“Consarn it, Rarity,” Applejack called out in exasperation toward the pristine white flank of the mare in front of her. “It’s almost noon, and Ah ain’t got a single chore done yet on account o’ your fool errand.”

“Oh pish-tosh, Applejack,” replied Rarity as her manicured hooves lightly trotted over twigs and fallen leaves in a far and nearly forgotten corner of the vast Apple farm. “Finding the accents for a perfect ensemble is far from being a foolish errand.”

“Fine, but you gotta keep yer promise of running the quality control station during cider season. Granny's eyes ain’t what the used to be,” stated Applejack, somewhat morosely.

“But of course, Applejack. After all, a promise is a promise and I’m more than happy to repay you for all the help you’ve been today,” Rarity assured the stalwart earth pony. “And I just know that somewhere here, I’ll find the perfect inspiration for my ‘Rustic Equestria’ line of clothing.”

“Rustic, eh?” Applejack remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Ah thought you were lookin’ for old stuff. ‘Retro’ is what ya called it.”

“Indeed, but ‘Rustic Equestrian’ has a certain cachet to it, don’t you agree?” Rarity asked, as the duo passed through a dense thicket among some very old trees.

“Whatever,” Applejack replied dismissively, only to get a face full of blue tail as she ran into the backside of the suddenly stopped fashionista. “Hey. What gives?”

“Sorry Applejack. I was looking for rustic and this certainly qualifies, don’t you think?” Rarity asked.

“What the hay you talkin’ a—” Applejack began, falling silent as she came around her friend to see what had stopped the unicorn in her tracks.

There, set into the side of the hill and surrounded by overgrown bushes and ancient apple trees was an old, decrepit looking structure. Too big to be called a shack, yet too small to be called a barn. The old building had a curved roof with actual sod and grass set into it, while the only opening was a firmly shut door that looked wide enough for three ponies to walk abreast through.

The sides and front of the building were of wood so old it had turned silver grey, except for a few surviving streaks of dull brown and green paint. The rear of the building seemed to be the actual front of the hillside, and Applejack frowned in thought as she took in the details of the odd structure.

“I didn’t realize that the Apples went into mining,” Rarity said, using her magic to clear a path through the overgrown bushes around the building.

“Yah know, it does look like the front of a mine, and there’s supposed to be an old connection between us Apples and the Pies,” Applejack noted, using some powerful bucks to send a few more bushes flying. “But Ah don’t recall Granny saying anything about a mine up here, or anything else for that matter.”

“You haven’t been here before?” Rarity asked, working on clearing away some debris from the front of the structure.

“Nah, Granny usually handles this area of the farm. ‘Old trees for an old mare’ she says,” Applejack replied, clearing away the last of the bushes and some old boards along with it.

As she did, her eyes spotted a curved bit of metal poking out of the ground and it was the work of a moment to bring an old brass padlock back into the light. The lock was old and blocky, with its thick shackle hanging open.

“Well, we should go in. We’re burning daylight,” Rarity stated, drawing a laugh from Applejack

“Hoo-whee!” exclaimed Applejack. “A countryism? From you? We’d better get right on this before you go full farm gal on us.”

“I think we’ve both learned that I am simply not cut out for farm life. Put it down to picking up a few things from my very dear friend. Namely you,” Rarity declared using her magic to tug at the building's door. “Be a dear and lend me a hoof?”

“Sure thing Rares,” Applejack replied, her momentary embarrassment at the intimacy quickly forgotten in the need to help with a task.

Working together, the two mares opened the double doors with the squeal of long unused hinges, and the early afternoon sun poured into a room filled with various types of bric-a-brac.

“Oh!” cried Rarity, practically squealing in delight as she dove into the piles of discarded debris. “I am sure to find something here to inspire.”

“Uh yeah, sure thing,” Applejack replied, apprehensively following in the unicorn’s wake.

Now that she was in the structure, there was something unsettling about it. The rafters of the building were festooned with old rotting ropes, lengths of rusty chains with multiple iron loops bolted directly into timbers that were as thick as the torso of the earth pony. The floor was covered with stacks of ancient bales, old rusty tools and iron bars collapsed into various piles.

