The Bridle Path : Equestria Girls

Chapters

Chapter 1: Leather or Knot
Chapter 2: Fit to be Tied
Chapter 3: Packaged for Shipping

Chapter 1: Leather or Knot

“Hey Rarity, what’s up?” Applejack asked, as she slid into a booth seat opposite that of her old friend.

The diner they were in was a classic one for the big city. A stereotypical greasy spoon in a slightly out of the way spot that catered to people looking for decent food at a cheap price. It was definitely a place that Applejack would patronize, but the young woman found it very odd that her prim and proper friend had asked to meet here.

“Here’s your usual, Rarity,” said a middle-aged waitress, sliding a tea bag laden cup in front of the fashionista, along with a small steaming pot and a slice of apple pie. “Lemon tea and fresh apple pie.”

“Thank you Amelia,” Rarity replied, with a small smile.

“Anything for you?” the waitress asked Applejack, who was feeling a little stunned at what she was seeing.

“Uh… Ah’ll have what she’s having,” Applejack responded.

“Be right back,” said the waitress, leaving the table with a smooth motion.

“Rarity, what’s going on? And why are we meeting here?” Applejack asked. “This is nowhere near the kind of place you like.”

“It’s the kind of place I can afford, Applejack,” Rarity replied, a small sigh colouring her words. “We all had such big plans when we graduated from Canterlot High two years ago, and much as I do love all of our friends and our monthly get togethers, there are some things I can’t share with them.”

“What happened, Rares?” Applejack asked, with a voice full of empathy. Last year’s downturn in the economy had hit everyone pretty hard. Applejack had been forced to stop taking agronomy courses at the local community college, while Pinkie and Fluttershy had both had to drop out of their chosen colleges for financial reasons as well.

Luckily, Twilight and Rainbow Dash both had full-ride scholarships, while Sunset was keeping her head afloat as a motocross racer and occasional trader in not entirely legal diamonds, imported as they were from Equestria. As of three weeks ago, Applejack would have sworn that Rarity was doing okay while working for a fashion magazine and going to school herself.

But here she was in a diner she never would have set foot in when they were teenagers, let alone be here often enough for the staff to know her by name or have a regular order.

“Well, you know that I was funding fashion school with my employment at ‘Hot Trots Magazine’?” Rarity asked, to which Applejack nodded in the affirmative. “The problem is that six months ago my probationary contract with them expired, and while they were willing to continue the relationship, it was as an unpaid intern.”

“What a bunch of idiots,” Applejack burst out, rolling her eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You aren’t the only stubborn one in our little group,” Rarity replied, with a rueful smile. “Regardless, I was left with two options. Either drop out of school entirely, or find new employment.

“Well, ya didn’t drop out of school so… “ Applejack stated, letting her words trail off so Rarity could fill the gaps. The two of them were very different, but sometimes they seemed to fit together perfectly. Like now.

“So I cut back on my expenses, reduced my expenditures to the minimum and found new employment with a somewhat less savory employer,” Rarity explained, and Applejack was a little surprised to see a blush appear on her friend’s cheeks. “I’m well paid for what I do, and I even get to design the odd little thing, but it’s a very… adult place of work.”

“Rarity,” Applejack replied, putting her hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder. “You aren’t selling yerself, are you?”

“No, just my dignity,” Rarity answered, her blush deepening. “What I do is legal. As is the store I work for, but… “

“But what?” pressed Applejack, letting her hand fall away. “Ah get having to make sacrifices to make ends meet, and if what yer doing is legal-like Ah don’t get why yer in such a tizzy about all of it.”

“This is why I came to you, Applejack,” Rarity said, and the purple haired woman’s relief was palpable. “Out of all of us, you understand practicality more than most. It’s just… “

“Just what?” Applejack asked, pushing harder. “C’mon, spit it out.”

“I help design and make leather bondage and fetish gear,” Rarity blurted out, blushing furiously at how Applejack’s eyebrows tried to climb through her hairline.

“Hoo wee, you don’t do things by halves, do ya?” Applejack finally managed to say, before asking. “What sorta stuff?”

The conversation paused as the waitress returned with Applejack’s pie and cup of tea and the farmer took a moment to sample the pastry, while Rarity took a steadying sip of her tea.

“Not a patch on Granny’s pies, but not bad,” Applejack concluded, nodding in satisfaction.

“It’s why I come here,” Rarity replied, eating a forkful of her own piece before continuing. “Anyway, I started working at the store simply being behind the counter as a salesperson. But then I noticed how atrocious the lining of their cuffs and collars were, especially with how closely they are supposed to sit next to the skin. And the color coordination. Ugh.”

“I made a few suggestions,” the future fashion designer continued. “Which led to the store’s proprietors asking me to demonstrate my ideas on a couple of pieces, and they were so impressed they asked me to work on more involved projects, such as harnesses and bridles.”

“Say what now?” Applejack asked, eyes going wide.

“There is… a particular fetish,” Rarity answered, as her blush returned in full force. “One that involves long-term bondage where one is treated like a pet, or a horse.”

“That’s… wow,” Applejack responded, trying to take it all in. It made her think of all the times she and her friends had “ponied up,” and making her briefly wonder if the seven of them were being viewed as…

“Why are you blushin’ so hard, Rares?” Applejack asked, locking eyes with her friend.

“Lyssa, that’s one of the proprietors, asked me to model some of the items. Just to see them on a living breathing person, as opposed to a lifeless mannequin,” Rarity explained, meeting her friend’s gaze with the candor Applejack was wordlessly demanding. “I was so happy with how well they came out that I inadvertently ponied up in front of her. Which had the effect of fully completing the illusion of my being a two-legged pony. A pony girl, if you will. Needless to say, her and Eris, the other person running the shop, were completely taken aback as well as extremely happy with how things looked.”

“You into that sort of thing?” pressed Applejack, feeling a stirring inside of herself. “I mean, you could always come to the farm. We’ve got all that sort of… “

Applejack broke off as she realized what she was saying, her own cheeks turning hot.

“I would be lying if I said the experience didn’t touch something deep inside of me,” Rarity admitted, putting her own slim hand over Applejack’s larger one. “Which is probably why I agreed to start modelling pieces for buyers after that episode. Plus the extra money has been rebuilding my finances quite nicely.”

“As for your offer. Let’s just say that’s another reason why I’m talking to you about this, dear Applejack,” Rarity added, allowing a small, sly smile to grace her mouth. “I need you.”

“Woah there!” Applejack exclaimed, startled. “Ah mean, Ah like you Rarity. Ah’ve always thought you were the prettiest of us, and sure maybe I’ve kinda thought that maybe…”

“Darling,” Rarity interrupted, placing a single finger on Applejack’s lips to silence her larger friend. “I didn’t mean what I said in that way. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t say ‘no’ at a future time.

Both young women took a moment to bring their emotions under control. A door between them had opened, but only time would tell if it stayed open.

“Maybe I should get to the point,” Rarity finally said.

“Yeah, that’d be a good plan,” was Applejack’s response, her chest rising and falling only slightly more than usual.

“I’ve been asked to model the complete ‘horse girl’ outfit next Saturday, but it won’t be for a single buyer,” Rarity explained, her voice lower than usual. “It will be an auction, not for the outfit, but for the rights to reproduce the design itself. As such the stakes are quite high, as will be the dollar values involved.”

“Dang,” Applejack responded, asking, “So why do you need me in all this?”

“As I said, the stakes are quite high in this, so the store’s backers have asked Lyssa and Eris if they could provide two models for the auction,” Rarity answered,” Two girls with different body types to fully demonstrate the look of the outfit and showcase how they completely restrain the wearer while still allowing them to move about.”

“You mean we’d be tied up,” Applejack replied.

“That’s a crude way to put it, as well as inaccurate,” Rarity corrected, putting a bit of a laugh in her voice to take the edge off her comment. “Our arms would be bound behind us, and our legs placed in boots made to look like horse hooves. Meanwhile we would be wearing bodysuits overlaid with a harness that would be locked onto us. Finally we would be wearing the equivalent of bridles on our heads, with gags that were made to resemble a bit for a horse.”

“Huh, that’s quite the fancy get-up just for hookin’ up,” Applejack commented, taking on a thoughtful look. “Ya know, it might be interesting to see what these folks yer working for have, and how it measures up to the stuff we have on the farm.”

“And I haven’t mentioned yet how much we would be paid for doing this,” Rarity added, making a dramatic pause before saying, “Five thousand dollars. Each.”

“Hoo-wee!” Applejack exclaimed, startling the entire diner.

