Accidental Ponygirl

The entire line of ponygirls was stunned after the assault on the girl now known as Sugarpuss. An uneasy tension settled in on every slave as if, despite everything that had happened to this point, it was now suddenly very real.

The handlers left Sugarpuss sobbing and crying to herself. After a moment, she picked herself up and stood fully back on her feet, though her body remained trembling and tears rolled down her cheeks. Dilios and Phoenix each went to either side of the long beam that held the girls upright. They adjusted some ropes on the support posts and the beam lowered by about a foot. The girls slumped a little as the tight hold on their reins was relaxed.

"We're going to start with the basics," Achilles said. "You're going to learn how to walk like a pony girl. When I say 'left', you will raise your left knee high into the air. When I say 'down', you will lower your leg. When I say 'right', you will raise your right knee in the air. Very simple. Let's go."

"Left!" In unison every girl lifted her leg up into the air and held it. The guard paused for a second. "Down!" The girls all returned their legs to the ground.

"Right!" Up they went. Nicole heard a swish and a crack, then a sharp, stinging pain erupted on her left butt cheek. She squealed in agony. She dropped her leg and turned to see the source of the attack. Behind her, wielding a long thin whip at the end of a long, skinny pole, was Dilios.

"Get that leg higher!" he growled at her as she turned to him. "Your thigh should be parallel to the ground."

Nicole whimpered. Her ass stung from the blow. She turned forward again. Swish! Crack! Nicole squealed again as her right butt cheek took a strike this time.

"And you were not told to lower your leg," the guard added.

Nicole raised her leg to the ordered height. The other girls balanced precariously, adjusting their stance and learning from Nicole's mistake.

"Down!" Dilios continued patrolling down the line while Achilles barked out orders. "Left!"

Swish! Crack! This time Blondie squealed in pain. "Point your toes to the ground!"

A dozen calf muscles flexed as every girl pointed her toes. Blondie, at least, had retained her composure well enough after the blow to remember to keep her leg up.

"Down!" The guard clomped further down the line. It was clear that the cruel guards would explain the rules as they went - with a painful strike to illustrate each perceived infraction that they observed.

Right. Down. Left. Down. Right. Down. Left. Down.

On and on they went. Every few commands there'd be the swish of the whip, the crack of leather against flesh, and a pained pony girl cry as corrections were barked out.

Swish! Crack!

"Back straight!"

Swish! Crack!

"Chin up!"

Swish! Crack!

"Chest out!"

Swish! Crack!

"Eyes forward!"

Swish! Crack!

"Shoulders back!"

Swish! Crack!

"Move faster!"

For hours they marched in place, lifting their legs over and over again like some perverse, unending chorus line. The overseers worked in shifts, taking turns barking out orders, or wielding the whip, or taking a break. 

There were no breaks for the girls, though. Sweat poured off their bodies as the midday sun blazed overhead. The guards seemed determined not to stop until every girl's ass was streaked red with welts laid down by the horsewhip.

Nicole was trembling as she lifted her leg for the umpteenth time. She was exhausted, but her masters' standards were just as exacting now as they were when they started. The whip strikes seemed to come more frequently as the tired girls struggled to keep up.

Nicole was so thirsty. Earlier in the morning she thought she was being clever by discarding the filthy water they'd given her, now she'd do anything for a drink.

"Break time!" Phoenix called out. There was a sigh of relief from every pony girl. The guards went to the ends of the beam and adjusted the ropes until it was lowered to waist height. Each girl immediately took advantage of the freedom in her reins to collapse to the ground. Nicole toppled over into the warm dirt, her tired legs aching from the extended exercise.

Swish! Crack! Swish! Crack! Swish! Crack!

Phoenix stalked up and down the line laying into the backsides of the lounging ladies. "Up, you lazy cunts! This isn't a pillow party at your bestie's house!" He roared. Swish! Crack! Swish! Crack! "When you are given a chance to rest, you will kneel! The only time you may lay down is when you are returned to your stall or if you are given explicit permission!"

Swish! Crack! Nicole writhed under the kiss of the whip. Laying herself down was significantly easier than getting back up, especially with her arms trapped against her body. The girls all struggled up to a kneeling position under the generous application of stinging leather to their supple skin.

Kneeling, Nicole sat back onto her feet and squealed as the welts on her ass flared with pain from the slightest pressure. She shifted her knees apart and tipped herself forward to find a better position to rest her tired legs. Red-faced from exertion, she stared at the dirt in front of her, wondering what other awful things this training had in store for her.

She perked up at the sound of splashing water behind her. She ventured a glance over her shoulder and saw a trough being filled with a hose held by Dilios. Her mouth suddenly felt drier than ever. The guard shut off the hose once the trough was full and then walked over to Misty and untied her reins. Misty stumbled to her feet as he dragged her over to the trough.

"Well, go on," the one-eyed guard said as Misty gazed up at him. She mumbled something unintelligible behind her gag.

"I ain't taking it out. You can learn to drink with it in," he replied.

Misty dipped her mouth into the trough and angled her head so that she could slurp up some much needed water. After a minute the guard pulled her away and retied her onto the beam. Buttons was next. Upon reaching the trough, the girl plunged her face into the water and greedily drank the water as fast as she could. The handler yanked her away before she was finished, dragging her back to her position in line.

Nicole was next. She started to her feet before the handler even untied her reins so that she wouldn't have to be dragged over to the trough. All she could think about was how thirsty she was, but when she sank down before the tank of water, her stomach dropped. She recognized this trough, it had a distinctive wood grain pattern on the side - it was the same one the girls had used to empty their waste buckets into earlier that day!

