Human Interest

Chapter 15: How Can I Thank You?

The days were flying by and Irish was cherishing every moment of them. Tuesday she got to be a model for the various Show Pony attire as Mistress Ella and Twilight demonstrated the various gaits, poses and postures that competitions were judged on. Wednesday she was put in a Work Pony harness and arm binder and used by Mistress Lilith to show the consignment ponies how to pull a plow or a wagon. Both afternoons she was allowed time to shoot more video footage and conduct interviews which was very fortunate as Christine called Wednesday at dinner time.

"Hi Sis," answered Cyndi her cell phone, "What's up?"

"Hi Cyndi, is Lindsay around? I need to talk to her right away."

"Irish, could you please put the coffee down and talk to Christine a minute?"

"Yes, Mistress Cyndi"......Hello? Christine?"

"Lindsay"

"I'm sorry there's no one here by that name."

"Okay, okay, you got me, Irish Rose. You are not going to believe what is going on. I need any footage or interview copy that you've gotten so far right away. Give it all to Cyndi and have her post them to the secure section of their website and I'll down load it from there. Just tell her to call me and let me know when it has all been uploaded. I'll tell you all about it on Saturday when I come to pick you and Twilight up. Gotta go. Bye."

Irish handed the dead phone back to Mistress Cyndi and told her what Christine had asked for. She wondered, "What could be going on now?" Retrieving her carafe from the buffet table, she finished topping off everyone's coffee then dashed off to her stall to assemble all of her notes and grab the camera. She returned to the lodge just as everyone was finishing their dessert and handed it all over to Cyndi who headed straight for the office. Irish and Twilight finished up helping the kitchen staff and headed towards the stables.

.............................

Cyndi arrived at the stables for their usual morning run as Twilight and Irish were just waking up. "You know you can sleep in your room in the lodge, Irish, you don't have to sleep out here."

"I know Mistress but I have found a home here. I have received more love and caring here in the last five days than anywhere I have ever lived. My older brother was the only one in our family who ever paid any attention to me. Here everyone has been looking out for my well-being and accepted me for just me. I feel safe and loved chained here every night. This is where I truly belong."

Mistress Cyndi was choked up with emotion and she threw her arms around Irish Rose and hugged her and kissed her.

Twilight said, "Can I get in on this?" and it immediately turned into a group hug.

Mistress Cyndi finally composed herself and said, "If Tom and I ever have children, I hope they grow up to be just like you two, now let's go running."

"You must have me confused with my sister, Ella the Derby winner," smirked Twilight, "I'm the Show Pony of the family. If I could run, I'd be at Churchill Downs."

Irish giggled and slipped into her sweats and sneakers, kissed Twilight and headed out the door behind Cyndi. They ran at a steady pace and in a few minutes had made it to their turn around point by the first of the consignment pony corrals. Irish turned to Cyndi and asked, "What do you suppose has Christine so excited?"

"I'm not sure, dear, but we have already gotten a couple of phone calls and the piece only aired Tuesday night. It must have made some kind of an impression. I guess we will just have to wait until Saturday to get the story 'straight from the horse's mouth' so to speak."

They picked up the pace for the final half mile and Irish asked, "Christine said she was coming to pick up Twilight as well on Saturday. I thought she had to go back to college on Sunday, doesn't she?"

"Christine knows that Twilight hates goodbyes and so after the auction on Saturday, she has offered to drive her back to college and save Don and Lilith the trip. Sunday morning, you and Christine can help Twilight get settled in her apartment and maybe take a tour of the campus before you head back to Bakersfield. That way the two of you can spend a little more time together."

"Wow, that's very nice of Christine to offer to do that. I hate to admit it but I wouldn't have expected that of her. She seems so driven, so competitive."

"Don't let the tough exterior she puts on fool you. In the male-dominated, media business, she can be a real tigress but when it comes to family and friends, she is a pussycat. We're back...see you at breakfast."

Irish quickly showered and then she and Twilight helped each other get their corsets on and they headed for the kitchen. When their kitchen duties were done, Master Tom asked Irish if she would like to sit in on his leather working class that morning. She readily accepted since Twilight had been assigned to help Mistress Lilith with the consignment ponies for the whole day.

