Dominant Ideal: Paying the Price

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three

Chapter One

Sweetie Belle looked at the paper in front of her. Neat, meticulous lines of numbers sat there, glaring at her expectantly, yet utterly ignored. She'd managed to fill in a few answers to her math problems, but she couldn't concentrate. For probably the dozenth time in as many minutes, she glanced to her side. Scootaloo was bent over her own pulpit, staring intently at her own paper and rolling her pencil from one side of her mouth to another. A tiny bead of sweat was on her orange brow from concentration. Sweetie sighed and gave her head a tiny shake to clear her mind and tried to return to her own work. "If a train leaves Canterlot at ten in the morning and another train leaves Ponyville at eleven..." The rest of the question could have been written in a foreign language for all she cared. Her stomach lurched as her thoughts once again traveled to Carousel Boutique the day before.

"Umm, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked. She'd been watching her big sister work on another dress for some customer in Canterlot. She knew it was a really important thing and that Rarity needed all her concentration on it, but she just had to ask.

"In a minute, darling!" Rarity answered. The fabrics, strings, gems, and needles danced around her in a magical glow, forming almost hypnotic patterns around her workstation. She finished putting the last folds into the hem where she'd soon need to sew them together, but it was a good moment to take a break. As she laid her unfinished masterpiece and the tools of her trade neatly on the table, her eyes caught sight of the clock on the wall. "Oh, Sweetie Belle! You should have said it was already so late. You must be simply famished."

"No, uhh..." Sweetie Belle started. "It's not that. I kinda need to ask you something."

The tone in Sweetie Belle's voice immediately told Rarity that something was bothering her sister. She took off the glasses she always wore when working on more detailed work, and walked next to Sweetie Belle. They sat down on a couch, with Sweetie not even able to look at her sister, instead opting to let her gaze fall on the multi-coloured carpet on the floor.

"What do you do if you make someone really angry and feel really bad about it?"

"Well you apologise to them of course," Rarity answered curtly.

"Yeah, but what if the reason they're angry at you is really big and even though I've—you've told them you're really, really sorry like a hundred times and they've said it's okay, but they're still really angry at you on the inside?"

Rarity moved a bit closer to Sweetie Belle on the couch and put a hoof onto her sister's back. "Would you like to tell me what's wrong?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head.

"Well..." Rarity said. "Sometimes it takes time for a pony to forgive you. It might feel like they're never even going to."

Sweetie Belle let out a long, trembling sigh, and nodded.

Rarity stroked Sweetie Belle's back comfortingly. "Are you sure you've apologised to them properly?"

"Yeah, like a million times," Sweetie Belle answered.

"Yes, darling, but just saying you're sorry over and over again won't work. After a while, ponies just stop hearing it because they don't want to believe you."

Sweetie looked up to her sister, feeling her eyes burning. Rarity's expression was slightly confused, but her smile was warm and genuine. "So what do I do?" Sweetie asked.

"There are three parts to an apology. Telling them you're sorry is only the first part."

"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"The second part is telling them that what you did wrong will never, ever happen again," Rarity said.

Sweetie nodded.

"The last part is the hardest one of all," Rarity said. "You have to ask them how you can make things right to help them forgive you, and then try to do what they ask."

"But what if they tell me they never want to see me again?" Sweetie asked, her voice quivering.

"Then you give them space. Let them think things over. If you're sincere in your apology, then you've done everything you can, and that should be enough. Like I said, ponies sometimes need a long time to forgive you, and sometimes giving them that time is the best way to bring you back together. That's what they mean when they say time heals all wounds."

Sweetie wrapped her hooves around her sister's chest, and Rarity pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm scared," Sweetie said.

"I'm sure it will work out, darling. I don't think anyone could stay angry at you for too long, and believe me, I'm speaking from experience."

Sweetie Belle smiled as she nuzzled against her sister's chest. "You're the best, Rarity."

A wet slap woke Sweetie Belle from her reverie. The wind had slammed a huge, brown maple leaf into the window next to her. As she looked at it, it was slowly peeled off the window by the driving rain of yet another Autumn storm. Just the thought of having to go out there in—she peered at the clock on the wall—five minutes made her shiver. When her gaze fell on Scootaloo, the shivers doubled. There was an empty seat between them where Apple Bloom would normally have sat. Her family had taken a head start for the weekend to go to some large gathering. That left the Crusaders with just Scootaloo and Sweetie. Normally that would have meant that there would be no Crusaders at all. They hadn't done anything together since Summer without Apple Bloom to keep them together. Sometimes it had been just like before, the three fillies laughing and playing like nothing had happened, but even then, sometimes Sweetie Belle would catch Scootaloos eyes, and see the coldness there. It was the same in the classroom. Even though they were just a few feet apart, it felt like there was a huge bottomless chasm between them. It was something Sweetie would give her everything to remedy, and she was going to do it in just a few minutes.

The bell tolled, and before Miss Cheerilee could even begin to talk about the weekend's homework, the foals rushed out the room, leaving the teacher leaning on her table with both forehooves against her face. Sweetie Belle didn't even notice though; she was making a beeline for the orange pegasus dashing outside. She caught up to her just inside the door, a heavy curtain of rain stopping several of the foals to gather their determination to leave. Some had packed raincoats in the morning, but most, like Sweetie and Scootaloo, would just have to rough it.

"Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo turned around to look at her. Her expression immediately told Sweetie Belle that things would be even worse than she thought. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to hang out today? My folks are out—"

"No. Got stuff," Scootaloo said, and stepped out into the rain.

Sweetie ran after her, feeling the falling water glue her mane to her face. She circled around Scootaloo to stop her. "Please, Scootaloo, it's important."

Scootaloo looked at her, then around her. She moved to step aside and continue on, but Sweetie Belle blocked her way again.

"Please? Just this once? It's really, really important." Sweetie Belle felt her heart pound inside her chest desperately. Everything hinged on what Scootaloo would say next. Everything.

Scootaloo tossed her wet mane out of her face. "Fine."

"Thank you," Sweetie said. The huge weight in her chest barely moved though. This was only the start. The hard part was yet to come. She stepped aside, and they started walking towards her house. "My folks are out of town, so we have the whole house to ourselves today. I mean, I have to go to Rarity's place for the night, but I don't need to go there before the evening."

Scootaloo didn't answer. She just walked forward, her hooves splashing cold water from the puddles. Sweetie Belle also fell silent, following a few steps behind Scootaloo, going over the things she was going to say inside her mind.

Her house wasn't too far from the school, and they soon arrived. Stepping inside felt like night had fallen on the fillies. The heavy overcast and the rain made the whole house feel small, and the incessant rapping of the raindrops falling on the windows only drove the point further in. Sweetie dropped her saddlebag off and quickly flicked on the lights, both in the kitchen and the living room. Finally she went to the bathroom and grabbed two small towels for them to dry their manes and tails. All the while Scootaloo stood near the exit, eyeing the door, apparently ready to bolt outside at any moment.

"Here," Sweetie Belle said, giving Scootaloo the towel. Scootaloo looked at it like she'd never seen a towel before, but as a shiver of cold ran through her body, she grabbed it and threw it over her dripping mane and started to rub it dry.

Sweetie Belle walked to the kitchen and opened up the fridge. She grabbed a plastic bag from the fridge, which she knew contained a few sandwiches her mother had made for her to eat after school. She tried to open the bag with her teeth, but after that failed, she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the whole package up and poured the sandwiches out on a plate. "You want one? They're really good," she said to Scootaloo.

After a short hesitation, Scootaloo also removed her saddlebag and walked to the table as well and sat down opposite Sweetie Belle. She turned the offering around on its plate, looking slightly worried. "Umm, did you make these?"

"Nu-uh. They're mom's," Sweetie Belle said, only slightly offended about the clear aversion to her cooking skills. She had to admit these were a bit better than the ones she'd tried to make for her friends once. More solid too. And made of actual bread, come to think of it.

Scootaloo bit down on her sandwich, and after a few more mouthfuls, smiled. "Hey, these aren't half bad."

It was the first time Sweetie remembered seeing Scootaloo smile for what felt like an eternity. Everypony knew Scootaloo ate a lot and her huge lunchboxes were a bit of a joke among the Crusaders. She always said she was just carbo-loading for exercise and stuck out her tongue to her laughing classmates. According to Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash ate a lot and took a lot of naps, so both were something to aspire to. Sweetie leaned on the table, resting her chin on her hooves and smiled as well. For a moment, it was the old Scootaloo she remembered. It was like some wall had crumbled between the two, at least for the time being. It wouldn't last, Sweetie knew, but she tried to enjoy the fleeting moment. After cleaning the table they moved upstairs to Sweetie Belle's room.

The room itself was a mess, or like Sweetie Belle told her parents, 'organized chaos'. A useful term she'd learned from Rarity. In essence it meant that toys, plushies, comic books, stage props, strewn about clothes, and pretty much everything else Sweetie had managed to hoard covered every surface of the room. She knew where everything was out of memory, or could at least find most things with a little bit of rummaging around. The only place only half-covered with debris was her bed in the middle of the room. Pushing some of the comics she'd been reading the past few days out of the way, Sweetie Belle sat down on it, motioning Scootaloo to join her.

Scootaloo stood still at the doorway, not stepping in. "What's this about, Sweetie?" she asked.

"I just wanna talk," Sweetie said.

"Talking's boring. Is that why you dragged me here?" Scootaloo scoffed. "I mean, sure, the sammich was good, but I kinda just came here so I wouldn't need to walk home in the rain."

Every word felt like an icicle being struck into Sweetie Belle's heart. The warmth that she'd felt from Scootaloo downstairs was gone, replaced by the same cold emptiness that had been between them ever since what happened at the Clubhouse in the Summer. "We could, umm, read some comics, or play something, or—"

"Nah. I think I'll head home." Scootaloo turned around in the doorway and headed for the stairs down.

"N-no! Scootaloo! Wait!" Sweetie yelled, and dashed after her friend. She caught up to her just before the stairs. "We gotta talk. I mean I want to tell you something really important!"

Scootaloo hesitated for a moment. After a moment she sat down and crossed her forehooves and looked at Sweetie Belle with a scowl. "Okay. Tell me."

This was it then. Sweetie Belle sat down as well, trying to give Scootaloo a warm, reassuring smile. "I... uhh..." She looked directly into Scootaloo's eyes, feeling her courage faltering by the moment. If she didn't do it now, she'd never get another chance like this. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

Scootaloo's scowl was replaced with slight confusion, and she tilted her head to the side. "What about?"

"Well, everything. Everything's that been going on between us ever since Summer. What happened—"

"Oh, Celestia, this again?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "You've told me that a gazillion times and I've said it's okay! What else do you want from me?"

"I..." Sweetie Belle paused for a moment, thinking of what Rarity had told her to say next. "I'll never do anything like that to you again. Ever."

Scootaloo barked out a dry laugh. "As if I'd ever let you do anything like what happened back then again? You stupid or something?"

This wasn't going at all how Sweetie Belle hoped, but she had to try. The last part was the hardest, Rarity had said. She took a deep breath of air. "I wanna make it up to you. I'll do anything so you won't be angry at me any more. So we could be friends again. Like, real friends. Like we used to be before I did all that stupid stuff." Sweetie felt her eyes burning. "I miss you so much and every time we're together it feels like you're so far away and I'd do anything, ANYTHING, to fix things."

Scootaloo's face had turned back into an angry scowl. "This is stupid. I'm gone." She started down the stairs.

Sweetie didn't know what else to do, so she grabbed Scootaloo's tail with her teeth.

Scootaloo almost fell on her face down the stairs. "Hey! Lemme go!"

