The sudden burst of light from the overhead fixture pierced Princess' eyelids, jolting her awake. The ponygirl twisted away instinctively, but knew it was no use-- it was the middle of the night, and she knew she was going to be put to work.

"Wake up, you worthless whore."

A female voice. Shit. It was Master's girlfriend, Wanda, who hated Princess with a passion fueled by jealousy. It wasn't the ponygirl's fault that she was more beautiful than the other woman, but the girlfriend held it against her just the same. All because Master had chosen the ponygirl as much for her looks as for her usefulness.

Princess, a former state beauty contest winner, had become a ponygirl as a lark, not realizing what she was getting into. It was only after she had been loaded into the horse trailer several months into her training that she realized she had made a big mistake, that her life was no longer her own. She had been sold, and not just to anyone, too. Her new owner and Master was an unemployed hick who had, through sheer luck, won the state lottery's fifty million dollar prize. He had had a stable built just for her and a handful of other ponygirls he planned to buy, but that was where the special treatment ended. The purchase of additional ponygirls had been nixed by his enraged girlfriend. Unfortunately, he didn't stand up to her (aside from refusing to get rid of Princess), preferring to spend his days drinking and smoking pot, and Princess was caught in the middle of this lovers' feud. It would've been nice to have had others like her to bear the burden of the jealous woman's abuse.

She struggled to her feet and stood there as Wanda entered-- cigarette dangling form her lips-- and took the latex catsuit down from the shelf. Princess whimpered and glanced back at the bras on the shelf.

"No sports bras for you tonight, sweetie. I don't give a fuck if your titties bounce off your knees. We gotta get to the store before they stop selling beer, you hear me?"

Princess' spirits sank as she raised her left foot. Wanda bent down and began working the catsuit onto her. It was then that the ponygirl noticed the hissing from outside-- rain. Getting woken up in the middle of the night was bad enough--

It took about ten minutes to get the catsuit onto the ponygirl and zip it up, then work the latex hood over her bald head. The harness and bridle came next, and Wanda was none too gentle about putting them on. Finally, they were done.

"Okay, dammit, let's go!"

Wanda nearly dragged the ponygirl out to the covered sulky. Wanda would remain dry behind plastic curtains that zipped closed; Princess, though covered in latex, would have to brave the elements. After hitching the ponygirl up, the girlfriend put her raincoat back on and opened the stable doors. They were greeted with the sight of a pitch-black night and a torrential downpour. Princess' heart sank-- the convenience store was four miles away.

Wanda pulled the reins through small holes in the front curtain of the sulky and climbed in, zipping the side curtain closed.

Princess felt a sharp jerk on her reins and heard a muffled, "Giddyap, bitch!" She leaned forward and dug in with her pony boots, diving head-first into the rain.

Despite the fact that it was a warm night, the massive downpour quickly chilled her, especially her head and C-cup breasts. The pounding of heavy raindrops on her tightly-clad head drove all other thoughts from her brain. Water spilled into her eyes and open mouth, a perpetual annoyance. Fortunately, the pathway was gravel and not mud, but her metal horseshoes found the wet gravel slippery going, and she had to be careful not to stumble and fall.

It was a small blessing that Wanda couldn't use the whip or riding crop, as that would have forced her to reach out into the rain. The powerful halogen lights at the ends of the sulky poles came on, and Princess saw some of the reflective strips on her tack catch some of the light. This late at night, they would encounter little traffic on the country roads, but it was still dangerous, nevertheless.

Princess left the grounds and turned onto the county road. The asphalt gave her more surer footing, but there was the occasional danger of potholes; more than once, the ponygirl had fallen into one on previous trips and nearly injured herself.

She pounded down the dark, tree-lined road, blinking frantically to keep her vision unobstructed. Her body was beginning to warm up now, and her breath shot out in little misty clouds. The road was fairly straight, so she had little problem staying between the double yellow lines and the dirt shoulder. Her tits bobbed up and down beneath the tight latex until sweat glued them to the rubber garment, but not before the constant friction on her nipples made her cunt wet with frustrated desire.