Master Tom's class for the morning was on how to make your own floggers. Everyone got miniature strips of leather and a piece of doweling no bigger than your pinky. While Tom showed everyone the proper steps has he made a new full-sized flogger, everyone followed along and ended up with a mini-flogger that had a ring for keys attached to the handle. "Okay, good job, now let's see you make a real one." Master Tom walked around the room handing out bags full of leather strips, brass tacks, and a eight-inch piece of one-inch diameter doweling. "If you have any questions or difficulties, please call out as I will be helping Irish Rose with a slightly more complicated project over here." Turning to Irish he said, "Master Ramirez gave me a great idea when he had those special crops made for you and Twilight, especially yours with the ornate red and black diamond design. Mistress Cyndi and I wanted to show you how much we appreciate your helping around the ranch this week with everything going on and how special you are to us personally." With that he dumped a bundle of shiny red and black leather strips on her workbench space and said, "Let's get busy; all of the cross-weaving we have to do is going to take time."

Most of the class had finished with their project and were trying out their floggers on each other as Master Tom and Irish put the finishing touches on hers. "How many of you saw Twilight Girl's flogging demonstration on Saturday in the vendor's tent?" Only three hands out of the twenty-two people in attendance went up so Master Tom offered to stay after class a few minutes and give some pointers if anyone was interested. "Class Dismissed."

No one budged; they just all looked on in eager anticipation. "I guess I'm going to need a volunteer then." Irish rushed to his side with her beautiful flogger in her outstretched arms before anyone could even raise their hands. "Does anyone think that maybe she likes being flogged." Everyone laughed.

"Okay, stand over here Irish and put your arms up." Master Tom proceeded to lower two chains from the ceiling and hooked them to her wrist cuffs. He used twelve-inch long chains to hook her ankle cuffs to two rings set in the floor about eighteen inches apart and then started the electric winch. He stopped only when Irish was tightly suspended, spread-eagled in mid-air six inches off the floor.

Irish was in heaven as Tom showed his methods and talked about how to avoid carpel tunnel problems by minimizing wrist action whenever possible. He talked about sensation play in general and how important it was to vary between caressing and pummeling, from back to front, stimulating every nerve ending. She was floating on air both literally and figuratively as he talked about aftercare and the importance of a good lotion to help heal any tiny abrasions to the skin. And then it happened.....flick,flick,flick,Flick,Flick,FLICK,FLICK, he was hitting her clit, faster and harder with each quick flip of the flogger. Fifteen seconds was all it took and her whole body convulsed against the chains violently. She let out the deepest, heaviest, longest moan any of them had ever heard. It made them all want to skip lunch and go straight to their rooms and shut the door. If the truth were known, at least half of them had unconsciously touched themselves. Everyone applauded and Master Tom asked one of the masters in the front row to help hold Irish up when he released the chains. His wife grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down and then she got up to help. He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and everyone laughed. Master Tom set a chair behind them and handed the woman a tube of lotion. The woman sat down cuddling Irish as she settled into her lap still lost in subspace. As they sat, Tom invited others to come up and see that there were no cuts or bruises and observe how the dry, irritated skin soaked up the Aloe lotion the woman was applying as they sat.

It only took seven minutes for Irish's return flight to reality this time and she hugged and kissed this wonderful stranger who brought a lap just for her to sit on. Then she stood up on slightly wobbly legs and said, "Thank you, Master Tom."

"You're welcome, Irish," said Master Tom. The lunch bell sounded and Master Tom boomed, "Class really dismissed this time," and everyone filed out. Irish rushed to her stall to put her new flogger away and headed up to the lodge for lunch.

Interviews and filming consumed the rest of Thursday and after she and Twilight finished their dinner duties Twilight excused herself as her dad wanted to talk to her, promising to be back long before lights out.

Irish knew what she wanted to do and headed straight for the infirmary. When she arrived, there was no one there. Just as she turned around to leave, Mistress Cyndi came from the direction of the office and asked, "Are you okay, dear? I saw you as you walked past the office so I came right away."

