Pony Tales - Buttons

Part 3: I's and T's

By Firefly

"...And that just about does it. You understand the terms I've laid out for you then?" Aria asked as she signed the last piece of her paperwork for Dakota.

Dakota nodded, "I think so."

Aria nodded curtly, "Abide by the rules and the plan I have developed for you, and I am sure, given time, you will come to enjoy your stay here."

If Dakota stuck with it. It might very well change his life in a lot of good ways. Aria wasn't just offering him the opportunity to eventually step into hooves. She was offering medical care, a dietitian, A personal trainer, and a way to earn his keep by serving the household. Not to mention he'd be offered a taste of BDSM, D/s as well as Ponyplay.

Dakota smiled down at the paperwork, signing his name one final time and sliding it across to Aria, who took a moment to read it over and gently rock her head back and forth.

"No chosen pony name yet. Most come here with one already in mind but in your case, it's appropriate that you discover that on your personal journey." Aria tucked all the paperwork into a folder labeled 'Dakota' and set it to the side, "Now then. My head of staff is a bit preoccupied with an etiquette class, so we will get you over to the medical team first." She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed the number for the vet in the barn, who also served as her medical team for non-pony-related care.

"Victoria? Are you busy at the moment? No? Good. I'm going to send Dakota along to you shortly. The one I mentioned yesterday? Yes. That one. Would you prefer him in the clinic up here or the barn office? Ah, good idea. He'll be along shortly." She then hung up the phone and turned her gaze to Dakota, "You are off to the barn to get poked and prodded by the medical team. Try not to get too nervous, the last person who went in there and freaked out ended up strapped down rather tightly..."

She leaned back with a slight smile, "But then, Some are into that." She mused.

Dakota couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

Aria turned her gaze to him "You find that funny? I'm not joking. Victoria isn't above strapping you to a medical bed while she works. Do consider that. If you head out of the office and down the hall beneath the main stairs, I'll have one of the maids meet you at the back door to take you to the vet's office." She waved a dismissive hand to send him on his way.

Dakota stood up and smiled, "Thank you."

Aria raised an eyebrow, "No. Thank me like you mean it." She said flatly.

Dakota tilted his head, "What do you mean? I did mean it?"

"SHOW ME you're thankful. House staff bow or curtsy, much like the ponies do. You may choose which." Aria folded her arms over her chest, once again choosing to test Dakota's resolve.

"I don't really know any proper bows or curtsies."

Aria didn't respond. She remained silent, raised her eyebrow, and stared at him rather intensely, tapping her foot on the floor.

Dakota was unsure how to proceed. He got the impression she wanted to see if he'd comply. He shrugged a little bit, letting his mind roam over a few movies he'd watched. He guessed he had a bit of an idea on how to respond.

He placed his left foot gently behind his right, holding his hands out a little on either side and then bent both his knees gently, bowing his head and doing a fair representation of a proper curtsy and saying, "Thank you." As he did so.

"Interesting, but not unexpected, commendable nonetheless. Now off with you." She waved a hand and went back to the pile of paperwork on her desk, pushing rimmed glasses up her nose and letting out a bit of a sigh as Dakota disappeared out of the door of her office.

"A curtsy, somewhat telling, He is surprisingly elegant for his size though." She mused before looking at her pile of finance paperwork and sighing.

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Thankfully the layout of the house was pretty easy to figure out despite its many rooms. Dakota slipped out of Aria's office and headed down the hall beneath the stairs in the main foyer. As Aria had promised, one of the maids was standing there waiting for him. It was the same raven-haired female who had shown him the room to clean up in earlier. She dipped into a polite curtsy upon his arrival and smiled.

"We meet again." Dakota said with a smile.

The maid nodded, "I just happened to be available again. Did your meeting with Miss Aria go well?"

Dakota nodded, "I think so. Better than well actually. I'm a little disappointed. But I've been offered a path I hope I can walk."

The maid smiled, "It's all about resolve. Nothing is easy at first after all. Miss Aria would not have offered if she didn't think you were capable. She doesn't roll the dice, she controls them." The maid giggled.

"She definitely seems the type. But she's given me a chance here, so I'd rather now screw it up."

"She'll hold you to that. Now come along, Miss Victoria likes to be kept waiting less than Miss Aria." She pushed through the back door of the house and stepped out into the aggressively warm air. The heat and humidity were doing no favors for anyone that day and based on the fact that it looked to be almost a mile to the barn, Dakota wrinkled his nose slightly. He wondered how the maid kept her composure and seemed to not be bothered by the heat as she led him along.

The facility was huge. Boasting more than a few training fields surrounding the barn. Fields that were currently occupied with a mix of Trainers and to Dakota's delight, ponies. Trainers worked them on whip circles or had them doing laps, some played on what looked like a football pitch, knocking a large ball around. More prominently however was the blazing redheaded pony from earlier who was sitting alone in a small field, leashed to a post and looking rather unhappy.

"Aw. Poor Daydream." The maid mused. The redhead lifted her head, one of her speakers letting out an unhappy-sounding nicker.

"Will she be ok?" Dakota asked, concerned about her in the boiling hot sun.

The maid smiled, "The concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. While she is being forced to sit and sweat in the hot sun. We are not uncaring savages. A groom or trainer comes along every half an hour to provide water and take care of her, even applying sunscreen as needed and on a day like this, I imagine that has already been done. So don't worry, she'll just be a melty sweaty mess by the end of the day, but no worse for wear."

Dakota breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded. Offering a small nod to the redheaded pony. Her speaker let out a happy whinny before she slumped back against her post.

