Pony Tales - Clover - Day 36

Part 42: Welcome Back

By Firefly

...Frustrated noises from the tack room? Perish the thought. No pony went in there and got flustered while being tacked up! It was a special experience full of excitement and emotion.

However today the emotion was pure frustration.

"They fit when I retired!"

CRACK! The sound of a crop striking a bare thigh echoed through the room as a frustrated huff came from Aria as she leaned over the dressing rack. Despite being snugly secured by several straps she managed to shoot a flustered look at Sophie who was tugging the hoof boot off of Aria's leg with a sigh. "Regardless. They don't fit now. They'll have to be taken out slightly."

Sophie stood up, setting the pair of black and green leather boots on the nearby table, occupied by a dozen other pieces of tack, which despite their age had been well taken care of through the years. Whether by Sophie's hands or by Aria's when she was feeling lonely and nostalgic.

"Taken out? Are you calling me fa--" Sophie jammed the tip of her crop into Aria's mouth, forcing her head up to face her and raising an eyebrow.

"You know. For someone who has run a ponygirl stable for well over a decade. You'd think you actually remember the rules you tout so often." Aria twisted and turned her head to try and free the crop tip from her mouth, but Sophie stubbornly held it there.

"Seeing as your memory is a little fuzzy on the subject. Let's refresh. Shall we? Stomps only or so help me you'll be retiring to your stall with an ass that is black, blue, and everything in between, understood?" She asked, staring at Aria with intense green eyes.

Aria let out a flustered noise but nodded.

Sophie slowly withdrew the top of the crop giving her the chance to remain quiet, allowing her to submit. When no voice came, Sophie nodded in approval.

"There's a good pony. Now, Let's give you a bit of a refresher. You're an animal during your time at the barn, a pony to be specific. Ponies don't speak, they communicate only through body language, stomps, and noises. A rule I remember you struggling to follow back when you first started back in the day. If you dare to speak, you'll be swiftly corrected. Respond properly, and you'll be acknowledged. It's a fairly simple rule and while you're in my care in here, you'll obey that simple request...Oui?" She asked, her French accent slipping into her words as she crouched down and smiled.

Aria nodded and gave a single stomp of her bare foot on the floor. Being naked was embarrassing enough. But then, what had she expected getting back into hooves? To be treated differently because she ran the barn?

"You need to reset your way of thinking. When you're in tack, in this barn, you are not Miss Aria, head stable mistress. You are Twilight, a very talented pony and the former dressage champion who inspired many who remain here to this day. If you think your previous position is going to earn you preferential treatment, you've got another thing coming. Equality in all forms, including here." Sophie looked at Twilight's tack laid out on the table and sighed a little bit.

"...Now. As I was saying before you got so frustrated and mouthy, your feet have gotten a little wider over the years. So Christoph will need to punch out the leather a little before we get you into them. I'm also going to get him to put some training shoes on the bottom, just until you re-find your feet."

Twilight stomped twice in response.

Sophie crossed her arms, "What? Do you think you're just going to slide into those hooves and be prancing about in mere minutes? That confident are you?"

Stubbornly, Twilight stomped once.

"Tell you what. If you can make it through the afternoon in the spare set of hooves I'm going to put you in, I'll have Christoph not put the trainers on yours. Deal?"

Twilight stomped confidently and nodded.

"However if you fail, you will spend the entire day tomorrow, with those training shoes, on the hotwalker until you're trotting with the best of them." Sophie grinned widely. The hotwalker was not the most pleasant of experiences. But it worked wonders for stamina training and stubborn ponies.

Twilight narrowed her eyes, the freshly applied olive green eyeshadow adding depth to her squint as she stomped once.

Sophie nodded, "Good. I always like to break a stubborn pony." She moved about, running fingers along the rest of the pony's tack, "Now I think the rest of this is going to fit just fine. You've no extra weight around your midsection, which is most impressive given your lazy ass up in the house. Sooooo let's get you ready. First things first, you show off." She scooped up a transparent catsuit which served no purpose other than to protect from the sun's UV rays and squeeze the pony's figure into a more pleasant shape.

It took a good hour, but Aria was slowly changed from the proud owner of the stable, into the spitting image of Twilight from many years ago, albeit a little bit older with her silver hair. The transparent catsuit allowed all her tattoos to shine, an intricate bridle complete with a green silicone bit that was jammed between her teeth, the blinders had been set aside for the moment. About her midsection was a corset in black and green that accentuated her figure and a leather harness that clung around it and her body.

