by Van © 2020
		Chapter 8

Day followed day, and Tasha's training program for the herd's newest pony proceeded as outlined.

For the first three days, Effie's "exercise outfit" was always the same:

• Nudity (which was also her non-exercise outfit);
• Ponygirl-collar;
• Corset-bra-armbinder upper-body-harness; and...
  
• Bare legs and feet.

Prolonged walking on the semi-hard rubber treads of the treadmill/exercise-machine took their toll on the soles of Effie's bare feet, but nightly massages from one of her herd-sisters (or Tasha) helped a great deal.  Eventually, her feet did start "hardening up," as Tasha had said they would. 

Also, her shoulders were getting used to the arms-folded-behind-the-back position enforced by the upper-body-harness' arm-sheath.

On day four Effie "graduated" to ponygirl boots.  She'd very much feared the things would be like walking in high-heels, and Effie hated high-heels.  However, the black, lace-up-the-front boots with horseshoe-shaped soles and elevated heels proved to be surprisingly, uh, "comfortable."  The permanent on pointe design took some getting used to, and at first it left her with sore calves at the end of the day, but it wasn't all that extreme and in time she grew accustomed to them.  This was a good thing, as Tasha gave her absolutely no choice in the matter.

On day five, Tasha decided Effie was ready for her first "full harness" session, so she added:

• Head-harnesses with rubber bit and blinders;
• Leather thong-panties that buckled to the upper-body harness and constituted a lower-body harness; and...
• Effie's very own, personal pony-girl tail that attached to the back of the thong-panties at the appropriate position and was a perfect match for her natural hair.
  

The head-harness tightly caged Effie's head and was not her favorite tack item.  On the bright side, her tongue piercing had more-or-less healed and she'd more-or-less grown accustomed to the steel post and its two dumbbell end-caps, so the hard rubber bit didn't cause her a great deal of trouble—other than making her drool like a leaky faucet down her chin and all over her chest and boobs.  In terms of humiliation, it was right up there with being led around by her ponytail (meaning the one on her head).  Tasha assured her that, believe it or not, she would get used to the bit and the dripping would minimize, once she "got the hang of it."  The blinders or blinkers weren't all that much of a bother.  Lack of peripheral vision wasn't a serious issue as she clomped on the treadmill.  However, the blinders were yet another added humiliation.

The lower-harness was equally bad, or maybe even slightly worse than the upper-body harness.  It cleaved her butt-cheeks and pinched her exposed labia together (a little), but the slot/cutout left her lower lips totally exposed.  Also, it chaffed when she walked, and Tasha was making sure she did a lot of walking.  Much to Effie's distress (or something), this meant crotch massages with cedar-scented lotion and/or liniment joined foot massages as part of her nightly aftercare.

As for the rest of Effie's routine...

Meals were usually communal, prepared by pairs of ponygirls working together according to a schedule posted on a bulletin board in the Stable Kitchen.  This didn't exempt the "cook ponies" from exercise, of course.  Cooking was an added duty.  Effie joined the cycle and proved herself to be an adequate cook.  She did her best, and she was learning (as well as slowly getting into the best shape of her life.)  And food was important.  A delicious meal was a minor escape from their daily training and the added drudgery of sweeping, periodically cleaning and polishing the ponygirl tack, laundering the bed linen (which took the form of sheet-like cotton envelopes that slid over the mattress-pads in the sleeping stalls), and doing any other work required to meet Tasha's demanding standards of stable cleanliness (and thereby avoid punishment).

And speaking of sleeping stalls, Tasha also had a schedule, known only to herself, that paired off the ponies at bedtime as she locked them into the stalls.  Effie got to know all of her herd-sisters very well—but not in the biblical sense.  Night after night, one at a time, she shared a mattress-pad with each and every one of her herd-sisters, with both of them wearing nothing but their collars.  The mattress-pads in question were something between twin and full-size, so some degree of what Effie decided to think of as "cuddling" was inevitable.  However, there was no making out or gratuitous intimacy.  The nightly pairings were all "innocent sleep overs."  Tasha hadn't made a no "pony-on-pony sex" decree, or anything like it, but Effie just didn't swing that way... much... for now.  Anyway, she was paired with one of her herd-sisters night after night after night, and never with the same "partner" two nights in a row.