“Sorry folks,” the blonde apologized to the room in general, before continuing in a much quieter voice. “That sorta money would do the farm a lot of good. But it’d be real easy for someone to take advantage of us like that. You trust these folks?”

“I’ve worked with them for months now and everything’s been above board,” Rarity assured her friend. “They’ve always asked my permission for anything in advance and always respected my limits. So yes, I trust them.”

“All right, Ah’m in,” Applejack stated firmly, with a nod of her head. “What do we gotta do?”

“First, we need to head over to the shop and get you measured for your tack,” replied her purple maned friend.

“Sounds good,” Applejack agreed.

The pair quickly settled their small bill, with Rarity leaving an overly generous gratuity to Applejack’s way of thinking, before heading out the door and down the street.

Together the duo walked through a rundown retail district containing small stores interspersed with closed up shops showing “Out of Business” signs, and Applejack felt an empathetic pang as she thought of the sad stories behind each of those placards. There were several rough and ready types walking the streets, but all of them seemed to give the pair a wide berth.

“You ever have any trouble working down here?” Applejack asked, noting a tall man idly smoking a cigarette as he leaned against a wall.

“Well, there were a few incidents , but I was able to win over most of the local residents with a few kind words, an understanding ear, and the odd helping hand,” Rarity said, adding, “There were however a few ruffians who had to learn how much it hurts to punch a diamond wall.”

“Ha! You always did know when to take the gloves off,” Applejack exclaimed, throwing an arm around Rarity and pulling her into a brief sideways hug. “And I get that’s why you were never worried about the folks you work with doing any sort of funny stuff. One wrong move and Hoo-Wee!”

The two shared a laugh as Rarity guided Applejack around a corner to reveal a storefront that had no windows at all, and only a single, very solid looking door, with an intercom buzzer. Above the entrance however, there was a large sign that identified the building as, “The Bridle Path - Custom leather goods for discerning Adults.”

“Dang, they take this pretty seriously,” Applejack said, as Rarity calmly walked up to the intercom and pressed the call button.

“Rarity and friend,” the elegant young woman stated.

The pair were quickly buzzed in, and as Applejack entered she could feel her mouth hang open as her eyes took in the interior of the shop.

She had expected a somewhat dingy place, lined with old wire racks containing a library's worth of dirty magazines being perused by dirty old men in trench coats, with either a fat and lazy old man or an equally old harridan parked behind an old glass counter top holding various items of perversion.

What she got instead was a large room with a high ceiling, from which floated some sort of opera type Muzak, along with the subtle scents of jasmine and apple blossoms. A few men and women in expensive and well tailored clothing examined various pieces of leather goods laid out on parallel rows of spotless mannequins covered in green velvet.

The only thing that met up with Applejack’s expectations was the glass counter at the back of the store, but even there the apple farmer’s expectations had been wrong. Where she had expected some one was old, fat and lazy, there was instead a beautiful woman in her early thirties, with jet black hair that fell to her waist. A woman who was energetically waving Rarity and Applejack over.

“Rarity! You came back!” gushed the woman, as the duo approached. “Oh my, who is this?”

Applejack had heard the phrase, “undressing you with their eyes,” but this was the first time someone had done it to her. The unnamed woman bit her lip with obvious appreciation as she moved her gaze up from Applejack’s feet, along her legs, past the vee of her hips, in and out around the indent of the farmer’s waist and swell of her bosom, curling around the tree of her throat, before finally resting half-lidded blue eyes against Applejack’s green ones.

“This is Applejack, one of my best friends,” replied Rarity, smirking slightly as she noticed the other’s appraisal. “Applejack, this is Lyssa. She’s one of the store's proprietors, and my boss.”

“Pleased to meetcha,” Applejack said, sticking out her hand and fighting down a blush. She wasn’t used to being viewed as attractive for her looks. That was Rarity’s thing.

“Oh no, the pleasure is mine,” Lyssa purred, taking Applejack’s hand in her own, before turning it over to gasp in delight as she watched the play of muscles in the farmer’s forearm. “Oh, you are just the absolute epitome of the phrase, ‘healthy young woman’, aren’t you?”

“Well, I uh, that is to say,” stammered Applejack, before a tinkling laugh from Rarity cut her off, and the distraction allowed the farmer to snatch her hand back.

“Lyssa, stop teasing. Applejack is here to help,” Rarity said, smiling across the counter.

“She is?” Lyssa responded, her chipper expression lighting up even further. “Oh thank goodness. We were starting to get desperate. Rarity, why don’t you take your friend downstairs? Eris is there, working on your gear right now.”

Lyssa lifted up a section of the counter, allowing the friends to walk past and through what to Applejack was a bewildering and confusing array of straps, buckles, vibrators and fake phalluses of all shapes and colours. It only took Rarity a few moments to guide her friend past the ready sales stock toward a sloping ramp leading down into what appeared to be an impressively large basement.

“Dang, how big is this place?” Applejack asked, tilting her head over to Rarity as the pair made their way down some concrete stairs that had been built into one side of the ramp.

“Much bigger than it looks,” Rarity replied. “A couple of hundred years ago it was part of an old flour mill whose owners decided to have access to the docks without actually being on the docs. As such, the basement of this building is actually just part of a tunnel that leads out to the water.”

Applejack saw the truth of Rarity's statement less than a minute later as they finished their descent into a large vaulted room, whose brick lined far wall was an obvious means to separate this property from the rest of the underground passage.

“Rarity!” called out a tall and lean green haired woman, who was currently sitting at a table rubbing a cloth against a large conical piece of leather. Applejack’s nose easily detected the scent of a conditioning oil cutting through the jasmine and apple blossom perfume of the place.

“I’m just finishing up your armbinder for the show,” the woman continued, before noticing Rarity’s well built blonde companion. “Who do we have here?”

“Eris, this is Applejack,” explained the fashionista. “She’s agreed to help model the gear for next Saturday’s auction.”

“Really?” Eris asked, getting up and walking over to meet the pair. “Any experience modelling?”

“No Ma’am,” Applejack replied immediately, causing Eris to lift an inquiring eyebrow.

“Any experience with BDSM, bondage, domination, etcetera?” the woman asked, curiosity in her voice.

“No Ma’am,” was Applejack’s direct reply.

“You’re sure?” pressed Eris. “Calling someone ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Madam,’ is often a title submissives use to address their dominants.”

“Oh. OH!” exclaimed Applejack, with sudden, blushing realization. “Ah didn’t mean nothin’ like that. Just being polite is all.”

“I see,” Eris replied, pursing her lips in thought. “Any boyfriends, girlfriends, or significant others I should be speaking to as well?”

“Nothin’ steady, why you asking?” inquired Applejack, frowning slightly.

For several moments only the gentle strains of the store’s background music could be heard. A soothing, lilting piece that seemed to drain the slight tension that had appeared in the conversation.

“Applejack, if you agree to do this for us, you are going to be paraded in front of a group of strangers while being completely helpless to do anything about it,” Eris explained, in a matter-of-fact tone. “It will be a compromising position, to say the least, and while Lyssa and I have earned Rarity’s trust, we are complete strangers to you. Are you quite certain you're willing to place yourself in my hands? ”

“Rarity did say you respected boundaries and so on,” Applejack replied, nodding. “And just by asking that Ah can why she trusts you enough to truss her up and such.”

“One of the most important parts of this is trust,” Eris replied, drawing close, and Applejack felt the mismatched eyes locking onto her own, drawing a strange intimacy between the two. “So, before we do anything else you are going to tell me your safe word. A word, that if you say it, brings everything to a stop and we find out if you need to be gotten out of whatever you’re in, in a hurry.”

“So Ah get to stop things whenever Ah want?” Applejack asked.

“It’s meant for emergencies, or if you suddenly feel overwhelmed, or panicked. But essentially, yes,” Eris confirmed, placing her hands on Applejack’s shoulders. “The person bound is always the one controlling the stop button.”

“It’s the job of the individual doing the binding to take you right up to that limit, without stepping over the line,” Eris continued, her voice dropping. “As your handler, the one holding your reins, it will be my responsibility to keep you safe and the first part of that is knowing your safe word.”

“Pears,” Applejack blurted out. “If Ah say ‘Pears’ it means get me out.”

“Pears it is, my flaxen haired beauty,” Eris affirmed, her face only inches away from Applejack’s. “Take off your clothes.”

“Um… '' Applejack hesitated. Something in her wanted to let go and simply obey the command, but her stubborn nature reared its head.

