Author's Note

At the request of many of the commenters I have gotten myself a person to edit my story. As of now all chapters have been gone over by the editor and should be mostly free of errors and bad grammar. If you have read the first two chapters before the posting of this chapter feel free to read the earlier chapters again to see the improvement.

Whipped Coco

Coco stared at the ceiling of the room she was in, thinking hard about her current situation. She had no idea where she was, but from a clock in the room she knew that it was morning. She sighed and looked around. She was laying in a king sized bed. The mattress was really soft and comfortable. It was perhaps the most comfortable bed she had ever laid in, but she really couldn't appreciate it at the moment.

"How did I even get here...." Coco thought to herself. Thinking back to the night before she remembered how she was lead into a trap by Golden Locks and raped in the stallion's office. How she got handed off to a group of ponies she didn't even see, and how her humiliation continued as she was cuffed to the bars of the bed's metal headboard.

Coco then looked next to her to the crystal mare sleeping peacefully next to her. The night before was spent being forced into orgasm again and again at her touches as Coco was unable to escape or resist because of her bonds. Now the mare had her arms around Coco's body, hugging her like she was an over sized stuffed animal. She shivered slightly as the image of the mare licking her pussy intruded her mind, still able to feel the texture of the tongue against soft flesh.

Suddenly Coco heard a light tapping at the door and it opened slowly. A green unicorn mare with a white mane done up in a ponytail entered the room, bringing a food cart in with her. The unicorn was in a maid's uniform and had a leather collar around her neck, as well as a strap muzzle that kept her from opening her mouth. Coco could also see a metal ring around the unicorn's horn as she laid out food from the cart on a table in the center of the room.

Once the unicorn finished setting the food on the table she walked over to the bed. Coco, remembering all that happened the night before, was scared that the mare was coming to do something to her like Golden and Schorl had done. She scooted to the far side of the bed as her cuffs, and the mare's arms around her body, would allow her. The unicorn reached down towards the recoiling earth pony and then shook Schorl a few times.

Schorl stretched with a closed mouth moan and opened her eyes. "Ah.... is it morning?" The unicorn nodded in reply to the crystal pony. "Thank you Sweet Mint." She said and then reached under the unicorn's skirt, rubbing the mare's slit.

The unicorn closed her eyes in pleasure and made heavy pants at Schorl's touches. Coco was not sure if she was enjoying it or if she was simply putting up with it, either way after a few minutes of rough masturbation the unicorn yelled in pleasure and fell to her knees.

"Tsk, tsk, still not lasting as long as I want." Schorl said with disappointment and undid the strap on the unicorn's muzzle with the magic of her horn.

"I am sorry mistress." Sweet Mint replied. "I have practiced, but your touch is just too much for me to take."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Schorl said bringing her fluid covered fingers to the unicorn's lips. Without even a word, Sweet Mint wrapped her lips around the fingers and licked them clean. Once done Schorl removed them from Mint's mouth and patted her on the head. "Go set up two seats at the table for you and our guest."

Mint nodded and grabbed two cushions from the bed before heading for the table. Schorl made a sigh of contentment before looking to Coco. "I see you are awake my little screamer. For a virgin you sure like to make a lot of noise when you cum."

Coco gave a glare back to her molester. As helpless as she was, she wasn't going to give the crystal mare the satisfaction of seeing her weak.

"Oh, I see. Well then...." Schorl looked over to her nightstand levitating a metal butterfly clamp off of it and over to Coco's exposed pussy. As it hovered over her clit, it opened wide, a row of pointy teeth revealed in its mouth.

Coco panicked and tried to kick at it to no avail as it moved side from side only to return back to position. "Please! Don't! I'm sorry!" Coco screamed. While Schorl had forced herself on Coco she had not yet caused her any pain, but Coco quickly realized that this was the price of resistance.

The clamp got close to her sensitive nub and closed a mere centimeter away from it. "I am willing to let it slide this once, since you are new." said Schorl as she moved the clamp away from the terrified mare. "Know that further defiance will result in pain." Schorl placed the clamp on the nightstand and replaced it with a key.

Floating it over to Coco's cuffs she unlocked one of them from the bar on the bed and released her hand from the other. Now free, Coco rubbed her sore wrists. While she still had a cuff hanging off one of her wrists it was nice to move her arms freely.

