Chapter 4: Transit Home

Amy lay back down, enjoying the soft straw on her back, and wishing she could go home. Dozing for a couple hours, she woke around the time the sun began to spread its glow upon the stables. Amy stood up slowly and decided to try to transit back to Earth, telling herself if it didn’t work she wouldn’t be that disappointed.

Olivia watched Amy suspiciously. Amy thought about the returning home and imagined the light that accompanied the transit. The air rippled around Amy. She let out a loud whinny as the ripples spread out around her and a ghostly blue light swam around her. Olivia let out a hoarse scream as her eyes grew unfocused unable to comprehend the flux in time-space Amy created around herself. The flux lasted a few seconds more before the stall grew still. Olivia cried out at the empty stall where the halter rope hung, burned off.

Amy plunged into the icy waters that seemed to separate the two worlds, the ever-flowing streams of bubbles molding Amy’s flesh. The water grew warm towards the middle, the bubbles increasing as they exploded against her body. Amy felt the water swallow her as the transit reshaped her, moments passing like eternity.

The world warped and shimmered as Amy crumbled to the ground on the asphalt, landing in a dirty puddle of water. She cursed, surprised at the sound of her own voice, as she picked herself up and checked herself carefully. Touching her chest, Amy could still feel the two silver rings pierced through her nipples. She glanced around before lifting up her skirt and checking the larger ring hanging from her clit and the dark brand on her butt.

She dropped her skirt and cursed at the mess she’d made of the red material. She looked around her, wondering where exactly she was. Apparently at the back of a building, with the sound of cars in the distance. Amy spotted a box and the large empty Ralph’s truck sitting on the loading dock. She groaned, knowing she was at least 10 minutes from her house.

Amy wondered what about Iron Heel had allowed her to transit, whereas the rest of the Waste had prevented her from even imagining the light. She pondered it as she jogged out towards the parking lot trying to get her sense of direction, when a red Volvo beeped at her.

Amy turned around, smiling at the friendly face of her friend, Tracy Andrews sitting behind the wheel. The bottle blonde pulled up beside Amy and rolled down the window, scowling at the state of Amy’s clothes.

"Amy, where have you been the past two days?" Amy opened her mouth to explain, "Never mind, love, get in I’ll take you home and you can explain on the way there. "

"Thanks Tracy, I was afraid I was going to have walk the whole way home."

"I find that funny coming from Hamilton Junior College's top track star, I was under the impression you ran everywhere. That is when you’re not writing that crazy story you’ve got posted on your site. The last time I checked your character had just returned from Jenova after dropping her Master off at some old friend’s ranch." Tracy said as Amy sat down in the passenger seat.

"I think that’s where I left off." Amy said with a smile.

Amy had been very frustrated that no one believed her about being transported to another world to play the role of some exiled prince’s pony girl. Amy had not been willing to show anyone her piercing or the brand Rowan had given her, afraid of the reaction they might receive. So she’d begun writing down the events that happened to her on Jenova, with a little editing, as some fictional story.

Amy knew she’d been in Jenova a solid two weeks, so reasoned with what she’d figured out about the time difference between both worlds, she’d been gone about 3 days on Earth. Amy wasn’t any physics theorist, but assumed that time on Jenova moved faster than time on Earth.

Amy made up some story about going to San Diego and running to the store to pick up something, which they had not had. Tracy listened half-heartedly to Amy’s lame excuse, no longer really caring where her friend disappeared to for days on end. Amy was grateful for her friend simply accepting her excuses, while her parents had hardly noticed her absences. Amy’s parents were always traveling to some distant part of the globe; content with the idea Amy studied and worked for her scholarship money.

Amy sat back in the car seat enjoying the warming California sun on her exposed arms. Tracy drove straight to Amy’s house, where Amy was surprised to see her mother’s car parked in front. Amy didn’t schedule her trips to Jenova, most of the time they depended on when Rowan wanted her. Amy could transit most of the time, yet Rowan was able to summon her whenever he wished. Amy quietly hoped he wouldn’t until she could get something to eat and write up at least the past two weeks.

Tracy stopped the car and told Amy she’d see her later this weekend, with Amy shrugging her shoulder and replying she might. Tracy got the idea and smiled, telling Amy she’d better update the story soon, since it was just starting to get good. Amy laughed, thanked her and walked up to the house, pulling her keys from her purse and opened the door.

