Nature's Discipline
By BSting
"Huff...Huff... Phew... Huff..."
Even princesses need an exercise routine, and Celestia needed to find a way to escape her daily routine for just an hour, at least. Bureaucrats, servants waiting to satisfy her every need, nobles, her sister telling her how much weight she's put on, she wanted to get away from it all. So, without telling anyone but a few trusted soldiers, she scheduled a time for her to leave the palace, and clear her mind with a long jog. She had the perfect place to get away, too. The Whitetail Wood, north of Las Pegasus. No pony will find her there, and she wanted to surrounded around nature for a change, instead of being confined around building walls.
"Huff...Puff...Huff..."
The guards she confided to about her plans prepared a chariot for her to ride in on the way over from Canterlot. It seemed like a long journey for them, but their diligence and stamina made it like no time had passed for the princess. The soldiers decided to look for a landing spot when they arrived at their destination. They agreed to land in a clearing near the edge of Whitetail Wood. As they got closer to the ground, Celestia noticed that the edge of the forest was littered with stumps. It seems that the ponies Las Pegasus are chopping down wood for further expansion of the city. At least, that was Celestia's best guess. Did she approve of their expansion plans? She can't remember. Requests and decrees go in and out of Canterlot in a rapid pace, and she hardly could remember them all. Either way, Celestia stepped off the chariot once it reached a complete stop. She took a survey of her surroundings and found that the damage the loggers have done are more severe than she thought. She made a mental note to discuss this at her next visit to Las Pegasus. For now, she's here to work out. She uses a hair band to somehow form a pony tail out of her long, magical mane to prevent it from obscuring her view, and wraps a sweat band around her head, under her horn. The guards make a small protest for them to come with her and keep her safe, but she insists they stand down. They needed to rest for their trip back home, and she needed to be alone with her thoughts. After locating a natural dirt path into the forest, she trotted briskly towards the entrance. Her pace quickens until she maintained jogging speed.
Half an hour passes, and she's still trotting deep in the woods. No ponies for miles accept her. She isn't completely helpless deep inside. She uses her magic to blast a small, but noticeable scrape of bark off the trees she passes in order to find her way back. Eventually, however, she begins to tire out. She decides that it would be best for her to make her way back to her escorts and head home, after she takes a short break. Strangely enough, there is even a stump deep inside the woods right next to her, off the side of the dirt road. She's curious as to why and how a logger came this far to chop down that one tree, but she decides to use the stump as a seat. She looks at the stump to gauge if it is wide enough to support her ample hindquarters. Thinking that it will be ok, she swings her body around to sit gently down on top of it. Her breathing started to slow as she perked up her ears and listen to the sounds of nature all around her. She can hear the birds chirping, the wind blowing through the trees, and, finally, her own thoughts. She adjusts her seat on the stump and gauges how much space her rump is taking up. She hates to admit it, but maybe Luna was right. Maybe she did need to lay off the cakes. But she can't help it if she has a sweet tooth now and again. Her thoughts then drift to enjoying a slice when she gets back. She knows that doing so would be counter-intuitive, but she could practically smell the frosting off of a nice strawberry cake.
Smell? She can smell it? She can smell something, and it smells almost sickeningly sweet. She lifts herself off of the stump and turns her head and body to try and pinpoint the smell. There's no mistaking it. She can smell something sweet off the beaten path, deeper into the woods. She knows that going deeper would be risky, but she couldn't help herself. The smell, combined with her curiosity, is beckoning her to go deeper in. She traipses through the thick foliage, watching her step while dodging the branches aimed at her head. Some scrape her horn, but she shakes it off. Finally, she can see sunlight leaking through the trunks of trees ahead of her. Her eyes cannot believe what she is seeing. She is at the edge of a small meadow, with a large tree in the center. The large tree has long, thick vines jutting out from the branches and touching the ground. The meadow is filled, almost to the brim, with red flowers. Their petals look almost crystalline in appearance, and their petals almost resemble roses. Their stems are not thorny like roses, but are thin and fragile. Celestia lowers her head toward the roses to smell them. Indeed, these are the source of the sweet smell before. In all of her long life up until now, she never witnessed a more beautiful sight.
