Author's Note

Hey guys and gals. Sorry it has been so long since this story has been updated. It has been busy lately for both me and Aristagtle with both life and other projects we are working on.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the story

Chapter Three: Morning After

For the first half of the night, Ruby has an easy, dreamless sleep in her new Master’s arms. Only a few hours before sunrise, she begins to twitch, whimper and mutter a little. “N- no, please… I d- don’t want to…”, she mutters a few times, and her slender leg kicks out once, grazing against the stag.

She hears a faint voice calling her name. “Ruby. Ruby?”

A moment later, she feels someone gently shaking her by the shoulders, dragging her out of the realm of her nightmares.

“Ruby, are you alright?”, she hears the voice of her new Master ask.

A slightly panicked look crosses the mare’s face as she wakes with a start, wildly looking around before her golden eyes land on the face of the stag, which is currently above her own. Her Master is looking down at her with a concerned face. Her chest rises and falls in the usual pattern of fear.

As she calms down a little, more and more memories of the mare’s nightmare come back to the forefront of her mind, ramping up her stress level again. Memories… nightmares of the day she was taken by the caribou… she couldn’t possibly tell her Master about that. About what she did. What if he didn’t approve? What if he would hate her for it? And what if he did approve? In a way, that would be even worse, she thought. No, she couldn’t tell him.

“Ruby, is something wrong?”, Birgir asks again, concern in his voice. “Did you have a nightmare?”

With her head hanging, the mare nods, speaking in a fearful whisper as she finds something to lie about. “It… I did, Master. I… I was dreaming about… some of the things my old owner did to me, or had me do.”

The stag nods. “You have these nightmares frequently?”, he asks.

“Y- yes, Master.” A part of the mare cringes at the fact she willingly lied to him, but the possible outcomes of revealing the truth are even worse. Her head hangs even further as she curls up, hiding her face, and more importantly, her tears, behind a thick curtain of pink.

The stag’s hand gently pets her hair. “Shhh… it’s okay. You’re with me now. He can’t hurt you any more.”

Not wanting to risk exposing the truth, Ruby nods sadly and leans in against the male, trying to find some comfort.

Birgir pulls Ruby closer to him, comforting her with his body. “I have to say, I’m relieved. I was worried you were… dreaming about me. We both lost control yesterday evening. On second thought, I think there’s no chance I could actually have purpled you - but it might still have affected you negatively.” He pauses for a second. “I can’t risk to jeopardize my studies.” His voice shakes a bit.

“What… why do you think you couldn’t have… purpled me? Not that I’m complaining. Though… last night, it was the first time I actually enjoyed sex.” She looks at him questioningly, hoping this change of topic will relieve the panic and fear still rooted in her heart and mind.

Birgir laughs. “I’m relieved to hear that. Despite what our propaganda says, purples aren’t mares who love sex too much. They’re mares who have been tortured to the point of mental damage. Believe me, being purpled is not an enjoyable process. As a matter of fact, they’re one of the reasons why I think we’re treating you mares wrongly. There are no purple collar cows.”

With a stunned look of surprise, she whips her head up and looks at him in fear. “Is… I didn’t… are there ways to… heal a mare who has been… purpled?”

“Hm”, Birgir responds. “I haven’t looked too deeply into that topic. I guess there would obviously be a demand for such a cure - so I guess someone somewhere will be doing research on it. Thinking of it, I read about mindwipe spells a while ago - unicorn magic that can purge memories from a mind. If such a spell could restore a mind to the point right before the purpling, the mare would theoretically be cured, but with no memory of her time as a purple. Normally, I wouldn’t even consider meddling with someone’s memories - but this is a special case, and many of my brothers don’t seem to have such moral qualms anyway. Your stallions possibly even less so, at least from what I’ve seen.”

A look of relief flashes through Ruby’s partially hidden face, hoping what he said is true. “When… when do you need to be at work, Master?”

Birgir smiles. “We still have a bit of time. The sun hasn’t even gone up yet. It’s… good to hear that you enjoyed what we did tomorrow evening. The first time you enjoyed it? I have to admit, that makes me a bit proud.” He smiles a little, almost as if he’s embarrassed to admit it.

“Well, with the others, it was just… shove in and thrust until they… came. There wasn’t much foreplay or… apparent thought about my pleasure during those couplings.” She soon gets up off of his lap, not wanting to take too much of his time and cause him to be late, despite his reassurances.

Birgir sits up in the bed. “They have no culture”, he says. “No refinement. Particularly the stallions, but sadly, most of my people aren’t much better nowadays. They don’t understand how much pride it can give a Master to bring a female to new heights of pleasure.” He stands up from the bed, giving Ruby a smirk. “Speaking of which, we’re going to take a shower.”

Her eyes light up at the mention of a shower and eagerly she follows him. “What about Fiera? Does she take showers normally, or… how does she bathe?”

The stag chuckles. “Good that you ask. One of your new duties in this household will be to clean Fiera. So far, I used a wooden tub for that, but you can shower or bathe her if you want. You will do that first as soon as I have left the house.”

“Yes, Master.” Her cheeks light up just a little at the thought of being in charge of fully caring for the cow, though a bit of pride warms her heart at being given such trust and responsibility.

“You will also feed her, of course. I know you’re good at… producing food.” The stag gives her an encouraging smile.

“Yes, Master. Also… I am curious… what if shopping needs to be done? Are you going to do that, or is that another duty of mine?”

“For now, I will go shopping after work. It’s probably better that way.” Birgir walks around the bed, now standing in the middle of the room, still nude. “Now come”, he commands. “Time to stand up and take a shower.”

Curious as to why he thinks that, she starts to say something, but then stops, following him closely after standing up onto her hooves - her thoughts still lingering on the nightmare and the lie she told, hoping it doesn’t come back to bite her in the flank.

Birgir walks to the door, opens it, and then steps outside the room and into the hallway. His nudity doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. “Come, Ruby”, he commands.