She paused in the doorway listening for her mother in the house, then slipping her keys back into her purse. Amy called out that she was home and listened as her mother called Amy upstairs. Amy told her she’d be a second, taking the route through the kitchen, picking up a granola bar on her way up. At the top of the stairs she saw two bags packed, with a ticket for today. So, she was right about being gone three days.

"Amy, where have you been? I called yesterday to tell you to be home and all I got was your voice mail about you being busy."

"Out, Mom. Hanging with Andrea and other people while you and dad trot the globe looking for some crazy stories to keep paying for this house." Amy said with a smile, continuing into her room.

"Don’t be smart, young lady. I worry about you, you know. I fear you’re trotting around the city with your friends all day and not getting enough schoolwork done. Both your father and I worry that you’re going to do something drastic, just like earlier this year."

Amy knew what she was talking about, her first transit to Jenova, even before she had discovered she could transit. Amy had remained in Jenova four long months, being trained by Rowan at a small farm friendly to the Rohan royalty. She really hadn’t worried about her absence until she learned she could return to Earth, where she’d been missing for almost three weeks. Amy tried hard to keep her absences short, vaguely wondering each time how long it would be before she could come back home. Rowan had been in a hurry to cross the Waste to meet up with some sage deep into the mountains.

"Don’t worry, Mom. Enjoy Paris, I hear the weather’s great." Amy said sitting down munching on the granola bar.

"I heard that young lady. Don’t get into to much trouble while I’m gone." That was followed by the door slamming shut and locking.

"Love you too, Mom." Amy said, well aware she was alone in the house again.

Amy looked at herself, her skirt and stockings a dark brown color from the puddle. Undressing, thankful for summer break, which meant no one was the wiser about her disappearances. She walked into the bathroom, stripping off her clothing until she was standing naked in front of the mirror. Two silver rings hung from her nipples and the third from her clitoris. Amy wondered why the little additions transited with her, while everything else was left behind. The brand had become a permanent mark, Amy unable to explain how she could get cut and transit to have no mark, but the brand had remained.

Stepping into the shower, Amy turned on the water wishing vaguely Rowan were with her, enjoying his touch on her skin. On Jenova, the relationship between Amy and Rowan was taboo and unlawful, while on Earth it may still be statutory rape. Amy wouldn’t be 18 on Earth until September 9 though Amy wasn’t actually sure what her age really was now. Months had passed more quickly on Jenova than Earth, making Amy suspect she had grown older because of it, definitely at least 19. Amy vaguely wished she could talk to someone with a little knowledge on transiting from one world to another.

The water ran down her body and over her silver jewelry. Amy had once believed they had mutilated her body, instead of accentuating her beauty, while providing excellent control over her. Amy scrubbed the soap into her body and washed her hair thoroughly with the shampoo and conditioner. Stepping out of the hot shower, water beading off her skin, Amy felt clean and rejuvenated.

Walking into her room with only a towel wrapped around her head and around her body, Amy sat down in front of her computer. Waking it from hibernation, Amy opened her journal program and began typing with speed and urgency. Amy wrote how her character, aptly named Amy, had been summoned again after leaving Rowan on the farm. Amy had been saddled and rode into the waste, detailing the two-week ride through the wasteland of dying plants and broken earth. The trip had not been enjoyable; Amy conceded sitting back in the chair.

Amy dropped her towel and quickly dressed in a pair of comfortable sweats. Brushing out her still wet hair, she went back down to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, Amy pulled out the eggs, some toast, and some bacon, working quietly to prepare the meal. She was already missing breakfast in the stables and was famished since Tivoli had removed her feedbag before she was through. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she flipped on the TV watching the news to catch up on what she’d missed while away.

Amy cleaned up her mess before going back upstairs to finish her journal, starting off around her ford across the Waste’s chilly river. She continued up until Iron Heel, describing the inn and the stables including the young stable boy and his younger mare. Time passed while Amy sat on the computer typing, finishing the editing, and uploading it onto her small internet site, which had been growing in the number of hits she received daily.

Amy smiled. She’d written and posted her account of Jenova so she could record what happened to her in the other world during the four-month period she’d been with Rowan in the Badlands, incapable of transiting. Amy was surprised that an Earth year had already gone by with her trips back and forth from Jenova. Still, she wasn’t actually sure how long she spent on Jenova.

Amy chatted with a few of her friends on-line, talking about the new update she’d included on her site, knowing her friends had become hardcore readers of her story. They often talked how it felt like Amy had actually experienced what was going on and had visited the fiction world Jenova. Amy had always simply said she’d been inspired, touching her chest feeling the silver rings.

