Celestia blinked to awareness of a soft light shining down on her. Immediately she tried to throw an arm over her eyes, only to find first one arm and then the other, to be completely uncooperative. Looking over to her right arm, she first noticed that she wasn’t lying on her bed, but rather on some sort of frame.

One arm of which supported her right arm and held a pair of straps that buckled over both her bicep and forearm. Instead of seeing her hand at the end of her arm, there was instead some sort of leather mitten enclosing her hand and capturing it all the way down to the wrist, where laces could be seen poking out from underneath the custom steel cuffs Mis—.

It all came flooding back to her in that moment; the weeks of talking, of play, of trust. All of it shattered in an instant of betrayal and the realization that the whole time Celestia hadn’t been a submissive finding a dominant, she had been prey in the eyes of a hunter. A hunter who had snared her prey by slowly peeling away her natural wariness before springing the trap.

Looking around, Celestia took stock of her situation. She was bound hand and foot to some sort of padded frame that was set at a slight angle. Straps were buckled tight over the main muscles of her arms and legs, which along with the metal cuffs at her wrists and ankles absolutely assured she wasn’t moving any of her limbs.

The movement of her head had also told her that not only was her metal collar in place, but that something was securing it to what she was laying on as well. The final piece of bondage was a leather harness of some sort that framed her naked breasts and was integrated with a snug, but not overly tight, corset. All in all, not only was Celestia completely secured in place, there was also no possibility of her being able to free herself from her bonds.

“Ah, so you’re awake Aurora. Excellent,” said a woman’s voice from behind Celestia, as the lights came up enough for her to see the walls of the room she was in.

“My name isn’t Aurora, it’s Celestia,” protested Celestia, pulling slightly at her bonds.

“Your name is Aurora,” replied the woman, walking into view. Celestia saw a lovely, strong featured woman with clear skin and long dark hair, who leaned forward to grasp the steel ring on the front of Celestia’s collar and pull hard enough to make the bound woman aware of it anew.

“Your name might have been something else in the past, but once you placed that collar around your throat you became Aurora, my Aurora,” the possessive grip on Celestia’s collar was released to allow the woman to glide her hand down Celestia’s torso. “You are my beautiful, mature mare, and by the time I am done training you the only thoughts in your mind will be the name that you’ve chosen, and how best to please me.”

“Amethyst? Mistress Amethyst? It’s you?” Celestia asked, feeling a bit of hope as the woman undid the shackle around one ankle.

“Yes Aurora, it’s me,” confirmed the woman, sliding one of Celestia’s hoofboots on and securing it before locking the restraint back around Celestia’s ankle and moving over to the other leg.

“Let me go. This isn’t what I want. This isn’t anything I’ve asked for,” Celestia stated firmly, barely holding back the desire to scream the words at Mistress Amethyst.

“You belong to me now,” Amethyst explained, affixing Celestia’s other hoofboot and locking the steel shackle over it as well.

“I don’t belong to anyone!” Celestia fired back, heat in her words now as it became clear that Mis… that Amethyst had no intention of letting her go.

“You wear a permanent collar that is never coming off. Owners put collars on animals to show others that they are owned,” Amethyst continued, moving a hand up to cup one of Celestia’s full breasts before rubbing a thumb over it. “These will be lovely once they’ve been properly and permanently ringed.”

“Wh-What do you mean by ‘permanently’?” Celestia demanded, her voice catching with both the bolt of pleasure that went through and fear at the implication of Mistress Amethyst’s words.

“Your collar is made from a heat treated steel alloy,” Mistress Amethyst began, reaching over to pull a rolling table close. Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw that the table held a bottle of medicinal alcohol, wide forceps and the other implements needed to pierce ears, or other body parts. “While you were asleep, the locking works were filled with a metal epoxy all the way up to and including the keyhole. By this time the epoxy will have fully cured, leaving no way for the collar to be removed, short of a plasma torch.”

“I am NOT your animal!” Celestia cried out, jerking at the steel and leather holding her in place with every ounce of strength at her command. Her Mistress simply waited until she had exhausted herself before continuing, gently cleaning Celestia’s nipples with a pair of alcohol soaked pads.

