Everything WILL be Just Fineby Nobody the BiclopsChaptersEverything is NOT FineBut it WILL BeBetter to Beg for ForgivenessEverything is NOT FineTwilight Sparkle found herself walking through the halls of Canterlot Castle, contemplating her morning of watching and observing. While there was no formal designation of "Apprentice Princess," it seemed a fitting way to describe Twilight's current "duties." With no experience in any formal leadership, Twilight was generally kept away from any important decisions, or even minor royal duties. She was, however, expected to observe the various meetings, decisions, and deliberations attended to by her close mentor, Princess Celestia. The idea was that by observing Celestia's work day, Twilight would get an early feel for the etiquette and general nature of ruling a nation. While sound in theory, Twilight still wondered if she was ready for such a responsibility; she didn't know what not to do, or which dilemmas she should prioritize, or how to handle whatever staff and subordinates she would have at her disposal, or... *Whap!* Twilight had found herself so worried about the duties of princesshood, that she had forgotten her duties as a quadruped in motion to look where she was going. Looking up, she saw an all too familiar yellow-orange face staring her back. An awkward moment passed before either of the individuals seemed to process what had just happened. Eventually, a yellow-orange hoof was extended to the purple pony princess that was scandalously sprawled on the floor below. Overcoming gravity and a sense of deja vu, Twilight found herself once more on her feet. The two exchanged embarrassed looks, a few nervous laughs, and a few awkward glances at each other. Not wanting to spend all day over a small physical kerfluffle, Flash Sentry decided to break the ice with his Twilight tested catch phrase, "We have got to stop bumping into each other like this." Twilight could only silently nod as the two ponies began to walk their separate ways. Once she had made some distance from Flash, Twilight began to once again flood her mind with racing thoughts. Unlike her earlier thoughts, these thoughts were far less professional. She began to think about how odd she felt when around the otherwise nondescript Flash Sentry. How she found herself attracted to him. "Well," thought Twilight, "he is fairly good looking, and..." all of a sudden Twilight found herself with the first mental blank she had drawn all day. Now that she thought about it, her feelings for him were fairly shallow and carnal. After all, the pony Flash Sentry wasn't the Flash Sentry she had spent any significant amount of time with. Was he just a hot piece of ass and a pretty face to her? "Grrr," growled an exasperated Twilight, "what am I thinking, I've never been into guys before. And yet, I can't help thinking about this one. I've seen pictures of good looking stallions before, and even been around some, so why am I starting to lose my mind over this one." Deciding to retreat to her guest room in the palace to collect her thoughts, Twilight closed the door behind her and laid down on her bed. As it stood, she had the rest of the day to herself, and no idea of how to spend it. With no work related distractions to ease her mind, her thoughts once again drifted to the source of her persistent lust. "Alright, so I think he's handsome. I think Big Mac is handsome but I don't get worked up over him. What makes Flash different. Let's see, he is easy on the eyes, not a complete jerk, and a guard." Twilight realized that was all she knew about him. Knowing so many stallions with the first two traits forced her to consider the importance of the last part. "Guards," said Twilight, "I guess I have a thing for guards. But why? Is it the uniform? No, I've seen guards my whole life and never cared. Maybe it's the standing still for long periods of time? No that's stupid. Is it the sense of sacrifice and duty? Dedicating their lives to serving the princesses and showing them devotion? Serving them faithfully? Carrying out their wishes even at personal discomfort?" Twilight began to feel a little warm as she pondered the guards' inherent submissiveness to their princesses. Flash's inherent submission to her. This line of thought brought out a darker side to Twilight that had been long suppressed. Ever since she was a foal, Twilight had been something of a control freak. One of the reasons she had avoided socialization in her youth was that ponies were a somewhat unpredictable lot. And while they still possessed free will and personality, guards were, at least on duty, very predictable. They had a schedule, they had assigned duties, they worked to a specific code of conduct, they all wore a uniform that designated a particular duty, and they all had a particular hierarchy they adhered too. A hierarchy Twilight was now at the top of for all intents and purposes. In fact, Flash was the first new guard to join the palace roster since Twilight's ascension. The first guard to have only known duty with Twilight as one of his sovereigns. The first guard to completely and truly be HER guard. At least that was how Twilight was beginning to see it. All the other guards knew her as "Celestia's Intern." Flash only knew her as Princess Twilight Sparkle. In that regard, he was special, not just another guard. "Of course, he is also special in another way," Twilight spat out with a hint of anger, "no other guard has consistently been in a collision with their charges." If Flash represented a new era marked by Twilight's Princesshood, then Twilight's tenure as a fully empowered member of the royal house signaled a decline in standards, quality, and discipline. Rather than find herself utterly horrified at the very prospect, Twilight instead found herself sensing opportunity. "A princess helps rule Equestria," pondered Twilight, "and that mostly means solving problems and making sure everything is running smoothly." Twilight would prove that her reign was not to be a disastrous and rushed mistake by solving the current discipline problem infecting the royal guard. If Flash was HER guard, then it was HER responsibility to solve the problem he represented. With her mind made up, Twilight began heading toward the entrance to the dungeon. For it was there that disciplinary action relating to the Royal Guard was carried out (about the only real use the entire facility was ever really used for barring extreme cases). Twilight didn't want to rush in to her first foray as an acting Princess of Equestria. She would review the tools and amenities at her disposal, read a few books concerning proper punishment, and form a thorough, well thought out plan by which she could make her mark as an administrator worth of the royal house. After which she would schedule a time to perform her duties, prepare the chamber she had chosen