Giving him the best smile she can, Ruby quickly obeys, following him closely. Playfully, she brings her tail up and lets it teasingly run along his near calf and thigh, trying to stifle a giggle.

Birgir walks straight to the end of the hallway, opens the door and steps into the bathroom, which she enters quickly, winking at him as she passes by. With a quick hand movement, the stag directs her to step into the shower.

Ruby steps inside, going to reach for the handles but stops, not sure how he likes his water to be. While waiting for him, she takes a look at his hygiene products without touching them, determining if what he has is cheap, or good quality. The products she finds are not unusually expensive except for one or two, which she assumes are for special occasions, but the others aren’t really low quality either. Birgir does seem to have taste. She doesn’t have that much time to get a good look though, as the stag is already behind her. “What are you waiting for?”, he asks. “Turn on the water.” He gives her a little smirk.

“I was waiting for you, Master. How do you normally like the water to be?”

Birgir smiles and gently lets his hand run through her hair. “You’re a good girl, Ruby. Medium. Warm, but not hot. I only shower cold in summer after returning from work.”

The knobs are adjusted until the cascading stream is about lukewarm and then switched to the shower head. A sigh of contentment issues from the crimson pegasus as the water droplets begins to saturate her fur. She closes her eyes while tilting her head up and into the spray, delicate hands push her mane back and out of her face.

“Good girl”, her Master repeated. “Now get to work.”

Smiling, she turns to face him while gathering the shampoo and squeezes a good amount into her left hand. Stretching out, the mare begins to lather his hair and begins to sing gently to herself, even going as far as to teasingly rub against the base of his antlers as she works. Her new position brings her generous breasts closer to his face while concentrating on the task put before her.

“You’re doing well, little mare”, the caribou says in a gentle voice. “Make sure to clean every inch of your Master.” He chuckles a little.
“Little mare, I think I like that, Master, along with some of the… name calling from last night. And I wouldn’t dream of doing a bad job on you.” Continuing to lather the shampoo into his hair, Ruby leans closer while shifting to stand on the tips of her hooves, her breasts pressing against his chest. It’s as if she is trying to bring them up to his mouth while pretending to play it off while continuing her humming.

With a chuckle, Birgir wraps his arms around her, letting his hands rest on her butt cheeks and pulling her close. In response, Ruby wiggles her flanks against his digits, giggling. However, she continues until his entire head is covered in the suds. With a quick kiss on his chin, she rests back fully on her hooves. “Okay, Master, close your eyes.”

Birgir giggles a little and closes his eyes. Soon, the stream of water is directed right above the stag, rinsing away the shampoo lather while the mare presses her body hard against his, grinding a little against him.

Birgir waits until the shampoo is washed out of his mane. “You did very well so far, little mare. Now the rest of my body.”

Smiling mischievously, a thought comes to mind while she slips down to her knees so she is looking at his shaft. Giving her Master a teasing smile, Ruby stands back up slowly, letting the exposed muscle drag against her fur until she is standing. A washcloth soon becomes covered in a thick lather and ran against his face gently.

Birgir gives a light chuckle again. “Okay, let’s see where this is going.”

“Did you enjoy that little bit of teasing, Master?” She’s careful not to get any soap in his eyes, nose or mouth while at the same time cleaning off as much of his head as possible. She even runs the cloth along his antlers slowly before moving lower to his neck.

Birgir smiles softly. “You’re doing a wonderful job, little mare.”

Smiling at the compliment, she keeps the cloth right against his neck while squatting a little. With a teasing smile and wink, she extends her tongue and slowly runs it along his pectorals slowly, running it along his fur in gradually shrinking circles. As she reaches the nipple, a quick but light flick of the moist muscle goes across it once. At the same time the cloth is brought down, following the same pattern as her tongue did, but stops short of the fleshy nub she just licked.

As she does so, the stag gives a short “Mmmh” in approval, slowly and gently letting his hand run through her hair, across her head.

At the sound of approval, Ruby wastes no time and finishes scrubbing her Master’s left breast while at the same time she gently licks his right nipple and even goes as far as to give it a light suckle. She only sucks on the protrusion for a second or two, just enough to tease, before the cloth is brought over and suds are scrubbed into the fur.

Once the chest is completely washed, the mare begins to move it lower, following the light pressure of her tongue as it roams straight down his stomach, circling his belly button.

So far, she only focuses on cleaning his front with the cloth, and as she continues to move lower, a kiss is planted on the very tip of her Master’s staghood. As the cloth runs against Birgir’s groin Ruby opens wide, using the skills she has been forced to learn in the previous months and encases his entire member inside her warm, waiting mouth and throat. It slowly stiffens.

“Mmh, so I see you understand what I want this to lead up to”, Birgir says, giving a little chuckle. “Just get it properly hard. I have something a little bit different in mind.”
Doing her best to nod, the mare begins to fill her cheeks with air while she breathes heavily through her nose, which blows against his crotch fur while. Her tongue begins to slide slowly along the bottom of the shaft.

“Mh yes… like that”, Birgir moans. “You know how to use your tongue.” His cock stiffens a bit faster now, almost standing fully erect, but not quite yet. “Just a little bit more, little mare.”

Suddenly, the air in her cheeks is sucked into her lungs rapidly, causing a sudden application of suction to the meat lodged inside her neck. Despite how hard it is to properly breathe, she doesn’t pull off until told.

“That’s enough”, Birgir commands, feeling his cock hardening to its maximum girth inside the willing slave’s throat, cutting off her airway.

With a loud pop, Ruby pulls herself off, smiling up at the stag while waiting for her next command though she doesn’t really need it. As she waits a soft moan of apprehension can be heard.

Birgir’s right hand moves down and his finger gets a hold of the ring on the front of Ruby’s collar, beginning to gently drag her upwards again - obviously expecting her cooperation.