Amy finished with the computer and felt sleepy, telling herself it's been weeks since she got to sleep in a normal mattress. Amy tumbled into the covers and lay on the pillow, wondering about Rowan, not really wanting to return yet. She’d come if he called, she didn’t have much choice, but Amy could return on her own in most normal cases. She closed her eyes and quietly drifted off to sleep, enjoying the covers and mattress molding to her body. She dreamed of Rowan riding her through a lush field of green grass and a cold mountain stream.

Chapter 5: Missing

"My lord! Rowan!" Tivoli banged against the door of the small room he’d rented for the evening.

Rowan opened his eyes slowly surprised by the still early light of the morning breaking through the curtained window. He turned over in the bed looking at the naked back of Tivoli older sister he had slept with. She’d been helpful to work out the days of riding, Rowan easily able to imagine his betrothed or Amy riding him.

"My lord!" Following another string of bangs against the door.

Rowan rubbed his eyes as he slowly woke up enough to pull on his pants and a shirt. He carefully crossed the room towards the door, glancing back at the girl still asleep in his bed. He vaguely recalled the night before, unused to the beer and the very flirtatious nature of the girl three years older than him.

Rowan pulled back the bolt and opened the door, to a red faced and frantic Tivoli. Rowan yawned at the boy, wondering if he’d been as excitable as a child.

"What is it, Tivoli? I paid for a night and I’ve hardly gotten an hour of rest." Rowan grinned at the truth of his statement.

Tivoli looked at him strange, Rowan realizing he couldn’t see his sister in the bed. Rowan moved carefully to block him further, hoping the boy would explain his sudden appearance. Rowan looked at the boy hard till he remembered why he’d come up from the stables where’d slept since he’d been four.

"My lord, it’s your mare, Amy! She’s been stolen!" Tivoli backed away from the enviable angry outburst, but instead watched Rowan launch himself from the door and down the stairs. Tivoli hurried to keep up with the very athletic man.

Rowan had barely listened to the boy’s words before his whole being understood the weight of them. His Amy had been stolen! Rowan blood boiled at the thought of his lovely mare, his beloved, being unwillingly led away from him. Tivoli worked hard to keep up with him, Rowan storming through the common room and out into the stable area his hand clutching the sword he grabbed off the bedpost.

Rowan ran through the stables looking at each stall down the row, ignoring the mares and single stallion watching him. Tivoli ran past Rowan and towards the stall that Rowan assumed Amy had been kept in for the night. The boy pulled off the heavy lock, and pulled open the latch, swinging the stall door open.

Rowan pushed past the boy and looked into the very normal looking stall. Straws lay across the floor, signs of an animal having spent the night evident. His eyes glanced at the dual hooks bolted into the stall’s frame, a long rope hanging limply against the post. He could smell Amy’s scent on the straw as he bent down looking for clues.

His brain was still looking for someone’s presence, noticing the young mare across from the stall acting very strangely. His eyes watched the little mare pace around apparently unsettled by something. Rowan’s gaze left the skittish mare, back to the rope hanging limply against post. He picked up the rope in his hands curious how the end seemed to be missing.

His temper and anger drained away as he realized what had actually happened, making a note to punish his little mare for making him pay for a stall. Tivoli was still in a state of confusion, watching Rowan go from raving mad to almost amused at the notion his valuable mare had vanished.

"Tivoli, what’s wrong with this rope?" Rowan asked.

Rowan watched Tivoli take the rope and stare at it, Rowan able to see the look of confusion pass between his eyes. Rowan grinned as the boy turned it over with his fingers, his confusion building, looking for the end of the rope.

"Rowan, the rope it’s missing but hasn’t been cut! But how?" Tivoli asked looking up.

"Have you told anyone else about Amy’s disappearance?"

"No, I was checking on the ponies and looked into her stall and found her gone. I fetched you immediately; I didn’t think you wanted the guards to know."

"Clever lad. Good. Did anyone else know Amy was in that stall?"

"Well mother saw her before you brought her in, but I don’t think she knew where she was in the stables. And I purposely placed her away from the other patrons’ animals so my brothers wouldn’t bother her either. Well Olivia knew she was in here…"

"Who’s Olivia, another sister?" Rowan asked, wondering what he’d have to do to persuade the girl to stay quiet.

"No. She’s my little mare over here." Walking across the stable to the little mare that eagerly approached Tivoli.