Something about all of it twigged at her memory like a popcorn kernel stuck between her teeth.

“Why Applejack, I never knew your family had an interest in the carnal arts,” Rarity called back with a laugh, holding up the nearly rotted remains of a bridle, complete with bit, in her magic.

“Wait, what?” the orange mare asked, the kernel of memory growing stronger in her mind as the bridle added to the growing unease she felt, but the unicorn was already scampering toward the rock wall of the building’s back in search of more items of interest.

Applejack started to investigate one of the piles of rusted iron bars in earnest, hoofing through them, studying what remained of their structure and the pattern in which they lay on the ground. The way the bars had attached to each other and the way in which they lay kindled a suspicion in the pony’s mind. So she went to a second pile, and then a third. Each one confirmed her suspicions of what the bars had formed.

They had been cages. Cages large enough to hold a pony, and the kernel of memory grew into a sudden fear.

Frantically, Applejack began to dig through the piles of tools to confirm her fears while Rarity continued to look for inspirational items at the very rear of the structure. Barely a minute later, Applejack had her confirmation in the form of a simple iron rod with a perpendicular circle at one end. A circle made from a ring of welded chain with the silhouette of an apple in the middle and the sight of it brought into full focus the memory Applejack had been trying to grasp.

Because the rod was a branding iron.

“We gotta go, Rarity,” Applejack stated, tossing aside the iron as if it was red hot at that very moment. “We gotta go, right now.”

“In good time, darling,” replied the fashionista, digging deep through an ancient crate holding barely intact clothing. “Why look at all these divine things I’ve found.”

“Rares, we gotta git right now,” Applejack repeated, dashing over and putting a leg over Rarity’s shoulder in an attempt to guide her away from her newly found treasures. “C’mon.”

“Why Applejack!” exclaimed the unicorn, resisting the pull. “Whatever is the matter?”

“Ah’ll explain later, but we gotta get out of here,” Applejack repeated a third time, starting to drag her friend by main force.

“Applejack! I will not be mare-handled in this fashion,” Rarity stated, stomping her feet into place in an attempt to prevent herself from being removed.

Rarity was a unicorn and a fashion designer. Her skills lay in her eye for detail and fashion, as well as her incredibly fine touch with magic and the ability to multitask. None of which gave her the strength or physical power of an earth pony, but what she had was enough to break the hold that the centuries old wooden blocks had on the flooring on which both ponies stood. The sound of breaking wood filled the air and the two mares had just enough time for a look at each other before they both fell into the vast darkness that lay below.

Applejack woke up with the smell of rot and decay in her nostrils and pitch black darkness in her eyes. Groaning, the earth pony realized that her head and much of her body were buried in something, and it was the work of a moment to toss her head and shake off the smelly somethings that were around it. A motion Applejack deeply regretted a moment later as her head throbbed in time with her pulse.

A throb that was echoed by the rest of her body.

Feeling around, Applejack felt the remains of burlap and realized that her landing had been cushioned by a huge pile of old rotting sacks. Even so, the fall and landing had taken their toll and her body was more than willing to let her know about the abuse it had suffered. Applejack looked around, and as her eyes adjusted, she realized that the darkness wasn’t quite total.

“Rarity? Is that you over there?” Applejack asked out loud, carefully making her way toward a massive shape some yards away. The object appeared to be faintly lit by a point of green glowing light.

As the earth pony grew closer, her eyes resolved the shape into a massive structure of clockwork, timbers and chains. The glowing point turned out to be a large earring with a small green stone and the gem’s radiance grew as Applejack held it until it was almost as bright as a lit match. The light continued until Applejack put the stone back down, and its light faded until the earth pony picked it back up again.

“Gotta be next to me, huh?” commented Applejack, who lifted the stone back up and set it in her mane so that the glowing gem rested above her eyebrows.

A groan from within the structure beside Applejack caught her attention.

“Rarity? Is that you in there?” Applejack called out, doing her best to peer into the tall cat's cradle of wood and chains. A groan answered.

“Don’t you worry none. Ah’ll find a way to get you out of there!” Applejack called, frantically looking for a way to access the giant contraption, tripping over a couple of iron bound chests as she did so.

