[Companions Chapter 42]

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WARNING! The following text contains explicit adult subject matter. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, then you must stop reading now. The author has taken steps to ensure that this story does not appear in any subject-inappropriate or age-inappropriate forum. This version has been posted with the author's permission to Yiffstar.com.

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* _COMPANIONS_

* by Evoquus

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* (c) Copyright 2009, Evoquus, All rights reserved.

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* Feedback is appreciated: [email protected]

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Rating: NC-17 for explicit sex: M/F, F/F, M/M/M, Human, Horse, Oral, Rimming

Chapter 42: Unwelcome in Bizarro World

Anthraun and black mare returned to camp walking side-by-side, Thad having had enough of riding for one day or a decade.

"I see you brought another one home," said Rovaun playfully, standing up to meet his mate's new friend. It was now apparent why it took so long for Daniel to pick blackberries, and also why he had not brought any back.

"Rovaun, this is Thad," said Daniel. "Thad, this is my husband Rovaun."

The Anthraun raised an eyebrow at that revelation. "I'm pleased to meet you, Rovaun."

"I am pleased to meet you as well, Thad," Rovaun replied. "And I recognize that facial expression. Blackmail will get you nowhere."

"Rovaun!" admonished his mate.

"I don't know what you're talking about," shrugged Thad, brushing it off.

Shianna came up to be introduced, having the predictable effect on Pandora.

"And this Goddess before you, is the lovely Shianna," gushed Pandora. The white mare giggled a little, only because it was true.

"Nice to meet you, Thad," she said, but then turned her affections back to Pandora. "What took you so long," she nuzzled. "I was getting worried." Then she got all faux-pouty. "I missed you."

Daniel could tell that Shianna had no interest in Thad, so he stepped out to let her play with Pandora some more. The two mares settled down to cuddle a few feet away while Daniel returned to his mate to do the same, leaving Thad standing there scratching his throbbing head, trying to figure out this very unconventional living arrangement. He quickly concluded that Rovaun was right about one thing: Blackmail only worked on folks with shame.

"Come join us, Thad" said Rovaun, settling down again with his mate and allowing him to keep his clothes on in polite company. Thad sat down uncomfortably next to Daniel.

"You make friends quickly, Companion," said Rovaun with a glint.

"Me and Thad go way back," said Daniel.

"Oh?" said Rovaun, trying to connect dots that did not exist.

Thad grabbed his head again, nervously trying to concentrate.

"Well that's great," beamed the stallion. "I am happy that my mate still has connections to his earlier life."

Thad calmed down, crisis contained. "Yeah. Danny's a really good guy, Rovaun," he said earnestly. "I wish I had more friends like him."

"Ditto," said Daniel, admiring the Anthraun.

"You are drooling, Companion," said Rovaun. "Let me take care of that." The stallion licked his face. Daniel licked Rovaun's, too. There was no doubt who was number one in Daniel's life.

Thad shrugged, "Unfortunately, when you have more enemies than friends, they kinda get outnumbered, you know?"

Daniel put his arm around him and pulled him close. "You have no enemies right now, Thad."

The Anthraun sighed, off in his own world. These Hipponaurs were nice, but they had no idea what was happening. He questioned the value of even getting to know them.

"Thad and Josh are brothers," said Daniel to his mate.

"They are?" queried Rovaun, causing the Anthraun to sigh again and concentrate some more.

"Are you going to visit him?" the stallion asked.

"We tried," said Daniel, "but the ulcer won't open."

"Why don't you ask Parceph?" said Rovaun.

Daniel didn't know what he meant, but before he could find out, he noticed a strange look on his stallion's face - a look that suspiciously suggested voyeuristic fascination, and his big dick popped out to confirm that suspicion. Daniel turned to the mares that had caught his eye, and suddenly found his own bulge fighting for freedom.

Shianna and Pandora had backed into each other as usual, but their winking clitorises were not doing what they normally do. Instead of performing their usually subdued Sappho Ballet, the sex organs whipped around each other like egg beaters, building up a white foam that spilled out from between the butt-bucking mares. They snorted and shook with violently spectacular orgasms, not willing to stop, nor desiring to.

"Oh fuck," groaned Thad, increasing his fucked-over friend tally by one.

Before anyone could stop him, Rovaun got up and trotted over to sniff and lick the Anthraun-laced foam.

"No! Rovaun!!" Thad buried his head in his arms. Make that two.

Daniel thought he understood the Anthraun's angst and tried to soothe it. "We all enjoy sex, Thad. This isn't really all that extraordinary." Though he had never in his life seen such a frenzied sexual display between three horny equines, every new day seemed to bring with it a new extraordinary event in Daniel's life. This particular event was not extraordinarily extraordinary in that respect.

"I'd better go rescue Shianna," he said with the same urgency as one might need to rescue a mail carrier from a guinea pig.

Daniel merged with his body, instantly being sent to insane heights of sexual ferocity, but he made a special effort to hold on to his male identity this time, and gradually brought Shianna down to terra firma. As the two mares slowly separated, Rovaun continued to lap the buttery by-product of the mare/Anthraun union.

Shianna opened her eyes and stretched. "Wow," was all she could think of. She stood up, allowing Rovaun to finish, then Pandora got up and he turned his attention to her as well.

Shianna sauntered over to the Anthraun and leered at him in an I-know-what-you-did kind of way. Then she softened and said, "You can stick around," before heading off to the creek for a much needed bath.

Rovaun and Pandora returned to him setting down on either side, making him suddenly uncomfortable again.

"Why don't you ask Parceph?" Rovaun reiterated, as if nothing at all had just happened.

"What?" asked the Anthraun, baffled by the sudden change in context.

"To see your brother. I'm sure if you ask politely he will let you through."

"Aren't you going to rape me now?"

Daniel and Rovaun looked at each other. "Do you want us to rape you?" asked Rovaun.

"I got no problem with that," said Daniel.

"No," said Thad standing up, trying to figure out where he stood.

"Fine," shrugged Daniel.

"Thad," said Rovaun, "my companion and I are very fond of Anthrauns. You are particularly pleasing to me, but sexual relations will always be consensual."

"Ok," he said, feeling a little safer, sitting down again. "It's just that you can't imagine what it's like having to live this way."