for the task at hand, and, last but not least, issue a summons for Flash Sentry to meet her at the designated time and place. Author's Note This chapter sets the mood. Next chapter starts the clop. If you want the latter, check out the next one. But it WILL BeFlash Sentry currently found himself undergoing some mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was currently strapped down on a leather bench, his eyes blindfolded, his tail bound by a thick leather strap and hoisted up in the air by a chain that attached to the thick leather collar he was currently wearing,his wings bound by an extra thick leather strap, and a ball gag stuffed into his mouth while awaiting personal punishment from Princess Twilight for frequently colliding with a full Princess of Equestria. On the other hand, Princess Twilight was wearing a revealing, yet regal ensemble of black silk stockings, a leather corset, a small black Mardi Gras mask covering her eyes, and had her mane in a French Bun. Her plan to discipline him involved paddles, candle wax, and a somewhat small strap-on dildo. At least, that was what he had gathered so far. He wasn't certain whether this was a serious punishment for a valid infraction of basic palace etiquette, or a "punishment" from a hedonistic princess who was too cheap or busy to take him out to dinner first. On the one hand, her reasoning for all of this was sound; as much as he hated to admit it, his frequent physical mishaps with the princess was a glaring failure on his record and did merit some form of discipline. Princess Twilight also seemed to be completely serious, her stern lecture on proper Guard decorum and behavior lacked any sense of sensual teasing or sexual overtones. The disappointment and mild anger in her voice seemed genuine. And yet, the whole planned punishment was way too sexual (and cheesy for that matter) to be anything more than an exercise in one Princess' self-indulgence. Still, he couldn't say he was disappointed with his current role as Princess' plaything. The fact was that is was within a Princess' rights and privileges to take concubines as they saw fit from amongst the commoners. Aside from satisfying a Princess' more carnal needs, it was also a fast track to greater social standing for the commoner. In fact, Flash Sentry would almost certainly find himself amongst the nobility of Canterlot as a result of catching the eye of a Princess. A rare occurrence given that most concubines came from the already established noble houses. Granted, nobles had the option of refusing service in a Princess' harem, yet not once had that right ever been invoked. The fact is that becoming a concubine was considered too good of a deal to pass up even for those who already found themselves in the lap of luxury. Besides, Twilight was probably a very reasonable and restrained Mistress; Flash could have found himself at the mercy of some historical horror story like Princess Platinum. The tales of her depravity were still the stuff of scandal all these years later. While she did tone it down somewhat after helping to found the current state of Equestria (well, a predecessor government anyway) the fact remained that Clover the Clever suffered terribly to bequeath noble status to his children. Flash's thoughts on this new chapter of his life were rudely interrupted by a searing pain on his left buttock. Twilight had decided to begin her grim task with a small studded leather paddle. Once he had time to process the physical discomfort and return his thoughts to the here and now, Flash let out a surprised scream. Or at least he would have if not for the ball gag in his mouth. As it stood, he was only capable of making a muffled groan that sounded vaguely "MMppffh!" like. The punishment had begun... Looking over her bound charge, Twilight could only muster surprise that the first strike had taken so long to register with her victim. She chalked it up to Flash being unprepared for the first blow. With heavy concentration on the magic holding the paddle, Twilight lifted the paddle into the air once more and swung it down hard on Flash's right buttock. This time the twitch and muffled scream came out almost instantly. Feeling empowered by the far more punctual signs of pain in her victim, Twilight let out of a quick succession of three swats to each buttock. *Whack!*Whack!*Whack!* *Whack!*Whack!*Whack*! Flash struggled to contain his cries of pain only barely succeeding. His ass betrayed him, however, tensing up and letting his tormentor know that her salvo had done its work. Twilight decided to switch strategies and go for a sustained rhythm over a concentrated yet sporadic series of strikes. *Whack!*... *Whack!* ... *Whack!* ... *Whack!* ... Left cheek. Right cheek. Left cheek. Right cheek. Each blow coming one after the other with only a one second interval between them. While each strike was not as hard as the opening blows, the consistent tempo of pain produced an agony unlike any other Flash had experienced in his life. As the fur and dead skin on his rump began to slowly chafe away, Flash found his ass feeling as though it was on fire. After only five minutes of this light yet consistent beating, Flash had begun to struggle against his restraints. This told Twilight that it was time to move on to the next phase of the punishment. Pausing only to wipe a few beads of sweat that had begun to form on her forehead, Twilight exchanged the small, leather paddle for a formidable, wooden paddle. Now that Flash's hindquarters were good and raw, it was time for the spanking to enter its next phase. *Craaaaaaaack!!!! The first blow from this new instrument of pain contained so much force that Flash's body had moved forward and pulled at his leather restraints; if said restraints had not been holding him in place, Flash would have moved across the bench he was on at least a few centimeters. So great and sudden was the flare of pain brought on by that single blow that Flash could not even process it properly. His movement ceased and his mind drew a blank. It would be a very brief respite. *Craaaaaaaaack!!!!!! The second blow quickly jolted Flash out of his state of shock and stupor. With his limbs well and truly restrained, Flash could only perform the single action allotted to him and screamed with all his might into the ball gag. Twilight heard the muffled and desperate cry from the bound stallion before her and produced a small, satisfied smirk. The punishment was going even better than expected; Flash was learning his lesson quite quickly from what she could gather, and her methods of instilling corporal punishment had proven most proficient despite having had little time to practice them before hoof. Deciding not to spoil her good run by congratulating herself for an extended period of time, Twilight quickly used her magic to rev up another