When last we saw our protagonist:

I don't know what I expected, but it was certainly not what I saw.

The upper ring was quite wide, and several people were lining each side. We started to push through the crowd, only to nearly be run over by a chariot!

Chapter 1.3

I looked at the chariot and gasped. It was black with gold trim and looked like something straight out of the ancient movie Ben Hur, except that it was not being pulled by four horses, but four ponygirls. They were obviously running as fast as they could, and another chariot was gaining on them. It was a race! And honest to God chariot race!

I stood and watched, my mouth agape. I had little doubt that Willem was active on this ship. I now saw six chariots in this race, each one being pulled by ponygirls.

The crowd was roaring at the competition. These girls were fast! They certainly weren't as fast as a real horse, but they were moving faster than they had a right to. I was in good shape but I couldn't come close to their speed.

There was a roar from down the corridor and some good-natured shouting. I looked down and saw that a chariot had lost a wheel and run into the crowd. One of the ponygirls was injured and my stomach lurched as I saw a Roman Centurion stab her with his spear. She shuddered a bit, then stopped moving.

"Pony must have landed wrong," a man to my right remarked to a friend. "Hate to see a pony put down, but it's just an animal."

I turned around and walked partway down the 'U' tube. I lost my lunch. I found myself hugged, hard. I looked into the concerned eyes of my husband. "Gonna be okay?"

I hugged him right as I shook my head. "Not for a while, John, but I'll live."

He kept his arms around me for another minute, there said, "I sure wish Caesar was alive."

I stared at him, my eyes wide.

"I want to kill him," he completed his thought.

I nodded my agreement, then we started back up the tube.

Had we known what awaited us, we wouldn't have returned to the circle. We made it to Marc's position and found three centurions waiting, spears pointed in our direction. A wagon pulled up, six oxen pulling it. At least they were large people who didn't seem to be meant for speed. They had patches of bare bone on the sides of their heads where it appeared they had once had horns.

The wagon looked to be a prison transport. Our wrists were bound behind us, and our ankles chained together, then we were ushered inside. Slowly we started down the corridor, people jeering at us.

We were taken into one of the bays on the downside. It seemed that this one was some kind of dungeon. John, Marc, Georg, Bob, and the two security people were forced into separate cells. The wagon door was shut with me still inside and we started moving again. We turned around and made our way out of the dungeon.

We moved back to the upside and into another bay. We moved to what seemed to be the very end, where I was moved out. I was brought to the front of the wagon and forced to my knees in front of a man who must have been highly placed in the 'empire'. He was very handsome and wearing gold and white toga and looked at me with disgust.

“What is that?”

“I’m a woman. What are you?”

One of the centuries grabbed the back of my jumpsuit and lifted me off the ground. He held me aloft with a drawn sword ready to cut through my body just below the ribcage.

The nobleman didn't display any concern for my predicament. He simply motioned for the centurion to set me back down.

Once he did, I felt the cold metal against the side of my neck, as if to remind me of its presence.

"It speaks, and thinks it’s a woman.” He laughed. “Take it to the stables."

I was turned and forced to walk ahead of the centurion by his sword touching my back. We entered a low building where I could smell feces and urine, as well as hear horses and cows. I was rather shocked to hear dogs and cats as well. We made our way into a long row of pens, and we started down them. On either side, were pony girls, each one with arms bound behind them. I saw several eating and drinking out of some kind of troughs hanging on the gates in front of them. The pens were barely large enough to stand in, so I wondered where they slept.

We stopped by an empty pen, and one of the workers roughly ripped my jumpsuit off.

"Ow!" I hollered as I turned around ready to tear his ass another hole. I thought better of it as the centurion pulled his sword back, ready to lop off my head. If I was considered a ponygirl, he would have no problem swinging that thing through my neck.

The man who had removed my jumpsuit used a knife to remove my bra and panties. My arms were bound together behind my back and I was quickly wearing nothing but a halter. One at a time, my feet were lifted off the ground and my own shoes removed. On them were placed some strange contraption made to make me walk like a horse, I guess. I was herded into the stall.

I found some kind of bridle being placed on my head, complete with a bit. Next, the worker held up a horsetail and grinned. He moved behind me and I felt something being shoved into my ass. The stall gate was shut, oats and hay were faced in the feeder, with a water trough beside it, then I was left alone.

I didn't sleep that night. Not only did I not have a place to lay down, but I was also worried about the men, especially John.