The Hipponaurs lightly nuzzled to calm him.

"I don't know what it is about me... some genetic defect I guess. My jizz is a kind of hyper aphrodisiac. I can't control it." He reached out to the affectionate equines on either side and scritched them. "Back home... I don't know how many I've infected. It spreads beyond my control, like it did to Shianna and then to you, Rovaun. I had completely forgotten that Pandora got some of it."

"All of it," corrected Daniel.

"All of it?" Thad asked incredulously.

"All but one," Daniel winked. "It was too good to waste."

When Pandora the Anthraun had merged back into Pandora the Mare, she had relocated Steed and all of the rest of Thad's seed into the mare.

"Hmmm," said Rovaun, nuzzling down the Anthraun's chest.

"It's not fair!" rued Thad. "I had to register as a sex offender in a county that I had never been to."

"That's awful," said Daniel, dropping around to his back as Rovaun worked the front.

The Anthraun instinctively pulled off his pants and continued to lament his terrible life. "I'm just glad I found a planet of Hipponaurs," he said, lifting his tail for Daniel. "You guys'll give me a break."

Daniel stuck his equine nose under his tail and worked his hole expertly, while his mate took care of the hazardous end of the Anthraun. Thad allowed himself to relax, which meant that he allowed himself to get worked up again. For once he could have reasonably guiltless sex.

"Oh... [pant] ... yeah... [pant] ... You guys are really good at this..."

"We know," said Rovaun and Pandora.

Pandora moved off and Daniel took her place, nosing into sweet musk. The Anthraun didn't mind. He would have preferred a certain Palomino instead, but this was also the first time he could do it with a human without fearing the consequences. He pushed back hard into Daniel's face, who inhaled the Anthraun deeply, then rewarded him with an inhumanly large tongue that wriggled inside and wrapped around his prostate again.

"NnnGahh!"

Being tag-teamed like this made him come quickly, more due to over-stimulation than arousal. Rovaun did not get nearly as much as Pandora had earlier, mainly because Thad had already been thoroughly tapped, but the pleasant stallion had no complaints; he may have gotten dregs, but they were fresh dregs. He finished bleeding the Anthraun then raised his head and flehmened. Thad decided that that was no longer rude.

"Thanks for giving me a break," he panted. "I like you guys."

"What were you saying about Parceph?" asked Daniel, as he licked a few spots that Rovaun had neglected.

"Ah," said his mate. "You must have just missed them. Parceph has discovered that he is a Sentinel."

"WHAT!?" said Daniel, finding that statement so incredible that it actual demoted 'naked Anthrauns' to number two on his to-do list. Thad also took a strong interest.

"It's a long complicated story..."

"Um, Rovaun," said Thad, pulling his pants on. "I just remembered I've got a schedule to keep. Could we save the long complicated part for the evening orgy and just tell me where this Parceph is?"

"He and Jeremiah went to seal up a mine."

"Great. Where?"

"He didn't say, but they went in that direction. You should be able to track their hoof prints."

"Good enough," he said. "I'll catch you guys later." The Anthraun ran off for a couple hundred feet, then turned and came running back. "Uh, Danny, could you set me up with another couple of cold brews? I think if I share one with Josh that'll warm things up between us." The cooler appeared. "Thanks, buddy," he said, picking it up. "See ya." He ran off again for a couple hundred feet and then the cooler vanished. He stopped and looked around for it then turned to them, holding up his empty arms. Then he came running back. "Where'd it go?"

"My range is limited, Thad. If you need to share a virtual beer with Josh, then I'm going to have to go with you."

"Um... ok. Is that a problem for you?"

Daniel consulted his mate who shrugged. "No problem."

Daniel and Thad rode on Pandora as they tracked the Sentinel and his companion. Thad held tight to the superior rider in front of him, grateful for the assistance of his new best friend, and dreading the moment when he would have to betray him. The Anthraun loathed his despicable existence but knew no other way of life. The Hipponaurs would raise his son better than he ever could; Steed was better off without him. Pandora was the best thing to ever happen to him, but he knew it would never last, because nothing good ever came to him on its own; he had to take it when he had the chance. He knew it was wrong, but no one was a saint. Everyone did bad things, and he was just another one of them. Plus, life was not fair, certainly not his life. No one else had his malady, and he was so very tired of being told by ignoramuses who could not get laid that it was a blessing instead of a curse. He was cursed, no doubt about it. So he lived his cursed life by fucking over everyone else who had not been cursed like he was. His misery would have plenty of company. And it made life a little more fair.

Daniel always had a soft spot for pathetic Anthrauns that needed saving. He recognized it in Josh and it was clear as day in Thad. He knew that he had been manipulated, but he did not mind. His best friend was in trouble, so he would help him if he could. It bothered him a little that he could not remember very much about him when they were kids. And it should have bothered him a lot that there were no Anthrauns on Earth when they were kids. He did not dwell on the inconsistencies because he did not want to. He believed in his friend, and that was good enough, which was often a friend's undoing.

Thad put his chin on Daniel's shoulder as they rode, and hugged him a little tighter. It was an honest gesture, for he truly did like this human living in a Hipponaur who could do things he had never seen a human or Hipponaur do. The timing of the gesture had to be now, because he was hugging his friend good-bye, and he knew he would not get a chance to do it when the proper time came. Daniel brought one hand up to Thad's around his chest and held it tight, then he rubbed Thad's cheek with his own, letting him know that it would be all right. Thad allowed himself to believe that it would be.

Then he worked out the details of his plan. And that is when it all fell apart. He would need Daniel's cooperation to pull off this heist, but that was probably the easiest part. It was the aftermath that he had trouble reconciling. It would probably destroy his friend. But that is what Thad did to all of his friends. What was so special about this one? Nothing... Everything. He prayed that some benevolent deity would provide an amiable solution, but he was running out of deities to pray to.

Whether he was getting careless or subconsciously sabotaging his own plans, Thad proceeded to break another cardinal rule about running a con, which was to not ask questions that he didn't want to know the answers to.

"How do you know Josh?" he asked Danny.

"He's my mate."

The Anthraun closed his eyes, and really wished he could now unask that question. There would be no further questions.