“Leave your bra and panties on, of course,” Eris continued, a smile in her eyes as if Applejack had just done something that pleased her greatly. “Leather goods like our tack design isn’t just something you pull off a rack. It has to be custom made to fit properly, so we need your precise measurements.”

“Oh right,” Applejack replied, stepping back and pulling off her shirt with a strange sense of relief. It was as if something had been pressing down on her mind for a moment, and then had decided to let go.

“Lyssa, can you get one of the other salespeople to run the counter and come down here?” Eris said, into the intercom on her desk. “We need to get Applejack’s sizes, and while she’s here we may as well do an initial fitting of Rarity’s armbinder.”

“Be right down!” came the happy chirp from the speaker.

The tall farm woman took off her clothes with slow care, while Rarity stripped down to just her panties so fast it was almost supernatural. Applejack found herself momentarily distracted by the coral nubs on the tips of Rarity’s small, but pert and well-formed breasts.

“Much as I do love my brassiere, I find it does not do well under a harness,” Rarity stated, a small smirk on her face as she met her friend’s stare. Applejack diverted her gaze with a blush and finished pulling off her shirt as Lyssa came down from the upper level.

“Oh my, I do love a healthy body,” cooed the saleswoman, as she beheld the blonde’s well-muscled and near naked torso. Eris rolled her eyes with a snort.

“Light the incense and stop eye-humping Applejack,” Eris ordered, in a teasing tone while pulling another cone shaped piece of black leather off one of the several worktables scattered around the space. “Then come over here and help me with Rarity’s armbinder. Applejack, you may want to closer and see what this does to how she looks.”

“Alright,” Applejack replied, sliding her legs out of her jeans. Meanwhile Lyssa lit a stick of incense from a box labelled, 'Inspiration InScents' before moving over to help her partner with the odd garment.

As Applejack watched, Rarity’s arms were positioned behind her back before the cone of black leather was gently slid up and over her arms. There were a few side to side adjustments that made the purple haired woman’s breasts bounce in ways that made Applejack’s hands itch in strange ways, but eventually the garment found its resting point just under Rarity’s armpits.

Straps were then looped over her shoulders and then crossed between her breasts, before returning back to the main body of the device. Rarity made a small moan as the straps were tightened, pulling the armbinder a little further up and both compressing and raising her breasts slightly.

“All good?” Lyssa asked, brushing a few strands of Rarity’s hair back.

“All green,” Rarity replied, her breath coming a little deeper.

“Green means she’s okay,” Eris explained to Applejack, as she threaded a very long leather lace through a set of grommets that went from the top of the device down to a narrow neck that held Rarity’s wrists.

“MM-mhm,” Rarity confirmed, breathing picking up a bit more as Eris started tightening the lacing.

Applejack didn’t miss how the slow constriction of Rarity’s arms seemed to fuel an upward swelling of her breasts. For all her physical attractiveness, Rarity’s cup size was well inside the middle range of Applejack’s friends, with Pinkie and Fluttershy being quite large, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash definitely occupied the smaller end of the spectrum.

It took almost five minutes for the lacing to be drawn tighter and tighter, until Rarity’s elbows came into contact inside the garment, which served to bring her relative bust size into something close to Applejack’s own well developed, “tracts of land.” By this time Rarity was almost swooning under the effects, breathing deeply as her eyes fluttered open and closed as she tried to center herself.

Applejack found it utterly mesmerizing, and as a coil of jasmine and apple blossom scented incense curled between the two friends, a shadowy fantasy started to rear up within the farmer’s mind. Of her putting a loop of rope around where the straps in front made an “X”. Of her leading Rarity, her Rarity, off to the…

“Okay, let’s start getting your measurements,” Eris stated, snapping Applejack out of her near trance she had fallen into.

“Uh, you just gonna leave Rares like that?” Applejack asked, as the leather worker approached her with a long measuring tape.

“That’s why I called Lyssa down, so that she could be Rarity’s handler for this fitting, part of which is to make sure the monoglove isn’t too much for her,” Eris replied, starting her measurements with Applejack’s left forearm, from wrist bones to elbow. “Safety first. Even though the design is meant for long-term wear, there’s nothing like making sure a pony isn’t going to be damaged by their tack by having them undergo a trial fitting.”

“Long term?” Applejack asked, lifting her chin so that Eris could check both her neck size and height.

“Indeed, depending on the dynamic between a couple, a pony could spend hours, days, even weeks in harness,” Eris replied, moving on to measuring Applejack’s brow.

“A pony? You mean like—” Applejack began, before Eris interrupted.

“Not like what your friend Rarity became,” glancing over to where Applejack’s friend was now moving around steadily on her feet, her occasional shrugs as she tried to slip her bondage doing very interesting things to her breasts. “I mean a human in the part of a horse. An owned and controlled animal, dependent on their handler… for everything.”

The last was said in a throaty purr that made Applejack’s insides clench for a moment.

“Ah… Ah kin do that too,” Applejack admitted, as the measuring tape circled lower and lower parts of her body. “We just usually need to be playing our music to make it happen.”

The air seemed like wine, and Applejack felt her mind starting to drift again on an incense powered fog.

“Fascinating,” Eris commented, measuring the farmer’s waist and hips. “You and her both seem to be taking to this like naturals. Would you mind if we tried an armbinder on you today? Nothing long term, just an initial fitting.”

“Ah… uh. Ah dunno if Ah can wear something like what Rares has got on,” Applejack replied, sliding her legs apart in automatic reflex as Eris measured her inseam.

“Oh definitely not, which is a good thing,” Eris said, noting how Applejack bit her lip when she measured the prospective model’s sensitive areas. “Hmm, we really should give the two of you ‘working’ names to help preserve your identities. How do you like ‘Flaxen’ for yourself?”

“Whatever you say, M-Ma’am,” Applejack responded, not sure what she was about to call Eris. The background music had changed. Something opera-ish, with a high pitched woman’s voice that she couldn’t quite make out. Something about being adored?

“Very well then. When I call you ‘Flaxen’, that’s your cue to begin acting like a horse under the control of your Master or Mistress,” Eris stated, standing up to look Applejack directly in the eyes. “Is that understood… Flaxen?”

Flaxen stood for a moment, unsure how to respond, until an idea hit her and she bobbed her head once or twice while pawing briefly at the ground with her left… hoof.

“Good girl, Flaxen,” Eris praised, before continuing. “Now as I was saying you are built differently than ‘Facet,’ which is what I think we should name Rarity. You have the build of a working pony, while Facet is most definitely a show or dressage pony. Which means your tack needs to be different.”

“Oh, sorry,” Flaxen apologized, before being silenced by a finger against her lips.

“Ponies don’t speak, unless they need to use their safeword, or are told they can talk,” cautioned Eris. “It’s all part of being an ‘animal’, and this is why I asked Rarity, I mean Facet, to find someone like you. Having you in our design will allow it to show off its effects on different body types, and hopefully trigger a bidding war for the design rights.”

“Now,” Eris continued, picking up a black cylinder of leather festooned with buckles and straps. “Trying to put you into an armbinder like Facet’s would only cause you short term pain, and possibly long term damage. So, instead of a classic design like hers we’ll go with a hybrid design for you. Arms behind your back please. Grab your elbows with the opposite hand.”

Flaxen did as she was asked, bracing herself as Eris pressed against her back while securing the tube of leather around Flaxen's forearms. As the limbs were turned into a single, immovable bar, their position forced Flaxen to push her chest up and out, in an attempt to balance things out.

“And now for the rest of it…” Eris murmured, pulling what felt like a large leather bag over the whole of Flaxen’s arms, welding them in place in and around the heavier piece holding her forearms. Flaxen watched passively as thick leather bands came over both her shoulders and then under her armpits, crossing in-between her breasts just like those on Facet had.

And just like that armbinder, these straps also framed Flaxen’s breasts, supporting them and pressing them upwards, making the now hard points of her nipples press against the fabric of her bra. Eris busied herself for another minute or so, loosening some straps, while tightening the vast majority of others. When it was done, Flaxen’s chest was rising and falling even more dramatically than Facet’s had.

“Flaxen, are you okay? Any pain? Anything pinching?” there was a pause before Eris added, “You may speak.”

“Ah… Ah think ‘green’?” Flaxen replied, her head truly swimming in deep waters now. “No pain, just tight. Feel kinda funny.”

“Good pony,” Eris praised again, brushing Flaxen’s hair back more than was absolutely necessary. “Those are endorphins. You’re riding a natural high. Just let it flow. You and Facet are safe here.”