"No, I feel terrible. I can't see......."

"You can't see?"

"I can't see how I am ever going to be able to thank you for everything you've done for me except maybe this way..." and Irish pulled Cyndi to her and planted a big, long one on her lips. She stopped for a moment and they got lost in each other's eyes then kissed again. "Do you think we could use that bed in the back for something other than your chloroform victims?"

"I don't see why not," answered Cyndi and she took Irish's hand and they headed for the back.

Later when Twilight made it back to stall #3, Irish was already done cleaning her tack. "How did you get your corset off already?"

"Oh, Mistress Cyndi helped me get it off," Irish smirked, "Would you like me to help you get out of yours?"

"I thought you'd never ask, you sweet talking temptress you."

To quote the Bard himself, "The rest is silence" Hamlet: Act V scene V (except for some giggles and occasional moans.)

Chapter 16: Going Once........Going Twice.........Sold!

Friday brought a minor disappointment as Mistress Cyndi never showed up for their morning run but then again it did give Irish another twenty minutes to snuggle with Twilight before they had to head for the kitchen. They shared the shower stall, brushed out each other's hair and laced up and buckled each other's corsets. They were about to leave when Twilight quickly turned around and went back in the bathroom. She came out with her nose ring in her hand and dropped it in the anti-bacterial solution bowl on the table. "No nose rings on Fridays," she said, "We don't want to freak out the newbies. We have greeters' duty today."

At breakfast, Cyndi apologized profusely to Irish for not making it down to the stables for their daily run. It seems the phone had been ringing constantly as calls were coming in from all over the world. Sometime Wednesday, or maybe even later Tuesday night after the video aired, someone had put it up on youtube.com and it had gone viral with four million views by midnight Wednesday and an additional 12 million hits by noon on Thursday.

"We are now booked solid for the rest of this year and most of next year," Cyndi explained. "We are going to have to add another wing to the lodge if this continues. Fortunately, Tom and Don planned ahead when we started this place and four extra quads of stalls can be added to each stable without major expenses or delays. There is more to tell but Christine wants to tell you in person."

The rest of Friday was as hectic as Mistress Cyndi had warned it was going to be. Irish and Twilight helped check people out and load their cars and minutes later were checking new people in and carrying their bags to their rooms. They barely had time to even eat so they switched off to cover for each other while the other one grab a bite or used the bathroom. By nine o'clock, they were both so tired that they just managed enough energy to shower quickly before dropping off to sleep.

...............................................

Mistress Cyndi had to shake Irish to wake her for their morning run Saturday, auction day! Irish carefully climbed out of bed so as not to disturb Twilight and Cyndi carefully set Irish's chain down after unhooking her. "I thought you might need this, this morning, dear."

"Oh, Green Mountain coffee. Cyndi, you are a saint," replied Irish as she took the cup from her hand and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Cyndi took the cup back and set both of them on the table. She pulled Irish close and kissed her passionately as Irish embraced her back and returned the kiss. Twilight rolled over and said, "Would you two lovebirds get a room, I'm trying to sleep here." Irish and Cyndi piled onto the bed and began kissing Twilight and pinching and tickling her all over as she giggled helpless to stop the onslaught. "Okay, okay, I'm awake already; go have your run, you fitness addicts."

Cyndi and Irish picked up their coffees and headed for the grandstands.

"May I ask you a question, Mistress?"

"Of course, Irish, what is it?

"What is Twilight Girl's real name?"

"Twilight G. Shane."

"You're kidding right. They didn't really name her that did they?"

"No, actually when she won the Novice Show Ponygirl competition when she was sixteen, she asked her parents if she could change her name and they agreed. Doesn't it just suit her perfectly?"

"Yes, it does. The way her golden hair just glistens, it glows like the sunset over the Pacific."

"Irish loves Twilight.....Irish loves Twilight," teased Cyndi in a sing-songy sort of voice and then took off running before Irish could punch her in the arm.