"NNHHH!" Sweetie shouted, her mouth full of Scootaloo's hair.

Scootaloo yanked as hard as she could, finally slipping loose... and unceremoniously tumbled down the stairs to the wider part halfway, ending with her chin on the floor and her rump high in the air.

Sweetie was frozen at the top of the stairs. "S-scootaloo! Are you okay?"

Scootaloo bounced up, rubbing her chin. "Of course I'm not, stupid! What's wrong with you!?"

"I panicked!" Sweetie Belle answered, starting down the stairs.

"Stop!" Scootaloo said, aiming a forehoof at Sweetie Belle. "Stay away. Like for real. You wanna know what you can do to make up and stuff? Well just stay the hay away from me!"

Sweetie felt like someone had hit her in the face. Her hooves felt cold and numb, threatening to buckle underneath her. "I WILL!" Sweetie yelled, shocking both herself and Scootaloo into silence.

"W-what?" Scootaloo finally asked.

"I'll do it. If that's what you really want me to do, I'll... I'll stay away from you. As long as you want me to." She couldn't help but sniffle. "I want us to be friends again, real friends again, but if you want me to stay away from you, I will."

Scootaloo looked at her with a hanging mouth. "You... but I—"

"I mean..." A huge sob escaped Sweetie Belle "I'll wait for you. If you ever change your mind, I'll be your friend again. But if you never wanna see me again..." another sob racked her body, "it's okay."

"Of course I don't want that!" Scootaloo shouted back at her. "Of course I want to be your friend! I just can't!"

"Why!?" Sweetie Belle shouted, her voice cracking as the next sob came over her.

"I just can't! I really want to! I've tried to! But I can't help it! Every time I'm with you, I'm... scared, okay! I'm scared!"

Sweetie shook her head in confusion. "What, of me?"

Scootaloo's wings furled open. "Of course of you! I trusted you and you did all that weird stuff to me! And then you told me you liked it! And the stuff you make me think of and, I dunno, feel when I'm around with you! I don't want it! Any of it!"

A silence fell inside the room. Somewhere outside the wind howled forlornly against the corner of the house like a lone banshee looking for its lost love. Sweetie Belle tried to form words with her mouth, but nothing would come out.

Scootaloo shook her head and looked away. "It just feels like I don't know who you are. I'm sorry, Sweetie, but I just can't trust you. I've really tried but it just won't happen," Scootaloo said quietly. She sat down and rubbed one of her forehooves on another.

"Isn't there anything I could do? Anything? I'll do anything!" Sweetie stammered. "There's gotta be a way for me to show you you can trust me again. I mean, I totally trust you, so there's gotta be a way!"

Scootaloo couldn't turn to face Sweetie Belle. "How can you trust me? I gave you a black eye."

"And I totally deserved it," Sweetie Belle said. "And if you want to, you can give me another right now if it'll help." She leaned forward to show she was being serious.

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle like she'd turned into some weird alien from one of her comics. "Hit you? I never wanna hit anypony again."

"There's gotta be some way!" Sweetie Belle shouted, her voice rising as the horror kept gripping her more and more by the second. "Anything! Shout at me!"

"No, I—"

"I'd even let you spank me!"

Scootaloo's mouth fell open. "What?"

Sweetie Belle wasn't sure where that thought had come from, but Scootaloo hadn't shot the idea down immediately, so it was worth a shot. "I'd let you spank me if you want to."

Scootaloo looked at her with conflicting emotions of anger, confusion, and interest fighting for room on her face. "Wait, seriously?"

"Of course I'm serious! I'd take a thousand spankings if it meant I could fix things between us. I'll crawl over your lap right now if you tell me to. Or anything else you want me to. I did something horrible to you, so its only right for you to do the same to me."

"It was different. I deserved it. Well, most of it, I guess," Scootaloo said.

"Well I deserve it too, don't I? I've been feeling so awful ever since and knowing how bad I've made you feel as well makes it, like, double the worse."

"But I don't want to hurt anypony," Scootaloo said. Despite herself, she'd turned to look at Sweetie Belle and held her head slightly tilted the way she did when seriously pondering something.

"It would be a p-punishment," Sweetie Belle said. Looking at Scootaloo's expression brought about a new chaotic mix of feelings inside her head. On one hand, this might actually work, but it would also mean she'd be getting the first spanking of her life.

"I dunno," Scootaloo held her head and shook it from side to side. "Argh! This is what I mean! You make me feel so weird!"

"Will you do it?" Sweetie Belle asked incessantly, desperate to hear Scootaloo give in.

"I don't know! I gotta think about it!" Scootaloo said. She stood up and paced back and forth. After a moment she stopped, and looked at Sweetie Belle standing at the top of the stairs above her. "Do you... do you think it'd work?" she asked, a faint tint of hope in her voice.

Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment too. "I'm not sure. I mean, if I can show you I totally trust you, then maybe you can trust me too?"

"And you'd really let me do it? And anything else I wanted to?"

"I..." Sweetie Belle had to stop to swallow the huge lump in her throat. Now that it had come to this, the reality of the situation was dawning on her. "If it helps even a tiny bit, then yeah. Anything."

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, then to the floor. "I gotta think about it," she said.

"Okay. Take all the time you want," Sweetie Belle said.

"No, I mean, I need to think about it. Alone. Like, go outside or something and think."

"Oh... okay," Sweetie Belle said. She tried to hide her fear and disappointment. If Scootaloo left now, she might never come back.

Scootaloo didn't move for the door immediately. Instead she seemed to be pondering the situation over in her head, until she suddenly jumped up. "Let's go to your room." Without waiting for an answer, she dashed past Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle stepped in the open door to her room as well. Inside, Scootaloo was pushing away toys and discarded clothes with her forehooves.

"Are you looking for something?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion.

"No. Come here." Scootaloo pointed at the small zone of clear floor she'd created.

Sweetie Belle did as she was told, even though her mind was filled with questions.

"Now turn around and face the corner," Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle only now realised where exactly the area Scootaloo had cleared was. It took a moment for Sweetie Belle to realise the implication. "You want me to do corner time?"

Scootaloo nodded and pointed at the corner for emphasis. "I'm going out for a while to think and, well, think. And I want you to stand here, in the corner, while I'm gone."

Sweetie Belle shuddered lightly, but stepped into the corner, leaning forward until she felt her horn lightly scratch against the wall. "You'll come back, won't you?" she asked.

Scootaloo had walked over to the door. "Probably, but, uhh, no promises."

"But..." Sweetie Belle felt her heart sank. "If you won't come back, how will I know how long I'm supposed to stand here?"

Scootaloo didn't answer. All Sweetie Belle could hear were hoofsteps going down the stairs, and then a moment later, far away, a door opening and closing.

The only thing left for Sweetie Belle was to lean against the corner and listen to the howling wind outside. Her heart was pounding like it was going to rip out of her chest to run away and hide. Her legs shook from all the adrenaline leaving her body after the horror of almost losing her friend forever. She tried to take a few deep breaths to steady herself, but it took her several minutes for the shivers to stop. The cold sweat clinging to her coat and her damp mane from the rain outside didn't help.

This wasn't Sweetie's first foray into corner time. Far from it actually. It was something her parents—and Rarity—made her do whenever she was acting out or being too 'wild'. She couldn't help that her parents were so slow on the uptake sometimes or weren't excited about the important things, like catching a frog with the Crusaders, or reaching a record height with her new kite. All her mother usually took notice of were Sweetie Belle being covered in mud, and her father having to climb on the roof to untangle the kite from the weathervane. Still, she'd probably have to admit that she'd deserved at least some of her time-outs, and as far as punishment went, it wasn't too bad. Sure, her thoughts would start racing on everything she was missing out on right at the moment, but being bored for a few minutes was bearable. Especially because she knew that there wasn't going to be anything worse than maybe a stern talking-to afterwards. Her parents weren't believers of spankings, though Rarity had once confided in her that she'd gotten a few after really being out of line after gaining her Cutie Mark and destroying half of her mother's dresses while 'improving' them. Rarity had probably meant it as a lesson about not getting carried away by getting a Cutie Mark, but all Sweetie Belle could think of was her sister howling and kicking over their father's lap while getting her butt smacked. She'd made a mental note not to push her parents too hard after that, knowing that there was the remote possibility of something other than cornertime and scolding, and maybe having a few weeks of allowance docked.

Sweetie had sometimes wondered how exactly Rarity's spanking would have gone. She'd probably been older than Sweetie Belle was now, seeing as she'd already gotten her Cutie Mark. Knowing Rarity, she would have probably taken it like a dignified lady, maybe yelling a lot but really not losing her composure. Sure, she could turn into a drama queen over the smallest of things, but when push came to shove, she was one of the strongest-willed mares Sweetie Belle knew. She definitely wouldn't cry. Not all out like a little filly would anyways. Maybe a few tears, but that's it. Yeah, Rarity wouldn't get flustered by something so trivial as a spanking. She'd probably think it more a nuisance than anything really.

The mental image of Rarity being spanked turned into Sweetie Belle herself soon being spanked. Even that was if Scootaloo even came back and agreed to it. Would it hurt a lot? It would hurt for sure, and she'd said it was okay, but how bad? She clenched her buttocks together out of instinct, then laughed nervously at the silly gesture. And froze in horror. There was supposed to be no talking or especially laughing in the corner! She bit her teeth together to make sure there wouldn't be any more outbursts. But how bad could a spanking be? Scootaloo usually didn't cry after taking a bump while playing or scooting, but she'd been crying and bawling when she'd given her those spankings. That meant it had to hurt a lot, didn't it? Back then Sweetie Belle had been using a switch on Scootaloo too. Would Scootaloo give her the switch as well? The thought of Scootaloo's rump dancing from side to side as the switch hit her over and over again brought Sweetie Belle back in time to those weird days in the Summer, when her own body had started doing things she couldn't control. The power she felt as she watched Scootaloo squirm helplessly against the ropes tying her down, begging for her to let her go.

A familiar itch started between Sweetie Belle's legs, but she shook her head to clear her thoughts, her horn rattling against the narrow space it had between the walls. She'd found a new thing to do with her body, but every time she'd tried to touch herself afterwards, she'd remembered the other things that came with it, and pretty soon lost any sort of interest.

How long had she been standing in the corner now? A few minutes? Maybe a quarter of an hour? Half? There was no way to tell. She had a tiny alarm clock somewhere on her bedside table, lost underneath the latest passing of Hurricane Sweetie. She could probably find it, but it'd take time, and she wasn't really sure when she'd been sent to the corner. There was also the fact that she would have to move from the corner, and that was a big no-no. Sweetie Belle knew perfectly well that there was nopony in the house, and that she wouldn't get caught if she stepped out, but that wasn't the point. She'd promised to do whatever Scootaloo told her to, and she wasn't going to risk it for anything.

Scootaloo was sure taking her time just thinking though. Sweetie Belle had thought that her firebrand of a friend would just sit outside on their porch for a few minutes and then come back. As time slowly inched forward, the determination of not moving an inch was slowly starting to change into cold trepidation. What if Scootaloo didn't come back? No, that wouldn't happen. Scootaloo'd never leave her hanging like this? But what if she was so angry at her that she'd just gone home and never wanted to see her again? Scootaloo hadn't said anything when she left, so maybe she'd just told her to stand in the corner so she could run off without any more hassle? Scootaloo wouldn't do stuff like that, would she? It wasn't like her at all. She'd probably made up her mind already and was just waiting for Sweetie Belle to start really sweating and worrying. Yeah, that had to be it. She'd soon rush in and everything was going to be okay. Well, except the spanking, but after that it would all be like it used to be, and they'd get to play together again and have fun. Real Fun with a capital F. Scootaloo always came up with the craziest stuff to do, and even though some of them ended up with crash-landings and bruises and treesap, most of them worked out at least partway, and were pretty awesome. They were a lot scary too, but it was okay because they were together and where the hay was Scootaloo? It must have been at least an hour since she'd left.