With a smile, she gives a little bit of resistance, but tries to do it in a playful way before following his unspoken command. Once she is standing on her feet again, Birgir moves his hand from her hair to her cheek, looking into her eyes. “You did that very well, little one.”

He then grabs her and turns her around. “Now press your hands against the shower wall.”

Eagerly the mare does as she is told, flagging her tail so it drapes against her back, between the wing sheaths. Her hands and hooves are positioned about shoulder width as she arches her flank upwards, presenting her dripping mound and flexing tailhole to him while she watches from between her hanging breasts.

The stag moves close behind her, his body pressed to hers and his erect member placed between her legs, rubbing against her outer folds. He brings his face close to hers. “Are you willing to take orgasm denial one step further, little mare?”, he asks with a wicked grin.

Swallowing her moan, nervously she raises her head, looking back at him with uncertainty in her eyes though she does grind lightly against him. “H- how so, Master?”

“Well… I want to show you that a day of waiting can drive you to new heights. I’m going to fuck you for my pleasure, and I’m going to drive you almost to the brink… but you’re not going to come. I won’t tell you not to use other means to achieve orgasm in the course of the day - you can finger yourself if you want to, and I’m sure Fiera will be eager to let you use her. Or you could just remain horny for the rest of the day, waiting for your Master. I’ll leave that choice to you. But you will not use any of her dildos, and you’ll have to wait until this evening until you get your Master’s cock again. To be honest, I’m not sure if that even works on mares - maybe you’re perfectly content with using your fingers, or Fiera - but it does seem to work with most cows.” He chuckles. “Call it an experiment.”

Something in his voice seems like he is up to something else. Something in the back of Ruby’s head begins to wonder whether he actually wants to see whether she would ‘use’ Fiera or not. “Y- yes, Master, I understand. If I wanted to orgasm, I cannot use any of Fiera’s toys, only my hands or Fiera.”

The stag’s member rubs along the mare’s outer folds more fiercely now. “Exactly”, he responds in the same odd voice.

Only a second later, he puts a hand around her to hold her in place, then fiercely enters her and begins to push into her, his body pressed tightly against hers.

From the moment he enters her, and until he bottoms out inside her slippery tunnel, Ruby releases a drawn out, loud moan as her entire body stiffens. Her flank pushes back onto him as he thrusts forward. He slowly pulls out, then, just before backing out entirely, he pushes back in, hard - then continues the same pattern. Meanwhile, his hands begin to run along her body, roughly feeling her up.

Arching her back, the mare meets each of his inward thrusts by pushing herself hard against him while working her inner walls, keeping herself as tight as she can around the shaft invading her body. The wet squelches of the rutting mixes with the moans and grunts of the pair while Ruby’s feminine fluids mix with the cascading water that sluices through her coat, mane and tail.

Birgir presses his body against hers, bringing his face close to hers from behind. “Remember”, he whispers. “You’re not allowed to come.”

The tormented mare nods as she fights to contain the explosion that is building at a worrisome pace, as she has no idea how much longer she can hold back the surge. Turning to face the caribou, the pegasus kisses him deeply as she slams her flanks back towards her Master as hard as she can, eager to bring Birgir to climax and fulfill her role as a proper mare. “Don’t worry”, Birgir smirks between kisses, “I won’t torture you for too long.”

It takes him not much longer to reach his climax, releasing his seed inside of her, pulling out immediately afterwards. As the hot fluids begin to paint her walls, Ruby lets out a whimper as her legs shake and slightly buckle as she struggles to obey the caribou’s command. A shudder runs through the mare as Birgir withdraws from her, leaving her feeling empty and unfulfilled as his cum flows freely from quivering lips and a couple spurts cling to her flanks.

“Well…”, Birgir says as he takes a washcloth and quickly cleans himself. He then hands the washcloth to the mare. “You did well. Now clean yourself up and then follow me downstairs.”

Huffing heavily, still fighting the urge to find release, Ruby leans against him with a shaky arm as she takes the cloth and washes up. As the cloth brushes against her mound, her legs tremble again and it takes all of her crumpling willpower to keep herself from finishing what Birgir started.

Seeing what the mare is doing, Birgir chuckles a little. “I guess using a washcloth would be within the limits of the rules I set up - but if you want to do this right, you should wait with that until I am gone.”

Finishing her current task, Ruby looks up at him and setting the soiled cloth aside kisses him once more, her arms wrapping loosely around his neck, finally finding her voice as she pulls away. “I’ve set up a challenge of my own for myself, Master.”

“Oh?”, Birgir asks.

“Yes, as much fun and as pleasurable as that was, I vaguely remember you saying something about us mares being different from cows.” Looking him in the eyes, she smiles softly while rubbing his belly. “I had an idea of not just denying myself an orgasm for the rest of the day, but see if I can not think of sex at all, despite that being my proper role and service.”

Birgir chuckles. “Dammit, Ruby. I just can’t fool you, can I?”

“No idea, Master. Maybe that could be another… experiment for you at a later time.” She smiles more brightly after turning the shower off, waiting for Birgir to exit first.

“You mean I should also try not to think about sex for a day some time?”, Birgir asks. “I’d probably have to take the day off. No point in trying to forget sex while walking through the streets these days. Then again, not thinking about something is altogether more difficult than it sounds. Try not to think about a pink bunny, for example.” He chuckles. “I guess you would have more chances at success if your goal was simply to not indulge in any sexual stimulation for the day.”

He pauses for a moment, stepping out of the shower. “Let me be honest. We’re already at the point where we’ve left the general idea behind my experiment. It hasn’t really failed, it just… gave me a result I didn’t expect. I originally intended to tell you this once I return from work, but the experiment I set up for you wasn’t really orgasm denial for kink. I wanted to see how you would react to being horny and having Fiera at your disposal. She calls you Mistress, and I wanted to see how you react to having that role. To be honest, I’m at a loss here. I can’t even come up with a working hypothesis of what this could possibly mean. You clearly don’t act like a Master around me - but Fiera seems to experience your presence and your words and actions differently somehow. I set up this experiment to gather further data, which might have allowed me to come up with at least a hypothesis after all.”

