Chapter 2. Conversion.

The journey to Ligren was uneventful as far as everyone except Jill was concerned. As they approached the main building a woman came out to greet them. "Welcome Grand Master, Mistress Vargan," she said, hands outstretched in greetings. "Madam Ligren, so pleased to see you again, is everything ready?" "All is as per your instructions. I have a stall ready and my head groom, Groyke, will be looking after our new acquisition. Have you decided on her name yet?" The Grand Master turned to Mistress Vargan "I rather thought that that honour should go to you Granja, as this is your idea." Mistress Vargan positively swelled with pleasure, not only had the Grand Master accepted that her idea was good, but he had also called her by her first name, a very rare occurrence indeed. "I thought perhaps Aisha," "An excellent choice!" exclaimed both the Grand Master and Madam Ligren together, Aisha, being the name of the person who first introduced equines to the planet Sharazeem some thousand years before.

In the meantime Aisha had been placed in her stall and left to settle. Groyke just stood quietly on one side of the stall and spoke gently and persuasively. "I am your groom, and my name is Groyke," he said "I am here to look after you, to see to your training and other needs. Nobody is going to hurt you, I will see that they don’t." He continued to assure her that she would be safe; he was speaking gently in order not to frighten her and trying to calm her down.

Aisha, of course, could hear and understand everything that was said to her, but could not reply except by neighing. Eventually Groyke won her confidence and she allowed him to approach. Carefully he petted her, and while continuing to speak quietly to keep her calm, he fixed a collar round her neck and used his box to lock it on. Immediately Aisha took fright and Groyke had once more to calm her down.

The next task was to remove her clothes and for this task Groyke had to be at his most sensitive, one wrong move and he could ruin the whole experiment. It took almost two hours to remove Aisha’s human clothes, first came her dress, then her bra, and finally her pants. After each item was carefully removed Aisha was allowed time to get used to the new situation. Now that she was finally naked he was able to fasten her arms together behind her back; she would need to be examined by the veterinary surgeon, however, the introduction to the vet would also be done slowly and with care.

Groyke was the top man in his profession and he intended to win over Aisha with kindness, so to this end he was prepared to be as patient as necessary. He would leave Aisha for a few minutes and when he returned he would softly call her name. To begin with each time she was nervous and skittish but gradually he could approach her without any backing away, each time he would pet her and talk soothingly allowing his hands to gently brush her breasts and noting her reaction and telling her that she was a good girl.

He also had to make sure that she was fed and watered; he began by giving her little pieces of fruit. She wouldn’t take any from him at first, believing they could be poisoned. But when he ate some she relented, each time she did anything that he wanted her to do he praised her.

Aisha was also persuaded to drink from a bottle; each morning he would feed her the porridge-like mash that she would be getting from now on. Groyke would have plenty of time teaching her how to feed herself and where to get the food and water; right now he was quite prepared to feed her by hand.

* * *

After about a week Aisha started to come to Groyke when he called and finally she came on her own without being called. This was the breakthrough that Groyke had worked toward he had Aisha’s trust.

Jill, or Aisha as she now was called, was desperately trying to come to terms with her situation. The most difficult part was not being able to speak. The food that this person, Groyke he said his name was, gave her, looked strange but tasted alright when she realised that it wasn’t going to make her ill her. And she was hungry and thirsty, so she knew she had better take it while it was offered; she had no idea whether meals were on a regular basis or whether if she refused she wouldn’t be offered anything to eat as a punishment. She learned later that the morning meal was a regular occurrence but other food was given when Groyke felt it should be. He was kind though, not bullying or rough in any way, especially when he was stroking and petting her.

When the news came that Groyke now had Aisha’s trust there was a collective sigh of relief from the members of the Council, none more so than Granja Vargan. She immediately arranged to visit the Ligren stables. She arrived just at the time when Groyke was taking Aisha to the vet. It was very nerve-racking but Aisha accepted the examination docilely with Groyke never more that a few inches from her side. Each new hurdle surmounted was a major achievement in Aisha’s training but great care had to be taken that her spirit was not broken completely. The arrival at the next obstacle proved that it hadn’t been. Groyke had to oversee the removal of Aisha’s pubic hair by electrolysis and also the piercing of her nipples for ringing. It took all of Groyke’s persuasive talk to calm her enough for these operations to take place. Aisha was now ready to be harnessed and start training.

Madame Ligren was in conference with Groyke, Mistress Vargan and the Grand Master. "Please tell the Grand Master and Mistress Vargan what you have in mind, Groyke," she said. "I realise that you said Aisha was to be kept separated from the other fillies, Grand Master," began Groyke, "but having worked with her for three weeks now, I feel that she would benefit from being with other fillies, or at least one other filly, as she would learn from their example." The Grand Master turned towards Mistress Vargan, "what do you say, Granja?" "I greatly value any advice from Groyke," she replied. "I have watched him gain the filly’s trust and confidence and I am quite prepared to put my trust and confidence in him also." "That is my feeling also," the Grand Master said. "Very well Groyke, we will leave all the training decisions to you."