Rowan looked the young girl. Her long brown hair had been carefully braided in a strange style, as was her tail, the braid stopping just above her knee. A large cattle ring hung from her nose, an uncommon addition to a pony. Her nipples had been pierced with cheap iron rings as were her labia lips, two rings in each lip. Her clit also had been pierced with a heavy metal ring a few sizes too big.

Tivoli quieted the mare down, Rowan noticing a very unusually brand on the animal’s flank. A circle within a triangle with the burned letters, YA, and a small star off the circle marred the fair skin. Rowan recognized the mark as the young mare licked Tivoli’s hand.

"She’s of Yevvon Arms stock! And not of just Yevvon but his prize mare, Starlight."

"Yes and his stallion, Rockford. Olivia is of very proud parentage, not like the Waste produces."

"I understand her lineage, I saw her mother race when I was a boy and her foals were a king’s ransom then with the Rohan competition. Now I doubt the king himself could afford Starlight’s newest lame foal."

"I had heard about that, but only thought it a rumor. Lord Yevvon was here two years ago with Olivia, her mother, and a couple of her sisters, when this little mare ate some dark root, just enough to almost kill her. Yevvon didn’t know what his pony had come down with and decided to cut his losses by selling her to the meat district, when I offered him everything I had for what he thought was a dying pony. It was better than what the butcher offered for the bony pony, so I took her home. I knew what was ailing her and slowly nursed her back to health." Tivoli said proudly.

Rowan scowled at the idea of giving up an animal so rashly, to have it prepared for a butcher.

"Impressive, Tivoli. If Yevvon had known you’d saved her, he’d probably offer you enough gold to buy Iron Heel, to keep you from breeding her with some donkey." Rowan said with a grin.

"I’d never do that to my Olivia, my lord. I’ve been working hard to save up enough money to buy her a proper breeding stallion north of the Waste." Tivoli blushing, as he realized how Rowan had been teasing him.

Rowan turned around grinning at the idea of Yevvon’s face if he’d known what become of the little mare he’d almost had butchered.

"Rowan, what of Amy?" Tivoli asked from behind glancing at the empty stall.

"Act as if I sent her to the blacksmith for a new pair of shoes and forgot to tell you and you woke me too early for me to remember either. Most will believe you and the few who don’t, just tell them to talk to me." Rowan said starting back into the inn.

Tivoli hesitated. "But Rowan, where did Amy really go?"

"She does that, disappear occasionally. I told you she was special, sometimes she trots off and disappears for days while other days she’s gone for only a few hours or minutes. If I really need her back, I just call out and she’ll come trotting back just as I left her. Don’t worry she’ll be back before I leave, just as you left her last night."

"But where did she go?" Tivoli asked more frustrated and a little astonished at the idea a pony could disappear without a trace.

"Don’t really know, Tivoli. All I know is that she comes back healthier and more invigorated most times and smells of fields of strawberries. Perhaps the gods call her back to ride her through their own strawberries." Rowan said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Tivoli asked, still stroking Olivia’s head while she continued to lick his other hand.

Chapter 6: Joshin

But Rowan decided to ignore the boy and made his way back up to his room, pondering where his little mare disappeared. In reality if he wanted her come back he had really only to whistle for her as he’d trained her and she’d appear moments later. The whistle was an ancient Rohan technique to call ponies back from the field and the battlefield. He’d trained Amy hard, one of the many reasons she was so obedient and responsively, even with all the spirit and stubbornness that she contained.

He vaguely wondered what about Iron Heel had spooked her so much, normally trusting the pony’s almost prophet-like impulses. She’d saved his behind more than once by being stubborn about certain things, so he wondered what about Iron Heel had forced him to convince her to listen. She didn’t really have a choice, but he knew if she’d been firm on the issue he would have had to drag her to Iron Heel.

He knew he’d been sick of sleeping out on the exposed Waste, barely sleeping with the fear of bandits and wolves. The Waste was a dead space in Jenova, most people preferring to live on the borders of the godforsaken place. Even Joshin had only conquered small sections of the unwanted land, yet his quest to find some wise sage in the icy mountains well beyond the Waste, forced him to see how the Waste really was.

His head hurt from lack of sleep, until he glanced into his bed, where Tivoli’s sister waited naked and awake. He decided he might not get any rest until late afternoon and jumped into the bed. Tivoli’s sister was very experienced. Rowan wondered how many sons of dukes she took to her bed in the hope of making her their wife. Rowan assumed he’d never visit this route again if everything went according to his plan. He hoped to return to his rightful place at the head of his kingdom.