He lets out another chuckle, which turns into a sigh. “Most of my brethren wouldn’t even put any consideration in how a cow sees things. They deliberately disconnect themselves from a possible source of information - and that isn’t the only example. That’s why they’re so dumb - and the stallions seem to be even worse, whether they’ve always been like that or turned into this only recently. But anyway… with you knowing the aim behind my experiment, it has effectively ended. I won’t uphold my restrictions for you, though if you want to try out to deny yourself an orgasm for the day anyway, I’m fine with that.”

As she listens to Birgir, her ears fold back and her expression falls, feeling as if she did something bad by messing up his experiment. With her golden gaze locked on the floor and tail drooping, she speaks softly while hugging herself protectively. “Sorry, Master. I didn’t mean to mess up your experiment.” Meekly she steps out of the shower and begins to dry off.

“You didn’t mess it up, Ruby. As I said, I did get a result - it just wasn’t the one I expected. But then again, as I said, I don’t even have a working hypothesis yet, and thus no reason to expect anything, really. I probably simply need to be smarter about setting up my experiments. But then again - as I said, this is a result. You took up what I told you, and then decided to conduct an experiment of your own. I don’t think a cow would even get the idea to try to not think about sex at all for a day - not unless her Master commanded it at least. I don’t think you will succeed in actually not thinking about it for even a second - as I said, not thinking about something is more difficult than it sounds - but it shows me that you’re on a completely different level than Fiera. That is a result.”As she finishes drying off, Ruby hugs the caribou again.

“Yes, Master. I guess having a mare around is something that you’ll need to get used to, just as us mares have to get used to our new station in life,” Ruby stands by the door, waiting for Birgir to lead her out of the room. “As for the orgasm denial as a kink, I think it could be fun if it isn’t done for punishment or to be cruel.”

Birgir chuckles once more. “It’s funny that you would say that about you having to get used to your new station. The fact that you have to get used to it in the first place is what initially made me think that we don’t understand you. Most of my brethren don’t even think that far. Also, Fiera seems to think you’re a female Master… or something.” He rubs his chin.

Ruby smiles a little and nuzzles against his chest. “What other choice do I have, Master than have to get used to being a slave? I know a lot of mares would rather fight than give in, but what does that bring them?”

“Of course you don’t have another choice, Ruby - but you think of it in terms of choice. It just becomes more and more obvious to me that you mares have something to you that sets you apart from our females. It’s not the first time that we’ve encountered something like this, of course - though not me personally. I just want to find out what’s up with that, that’s all.”

“I guess we can talk about that when you get home, Master. Right now you have to finish getting ready for work.” The mare steps away from her Owner and waits for him to exit the bathroom first.

Birgir picks up his clothes and gets dressed. Then, he opens the door and steps out of the bathroom. “Follow me downstairs”, he commands, then moving towards and down the stairs. Ruby follows him eagerly, for the first time since the takeover looking forward to what the day may bring along with ways to possibly show him her creativity.

Finally, Birgir reaches the bottom of the stairs, heading towards the living room. Fiera is already awake, lying on her cushions and eagerly waiting for her Master. Once he appears, she crawls towards him, then kneels before him, legs spread and hands placed on her thighs, facing upwards, gaze downcast.

“Good morning, Fiera”, Birgir greets her.

“Good morning, Master”, she replies in a soft, but happy voice, not raising her eyes.

Birgir places a finger under her chin and raises it up, making her look up to him. Then he bows down and places a short kiss on her lips.

“Mh, thank you, Master”, Fiera moos happily, casting her eyes down once more.

“Good morning, Fiera. I hope you had a good night.” Ruby follows Birgir closely and then beckons for the smaller female to stand up with a rising motion of her hand, giving the cow a silent command to see if she picks up on it.

Fiera gives her master a quick glance to look for his reaction - but as she sees none, she slowly stands up, walking over to Ruby, standing in front of her, eyes downcast, hands folded behind her back, and neck stretched out to present herself, waiting for the other female to speak to her.

With a smile, Ruby wraps the cow in a soft hug. “You can relax, Fiera. How are you feeling this morning?”

Fiera stiffens up more. “How… am I… feeling?”, she asks. “G… good, thank you, Mistress. How are you… feeling?”

“I’m doing good, Fiera, thank you. Why are you so tense?” Ruby looks at her in concern, then up at Birgir.

“I… uh… Mistress, I wasn’t… I was surprised by your reaction”, Fiera answers shyly, eyes cast down, avoiding Ruby’s gaze.

Birgir rubs his chin. “This is curious indeed”, he mumbles.

Ruby looks at Birgir again before turning back Fiera, lifting her head up with a pair of fingers on her chin. “Don’t worry, Fiera, I’m not upset, was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Fiera gives the mare a weak smile, but doesn’t respond, waiting for another sign from the mare or her Master.

“I think we should have breakfast while there is still time, Master. Are you hungry as well, Fiera?” Stepping away from the cow, Ruby smiles at the caribou. “I’m not the best of chefs, but I think I can cook up something edible for us.”

“Judging by what I had yesterday evening, you’re at least the best chef I know, Ruby”, Birgir answers. “And yes, we will have breakfast before I go. Fiera, you will eat with us this time.”

Fiera looks at her Master with an expression of slight shock and confusion.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you sit with us”, Birgir calms her down. “Ruby will place your bowl close to our table, so we can watch you while you eat.”

Fiera gives a weak nod. “Thank you, Master.”

“Alright then”, Birgir says. “Let’s see what Ruby can do for us.” He gives the mare a smile.

