Pony Tales - Clover - Day 05.99

She wasn't sure if it's because she was settling into the pony mindset, or if the water really was just super cold and refreshing but dipping in to drink it left her feeling awake. Like her tiredness had at least been a bit washed away. She finished drinking and dunked a fair chunk of her head in, lifting it out and tossing her now soaked hair up and over her head to shaking out the water and let it run down her back.

...Right in the face of Aria who had come over to undo the ties on Clover's arms.

Aria stood there, having caught a full face and front of water from the pony's sweat-soaked hair. She blinked several times. Clover hadn't noticed her mistake yet and Aria was admittedly, caught off guard. Unsure how to react. Next to Clover, Holly had seen the whole thing. She stifled a giggle and turned her eyes very quickly back to her bucket and pretended that she saw nothing. Hayley stood to the side, jaw open wide as Clover shook a bit of the water off and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Boy. I do hope that was refreshing. Clover."

Clover nearly jumped at the voice directly behind her and turned around to Miss Aria. Who was standing before her, wiping water from her face and looking not-so-pleased, "...I'm so so--" She stopped herself mid-sentence and stood there unsure of what to do. It had just slipped out. She forced herself to meet Aria's gaze for a moment and then quickly diverted it to her bare feet sinking into the now-soaked grass.

"You know Clover. I didn't think I needed a shower today. And yet here I am, soaked from head to toe. I was preparing to release you and let you relax for the rest of the day. But I think now, plans have changed a bit. Ponies need to have manners. To be aware of their surroundings...." She grabbed Clover rather roughly by her wrists, "And to learn, not to speak. You're going to sit for the day in one of these nice little isolation fields and think about what you could have done better and when I think you've learned your lesson, then you may return to your room for the evening. Is that understood Clover?"

Clover swallowed nervously and stomped her foot once. She had so not meant to do that. But she knew Miss Aria was right. She should have been aware of what she was doing. And she definitely shouldn't have spoken. She was supposed to be a good pony. She furrowed her brow at the confusing mess of thoughts in her mind. There was still a slight argument between her newly learning pony side and her human side. Logic had no real meaning here. Not in the same sense as it did back in the real world.

Aria grabbed a long strip of leather from the nearby fence and half guided, half pushed, Clover towards a small 10' by 10' fenced-in field with a lonely-looking post in the middle of it. The post was painted white and had a U-shaped fastener hammered into it.

Aria tugged open the gate and gave Clover a push into the field, "To the post. Now."

Clover stumbled to the post obediently, not wanting to upset the woman more.

With skilled hands, Aria turned Clover around so the post was to her back. There was a curious click as a fastener on one end of the leather was clipped to the post and the other end was wrapped securely around the middle of Clover's arms, a similar fastener clipped over the leather to hold it in place. Aria gave it a few tugs to snug it up. Clover would have about a foot and a half of lee-way and that was it.

Moving around to the front of Clover she'd take the girl's chin, forcing her chin up so their eyes met, "This is part of what you signed up for Clover. So try to think of this as a learning experience. You can sit here, and bake in the sun for the day. I will make sure someone is along to check on you periodically." She pointed to an odd-looking conical device atop one of the posts in the field, "There are also eyes and ears here. You better hope I don't hear so much as another word from you the rest of the day. Understood Pony?"

Clover squirmed on the spot, having a hard time keeping Aria's gaze. She looked to the obvious camera atop the post and then back to the woman holding her chin tightly. She wasn't squirming away any time soon. She lifted a foot and stomped it down into the soft grass once.

Immediately Aria released her chin and turned on her heel, leaving without another word. She took a few minutes to converse with Hayley who was gathering the four ponies up, "Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't dry out in the sun too much. I'll be along collect her later in the day."

Hayley gave a polite curtsy to Aria and then turned, offering Clover an almost sympathetic look before she gathered the reins of all four ponies and walked off towards the barn.

Clover stood there, testing the strength of the leather tethering her to the post. It would seem she was not going anywhere and based on the length of the leather she wasn't sitting down either. Her feet were already aching horribly from doing whip circle barefoot and her long walk across the hot concrete earlier. Sweat beaded on her brow and she swayed slightly. It was going to be a long day. A day where she'd let her thoughts bubble over. What she'd done wrong. What she could do better. Already there was a clear transition in how she thought. On how a pony should think.

Clover slumped against her pole slowly and stared at up the sun and the severe lack of clouds in the sky.

...It was going to be a long day.

TWC = 12,599