In the distance they could see two Hipponaurs and a man piling boulders up against a hillside. The workers naturally stopped what they were doing when they saw the unusual rider accompanying Daniel and Pandora.

"Parceph," called Daniel as he and the Anthraun dismounted. "This is Josh's brother Thad. Thad, this is Parceph, Jeremiah, and what's left of Bouceph."

"Well I'll be," said Jeremiah, never having seen an Anthraun before. "Pleased ta meet ya."

"Likewise," said Thad, but not nearly as charming as he could have been.

"What's this about you being a Sentinel?" asked Daniel.

"It would seem so, Danny," said Parceph, wary of revealing the details, since it was fairly obvious that he had broken his oath about not causing an interplanetary incident.

"Can you send me to Josh?" asked Thad.

Suddenly the burden of being a Sentinel fell onto the back of Parceph like a saddle bag filled with neutron stars. Now a complete stranger was requesting access to another world that only Parceph could grant. Daniel noted his concern and offered to alleviate it...

"I'll be escorting him."

...which it did not.

"I'll have to think about this," said Parceph.

"We don't have time," said Daniel. "Thad is in a hurry."

"Then I REALLY have to think about it," snorted Parceph.

A part of Thad was actually relieved; this plan was poorly conceived anyway. If he won, he would lose. If he lost, he would still lose. There was no winning. He thought that he might be better off living the rest of his miserable life in a cave somewhere, which as luck would have it, he was standing right in front of.

"Parceph, you asked me to trust you this morning," pleaded Danny. "I'm only asking the same consideration."

Parceph did not see these two situations as being remotely similar, but he conceded that his opinion was biased, and if there was ever someone he owed a favor to, it was Daniel.

"All right. For you Danny, I'll allow it."

Thad had been lobbed back into the Good News court again, but the Good News team had forfeited. It was all bad news from now on. Chewing his fingernails, he shook his head nervously, finding a reason to cop out. "No," he said to Daniel, "he's a Sentinel. I don't trust him."

"Parceph is my friend, Thad. Trust ME. We can trust him."

"No," he said, backing away still shaking his head.

"If you can't trust your friends," said Parceph, "then you don't have any."

"Heh, you got that right, fascist."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" asked Daniel.

"I don't like fascists. Sentinels are fascists."

Daniel was baffled by Thad's sudden change of heart. All he could think of was that the Anthraun must have suffered some trauma or perceived injustice. It seemed that the closer Thad got to Josh, the further away he wanted to be. Daniel's savior complex kicked into high gear. He had to help his friend even if it killed everyone.

"Look, do you need to see Josh or not?"

"Yes... no... I don't know," stammered Thad.

Thad knew this was going to be a disaster, but with all of his talents, he could not convince Daniel to stop helping him. A part of him then blamed it on Daniel. If he wanted to keep pushing, let him push himself off a cliff.

"Come on," insisted Daniel. "I'll be there with you. We'll be fine."

Parceph glared at Daniel, silently expressing what everyone else could see clearly: this was a bad idea. Nevertheless he kept his word. "Enter through my right." Daniel, Thad, and Pandora climbed in.

"I don't like Sentinels," muttered Thad as they stepped nearly weightless through the tunnel. "Sentinels make people disappear. I don't like this."

"We're half way there, Thad. Hang on."

"No, Danny. Stop."

"You can get through this. Trust someone for once in your life."

"No really, please stop and listen to me."

Pandora nudged him forward. He started to panic, being pushed and pulled by both of them onto the Titanic.

"GOD DAMN IT STOP RIGHT NOW!!" He collapsed onto the floor of the light tunnel and sobbed, finally getting Daniel's attention.

Daniel looked at Pandora, but the black mare offered no insight and set down to let him figure it out.

"Josh is not my brother," Thad cried, unable to look Daniel in the face. "I don't even know him."

"Thad," said Daniel reaching out to his shoulder, suddenly realizing what a jerk he'd been. He turned the Anthraun over onto his back, then floated around to him from above.

"I know you're in some deep trouble. I just want to help," Daniel said sincerely. "Josh was a lot like you, Thad... a LOT like you. He just needed someone who believed in him, someone to make him see that he was more than what he believed himself to be."

"Danny," the Anthraun smiled up at him, "you're a sweet person, but you're very naive."

"If believing that most people have a fundamentally good nature, then yes, I'm naive. But I recognize evil when I see it, and I HAVE seen it, Thad. I am not looking at it now."

The Anthraun sighed, wanting that to be true, fearing that it wasn't.

"You need a friend to trust in," said Daniel. "You can't be on your guard twenty-four-seven. You can't possibly have a life that way. Let someone care about you."

"I have done nothing but lie to you from the moment we met."

"I realize that now," Daniel said, finding the Anthraun even more confoundingly attractive. He held him close, nuzzling his ear and whispered, "Not all of it was a lie. No one is that good of a liar."

Something was happening to Thad that he could not comprehend. Coming clean left him exposed, but he didn't care anymore, and for once it felt good. He warmed up to his friend's affection and held him in his arms.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't like you," Thad admitted.

Daniel kissed him lightly as a reward for telling the truth.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you as a friend."

Daniel sat up and slowly reached back to open the Anthraun's pants.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to be a lot more than just a friend."

"Honesty is so sexy," sighed Daniel. His clothes floated away, revealing a sexy Palomino sitting naked on his sheath. "I'd like to invite you to become the first member of The Parceph High Club," dripped Pandora.

Inside the tunnel, schools of light squiggles silently swam past the three of them unperturbed. The mood lighting of this luminous aquarium tempered the extreme recklessness of what they were contemplating.

"Danny," Thad rebuffed reluctantly, "I'd also be lying if I thought this was fair, but it isn't." He smiled bitterly, shaking his head. "It's the addiction making you feel this way, my friend, among other shameful things that I did to you. Your feelings aren't real, and I won't take advantage of my best friend anymore."

Predictably, Pandora was unswayed, "You don't know your best friend very well."

Pandora subtly worked Thad's sheath with her labia, but was not getting anywhere. Guilt was holding her lover back. "Let go, hun. Put your fate in someone else's hands. I think you'll find it very liberating."

