Tea Biscuit

IV

At first, Ethan saw little of the Bar None Ranch. They passed through the gate and headed right to the infirmary. The buildings were freshly painted and the grounds neatly manicured. Ethan looked to the left and right and tried to catch sight of other Ponies. He saw none.

Ethan met Josh, Mike, and Tyler at the infirmary. They were new Ponies too. A girl, who seemed to be in charge, told them to try to get a good night's rest and put them to bed. They would have their little “procedures” in the morning and should have nothing to eat or drink after midnight. She made a quick inspection and found Ethan's stash of tea biscuits. Indulgently, she allowed the boys to share them, but cautioned them to eat or drink nothing after midnight.

They stayed up all night talking. Each was proud to have been chosen for the Bar None Ranch. They were the best of the best. They swapped stories and found that they had run against each other. Boys had few opportunities to fraternize at the races and little chance to share experiences. Ethan tried to tally up his wins and losses. In the end, he estimated that he had won more than he lost.

“Hey, do you guys know what they're going to do to us?” Josh asked.

“They're going to make me into a champion Pony!” answered Tyler.

“I don't want to break your hearts, ass wipes, but they're going to make me a champion. You guys are future dog meat!” quipped Mike.

“Well, I heard they're going to cut the ends off our cocks,” offered Josh.

“You pecker challenged fuckers'll have to pee like girls, sitting down. I have cock enough to spare,” said Tyler.

“Not true!” said Josh, with more hope than authority. “Say, is it too late to change my mind?”

“I heard they're going to remove our voice boxes.” contributed Ethan. “This might be our last chance to talk in our entire lives!” He wanted so desperately to be a champion that he considered any price a bargain.

Josh's anxiety only increased. “I think I want to change my mind, really. It may be just fine for you guys, but I want to call this thing off.” He was talking louder and louder.

The door cracked open and the girl returned. “Hey, seems like a racket in here.”

“Yeah! That asshole can't stop gibbering,” said Tyler. He pointed to Josh.

“When they snip his vocal cords, he'll stop talking soon enough,” Ethan offered.

“Sorry,” apologized Josh. “I've been thinking about things and I really want to leave. Can I call my Mom?

“You're chickening out?” the girl asked. “Really? Do you know how many guy competed for your spot? You're absolutely sure?

Josh looked at Mike, Tyler, and Ethan, searching for support. They stared back and said nothing. Their faces were blank. Josh swallowed once hard. “Yep, I guess. I just want to go home.”

“Well, come with me. Right now. Anybody else?” Tyler, Mike, and Ethan all shook their heads and watched Josh just get up and follow her from the room.

“So long suckers!” he sneered as he left. The door clicked shut behind him.

At dawn, another girl hustled Ethan from bed. He must have finally fallen asleep. Tyler and Mike were still sleeping. He looked for Josh, but then remembered that Josh had left.

Ethan had thought that she was a nurse although she didn't wear a starchy white uniform. She wore a tee shirt and low hung jeans over leather boots. She ushered him into a bathroom and told him to use the facilities. Ethan waited for her to leave, but she just stood there.

“Okay, big fellow, just do your business. You don't look exactly like a shy and blushing maiden.”

“Can you give a guy some privacy?” Ethan asked, then remembered to add a “please.” He was usually very polite.

“Don't mind me.” She touched a curious rod-like device at her belt. “Think of me as your mother.”

Ethan's mother hadn't watched him use the facilities for some years. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and hunched around the urinal, trying to preserve what privacy he could, and pee'd.

She led him from there to the shower. A guy had to take off his clothes to take a shower. Again, she supervised the procedure, reminding him to wash everywhere. When he stepped from the shower, she handed him a warm, fluffy towel.

Once dry, she got him up a gurney and strapped him in. Ethan watched a parade of fluorescent lights and ceiling tiles and the gurney rattled quickly down the hall. An automatic door opened and the gurney came to rest next to a curtain.

“Ethan – you're Ethan, right?” asked another female in surgical scrubs. She seemed a few years older.

Ethan nodded.

“Well, hold out your hand and I'm going to give you a little shot.”

“Just a little one?” Ethan asked, his smile betraying his anxiety. He hated shots.