“You are mine, and unlike the dozens of young women I’ve done this to in the past, you are special. So very special,” Mistress Amethyst replied, grasping one of Celestia’s now sterilized nipples with the special forceps. “You will be the final proof of my theories. A living rebuttal to all those who called my thesis on behavioural neuroscience the ravings of a madwoman who knew nothing about how the mind works.”

Celestia was surprised at how little pain there was from the process. Only a couple of drops of blood, a pair of metal barbells, and a slight ache, gave any indication that she was now doubly marked as a piece of property.

“Why are you doing this?” Celestia asked, as she stared down at her chest, while Mistress Amethyst put away her implements and pulled something else off the table. “Does doing this give you some sort of pleasure?”

“Only the pleasure of proving myself right to a bunch of hide-bound old men who can’t understand that ‘I think, therefore I am’ was an equation to be balanced, not a statement of fact,” Mistress Amethyst responded, turning back toward her prisoner, her property. “I will admit that I do enjoy having power over the true core of a person, but it isn’t a sexual pleasure. No, not as such.”

“Now what?” Celestia wanted to know, dreading the answer.

“Now, I fully train my Aurora into a relatively mindless, obedient animal. One in the form of a human horse, or ‘pony girl’ as I believe the term is. I have done this with many young girls and made them into obedient play things for some incredibly wealthy men and women who are willing to pay vast sums for such creatures,” Amethyst explained, before leaning over Celestia and tightly cinching a second, leather collar, around her captive’s throat.

“W—” a powerful electrical shock surged out of the leather band around Celestia’s throat, painfully shocking her vocal cords into immobility.

“And so we begin,” Mistress Amethyst explained, looking down at Celestia and nodding in satisfaction. “Animals are collared. Animals are leashed and harnessed. Animals also do not speak. They do not even try to speak.”

“Y—” again electricity tore the words out of Celestia’s throat.

“The collar carries enough charge to deliver dozens of jolts just like that,” Mistress Amethyst stated, lifting a small black box into Celestia’s view. “I can also trigger your training collar remotely.”

This time, the pain wasn’t just a single thunderbolt, but a rolling tide of lightning that seemed to go on forever, leaving Celestia lying limply in her bonds.

“Open,” Amethyst commanded, as she held a mass of straps and buckles all connected to a silver bar that was being held in front of Celestia’s mouth. With no options other than to obey, or obey after excruciating pain, Celestia opened her mouth and Amethyst slid the surprising soft bar over Celestia’s tongue.

“The bit is a standard bar of stainless steel, but I’ve covered it in food grade silicone to remove any chance of chipped teeth,” the woman explained, as she placed and tightened the leather straps of the human shaped bridle around Celestia’s head.

That accomplished, Celestia’s captor released one of her arms before guiding the appendage behind her back and securing it to something attached to the corset that was cinched around Celestia’s waist. The process was then repeated with her other arm, and Celestia took note that Amethyst’s movements were sure and precise. Not only that, but the woman was also making sure that Celestia was bound as much as possible at all times, rendering any attempt at resistance a futile effort, and that was even before taking into account the shock collar she was wearing.

A pair of reins were clipped onto the rings at the end of Celestia’s bit just before the frame she was attached to was rotated into an upright position.

“Now then,” Mistress Amethyst said, and for the first time Celestia took note of what the other woman was wearing. Cream coloured blouse, jodhpur pants and a pair of black riding boots. In other words, the exact outfit for an equestrienne about to go for a ride… or train a new mount.

“Aurora, pay attention,” Amethyst commanded, pulling the reins taut and causing Celestia to immediately snap her attention back toward the madwoman. “In a few moments we will move from here to the conditioning room, where we will get a baseline of your physical stamina and overall core strength.”

Celestia’s glare could have melted steel beams.

After knotting the reins of her prize around a convenient hanging steel ring, the equestrienne began to release Celestia from the padded frame that had held her. Amethyst took her time, releasing a strap or undoing a lock, then checking to make sure Aurora was steady on her hooves before proceeding to the next. As it turned out, this was a wise precaution as the bound woman nearly stumbled and fell as the last restraint was released.

