. A year from now, the four of us take the ranch over
from Professor, who moves back into town. Then I can sell your sorry
ass to the highest bidder. I will relish the joke when the poor
guy's mare becomes a human male a year later if he doesn't get you
pregnant again before the little tyke is weaned. Now beat it!"

Jack fled again at Dave's charge, but slowly returned only a few
minutes later. "Please, Dave."

"There are those who say persistence is an admirable trait. I'm
sure they were never on the receiving end of persistent badgering."
Dave stood there quietly for a few moments. Jack didn't dare move.

Dave said, "Jack, who's the stallion?"

"If there was any justice in this world it would have been me."

"Wrong answer, Jack. Try again."

The mares seemed to be intent on watching Jack.

"I hate people on power trips," said Jack after a moment.

"I'm outta here," said Dave. He turned and began to walk away.

"Please, Dave!" The pleading was unmistakable.

"Who's the stallion, Jack." Dave stopped walking, but didn't bother
turning around.

Silence.

"Anybody. Who's the stallion."

Amos spoke up. "My stallion is Dave."

"Aw, you wimpy little bastards!" said Jack. "He's got you to play
his power games too?"

Amos said, "In case you didn't notice Jack, you're a horse. You're
even a female horse. And you're a female horse in heat. The rules of
humans don't apply. The rules of a horse as part of a herd do. Dave
is my stallion."

Jack muttered a few swear words. Dave waited.

"Your turn, Jack," said Dave.

"Dave is my stallion."

"You know girls," said Dave, "I don't think she means it. Do you?"

All three chuckled. Jack's ears went back.

"Try again. Bow when you say it."

"You pompous little runt!" Jack stalked off.

Dave waited. It didn't take long.

Jack broke into a gallop after only a few steps and circled the
pasture. She arrived back in front of Dave, sides heaving. Dave
waited.

After a moment, she spread one foreleg forward and the other back
and ducked her head in an imitation of curtsey. "Dave." She was
still breathing hard. "Dave. Is my. Stallion."

"Kneel," said Dave.

"You said bow."

"I changed my mind."

Jack knelt.

"Better yet," said Dave, "complete prostration."

Jack glared a moment, saw Dave turn away, and decided to comply. She
quickly folded her rear legs and stuck both forelegs forward. She
then placed her muzzle between her legs.

"You were saying?" prompted Dave.

"Dave is my stallion."

Dave came over and placed a hoof on Jack's withers. The other mares
could see Jack grit her teeth. "And who are you?" said Dave.

Silence.

Dave wiggled the hoof on Jack's back. "Well?"

More silence.

Amos said, "Jack, the correct response is 'I am Dave's mare.'"

After a moment, Dave wiggled his hoof.

"I am Dave's mare," said Jack.

"Repeat all of it," said Dave.

"Dave is my stallion. I am Dave's mare."

After a moment, Jack moved a leg, trying to rise. Dave wiggled his
hoof again. Jack returned her leg to where it was.

"Repeat after me," said Dave. "I will submit to my stallion."

"I will submit to my stallion."

"I will honor my fellow mares," said Dave.

"I will honor my fellow mares."

"I will respect my herd mates."

"I will respect my herd mates," Jack seemed to deflate.

"I will always use polite language."

"I don't know polite language," protested Jack.

"Then it is about time you learn. Say it."

"I will always use polite language."

"Very good!" Dave's tone was that of a parent to a child. He removed
his hoof. "You may get up now."

Jack slowly got to her feet. Her tail twitched over to the side.

Dave said, "Get out of here. I'm too angry to enjoy it now. And I
intend to enjoy it."

Jack's tail settled back into place as she walked to the far side of
the pasture.

{{Separator|stars}}

"Don't you think you were a bit hard on her?" asked Amos.

"Are you objecting to what your stallion has done?" countered Dave.

"I will agree she had it coming and that it is your place to give it
to her. I merely observe that going overboard may cause difficulties
in the future."

"So what if she stays a mare for another year. Maybe something good
will come of it."

"Dave, at the moment you may be a stallion at the height of mating
season, but you also have a human brain capable of understanding
such ideas as compassion and forgiveness. It is one thing to go from
wimp to self-assured. It is quite another to go from self-assured to
cocky. The best leaders don't get a swelled head over it."

"Are you calling me cocky?"

Piet laughed. Amos continued after glaring at Piet. "What I'm saying
is that a cocky leader tends to make life difficult for his herd. A
true leader shows compassion and apologizes for his mistakes. You
decide which one you are."