"This is madness," sighed the Anthraun, wanting to go mad. He noted the sincerity of his friend, and began to doubt that it was the addiction that was really driving him. Thad's feelings for this human/Hipponaur/Anthraun were real. There was no proof that the reciprocation was not genuine. The Anthraun finally agreed to take a chance. Somehow his friend knew what he was doing, so he let him do it.

Pandora sighed in elation when she felt the bulge in his sheath enter her. She leaned forward and gazed into his eyes, undulating and winking into his groin, encouraging him to penetrate deeper.

"Don't worry, Lover. I'm already in foal. This moment is just for us."

Closing her eyes, she arched her back, presenting her breasts for his pleasure and hers. He nuzzled them and licked them and suckled the nipples that were already painfully erect. She 'oohed' at this entirely new sensation, involuntarily winking every time he nibbled the sensitive glands.

When he reached full length inside of her, she leaned forward again and kissed him deeply.

"Make long slow love to me, my Darling," she begged.

Thad wrapped his arms around her and turned them both over in the weightless environment. He kissed her neck while sliding into her, driving gently but firmly up to the root, receiving an involuntary wink with each stroke. He was hitting all the right spots. She held tight with eyes closed experiencing for the first time a stallion that cared more about her than himself.

"Pandora," he whispered into her ear. "I think I'm falling in love."

She opened her eyes and kissed him lightly. "I'll catch you."

He smiled and continued, able to last forever because he so wanted this to never end. Pandora's loins telegraphed her pleasure, liberally lubricating him from within. Pressing her fingers into his back, she purred with each stroke, heaving her breast, raising the temperature of this well-oiled machine. Thad increased the horse power.

Pandora's purrs changed to gasps as she reached down to grasp the powerful buttocks that flexed with each drive. She ran her hands over the hard equine-human muscles that crested and swelled, working together in perfect harmony to create life out of pleasure. The awesome power of the stallion above her overwhelmed her consciousness. She needed that power within her, she needed this stallion so badly. Digging her fingers into his haunches, she pulled them into her with each thrust, sending Thad into a tailspin.

He thrust hard into her, sensing she was close. She winked with each thrust to send him off as well. The Anthrauns sweated and rutted with equine lust, driving and winking each other closer to a photo finished. The winner would be the first one to send the other across the finish line. Sensing that both were on the edge, both of them cheated. They linked with each other sharing their own impending rapture with the other, but the double link created a positive feedback loop that crossed wires with Parceph. Instead of rapture, they wrought rupture.

The tunnel shook violently, scattering the light squiggles in all directions. It's membranous walls ripped open, exposing them to the black void beyond. The black mare whinnied in terror when the crack completely separated her from the lovers. The edges curled away from her hooves as she struggled to keep from falling through. Thad reached back for her, but the tunnel shook again, completely giving way, sending the braying mare into the darkness. Tattoo sensed her terror and clutched tight to his mother's soul, yanking the virtual Anthraun back into the mare leaving Thad alone with a half-finished orgasm. He struggled to stand up, but the destabilized walls shredded beneath his hooves. Chaotic squirming light spilled out into the darkness like protoplasm from a ruptured cell, briefly lighting the receding mare. Thad reached out to her again, but she was already far beyond his range, swallowed whole by endless night. Grasping a ribbon of peeling membrane, he pushed off into the void to save her. The ribbon snapped just as he caught hold of her. Together they floated away into oblivion. Behind them the light tunnel diminished as the two lovers held tight to each other forever. Then a lifeline arrived.

A rope drifted past the Anthraun. He grabbed onto it and held onto Pandora. The rope tightened, drawing them back to the light tunnel. Within ten feet of their salvation the rope snagged on a hastily tied splice, ripping the membrane further. Thad shimmied up the line with mare in hand and pulled them both back inside, but the back half of the tunnel was gone, and the front half was winking out. Together they scrambled toward the tunnel's terminus and tumbled out onto the blessed hard ground.

"Mom, you're such a whore," grinned Bouceph with a rope in his teeth.

"Thank you for saving these two idiots," said Parceph furiously. "Can you please pull the rest of my rope out!"

Bouceph tugged on the snag, which suddenly loosened, pulling something else out of the void. A large black stallion that had curled around the rope emerged from Parceph and dropped hard onto the ground. The sudden shock brought the fetal equine to life, gasping his first breath for a very long time. Straightening his legs, he stood up and shook off the dust, then regarded the multiple gawkers.

Daniel recognized that he had just witnessed the birth of God; no finesse, but great success. The only thing his dream had gotten wrong was the color.

"Not the most dignified of entrances," said the regal stallion, "but it will do." He walked up to Bouceph and bowed. "I am Mourne. I wish to sincerely thank you, Wraith, for rescuing me."

"I'm over here," said Daniel.

Mourne glanced briefly at the source of the interruption, but then ignored it and continued with Bouceph. "I am currently in your debt. If you need a favor, or anything, just ask." He turned and headed back to Parceph.

"He says you're the Wraith," giggled Shianna, all impressed.

"Does that make you hot?" asked Bouceph.

"Kinda."

"Hey Mourne, dude," called Bouceph. The stallion stopped and turned his head. "I could use another case of chocolate bars."

"Done," said Mourne resuming his course.

Shianna kicked her beau. "You idiot! That's MOURNE! Don't you know who he is?"

"Yeah. Just another jerk wad, weed-up-da-butt Elder."

"Gahh... No! We could have gone... GOHHHH!"

"Knock it off, bitch, or you ain't gettin' any of my chocolate."

"Parceph," said Mourne, "If you would be so kind, I could use your services once again."

"Certainly, Your Eminence." Parceph re-establish a stable connection while Mourne positioned himself on the stallion's left. The eldest of Elders began to quiver violently just as Parceph had done before, then a thousand layers of the black stallion's skin suddenly peeled off into the Sentinel as if being sucked into a vacuum. The stallion that remained behind looked identical to the original, but Daniel recognized him instantly.

"Stay here, Thad," said Daniel. "There's someone I need to greet."

"Ok," he said, crawling under a tree to collapse, unable to resolve the incalculable luck that it took to survive the previous minute.

Daniel as a Hipponaur stood up to be the first to give Varyl a welcoming hug. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

"It is good to be back," said the grandfatherly stallion.

