Show Pony

As soon as they got back to the industry, Party grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the others. For a second, my heart throbbed, but then I remembered that this wasn't the man I loved. Even if they DID look exactly alike. He searched in his pocket for a few seconds, and after looking around carefully, reproduced something small into his hand. A gold ring.

"You.... where did you get that?"

"Mom insisted I should have it."

He smiled and blushed. I had to remind myself, yet again, that this was not Andrew.

"I was thinking that you should do the decorations... if you want to.... I mean, you have good taste in colors and styles so..."

"I would love to! But first.... haircut. You need it badly."

"Pink said she liked my hair." He mumbled.

"But I'm the wedding planner, and I say we cut it."

"Just please, don't tell Pink about all this."

He made a poker face that up until now, I thought only Kobra was capable of.

"Fine... Fine. Sorry. We'll go tomorrow then. We were going to go outside anyways."

I walked around Party. Hair... too long. Jacket... dirty from use. Dang it, if he walked down the aisle like that, I would be the first one to put a ray through my brain.

"Can you dance?"

He shook his head. Oh God. This was going to be harder than I thought. He needs a new suit... dancing lessons...

"When is this all for anyway?"

"Uh... tomorrow?"

Hell no.

"I can't prepare a wedding in a day! You're a freaking mess! Do you have any idea how much work this is going to be?" I yell-whispered. "At least a week. Depending on how fast you learn."

"You're the boss."

That froze me in my tracks. No one had ever said that to me. Ever. I resisted the urge to kiss this man and nodded instead.

"We should probably be less suspicious then. She's on to us."

We both looked across the room. Pink was attempting to act as if she hadn't been looking at us at all. I called Jet. We explained him the plan and he grinned like a Cheshire cat. He then proceeded to pinch Party's cheeks and laugh.

"Aww look! He's blushing!"

"Stop it."

"Aww look at him! He's so grown now!"

Party punched Jet in the stomach.

"I might be getting married, but I can still kick your ass."

Jet groaned and nodded.

"All the time you waste with him, you could be dancing. Let's go."

"Does Pink even know how to dance?"

"Don't think about that. The man always leads. Come on."

Jet went over to talk to Pink and Party and I sneaked away.

"Dr. D rationed out some if the food," I told him as we walked "We have enough until we can figure out how to grow more.... it's a start at least."

He nodded and we were silent for a while.

"You miss him." He said

"What?"

"I can see it when you look at me. You're thinking about him."

I looked down at the floor.

"You found your somebody. What if he was mine and I lost him forever?"

"You hardly knew him, Pony.... Don't worry. You'll find the perfect someone again."

"I've always admired you," Pony whispered "He had all your good traits and some perfect ones of his own.... I'm never finding someone like that again. But enough about me. This time, everything is about YOU."

I led him into a big control room and closed the door.

"What do you know how to do?"

He took my hand and demonstrated a perfectly executed waltz.

"You CAN dance."

"Not much." He mumbled "my timing was off."

"Well, I can work with this."

We began to practice again. The sun had gone down. We were sweating by the time we were done. Believe it or not, three hours of waltzing can make you sweat.

"About your suit."

He looked down at himself.

"Nothing too flashy, please. No sparkles or frilly edges. One color."

"I'll only accept that because you have a good fashion sense. The frills would look good on you, though. Hair?"

He shrugged.

“I was thinking of a nice Pompadour….”

The door opened. Kobra. He looked startled to see us there.

“Hey, you wanna come practice?” I asked “Party needs as much as he can get.”

“Practice what.” He asked, in a flat voice.

“The wedding. Party and Pink?”

Kobra blinked for a few seconds, then swallowed.

“Right. That. Um… no. I actually have something else i wanted to do… bye.”

He closed the door softly. I could hear him running down the hall. Party went over to open the door and stuck his head out.

“I think he’s upset.” I said, taking a seat and wiping the sweat off my forehead.

“Maybe…. He was fine this afternoon, though. Maybe he’s finally reacting to this whole thing.”

“He seemed…. flustered to me.”

Party sat down on the floor next to me.

"How did you meet Dr. D?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Why are you suddenly bringing that up?"

"I thought a lot about meeting all of you guys when I was.... unconscious. Then I realized that I don't really know your story."

I leaned my head back into the chair.

"Nothing much to say. My parents just gave me away when they couldn't take me anymore. Lucky for me, Dr. D was the man who took me in."

"Wasn't it... sad?"