Only Mistress Amethyst’s quick reactions and the secured reins kept Celestia from falling onto the floor, and for a moment the two were held in that tableau. One woman supporting the other’s body, reins pulling sharply on a piece of headgear that refused to slip from its grip on Celestia’s head.

“Always trust the reins,” Amethyst advised, pulling Celestia up to a standing position and checking the other woman over for any damage. “Always trust your owner. I take good care of my pets, and I will take good care of you.”

With that, the woman began to walk out the room with Celestia obediently following her, not because she wanted to, but because it had been made absolutely crystal clear that she had no choice but to obey. Two pairs of booted feet click-clacked on the cement floor until the dark-haired woman led Celestia into a tall room with a dirt floor and a strange whirlygig-like device in its center.

“Aurora, this is a hot-walker,” Amethyst said, leading Celestia under one of the arms of the device and securing the woman to it via both the reins attached to her bridle and a pair of chains that locked into place on the top of her harness.

Celestia didn’t like the sound of that and tried to pull away from the device, only to realize that her chains granted very little slack.

“Easy, my dear,” the dominatrix advised, gently stroking Celestia’s head as if to calm her, and then taking the opportunity to slide earbuds into each of her ears.

Celestia tried to shake the devices loose. A movement which was almost instantly rewarded by a brief jolt of corrective pain.

“Naughty pony,” chided Amethyst. “These are to give you something to listen to while you exercise. Now, let us begin.”

The walker burst into life, pulling Celestia forward along the dirt track. It was a very good thing she had become used to walking in hoofboots, as the practice ensured that Celestia was easily able to keep up with the pace that the walker was setting. Music began playing in Celestia’s ears a moment later. A simple rising and falling melody whose beat was in near perfect synchronization with the rising and falling of Celestia’s booted feet.

“I need to check on the rest of my livestock,” Amethyst stated, after Celestia had made several circuits without incident. “The system will sound an alert if you should fall, though the safety chains will keep you from hitting the ground should that happen. You will be given a rest period every thirty minutes. I’ll see you soon, my lovely mare.”

With that said, Mistress Amethyst left and the machine continued to lead Celestia around in a circle. Once or twice she tried to balk at the incessant tug on her reins or to deviate from her prescribed course, but the device was more than strong enough to keep her exactly where Amethyst wanted her to be. Time passed, and as the minutes began to flow into hours Celestia was sure that she could hear something inside the music that was keeping time for her marching hooves…

“Aurora… animal… Aurora… silent… Aurora… animal… Aurora… silent…”

When Mistress Amethyst eventually returned at what felt like hours later, it was to a sweaty, dishevelled, and exhausted woman who was barely keeping herself upright as she stumbled along under the control of the walker. All the bound woman could think about was keeping one foot moving in front of the other in time to the music, and it was to her profound relief that Amethyst stopped both the music and the machine both before releasing her from the implacable training device.

“Easy there, Aurora,” Amethyst soothed, taking up Celestia’s weight as the older woman sagged against her and slid a thin plastic tube over her bit. “This is ice water, so drink slowly.”

Gratefully, Aur… Celestia sucked on the straw as best she could, and was immediately rewarded with a pulse of cold, clear water. Two or three more pulls on the straw did wonders to clear Celestia’s head and restore at least some of her energy.

“Good girl,” Mistress Amethyst praised, before getting her prize back on her hooves and taking a short grasp on the reins. “Let’s get you cleaned up and bedded down for the night. No animal of mine is ever going to be put away wet.”

An unresisting Celestia was then led to what appeared to be a large shower room, complete with yet another articulated frame that she was soon chained to before being stripped completely naked, save for her collars, cuffs and shackles. A gush of icy water from a hose led to a very natural shriek of protest, that was once again cut off by a powerful jolt from her training collar.

“Silent and obedient animals are rewarded, but today is your first day of training, so I’ll overlook that outburst,” Mistress Amethyst stated, as she took up a washing mitt and began to use it to spread warm, soapy lather all over Celestia’s body.

Outburst? Celestia thought to herself. If I ever get free of this I’ll show her an outburst!

The washing continued, followed by a rinse, and then an enema. A process that embarrassed Celestia to no end, and one that made her bite her lip in a successful attempt to remain silent during the procedure.

