Tiki and Robin found themselves in the castled city of Ylisstol, with its colourful banners and thick stone walls. Long, wide streets ran straight along the view of the castle like the spokes of a wheel with alleyways between them. The main streets harboured all manner of shops and inns, haberdasheries and the like. Around the base of the castle and its high walls atop the tree-lined hill a grand marketplace bustled with lively activity.
"How small is this horse again?" the ironmonger asked, his moustache twitching between spark-bitten cheeks. His head shined in the sun and huge muscles bulged as he leaned over the window into his shop. All sorts of metal items hung from the rear wall, glowing red in the reflection of the flames roaring out of his furnace.
Tiki shuffled her feet a little. "Really, really small. Imagine a person on all fours, it's that small."
The man eyed her up and raised a brow. "That sounds like animal cruelty to me. Is it even old enough to ride?"
Tiki couldn't help but let out a knowing grin. She didn't want to let on her silly idea of getting stirrups made specially for Robin. "Yeeeeees. Definitely old enough to ride."
Either way the burly bald man had completed her order and pulled it from under the counter in a burlap sack. As he plopped it onto the rough wooden plank upon which he leaned it made a heavy metal clunk.
Tiki scooped up the bag and exchanged it with a bag of gold she'd already counted out.
"Thank you!" she chirped and skipped away, swinging the bag to and fro as she went.
She made her way to the city gates, ready for meeting up with Robin. He was already there standing in the shade of the gates, leaning back against a cool wall to gain some respite from the summer sun. Outside of the walls a long path wound its way over the horizon dotted with trees and hills.
"Robin!" She squeaked as she approached. He lifted his head and looked over, giving a gentle wave with one hand.
"Hi Tiki! I made it here early. Don't worry though, I've not been waiting too long." He answered, wondering what she was up to. He noticed the bag in her hand and wondered what might be in store for him. "So, what's in the bag? Should I ask?"
Tiki noticed he was jumping the gun a little - he should learn to hold his horses. She giggled internally at her own mental joke.
"That's something that will help us later, you don't need to worry about it yet." She told him, winking brightly. That made him worry even more.
"Follow me, let's go! I have somewhere to take you." she cried out, grabbing him by the hand.
Together they journeyed down the dusty path hand in hand. His curiosity wouldn't let him off the hook as to what was in the bag, it made him nervous not knowing exactly what was in store. He was hoping it wouldn't be like last time, that perhaps she'd had a dream where they take a nap under a shaded bough or have a picnic in a field of flowers, or… something less strenuous than before. It wouldn't matter though, he could never say no to her. He always wanted to see her smiling and happy, no matter what it took.
It wasn't too long before they came upon a stable along the road and a few horses making their way to the wooden gates to come and see who was passing by. With curious eyes they swayed their noses around in the air to be met with Tiki's little hand petting them as they sniffed and lapped her fingers.
Robin had thought that this was just a passing stop on their way. When Tiki made her way to the front door and worked her way inside a feeling of dread filled him to the core.
"Ah, Tiki, what're we doing at the stable? This doesn't have something to do with last time, does it?" he asked nervously.
She was suspiciously quiet, as if she hadn't heard the question. She had, but she knew he'd object if she told him exactly what was going on. Pretending she'd heard nothing was in her best interests.
"Tiki?" he grumbled, stamping a foot and stopping in his tracks.
"Hm? Look! We're here!" she sang out, holding her arms wide as if to display the glory of the dank old stables in which they now stood. An old lady came out from a room in the back, dressed in a simple frock and apron.
"Greetings young ones! What brings you here?" she asked nicely. Her voice was warm and her smile was bright.
"We're here to use the facilities!" Tiki answered, jumping up to the counter to greet the woman at her level. Robin instantly knew this meant no good.
"Alright, I'll open the gate for you. Come on through." She led them through a back door into the rear of the stables, where a circular course had been cleared with slaloms and jumps and all sorts of training equipment set out ready for the horses to use.
"This is what you had in mind?" Robin asked, gulping.
Finally, Tiki emptied the bag and pulled out the man-sized stirrups. Thankfully she lacked a bridle, but this was bad enough. He thought for a minute about objecting and refusing, but he lacked the words to say. A simple no would not be enough for Tiki.
She grinned. Not just a happy smile, but one with a veiled malice – animalistic joy that she had the ability to make him do this. "Every mount needs to be well trained. If we're ever going to win any competitions, you'll have to be the greatest mount ever!"
Robin released a long, resigned sigh and rolled his eyes. His shoulders slumped and he steadily dropped to his knees, placing his palms on the gritty dirt. He didn't need ribbons. He probably couldn't even enter competitions, not as the mount. She wouldn't hear any of it anyway.
Still smiling she placed the stirrups over his back and tightened the leather straps around his midsection. Thankfully, she didn't overtighten it. With shuffling steps she made her way over behind him and clambered onto his back, sinking each foot inside the metal hoops of the stirrups.
Under her weight he could feel every soft curve, the plush resistance of her skin, the warmth from her body. Slowly at first, he began to move.
"Giddy up Robin!" Tiki tweeted, kicking her heels into his side. It was a good job she hadn't ordered spurs too, he figured.
She used his shoulders to direct him, pulling and squeezing for the direction she wanted him to go in. She took him over a see-saw, stopping him in the middle to balance the weight. There were a few jumps that she tried to get him to go over – Robin tried his best, but Tiki wasn't impressed by his execution.
"Higher! Jump higher!" She said, kicking into his sides again. "You have to clear the jumps!"
"I'm trying!" Robin managed to get out between heavy breaths.
He tried a jump again, taking as much of a run-up as he could before springing upwards on his back legs and trying to jump his way over. She nearly went flying on the landing, but he managed to stick it. Her bum sank softly into his back as they landed; he could feel everything rubbing up against him and he blushed to himself. He knew she couldn't see, but he was just happy she was enjoying herself.
She took him around the slalom, weaving in and out of the white posts hammered into the ground. It was for horses so it was wide enough to be quite easy for a human-sized mount, but she still swayed from side to side as they went through it together as if he was moving a lot faster than they really were. She was loving it!
After a few times around the obstacle course Tiki decided she wanted to see her new mount's top speed and took him around the track.
"On your marks…" she began.
"Tiki, I can't…" Robin protested.
"Get set!"
"Noooooooo…"
"Goooooooooo!" She cried, pointing a finger high in the air.
His knees burned, his hands and wrists ached, and his back felt like it was going to give in. Every heaving breath he took as they whipped around the track at … a non-too-impressive speed burned his lungs. He barely scraped his way past the finish line, panting and puffing away before collapsing to the ground on his stomach with her still atop him attempting to kick her feet.
The old lady smiled and watched as they completed everything on the obstacle course, never having seen anything like it.
"I think that's a new record there! Slowest time yet!" she laughed heartily.
"You hear that, Robin? We have much more training to do!"