“Challenge accepted, Master.” The pegasus smirks at the male before sauntering into the kitchen, her tail flicking teasingly from side to side with each step. Immediately, Ruby begins to shift through the drawers and shelves, pulling out various items for pancakes and hashbrowns.

“Fiera, you want to come help me, please?” Once she has all the ingredients available, she looks over at the cow, hoping to start some kind of training with her.

The cow slowly walks over to the kitchen, joining Ruby - once more standing in front of her with downcast eyes. “What can I do for you, Mistress?”

Ruby sets a skillet is set on the stove coated with oil and holds out a measuring cup to the cow. “You see that box, Fiera?” She points to the pancake mix she pulled out. “Fill this cup to the rim with the contents, please.” Fiera nods, then clumsily, but still carefully fills the contents into the measuring cup.

“Now, pour it into the empty bowl and fill the smaller cup next to the bowl with water and add it to the mix.” As she gives the instructions, Ruby begins to look through the refrigerator, looking for some fruit like blueberries to add into the mix.

Fiera pauses, trying to remember the different steps. Then, she carefully fills the measuring cup into the bowl and puts some water into the smaller cup. Pausing for a moment, she tries to remember what to do next. Eventually, she pours the water into the bowl - then taking a step back and waiting for further instructions.

“Thank you, Fiera,” Closing the door, Ruby pulls out a container of mixed berries, adding half of them into the mix. “Now, I want you to stir all this together, and when it starts to look gooey, stop and show it to me, okay.” The Saddle Arabian turns her attention to the skillet, filling it with shredded potatoes, though she keeps an ear out for the slightest hint of a problem from the cow. Fiera picks up a wooden spoon and begins to slowly stir the mix.

“So Fiera, what do you usually do when Master is away to work?” Ruby turns to her sister, the spatula working slowly.

Fiera giggles. “Doing simple household chores… make sure Master feels at home when he returns. Only the easy stuff, of course.” She giggles once more. “Aside from that, umm… practicing… to be pleasing for Master.”

Ruby takes a quick peek into the bowl before turning back to face the stove. “Well, that is a very good goal to work for, but have you thought of finding ways that might please Master in a non-sexual way?”

Fiera hangs her head in shame. “Yes, Mistress… I tried. Once. It… ended badly”, she responds in a sad voice.

“What happened?” Ruby looks at the cow in concern, forgetting about breakfast for a moment.

Fiera’s eyes shift to the side and she mumbles something.

Not wanting to pressure the cow, Ruby goes silent as she begins to stack the hashbrowns onto a heavy plate to be distributed. “Let me see the batter, Fiera.” The cow picks up the cup and shows it to her.

“Okay, you can put it aside now, Fiera. Now, could you get out a plate and glasses for me?”

Fiera nods, then clumsily fetches a plate and glasses from the kitchen cabinet.

Ruby waits for two minutes, giving the mix time to settle before pouring it out onto the pan, separating it into six piles as evenly as she can. “Bring your bowl over here as well, Fiera. After that, you can go and join Master at the table.”

Fiera smiles as she brings over her bowl.

Ruby returns the smile. “You can go back to Master now, Fiera.”

Fiera nods, then rushes off, leaving Ruby alone in the kitchen. Humming to herself, Ruby finishes the pancakes, cutting two up after applying butter to them and scoops them into Fiera’s bowl, right next to a pile of hash browns. Two more pancakes and a larger pile of shredded potatoes are piled neatly onto the free plate. Once the breakfast is distributed, Ruby carefully walks out with the two plates and the bowl, setting the biggest plate in front of Birgir and the other two down on the floor.

Birgir looks at Ruby, giving her an inviting smile. “Do you wish to eat from the floor, Ruby?”, he asks. “Nothing has changed since yesterday evening. You may still sit with me if you want to.”

Ruby looks at Fiera and Birgir, knowing that she should eat on the floor, but realizes the pain it could cause. “Thank you, Master.” She puts her plate on the table next to Birgir before heading back into the kitchen, filling the two glasses and the smaller bowl with orange juice, also gathering some utensils before coming back. Ruby places the glasses next to her plate and Birgir’s, accompanied by the utensils, and finally sets the bowl in front of Fiera.

Fiera brings her face close to the smaller bowl as if inspecting it, and then gives it a little sniff. Immediately afterwards, she casts a fearful look up to her Master, who doesn’t seem to notice her. “Is that… orange juice, Master?”, she asks.

Birgir gives her a brief glance. “From the looks of it, I’d say it is.”

“May I… really?”, Fiera asks shyly.

Birgir glances at her again, this time longer, giving her a smile. “If your Mistress thinks you deserve it, I don’t see why not. You will wait until we’re eating as well though.”

Fiera nods eagerly. “Of course, Master!”, she affirms.

Ruby looks a little confused at Birgir. “What does she normally drink, Master?”

“Water”, Birgir answers nonchalantly.

Ruby nods as she waits for Birgir to start eating.

Birgir smiles at Ruby as he takes the knife and begins to cut his pancake. “You may begin, Ruby.”

“Thank you, Master,” With a smile the mare begins to cut up her stack into equal pieces, taking her time to savor the fluffy, fruit-filled pieces, having been such a long time since she had an enjoyable breakfast. “Don’t forget to get some paint and markers when you get off work, Master.”

“Paint and markers, huh?” Birgir nods. “Alright, I will.”

“Thank you, Master. Just make sure that two of them are in your favorite colors, two more in your least favorite colors and three more in colors you don’t mind.” Ruby smiles as she continues to eat, watching Fiera curiously.

Fiera’s face approaches the pancake carefully, sniffing at it first. Then she begins to eat slowly, savoring every bite, taking small sips of orange juice in between bites now and then.

Birgir scratched his chin. “Hmmm… an odd request. I’m not sure if I even have favorite colors. I’ll think of something…”

Ruby just smirks devilishly, but stays silent, already having a plan in mind. “Oh! Also, don’t forget cake mix, Master. Unless you want me to go get it.”