strike. *Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!! This blow had begun to bring Flash to the edge. A small tear began to form in his eye producing a small wet speck on his blindfold. Currently too small for Twilight to notice, this wetness would soon grow. On the subject of wetness, Twilight's marehood was beginning to leak liquid satisfaction. She didn't even notice this as she had become fixated on the focus of her wrath. Flash's ass had begun to glow red. His other cheeks currently possessed a crimson hue as well. Without even thinking, Twilight placed one of her front hooves on Flash's battered hindquarters, rubbing her victim's tender rump with a mix of curiosity and pride. Her handiwork was hot to the touch. Twilight couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment upon noticing the heat. This was quickly becoming one royal duty she wouldn't mind performing for the rest of her days. Returning to the act that she was beginning to take so much pleasure in Twilight quickly let slip another strike on the ass before her. Then another. And another. And still another. Blow after blow rained down on Flash's hindquarters, slowly bruising them and leaving Flash in a state of agony. He had begun to cry at some point, eventually soaking his blindfolds. He was not sure when exactly, the pain had caused him to lose all sense of time and self. And yet, the same loss of identity and awareness of his surroundings had also evoked an almost spiritual response in Flash. He had almost completely separated himself from the excruciating pain currently raining down on him, while also becoming even closer to it. He had found himself almost completely in sync with the rhythm of blows befalling him. There was a loud strike, a soft brushing of a hoof against his flesh, a one second pause, and another loud strike. It was a constant pattern that he had found himself moving to. What would have shocked him were he not in a hot daze was that he was reflexively moving toward the paddle when the blow was coming down rather than away from it. In many ways the pain had become a gift, a sensation that brought him closer to a certain harmony with his surroundings and his own body. He was now in a paradoxical state of mind, where agony and ecstasy had become one all-encompassing emotional focus. And it was all a generous gift from his beautiful, wonderful Princess. Twilight herself had also begun to lose herself in the task at hand. As she continued to throttle the captive flank before her, Twilight began to form a rhythm to her task. Strike hard, softly brush hoof across the surface of the buttocks, wait one second, strike hard. Before long she had begun to work automatically; without conscious thought she continued her established cadence, losing herself completely in the task at hand. At this point there was no Twilight Sparkle, there was no Princess, there was no Equestria, there was no Canterlot, nor was there a Canterlot Palace dungeon. There was a paddle, a hoof, and an ass. There was a pattern. There was a period of time where that pattern occurred. There was the continuation of that pattern. On and on she continued to beat, rub, and wind up the next strike. She could not say how long, for concepts like time had been completely lost to her. There was only the pattern, and the event that broke the pattern. After one strike (which one it had been was lost to the primal state of mind Twilight found herself lost in) Twilight's hoof began to caress the flank before her when the feeling of moisture snapped her out of the state of total concentration she found herself in. Aware of her surroundings once again, Twilight looked down to see that a small streak of blood now smeared her hoof. Twilight's eyes went wide, this was not according to plan. Better to Beg for Forgiveness"Oh nononononono, this is NOT happening!" Twilight had begun to panic. She was supposed to start the punishment with a good, hard spanking just as one of the books she happened upon told her to. The book had specifically instructed her to paddle until the ass was a deep shade of red under the fur or until the buttocks began to show signs of bruising. Instead, she had beaten Flash until his hindquarters were completely bruised and had begun to draw blood. At this point it was clear that Twilight did not have the self control to safely continue the punishment... "No!" Twilight's internal voice screamed a defiant protest to any wavering resolve. It was too late to turn back now. Twilight had already invested herself, and her reputation, on succeeding in her first administrative effort. To admit failure on such a simple task was to begin her duties as Princess with a complete and utterly shameful display of ineptitude. Who could take her seriously if she seriously if she couldn't even perform a simple act of corporal punishment. Pausing for a brief moment to extend her forearm and take a deep breath, Twilight quickly calmed herself down and set about trying to solve her current predicament. With no good options truly available to her, Twilight realized she would have to choose between her political standing or treating Flash with any sense of fairness. To choose between living up to Celestia's expectations or Flash's basic rights. Poor Flash Sentry. Perhaps he would forgive her for what was about to come, but he most likely wouldn't. She could try to make it up for him later, even the rest of his guard career, but there was no true absolution for what was to come. "Perhaps it's better that way, that I should always be haunted by my mistake. He'll never forgive me for this, and why should he? I'll always walk the palace seeing his hard eyes and knowing that only professional courtesy keeps him from scowling at me. A Princess can not make mistakes like this, a constant reminder wherever I go that I took this too far. I'll just continue with the punishment, ask Celestia for forgiveness later, and try to play this off as just strictness on my part. The nobles are more likely to respect brutality than a loss of control." With a renewed dedication to the task at hand, Twilight moved to the candles that had been burning for a few hours at this point. Breathing, no, panting heavily, Flash Sentry found himself slowly becoming aware of his surroundings once more. His blindfolds were wet with tears. His ass felt like smoldering embers in a campfire. Sweat began to form on his brow. He felt tired and humiliated. Yet he knew the worst was yet to come, and he had begun to anticipate it with a twisted zeal. Flash had never been even remotely abused this much his entire life, yet he found himself wanting more. He could not fathom why he felt this way, yet his wish was soon granted. Hearing the sound of hoofsteps approaching him and stopping right before the leather bench. A throat cleared and was soon followed by a voice. "Now Flash, while I am certain that