Amos could see Dave didn't get it, at least not yet. "I don't care
about Jack," she continued. "She's been obnoxious for as long as
I've known her. She can sit there as a mare for the rest of her days
for all I care."

"So what's your complaint?"

"I do care about my stallion. I want my stallion to be the best
possible stallion -- and human -- that he can be. I don't want the
way you treat Jack to make you become like him."

"I don't get it."

"If you go on treating Jack the way he treats you, you begin to
treat others the same way. Do you really want someone to think of
you the way you think of Jack?

"Uh, no."

"Think about some of those Shakespeare plays we've discussed over
the last several months. Why did Hamlet do what he did?"

"Avenge his father's death, which is another way of saying he went
for revenge against his uncle."

"Very good." Amos was pleased that Dave forgot about being the
stallion for the moment and slipped easily back into his student
role. "And what did that get him?"

"Dead."

"What happens to all the other Shakespeare characters that went
after revenge?"

"They usually die a miserable death. But that's exaggerated."

"True. Even so, Shakespeare is not wrong. Revenge -- paying Jack
back for all the nasty things he said and did -- will drag you down.
It may not kill you, but it will not improve you. Seeking revenge is
not a healthy way to live. It will hurt you more than it will hurt
Jack and it is ''your'' health I'm interested in."

Amos could see that Dave wasn't convinced, but enough had gotten
through to that hormone-crazed brain to have a small effect. Dave
began to pace.

"Dave," said Amos, "what was the other class you took this past
semester?"

Dave had gotten used to Amos asking obvious questions. He now knew
that coming up with the answer usually clarified his thinking.
"Comparative Religions."

"And why did I recommend you take that one?"

"Because religion is such a large part of a culture and so
frequently at the root of conflict that it is important to
understand at least the major religions."

"Might there be a secondary motive?"

Dave paused in his pacing. Amos could practically see the lightbulb
turn on. "So that I might actually absorb some of the religious
principles."

"And what is the principle behind the phrase, 'turn the other
cheek'?"

"Um, let's see," Dave sounded like he was quoting a memory. "Some
say an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say when a man
strikes you on one cheek, turn and let him strike the other cheek as
well." Amos waited. "It, um, means" -- the pacing resumed -- "that
revenge doesn't work."

"Very good. Your quote was also reasonably accurate. Now what is the
major theme of Christianity?"

"Forgiveness and love can overcome evil."

"Very good, Dave. You may yet become a stallion even Jack will be
proud to know."

Meaning, thought Dave, I'm certainly not there now. "Why are we
having this discussion now and not when I threw Jack out of the
barn?"

"It's the difference between asserting your authority and abusing
it." Dave stopped his pacing and faced Amos with a nod. Amos
continued, "This is a lot to absorb all at once. Perhaps you should
spend the next few hours away from your mares and contemplate what
kind of stallion you want to be. Then we can discuss how you can be
a stallion to Jack."

{{Separator|stars}}

The next morning, having had a long talk with Amos and a long time
to think by himself in the north pasture, Dave approached Jack in
the south pasture. Dave was careful to not be downwind. The rest of
the mares stayed near the barn to give them privacy.

"Jack?"

"Do you want me to bow, kneel, or prostrate myself?" Jack asked with
a bit of apprehension.

"None of that. I shouldn't have asked for it the first time."

"You bastard!" Jack growled, aware she could speak freely.

"I'm sorry Jack."

"You humiliated me!"

"I had a long chat with Amos. I overdid it. I'm sorry."

"I'm sick and tired of being a horse!" Jack wailed. "I want to get
on with my life."

"I understand your frustration. I do too. In a moment, we'll take a
step to make that happen."

"Why not now? Let's just get it over with."

"I don't want to do it out of a sense of duty and I don't want it to
be rape. I want us to both enjoy it. I want to create offspring with
a friend. Doing so with a lover would be better."

"You're not likely to get me to love you," growled Jack.

"Maybe not, but I'd like to make an effort. Jack, humiliating you
was wrong. I apologize for doing it. Now, though my actions cannot
be excused, they were provoked. In the time that I've know you, you
seem to go out of your way to make others miserable."

Dave paused for a moment. Jack didn't take up the slack. "I will
make a guess at the underlying problem. Rose thought it was obvious.
The problem appears to be that you are hung up on macho. You hated
Zane because he appeared to live it. You hated me because I didn't
strive towards it. You hate yourself now because you are female."

Jack was still silent.

"Jack, being macho is irrelevant. It is a poor foundation for a
personality. It is better to build a life on compassion, reverence,
and a whole long list of other virtues our modern culture ignores."

Dave studied Jack a moment. Jack said nothing.

