Galaxia High

Chapters

Chapter 1: First Day
Chapter 2: Class Act
Chapter 3: Club Conundrums
Chapter 4: Day's End
Sideswipe: Roll For Initiative
Chapter 5: A Great and Powerful Rivalry
Chapter 6: Madness at the Mall (Part 1)
Chapter 7: Madness at the Mall (Part 2)
Chapter 8: Self Defense for Dragons
Sideswipe: Sunrise, Sunset
Chapter 9: The Other Side of the Fence
Chapter 10: Running the Ringer
Chapter 12: Club Canter
Sideswipe: Strumming on Heart Strings
Chapter 13: Just Rewards
Chapter 14: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 1)
Chapter 15: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 2)
Chapter 16: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 3)
Sideswipe: The Cosplay Cafe
Chapter 17: The Great Chase (Part 1)
Chapter 18: The Great Chase (Part 2)
Chapter 11: Spike and Lyra Sit on a Bench

Chapter 1: First Day

NOTE: All characters in this story despite being in a high school setting are portrayed as if 18 or older. This series will contain gratuitous amounts of spanking among other lewd situations and is not for everyone. Please enjoy.

Galaxia High

By Goombasa and Midori Kuroba

Chapter 1: First Day

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Spike groaned loudly and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head. Then he rolled over and pulled a blanket over his face, trying to smother out the sound of his alarm clock. It didn’t help as its shrill shriek pierced through his fluffy goosefeather-filled armor, straight into his brain. He kicked his feet a few times, took in a deep breath, pushed away his comforter, his pillow, his Masked Matterhorn body pillow, and a small selection of 12-inch Draco-pets plushies before finally rolling over and slamming his hand down on the ‘off’ switch.

Silence reigned. He let out a delighted sigh and let his body flop back down onto the bed for a moment before he started to wipe at his eyes, taking few deep breaths. “Mmmph… mmm…” he groaned, sitting up, letting out a few yawns. “Urf… tired… stupid alarm,” he mumbled. The dragon rolled out of bed, doing a few stretches as he slowly let his body warm up. He went through is usual morning routine. He brushed his fangs, he cleaned his scales, he made sure that he clipped his claws, and showered away all the grit that seemed to accompany a good night’s sleep. He didn’t spend nearly as much time as he usually did, however, mostly because he didn’t have the time to pamper himself as he had over the summer.

It was the start of his sophomore year at Galaxia high, one of the most prestigious high schools in the entire country, and he was hoping that this one would be a lot more eventful than his first.

All right, it wasn’t that his Freshman year had been bad, perse, but it just seemed like a bit of a boring blur to him. He’d done nothing to really make the year standing out. He’d just faded into the background, done what he had to, and that was that.

And so, that summer, he had resolved to make this year much more productive, much more memorable than his first!

Right now, though, his lack of energy was making it tough for him to care about that. He slid on the button up shirt and dark blue pants that made up the Galaxia uniform for boys. He stumbled his way down the stairs, grabbed his bag and the large bento box his mother had put together for his lunch, made his way down to the launch pad, and took his private airship down to a small pad in the city, a brief walk from the campus. He’d been trying for a while to convince his mother to let him just fly his way to school, but she insisted that he wasn’t ready for that yet, despite having wings since middle school, and having taken private flying lessons not long afterwards. “I’m not going to take the chance of you clipping a tree or some irresponsible daredevil pegasus slamming into you,” she told him. “You’ll take the airship down to the city until I am confident that you’ll be perfectly safe on your own in the air.”

That had been the end of their conversation.

So, being the dutiful son that he was, he agreed to just use their airship, but refused to ride it all the way to the school, worried about coming off as a privileged in front of the other students. He didn’t want that sort of attention. Not in that way, at least. He’d rather earn the attention through his actions rather than showing off.

The walk to the school was always a pleasant, quiet affair. The city streets of Canterlot were always pretty lightly packed this early in the morning, at least in the district where the school was located.

Galaxia high itself was a rather beautiful establishment, complete with the latest and best in education. It taught not only basic classes, but also advanced and technical classes, as well as many entry level college classes. It welcomed students of everything tribe and species as well, which was why a few dragons like him sat in class alongside not only earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, but even creatures like changelings, kirins, donkeys, bison, and there was even some weird rumors going around that they would be considering applications from Timber Wolves starting some time in the future.

Spike often wondered how rumors like that got started. He shrugged and headed into the large amphitheater, where the opening ceremonies for the school year would be taking place. It was mostly only used for the drama club and programs of that nature the rest of the year. It did impress Spike how they were able to fit in so many students. It didn’t look any bigger than any other ordinary theater from the outside. Still, it easily managed to house the entire student body, the faculty, and a few other random visitors without issue.

He shuffled in, weaving his way through students already looking to find their seats, or talking with one another after their long summer break, but he was mostly just interested in finding the area assigned to his class. Events like this, for simplicity’s sake, were divided into classes, and each class was expected to sit with their fellow students. But when everyone was gathered around like this, navigation became a bit of a problem.

“SPIKE! HEY! SPIKE! OVER HERE, SPIKE!”

He jumped a little bit at hearing his name called. More specifically, he jumped at it being called in such a loud, exuberant, and energetic manner. The source of the voice wasn’t hard to find. A pretty, light pink pony with a slightly darker pink mane and tail, as poofy and bouncy as could be, was hopping up and down among all the other ponies nearby, waving to him and trying to gain his attention. He smiled, raising his own hand in greeting and giving her a much more reserved wave as he slowly picked his way through the crowd, making his way towards the bouncing pony.

After a few moments of inching his way through the crowd, and apologizing profusely for a few misaimed claw and wing stretches, he managed to get to the pink pony, who had apparently been bouncing up and down on top of one of the theater’s fold-out seats. Spike gave a light laugh and sat down next to her, at the edge of the aisle. “Hey there, Pinkie,” he greeted.

“Hey Spike!” she greeted in delight, flopping down onto the seat she’d been bouncing on, grinning at him. He blushed and looked away, noticing the way her short skirt fluttered up when she was jumping. He totally hadn’t seen her cute, pure white pantys with sunflower print on each cheek, nope, not at all, no sir. “I was afraid I was gonna miss you!”

“Pinkie, I’m pretty sure you could get anyone’s attention, even across a football stadium if you really wanted to.”

“Well, there was that time in sixth grade,” she mused before shaking her head. “Anyway, you seen Twilight anywhere? I haven’t seen her since I got here.”

“I haven’t been here that long myself,” Spike said with a shrug. “I haven’t seen her, no.”

“Aw poo, I hope she’s not absent.”

“Pinkie, It’s Twilight,” Spike pointed it. “There’s no way that she’d miss a day of school, especially not the first day. She’s around here somewhere, I’m sure we’ll meet up with her.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh! That reminds me,” he pulled his bag into his lap and rifled through it for a moment, before sliding out a sheet of paper. “Did you get your schedule?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!” she said with a nod, reaching into her own back and pulling out her own schedule, which was looking more than a little crumpled and well worn for something she’d probably had for only around a week. She carefully smoothed it out in her lap as best as she could and the two of them held their sheets side by side as they tried their best to figure out which classes they’d have together. The two of them had been good friends since elementary school, it felt like.

“Hmm,” Spike said, examining the two schedules side by side. “Looks like we’re going to have gym together, of course. And a study hall too!”

“Oh, look at that, looks like we’re taking Ms. Harshwhinny’s history class together too!” she said, pointing it out. Spike nodded and smiled. “Hmm… and… yeah, looks like we’ve also got an art class together.”

“Aww, you aren’t taking baking with me?” she asked with a light pout.

“After what happened during the basic cooking class last year?” he taunted with a smirk. “I’ll leave the baking to you.”

“You act like eggs don’t explode on their own every day!”

“Uh… they don’t?”

“Far as you know,” she huffed.

He laughed a little bit and pat her back. “We’ll have to find Twilight during home room and see if we can compare schedules with her then.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said, craning her head up again to look around the auditorium one more time. “Seriously, she should be somewhere around here, shouldn’t she?”

“You’d think,” Spike murmured. “She’s definitely here at school, she wouldn’t miss a day unless it was really bad… but you know how she feels about crowds?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t even like being on an elevator when it’s full,” Pinkie mused with a giggle. “Guess we’ll figure it out, huh?”

Spike nodded as someone tapped on a microphone up at the front of the theater and encouraged all the students and faculty to find their seats so that they could begin. Spike sighed and leaned back, examining his schedule for a moment as he only half listened to the opening ceremonies.

Spike let out a soft yawn as he walked out of the theater. The opening ceremony was a tradition that he honestly thought didn’t need to exist, as it was mostly the same sort of stuff over and over. A welcome to the students, a brief introduction and overview for the new staff and students, a brief going over for what had changed this year… important stuff, he supposed, but stuff that he didn’t think everyone needed to be a part of.

The rest of first period was designated as a free period for the students since they’d already sacrificed the first twenty or so minutes for the ceremony. It was also meant to encourage students to explore and get to know the school, find where all the facilities and classrooms were, and perhaps find a few friends to chat with before their day officially began.

Spike was already well acquainted with the various rooms and halls of the school due to the frequent visits he had made to it with his mother during her work. He remembered being very fascinated with the place back during his younger days, seeing all of the students towering over him and seeing all the vast rooms and sprawling hallways. He’d thought it was a giant maze. His mother had even teased him once by saying there was a minotaur that roamed around the school, forever lost and looking for the exit.

He had to laugh at the fact that he believed her.

He’d promised to meet up with Pinkie for their second period history class together, but told her that he just wanted to do some wandering. Pinkie had accepted that, and said she was just going to see if she could locate Twilight, and had rushed off to check the library, where she could usually be found if she didn’t have class.

So, spike just spent some time walking around, looking at everything. It wasn’t like a lot had changed since he’d been here, but he still liked to explore now and then…

SMACK! SLAP! SMACK!

He blinked, stopping in the middle of the locker-filled hallways. That was an unusual sound… well, okay, not super unusual.

For all the school’s great features for the students, there was one old fashioned system that the school still had in place that made everyone wary. Corporal punishment was still alive and well here. Anyone caught breaking rules of any sort could very easily find themselves with a bare, red butt, courtesy of a paddle or a strap from one of the teachers or other faculty members… or probably worst of all, the senior prefects, who also had what was known as ‘spanking privileges.’

But for him to hear the sound of a smacking so early on the first day of school? That was a new one on him. He knew he probably shouldn’t, that it was most likely a private affair, but a part of him couldn’t help but be curious. Who was spanking who? For what? Why was it so loud and easy to hear from the halls?

Spike’s feet seemed to move faster than his brain in this instance, as they turned deliberately towards the sound of the slapping and carried him closer. The slaps grew louder and more vibrant as he approached, and soon enough he could hear the yelping and whimpering of the unfortunate recipient mixing with the slaps and smacks and whaps.

He turned the corner and found himself near one of the many janitor’s closets strewn throughout the school. The door for it was cracked, just wide enough for someone to fit their face inside. The slaps sounded like they were coming from within, and now he could more easily make out some of the words being said.

“Ow! ACK! S-stop it this instant, you demon! OW! You beast!”

“Aww, now that’s not nice at all,” a second voice teased. “I wanna hear some apologies coming from that big, fat mouth of yours, unicorn. And then maybe I’ll consider laying off this big, fat ass of yours.

“OWW! N-no need to get so personal! ACK! You fiend!”

Spike felt his face starting to heat up. Taking a deep breath and looking around to make sure no one else was there, he slowly edged his way to the door and took a peek inside. What he saw almost made his nose become a blood fountain.

Inside, bent over a bare Janitor’s cart, was a pure white unicorn, with a beautiful, swirling purple mane and tail. Her skirt was flipped up and her panties yanked down all the way to her knees. She was currently kicking and squirming so much that they were slowly traveling southwards, towards her ankles. Her rear end, which Spike had a perfect view of, was currently throbbing and pulsing a hot, flaming crimson, every inch of what was once no doubt a pretty, plush, pristine ass, totally covered in painful red.

Spike shivered and grabbed his crotch, trying his best not to let out a moan at the sight. Her bottom was an impressive size, even for a unicorn mare, and as another couple of spanks impacted, he got to see it wobble and jiggle up and down beautifully. She glanced over her shoulder, thankfully not towards the door, but towards her bottom. Her pretty face was accented by a streak if tears under each eye, and a nervous grimace on her lips.

It took him a moment, but then he recognized her. That was Rarity Belle, a prominent unicorn student who had made a splash during last year with a demonstration of very dextrous magical abilities. Though Spike remembered her more for the gym class they’d shared together where she insisted on wearing very tight, form fitting shorts. He’d always wanted to ask her out, but had never managed to work up the courage to do so before the year’s end.

The young dragon was so distracted by the sexual beauty that was in front of him that he almost missed out on who was doing the spanking completely, but once he saw who it was, it almost ruined his mood.

Almost.

The one holding the unicorn down, the one whipping her bottom, and the one who looked like he was getting quite a bit of pleasure out of the whole thing, was a big, red dragon, with a pleased snarl on his face.

Garble. Of course it would be Garble.

Spike knew him much better than he would care to. Garble was a grade ahead of him and had been tormenting him since elementary school. He was a bully, and everyone knew about it. Back in elementary and middle school, he hadn’t really been able to bully others, so he’d singled Spike out. But once they’d started going to a school full of other species, he’d apparently diversified a little bit, from what Spike understood. He loved to assert dominance, especially on soft and squishy ponies. A part of him had to wonder just what the poor unicorn had done to earn the red dragon’s ire.

Chances were good, it had been something pretty petty.

SMACK! SLAP! SMACK! SLAP! WHAP!

“OW! OUCH! C-cease this at once, or I will see you expelled,” she yelped, though her voice cracked when she made the threat.

“You try it, and I’ll beat your ass again,” he threatened. “Harder. And longer.” He smirked. “And by that point, I might start to think that you actually LIKE it!”

SLAP! WHAP! SMACK! WHACK!

Spike winced a bit at the strength of the blows. They were more than enough to pancake her large cheeks, and each slap left her rump wobbling up and down.

A part of Spike’s mind screamed at him to get in there and do something about this, that she needed help and that she didn’t deserve the bare bottom blistering she was receiving right now. He should confront Garble, and get him to lay off of that fair maiden, even if he couldn’t do anything physical, and was likely to end up getting his own ass beat in the process.

But there was another part of his mind, a much louder part that screamed for both self-preservation and voyeurism. That part demanded that he stayed right where he was and didn’t try to be any sort of hero, especially when it would most likely end with him getting beaten up and looking weak in front of the pretty unicorn. Better to just hang back and conveniently bump into her and comfort her later, if he could figure out a way to stealthily act like he had just found out about the state of her backside.

But right now? No, probably better to just… watch.

SLAP! SLAP! SPLAT! SMACK!

“OWWW! WAAAH! S-stop it! OW! It hurts! OH! OHH! I’m begging you, I’ll be good!”

“That’s right,” Garble grunted. “That’s what I like to hear. Unicorn brats with big butts need some good, long hard spankings to learn their place, don’t they?

“Y-YES! OWW, whatever you say!” Rarity howled. “PLEEESE, I’m a good girl, staaaahp!” she bawled.

But Garble didn’t stop. If anything, her begging just seemed to encourage him to go faster. The spanks rained down rapidly and her thick tush wobbled and jiggled and bobbed up and down. By now, her panties had slid all the way down to her ankles, and had been kicked off of one, so they were hanging on by only a single leg and might be kicked off at any point!

Spike was rather amazed that no one else had come running at this point, especially since Rarity’s helps and whimpers had long since turned into howl’s of anguish. He supposed not a lot of ponies were using this particular hallway right now…

Spike shivered and realized he’d been massaging his crotch through his pants this whole time. The entire display was just so erotic. And then, as if to put a capstone on the entire display, Rarity lifted both of her legs and spread them wide, giving a wild buck as her horn started to uncontrollably spark. Several things happened at once, most of them feeling pretty overwhelming for Spike. First, the jerking motion finally made her panties fly from her ankle, making them land off in a corner near the door, which gave Spike a chance to get a much better peek at them. They were red, frilly things, looking just a touch too small to fully cover her cheeks. She’d probably be regretting that decision after all this was over, that was for sure.