Effie noted that whenever Tasha decided Jana and Lolita would be spending the night together, the ginger and brunette-with-the-pageboy noticeably perked up.  They were casual about it, of course, but not casual enough.  Everyone, meaning the rest of the herd and Tasha, were in on the adorable little cuties' secret: they were in love.  Effie thought it was... wait for it... adorable.  It lifted her spirits whenever the two locked eyes and smiled their dimpled, adoring, and adorable smiles.  And it was nice of Tasha to let them sleep together two or three times a week... and Effie couldn't believe she was even thinking about Tasha as being "nice."

And oh-by-the-way, as the herd numbered five ponygirls, there were was always one odd-ponygirl-out with respect to the nightly cuddling; however, so far, Tasha hadn't made Effie sleep alone.  The leftover herd-sister was always one of the others.  Effie didn't know the odd ponygirl's fate—until the news hit the ponygirl gossip circuit that Tasha was now sleeping with a pony every night, as opposed to every now and then as had been the case prior to Effie's arrival.  None of them knew why, and Tasha certainly wasn't telling.

And there was a ponygirl gossip circuit.  Tasha only set their collars on hush-mode (as opposed to inside-voice-mode) now and then, and on an unpredictable basis.  Why the periodic collar-enforced verbal blackouts were imposed was another mystery, but Effie thought it was just Tasha being a dirty-rotten-meanie.  Anyway, most of the time Effie and her herd sisters were "free" to chat.  They filled her in on the details of their former lives and she returned the favor.  The chats also amplified her understanding of the details of ponygirl life at The Ranch.

And as for never being chosen to share Tasha's bed, Effie didn't know if she was relieved or offended.  Okay, she was relieved, but nobody likes being an eternal wallflower... not that "wallflower" was an good metaphor for not being chosen to involuntarily share the bed of a beautiful amazon meanie.

And then, there were Effie's nipples.

After two weeks, the band-aids came off for the last time.  Tasha thoroughly (and meticulously) cleaned Effie's boobs.  Then, after careful (and meticulous) inspection, she confirmed that Effie's nipples were officially healed and her "pretty new rings" were ready for "use" (which Effie didn't find at all ominous).  Effie had been in full harness at the time, and was unable to interfere with the final unveiling, cleaning, and inspection, but her glowering, bit-gagged expression made her feelings on the matter quite clear.  For the moment, Tasha didn't outfit her rings with bells or weights or anything, for which Effie was grateful, so the steel accessories just... dangled there.  Afterwards, when Effie rejoined the herd without her formerly ubiquitous band-aids, her herd-sisters didn't make a fuss or even say anything.  They all had rings.

Also, as Jana explained while Effie was helping her cook the herd's supper, the dreaded bells were only deployed when The Dragon Lady made one of her visits, which (thankfully) hadn't happened since Effie had joined the herd.  Also, in Jana's opinion, the bells weren't that bad.  The tinkling was irritating, but they didn't weigh all that much.  Effie suggested the Dragon Lady probably ordered their use for the purpose of humiliation, and Jana agreed.

So, Effie's ponygirl routine was:

1. Ponygirl exercise (on the treadmill and after she graduated to boots, around the outdoor track);
2. Sweeping and cleaning;
3. Ponygirl exercise;
4. Cooking meals;
5. Ponygirl exercise;
6. Group showers;
7. Ponygirl exercise;
8. Sleeping in pairs and gossiping;
9. And ponygirl exercise—lather, rinse repeat (especially with respect to the group showers).

And the routine never changed... until one evening when it did.

Dinner had been some sort of ground beef/potatoes casserole accompanied by steamed vegetables, but it hadn't been Effie's turn to cook and serve so she wasn't sure of the culinary details.  Her tummy was comfortably full and she was ready to get paired off with one of her herd-sisters so they could hit the ol' mattress-pad.

It didn't happen.

Jo was paired with Olivia and locked in a stall.  This made Olivia happy (in a politely understated English manner, of course), and it was clear that Jo wasn't exactly displeased.

