While Tony and Roger were busy having the time of their lives in the barn, trying every position they could think of in as quick a succession as their young hormones would allow, Max was having a less pleasant interaction.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU BOTH?!" screamed Evan, his father. Max recoiled, and Ruth, his mother, was clearly doing her best to calm her husband, but Evan was having none of it. Evan was not, by nature, an angry man - generally speaking, his sons would describe him as a very reasonable authority figure in their lives, the quintessential 'I'm-not-mad-I'm-just-disappointed' father. Max recoiled not from fear of his father, but from pure, undiluted shock that his father, of all people, was yelling at him.
But both his sons were well into puberty, which tends to put strains on any parent and child relationship. To top that off, Tony had chosen to become a pony, of all things, and his brother was his owner. Not, as Evan had dared to hope, in a perfunctory sort of way, so that Tony could indulge this bizarre fetish safely - no, no! His youngest son genuinely considered this a great gift his brother had given him, not an embarrassing obligation.
The sudden inheritance and Max's obvious burgeoning business acumen had mollified him somewhat - circumstances aside, what father doesn't like to find out his son is a financial whiz? He was willing to, in essence, carefully overlook the role that Tony was - he thought - going to play in this. Max had been explaining his plans for cross-pollinating horse racing techniques with ponyboy racing techniques. His emphasis on the potential value of ponyboys as trainers and even jockeys had seemed a much more fitting role for Tony than Evan had been witnessing so far - at least, as far as Evan was concerned. He'd just about deluded himself into thinking that all of Tony's changes would amount to him, in essence, being a mascot.
The problem, ultimately, turned out to be Ruth. Ironic, given that she was the more supportive of the two of Tony's transition; she'd felt it was a phase at first, but, seeing the sheer joy Tony had pulling a sulky, the quiet satisfaction and pride that Max clearly felt when his brother performed a pony trick well...it was enough to melt any mother's heart to see her children so happy. No, it wasn't her opposition which caused the issue - it was simply a mother's force of habit: tidying up after her children.
Max had brought a considerable amount of his personal papers with him to the farm already, intending to begin setting up his office in the bunkhouse immediately. The process of opening up the house, selecting rooms, and so on, had resulted in him leaving them in a box on a table in the foyer. A box which had predictably spilled while he and Evan were bringing in a much larger box full of Tony's old clothes - Evan having begrudgingly agreed to store them somewhere other than Max's room, but only now that they had several guest rooms they could occupy instead. Neither her son nor her husband were paying the least attention, so Ruth had begun scooping up the remaining papers, intending to move them to the dining room table to prevent their being lost in the shuffle. In the process, she discovered a folder full of sketches and notes about the farm, Max's current master plan for his operation. She looked through it, fascinated by the level of detail and planning Max had clearly given this. She was still looking when Roger entered the room.
"Max's getting the last of the things out of the car, hon. You want to unpack the lunches or should I?"
"Oh, I'll do it, and while I'm doing that, you can look at this! It's what Max must be planning to do with the ranch, it looks so detailed! I'm so proud of him!"
Evan smiled, taking the folder.
"Yeah...I gotta admit, he's got a good head for horses..."
And so Ruth was just as shocked as Max when they returned to the dining room to find Evan red as a tomato, screaming at the top of his lungs, holding one of the papers from the folder in his hand.
"You're turning your brother into a, a, a WHORE?!"
"Dad, what the hell are you talking about-" Max started, before realizing his father was holding one of the sheets from his plans. He groaned as his mother tried to get his father to calm down.
'The breeder program. Fuck...'
"No, Ruth, I will not calm down!!! Look at this! He plans to have his ponies breed regularly, even the ones that don't undergo the breeder treatment - ponies like *his own brother*! He's going to rent him out to stud! HA! Rent! PIMP is more like!"
Evan charged across the room, shaking the page angrily.
"How could you DO this to him?!"
Somewhere, inside, something in Max snapped.
"Go to hell," he said calmly, coldly.
Evan's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, and Ruth clutched her heart. Max was a lot of things, but the kind of kid who tells his father to go to hell isn't one of them.