"I don't think about it much. My parents.... weren't around much. I hardly remember the old folks. Dr. D has offered to tell me details many times... but I don't want anything to do with them. They just.... threw me away.... so, why should I care about their worthless and pathetic lives?"

Party nodded to himself and closed his eyes. A small amount of pain lingered inside of me, but I dismissed it.

“Lets practice once more. Then, off to bed.”

Party lifted an eyebrow.

“No way.”

“Yes way. I own you until the wedding. you WILL do whatever I tell you.”

Party groaned, but got up from the floor. There, we finished practice in about fifteen minutes.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to ask her?”

“Yeah. I’m just gonna walk up to her and ask her.”

“Wow. so clever.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

Done. Party left the room and I stayed behind a while to clean up. Then, I made my way outside and was going back to my room when i heard a soft voice. A soft sob. I neared a door. It was coming from the inside. Talking. Kobra? I listened, but no one seemed to answer him. He asked another question. No answer. He screamed something. I opened the door softly to see him sitting in the middle of the floor, staring up at a bed as if someone were sitting there.

“Kobra? Are you okay?”

He didn’t notice my entrance. His eyes were still fixed on empty air.

“I don’t know what to do…” He muttered “I just got him back and now….”

Silence.

“Yes… I understand that but…”

More silence. He shook his head over and over.

“What should I do then?”

Silence. I put my hand on his shoulder. He showed no response.

“I… I can’t do that… Please don’t make me.”

“Kobra…”

“No… no… I won’t do that!”

“Kobra!”

Kobra scrambled forward and took the bed sheets in his hands.

“Something else… please… I can’t take it…”

“Kobra…. I’m calling Dr. D and Party…”

"Damn it, Michael! I can’t do those things! I’m not you!”

I froze. What?

“Kobra. You have to wake UP. He’s not really there.”

“no…. no no no no no…. I can’t… I can’t….”

“Kobra. What is he telling you to do? Kobra?!”

“No…” Kobra had begun to sob “Please…. I can’t do that…. Not to them. Not to her.”

I flipped him around. His eyes were somewhere far away, I slapped him. Hard. Right across the face. He blinked once. Twice. And his eyes focused on me.

“P-Pony? W-What are you doing here?”

“What happened.”

“I just…. I…”

“You mentioned something about…. Michael.”

He nodded and lowered his head.

“Its just something that kind of happens now…. It-It’s weird…. I really can’t explain it. He… he talks to me….”

“What did he say.”

Kobra shook his head. The trail of tears that ran down from his eyes was beginning to dry.

“Tell me. What did he say.”

“He answered a question for me.”

I squeezed his arms. He winced slightly.

“What did you ask him and what did he say.”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not. Kobra, this is crazy and dangerous! He’s not really here. You’ve been talking to yourself all this time…. Tell me. Or at least, tell Dr. D”

“I can’t tell you…”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I...I… This is different! If I tell you, you won’t see me the same way again.”

“Fucking, tell me.”

He whimpered slightly as i squeezed his arms tighter.

“He… he asked me to do something terrible.”

“What?”

Kobra pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my shoulder.

“I can’t, Pony. You don’t understand.” a muffled voice answered.

“I’ll understand. I promise. Just, please. The suspense is killing me.”

He asked me…” Kobra whispered shakily into my ear “to commit murder.”

“Who. Who did he ask you to kill. Was it Party?”

I shook him harder. He was silent and trembling.

“You’re right,” he whispered "Michael is just in my head. That means that... I'M the murderer. Pony... I don't want to hurt anybody..."

"Kobra. You won't. Stop it. You're just not feeling well. Wedding blues."

"I'm so messed up" He mumbled, shaking his head.

"You are going to tell me what is going on right now."

He put both his hands on his head and laughed lightly.

"I was plotting," he mused "like an insane bastard, I was actually PLOTTING."

Oh God. I stepped back as Kobra let out a shuddery laugh.

"What's this about. What made you think that way?"

"Of course, It wouldn't have worked.... it's not well thought out, you see."

He was talking to himself again. I leaned in to listen to his mutterings. Pieces fell together.

"Oh, Kobra." I said, shaking my head "Party won't forget you. It doesn't work like that. You'll always be his little brother."

He noticed me then.

"He'll just forget me... yes... He might."

"Of course not. Why would he?"

"Convenience." He mumbled "I'm such a backstabber anyways. Silly me to try and steal the bride away."

"Wait... what?"

He shook his head and dismissed the thought, then he was back to talking to himself again.

"We need to get you to Dr. D."