“Almost done,” advised the younger woman, before tilting the frame fully to the horizontal. Bound, silenced and with even her most basic bodily functions in the control of another, Celestia waited for whatever new horror was about to be visited upon her.

It took everything in Celestia’s power to stop the moans of pleasure that threatened to escape her over the next several minutes, as Mistress Amethyst massaged the bare soles of Celestia’s feet.

“You worked hard today, and I mean to have you in tip-top condition,” Amethyst commented, smiling as she saw Celestia writhing as much as her chains would allow her. “Your endurance is quite good for a mare of your age, but it definitely can be a lot better.”

Celestia barely heard the woman. Between the exercise, the shower, and the massage, her mind was filled with a cloud of endorphins that kept her passive and quiescent as Amethyst cinched a new harness in place around her body and attached her permanent restraints to it. Celestia didn’t even protest as she was led to an enclosure and made to lay down on a premade nest of soft blankets.

“Goodnight Aurora,” Amethyst said, taking a moment to slide the earbuds back into Celestia’s ears. “I’ll play some white noise to help you sleep. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

The sounds of a seascape began to play in her ears, but even as Celestia's tired body carried her mind off to sleep, she thought she could hear a whisper under the waves…

Aurora… animal… Aurora… silent… Aurora… animal… Aurora… silent…

Day followed day, until days stretched into weeks.

At night, Celestia was always restrained in some way, often spread eagled on the padded frame she’d come to hate, or occasionally in a stall with a nest of blankets. There was enough slack in her bonds to allow a good bit of squirming and struggling, and Mistress explained that it was, "so that my Aurora can get a good night's sleep."

During the day, Celestia would be "dressed" in various leather harnesses, all similar but with occasional minor differences in their designs. All of them incorporated mittens or gloves of some type to incapacitate her fingers and hands along with a leather flap, sheath, or array of straps to trap her arms behind her back, plus straps to pin her upper arms to her sides.

All were inescapable, and all had been designed so that she could exercise for extended periods without the various straps chafing or raising blisters—and exercise she did. Celestia became very familiar with the dirt path under her hooves in the exercise room.

There were recurring intervals of imposed rest, during which Celestia had nothing better to do than ponder methods of escape or listen to the music in her ears. Mistress was very careful and had continued to give her exactly zero opportunities to mount any sort of credible resistance or wiggle out of any part of her restraints, much less regain her freedom.

Not only was her body being kept in perfect, controlled bondage, there was also the second collar of leather and steel locked around her neck, which Celestia quickly found out wouldn’t even let her whisper. Any attempt on her part to speak, vocalize, or make any sort of sound, no matter how quietly, was punished by a painful electric shock.

Adding insult to injury, Mistress made it clear that while she found Celestia’s attempts to silently mouth pleas for freedom somewhat amusing, they would not be tolerated. The worst part of it was that Celestia knew she was being conditioned away from her powers of speech, and despite her fervent resolve to fight back against the process, it was happening anyway.

Mistress had also made it clear that she appreciated Aurora giving her additional excuses to add to her taming and training. For the first several days, Mistress used any overt or even covert resistance on Aurora’s part as a reason to whip her with a riding crop or use the remote to trigger her collar on its lowest setting. Not only was Mistress’ animal helpless and not in control of her basic bodily functions, much less her fate, Aurora was learning to live under the threat of constant discipline for acts of disobedience. Such as attempting to act like a human being and not an owned, domesticated animal.

As for the routine, the exact timing varied, but there were morning and afternoon exercise periods. That meant either walking in harness and boots around the circular equestrian exercise track, or occasionally trudging on the rolling treadmill of a conventional, gym-style running machine.

In addition to being helpless, restrained, and tottering on her toes by the hoofboots, there was also always a bit strapped in her mouth as Aurora walked, and walked, and walked, until her skin glistened with sweat. The exercise was much more than Aurora was used to, and despite the soreness it caused in her muscles, she could feel her endurance building rapidly as her mind and body became used to the restrictions Aurora’s tack placed on her.