As if to emphasize Eris’ words, Rarity, now Facet, came to stand alongside Flaxen, gently nuzzling at Flaxen’s upper arm. Both the exposed and leather bound portions of it. The contact creating a bubbling sensation inside the taller blonde, like a kettle just starting to steam.

“Go ahead, see if you can get out of that, Flaxen,” Eris ordered, stepping back a bit. “Give it a good stress test.”

As Facet took a step back, Flaxen proceeded to bend and twist as much as she could, trying to get her arms back in front of her, or barring that, finding a way to get them out of the strapped shut leather bag that she could see over her arms out of the corner of her eyes. The bag kept Flaxen from pulling her arms outwards, maintaining her forearms place in the cylinder that bound them together.

Leather creaked and buckles tinkled and sang, but no matter what the blond woman did, she couldn’t free her arms from her prison and it was a panting for breath woman on one knee who finally acknowledged that she was unable to escape her bonds.

Unless she tapped into the power held at her neck, whispered a thought.

“Good Flaxen,” Eris said, stroking the woman’s hair and the little thought was quiet again. “You did exactly what you were told to do. Now just relax, and let your handler take care of you.”

Breath slowing, the blonde woman felt fingers in her hair, undoing the wreck her struggles had made of her usual ponytail. Fingers rhythmically pulling across her scalp and through her mane as it was plaited into a long braid, lulled her back into the drifting state she had been in before she had been told to fight and struggle.

She was so pacified, so barely conscious of her surroundings, that she barely noticed her smaller partner beginning to rub her head against Flaxen’s fabric covered breasts. At least until the growing stimulation caused her to snort and take a step back.

“Oh, we need to keep that under control,” Eris said, and both leather bound women could hear the laughter in the leather worker's voice.

One that turned into a genuine laugh as something hard but with a soft lining closed around Flaxen’s waist from behind, pushing her forward and back into Facet’s range of action again. Looking down, Flaxen could see her waist was now captured by a bronzed metal belt with what looked like a rubber lining. A belt that was being tightened until a fingernail would barely squeeze past.

“As our pony, we control everything about you Flaxen, including your desires,” Lyssa told her, as a curved metal plate was hooked onto the back of the belt and swung up between her hips, where it locked to the front of the belt with an audible “snap.”

Pressure pushed against Flaxen’s crotch, but it wasn’t a pressure that added to the steamy arousal that had been building inside of her. No, this was a pressure that locked down that arousal, keeping it from escaping, from breaking free. Just like the leather and steel around the rest of Flaxen's body kept her from breaking free.

“Ah, we forgot to measure your feet,” Lyssa stated, taking a moment to wind a long measuring tape around Flaxen’s throat. Flaxen tried to pull back again as Facet went to nibble at her breasts, only to be stopped as the measuring tape was tightened into a tight collar by the motion.

“C’mon Facet, time to get you out and bring Rarity back,” Eris said, gently taking the smaller woman in hand and pulling her away. “We are going to have a lot of work to do.”

It felt natural for Flaxen to follow the pull of the measuring tape toward a large gel pad on the floor. It felt good to be commanded to move left, or right, and to obey. The bubbling sensation locked away inside of her made her feel like she was floating on air, and it was with some shock and an unknowable amount of time later that she realized that she was both sitting down and unbound.

“Applejack?” Eris was asking, with a bit of concern on her face. “You with us, Applejack?”

“Y-yeah,” Applejack replied, looking around with more than a little confusion. “What the hay happened?”

“It’s called ‘subspace’ Applejack,” Rarity explained, placing her small hand over Applejack’s larger one. “Apparently it’s something that can happen when endorphins overrun the mind’s thinking processes, and it seems you really succumb to them. My fault I’m afraid.”

“Your fault?” Applejack asked, accepting a juice box with wordless thanks, noting the straw was already in place. “What did you do?”

“Welllllll,” Rarity replied, blushing again. “You see, as I somewhat hinted at back in the diner I’ve always had a bit of attraction towards you, and when I saw you helpless to resist me, and ‘floating’ a bit myself… I acted without thinking and pushed you into the deep end.”

“If anyone is at fault, it’s ours,” Eris said, grimacing. “As your handlers we are responsible for keeping you out of trouble when you are Flaxen and Facet. The pair of you were just so cute together we sort of got lost ourselves.”

“Well, Ah never told any of you to stop, and Rarity was right, y’all asked for permission for everything,” Applejack stated, taking a deep pull from the box. “Just give me a minute here and Ah’ll be right as rain.”

“Take as long as you need,” said Lyssa, sliding over a plate of store bought cookies. “You too, Rarity. Take the rest of the day.”

“But we still have to start on Apple— I mean Flaxen’s tack, and finish Facet’s!” Rarity protested.

“You need the time to recover, and I think, to talk with Applejack about your feelings,” Eris ordered. It was a command, but it was given with kindness. “Come back strong tomorrow. Just expect to put in some long days between now and next Saturday.

“Well, if you insist,” Rarity replied.

It wasn’t until hours later when the store was closed and the two proprietors could be sure that they were alone that they made the phone call.

“Hello,” said the woman’s voice over the speaker phone.

“We heed you, we need you,” Eris and Lyssa chanted in unison.

“Report,” the woman on the other end commanded, causing both Eris and Lyssa to drop to their knees with bowed heads.

“Everything worked as you said it would, Mistress,” Lyssa replied. “The incense, the music, all of it.”

“So, Rarity is almost within our grasp now,” mused the woman. “Who else?”

“Applejack is her name, Mistress Largo,” Eris supplied.

“Well done,” praised the pair’s mistress, causing them both to look up adoringly at the phone. “Soon three of the girls who made my life miserable will be mine to do with as I please.”

“Three?” questioned Eris. “But we only have the—”

“Three!” thundered the voice on the phone, and the proprietor’s to shrink back down. “You are only one part of my plan. A special part, but only one part. I will see you next Saturday, when you have earned your reward.”

“As you command, Mistress,” Lyssa answered, as the other end cut the connection.

Author's Note

Welcome to my third Bridle Path story. While this tale will not feature the breaking bridles of the first two stories, there most definitely will be taming and training, with attempts at mind breaking and good heaping helpings of an array of sexual themes.

You may have noticed a couple of green words in this first chapter. Those are my 1,000,000th words published on Fimfiction.net. Seeing as my first words here involved a story with Rarity in a sexy trap, it seemed a good idea to go with this sort of story for this milestone. I hope you enjoy what is to come in the story.

If you want to have priority status for any future commission you might have in mind, early peeks at my writing, help keep me in coffee and keyboards, or simply aid me in my quest to get to Everfree NorthWest next year, join my Patreon for as little as a dollar a month and you too can help a crazy writer keep on, keeping on.

Chapter 2: Fit to be Tied

The days passed in a blur of work, with occasional moments for quiet conversations and gentle touches, as Applejack and Rarity began to explore their latent feelings for each other. Those moments were few and far between however, as over the next several days both the Applejack's farm and Rarity's preparations for the online design auction occupied the majority of each young woman’s time.

At the end though, the last stitches were put in place and the last chores finished as Rarity and Applejack stood together outside the front door of “The Bridle Path”.

“You all set, Rares?” Applejack asked, looking up and down the street. It was chilly this late in the evening, and even though the area around the store was usually clear of riffraff, the streets seemed emptier than usual.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, darling,” Rarity responded, her outstretched hand pausing just shy of the intercom buzzer as her gaze went to where the fingers of her other hand were interlaced with Applejack’s.

“After,” said the well built blond. “After the show we can… talk.”

“After,” confirmed the slim bodied fashionista, and turning her gaze back to the door, pressed the button beside it with firm conviction. “Rarity and Applejack.”

The door buzzed and the pair went in, where they were immediately met by Lyssa and Eris, neither of whom were wearing their usual smiles.

“Let’s get you both downstairs and into your tack right away,” Lyssa ordered, without preamble.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Applejack asked, picking up on the tension between the two shop proprietors.

“Hopefully not,” answered Eris, her mismatched eyes serious. “But there are almost always hitches in a production like this, and despite all our work there’s a lot that could go wrong.”

“This showing could set us up for life, or break us entirely,” Lyssa added, taking Rarity’s hand as she began to lead everyone to the lower level of the store. “I didn’t mention anything before, but we’ve been riding the edge of insolvency for weeks now. Tonight’s showing needs to be perfect.”

“Game faces,” Applejack replied, nodding in understanding. “Gotcha.”

“I wish we… “ Eris paused in mid-sentence, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m sorry we’re putting such pressure on the two of you.”

“Not to worry,” responded Rarity in a comforting tone. “Applejack and I have been in more stressful situations than this and come through shining like diamonds.”