Surely they had dumped it out and cleaned it, at least, she thought. Or what if they hadn't cleaned it? In fact, what if they hadn't even dumped it out? Was this just a tub of watered down piss from a dozen captive girls?

She stared wanly at the water. The guard noticed her hesitation. "Problem, Princess?" he mocked. "Too inferior to your triple filtered sparkling mountain spring water that you get at your palace?"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. He grabbed the back of her head and dunked it into the water. Nicole was momentarily stunned as the ice cold water surrounded her. She accidentally snorted water up into her nose, launching her into a fit of coughing. Her feet flailed around as she battled against the tight grip of the guard. He finally relented, letting her come up for a breath before plunging her back under. This time, at least, Nicole had the presence of mind to try and drink the water. She took several big gulps before she was pulled up again. She readied herself for another dunk, but instead felt the guard grab her reins and haul her away from the trough.

Now Nicole knelt dripping on the ground, her intense thirst hardly satisfied while the remaining girls were given an opportunity to drink. With Nicole's reluctance providing a lesson to the others, everyone else eagerly lapped at the tub of water no matter what misgivings they might have had. Once the last one had been given a drink the handlers went to the ends of the beam again and hauled on the ropes to raise it. The girls all moaned in unison as they were dragged back to their tired feet - that is until the whips silenced their protests.

"Quit yer bellyaching," the Dilios growled. "Ponygirls work long hours without complaints. Now let's see if you've learned how to walk properly. We'll start with you, Princess." He smiled as the other girls turned to look at her. Nicole felt herself grow pale.

The guard advanced on her and untied her reins from the beam, dragging her out in front of the line of girls. He turned her shoulders so that she was facing towards the end of the line of slaves.

"Left!" Nicole's leg leapt reflexively up into the air. "Down!" She lowered her leg. Swish! Crack! Her ass flared with pain and she howled. "You're supposed to be moving forward, stupid! Bring your leg down in front of you."

Nicole whinnied in frustration. She didn't know she was expected to do that. They'd spent the whole morning marching in place.

"Right! Down!" She stared at her feet as she took an uncertain step forward. Swish! Crack! "Chin up!"

She tipped her chin up and glanced over at the other girls, who were all peering at her humiliation in front of them. Swish! Crack! "Eyes forward!"

Nicole squealed in pain and frustration. It was like they were determined to reteach her of every last infraction. It took all of her self-control not to stamp her foot and rage at the unfair handler with the whip standing behind her. Instead she shook off the stinging pain in her backside, straightened her back, stuck out her tits, and held her head high.

"Left! Down!" Nicole braced for the kiss of the whip, but it didn't come.

"Good." The handler declared. Nicole beamed with, what? Pride? Was she actually proud to be walking like a right, proper ponygirl? The feeling was unsettling. She didn't have time to ponder it though because marching orders kept coming. Right. Left. Right. Left.

Down the line she went, parading before the other girls who continued marching in place beneath the beam. Dilios followed close behind her, ready to correct any infraction she made, while Phoenix patrolled behind the other girls, correcting and encouraging them. It was nerve-wracking for Nicole to be the focus of their attention. Every misstep, every little wobble while she balanced with her knee in the air, was rewarded with another lash.

When she got to the end of the line she was ordered to pirouette one hundred and eighty degrees on the ball of her foot. She nearly fell over on her first attempt at the maneuver, earning herself several new welts for the effort. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on perspective) she was given another opportunity once she had marched her way down to the other side of the line. The second attempt didn't go much better.

Nicole could feel her heart pounding with anxiety as she approached the end of the line for a third time. She had accumulated plenty of new marks on her ass under the close scrutiny of the guard and could feel herself getting shaky. This time as she was ordered to turn she kicked her knee out and spun gracefully around. She bit down into her gag, expecting a flurry of whip strikes, but they didn't come.

"Finally," the guard remarked, exasperated. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. She was made to march up and down the line several more times to reinforce her new skill, then she was returned to the beam so that she could march in place while the next girl was tested.

It took hours before every ponygirl had had a chance to strut up and down the line. They moved at a snail's pace, taking a step every couple seconds, carefully holding their knees high and precisely placing their feet in front of them with each movement. Nicole jealously noted that the girls who followed her were spared a lot more strikes of the whip due to the example she had provided.

The last girl finished just as the sun was getting low in the western sky. The guards lowered the beam allowing the girls to rest once more.

"It was a decent start today, but you all have a lot more work to do before you're ready to be called ponyslaves," Achilles said. "You will have your hands freed and you will be returned to your stalls for the night. You will hang up your gear on the hooks in your stall. We start again at first light. Oh, and one more thing, starting tonight and continuing each night from now on, we will select two slaves to join us in the barracks for some 'extra training'. If you don't want to be chosen, then you'd better make sure you try your damned hardest during the day."

The girls all looked nervously at one another, wondering who the first two unlucky victims would be. One by one the guards took the slaves back into the barn. They were selected seemingly randomly, each girl breathing a small sigh of relief as she was chosen and they guiltily looking at the others still left behind.

It was down to three girls: Nicole, Buttons, and Sugarpuss. After her defiance earlier in the day, Sugarpuss seemed resigned to her fate. The other two girls looked hopefully up to Dilios as he came to take the last one back to the barn. The one-eyed guard paused between Nicole and Buttons, tied to the beam next to each other. He smiled at Nicole, then loosened the reins of Buttons.