A Friend's Betrayal

"You see, my family is now completely broke. My dad made some bad investments and lost it all, including my trust fund. Ironic, isn't it? Maybe he should have bet on you. Since I didn't follow your example and protect my trust fund they took it back to pay on their debt. After selling the house and almost everything in it Dad committed suicide. Mom moved in with your parents and I'm stuck in the wind. Since you seemed to thrive as a ponygirl, you get to stay one. All Sales Are Final," Julia explained by way of an evil villain monolog.

I screamed and lunged at her. How could she betray me like this? I would have been more than happy to help my best friend. But no, she didn't even ask if I would help.

+ + + + +

I can't believe she would betray me like this. And I had to carry her fucking 'Benedict Arnold self' back to the ranch. I wanted to run but Maria held me back, she wouldn't let me run off the anger. That was a week ago.

I continued my training since there was a race every month during the summer. I did notice a new addition to the ranch, thankfully she wasn't in my barn. Maria had explained that the court ruling on Janet Harrington, now known as Bitch was judicially enslaved for the attempted kidnapping of a free woman and attempted illegal enslavement of said free woman since she made her intentions known in front of many witnesses that she wanted me as her personal ponygirl and was going to purchase me to make the enslavement permanent.

I was still stoked about winning the June race. In three weeks, I will try to win the July race, too. I never did get a day of rest. Since the ponygirls didn't have anything to do for entertainment. That's fine. I would just dwell on my anger at Julia. Last weekend Maria spent the night with me again. That Sunday night after the race, and Julia's betrayal, Maria took me to the showers and removed my tack, even my boots. She spent a long time washing me entirely from hair to toes. I wasn't allowed to speak so I couldn't talk about what happened. I could see she was crying. When the shower was over she put my cuffs on and raised me off the floor with the wench.

Then she put some latex surgical gloves on and applied a sticky goo on my feet and legs from the knee down. She waited a few minutes, kneeling at my feet, not saying a word as she softly cried. After several minutes she rolled the legs of my boots down. It suddenly dawned on me what was going on. She was permanently gluing the boots to me. That explains why we never removed their boots. I would wear the boots for the rest of my life, which would be about 15 years. That is usually when a ponygirl stops being competitive with the younger girls.

I didn't fight her as she put the boots on for the last time. When she lowered me I made sure the boots were set properly. I would not want the adhesive to set while the boots were crooked. I nodded to Maria once I was satisfied with the fit of the boots. After that, we walked back to my stall where she put my tack back on. I was allowed to eat and drink before she put my bit back in. That night Maria slept with me in my stall as she did last time but we didn't have sex this time.

I wonder what my parents are thinking about this situation now. I am absolutely certain they lit into Julia when she returned home without me. But I couldn't dwell on that. I am glad I am kept busy all day so I don't have time to think about it all.

+ + + + +

I managed to win the July and August races. September was coming up and it would be the last race of the season. Maria had told me after the August race that as long as I continued to win, I would not be sold. I was okay with that, it meant I could stay with Maria longer. Thankfully, there aren't any auctions in the off-season, just a private sale every now and then.

A week after the August race I received a visitor. Well, three of them, two I knew as Julia's parents (without Julia) and the third I didn't know. The manager of the Ranch was also present with Maria.

"What's going on, sir?" Maria asked

"I'll let them explain. It isn't pretty and concerns Snow White," the managers said.

"Her name is Katrina, not Snow White," Mrs. Taylor snapped.

"Sorry, Ma'am. Katrina," he corrected himself.

"Maria, please remove all of that tack from Katrina. She is not a slave. She is a free woman," Mrs. Taylor told her.

"Sir?" Maria said seeking confirmation.

"Do it, Maria. What she said is true. I looked at the paperwork. Faxed it to our lawyers and even talked to the judge on a conference call. It's legitimate. Apparently, Katrina's friend Julia lied to the judge here. She didn't have any authority or guardianship over Katrina and had no legal right to enslave her. The enslavement is invalid. As for the $100k she claimed was paid to her; it was a bribe from Janet Harrington, not the ranch. No sale means the enslavement is not final.