Sophie ran her fingers along the armbinder that she'd just finished lacing. It was a bit tighter than most ponies tended to partake, the armbinder was strapped down to the harness about her body. A posture collar kept Twilight's chin high and focused. Overall, it was a well-put-together set of tack that was only brought down by the slightly old-looking training hooves that her feet had been put in. Ankle-height black boots with anti-slip horseshoes on the bottom.

Sophie moved around in front of Twilight, unclipping straps from the dressing rack and letting her stand up bit by bit, "Hm. I'm glad I decided to acquire the tail to match your hair. I had considered giving you a dye job, but the silver rather suits the look, Don't worry your old tail is safe and sound.." She made a 'picture' gesture with her fingers and beamed.

"You know. I always appreciated how your tack manages to cover you entirely and leave you almost completely exposed at the same time..." She reached out, giving an exposed nipple a small flick, "We'll get some hardware back in those after your first couple of days. Piercings can be a bit annoying when you're fresh off the wagon." Sophie rolled her neck and looked towards the door.

"Well, now that you're tacked up. Why don't we take a bit of a walk and drop your hooves off with Christoph, you can show me just how confident you are trotting about." Sophie grinned, clipping a lead to Twilight's bridle before scooping up the hoof boots off the nearby table. Without so much as letting Twilight give any protest, she tugged her along towards the door.

Through the door, they went, and not at a slow pace. If Twilight wanted to be stubborn, she could pay for it.

Behind Sophie, Twilight stumbled in her hooves at first. Wobbling uneasily as she remembered that if she fell, there was little between the ground and her face, or any other part of her for that matter. Her legs shook slightly by the time they made it to the door of the tack room.

~I do not remember it being quite this hard.~

She told herself in frustration, which only built a bit more as Sophie glanced over her shoulder, noting the little bead of sweat already on Twilight's brow.

"Everything ok dear Twilight? You wouldn't happen to be struggling at all. Not a confident pony like you..." She grinned.

Twilight gave an indignant huff at Sophie and straightened up her posture, moving to follow the woman as she walked out the door. She nearly tripped over the frame of the door but stubbornly forced one hoof after the other as she moved after Sophie.

Sophie was not cruel however, she understood just how much of a change this was. Just how much of a struggle this was for any new pony, even an out-of-practice experienced pony like Twilight. So she slowed her pace just a touch, enough so that Twilight could find a hint of confidence in each step and rediscover that balance that came with walking in hooves.

They moved through the barn, several knowing grooms watching with keen interest, several older ponies whinnying in greeting while the younger ones, who had only known Aria as the mistress of the property tilted their heads curiously, moving to the front of their stalls to watch.

As they rounded the corner and headed to the Blacksmith's shop, they came to a halt next to a little alcove in the wall where a human-sized cat bed had been tucked, in which none other than the fiery pony Daydream was lazing. Sophie reached out, running fingers through the girl's hair, "Look who came to visit the barn." Sophie murmured.

The sleepy Daydream eased her eyes open, which only went wider as she recognized the woman in front of her. Daydream gave Sophie's hand a little nuzzle, pressing a button in her hand to make her little speaker let out a curious nicker as she sniffed the air in Twilight's direction.

Twilight couldn't help but smile. Most of them were rather fond of Daydream, and Daydream had been around long enough to have seen Twilight's final days in hooves many years ago. She couldn't help but blush softly as Daydream made her speaker let out a happy whinny, wiggling forwards and nuzzling up under Twilight's chin affectionately, the scent of green apple perfume drifting around Daydream's form.

Sophie stifled a chuckle, "Seems we aren't the only ones that missed you Twilight." Sophie said with a soft smile.

Once Daydream was done giving the pony a warm welcome, Sophie tugged Twilight along, she was contemplating the statement that Sophie had just uttered.

'Seems we aren't the only ones that missed you.'

Twilight slumped a little bit. She'd been away so long she didn't think anyone missed her anymore, she'd graduated to her position as owner and stable mistress. It was a nice feeling that made little butterflies flit about her stomach.

~Welcome back, Twilight.~ She told herself, smiling around her bit.