Eris couldn’t seem to decide how to reply to that, and the silence stretched until the quartet reached the assembly area on the lower level. Both work tables were heaped high with multiple items, nearly all of which carried the warm and sweet spicy scent of tanned and worked leather. Each table was labeled with a large placard carrying the name of the planned model of the items there.

“Right, first thing. We need you to get into your underlayer,” Lyssa stated, handing Rarity a box from the table labeled, “Facet.”

“Go behind the screens and get changed,” Eris added, handing Flaxen her box. “Strip down all the way before putting on your underlayer. And I mean everything. Rings, earrings, necklaces, watches, piercings.”

“And hats?” Applejack asked cheekily, looking down at the shiny material in the box.

“Hats too,” Eris confirmed, and the slight smile she gave did much to ease the tension that the older women had been carrying. “Just put it all in the box, so nothing gets lost. Especially the hat.”

Both women did as they were asked, going behind the curtains to change.

“How do I—” Applejack began, before finding the closures of the body suit. “There it is. What is this stuff anyway?

“It’s a blend of several fabrics,” Rarity said, from behind her own privacy screen. “Mainly a spandex and cotton blend though.”

“Gotcha,” was Applejack’s response, as she began pulling the garment on. It seemed to cling to her every curve like it had a life of its own, but soon enough the bodysuit was in place and Applejack stepped out just in time to see Rarity emerging from behind her own screen with blackness hugging her modest, but well proportioned curves.

“Stop drooling, darling,” Rarity said, cheeks heating slightly under the hungry gaze of her friend.

“Have a seat,” Lyssa ordered, pulling up a stool for Rarity to sit on. “Let’s get your boots on you.”

Long black leather boots were then slid up Rarity’s legs, completely covering her calves and the front of her kneecaps, before lacings up the back were tightened, molding the material to her legs. As if that were not enough, black polo wraps were then applied, giving Rarity's legs even more of a horse-like appearance as well as hiding the line of laces up the back, save for a single silver “D” ring set at the back of her ankle.

“My, they give far more support than one would expect,” Rarity noted, standing and putting some weight on the boots, the heelless design causing her to keep her soles permanently arched, all while holding them comfortably in place through the boot's reinforced design.

“We started out making them for cosplayers,” said Lyssa, grabbing the next item from Facet’s table. “Arms up so I can get the corset on you.”

The sleek garment fell into place around Rarity, covering her from just above her hips to just below her breasts, and Rarity felt some of her breath being forced out of her as the device reduced her waistline as it was cinched tight.

“Must it be so tight?” Rarity complained, running her hands over her compressed waistline.

“You are the show pony,” Lyssa reminded her, as she folded a flap of fabric over the line of laces and secured it with a small pair of padlocks. “Flaxen is the working pony, so she needs the extra flexibility.”

“This is extra?” Flaxen/Applejack asked, around the application of the restrictive leather and steel around her own torso.

“Extra, with some support of course, for when you are hitched to a wagon or a sulky,” Eris replied, stepping back once she had locked away the laces on Flaxen’s corset as well. “You know, I think we’re all a bit out of sorts because we’re missing something. Something we usually have, but don’t at the moment.”

“Our inspiration and music!” exclaimed Lyssa, walking over to the shop’s sound system and turning on the low level classical music that usually played through the store.

“That and these scents will provide a calming atmosphere,” Eris added, lighting a series of the familiar incense sticks which quickly spread the smell of jasmine and apple blossoms throughout the work area.

“Isn’t that better?” Lyssa asked, waving a pair of glowing sticks under Facet’s nose.

“I… “ Facet began, before frowning slightly in puzzlement as whatever it was that had been concerning her slipped away from the front of her thoughts. “Yes… that’s better.”

A leather yoke of sorts was next, fitting over Facet’s shoulders before looping down and around to frame her breasts. Strategically placed straps and buckles on both the yoke and corset merged the two items into one, and as Facet’s handler drew a pair of straps through the her crotch area the whole of it became a complete body harness that couldn’t be simply shrugged off.

“Nothing pinching?” Lyssa asked, next pulling out the conical armbinder that had been made to measure for Facet’s frame.

Facet shook her head, not trusting her words as a familiar floating sensation began to take hold of her thoughts and feelings.

“Arms back, Facet,” Lyssa ordered, and as Facet obeyed, the cone of leather moved upwards to capture her arms.

“Now you’re starting to look like a pony should,” Lyssa commented, looking into her charge’s eyes while threading the armbinder's straps through metal loops in the yoke, meant to make the binding part of the overall harness system.

Facet’s handler smiled as she found what she was looking for in the girl’s eyes, before moving around behind Facet to begin tightening the laces of the armbinder. The first pass made the armbinder inescapable. The second forced Facet to thrust out her chest, putting her modest assets on display, and the third and final pass welded her arms into a single leather encased column behind her.

Facet gave out a small moan, as the discomfort from her shoulders faded into a warmth that further covered her thoughts in a soft web of sensation. She looked over to where Flaxen’s tightly strapped box armbinder was being secured with a series of small silver padlocks, trapping the tall blond’s arms just as securely as Facet’s were. A small chime interrupted Facet’s musings of how good her fellow pony looked, of how her harness showed off her strong muscles and powerful lines…

“It’s our investor,” Lyssa said to Eris, holding up her phone where some texts could be seen. “She has a request for us.”

“Oh?” Eris asked, moving back over to Flaxen’s table, where only a few items of gear remained.

“She wants us to attach the plugs to Flaxen and Facet’s chastity belts,” Lyssa replied, and something in that caught Facet’s attention. The chastity belts had yet to be fitted onto the pair of them, and while the plan had been for them to not use the optional powered plugs there was apparently a change in the wind.

“Did she say why?” Eris asked, hands already grabbing the slick conical devices.

“She said it would make them move in a more convincing manner,” Lyssa paused before adding. “And she’s willing to extend a one percent royalty to the girls if they are willing to go through with it. She's that convinced that the plugs need to be present… and in use.”

“Flaxen, Facet? We know this is a big imposition, and going past what was supposed to be worn for the event, but our backer really knows what she’s talking about,” Eris began, her eyes holding the two women’s gaze even as her hands worked on putting the plugs into the seatings. “Please, could you do this for us?”

“And one percent of all future sales of the gear as well,” Lyssa added, gathering up some more items from the table as well.

“Uh… I… “ came from Flaxen, her head tipping back as Eris gently stroked her cheek. The bound woman couldn’t help but step back into the caress, eyes closing in bliss at the soft touches along her throat and jaw.

Facet found it was hard to concentrate as Lyssa mirrored Eris, though she managed to gasp out a “Yes” of agreement before she too lost herself in the simple pleasure of gentle touches along her cheek and jaw. The girls trusted Lyssa and Eris implicitly. They knew they could trust their handlers, after all, everything they had done so far was making them feel good. Oh, so good.

The bronzed waistband tightening in place around Facet’s waist and the solid “click” of its internal lock closing focused Facet back on what was going on around her, and a shudder went through her slim body in anticipation of what was about to come.

“I’ve lubed these as much as I can, but there still might be some issues getting these in,” Lyssa told the pony in her care. “Take a deep breath.”

Facet did as she was told, inhaling until the combined pressure of her corset and the waistband of the chastity belt forced her to stop. She could feel something curling up between her legs, followed by the first and longer plug parting her lower lips as the mounted dildo pushed its way into her waiting pussy.

The low moan coming from the bound woman’s lips turned into a sudden gasp as the second plug invaded her back door, lubrication allowing it to slide its way through the guardian ring of muscle. The gasp was cut off abruptly as a slim, silicone covered, steel bit was pulled between her teeth by Eris.

“Urk, Aeh hee A haa,” Facet garbled out, as Eris tightened the strap holding the bit in place, pulling it all the way to the rear of Facet’s mouth. The closer sensations of her bridle being wrapped around her head drew her attention away from the filling of her pussy and ass, even as both mounted plugs finished their journey into her and the front of the belt was locked into place.

Eris finished the process of bridling Facet by clipping a pair of reins to the bit and looping them around a hanging hook with a simple knot. A knot that would have been simple to undo if one had hands, but at the moment Facet only had hooves. Facet moved back a step, only to notice that all her motion accomplished was to tighten the knot holding her in place.

“You just stay here while we take care of Flaxen,” Lyssa said to Facet, as she and Eris left the purple maned ponygirl in order to deal with her friend. Unable to pull free of the reins, Facet took a moment to simply stand there and bask in the sensations that were bombarding her from all sides.

