Girls and Bridle Ch. 05

"Brittany, that's enough! You can't keep us apart like this. Nightshade and I are a couple!"

"Watch your tone, Hemlock! You know very well that what you did to me was the worst thing ever."

"Yes, and we apologized for it. We did all you wanted, all the extra training, and even accepted that you made us sleep in separate stalls. But it's been long enough. We learned our lesson."

"Well, I'm not sure you did!"

"What are you expecting from us? Are you waiting for us to cancel our contract?"

Hearing those words had an electroshock effect on the already angry Brittany. She jumped off her couch and fast-walked to Hemlock, who was standing there, wearing civilian clothes for the first time in ages. Nightshade wasn't around because she was still locked up in her stall since the unfortunate event.

"Hemlock! You took her harness and her suit off! Did you ever stop to think about what it meant to me before you disregarded one of the most sacred rules binding a pony and a driver? Do you realize the impact it will have on our performance on the track if we can't trust each other?"

"Yes, we did. We apologized, we accepted all the punishment you threw at us without complaining... but it has to stop now."

"It will stop when I say so!"

"I don't think you understand... Nightshade and I are a couple."

"Well, good for you!"

Hemlock didn't hate Brittany. She only wished she would understand how painful it was to be kept away from her lover for so long. It was a terrible decision. It was written in the stars that if Brittany didn't allow them to be with each other soon, they would have to leave the stable. Love was more important than racing, even though racing was the next item on their priority list.

Even Paul had been useless in trying to defuse this situation. He just said that he trusted Brittany for that kind of matter and called this whole chaos "childish." From Hemlock's perspective, Brittany had lost sight of common sense and was pushing this way too far, and it made her as angry as sad.

"Yeah... What did I expect from you, Brittany? As if you know anything about love!"

"..."

Usually, Brittany never hesitated before barking insults back when someone attacked her... but this time, after hearing those harsher words, nothing came out of her mouth and a big ball of emotion jammed her throat. It was not a feeling she was very familiar with.

As her eyes welled up, she pushed Hemlock in the chest, which barely had any effect, and just walked out of the living room, unable to add another word.

***

"What are we doing today? Why didn't we sleep in the barn last night?"

"Ah! Today I have a surprise for you two. We are going to Dressage Center!"

"Dressage Center?"

When Sophie mentioned Dressage Center to Moonlight, a big question mark appeared above her head. Morning Star, who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a racing magazine, turned her head, puzzled as well. She knew what Dressage Center was but failed to see the relevance with what they were trying to achieve.

"Dressage Center is a place where they train show ponies. I made an appointment with them, and they are going to teach you a thing or two."

"Show ponies? Like... the cute ones performing for entertainment purposes?"

"Yup."

"But... Why?"

"Ah! You'll see! Eat your oats so we can go."

Morning star stood up, not questioning Sophie's motives, but was definitely apprehensive about this odd idea.

***

"Just be patient, okay, Nightshade? Things are bad... Brittany has never done something like this before."

"Mmmph!"

"I know... But trust me. Just give me a bit of time, and I'll sort that situation out."

Nightshade had been stuck inside her stall for the past two weeks, except for her daily training. She and Hemlock had not been able to have any intimate time together since the incident. This was impossibly hard. Separating two lovers like this was beyond cruel.

Oddly enough, Hemlock was let to roam free after her workday, almost as an invitation to leave the stable. She was the one who had committed the fault, so taking away her pony time on top of preventing her from sharing her bed with Nightshade was an even worse punishment.

All she could do was visit Nightshade often and try to comfort her girlfriend through the bars of locked metal gate to which only Brittany had the key. She had not heard Nightshade's voice since then either. It was absurd.

There could be a straightforward solution to resolve this; canceling their contract and leaving. However, this would have to be the last resort. As Hemlock already stated, this punishment was beyond cruel, even for Brittany's standards, and she suspected there was an underlying cause to this extreme reaction.

Hemlock never hated Brittany. She knew the girl was a nutcase, but she had been good to her. It wasn't easy to find a good trainer in this world of ponygirls. Finding someone bossy was easy, so was finding someone abusive; perverts were also common. But excellent trainers were rare.

