Beyond Charybdis (9 page)

Another door opened, and they stepped into a rectangular hall, the long sides of the room lined with treadmills. The exercise machines had been fitted with the necessary additions to ensure that those destined to use them did not slacken their pace or jump off, the various restraints and harnesses fixed into place and immobile. They resembled individual cells more than treadmills, for instead of the usual guardrail, the front and sides rose to the ceiling, the polished steel panels affixed with a single weak light to illuminate the interior, accessed by an open door at the back.

‘First let's get our little Mina in place, and then sweet Trisha,' Tethys said, leaving Oceanus to knot the other girl's reins upon the neighbouring machine so he might follow and assist her.

Mina was brought over to one of the machines and delivered onto the thick rubber belt, her reins removed and cast away first. A small aperture in the ceiling allowed a harness to descend on some dense cables, the formation of straps falling across her chest and tightening to a snug fit, the cables fixed to the shoulder straps. Another cable was then lifted from the wall before her, the metal weave bearing spiralling coils of insulated wire. The cable clipped to the front of her collar, and the wires were brought down to reveal a small black tube with four hooked metal arms. The clamps were attached to her nipples and pulled back. Their grip was relatively weak compared to the other forms of nipple clamps she had endured, and she guessed they were more of a conduit than the actual source of the distress themselves. These token additions to her body completed, the door to the chamber was closed, leaving her standing alone in the dim light of the tall and narrow space.

Listening to the faint sounds of Trisha being similarly confined, Mina was glad she at least now knew her peer's name. Then suddenly the floor broke into movement, passing slowly under her hooves and dragging her back towards the door. Stepping forward she gave a yelp of distress as the cable to her collar snapped taut, instantly pumping biting shocks down the wires and through the clamps. The voltage chewed upon her nipples, the sensation intense and distressing, making her yelp with surprise and break into a swift trot. And no sooner had the cable gone limp between her collar and the wall than the electrical attack stopped.

Mina continued walking briskly upon the belt. Looking up, she lowered her body a little, placing some tension on the overhead cable. Again her teats suffered the charged retribution of the sensors, demanding that she stand erect and remain in her place. The small nips were a spiteful and effective discipline, but they were also intriguingly pleasurable.

Locked in this small cell, she was being forcibly coerced to do as she was told, and the level of mindless automated control her owners had placed upon her filled her submissive soul with a warm and comfortable glow.

The day wore on as the belt slowly and steadily increased its pace, accelerating and forcing Mina into a swift trot, and then a steady run. Her muscles were still raw from the previous day's workout, and numerous times she was shocked into making more of an effort to keep up. Yet it felt good to exercise, to run and feel her body coursing with strength and health, her heart pumping against her leather-squeezed ribs, her lungs burning.

At regular intervals the belt slowed to a lethargic walking pace, keeping her moving slightly so her muscles would not seize up during the small breaks permitted her. Sucking in deep breaths, she steadied her pulse and with a sly smile allowed herself to drift back and enjoy the shock to her nipples. Groaning softly upon her bit, she endured a few more electrical nips before picking up her pace to stop once she had her fill of the excruciating sensation. And yet almost immediately she longed to subject herself to it again, which made her wonder if this was also part of her training. She wondered if her masochistic streak was being fed and nurtured even as her body was strengthened and her physique refined.

Staring blankly at the misty, distorted reflection of herself in the polished metal wall before her, she wondered how Trisha was faring. The other girl was clearly a more experienced pony than she.

Trotting along, Mina closed her eyes and fantasised about being ravaged by fatigue as she let her legs trail to once more experience the painful shocks to her nipples. She imagined them stripping her feet from under her and leaving her dangling, her hooves dragging against the belt as the shocks grew more and more potent, demanding that she resume her run. Quivering and gasping, she pictured herself hanging there for a few seconds before the intensity of the heat in her breasts eclipsed her ability to find pleasure in it. Gaining her feet in her mind's eye, she commenced the required gait and eased the strain on her form, smiling to herself, for in reality her body was more than fit enough to meet the parameters the machine required.

Untold hours passed as her body grew slick with perspiration and her idle mind fished back through her memories, hooking onto scenes and reeling them in to re-experience. She drifted back through her times with Atlas and with Jupiter, with Charybdis and the Pleiades, dwelling on them with fond enthusiasm. Even the impossible bondage during her time as an eel was a favoured trinket to mull over in her mind now. She had hated it, but recalling her utterly helpless stint in the dark waters was more exciting than the tedious period of confinement and exercise she was being subjected to now.

Her body weary and aching, Mina at last heard the door behind her open, and light flooded her monotonous cell. Tethys's voice asked, ‘Has our pony had a good run?'

‘I think she's done better than poor little Trisha,' Oceanus replied. ‘Our Mina has a far more demanding temperament.'

The belt slowed to a halt and she felt hands removing the bonds securing her to her fate.

‘I think they'll both sleep well tonight,' Tethys remarked, clipping Mina's reins back on and leading her out of the sadistic treadmill. Standing still, but slightly wobbly from the lengthy period of physical exertion, Mina watched as the couple entered the neighbouring cell and released Trisha.

‘It's okay, little Trisha, it's all over for today,' Oceanus murmured soothingly, stroking her ponytail as she emerged. ‘You did well to last as long as you did.'

Trisha was sobbing quietly and breathlessly, clearly overjoyed to be free of her torment, her gratitude to those who had released her knowing no bounds despite the fact that it was they who had instigated her bondage. She had obviously suffered considerably more than Mina. She may have been a more experienced pony, but the training programme required of her was beyond her current physical prowess. She had been shocked into exertion time and time again by the clamps affixed to her nipples, and her mind and body appeared to have been left dazed by the rigorous trial.