Schorl got up from the bed and went over to the table. She took the only seat at the table and started stroking Mint's mane, who was on her knees as she sat on a cushion. "Coco, is it?" Schorl asked. "I am sure you have questions. If you obey me then I will answer them until your mistress arrives. Now come, take your place next to me." Coco was a bit reluctant, but she remembered what would happen if she did not obey.

Getting up off the bed and walked over to the table. Seeing the pillow on the ground next to Schorl she got on her knees, following Mint's example. She thought about how the crystal mare said that she was willing to answer questions. Searching her mind she could only come up with one. "Why?" She asked, looking up to Schorl.

"Why?" Schorl replied as she fed herself a pancake from the plate on the table. "What a vague question. Be more specific."

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Coco yelled at Schorl.

Schorl gave her an unamused look and then grabbed a spoon on the table. "No yelling." She said and then hit the spoon down on Coco's snout, causing her to yelp in slight pain. "So you want to know why you are here. I guess that is fair." She took another bite of her food and swallowed before continuing. "It seems that you made a mistake. Crossed the wrong person, tried to act as though you were more than what you are."

Coco rubbed her nose. "I never did anything to you."

Schorl scooped up a bit of her scrambled eggs and brought it to Mint's lips, who happily ate it. "I never said you did, but a certain acquaintance of mine was awfully offended when you quit her employment." said Schorl. "and after all she did for you."

Coco scoffed at that remark. After what Golden said the night before she knew who she was talking about. "Suri did nothing but make my life miserable."

The crystal pony lifted her spoon, about to strike again, but stopped when Coco flinched. "Your mistress was doing you a favor." She said with a smirk. "You are a pony who is naturally meek. I can tell just by looking at you. Suri however pushed you to improve your skills in dressmaking. Despite how you might feel about her she is the one who made you as good a seamstress as you are." Scooping another spoonful of eggs up, her unamused look turned to one of anger. "And you pay her back by quitting and wasting your talents by making stage costumes." She put the spoon up to Coco's mouth. "Eat. Eggs are good for your coat."

Coco decided not to argue. It was obvious that if she did it would only cause her more pain. Opening her mouth she let Schorl put the food in. As the eggs touched her tongue she was surprised at the flavor. The eggs were very well prepared and they tasted better than any she had tasted before. She couldn't help but smile as she made an "Mmm" noise.

"So now we have decided that you are incapable of making good decisions." Schorl continued "and we are taking that privilege away from you. You are to become Suri's slave and she will now decide what is good for you."

"What gives you the right?" She replied after swallowing her eggs.

"We at the Society have made it our business to train mares and stallions on how to become proper slaves and pets. We have many here who were once like you. Resistant, but unaware of their true selves. I heard you last night. You might deny it, but you body wouldn't let you lie." Schorl said taking a sip from a glass at the table.

"That doesn't really answer the question." Coco muttered.

Soon a tapping at the door reaches the ears of the three mares. As the knock got Coco's attention she felt the cuff on her wrist start to move. A quick glance allowed her to see that Schorl had a hold of it with her magic. With a hard tug on the shackle, Coco's arm was forced behind her back. "Put your other arm behind your back or else I will have to punish you." Coco obeyed and allowed Schorl to bind her arms behind her. "That should be Suri. Mint, would you please let her in."

Mint got to her feet and answered the door. Standing in the doorway was the pink pony, Suri Polomare, holding a small bag in her left hand. Not even waiting for Mint to move out of the way, Suri pushed past her into the room, going straight for Coco. "There is my wayward assistant. Did you enjoy your stay with my friend? I bet that you two had a lot of fun without me."

Coco's resentment for the pony was clear as she scowled at Suri. Despite what Golden and Schorl had done, she knew that none of this would have happened if not for Suri. That piled on top of the daily torments of working for Suri and the thought of being forced to go back to her pushed her over the edge. She got to her feet and walked right up to Suri, looking her right in the eye.

"How dare you!" Yelled Coco trying her best to seem intimidating, despite being completely helpless. "I was doing good away from you. I had a good job, ponies that liked and supported me, and I was finally feeling good about myself." Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook with rage, her hands curling up into fists behind her. "All you want to do is take that away from me!"