Leather straps formed a harness of sorts over her head, pressing slightly into her skin. One strap was pulling back hard on the bit in her mouth, threatening to drop it into the gap where her wisdom teeth had been, while another strap went under her chin, keeping her jaw closed and forcing her tongue against what felt like a metal extension from the bit laying on top of it and keeping it from moving.

Facet danced in place, hooves clip-clopping as she champed at the bit, trying to settle it into a comfortable place, only to whine in frustration as her working at it caused the devilish device to slip back the last fraction of an inch it needed to drop in behind her molars. A whinny that could only be described as “wanton” drew Facet’s attention over to her blond counterpart as Flaxen was belted and bitted as well.

That’s odd, Facet thought to herself, as Eris buckled Flaxen’s bit as tightly as it would go. I don’t recall there being two attachment points for reins in the design. Strange.

Facet tried to recall what she could about the design of the bits themselves. It was hard though. The incense and music were filling her mind, telling her to relax and enjoy the sensations she was feeling, telling her to obey, to trust whoever held her reins. From the tight hug of the tack around her body, to the shifting shafts inside of her that were already stoking her inner fires, to the feel of her silken tail against the backs of her legs…

Facet gave a nicker of surprised joy as she looked over her shoulder to see a length of purple hair extending out from her chastity belt, falling to just past the backs of her knees. She had a tail! Her own— handlers were so thoughtful.

“Noticed your tail, did you?” Lyssa asked, approaching Facet with a rectangular box in her hand.

It was easy for Lyssa to turn Facet around and the ponygirl could feel something click into place at the back of her belt, and almost immediately the plugs inside of her buzzed to life. Facet couldn’t stop herself from trying to grind against the edge of the table, as the vibrations deep in her core drove away all thought but the need to bring about a climax to the desire inside of her, and so it was with another whine of frustration that the vibrations came to a sudden halt.

“That’s a reward for good ponies,” Lyssa said, pocketing the remote and turning Facet back to face her with a gentle pull on her reins. “And you are a good pony, aren’t you?”

Facet made a sound something between a nicker and whinny, while bobbing her head in agreement.

“Maybe after the sale. For now, let’s get you and Flaxen together and give you both a once over to make sure everything is perfect,” Lyssa stated, taking a couple of steps back, and the forward pressure on the reins gave Facet no option but to follow and savor the feelings of the plugs inside of her sliding back and forth in time with the clip clop of her hooved feet.

Eris took up position beside Lyssa, drawing Flaxen along with her, and Facet looked over as the woman went over Flaxen’s tack, tightening the straps of her armbinder another notch, drawing a gasp from Facet’s sister in bondage. Her attention was drawn back to herself as she felt more than heard the click of locks as Lyssa used them to secure the straps of her bridle.

“Oh, looks like someone was a sneaky pony, and managed to get a little slack in her bit,” Lyssa playfully chided, as she tightened Facet’s bit strap the small amount it had loosened and ensuring there was now no way it could pop back out from behind her teeth. Facet made a questioning sound as a second pair of reins were clicked into place on the odd downward pointing levers at the ends of her bit.

“These are punishment reins,” explained Lyssa, thumbing the controller for Facet’s plugs and kicking them to life. “Just keep being a good, obedient animal, and I’ll only have to use this on you. Okay?”

Awash in physical sensations, mind drifting in a haze of endorphins and incense, it was barely in Facet’s power to nod in agreement, let alone maintain a coherent objection to the unexpected additions to the device in her mouth. That was something Rarity would worry about, but Rarity wasn’t there anymore. A tug forward on her main reins urged Facet to move forward and her body obeyed automatically as her mind stopped thinking about anything beyond how good she felt.

“Good girl,” praised Lyssa. “It’s almost time for your… for the auction. Let’s get you into the studio and in front of a camera.”

The two corseted, harnessed, hooved, bridled, bitted, bound in plugged chastity women, willingly followed the direction of their handlers, passing into a curtained off section of the basement near where it ended and became part of the large underground passage that led out to the river. As such, it was no surprise to see a horse trailer there with its ramp down as part of the overall set dressing, which also included a pair of hay bales and a liberal amount of straw strewn over the worn brick floor.

“Let’s just get the two of you into position,” Eris stated, moving Flaxen into place in front of a large and professional looking camera, as Lyssa did the same with Facet before turning on a number of very bright lights hanging from the ceiling.

“And just to keep our ponies occupied… “ Lyssa said, turning both women’s vibrators on to a low setting.

Facet couldn’t help herself. Again, she had to move and grind her hips against the shafts locked inside of her, as they buzzed away strongly enough to fill her mind with the need to climax, but not enough to actually get her there. Distantly, a part of her realized this was why they had trapped her like this, on the edge of orgasm. They wanted her to writhe, to move, to see their pony dance and struggle before accepting her bindings and moving with them, rather than against them.

Facet looked over to Flaxen, who was doing much the same as she was, rolling her hips in a low circle in a futile attempt to get that last bit of stimulation needed to push her over the edge. Facet watched her friend move and flex, heard the creak of the leather around her, the tinkling of locks against buckles, and she thought that Flaxen was quite possibly the most beautiful animal she had ever seen.

Unimportant sounds drifted past her. Amounts of money and names of bidders. Rarity would have considered those sounds to be all important, but to Facet they were just sounds, sounds that had nothing to do with how much she wanted the strongly built blond beside her.

Both of them were trapped in leather and steel, bound in desire wrapped with incense and the faint song that Facet could hear even now. Telling her to listen to the rhythms of her body, to act on how she felt, to obey the song of desire inside of her, and it was then that Facet realized something important.

If she couldn’t push herself over the edge to fulfillment, maybe Flaxen could.

Flaxen had a moment of shocked surprise as Facet plowed into her, knocking her off balance before she hooked a hooved leg around the blonde’s, tripping her up and knocking her down to the floor with an “oof” of expelled air. The smaller girl wasted no time in bouncing back up to straddle the larger, but now pinned pony girl beneath her.

Metal ground against metal as Facet pressed her groin against Flaxen, trying to get that last bit of stimulation she needed to push her over the edge, and for a few moments Flaxen lay there stunned, her blond hair and tail fanning out beneath her as her own slowed thinking processes tried to make sense of what had happened.

Then, to Facet’s joy, Flaxen realized what the smaller girl on top of her was trying to do, and began thrusting back upwards for all she was worth. Both of them writhed and shimmied, desperate to find the perfect angle that would allow them to come together in carnal bliss, that last ounce of pressure that would give them the form of release they desired more than any other in that moment.

Facet could feel herself getting closer. Closer.

And then pain exploded in Facet’s mouth.

“BAD PONY!” Lyssa yelled, heaving back on the previously unused second set of reins. The reins pulled against the lower bar attached to the bit, the leverage letting the bit rotate like an axle, lifting the metal spoon attached to it and pressing it painfully into the soft palate of Facet’s mouth.

Rarity had no choice but to follow the backward pull of the second reins, getting up off of Applejack and back onto her hooves. The pain not only forced her to stand, but also had the effect of clearing her head and she looked over to where Applejack was also being forced back up onto her hooved boots, struggling against the bit, but finding its leverage and its sudden pain inducing qualities to be irresistible.

“Let’s just tie you off here so you don’t get into any more trouble,” Lyssa commented, and reaching up, she tied off the second reins to an extra piece of solid chain that was hanging from the ceiling.

Rarity tried to move toward Applejack, whose own eyes were now wide with surprise at the sudden betrayal, but she had barely gone a step when her own reins pulled tight again, levering the bit spoon upwards once more, and forcing her back to her starting spot. There was a brief tugging at Rarity’s ankles, that, along with a tinkling of chain, had her looking down to discover that Lyssa had quickly locked a short set of links to the D-rings at the back of her ankles, hobbling her to just over a foot of movement per step.

“Aee Ho AWW!” Applejack yelled, her bit still making her speech incoherent, but the anger in her voice was unmistakable.

“And now for the second sale of the night,” Eris began, stepping back in front of the camera. “Two young, lovely, and untamed and unbroken ponygirls. Flaxen and Facet, are perfectly captured in leather and steel for your enjoyment. Both of them are young, nubile, and obviously horny. They can be yours, if you can afford their price. Shall we start the bidding at $100,000?”

Many miles away, in a luxury penthouse overlooking the city

“Got you!” cried the woman, watching the monitor where Rarity and Applejack continued to struggle and fail to free themselves. “Now you’re mine, all mine.”

“Ours, I believe,” replied her companion, a man with heavy slavic features and an accent to match.