Secondly, her wide splaying gave Spike a good look at everything she had between her legs. He caught a very good look at a clean-shaven peach underneath and had to bite down on his tongue extra hard to keep himself from really letting loose after that. She also looked back over her shoulder again afterwards and he caught a glance at her face. She looked so cute with her tear stained face, her lips curled in an ‘O’ shape as she cried out and sobbed, her ears lowered… gods she was beautiful, even when spanked.

Garble smirked and gave her sit spots a good working over afterwards, giving her ten powerful smacks each before finally releasing her wrists and rubbing his palms together. “Hmhm,” he chuckled. “I guess we’ll call it good for now,” he said, glancing at her as she immediately shifted her hands to her bottom, cupping the red, sore cheeks. “Guess you’ll think twice about mouthing off to me, hm?”

“No! N-never again!” Rarity said between sobs.

“Good.” He nodded, still dusting his palm. “Damn pony asses. Even the fat ones can take so much punishment,” he grumbled, turning away and walking towards the door. Spike quickly slid to the side, hiding himself behind it as the door opened and Garble walked off, not seeing him at all. The door slid back to its nearly closed state and Spike remained against the wall for a moment, waiting until Garble rounded a corner and was out of sight before he attempted to move. Maybe now was a good time to comfort her?

He chanced another peek inside and almost let out another lusty gasp. Rarity had stood up and was currently examining her bottom using a hand-mirror. One hand was gently cupping and caressing her sore, red cheeks as she whimpered and moaned to herself, a pout on her lips. “Oooh dear,” she sniffled. “I won’t ever sit again after this. I’ll be squirming all day trying to sit at those uncomfortable desks… what will my mother say at dinner time? And if Sweetie finds out I was spanked at school, I’ll never hear the end of it.” She continued to rub and caress and stroke her butt as she spoke, trying to work away some of the sting as she examined her bottom as thoroughly as she could.

The act was, to Spike, almost as erotic as the spanking itself. They way she’d cup her cheeks and lift them before letting them go and watching them wobble, the way that her skirt half hid her cheeks as it was pinned above her tail, the way that she wiggled and shifted her weight from foot to foot in an ‘I’ve just been spanked’ sort of way…

It was too much.

The young dragon twisted around and dashed down the hall, not caring if she heard him. He was already around the corner well before she could have peeked her head out to see who had been peeping, and she wouldn’t chance going out into the hall in her condition. But right now, Spike was in a situation where he HAD to get to a bathroom.

Thankfully, he found an unoccupied one, slid in, and locked himself in the stall, finally letting out all of the breaths he had been holding in. Gods above, there was no way he could hold back on this. He slid down his pants, straddled the toilet seat and began to gently stroke his already throbbing member. He was already pent up from the edging he’d been doing, but even as he recalled the scene, he felt his mind wandering, forming a new fantasy around Rarity.

He sat before her, at a teacher’s desk, the chair pulled out, his arms crossed as he looked up at her, a grin on his face. “Rarity,” he said, in a scolding voice, “You’ve been a very, very bad girl.”

“Oh yes sir,” Rarity agreed, toying with the front of her blue skirt. “But please, won’t you take mercy on me?”

“There is no mercy for naughty brats like you,” he declared with a grunt, reaching over and grabbing her skirt and panties, slowly sliding it down, all the way to her ankles. He drew her close and grinned, holding her close, nuzzling her hip. “Mmm, such a naughty big-bottomed mare.” His long, forked tongue snaked out and trailed along her bottom cheek, making her squeak and let out a girlish giggle as it tickled her sensitive tush. “And what happens to very bad girls with very big bottoms?” he asked.

She moaned and gave another soft wiggle. “They have their bottoms bared, get bent over a big, strong knee, and are soundly spanked until they are very sorry for being so bratty.”

“That’s right,” he said with a nod, taking her hips, giving her a light squeeze before drawing her down, over his lap. “But I think you’ve earned something a bit more than a bare hand spanking.” He took her wrists and pinned them to her back, along with her tail. Then he reached behind… something or other, and drew out a large, heavy, wooden paddle, with a series of eight holes drilled into it. He rested the cold wood against her cheeks, pushing hard enough to make her plush, plump buttocks wobble. He felt her shiver and moan, and he did too.

Spike grinned down at her and raised the paddle up. “WHAP! WHAP! WHACK! WHAP!” it came down hard and fast against her bare, white bottom.

“Oh! Oh yes, Spike,” she moaned. “Please spank my naughty bottom until it’s nice and red!” she bucked against him, moaning, her hips brushing against his member. Spike continued to spank her, over and over and over again.

“Oh Rarity… I’m gonna… I’m gonna… aaaaah~”

Spike groaned in delight and relief as he orgasmed, panting and shivering as his mess fell into the toilet. He smiled and sighed, letting the fantasy fade away, but filing it away for future reference. As he pumped himself a few more times and reached for the toilet paper to clean himself off, he heard the warning bell go off and sighed. He’d have to head for History before he got in trouble. As he wiped himself off and took a few deep, calming breaths, he mused at how long it had been since he’d had a fantasy like that.

About someone he knew.

Probably the last time was… when he first seen Twilight getting spanked by her mother… and the first time Pinkie had mooned him.

He sighed and groaned, shaking his head before he started letting older memories grasp him. He did NOT want to be late to Ms. Harshwhinny’s class, and he certainly didn’t want to have to answer any questions about WHY he was late.

He finished cleaning himself up, made sure to flush all the evidence, stretched himself out, regained his breath, and walked out of the bathroom, now really ready to start his first day as a sophomore at Galaxia High School.

Chapter 2: Class Act

Spike certainly felt a lot calmer as he approached the history classroom. The walk had allowed him to clear his mind of any lingering fantasies and work out the resulting stiffness in his limbs. He entered the classroom to discover that everyone was still chatting about as they tried to find their seats. Ms. Harshwhinny was at the front of the class, writing a few things on the chalk board. Spike smiled and slipped in past her, and found a seat between Pinkie and a purple unicorn mare currently absorbed in a book she was holding in front of her face. “Hey Pinkie,” Spike said. “How’d your first period go?”

“Eh, pretty uneventful,” she said with a shrug. “Wandered around, tried to break into the cafeteria’s cupcake closet again, got my butt beat by Zesty, showed off my tush to some boys who were teasing me for getting spanked, made em all fall over with I wiggled my bubble rump.” She shrugged. “For me, it’s Tuesday.”

“But Pinkie… it’s Monday,” Spike pointed out, blushing and scratching his head. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Pinkie’s ass before. He had never before met a pony who was so open about her body. She’d probably come to school naked if she could get away with it.

Pinkie shrugged. “Yeah, but it feels like Tuesday. Anyway, how was yours?”

“How was…” he coughed and blushed a little. “Pretty… uneventful, heh.”

Pinkie raised a brow and her small smile grew into a full grown grin as she leaned in close to him. “You saw something,” she said.

“N-no, not at all!” he said, shaking his head, looking around to try and change the subject. His eyes came to rest on the purple unicorn beside him and he gently pat her shoulder. “Hey Twilight, glad to see you! We sort of missed you at the opening ceremony!”

The unicorn jumped at the contact and gently laid her book down in front of her, laying a book mark between the pages before closing it. “Oh, hi, Spike,” she greeted with a soft smile. “I didn’t see you sit down. When did you get here.”

“You never see anything when you’re reading,” he teased lightly. “I just got here a minute ago. Did you even notice that the warning bell sounded?”

She blinked, blushed, and then shook her head. “Er… no, I didn’t,” she mumbled, rubbing the back of her head with a laugh.

“Hehe, good thing Spike snapped you out of it before the class started,” Pinkie said, pointing to the chalkboard, where Ms. Harshwhinny was just finishing her writing. It was a list of rules for the class to follow, with the consequence of a public spanking underlined at the bottom of the list.

“Y-yeah,” she mumbled. “That uh, wouldn’t be that good of a way to start the day.”

“Specially the first day of school,” Spike said, craning his head to try and look at the book she was reading. “What were you so interested in that it was taking your attention away from school anyway?” he asked.

Twilight quickly slid the book away and placed it delicately into her backpack, smiling at him. “Just some light fiction,” she said with a shrug.

He raised a brow, but nodded and shrugged. “Uh huh. Wasn’t one of your mom’s books again, was it?” he asked.

She blushed deeper. “I learned my lesson about reading books like ‘A Bed of Feathers’ in public.” She rolled her eyes and huffed a little bit.

Spike and Pinkie both chuckled gently at her, but their attention was quickly drawn back to the front of the classroom as Ms. Harshwhinny tapped a ruler loudly against her palm. In fact, the entire class quickly silenced themselves and turned back to the front of the room. “Good to see that the summer months haven’t degraded your attention too harshly,” she said with a nod. “Well, welcome back. I hope you all had a productive summer, because we’re going to be launching right into it. You’re all growing up, so your workload is going to increase accordingly.” At the sound of groans, she rolled her eyes and tapped her palm again, silencing the over-exaggerated whines. “But before that… we have a new student starting here.” Her eyes scanned the classroom. “Would you please come to the front of the class and introduce yourself?”

The eyes of the classroom turned in unison at the sound of a chair being pushed out and the clap of hard soles against the tiled floor as the new student started to walk forward, towards the front of the class. Almost immediately, the movements of this student were accompanied by a string of whispers and gasps and questions.

“Hey, isn’t that…”

“No way, it can’t be her.”

“But she looks like her…”

“But why is she…”

“She doesn’t need to go to school does she?”

“Why isn’t she wearing the proper uniform?”

The student either didn’t acknowledge or didn’t hear them as she moved forward. Spike wasn’t really interested in what all the whispering was about, but he was curious what she looked like.

He wasn’t disappointed in that department.

Her long, curled hair and tail trailed behind her, swaying softly with her motions, streaked in dark indigo and dark opal, her immaculately maintained coat a bright, grayish Aquamarine. Her figure was best described as ‘perfect hourglass’ with wide, pretty hips, and a slightly thin but healthy middle, and a top that seemed perfectly balanced to the rest of her. He imagined that under the dark gray skirt and black T-shirt she was wearing, she probably had a few creases in just the right places. Kind of like Pinkie… he blushed as that thought crossed his mind and he shook it to try and stop comparing what he thought the two girls would look like naked. He didn’t need another boner right now.

Her bright, opal eyes were firm, confident and determined, and she had a bright smile to match that confidence as she stopped and turned towards the class. She bowed her head lightly to them. “It’s nice to meet you all,” she said, her voice carrying a soft, musical lilt to it as she easily projected it forward. Shyness was evidently not an issue here. “My name is Coloratura, but you can all just call me Rara. I think I’d prefer that.”

“You can’t be THAT Coloratura, can you?” someone from the back of the room called, causing Harshwhinny to send a warning glare their way.

Rara smiled a little bit and nodded. “I am actually,” she said, though without any hint of arrogance. “Yes, I am the pop idol Countess Coloratura, and I’m sure it seems weird to see me here. But I am still young, and even with my singing career, I do still have to try and earn a decent education. I was basically home schooled for most of my time on the road, but my parents decided it would be good for me to go to a proper school for the last few years of high school.” She glanced down at herself, noticing several pairs of eyes looking over her clothes. “Oh these? Er yeah, well, some of you might know that I just finished up a pretty big tour in Neighpon, and I just barely got back in time to get ready for the school year. A few things slipped through the cracks, one of which being ordering my uniforms. Principal Celestia was nice enough to give me some leeway on that, and has allowed me to wear normal clothes until they get here, so long as they fit with the other aspects of the dress code.” She finished with a light curtsy to the class, making a few of the other girls giggle. “I’m looking forward to being a part of your class. Thanks for having me.”

“Well said, young lady,” Harshwhinny said with a nod, motioning back to her desk. “You may take your seat. Welcome to Galaxia High.” She cleared her throat and picked up a large text book from her desk. “All right, enough dallying, let’s actually get to what you’re here for, children. Take out your textbooks and let’s start by going over the start of the Unicorn Empire, heralded by Princess Platinum I.”

More groans were heard, but they were subdued as the sound of textbooks being plopped onto desks and pages being rustled were heard. But as Spike was opening his book, he felt Pinkie nudging him from the side. “Wow, can you believe it?” she whispered. “We’ve got an actual pop idol in our class! And she’s like… normal and stuff! This is almost as awesome as if Sapphire Shores were in our class too!”

Twilight leaned over to glance at Pinkie and whispered back, “Pinkie, two things… one, just because she’s got a star-level career before finishing high school doesn’t mean she’s not normal. It just means she’s got a grasp on her special talent. And two, Sapphire Shores is the choral teacher here.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not IN our class,” Pinkie Argued, leaning a bit more forward.

“Um… so should I know who she is, or…” Spike asked.

Both girls stared at him stupidly for a moment. “You… really don’t know who Countess Coloratura is?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t really listen to a lot of modern music,” he said sheepishly. “I uh… grew up on a lot of the oldies that my mom had laying around.”

“Spike,” Twilight said, her voice monotone in disbelief, “Even I’ve heard Coloratura’s work.”

“Oh, ooh,” Pinkie hissed with a grin. “So you do more than just read books all day!” Twilight blushed, but before she could offer a rebuttal, the pink pony leaned forward, so far she was practically over Spike’s desk. “So what are your favorite songs?”

Twilight blinked and thought for a moment. “Well, hmm,” she mused. “I’m actually rather fond of ‘Just a Pony.’ It’s a pretty sentimental track.”

“Yeah, but it’s not something you can dance to, not like ‘Sway in the Hay’ or ‘Horseshoe Dance Floor’.”

“Those are pretty good too,” Twilight admitted. “But really, she’s way more versatile than that. You’ve heard ‘Rise and Fall of Clouds Galore' right?”

“Of course I have!”

“Uh, girls…”

“But seriously, Twilight, do you only listen to her more serious stuff? Yeah, I think it’s cool that she doesn’t stick to one genre, but please tell me you’ve listened to some of her comedy tracks before. ‘Sandy Cheeks’ made me wake my mom once, I was laughing so hard at it!”

“Okay, it was funny, but I think 'Popping Spring Poppies' was funnier.”

“Girls…”

“Oooh, that was another good one. Even her earlier stuff too, like… ACK!”

“Ack? I don’t think I’ve heard that one be-EEP!”

The two of them winced as their ears were very firmly grasped and the two of them were raised out of their chairs by a scowling teacher. Spike sighed and leaned back, a light blush on his face. “I tried to warn you two,” he mumbled.

“Well,” Ms. Harshwhinny stated, glancing between the two of them. “I often do encourage conversation between pupils, but normally, it’s on the topic of what is happening in class.” she gave them both a firm pull, making the two whimpering girls shuffle towards the front desk. Their tails dipped down fearfully and Harshwhinny pushed Pinkie against the wall nearby, having her stand there with her hands on her head. “Now I have to take time out of the period to discipline the two of you,” she huffed. “On the first period of the first day, no less…”

“Well, technically it’s second period,” Pinkie noted from the wall. She fell silent when she saw the glare on the teacher’s face.

Twilight groaned a little bit as she was bent over the edge of the desk and her skirt was flipped up, revealing her cute, if slightly conservative, cotton white panties. She flushed deeper and glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes met Spike’s who had been looking straight at the scene with something resembling fascination and embarrassment. Whether for himself or her, it wasn’t clear. The two of them looked away after realizing the other was watching.

Ms. Harshwhinny picked up her ruler and sighed, tapping it against her palm once more for emphasis. “Honestly, I expect much better from you, Ms. Sparkle. You are an exemplary student here at the school, and I hope that this is not going to be a theme for the rest of the year.”

“I-it won’t be, ma’am. I promise.”