The best ones right now were Sophie, Xiuying, and Brittany. Outside them, Hemlock didn't know anybody else who could take her to the next level on the race track. Sophie's manipulative style did not attract her, and Xiuying was way too by the book, super formal and all. No, Brittany was the only one she trusted to win. She was fearless, competent, and driven by an innate desire for victory.

The downside was that someone this good was bound to come with flaws. Brittany was rude, impulsive, pitiless, and on occasion, unfriendly and racist. Those traits made her the most hated professional ponygirl trainer in the field, and that even got her banned from the NRPA.

But Hemlock knew better than judging someone by its cover. On occasion, she noticed a small girl... one who was passionate, had dreams, and cared about others. That said, as soon as anybody saw this pleasant side of her and vocalized it, Brittany would close herself and fire a barrage of insults back at the offender before returning to her bitter self. It was better not to mention anything.

Nightshade, prisoner of her stall and missing physical contact like crazy, was ready to leave. If it hadn't been for Hemlock, she would have already ended her contract. Right now, she had no other option but to trust her lover and be patient; she was about to reach her limit, though. She didn't sign up to be an inmate and didn't have any special attachment to Brittany..

The prisoner pony turned her back to the gate and back kicked it with all her strength, which sent a loud sound wave all across the barn. Hemlock stepped back and stared at the new dent in the shape of a horseshoe embossed in the metal panel, another one.

"Okay, okay... Give me twenty-four hours, and if I have not found a solution, we will leave."

"Mmph!"

"I promise! You are more important to me than this Triple Crown event. We will find another stable together if we have to."

Nightshade returned to the gate and pressed her forehead on the bars separating her from her girlfriend. She would have loved to touch Hemlock, but with her wrists attached to her waist, all she could do was to receive the caress from Hemlock's hand on her cheeks. She wanted out!

***

"Morning Star, Moonlight... This is Ivory, and she is going to be your trainer today!"

"..."

"Our trainer?"

A stunningly beautiful small ponygirl was standing in front of the racing trio. She was wearing an ultra-white latex suit, amazing thigh high pony boots, a very expensive-looking white leather harness adorned with gold patterns. Not wearing a bridle at the moment, Ivory still had her bright long white hair mounted in a very classy ponytail.

Sophie seems familiar with that blinding bright pony, but Morning Star was speechless, and Moonlight was puzzled at this sudden trainer swap activity. Instead of providing a useful answer, Sophie just dropped a few more equally shocking words.

"Alright! Good luck! I'll see you at 4 pm! Have fun!"

"..."

"Wait! What!? You are leaving us here!?"

"Ah, I didn't tell you? You will spend the day with Ivory, and she is going to teach you how to work as a team. You are both great runners, but if you don't learn how to work together, we have no chance of winning the Triple Crown. It happens that working as a team is what show ponies do best. They are yours, Ivory. I'll see you this afternoon."

"See you later, Sophie!"

Sophie smiled like a child, very proud of the curveball she threw at her two unsuspecting ponies. It was all planned, and Ivory knew what she was getting into, but it was almost nonsense to Morning Star and Moonlight.

They didn't want to be rude, but Ivory looked so...fragile. Racing ponies were the embodiment of power and Moonlight's leg was twice the size as Ivory's. Sure, the white show pony probably looked good on the front cover of a magazine, but her athletic traits were questionable.

On top of that, Ivory was a ponygirl. Since when did ponygirls become trainers? Yes, Morning Star was teaching Moonlight some stuff occasionally, but it was mostly by observation; she never considered opening her mouth to give her direct advice. Why did Sophie ask Ivory to train them? It made little sense.

"Hi girls, I'm so happy to meet you. Morning Star, I'm a huge fan, hehe. You are the best racing pony in the world, so this is a bit intimidating for me. My heart stopped when you had your accident. Sophie told me that you were doing so much better now. It is such a relief."

"I'm better. Thank you. Nice to meet you as well."

"Aww... Thanks."

Moonlight never put too much thought into it, but Morning Star was indeed the fastest pony on Earth; it just never had sunk in. She knew nothing about pony racing, and she had never seen Morning Star running on a track before, and on top of that, the elite pony never acted pretentiously or boasted about her past achievements. Seeing Ivory being in such awe in front of the champion made her stomach feel strange. Had she ever misbehaved around such a legend? She had never asked herself this question until now.