‘Come on, girls, we'll get you cleaned up and fed and then you can have a nice long sleep,' Tethys promised. ‘Then tomorrow we do this again.'

Trisha sagged and wept more loudly.

‘I don't think Trisha is too happy about that,' Oceanus commented lightly.

‘She'll be okay,' Tethys pronounced, tugging the girl's reins as she started to lag behind. ‘Once she starts becoming more fit, it'll be easier on her.'

‘You'd think a girl who's been a pony for so long would be accustomed to the odd marathon run,' Oceanus remarked more sternly.

‘Perhaps we should lower the demands of her programme?' Tethys suggested.

‘That will not help get her into shape,' Oceanus disagreed, drawing Mina towards the door.

‘You think we should increase them?' his wife asked, and the query made Trisha visibly tremble with dread.

‘No, just increase the intensity of the shocks for them both. It's only fair they follow the same schedule.'

With stiff movements, Trisha was led out of the exercise barn with Mina trotting beside her. Mina felt pity for her, but also envy, as she would have liked to be pushed beyond her physical endurance; to be hauled out onto complete exhaustion and shocked repeatedly. But Mina knew that when she was under duress, when the impossible was demanded of her, she always managed to push her body past its limits and succeed magnificently in whatever she was doing. In her old line of work winning had meant surviving, and the dire consequences of defeat in her old vocation had branded her psyche with the need to succeed in everything she did.

Led down the corridor, the two pony-girls were once more delivered to the shower room. Mina was the first to be attended, leaving Trisha sagging against the wall, half-unconscious. The rods were sheathed in her tracts and the waters flushed her clean as the overhead nozzle poured a warm soothing flood across her sweat-soaked form.

Trisha was cleaned next and drawn from the room, and then they were both placed in their communal stall. Their reins were locked into place on the walls and their crotch-pieces removed. The second their owners retreated and shut the doors behind them, the two ponies placed their faces cheek-to-cheek and blinker-to-blinker to drink greedily from the water trough before filling their bellies with the soft bland nutrient pellets filling the adjoining basin.

Collapsing across the hay, the two pony-girls were asleep in seconds, Mina curling up to help cradle Trisha's tortured form.

 

For the next week the two pony-girls were served up to the fate of being run until they were utterly exhausted. Mina's body quickly adapted to the routine, her toned muscles making the constant exercise not only easier on her, but enjoyable too. Trisha, however, was constantly kept in a state of turmoil as her body sought to keep up with the increasing demands of her training, but never quiet succeeded in pushing itself far enough to catch up with Mina.

Every evening they collapsed in their stall, soaked from their shower and drained of all vitality by the day's run. They used the last shreds of energy they possessed to feed themselves and to drink heartily from the water trough before falling asleep in the hay. A night of deep and dreamless sleep always ended with the arrival of the nurse, and robbed them of any chance to exploit the short period during which they had enough energy to try and assuage their increasing sexual frustration. Even the morning douche failed to satisfy them, their bodies too weary to rise to the exquisite demands of an orgasm, too slow to respond to the teasing jets.

After seven days of severe and seemingly endless toil, after the nurse had finished cleaning them and left the stall, Mina was surprised when the main doors were unlatched and opened to reveal the stable's main pens, a marked deviation from the relentless training routine.

Tethys and Oceanus stood out in the early morning sunlight, the soft light catching their polished cat-suits, the shimmering rubber cocoons flowing into matching boots and gloves.

‘Good morning, pony-girls,' Tethys called out to them, smiling. ‘I trust you slept well?' She leaned against the doorway, her curvaceous form straining against the tight confines of the suit and inspiring the appetite of her two equine slaves.

Cursing her crotch band, Mina's eyes locked on the fetish-clad forms of her owners, her loins aflame with longing after a week spent fantasising and recalling all her previous ordeals and experiences.

‘We have a treat for you today,' Oceanus announced, slipping an arm around his wife's waist.

‘Seeing as you've both run so well all week long and shown definite improvement, I think you deserve this reward,' Tethys stated, and turning her head kissed her husband's cheek fondly as his hand wandered up and cupped one of her breasts. She in turn assessed him through his latex suit, following the hard outlines of his body with admiring eyes and rubbing herself against him, aroused by the scene and eager to play.

‘For the whole day you are free to run around the island as you wish,' Oceanus revealed the surprise. ‘You're wild ponies for a while, so enjoy it.'

‘But make sure you get back here by nightfall,' Tethys warned, making it clear that she would not tolerate tardiness in their return.

‘Okay, off you go,' Oceanus snapped, unclipping their reins and slapping their bottoms as they tottered out onto the soft dirt. Then breaking into a sprint, they dashed through the weave of pens, almost literally skipping with jubilation.

Giggling, Mina led the way and Trisha followed close behind as they ran out into the field and headed for the trees. With a wild leap, Mina launched herself into the foliage, the leaves brushing across her suit as she wove between the trunks and crashed through the lush vegetation, her hooves crunching over fallen twigs as she ran, relishing her token freedom. The undergrowth sought to snag her, but her powerful strides sloughed it off, her nylon and leather-clad limbs immune to nature's scratching fingers. Rays of golden light poured down through the canopy of leaves, creating streaming cascades of warm radiance that washed over the happily prancing human ponies. Pausing, Mina turned to watch Trisha catching up with her. She was running more carefully, and she did not possess the same level of stamina.

Mina drunk deep of the jungle warmth and scents, drawing a deep breath to let the lush smells course through her lungs. She felt like a true animal, wild and free.

Trisha stepped beside her and looked Mina up and down lustfully, her mouth watering against her bit as she moved closer, trembling with excitement. Catching her breath, Mina approached her in turn, and let her breasts graze the other girl's through the sheer body stockings. With a sigh of rapture, Trisha brushed her lips against those of her partner in slavery.