"Maria, get Miss Grayson cleaned up and bring her to the hotel," the manager instructed.

We stood there staring at each other in total shock. After the others had left Maria hugged me excited that I was free again. The first thing Maria removed was my head harness, then kissed me like we had wanted to do for months. After everything was removed except for the boots we headed to the hotel.

We were led into a conference room and I was directed to a chair and just looked at it. Maria stood next to me and caressed my back talking softly to me, "Trina, it's okay. You are free again. Please, you can sit in the chair just like me." I walked slowly to the chair and hesitantly sat in it expecting to be punished for it. When no one said anything I relaxed a bit.

"What has been done to her? Why is she still wearing those boots," Mrs. Taylor said raising her voice in anger.

"Ma'am," Maria started, "Snow - I mean - Trina has been trained the same as any other ponygirl. We had no reason to believe she was anything else. She is - was - a remarkable ponygirl. She has won every race she has been entered in. including the first one when she was still free in our ponygirl experience program. With one week of training, she still won and she was blindfolded, too. As for the boots, they can never be removed. She no longer has any skin below the knew. When it was first implemented by the first owner of the ranch it was meant to be a cruelty inflicted on the slaves.

"Now it has become policy. When Trina was in the program I removed her boots to wash her legs and feet every three days expecting her to go back to being a free woman guest. When Julia tricked us with her lies and illegal enslavement I was instructed by my boss to glue the boots on her permanently.

"I had always wondered why the tack with Snow White already on it and the boots that fit all too well arrived a week before the girls did. The shipping label had Julia's name on it. I learned this after it was too late.

"The adhesive that is used dissolves the dermal layer and a millimeter of latex as it cures and bonds the two layers together acting as the catalyst in the bonding process. It bonds on a molecular level. Once it cures overnight, and this was almost three months ago, it cannot be removed without removing a layer of muscle. Her legs below the knee and her feet will never be normal again.

"There has been some research into cloning skin and grafting it onto burn victims using stem cells to increase the rate of success. Nothing had been attempted on slaves, or in this case a former slave." Maria explained.

"You seem to know a lot about this," Mrs. Tayler stated.

"Yes, Ma'am. I have a doctorate in molecular biology. My thesis was on using stem cells to treat damaged skin on burn victims," Maria explained.

Everyone was shocked to hear of her being a doctor. Apparently, not even her boss knew. Papers were handed out, even to me. One was the original enslavement papers. One was the court order proving they were invalid and authorizing me to be set free. Tears flowed down my cheeks. Maria held my hand to reassure me.

"Trina, I accepted you leaving back when I knew you were a free college student. I can accept it again. Even when everyone thought you were a slave I still loved you. I have kept up with my knowledge. I can get a job anywhere. If you will have me I will follow you. I just need to finish my employment contract here," Maria told me.

I wrote on the back of the enslavements papers. 'Don't need to work. I have money. Yes, you can come to me when your contract is over.'

"I am not a leach. I will work and contribute to the relationship," she said.

'I understand. I don't have to work but do anyway because I like to,' I wrote to her.

"My contract ends on Aug 31 of next year," she told me.

"Why can't she talk? She doesn't have that thing in her mouth anymore," Mrs. Taylor asked.

"Part of it is lack of use. Ponygirls are not allowed to speak. Ponies do not talk so ponygirls do not talk. To make certain of this the bit has a plate that presses the tongue down and prevents talking. The rest is psychological after extended periods of not being allowed to and being punished for trying. In Trina's case, she never tried. She was part of the trainers her first week here and saw how some were punished for trying to talk. She knew about the bit. This made it easier for her to slip into the ponygirl persona. There is a good chance she will talk again with therapy," Maria explained.

"Now that we have Trina's freedom sorted out, there is one more issue to sort out. Would you mind opening the door and inviting in our other guest?" Mrs. Taylor asked her husband.