A swift hand went across Coco's face, slapping her hard enough to cause the mare to lose her balance and catch herself as to not go crashing to the floor. Suri shook her hand to shake off the sting of her powerful smack.

"You stupid filly. After all I have done for you, this is how you speak to me?" She said with a calm fury. "Who was it that gave you a chance when nopony else would. Who taught you everything she knew. I trusted you more than anypony and you quit because some bitch you hardly know made you feel bad." She went around Coco, laid her bag on the table and started rooting around in it.

Coco was still stunned from the shock of the unexpected slap. The pain spreading across her face stung and she could feel the imprint that it had made. She stood there, unaware that Suri had pulled from her bag a rubber ball gag. Suri got up behind her and put her palm under Coco's jaw, placing her thumb and fingers at the hinges of it. Squeezing against it, she forced Coco's mouth open before shoving the ball inside. Grabbing the straps, Suri pulled them behind her head and made it nice and tight.

"There we go. What do you think?" Said Suri grabbing a mirror from her handbag. Coco shook her head furiously, trying somehow to get the gag off of her as it reminded her too much of what Golden had done to her the night before. She only stopped when Suri put the mirror in front of her face.

Looking into it she could see that the ball in her mouth was made of a blue rubber that matched the blue in her mane. The center of the ball had a hole in it. As she poked at the other side with her tongue she found that there was another hole on that side, allowing her to breath through it. The straps that held the ball were likewise made of a dyed white leather, matching the color of the stripe in her mane. She had to admit that it had a kind of cute quality about it, despite it forcing her to keep her mouth open in a slightly uncomfortable way.

"Do you like it?" Suri said coming in view in the mirror's reflection. "I made it just for you. Took me weeks to get it right, never worked with leather before. Oh, and there is this too." Suri put down the mirror and went back to her bag.

This time Coco watched her as she pulled out a leather collar made of the same white leather as the straps. Suri then placed it around the bound mare's neck and buckled it on tight so it firmly hugged her throat. Coco noticed immediately that the inside was lined with a soft padding that made it fit comfortably, not choking her or letting the leather brush up against her body. Once again looking into the mirror she could see "Coco" embroidered on the front in red letters.

"She looks lovely. I think my Mint here might get jealous." Said Schorl as she stroked the mane of her maid, who had returned to her cushion as Suri was putting on Coco's accessories.

"Well I was planning on making little Coco a full ensemble, but I have not had enough time for her gloves or boots. She will be a vision of beauty once I'm done with her." Suri replied.

"I bet she will be," Schorl said with a smirk. "but for now I think that it is time we got things ready for her debut." Schorl slid a paper over to Suri, which she picked up and skimmed over.

"These are the choices huh?" Getting a pencil from her bag she circled a few of the words on the paper and handed it back to Schorl. "I suppose these will have to do."

Schorl looked it over and nodded. "I will get everything ready for you. The time has been scheduled already and since you got here sooner than I expected we can go see Golden's performance."

"Oh? I didn't realize that Golden went up on stage." Suri said taking out a leash from the bag, attaching it to a D ring on the front of Coco's collar. "So it will be him and Silver Tail?"

Schorl shook her head. "No, he is actually taking up another pony's slave. A light grey mare with dark grey hair, her name escapes me at the moment."

Going over to the bed, Suri took a seat on it and made Coco sit next to her. "I didn't know you could do that. I thought that it was just owners with their own slaves."

"Pony's like showing off their slaves on stage, but they also tend to leave them here for training by the other members." Schorl replied. "They are open to the public and there are rooms for private use as well. It is a nice way for members to get to use their favorite mares and stallions they see on stage. There are rules though."

"Rules?" Asked Suri.

"Yes, such as you cannot leave any permanent marks on a slave without express permission from the owner." The crystal pony continued. "No piercings, tattoos or the like. Also each slave is designated a 'type' by the owner. This tells what members are allowed to do with them. Type 1s are full use. They can be fucked and played with in any way a member wants. Type 2s can be used sexually, but torture is off-limits. Then there are Type 3s. They can be teased and tortured, but no penetration is allowed. Lastly there are Type 4s. They are left here for kenneling purposes only and are not to be touched. Many of the serving mares and stallions you see in the lounge are Type 4s."

Suri was happy to hear this. "So I can have other ponies serve for my amusement. That's a really good idea."