“What? What’s going on? Why can't I see?” came Rarity’s voice, and Applejack could hear the frustration rising to panic in the unicorn’s voice as she cried out, “LET GO OF ME!”

Applejack could hear the sounds of hooves striking wood as Rarity lashed out, quickly followed by sudden movement in the great mechanism and the sound of clanking chains and grounding timbers sounded in the cavern that held both ponies. Rarity’s screams of fear blurred with the thudding impacts of old counterweights completing final journeys until at last a door on the device big enough for a barn swung open to reveal a sight that made the earth pony gasp in shock.

Rarity was in an alcove just inside the machine, suspended a foot off the stone floor by chains that were attached by what looked like locking pins to a harness made of chains whose links were so close they almost touched. A spiral of chains rose up around the white mare’s throat, covering it from bottom to top, where it attached to a chain halter that lay over a hood of fine chainmail that covered most of Rarity’s head, leaving only her mouth, horn and ears free.

“You okay Rarity?” Applejack asked the still panicked and panting mare, whose legs were still pawing at empty air.

“Applejack? What’s going on? What’s on my head?” cried the mare, futilely thrashing about and tossing her head blindly.

“Gimme a sec,” replied Applejack, moving into the alcove with her friend and looking for a way to free the unicorn, before noticing a tell-tale azure glow and giving a warning of, “Wait! Don’t!”

It was too late however, and Rarity ignited her horn in an attempt to use her magic to free herself, much as any unicorn would try to do in her position. The moment she did however, the harness around her responded by tightening even more around the mare’s body and the coils of chain around her throat constricted like a serpent, cutting off the captive pony’s air.

“Gkh!” gasped the stricken pony and the choking chains around Rarity’s throat drove all thought of using magic out of her head. As her magic faded away the chains slowly relented and allowed the mare to breathe again, leaving her panting for breath and hanging limply in her bonds.

Meanwhile Applejack started to hear the sound of cracking and breaking timbers up above, driving her search to find a way to free her friend into overdrive.

“Apple… Applejack?” Rarity asked again, and the question came out more as begging than anything else. “What’s happening to me?”

“Ah think,” Applejack began, pausing to look at the much wider chain that climbed up between Rarity’s thighs, over the length of her sex and encircle her dock before rejoining the main body of the harness. “Ah think yer in something called a ‘Unicorn Breaker’.”

“A ‘Unicorn Breaker’!” gasped Rarity, again using magic in a panicked attempt to free herself.

This time Applejack was in position to see the tightening rear chain slip between the soft folds of the unicorn’s labia, drawing another gasp from Rarity, until that too was cut off by the spiralled collar of blue-gold chain choking a slender white throat.

“Don’t do that again,” Applejack commanded, and her order was punctuated by the loud snap of a timber breaking, the sound of chunks of wood cascading downwards that stopped as a flurry of splinters fell on the two ponies.

“Please Applejack,” begged Rarity, once the chain had slackened again after literally strangling the unicorn’s magic. “I’ll do whatever you say, just get me out of this horrid thing. Whatever it is.”

“Just gotta find something to trigger these releases,” the orange earth pony replied, stroking a calming hoof along her friend’s side. Above the two, the sounds of creaking timbers and rattling chains was becoming louder and louder as the ancient clockwork device began to come apart.

Scanning the walls of the alcove, Applejack saw that one side was covered in a variety of bits of metal with a loop of chain that connected at either end. On the other side of the wall were several tapered cylinders of various lengths, each with a small chain attached to their base by which they hung on the wall. Applejack might not have been the most erotic of ponies, but she knew reins, bits and dildos when she saw them.

Pieces of broken wood, larger than the splinters from before, fell into the alcove and Applejack realized that they were running out of time.

“Sorry Rares,” said Applejack, and with one swift motion the earth pony grabbed the straightest, least dominating bit she could find and pushed it into Rarity’s mouth. Applejack felt a “click” as the bit attached and locked into place on the bridle, effectively pinning Rarity’s tongue underneath it and forcing her mouth to stay slightly open.