Walking along the path, Dakota was almost too distracted to realize how far the walk was, "This place is incredible. How many bloody staff and ponies do you have?" He asked curiously.

The maid looked over her shoulder, flipping her hair gently, "Good question! I think the last count put us at a three-to-one ratio of ponies to trainers. I think the split was about sixty-three ponies and twenty-one trainers? That's not including the grooms of course, who do a LOT of the hard work as well."

Dakota tilted his head curiously, "Are the grooms not trainers?" He asked curiously, only knowing the terminology a little bit.

"Not exactly. The grooms are more responsible for the care and tending of ponies. They do often study under trainers as part of their development. But their responsibilities lay in daily grooming, stall tending, and meal schedules. As well as any other extra work needed in regards to the ponyplay areas." The maid seemed happy to explain, it wasn't often people got a kind of 'tour' beforehand and got to ask questions. Dakota was kind of in a unique position to learn before he even got to try.

"That's neat. What do you mean by grooming though?" He tilted his head.

"What do you think I mean? You groom yourself on a daily basis. Just think of it like that, but more in-depth. Grooms shampoo and condition manes. They shine latex bodysuits. They take out, clean, and re-lube plugs as necessary. They clean ponies from top to bottom while also inspecting for injuries and concerns. It's a pretty involved job but most who do it, enjoy it. I was a groom until about two years ago when I was invited to serve the household instead. I miss grooming quite a bit, but I enjoy the cool interior of the house more." She giggled softly and couldn't help but be amused by the pink flush that spread across Dakota's cheeks when she mentioned the cleaning and re-lubing of plugs. How cute it was to have another more vanilla individual about. The journey of discovery was such a lovely one.

"So a fair amount of work then." Dakota responded, too distracted by all the activity going on around them that he nearly walked into the maid as she stopped to let a trainer with a short haircut and a no-nonsense look on her face lead several ponies out of the whip circle. The trainer stopped and turned to regard the pair.

"Ohhh, do we have a new stallion coming in?" The woman asked with genuine interest.

The maid giggled, "Keep your feelers back Eden. Dakota here isn't quite ready to take on that title yet. He's got some work ahead of him before he gets to be called a stallion."

Eden wrinkled her nose and fingered her crop for a moment before looking to her three sweat-soaked ponies, "Stay." She commanded them before walking past the maid who cast Dakota an almost apologetic look.

Coming to stand in front of Dakota nearly nose-to-nose, Eden would smile and look him up and down, giving him a few pokes with her crop, "Hm." Eden brought her gaze up to meet Dakota's for an intense moment that was cut short when he looked down.

Eden pressed the tip of her crop under his chin and forced his gaze back up, "A stallion whose mane I'll be able to pull. That's a fun prospect." She gave him a sharp flick on the cheek with her crop and smiled, letting her intense demeanor melt away, "Well, welcome to Tall Tails Dakota. I hope we'll get to see you about when Miss Aria deems you ready. Now if you'll excuse me...I've got three extremely cheeky ponies to hose down."

The three standing and waiting let out several snorts of complaint, "Oh, with icy cold water too it would seem." The three slumped almost in unison. Eden grinned and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the maid's cheek, "It's nice seeing you again Raven. It's been too long since you've been down to the barn my dear. We miss you. Come visit sometime, would you?"

The maid squeaked and blushed slightly, "You as well Eden. You know it's because my work in the house keeps me so busy! But maybe I'll come to visit on my next day off..." She mused.

"Good girl. I'll look forward to it." Eden waved goodbye to them both and with a firm 'heel' command given, Eden and the three ponies headed off to the outdoor wash bays on the far side of the barn.

Raven cast a glance at Dakota who was standing looking a little...confused? Intimidated?

"Don't mind Eden. She can be a bit intense, but she's a sweetheart when you get past that rather..." She paused and searched for the words.

"...Intense exterior?" Dakota asked with a chuckle.

Raven nodded, "You got it. She's like one of those tootsie rolls, you gotta work a bit to get to the soft gooey center!" Raven giggled and motioned for Dakota to follow. They'd finally reached the barn and to Dakota's surprise, he hadn't died after the mile, although it was obvious he was slightly out of breath something that the sandy-brown-haired vet noticed after Raven knocked on the door of the office.

Victoria had been tending to some vaccination paperwork when the knock came on her office door. She glanced at the clock above the door and wrinkled her nose slightly. Climbing to her feet she'd dust off her white coat and open the door, "Ah, finally decided to show up, did we? I was expecting you nearly fifteen minutes ago..."

Raven dipped into an immediate curtsy, "My apologies Miss Victoria. Dakota here had a lot of great questions that I couldn't help but answer." She offered a bright smile as Victoria tousled her hair a little.

"Hm. I guess since you're so knowledgeable, I'll forgive it this time." She turned her dark blue gaze upon Dakota who squirmed under the scrutinizing gaze she placed upon him.

"A mile and a half and you're out of breath huh? It's no wonder Aria has us jumping through ALL the hoops to get you on track. Very well. I'll take him from here Raven. He's got a long day in the clinic ahead of him." Victoria stepped aside and motioned Dakota inside who hadn't said anything yet as he slipped past her into the clinic.

"Thank you, Miss Victoria, try to get him back early enough for Sophie to catch him! He's gotta be measured for his house uniform."

Victoria nodded, "Very well. Now run along, and bring Daydream an extra drink of water when you go by. It's a bit hot for only every half an hour today."

After Raven nodded and dipped into a final curtsy, Victoria pushed the door shut and turned about to face Dakota, standing there awkwardly.

"Alright then. Let's get you looked at then, shall we?"