Daniel noticed Bouceph witnessing a reunion that should not be happening. He released Varyl and walked up to his son for damage control.

"You're not really my mother," said Bouceph dejectedly.

"I am your mother in every meaningful sense," said Pandora in her best Zhorelle impersonation.

Bouceph was unimpressed. "You are NOT my mother!" he snorted angrily.

Pandora dropped her head seeing that it was pointless to carry on the charade. "No, Bouceph, I'm not. Your mother's soul is gone, but a significant part of her still survives in me. The part that loves and is very proud of her son."

Bouceph turned and walked away. "You're not my mother. She never had those feelings."

"You're wrong, Bouceph! If she didn't have these feelings for you, then why on Mourne's Green Earth do I!?"

"I dunno. Because that's how you think you're supposed to feel. Get over it."

"Bouceph... please!"

The gelding stopped.

"What's wrong with having these feelings for you?"

He sighed trying to get through to the slowest human in the race. "BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!" he shouted, continuing to walk away.

Daniel didn't know why this rejection was so painful. The last Hipponaur he should ever want anything to do with still wouldn't be Bouceph. Then he realized that it was Pandora being stabbed in the heart, and she needed her pain to be acknowledged.

"Can I at least be a friend?" Daniel called out to him.

Bouceph laughed, "Man, you must have taken some long rides on a short bus." He turned around and marched menacingly up to his former mother's face. "Of course you can be a friend. Just stop bein' my mother."

"Oh," said Daniel, being thoroughly put in his place.

"Go easy on him, hun," said Shianna nuzzling her mate. "His parents grew up in the sixties."

Daniel heard a commotion behind him and returned to his escort who was defending himself against Varyl.

"I don't want any trouble," said Thad to the menacing stallion.

"You present me with a conundrum," snarled Varyl.

"I didn't want to come here, I swear," he retreated.

The stallion was nearly on top of him. "I can only hope that Mourne has contained the contagion that your kind spread."

"Hello, Thaddeus," said a familiar voice behind him.

The Anthraun turned around and received a powerful right hook to jaw. He fell to the ground and expertly deployed a folder knife, obviously having practiced the maneuver.

"Only a four-inch blade?" mocked Josh. "What's the matter, Thad, afraid of a piddly misdemeanor weapons charge?"

"Knock it off, Josh," demanded Daniel.

"I'm done with this dung pile," said Josh walking away. Then he whipped around, stomped on Thad's arm, and kicked him hard in the temple. The disarmed Anthraun howled in pain.

"JOSH! STOP IT!!!"

"You don't know this guy, Cellie," he said, circling him like a hyena.

"I know that you just attacked him without provocation!" shouted Daniel.

"Oh I have plenty of provocation, when it comes to this PUSHER!" Josh kicked him hard in his other temple.

"GODDAMNIT STOP!"

"Do you know what a pusher is, Cellie? You should. You've been pushed around all day by this fuckhole."

Thad rolled in agony as Josh walked around him spitting distilled venom.

"Pushers are bad news, Cellie. Very dangerous. Drop your guard and you're dead. The only defense against them, is to give them a SPLITTING headache!" Punctuated by another kick to the head.

"Enough..." pleaded Thad in tears.

Josh returned to Daniel. "You fucked him didn't you!"

"That sounds like jealousy to me," spat back Daniel.

Josh shook his head and laughed to himself at the woefully ignorant human. "You've been pushed, Cellie. Made to believe things that aren't true. And frankly I'm really worried for you, right now."

"You did the same to me, as I recall."

Josh swallowed. "That was different." But he couldn't see how. He turned the conversation back to Thad.

"Tell Cellie why you're here."

"I didn't know it was you!" Thad cried.

Josh raised a threatening hoof and repeated slowly, "Tell - Cellie - why - you - are - here."

Thad sat up sobbing and buried his aching head in his forearms, shaking it, too ashamed to answer.

"You didn't come very well prepared, Thaddeus," said Josh raising his arms. "Where's the ice chest?"

"Please, Joshua," he groveled. "I wasn't going to do it. I'm begging you! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME!!" He grabbed his head and focused as hard as he could to get Josh to forget the past, but the Anthraun had placed his kicks precisely where Thad could not reach him.

"What were you going to do, Thad? Carry my liver back in your pants?"

Daniel stifled a horrified gasp. Thad burst into a silent crying grimace, shaking his head, unable to breathe.

"Yes, Cellie," said Josh, "that's what he came for. My heart, lungs, liver, kidneys,... probably even my dick and balls. There's a lucrative black market in Anthraun organs back where he comes from. It's a miracle he didn't take Tattoo. Want to know how I know this?" He looked at Thad in disgust. "It isn't the first time."

Thad began rocking. "I never killed anyone."

"Not technically. But a pusher doesn't have to kill anyone. All he has to do is hand his victims a knife and ask politely. They're more than happy to cut out their own guts and hand them over with a smile."

Thad buried his face in his hands. "I wasn't going to go through with it!" he screamed pathetically.

Daniel understood now why Thad was so desperate to keep this dark secret hidden, aside from its own repugnance. If Pandora hadn't become pregnant, it would have been her. He had probably reasoned that it was less abominable to kill a virtual being than a living one. Daniel was not about to nitpick the ethics, for the pain would have been just as real, and the betrayal just as legendary. Still, he could not believe that Thad had it in him. If he could not do it to Josh, he certainly could not have done it to Pandora. He may be reckless and impulsive, unable to think things through, but he was not truly evil.

"He's right, Josh," said Daniel. "I made him come here. I thought I was helping, but... In the tunnel we were going to turn back."

"And tomorrow when the mob showed up he'd change his mind again."

"No, I'm done with this," said Thad, hoping the truth was true.

"You're a worthless petty thug."

Thad looked up. "You're one to talk."

"I am not like you."

"Oh no??"

"Danny knows all about my past," snorted Josh.

"Is that so," said Thad, gaining some momentum. "Then you must have told him about Carson City."

Josh clenched his jaw and silently steamed at the Anthraun, but said nothing.

"Okay look," said Daniel. "We all have pasts that we'd like to forget. God knows I certainly do, but what you're both talking about occurred on another planet. Josh, look at you. Are you the same Anthraun that you were in Vegas? Or has this life kind of made a difference in you?"