"And you, Moonlight, I saw your first race and... Oops... Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that."

"..."

The young pony realized something else; her little crash into the gate during her first amateur race didn't go unnoticed. Probably Sophie had shielded her from what people were saying about her. A story about a brand new ponygirl making such a mistake, followed by a spectacular win, would be worth printing in a newspaper.

"Don't worry... It's fine... I'm over it."

"Good. You are both amazing athletes, so I'm sure we will learn a lot from each other today. Follow me, let's go to the dressing room and get you a pair of boots, then you can show me what you've got, and we will go from there."

"..."

"Sure."

Ivory must have sensed a wind of distrust. Every time she talked, at least one of the ponygirls remained silent, and the other provided the shortest answer possible. She tried to stay as friendly as possible, but she didn't quite know what to do. Was it because she was smaller than they were? Was it because she was a ponygirl directing them around? Maybe her friend Sophie should have briefed them a little bit better about the purpose of this training day. But Ivory was lovely, she kept her smile on, and decided that she would try to pierce their shells at a later time.

"Okay, well, this way."

As the two racers followed the show small pony, they couldn't help but notice that Ivory had a very nicely shaped butt, but again, it lacked meat. She sure looked pretty, though.

When Ivory opened the door leading to the dressing room, a dozen of thinly shaped ponygirls were getting ready for their training. Some were wearing latex and harness, and some were downright topless, carelessly showing off their boobs.

One of them turned her head to see who was coming in and went back to doing her makeup... then... she turned her head again, this time, a shocked expression appeared on her face.

"W... wait! You... You are ... Mo ... MORNING STAR!?"

As the small show pony mentioned that name in a thunderous voice, all the other ponygirls stopped what they were doing. They all stared at the unexpected visitors for a moment, specifically Morning Star, who never really got used to her fame.

"Heee... Hi!"

A rogue wave of cute show ponies rolled over Morning Star, who was a head taller than all of them. She quickly got submerged by touchy little hands, jiggly boobs, and cuteness, who all wanted a piece of the superstar.

Moonlight and Ivory couldn't do anything else than dodge out of the way.

"Woah! Your friends are intense, Ivory."

"She... She is so amazing!"

That was not the answer Moonlight had expected from Ivory. The glowing white pony also turned into a fangirl and struggled to contain her admiration, jealous of her friends who all permitted themselves to rush to Morning Star to absorb her magical powers, ask tons of silly questions, and make random comments.

"You are so cool!"

"Are you single?"

"Is Sophie your wife?"

"How tall are you?"

"You are so pretty!"

"Can you sign my boobs?"

"Can we take pictures with you?"

Moonlight shook her head and had no intention of rescuing her friend from this prettiness assault. Instead, she decided to move on with the training day.

"Ivory, where are those boots you were talking about?"

"She is so pretty!"

"IVORY! Boots?"

"Oh... over there... I'll... I'll meet you in a bit... Morning Star is here... I never thought..."

"Seriously!?"

***

"Paul! I need 100$."

"What? Screw you, Hemlock! You are a ponygirl, don't be ridiculous."

Hemlock had entered Paul's office like a tornado to ask for a large sum of money. The problem with that request was that ponygirls didn't use money. In their contract, all expenses are the owner's responsibility, so Paul's flat refusal was not only an emotional response to Hemlock's absurd demand, it was also a rational one. But that was not deterrent enough not to insist.

"It's not for me. It's for Brittany."

"Then tell Britt to come to ask me herself."

"I can't do that..."

"I don't care. I won't give you a single dollar. Now, get out of here."

"If you don't give me that money, the Triple Crown won't happen."

"What are you talking about? We already registered."

"If we don't do something, Nightshade will quit because of Brittany."

"Oh, that again? Nightshade is still bitter because her previous trainer left?"

Paul never listened to anybody. He could not associate the current topic with what Hemlock explained earlier regarding Brittany's excessive punishment toward the ponies. It's not that he wasn't smart, he could run his business pretty efficiently, but he just didn't care about anything other than himself.