* * *

Arriving back in the stable yard Groyke found Aisha eagerly looking out from her stall. When she saw Groyke she whinnied happily. "Hello girl, have you missed me?" Aisha nodded her head nuzzling him at the same time. Yes, she thought, I have missed you. "Well, my beauty, we have to get you harnessed for your first time. Then we will see about getting you some company, would you like that?" Aisha told Groyke that she would love to have company but all that came out of her mouth were whinnies and snorts.

Groyke took Aisha through to the tack room, where she waited patiently while he sorted out some harness for her. First to be fitted was a three inch wide girth. Groyke placed it around Aisha and fastened it at the back. Then he used the box to tighten it. The box was able to determine just how tight it should be without being too tight. Next came the shoulder straps, these crossed over twice, going round each breast, forcing them out and up. Again the box was used to tighten the straps.

Once that had been done, bells were attached to the rings on her nipples. Then came the hoof boots. These were thigh length boots without a heel, and the sole was in the shape of a horse's hoof. Groyke put them on Aisha and held her while she got used to them. She took a few tentative steps before he stopped her and finished putting on the rest of the tack.

With gentle persuasion he placed the bridle over her head, making sure that the straps running down each side of her nose and under her chin were in the right place before tightening them. He gave Aisha some time to get used to her new situation as the next two items were likely to cause her the most stress. He pondered on the order while waiting to see how Aisha reacted to her harness.

As she seemed quite calm he decided that the bit should go in next, he asked her to open her mouth. Before placing the bit inside he showed it to her, she baulked at first but with a bit of coaxing and petting she opened her mouth and accepted the bit. The next item was the tail. It was a small stump that was moulded to the skin at the base of the spine, once again by means of the box. Next a small amount of Aisha’s hair was trimmed from her head and fixed to the tail stump. This would grow quite quickly and become a full size tail.

The final item was a hand and arm glove - it consisted of a double sleeve with openings at either end to allow the hands and arms to enter. It rendered the hands useless. This was to be the completion of her captivity, a captivity that was inevitable but Groyke wanted it to be given not taken. He showed Aisha the glove and told her what he was going to do with it, then asked her to fold her arms behind her back. After a few heart-stopping moments Aisha did as he asked. She was his! He knew now that he could do anything with her. Groyke took Aisha back to her stall, shut the bottom door and left her alone.

* * *

Aisha thought back over all that had happened to her over the last few weeks and how she felt about it. She had to admit that she wasn’t upset. She knew that she should be, she should be terrified and angry but she wasn’t. She was being paraded around with nothing on, treated as no more than an animal without any control over her life, and yet she was happy. Was that the right phrase? She was certainly calm and serene, Groyke had a way of doing that to her, but was she happy? Thinking back over her life before Sharezeem with nothing much going for her, no job, not many friends, more acquaintances than friends and no family. Yes, she was happy. Having come to that decision she waited for Groyke to return.

He was gone for about ten minutes and when he returned he was leading another filly. "I said I would get you some company and here she is, this is Dorca, I’m sure you will get on very well." With that he went off once more. Aisha wasn’t able to get out of her stall so Dorca, who was free to wander about, came to her. Dorca nuzzled Aisha and whinnied a greeting. Although Aisha didn’t understand the whinny she instinctively knew that it was hello. When Groyke returned a few moments later he found both Aisha and Dorca nuzzling and whinnying and getting along famously. He grinned when he saw them, "well I thought you two would get along and it seems I was right. In that case I think you can have a little time out of your stall." Aisha enjoyed the comparative freedom and the chance to move about without being led by Groyke. It was over all too soon however. They were taken back to their stalls, their harnesses were removed and they were hosed down, brushed and settled for the night.

The following morning, while she was being harnessed Groyke explained to Aisha what was going to happen. She would begin her training properly today. First of all she would be taught how to walk, trot, canter and gallop. This would continue until he was satisfied that she could accomplish all gaits whenever necessary. Before he led Aisha outside, Groyke picked up a long whip, which Aisha eyed nervously. Outside, Aisha was led to a machine and fastened to it by her harness. Then the purpose of the machine was explained to her. It could be set at various speeds - walk, trot, canter and gallop - and would force her to move at that speed. Groyke would show her how to raise her legs for each type of step.

Aisha proved to be a quick learner because by the end of just one day she had mastered all the gaits at all the speeds. Groyke had even changed speeds without any warning and Aisha responded beautifully. He hadn’t needed to use the whip at all.