“Glk! Apple’ack wha he meanin’ of ‘his?” Rarity managed to garble out. Applejack’s face burned crimson with embarrassment as she took the attached reins in her hoof, and in turn took control of one of her best friends. The orange mare’s embarrassment vanished a moment later as a tug on Rarity’s reins punctuated popping sounds as locking pins pulled free, allowing Rarity’s forelegs to drop to the ground.

However, only the unicorn’s front half was freed by Applejack’s actions with bit and reins. From the broad band of chains circling Rarity’s belly, to the lengths encircling her hips, lines of chains remained attached to the larger device, as larger bits of wood began to thunk down to the ground. As a piece twice the size of Big Mac landed outside the machine, carrying yards of chain with it, Applejack realized there was only one course of action.

Items from both walls were going to be needed to free Rarity before the device above them tore itself apart. Choosing quickly, Applejack grabbed the smoothest and shortest dildo she could find from among the arsenal that hung on the wall.

In this case though, “smoothest” and “shortest” were relative terms.

While the implement Applejack had snapped up was indeed lacking in the bumps and spurs that most of the other devices had, it did have the imitation of a fat medial ring about two thirds of the way down its length. What’s more, “shortest” was relative as well, with the length of polished material extending a full eight inches from tip to screw cut base.

Applejack moved to Rarity’s rear, where the unicorn’s rear hooves were still paddling in the air as the unicorn tried to escape the increasingly deadly trap she was in. The earth pony had to force herself to ignore how good the curved white flesh of Rarity’s hindquarters looked, captured as they were in their blue-gold prison. Instead she focused her vision to study the wide thick rings of chain that lay over Rarity’s sensitive parts, comparing them with the spiral cut of the dildo’s base.

To her relief, they matched. The dildo was meant to screw into the ring, burying itself deep inside Rarity, and in turn free her from the suspending chains that still held the back half of the harness. As if to say, “time to stop dawdling and get working” a chunk of the machine the size of a wagon fell and crashed to the ground nearby, eliciting another squeal of fear from Rarity and almost another try at using her magic.

“Sorry Rares, no time ta do this slow,” said Applejack, guiding the shaft into Rarity as best she could. For her part, Rarity whinnied in outraged surprise as her inner core was introduced to the intruder, grinding its way past her defences without any hint of preamble or foreplay.

The bitted unicorn, her ability to speak greatly reduced, continued to whinny in outrage as Applejack pushed the shaft all the way home and began to screw it into place. Rarity’s rear hooves lashed back, delivering a solid kick to Applejack’s midsection, and the air “whoofed” out of the earth pony as she was taken by surprise at the power the usually dainty unicorn used.

“None of that,” Applejack shot back, recovering herself and delivering a firm swat to Rarity’s rump. “Ah gotta do this to free you before this Celestia damned machine kills us both.”

Rarity continued to squirm, but otherwise obeyed as Applejack’s sure hooves spun the dildo until it too, locked into place and the last chains holding Rarity in place began to let go one after the other.

“C’mon!” shouted Applejack, grabbing Rarity’s reins in her own teeth and pulling the mare forward even as the device began its final collapse. Rarity, having no other choice, but more than willing to follow the pull of the reins, ran desperately in Applejack’s wake and the two barely outran the mass of falling timbers, chains and rocks.

“You okay?” Applejack asked, as pantingly she recovered her breath, leaning against what looked like the remains of an old wagon in the wan light.

“Yeff,” Rarity answered, trying to pull away a bit only to quickly be jerked short by her reins. “Appwejack, why am I on a weafh? Why am I bitted with fomething fhoved up in my puffy?”

“Ah can’t get that hood offa ya, and without you being able to see ya might wander off and get hurt or worse,” the earth pony responded, using the gem in her hairline as a flashlight to look around. “As for the rest, gimme a couple of minutes here to scavenge around for anything Ah can use as supplies and then Ah’ll tell ya about the heap of trouble we're in.”

“Fine,” huffed Rarity, sitting herself down, only to immediately adjust her position as her motion served to drive the dildo into her a little deeper.