I noticed that somehow the ponygirls were able to doze, standing. I had heard of people with narcolepsy sleeping while standing but never had I heard of anyone doing it all the time.

My feet were killing me, as were my arms. It was also cold. The women surrounding me seemed to have no interest in me, the new pony. Instead, they simply stood there, acting like they hadn't a care in the world.

The lights came on, and a man walked down the row of stalls, pouring oats into the feeding troughs. When he got to me, he set down the pail and reached into his pocket. Be pulled out an apple and some sugar cubes. He held the cubes up to my mouth. I considered biting the hand that was trying to feed me, but I figured I'd have a better chance of living if I was considered a ponygirl. I started to take the sugar in my mouth, but he pulled it away, then for crying out loud, stuck his finger in my mouth and pulled my lips away from my teeth so he could check them.

"Looking good, pony," he told me as he patted my head. He then held up the sugar again, and let me have it. Ugh! That much sugar was disgusting! Next, he cut up the apple and fed me the slices one at a time. I was humiliated, but I knew I had to act the part. I didn't want to let these people know I couldn't be controlled.

Before he left, he gave my left nipple a squeeze. As much as I wanted to cut his hand off, I simply made some kind of whinny sound and stamped my foot.

He laughed, picked up the pail and went to the next 'pony'.

A little while later, a man came into the stable and hooked a lead to my bridle. He led me out of the stable and connected me to an exercise machine. I was tied so I couldn't really move around, then another girl was brought out. She was connected to the other side across from me. Two more times, the man went and brought out girls. Finally, there were four of us.

We were released so we could walk, and he brought out a whip. Wonderful! Not!

I resolved to watch the other girls and see what they did. I did not want to feel that whip.

We started moving, and I was quickly caught by the whip when I stumbled because I wasn't looking in front of me, and those damned hooves took some getting used to.i had noticed how the other girls walked, however, and I tried to emulate them.

We must have trained for hours before we were offered water. I was grateful for it, even though it was a community bucket. Then, we were off again.

I was sore when I was returned to the stall. The same guy who had fed me the sugar and apple earlier rubbed me down with a blanket before putting me in. Then, he cut up another apple, fed it to me, patted my cheek and left. I took a drink of water from the trough. It tasted metallic from the galvanized metal the trough was made from, but at that point, I didn't care.

My legs and feet were sore, as were my arms. They had been bound behind me for several hours now. From my elbows to wrists they were touching. It was not a natural position for them, and it hurt like hell!

I decided to close my eyes for a moment. The next thing I knew, I was trying to pick myself off the floor in extremely narrow confines without the use of my arms. Not easy!

I spent the next few weeks being trained. It was incredibly grueling because I was getting very little sleep. I kept nodding off, then snapping awake so I wouldn't fall. Finally, I think my nanites decided that I needed rest, so somehow they helped. I don't know what they did, but I seemed to be getting used to it. I even started sleeping while standing.

Finally, I was connected to a chariot with the same three girls. We were taught to pull it and follow the directions of the driver. We were even taught to trust the driver as he backed us up. Next, we were taught to walk properly, lifting our legs high. By the time we were done, my feet were sore from the whip. Thankfully, the hoof shoes helped protect them.

I was beginning to think I was going to be a ponygirl for a long time to come, but I was taken out on my own one day by a centurion. I was hitched to some kind of single person cart, and we started off through the ship. I was surprised that I was not bothered by being out completely naked, but then I realized I had not worn clothes in several weeks.

Finally, we came to a building that looked very much like the Parthenon. I was unhitched from the cart and led up the steps. I had not learned to climb steps in these shoes, and k balked. The centurion pulled on my lead, and I slowly made my way up. We were stopped at the entrance by a guard.

"You can't bring a pony in here!"

"The emperor called for it."

"And he told you to bring it inside?"

"That he did. Now stand aside."

The guard moved but glared at me. "If it makes a mess on the floor, I'm going to feed my dogs well!"

I whinnied at the implied threat and we continued inside.

I was led up to the front of the room and stopped next to a familiar man. He turned to look at me. "Rose!" I knew him. He was my man. My man? Shouldn't that be 'I was his pony?' It took me a moment, then I realized who he was. It was John! I had started believing that I was a pony but now reality was returning!

Oh, God! I wanted to hug him! I wanted him to hug me! Beside him were Marc, Georg, and a security guard from our ship.

I was startled by the blare of trumpets. Then a man walked in and sat down in front of us. I was even more startled now. It was Caesar.