Lights flickered through the trees, indicating someone was still awake in one of the neighboring farmhouses. Princess wondered what it would be like to once more live the luxury of a free woman, to live without leather restraints, to put on make-up, to choose her own clothes . . .

The sulky's headlights caught two pinpoints of light up near the bend of the road, and Princess could barely make out the form of a large buck. What did a creasture like that think of someone like her as she passed by in the night?

The buck vanished in an instant, as if it had been just a ghost, and she turned the corner. The blurry lights of the small town appeared ahead. Princess always dreaded this portion of the trip, as it was humiliating to be seen the way she was. Ponygirls were still a novelty, and the townspeople never failed to make fun of her when they saw her. The rain, thankfully, would keep that to a minimum.

They passed a few bars, the sounds of music and revelry reaching out like a warm embrace, followed by some darkened stores, then the all-night Diner'N'Donuts, where she could see a tired waitress pouring coffee for some regulars and passing truckers, and she found herself envying the woman and her third-shift minimum-wage job. She pounded down the street, taking in the sights, knowing they might never be a part of her life again: the movie theater (she wished she could see the title of the movie, even though it would have meant nothing to her, isolated as she was), the restaurants (oh, to be able to order real food from a menu instead of being fed the same ponygirl feed day in and day out!), the beauty parlor (to be able to use make-up and do her hair again), a clothing store (to be able to be fully dressed in REAL clothes!), the bowling alley, the music store . . .

Oh, why did the convenience store have to be all the way on the other end of Main Street? It made the trip twice as long and ten times as humiliating. They approached a traffic light just as it turned yellow. Dammit! Wanda jerked the reins, and Princess slowed to a halt. She stood there, waiting for the light to change just like any other vehicle, the rain sweeping over her and pouring down her thinly-clad body.

A patrol car pulled up alongside her. The police officer glanced over at her, looking bored, then back at the road. There was nothing he could do, she knew, as ponygirls fell into a gray area between people and animals and, as such, were not subject to laws governing either. Wanda pulled back sharply on the one rein, snapping the ponygirl's head straight again. Ponygirls were not to be distracted from their duty. She knew she would be wearing blinders if it wasn't necessary for her to have a full view of the traffic around her. The light changed, and the patrol car pulled ahead, leaving Princess to choke on it's thick cloud of exhaust fumes.

The final three blocks seemed to take forever, but finally they reached the all-night store. There was another jerk on the right-hand rein, and Princess turned into the parking lot, taking care to go over the speed bump slowly so Wanda wouldn't whip her for bouncing her around in the sulky.

Princess pulled up to the far end of the parking lot and waited, looking over at the dry area under the awning at the entrance, some twenty feet away-- a forbidden oasis, even under these conditions. Wanda got out and hobbled Princess with a tight strap around the ankles of her pony boots, immobilizing her, then took a lead and clipped it to the ring at the bottom of the jaw strap of her bridle before tying the other end securely to the bike rack on the walkway in front of her.

The ponygirl stood there, panting in her tight black latex skin, exposed to the wind and the rain as Wanda hurried into the store. Hobbled and tethered, there was no way she could seek shelter on her own. The constant rain drummed against her hooded head, and cold began to seep into her bones again, and she started to shiver.

A car pulled up next to her, and Princess nearly cried at the thought of what she knew she would have to endure next. She forced herself not to look over at the vehicle, but that did little to alleviate the shame.

She heard giggles. High school girls, by the sound of it. A window cracked open, but just slightly because of the downpour.

"Hey!"

She ignored them.

"HEY!"

Please PLEASE let them leave, she prayed.

More giggles, then: "I heard you like them hung like a horse!" The others erupted with laughter. They made a few more comments, even cruder than the first, and a lit cigarette stub bounced off her shoulder and tit, trailing orange embers as it fell to the ground. If she hadn't been hobbled, the ponygirl would have planted a hoof right into the side of their vehicle. She couldn't even say anything back, not with the thick rubber bit in her mouth and her altered vocal cords which only allowed her to whinny.

"Here she comes," said one, panicked, and the car began to pull out. "Break a leg," one girl quipped before they peeled off into the street.