Next, Jana was paired with Lolita and they were locked in a stall.  They didn't even try and hide their happiness (much).

And that left Effie.  Gulp!  Naked, collared, and with her hands atop her head (as per standard ponygirl protocol), she stared up at Tasha and struggled to keep her expression neutral and to calm her thumping heart.  With respect to her heart rate, she had limited success.

Tasha, smiling as usual, took hold of Effie's ponytail and led her to Tack Room #1.

Effie was confused.  The sun had set and she'd already done her daily exercise, both morning and afternoon sessions.  But whatever was happening, she stood passively and "allowed" Tasha to outfit her with an upper-body-harness... followed by a head-harness-bridle, bit, and blinders.  And that was it.  No boots and no lower-body-thong-panties-harness.  Effie remained bare from the waist down.

Then, Tasha opened a wall-mounted cabinet and produced—Gulp!—a thin, 6" steel rod with a ½" ring welded to each end and a ½" D-ring welded to the center, and dangling from the end rings were a pair of tiny steel clips.  It was a scaled-down, one-pony version of the training-at-the-bar apparatus she'd seen in use at the exercise track, the apparatus that linked pairs of her herd-sisters to a light chain and "supplemented" their reins while they clomped around the track!

"Sorry about this, Effie," Tasha said quietly as she snapped the clips through Effie's nipple rings.  For once, she wasn't smiling.  "I have my orders."

Orders?  The bar wasn't especially heavy, but it was definitely there.  Effie locked eyes with her handler.  "Mrrrf?"

Tasha sighed and shook her head.  "I have no choice,"  She snapped the clip of a leather lead to the D-ring of the rod, then leaned close and kissed the tip of Effie's nose.  "Follow me, pony, and follow closely."  She then headed for the door to the hallway.

Effie did follow Tasha closely.  She had strong incentive to follow closely.

Tasha strolled and Effie padded down the hallway... through a door to the outside... and towards the Ranch House.  The sun had fully set and it was a cloudless night with a billion stars shining down on the path and the surrounding lawn and treeline.

"Hoo-Hoo—Hooooo."

"Great Horned Owl," Tasha noted as they approached the house.

"Mrrr," Effie agreed.

They entered the Ranch House.  This was the first time Effie had felt carpet underfoot since the first day of the beginning of her new career as a ponygirl.

Their destination was a bedroom... a very nice bedroom decorated in the Modern style, but it wasn't Kyler Drāgon's bedroom.  Effie assumed it was Tasha's bedroom, and as it turned out, she was right.

"Welcome to my bedroom, Effie," Tasha purred.  Her smile had returned.

Wonderful, Effie sighed.  Tasha led her to the center or the space and pointed at the floor.  Effie took this as instruction to hold her position, so she did.  Tasha had dropped the lead and its wrist-loop now dangled almost to the floor.  Even with the added weight of the lead, Effie decided she still couldn't characterize the nipple-rings-to-bar-to-lead arrangement as "bad."  Granted, her nipples were stretched a wee tad, but she could handle it... so to speak.

Meanwhile, Tasha sat on the end of her bed and removed her boots and socks... followed by her riding-pants.  Then, clad only in a pair of white bikini-panties and her gray-green tank-top, she carried everything into a walk-in closet.  Seconds passed... then she reemerged wearing a black and white silk happi-style robe.

Effie noted that her handler's legs were as toned and well-muscled as her arms, and watched as Tasha padded to the wall and flipped a switch.  The hum of a motor sounded overhead, Effie looked up, and watched as a light chain with a steel ring at the end slowly descended from a hole in the ceiling.  it stopped just about even with Effie's navel.  Tasha padded forward, unclipped the lead and tossed it aside, then used the vertical chain's steel clip to replace it.  Now, Effie's nipple-rings were linked to the steel bar, which in turn was linked to the chain.  Gulp!

"Like I said," Tasha sighed, "orders."  She padded back to the wall and once again thumbed the switch.

Effie watched in wide-eyed alarm as the chain slowly ascended, reeling back onto the drum of the unseen winch hidden above the ceiling!  "Mrrrmpfh!" she complained.  The chain continued shortening... the bar lifted... her nipple-rings lifted as well... and she had no choice but to stand on tiptoe!  "MRRR!"  The motor stopped before Effie was in danger of being hoisted into the air, but her heels-off-the-floor stance was now mandatory, and her nipples definitely stretched!