"Paul! That has nothing to do with it. There is a problem in your stable, and I need 100$ to fix it."

"No, and get out. I'm busy."

"So you don't care if we leave your stable?"

"No, because you are not going to do that. I'm too good to you. Plus, if there were a real problem, Britt would have told me, but she didn't, so get out!"

"..."

Hemlock was boiling inside, but a pony couldn't physically attack an owner no matter how stupid he was. That would have been even worse than taking the harness off from another pony on the ladder of terrible things to do. Such behavior would ensure she would never get accepted in any other stables later. So she just groaned, turned heels, and stormed away, dejected.

"Er!"

"And close that door behind you! Thank you!"

That plan didn't work well. Hemlock had a secret reason for asking for this money, but now she would need to adopt a different strategy to obtain it. Arguing with a rock would be easier than trying to convince Paul to do what was right.

"Aaah! What do I do now? I don't have time for this..."

Hemlock went downstairs and returned to her bedroom. She laid down on her bed and tried to come up with a new idea. Obtaining money was not something she was used to... At no point in her life she ever had a need for it.

"How does Paul make money, anyway? We win races for him, that brings in a sum, but I don't have time to race. He sells merch too, but I don't have merch to sell... Think, Hemlock... think."

Her bedroom was small, but it was hers. She didn't have much belongings. Paul and Brittany allowed her to have a few items, mainly to keep her morale up during difficult times. When she lost a race that she should have won, Hemlock often asked to sleep in her bedroom so she could look at the many pictures pinned on the honey-colored wooden walls.

Some photos were taken after her significant wins, some from when she accomplished something great, like when she pulled seven bricks during that promotional event. Other pictures were even more precious than the ones portraying her successes. Those were pictures of her idols, her inspirations.

The most special one was the photo of Stardust, unarguably the most famous ponygirl who ever roamed this Earth. When Hemlock was twelve, she already knew she wanted to be a racing pony, but it was just a child's dream. Her horizon had expanded when one day, her father took her to a big country fair, and they discovered that Stardust would be there for a special autograph session. That got the small girl that she was so excited that her father decided to let her go to the event.

Later that day, a massive amount of people had already gathered around the superstar's kiosk to get a glimpse of the legend when she would show up. There were so many people that there was not a chance in the world that this little twelve years old wannabe ponygirl, stuck at the back of the crowd, could manage to see her heroine, but she was too young to realize it.

So she waited, waited, and waited. The more she waited, the more people gathered, pushing her farther away and crushing her hope to meet her idol...

...and that was when it happened. Her father had come back, had grabbed her wrist, and pulled her out of the mob.

***

"Come! Quick! We have to follow this lady!"

"Dad? What's going on? Where are we going? I wanted to see Stardust! I don't want to leave!"

"Hurry, you two. Her event is about to start!"

The unknown woman in front of her father was quite a runner, but he was not; he was overweight and out of breath already. He had to stop before getting a heart attack, but he spat a command to her daughter...

"Follow that lady! Don't worry about me! Run as fast as you can! You must catch up to her! Trust me. Go!"

"But... dad!?"

"I said, GO!"

The young girl started to sprint through the crowd, complying with her father's wish even though she had no idea what was happening. That woman in front of her was truly running hard, and her ponytail rhythmically swung left and right.

"Lady! Please! Wait for me!"

"Hurry! It's your only chance to meet her!"

"Wait! Meet who? Wait!"

At full speed, the woman headed toward a tent guarded by two men while warning them to get out of the way.

"COMING THROUGH! Let the young girl behind me in! Just let her in!"

Not slowing down, the young girl flew between guards and entered the tent right after her fast guide, trying not to lose sight of her.

"Come on! We are almost there! Haha! You can keep up! She is going to love you!"

"Where are we going!?"

"You'll see! Can you run faster?"

"Well, yes! But..."

The lady exited the tent through another door. She then jumped over a fence before bursting out a careless all-out sprint that surely would leave her follower in the dust. To her, it was always fun to challenge the young ones.

But then...

"Where are we going?"

"What the..."

The runner lady turned her head and saw the young girl right next to her, keeping up. How did she do that? How was it possible that this small teenager had caught up with her that quickly during a sprint. It was a beautiful sight.