“Good.” She placed the end of the ruler against her pantied bottom, tapping it lightly as she raised her tail out of the way, holding it up. “In the spirit of the early school year, I am willing to give you a break. So long as you behave yourself and don’t make this difficult, I’ll only be spanking you over your panties.”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Twilight said, quietly, and nervously. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Good.” She gave her bottom a few more taps, lining herself up. Spike bit his lip and carefully folded one leg over the other in hopes of discouraging the erection that was starting to push its way up in his pants. It seems his libido was not as easily exhausted as he had hoped. He found himself staring at her covered buttocks, trying to stare through her underwear. The white cotton was thick enough to preserve her modesty, but even with those light taps that the teacher was warming her up with, he could just faintly see the wobble of her soft bottom cheeks. The anticipation started to build in his mind as the teacher raised her implement up nice and high for the first real spank.

The world seemed to move in slow motion for spike, who felt his heart starting to speed up as he waited for the first blow to land. His body tensed as though he was the one about to be on the receiving end.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

SWI-SMACK!

“EEP!”

The ruler cut through the air with an audible whoosh and impacted the cotton panties with a satisfying whapping sound. Twilight let out a light yelp and gasped, squirming under the smack, but otherwise maintained her position, blushing and glancing back over her shoulder. Her blush only intensified when she realized how many different pairs of eyes were on her. She tried to look away, but her gaze kept getting drawn back, especially to the young dragon sitting in the front, who was watching her with more intense interest than he would ever give to history.

SWI-WHAP! SWI-SMACK! SWI-WHAP!

“Ouch! Yeep! Oww!”

Ms Harshwhinny gave a brief pause between every smack, to let everything sink in. The edges of her cheeks, the very edges, were only slightly visible, just enough for Spike to see the light tinge left behind by the ruler whaps. He took in a deep breath and flexed his fingers a few times as he watched, chewing on his tongue again. Others were not so subtle about enjoying the show, as he could hear the moans and giggles of other mares and stallions behind him in the crowded classroom, but their exclamations remained light enough that Harshwhinny did not pull her eyes away from her task. “I certainly hope this does not become a recurring issue, Ms. Sparkle,” the teacher stated. “Because if this does happen again, I can assure you, your bottom will have much less protection the next time.”

“Ouch! N-no ma’am! EEP! I promise! AH! I-it won’t happen again!”

“Good. Now, just a few more to make sure that this lesson has sunk in properly…”

SWI-SMACK! SWI-CRACK! SWI-WHAP!

“Aww! Waah! It has ma’am, I swear it has!”

“Good.” She nodded and reached down, gently pulling up on her panties. Twilight yelped and arched her back, but didn’t move as Harshwhinny pulled them up, just enough to reveal a little bit more of her bottom. Spike leaned forward, eyes widening a little as he took in the edges of the ruler marks. She’d been spanking pretty damn hard to make such deep imprints on her butt through her panties. “Hmmm,” Harshwhinny muttered. “Seems sufficiently red.” She released the panties and allowed Twilight to stand. She quickly adjusted her underwear as much as she could.

“Return to your seat, Ms. Sparkle,” she ordered. “And I had best not have to speak to you again for the rest of the class.”

“Yes ma’am, o-of course ma’am!” she nodded up and down, letting her skirt fall back down over her panties before she fervently began to rub at her cheeks, shuffling back towards her seat. Both she and Spike glanced at one another for a moment before they immediately looked anywhere else, feeling quite embarrassed. Spike for having witnessed it and Twilight for having lived it.

Ms. Harswhinny turned her attention on the pony still standing next to the wall now. She reached over, grabbed Pinkie’s ear, and started to yank her gently towards the desk. “Now it’s your turn.”

“Yes ma’am,” Pinkie said, in a rather reserved voice. Spike caught a glance at her face and she seemed far less worried than he would expect a pony about to be paddled with a ruler to be. She was bent down over the edge of the desk, her butt facing the gathered students, just like Twilight was, and then raising up her skirt to her back…

Revealing a long, thin string of black fabric currently flossing between her bare, thick cheeks. Both Twilight and Spike felt their faces heat up and Spike even covered his nose as a precaution to avoid severe blood loss. Behind them, they could hear several gasps, a few whistles, and even the loud ‘POOF’ of pegasus wings springing wide open. That must have been embarrassing for them, and it made Spike glad that his body didn’t have such a reaction with his own wings.

“Pinkamina Diane Pie,” Ms. Harshwhinny said evenly. “What is this?”

“This?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. “Looks like a thong,” she said cheerfully.

The teacher’s eyes narrowed. “First of all, you had best curb that smart aleck attitude. Secondly, you are aware that wearing things like this,” she grabbed hold of the thong and gave it a firm yank upwards, making Pinkie yip as she was given a partial flossing, “Is not appropriate to be wearing here at school.”

“Yep.”

“Then why, exactly, are you wearing it?” she asked.

“Um, I missed laundry day?” she tried with a light smile.

Ms Harshwhinny raised a brow at her before raising the ruler again. She grabbed hold of Pinkie’s thong, giving the unfortunate young lady a massive wedgie, making her squeal in discomfort and start shifting her weight from foot to foot nice and fast, which had the added effect of making her free bottom cheeks wobble back and forth lightly.

Spike vaguely wondered how Pinkie managed to be so energetic and athletic when she was obviously carrying around a lot of weight down on her hips like that. Of course, that thought was also mixed in with the rest of his mind going, “Don’t look too obvious, don’t get a boner, don’t look like a perv!” His eyes were constantly ignoring this advice, however. They were practically glued to Pinkie’s soft, bouncing bottom cheeks, and he felt his body tense up even more when Ms. Harshwhinny put her trusty ruler against her backside and tapped it a few times, which only exaggerated the wobbles.

She lined up her shot, aiming it straight across the center of both cheeks. She pulled it up in the air, letting it hover up above her. She was rearing back a little bit more than she had with Twilight. Apparently Pinkie had made the wrong sort of impression on her. And then…

CRACK! “EEK!”

Spike jumped a little bit at the sudden impact. He hadn’t even notice her swing the thing, but he had certainly seen the impact. The ruler impacted her bare cheeks with such a force that both of her cheeks contorted and bounced back with a visible ripple along them. He barely had time to enjoy the sight before a second thwap landed, just below the first, and produced a similar result.

SMACK! “OOP!”

WHAP! “ACK!”

SLAP! “YEEP!”

SPLAT! “AWW!”

“Am I making a point?” Ms. Harshwhinny asked with a huff as she continued to whap and smack and spank at the poor pink pony’s posterior. Every slap left behind a long, stinging red line that Spike could practically feel the heat radiating off of. As they started to overlap, the redness started to get deeper and her thick, wobbling bottom started to pulse as the marks spread like ivy over her rear end.

“Owww!” Pinkie whined, kicking out with one of her legs, which had the unintended side effect of letting the class see what she was sporting between them. Spike was pretty sure he heard the descriptor of ‘one juicy-looking peach’ used somewhere behind him. He couldn’t say they were wrong. After all, that thong, with how tightly it was pulled taught, didn’t hide anything. “Hnnn, yes ma’am!”

“Good!” SWI-SMACK! SWI-SLAP! SWI-SPAT! “Now, I’ll be sending a note home to your parents to let them know about your poor behavior and poor choice of underwear, young lady. I expect the note to be signed and returned to me by our next History class, or we’ll repeat this lesson with the strap. Am I clear?”

“OWWW!” Pinkie groaned again, arching her back a bit and really shaking her tush this time, so much so that Ms. Harshwhinny had to grip her hips with her free arm to keep her still enough to continue spanking her. “Yeeeees! You arrrre!” the pink pony whined. “I proooomise!”

“Good… now then…”

She really laid into her ass this time, doubling her speed and peppering her sore flank with powerful smacks that turned her rear into a jiggling mess and made her whine and cry even more loudly than before. She finished it up with one more firm clap to her sit spots before standing up and setting the ruler to the side. Spike wondered if he could see steam rising up from either her butt or the ruler if he squinted hard enough. Pinkie shot up immediately and began to rub at her rear with both hands, hissing as she clutched at her behind, seemingly oblivious to the show she was still putting on for everyone else. She squeezed at her ample buttocks, lifting and shifting them about in slow circles as she tried to rub and massage away the sting. “Ouch, oww, owwie, ow, ow…” she groaned, still shifting about from foot to foot, half dancing, half squirming.

While she was doing that, Ms. Harshwhinny turned away and started to write out a note to Pinkie’s mother. Pinkie took this opportunity to turn around and flick up her skirt, giving the class one more good flash of her spanked rear before letting her skirt fall over her thong covered rear. Harshwhinny turned back, holding her a folded note. “Remember, young lady, you had better be wearing appropriate underwear by my next class, and you had best present me with this note, signed by your parents, or we’ll repeat this lesson.”

“Yes ma’am,” Pinkie said, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

“Good. Now sit down.” She pointed back to the desk. Pinkie nodded and shuffled over to her seat, still rubbing at her bottom as she sat down, groaning and squirming back and forth. She let her skrt stay flared out, sliding off of her chair, basically meaning her bare cheeks were pressed against the old, hardwood chair.

Spike managed to push down his libido just enough to glance over at her. “Are you okay, Pinkie?” he whispered as Ms. Harshwhinny started to return to the lecture.

Pinkie sighed, and then looked at Spike with the biggest grin she could muster. “Yeah… that was awesome!”

“I will never understand how you can find that sort of thing enjoyable, Pinkie,” Twilight mumbled, shoving a history book into her locker and glancing back at her friend, who just smiled, swaying this way and that. “I was allowed to keep my panties up and I still had trouble ignoring the sting when I was sitting down.”

Pinkie shrugged, one hand still massaging her rump through her skirt. “Well, she definitely didn’t spank nearly as hard as my mom does, and it was actually pretty fun getting a light spanking for a change!”

“Light?” Spike asked. “Pinkie, you have clearly visible ruler lines all over your butt. It’s like, three times as dark as your fur color.”

“Yeah!” she said with a smile, clapping her hands together. “I’m just glad I didn’t start moaning. THAT would have been embarrassing.”

Both Spike and Twilight shook their head as they looked at her. “You’re so weird, Pinkie,” they said with a smile. Pinkie giggled in response and gave both of her friends a quick, gentle hug.

The three of them continued getting ready for their next period, but as they did so, Spike heard someone clearing their throat behind them. He turned around, blinking as he saw that it was Coloratura. “Hello there,” she greeted warmly, smiling at them.

“Oh… uh hi,” Spike said awkwardly, rubbing his arm.

Pinkie gasped loudly, eyes widening. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” she squealed. She hurried forward and grabbed Rara’s hand, shaking it up and down hard enough to make the woman jump a little bit. “It is so nice to meet you, I am a huge fan of your work, would you please sign my butt?!”

“Wh-what?!” the pop idol gasped, completely taken off guard by this sudden attack.

Twilight sighed and walked forward, grabbing Pinkie’s tail and giving it a firm yank, pulling her away. “Sorry about that,” she said. “Pinkie doesn’t know how to keep her cool in most situations.”

“Heeey!” she whined. “I’m better at it than you are whenever you walk into a bookstore and start drooling!”

Twilight blushed. “Th-that’s different. A-anyway, not something Ms. Coloratura has to hear.”

“Please, just Rara,” she said, clearing her throat and fixing her hair, which had been lightly mussed by Pinkie’s enthusiastic greeting. “And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about what happened.”

“Sorry?” Spike asked. “Why are you sorry? I mean, you didn’t get them in trouble…”

“Well, I kind of did,” she mumbled, giving them another apologetic smile. “I heard what you two were talking about as I sat down.”

“Pretty sure most of the class heard it,” Spike muttered to himself. “They weren’t exactly subtle.”

“All the same,” she said with a sigh, “I was aware that my transferring here might cause some trouble, but I figured it was better to be honest about who I was rather than try to think of some contrived way to keep my life as a songstress and my life as a student separated.” She shook her head. “But I really am sorry that my introduction lead to that.” She blushed a bit. “Er, I know that the papers I signed said this place used corporal punishment as a means of punishing students, but I didn’t think it would be like… like that.”

“You mean in front of the class? On bare cheeks even?” Pinkie asked with a smile. “Yeah, every teacher here has their own way of handling it. Ms. Harshwhinny and Ms. Stormy Flare are probably the ones you gotta watch out for the most. Ms. Fleur is pretty bad too, and of course there are the prefects that roam the halls at certain times. Oh, and if you get sent to the principal or the vice principal, you better pray it’s Celestia who’s there and not Luna.”

“Er… why’s that?” she asked, glancing between the three with a tilt of her head.

Twilight gave Pinkie’s tail another gentle yank before she could continue her tirade. “Well, Luna is very…” she paused to think of the proper word. “Very old-world. Celestia’s much more mellow and easy going, but Luna’s more prone to being emotional, and believes heavily on hard punishments, even for minor offenses. The minimum you can expect to get from her is probably a paddling and a good, long lecture on your poor behavior.” She shrugged.

She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a light smile. “Actually, I still haven’t had a chance to really explore the place properly. I was still putting the finishing touches on my paperwork during first period.”

“Well, I don’t know if we’d have time to show you around right now,” Spike said.

“Oh, no, that’s fine,” Rara said with a smile. “But I was wondering if you could at least direct me to my next class?” she asked, unfolding her schedule. Pinkie and Twilight took a quick look at it and smiled.

“Looks like you’re in the same class as us, we’ll walk you there!”

Spike chuckled. “You girls have fun. And Pinkie, don’t scare her too badly.”

“Hey, I’m not scary!”

She giggled gently. “Thank you, I’d appreciate it. And again, it’s very nice to meet you three.” she offered them her hand and they shook it, doing proper introductions.

The group split up after that, Rara, Twilight, and Pinkie heading off for their class while Spike headed off down the opposite hall, humming a bit as he made his way to his own class. However, as he passed by the student lounge located on the first floor, he stopped, blinking. The door was closed, the blinds drawn. He tilted his head. That was unusual, the doors to the student lounges were supposed to remain wide open for any student who wanted to take a quick break or just sit down in a safe space for a little bit. That, coupled with the blinds being drawn, really piqued his interest. He tested the knob, as quietly as he could. It twisted, but the door was bolted from the other side, meaning he couldn’t get inside. His frown deepened. Was something happening in there that shouldn’t? He should probably go and let a teacher or a janitor or some other member of the faculty and let them know about this.

He was about to do just that… but one of the side windows caught his attention as he started past it. The blind had been pulled, just like the others, but this one had curled up a bit, so there was enough of a gap that he was capable of seeing inside. He wanted to know what the heck was happening, so he carefully bent forward and peeped inside. Thankfully there wasn’t anything in his way or else he might not have been able to see…

A naked, white unicorn over the lap of a tan and blond earth pony while a second unicorn carefully rubbed some salve into the white one’s very red, very swollen posterior.

It didn’t take him very long to figure out that the unicorn in question was once again Rarity Belle. At first, Spike was worried she was being the victim of another bullying attack, but then he saw the salve and relaxed a little. Only to cover is nose again when he saw the way she was giving that bottom a very deep-tissue massage, stroking and caressing it like it was some sort of fun little stress ball. The other mare, the blond-haired earth mare, was holding her down as she squirmed lightly, but didn’t seem to mean any ill intent. In fact, her smile seemed quite comforting. Almost motherly. Gradually, her grip on Rarity’s arms relaxed and she instead stroked the other mare’s mane comfortingly.

He recognized her now. Applejack, a real good friend of Pinkie’s. In fact, both the Pie family and the Apple family had always been rather close. He’d met her once before, but the two of them hadn’t really had a chance to talk very extensively. She seemed a decent sort though. He wondered why she was holding her down though. Still, Rarity seemed pretty grateful for it now.

The other unicorn though, he had no idea who she was. He’d never seen her before Her fur was a dark shade of yellow, and her mane a rather striking mix of flame colors, from deep red to the same dark yellow found in her fur. She had the same tranquil smile on her face that Applejack had. They were talking, saying something to her, but the glass and door were too thick for him to discern what they were saying and he couldn’t read lips, so he was out of luck there. All the same though, it didn’t really matter. His attention was squarely on Rartiy’s lovely backside, getting the tender loving care that it deserved. The way that the other unicorn rubbed, the way she caressed it, she was obviously very skilled and practiced at the motions.