Tasha had judged when to stop the motor with exacting precision... at least from her point of view.  She strolled to the left bedside table, picked up an iPad, and began tapping the screen.

Effie shuffled uneasily on the plush carpet as Tasha did whatever the hell she was doing—then her nipples complained and Effie decided moving in any way was a bad idea.
 
Suddenly, the big-screen TV across the bedroom came to life—and the smiling visage of The Dragon Lady appeared.  She was in a luxurious bedroom, reclined against a pile of pillows and wearing a skimpy, see-through nightie.  Her demeanor was the same as always, in Effie's experience: what most of the world assumed was the intensity of a successful, type-A personality, but what Effie now recognized as the fervency of an obsessed sociopath.  Kyler Drāgon was undeniably brilliant, but unfortunately, she was also a crazy-ass bitch.

"Presented for your convenience, Mistress," Tasha purred as she gestured at Effie, "one semi-trained pony with fully healed nipples."

Kyler frowned.  "Why isn't she wearing a punishment bridle?" she demanded.

"Next on her training agenda, Mistress," Tasha responded.  "She's a feisty one, as you know, and I want to be absolutely sure her tongue is healed before she experiences the bit-clamp."

Kyler shrugged.  "Whatever.  Give her a few strokes to confirm that her tits are as healed as you say they are."

"You doubt me, Mistress?" Tasha chuckled.  "You wound me."

Kyler smiled (evilly).  "Nobody likes an impertinent stable mistress," she purred.  "Do it."

Tasha set down the iPad, strolled into the walk-in closet... and returned with a multi-tailed leather flogger.

"Mrrr!" Effie begged, even though she knew it was pointless.  Her eyes widened when Tasha stepped behind her and—"MRRRF!"—her right butt-cheek exploded with stinging pain!  The first blow was followed by second... then a third.  A total of six blows fell, three on each cheek.  Effie panted through her bit and blinked back tears.

The blows from the flogger had been bad enough, but Effie had involuntarily flinched and stutter-stepped in position as each blow fell, and the reactions hadn't done her nipples any favors.

"Did I tell you to stop?" Kyler inquired over the video-link.

"Mrrrf!"—"Mrrrf!"—"Mrrrf!"—"Mrrrf!"—"Mrrrf!"—"Mrrrf!"  Six more blows followed, and now Effie was openly sobbing with tears streaming down her bit-gagged face.

"That's enough," Tasha stated emphatically as she dropped the flogger to the carpet.

"Oh, very well," Kyler pouted.  "Trainer knows best.  Now, how is your ring inventory?"

Tasha frowned.  "Nipple-rings?  I think I still have a pair, why?"

Kyler looked thoughtful.  "Order more rings immediately.  A lot more.  I've decided I want my ponies to have nose-rings, clitoral hood rings, and multiple labial rings... by which I mean multiple pussy-lip rings, of course, not the lips on their pony-faces.  And like their nipple-rings, they all will be permanent and heavy duty enough for fun."

Tasha blinked in surprise.  "Uh... okay."

"I have some people working on an improved harness design that will incorporate the new piercings," Kyler continued.  "Anyway, order the required rings right away.  I'll get out there when I can, perhaps as soon as early next month, so shake a leg."

"Yes, Mistress," Tasha responded.

The screen went dark, without the courtesy of a farewell.

Tasha stared at the screen for several seconds... then strode to the wall, thumbed the switch, and the vertical chain lowered until Effie could come down off her toes.  When the motor stopped she was standing flatfooted, and with minimal strain on her nipple-rings.

Tears still dripping down her cheeks, Effie watched as Tasha strode to the attached bathroom and quickly returned with a small plastic tube.  Her handler/torturer snapped open the cap, squirted a generous dollop of white lotion onto her left palm, closed and pocketed the tube, rubbed her hands together, and began gently, gingerly, working the lotion into Effie's pink buttocks.