A sudden thought flashed up inside Sweetie Belle's head: The saddlebag! Scootaloo had rushed outside, so she'd probably forgotten her saddlebag in the hall. Even on normal visits Scootaloo forgot it half the time and had to come back for it. So if she'd forgotten it, she had to come back after all. But did she leave it? Sweetie Belle could quickly sneak down to the hall downstairs. A quick peek to see if it was still lying there, then immediately back to the corner. It had been way over an hour at least since Scootaloo left, so she'd probably done enough cornertime already. Just a quick peek and right back. It would only take a few seconds, and Scootaloo would never know. No! She had to stay in the corner! She'd promised! If she was going to break her promise, then the whole thing wouldn't work. She had to trust Scootaloo, but oh mane were her legs getting tired of standing.

Was Scootaloo coming back? It had been so long already. Maybe she was at home right now, under a warm blanket reading a comic and eating some nice snacks and laughing at how stupid Sweetie Belle had been. Offering to take a spanking just to be friends again? What kind of a dummy would do something like that? Oh, Celestia, Scootaloo wasn't coming back. She'd probably thought Sweetie was totally cuckoo and wanted nothing to do with her! Maybe she could explain to her that she'd been desperate and so scared that she'd just blurted out whatever. Try to laugh the whole thing off. But that would have to wait until Monday, unless Scootaloo had forgotten her bag and had to come back for it! She had to go check!

Sweetie Belle leaned beck from the corner, seeing the two damp spots left by her cheeks where she'd been leaning her head, and immediately pushed her head back with a thunk. She couldn't leave the corner! No way was she going to break her promise! Scootaloo would come! But what if she didn't!? No, she would! WAS THE BAG THERE!? Once more she leaned back from the wall, just a few inches. She lifted a forehoof up, feeling it tingle from falling asleep from being still so long. She quickly put it down and leaned back into the corner, but couldn't stay still for more than a few seconds. Her whole universe had shrunk into one burning question, and if she didn't find out, she'd probably explode. Once again she leaned back... and heard it.

The front door. Had it just been opened and closed? The rain was rapping against the window so hard that it was hard to hear. Were those hoofsteps coming up the stairs? If they were, Scootaloo was sure taking her sweet time. Maybe she was trying to sneak up on her to give her a scare? Any moment now she'd jump on Sweetie Belle and bury her forehooves into Sweetie Belle's sides. The thought made goosebumps run along her back. Scootaloo was the best sneaker one out of the Crusaders by a long shot, making Sweetie Belle sound like a bumbling ox and Apple Bloom like a wild elephant in comparison. She could be just behind her, right now, just looking at her, seeing if she'd make a move. Was that her breathing? Was she just a few feet behind her, enjoying seeing Sweetie Belle squirm, waiting to see if she'd move. Sweetie Belle shifted her weight uneasily from one pair of legs to another, nervously feeling her tail swish against her rump. The same rump Scootaloo was going to be spanking in a minute. How would Scootaloo do it? Over her lap? Or would she make Sweetie Belle bend over a chair or her bed? Would she tie her up to make her unable to escape, just like Sweetie Belle had done to her? She was sure being super patient with her stalking. Maybe she'd imagined the whole thing, and was just worried about an empty room? Maybe she could take a peek without Scootaloo noticing? No, there was no way she'd be able to do it sneakily enough.

This time she definitely heard it. Their front door had just opened and closed, hadn't it? And there were clear hoofsteps slowly walking up the stairs. Someone foal-sized. It had to be Scootaloo! She'd done it! She'd stood in the corner all that time and waited without moving. At least not looking away from the corner.

"Seriously? You're still in there?" Scootaloo said behind her.

Sweetie Belle wanted to tell her everything, how she hadn't moved at all, but she caught herself just before she blurted it all out. Maybe Scootaloo was testing her to see if she'd talk in the corner. She wouldn't fall for that.

"Hey, you can stop now," Scootaloo said.

With a relieved sigh, Sweetie Belle turned around. "I didn't move an inch! Because I promised you I wouldn't. I really wanted to see how long I'd been standing there and it must have been over an hour or something and then I thought you wouldn't come and maybe you forgot your bag and I had to come back for it and—"

"Woah! Slow down!" Scootaloo said. She wiped her wet mane from her face. She'd clearly been out in the rain for a good while. "An hour? I wasn't gone for more than maybe fifteen minutes. I just went home and came back on my scooter.

Sweetie Belle sat down on the floor, her aching legs thanking her for the kind gesture. "Really? But it felt like ages!"

Scootaloo shook her head, a few droplets falling from her mane. "Nope, twenty tops." she gave a short smirk, clearly proud of how fast she'd been. It didn't last too long though.

"Hey, I'll go get your towel and you can dry off," Sweetie Belle said, and moved for the door.

Scootaloo jumped in front of her and put up a forehoof. "No! Don't go out the room! I left something in the hallway and you can't see it.

"Oh, okay," Sweetie Belle said, then jumped in the air. "Does that mean you'll do it!?" she shrieked. Her horn sputtered out a few sparks out of sheer enthusiasm.

Scootaloo had to step back from her. "Y-yeah, I'll do it." She squinted her eyes at Sweetie Belle. "Do you realise I'm going to spank you?"

Sweetie's hooves turned into lead and she fell down to the floor. "Oh yeah, that." She was going to get the first spanking of her life. And it was going to happen right now.

Suddenly the whole idea didn't feel all that great at all.

Chapter Two

"Okay," Scootaloo started, clearing her throat. "You have to do everything I tell you to, okay? If you don't, I'm gone."

Sweetie Belle nodded after a short hesitation.

"I want you to get on your bed," Scootaloo said, "And, uhh, clear it of stuff," she added, after looking at the mound of miscellaneous items barely leaving a small spot free for a filly to sleep in.

"Sure," Sweetie Belle said. She immediately got to work, picking stuff off from her bed with her teeth and tossing them on the floor where other similar items were strewn about. For a fleeting moment she thought that her mom had told her to clean her bed at least a dozen times, but Scootaloo'd only had to tell her once. Wonder how that worked anyway. She was soon done, and she brushed the few breadcrumbs and leftover crisps from some secret late-night snacking incident, then jumped on the bed. "Is this good enough?" she asked.

Scootaloo nodded and walked outside. She soon returned with a big, red scarf in her mouth. After climbing onto the bed, she spat it out. "First off, I'm gonna blindfold you. Just like you did to me."

"O-okay?" Sweetie Belle said. She turned her back to Scootaloo so it'd be easier to tie the scarf around her head. She closed her eyes, but nothing happened. "Scoots?"

"You're really going through with this?" Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle turned around to find Scootaloo fidgeting with the scarf in her forehooves. "Of course! I told you I'd do anything to try and fix stuff with you."

"And you really think this'll work?" Scootaloo asked. "I mean, uhh, isn't stuff like this what messed things up already?"

Sweetie Belle had to think about it for a moment. "Well, I think it's different. Like the first two spankings I gave you. You needed them and you were okay about them after."

Scootaloo's cheeks gained a tiny purplish tint, and she had to swallow. "I remember. I just don't wanna hit you again. I really mean it. I don't want to be a pony like that."

"Scoots..." Sweetie Belle carefully took Scootaloo's forehooves into her own. "I know you feel bad inside and I feel bad too. I..." She had to swallow too. "I know it's gonna be bad. And I'll probably cry. But I deserve it. And I wanna show you that whatever happens, I wanna make things up to you and be your friend."

"But how? You don't even know what I've got planned. What if it's something totally awful and horrid and everything."

It was the first time Sweetie Belle was sure of what she was going to say. "Whatever you're gonna do, it's okay. I trust you."

Scootaloo fell silent for a moment. "Sweetie, there's something I gotta tell you."

Sweetie Belle felt a shiver go down her spine. Nothing good ever came from somepony saying those words. She still managed to nod.

"Remember that book you had at the clubhouse? Well, I kinda borrowed it too."

"You did what?" Sweetie Belle squeaked out. Her heart doubled its pace in under a millisecond, and she felt a new wave of goosebumps run through her back.

Scootaloo looked suitably embarrassed, and she once again rubbed one forehoof on another, something she had a habit of doing whenever she was nervous. "I wasn't planning on anything like this or anything! I just wanted to see what was in it!" She couldn't look Sweetie Belle in the eyes. "It's like you said, Spike almost forced me to take it when I mentioned it to him. But anyways, some of the stuff I was planning to do today, well, I got the idea from the book. I just wanted to tell you that."

Sweetie Belle had to swallow a huge lump in her throat. She could feel the cold grasp of panic reaching inside her chest as well. She hadn't read the whole book, but she knew some of the stuff that was in it. If one thing was for certain, it wasn't a book either of the fillies should ever have gotten their hooves on. She couldn't really say anything.

"You okay with that, Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked, fidgeting with her forehooves.

Sweetie had to swallow one more time before she could talk again. "It's okay." she stuttered, afraid Scootaloo couldn't tell how absolutely terrified she was of whatever ideas the book might have given to Scootaloo. "I told you I'd do anything and I mean it." The words rang hollow to her own ears, and her stomach was tying itself into knots worth a Filly Scout merit badge.

Scootaloo nodded and picked up the scarf again. Sweetie turned around obediently, happy that she could hide her face from Scootaloo for the time being. Her world soon turned red as the scarf was wrapped around her head and tied tightly to stop her from peeking even if she'd try. She could both hear and feel a hot breath on her neck as Scootaloo tightened the knots behind her. Scootaloo'd proven really good with blindfolding ponies when they'd been playing pin-the-tail so Sweetie Belle knew that she wouldn't be getting it off without a lot of trying. Sweetie could feel Scootaloo roll of the bed and heard her walking away. A cold shiver ran down her back as her imagination started to get a hold of her. What was Scootaloo going to do first? Or, well, next, anyway? Would it hurt? What had she found in that awful book? Her mind went through the few chapters and images she remembered from the book, and she noticed her teeth chattering like she was cold.

The hoofsteps returned, and the mattress squeaked as Scootaloo jumped back onto it. She'd landed right in front of Sweetie Belle this time. She could feel a light breeze on her face for some reason.

"Seems you can't see anything," Scootaloo said.

"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Just waved a hoof in front of your face and you didn't flinch," Scootaloo said. "Now, umm, I need you to lift your fores up and hold them together. I'm gonna tie them up."

Sweetie Belle did as she was told, but she could feel her forehooves shake as she lifted them up. She'd been expecting Scootaloo to tie her up, but it still came as a sort of shock to her. She'd been hoping against hope that whatever was going to happen wouldn't involve being bound. They'd tried tying each other up once and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had made Sweetie Belle's knots so tight that she could hardly breathe, and then they'd tickled her. They thought it was fun, but for Sweetie Belle, it was something of a waking nightmare. Turnabout was fair play, though, and she'd tied Scootaloo up for two of her spankings, so no use trying to squirm out of it. At least Scootaloo was using a thick rope and not the kind of twine they'd used at first, and she said as much out loud.

"It's one of my old skipropes," Scootaloo explained as she continued her job. "Mom keeps buying me new ones so I got a lot of spares."

The rope kept being wound around her forehooves in a figure-eight, first around one hoof, then another, all the time going higher and higher. Sweetie Belle winced a bit as Scootaloo tightened the rope and it pinched her skin. Her instincts told her to fight, to run away and hide, to not let someone capture her like this. To fight against someone making her helpless like this, but she could feel it was already too late. Her forehooves were tightly bound together all the way from her fetlocks to her hocks.