He wondered how many times she’d done this sort of thing before…

Damn, now his mind was starting to wander again, before he could stop it, he imagined Rarity, sobbing and whimpering in the corner, her hands firmly planted on her buttocks, trying to rub out the sting, looking over her shoulder with the most adorable pouty lip on her face. “You know, there’s an easier way to make that ass of yours feel better,” a sultry voice would say, before the yellow unicorn would come into view. Spike couldn’t hear her voice, but he imagined it having a light, sultry lilt. She’d take Rarity’s arm, gently leading her along to a small chair nearby, and sitting down upon it. She’d gently pat her knee, and Rarity would give a light pout, insisting that was perfectly fine on her own.

The unicorn would frown and reach behind her, grabbing one cheek and squeezing, firmly enough to make the other mare whimper. “Down,” she’d order.

Rarity would oblige then, slowly lowering herself over the yellow unicorn’s knees, planting her palms on the ground and arching her back, as though preparing for another spanking. But that wouldn’t happen, as her friend would produce a small bottle of cold, soothing cream, opening the cap and tipping it over, letting a generous dollop of the mixture drizzle down onto Rarity’s rump, as though she were letting maple syrup fall over a pair of bright red pancakes.

Rarity would start to shudder and shiver as the relief of the cooling cream was over her, sliding and dribbling down over her cheeks, covering the throbbing red in glistening white. And then when there was a good dollop on each cheek, the yellow unicorn would slowly start to ease her steady, practiced hands down onto each cheek, stroking rubbing them both up and down, squeezing them and working the cream as deep into the sore tissue as she could.

And then the moaning would start. “Oooh… thank you…” Rarity would mumble.

“It’s the least I could do for a friend who ends up getting her naughty bottom spanked all the time, hmhm.”

“Aww, my bottom isn’t naughty… mmm, and I don’t get spanked ALL the time. Oooh…”

“Hmhm, which is why almost every time I see you, you have big, fat, bouncy, red orbs for me to caress and stroke and make feel better, right?”

Rarity would squirm a bit more, panting lightly. “Oooh… maybe a little bit?” she would pant, and then her legs would part, ever so slightly, allowing the other unicorn access to what she had between her legs.

“Oho… so you admit to being naughty, hm?” she would giggle and slide her hand down in between her legs, her fingers slick with cream. “Well… only one thing to do with a naughty, well spanked brat like you.” Her fingers would slowly inch towards her most intimate spot. A finger will slide along her nethers, tickling the sensitive area up and down as Rarity arched her back and let out the loudest moan possible.

“Ohhhhh yess!”

Spike’s eyes widened as he snapped out of his daze, feeling his erection press against the wall. He groaned, covering his mouth and nose again. Dammit, he felt blood trickling down again. He let himself get too into it yet again.

Twisting around, leaving that pretty scene behind, he shuffled off to find the bathroom… again.

He really had to get a handle on all these fantasies...

Chapter 3: Club Conundrums

Lunch went by relatively peacefully, thank goodness. Spike was actually glad to have some normalcy for a change, it gave him a chance to actually ignore the fact that he’d been having really horny thoughts lately.

It had also been a good chance to sit with Rara and actually talk to her a bit. He’d expected her to be a little bit high up in the clouds with how her career was going, but she was quite down to earth. Perhaps a little bit awkward at first, but once he and the others got her talking, there was no slowing down. Plus, she had plenty of stories to tell. Her mother apparently worked as her manager too, which was one of the reasons she had been home schooled. She could recall waking up at seven in the morning, studying until after lunch, and then practicing her set lists until the evening. It sounded like quite a life to be living, and Spike was glad she was taking some time to herself and doing something a bit more normal now.

Well, as normal as a school of this size and scope could be, anyway.

The period after lunch was also designated as something a bit special for the first day as well. The entire period consisted of the students browsing the gymnasium and the outer courtyard to choose their clubs for the year. Any student could form a club, provided they could find at least four other ponies who wanted to be a part of it, and there wasn’t any limit on the amount of clubs a student could join (provided they could fit them all into their schedule of course) but they were encouraged to join at least one club and be social with their other students.

Last year, Spike had only been part of one, the fiction club with Twilight. He’d signed up again for it this year, as had Twilight of course, though it looked like the group was going to be smaller this year. He and Twilight’s names were the only ones on the roster right now. He hoped they could find a couple more ponies to join so the club wouldn’t be disbanded.

While he didn’t really intend to join anything more, he did at least want to see what else was on offer. He’d considered joining the anime club, but a quick look at the roster showed that it was a bit full, and he didn’t really know anyone there. He didn’t do so well with large crowds of strangers, so he passed on that for now. There was the creative writing club, the sewing club, the fitness club, various political activist clubs, there was even a club that worked towards legalization of medicinal herbs.

That club didn’t really do much.

A club for skiers, for skaters, for almost every kind of sport, for artists, for painters, for beaders, various sciences and subjects… it made his head spin a little trying to keep track of it all. Almost every booth had at least a few ponies crowded around it, chatting, discussing interests… even if somepony didn’t end up joining a club, there was a real good chance that they’d make a few friends doing this.

Except for…

Spike frowned as he reached the end of the gymnasium. In a very back corner was a very plain looking booth. All the other booths had custom banners, some bright colors to catch the eye, some of the larger clubs had even printed out flyers and pamphlets with information on what they were all about. This one though? There was no artistic flair, no bright colors. In fact, it looked like the booth had been thrown together at the last minute. And sitting there, alone, cut off from the rest of the clubs, was a lone pegasus mare, with a gray coat and a blond mane, which hid her downcast eyes. Her ears were lowered and her wings were drooping. The simple, hastily scrawled sign above her booth read ‘Tabletop Club’ with several misspellings crossed out, in permanent marker.

Spike felt every ounce of sympathy in his body well up and shoot towards the young lady. Her situation made him think of the one year his mother had put him in an all-dragon school. It had been absolutely miserable, and that had been at the end of Elementary. At least she wasn’t getting constantly picked on in addition to being shunned.

He sighed and smiled, slowly walking towards her. What was the harm in at least giving her someone to talk to after all? He made his way over, dodging past some very rude unicorns who cut him off as he made his way towards the rickety booth. He stopped in front of it and glanced over the contents. Haphazardly strewn over the top of the table was a selection of books that Spike recognized as rulebooks for the game Ogres and Oubliettes. He had a passing knowledge of it, having played a campaign or two back in middle school (another activity that had gotten him no small amount of teasing) and the selection here was far larger than the small amount of books he’d played with way back when. Perhaps it was for a newer addition?

Laid out next to the books was a sampling of character creation sheets and a pile of polyhedral dice, possessing sides numbering four all the way to one hundred. And finally, on the edge of the booth was a small pile of board and card games, the really complex ones that required large parties of people and multiple hours of playtime. He’d never really been big into board games, but some of the titles there did catch his eye. In particular was a strange card game bearing the name P.A.D.D.L.E. (Ponies and Dragons’ Delightfully Ludicrous Events), and a particularly massive horror board game that bore the rather odd name of Cupcakes.

The pony sitting at the booth hadn’t noticed him yet so he gently raised a hand to his mouth and gave a loud, but polite cough.

The pegasus mare, startled, whipped her head back and forth a few times, as if snapped out of a stupor, and then turned her head to face Spike, several locks of blond hair covering her eyes. “Oh! Um… h-hi!” she greeted, uncertain. “Uh… thanks for stopping by?”

“Uh, thanks,” Spike said. “So… you’re president of the um, tabletop club?”

She reached up and started to brush her hair back. “Yeah… or I’m trying to be. I’m a third year student here,” she said gently. “This is my… second time trying to get this club off the ground.

“O-oh,” Spike said uneasily. “So the club isn’t official yet?”

“No,” she said. “And it looks like it won’t be for the second year in a row.” She pulled her hair back and then finally turned her eyes up on Spike. Or rather tried to. As she opened them fully and Spike saw them for the first time, he saw that the two of them were looking off in two different directions. He blinked, his own eyes flicking between them, not really sure where to focus his gaze.

It must have been noticeable, as she sighed and leaned back. “Yeah, I know. It’s off-putting.”

“Oh, n-no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, I was just a little… you know, surprised.”

She smiled. “You don’t have to be polite. I’ve just always been like this. I have Strabismus. Poor eye muscle control. But I guess everyone usually just calls it wall eyes.” She shrugged a little bit. “But anyway, thanks for stopping by,” she said happily.

“No problem,” Spike said with a smile, looking down at the sign up sheet. Apart from Derpy, who as the prospective president had her name typed up at the top of the sheet, the only other name on it was ‘Fluttershy’ in neat, flowery handwriting. “Fluttershy?” Spike asked. “Is she new?”

“Mhm. She was here just a minute ago, but she said that crowds made her real nervous. I’m planning to meet with her after this so we can talk a bit more about the club. Or… will if it… ever…” she trailed off and gave a loud sigh, folding her arms and leaning forward on the table, once again looking quite dejected.

“So… you didn't have any luck getting this started last year?”

“Mhm,” she said. “No on ever shows any interest.”

“I didn’t even see you here the last year,” Spike said gently. “I mean… I wasn't looking hard but...”

“I didn’t even have a booth last year. I had to stand up at the edge of the courtyard and try to get people’s interest that way. I didn’t have any material to show them, I didn’t have anything prepared… ponies thought I was trying to get them to sign some sort of petition and just walked right by me.” She shook her head. “And I can’t find anyone else after school with enough interest in these games to play with me.” She was starting to droop again. “Maybe I should just find a new hobby or something, something that I can actually do on my ow… huh?” she blinked as she watched Spike bend over and quickly sign his name to the sheet. She immediately perked up a bit. “N-no, you don’t have to… I wasn’t trying to…”

“It’s okay,” he said with a smile. “I really do want to join.” He offered her a hand. “My name’s spike, by the way.”

“I’m Derpy Hooves.” She took his hand gently and shook it gratefully. “So… you really want to join? Have you played any of these before?”

“Well, not these specifically,” he said, motioning to the board games. “But I did play Ogres and Oubliettes a few years back with a couple of other ponies. I don’t think it was this edition though.” He reached for a book, and after she nodded to let him know it was okay, he picked it up and started to flip through it. “Yeah, this is sort of different. I remember I was playing a Nightwing and-”

“Oh, you played a Nightwing?” she asked. “Me too! I was so annoyed when they took them out of the new edition.”

Spike blinked, flipping to the class section of the book. “Wait, really? Aw man, why’d they do that?”

“Too easy to min-max,” the mare said with a huff. “They decided to just remove the class entirely rather than re-balance them. But the outcry was so bad, they did eventually release a supplement to put them back into the game.” She slid a few books out of the way and produced the Nightwing supplement itself.

Spike took it and quickly flipped through the small book, frowning gently. “Aww man, they don’t have access to Aether magic anymore?”

“I know!” she said, standing up, leaning forward so that she could look at the book with him. “That was what made them so versatile in the first place, they were basically wizards that could use lighter metal armor for a change! And look at this, they traded in the magic for the ability for them to start with basic alchemy and enchanting abilities, but that’s nowhere near as useful as the magic! Who’d want to make healing potions when you could be using alteration to transform your enemies into wood?!”

“I know right?! It’s so bogus!” a third voice said. Startled, Spike and Derpy yelped, jumping backwards to see a blue winged mare standing there with them. Spike blinked a bit, recognizing that rainbow mane anywhere.

“R… Rainbow Dash?” he asked, hesitantly. Rainbow Dash was one of the premiere athletes of the school, and was on almost every sports team. Save for the prestigious Wonderbolts, the school’s resident record-shattering football team. Getting onto that team required amazingly high athletic standards. Standards that even Rainbow struggled to match.

Which made it even more confusing why she’d be here.

“Hey there, Spike,” she greeted with a smirk. “Haven’t seen you in a while. Feels like forever ago when you tried out for the tennis team.

“That was at the beginning of last year,” Spike told her. “And I wasn’t even good enough to be a second-stringer. Pretty sure they said that if I tried out again this year, they might consider making me their water boy.”

“Heh, yeah, I remember.” she said with a nod. “Anyway, I came over here because I happen to see some of these.” She knocked a hand against one of the hardcover books. “You guys got room for one more?” she asked.

“You… you want to join my club?” Derpy asked, blinking a few times. “But… but you’re a jock.”

She blinked, tossing her mane to the side. “And?”

“Well, I mean, aren’t you kinda busy with all of the sports clubs and such?” Spike asked. “I mean, last year, I think you were at EVERY sporting event!”

“Yeah, and it almost tore me apart!” she said with a grunt. “The school counselor even told me to tone it down this year, and while it was tough to choose, I did cut back on the sports I’m participating in. Still gonna try out for the Wonderbolts again this year.”

“Think you’ll get in?” Spike asked.

“Heh, after all the practice I put in over the summer? Here’s hoping.” She crossed the fingers on her hand.

“Um, uh… but why my club? I mean, it’s not even a club yet. There’s only me and two others.”

“Three others,” Rainbow said, casually signing her name to the sheet. When she felt two pairs of eyes on her, she glanced up. “What?” she asked. “I’m allowed to have hobbies outside of sports, ya know. I’ve been playing this sort of stuff since I was old enough to hold dice without trying to swallow em.”

“Really?” Spike asked. “I… really wouldn’t have expected that from you.”

“Eh, not like I go around advertising it or anything. Not like I’m ashamed of it either, it’s just not the sort of thing that comes up in conversation in the locker room before a big game, you know? Like ‘Hey girls, check out my level 15 archer, I just took out a dire owlbear at last night’s sesh, and it turned out to be guarding a really important Mistletoe arrow that was said to be blessed by Artemis herself. Can’t wait to see what the DM has planned for this!’ It just doesn’t happen.”

The two of them tilted their heads as they listened to one another. Derpy smiled gently. “I’d… like to hear about that campaign sometime.”

“No problem.” she said, giving a thumbs up. “Heh, just gotta get one more pony on the roster, right?”

“Y-yes!” she smiled, fluttering her wings again. “Thank you so much!”

“Heh, don’t thank me yet. We still gotta find one more pony to join.” She tapped her chin lightly for a moment. “I’ll keep an ear out.”

“Er, me too,” Spike said with a nod. “I’ll also ask around. I’m going to make another loop around the place, see if there’s anything else I’m interested in,” he smiled. “I’m sure there’s got to be one other pony around here interested in the club, at the very least.”

Derpy smiled and stood up, happily bouncing up and down on her heels. “Thank you! Both of you!” she clasped her hands together. “Oh goodness, I don’t know how to properly show my gratitude…”

“Well, if we get this club off the ground, you can start be being a good pres,” Rainbow noted.

“Yes! O-of course!” she said happily, giggling. “Thank you both so much!”

After Spike split from the two pegasi, he circled the club fair one more time, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. While he’d been tempted by a few places, his natural shyness kept him from really throwing his lot into anything in particular. Two clubs seemed fine anyway, and he at least knew one or two of the mares in the club. He vaguely wondered how many clubs Pinkie had joined this year. Last year she’d had to be told that trying to joint twenty-one probably wasn’t that feasible. She’d been talked down to eighteen, and somehow managed to pull it off without exhausting herself.

If anything, her presence exhausted a few of the other clubs.

He decided to head back to Derpy’s booth before heading to the student lounge, to see if she’d had any luck getting another pony to join the club. The crowd was starting to thin as other students got bored or or tired and decided to head off to go and find something else to do before the last class of the day.

He wondered if that would make Derpy’s booth a little bit more noticeable.

As he approached it, he frowned a bit as he stopped in front of the empty booth. Derpy was nowhere to be seen, nor was there any sort of sign or note saying that she’d be right back. He frowned and walked over to the booth right next to hers, a club dedicated to sewing and needlework. “Excuse me?”

“Hey there,” the mare on the other side of the booth said happily. “Would you like to join the Needlework club?” she asked.

“Actually, I was just wondering if you knew where the mare who was manning that booth had gone?” Spike asked, pointing to the tabletop club’s booth.

She frowned, shrugging a bit and leaning back. “You just missed her actually. She was pulled off by a group of jockish looking pegasi. I think a few of em were Wonderbolts, actually.”

Spike frowned. “Pulled off?”