Losing herself to the sights and smells, she scrambles to pick as many of the flowers she could to bring home. She's so lost in their beauty that she doesn't realize how many she's stepping on her hoof, as she chooses the best among the fields. Before long, she's gathered a large bouquet of the roses. She greedily plants her muzzle in the flowers, taking a long whiff. In the corner of her eye, she can see the largest rose of them all. It's planted next to the trunk of the tree in the middle of the field. Celestia slowly walks toward the tree, ready to pick her last flower. She stumbles a bit, with her hoof catching itself on a nearby vine. She leans in, and activates her magic. Suddenly, as quick as a whip, the vines come to life and tie around her hind legs. With a forceful pull, the vines lift Celestia in the air, breaking her concentration and letting loose the bouquet of flowers, showering the ground below. She gives a shout on her way up, before dangling in place above the ground, upside down. She struggles and tries to use her magic to undo the knots tying her up, until she hears a single voice.
"Are you a friend of nature?"
The vines wrap around Celestia's torso, and loosen around her legs. Before she can grasp what's happening to her, she finds herself right-side up again, suspended by the vines lifting her up from her midsection. After she stops swinging, she gets a clear view of the base of the tree and notices that there is a large, strange growth forming on the trunk. The growth comes to life and moves itself off of the tree, leaving behind an indentation of where it once lied. It stands up to reveal its humanoid form in the shape of an adult woman. Her hair is a combination of ivy and moss. Her face did not form to resemble a youthful woman, but a ruler that had wisdom and experience. The skin on the upper half of her body was bare, devoid of bark, and resembled smooth wood. Her lower body had bark covering her, starting from her waist to her feet.
"I ask again. Are you a friend of nature?"
Celestia is unable to believe her eyes to what she is seeing. She knows what these creatures are. Dryads are often found in large forests and are seen as guardians. However, she never met one face-to-face.
Celestia chooses her words carefully. "Yes, I am a friend of nature", she responds.
The dryad looks visibly annoyed. "Why, then, have you come to this sacred field, doing what you see fit? Who are you to care less about the conditions of the very area around you."
Celestia's mind is racing, as well as her heart. What did she do that was so grievous?
"I'm Princess Celestia. I govern the lands of Equestria alongside my sister and a few others", she managed to say, her voice trembling slightly. "What have I done wrong?"
The dryad glares at her. Her mossy eyebrows furrow as Celestia wonders how she messed up now.
"Then, are you to blame for what is happening outside of this meadow? The rampant slaughtering of trees on the edge of my forest?"
"Y-yes."
Celestia gasps at her own response. She knows that's the wrong thing to say, as there is more to it than that. Yet, she couldn't help but feel responsible, even before she entered the forest.
"I thought so", murmurs the dryad. She raises her volume. "It's not enough that you would cut down trees, but also endanger the existence of the flowers surrounding you!"
"What even are these flowers?"
"Ruby roses. They are a rare breed of flowers, that are only able to germinate under the right conditions." The dryad clutches her fist and places it on her chest. "It's pure chance that such a delicate flower would be able to grow in this forest, but never spread outside of this meadow. It's taken me decades to grow these flowers in my care, to fill this meadow with love. Then, YOU enter here and treat them like common weeds!"
"Please! I've never meant to do such harm!" Celestia is sweating bullets, panicking over this situation. An angry dryad is nothing to trifle with, and she can't just use magic to solve this diplomatic misunderstanding. "Isn't there anything I can do to help you grow back the flowers I carelessly plucked? I'll have my best botanists insure that these flowers grow in abundance."
The dryad calms herself, but is still visibly angry. "You can't just mass-produce these fragile flowers using soil, water, and sunlight alone. It needs care. Love. Affection." The dryad pauses. "There is something you CAN do to make it up to me."
"Yes! Anything!"
"My dream is to see these flowers thrive in new lands. You will need to grow these flowers on your own elsewhere. It will take time, effort, and dedication to allow them to grow and thrive. I can't trust any other creature to do it besides you and me. Once you have a full field, show me proof of your deeds and I will forgive you and your kind."
Celestia felt a wash of relief. Gardening sounds simple enough. She lets out a sigh.
"However!", the dryad shouts. "I believe you do not have the proper respect for nature to succeed in this task. You need to be reminded on how much damage you are doing in order to fully understand how much it takes to care for my children."
Celestia lets out another defeated sigh. "What must I do?", she asks.
"Close your eyes and breath in."
Celestia does as the dryad commands. However, she is unaware that the dryad is putting a pod under her nose. The pod erupts with pollen, as Celestia coughs and gags. She tries to open her eyes, but they are getting increasingly heavy. Soon, she passes out.