I grabbed his arm and helped him up. He kept muttering obscenities as I led him down the halls. I went into Dr. D's room to find Jet there. My hand clamped over Kobra's mouth. The murmuring was muffled.

"How's Party's dancing?"

"Decent. Can you please step out? I need to talk to Dr. D."

He nodded and left the room. Kobra had fallen silent. I could feel the pain in the air.

"He's been murmuring to himself... thinks it's Michael."

Dr. D sat Kobra down on a chair and looked at his pupils closely. I looked over to John. Nothing had changed. Still in a coma.


"Lost in coma.... and covered... in cake..."


Dr. D shook his head and went to his cabinet. He pulled out a jar of pills and handed him one.

"You need sleep. Too much stress. It's making you hallucinatory."

Kobra nodded and stared at the ground.

"He said something about 'trying to steal the bride away'."

Kobra's eyes darted to me and he put his hands over his face. Dr. D put his hand on Kobra's shoulder.

"Do you have feelings for Pink?"

I blinked. Was that what he meant?

"It doesn't matter anyways." He mumbled. "She doesn't feel the same way and in a couple of days she'll be married."

He took the pill jar from Dr. D and swallowed two more. He then gave the jar back to Dr. D and stood up rather shakily.

"I'm going to lie down."

He stumbled forward and out of the room. I followed him across the hall and into his own room. He threw himself on the bed, and had fallen asleep in less than a second. I shook my head, took off his shoes and put the blanket over him. He gave a light snore. I checked his breathing. His heart was a little faster than usual, but he should be okay.

"Seems like we both have love problems." I mumbled, stroking his hair.

He looked calmer in sleep. That irritating poker face was gone. Sleeping, he actually smiled. I yawned and decided to crash on the floor. I lay on my back, looking up to the ceiling and fiddling with my hair. I thought, for the first time, about what Kobra had said. Well... what he had mumbled. Would Party really want to be with us after he and Pink settled down? Would he want to see us at all?

A few moment passed.... maybe even hours. I drifted in and out of sleep.

Kobra mumbled something in his sleep and rolled on to his belly. His arm fell over the side of the bed and on my face. I cursed quietly and scooted over. Kobra's smile was wide as he dreamed. What was he dreaming about?

"Pink...." he mumbled.

Was this for real? I stood up and checked his breathing again. Normal. His heart was speeding. Not the medicine. It was the dream. I put my ear to his back. Double beats. Adrenaline in his system. He spasmed and turned to lie on his back again. The happiness on his face was now replaced with fear. He spasmed again and cried out a little. Still asleep, his hand grabbed my arm. He squeezed it tightly.

"Kobra... Stop... it hurts... Kobr- OW!"

He tossed and turned, taking my arm with him. He began hyperventilating in his sleep. Panic attack.

"Kobra. You're hurting me! Wake up! It's just a nightmare!"

He mumbled a couple of incomprehensible things.
I wrenched his hand off my arm, waking him up. He was breathing hard and looking around with wild eyes.

"Interesting dream?"

He curled himself up on his side, his eyes wide open. He blinked, then flinched. He was trembling from fright. He clutched his chest and a strange sound escaped him. A half sob, half scream... choking-like sound.

"I'll call Dr. D..."

"NO!... N-No, please. Call... Call Cherri. Just call her, Please."

Cherri? I kept my eyes on him while I walked over to the door. He was sweating like mad and looked slightly bewildered. I called out to Cherri, and she came in a second.

"What's wrong, Pony?"

I pointed to Kobra and she immediately went over to hug him. He sobbed as she rocked him back and forth.

"It's okay...." she whispered reassuringly "it's okay.... it was just a dream...."

What? Since when is Cherri in charge of chasing nightmares away? I mean... she IS pretty fierce, but not the point. Why didn't I know about this?

"And uh.... how long have you guys been doing this?"

Cherri gave me a look that shot daggers.

"I helped him get over his first nightmare when he got here..... your parents wasn't it?"

Kobra nodded into her hair.

"What was it this time?"

Kobra whispered something into her ear.

"Ah... oh. I... oh, Kobra... I'm so sorry."

She hugged him and he sniffled. I sat back down on the floor and leaned my head on a wall.

"No one tells me stuff." I groaned "I'm always the last to know things."

A soft sound. I lifted my eyes in time to see Cherri kiss Kobra gently on the lips. He was leaning on her shoulder, his eyes already closed. Fast asleep. She gently removed a strand of blond hair from his face.

"No way! You like Kobra?!"

She shrugged and carefully laid him back in bed. A kiss on the forehead. Kobra smiled softly.

Notes