“I don’t think that would be wise, Ruby”, Birgir says. “Unless you want to be pulled into some kind of dark alley for a good groupfuck by horny stallions, that is. I mean, if you’re into that, I won’t stop you - but I think I should get it for you. You didn’t seem to be into it when your former owner put you up for display and use.”

Ruby’s devilish expression falters as Birgir speaks, having forgotten for a moment how bad things are out there in the rest of the world. Her ears fall backwards and her tail goes limp as her posture becomes slumped, looking depressed.

“You seem depressed”, Birgir says, noticing her change of expression. “I hope I didn’t say something wrong.”

“I… I… a part of me knows I shouldn’t be… happy with being with you under these circumstances, especially not when there are so many mares and even some stallions who are suffering under the new rules,” Ruby continues to shrink in on herself, looking more and more upset. “I… a part of me feels like a traitor to pony-kind.”

“Hmmm…” Birgir scratches his head. “You said you were Saddle Arabian. Do you feel some kind of loyalty towards the old Equestrian government?”

“No, we had our own government, Master, separate from Equestria’s. Granted, some of our style of life is similar to what you caribou have allowed, mostly that stallions were allowed to have multiple wives, though they were not beaten, raped or humiliated like mares are now.”

“Had?”, Birgir asks. “What happened to it?”

“I… I assumed that it was conquered as well by you caribou.”

“Not to my knowledge”, Birgir says, taking another bite. “We’ve pretty much only started to settle in here. I’m fairly certain the idiots on top already look towards new bounty, but so far, we’ve only taken Equestria and the Crystal Empire. As a matter of fact, not even Equestria is fully ours. At least the buffaloes are still resisting, and it doesn’t look like they’ll fall any time soon.” He smiles. “Although of course, pretty much everyone else around here will tell you that we’ve practically already defeated them. Heck, even I would tell you that if I were at work. It’s kind of my job to make people believe in nonsense.”

Ruby looks a bit relieved at that news, but not by much. “I’m just… I don’t know, Master. I’m just conflicted, is all. I wish the other caribou were more like you, then maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.”

Birgir nods. “I’m beginning to think we approach handling you mares completely wrong. My people expect you to be like our cows, and we punish you for not being. Before trying to put you in your place, we should have focused on finding out what that place even is.”

Ruby nods slowly as she listens to the stag, still lost somewhat in her thoughts.

“Like… Fiera calls you Mistress, for example. Any other stag would probably try to beat that out of her, but it does make me wonder… what does she see that I don’t? You act pretty much naturally submissive towards me, but she seems to think that you can handle her like a Master. That makes me think you mares are… somewhere between our cows and us. Maybe there wouldn’t be as many black collars if we took that difference into account.”

“Master…”, Fiera stutters.

“Yes, what is it, Fiera?”, Birgir asks.

“I’m not sure… um… I…”, she giggles. “I think I forgot what I wanted to say.”

“Oh”, Birgir says, smiling at her. “I’m sure you’ll remember it until evening, when I return from work.”

Ruby giggles a little at the exchange. “If you think that, then you should meet my older sister. She could easily scare even the cockiest and most confident stallion or stag away with a single look. Plus, she has even stood up to father a couple of times when she thought a decision he made was a bad one.”

“Oh?”, Birgir asks. “So your country is patriarchal? From what I heard, Equestria was matriarchal before our king came up with… whatever that so-called ‘cure’ is.”

“Yes, it is, but despite some differences in culture, Saddle Arabia is somewhat similar to Equestria, or atleast was from what I witnessed during my time here.”

“You mean the time before we took over?”, Birgir asks for clarification.

“Yes, before you caribou invaded, Master.” Ruby continues to keep her head lowered, staring at her plate as she picks at the crumbs left on it.

“I’m… sorry if I have depressed you, Ruby”, Birgir says, staring at his table.

Fiera grabs Birgir’s leg and snuggles against it, searching for comfort. “Master, what’s wrong?”, she asks. The stag doesn’t answer, but just continues to stare at his table.

Ruby looks at him in slight concern, wondering if she did or said something wrong. Not wanting to disturb him, she remains silent but keeps an eye on him.

Birgir looks up and gives her a little smile. “Anyway…”, he says, not finishing the thought. Ruby looks at him, knowing there is something on his mind, but keeps quiet, not wanting to get too personal with him if he wishes not to talk about it. The stag himself, on the other hand, simply continues to eat his meal in silence.

The air around the trio turns somber as an easy quiet settles around them. Ruby just stares at her plate and the table, not paying much attention to Birgir or Fiera, not even the remains of her food.

Birgir looks up from his plate once more. “Are you not hungry?”, he asks in a calm, friendly voice. “I’m really sorry if our conversation has ruined your appetite, but I think you should eat.”

Ruby nods slightly, her thoughts still on her family and how concerned they must be about her, wondering what they are doing right now. She does manage to finish the rest of her meal, though at a slow pace.

“Also”, Birgir continues after a moment. “You can tell me what’s bothering you. Maybe that’ll make it easier for you, and it might help me to learn about and understand you.” He once again gives her a little smile. “If you just want to talk, I’ll just sit here and listen.”

It takes a few moments, but with a sniffle and a rub of her forearm against her eyes, Ruby starts, still keeping her gaze on the table. “I’m just… after all this talk… I haven’t spoken to or heard from my family since… since the invasion. I was so worried that my sister and mother were… were in a similar position. And now…,” Standing up suddenly, Ruby hits the table with the palms of her hands. “What if… I really need to get in contact with them if it isn’t too late! They need to know I’m still alive and not to come to Equestria!”

Birgir is slightly taken aback by her reaction. “Huh”, he just says, letting his fork sink and looking up from his plate. At his feet, his cow is hugging his leg even tighter.