“Yeah, at least, at first. The grey pegasus looked a little bit nervous, but I was assured they were buddies. It wasn’t really any of my business and there were a bunch of ponies coming by to look at the booth, so I couldn’t really do much.”

He scowled a little bit. “That doesn’t sound good,” he muttered. “Do you know where they went?”

“I think one of em said they were gonna hang out in the hallway between buildings for a while.” She shrugged. “Probably going there for a smoke. That’s what a bunch of students do here.”

Spike nodded. “Well thanks for that,” he said, turning and walking off quickly. He had a bad feeling about this.

The school’s buildings were all connected via large, tunnel like hallways that led between each building, with the buildings holding different classrooms or facilities. It was almost like a condensed college campus all things considered, to the point where maps were handed out to students when they first started attending to make sure that they didn’t get confused or lost.

They still managed to get confused and lost at times.

Spike made his way towards the particular hallway the needlework mare had mentioned, stopping at the doorway into it and looking through the massive windows on the upper part of the doors. He frowned deeply at what he saw.

Derpy was there, back to back with a bright yellow mare with a long pink mane falling around her shoulders and back. Perhaps that was the Fluttershy mare that had signed up before? Hmmm…

The two of them were surrounded by a group of four pegasi mares, all of whom Spike recognized as members of the Wonderbolts sports team. Three of them were B-listers, mares who were called in when the A-team was starting to get tired or if one of them couldn’t make it to the game. There was Cloud Chaser, a purple mare with a striking silver and grey spiky mane, Lime Jelly, who had a neon green coat and a pinkish-purple mane that managed to make her stand out in a crowd despite her rather simple mane and fur styling, and High Winds, a bright blue mare with a dark blue, poofy, curly mane and tail that sort of reminded Spike of Pinkie’s hair style, at least a little bit.

They were all wearing gym uniforms, making him wonder if they had been practicing until recently. But the mare who seemed to be leading them was a lot more recognizable. It was Fleetfoot, who was one of the three top athletes at the school, the other two also being members of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire and Soarin. She had a rather smarmy grin on her face as she paced back and forth, walking a half circle between Fluttershy and Derpy.

Spike frowned and carefully eased the door to the hallway open, just enough to try and hear what was being said inside.

“You two got a lot of nerve, trying to court Rainbow Dash over into your weird little games.”

“Court?” Derpy asked, confused. “Sh-she just saw something she liked and signed up for it. I-I didn’t even ask her to do anything.”

Fluttershy let out a cute little whimper. “A-and I didn’t know any of this was happening, I-I just signed up because I thought it would be fun.”

“Well, here’s the thing girls,” Lime Jelly said, putting one arm around Derpy’s shoulders in what would look friendly to others, but must have felt a little uncomfortable to the grey mare, “Rainbow’s a real big hot shot when it comes to sports. She’s super athletic and impressive. A sure-in for the Wonderbolts when she tries out for them.”

“Don’t you mean ‘if’?” Fluttershy asked. She squeaked and seemed to shrink down an inch or two as four pairs of eyes fixed powerful glares on her. She quickly lost her voice after that.

Fleetfoot nodded and pat Derpy’s head like she was addressing a little child. “Yeah, so you see, she’s gonna be real busy at that point, way too busy to be hanging out with nerds that aren’t gonna be doing anything but reading off spreadsheets and talking about things that don’t exist.”

“W-we aren’t nerds!” Derpy insisted, actually stomping a hoof. “We’re just having fun playing a game. We’re no different than you guys when you’re playing hoofball.”

“No different?” Cloud Chaser growled, grabbing Derpy’s arm and spinning her around so that she was facing the angry pegasus. “There’s a huge difference. What we’re doing actually matters. We’re out there doing something physical while all you girls do is just sit around reading books, books that don’t even make you smarter, and giggle at stupid shit like… hobgoblins and stuff like that.”

Derpy and Fluttershy both giggled lightly, much to their confusion. “Hehe… hobgoblins can be pretty fun,” Fluttershy mused.

“Yeah… specially when they’re on their own…”

Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. High Winds and Cloud chaser suddenly both grabbed onto Fluttershy and Derpy’s skirts and yanked them down, pantsing the two of them, making them both yelp as their uniforms pooled around their ankles. “We don’t have time for this. You two are gonna learn not to reach beyond your means. Don’t go trying to distract athletes at this school with silly stuff. When we’re done here, you’re gonna go back to the booth and erase Rainbow’s name.”

“A-and what if I don’t wanna do that?” Derpy said, trying to sound defiant, though her voice was cracking a bit as she tried to shuffle closer to Fluttershy, who was shrinking even further, her hands lowering to try and cover her front.

“Oh, by the time we’re done here, you’re gonna want to,” she said, as cloud Chaser and High Winds held the two girls still, pulling their hands up into the air while Fleetfoot and Lime Jelly started to undo their shirts. “A little walk of shame might be good for the two of you.”

Spike’s eyes widened a bit as he took this in. Those were some… pretty cute panties. And as their shirts opened, he could see that they were wearing matching bras. Derpy’s panties were a pretty pink, with a large print of a naked peach on her backside. He bit his lip as he thought of the peach that was hidden behind it.

And he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as he had such an inappropriate thought at her embarrassing situation.

Fluttershy’s panties were just as adorable, if not more than Derpy’s. They were white cotton, which ordinarily made for some very boring panties (He’d jokingly criticized Twilight for her lack of creativity during one of their sleepovers) but Fluttershy’s were decorated with lovely pawprint patterns placed all over them. He shivered a little bit, taking a deep breath as he looked at them. Oh gods, his mind was at it again. He imagined the two of them standing side by side, hands on their heads as he slowly curled the panties down, to just below their bare bottoms and…

Wait, wait, focus Spike! He couldn’t let those two girls go through a walk of shame!

The walk of shame was a well known hazing technique that a lot of the more physical clubs (particularly the wrestling and football clubs) were very fond of using on new members. But it was also a well known bully technique where students would be forced to walk or jog or run over a stretch of land, naked, usually wearing a rather mean sign saying that this wasn’t a streak, but they were forced to do it.

Spike didn’t think either of these girls could handle something like this. Fluttershy, certainly not. She looked like she’d shatter if someone looked at her too mean. And Derpy… well, she was way too sweet of a girl to be put through something that she didn’t deserve, especially since it was meant as a threat to just get her to stop recruiting someone for her club.

He thought back to Rarity. He ignored the image in his mind of her soft, bouncy butt, and instead focused on the situation itself, how she’d been subjected to an unfair, humiliating spanking by a bully, and all he’d done had just been to stand there and watch the entire time. He hadn’t even managed to work up the courage to walk in and comfort her afterwards.

Not this time. Certainly not. He glanced back inside, seeing the pegasi bullies yanking down the two girls’ panties, leaving them totally exposed, save for the bras covering their breasts. Before those could be removed, Spike pushed open the door with a loud thump, gaining their attention quickly as he walked in. “What the heck do you think you’re doing in here?!” he said loudly, hoping he looked intimidating enough if he crossed his arms in front of him.

It didn’t seem to work as Fleetfoot snorted gently. “Oh hey, look who it is, girls.” She huffed lightly and shook her head. “The dragon without fangs.”

He blinked. “What?”

“That’s really rich, you bursting in here like you’re actually trying to do something. Everyone knows you’re one of the biggest softies at the school.”

Spike blinked a little and blushed, backing up a step. Was he really viewed that way here at the school? Well, okay, he wasn’t really a tough guy and he didn’t really feel comfortable around crowds and maybe he had a body more comparable to a flexible little sapling than a giant, rigid oak, but still, it seemed a little judgmental of everyone to just assume he was a softy. He shook his head. “Okay, look, whatever, softy or not, I’m not about to let you go and embarrass these two because you can't wrap your head around the idea that another athlete might have an interest outside of sports.” He took two steps forward to make up for the one he’d taken backwards.

The four mares looked at one another, clearly holding back snickers at his attempts to seem tough. They released Fluttershy and Derpy, or rather pushed them to the side as they all turned towards him, slowly advancing on him in a rather imposing line. He gulped as they drew closer. They were tall, lean, and muscular, like most pegasus athletes were. Their hips might have been a little wider, but they still looked like they could easily curl him into a big pretzel and toss him away. Fleetfoot walked forward and smirked. “Well, points for trying to be a big boy and defend some mares here, but really, what’d you think you were gonna do here.”

“Uh…” Spike frowned, looking past them at the two other mares, who were blushing profusely, looking down, embarrassed, their hands covering their nethers as they tried to keep their modesty and dress themselves at the same time. The sight strengthened his resolve and he glared up at Fleetfoot. “First of all, you’ve got a witness to your cruelty. I’m sure the staff here would love to hear about what you’re trying to do here.”

This time they did laugh. They laughed a hell of a lot harder than he thought was necessary. Apparently they found his attempts at shaming them quite funny. “You really think any teacher is gonna get on our case for this?” Lime Jelly asked.

Cloud Chaser shook her head. “News flash, scaly,” she teased, “We’re Wonderbolts. The most we’re gonna get for this is just a mild scolding, and that’s if anyone even believes your word over ours.”

“Being star athletes definitely has its advantages,” Lime Jelly said. “And if you try telling the team, the only one who would give us an issue would be Spitfire, and even then, she’ll probably just give us a pap on the ass and tell us not to do it again.”

Spike flushed, but glared as they continued to laugh a little bit. “Then I’ll go higher than that and tell Celestia or Luna about this.”

“Geeze, aren’t you a persistent little tattle tail,” High Winds said with a huff. “Cute, kid, real cute, but again, you don’t have any proof, and if you do try to tell anyone, we’re just gonna deny it.”

“In other words,” Fleetfoot stated, “You’re SOL… but I don’t really like your tone with us,” she stated, reaching for him.

Spike’s eyes widened a little and before he knew what was happening, he batted Fleetfoot’s arm away, grabbed her forearm and twisted it behind her back, holding it there, grabbing her shorts firmly to keep hold of her.

“OW! H-hey, what the hell are you doing?” she growled.

“Uh…” Spike blushed. “Defending myself?” he tried. He’d been taking some basic self defense classes in his spare time, mostly because he wanted to at least be prepared if the worst case scenario happened. He’d never really expected to use it, but when he’d felt threatened, it had just sort of happened. But he was too scared now to let go of her.

The other girls started to move on him, but before they could grab at him, Derpy came from behind and leaped on top of Cloud Chaser’s back, clinging to her, while Fluttershy hurried forward and gave the other two girls an ineffective push that made them stumble, but otherwise just annoyed them.

After a few chaotic seconds of shouting and growling and yelping, a booming voice grabbed all of their attention from the opposite side of the room. “And just what is going on here?!” it bellowed.

All action stopped and their eyes turned to see who had spoken. A few of the girls gasped at who was approaching. It was Princess Luna. Everyone started talking at once as the very tall alicorn started to approach them, in a lovely purple turtleneck and some tight, black stretch pants over her legs. She scowled and opened her mouth, a loud boom coming from it. “All of you will be silent at once!” she ordered. They all shut up as she pointed at Spike. “You. What is going on here. Why are there two near naked mares here? What were you all doing back here, out of the way?”

Spike took a deep breath, releasing Fleetfoot’s arm and explaining the situation as clearly as he could. When the others tried to add their two cents, Luna quickly silenced them with a firm glare in their direction and continued to listen to Spike. At the end of his explanation, she looked at the two near naked mares. “Is this true?”

They both nodded quickly, Fluttershy sniffling. Then she looked at the four Wonderbolts. “Anything to say for yourselves, girls?” she asked.

Despite her confidence only a little before, Fleetfoot looked more than a little terrified of the large woman standing before them right now. “Uh… um… they’re lying?”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “I see…” her horn glowed and the four unfortunate athletes were suddenly yanked up into the air, their arms and legs firmly pinned into place with her magic. She lined them all up next to the wall, bending them forward so that their bottoms were pushing outwards, straining against their gym uniforms. “If there is one thing I cannot stand, at all, it is bullies. And I can see that you four need to learn a good lesson about behavior at this school.” She reached out to High Winds, grabbing her shorts and yanking them down, all the way to her ankles. And then she did the same with the jock strap she was wearing, leaving her naked from the waist to ankles. Then she went to Lime jelly. Then to Cloud Chaser. And finally to Fleetfoot. She ignored all their pleas for mercy and begging to keep their modesty.

Spike flushed as he took in the large, bouncy cheeks of every bottom. All of them looked soft and jiggly despite their positions as athletes. Looks like they’d bee skipping butt day.

Luna backed away and examined each cheek. “Such poor behavior on the first day of school… I’m willing to give you some leniency.” Four spectral paddles appeared out of thin air, placing themselves against each butt. “But not much. Therefore, you shall receive a nice, long hard spanking from me… but no one else will know about this incident. Provided that you four don’t cause any more trouble. Do I make myself clear?” she asked.

“Crystal ma’am!” all four of them said in unison.

“Good, that’s what I like to hear. A healthy respect for authority is quite necessary.” She smirked and took a step back, standing next to Spike and the others, who were just getting dressed. Now she could easily see all four buttocks lined up in a row. “Now the only question is… where to begin?” she asked, and the paddles began to gently wiggle back and forth, patting each bottom just enough to get the cheeks gyrating a bit and making the girls squirm and writhe in anticipation. Their arms and legs were magically held in place, preventing them from spreading or being able to kick or flail at all.

Spike blushed and covered his nose quickly as he took in the monumental booty earthquake that was taking place in front of him. He glanced over at Derpy and Fluttershy, both of him were similarly blushing, Derpy’s eyes even managing to focus straight away as she took in the scene in front of her.

Then Luna smirked and waved a hand. It began on the right side of the line, with Fleetfoot, the paddle lifting up into the air in a wide arc and then slamming down with a satisfying crack, holding itself against her buttocks. No sooner had the impact landed than the second paddle, against Cloud Chaser’s rear, reared back in a similar fashion and then slammed down similarly, making the mare howl. And so it continued, with each paddle raising up just as the last one struck down, and once it reached the end of the line, it would immediately repeat, going back to the start.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

“EEP! ACK! OW!”

“OW! OWW! ISH!”

“WAAAH!”

“UWAH! OUCH! OWW!”

The girls let out a chorus of howls and whimpers and begging to be let go. Their bottom cheeks wobbled and jiggled, and the spectral paddles were quite opaque, allowing the small audience to see their butts through it, making the impacts feel even harder as they happened. The girls could only squirm a little, mostly shaking their butts.

Spike smiled slightly, leaning back a bit, letting go of his nose and just enjoying justice being served. The paddles definitely weren’t being gently, and they never faulted or slowed in their pattern. Those eight cheeks were dancing mighty hard now, and every smack was making them turn redder and redder.

“To think you would try to embarrass these two innocent students over something as petty as another student showing an interest in something outside of your purview. Tsk, I will have to spank such naughty, narrow minded thoughts out of you. And if I ever catch wind of such things happening again, not only will your spanking be far, far worse, but you girls can kiss your positions on the Wonderbolts goodbye.”

“OWW! OW! Yes ma’am!”

“EEK! AWW! Won’t ever happen again!”

“ACK! NNGH! OOH! Wh-what are we gonna do at practice tonight?!”

“WAAAH! Ms. Luna, please, we’ll be good!”

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

“I certainly hope so,” she stated. “I do not enjoy disciplining students, but you have more than earned my ire.” She waved her hand and the paddles doubled in speed. “Now, let’s finish up this punishment with a nice, firm finisher.”

All four girls burst into tears as their bare red butts were quickly smacked to the point where some small welts began to appear under the paddles, pushing through the throbbing redness covering their entire butt. They definitely would not be sitting down comfortably for a good long while.

Luna gave their butts a few more firm smacks before making each of the paddles pop out of existence. Luna gently lowered all four girls to the ground, but kept them firmly in place, holding their wrists out of the way so that they couldn’t hide their bottoms by rubbing or turning around. “Now, you four owe some apologies to these three,” she stated.

The four sniffling mares wiggled their butts back and forth and started to offer up some more sincere apologies, glancing behind them.

Fluttershy giggled and smiled softly, nodding to them. “Apology accepted. Just please, don’t do this sort of thing again?” She clapped her hands together. “I wouldn’t want you all to get spanked again.”