He opened the door and waved in someone I couldn't see. After a moment another trainer escorted in a naked ponygirl that I recognized as Julia. She was wearing the posture collar I never had to.

"When Julia came home for the rest of her summer vacation without Trina we knew something wasn't right. They've been inseparable since they were old enough to walk. Her first story was that Trina liked the ranch so much that she had decided to sign voluntary enslavement papers and stay there.

"A month later Julia left to visit friends and forgot to lock her bedroom door. I went through the room and found the enslavement papers and saw Julia's signature. I contacted my lawyer and showed him the papers. He ran with it and contacted the judge that signed the papers. He signed an order to enslave Julia for perjury (lying about having the authority to enslave Katrina Grayson), falsely enslaving a free person, namely one Katrina Grayson, and taking a bribe ($100k from Janet Harrington) to commit said crime.

"Trainer, would you remove the bit and allow her to speak, please?" Mrs, Taylor asked.

The trainer looked at the manager and received a nod. The trainer unhooked the bit and slowly removed it from Julia's mouth.

"What do you want to know, Mother?" Julia asked.

"I am no longer your mother. The judge took care of that. What I want to know is how the tack and boots were ordered and delivered before you even arrived here. We told you about our financial situation before the winter holiday," Mrs. Taylor said.

"It was Miss Harrington. I met her back in January. She was coming out of the admin building and saw us. She seemed very interested in Trina. A month later in February, she contacted me. Said she could help me. I asked what she meant. She said she was on the board of Regents and knew of my lack of funding for this semester. She offered to cover the current semester and give me $100k to pay for the next two years if I do something for her. I asked her what she wanted to be done.

"She told me about this ranch and would pay for Trina and me to go here for two weeks. I thought it was an odd request but who am I to pass up a free vacation? So I convinced Trina to come here. I didn't know about the ponygirl experience program. Miss. Harrington never mentioned it," Julia explained.

"That explains it, then," Maria said mostly to herself.

"Explains what, Maria?" Mrs. Taylor asked.

"This ranch caters to the very wealthy. We do not have a ponygirl experience program and we certainly do not comp anything here. Our clients are very wealthy and can pay for anything why would we give it to them for free?" Maria explained.

"When my boss came to me and told me to approach these two girls and offer them a chance to see what it was like to be a ponygirl I was confused but did what I was told. Only Trina accepted. Julia disappeared until the next day. I thought she had chickened out. Everything was going well. Trina took to the training so well and with her already athletic body I decided to enter her in the competition that Sunday. We had trained hard all week and were excited and confident we could win. And we did. But before the race, Miss Harrington approached me and offered $500k for Snow White. I told her that I couldn't sell Snow White because she was a free woman and a paying guest and a part of our ponygirl experience program. I didn't realize then that she never reacted to the idea of the program. Miss. Harrington has been an active client of ours for years and would have known we didn't have any such program.

"She then returned with two of her bodyguards and met us at Snow's stall. All trainers carry a panic button. I pressed mine and six of our security guards showed up. I explained what was going on and Miss. Harrington left. Two guards stayed to watch the stall and the barn. One stayed with Snow White and the others blended in with the guests to watch Snow.

"After Snow won her initial race and then won the championship race we were getting our recognition. Her two bodyguards unhooked Snow from her sulky and ran off with her on one of their shoulders. I chased after pressing my panic button. They reached their car before I could get there. By the time I reached the parking lot, they were headed for the gate. One of the guards called in a code and the security posts began rising from the driveway. Her car slammed into them. The guards pulled Miss. Harrington and her guards and driver from the car.

"I dove into the car and grabbed Snow White and hugged her to me. I took her back to the stall and stayed the night with her. Monday morning I was going to finally release Trina so she could go back to being a guest. I was called to the managers off and told to hook up Snow White to a two-seater and take her into town for the locals to see her and that a guest wanted a ride to run some errands. That's when Julia did the enslavement of her best friend," Maria explained.

Julia's bit was put back in her mouth and she was taken away. I said my goodbyes to Maria. Not with my voice, of course, and we exchanged contact information.