“I… I understand this maybe a long shot, but… is there possibly any way I could… that a letter could be sent to them?” Ruby looks at Birgir hopefully, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Hm… if we know where to find them in Saddle Arabia, I guess I could arrange for a message to be sent. I’d have to read it first, of course. But yes, I think I could arrange for a message to be sent. I am a government official after all. I’m not exactly in foreign relations, but my position does allow for a letter to be sent without being seen by too many other eyes. Would that make you happy? I don’t think they’ll be coming here though, so I don’t think you have to worry about that. As I said, Saddle Arabia is still independent.”

Ruby gives a little bit of a harsh laugh. “I missed enrollment and class scheduling. As far as I know, my… absence could been seen as an attempt to… escape my familial duty if they aren’t thinking I’m hurt… or worse. Those reasons alone could bring them to Equestria to try and find me.”

“But you don’t want them to come here?”, Birgir asks. “You probably fear they might get caught and end up with an owner like your last one.”

Ruby nods slowly, sniffing a little as she tries to stop thinking about what would happen to her sister if she were captured and forced to become a slave. “What… if that… did happen, what would happen to a… a mare that would fight and… and try to kill a… male?”

“What? Kill? Where’s that question coming from?”

“It… it’s just a… I’m sure that is what my sister would try to do every chance she got if she… if she did get captured.”

“So she’s a warrior or soldier of some kind? Well, I’d assume if she meets caribou or Equestrian ponies in deadly combat, they will fight to the death if there’s no other option. If they manage to capture her though… I’d assume they’d strap a black collar onto her and then put her through rigorous training, maybe breaking her into a purple, though probably not intentionally. Not entirely sure though. The only females we ever met in combat were the cats, and they… simply don’t let themselves be captured alive.”

Ruby’s head drops at his words, hugging herself as the tears begin to flow. “‘Ana asif, rahiba. Rjayaan ‘aetaniun.” The words are choked out and spoken softly. Ruby continues to sit there, wiping away the tears with her arm, eventually getting up and makes her way to the stairs.

Birgir stands up and follows her. “Ruby… did I say something wrong again? I’m… sorry.”

“N- no, Master. I just… I can’t… I don’t want to think about my sister being a… purple collar anymore.”

“She isn’t one yet, is she?”, Birgir asks. “Come here…” He opens his arms.

Ruby runs into him, hugging the stag tightly and burying her head in his chest. “I… I don’t… before this morning, I… I thought that you caribou… conquered Saddle Arabia along with Equestria. I just… I don’t know what is going on with my family, and I just… if they aren’t slaves yet, I want to keep them from this life if possible.”

“As I said… we’re not in Saddle Arabia. Whatever this ‘cure’ is that our king applied to the stallions of Equestria… it only works on them. It doesn’t even affect closely related species, like the zebra. If it worked on Saddle Arabians, we would know about it by now. It is still an independent nation. If your family stays in Saddle Arabia, they’re safe from Equestrian stallions or the less charitable examples of my own people for the time being.”

“But… but what if… how do I know that my sister didn’t try to come to Equestria to look for me if my father and mother haven’t heard from me in months? Or when they heard I haven’t enrolled in college? How… I don’t even know if they know what is happening to Equestria right now!”
Birgir gently lets his hand run down her mane on the back of her head. “Ruby… I understand that you’re worried about your family. But I don’t think your sister will just run off to get you as long as she has no clue where you are or what happened to you.”

“I… I hope so. That… I just want to write them a letter so that I can let them know I’m alright and still alive, and that I am not avoiding my duties as a daughter, but that I also cannot return home just yet.”

Birgir nods. “Speaking of which… you mentioned responsibilities towards your family, but you never said what they were”, he asks calmly.

“I… two months ago I was supposed to… to have started college to further my education. It was… I have… or had been… arranged to get married to a stallion after I graduated,” Ruby squeezes the stag tighter. “The marriage was… set up shortly after my tenth birthday. A mare who… who doesn’t go with the arrangement or tries to get out of it incurs serious penalties and problems for herself and her family. My father… he could lose everything and be shamed for eternity. My sister… she could be forced to take my place and be discharged dishonorably from the military. My mother… my mother could be imprisoned for her life.”

“Let me get this straight…”, Birgir says, releasing her from his embrace, a certain insecurity in his voice. “You’re telling me that you’re already owned by another male - which means a case could be made that I’m obligated to return you to your rightful owner. You’re also telling me that if you vanish in Canterlot while it is taken over by us, the first assumption of your people wouldn’t be that you were captured along with the Equestrian mares, but that you ran away trying to escape your rightful owner. Is that about correct? I admittedly don’t quite understand the pony concept of ‘marriage’, but… that’s what I’m getting from this.”

“Somewhat correct. I guess you could say I was claimed by another stallion, though if he learns what happened to me, he may not want to marry me,” Ruby takes a deep breath, sniffing a bit as she tries to calm down. “If they know that Equestria has been taken over and the new… laws implemented, then no, it would not be seen as me trying to run away from the marriage. The big question would be is if they even know about what is happening in Equestria right now. If they do know or are informed, than arrangements could be made between my family and the stallion to nullify the marriage without any further consequences to arise.”

“They know what’s going on here”, Birgir says calmly. “Of course, not every detail… after all, not even I know what this supposed ‘cure’ is, although I have a few educated guesses. But a regime change like this in a local superpower doesn’t go unnoticed. I’m pretty sure they also have a good idea about the new laws and the changes in the stallions’ behavior. Of course, they don’t exactly know the details. Why would that change anything about your owner making a claim to you?”

“Well, a mare having sex with a stallion who isn’t husband, consensually or not, is seen as unclean and by some… unmarriable. Some stallions in Saddle Arabia put great value in the faithfulness of their wife or wives.”