“Agreed,” sighed the woman, sinking back in her chair. “And I believe it’s time for your part in our little drama.”

“Da,” agreed the man, picking up a phone and swiftly dialing a number. “Hello, Miss Shimmer. This is Dimitry.”

A surprised squawk came from the phone.

“Are you near a computer?” Dimitry asked. There was a pause followed by, “While buying your… interesting gems In the past, you have spoken to me of some of your friends. I have just been informed by an associate, that two of them may have run afoul of the activities of a colleague of mine. Please access the following IP address. The user name is ‘Yeltsin’ and the password is ‘nekulturny’.”

The man reeled off a string of numbers and there was a much longer pause before the phone fairly exploded with the sound of a very upset woman on the other end of the connection.

“I am willing to help you retrieve them, Miss Shimmer,” Dimitry said, once the woman on the other end stopped screaming into the phone. “But before you agree to my terms and conditions, understand that I am purely motivated by profit and I am extending this offer to you in order to place you in my debt. Financial and otherwise.”

There was a short pause, followed by a burst of sound which the broke the man's stoic features into a predatory grin.

“'Anything', you say,” Dimitry said, looking over to his companion, who was licking her lips in anticipation. “Very well, Miss Shimmer, here are my conditions and what you will need to do…”

Author's Note

How will everyone's favorite bacon horse fit into this?

Chapter 3: Packaged for Shipping

“And SOLD!” Eris exclaimed, aiming a quirt at Applejack as she made the declaration. “To Mistress Eventide for $278,000. We are sure that you will be very happy with your purchase and that Facet and Flaxen will provide you with a lifetime of enjoyment. Your sponsor has already sent us the location of your training facility and we will have your new ponies there by tomorrow.”

The camera turned off and the high powered lights dimmed to normal, accompanied by the sound of inarticulate cries of anger and fear.

“AH WHOOO,” Applejack screamed at the pair, her bit still doing its job of making her attempts at speech sound like gibberish at best, and disturbingly equine at worst.

In truth, a good amount of Applejack’s anger was aimed at herself. She should have suspected a trap from the very beginning, should have never let Eris and Lyssa get into her head with their words, should never have let anyone turn her into… whatever she was now.

“There now, Flaxen,” Eris said, caressing the sold pony girl's cheek as best she could around the straps of her locked bridle. “Doesn’t it feel good to be owned? To let the reins tell you—”

Eris flinched backwards as Applejack tried a sideways kick into her captor’s shin, only for her hoof-booted foot to be stopped short by the hobble chain connecting her ankles.

“AHNrf!” gasped Applejack, as Eris grabbed Applejack’s plaited mane and pulled back, hard.

Applejack tried to fight against the slim girl, and normally it would have been no contest, but bound in leather and steel as she was, Applejack was completely in Eris’ power and unable to resist as the woman blindfolded her on top of everything else.

“I was going to let you have a final moment with Facet before we loaded you up for your trip to the ranch,” Applejack could hear Eris say, as she felt yet another thing tightened against her head, “but that would have been a reward for a good pony. Not a naughty pony like you’ve been.”

Pain blossomed from Applejack’s left butt cheek, making her shift her hips away in automatic reaction from the stinging slap Eris had delivered from the end of her quirt.

“I don’t think Mistress Eventide will mind my instilling a little discipline into her property,” Eris explained, as a hit to Applejack’s other side balanced the sources of pain and made her shift to the right.

“If gentle persuasion won’t teach a stubborn animal like you,” began Eris, as a hit to the front of her left thigh made her flinch back and even more to the right, “perhaps a taste of the whip is what you need. Let’s see if we can teach you a little obedience, Flaxen.”

The blows began to rain down in rapid succession, sometimes alternating sides, sometimes not. Hits came to her right thigh, left calf, top of a shoulder, on her flank; all of them making her twist and writhe as her body automatically flinched away from the blows. The once or twice she tried to simply stand and endure the pain were undone by sharper hits in unexpected places that made her jump.

Applejack would have run, even blindfolded as she was, but the reins attached to her bit and bridle only allowed a foot or two of movement in any direction. Her bindings were more than secure enough to keep her from fighting back, and with no other option Applejack found herself surrendering to the motions her handler required of her. An unwilling performer in a dance of creaking leather and tinkling metal.

“ERIS!” yelled a voice, and Flaxen found herself panting for breath as she was allowed to stand still for the first time in what seemed like hours, her body a strange combination of warmth and pain.

“Eris, stop playing with Flaxen and get over here,” called Lyssa’s voice. “I need your help making sure Facet’s permanent collar is seated properly.

Flaxen could feel her handler’s body leave her side, and she worked her jaw, trying to settle her bit into a more comfortable position. Faintly, she could hear Face… Rarity’s voice, as she struggled against whatever the treasonous store proprietors were doing to her. Applejack shook her head to finish clearing it, the locks attached to the buckles of her bridle thumping against her head, and reminding her that she was a helpless captive. Property. Ow—

Applejack stomped her hoof as hard as she could in negation of that thought. She was Applejack. She was strong, stubborn, and it would take more than the loss of her geode, an entire box of locks, tack strong enough to hold a horse to keep her…

The sensation of her insides clenching against the dildos buried in her ass and sex at those words interrupted the blonde woman’s thoughts of resistance. Did some part of her want this? Want to be kept and trained like an animal? To surrender her free will to whoever held her reins?

Did she want to be Flaxen?

Those questions kept the blonde’s thoughts occupied right up to the point where the blindfold was removed, making Applejack blink rapidly as her eyes readjusted to the light. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts she hadn’t even heard Lyssa and Eris come back to her.

“Your turn now, my dear Flaxen,” Lyssa stated, running her fingers up the bound woman’s side. Applejack tried to flinch away, but her movement didn’t even come close to moving her out of Lyssa’s reach.

“I dearly hope your Mistress and mine lets me play with you,” the woman continued, moving her hand to cup one of Applejack’s breasts and tease the nipple beneath her bodysuit.

It took almost all of Applejack’s willpower not to moan at the erotic attention, particularly combined with the silicone plugs locked deep into her core that never stopped rubbing against her more sensitive nerves. At least their vibration function was off at the moment.

The snap of metal on metal and a tugging sensation focused Applejack’s attention forward, and looking down she saw that Eris was busy clipping another set of reins to her bridle, confusing Applejack slightly. She was already as controlled as any horse she had ever ridden was. Why add an extra set of reins?

The answer came as Eris then unclipped the reins tied to the overhead, and Applejack realized that they had done this to make sure that there would never be a moment when she wasn’t under complete control. Just like an animal. Like a sold animal, being led from the auction house to their new farm.

“Now Flaxen,” Eris said, holding the reins in a slack, but firm grip. “Are you going to behave and walk with me, or are you going to make this fun for Lyssa and I?”

“Ah OO!” Applejack shot back, and immediately paying the price as the shafts nestled inside of her delivered a small, but potent shock.

“Walk,” Eris commanded, giving the reins a light jerk that levered the spoon of Applejack’s bit briefly against her soft palate, making her eyes water and involuntarily making her take a step forward.

“Do you understand now, Flaxen?” Lyssa asked, her hands roving all over the captured woman’s body. “You are an animal. An animal named ‘Flaxen’, and just like any domesticated animal you are firmly under the control of people.”

“Walk,” Eris commanded again, and lifting her arm held the reins with just enough tension to start levering the spoon bit back against the top of Applejack’s mouth.

In that moment the blond farmer realized the truth of what Eris and Lyssa were saying. Right then, she was an animal, one who had no chance of resisting her handlers, and so it was with reluctance that Applejack took a grudging step forward.

“GOOD girl!” praised Lyssa, and thumbing the controller to Flaxen’s belt, gave the pony thirty seconds of pleasant stimulation, which Flaxen tried to grind her hips against, in an attempt to draw out even more enjoyment from the vibrations.

“See how good it is to obey?” Eris asked, reaching over to stroke Flaxen’s cheek. “You’ve worked on a farm. You know how well what you’re wearing works. Save yourself from useless pain, and just… obey.”

“Obey,” repeated Lyssa, and in spite of her earlier determination to fight to the last, Flaxen found her stepping forward in time to the gentle pressure on her reins.

“Good girl!” Lyssa praised again, again turning the plugs inside of Flaxen on, but on the lowest setting.

Step by clip-clopping step Flaxen was brought toward the horse trailer that was to be her transport. The trailer itself appeared to be divided in half down the long axis, with the left side being closed off and probably where Facet was being held for transport. Disturbingly, that side of the trailer was also silent with no sounds to indicate that Flaxen’s fellow pony girl was putting up any sort of struggle.