Schorl got up from her seat. "Yes, it allows slaves to get use to being used often, and speeds up their training since many members do have more important things to do. If you take advantage of this perk of the society I will expect you to offer a slave of your own for public use too."

Suri put a hand under Coco's chin and turned her head to make the mare look her in the eye. "I don't think I would have a problem with that, but let me think it over until her debut is over."

"Take all the time you need." Said Schorl. "Until then let's go relax in the lounge. Sweet Mint, you are dismissed. Go sign yourself in for public use and find a room to wait in."

"Yes mistress." Mint replied. With that the room was vacated and Schorl and Suri made their way to the lounge with Coco in tow.

An hour later Coco was sitting on a cushion in the lounge as she had in Schorl's room, only this time she was next to Suri. She had been in the lounge room for a while, it being just a short walk from Schorl's room. During that time Suri had shown her to many of the other member, who each had their own slaves with them. As soon as Coco had been introduced, sometimes getting a quick compliment about how lovely she looked or how cute she was, they would immediately return to talking about business or other daily matters.

Coco found it odd how they could do such a thing while surrounded by naked ponies, but she also figured that the point of it was to show that they were not important. That they could be ignored and no one cared if it was embarrassing for them to be forced to expose themselves in front of everyone. She did find some comfort in the fact that she was not the only pony in this situation though. She had even seen a cute earth pony stallion with brown fur and blonde mane that she felt she would have liked to date if not for their current situation.

Now however, she was waiting while Schorl and Suri talked. As much as she was glad she wasn't being molested or hurt she was starting to find it dull just sitting there unable to talk or even move around since her leash was tied to the table and bolted to the floor. She tried to occupy herself by looking around the room until her eyes landed on the cute stallion from before. He was sitting at another table bound much like she was, except he had an added ring around his cock that made it stay erect.

"I wonder how he got wrapped up in this." She thought, remember that his owner was a stallion as well. She blushed at the thought of his owner teasing him the same way Schorl did her. "I wonder if he even noticed me. No, that is silly. How could he care about something like that in a place like this. Why am I even thinking about this?"

She was just about to look away, but then she noticed the stallion turn his head to her and wink. "Wait, did he.... no, it can't-" Before she could finish that thought he nodded as if to answer her and gave another wink. Seeing that made her feel excited and she winked back at him. "Wait a second, am I really flirting with him?" Catching herself she averted her gaze. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but this was no place to try to get a stallion to notice her.

It only took a few minutes longer before the lights in the room began to dim. Coco could tell that this meant it was show time. "What did the crystal pony say? Golden was going to 'perform' on that stage." She shuddered remembering what he had done to her and realized that she would be watching him do the same to some other mare.

A spotlight turned on and shined on the entrance to the lounge. The door opened wide and Golden Locks walked in, wearing a tuxedo and holding what looked like a violin bow in one hand and a long bar in the other. Behind him followed a minotaur with a chain in his hand. Following the chain several feet from the minotaur's hand Coco saw that it led to a pair of shackles around the wrists of a grey mare. The mare gave little resistance, only stopping once until the minotaur gave the chain a good tug.

Coco watched as the mare was forced on the stage. While she would have rather focused on other things this event was demanding the attention of all in the room. As she kept her eyes on the mare she begun to notice how attractive her figure was. Her shapely hips, round butt, large breasts and beautiful eyes. The way that her tail moved side to side with each step. This mare was leagues above Coco in every way, at least that was how she felt.

The minotaur tossed the chain up into the rafters. Catching it as it came back down he then went to a crank reel placed a little off the side of the stage. After wrapping it around the reel a few times the minotaur turned the crank and as he did the chain pulled into it. Coco watched as the chain forced the mare to raise her arms above her head. As her arms went up, Golden went to her hooves and attached the end of the bar he had to a set of leather cuffs on her ankles, causing her legs to spread far apart from each other and exposing her dripping sex to the crowd.

Suri got close to Coco's ear. "Are you having fun?" She said. Before Coco could try to reply Suri shoved a bottle into the hole in her gag. Coco could hardly get out a sound of protest before the bottle tilted up, pouring the liquid into her mouth. The moment the taste hit her senses she knew that it was passion fruit juice. She tried to pull away but Suri grabbed her mane and held it firmly. With her mouth full of juice, Coco swallowed so she could breathe and soon the bottle was empty. Suri patted her head. "Good girl." Suri said, giving her attention back to the stage.