There was one last tug on the rope. "There. Looks good," Scootaloo said. "Next you gotta lie down on your belly."

"Err, okay?" Sweetie Belle said. She pushed her tied-up forehooves in front of her and laid down, leaning on her front knees, just like she was going to read a comic on her stomach.

"No, not like that," Scootaloo said. "Sit up again."

With some struggling and balancing, Sweetie Belle climbed back onto her haunches. Scootaloo took ahold of Sweetie Belle's forehooves and quite unceremoniously pushed them right against her stomach and pushed on her back. Sweetie Belle barely had enough time to let out an "Eeep!" before her chin landed on the mattress. Luckily her bed was really soft, and even luckier, she hadn't bitten her tongue. "You could have warned me a bit first," she muttered, but Scootaloo didn't seem to listen.

Without warning, Scootaloo lifted Sweetie Belle's tail up and against her back. For a second Sweetie Belle thought that the first smack would now land onto her exposed rump, but instead it was Scootaloo herself that landed onto her back. Seated comfortably on her upper back, she was pinning Sweetie Belle's tail against her back, and incidentally squeezing all the air out of Sweetie Belle's lungs as well. Sweetie Belle felt the rope on her forehooves get tugged on a bit as they were tied tightly to a new rope going around her loins, pinning both her forehooves and her tail against her body. Scootaloo climbed off of Sweetie Belle's back and moved onto the floor.

Sweetie Belle couldn't tell what was happening behind her. It sounded like Scootaloo was crawling on the floor of her room, but why in Equestria would she do something like that? The mattress underneath her bounced slightly as Scootaloo moved underneath her bed for some reason. "What's going on?" she asked, but got no answer. Soon enough a coughing Scootaloo climbed back onto the bed behind her. For a moment Sweetie Belle imagined what she'd look like to Scootaloo, with her rump aimed at the ceiling and tied all over with colourful skipropes. It only made her realise how exposed her rear was right then and there. She tried to cross her hind legs to cover herself up, but to her horror, they were immediately pulled apart. She felt a rope get tied around one of her hind fetlocks. Maybe Scootaloo was going to tie them together, and was just starting with only one leg?

"Spread your legs," Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle's surprise.

"C-can't I keep them together? I mean, you'd see everything," Sweetie stammered.

Scootaloo sighed audibly. "I've seen under your tail, like, a million times, Sweetie."

"Yeah but it's different! And why do I need to spread them anyway? You're gonna tie them together, aren't you?"

"Just do it. You promised, remember?" Scootaloo said. There was a tinge of smug satisfaction in her voice.

Sweetie Belle was left with no other options but to open her legs up. With her tail out of the way and her forehooves underneath her pushing her rump upwards, she felt really exposed. And like a very good target. Scootaloo pulled one of her hind legs far to the side, then the other to the opposite side, and tied a second rope around her other fetlock.

"There. That was easier than I thought," Scootaloo said.

"Wait! What did you do?" Sweetie Belle asked. She tried to move her hind legs, but every time she tried to move one of them, the other one was pulled further away from the other. "What did you do!?"

"I tied your hinds together under the bed, so now you can't put them together."

Without any warning, there was a loud SMACK, and a flash of hot pain shot through Sweetie Belle's body. "Ahhh!" she yelped. She could hardly move at all, let alone cover herself. "No! Not yet! I wasn't ready!" She could still feel the pain throbbing where Scootaloo's hoof had landed. Was this what being spanked felt like? It hurt far more than she'd thought it would! She would have given anything to just try and rub the hurt away, but she was utterly stuck. The sound she heard from behind her still managed to surprise her.

Scootaloo was giggling. "Wow! I didn't think your butt would move like that."

"S-stop looking at my butt!" Sweetie Belle shouted, doubling her efforts to squirm free from her bonds, but to no avail. The ropes held fast, and she knew she was stuck.

Scootaloo snickered some more. "I don't think you can stop me!"

"Scoota—AHHH!" Sweetie Belle tried to yell at her friend, but another smack landing on her rump turned it into another yelp of pain. The blow had landed on her other cheek, and all she could do was to try and shake the pain off.

"This looks amazing! I could watch this for the whole day." Scootaloo said.

"S-stop it!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

"Nu-uh!" Scootaloo answered.

Sweetie Belle could feel Scootaloo's hooves grab her flanks from both sides, and quite unceremoniously shake her rump from side to side. She felt her face burning from sheer embarrassment. "Noo!" she yelled, and was rewarded with another firm swat on her bottom. "Aihh! No! I told you I wasn't ready!"

"Lessee, you're tied up, can't do anything to stop me, and your butt is high in the air. I think you're plenty ready," Scootaloo said. She prodded Sweetie Belle's bottom with a hoof for emphasis, rocking Sweetie Belle's whole body forward.

Sweetie Belle had to admit to herself that Scootaloo was right. Despite all of her struggling, the only part she could actually move was her head, and even that was pushed against the mattress. If she'd thought for a moment that this wasn't going to be bad, those fleeting thoughts were right now dissolving. She once again felt Scootaloo move, this time to her side. She felt a hoof touch her rump right below her dock. With no forewarning or special fanfare, Scootaloo started Sweetie Belle's first real spanking.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Scootaloo's hoof landed all over Sweetie Belle's bottom. What she lacked in aim she made up in power, bringing her hoof down with all her might every time.

"No! No! NOOO!" Sweetie Belle shouted, but her words soon turned into "AAAHHH"s and "AIIHH"s as the blows kept on landing. She tried to squirm from her bonds, to shake her rear away from the blows, even to try and climb up with her hind legs, but nothing would work against the tight ropes.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! The strikes kept raining down over and over again, and Sweetie Belle could feel her eyes begin to burn fiercely underneath her blindfold. It was getting harder to breathe, but she couldn't stop yelling and screaming for Scootaloo to stop. Any thoughts of this being something manageable or that she could take with dignity flew out the window and moved South for the Winter. She squealed, begged, shouted, screamed, but there was no stopping Scootaloo. Finally the dams burst, and Sweetie felt tears start roll out of her eyes and immediately get caught in her blindfold. Scootaloo had slowed down with her strikes, now landing them further apart, yet just as hard as before.

SMACK! "Scootaloo!"

SMACK! *sob*

SMACK! "Please!"

SMACK! "I'm sorry!"

That one worked. No more blows rained down on Sweetie Belle's rump. After tensing her rump for a moment in anticipation of more punishment, she finally loosened up and gave into her tears. She felt them roll out like a tidal wave against the scarf around her head, some seeping through and rolling down her cheeks.

"And... and..." Scootaloo started. She was clearly out of breath and panting between every word. "And what are... you sorry... for?"

"E-everything!" Sweetie Belle screamed out. "Everything I did to you. All the spankings and making you drink all the soda and then pee yourself! I thought I was doing the right thing and helping you but then I got carried away and went too far! I... I knew I was going too far but just couldn't stop myself!"

"You don't have any idea, do you, stupid?" Scootaloo shouted at her, immediately silencing Sweetie Belle. "I can't even go to the Clubhouse, OUR Clubhouse, because of what you did. Every time I try to go there, I think it smells of pee!"

"But it doesn't smell." Sweetie Belle said.

"It does to ME!" Scootaloo shouted again. "And... and every time I'm with you, I don't know who you are any more! The Sweetie I knew wouldn't read some weird book and do all that weird stuff to a friend! I thought it was supposed to be just a spanking, but then there was everything else too and..." Scootaloo let out a sob too. "I felt so dirty after that! I went home and took a bath, but it didn't help at all! And every time I have to take a pee, I start thinking about what you did! Even the smell makes me wanna toss it!"

"I... I didn't know, Scoots," Sweetie Belle said. If she'd been feeling awful earlier, this was a thousand times worse. The burning pain in her rear was only matched by the pain in her chest.

"And..." Scootaloo sobbed. "And every time we're with Bloom I wanna tell her everything. Or my mom. I've wanted to tell mom so many times but she's always working or in a hurry and I don't know what to do!" She couldn't continue, as the tears took her over as well.

Sweetie Belle didn't have any words left either. She'd done something so bad to her best friend that she couldn't stop thinking about it all the time, and probably every time they saw each other it only reminded Scootaloo of all the horrible things that happened. "I'm so sorry," she stammered.

"Sorry?" Scootaloo repeated. "SORRY!? Is that all you can say? You some stupid parrot or something?"

"What do you want me to say!?" Sweetie shouted back at Scootaloo.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Silence fell over the room and the two crying fillies.

"Maybe..." Sweetie Belle started. "This was a bad idea. Yeah. A really bad idea. We should stop and... and we should go talk with some adults. Tell them everything. We'll get into trouble but if it helps you then I don't care. Nothing feels worse than knowing how bad I've made you feel, Scoots."

For a long time, Scootaloo didn't answer. Then, in a low voice, she said just one word. "No."

"But... but why? I don't think we can work this out ourselves," Sweetie Belle said.

"No, I mean..." Scootaloo started. "I mean, yeah, we should probably go talk to some adults about this. But we're not stopping. Just thinking about all the stuff you did and everything, now I really want to do this. And all the things I'd planned too. I mean, I wanted to stop before, but now I've changed my mind." She took a deep breath, then in a much calmer, level voice, added. "I really want to hurt you."

The words were like ice-cold bars of lead being dropped onto Sweetie Belle's back. Her jaw trembled like mad, but she was still able to squeeze out a quiet "Okay."

Sweetie Belle didn't see what effect her words had on Scootaloo, but the bed squeaked next to her. "W-what?" Scootaloo asked, her voice full of surprise and uncertainty.

"You can do whatever you want to me, Scoots. Anything that will make you feel even a little bit better. I'm really, honestly, so so sorry about what I did, and I know you don't want me to say it but that's all I can do. If I could go back in time with some time machine or something and stop it happening, I would. But i can't, and I feel awful about it. About all of it. So... so whatever you want to do to me is okay."

"But... but it'll hurt like crazy!" Scootaloo said incredulously.

"It can't hurt worse than what I'm feeling in my heart right now, Scootaloo."

There was another loud sob from Scootaloo. "S-Sweetie..."

"Just promise we'll go talk to adults about everything afterwards."

A sniffle, then the sound of a filly wiping her nose messily onto a forehoof. "I will."

"And... and Scootaloo?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you please p-punish me for being bad?"

Scootaloo sniffled once more. "I, uhh, I just nodded. But you couldn't see it I guess, but I did." Without another word, Scootaloo walked out of the room. A few moments later, the sound of running water carried from the toilet on the other side of the corridor.

Sweetie's head was abuzz with so many different thoughts and feelings that she had no idea what to do with them. There was relief of hearing Scootaloo agree to come talk with the adults with her, pain from her throbbing sore bottom that flared up if she moved even an inch, regret of everything she'd done to her best friend, disgust in herself, but behind it all, looming and constantly growing, was fear. The way Scootaloo had said those words. "I really want to hurt you." It hadn't sounded like Scootaloo at all. She was brash, headstrong, sometimes really short-tempered, boyish even, but not violent and scary like that. It was Scootaloo who usually ended up with the worst bumps and bruises from their antics and just laughed them off. No, that wasn't even it. Whenever something was going majorly wrong and Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom were in danger or about to get hurt, Scootaloo would try and dive in to save them, or at least to slow their fall. It didn't usually amount to much, but Scootaloo tried. The brash little daredevil would never admit it, but she was actually really gentle underneath her tomcoltish attitude. Sure, she always talked about busting Diamond Tiara's face in and stuff, but she'd never do something like that. She'd never hurt another pony like that; not in a million years!

