Human Interest

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Sarah barely had 5 minutes to examine herself in the mirror in her stall or get used to the feel of latex on her skin when she heard the almost slapping sound of English riding boots on the concrete. The anticipation was killing her and what she saw an instant later would have made her pee her pants if she hadn't just been in the bathroom before getting dressed. She flushed completely red and almost passed out.

As she wobbled, Tracey rushed in to catch her and prevent her from falling. Yes, it was Tracey Jennings, her step-mother who came into her stall dressed in her English riding habit. Sarah's head was swimming. First at the embarrassment of having a family member see her like this and then wondering how and why this 'gold digger' of a step-mom had come up with $1.8 million dollars to buy her. It was too bizarre.

Once Sarah was stable on her feet again, Tracey looked her in the eyes and began to explain.

"Surprised? I knew you would be. It was worth the extra $10 grand I tipped Mistress Lilith just to see you all at once in your new tack. It wouldn't have been the same if I had had to dress you myself and I certainly couldn't have done as perfect a job on your mane."

Sarah recoiled slightly as Tracey stroked her head.

"It's time we had a heart to heart and cleared the air between us, so I'll talk and you listen, not that you have a choice. I know you resent me for intruding on your close relationship that developed with your dad after your mom died. You could have continued in that closeness with both of us but no-o-o, you had to act up to try to draw your dad's attention away from me and his business. That's what got you into the mess you find yourself in now, that and an overly zealous judge who was up for re-election."

"I also suspect that because your dad is a successful business man and he is 14 years older than I am that you might look at me like some kind of opportunistic 'gold digger'. First, let me say, that if that is what you thought, you are selling your father short. He is the most considerate, charming man I have ever met and I love him dearly. He is nothing like the self-absorbed man-boys my own age."

"Second, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have kept something secret from both of you. My real last name is Morgan and yes, I own that massive estate on the other side of town. I changed my name to Carson before I went off to college to avoid any attention my name might draw and to avoid 'gold-digging' suitors. It also allowed me to not have my family bodyguards following me everywhere I go. I never told your father about my wealth as he loves what he does and I wouldn't want him to think he had to give that up to make me happy. I love our life together just as it is. I never confided in you before because I wanted you to be free to pursue what makes you happy, not grow up as a spoiled brat."

Sarah whinnied softly and lowered her head in shame for the evil she had thought about Tracey.

Tracey stepped up to Sarah and lifted her chin. "Sarah, I am very proud of you for this choice you have made to try to make amends for the pain you caused your father. I saw your remorse throughout the trial and how you accepted the judge's sentence even though it was unjust without complaint. That is why I asked Dr. Megan Phillips, my college roommate and your prison psychologist, to talk to you about this program so that I could get you out of that environment. Believe me when I say that I would have mortgaged my estate to be sure I was the highest bidder." Tracey put her arm around Sarah and smiled, "Fortunately, you only cost me this week's allowance."

"Sarah, I can never replace your mother but I would like to be your confidant and your teacher, so here is my proposal since I own you for the next 3 years. I have always loved pony play, so ponygirl training for the first year is a non-negotiable. However, in addition to training you may register to take up to three classes online. At the end of the first year, I will give you the choice to continue training or devote yourself to full time study. I would hope you would learn to love pony play as much as I do. I think you could be a Champion in any division you choose. You will live at my estate and I will try to see you every day but in my absence my brother or his bodyguards will see to your needs. You will be allowed to call your father once a week if you wish. We will decide together how best to break the news to him if that is your wish and you would like him to visit. Otherwise pony play will remain our little secret. Agreed?"

"N-n-g-g-h!" Sarah bounced up and down joyfully as if a great weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. The person she once saw as her adversary for her father's attention had now become her greatest ally.

"I take that as a 'Yes' then. There is one more formality. For the next three years, you will address me as Mistress or Mistress Tracey. Tracey then picked up the tall, white posture collar and held it up so Sarah could read the name etched into it, "M-O-R-G-A-N". Sarah turned carefully around so as not to trip on the chain anchoring her to the floor and lifted the back of her mane to receive the collar which Mistress Tracey locked into place.

Mistress Tracey unhooked the chain from Morgan's ankle cuffs and hooked it to her collar as a leash.

"By the way, after your sentencing, I hired a couple of detectives who uncovered enough evidence to convince the judge to step down before he ruined anyone else's life. Come, Morgan, it's time to go home and meet the other pony girls and boys."

It's hard to skip in ponyboots when you're happy but Morgan gave it a good try.

Chapter 18: "Good-bye seems to be the Hardest Word"

It seemed really strange to Lindsay to be wear street clothes again. It was almost uncomfortable in a way. This isn't who she was anymore. She was also saddened at the prospect of having to say goodbye as she headed down the stairs of the lodge slowly with bags in hand. She felt like crying at the mere thought of leaving what had become her new home. It was then she really saw the display case. True, she had passed it every time she came through the front door but trophy cases had never really meant anything to her before.

On the back wall of the case was series of pictures of all of the past Grand Champion Show Ponies in all of the classes. Her jaw dropped at what she saw....2004 Grand Champion Ponygirl - Winter Spirit....it was Mistress Cyndi! There a couple of rows down...2006 Novice Champion - Twilight Girl and right next to her picture 2006 Grand Champion Ponygirl - Autumn Breeze.....it was Mistress Christine in full, latex tack and she was drop-dead gorgeous. The 2009 Grand Champion was no surprise as there was Twilight Girl's picture again in different tack and looking much more refined. Bronze Lily's stunning portrait filled the space for this year, 2010 and it was right next to the picture of adorable Windsong, the novice champion. There were two more rows empty before this cabinet would be filled and the Irish side began to fantasize about being up there with such a classy-looking field.