Josh still fumed at the threat of blackmail, but he considered what Daniel had said and allowed his jaw to soften. He raised his hand and caressed Daniel's face. "Cellie, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Look at him," said Daniel. "He's a mess. But he's a product of his environment, just like you were. And just like you, he wished he could give it all up and start over. Some felons deserve a second chance. You did. Doesn't he?"

Josh considered the Anthraun trash, preferring to toss him in the dumpster than the recycle bin. "What about it, felon? Are you capable of behaving yourself?"

The Anthraun looked straight ahead and shook his head. "I don't know."

"Well at least he's honest now," said Josh.

"Wrong answer, Thad," scolded Daniel. "The correct answer is 'yes,' because this is the only second chance you're going to get!"

"How many of you bottom feeders came through," demanded Josh.

"Just me," replied Thad, "that I know of."

"Well I guess that's something." Josh addressed Varyl, "Any word from Mourne?"

"The contagion appears to be isolated to this incident, fortunately for all of us."

"Well, Loser," said Josh, "maybe your luck has finally changed. The Sentinels have your ass covered."

Thad sighed heavily, having dodged a cannon ball. His debts may never get settled, but the Dobermans were still on the other side of the fence, and the Sentinels locked the gate. Hopefully the attack dogs wouldn't be able to dig under it.

He wobbled to his feet. "My luck will change when I can find a bottle of Tylenol."

Daniel gave him one.

"Thanks."

"Varyl," said Daniel. "I'm confused. If it was so dangerous to leave the worlds unprotected, then why did all of the Sentinels leave?"

"Because you shot Mourne, you dolt," replied the stallion. "What did you expect?"

"Um..." stammered Daniel, his entire belief system suddenly flipped on its head, "I thought I was supposed to do that."

Varyl laughed and shook his head at the hopelessly self-important man. "Do us a favor, kid, and stop paving all of our roads with your good intentions."

Daniel was getting a lot of that today.

It was evident that Thad and Josh could not coexist on the same planet, but Mourne had already permanently revoked Thad's passport, refusing him access to any of his Sentinels. That left the Anthraun with few options, contrition not being optional.

"Danny," he said with his head held low, "I have done some terrible things."

"No arguments here."

"You said that you could recognize evil," he said, raising his head. "Now that you know everything..."

"Now that I know everything, Thad, I've finally realized that I know exactly jack squat."

Daniel put his arms around his friend and pressed foreheads again. "Does doing evil things make you inherently evil? I can't answer that, Thad. I used to think the answer was 'no,' but if we aren't defined by our deeds, then how should we be defined?"

"I don't want to be defined by my deeds," he cried into Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel held him, not knowing what to believe anymore. He wanted to believe that the felon had been reformed, but he could no longer trust his own feelings to be his. Ultimately he decided that if he was going to keep him as a friend, he would have to trust him to be one.

"If you don't want to be defined by your past deeds, then leave them behind. The Sentinels have given you a second chance, not exactly by their choice. However, I will give you a second chance - by my choice."

"How can you possibly trust me after what I did to you?"

"I've been asking myself that question," scowled Danny. "You did a lot deeds, today, Thad. Let's see how well you know someone who thought he was your best friend. Which deed do I consider to be the first significant thing that you did to me?"

He hated having to confess his sins directly to the person he had sinned against; that is what priests were for.

"I pushed you," he said regretfully, unable to look Daniel in the eye again.

"No," said Daniel sternly, "Next."

"I lied to you."

"You're not trying very hard. Next."

He broke down. "I plotted to kill Pandora."

Daniel held him tight as he wept in his arms. Confession was good for the soul, but Daniel wasn't through with him yet. "Thad," he consoled "Plotting is not doing. That may have been your misguided impulse for creating Pandora, but how close did you actually come to going through with it?"

The Anthraun stepped back and sniffled, "Not very. I'm not very good at anything that I plot."

"Then we're still not done. What deed is the first significant thing?"

His dirty laundry could fill the San Quentin laundromat, but the offenses against Daniel fit in the wash basin. He was left to grasp for sins. "I committed adultery?"

Daniel smiled, "That misdeed was entirely mine. I'll be doing my own penance for that."

"I don't know, Danny," he surrendered, sick of this sucky version of Twenty Questions.

"Thad," said Daniel exasperated, "do you even remember jumping into the void to save my life?"

"Oh, right," he said, still feeling shitty.

"You could have easily saved yourself. Why did you do that?"

"Because I had nothing left to lose."

"You can spin it that way if you want, but I'll never believe it no matter how hard you push."

Daniel held his head eye-to-eye with his. "I'll tell you why you thought of those other misdeeds first: because you knew they were wrong and you have a conscience. The reason why you didn't think of the one really good entirely selfless thing that you did today is because that deed defines the real Thad. You did it without even thinking about it."

He sighed heavily, not knowing if that was true, but at the time, it did seem to be a no-brainer. There was simply no way he could have let Pandora go.

"All right," he said. "I guess I can just imagine that my past was all a bad dream."

"Whatever works," shrugged Daniel.

Thad was finally able to smile. "Fresh start again?"

"You look familiar," said Daniel holding out a friendly hand. "Have we met?"

"I'm Thaddeus," he said with a grin, "but you will always call me Thad."

"I am very pleased to meet you, Thad," smiled Daniel. "And I know a few Hipponaurs that will be very pleased to meet you too."

"Can't wait!"

Parceph allowed Daniel and Thad to return to Daniel's home world after promising never to fornicate inside him again. Stepping out of the newly minted Sentinel, they found themselves in the presence of Jeremiah and Bouceph again. They volunteered to assist them with sealing the mine, which made the job go much faster since it had been mostly Jeremiah doing all the work. Daniel and Thad could tell that Parceph and Jeremiah didn't want to talk about why they were doing it, and they weren't about to pry, given their own deeds that they preferred to keep secret as well.

Once the job was done, Daniel produced a small keg of cold beer and tapped it for the others, thus foregoing the need for an ice chest. The brews lightened the mood for everyone, and even Thad seemed to kick back and take life at a slower pace. He smiled at Daniel and raised his mug. Daniel raised his back, and they drank a toast to enduring friendship.

