***
The first thing that Nicole noticed when they stepped into the barn was that all hay and straw had been removed. It was as if the dirt floor had been swept and vacuumed. The second thing she noticed was a saddle hanging in the air in the center of the barn. The saddle was supported by a special wooden frame that extended slightly ahead and behind it. Four thick ropes were tied to the corners of the frame and went far up into the dimness of the upper areas of the barn.
The second thing that Nicole noticed was that there were a dozen or more old looking, square electric heaters arranged in a circle around the saddle.
“I’ve got some rather special tack for you today,” Annabelle said almost cheerfully. She then held up a strange looking set of black leather chaps that had thick cables of some sort attached to each side.
“Stand with your feet slightly apart,” Annabelle ordered and Nicole did so. Then Annabelle wrapped a wide leather belt around Nicole’s waist. The chaps hung from the belt. Annabelle hummed softly to herself as she pulled the chaps tight and secured them with a series of Velcro straps.
“Now for your blouse,” Annabelle announced firmly as she held up a somewhat stiff, long-sleeved leather blouse that was shaped for Nicole’s ample breasts in the front.
“You’re going to have to hold your arms up and out slightly to put this on,” she said as she slid one of the sleeves over Nicole’s right arm. She then pulled Nicole’s left arm up slightly and slid the stiff sleeve in place. Both sleeves were slit up the back and had Velcro straps similar to the chaps. Also like the chaps, there was a thick cable which hung from the back. Annabelle tightened the straps on the sleeves and the back of the blouse, trapping Nicole’s arms in a raised position.
“Frank is going to have to help you get up onto the horse, cowgirl,” Annabelle said. Nicole felt firm hands guiding her from behind.
“There is a ladder right in front of you,” Frank said gruffly.
The sturdy ladder had a wide, flat top large enough for both Nicole and Frank to stand on.
“Just step up on it,” he said as he tilted Nicole slightly so she could raise one leg. “Then swing your leg over the saddle.”
That was a lot easier said than done. For one thing, the chaps were rather stiff and kept her legs somewhat straight. Her arms were also held stiffly in the air over her head. And, perhaps most importantly, there were two large dildos sticking straight up from the saddle.
Frank stood behind her and helped her swing her leg over the saddle. He then physically supported her weight as she stood on one leg and centered herself over the twin dildos.
“Ready?” Frank asked, and when Nicole nodded her head he pushed her down on the greased shafts. Nicole was very glad that both probes were well lubricated because she was adding no natural lubrication of her own.
“I will put your gloves on,” Frank said, still standing on the ladder. Annabelle handed him a black leather gauntlet and he slipped it over Nicole’s right hand. It strapped tightly over the leather sleeve, but the glove itself fit somewhat loosely while at the same time seeming to lightly grip her hand, wrist, and fingers. Attached to the glove was a rope that reached upward into the darkness. A cable hung down and trailed across the dirt floor of the barn.
Frank moved the ladder and put a matching glove on Nicole’s left hand. It, too, had a rope leading up into the darkness and a black cable trailing across the floor.
When he was done, Annabelle said simply, “Boots,” and began strapping a boot in place over Nicole’s right foot. Frank, meanwhile, strapped a boot on her left foot. The boots, like the gloves, fit loosely while at the same time somehow lightly gripped her feet and ankles. The rope attached to the boots followed the cable down toward the floor of the barn where it was tightly secured. Nicole would figure out later that what she was feeling in both the boots and the gloves was a soft inner lining that pressed hundreds of tiny electrodes against her skin.
“Now for the hood,” Annabelle said, standing on the ladder to Nicole’s left.
“And collar,” Frank replied.
Nicole was somewhat startled to hear him on her right side. Evidently there was a second ladder which Frank had moved in place there. He was holding a leather collar which looked very much like the posture collar from the ponygirl tack except that it had a full hood attached to it. He took off Nicole’s black cowboy hat and held the hood loosely in place over her head while Annabelle pulled Nicole’s long brown hair through a hole in the back of the hood.
Once it was slipped over her head, Annabelle pulled it firmly in place while Frank closed the collar with straps in the back. The hood felt somewhat prickly, while the collar had the same loose but firm feeling as the gloves and boots.
“Before I close the face plate,” Annabelle said, “I want you to again use your safewords to confirm that you are willing to endure this.”
Nicole swallowed hard at the word endure, but said “cityslicker… cowgirl…” She didn’t sound quite as assured as she had been before entering the barn, but she said them.
The faceplate was strangely shaped. Nicole at first thought it looked like a snorkeling face mask, but as soon as it was in place, a curved screen lit up in front of her eyes. Something was also pressing against her lips. She opened them slightly and a small tube slid into her mouth.
“This is a virtual reality mask,” Annabelle explained, “and you are wearing a virtual reality suit. This whole apparatus was designed by a friend of mine who makes really neat specialty toys for me and my friends. You will be able to hear me while you sit out here, but I will be in the house sipping wine and watching you on my big screen TV.”
Nicole could suddenly see herself sitting naked on the saddle… only it wasn’t really her. It looked a lot like her, but it was different. Even her friends wouldn’t recognize her. She was tied in a naked X and seemingly floated in the air on the saddle. On her head was a big black cowboy hat with her hair sticking out the back in a ponytail. She moved her arms and head as much as she could and the image of herself moved in exactly the same way.
“That avatar was created from some video I took of you earlier,” Annabelle explained. “Mister W altered it just enough to keep the players from figuring out who you really are.” Annabelle paused and then said, “I’ll be back with you as soon as I get up to the house. The tube in your mouth provides liquid, which you will definitely need. It is a nutrient liquid and that anal dildo is hollow so it can do a rinse and flush to keep you cleaned out.”
Annabelle paused to let all that sink in, then she continued, “That means I could keep you on this for days if I wanted to. I’m not going to do that… today, but I could. See you in a few minutes.”
Then everything became silent except for the crackle of flames as Nicole was surrounded by a ring of fire.
The virtual fire looked very realistic. Nicole could even feel the heat. She wondered about that for a bit and then remembered the ring of barn heaters which she had seen when she first entered. She could feel herself beginning to sweat inside the leather suit and took a tentative sip from the tube. The liquid tasted like the blue stuff from the night she spent in the barn as a ponygirl. It didn’t taste good, but it didn’t taste bad so Nicole swallowed several mouthfuls.