In the bottom of the case were four silver bowls seated on pedestals each adorned with bronzed wreaths inscribed with the names of the four classes of Desert Derby winners. The open class one for ponygirls was the largest and Lindsay couldn't resist checking the list of names etched into the shiny, brass plate. Her eyes opened wide in amazement when she saw that the 2004 Desert Derby winner was Autumn Breeze. Christine had won the Derby the same year her twin sister, Cyndi was crowned Grand Champion.

A little further down was the name Dawn's Delight listed as the 2009 Derby winner. Fortunately, there were pictures in free-standing frames around the bases of the pedestals on which the bowls sat. Irish quickly scanned the images. "Could it possibly be what Master Don had let slip? Could that be what Twilight Girl had meant when she said 'one Derby winner in the family was enough'? Dawn - Twilight!! It couldn't be a coincidence," she thought. There it was! The picture confirmed it. Dawn's Delight was Mistress Ella. It all made sense now. That's how Ella new all of the tricks it would take to win the Derby.....she had done it! Irish's admiration of Mistress Ella and Christine had just been taken to a new level. Christine, in particular, as Autumn Breeze had been the only ponygirl to date to have won both of the major titles. "Would Christine be willing to help me win the Grand Champion title too?" she mused.

Everyone was there to meet them in the foyer, Don and Lilith, Tom and Cyndi, and of course, Mistress Ella. From the length of the hugs, it appeared that Ella was going to miss her little sister even more than her mom and dad. Ella reached into her pocket and pulled out a check for $25,000. "The bounty for shooting kidnappers is much better than for shooting rattlesnakes. You should try to get kidnapped more often," she joked to Twilight and they kissed again.

Lindsay looked a little weepy and Cyndi asked, "What's wrong, dear?"

"I don't know when I'll get to see you again and I love you all so very much."

"Didn't you tell her yet?" asked Cyndi looking right at Christine.

"I was going to tell her in the car but I guess now is as good a time as any. Lindsay, remember when Jake had that meeting and said this could be an opportunity for someone to move up to the big time. Well, he double-crossed everyone, took credit for all the work the staff did and grabbed the transfer to the network flagship station in Atlanta himself as their new programming director.

Our story blew the network bosses away and they received so many calls from viewers that they had to re-run it three times. It helped a little that I posted it anonymously to youtube.com but people were crying out for more. That's why I had you rush what you had to me Wednesday night so I could get another segment on the air Thursday. By Friday morning, Atlanta had smothered all the other network's stations in the ratings and despite FCC censors' opposition; our segments were syndicated nationwide and worldwide. Friday afternoon, the network chiefs flew directly in Bakersfield with their lawyers and we started to negotiate."

"What happened?" asked Lindsay anxiously.

"We have been contracted to produce one fifteen-minute segment every month for the next six months at a price of one million dollars........EACH EPISODE!"

Lindsay almost fell over and Master Tom caught her.

Christine continued, "Three weeks from now is the Folsom Street Festival and Parade in San Francisco and I'm sure we can get lots of good 'human interest' stories there. At the end of six months, my plan is to invest my three million and work full-time here at the ranch. I hope you will want to do the same. We are officially free-lance correspondents now and can live anywhere we chose. After we drop Twilight at school, we are going to clear out our apartments, put our stuff in storage and move in here full-time as they desperately need our help with all the new business coming in."

Lindsay squealed in delight and gave Christine a big kiss. "Just a minute, Mistress, there is something I desperately want you to do." Having said that, Lindsay walked over to her pile of stuff waiting to be loaded into Christine's SUV and picked up her beautiful collar. She bowed as a properly, pampered pony should and presented it to Christine.

"Do you want me to collar you, Irish Rose? Do you know what that means if I do?" asked Christine.

"Yes, Mistress Christine, I do and I want you to be the one to collar me, for real."

"Rise, Ponygirl Irish Rose," commanded Christine as she opened the collar.

Irish Rose rose, turned around, raised her chin and stood very proudly as Christine buckled it around her neck and slipped a little heart-shaped lock through the hasp. Irish turned around when she had finished and kissed Christine almost as passionately as she had been kissing Twilight, as if it is possible to measure such things.

"I am so relieved that you have accepted me as your Mistress, Irish Rose, or this would have been a complete waste of time and taken several laser treatments to remove." Christine lowered her pants and turned to show Irish and Twilight her special tattoo. There in full color in the middle of the Pampered Pony Ranch horseshoe-shaped logo was the picture of Irish Rose kneeling with Christine standing over her. It was the picture Christine had tipped the photographer for the previous Saturday. Directly beneath the picture, in flowing freehand script were the words, 'Mistress Christine and Irish Rose'.

Irish got a big grin and planted a kiss right on Christine's butt. "I love our tattoo. I hope you will let me see it often, Mistress."

Twilight chimed in, "I am so happy for the both of you," and hugs and kisses were shared all around.

Lindsay's face was aglow and she jumped into Christine's arms. "Just one thing Mistress, does that mean I can legally change my name to Irish Rose."

"Anything you want, my love, anything you want."

The End