"Mistress has been escalating for the last six months," Tasha sighed.  "Getting more and more extreme in her demands.  I was hoping it wouldn't come to this... but I'm afraid this gig is over."  She worked the lotion into Effie's offended posterior for about a minute, then strolled back into the bathroom.

Effie was alarmed, to say the least, and her heart was beating like a drum.  Multiple piercings?  And what does Tasha mean about her 'gig' being over?  She heard water splashing in the bathroom and surmised Tasha was washing her hands.  Oh-by-the-way, the lotion had helped, but her butt was still throbbing.

Tasha returned, drying her hands with a small towel.  She used the towel to gently pat Effie's tear-stained cheeks, then tossed it onto a chair and strolled to a framed painting of a mountain landscape.  The frame was mounted on hinges and swung open to reveal a steel wall safe.  Tasha punched a code into the safe's cypher-lock, turned the handle, opened the door, and produced a cellular phone.  She inserted a SIM card, turned on the phone, tapped in a number, then held it to her ear.

There was a brief pause... then Tasha spoke.  "Krystal Flambeau, please."  There was another pause.  "Ms. Flambeau," she continued, "your system recognizes my number, of course."  (Pause.)  "Yes.  I've decided to accept your offer, the offer that, as I recall, you termed 'the best offer I was likely to get?'  I assume it's still good?"  (Pause.)  "Good.  Give me a few hours, then I'll turn this phone back on so you can trace the location.  Acceptable?"  (Pause.)  "Very well.  Good night."  Tasha turned off the phone, immediately pulled the SIM card, then returned the phone and card to the safe.  She then turned to Effie and smiled.  It wasn't her usual smile.  There was a noticeable element of... melancholy?  That said, it was a smile.

Effie stared back.  What the hell is happening?

Tasha padded to Effie and embraced her from the side and put left arm around Effie's waist, then used her right hand to carefully release the horizontal bar's tiny clips, freeing Effie's nipple rings.  She then lifted Effie into her arms, carried her into bathroom, and plunked her down on the commode.  "Tinkle," she ordered.

Despite Effie's anxious state, she found she actually did have to go, so she did.  Once she'd accomplished her mission, Tasha lifted her to her feet, used a wet washcloth to gently clean her face, as best as the head-harness and bit would allow, then lifted her into her arms, once again, and carried her to the bed, turned down the covers, pulled off her happi-coat robe, and tossed it aside.

Tasha was wearing nothing underneath, apparently having shed her tank-top and panties back in the walk-in closet.  In short, was totally nude.  And not that it came as anything even vaguely resembling a surprise, in Effie's opinion, naked Tasha entirely lived up to the promise of her bare arms and bare legs.  She was magnificent!  Unfortunately, given the current crisis, Effie discovered that an objective, aesthetic appreciation of her handler's feminine curves and toned physique was low on her list of priorities.

Soon, just as Effie had feared would happen, she found herself flat on her back on the mattress, side-by-side with Tasha, and held in her handler's tight embrace.   Also, Tasha had produced a wand-type cordless vibrator from somewhere—Gulp!—and was using it to pleasure herself!  Yes, to pleasure herself!  She was sliding the buzzing wand up and down her own pussy!  Effie was... she decided to go with "appalled."  She certainly wasn't disappointed or jealous... if jealous was the right word.  After all, Tasha could shift her attention (meaning the wand) to Effie at any moment—"Mrrrf!"—like now!

That's right, the buzzing rubberized knob was now gliding up and down Effie's labia... pressing against her clitoris... then gliding again!  "Mrrrrrrr!"

"Hush, my little pony," Tasha purred, then kissed Effie's right ear and nibbled on its lobe.  "I assumed this would be the first of many opportunities for us to play together," she sighed, "but now, as the fates would have it, it will be our first and last."

Tasha's buzzing wand continued exploring some of Effie's absolutely favorite nerve endings.  She squirmed and fought, thrashed her bare legs, and tried to pull away, but Tasha controlled her easily... and the "ordeal" continued.  Tasha was playing her like a fiddle... like a Stradivarius!

And finally... after several long minutes (or less)... the inevitable happened.  Effie shuddered, mewled through her gag, and experienced a crushing orgasm!  "MRRRPFH!"