+ + + + +

After Mr. Taylor got us on the road Mrs. Taylor turned in her seat to look at me as she spoke to me. "I am sorry it took so long for us to rescue you. Julia kept her room locked and had taken the master key to keep us out. It was luck when she forgot to lock the door and I was able to search her room and find your enslavement papers. When I saw her signature on the document and not yours, I knew I had been right to suspect her story of you choosing to stay was a lie. When Julia told us that story your mother was inconsolable. She refused to believe that you would walk away from your life like that without saying anything to your family. I promised her I would find the truth. I'm so glad I was able to," After that she turned around and left me to my thoughts.

I am free again, sort of. Maria is right, it will take a lot of therapy. I was only supposed to be here for two weeks, three after the week of playing at being a ponygirl. That turned into almost three months.

After that first night back, I learned I couldn't sleep in my old bed. My hooves ripped up the mattress. My skin had adapted to being nude to the point I can't cover myself with any textile. It is a painful reaction. My screams brought my mother running. I was curled up in a corner away from the bed crying.

When I calmed enough to explain (not with words) Mom asked me what I was going to do. I told her for tonight I would just sleep on the hardwood floor. It is what I am used to. In the morning something else can be figured out.

The next day Dad and I removed the bed. He had purchased a couple of bales of hay and spread them in the box he had built from the wooden bed frame. I was happy with that for now. I did get my suitcase back. Julia had retrieved it from the storage locker and brought it home with her.

+ + + + +

It took six months of therapy before I was capable of talking again. I was still naked. I found I was unable to wear clothes. After asking Maria about it she got back to me with some disturbing news. Like the adhesive, the sunscreen applied to my skin changes it somehow to make it painful to cover it. This is also irreversible. I couldn't wear clothes anymore but at least I could still carry accessories such as a purse or backpack.

Because I was naked and wearing hoof boots, I was constantly harassed about being an escaped slave because I wasn't wearing a collar. I had to carry a laminated copy of the court order reversing my enslavement. I eventually bought a black choker and most people stopped bothering me. People see what they want to see.

I offered to buy out the remainder of Maria's contract and she wouldn't allow it. She wanted me to take this time to reconnect with my family, with my old life as much as I could, and to see how much progress I could make with therapy. My parents and I had consulted with a surgeon and a dermatologist to consult about removing the boots. They confirmed what Maria had said. I guess I'm stuck with them for the rest of my life.

Because of the boots, I can't drive so I have to run or walk everywhere. After all of the running and racing I did as a ponygirl, I am in excellent shape. My shoes are scratched a bit but still serviceable. I will need to find a farrier eventually to help care for my hooves and shoes. Even though they are acrylic and not real hooves, they will need to be repaired at some point. Whoever I find will need to be willing to learn how to care for acrylic hooves. It has to be a thing in this age of the ponygirl.

I have been staying with my parents since I was freed from slavery. During that time, I had been seeing a therapist that specializes in trauma victims. I wouldn't consider what I had been through traumatic since I accepted my fate rather than fought against it but the therapist equates the experience to have produced the same results: a significant behavioral change.

It took some time but I finally accepted that I was no longer a victim. I was able to talk again but I was quiet and spoke only when spoken to at first. It took six months to get to this point. I started my therapy with daily sessions. By the time a year had passed, I was able to be a part of the family again and function independently in society. By this time the people I most associated with accepted my appearance (hoof boots and nudity) and Maria will be completing her contract with the ranch and relocating here. Mom and I have prepared a guest room for her but we know she will be sleeping with me in my straw bed.

I experimented with different materials to cover the straw so Maria wouldn't have to sleep on the straw like a ponygirl. By the time she was due to arrive, I had a solution. I managed to find a company that specialized in BDSM furniture. They were able to design and manufacture a latex mattress. The inside was made the same as a normal mattress but was covered in thick, extra-dense latex. They also took a mold of my hooves, both with and without the shoes. They were able to make some latex hoof covers I could wear to bed or wherever they were needed to protect floors.