But the Scootaloo she was with now was different. The fear of what was going to happen to her right now made Sweetie Belle's chest hurt and her breath come in short gasps. The way Scootaloo'd been talking about what was going to come next, it could only be something absolutely totally unbelievably bad. Even if Scootaloo'd been pretty calm just now, it was clear she was really angry of what Sweetie Belle had done, so there would probably be no holding back either. Sweetie Belle knew she'd deserve everything she was going to get, but even repeating that over and over in her head did nothing to make her feel any less horrified.

Scootaloo walked back into the room. There were some weird sounds coming from the foot of Sweetie Belle's bed: at least sticky tape being ripped, the clatter of wood against wood, and a the thump of something heavy landing onto the bed. Scootaloo climbed onto the bed behind her. "Here, hold this," she said.

Something very heavy was shoved into Sweetie Belle's tied forehooves where they were stuck between her legs underneath her. She couldn't get a good grip of it, and it soon slipped from her grasp. Scootaloo replaced it immediately. She could make out a handle, probably wooden. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's what I'm gonna use on you next," Scootaloo answered. "It's my mum's manebrush."

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle rolled the heavy handle around between her hooves. "You're gonna... brush my mane?"

"Ugh," Scootaloo said. "No. Like... the other side."

Sweetie Belle managed to turn the brush around in her hooves. When she got to the wider end of the brush, she could feel soft bristles sticking out from one side. On the other side there was absolutely nothing, except a large, flat, smooth, heavy, wooden... "Oh, no!" Sweetie Belle yelled, dropping the brush from her hooves as if getting rid of it would make any difference.

"Oh, yeah. That's what I'm gonna spank you with," Scootaloo said. "I tried it on my own leg and it hurts like crazy." There were some weird noises from behind Sweetie Belle's spread legs. "That's not all. There's also, well, this."

Sweetie Belle felt something touch her between her legs, right near her number two hole. "H-hey! stop it!" She tried to clench her buttocks, but thanks to them being spread wide open, there was no way to escape. That something poked at her entrance, the sensation somewhere between tickling, pain, and absolute horror. "You're not going to put anything in there, are you!?" she asked with a quivering voice.

"Yeah, I am. It's actually really small and doesn't really hurt that much. I mean, there's a little bulgy bit at the tip but you won't probably feel it. My mum once used it on me and it felt really weird, but didn't really hurt."

"What are you talking about? What is it? What's going on!?"

"It's a nozzle. The nozzle's connected to a tube, and that runs up to a bag of water. I'm gonna put the nozzle into your butthole, then let water run in."

"B-but... why? Why would your mom do something like that to you? And why do you have something like that anyways!?"

"It's called an enema. It's actually medical or something. She used it on me when my tummy was hurting really bad and, well, it helped. "

"I don't get it! Why are you doing something like that to me?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, once again trying to shuffle her bottom away from the horrid implement, yet the ropes around her hind fetlocks kept her still.

"Remember how you put a thermometer up my butt?"

"Oh, yeah. That." Sweetie Belle said. Having to suck the item in question out of Scootaloo's butthole after it slipped in a bit too far was one of the weirdest and disgusting experiences she'd ever had in her life. Almost as bad as when she'd agreed to kiss a colt on a dare, but not quite. Something cold touched the entrance to her insides, followed by what could only be Scootaloo's hoof. "Ewww!" Sweetie Belle had to shout.

"H-hey! I'm the one who has to touch your butthole!" Scootaloo said. "And I'm at least using some lube so it won't hurt!"

"Yeah, but still, ewww!" Sweetie felt her face burn in shame again. Her best friend was prodding her emergency delivery number two while she was completely helpless to do anything about it. Then she felt something hard touch her hole... and slide in. "EEEEWWWW!" she screamed, shaking her body as much as her bonds would let her. The item in question didn't leave, though.

"There. It's in," Scootaloo said somewhat triumphantly.

Sweetie heard some sounds of plastic clicks and filly muttering under her breath, and then something happened inside her. She could feel, well, something. It mostly felt slightly cool, and not really painful or anything. She had no idea why somepony would put water into another pony from the rear, but that thought soon vanished as she heard a heavy wooden smack against what she imagined was Scootaloo's hoof. Whatever this enema thing was, it could wait for now. She felt Scootaloo move next to her just like before, and soon after, something cool and flat being placed against her rump. "Wait, are you gonna use it now? When that thing is happening?" Her only answer was...

SWAT!

And Sweetie Belle's world narrowed to the few square inches of her bottom that had just been set on fire. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" She screamed, trying desperately to fight once more against her bonds, only remotely feeling them bite deeper into her skin. Her legs kicked against the ropes holding them far apart, but once again, to no avail.

SWAT!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAANONONONONONONONONOPLEASENO!" Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her voice. Those first two blows had already been worse than what Scootaloo's hoof had done before. Tears were welling inside her eyes, ready to burst out any second now.

SWAT!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The third hit landed a bit lower on her legs, bringing the already unbearable pain to heights she couldn't believe could exist. The dams burst, and tears freely flowed from Sweetie Belle's eyes into the already damp blindfold.

SWAT!

"NOOO*sob*OOOO! PLEASE SCOOTALOO NO—" She couldn't even finish before the next hit landed.

SWAT!

"AAAAHHH *sob* AAAAHHH I CAN'T—"

SWAT!

"AAAHH NONONONO PLEASE!" That ended up being the last word she'd say for a good long while.

SWAT!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" After that, there were no longer words left in Sweetie Belle's mind. All she could feel any more was the searing, shocking pain in her bottom, with every blow landing over her tender plump rump sending a jolt throughout her whole body. She kicked, screamed, flailed with her head, anything she could, but nothing, absolutely nothing would help.

SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!

The blows landed all over Sweetie Belle's utterly unprotected rump, high next to her dock, to the sides where one day maybe a Cutie Mark would appear, and worst of all, down where her bottom turned into her legs. When the manebrush struck there, her mind was filled with whiteness, every sound in the world turning off, leaving her in her own personal universe of pain.

SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!

Then, a reprieve came. Sweetie Belle howled, bawled, kicked, screamed, pulled and pushed, desperate to escape, no longer thinking as much as being driven by pure adrenaline. It took her a long while to notice that no more pain was coming her way. Her bottom was on fire, and she wasn't sure if Scootaloo was still spanking her and she couldn't even feel it, but no smacks of that vile wooden tool hitting her rear could be heard. She still couldn't stop crying and shouting, despite her voice growing raspy and breath becoming more akin to a cough. After the longest time, the pain ebbed away enough for her to catch her breath. The moment she did, a new, even more horrid sensation came over her: Her stomach lurched and twisted, letting out a gurgling noise loud enough for her to hear it easily.

"...to be working too," Scootaloo said somewhere in the distance.

Sweetie Belle didn't pay those words any heed. The pressure inside her bowels had grown furiously without her noticing during the manebrushing. Another lurch, and she felt like she might explode any second. "I gotta go!" she yelled in panic.

"Nu-uh. Not yet," Scootaloo said. "There's still about a third left in the bag. And that means there's gonna be more...

"No! PLEASE NOOO!" Sweetie Belle screamed.

SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!

The strikes came at a rapid-fire pace, immediately driving Sweetie Belle over the edge and into the world of tears and screams, but behind it all, the most awful thing was that she could still feel her stomach churning like a boiling pot. Despite screaming her lungs out, the pressure kept building and building inside her as well, and as the strikes kept on landing, Sweetie Belle finally broke.

SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!

Sweetie Belle could only bawl. There was no escape, there was no help coming. She couldn't even feel the strikes landing on her rump any more. Everything below her waist was just one huge, throbbing ball of fire. Even her screams died down, as all she could do was take raspy, sobbing breaths.

And then it was done. No more strikes fell. No more horrid sounds echoed through the room. The pain was still there, but for some reason, it felt distant, like she could feel it, but not actually think of it as her own any more. Her breath was rapid, and she was overtaken by a coughing fit. She panted, her tears turning to those of relief. She tentatively moved her rump, the jolts of pain making her bite her teeth together. And then her stomach reminded her of its existence posthaste and whatnot. With all the remaining mobility her hind legs had, she squeezed her buttocks together, feeling the horrid pressure hammering against her exit like a battering ram. Gritting her teeth, an eternity passed, and the pressure finally eased, leaving her again a sobbing, breathless mess. "S-S-S-Scoots..." she couldn't even talk out loud, afraid that saying anything would bring on another cramp.

"It's over, Sweetie. No more manebrush."

"N-no... I mean... I gotta... I really gotta go."

"I know," Scootaloo said. For some reason, her words sounded really distant to Sweetie Belle.

"No, I mean, like, right now. I'm gonna blow up any second. Whatever that enema thing did, it's coming out!"

"I know," Scootaloo said. "That's why I'm packing up. I don't wanna be anywhere near when it happens.

"W-what? But... I need to go to the toilet!" Sweetie asked in horrid confusion.

"Sucks to be tied up on your bed, doesn't it? Just wait till I pull that nozzle out. That's the only thing keeping it all in," Scootaloo said.

"N-No. NO! Scootaloo! Please! You can't do this!" Sweetie begged as the dots finally connected.

"I can't?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle felt her mane being tucked back painfully, and Scootaloo spoke directly into her ear. "Just like you couldn't make me wet myself and make a mess of the whole Clubhouse? That kinda can't?"

"Please! I can't... I can't hold it in! You gotta let me go!"

"That's what I said! That's what I shouted and screamed at you! But you were too busy playing with yourself that you didn't notice. And you'd even planned it that way, hadn't you. From the start. Making me drink all that soda just so you could make me do it?"

"Yes! I know! It wasn't supposed to happen like that! I had a bucket and—"

"Hope you have that bucket ready now, because I don't," Scootaloo said, finally letting go of Sweetie Belle's mane.

Another terrible gurgle escaped Sweetie Belle's stomach. Another cramp was coming any minute now, and she wouldn't be able to keep it in. "P-please! It hurts! I don't wanna do it here! Don't make me do it here! Not on the bed!"

"Pssh. Like I cared," Scootaloo said. "I have all my stuff packed. Next I'm gonna take the bag, and finally pull out the nozzle. Then it's only a matter of time."

"No! Scoots! Please! I'm sorry! Please don't do this!"

"SHOUTING AT MY BEST FRIEND FOR HELP DIDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR ME EITHER!" Scootaloo screamed at the top of her voice. After panting a few moments more, she was able to talk again. "Wish I was here to see the expression on your parents' faces when they find you tied up, your bed and probably whole floor covered in brown. They're coming, when, tomorrow? So you'll get to wait there, tied up, all alone, not able to do anything all that time. Sound fun?"

Sweetie Belle's chest was ice-cold. Her whole body was quaking from panic. "You'll get in trouble too!"

Scootaloo actually barked a dry, mirthless laugh. "Really? What are they gonna do to me? Spank me? And after I tell them what you did first? And after I tell everypony at school how you spent your Friday night covered in your own crap?"

"No!" Sweetie Belle shouted, but unable to continue. The next cramp had finally started, and she was trying to squeeze her buttocks shut with all her power.

With a hard tug, Scootaloo pulled the nozzle out. She slowly walked to the door. "Have fun, Sweetie!" And started down the stairs.

"Nnngh! S-S-Scootaloo! Please! Don't leave me! Not like this! Don't... no!" The rest of her words were caught as she had to bite her teeth together and tense her whole body. This cramp was far worse than the one before, and she knew there was no stopper left in her butthole. Maybe, just maybe, if she could keep it in, if she could fight it... but she'd have to do it over and over again until her parents came back... or maybe Rarity would come and check up on her when she didn't show at her Boutique, but even that was hours away. The pressure hit her exit at full speed. If only her legs were closer together, she might have been able to hold it in, but now there was no chance at all. With her final breath, she shouted "SCOOTALOO! HELP ME! IT'S COMING OUT!"