“Such kindness,” Luna said with a nod. “Well, time for the last part of your punishment.” She picked up their bottoms in her magic and pulled them to her. “I will have these delivered back to the gym by the end of the day. But for now, you four are going to take your own little walk of shame back to the gym and get back into uniform.”

“What!? B-but, but…”

“Yes, you have very warm bottoms now,” Luna said with a smirk. “Go on, all four of you. Move those bottoms, the faster you get back to the gym, the sooner you can cover those sore rumps.” She smirked. “And you’d best hurry, the club fair is ending soon… the halls are going to be full before long.”

They yelped and whimpered softly, turning and dashing off quickly, one hand covering their fronts and their free hands rubbing at their very red, very bouncy bottoms. As they disappeared behind the door, Spike let out a light sigh. “Good thing you were here, Ms. Luna.”

“Merely lucky circumstance,” she said with a light smile. “As it stands though, I’m sorry that you girls had to go through that.”

“N-no, it’s fine, Ms. Luna,” Derpy said. “It isn’t like we ended up having to do it. Thanks to Spike jumping in when he did.”

Spike blushed this time. “Hah, I barely did anything, really…”

“You at least distracted them,” Fluttershy mumbled. “F-for us. For somepony that you didn’t know and one that you’d only just met…”

“Well… well what was I gonna do, just let them embarrass you for no reason.”

Derpy sighed. “I’m glad that we’re saved and all, but… well, now there’s no chance that I’ll be able to get my club going. The club fair is about to end, like Luna said, and I don’t think they allow late applications.” Her ears drooped gently. “And I was so close this year. I only needed one more pony to join.”

Luna frowned gently. “You were the… tabletop gaming club, yes?”

“Y-yes, that’s us,” Derpy said, motioning to Spike and Fluttershy.

“Hmmm… well you know, i was the one who approved your request. I really do apologize for how late it was approved, I have no idea why it didn’t reach my desk until it was almost too late.” She thought for a moment. “And as the one who approved it, I am also the representative for the club, basically the teacher sponsoring it. And you know, I have always been interested in these sorts of games… I am somewhat of a… fantasy story aficionado.”

“Eh?” Derpy asked, blinking. “But… can teachers even… join clubs?”

“I don’t recall ever seeing a rule saying that I cannot,” she said with a slight smile. “I would be… quite happy to partake in this activity. If you would have me, Ms. President?” she asked Derpy with a smile.

Derpy’s grin could have lit up Tartarus at that moment. She practically flung her arms around Luna and nodded in delight. “Yes! Of course! Thank you so much for joining the club! Oh my goodness, it really is a club now, isn’t it? We have enough members!” she gave a delighted squeal.

Luna laughed softly and pat her head, nodding. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything. You’ll have your club room number and potential meeting times by the end of the week. If there are any questions, feel free to ask.

Derpy nodded and then turned back to Spike. “And as for you…” she said, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “Thank you again for that. That was very brave of you, what you did for us.”

Spike blushed, and it only grew redder when Fluttershy, though hesitantly, added herself to the hug as well. “It was uh… n-no problem.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Fluttershy mumbled. “But um, it was still an amazing thing to do for us.”

“Haha… I guess,” Spike mumbled, still not feeling nearly like the hero they were describing him as.

Luna nodded and motioned for them to follow. “You three had best get back and get ready. Last period will be starting on time after the club fair ends.”

They nodded, with Derpy and Fluttershy following Luna out the way they had come in. Spike smiled, deciding to turn around and head around the opposite way since it was closer to his locker. However, as he turned around, he came face to face with a pretty white furred unicorn muzzle who was peeking in through the door at him, her head sticking through quite obviously. He blinked gently as she shyly stepped inside, her purple mane falling down in front of her face. They awkwardly looked at one another for a time before Spike, rubbing his arm, started up at her. “Uh… hey there,” he said. “I’m uh… Spike.”

“And I… am Rarity,” she said with a light smile. “I uh… apologize for eavesdropping… but I couldn’t help but notice your heroics…” She bit her lip gently and shuffled a few steps forward, slowly offering her hand to him. “It’s… a pleasure to meet you, Spike.”

Chapter 4: Day's End

Chapter 4: Day’s End

Spike just stood there, hesitant and dumbfounded, not sure what to do as Rarity stood there as well. After their introduction, neither of them seemed to know what to do or how to continue the conversation past that. After about another minute of awkward, tension-laced silence, Spike finally cleared his throat and worked up the courage to speak. “So… um… how long were you there?” he asked.

“About… well, it was right after I heard the door open with a bang,” she said gently. “I think it was when you charged in. So I hurried to the door to see what was happening and saw the situation. At first, I… I admit that I thought you were somehow in charge of the bully ring,” she admitted. Spike winced. Well, he couldn’t really blame her, given the experience she’d just had earlier in the day with a dragon. That definitely didn’t help. “But after watching for a bit, it became clear that you were trying to defend those two poor pegasi. It was very brave of you.”

“Er… thanks,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “Not that I really did anything substantial. I mean, all I did was delay them a bit and thankfully Luna showed up not long afterwards.”

“Even so, doing something was far, far better than doing nothing.” She nodded and smiled. “I… think that was very brave of you.”

Spike wanted to protest, saying that he wasn’t that brave, and if he had been, he probably would have defended her when she needed it most, but he decided not to bring that up. He’d finally had a chance to talk with her and he figured bringing up the fact that he saw her being spanked by a dragon bully and did nothing to save her might have soured the whole experience. “Thank you,” he said instead.

Again, they descended into silence. Out in the distance, the sound of a crowd of students moving down the halls could be heard. A Light breeze outside the window made some of the long shrubberies let out some rustling sounds. And finally, the sound of a bell ringing in the distance, the warning bell before class. Rarity jumped a little bit at the sound. “Oh! Oh dear, we uh… we should get to class, shouldn’t we?”

“Uh, yeah… yeah, we should.” He checked his phone to confirm the time. “What’s your class? I’ll walk you there.”

Her ears perked and she offered him a much more genuine and sincere smile, free of any awkwardness. “Oh? My, what a gentleman!” she giggled, pulling a sheet of paper from a pocket on the side of her pack. “Um, let’s see. Beginner’s French.”

Spike smiled. “Really? Coincidence! That’s actually my class too. Looks like we’re headed in the same direction anyway.” He smiled and re-shouldered his pack that he’d dropped when all the excitement had been happening. “Better hurry though. Ms. Lis is a lot less strict than some of the teachers around here, but she’s still quick to smack a butt when someone’s late.”

She smiled. “I’m sure. Let’s go!” The two of them nodded to one another and walked side by side out of the hallway and onward to their next class.

They managed to reach the classroom with a few minutes to spare, and Spike blushed when Rarity decided to sit down next to him, in the second row. He smiled a bit at her, and she returned it, the awkwardness from their meeting starting to diffuse a little bit. He’d apparently made a really strong first impression with her.

Maybe after class he’d try asking her out…

The bell started to ring again. It was officially class time.

The tall and slender teacher of the class, Fleur de Lis, stood up from the desk and pointed to the seats. “Asseyez-vous s'il vous plaît.” she said.

A few of the standing students stared at her dumbly for a moment before some of the more observant students picked up on what she wanted before hurrying to their desks, and the rest of them did the same. She smiled and nodded to them. “Welcome back to school,” she greeted, her voice thick with a French accent. Fleur was actually well liked by the student body here, as she had been a student herself not too long ago. She’d been an exchange student trying to learn English, and after transferring here, had gotten a job teaching not long after graduation, getting accredited thanks to Celestia’s input and recommendation.

That didn’t stop her from being as firm and strict as most teachers in the school, but she was prone to her own moments of immaturity as well.

“Now, I know it’s been a very low-key sort of day. I know most of you haven’t really had to do much, but let’s dive in and make this last period a productive one, oui?”

“Oui, Mademoiselle,” the class answered. She smiled at their response.

“Good, good. Now, let’s see…”

The door opened and Fluttershy slowly walked in, peeking around. “Uh, hello?” she asked.

Spike blinked, having not expected to see Fluttershy again so soon, let alone in his French class. She looked nervous, as if anticipating the reprimands that would come with her tardiness.

Fleur frowned and sighed, looking up at the clock. “Ms. Fluttershy,” she said. “You realize that you are late, Oui?”

“Yes. I mean Oui. I um… I ran into a bit of trouble on my way to class.”

“And this trouble was?”

“Um… sort of personal?”

“I’m afraid that is not much of an excuse, Fleur told her. “I do not appreciate lateness in my class, petite fille.” She placed a hand on her hip. “Now, I ask again, why were you late?”

Fluttershy blushed, but did not answer.

Spike tilted his head. Why wasn’t she saying anything, he wondered. Had she been delayed due to something related to the whole fiasco in the hallway? And if so, shouldn’t she have easily been able to get a note from Luna explaining the situation so she wouldn’t have to worry about consequences?

None of this was addressed, however, and after another moment of silence, Fleur let out another sigh and started to pull her chair out into the center of the room, just in front of her desk. Fluttershy quivered and squirmed a bit, shifting from foot to foot as this was done. The teacher set the chair in the middle of the classroom and sat down upon it, brushing a hand over her legs before grabbing her purse off of the desktop and setting it beside her seat. “Come here, petite fille,” she ordered gently, crooking her finger in Fluttershy’s direction.

The yellow pegasus gulped and slowly shuffled forward, her hands fiddling with the edges of her pleated skirt. She stopped beside the older mare, and started to lower herself over her knees, but Fleur stopped her and adjusted her so that she stood in front of her. “Non, non,” she stated, making her lean forward so that she was straddling one of her legs. “We will do this the proper way they do it in France,” she stated. She Bent Fluttershy forward, making the poor mare squeak as her skirt rode up a little bit, revealing the underside of her cheeks and those cute, paw print panties she was wearing as her rear faced towards the class..

“Eeep! B-but isn’t this going to be m-more embarrassing?” she asked, swishing her tail a little bit, her bottom wiggling along with it.”

Fleur nodded. “Oui. That is the point. And it is about to get far more embarrassing.” She pinched the end of Fluttershy’s skirt and flipped it up and over her back, pinning her tail out of the way. The mare grabbed Fluttershy’s panties and curled them downwards, to just below her cheeks. Fluttershy gasped loudly and looked behind her, her face flushed. “B-bare? Already?!”

“Oui,” she answered simply. “As I said, this shall be a proper French spanking.” She raised a brow and slowly slid a hand along her backside, exploring it a little. “My my,” she mused. “Vous avez un très grand fond.”

Spike could only guess at what she was saying, but he was fairly certain it had something to do with the size of Fluttershy’s enormous backside. “Oh…”

“My goodness,” he heard Rarity finish next to him. A quick glance to the side confirmed that she was just as mesmerized by what she was seeing as he was.

Fluttershy’s flank was… well, huge, to put it bluntly. He wondered how tight those panties had to be to properly encompass her cheeks, which bounced and wobbled beautifully with every little movement she made. Even just gently rubbing it the way that she was, Fleur showed off just how fat and pillow like they were. Though lewd, Spike couldn’t help but wonder if it would be comfortable to lay his head against it and just… relax…

Fleur took aim with her hand, raising it above her head. “Je vais te donner une fessée,” she announced. And then her hand came down.

SMACK! SPLAT!

Spike saw Rarity jump a bit at the impact, but rather than a wince, she actually seemed to lean forward. He mimicked her and took in the beautiful sight that they were afforded. He wondered if the rest of the class was doing the same. The impact made Fluttershy’s entire cheek wobble and pancake beautifully, a massive palm print left behind in the soft fur. The impact also caused her opposite cheek to quake as well, the after shock making her shudder a bit. She let out a soft squeal and a whimper of discomfort before relaxing again, just in time for a smack to come down on her opposite cheek, to similar, beautiful results.

SMACK! SPLAT!

The wobble was almost audible, and Spike had to lean back and cross his legs. He was almost afraid, with how fast he was… ‘reacting’ to this, as if he’d end up knocking the top of the desk, but thankfully he was able to get in a comfier position before such an embarrassing event took place. He was starting to think that he should invest in some looser pants or something if this was going to be a recurring thing this year.

He was brought back to reality when another loud smack and wobble reverberated around the room, and this time it was joined by many, many more.

SMACK! SPLAT! SMACK! SPLAT! SMACK! SPLAT!

“Ohhh! Owww! EEEK!” Fluttershy started to whimper gently as her backside grew nice and pink very quickly. “I’m sorry I was so late ma’am!”

“I should hope so,” Fleur scolded, smiling a little, taken in by the way her cheeks moved when they were smacked. She smacked and slapped and whapped against it in a whirlwind pattern from cheek to cheek, making them wobble up and down.

Fluttershy let out a soft sob and pushed her feet into the ground, which only had the effect of raising her rump up higher into the air.

SMACK! SPLAT! SMACK! SPLAT! SMACK! SPLAT!

Spike bit his lip, squirming again. He was starting to ache with all the throbbing he’d done this day. He vaguely wondered if, maybe, he should be looking somewhere else… of course, that wouldn’t stop the sound, or his overactive imagination from taking hold. Still, it seemed like a better option than just sitting there, staring while his loins ached and throbbed and he wasn’t able to do anything about it.

WHAP! SPLAT! WHAP! SPLAT! WHAP! SPLAT!

Wobble, wibble, wobble, wibble…

“Owww! Oooh! Yeep! Ouchie!” Fluttershy continued to cry as her butt cheeks continued to dance. She was getting a nice, deep, healthy read all over her backside now.

Fleur paused and craned her head to look over her handiwork. Fluttershy's bottom was a healthy, glowing red. The pegasus mare sniffled and slowly glanced up, craning her head over her shoulder to glance back at the educator. “I-is that it?” she asked. “Are we... are we done?”

“Non,” she stated. “There is still one more stage.” She glanced down at her purse, sitting next to her chair. She bent forward and reached inside it, rifling around for a moment before she drew out a hairbrush. It wasn't that large or impressive, but to a mare in Fluttershy's position, it was still quite scary. She set the cool, wooden back of the brush against Fluttershy's squirming bottom and the yellow mare gave a light whimper. “After this, I certainly hope you will be more punctual.”

“I-I will, I promise! Oh please, Ms. Fleur, don't brush my bottom!”

“Sorry, but I think you deserve it,” she said. She lined up her shot, letting the brush hover over each cheek for a small amount of time. Then she raised it high in the air, stretching her entire arm, before she brought it crashing down on the big, soft target underneath.

WHAP! SMACK! WHAP! SMACK! SPLAT SPLAT!

“EEEP! OOOH! NUUU! IISH! AWW!” Fluttershy started to howl and bawl, kicking her feet softly as her behind bounced more and more, the brush leaving behind large, dark red splotches over the already red behind, which quickly started to spread and coalesce until they overwrote the original redness, leaving behind a deep, throbbing, cherry colored pair of bottom cheeks.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

“Let this be a lesson to you and to the rest of the class,” Fleur stated. “Anyone who acts out or breaks a rule here can expect similar smackings. Is that clear?”

“Yes ma'am,” the class stated quickly.

In between her sobs, Fluttershy managed to nod her head, gripping the edge of the chair legs as the spanking continued.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

“OWW!”

WHAP WHAP WHAP!

“OOOOOH!”

WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP!

“WAAAAAH!”

Fleur took in another deep breath and stopped with one final smack to the center of each cheek. “There we go,” she said, patting her backside and standing her up, depositing her brush back in the purse.. “Now, pick up your bottoms and go and sit down.” She gave her a light smile. “I certainly hope this is the only time we have to have this talk.

“Y-yes ma’am,” Fluttershy mumbled, reaching back and rubbing at her bottom. She bent down and wiggled her panties up, whimpering as they traveled over her backside. She turned away and started to shuffle back to her seat.

Spike watched her go, frowning in sympathy for the poor girl before he blinked. It was quick, almost imperceptible to others, but he caught it. She gave a satisfied smile, mostly to herself, as she made her way to an empty desk, squirming and writhing gently as she sat down.