you found that punishment sufficient, the fact remains that guards who frequently collide with Princesses sets a bad standard for the day to day functions of the palace. It reeks of poor discipline and make the Equestrian Crown look like a complete joke. While I am certain that your heart is in the right place, your conduct of late has become a stain on the honor of every member of the Canterlot Royal Guard. As you know, as Princess it is my duty to ensure that basic standards are kept, and failure is punished in such a way as to where no future transgressions are likely to take place. In order to make sure that..." this continued for some time as Twilight stalled from going any further. Flash had tuned her out, her speech being an overly verbose recitation of his "court martial." Apparently, Princess on guard hallway collisions had been completely unheard of. "Had" being the operative word. To Flash's embarrassment and shame, lavender and marigold collided with each other six times in his first month on the job. Guards had a simple job: stand there, look pretty, don't embarrass the crown by living out a mediocre rip-off of a Ponyacci sketch. He had started to wonder if maybe he was just a shitty guard and being Princess Twilight's sadism outlet was the highest honor he could hope to achieve in life. With the acceptance that only a pony with zero self-esteem could muster, Flash began to mentally prepare himself for the continuation of his punishment. "And so, with all else having been considered, I have judged it necessary to reinforce the pain of the previous trial, and continue your punishment with the application of candle wax to you hindquarters, back, and wings." Having said all that could be said on the issue, Twilight used her magic to lift the large candles above her victim. Taking deep and slow breaths, Flash's muscles tensed as he awaited the... "Mmmmppppfffffhhh!!" Flash screamed with all the might his lungs could carry as the molten wax began coating his posterior and wings with burning agony. The nerve endings in his skin and wings screamed at his brain to do something, anything, to get away from globs of liquid fire that currently engulfed Flash's backside. Reduced to mere instinct, Flash began to struggle at his bonds with all his might, shaking his entire body with every bit of strength at his disposal and causing the bench he was on to quake. Once more, his blindfolds were wet as saline pleas of mercy poured from his eyes. A steady cacophony of wails and screams reverberated through the ball gag and echoed off the dungeon walls. Twilight could only stare on in horrified fascination as the pony before her was reduced to a pitiable tempest of thrashing motion and pitched sound. The entire ordeal lasted no more than half a minute. In which time the wax began to cool and harden over the yellow fur and feathers beneath it. As the heat died down so did Flash Sentry's struggles. Within a minute of the initial application Flash had settled down and begun to breath more steadily, his tears began to stop, and his screams had been replaced with a pained groan. After Flash had returned to a normal state, Twilight quickly broke out of her mesmerized state and slowly walked away to a small wooden chest on the far side of the room. Placing the candles one of the chest's compartments, Twilight silently vowed to never use enchanted pain candles ever again. In fact, she wondered what sick pony would even think up such a thing, let alone produce them for mass consumption. She now considered sponsoring a ban on such a cruel instrument. Without a word, Twilight quickly reached for a bottle containing a lime green gel. It had taken many hours of pouring over alchemical texts and scrolls of enchantments to produce the substance before her. The green gelatin was a wax dissolving compound that would allow Twilight to remove her handiwork from Flash's body without removing large segments of fur or devastating his wings. She wanted to instill discipline, not cripple him. On top of having to be spread around the affected area, the solvent required a small application of compacting force to remove the wax. Originally, Twilight had planned on applying the necessary pressure with impacts from a flogger. Having felt she had already gone too far already, she instead opted to rub it in slowly with her hooves. While a quick massage seemed to counteract the point of the current exercise, it was the least she could do. Now two for two on the overkill scale Twilight was afraid that the next portion of her planned punishment regimen would somehow kill the young guard. Using her hooves, Twilight carefully applied a thick layer of solvent along the entire affected area of Flash's back. Rubbing along the slick surface it created, Twilight began to slowly add pressure as she moved her hooves down Flash's spine, slowly kneading the wax and muscles. After she had cleared most of the wax off Flash's back, Twilight began to focus on the seared hindquarters before her. She began softly kneading the area around the hips while adding more pressure with each repetition. During this process Flash began to softly moan; it was a moan of pleasure and contentment, rather that pain and trauma. If there were any doubt in his mind that he was being reassigned from a guard to a concubine, it had now evaporated. After all, why else would Twilight bother with a kind massage after such a vicious bout of wax play? This could not have possibly been a serious punishment anymore. Having cleaned up her mess along Flash's back, Twilight still needed to take responsibility for her charge's wings. Still somewhat new to the delicate art of grooming wings, Twilight proceeded with extreme care; cautiously rubbing the area between the wing and body, Twilight managed to dissolve the wax holding Flash's wings down. With Flash's wings now somewhat free, Twilight began to lightly rub her hooves in little circles along the base of one of the wings, taking care to cause no further damage while slowly whittling away at the wax build up present. Repeating this on the other wing, Twilight now only had to comfort the rest of Flash's wings. Taking one wing in both hooves, Twilight applied a circular rubbing motion along the entire limb. Eventually removing the remaining wax on the limb and providing some comfort to the hurting appendage Twilight turned her attention to the remaining wing and once again worked her hooves along the entire feathery structure. Having owned up to her miscalculation, Twilight decided to give Flash a moment to relax and center himself. In the meantime, she walked over to the wooden chest of implements on the far side of the room. Opening it, Twilight sat down on her haunches and blankly stared down. There at the center of the wooden chest was a red and gold ceramic case. Inside that case was the tool by which she would carry out the third and final phase of Flash's punishment.