Her legs squeezed together. Had the rope loosened up? That was the only thing she had time to think of, as she scrunched her buttocks closed desperately, not even able to cry tears of relief with all her focus concentrated on clenching.

"You... you can do it, Sweetie!"

It was Scootaloo! She hadn't left her! She'd come back! As the cramp died down, this time she heard the loud, audible *snip* of the scissors, and felt the rope around her loins grow flaccid.

"Come on! Hurry! I'll help you!" Scootaloo said, pulling Sweetie Belle off the bed.

By some miracle, Sweetie Belle landed on all fours, or on all threes, as her forehooves were still tightly tied together. It didn't matter, though, because it was enough for her to move. Scootaloo held her around her neck and guided her steps in the darkness behind the blindfold. A door opened, and Sweetie Belle stepped on the warmed tiles of their house's bathroom.

"There. It's right in front of you. The lid's up," Scootaloo said.

Sweetie lifted her forehooves up and felt where the toilet bowl was, turned around, and sat down. Her mistreated rear touched on the seat, which made her flinch, but right now she just had to bear it. She could hear Scootaloo walk out the door before it clicked shut. That's the last thing she noticed, because she was on the toilet... and released.

Chapter Three

Sweetie Belle didn't know how long it had taken her to finish, but it had probably been at least ten minutes. Every time she'd thought she was done, more had come out. Now she was finally certain she'd gotten it all out, which left only one problem.

"Scoots? Are you out there?"

After a short silence, an answer came, muffled by the door. "Yeah."

"Umm... I'm finished."

"Great," came the muffled answer.

"Umm... ummm..." Sweetie Belle could feel her face burning. "My hooves are still tied so... I can't wipe."

"Oh... crap," Scootaloo answered. "I didn't think of that. Err... Try if you can open the knots with your teeth? Or... or use your magic! I'm sure you can manage an un-knotting spell or something."

Sweetie Belle shook her head to the otherwise empty room. "I tried my teeth and I can't reach the knots! And I can't do magic like that! You have to come in."

"No way!" Scootaloo shouted. "It stinks in there!"

"You think I don't know that? But either you come in and untie these knots or, you know, wipe for me."

"EWWW!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Either way you still hafta come inside!"

"Eeewww..." Scootaloo repeated, but in a more mollified, defeated tone. Sweetie Belle heard the door creak open slightly. "OH CELESTIA!" Scootaloo shouted and slammed the door shut.

"Scootaloo!"

"I'm coming! I just gotta catch my breath and hold it!" The door creaked open again, and Sweetie felt Scootaloo grab onto her forehooves. There were several *snip**snip* sounds, and her forehooves were finally free. The moment they came apart, she heard the door slam shut again.

"Thanks!" Sweetie Belle shouted. She tugged on the blindfold still on her face, but it wouldn't come loose. The knot was utterly tangled, so there was no hope of getting it open, so she had to brute-force it and tug it upwards until after several tries it slid up and over her horn. The bright light in the toilet made her blink, and her forehooves were starting to tingle fiercely after falling asleep during their incarceration. She quickly finished off and went to wash her hooves. The monstrosity that peered at her from the mirror made her take a step back. Snot covered her face, and her huge eyes were all red and bloodshot. To top the whole mess off was her curly mane, now just one huge tangle from root to tip. After washing her hooves, she also washed her face. It felt like the cold water brought new life to her, and she actually gave herself a tiny little smile. Sweetie Belle stepped out the door, and almost tripped over Scootaloo who was sitting right next to the door against the wall. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, and dark streaks ran down her cheeks. "Umm... hi?" Sweetie Belle tried.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetie," Scootaloo said. Tears immediately started welling from her eyes. "I went too far and I totally understand if you don't ever wanna see me again and if you just let me explain then I'll... I'll go. just please let me explain."

"Huh?" was all Sweetie Belle could get out.

"I really was going to leave you there. I mean, when I came here earlier. I was gonna leave you on the bed and make you make a mess and just leave you there."

"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked. She was lost somewhere between incomprehension and disbelief.

"Yeah. I was so angry and I just wanted to make you feel like I did when you didn't let me go. I just... I just wanted to hurt you and make you feel bad. I've been thinking of getting r-revenge on you and I wanted to leave you here with, you know. That's why I had that enema with me to begin with. I was gonna leave you there."

"B-but Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said. "You didn't leave! You came back for me!"

"Only because of what you said before, that you'd help me through everything and all. That was after I'd already tied you up and spanked you and you still just thought about me. When you were shouting at me to not leave, I just couldn't take it. I ran downstairs and grabbed a pair of scissors and ran up here. I just couldn't leave you. "

"Scoots..." Sweetie Belle started, but Scootaloo felt a trembling hoof up.

"Please, I gotta say it. When I was telling you all that stuff about leaving you there and telling everypony at school, I just felt so cold. Like I wasn't gonna be warm ever again. It was the worst. I was the worst. I was gonna be a monster. I thought it would make me feel better. Make me stop being afraid all the time. Make me stop thinking or something. I dunno. But all it did was make me realise how... how disgusting I was. What I was about to do to my f-friend. I know I should have stopped earlier, or even told you this thing was stupid from the start and I never should have hit you or done any of this to you and I'm just so sorry about everything!" Scootaloo's whole tiny body shook as a huge sob racked her. She hid her face behind her hooves.

"Scoots," Sweetie started. Scootaloo turned away, almost as if expecting Sweetie Belle to hit her in the face. "It's okay, Scoots. You came back."

Scootaloo peeked at her from behind her hooves, her eyes wide in confusion. "What?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I totally deserved the spanking and... the manebrushing too I guess. And, well, the enema thing was pretty awful, but it made me realise how awful I made you feel when I left you alone and you, well, peed yourself."

Scootaloo didn't move her hooves from where they were hovering on her face, but nodded.

"So, what I mean is, today's been pretty awful and, well..." Sweetie Belle said. "Do you think you could forgive me now?"

Scootaloo's head shot up. "Me? Forgive you? But I'm the one apologising here!"

Sweetie Belle smiled. "You're forgiven, and I really mean it from the bottom of my heart."

"But how can you!? I did all that stuff to you. I did... I almost..." Scootaloo started, but couldn't finish what she was trying to say. Her lower lip started trembling and she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"You came back, Scoots! That's the only thing that matters to me," Sweetie Belle stepped closer and put a gentle hoof onto Scootaloo's head. "You didn't betray me, like I did to you. Whatever else you did or didn't do today, it doesn't matter." She stroked Scootaloo's cheek. "So can you... can you forgive me, Scoots?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo looked up to her with blurry eyes, and nodded deeply. She then lifted her shaking forehooves into the air uncertainly.

Sweetie Belle wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo's shoulders. Scootaloo clung to her desperately and sniffled loudly. Sweetie Belle sat down in front of Scootaloo, then jumped forward with a huge yelp. The fillies ended up in in a messy pile on the floor, with Sweetie Belle on top of Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle with her eyes wide.

"Sorry! My butt hurts," Sweetie Belle said.

The fillies looked each other in the eyes for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing. They laughed and laughed, holding each other in a tight embrace, giggling and snorting and guffawing, until both their stomachs started to hurt. They had to wipe tears from their ears after they were done, with a few afterquake-chuckles still coursing through them a few times.

"Friends?" Scootaloo asked

"Best," Sweetie Belle answered.

They smiled at each other for a moment in silence, their faces only a few inches apart. What followed felt completely natural, as Sweetie Belle leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips against Scootaloo's. Scootaloo closed her eyes dreamily, and opened her mouth up, accepting the kiss and responding in kind. It wasn't even the kind of quick peck that foals were won't to give their parents, but instead a long, tender affair. Sweetie Belle's mind returned to the time she'd been probing Scootaloo's mouth with the ice cream stick in the Summer, pretending to exam Scootaloo's mouth. Unlike the lemonade-y sweetness back then, Scootaloo's mouth didn't taste much of anything this time, but the softness of her lips was exactly how she remembered it. Sweetie Belle let her own eyes droop shut as well, only enjoying the moment. Their forehooves were locked, with Sweetie Belle only lightly having to press against the floor so as not to fall off of Scootaloo. As the kiss continued, Scootaloo's hooves slowly started to travel down Sweetie Belle's sides. Instead of a tickling sensation that usually accompanied such a touch, it instead sent tingling waves of pleasure up and down her body. Sweetie Belle moaned slightly into Scootaloo's mouth, pushing her tongue out, immediately touching Scootaloo's. The tips of their tongues circled around each other playfully, slowly and clumsily bumping against each other, yet desperate for more.

After several long moments of the blissful kiss, Sweetie Belle finally leaned back. As she opened her eyes, she could see Scootaloo panting, out of breath, her eyes still closed, and rivulets of saliva running down her cheeks from the edges of her mouth. Sweetie Belle would usually probably have called it gross, but right now nothing she could see on her best friend would feel anything but perfect for her.

Scootaloo's eyes opened up slowly as well, and when she stared straight into Sweetie Belle's eyes, she slowly let her mouth open up in a wide toothy grin. "Wow," she said.

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle could only answer. "Wow." She leaned forward, but instead of locking their lips together again, she nuzzled Scootaloo's cheek with her own, enjoying the softness against her skin.

Scootaloo's forehooves kept traveling along Sweetie Belle's body, now reach down and massaging the white, blank flanks of her friend. "You know, Sweetie..." she started. "Back then I, umm, really didn't mind the kissing part."

Sweetie nuzzled her softly. "Me neither."

"You know what else I didn't really mind?" Scootaloo asked.

"Hmm?" Sweetie Belle said. She slowly rose back up, onto her forehooves to look at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo's forehoof slowly moved from Sweetie Belle's flank, slowly sliding down to touch her thigh, and then belly. As it inched even closer to Sweetie Belle's nethers, it stopped. Scootaloo looked Sweetie Belle straight in the eyes, and Sweetie Belle nodded. The hoof moved the short distance down, and brushed against Sweetie Belle's slit. "You're really wet," she said, and moved her hoof up and down along Sweetie Belle's cunny.

Waves of pleasure pulsed all throughout Sweetie Belle's body. "Ahhh!" she moaned, and felt her face growing hotter than it had ever been, but this time it felt like a good blush, one not of embarrassment, but excitement. She pushed her own forehoof down between Scootaloo's legs, and found a warm, wet canyon waiting for her exploring hoof. "You too," she said.

It was Scootaloo's turn to gasp, her face turning into one of the most adorable expressions Sweetie Belle had ever seen on her best friend. They kept on moving their hooves slowly against each other's nethers, with Scootaloo shuddering under Sweetie Belle, making her whole body quake in kind. Scootaloo's hoof stopped and moved away, despite Sweetie Belle's hip instinctively thrusting after it. "Wanna get on your bed?" Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie nodded, and quickly rolled off of her friend. Scootaloo jumped up with all the agility of an athletic pegasus, and even without waiting for Sweetie Belle to get up, started walking for the door to the room that just previously had been a torture chamber, yet would now be only for pleasure. Sweetie quickly rose up and followed. Just inside she caught up with Scootaloo, who had wings spread up rigidly and her tail held high, exposing everything underneath it. She was dripping wet, with her juices running down her leg. She jumped onto the bed, and helped Sweetie up with her hoof as well.