"There is something buried in your past that comes out as the need
to be macho. Who better to tell than your stallion?"

Jack finally spoke. "You have a lot of strange things to say for a kid."

Dave wiggled his ears. "As I said, Amos and I had a long talk." Jack
noticed that Dave said nothing about being called a kid.

More silence.

"Amos has a guess too," said Dave. "She thinks your problems are
wrapped up in your relation to your father. Jack, please tell me
about your father." It almost sounded like a question.

Jack just stood for several minutes, then let out a long shuddering
sigh. She said, "I think the first time I was afraid of him was at
Christmas when I was about seven or eight. I had been asking my
mother for a G.I Joe. I was delighted when I opened the box and
found one. The figure was dressed in fatigues and had a black beard.
As soon as Dad saw it, he yanked it out of my hands, threw it into
the fireplace, and yelled, 'My son isn't going to play with dolls!'.
I think my mother was as shocked as I was.

"My dog Star died when I was thirteen. That dog had been my buddy as
long as I could remember and he was gone. Dad smacked me until I
could choke back the tears. He said, 'Real men don't cry.'

"I was probably the smallest guy in ninth grade. Dad insisted I go
out for football. He called it a 'real man's sport'. Mom objected,
saying all the other boys were bigger than me and that I would be
hurt. Dad insisted, saying a man shouldn't be afraid of a little
pain. At the first scrimmage, I was tackled by the biggest kid on
the other team. The impact cracked two ribs. Mom was furious with
him.

"After my ribs healed, I was able to avoid sports, though Dad let me
know how disappointed he was in my decision. To replace sports, I
tried out for and got the role of the slob in ''The Odd Couple''. Dad
raised such a stink with the drama teacher that he dropped me from
the play just so he wouldn't have to deal with Dad. I never figured
out what Dad's problem was.

"Once, I slapped my girlfriend the same way Dad had slapped Mom. Her
father hauled me down to the police station. When I saw Dad, he
congratulated me on showing her who was boss. When I saw Mom and the
pain in her eyes, I realized I could never strike another woman.

"I could never please him. He kept saying I was never enough of a
man to satisfy him. Though I did a few things right, there were
always so many other things that he didn't like."

Jack had finally run out of words. She stood there for a moment with
her head drooping. Telling those stories to someone else had cost
her a great deal. "So what do I do now?"

"According to Amos," said Dave, "the answer is both simple and hard.
The simple part is to understand that you must live for yourself,
not for your father. The hard part is actually doing it. Amos said
it will take time. She also said that you may need to talk to me or
her about it some more."

This would have been the time for a hug, if Dave had arms with which
to give one. Dave rubbed his nose against Jack's. She flinched back
a step but he persisted. He could hear she was breathing heavily
from -- he assumed -- the anxiety of her tale. He circled around her
so that he could come alongside and press his whole flank against
hers and rub neck to neck. She didn't flinch, but he could feel her
skin quiver and feel her tail nervously flick against his legs and
back. It wasn't a hug, but perhaps it would do.

It would take a long time for Jack to heal. Amos said as much. One
doesn't easily banish tormentors from the past. But Jack had brought
the problem into the open and certainly could begin the healing
process. That was all that could be expected for the moment. It was
a start, enough for now.

Dave found Jack's story a bit overwhelming. How could a man be so
cruel to his own son? What should he do with Jack's story? Was it
enough, as Amos said, to just listen?

Dave waited for another long sigh, then waited some more. Finally,
he could feel that Jack's flanks were no longer quivering and her
tail swished with purpose rather than with nerves. He saw her
looking him in the eye. Her ears twitched.

Dave said, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Amos and Zane have
shared some tips on how I could improve the experience. Amos said it
was memorable."

It was. It most certainly was. Jack would have never thought that
the female experience could be so intense and satisfying.

When Dave and Jack returned to the barn Amos said, "Welcome to the
herd, Jack."

{{Separator|stars}}

Two weeks later, the vet told Professor, "It looks like Piet and Amos
are pregnant. It also looks like Zane and Jack get to have more fun
with their stallion next month."

Predictably, Jack grumbled loud and long at the news -- once the vet
was gone.

Dave had a wonderful time with Zane during her second heat. Jack had
gotten over her disappointment at least enough to enjoy it. The vet
confirmed the second time took.

[[User:Erastus/Serving the Sentence - Part 10|Part 10]] * Part 11 *
[[User:Erastus/Serving the Sentence - Part 12|Part 12]]

User:Erastus/Serving the Sentence - Part 11 - Revision history

Erastus: Replacing a lost story