Fleur gave a light sigh and put her chair back where it belonged. “All right,” she said. “Now, let’s actually get back to learning, oui?” she asked happily.

Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head lightly, glancing at the quiet mare next to him. “So… that just happened.”

“Yes it did,” Rarity said with a light nod. She gave a sympathetic wiggle of her own as she glanced back over at Fluttershy, keeping her voice low so as not to catch Fleur’s attention.

Spike watched her, and after a moment he smiled. “Hey… after school do you wanna… maybe go and get something?”

She blinked but gave a light smile at him, giggling. “Oh my… Spike, you do know that it’s usually not polite to ask a girl out right after you’ve met her, yes?”

He flushed and toyed with his pencil a little bit. “Er, uh, w-well I just thought… m-maybe…”

She gave a soft laugh and reached over, patting his shoulder. “Spike, no need to be so nervous. I was merely joking. If you’d like to have me out on a little excursion after school, I’d be most delighted to accompany you.”

Spike took a moment to process what had just been said before his smile widened even further. “I know a really nice cafe a short walk from the campus.”

“That sounds lovely. I’ll just have to text my mother and let her know I’ll be hanging out with friends after school.”

“You know what, me too.” He smiled and took out his phone, pulling up his texting app.

Hey mom, it’s spike.

‘Hi spike! Gr8 to hear from U.’

Glad to hear it. Just wanted to let you know, I’m going to be hanging out with a friend after school.

‘U made a friend? Aww, proud mama is proud! ^o^’

Just wanted to make sure it was okay.

‘It’s more than OK. U have a gr8 time, hon! Ill come n get U when you txt 4 a ride, kay?’

Sure! Oh, and mom?

‘Yas? ^w^’

Please stop typing like that. It’s super embarrassing v.v

The cafe itself, Donut Joe’s, had been a favorite hangout for Spike, Pinkie, and Twilight. The only place better than this was Sugar Cube Corner, but that place was normally so busy, it was tough to get standing room there, especially right after school let out.

Donut Joe’s was more of a hole-in-the-wall joint. Not exactly hidden, but it was much smaller and didn’t explicitly attempt to cater to the student population, being much more generalized and less rowdy than Sugar Cube Corner tended to get. The owner, Joe, preferred it that way.

So did Spike, honestly. When he walked into the place, the scent of hot chocolate and freshly baking glazed donuts wafted over him and he had to give a happy sigh. It was warm and cozy inside, taking on the appearance of a 50's diner. Despite the look, they didn’t serve any malts, but they did have delicious cocoa.

Rarity seemed impressed as well as she walked in. “Oh my, this place is lovely,” she said happily. “Has a very nice rustic charm about it, so rare to see this close to the city. I can’t believe I’ve not come here before.”

Spike shrugged. “It’s easy to miss, especially if you haven’t been around here long.” He motioned to a free table and sat down before glancing over at the counter, where a stallion unicorn, a thick set man with wide, powerful looking arms, set out a few steaming mugs of cocoa for a few of the other customers sitting there. “Hey Joe,” he called, waving gently.

“Spike? Hey there, buddy. How’s my favorite dragon doin’?”

“He’s pretty good right now,” Spike said cheerfully. “How bout a plate of the usual dozen? And a couple of cocoas here.”

“Comin’ up, buddy,” the stallion said, turning away and going to work on the order.

Rarity grinned. “My, quite the regular here, aren’t you?”

“Mom started bringing me here since Elementary school. And it’s only gotten better since I grew up.”

She giggled. “Well, it’s a fine place to grow up near. I’m guessing you live nearby?”

“Eh, not really nearby. But…” he shrugged. “Well, let’s just say I don’t have to take the bus anywhere.” He leaned back. “What about you?”

“Well, my mother just opened up a little catering business in the city. My father was able to transfer to a different branch of his company here to help facilitate my mother’s goal, and my sister and I were lucky enough to get scholarships to help us get into Galaxia High rather than going to one of the inner city schools a further distance away.”

“Wow. That must have been quite an experience for you, coming out here to a new place.”

“Oh, it’s not TOO different from where we came from. We used to live in lower Manehattan before we moved here. But Canterlot is definitely…” she paused to think of the word. “Definitely cleaner than where we lived before.”

Spike snickered. “Blindingly clean,” he said.

“So, what about you?” she asked.

“Sorry?”

“Well… I don’t mean to point out the obvious, darling, but you are a dragon.”

“Oh, I see.” Spike smiled and nodded. “Well, like I said, I always grew up here.” He paused. “I know that sounds weird, since dragons usually hate big cities and stuff, but… well, the truth is, I don’t really know who laid me. I was hatched and taken in by ponies.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Rarity said gently.

“Don’t be, it was actually one of the best things that could have happened to me. I’ve just always been around them, and no one really seems to bat an eye nowadays when they see a dragon walking around. My mom, she always took real great care of me. I do think she tries to coddle me a little bit too much, but… well, she’s definitely a mom through and through.”

“She sounds like a wonderful lady. Do you have a father as well?”

He shook his head. “No. Mom wasn’t married when she adopted me.”

“No siblings or anything?”

“Nah, I’ve always been an only child.” He shook his head and leaned back a bit as a plate of donuts and two mugs of steamy cocoa were placed on the table. “Ahh, thanks a bunch, Joe.”

“No problem kid. You payin?”

“Put it on my tab, I’ll pay it off when I come in on Saturday.”

“You got it, kid.” He smirked and pat the dragon’s shoulder before heading back to the countertop. Spike reached over and picked up one of the two plain donuts, gently dunking it into the whipped cream and liquid chocolate. Then he carefully chewed it after letting it soak for a second, sighing in delight.

Rarity smiled and watched him for a moment before reaching for one of the donuts herself, doing the same as him. After nibbling it for a second, she let out a soft sigh. “Mmm… this is divine.”

“I know right? Everything here is hand made, even the chocolate.”

“No wonder it’s so amazing,” she said, chewing on the donut in delight. “Mmm, calories or not, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop until they’re all gone,” she giggled.

“I’m sure Joe will be happy to hear that,” he said. He bit his lip, watching her eat for a moment as she wiggled back and forth. “Are you… okay?” he asked. He knew what the problem was, of course, but he figured now might be a good time to bring it up.

She blinked and looked up, still nibbling a small piece of donut. “Hm? What do you mean?”

“You’re… fidgeting quite a bit,” he told her. “Is the chair uncomfortable?”

“Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine. I just… um…” she coughed a bit, blushing softly.

Spike sighed gently, folding his arms. “You got spanked, didn’t you?”

Her blush intensified. “I-I…”

“It was a teacher, right?” he asked, trying to spare her from the embarrassment of having to go into detail.

“Er y-yes!” she said, nodding, grateful for the false story. “I didn’t know the layout of the school very well yet, and so I ended up wandering somewhere I shouldn’t be, and getting caught. I didn’t have a chance to defend myself before my behind was blistered.” She gave a light grin that helped to hide her blush. “But the good news is it is feeling much better now.” She wiggled again. “...Relatively speaking, of course.” She gave a nervous giggle.

Spike nodded and leaned back. “Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “Even the best behaved students usually get spanked at least once at Galaxia high.”

“Oh?” She got a cheshire grin. “Even you?”

“Heh…” he got a little blush of his own. “Even me, yeah.” He smiled warmly.

Rarity picked up another donut and took a large bit from it, nomming it with the cutest smile on her face. “Mmmm!”

“Wow, you’re acting like you haven’t eaten in days,” he teased.

“Nothing this sweet. I’ve been trying hard to slim down my figure and I’ve been denying myself sweets or sugar of any kind for a very long time,” she said with a giggle.

He smiled. “So you’re essentially breaking your diet?”

“I suppose I am, but it’s healthy to indulge a vice now and then, is it not?”

“When it’s harmless, yeah,” he agreed. “Like eating sweets now and then when on a diet. In fact, denying yourself for so long seems pretty naughty to me.” Spike gave a light laugh. “Maybe you deserve a spanking for that,” he taunted.

Rarity paused mid-bite. She set down the donut she’d been eating and wiggled a little uncomfortably.

Spike’s eyes widened. “Oh, n-no, I didn’t mean… I mean…”

“I think maybe it’s time for me to get going, Spike. Thank you very much for the donuts and the cocoa, I really enjoyed it.” She started to get up and sighed.

“R-rarity, wait…” she started to walk past him. He panicked for a moment before he grabbed her wrist. “I-I know what actually happened,” he said.

She stopped and blinked, slowly looking at him. “You… what?”

He groaned and sighed softly, wondering why he thought blurting that out would make her feel more comfortable. He finally just sighed and released her. “I saw you getting spanked by Garble,” he said. Her eyes widened, but he continued. “I heard the sound and saw him spanking you in the Janitor’s closet. I knew that I should have done something but I… I didn’t and I... “ he sighed. “I should have known better than to say something that would have made you so uncomfortable. Because I… I really like you and I wanted to make a good first impression. I’m sorry.”

Rarity stood there for a moment, chewing on her lip as she looked at him. “W-well… I can… sort of understand why you didn’t act. I mean he was… a rather large dragon after all.” She cleared her throat.

Spike shook his head. “Even so… I still should have done something instead of just standing by like a coward.”

She sighed gently, leaning forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Spike, what could you have done?” she asked. “Honestly, tell me.”

He flushed at the touch, but considered her question, staring down at his drink. “I… I uh… could have gotten help?”

“And there’s no telling how long it would have taken you to find someone. And if you had confronted him? I can only imagine how that would have gone. Er… no offense,” she said.

“None taken.” He sighed and pat his own arm. “I’m… not sure how useful I would be in a fight anyway.” He thought back to his reflexive guard against the girls who had been bullying Fluttershy and Derpy. He’d gotten lucky and managed to take her by surprise, but if she had actually fought back or the other girls had reacted quick enough, they could have overwhelmed him. Garble though, he was a natural fighter. There was no way that he could have pulled the same with him. He sighed. “I… still wish I had done something.”

Rarity paused. Then she slowly walked back to her seat and sat down, wincing lightly. “Well… you’re doing something now, aren’t you?”

He blinked and glanced over at her. “Well… yeah, heh. I guess I am.”

She smiled.

He smiled back.

They started eating donuts and drinking cocoa again for a bit, just smiling at one another. And when they were done, Rarity sighed and pat her thin stomach. “Thank you so much, Spike,” she said gently. “This was… wonderful.”

“Really?” he asked. “I was concerned that I might have ruined it.”

“No. Not at all.” She shook her head. “In fact, um… I was wondering if we could do this again sometime? Maybe soon?”

“I’d like that,” he said eagerly. “I have to check and see what days my club meets, but other than that… I should be free most days.”

She smiled and gave him her number, sliding a small piece of paper towards him. He took it and gave her the same, nodding to her. “See you at school tomorrow?”

“Sure,” he said, standing up. “Did you need some help to get home, or…”

She shook her head. “I can make my own way home. It’s actually not really that far from campus.”

“All right. I should head out too.” He got up and paused before offering her his hand, blushing.

She looked at it, smiled, and instead walked forward and hugged him tightly. He yelped a little bit, but smiled wide and returned it. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, before kissing his cheek and hurrying out.

“Y-yeah… see you soon,” he mumbled, caressing the cheek she’d kissed, giving a light sigh. He picked up his phone and texted his mother to come and pick him up before going out onto the side of the road and waiting. He knew it wouldn’t take her long.

And he was right. A small, personal airship hovered above him in the air not five minutes later. A large ladder was dropped down towards him and he took it, climbing up onto the airship. “Welcome aboard, prince Spike!” the captain said happily. “Good first day?”

“Great first day,” Spike said happily. “Is mom on board?”

“She is yes. She’s waiting with your after school snack in the passenger cabin.”

He smiled wider. “Thanks.” He nodded to the captain and walked into the passenger cabin, a roomy, luxurious space fit for about ten people, stocked with snacks and drinks, and with every seat able to pull out into an emergency bed for extended trips. The airship gave a gentle tilt as it started for home. Spike smiled and dropped his bag near the door before sitting down across from the Pony that inhabited the room. “Hey mom. Thanks for picking me up. I know you’re probably busy with the start of school and all.

Celestia Galaxia, queen of Equestria and founder and principal of Galaxia high, sat there, smiling gently at him, a plate of cookies in her lap. The cookies had been sprinkled with ground up rubies and emeralds. This was enough to make Spike’s mouth water, despite the half dozen donuts he’d just enjoyed with his new friend. “Hello dear,” she said happily. “How was your first day back to school?”

“It was good,” he said with a small smile, taking one of the cookies and chewing it thoughtfully. “Maybe a little boring, but then again, the first day isn’t ever really exciting.”

Hah, if his day had been any more ‘exciting’ he wasn’t sure he could handle it.

She nodded. “And? How’d your date with your new friend go?”

“M-mom, it wasn’t a date,” Spike said, half choking on a mouthful of gem cookie. “It was just a little after school visit…”

“Hmhm,” Celestia leaned back and crossed her leg. “If you say so, dear.”

“A-and what about you? How was your first day?”

“Ah, the same as ever,” she said with a shrug. “Lots of paperwork to catch up on, lots of decisions to make… a few bottoms to spank.” She tsked softly. “All the same though, I think that it’s going to be a very interesting year for everyone.”

“Why do you say that?” Spike asked.

“Just call it a hunch,” she said.

He grinned. “Well, your hunches are usually right.” He took another cookie and shoved it into his mouth. “Mmm…”

Celestia just smiled at him gently, watching him eat as they slowly floated up into the sky, moving towards her villa overlooking the whole of Canterlot, tucked comfortably behind the castle. Yes, this was definitely going to be a very, very interesting year.

Sideswipe: Roll For Initiative

Side Swipe: Roll for Initiative
Starring Derpy Hooves and Princess Luna

Derpy huffed and heaved and grunted softly as she yanked another boxful of books towards the new club room. She hadn’t expected the process to be as quick as this, but apparently it had only taken something like, a day for all the clubs to have their memberships verified and new clubs to get their room assignments. She’d been so excited that she’d talked her mom into letting her borrow the old Wing Wagon to drive up most of her collection to the school. She’d been collecting all of these table top games for years now and while she did have space for them at home in the old rec room that she and her mother never used, it felt good to actually put them in a place where ponies might actually be able to see and use them again.

But she’d forgotten how HEAVY they all were!

She’d managed to get a majority of the boxes into the room, mostly by hefting and heaving and huffing them all by herself. She stopped just outside the room, setting the box down and leaning against the wall, brushing a few blond bangs from her eyes. “Why do these companies always have to put all these books out in such big, hardcover packages?” she mused as she pushed the box into the room with her feet. “I mean, all this info could be fit into a little paperback too!”

She pushed the box all the way to the center of the room, where a large, round table sat, now overflowing with boxes of its own, with another layer of boxes set down on the ground around it. Derpy looked at her work proudly for a moment before once again brushing her hair from her eyes, clapping her hands together, and then opening the box closest to her. “Alrighty!” she announced. “Time to start unpacking.”

“Ah, I thought I heard someone here.”

Derpy jumped a little bit at the sound of a voice behind her and turned around quickly, blushing as she saw vice principal Luna standing in the doorway, looking around the club room with mild interest. “Ah, um… hello Ms. Luna.”

“Hello, Ms. Hooves,” she greeted with a light smile. “I wasn’t expecting anypony else to be in here. Most clubs usually wait until the second week of school before they start to customize or fill their club rooms.”

“Ah, well, I know, but I was just so excited!” she said with a smile. “I finally got my club up off the ground! I just couldn’t wait to start putting a personal touch in the room when I got the assignment.” She glanced around. “Though to be honest, I’m really surprised that I got this one. This room seems super large for a club that only has the minimum amount of required members.”

Luna chuckled and shrugged. “I admit to speaking with my sister about that,” she said, walking forward. “I had a feeling that this club was going to be requiring a lot of ‘equipment’ so I asked her for one of the larger mid-sized club rooms, one with lots of shelf and storage space.” She started to open up one of the boxes herself, peeking inside. “This is a bit of a big job for just one mare. Let me help you out a bit.”