Everything is NOT FineTwilight Sparkle found herself walking through the halls of Canterlot Castle, contemplating her morning of watching and observing. While there was no formal designation of "Apprentice Princess," it seemed a fitting way to describe Twilight's current "duties." With no experience in any formal leadership, Twilight was generally kept away from any important decisions, or even minor royal duties. She was, however, expected to observe the various meetings, decisions, and deliberations attended to by her close mentor, Princess Celestia. The idea was that by observing Celestia's work day, Twilight would get an early feel for the etiquette and general nature of ruling a nation. While sound in theory, Twilight still wondered if she was ready for such a responsibility; she didn't know what not to do, or which dilemmas she should prioritize, or how to handle whatever staff and subordinates she would have at her disposal, or... *Whap!* Twilight had found herself so worried about the duties of princesshood, that she had forgotten her duties as a quadruped in motion to look where she was going. Looking up, she saw an all too familiar yellow-orange face staring her back. An awkward moment passed before either of the individuals seemed to process what had just happened. Eventually, a yellow-orange hoof was extended to the purple pony princess that was scandalously sprawled on the floor below. Overcoming gravity and a sense of deja vu, Twilight found herself once more on her feet. The two exchanged embarrassed looks, a few nervous laughs, and a few awkward glances at each other. Not wanting to spend all day over a small physical kerfluffle, Flash Sentry decided to break the ice with his Twilight tested catch phrase, "We have got to stop bumping into each other like this." Twilight could only silently nod as the two ponies began to walk their separate ways. Once she had made some distance from Flash, Twilight began to once again flood her mind with racing thoughts. Unlike her earlier thoughts, these thoughts were far less professional. She began to think about how odd she felt when around the otherwise nondescript Flash Sentry. How she found herself attracted to him. "Well," thought Twilight, "he is fairly good looking, and..." all of a sudden Twilight found herself with the first mental blank she had drawn all day. Now that she thought about it, her feelings for him were fairly shallow and carnal. After all, the pony Flash Sentry wasn't the Flash Sentry she had spent any significant amount of time with. Was he just a hot piece of ass and a pretty face to her? "Grrr," growled an exasperated Twilight, "what am I thinking, I've never been into guys before. And yet, I can't help thinking about this one. I've seen pictures of good looking stallions before, and even been around some, so why am I starting to lose my mind over this one." Deciding to retreat to her guest room in the palace to collect her thoughts, Twilight closed the door behind her and laid down on her bed. As it stood, she had the rest of the day to herself, and no idea of how to spend it. With no work related distractions to ease her mind, her thoughts once again drifted to the source of her persistent lust. "Alright, so I think he's handsome. I think Big Mac is handsome but I don't get worked up over him. What makes Flash different. Let's see, he is easy on the eyes, not a complete jerk, and a guard." Twilight realized that was all she knew about him. Knowing so many stallions with the first two traits forced her to consider the importance of the last part. "Guards," said Twilight, "I guess I have a thing for guards. But why? Is it the uniform? No, I've seen guards my whole life and never cared. Maybe it's the standing still for long periods of time? No that's stupid. Is it the sense of sacrifice and duty? Dedicating their lives to serving the princesses and showing them devotion? Serving them faithfully? Carrying out their wishes even at personal discomfort?" Twilight began to feel a little warm as she pondered the guards' inherent submissiveness to their princesses. Flash's inherent submission to her. This line of thought brought out a darker side to Twilight that had been long suppressed. Ever since she was a foal, Twilight had been something of a control freak. One of the reasons she had avoided socialization in her youth was that ponies were a somewhat unpredictable lot. And while they still possessed free will and personality, guards were, at least on duty, very predictable. They had a schedule, they had assigned duties, they worked to a specific code of conduct, they all wore a uniform that designated a particular duty, and they all had a particular hierarchy they adhered too. A hierarchy Twilight was now at the top of for all intents and purposes. In fact, Flash was the first new guard to join the palace roster since Twilight's ascension. The first guard to have only known duty with Twilight as one of his sovereigns. The first guard to completely and truly be HER guard. At least that was how Twilight was beginning to see it. All the other guards knew her as "Celestia's Intern." Flash only knew her as Princess Twilight Sparkle. In that regard, he was special, not just another guard. "Of course, he is also special in another way," Twilight spat out with a hint of anger, "no other guard has consistently been in a collision with their charges." If Flash represented a new era marked by Twilight's Princesshood, then Twilight's tenure as a fully empowered member of the royal house signaled a decline in standards, quality, and discipline. Rather than find herself utterly horrified at the very prospect, Twilight instead found herself sensing opportunity. "A princess helps rule Equestria," pondered Twilight, "and that mostly means solving problems and making sure everything is running smoothly." Twilight would prove that her reign was not to be a disastrous and rushed mistake by solving the current discipline problem infecting the royal guard. If Flash was HER guard, then it was HER responsibility to solve the problem he represented. With her mind made up, Twilight began heading toward the entrance to the dungeon. For it was there that disciplinary action relating to the Royal Guard was carried out (about the only real use the entire facility was ever really used for barring extreme cases). Twilight didn't want to rush in to her first foray as an acting Princess of Equestria. She would review the tools and amenities at her disposal, read a few books concerning proper punishment, and form a thorough, well thought out plan by which she could make her mark as an administrator worth of the royal house. After which she would schedule a time to perform her duties, prepare the chamber she had chosen for the task at hand, and, last but not least, issue a summons for Flash Sentry to meet her at the designated time and place. Author's Note This chapter sets the mood. Next chapter starts the clop. If you want the latter, check out the next one.