"You've been against this from the beginning, but it's his choice dad. His. Not yours. Just because you're a ponyphobic son of a bitch doesn't mean Tony can't pursue his own happiness."
"I AM NOT A-HOW DARE YOU-I am GROUNDING you from all of this! I am still your parent and I can and will take over your legal responsibilities as Tony's owner, and-"
"No, you won't."
Evan balked.
"And why not?!"
"Because if you do I'll sue for emancipation. And win."
Ruth looked like she was about to throw up, and Evan looked like he was about to explode, but Max pressed on, in that same cold, flat way.
"I've got enough of my own control of my finances to hire a very, very good lawyer. Courts tend to favor teenage pony owners when they request emancipation. The best you can reasonably do is stall long enough to sell Tony - and you and I both know you won't do that. Even if you do, I'll have enough to buy him back. And then you'll have neither of us."
Evan blanched.
"...Dad. I don't want to do this. But you need to let Tony live his life, even if that includes being a pony. You need to trust me enough to not ruin my brother's life, pony or not. And you need to respect us both a hell of a lot more than you've been doing these last few weeks."
Evan looked away, wiping his mouth reflexively, and stormed out of the house. Ruth trembled, steadying herself. Slowly, she walked over to her son.
"Honey, I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shown him, he wasn't ready..."
" 's kay..." Max said. The voice was still cold, but he wasn't looking at her - his gaze was on the floor, and she could hear the beginnings of tears even now. She reached out a hand, stroking his hair.
"...Max, I think...maybe...your father and I should head back into town. We'll be back on Sunday to pick you and Tony and Roger up, but I think your father needs some time to process. I'll handle him."
Max's lip wobbles. He nods.
"...thanks Mom."
"Make sure your brother eats, ok? And that he...no, I'm sorry, that you bathe him, ok?"
Max smiles weakly.
"Yes, Mom. I take care of my ponies."
"Good boy."
She strokes his hair again.
"My boys...I'm so proud of you both, in so many different ways."
With that, she leaves. A few moments later there's the sound of his father shouting outside, then the sound of the car driving away. Max draws a deep, shaky breath, and heads for the barn, somewhat listlessly. He arrives in the barn as he sees Tony at one of the water troughs, guzzling just like a normal ponyboy. He glances up and raises his head, grinning at his master. Sweat drips from every inch of him, and his cock has clearly been in heavy use.
"Heya, master. Roger's a bit indisposed, he's catching a quick catnap after I wore him out."
Max nods, absently, not quite looking at Tony...or anything, really. Tony's brow furrowed, and he walked over to him.
"...Quick question, the PLRB isn't, like, spying on us right now are they?"
Max shook his head distantly.
"What? No, not since the waiver was granted."
"Good, then I can do this safely."
He stepped forward suddenly, putting a hand on one of Max's shoulders and the other on the side of his face.
"Brother to brother, not pony to master: what's wrong Max? You can talk to me."
Max wants to tell Tony off, tell him to cut the ponytude, hell, just tell him that he's fine and Tony shouldn't worry. But what he does, is sniffle, begin crying, then launch himself into a hug of his brother. Tony embraces him back, stroking his little brother's hair.
"Shhh, shhh, you're ok, Max, I'm here..."
"D-dad and I had a f-fight and he *yelled* and I d-didn't know what to d-do and I *threatened* him and them M-mom took him home and we're alone and I...I...*sob!*"
Tony gently rocked his brother back and forth.
"Come on, get it out. You'll get through this, you're my super-smart brother and ponyboy master. Mom and Dad will be back, Dad's just having a hard time adjusting."
"B-but what if he doesn't? What if Dad hates me now?!"
Tony sighed, stroking his brother's hair like he'd seen their mother do a thousand times - to him as well, for that matter.
"Dad doesn't hate you. Dad doesn't even hate me, and I'm his biggest disappointment," he said wryly.
That got a giggle from Max.
"There, now, see, you're fine. And hey! We found a new use for me."
Max laughed again, wiping away his tears.
"Oh?"
"Emotional support pony!"
They both laughed at that one.