Wanda was returning with the clerk, who held a 24-pack of beer. "Wait there," she said.

She unhitched Princess and removed the hobbles and led her over to the front door, where the unwilling beast of burden finally got some protection from the rain. "Just put it on the floor."

The clerk did so, then went in and came back out with another case, which he placed next to the first one. Princess could feel the dead weight being added to the sulky, and knew Wanda had bought this much beer on purpose.

"Thanks, sweetie," drawled Wanda. The clerk stood there, waiting. "I know, I know," said Wanda.

The girlfriend stepped in front of the ponygirl and yanked open the two zippers on her chest. Princess' tits popped out, and the captive girl whimpered. The bitch! Damn her!

Without hesitation, the clerk clamped his hands over her bare tits and began squeezing and fondling them. Princess just ground her teeth into the rubber bit and took it. There was nothing she could do about it except hope that it didn't last long. But then the clerk lunged forward and took one titty in his mouth, sucking and tongueing the hardening nipple. Princess tried to twist away. The stupid fucker WOULD have to take full advantage--

"Okay, that's enough. I don't want Hank to see any marks on her, ya unnerstand? He'll have your head if he does."

The clerk released her titties and nodded reluctantly. As he headed back into the store, Wanda pushed Princess' breasts back in and tugged the zippers closed. Princess could still feel the clerk's groping fingers and slobbery tongue.

Wanda got back in the sulky and snapped the reins. Tired and aching and cold, not to mention hurt and humiliated, Princess forged ahead, hoping to get back home as soon as possible.

The rain continued unabated as she trudged home, her metal horseshoes beating out a regular rhythm on the hard road. As if her night wasn't miserable enough, she had to sidestep some unidentifiable roadkill, the sight of which almost made her puke. The only thing that kept her going was the thought of her nice comfy mattress in her warm stall.

Princess was exhausted when she finally made her way into the stable, and gave a silent prayer of thanks when she was unhitched from the sulky and led back to her stall. Wanda clipped her bit rings to the sides of her stall.

"I'll bet you need something to relax you after all that, don't you?" Princess didn't even suspect anything as Wanda placed the feedbag over her lower face and buckled it into place.

At first, she was puzzled, as there was no food or water inside, but then she smelled the acrid smoke. Wanda had put her lit cigarette inside the feedbag! Princess, who had prided herself on her health when she was a free woman and had been part of her high school's anti-smoking campaign, could only suck in the fumes as she gasped for breath. Wanda blithely removed the harness and catsuit as the ponygirl coughed and choked from the burning cigarette assaulting her lungs.

When Wanda was finished after taking her own sweet time, she removed the feedbag. Princess gulped in fresh air and coughed harshly, knowing her throat would be burning for the next day or so.

"Whatsamatter? Dry throat? Wait one minute, honey." Wanda left and returned with a beer. She twisted the top off and pulled the bit out of the ponygirl's mouth. Princess tried to escape the bottle being pressed to her lips, but Wanda gripped her chin like a vise. Still, Princess refused to open her lips.

"You know, I'm gettin' low on cigarettes," warned Wanda. The message was clear, drink or return to the all-night convenience store. Princess took the bottle in her mouth. "Good girl! If you spill one fuckin' drop, you'll get another," her tormentor crooned tauntingly.

Princess chugged the beer down. She had been drunk only twice in her life, and knew that hangovers were hell. It had been over a year since she had even tasted any alcohol, so her tolerance was almost non-existent. The queasiness and pounding headache she would experience the next day would make training sheer torture.

Princess emptied the bottle, and Wanda put her to bed. "You were a good girl tonight, but you took too long to get to the store and back, so maybe next time I'll give you some pills to get your energy up, make you go a little faster." Wanda patted her on her bare head, then kissed her above her one ear, leaving faint red lip marks on the shaven skin. "Sweet dreams, little pony," she said with an evil smile before leaving.

Long after the lights went out and Wanda had left, Princess lay awake in the dark, her head reeling from the beer and the nicotine and the fatigue, her mind replaying the casual abuses she had suffered that night. Her eyes streamed with tears as she wondering what other horrors she would be subjected to during the rest of her short and insignificant life.