The white mare tried to calm her nerves as best she could despite her growing realization of exactly how helpless she was. Rarity shuddered to think what some ne’er do well would do to her if they found her like this. As if to mirror her thoughts the shaft deep inside of her gave a little shudder of its own and for a moment Rarity’s imagination switched to thoughts of things Applejack could do to her.

“Well, we got a bit of luck there,” Applejack stated a few minutes later, making Rarity jerk in surprise, lost as she was in a pleasant erotic daydream. “Found my saddlebags, which means we’ve got some apples for food and a canteen of water to drink. And, Ah found a whole box of those little light stones from earlier.”

“Miff—Applwejack,” Rarity began correcting herself as she switched her mind back to reality. “What'f going on? Pweafe?”

“All right, you deserve to know,” Applejack began, taking a moment to really look at her chained friend. “Dang, you look real pretty in all that.”

Applejack could neither see Rarity’s blush, nor feel the small, momentary shudder the dildo gave against her sensitive nerves, but she did see the mare duck her head in a recognizable expression of pleased embarrassment.

“This is a little bit of a long story, so Ah’ll guess Ah’ll start at the beginning,” Applejack said, using scraps of the old sacks she had found as improvised rope to tie a harness around herself while she talked. “You okay to walk?”

“Yef,” Rarity replied standing, and involuntarily turning her head one way in response as Applejack fastened her reins to the new harness.

“See, Equestria ain’t always been all the way in Harmony. Sometimes things jes’ happen. Sometimes some ponies do things to other ponies, and sometimes those other ponies go looking for revenge,” Applejack began, giving the lines that now connected the two ponies together a quick test. “Now just start walkin’ and let the bit and bridle guide you, okay?”

Rarity’s response was a sigh and a resigned nod that traveled down the reins to AJ’s hoof.

“Right, anyway let's get going, and Ah’ll tell you the story as we follow this tunnel,” continued Applejack, and as she started forward the leads pulled on the reins.

“Why awen't we ftaying hewe?” Rarity asked, trying to pause, but finding herself pulled back into line by the bit and bridle.

“Cause it ain’t safe, and if you just hush up and give me a chance to talk Ah’ll explain everything,” Applejack growled, there was more than a little annoyance in her voice as she added, “Do Ah hafta add a gag to that bit?”

The only response was a muted growl, and it was a mollified Applejack that continued her story.

“Good. Anyway, as Ah was sayin’, not every pony in Equestria has always lived in harmony. Some ponies have been downright mean to other ponies. Especially unicorns,” Applejack said, pausing to give Rarity a chance to comment but all that she heard from the leashed mare was an understanding sigh.

“Welp, near about 300 years ago a buncha earth ponies decided that they were gonna teach all the ‘snooty unicorns’ that had looked down on them a lesson. Started with random beatings in small towns and the like. A bunch of earth ponies would bushwack a unicorn and beat the tar out of them,” Applejack related, using several of the glow lights she had round to light her path. “Of course, then the unicorn would go straight to the constables once they could talk and a lot of ponies found themselves in the hoosegow. That was bad enough, then things got worse.”

“Oh?” Rarity asked, right before tripping over a rock she couldn’t see and nearly falling.

“Better highstep a bit there. Ah’ll try to guide ya around anything Ah see though,” Applejack said, after making sure Rarity was okay and still securely tethered to her. “Anyway, so things got worse, ‘cause a lot of unicorns started accusin’ any earth pony they knew of beating them up, which added even more bad feelings to the mix. And then a pony named Vermillion Apple came up with a way to get back at the unicorns and make sure they couldn’t bring in the law.”

“You ca’ mean…” Rarity gasped, before adding. “Muwdew.”

“Nope, but yer wearing the end result of what he came up with,” Applejack replied, taking the time to steer Rarity around a pile of rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. “Vermillion figured that if a unicorn weren’t around no more, there’d be no victim to call the constables or anything, but he didn’t want to kill anypony, so he came up with the idea of kidnapping unicorns and…”

“And?” Rarity asked, as Applejack’s voice trailed off.

“And selling them as slaves, either to the Diamond Dogs or outside of Equestria,” Applejack continued, deep shame in her voice.

“Fo that’f why they came aftew me!” Rarity exclaimed, clenching her nethers a moment later as another rumble rolled through her most sensitive place.