Then again, neither was Flaxen.

“Come along now,” Eris said, drawing Flaxen forward, to where the bound woman could see what sort of looked like a bench pressing frame with a trough of foam rubber on either side and a confusing mass of equipment past it.

“Put your hooves in place and kneel down,” Eris continued, pointing to a pair of indicated positions just before the foam rubber that had numerous D-rings that were just waiting for someone or something to be attached to them.

Flaxen lifted her leg to place it into the first spot, before hesitating with the leg suspended in mid-air. Was she Flaxen? Was she really just going to give up just because someone had her trussed up tighter than a turkey about to go in the oven.

Rearing back, Applejack reasserted herself. She would not go down without a fight.

Pain exploded in her mouth and in her sensitive areas, demanding her obedience, demanding her submission, but this time the pain had an opposite effect. It made Applejack mad.

Lunging forward, the blond woman used her entire body as a weapon, slamming Eris into the side of the trailer, stunning the woman and reducing her grip on the controlling reins to a weak and frail thing that Applejack was easily able to tear free from her grasp. Caught by surprise, Lyssa slashed her quirt at Applejack only to find herself bowled over by the charging pony girl.

Stairs! Applejack thought to herself. All Ah need to do is find the stairs. Get onto the street. Soon as someone sees me they’ll know Ah need help.

Under nearly any other circumstance Applejack would have made it. Even with her arms locked behind her, and wearing pounds of bondage gear, Applejack would have made it.

What stopped her though was her footwear. Applejack wasn’t used to wearing high heels, never mind hoofboots that kept her heel arched off of the ground and had an actual horseshoe attached to each of their soles. On top of that, the chain hobble locked to the backs of her ankles changed her normally long strides into a series of short steps, that threatened to skitter and slide out from under her at every opportunity now that so much was on the line.

Even so, Applejack managed to find and climb up the first few stairs leading out of the basement before Eris and Lyssa caught up to her.

“GOT YOU!” Eris cried, and Applejack wailed in pain and frustration as one of the reins attached to her bit was strongly hauled back.

In spite of the agony her bit was causing her, Applejack wedged herself in place, refusing to move and it wasn’t until Lyssa caught up and grabbed onto the other rein that the pair finally began to get Applejack back under their control. With both sets of reins in two sets of hands and being pulled back down the stairs, Applejack was no longer able to resist the leverage advantage her tack gave to Lyssa and Eris, and she staggered back down the stairs to collapse in a heap.

“We tried to do this the nice way,” Eris huffed, as she and her companion spaced themselves apart while keeping the reins taut between them. That way, if Applejack tried to attack either of them again, the other would bring her up short.

“You have two choices, Flaxen,” Lyssa added, winding the ends of her side of the reins around each of her fists. “You either get up and walk into the trailer, or we drag you. There’s a powered winch in the front that’s more than capable of doing it. Your choice, pony.”

Every part of Applejack hurt. From the aching pain in her mouth, down to her scuffed knees and aching feet. All of that pain would have been worth it if she’d managed to escape and get help, but she hadn’t. She was still as much a captive as she had been when the two women had revealed their betrayal earlier.

“Well?” Lyssa demanded.

With a jangling nod, Applejack indicated her compliance as she slowly made her way back onto her feet… her hooves. As she did so, Lyssa and Eris took no chances with their captive, using the reins to keep Applejack tethered and controlled in between them.

“I would say ‘Good girl’ at this point, but my aching back side wants some payback, so instead I’ll just order you to ‘walk on’,” Eris said, as she and Lyssa began to guide Applejack forward.

Applejack surrendered herself to the guidance of the reins, walking forward as she was bid. For now, she would play the part of “Flaxen” and let these two big city floozies think that she was beaten and cowed. There would be another opportunity for escape, she just had to keep her eyes open and her mind ready to take advantage of it.

After dozens of small steps, the trio were finally back at the trailer and Flaxen placed her hooves in the indicated circles. Watching carefully for another escape attempt, Eris and Lyssa tied off the blonde woman’s reins before dipping down to lock their pony’s chain hobble to the truck.

“Drop forward onto your knees, then lay your torso onto the support,” Lyssa ordered, once her and Eris were holding the reins again.

With a sigh, Flaxen did as she was told, a sound of surprise emerging from her bitted mouth at how soft but supportive the foam rubber under her lower legs was, its coolness doing wonders to ease the aches there. As Flaxen lay down on the bench, she noticed something that looked like the bottom half of a pair of stocks in front of her, with a half circle of white metal in the “U” of the stock.

Flaxen’s attention was quickly diverted to her body as her handlers busied themselves with clipping tie down straps to the various rings on her tack, drawing a breath out of her as the tightening straps pulled her against the bench supporting her torso. As if that wasn’t enough, Flaxen then felt broad leather straps being wrapped around her legs and body before being cinched down.

The final measure was the attachment of a line to a ring on the top of Flaxen’s bridle. When it was pulled tight, the bound and chained woman wasn’t even able to lower her head, never mind move it. Which is likely why Eris then reached down and unclipped both sets of reins from the bit.

“Now, let’s get your permanent collar on you,” Eris commented, and as Flaxen’s eyes went wide, Eris spun a wheel that lifted the stocks and the piece of metal in it toward the pony girl’s neck.

“You’re going to love your collar,” Eris continued, stroking Flaxen as if she were some sort of pet. “I wish my Mistress would put one of these on me, but they’re very expensive, and completely unremovable without killing the wearer. Believe me, people have tried.”

The stock stopped just as it touched Flaxen’s neck and Flaxen could feel Eris doing something on either side a moment afterwards.

“Epoxy is on,” Eris stated. “Do you have the top half ready?”

“Good to go,” was Lyssa’s reply and Flaxen then felt something come down against the back half of her throat, holding her neck in a circle of firm, but not overly tight pressure. There was then a ratcheting sensation, causing Flaxen to guess that the two halves of the stocks were now being fastened into place around her throat. A few moments later something tickled the back of her throat, causing her to cough.

“Oh, that will be the epoxy starting to set,” Lyssa noted. “Eris, you better get the mask onto Flaxen so she doesn’t choke on the fumes.”

A rubber mask came into Flaxen’s view, causing her to involuntarily close her eyes as it was drawn over her face, before being tightened over top of the straps of her bridle. Glass lenses allowed the bound woman to continue to look down at the trailer’s floor. A moment later she could hear a hiss of air as the cool scent of jasmine and sandalwood filled her nostrils.

Why are they using… the incense… again? Flaxen asked herself, as her thoughts began the now familiar slowing.

“There we go, Flaxen,” Eris said, checking the various connections. “Just breathe in, and let all your worries wash away.”

Drugs! came the realization, galvanizing Flaxen’s mind for a few moments. The incense were… drugs. All along. Planned. Me and Rares. Trap… from the start. Gotta. Play… possum.

Flaxen felt her handlers fiddle with her ears for a moment, before all the sounds around her seemed to go away, before being replaced by a voice.

“You are Flaxen,” stated a woman’s voice. One that seemed familiar, but that Flaxen couldn’t place. “You are an animal. You are owned.”

The inside of the glass lenses in front of Flaxen’s eyes lit up with fractal patterns and swirling colours, drawing in her attention.

“You are an animal. Animals obey. Animals don’t speak,” continued the voice.

The plugs locked inside of Flaxen came to life, buzzing away in a rising and falling pattern.

“You are Flaxen. You are an animal. You are owned,” repeated the voice.

The woman felt herself beginning to sink into the swirls and patterns in front of her eyes, and instead of resisting them, allowed herself to fall into those beguiling colours. Allowing them to bury Applejack in a warm blanket of mindless sensation.

“You are an animal. Animals obey. Animals don’t speak,” continued the voice.

Flaxen never heard the doors behind her close and lock.

“You are Flaxen. You are an animal. You are owned,” continued the voice, as the cycle repeated.

Flaxen

“You are an animal. Animals obey. Animals don’t speak.”

Animal

“You are Flaxen. You are an animal. You are owned.”

Owned

The swirling patterns carried Flaxen’s mind deeper and deeper into the mindset others wished for her, even as the truck pulling the trailer carried her and Facet deeper into the night…

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay on this. Life got in the way, but we are now through the initial part of the story. Applejack and Rarity have been shoved down the rabbit hole. Only time will tell how deep it is and who they will find at the bottom...

Also, I've taken to streaming my attempts at gaming. Midnight to 2am Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday through Tuesday nights. Currently playing the Darkness Falls mod for 7 Days to Die.
Link to Stream