Regular massage sessions were another part of the routine. After every exercise session, Aurora’s hoofboots would be removed and Mistress would expertly massage her aching feet with a deep, gentle pressure that was both welcome, and dare she even think it, pleasurable.

The same went for the full-body massages Aurora received over virtually every square inch of her body at the end of each day. The foot-massages were delivered with her ankles locked in place, while the body-massages happened on a padded table with a plethora of adjustable, medical-style straps and cuffs.

Meals usually took the form of porridge, oatmeal, or some other semi-fluid sustenance delivered by Mistress with either a spoon or with what amounted to a very large syringe. There were also smoothies, which were even more fluid, and on a totally unpredictable and infrequent basis, what amounted to finger-food, in the form of tiny sandwiches or pastry-wraps.

They were savory, delicious, and a welcome break from the gloppy meal routine, but the lift to her spirits when Aurora realized she was going to actually be allowed to chew something was always short-lived as the lack of a gag or bit reminded her that she was not allowed to speak.

No part of her physical care was overlooked, so when it came to oral hygiene, Mistress was prepared with a jaw-stretching medical clamp and brushed her pony's teeth at least once a day. As for her other hygienic needs, Aurora learned to empty her bladder on command, either into a bedpan or a steel commode in a tiled "bathroom stall." She was not allowed to voluntarily empty her bowels though, and was required to endure a daily enema as part of her morning and evening routines. Bathing took the form of being doused with a hose, scrubbed with a soapy brush or mitten, doused again, and then dried with a towel.

There was one final element in Aurora’s routine: forced orgasms.

At least once a day, sometimes twice, Mistress would use her hands, along with one of several different styles of vibrator, to caress and tease Aurora’s pussy and other erogenous areas until she had no choice but to surrender to a thunderous orgasm. Sometimes it was while she was still harnessed and sweaty from exercise, sometimes while she was strapped to her padded frame, sometimes while bound to the massage table, and even sometimes while tethered in place by a web of chains.

Mistress would always make sure Aurora was well hydrated after these sessions, and the combination of liquid and afterglow would leave the pony girl’s mind floating on a cloud of endorphins… and perhaps something else. Aurora never saw Mistress adding anything to her food or drink, but she could always feel her mind drifting a little further away from who she had been afterwards.

Through it all, Aurora was powerless to resist or even protest against what was being done to her. Constant restraint. Constant helplessness. Constant discipline, training and conditioning. Day followed day as Aurora kept trying to hold onto the idea that she was, or had at least been, a woman named “Celestia,” and that all she had to do was hold on to that idea until her family and friends realized what had happened to her, and rescue came.

Then came the day when Aurora was led back into the piercing room. She balked momentarily as she realized where Mistress was taking her but all it took was a slight pull on Aurora’s reins to bring her back into line so that she could be strapped into place and tilted back so that Mistress could first examine one, then the other large breast.

“Excellent. These have healed well,” Mistress noted, pulling up a tray with some metallic items in it.

There was no pain at all as Mistress removed first one, then the other barbell from Aurora’s nipples before threading metal rings through the piercings and closing them with a screw fitting to which Mistress added a drop of a strong smelling compound before tightening into place.

“Nothing but the best for my Aurora,” Mistress declared, carefully handling the globes of flesh in order to be certain that no harm had come to either of them. “Titanium alloy rings with one of the strongest epoxies known. Completely permanent, barring surgery.”

Celestia looked down in horror at her chest as the glint from the shining rings gleamed back up at her, emphasizing that despite her best efforts, Mistress Amethyst was well on her way to having a tamed, trained, and conditioned animal on her hands. The long periods of mindless exercise, the hours of whispers in her ears, the orgasms, the food, the drink, the complete and total control Mistress had over every aspect of her being…

Nothing Celestia had done had stopped or even slowed the process of breaking her down and building up Aurora in her place. She couldn’t even make her mind hold onto the last name of her mistress. All that was left was the slim hope—

“One other thing,” Mistress said conversationally, holding up a newspaper where the bound woman could see it.

“BELOVED EDUCATOR LAID TO REST,” shouted the headline, followed by, “THOUSANDS MOURN TRAGIC DEATH.”