"Fillies and gentlecolts. Please give your applause to Golden Locks and his assistant Octavia Melody." The crowd clapped at the announcer's request.

Golden came up behind Octavia, grabbing her breast with one hand as he tapped her ass with the bow in his hand. "Ready for your recital?" He said squeezing her tit harshly, inciting a moan from the grey earth pony. "Remember, just like we rehearsed." With that he removed his hand from her breast and grabbed hold of her tail instead, lifting it up. He then moved the bow in between her legs and pressed it against her lips. "Let's begin."

Coco watched as the stallion slowly ran the bow along Octavia's soft mound. The mare threw her head back as she cried out in what sounded like a mix of pain and pleasure. As the bow was about to reach its end Golden began pulling it back, running it at another angle, which caused the grey mare to lurch forward and start her moans anew at a slightly different tone. He continued until the tip of the bow was all that was left touching her and then pushed it forward once more, again changing the sound of her moans.

"Dear Celestia, he is playing her like a musical instrument." Coco thought to herself as she noticed the cries of lust and pain turning into a sad melody. The melody was strangely mesmerizing. It was as if Coco could hear the all the emotions that the mare on stage had gone through in her time here. Her humiliation, her sorrow, her inevitable surrender. Coco had no idea how long Octavia had been in the hands of these ponies before this performance, but it was clear that she had suffered.

Coco wanted to look away, to turn off her ears to mute the sounds coming from the grey mare. She couldn't though, something about this moment demanded her full attention. She could see the mare's ample breasts heave as she took heavy breaths in between movements of the bow, the sweat forming on her body as the stimulation strained her body, the bow glistening in the light as the mare's dirty juices covered the strings.

As Coco stared, a burning desire begun to fill her. She wanted to be up there, to be used. "No" She thought shaking her head and whimpering in a near inaudible tone. "Its the passion fruit. Its making me feel this way. There is no way I want this." Despite her mental protests, she felt her nipples harden and her pussy begin to get wet.

Five minutes into the performance, Golden finally removed the fluid soaked bow from between Octavia's legs. Her body hung limp from her chains and she huffed loudly, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she looked out to the crowd. Golden put the bow to her face, and as if out of instinct Octavia licked the strings, cleaning her juices from it as Golden allowed her to get at every inch of it.

"Anything to say my instrument?" Golden said grabbing her mane, pulling her head back.

Octavia gulped and replied. "Thank you for using me as your bitch, sir." She let out a few more pants before continuing. "Can you please make me cum. I need to cum."

Golden let out a sigh. "Can't help yourself, can you? Fine, I guess you have earned it." Golden pressed the bow on the mare's clit at its base, keeping a firm grip on her mane. He pulled up against her vulnerable flesh slowly and with one last loud moan that seemed more pain than pleasure her pussy began to spasm uncontrollably, squirting her fluids out on the stage floor.

The crowd applauded loudly and Golden took a bow. He then gave Octavia a kiss on her lips and left the mare to hang, her eyes rolled into her skull from her powerful climax. As Golden got off the stage the minotaur from before came over and took Octavia's bonds off of her. Tossing her over his shoulder he carried her limp form out of the lounge.

As soon as she was out of sight the announcer from before could be heard once more. "There will be a ten minute intermission before the next act featuring Miss Suri and her new slave."

Coco hung her head, knowing she was the next one on stage. The idea of being sexually abused in front of the crowd, that Suri would not be punished for such an act but instead be praised for it. It was too much. She didn't have long to dwell on it though as she felt something grip her hair and pull her upright.

"What is the matter Coco?" Said Suri in a condescending tone. "Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

Coco, in a state of desperation, placed her face on Suri's thigh and rubbed it against her in an act of submission. She hoped that the gesture would get her some mercy. To Coco's relief Suri let go of her mane. "That is more like it." She reached down, unbuckled the ball gag and removed it from Coco's mouth.

Coco moved her jaw, finding it sore from being open for so long. Looking up at Suri she decided to try to appeal to her. "Suri, please let me go. I didn't mean to insult you when I quit. I was.... I was stupid. I know you were only trying to help me, to push me to better myself." Coco lied. "Please don't make me do this."