Celestia awakes to find herself back on the dirt road again, standing on the ground. Was it all a dream? Did she fall asleep standing up again? She instinctively tries to raise her hoof from the ground. It's not a dream. Tree roots are jutting out of the ground, holding her in place by wrapping around her legs and tugging her down. She struggles to escape, but to no avail. Celestia hears rustling coming from the grove of trees to her left. She turns to see the dryad stepping out with a sizable wooden stick in her hand.
"What do you intend to do with me?!", Celestia shouts. If things get violent, she may retaliate. No flowers are worth spilled blood on either side.
"Calm yourself, your highness. I'm merely going to give you a small taste of the pain that you've done to the world around you", the dryad responds.
"Violence against me will solve nothing."
"But the ceaseless cutting of trees is justified? I'm surprised that you and your kind have gotten away with so much. It's high time you humbled yourself, and understood our plights."
Upon finishing her sentence, tree root erupt from the ground and wrap around Celestia's chest. Then, they pull her down so that her head and upper body are closer to the ground, leaving her hindquarters to stay up. The dryad walks towards her flank and grabs the dock of her tail. This sudden action lets out a gasp from Celestia, as she wonders what in Equestria the dryad is doing. The dryad slides her hand slowly down Celestia's tail, pulling it towards her back. The roots jet out and tie her tail to her back, preventing Celestia from blocking her haunches with her tail. Suddenly, Celestia realizes what she is doing. Her heart begins to pump faster, and her breathing becomes louder and faster. She turns her head to look behind her.
"No! Don't you dare! Why are you doing this of all things?", shouts Celesta.
"The trees whisper the activities of your kind", explains the dryad, tapping the stick on the palm of her left hand. "Younglings would do what is wrong in your eyes, discipline is carried out, and then there is love and forgiveness afterward."
"Well, yes, but... We are both figureheads of the realms we govern. Surely, there is a better way to settle our differences?
The dryad bends its arm back and swings it towards Celestia's rear at a swift speed. The whooshing sound of stick sparked brief fear into Celestia's mind, until it made contact onto her right cheek. The stick emits a cracking noise, as it slams into her supple buttock, sending a sharp shock of pain.
"AH!"
Celestia screams out in pain, gritting her teeth and grunting as the searing pain aches her rump afterwards.
"Imagine that I am a woodcutter, and you are the tree", the dryad allegorizes. The woodcutter readies his axe, and strikes the trunk."
Another strike hits Celestia. This time, her left buttock endures the sharp crack of the stick. She lets out another yell.
"Again."
She alternates sides, smacking the right cheek. Celestia's yell is quieter than before, though it is still a cry in pain.
"And again..."
Once more, she focuses on the left side. Tears are starting to form in Celestia's eyes, as she lets out a moan.
"And again..."
Another crack, Celestia moans once more.
"And again."
One more crack. This time, the stick strikes both cheeks in unison, sending double the pain towards Celestia and making her yell again. Her butt aches dearly as the irritation from the stick sets in. She wants so badly to rub it and ease it somehow, but she is unable to.
"You now know how the trees feel, if only for an instant. But, you have to answer to more than just the trees. The animals that make their homes in the trees, and the insects that thrive on the flowers you carelessly pick, seek to make their pain well known as well."
A tree from the grove beside them starts to bend in an unnatural way. It arcs itself downward to allow the Dryad access to its branches. Celestia, even after all she's been through, still can't believe what she is seeing. The dryad reaches out for a particular branch, one that has a well-developed bees nest hanging off of it. Celestia starts to panic again! "A stick is one thing, but bees?!", she thinks to herself. "That's insane! How many does she plan to use?"
"Stop! I've learned my lesson! I'll authorize that the ponies stop cutting trees down", Celestia cries out in desperation.
The dryad shakes her head and says "You still don't understand".
Understand what? Isn't that what she wants?
The dryad moves the branch, allowing the hive to hover over Celestia's butt. Some of the bees catch an eyeful of how pink the cheeks are becoming, marked with the bruises of the stick's fury.
"Hear me, labored workers. This creature doesn't respect the work you toil to allow our forest to flourish. Strike where I have marked and only where I've marked."
The bees listen, much to Celestia's dismay. One bee flies off the hive and lands on the middle of her right cheek. Celestia can feel its tiny legs tickling her sensitive rear, as she prepares for the worst. The bee unsheathes its stinger, and drills it down into her soft skin. The venom immediately pours out, delivering a strong, burning sensation down below.
"OW!"