Sweetie Belle stood in front of Scootaloo uncertainly. She could have sat down like Scootaloo did, but that would force her to put weight onto her throbbing bottom. She opted to instead lower first her chest, then her lower body down onto the bed, finally pushing her hind legs back, leaving her rump up and safe. She looked up at Scootaloo now positively towering above her. "This is kinda how I was before," she said. A slight shiver ran up her body.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. She looked away for a moment.

"I said it was okay, Scoots," Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo turned back to her and put on a slightly forced smile. "I guess."

Sweetie Belle was left with her head only inches from Scootaloo's nethers. "Hey, you wanna lie back?"

"You gonna..?" Scootaloo asked.

"Only if you want me to. I mean, if it reminds you too much of—"

"No! I mean, uhh..." Scootaloo said. "That's one of the parts I didn't mind at all."

"So you want me to l-lick you there?" Sweetie Belle said and licked her lips.

Scootaloo swallowed the huge lump in her throat, then nodded. She leaned back on the pillows at the head of the bed, then slowly slid her body lower while spreading her legs, bringing her moist cunny right in front of Sweetie Belle's face. Sweetie Belle pushed her forehooves underneath Scootaloo's hind legs and pulled the expecting slit against her tongue, with the smell and taste of Scootaloo's excitement hitting her at the same time. The moment she moved her tongue along the slippery, slimy crevasse, Scootaloo's hind legs bucked into the air.

"Oh, HAY, yes!" Scootaloo shouted.

That was the sign for Sweetie Belle to start out at full speed. She licked and lapped all the way along Scootaloo's nethers, starting from almost next to her other hole, then traveling up until she reached the sharply angled top, then again.

"Aaaah! Sweetie! That... Aaaaah!" Scootaloo moaned. Her whole body moved in rhythm of Sweetie Belle's tiny tongue pleasuring her.

It was almost the same position as the first time Sweetie Belle had licked Scootaloo's private parts in the Clubhouse, though this time Sweetie Belle couldn't help but notice how much louder Scootaloo was. At first it felt a bit scary to her, but the feeling soon turned into excitement. Nopony would be able to hear them anyways. She buried her muzzle in Scootaloo's crotch, pushing her tongue deeper, but found she soon bottomed the orange folds, bringing out even louder moans from Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle felt her own nose start to run and eyes water, her own juices mixing in with those of Scootaloo's all over her face. As she moved her own hind legs, she felt them stick to each other from all the freely running filly nectar she was gushing out as well. She was also sweating madly, feeling hot drops running down her back and sides. Her forehooves were still under Scootaloo's hind legs, now trapped between the horny little pegasus and the fluffy heart-patterned covers of her bed.

"Oaaah! Aaahh! Aaahahahaaaah!" Scootaloo shouted. She put one of her hooves on top of Sweetie Belle's head and started moving her head at a fast pace, which Sweetie Belle happily followed. In addition to being quite a lot more vocal than the last time, Scootaloo wasn't all tied up either, and it showed, with her tiny body twitching, hips thrusting, and hooves bucking in the air all with Sweetie Belle's every lick. She pushed her tongue in as deep as it would go, then flicked it up, hitting Scootaloo in her tiny, throbbing nub. Scootaloo whole body bounced up an inch from the bed as she squealed from pleasure.

Sweetie Belle leaned back for a bit of breath. "You really like that part!" she said amidst her panting. "It's almost like MHMMH MHMMM!" She was cut off as Scootaloo took a two full hooffuls of her mane and pulled her back in, squishing her face against the burning hot crotch in front of her. "MMHMHMMM!" She was about to struggle and object, but as she looked up and saw Scootaloo's face, she soon changed her mind. Scootaloo's eyes were half-closed, with her tongue lolling out of her mouth with a long drizzle of saliva hanging from it and running down her chest. Even if Sweetie Belle was almost completely inexperienced with what she was doing, she could tell that Scootaloo was close to her climax. She dove back into the slippery tight snatch rubbing against her face and started to lick anew, making sure to finish all of her laps high enough to touch against Scootaloo's button. Scootaloo moaned again and pulled her even harder on her mane, with Sweetie almost crying out in pain. Her mouth was pulled upwards, so she did all she could, and sucked, pulling in the throbbing little filly nub between her lips, and then flickered her tiny tongue against it as fast as she could.

That finally took Scootaloo over, and with a long, high-pitched whinny, Scootaloo started thrusting her hips, with loads more of her salty, bitter juice bursting against Sweetie Belle's mouth. At first Sweetie Belle tried to pull away, but Scootaloo still held her mane tightly, so she kept licking the nub, and Scootaloo just kept on shaking and twitching as more and more of her liquids sprayed out. Scootaloo wasn't moaning any more so much as shrieking, her whole body trembling like she was almost about to start convulsing. Scootaloo finally let go of Sweetie Belle's mane, but Sweetie's forehooves were still caught underneath Scootaloo's hind legs and rump, so despite no longer actively licking, she still got every last drop Scootaloo had to offer straight on her face.

After the onslaught of ecstasy finally ebbed, Sweetie Belle could finally open her eyes. In front of her, as if waving her goodbye for the time being, she could see Scootaloo's swollen snatch wink at her few times. Above it, Scootaloo fell limply on her back, with her tongue still lolling out the side of her mouth. Her chest moved up and down along with her raspy breaths. Sweetie Belle finally mustered enough strength to pull her trapped forehooves free, and pushed herself back a bit. In front of her there was a huge, dark soiled patch on her fluffy bed covering. She touched her face with a hoof and found it wet and slippery as if she'd just come out of the rain. "Wow! A lot more came out than last time!"

"Yeah... that was..." Scootaloo started, but had to take a deep breath before continuing "TOTALLY AWESOME!" Suddenly energized, she sat up and grabbed Sweetie Belle's forehooves. "That was the best thing ever, Sweetie! Even better than last time!"

"T-thanks," Sweetie Belle said. She could still feel her heart pounding in her chest from the exhaustion, and couldn't help but wonder how Scootaloo was even able to sit up straight. As she maneuvered her forehooves from beneath Scootaloo and underneath her own chest, she looked up to see Scootaloo grin at her like a maniac. "What?"

"Your..." Scootaloo couldn't stop herself from snickering. "Your face is a total mess!"

Sweetie brought a forehoof against her face again. "Hey! It's all your fault! I didn't know you were gonna gush like that!"

"Well you just kept on going and I felt like I wasn't going to be able to stop. I might have exploded or something if you'd kept going on any longer."

"Wait, can that happen?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice creeping up half an octave.

Scootaloo looked at her dumb-founded for a moment, then fell down on her back again, laughing like a hyena.

"What!?" Sweetie Belle shouted. "I don't know about stuff like this!"

Sweetie Belle's indignation only served to egg Scootaloo on further.

"Hey! Stop it! It's not that funny!" Sweetie Belle shouted, but to no avail. As the laughter just felt like going on and on, she'd had enough. She squinted her eyes to make sure aim would be perfect. She lunged forward and pressed her mouth against Scootaloo's cunny, and blew the loudest raspberry in her life against it.

"WAAAAAAAAOHNOOO!" Scootaloo shouted, followed by a loud thud and clattering sounds as she landed onto the floor. Sweetie Belle was already holding a hoof against her mouth to cover her giggles as Scootaloo jumped back into view, massaging the bump under her purple mane. "No fair!" Scootaloo shouted.

Scootaloo's angry expression made Sweetie Belle burst out laughing.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Scootaloo shouted.

This time the tables were turned, and there was no way for Sweetie Belle to stop even if she'd wanted to. She closed her eyes, fully expecting some sort of retribution from her friend. Her laughter stopped short the moment a loud smack rang through the air and a huge jolt of pain ran up from Sweetie Belle's rump through her whole body.

The room was plunged into utter silence. After a moment, a quivering voice came from Scootaloo. "Sweetie, I..."

"Nnnngh," Sweetie Belle said. She was clenching her teeth together not to cry out.

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Scootaloo stammered. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's... hah... it's okay," Sweetie Belle said, turning to look at Scootaloo's panicked face and forced her mouth into a smile. "I guess I had that one coming."

Scootaloo looked relieved, but still shook her head. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have, you know, on your butt. I mean, it's still gotta hurt like crazy."

"Well, duh!" Sweetie Belle said, and pushed her tongue out. "And guess whose fault that is too?"

"Yeah, heheh." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof without being able to make eye contact.

The battle won, Sweetie Belle decided to be a magnanimous victor. "So, how bad does it look?"

Scootaloo's ears perked up. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well I didn't get to look at it in the toilet because the mirror is so high, so I don't really know how bad it looks."

"Oh," Scootaloo said. She climbed onto the bed and sat behind Sweetie Belle. "It's, uhh, wow. It's pretty, umm, red."

Her friend staring at her butt did make Sweetie Belle feel some red spread across her face as well. "Yeah, but how bad? Like little pink, or a lot pink, or red, or, or what?" After getting no answer for a moment, she looked behind her shoulder. "Scootaloo?" Scootaloo was looking down at Sweetie Belle's rump, but when she saw Sweetie Belle looking at her, turned away. "What is it, Scoots?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie," Scootaloo said. "I just..." She turned back to look at Sweetie Belle's bottom. "I did this, you know. To you. I mean... I hurt you this bad."

Sweetie Belle choked at that a bit. Scootaloo looked almost ready to cry, which wrenched her own gut as well. "We talked it over, right? I deserved it and then some, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it looks a lot worse than I thought it would."

Sweetie Belle moved her rump a bit, and had to wince from the fresh wave of angry pain. "It hurts, yeah, but it should, so I guess it's okay."

"I..." Scootaloo said. "I really did a number on you."

Sweetie Belle could her the sadness in Scootaloo's words. "But I de—"

"No, you didn't. Not this bad." Scootaloo took a deep breath. "I was just so angry and confused, and thought hitting you would make me feel better, but it didn't." Scootaloo lifted a forehoof into the air and moved it towards Sweetie Belle's bottom, but stopped right before touching down. "Can I?" she asked.

"Uhh, okay," Sweetie Belle said. "Just be careful."

The hoof landed. Instead of another sharp jolt of pain, the feeling was more like someone running a rough cloth over her skin. Scootaloo's careful hoof traveled all over her rear, albeit never causing any actual pain. After a while, Sweetie Belle felt her body relaxing and she leaned back onto her stomach, allowing her chin to rest on the bed and her eyes to droop shut.

"You okay there?" Scootaloo asked.

"It feels kinda nice. Could you do it some more?"

There was no answer, but the soft hoof started moving all over her rump again. Any moment Sweetie Expected the pain to return, but instead the warm bed, the quiet room, and the surprisingly gentle touch of Scootaloo started to make her really relaxed. "Please don't stop," she muttered.

The tender stroking started to send shivers of pleasure instead of pain throughout Sweetie Belle's young body. She'd never had a massage, but from what Rarity had told her, this had to be something like it. She allowed her whole body to fall limp, and moved her hind legs further apart. She now felt Scootaloo use both of her hooves to stroke her spanked bottom, and despite the awkwardness and feeling utterly naked in front Scootaloo, it really didn't matter. Sure, her face was probably glowing brighter than her butt right now, but everything was okay because it was her best friend doing it. And once in a while, Scootaloo's hoof would travel down the side of her buttocks, or even brush against her slit, which sent electric shivers down her whole body. "Mmmmhhh," she quietly murmured.

Scootaloo's hoof traveled along her inner thigh, an area that hadn't gotten any smacks from the manebrush, and stopped just short of her snatch. "Would you like me to, uhh, touch you there too?"

"U-huh," Sweetie Belle said dreamily, and opened her hind legs even further.