But it WILL BeFlash Sentry currently found himself undergoing some mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was currently strapped down on a leather bench, his eyes blindfolded, his tail bound by a thick leather strap and hoisted up in the air by a chain that attached to the thick leather collar he was currently wearing,his wings bound by an extra thick leather strap, and a ball gag stuffed into his mouth while awaiting personal punishment from Princess Twilight for frequently colliding with a full Princess of Equestria. On the other hand, Princess Twilight was wearing a revealing, yet regal ensemble of black silk stockings, a leather corset, a small black Mardi Gras mask covering her eyes, and had her mane in a French Bun. Her plan to discipline him involved paddles, candle wax, and a somewhat small strap-on dildo. At least, that was what he had gathered so far. He wasn't certain whether this was a serious punishment for a valid infraction of basic palace etiquette, or a "punishment" from a hedonistic princess who was too cheap or busy to take him out to dinner first. On the one hand, her reasoning for all of this was sound; as much as he hated to admit it, his frequent physical mishaps with the princess was a glaring failure on his record and did merit some form of discipline. Princess Twilight also seemed to be completely serious, her stern lecture on proper Guard decorum and behavior lacked any sense of sensual teasing or sexual overtones. The disappointment and mild anger in her voice seemed genuine. And yet, the whole planned punishment was way too sexual (and cheesy for that matter) to be anything more than an exercise in one Princess' self-indulgence. Still, he couldn't say he was disappointed with his current role as Princess' plaything. The fact was that is was within a Princess' rights and privileges to take concubines as they saw fit from amongst the commoners. Aside from satisfying a Princess' more carnal needs, it was also a fast track to greater social standing for the commoner. In fact, Flash Sentry would almost certainly find himself amongst the nobility of Canterlot as a result of catching the eye of a Princess. A rare occurrence given that most concubines came from the already established noble houses. Granted, nobles had the option of refusing service in a Princess' harem, yet not once had that right ever been invoked. The fact is that becoming a concubine was considered too good of a deal to pass up even for those who already found themselves in the lap of luxury. Besides, Twilight was probably a very reasonable and restrained Mistress; Flash could have found himself at the mercy of some historical horror story like Princess Platinum. The tales of her depravity were still the stuff of scandal all these years later. While she did tone it down somewhat after helping to found the current state of Equestria (well, a predecessor government anyway) the fact remained that Clover the Clever suffered terribly to bequeath noble status to his children. Flash's thoughts on this new chapter of his life were rudely interrupted by a searing pain on his left buttock. Twilight had decided to begin her grim task with a small studded leather paddle. Once he had time to process the physical discomfort and return his thoughts to the here and now, Flash let out a surprised scream. Or at least he would have if not for the ball gag in his mouth. As it stood, he was only capable of making a muffled groan that sounded vaguely "MMppffh!" like. The punishment had begun... Looking over her bound charge, Twilight could only muster surprise that the first strike had taken so long to register with her victim. She chalked it up to Flash being unprepared for the first blow. With heavy concentration on the magic holding the paddle, Twilight lifted the paddle into the air once more and swung it down hard on Flash's right buttock. This time the twitch and muffled scream came out almost instantly. Feeling empowered by the far more punctual signs of pain in her victim, Twilight let out of a quick succession of three swats to each buttock. *Whack!*Whack!*Whack!* *Whack!*Whack!*Whack*! Flash struggled to contain his cries of pain only barely succeeding. His ass betrayed him, however, tensing up and letting his tormentor know that her salvo had done its work. Twilight decided to switch strategies and go for a sustained rhythm over a concentrated yet sporadic series of strikes. *Whack!*... *Whack!* ... *Whack!* ... *Whack!* ... Left cheek. Right cheek. Left cheek. Right cheek. Each blow coming one after the other with only a one second interval between them. While each strike was not as hard as the opening blows, the consistent tempo of pain produced an agony unlike any other Flash had experienced in his life. As the fur and dead skin on his rump began to slowly chafe away, Flash found his ass feeling as though it was on fire. After only five minutes of this light yet consistent beating, Flash had begun to struggle against his restraints. This told Twilight that it was time to move on to the next phase of the punishment. Pausing only to wipe a few beads of sweat that had begun to form on her forehead, Twilight exchanged the small, leather paddle for a formidable, wooden paddle. Now that Flash's hindquarters were good and raw, it was time for the spanking to enter its next phase. *Craaaaaaaack!!!! The first blow from this new instrument of pain contained so much force that Flash's body had moved forward and pulled at his leather restraints; if said restraints had not been holding him in place, Flash would have moved across the bench he was on at least a few centimeters. So great and sudden was the flare of pain brought on by that single blow that Flash could not even process it properly. His movement ceased and his mind drew a blank. It would be a very brief respite. *Craaaaaaaaack!!!!!! The second blow quickly jolted Flash out of his state of shock and stupor. With his limbs well and truly restrained, Flash could only perform the single action allotted to him and screamed with all his might into the ball gag. Twilight heard the muffled and desperate cry from the bound stallion before her and produced a small, satisfied smirk. The punishment was going even better than expected; Flash was learning his lesson quite quickly from what she could gather, and her methods of instilling corporal punishment had proven most proficient despite having had little time to practice them before hoof. Deciding not to spoil her good run by congratulating herself for an extended period of time, Twilight quickly used her magic to rev up another strike. *Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!! This blow had begun