A tipsy Jeremiah stumbled over to Bouceph and held his mug under the stallion's nose, but was having trouble convincing him to drink. It was Jeremiah who had told Daniel that the key to giving life to his Hipponaur host was to find the perfect name for her. Now Daniel's curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey Jerry," he said, "Have you come up with a name for him yet?"

"Sure have," replied Jeremiah with a belch.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Fat Fuck."

Parceph snorted.

"What's wrong with Fat Fuck?" argued Jeremiah staggering back to his mate. "Just look at that hunk a' lovin' horseflesh over thar. Don't he look like a 'Fat Fuck' to you?"

"To answer your question, Danny," said Parceph. "No, my inebriated companion has not yet come up with a suitable name for his equine self."

"All righty, howza 'bout if I shows ya." Jeremiah marched twenty feet away from the Hipponaur in a nearly straight line and turned around. "Hey Fat Fuck, c'mere." The vacant stallion stood quietly for a few seconds, then without bothering to move his tail, dumped a horse load out his backside. Jeremiah gestured, "There, now. See? He even acts like a Fat Fuck. It's perfect."

"You are an imbecile."

Jeremiah ambled back to his body and petted it affectionately. "He's still a-gettin' used to his name."

Daniel read Thad the riot act as they rode Pandora back to camp. No more pushing. Ever! From now on, respect must be earned, not stolen. Thad was pretty sure that he could comply, mainly because life here was so spartan that there was nothing to steal.

"That guy blowing the Clydesdale in the trees," pointed out Daniel. "He really is human. Stay away from him."

"Got it," replied Thad.

They traveled far enough to get out of sight of the others then Daniel pulled Pandora over and dismounted.

"Please, come down, Thad. Pandora has something to say to you."

The Anthraun sighed and slid off the mare only to be met by a tall sexy Palomino wearing a tight halter top and very short shorts.

"What you did was risky and wrong," she said, returning her arms to his shoulders.

"Pandora... I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry."

"Shhh," she said putting a finger to his mouth. "Let me finish. I don't know how you did it, but you awakened something in me that I didn't even know was asleep."

"I didn't do anything, Pandora," he smiled, shaking his head. "All I did was drop a hint. The rest was all you."

"Well," she said, dragging a finger around his shoulders as she sauntered around him. "All of me can be all of yours. All you have to do is want it."

He swooned playfully.

"Of course Rovaun and Shianna get their fair share, too," she said, stopping to calculate how much that will be. The black mare started nuzzling her, then tugged on her halter top.

"Uh oh," she said. "Pandora's gonna want some of me too. I'll probably get torn limb from limb by all of them."

"Run away with me, then," he winked.

Pandora smirked at him. "I LIKE being torn limb from limb."

"Ah," submitted Thad. "Message received, loud and clear."

"Hmmm, let's see," she continued as a blonde. "Rovaun, Shianna, Pandora, and Thad; left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. That works out for everyone."

Rovaun and Shianna were cuddling when Daniel and Thad rode up on Pandora. Daniel hopped off and snuggled between them, while Rovaun dutifully ripped the virtual clothes from him.

"Looks like we're stuck with him, Husband," said Daniel.

"What a shame," grinned Rovaun.

"Dibs!" cheered Shianna.

"Rovaun," said Thad, wasting no time. "I have a whole lot of things to confess..."

In the early evening, Daniel excused himself to make amends. He emerged from the stallion and quietly watched the sunset with him from the top of his calm grassy plateau. Mourne seemed to appreciate the company. Daniel pulled out a real apple he had picked from Rovaun's sunrise tree, sliced it with a virtual pocket knife, and offered the first wedge to Mourne.

"I suppose it would be ungracious of me to refuse your generosity."

"Yeah, it would," said Daniel cutting himself a slice as well.

A cool summer breeze caught the stallion's mane, who seemed so content in his place in the cosmos.

"So... all is right with the universe?" asked Daniel.

"How should I know," said Mourne, dryly.

"Because you're standing in the middle of it."

"Am I now?" said Mourne. "And when did the universe stop revolving around you?"

Daniel was suddenly humbled. "I... never thought that it... I..." He quickly offered the stallion another slice.

"I am not the puppet master that you make me out to be, Mr. Racher. In truth, I am just an ordinary Hipponaur, no different than your mate."

"I find that hard to believe."

"That is not my problem."

"But what about the Wraith? Is it me or not?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Well... I guess it doesn't. It's just that after all you put me through I think I..."

"After all I put YOU through!?" he snorted.

"Ok, I already apologized to Varyl about that."

"You didn't shoot Varyl."

Daniel sighed and tried very sincerely to apologize to the infuriating stallion. "I'm very sorry for shooting you," he said offering another slice.

"Accepted."

"Good, so please tell me who the Wraith is," Daniel insisted.

"Bouceph is the Wraith. Did I not make that clear?"

"No, frankly, you didn't!"

"Very well. Is it clear now?"

Daniel sighed and cut another slice. He offered it to the stallion, but then pulled it away at the last moment and ate it himself.

Mourne smiled, "Now you're catching on."

Daniel smiled too, holding another slice just out of reach.

"Do you believe in your dreams, Mr. Racher? I believe in mine. I also understand the rules of Destiny, and unfortunately, I break them just as much as you do. My destiny showed me lost in the void for thousands of years. It was rather grim to say the least. Destiny also revealed that I would eventually be rescued, but it offered only the vaguest of hints as to how: a man that became one with a stallion. I named him the Wraith because of the insubstantial details provided."

Daniel offered the slice. "But I didn't send you to the void thousands of years ago."

"I purposely did that to myself after I had had the dream. I reasoned that if I was to spend an eon in the void, then the sooner I got started, the sooner it would be over. Plus, knowing that I would eventually be rescued allowed me to use the void as a sort of life insurance policy as it were. I had already discovered the secret of the spatial ulcers, that they could be controlled if a single being had souls that existed on both sides. Therefore I could be trapped in the void and still live outside of it. If my body should die on this world, my souls would return to me there, where time has no meaning, fortunately. I simply fell asleep and woke up again."

Daniel pondered the staggering odds of the improbable events that lead to the rescue of a stallion lost in an infinite void for millennia. "You realize of course that the chances of you ever being rescued were zero."