The hoof continued, but this time it didn't merely brush past Sweetie Belle's slit, but slowly rubbed against it. Up and down, up and down, slowly and meticulously. Somewhere in Sweetie Belle's fading consciousness she thought how unlike the touch felt for her brash firebrand of a friend, but it felt perfect. The slow ministration continued, up and down, sending waves of pleasure all over her lower body.

The other hoof joined its partner, going low and underneath Sweetie Belle to rub against the lower part of her cunny, until it finally found its mark. A sharp shock made her whole body twitch as Scootaloo found her nub in turn. Sweetie Belle instinctively bit down on her hoof. "Mmmmmmmhhh!" she moaned quietly.

"I know, right? That's the best spot," Scootaloo said. Her hooves kept moving, one up and down Sweetie Belle's slit, the other doing slow, lazy circles around her happy button. "You know what'd feel even better?"

"Hmh?" Sweetie Belle said, only then noticing she'd been holding her forehoof in her mouth. "What?"

"Can you lift your butt up for just a sec?" Scootaloo said. She moved past Sweetie Belle to the head of the bed and picked up one of the pillows she'd herself been reclining against during Sweetie Belle's tongue treatment.

Sweetie Belle wondered if she had any power left in her hind legs any more, but by some miracle she was able to prop her bottom up in the air, still holding her chest and chin against the bed. The pillow was slid underneath her lower body, and she let her hind legs flop again, leaving her rump far higher than it had been. The position didn't feel awkward at all, and it even supported her hind legs nicely so she didn't really have to strain to keep them apart either.

Scootaloo sat back down behind her. "Okay... I'm gonna do this. You ready?" Her every word blew a tiny puff of wind against Sweetie Belle's wetness, which made her shiver from both the chill and anticipation. She wiggled her rear from side to side, anxious for Scootaloo to start.

What happened next surprised Sweetie Belle completely. Instead of Scootaloo continuing to use her hooves, something warm and raspy ran along her cunny. Sweetie Belle's eyes shot open as a realisation hit her: It had to be Scootaloo's tongue! Her whole body jerked forward as Scootaloo lapped at her tight snatch. "Hnnnnnnhhh!" she moaned, the sound suppressed by the hoof she hadn't even noticed pushing back into her mouth.

"Tastes kinda funny," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, it kinda does," Sweetie Belle answered.

Behind her, Scootaloo had noticed that Sweetie Belle's upraised bottom left her forehooves free, so she continued the stroking from before, not even noticing how much harder she was kneading and squeezing Sweetie Belle's plump buttocks in her excitement. Sweetie Belle wanted to cry out in pain, but at the same time, that would probably make Scootaloo stop. She kept biting down into her hoof harder and harder, moaning and mewling into it, enjoying the utterly strange combination of both pain and pleasure her body was being subjected to. And then Scootaloo moved one of her hooves down to Sweetie Belle's nub, and the world turned into stars. "H-huaaaaaahhh!" Sweetie Belle shouted, no longer able to keep it in. Scootaloo was licking her cunny and rubbing against her most sensitive part at the same time. "Ohgoshohgoshohgosh!" Sweetie Belle kept repeating over and over, her whole world turned into a microverse of horniness and horror, the ying-yang of Scootaloo squeezing her rump painfully, and the sloppy ministration combined to not only push her over the edge, but outright launch her from a cannon into a pulsating bottomless pit of ecstasy. She squealed out something, not able to form any semblance of coherent thoughts, let alone words. She shook her head from side to side, feeling each motion take an eternity, each wave crashing into her like a tidal wave, finally leaving her shiver, sweating and panting back on her bed.

"You done?" Scootaloo asked from the next country over.

"Hu... huhhhh... ahhh... yeah..." Sweetie whispered.

"You came a lot too!" Scootaloo shouted from behind the mountains.

With the rushing speed of a tectonic plate, Sweetie finally managed to turn her head back and look over her shoulder. Scootaloo was wiping her face and hooves on the cover of the bed. "H-hey! Stop that! You're gonna mess it up!"

Scootaloo looked at her dumb-founded, then snorted a short laugh. "In case you didn't notice, the bed is a mess."

"Oh..." Sweetie Belle said. She somehow pushed herself up from the bed and gave a look around. If anything, Scootaloo had been under-exaggerating the state of her bed. Several huge wet patches were all over the covers from all their sweat, saliva, and filly juices. Sweetie felt a tiny panic rise inside her chest. "We gotta clean this place up!"

Scootaloo was reclining back and scratching at her belly with a disinterested expression on her face. "Why?"

"Why? What am I gonna do when my parents come back..." Sweetie Belle blinked her eyes as her brain started catching up. "Which is gonna be tomorrow."

"Yup," Scootaloo said. Her face twisted into a wicked grin. "And we weren't gonna stop now anyways, right?"

Sweetie Belle grinned back at her best friend, and pounced on top of her.

It was late. It was very, very late. Sweetie Belle could hardly lift her hooves from the ground as she rounded the final corner and finally caught sight of the Carousel Boutique. She pushed her yellow raincap lower, and tightened the raincoat around her, making sure for probably the hundredth time that her red rump wasn't visible from underneath it. There wasn't much of a risk of anypony being outside during the horrid Autumn storm, but she wasn't going to take any risks. Every step hurt, but mostly because of her cunny being so swollen and abused after everything that had happened.

She and Scootaloo had been at each other for hours, until they'd both been so sore that they couldn't even hold their hind legs together. They'd played around with the enema kit Scootaloo had with her, this time with Scootaloo getting hers from Nurse Sweetie. They'd agreed never to try it again. Sweetie Belle had also given a little over-the-lap spanking to Scootaloo, but it had been just for fun, and Scootaloo had been all too eager to take it, as well as the tongue treatment she got afterwards. During their short breathers, they'd talked about how their filly slits tasted like, trying to find something to describe it with, but failing miserably. Then they'd rubbed and licked each other some more.

After everything, Scootaloo had helped her change the sheets and covers of her bed and taught her how pouring some laundry detergent into the laundry bin helped cover up the smell. They'd taken a shower together, with a lot more naughty touching and kissing involved, but it had also mostly cleaned her up of all the gunk and various youthful secretions they'd covered each other in. At the door, she and Scootaloo had hugged and promised to see each other at school the coming Monday, but neither of them believed for a moment they'd stay away from each other for the rest of the weekend.

Sweetie Belle stepped out of the rain and onto the porch of the Boutique, letting out a huge yawn. There was a 'CLOSED' sign on the door, but it easily opened with the push of her hoof. A happy little chime signaled her entrance, and she had to blink a few times when she stepped into the brightly lit store from the dark Autumn night outside. She immediately saw Rarity next to her sewing machine, putting the final touches on some garment Sweetie Belle couldn't even begin to recognise. "Hiiii!" she shouted happily.

"Hello, darling!" Rarity answered.

Sweetie dropped her wet rainclothes on the floor, and took a deep breath. All she had to do now was make sure Rarity wouldn't see her rump, and everything would work out just fine. She walked to the store proper, having to sidle sideways clumsily to face Rarity.

Rarity took her red-rimmed glasses of and rubbed her eyes with a forehoof, before focusing her her gaze onto Sweetie Belle with a raised eyebrow. "Do you know how late it is, Sweetie Belle?" she asked.

"Heheh, yeah," Sweetie Belle said, trying to look suitably ashamed of herself. "We kinda got carried away."

"I was worried I'd have to go out in that dreadful weather and come looking for you," Rarity said with an exasperated voice.

"Sorry," Sweetie Belle said. She put on her meekest puppydog eyes-look.

"Oh, no need for that. You're not in trouble," Rarity said. She jumped off from her chair and rounded the table. "Now, how did it go?"

Sweetie Belle looked at her big sister in confusion. "Umm, how did what go?"

"Your apology, silly! The thing you were so fretting here yesterday!"

"Oh!" Sweetie Belle's whole face lit up. "It went great! We made up with Scoots and are best friend again!"

"I'm so happy to hear it!" Rarity said. "So how does the spanking figure into all of this?" she asked casually.

"The what?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out. She felt her whole face catch fire. "I... I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Darling," Rarity let out a small sigh, but couldn't hide her grin. "Next time you're trying to hide a sore bum from your sister, don't stand in front of no less than three mirrors."

Sweetie Belle spun around, and three very frightened fillies stared back at her from the mirrors set up to allow Rarity's customers to see themselves in their brand new clothes from different angles. She spun back around, her mind racing to find any excuse to get out of the situation. "I, uhh, I can explain!" was the best she could come up with.

This time Rarity didn't even try to hide her grin any more. She sat down on the floor in front of Sweetie Belle and nodded.

"I, that is, umm, you see, err, I... I..." Sweetie Belle stammered, but couldn't find any better explanations.

"Did Scootaloo do that to you?" Rarity asked.

That finally snapped Sweetie Belle out of her fluster. "I made her do it!"

"To show her how sorry you were?"

"Y-yes," Sweetie Belle said.

"Well then!" Rarity exclaimed and spread her forehooves wide.

Sweetie Belle just stood there dumb-founded. "I'm not in trouble?" she asked.

Rarity shook her head.

Sweetie Belle gave up and dashed into her sister's awaiting hooves. The sisters grabbed each other in a tight embrace. Sweetie Belle felt her eyes burn, and a little sniffle escaped from her. "But, why? I don't get it," she asked quietly.

"Sweetie, if a sore derriere solved the rift between you and Scootaloo, then I won't say anything about it. Except how proud I am of you for fixing things by yourself. That to me shows how much you've grown."

"And you're not gonna make me tell you what happened?"

"A young lady needs to have her secrets," Rarity gently whispered into Sweetie Belle's ear.

"And... and if me and Scoots wanna talk to you about some really complicated stuff we can't figure out ourselves? Stuff you can't tell anypony else?"

"I will always be here for you, of course. You are my precious little sister, after all."

Sweetie Belle couldn't take it any more. After everything that had happened that day, all the pain, the confusion, the new feelings, and now this final absolution, it was all too much for her. Tears started welling from her eyes and she clung as tight as she could around Rarity's neck. Rarity had called her grown up and a young lady, yet the only thing she wanted was to be held and cry her heart out.

"Shh, you've had a rough day. Just let it all out, darling," Rarity said.

Sweetie Belle did. She'd been a big pony all day long, tried her best to work out her problems like a grown-up, but she didn't have to any more. Big, hot tears slid down her face and she just let go of everything. If it weren't for Rarity's hooves, she would have probably collapsed onto the floor. The tears kept on coming, seemingly straight from her heart, and with each and every one of them, Sweetie Belle felt just that tiny bit lighter and better. When they finally started to dry down, she felt her eyes begin to droop closed. Rarity's gentle magic wrapped around her snugly and lifted her off the floor.

"I've got a warm bed waiting for you," Rarity said. "We can talk more in the morning if you want to."

"...ve you, big sis," Sweetie Belle muttered before drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note

Well, Sweetie Belle ended up forgiving Scootaloo and receiving the same in kind, fixing their relationship. We've all done mistakes and hurt people we love, and sometimes even broken the trust between us and those close to us. Could you do what Sweetie did? Could you give your everything to fix something that can't be fixed that it becomes possible?

If the situation ever came up for me, I hope I'd be able to.

When I got to 500 followers, I asked my readers if they'd want to hear more of one of my stories, and DI got all the votes. So after several years of waiting, here we are! Hopefully this gives better closure for the events of Dominant Ideal. It was only going to be a short one-off for a few thousand words, then I realised just how much I'd have to go through with before I'd be satisfied with the final story.

The actual writing and editing took some 30 hours on this fic, so I'd REALLY appreciate it if some of you decided to throw a few coins my way through my PayPal. Haven't gotten any donations this year yet, and I have about 20€ on my bank account right now and the next pension payment is almost 2 weeks away, so every little bit would help.