to bring Flash to the edge. A small tear began to form in his eye producing a small wet speck on his blindfold. Currently too small for Twilight to notice, this wetness would soon grow. On the subject of wetness, Twilight's marehood was beginning to leak liquid satisfaction. She didn't even notice this as she had become fixated on the focus of her wrath. Flash's ass had begun to glow red. His other cheeks currently possessed a crimson hue as well. Without even thinking, Twilight placed one of her front hooves on Flash's battered hindquarters, rubbing her victim's tender rump with a mix of curiosity and pride. Her handiwork was hot to the touch. Twilight couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment upon noticing the heat. This was quickly becoming one royal duty she wouldn't mind performing for the rest of her days. Returning to the act that she was beginning to take so much pleasure in Twilight quickly let slip another strike on the ass before her. Then another. And another. And still another. Blow after blow rained down on Flash's hindquarters, slowly bruising them and leaving Flash in a state of agony. He had begun to cry at some point, eventually soaking his blindfolds. He was not sure when exactly, the pain had caused him to lose all sense of time and self. And yet, the same loss of identity and awareness of his surroundings had also evoked an almost spiritual response in Flash. He had almost completely separated himself from the excruciating pain currently raining down on him, while also becoming even closer to it. He had found himself almost completely in sync with the rhythm of blows befalling him. There was a loud strike, a soft brushing of a hoof against his flesh, a one second pause, and another loud strike. It was a constant pattern that he had found himself moving to. What would have shocked him were he not in a hot daze was that he was reflexively moving toward the paddle when the blow was coming down rather than away from it. In many ways the pain had become a gift, a sensation that brought him closer to a certain harmony with his surroundings and his own body. He was now in a paradoxical state of mind, where agony and ecstasy had become one all-encompassing emotional focus. And it was all a generous gift from his beautiful, wonderful Princess. Twilight herself had also begun to lose herself in the task at hand. As she continued to throttle the captive flank before her, Twilight began to form a rhythm to her task. Strike hard, softly brush hoof across the surface of the buttocks, wait one second, strike hard. Before long she had begun to work automatically; without conscious thought she continued her established cadence, losing herself completely in the task at hand. At this point there was no Twilight Sparkle, there was no Princess, there was no Equestria, there was no Canterlot, nor was there a Canterlot Palace dungeon. There was a paddle, a hoof, and an ass. There was a pattern. There was a period of time where that pattern occurred. There was the continuation of that pattern. On and on she continued to beat, rub, and wind up the next strike. She could not say how long, for concepts like time had been completely lost to her. There was only the pattern, and the event that broke the pattern. After one strike (which one it had been was lost to the primal state of mind Twilight found herself lost in) Twilight's hoof began to caress the flank before her when the feeling of moisture snapped her out of the state of total concentration she found herself in. Aware of her surroundings once again, Twilight looked down to see that a small streak of blood now smeared her hoof. Twilight's eyes went wide, this was not according to plan.
Better to Beg for Forgiveness"Oh nononononono, this is NOT happening!" Twilight had begun to panic. She was supposed to start the punishment with a good, hard spanking just as one of the books she happened upon told her to. The book had specifically instructed her to paddle until the ass was a deep shade of red under the fur or until the buttocks began to show signs of bruising. Instead, she had beaten Flash until his hindquarters were completely bruised and had begun to draw blood. At this point it was clear that Twilight did not have the self control to safely continue the punishment... "No!" Twilight's internal voice screamed a defiant protest to any wavering resolve. It was too late to turn back now. Twilight had already invested herself, and her reputation, on succeeding in her first administrative effort. To admit failure on such a simple task was to begin her duties as Princess with a complete and utterly shameful display of ineptitude. Who could take her seriously if she seriously if she couldn't even perform a simple act of corporal punishment. Pausing for a brief moment to extend her forearm and take a deep breath, Twilight quickly calmed herself down and set about trying to solve her current predicament. With no good options truly available to her, Twilight realized she would have to choose between her political standing or treating Flash with any sense of fairness. To choose between living up to Celestia's expectations or Flash's basic rights. Poor Flash Sentry. Perhaps he would forgive her for what was about to come, but he most likely wouldn't. She could try to make it up for him later, even the rest of his guard career, but there was no true absolution for what was to come. "Perhaps it's better that way, that I should always be haunted by my mistake. He'll never forgive me for this, and why should he? I'll always walk the palace seeing his hard eyes and knowing that only professional courtesy keeps him from scowling at me. A Princess can not make mistakes like this, a constant reminder wherever I go that I took this too far. I'll just continue with the punishment, ask Celestia for forgiveness later, and try to play this off as just strictness on my part. The nobles are more likely to respect brutality than a loss of control." With a renewed dedication to the task at hand, Twilight moved to the candles that had been burning for a few hours at this point. Breathing, no, panting heavily, Flash Sentry found himself slowly becoming aware of his surroundings once more. His blindfolds were wet with tears. His ass felt like smoldering embers in a campfire. Sweat began to form on his brow. He felt tired and humiliated. Yet he knew the worst was yet to come, and he had begun to anticipate it with a twisted zeal. Flash had never been even remotely abused this much his entire life, yet he found himself wanting more. He could not fathom why he felt this way, yet his wish was soon granted. Hearing the sound of hoofsteps approaching him and stopping right before the leather bench. A throat cleared and was soon followed by a voice. "Now Flash, while I am certain that you found that punishment sufficient, the fact remains that