"Or one hundred percent, depending on whether or not you believe in your dreams. And I'm surprised at you, Mr. Racher, did not the Wraith rescue you from the void as well?"

Mourne had a point, so he gave the geezer another apple wedge then changed the subject. "Thad thinks you're a fascist."

"Of course he does. He thinks he should be allowed go wherever he wants and do whatever he pleases. I happen to disagree with that philosophy; therefore I protect Hipponaur by disallowing access. He and his ilk are free to destroy the unfortunate world they were born into, but not mine."

"What about Josh's timeline? You were going to destroy that one."

"I think you overestimate my capability. I cannot create or destroy timelines, I merely decide which ones that my limitations can protect. The unprotected ones have no Sentinels, leaving them to the whims of vermin like your friend. It is a small mercy that because I have no presence there, I am not privy to the carnage."

"Wait a second, that's not what you said last time I was standing here. You said that you could painlessly prevent timelines from ever occurring, and that Josh's timeline would be one of them."

"Yes, but I couldn't risk telling you the truth, now could I. Otherwise you'd probably have me shot."

"What about Josh's timeline?" Daniel reiterated, holding out the final slice until he heard what he needed to hear.

"He shares the same timeline as the Wraith. How can I, in good conscience, not protect it?"

Daniel almost fed him the last piece but then held back, waiting for an actual answer.

Mourne was getting irked. "If I promise to protect Josh's timeline, will you let me have the last piece?"

"Uh huh."

"Give it to me first, please," said Mourne.

Daniel still held back.

"If you can't trust your friends, Mr. Racher..."

Daniel sighed and capitulated. He was pretty sure that Mourne was just teasing him. Nevertheless, the best way to protect Josh was to be a good friend and offer himself up as a sacrifice.

"If there are any timelines where I don't have Rovaun or Josh, feel free to nuke 'em, because I must be miserable."

"There you go again."

"Ok, I'm not the center of the universe," said Daniel turning red.

"Now that you mention it, there is a timeline where you currently exist without Rovaun or any other Hipponaur influence."

"Am I happy?"

"That remains to be seen," he said with a wink.

Daniel winked back. "You keep saying Bouceph is the Wraith, but I really think it's me."

"You miss my point, Mr. Racher. It doesn't matter who the Wraith is. What matters," he said, pointing his nose in Daniel's face to emphasize a cogent point, "is life."

"And someone to share it with," said Daniel, affectionately. He scratched Mourne's withers producing a pleasant nicker. Mourne turned to nip him gently, momentarily letting go of all higher thought processes to allow himself a friendly equine reflex.

"What about you?" asked Daniel.

"I am content with what I do. It is a noble calling that I would not wish on anyone. I receive some comfort knowing that my not having a life allows you to have yours. But yes," he said, nuzzling the human, "I do sometimes get lonely, just like everyone else."

Daniel felt a warm vibe from the stud and asked, "Can I give God a hug?"

The stallion stood stoic again and replied, "No... but you may give me a hug."

Daniel embraced him and Mourne returned it. "You may visit me again, Mr. Racher." It was a signal to go. Mourne was busy.

"Call me Danny."

"I am partial to figs... Danny."

That evening three equines one human and an Anthraun occupied a comfy communal bed that encompassed all of nature. Daniel slept peacefully in the arms of his beloved stallion while Shianna rested her head on the man's chest. Pandora the mare snuggled with Shianna as well, after following her around much of the afternoon like a playful kitten whenever Daniel wasn't running the show.

Earlier, Thad had come clean about all of his misdeeds in this world, taking Daniel's advice to leave the rest of it behind. The ever-forgiving Rovaun, being a results-oriented stallion had already decided that all's well that ends well. Shianna was not so accommodating at first, but quickly warmed up when Pandora the Palomino made her debut. Rovaun immediately determined that he had made a full recovery and had some christening to do while Shianna took an instant liking to Anthraun mother's milk. All limbs remained attached and wrapped around loved ones.

Despite the daily perils of his mate, Rovaun slumbered with no fears in his heart, for he believed in his dreams, and lived them every day with his companion. He loved his human spouse unconditionally, allowing him the spousal latitude to be who he was, not because Rovaun was a doormat, but because he recognized a need in Daniel to make his own choices, make his own mistakes, deal with his own consequences, and seek his own redemption. It was what brought the dead man back to life, and when Daniel was alive, Rovaun was alive.

Opposite the red stallion, a white mare nuzzled Daniel tenderly as he slept, for she loved the man as much as she did the mare and now the delicious Palomino. At first she had resented and feared him, perceiving him as a threat. He was someone who would forever outrank her in Rovaun's eyes, someone who, if he wanted to, could force Rovaun to choose, and Shianna would always lose, because she was not married to him. It infuriated her to see Rovaun being played the fool, for Daniel did not act married at all. What made matters worse was that Rovaun did not seem to mind. But now Shianna finally understood. Daniel was a socialist who had won the Little Red Pony super lotto. It was unconscionable for him not to share the wealth with those he cared about. The reason Daniel refused to act married was for her own benefit. It gave Rovaun the chance to not act married with Shianna. So she accepted his generosity with grace because he needed her to. The three were a family with three Anthrauns on the way. Shianna was living her dream as well.

The only one not at peace was Thad. Having grown up on the streets, he had always taken care of himself because it was easy. Not having friends meant not having to worry about trusting them; thus he could never be betrayed. He was an unfortunate creature who made his own bad luck, when his only true misfortune was that nature had given him the tools to do so. Despite starting over cleansed of sin, he now lived in a world that was as foreign as outer space, and felt just as suffocating. The friends here acted like they cared about him, and he believed that it was true, for now. But this life was too good for him, for he had not earned it; he lucked into it, and his luck was always bad. In his experience, eventually, they would change. Eventually, they would turn. Eventually, they would oust. But this time would be different, for he would not be ousted. Reclaiming control of his destiny, he lightly kissed Daniel on the cheek, then departed into the darkness.

#

[End of _COMPANIONS_ Chapter 42: Unwelcome in Bizarro World]

[This concludes Part 13 of the series. Take a break.]

[Next in series: Chapter 43: TBD]