“I had no idea that the woman I had chatted with was so well known,” Mistress remarked. “It’s a good thing my contact in the coroner’s office was able to supply me with the body of a tragically passed away transient person that I was able to leave in the fire. This way all those people had someone to bury, and that poor person received a proper funeral.”

It was the proverbial straw that broke the pony’s back. Celestia was dead and buried, with every day seeing that woman becoming a more distant memory in Aurora’s mind, and it was clear now that short of a massive mistake on Mistress’ part no one would ever think that the silent pony girl named Aurora had ever been anything other than an obedient animal under the strict control of her Mistress.

And Mistress had proven over the past few weeks that she didn’t make mistakes.

“There, there, my precious Aurora,” Mistress soothed, as she wiped away the silent tears her animal had shed. “You are so very important to me. You are the living proof that I was right and that so many others were wrong, and I will always take the best care of you and ensure that you have a long and healthy life.”

A vibrating wand began to tease Aurora’s folds and in spite of her sadness at the loss of Cel… that other woman, she felt her body start to respond to the stimulation of her pleasure centers. The whispers in her ears told Aurora that she was a silent animal who belonged to Mistress, and now, she believed them.

Week followed week, and became months.

After another month of endurance training, Mistress had declared that Aurora was ready to go outside. Which is when the pony had learned the corset that was always a part of her tack was actually meant as the attachment point for a cart, and that her long term purpose was to be a lovely draft animal pulling Mistress around the ranch while she checked on her other livestock.

Aurora wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, but she wasn’t the only animal in Mistress’ care and keeping. There were other pony girls, cat girls, puppy girls and even a couple of pony boys, all being trained under the watchful eyes of various grooms and caretakers.

“Some of these sought me out, others were commissions, but all of them will eventually sell for between fifty and a hundred million apiece,” Mistress declared, from her seat behind Aurora, who felt the cart shift as Mistress came down from her perch to stroke her pony’s cheek. “Not that I would ever sell you. You are mine and mine alone.”

Aurora leaned into the caress, which continued as her ever vigilant Mistress used her free hand to also check on the tightness of Aurora’s tack, as well as the bells fastened to both it and Aurora’s rings, before sliding her hand underneath Aurora’s permanent steel collar and grasping it firmly.

“You are mine and mine alone,” Mistress repeated.

A declaration that was tested weeks later when a woman with a massive head of orange hair arrived at the ranch.

“I’m here to check on how Dusk and Blaze are coming along in their—” the woman haughtily began, before stopping cold in front of Mistress’ buggy cart and staring at Aurora with a look of shock and amazement. “No fucking way. ******** is dead.”

“Dead and buried,” Mistress agreed, sliding the curve of her buggy whip along Aurora’s hip in a non-verbal reminder to stand up straight. “This is Aurora.”

“Aurora?” the woman asked, stepping close and running a hand along the harnessed woman’s toned flank. “Is she…”

Aurora didn’t react to the woman’s touch. By this time her training collar was long a thing of the past, and Aurora had no need to react or even think about what was going on or what was said around her, to the point where she was losing her ability to comprehend certain words and phrases. Aurora didn’t mind, as she didn’t need to think or understand spoken words, because Mistress did all the thinking for Aurora. All she needed to do was obey the tap of Mistress’ crop or the pulls on her reins in order to be a good pony for her Mistress.

“She is what Dusk and Blaze will be like once their training is finished,” Mistress replied, setting the parking brake of the cart. “Permanently obedient animals whose only desire is to obey whoever holds their reins or leash, a state that will not require drugs or… other means, to maintain.

“I want her,” the woman declared, hooking her fingers under a strap of Aurora’s harness and trying to pull her close. Only the cart traces kept Aurora in place, as the pull set the bells on Aurora’s harness and nipple rings jangling. “Name your price. I want her.”

“You are already going to have two well-trained and tamed mares for your stables,” Mistress stated firmly. “As for Aurora, she isn’t for sale, not for any price. She is the definitive, living proof that my techniques can change any mind, no matter how mature, entrenched or solid that mind may be. As such, she is the embodiment of my life’s work and what she represents is far beyond any monetary value.”

“I want her,” the woman repeated forcefully, trying to pull Aurora out of the traces through main force.