Suri patted Coco's head. "Don't worry my pet, after you go on stage and I give you your 'initiation' you will feel much better."

"You can't do this!" Said Coco.

Suri reached under the table and untied the leash from it. "I can. Trust me, I have done it before." Getting up from her seat she gave the leash a tug. "Now come on, we need to get ready." Coco stood up and followed Suri on stage. As much as she didn't want to, she knew that resisting at this point would only make things worse.

Moments later Coco found herself suspended upside-down above the stage. Suri had the minotaur stage hand pick her up and lock the shackles that were on Octavia before around her ankles. She could feel the entire weight of her body strain on her hooves. Her arms were still bound behind her and there was a chain now going from them to the shackles around her ankles to keep them from hanging.

Coco herself had gone silent. All eyes were on her as she dangled from the rafter. She couldn't help but feel nervous and embarrassment. The blood rushing to her head didn't help stop her blushing, nor did the ever-increasing heat welling up inside her. The lights dimmed as they had before and Suri came into view.

"It's time." Suri said, tapping Coco's nose with a whip she had acquired while Coco was suspended. "Just relax and let your feelings tell you what to do." Just then Coco heard what sounded like wheels moving across the floor. "Oh right, I wanted to make this moment special for you so I prepared a little something."

Suri put her hand on Coco's shoulder and turned her around to see the stage hand push in a large transparent vat filled with water. The minotaur pushed it till it was under Coco, her hanging hair barely touching the water inside. With one hard push, Suri sent Coco spinning on her chain and then walked a few feet away, uncoiling the whip.

Suri pulled back her arm and flicked it forward, sending a quick lash to Coco. The whip hit with a loud cracking sound against one of Coco's breasts, sending a sharp pain into her body.

The pain made Coco flail around on the chain, bouncing around wildly. "It hurts! It hurts!" She cried out, only to receive another lash against her ass. "No! Stop!" Her cries fell on uncaring ears, the only reply to her screams being the whip's crack as it struck her again.

Suri chuckled with wicked glee. She sent her gaze to the minotaur, who was standing next to the crank reel. Giving him a nod he released the stopper in the device and let Coco's weight drop her into the water beneath her.

Coco struggled under the water, the pain of the lashes still fresh in her mind. Every instinct told her body to run, to get away, but it was impossible for her to do so. Not only that, but the water she was in was very cold and made her body go tense as it covered her. She wasn't sure how long it took but she was eventually pulled back out of the water by the chain.

As she tried to catch her breath her gasps turned into a sharp yelp as she felt the pain of the whip enter her mind again, this time on her arm. "Damn it! Let me down!" She cried, receiving two more strikes to her wet back and being dunked back into the water.

This time Coco was caught off guard, having screamed as she fell into the water. She had little air, which only made her panic more. She made efforts to "swim" out of the vat, but with her arms and legs chained up as they were she could not control her body. She managed to hit the side of the vat, knocking her head on it hard. She was starting to feel her lungs burn, but then was once again dragged out of the water.

Coco coughed and sputtered as her head was brought out of the water. She wanted this to be over, but the returning pain on her shoulder reminded her that she was at the mercy of Suri. "Suri!" she yelled. "I hate you! I've always hated you! You are the worst pony I ever m-" She was cut off as her head went under the water, being slowly lowered back in. A final lash hit her right on the nape of her neck, just below her collar, and Coco's scream of pain came out in the form of bubbles from her mouth.

Suri stood next to the vat as Coco was pulled out. Coco had gone unconscious, but Suri didn't keep her under the water long after her last lash, and Coco was still breathing. Suri pulled her off to the side and allowed Coco to be lowered to the stage floor. She stroked the unconscious pony's mane as the minotaur removed the shackles from her wrists and ankles.

Coco finally opened her eyes slowly and found herself still on stage in Suri's arms. Her body was shaking, partly from cold and partly from the pain she felt. "Please.... no more pain.....please...." She said to the pony holding her.

Suri continued to pet the weak and helpless mare. "Very well Coco, but only if you do what I say from now on."

Coco hesitated, she didn't want to but she now knew what would happen if she didn't. "Yes.... I'll do what you say.... just no more." saying that, Coco drifted back to sleep, submitting to her exhaustion.