guards who frequently collide with Princesses sets a bad standard for the day to day functions of the palace. It reeks of poor discipline and make the Equestrian Crown look like a complete joke. While I am certain that your heart is in the right place, your conduct of late has become a stain on the honor of every member of the Canterlot Royal Guard. As you know, as Princess it is my duty to ensure that basic standards are kept, and failure is punished in such a way as to where no future transgressions are likely to take place. In order to make sure that..." this continued for some time as Twilight stalled from going any further. Flash had tuned her out, her speech being an overly verbose recitation of his "court martial." Apparently, Princess on guard hallway collisions had been completely unheard of. "Had" being the operative word. To Flash's embarrassment and shame, lavender and marigold collided with each other six times in his first month on the job. Guards had a simple job: stand there, look pretty, don't embarrass the crown by living out a mediocre rip-off of a Ponyacci sketch. He had started to wonder if maybe he was just a shitty guard and being Princess Twilight's sadism outlet was the highest honor he could hope to achieve in life. With the acceptance that only a pony with zero self-esteem could muster, Flash began to mentally prepare himself for the continuation of his punishment. "And so, with all else having been considered, I have judged it necessary to reinforce the pain of the previous trial, and continue your punishment with the application of candle wax to you hindquarters, back, and wings." Having said all that could be said on the issue, Twilight used her magic to lift the large candles above her victim. Taking deep and slow breaths, Flash's muscles tensed as he awaited the... "Mmmmppppfffffhhh!!" Flash screamed with all the might his lungs could carry as the molten wax began coating his posterior and wings with burning agony. The nerve endings in his skin and wings screamed at his brain to do something, anything, to get away from globs of liquid fire that currently engulfed Flash's backside. Reduced to mere instinct, Flash began to struggle at his bonds with all his might, shaking his entire body with every bit of strength at his disposal and causing the bench he was on to quake. Once more, his blindfolds were wet as saline pleas of mercy poured from his eyes. A steady cacophony of wails and screams reverberated through the ball gag and echoed off the dungeon walls. Twilight could only stare on in horrified fascination as the pony before her was reduced to a pitiable tempest of thrashing motion and pitched sound. The entire ordeal lasted no more than half a minute. In which time the wax began to cool and harden over the yellow fur and feathers beneath it. As the heat died down so did Flash Sentry's struggles. Within a minute of the initial application Flash had settled down and begun to breath more steadily, his tears began to stop, and his screams had been replaced with a pained groan. After Flash had returned to a normal state, Twilight quickly broke out of her mesmerized state and slowly walked away to a small wooden chest on the far side of the room. Placing the candles one of the chest's compartments, Twilight silently vowed to never use enchanted pain candles ever again. In fact, she wondered what sick pony would even think up such a thing, let alone produce them for mass consumption. She now considered sponsoring a ban on such a cruel instrument. Without a word, Twilight quickly reached for a bottle containing a lime green gel. It had taken many hours of pouring over alchemical texts and scrolls of enchantments to produce the substance before her. The green gelatin was a wax dissolving compound that would allow Twilight to remove her handiwork from Flash's body without removing large segments of fur or devastating his wings. She wanted to instill discipline, not cripple him. On top of having to be spread around the affected area, the solvent required a small application of compacting force to remove the wax. Originally, Twilight had planned on applying the necessary pressure with impacts from a flogger. Having felt she had already gone too far already, she instead opted to rub it in slowly with her hooves. While a quick massage seemed to counteract the point of the current exercise, it was the least she could do. Now two for two on the overkill scale Twilight was afraid that the next portion of her planned punishment regimen would somehow kill the young guard. Using her hooves, Twilight carefully applied a thick layer of solvent along the entire affected area of Flash's back. Rubbing along the slick surface it created, Twilight began to slowly add pressure as she moved her hooves down Flash's spine, slowly kneading the wax and muscles. After she had cleared most of the wax off Flash's back, Twilight began to focus on the seared hindquarters before her. She began softly kneading the area around the hips while adding more pressure with each repetition. During this process Flash began to softly moan; it was a moan of pleasure and contentment, rather that pain and trauma. If there were any doubt in his mind that he was being reassigned from a guard to a concubine, it had now evaporated. After all, why else would Twilight bother with a kind massage after such a vicious bout of wax play? This could not have possibly been a serious punishment anymore. Having cleaned up her mess along Flash's back, Twilight still needed to take responsibility for her charge's wings. Still somewhat new to the delicate art of grooming wings, Twilight proceeded with extreme care; cautiously rubbing the area between the wing and body, Twilight managed to dissolve the wax holding Flash's wings down. With Flash's wings now somewhat free, Twilight began to lightly rub her hooves in little circles along the base of one of the wings, taking care to cause no further damage while slowly whittling away at the wax build up present. Repeating this on the other wing, Twilight now only had to comfort the rest of Flash's wings. Taking one wing in both hooves, Twilight applied a circular rubbing motion along the entire limb. Eventually removing the remaining wax on the limb and providing some comfort to the hurting appendage Twilight turned her attention to the remaining wing and once again worked her hooves along the entire feathery structure. Having owned up to her miscalculation, Twilight decided to give Flash a moment to relax and center himself. In the meantime, she walked over to the wooden chest of implements on the far side of the room. Opening it, Twilight sat down on her haunches and blankly stared down. There at the center of the wooden chest was a red and gold ceramic case. Inside that case was the tool by which she would carry out the third and final phase of Flash's punishment.