“Just a little one. Here, it's not too bad.” The needle slipped into his vein. “Now count backwards from twenty – slowly – twenty – nineteen.” She infused some medicine slowly

Ethan was always eager to please and he tried his best. Math really wasn't his best subject. He felt so very warm and safe.

Then he woke up. He was groggy and his headache pounded. His throat burned. Try as he might, the world still stubbornly refused to come into focus. The light in the room was dim except fro a red flashing “Exit” sign that flashed almost painfully. He tried to fit his roiling memories into a cohesive whole.

Where was he now? He remembered the Bar None Ranch. He remembered the clinic. Where were Josh, Tyler, and Mike? Josh, he remembered, had chickened out and gone home. He was on some sort of hospital gurney in an antiseptic-smelling hospital-like room. He tried to raise his arms and discovered that he was strapped down. His head hurt and his nose hurt too. What the fuck had happened to him? He tried to lift his head from the thin foam mattress. Something cold pressed against his upper lip. A metal ring passed through his nose – like the ring worn by champion Ponies!

Thoughts and images raced around his brain and never stopped. He tried to hold onto the more pleasant ones. Memories and fantasies appeared and disappeared - all seemed equally real or unreal. Mercifully, he just fell back to sleep.

He woke again and the light was blinding. He was still strapped to the gurney but his mind was clearer. He was still naked and shivering. His throat burned dully. His upper lip was sore. He felt a scab when he touched it with his tongue. His penis burned too. He had to pee terribly. He lifted his head a few inches and saw that his penis was circumcised and ringed. The ring matched his nose.

Suddenly, a female figure appeared beside him – an attractive girl about his age, wearing blue jeans and a tank top. She looked athletic; her belly was flat. She was a blonde and she looked athletic. “My prince awakes!” she said, sounding mostly bored. “Do you have to pee?”

Ethan opened his mouth to answer, but he could only make a braying sound. Something was wrong with his throat and then he remembered. A Pony needed to listen but he needn't talk. Many complained of male chatter.

The girl pressed firmly on his belly, just above his pubic bone. His distress increased and he brayed again in desperation.

She laughed. “I'll take that for a yes.” She didn't seem at all nonplussed by his nudity. Mischievously, she ran her finger down the inside of his thigh. She lifted his cock gently and pointed him into a fat-necked bottle. “Two choices. You can pee in the bottle or I can cath you. It's up to you,” she concluded matter of fact.

Ethan did nothing until she showed him the catheter. Humiliated, Ethan peed into the proffered bottle and the red color startled him.

“Don't worry, the girl chuckled, seeing his concern. “That's just pyridium – pain medicine - so it doesn't burn.” She let him finish and shook off the last drops. “Time to get off that stretcher.” Her amused tone hadn't changed.

Ethan tried to speak again, but did no better this time.

“I really don't want any trouble.” She clipped a lead to his nose ring and undid the belt across his middle, freeing his arms. “Now sit up.” Ethan swung his legs over the side and slowly sat up. “Take it slow. Easy now.”

Ethan felt light-headed. She led him down the hallway and through double doors from the infirmary to the stable. She steadied him gently. She noticed that he accepted her help readily. This was always the first step. They stopped in front of a full-length mirror. Ethan looked himself over. He towered over the smaller woman. Shoulder to shoulder he was twice as broad as she. His nose and penis were ringed. With his Pony haircut, he looked just like a champion Pony.

“Look at this.” She lifted Ethan's upper lip and showed him where a registration number had been tattooed on its underside.

Wow, Ethan thought. I'm a real Pony now! He tried to speak but this throat only burned. He was unable to make any intelligible sound.

She ushered him into a stall and showed him a thin mattress where he might lie down. She nodded her approval. This one had the makings of a great Pony. In the morning, his poor cock would be swollen and sore. She closed the door as she left.

Alone and locked in his stall, Ethan fell asleep again. When he awoke, his penis burned. His throat hurt and he could not talk. He was hungry and thirsty. He could not remember when he last had eaten or drunk. The stalls' door could not be opened from the inside. He stared through the small window into the dim stable and tried to find some sign of Mike or Tyler. He wondered what Josh might be doing now. Maybe he was at home laughing at them.