The last quarter mile the two slowed to a walk and Cyndi said, "My niece loves you too, you know but she doesn't have a jealous bone in her body. I don't think anyone here does. We all learned a long time ago that true love means doing what is best for the other person regardless of the cost to ourselves. You know, maybe that's the real 'human interest' element that is behind the Pampered Pony Ranch, doing for others. Think about it. See you at breakfast. Love ya, pretty filly."

Irish blushed and blew her a kiss as Cyndi walked up the lawn towards the lodge.

"Twilight, Irish," called Master Tom as they were getting up from the breakfast table, "I want you both to help Mistress Lilith get the ponies ready for the auction later this morning after you have finished your kitchen duties. Make sure their make-up and hair are done properly and render any other help she may need. Master Don and I will be checking in the bidders and seeing to any last minute arrangements and Mistress Cyndi will be minding the office phones and warming up her voice to conduct the auction.

"I knew she talked too fast a times," thought Irish Rose, "now I know why."

..................................................

Mistress Lilith was like a pageant mom just before her daughter was to step in front of the paparazzi for the first time. She had put everything into trying to get these ponygirls.....yes, they deserved to be called ponygirls now.....ready for their new lease on life. She truly hoped the best for all of them regardless of their pasts and knew that their decision to take this step would benefit others for years to come.

Twilight started touching up make-up where needed while Irish brushed out their hair and fitted their bridles and bits. Lilith started down the line unlocking the steel collars they had worn all week and giving each pony a new, patent leather posture collar. Irish helped them buckle them on and then stood back to take in their newly transformed appearance as proud, proper ponygirls.

The moment had arrived. "Listen up, ponies, this is your last chance to back out of the program. Officers Brennan and Hunter will gladly put you back on the bus in chains and take you back to Chowchilla. I see they have already returned." To date there had only been six takers in the six years of the program with Chowchilla and today there were none. Lilith continued and called out the numbers...one...four...five...nine...and sixteen, please step forward."

The first group was made up of the girls who were only serving five-year sentences but had opted into the program. Lilith walked down the line and clipped a light-weight, chromed chain between each of their collars then attached her leash to the ponygirl in the front. "Walk proudly, my pretty ponies, you have all come a long way." She led them naked except for their ponyboots, bridles and collars out the back door of the stable onto the adjoining private stage. As the girls entered, the bidders all applauded and maybe for the first time in their lives some of them felt a sense of self-worth.

Cyndi picked up the microphone and began, "Our first group today, as most of you are aware if you've had time to check the brochure, is for three-year contracts. The Justice Department has taken into account their willingness to reform and their time already served and has reduced their sentences accordingly."

This was the first that the ponygirls had heard this good news and they jumped up and down and hugged each other excitedly as Lilith unclipped the first ponygirl from the line.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what am I offered for this proud beauty? Let's start the bidding at two hundred thousand.......who'll give me two...I've got two....can I get two and half.....two and half......who'll make it three..." The girls got more and more excited as the bidding went on and then....."all through....all done...six hundred and seventy thousand going once......going twice......sold to bidder #58. Remember you each have to pick up your ponies within the next twenty-four hours. Next pony, if you please Mistress Lilith."

Within a matter of twenty-five minutes, the first group was finished with bidder #58 having claimed two ponies to add to his stable. Lilith led #9 back to her stall to wait as her new Mistress wanted to bid on other ponies as well.

"Okay, numbers...two, three, seven, eight, eleven, twelve and fourteen, please step forward. These ponies were serving out ten-year sentences as second-time offenders and they each new in their hearts if they didn't radically change their ways eventually they'd be third-timers. This had to be the 'last train out' for them or die trying. None of them wanted any more prison life. Mistress Lilith hooked them up and led them out.

.............................................

Z-z-z-z-z-t! Officer Hunter slumped quietly to the ground in back of the quad of stalls completely unnoticed by anyone on the other side of the room. Brennan's taser had done its job well, now if only the rest of their plan went as smoothly. Number fifteen slipped around the back of the quad and hurried to pull of Hunter's blouse so Brennan who had already gagged her could handcuff and shackle her. In no time, #15, aka Liz McCreedy, was dressed in Officer Hunter's uniform while Hunter was slumped in the corner of the stall in chains. "Quick, put this wig on while I go get our next little helper," said Brennan.