Mistress Noin sipped tea on the veranda of Master Desert’s Mansion. Papers fluttered in the breeze, and a pen rested on the pile.

She was in the midst of negotiating and paying her stake in two ponygirls. She was waiting for her banker to call back, and looked at the scenery as she sipped away. The breeze whipped her red skirt and her corset shone brightly against the area around her.

Master Desert walked out, and noted the pile of papers.

"Haven’t signed them?" he asked. He fluttered a few of the pages and looked at Mistress Noin.

"Just waiting for my Banker to "approve" of the transfer. The system is under close scrutiny by Interpol as of late due to a few screw-ups by those Drug Lords." replied Mistress Noin, "so, our line of work might be picked up as illegal drug activity."

"Well, as soon as the money is paid in full, you’ll be the proud new owner of two fil…"

Master Desert never got to finish the sentence as a gunshot rang out over the property.

"What was that?!" yelled Mistress Noin. "It came from the stables.."

"Just a few of my stable hands eliminating some defective stock," replied Master Desert bluntly.

"Defective stock? What on earth are you talking about?" asked Mistress Noin concerned.

"One of my ponygirls broke her leg, and their…"

Again, the sentence wasn’t finished as Mistress Noin stormed off, dropping her tea onto the papers, diluting the $20,000 sale of two ponygirls…

Inside of the stable, three stable hands had a black-haired filly by the throat, with the tallest aiming the rifle towards the heart of the filly.

The forlorn filly had a split running alongside her right leg. A cast set her lower leg. She was stumbling, trying to escape, but the ability to run was lost. Only primal instinct drove her.

Mistress Noin stormed into the stables.

"HALT!! Put down that gun!!" she yelled to the tall stable hand.

"On whose orders? You’re not Master Desert!! Go away bitch!! Shoot her, Mike." yelled one of the stable hands.

‘The name’s Mistress Noin, and if you value your job Mike, put down the gun!!"

Still, Mike, the tall one, aimed. And just as he was to fire, Mistress Noin grabbed the barrel and jerked it.

The rifle went off, and the bullet hit the ponygirl in her shoulder. It went clear through and then lodged into one of the stable hand’s legs, felling him. The ponygirl fell onto his leg, whimpering and reeling.

The tall stable hand with the rifle regained control and whipped Mistress Noin with the butt of the rifle. Mistress Noin fell, sprawled onto the ground, her lips bleeding…

Now he aimed the rifle towards Mistress Noin, at her face.

"Stupid bitch, I ought to…."

"Ought to what, Mike?"

Master Desert was in the doorway, looking on, frowning.

"Seems I need a new Stable Manager. You," pointing to the unscathed and un-armed stable hand, "help Mistress Noin up and tend to her wounds. Then, patch up your friend. And, after all’s said and done, take a rest in your new office…"

‘Sir!" replied the stable hand, looking at his past manager with a stare. He helped Mistress Noin up and tended her wounds.

"I’m fine. Go and help your friend with his wound. And, congrats on your promotion," joked Mistress Noin.

‘Thank You Ma’am," replied the stable hand.

Mistress Noin pressed her lips to her fingers.

"Blood. I never thought I’d be the one bleeding."

Master Desert grabbed the rifle, flipped it round, and shot Mike in the head. Mistress Noin and the two other stable hands, along with the wounded ponygirl, looked at Master Desert uneasily.

"One less mistake in my stables."

"Uh, sir," asked the stable hand, "what about this filly?"

The injured ponygirl whimpered, as Mistress Noin tore and tied a section of her skirt into a bandage for the wound.

"Mistress Noin, seeing the first sale got erased by your tea, maybe we can re-negotiate the deal, including this one?"

"Fine, but I get a discount, seeing this one is damaged in two places."

Master Desert gritted his teeth. "Fine. You got your stupid discount."

Several days later, a big rig rumbled into Mistress Noin’s property, Valentine Ranch and Stables.

Mistress Noin, her head trainer, two lower trainers and several slave hands met the big rig. A lanky man stepped out of the cab.

"John, nice to see you again," spoke Mistress Noin to the driver. "How are the kids?"

"Fine Noin. Three ponies I see…?"

"Three, one whose leg and shoulder are screwed up."

"I wonder how much you paid for her. Butcher prices?"

"Funny. Where do I sign?"

As Mistress Noin began signing the delivery papers, the head trainer, Melanie, ordered the slave hands to start unloading the ponies. One of the slave hands saw the injured ponygirl and noted this to Melanie.

"Mistress Melanie! One of the ponygirls is bandaged up!!"

Melanie looked towards Mistress Noin. "Ma’am?"

"Take her to the infirmary. And be careful, lest you wanna be turned into a pony yourself."

"Right…you heard Mistress Noin!! Get her to the infirmary,’ hissed Melanie to the slave hands, "NOW!!"

Five slave hands began to lift the ponygirl from out of the trailer to the infirmary. The ponygirl never knew it, because she had been sedated and blindfolded for the run.

In the infirmary, the ponygirl was untied and rebound to a stretcher. A white-robed figure looked over her as Mistress Noin came in.

"So, how is she Amber?"

"I say you got a good deal for a big mess. I don’t know what Master Desert was doing, but she’s in bad shape."

"Well, is she fixable, or did I waste my money on a pity buy?"

"Well…Master Desert was wrong in ordering the destruction of her. I say she’s fixable."

"Good. Start fixing her up."

Waking up later, the ponygirl looked around at her new surroundings.

Her stall was now bigger and more open. A barred window let in natural sunlight and a felt a pleasant breeze in her stall.

She began to get up, only to find her leg was still immobilized. And, her shoulder felt numb.

The door to the stall opened. In walked Mistress Noin and a white-robed lady. A slave hand carried a tray behind the two.

"So, how will she be doc?" asked Mistress Noin.

"Give it a few months to have her heal properly. In the meantime, she can be useful as a milker to Bunny in Stall 14. Her milk ducts are not producing enough milk for her foal. Combined with some rehab, I suspect she’ll be worth it to you Mistress Noin."

"Good."

Mistress Noin knelt down to meet the ponygirl eye to eye.

"Hello. I’m Mistress Noin. You’ve been given a new lease on life my dear. Here,’ digging into her pockets, "have a candy."

The ponygirl looked at her new Mistress, sucked the candy into her mouth and ate it.

"Good girl," petting her in the head. "I think your new life will be a better one."

The ponygirl whinnied softly and nuzzled Mistress Noin. Mistress Noin even shed a tear for her new pony.

"She’s grateful for her new life. Only now, you need to collar her and give her a new name," quipped the doctor.

"Mistress Noin, do you want the collar?" asked the slave hand.

"Bring it here slave."

Taking the collar from the slave, she wrapped it around the pony's neck and snapped it shut.

"You are now mine. Your new name will be Phoenix, a bird which rose from the ashes…much like you."

The ponygirl whinnied and then looked at her puzzled. The name…it’s gonna be hard, as she was named something else by Master Desert…