The gasping, panting, sweating ponygirl lay in Tasha's arms, recovering from the experience... and Tasha let her.  Finally, after about a minute, Effie found the strength to glare at her handler.

"There's my feisty little pony," Tasha purred.  "That was the first of many to come before dawn, but first, I have unfinished business to complete."  And with that, she reapplied the wand to her pussy and resumed pleasuring herself!

Effie stared up at the bedroom ceiling, still panting and sweating.

What the hell is going on? Effie wondered.  What's gonna happen tomorrow?

Morning arrived as usual, but it was far from what Effie could call a usual morning, not even by the questionable standards of The Ranch.

For one thing, Effie was only marginally rested, having been repeatedly teased to orgasm by Tasha and her magic wand for what felt like half the night.  For another, she was feeling funky and sore from sweating and sleeping in her upper-body-bra-armbinder, and her bridle-head-cage with bit-gag wasn't doing her face and head any favors either.  Finally, there was the issue of what the hell was going on?  The Dragon Lady had gone bat-shit crazy via Skype?  She wanted to pierce just about everything not already pierced that could be pierced on Effie and her herd-sisters?  Tasha was making mysterious calls on a burner-phone and lamenting the loss of her "gig?"  What does it all mean?

Tasha dragged Effie into the bathroom and watched and waited while she used the commode.  Effie assumed Tasha's next item of business would be clean her up somehow, although she recognized that being freed from the harness and bridle so she could enjoy a hot shower was probably too much to hope for.  And the least Tasha could do was give her a sponge bath with a wet washcloth, harness and all, right?  Wrong.  Instead, the funky, unwashed ponygirl was led back into the bedroom and watched as Tasha dressed in panties, jeans, a black tank-top, socks, and a pair of kletter-style hiking boots.  Tasha not in stable-mistress uniform?  It was yet another deviation from Ranch routine.  Then, Effie was hustled from the bedroom, through the Ranch House, and down the path to the stable.

The sun was up and a pleasant day was dawning.  There were a few clouds in the brightening sky and the air was still cool, but weatherwise it was shaping up to be a good day... not that Effie cared.

Tasha's destination turned out to be the Gazebo Cage, the semi-circular covered porch built onto the far side of the Stable with its central post and barred, screen-cover wall, the space there Effie met Jana for the first time and they watched, intermittently, as Jo clomped around the exercise track.  Effie watched sullenly as Tasha lifted the long chain dangling from the iron ring set in the top of the post and used one of her clever little two-ended padlocks to attach the ring on the front of Effie's collar to the chain's terminal ring.

And then... Tasha left, closing and locking the door behind her.  Click!

Effie stared at the back of the door.  Her anxious uncertainty continued to simmer.  Unfortunately, the yoga-mat-pad she'd shared with Jana during her first Gazebo Cage visit (incarceration) was gone, no doubt properly stowed in a storeroom, elsewhere in The Stable.  Effie settled her rump on the hard concrete floor and rested her back against the hard wooden post.  It was the best she could do to get comfortable while she waited.  And wait she did... something like twenty minutes... or maybe a little more.

And then—Click!—the door opened and Jo and Olivia padded across the threshold with Tasha close on their heels.  The two Brits were "dressed" in the same manner as Effie: Corset-bra-armbinder upper-body harness, head-harness-bridles, and ponygirl collars.  They seemed equally confused by the break in routine, but (thanks to the threat of their collars) followed Tasha's instructions, padded to the post, and stood on either side of Effie.

Tasha smiled at Effie.  "Stand," she ordered.

Effie glowered, heaved a sigh, and scrambled to her bare feet.  It was then that she noticed the generous coil of thin, brownish-tan cord in Tasha's right hand.

"Face the post," Tasha ordered, and the three ponies followed her instructions.  Tasha shook her head.  "Wrong order," she purred.  "Effie, Jo, Olivia."

All three ponygirls rolled their eyes, then shuffled their positions and implemented Tasha's decree.

And then, to her ponies surprise and pouting disapproval, Tasha stepped forward, kept hold of one end of the coil of cord, dropped the remainder to the floor, then threaded the end of the coil through Effie's left nipple-ring... followed by her right nipple-ring.  Jo's left and right nipple tings were next, then Olivia's left and right rings.  Tasha then strolled around the post, pulled the two ends of the coil together on the far side of the post, pulled out the overwhelming majority of the slack, and tied a knot.