“Let Aurora go before I have to call security,” Mistress said, with an icy calm. “I’m sure I could find an empty stall for you… if I have to.”

“Like you could turn me—” began the woman, before Mistress interrupted.

“Any mind,” Mistress repeated. “No matter how mature, entrenched or solid. Properly fitting tack to you would be a challenge, but I’m sure we have something here that could be made to fit you. Permanently.”

“I… I apologize,” the orange haired woman said hesitantly, seeing not an ounce of doubt in the eyes of Aurora’s Mistress that Orange Hair would be just another mare to her, if Orange Hair pushed the matter.

“Think nothing of it. You wouldn’t be the first person who came here and found that they needed their passions controlled for them,” Mistress graciously replied, once the other woman had taken her hands off of Aurora. “Your ponies are responding well to their training, and should be ready for you within a month. If you like, I could take you on temporarily so that you can truly appreciate what I do here. I’m sure Dusk and Blaze would appreciate a stall mate.””

“Thank you, but no,” Orange Hair replied, a trifle shakily. “I think I should go. Please contact me when Dusk and Blaze are ready for pickup.”

“Thirteen,” Mistress replied. A non-sequitur that had Orange Hair looking at Mistress in confusion.

“Your collar size,” Mistress explained, and Orange Hair’s eyes went wide before turning and almost literally running from the paddock areas.

Aurora thought nothing of the incident after that, except to be somewhat shy around women with red or orange hair. Something that Mistress took pains to begin to correct but would never have the chance to completely cure her animal of, as a couple of months after the incident Aurora was suddenly awoken by the sound of a thunderous explosion.

Scared and frightened, Aurora huddled in one corner of her stall as her ears were repeatedly battered by the thunderous claps of more explosions and the chatter of gunfire. A series of bangs began to sound as stall doors were smashed open one at a time, with loud shouting from strange voices coming after each one.

Closer and closer the cacophony approached, causing the tethered animal to whimper in fear as she tried to find a place to hide, but there was no cover to be had in her stall, and even if there was, Mistress still kept her leashed and tethered to the walls at night, making it a simple matter for anyone to simply follow the line of steel links.

Aurora could hear angry voices outside the door to her own stall, and she braced herself for the inevitable, when to her relief she heard the sound of Mistress’ voice. Mistress was here to protect her!

It was however, a short lived relief, as the door to her stall burst open like all the others and revealed a group of eight armed and very angry looking women, one of whom was holding Mistress at gunpoint!

Several of the women cried out at seeing Aurora, with one of them, a very beautiful mare with purple hair and wearing a flattering leather harness, gathering Aurora into her arms. She kept softly repeating a word that made no sense at all to Aurora, all the while going over her tack and paying particular attention to the harness’ locks and tethering chains.

The woman who was holding a gun to Mistress, a tall, older woman with flowing hair a thousand shades of midnight blue, began to angrily shout at Mistress, who Aurora only then realized was handcuffed.

“WHAT… SISTER!” Dark Hair demanded, her face a mask of rage.

“... doesn’t exist… Aurora remains,” Mistress replied, standing tall even in the face of Dark Hair’s fury.

“... HER BACK!” Dark Hair screamed, and the other women must have seen something that frightened them in Dark Hair’s face or words, as they moved to pull the furious woman away from Mistress.

“...Aurora forever,” Mistress proudly proclaimed.

Dark Hair’s weapon seemed to blink into place, and Aurora had one last glimpse of her Mistress before the woman who had created her was hurled backwards in a roar of automatic weapons fire.

Author's Note

Chapter 2 of this commissioned story. My apologies in advance for the lateness of this release and any grammatical errors in the tale. Sadly, my editor has been in and out of hospital several times recently and has been in now shape to work their usual magic on my words.

Thus, all errors are mine and mine alone.

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 help fund my trip to NASA later this year, join my Patreon for as little as a dollar a month and you too can help a crazy writer keep on, keeping on.

Also, I've taken to streaming my attempts at gaming. 11pm to 2am Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday through Tuesday nights. Currently doing the Skyrim Ironman challenge, where like a proper Nord I make everything I use... which is odd because I'm playing as a Khajit...

Link to Stream