As Aisha was clearly tiring, Groyke decided that he would settle her down early for the night. He quickly unharnessed her and began hosing her down; he could sense that she was enjoying the close contact by the way that she reacted to his touches as he sponged her. It was when he was rinsing the suds off, that he played the spray around Aisha’s vagina, opening her labia lips and letting the water caress her clitoris. It took just a few seconds for Aisha to explode into an orgasm of unbelievable intensity. Groyke held her for some time until the spasms stopped, dried her and led her back to her stall where she quickly fell asleep.

When Groyke returned to the main building he was asked to attend a meeting in Madam Ligren’s office. Also there were Mistress Vargan and the Grand Master. They were eagerly awaiting news of Aisha’s progress. Groyke explained how Aisha had performed with the gait training and also how she had reacted to having a companion in Dorca. They were all extremely pleased; Mistress Vargan in particular was delighted that her suggestion had turned out so well. "When do you think Aisha will be ready to start her training with the sulky?" she asked. "There is no reason why she cannot start tomorrow. She has mastered each gait and can change gait on command without faltering," said Groyke, "if she masters the sulky in the same way, we could be looking to race her in a matter of weeks," he continued.

Aisha was pondering the events of the day; she had enjoyed the exercise that being harnessed to the machine had entailed. She had also enjoyed being handled by her groom, Groyke. She blushed at the thought of his hands in contact with her body when he hosed her down. She was still blushing when she remembered the bulge in Groyke’s trousers. She fell asleep dreaming of her groom making passionate love to her; she didn’t know that the laws of Sharezeem were such that if that event had occurred Groyke would be sentenced to life as a pony himself.

* * *

Day two of Aisha’s training began as before, with a hose down but without the orgasm and then continued with Groyke harnessing her and telling her what was in store for the day. She was led across the stables and on to a track where several other ponies were being exercised. She saw Dorca and whinnied a greeting, which Dorca returned. Aisha was tethered to a post while Groyke went to fetch a sulky. This was attached to Aisha’s girth strap so that it was held firm and so that there wouldn’t be any give when Aisha started to move.

At this point there was a new person to be introduced into Aisha’s regimen, Leilah. Leilah was a professional driver and it was she who would be driving Aisha when she was ready for racing. Leilah wasted no time in getting to know Aisha, speaking to her softly and petting her. Aisha responded with snickers and whinnies of pleasure.

Groyke left the two of them together. Leilah continued to gain Aisha’s confidence and explained that they would just be going for a trot around the track for a few times to begin with so that Aisha could be taught the various commands and signals that she would need to know when she raced in earnest.

The whole morning was spent with Leilah teaching Aisha what was expected when the reins were flicked and what was meant by different flicks of the whip. They went round and round the track with Leilah changing the commands without warning. When they got back to the start line Aisha was left alone and told to stand. She didn’t know this but it was a test to see whether she would start wandering off. She was still there when Leilah returned an hour later in company with Groyke.

Aisha was unhitched from the sulky and led through a gate into a paddock, there she was given a smart slap on the rump and told to go and play. She hesitated but after a second slap on her rump she trotted off towards a group of other ponies, one of which was Dorca. They all greeted Aisha happily and then Dorca nudged Aisha and ran off looking back and neighing. Aisha ran after her and soon a game of pony tag was in full swing with the rest joining in. Groyke and Leilah watched for a while laughing at the antics of the ponies and pleased that Aisha was being accepted by the rest of the herd.

It was at this point that Aisha was introduced to the Finji tree the fruit of which tasted a bit like strawberry, Dorca nudged Aisha up to a tree and picked off a fruit with her lips and sucked it into her mouth, whinnying at Aisha to do the same. She tried it and squirted the juice all over her face, which amused Dorca greatly. After a couple of attempts she was able to use just the right amount of pressure with her lips to take the fruit and eat it without any mess.

They played all afternoon breaking off now and again to eat fruit or lie down and rest. This was also part of getting Aisha fully acclimatised to her life as a pony, she had to adjust to lying down and returning to her upright position without the use of her hands. She had difficulty at first but after watching Dorca and others doing it she believed that she could master the art. The secret was to kneel up on her haunches, raise herself into a full kneeling position, lift one leg so that she was on one knee and then with a quick jerk push up into the standing position. It took her a few times to master the act but eventually she had it down to a fine art.

Aisha had no idea how long she had been in the paddock but all too soon grooms were arriving and calling their charges, she looked round to see where Groyke was but he wasn’t in the field anywhere. She had a moment of blind panic but need not have worried as he appeared almost at that moment. "Did you miss me?" he said noting the fear in her eyes. "It’s alright, I’m here I’m not going to leave you." Aisha was intelligent enough to know that would not necessarily be true but she hoped that it was.