“Huh… odd”, Birgir mumbles. “Is that a Saddle Arabian thing, or were Equestrian marriages similar in this regard? I’m protective of my females as well, but… I wouldn’t even have thought about not buying you just because some other males already had you. It sounds a bit... impractical to me. Not to mention superstitious. Anyway... couldn’t that stallion you were supposed to marry still demand recompense from your family?”

“I don’t know about Equestria. I just know that some Saddle Arabians put a lot of worth on a female’s virginity for whatever reason they chose. I guess things have changed, I remember reading that in the past, if a mare was discovered to not have her… hymen intact, than she was more than likely killed and her family shunned.” Ruby calms down some, taking a deep breath as she keeps a hold on him. “And yes he can, either financially or through any other way my father and the stallion can agree to.”

“I see. You have a very weird culture… I assume he could still demand your sister in exchange for you?”, Birgir asks. Only a second later, he bites his lip, hoping what he just said won’t worry Ruby again.

“He could, if he wanted to, though it is up to father to agree to it, and knowing sis, he won’t,” A slight smile at the thought brightens Ruby’s expression and mood a little. “If neither party can come to an agreement, it would be up to the local court what would be fair. Be it money, land, goods or something else.”

“The court could still give your sister to that stallion?”, Birgir asks.

“It depends on the judge. While arranged marriages are still common and used mostly between families of power or wealth, there has been controversy about the type of substitution you suggested not being legally enforceable.”

Birgir smiles. “And the judge probably doesn’t want to start yet another controversy. Sounds like your sister is safe. You’re probably relieved… and I have to say, I am as well. I really don’t want to let you go, Ruby.” He looks away for a moment. “It’s thanks to a… really odd quirk of your culture that I don’t quite understand. In our culture, a female still being untouched would be a sign of her being less experienced, and thus of lesser value.” The stag lets out a chuckle. “It would also earn the seller a few really confused gazes. Sexual relationships between males aren’t uncommon among us, and our culture is quite open about that fact - but males who are exclusively interested in other males are fairly uncommon. It isn’t really stigmatized, but it would call into question his ability to handle females properly. Then again, I guess he could handwave it with her simply not being his type.” He shrugs. “That would still call his ability into question though.”

“I hope so, as long as sis stays away from Equestria. She can be… very protective of me, though still lets me make my own choices,” Ruby hugs Birgir again. “If it hadn’t been for you, who knows how much longer I would have lasted. I guess… the only way we can find out what the stallion’s choice is regarding… me is to get into contact with my family somehow.”

Birgir sighs. “Sending a letter to them is relatively easy. Opening a two-way channel really isn’t. I’m not even sure how I would approach that.”

Ruby thinks for a minute, then smiles. “Ever heard of messenger pigeons? I don’t know if they are common here in Equestria, or even still around, but they could be used fairly easily.”

Birgir shakes his head. “Equestria uses pegasi for mail delivery, which is better for a lot of reasons. Given that you’re a pegasus, I figured Saddle Arabia would do the same. That said… it isn’t going to work anyway. How much do you know about messenger pigeons?”

“Not much, I know that they can be easily trained and fly long distances. Plus a lot of the richer Saddle Arabians use them.” Ruby’s expression falls a little at Birgir’s explanation.

“Well… I do happen to know a bit about messenger pigeons. See, if you have a suitable pigeon, you can imprint it with a specific location. Let’s call that location Place A for now. You can then take that pigeon to a faraway Place B, let it fly, and it will return to Place A. Here’s the thing though. You can’t then send the same pigeon back to Place B, because it’s imprinted to fly to Place A. You have to use a different pigeon. So even if we could send a pigeon to your family, they can’t send the same pigeon back. They’d have to use a different pigeon imprinted with our location. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Oh, and yes, I do. It would require two different pigeons that have been trained to return to a specific location to use that system. The first would have to be trained to return to my parent’s house and the second pigeon would have to have been trained to return here.”

Birgir nods. “Very good, Ruby. Yes, that’s exactly what I was saying. So unless your family has a pigeon imprinted to fly to Canterlot, they can’t respond.”

“I understand, I wasn’t fully aware of how much went into training of messenger pigeons, I just knew the bare basics.”

Birgir shrugs. “I don’t mind if my females tell me about their ideas, even if they don’t work out. As a matter of fact, I try to encourage it. Yours wasn’t even that bad. You lacked information, not understanding. That’s more than I can say about most of Fiera’s ideas. That said… I really need to go to work. I already have to rush a bit so as not to be late.” He looks in Fiera’s direction and snips his finger. “Fiera, come to your Master”, he commands.

The cow crawls towards him on all fours, then kneels in front of him. He places his hand under her chin, raises it up, then bends down and places a short, sweet kiss on her lips. “Goodbye, Fiera. Behave and do what Ruby tells you, okay? You can move more freely than usual with her around. She seems to be able to keep you in line. No need to leash your collar to the wall.”

Fiera nods, smiling happily. “Yes, Master. Thank you. I will, Master. I will obey Mistress Ruby to the… to the letter.”

Birgir smiles back. “I know you will.” He then turns around, going towards the door, facing Ruby. “Ruby, come here.”

Ruby approaches Birgir with a partial smile, looking up at him a little. “Yes, Master?”

Birgir lets his right hand run through Ruby’s hair, eventually letting it rest on the back of her head. Then, he pulls her into a somewhat longer and more passionate kiss. Ruby responds to the kiss by opening her muzzle, allowing his tongue to enter if he wishes as her arms drape over the stag’s shoulders. He eventually breaks the kiss far too quickly, looking into her eyes and smiling. “Goodbye, Ruby. See you in the evening. Before I go, I wanted to tell you… I’m happy that I found you.”

“And I’m glad that you found me as well. I just wish there were more males out there like you.” Stepping away from him, Ruby flashes a soft smile and waves at the stag.

Birgir smiles and waves back, then leaves the house, closing the door behind him. “So do I”, he mumbles to himself as he starts walking towards his workplace.