This left the three herd-sisters standing and facing the post with their nipple-rings and the cord very nearly touching the post!  Obviously, the three disgruntled ponygirls weren't going anywhere.  They swiveled their heads and glared at their handler.  Tasha was being unnecessarily mean, without a doubt.

Effie noted the cord holding them captive was nylon, about 4 mm in diameter, and with a woven sheath.  She believed it was called "parachute core" and was available in a thousand different colors, but this particular coil was what she suspected was called... "military brown?"  Anyway, she knew the cord was strong, whatever its color.  It slid freely through her nipple rings, although she experienced an unsettling vibratory sensation when Tasha had pulled on the coil, the cord slithered, and she added Jo and Olivia to the string.  And now, the trio was strung together like freshly caught trout—by their nipple-rings!  Effie added the situation to her growing list of humiliating handling techniques.  Also... they were going to be standing and facing the post until Tasha untied the knot.

Tasha smiled, overtly and irritatingly pleased with her handiwork, then turned and left the Gazebo Cage, once again, closing and locking the door.  Click!

Effie gazed at Jo and Olivia.  Jo and Olivia gazed at Effie.

"Mrrrf?" Effie inquired.

"Mrrrf," Jo answered.

Olivia nodded and added her concurrence.  "Mrrrf."

Good, Effie thought, our collars are all set on 'inside voice mode' and we can... talk... after a fashion.  The problem, of course, was the rubber-bits cleaving their mouths.  The gags severely limited their ability to communicate.  Even if Effie tried talking through the bit cleaving her mouth to brief them about what had happened in Tasha's bedroom last night, she seriously doubted she'd be able to make herself understood.

Having nothing else to do, Effie, Jo, and Olivia explored their predicament.  They found they could twist and turn a little—carefully—but shuffling around the post didn't seem like a good idea.  Also, it would be pointless.

The minutes ticked by... and then—Click!—the door opened and Jana, Lolita, and Tasha entered.

The herd exchanged questioning glances, and once again Effie was frustrated by her inability to explain what she knew—and didn't know—about what was happening, and/or to ask questions.

Not unexpectedly, Tasha led the newcomers to the post, untied the knot in the brown-tan cord, and added Jana and Lolita to the string.  The order around the post was now Effie-Jo-Olivia-Lolita-Jana-Effie. Jana was on Effie's left and Jo on her right.  The herd watched, or rather, did their best to watch as Tasha tied another knot in the cord—but this time there was a significant difference.  Tasha played out all the slack in the cord, then took her time and tied a tight, well-compacted knot with minimal free ends.

As the total length of the coil was something like thirty feet, the herd-sisters now had significant slack.  They were still standing in a circle and facing the post, of course, but now their tits weren't hugging the post.  Could be worse, Effie sighed.

Tasha stepped close to Jana and whispered in her ear.  Effie couldn't hear what Tasha was saying, but Jana's eyes widened as she listened intently.  Then, Tasha kissed the tip of Jana's nose, stepped close to Lolita, and repeated the process.  Next, Olivia received a whispered message and a nose-kiss... then by Jo.  And finally, it was Effie's turn.

"I wish we had more time," Tasha whispered.  "You would have made a magnificent pony, Effie, and we only got to play together once.  Such a pity."  And with that, she kissed the tip of Effie's nose, as she had the others.

Effie blinked in surprise.  Tasha's tone had been... warm and sincere?  Go figure.

The herd-sisters watched as Tasha stepped to the door, then turned and paused in the threshold.  "Well... this is goodbye, my little ponies.  I'm sorry it has to end like this."  She then closed the door and engaged the lock.  Click!

The herd-sisters stared at the closed and locked door, then shifted their collective gaze at one another.

Effie noted her herd-sisters were wide-eyed and anxious, and she assumed her expression was the same way.  'Goodbye?' she thought.  'Sorry it has to end like this?'  Tasha isn't just abandoning us like this, is she?  Not naked, bound, gagged, and helpless... is she?