As he slid into the girl’s tender folds and suckled on her heavy breasts, Rowan thought of the pleasure he’d have in taking Joshin’s daughters the same way as Joshin's soldiers had taken Rowan’s sisters. He fucked the girl with an inner fire, her cries echoing through the inn. Rowan lost himself in the fury and energy of his act, crying out as he came, emptying his frustrations into the girl’s limp body. He slumped to the bed beside her, growing soft. She panted with her eyes glazed over.

He lay in the bed with her, staring at her eyes, before he snapped. "Get out."

"What’s that, my lord?" She asked softly.

"Get out of my room!"

"My lord?"

"GET OUT!" Rowan said with a dark glare.

"Yes, my lord." She said with a frightened voice, quickly gathering up her clothes as she left.

Rowan slammed the door and screamed out his frustrations, dwelling on painful memories of things he hoped to rectify. The girl was nothing like his sisters, yet lying in the bed with her glazed eyes looking at him he hadn’t been able but to see them. He remembered the siege and the later battles in his family’s palace.

Joshin had been a cruel and vile man, sending his dogs to do his dirty work. Joshin’s soldiers had eventually stormed the palace, pillaging and raping the women. He’d only been 16 when his family had lost their palace to Joshin’s might, forcing what remained of his family to flee to the ancient homeland of the Rohan herders.

Rowan remembered the siege and how his two sisters had sacrificed their bodies for him, pleasuring the drunken soldiers while Rowan stayed hidden. He’d watched a squadron of men systematically rape the two princesses of Rohan like common whores. Rowan had watched helplessly when the soldiers had finished using their limp and bruised bodies, then cut their throats. Rowan had watched like a coward while his sisters' lifeblood had gushed from their throats, staining the palace floors.

Joshin had made it his goal to see the Rohan royal family suffer. His second raid caught Rowan’s younger brother with an arrow through the chest. Carmine had suffered three days before he’d quietly died of the poison meant for Rowan. The war against Joshin had continued for 4 more years. The worst blow to Rowan was when his younger sister Anna was captured by an enemy patrol. Rowan had ridden out to stop the men that were carrying off his sister.

Rowan had survived the fierce battle, but still his sister had been lost to the Joshin army. Rowan remained unaware of her fate until his capture a year ago. He had kept up the fight even after the death of his grandparents and father. Rowan had continued to threaten Joshin until finally his own brother had betrayed him to the enemy, to gain favor. His forsaken brother still lived, governing Rohan as a territory of Joshin.

After he’d been captured, he was held in his family’s palace dungeon, alone, beaten by countless guards. Finally, Rowan met the man responsible for everything. Joshin had sat upon his birthright with her brother, Jacob, at his side. Rowan had spit in Joshin’s face, claiming the Rohan people would continue to fight after his death. But his bluster and courage evaporated with the sight of a slender naked girl who crawled out from behind his father’s throne to lick Joshin’s hand.

Anna was much older, dressed in a leather collar with a bell and tags, her body pierced like an animal. She obediently lay at Joshin’s feet and listened. Joshin explained how he’d heard about Rowan's valiant fight for his sister, so decided to keep her around to entertain his dogs. Rowan had crawled towards his sister, hoping to find a hint of her former spirit. Rowan had cried, realizing it had been crushed by the humiliations she’d suffered in four years of imprisonment.

Joshin had taken great pleasure in finding ways to torture Rowan, enjoying how he slowly broke down Rowan’s spirit. Finally he decided to dispose of the prince. Riding Rowan blindfolded into the Badlands beyond the Rohan borders, in the nomad’s territory was Rowan left bound and forgotten on the desert sand. Rowan had all but given up, but knew Joshin had to pay. He’d free his sister and not spend his dying breath out in the middle of the Endless Sands.

He’d freed himself only to find himself lost and praying to his ancestor gods, the deities responsible for his ancestor’s bloodlines and the birth of the Rohan nation. He’d all but given up hope when he had come across a lone pony girl in the middle of the desert, galloping towards him. Remembering the tales of his ancestors, Rowan had managed to lasso the pony girl, who’d fought harder than any other pony before submitting. With the animal sent to him by the gods, Rowan had made it his goal to see Joshin suffer as he’d suffered.

Lying in his room he allowed his tears to soak the pillow before slumber consumed him, leaving him naked and alone in the bed. When the widower came to check on him, she respectfully left him alone, making a mental note to add another night to his tab. His dreams began to drift towards alien sights and his mare running to him arms spread wide, looking almost nothing like a pony girl.