“Yeah, why do you think they had a pony harness for their mine cart?” Applejack asked rhetorically before carrying on. “Anyway, pretty quick Vermillion figured out the only way he could keep a unicorn a slave was by making sure they couldn’t use their magic. So he came up with what you’re wearing. Orichalcum.”

“What if Owichawcum?” Rarity asked, surprised at finding herself hanging on Applejack’s every word like a lifeline.

“It’s an alloy Vermillion made. It shrinks anytime magic touches it,” Applejack explained. “So when you tried to get yourself out of that getup yer in, the collar tightened like a snake and choked you. If you’d tried to keep on using your magic it would have kept going until you passed out.”

“Fo, how did I wind up weawing thif… fwave hawneff, and mowe impowtantwy, how do I get out of it?” Rarity asked, finding it harder to remember to keep her legs high with the constant distraction of the dildo in her pussy that moved and shifted with every step.

“Short answer, ya don’t,” Applejack replied, which had the effect of focusing Rarity’s attention away from the growing heat between her thighs. “Vermillion made his ‘Unicorn Breaker’ to pressure fit the chains that make that harness to the body of any pony put in it. And he made it so the whole thing worked with clockwork so a unicorn couldn’t see who was chainin’ them up. The whole kit and kaboodle is one big chain that hooks up to itself in places, so there ain’t no locks or buckles to open up, and ‘cause it’s fit to yer body, there’s no way to slip out of it.”

“Fo I’m youw fwave fwom now on?” Rarity demanded, then her outrage was muted by the realization that if she had to be a slave, Applejack certainly would take good care of her. That thought combined with her growing instant obedience to Applejack cause her to start wondering what Slave Rarity would do for Mistress Applejack

“Well, just we get out of here,” answered Applejack, stopping as she stuttered to add, “Not that yer my slave now. Ah just meant until we get out of here and get to some tools.”

“It’f okay Miftweff Appwejack,” Rarity said, stressing the title and stopping as she felt herself come in contact with the mare who held her reins. “If I had a choice of ownewf, I wouwd choofe you evewy time, dawwing,”

“Um… uh, that’s awful nice of you to say,” Applejack said, feeling something in her heart lurch toward the helpless beauty that was literally hers to do with as Applejack chose. “Ah swear Ah’ll do mah best to take care of you.”

Applejack just stood there, trying to sort out her own feelings, as Rarity took the moment to nuzzle and rub the side of her bridled and hooded head against Applejack’s shoulder affectionately.

A light went on in Applejack’s mind as it dawned on her the whole of what Rarity was offering her. A heady rush of power, affection and desire swept through the earth pony, who gave a light tug on the reins to draw her pony closer still.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Applejack asked, her voice slightly husky.

“Miftweff, ciwcumftancef have taken the choice away fwom me. I am compwetewy in youw powew, whethew I want to be ow not. Fo af wong af we awe hewe, we may af weww pway the wowef fate haf pwaced uf in,” the slave answered, vainly trying to slurp back some drool cause by the bit in her mouth. “If you’ww have me that if?”

“Ah’ve always thought you were the prettiest mare Ah ever laid eyes on, and now yer mine,” Applejack replied, sealing the pact with a small kiss, before pulling away. “But we ain’t got time to play right now. We got a long way to go and not a lot of supplies to get there with.”

“Of couwfe, Miftweff. Whewe awe we going?” the slave responded, trying for another nuzzle but failing as her reins pulled tight and drew her along in the wake of her owner.

“Well, all this stuff Ah’ve been telling you is from old stories that I used to hear from Burnt Oak when Ah was a filly. According ta him, there should be an exit to these tunnels near Canterlot, which is gonna take us two or three days to get to,” Applejack informed her pony, adding. “Save yer breath for trotting for now, we gotta make some distance.”

“Yef, Miftweff,” was all the unicorn slave had time to garble out, before her owner picked up the pace.

Author's Note

I don't know why, but for some reason I love putting Rarity into bondage and peril. Anyway, the idea for this story has been kicking around in my head for several months and thanks to my patrons it's finally out in the wild.

It is my hope that you find it satisfactory.