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?