Celestia's shout signal the bees to begin their stinging frenzy. One by one, they land on different areas of her white buttocks, burrowing their venomous daggers into her rear and sending wave after wave of painful spikes. Celestia shouts and yells as the venom turns her rump more and more red, irritating the skin and making it feel like it was on fire. The bees manage to also sting the stick marks on her rump, delivering an extra level of pain to her sensitive welts. Celestia grunts and shouts, near the breaking point.
"Enough!"
The bees dislodge themselves from out of Celestia's butt and back to their hive, content to do the bidding of the powerful dryad. The tree slowly returns to its stiff, straight position. Celestia is a broken mess. She is visibly crying as her rump pulses in pain. The stingers are still stuck inside Celestia, pumping more venom as her rump swells and becomes more sensitive. It feels like she just sat on hot coals with no water to douse her with. Celestia lets out a wail as she looks toward her captor.
"I'll... grow your flowers, and never.. pick another one... in my life."
The dryad shakes her head.
"You still do not understand", she states.
"What is there to understand...? I'll leave this forest alone. I'll leave you alone", Celestia responds, trying to end this punishment.
The dryad places her hand on Celestia's rump. The very touch makes her wince, as the combination of the stick and bee sting make her very sore. The dryad rubs it, thankfully scraping a few of the bee stings. But, she raises her hand, and forcefully slaps Celestia's right cheek. The slap of her wooden hand feels like somepony is spanking Celestia with a wooden spoon, like some mothers would use to discipline her children. To make matters worse, the shock of the spank intensifies, thanks to the bee stings, and sends a more painful sensation. Celestia gives another pained scream.
"Do you think that I'm one of those dryads that want nothing more than for ponies like you do disappear? So we may blanket the earth in plantlife?", asks the Dryad.
Before Celestia could respond, the dryad spanks Celestia's left cheek. She receives a second helping of the aching, burning sensation that follows.
"I realize that animals and birds also tear into the trees and claim them as their own. You ponies are no different."
She alternates cheeks again. The shock causes Celestia to shout, but she is actually listening to the dryad with tears in her eyes. She begins to slow her breathing and start thinking.
"All I ask of the more intelligent creatures, is to replace what you tear down. If you must take at rapid pace, then you must also give back what you owe to nature."
Celestia receives another spank. She takes the blunt of the pain by gritting her teeth and letting out a squeak. However, the dryads words echo in her mind. Did she not put in place a decree to replace the trees they cut down? To insure environmental stability?
"I understand now", Celestia explains calmly. "We must be careful how much we take as our populations expand. We must adhere to the balance of the ecosystem, and insure that leave enough for ponies and other creatures in future generations. The world is willing to share its bounties, but we must not fall into greed, lest we doom ourselves and others in the long run."
The dryad uses its magic to grow a aloe vera plant on the road instantly. She breaks the leaves out of the bristle and snaps the leaves in twain. She hovers the now open leaves above Celestia's rump, and starts to squeeze. Juices fall from openings and land on Celestia's cheeks, splashing and running down her legs. The juice brings a great relief to Celestia, as it soothes and treats the wounds received from her punishment. The tree roots unravel Celestia and set her free. The dryad gently rubs her wooden hand on Celestia's backside to slather the areas the juice couldn't reach.
"You now understand what you need to do."
Celesta turns her body to face the dryad after spending so long with her face down on the ground. The pain of her punishment is still lingering, but she puts on a brave face for the sake of the conversation. The Dryad stretches her arm out with a sleep pod in her hand. The spores release, as Celestia willingly breathes in the pollen, putting her to sleep.
"... up! Wake up, your highness!
"What?"
Princess Celestia wakes up to find herself in her bed. The guards that accompanied her are standing beside her.
"How did I get home?", she asks.
The first guard speaks up. "It was the strangest thing, your highness. You arrived from the trees' branches, as they relayed you from tree to tree back to your chariot. We placed your sleeping body on the chariot and sent you to a doctor to treat the wounds on your..."
The guards start to blush.
"A-anyway, you also had a satchel tied around your neck."
"A satchel? Where is it now?", asked Celestia.
"Your bedside table, your highness."
Celestia uses her magic to levitate the satchel to her and open it up. Inside is a bundle of seeds.
"Right. I need to keep my promise. I'll plant a garden as soon as I can."
"Your highness? What promise?"
"Never you mind. Procure for me a scroll and pen. I need to contact the mayor of Las Pegasus."
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed reading this, especially the people on the Spanking thread on /mlp/.