Derpy blushed and started to lift a few player’s handbooks and character guides out of the box she’d opened. “Oh, no, you don’t have to do that! I mean, you’re probably super busy right now, aren’t you?”

“I do have a few more duties to take care of before I leave for the night,” she admitted with a shrug. “But I am a member of this club as well, am I not? It certainly wouldn’t do for me to leave my club president with all of the work.” She smiled at Derpy.

The pegasus gave a shy smile in return. “Oh, okay then. Um, just take the books out and put them in the big steel cabinet. I’m trying to separate them by game and then by alphabet.”

Luna nodded, pulling out a large armful of books. “Call of Cthulu? I didn’t realize a mare like you would be into something like that.”

She gave a light giggle as she pulled out a few Ogres and Oubliettes books, walking them over to the container. “They were on sale. And while I wasn’t really into the lore, I just couldn’t pass up the chance for a new game.” She rolled her eyes. “Imagine my surprise when I found out that they just use the D20 system.”

“D20?” Luna raised a brow and drew out the player’s handbook for the game, flipping through it. “Honestly? Why? There was another version of this game that was much more suited to it. D20 is primarily a combat system. Combat in a CoC game? Pah!”

“I know, right?” Derpy said, setting aside a box full of screens and character sheets, deciding to find a different place for those to live. “Like, I guess it could work if the game master is creative enough, but when you give players the idea that a game is all about fighting, that’s their go-to answer for everything.”

“You aren’t a fan of combat games then?” Luna asked.

“Oh, I don’t have anything against them,” the mare said, holding up one of the O&O books. “I do play Ogres and Oubliettes after all. But I can only play those in short bursts. Encounter after encounter isn’t super interesting to me.”

“I suppose that is a fair point. But I certainly cannot play a game that is just diplomacy and talking and investigation all throughout.”

“Even CoC?” Derpy said.

“Well, that sort of gameplay would be much better if the players were actually playing investigators, yes. It fits the setting much better than trying to fight off the beasts from beyond. But it’s still not my sort of game.”

Derpy giggled. “You’re always so refined and dignified. I wouldn’t think you’d be into combat games.”

“I just like a good fight. I can’t be dignified all the time. It’s why I’m always playing swordswomen and barbarians and berserkers.” The two of them continued to push the books up onto the shelves, piling them up quickly, to the point that Derpy was worried they’d run out of room. Thankfully, there were two other large, metal shelves in the room that they could use, but she was still concerned that they might not have enough room for everything.

“Berserkers and stuff? No magic users?” Derpy almost giggled. “So you like characters that can hit really hard.”

“It’s not just that, thank you very much!” Luna said, a hand on her hip. “Intimidation is a factor as well! Size! Posture! A good barbarian with an axe twice their size can just as easily scare off a group of bandits as a wizard that insists on chanting a fear spell that has the potential to fail as soon as they see how tiny and lanky the spell caster is.”

“Huh…” Derpy mused. “I never really thought about it before,” she admitted.

“See? Big characters with big weapons have versatility too!” she raised her nose proudly as she opened yet another box. She gasped loudly, making Derpy turn around. “Stars above!”

“What, what? Was something damaged? Oooh, don’t tell me pages are falling out of the Ironclaw books again!” she said, hurrying over.

“You have a first edition of the Super Human RPG!” Luna said, lifting it out of the box as though it were a sacred treasure. “They first published this when I was just getting into this sort of stuff!” she flipped it open to the publication information. “Yes, yes, right here!” she said, tapping it gently. “This really isn’t a reprint, this is a first edition, and in immaculate condition! Where on earth did you find it?” Luna asked, looking at Derpy excitedly.

Derpy blinked, hesitating for a moment. “Uh, it was part of a bulk lot,” she said. “There was a person who was selling a huge box of old RPGs and didn’t really list everything that was in there, because they didn’t even know, and so I bid on it, and I won.” She shrugged. “It was in there… and I saw that it was a little vintage, so I thought it might be rare and I kept it.”

“Definitely,” Luna said. “I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of these forever! But every time I found it, the seller wanted an obnoxiously large amount of money for it.” She sighed happily, flipping through the book for a few pages, clearly overcome with nostalgia. “Oh I wish I’d thought to keep my old characters for this game.” Her ears flicked softly. “Do you think I could run a game at some point?”

“Uh, w-well,” Derpy said, coughing a little bit, “Maybe you should let the club actually meet a few times first?” she asked, rubbing her arm.

Luna sighed and closed the book, setting it down to the side before glancing at Derpy again. “Derpy,” she started. “Pardon me if I’m overstepping a comfort line here, but… am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Huh?” Derpy wiggled a bit, clearing her throat. “What uh… what makes you think that?” she asked.

“Well, for one, you’ve been carefully keeping your distance from me the whole time I’ve been here.” She indicated with a finger the fact that the two of them had been on opposite sides of the table for most of their conversation, and whenever one of them went to put books in the cabinet, the other was back at the table with the other books. “And whenever I ask you a question, or speak to you, your response is always hesitant, as though you’re trying hard to think of what to say before you respond.” She sighed, hands on her hips. “Derpy, I know that I can be a tad intimidating, as can my sister, but honestly, there’s no need to step so lightly around me. Princess, Principal, or otherwise, I’m just Luna right now.”

Derpy hesitated again. “That’s not the impression I got when we first met,” she mumbled.

Luna’s ear twitched. “Excuse me?” she asked.

Derpy jumped. “N-nothing, ma’am!”

The amazoness sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Derpy, if my presence in this club is going to be such a big problem for you…”

“No, no, I-I’m really glad that you’re here! Really! You helped me to even get this club up and running in the first place, you were the last person I needed. But…” she sighed lightly.

“Please, if there’s an issue with me here, I… I want to know,” Luna said.

“There’s not a problem with you,” Derpy insisted, though her eyes flicked to the side a bit when she said it. At a firm glance from Luna, she shook her head. “I’m just… nervous around you, I suppose.”

“Nervous? Around me? Whatever for?” she asked.

“You don’t remember?” she asked, looking up at her. “You really don’t?”

“Um…”

Sighing again, Derpy finally approached her. “Ms. Luna, when I was a freshman, my first interaction with you was… not great.”

Luna’s brow furrowed in concern. Slowly, she took out a seat and sat down on it, motioning for Derpy to do the same. “I… really don’t remember, Derpy. I’m sorry.” She chewed on her lip. “Could you… please tell me what it was that I did that made you so upset?”

Hesitating for only a moment, Derpy pulled out her own chair and sat down. “Okay,” she said gently.

Derpy sighed gently as she hugged her clipboard to her chest, wall eyes flicking back and forth as she observed all the hustle and bustle of the other students running around, checking out clubs, talking with their friends.

She was too nervous to just up and approach any of the groups herself..

“Well,” she said with a resigned sigh, “Guess I won’t be starting this club this year,” she muttered, looking down at the small clipboard she’d brought with her from home, with a small sign up sheet bearing the title of ‘tabletop gaming club.’ There was not a single name on it. “I guess I’ll just try again next year.”

“Aww, you don’t have to do that.”

Derpy blinked at the sudden voice. She glanced around, suddenly finding three other mares standing next to her, one to her left and two to her right. When had they gotten here? All three were… hippocampi? One of them, a yellow pony with a poofy, frizzy, orange mane, smiled at her invitingly. “Sorry to startle you,” she said. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adagio Dazzle. I and my friends here couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a little bit depressed.” She motioned to her purple compatriot. “This is Aria Blaze.” And then to the bright blue one standing opposite Derpy. “And this is Sonata Dusk.”

“Yeah, what’s got you so down in the dumps, huh?” the blue hippcampus asked, wrapping an arm around Derpy’s shoulders, pulling her in close, much to Derpy’s discomfort.

“Um, uh…” Derpy cleared her throat after a moment. “M-my name is Derpy Hooves, and uh… I’m just a little bit disappointed that I haven’t gotten anyone interested in joining my tabletop gaming club.”

“Tabletop games huh? Well, that’s probably why you-” Aria paused in her statement when she was given a glare by Adagio, glancing away.

“Well, tell you what,” Adagio said happily, “How about we help you out and sign our names to this sheet, hm?”

Derpy blinked. “But um… I-I don’t know… I mean, what’s the point of joining a club that you don’t have any interest in?” she asked.

“Buuut,” Sonata pointed out, still squeezing Derpy’s shoulder uncomfortably firmly, “If you don’t get at least four other ponies on that list, you don’t get a club at all right? Then you gotta wait a whole other, lonely, agonizing year before you can try again! And that’d just be sad, wouldn’t it?” she asked, her lip curling into a light pout as she looked at Derpy.

“Besides,” Aria said, taking a stance next to Derpy’s opposite side, her arm sliding around the pegasus’ waist. She was now much closer to the two mares than she was really comfortable with, but she was too polite to tell them to back away. “Even if we aren’t interested, we could probably scrounge up someone who is. And once a club is formed, it can’t be disbanded unless the president decides to do so, or if there aren’t any other members aside from the president after it’s formed.” She smirked. “So we’ll help you form your club, you get at least one other interested, and we’ll step away.”

“R-really?” she asked. Then her eyes focused and narrowed slightly. She was trusting, but she wasn’t a moron. “What’s the catch?” she asked.

“Oho, clever girl,” Adagio teased. “All you have to do is do us a tiny favor.”

“Which is?”

Adagio turned around and started to walk off, motioning for her to follow. “Walk with me, talk with me.”

Derpy wasn’t given much choice as the mares flanking her on either side practically started to drag her, leading her away from the sanctity of the gymnasium.

#####

Derpy looked nervously at the large blue door in front of her. The hallways were eerily quiet with almost all of the students out at the club booths and most of the teachers either using this as a break or an opportunity to prep for the future. A small sign hanging at eye level on the door read ‘Luna Galaxia - Vice Principal.’

“So um… what are we doing here?” the nervous mare asked.

Adagio smirked. “We had a little snafu with Luna earlier today,” she said. “Seems she was under the impression that we shouldn’t be using our phones the way we were.”

Sonata sighed and gave a light shrug. “You bring up one butt wobble gif and suddenly you’re public enemy number one.”

“Still, taking all our phones like that wasn’t cool,” Aria said. “And she’s probably gonna forget to give em back by the end of the day. So you’re gonna sneak in there, grab our phones, and bring em back to us.”

“What?!” Derpy asked. “But, I, I mean… w-well…”

“C’mon, it’ll be a cinch,” Adagio said, pointing to the door. “She’s not even in her office, and we know for a fact that she won’t be back until the end of the period, when the club fair is finished. Plenty of time for you to go in there, grab our phones and get out.”

“But… if that’s all you need, then why don’t you three…”

Aria shook her head. “Look, we’re already on Luna’s list since she took our phones, and if they go missing, she’ll come for us right away. But if you go in there, grab em, and hold onto them for a little while, we’ve got plausible deniability, see?”

“Yeah, we’ll be off scott free, we’ll get our phones back early, and you get your club!”

“But… I don’t know… you’re going to get them back eventually, right?”

“Luna confiscates tech left and right,” Adagio said with a wave of her hand. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a ton of other phones in there right now, that never got returned, or are still waiting on being returned. I’m sure as hell not waiting a week for MY phone.”

“Still…”

“Look, you do this for us, we sign your sheet, we get one other interested party to sign up, boom, you got your club,” Sonata said, once again invading Derpy’s personal space to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Who knows? I might even decide to hang around for a meeting or two, see what your club’s all about, see if I like it and want to stick around.” She winked.

“Uh… w-well… I guess so. You’ll give me a signal if someone’s coming, right?”

“We’ll give the door a quick knock to let you know you should get out of there,” Adagio promised, patting her back. “Trust us, you scratch our backs, we’ll scratch yours… friend.”

Derpy didn’t know if she liked the way she was saying ‘friend’ or not. Still, she supposed helping them get their phones back wasn’t the absolute worst thing she could do. Back in middle school, she’d been pushed and tricked and bullied into doing a lot worse. She chewed her lip, looking between the three other ponies and then at the big door in front of her, knowing she had to make a choice soon. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Awesome. Okay, you get to it then.” Adagio glanced back down the hall. “Like I said, we’ll keep watch and signal you if anyone’s coming down this way.”

Biting her lip and nodding, Derpy shuffled forward and tested the door. Like they’d said, it was completely unlocked. She slid inside and shut the door behind her, after a few more encouraging words from the three mares behind her. She took a deep breath and looked around the small room.

Luna’s office was decently sized, a lot like a personal office rather than a school office. There was a large L-shaped desk sitting in front of a spacious window, with two computer monitors sitting on top of it. She could see the computer itself sitting down on the floor nearby, humming softly in its place. Her desk was kept immaculately clean, not a single piece of paper, pencil, paper clip, or coffee mug out of place. An couple of bookshelves sat against the left wall, one full of large text books and teacher’s reference guides, while the other was a series of alphabetized binders that seemed to be files and records for various students and faculty on the school. Seemed like she and Celestia split the organization of those files between the two of them, as the letters stopped around ‘M’ in here. Opposite the shelves, against the other wall, was what Derpy felt was best described as a non-alcoholic wet bar. There was a three foot dorm fridge sitting there, with a large three-level shelf next to it, stocked with several different varieties of glasses, cups, bowls, and several different kinds of junk food. Chips, chocolate bars, hard candies, donuts, the list went on.

Sliding closer to the desk, Derpy peeked at some of the coffee mugs sitting there right now. They all had cute little slogans on them, like “Gamer Girl,” “Don’t talk to me till I’ve had my 1up,” and “Eyes off my Pixels.”

Derpy couldn’t help but giggle. The vice principal was a gamer? Hmmm… maybe that was why she had two monitors for what was supposed to be a simple office PC. She shook her head. She’d have to muse on that later. She started to look around for anything that could be a container for confiscated cell phones. Not seeing anything out in the open, she slowly started to open up the drawers on her desk. “Hmmm, notebooks, pencils, extra supplies… detention slips…” she shook her head and moved to the next one, blushing deeply. “Um… brushes, paddles and straps. No thank you.” She quickly shoved that one closed, not wanting to imagine which one would be used on her if she was caught in here, snooping through a teacher’s desk.

“No, no, no…” she said, quickly pulling each one open and then closing it again when it didn’t have what she needed. Finally, she reached the last drawer and slid it open, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was full of confiscated phones and similarly assorted electronics. “Woah, she either takes a LOT of phones a day or she really doesn’t give back those phones.” She reached in and started looking over a few of the phones before finding a few with custom cutie marks on them. “These ones were on top… hope they’re the right ones. I didn’t really ask them what make or model they had.” She smiled and closed the door and started to get up.

“Ahem,” a voice said from the doorway. Derpy yelped and jumped up, flushing as she saw Luna there, scowling.

“V-vice principal Luna!” she gulped.

“Indeed,” the alicorn said, slowly walking in. “You are… Derpy Hooves yes? One of the freshmen this year?” Derpy gave a light, flustered nod. “Not the best way to make a first impression,” the mare noted humorlessly, walking forward.

Derpy was rooted to her spot, not sure how to react. Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of warning? Had the three other mares gotten caught as well?

Luna walked up to her and plucked the phones she’d been handling out of her hands. “Seems Adagio was right. Someone did sneak into my office. I’m not sure what you were hoping to find, but you invaded both MY privacy and the privacy of these phones’ owners.” She shook her head, glaring down at Derpy.

In shock at the moment, the pegasus mare didn’t have an answer. She couldn’t find words as Luna took the phones, put them back in the drawer, slammed it shut, and drew both Derpy, and the office chair out from behind the desk. Glancing over at the still open door to the office as she was drawn away from the desk, she saw the three mares that had sent her into the figurative lion’s den, grinning as they peeked inside, waving their phones at her.

Derpy flushed deeply in anger and embarrassment.

“You’re lucky this is only the first day,” Luna stated. “In most cases, trying to sneak into a teacher’s office and rifling through her things in this manner would constitute a suspension at best. But as I did not have anything terribly sensitive stored here at the moment, I am willing to overlook this transgression and merely give you what I give most naughty ladies who cross me.” She sat down on the chair and pat her knee. “Bend over my lap.”

Derpy finally managed to find her voice. “B-but Ms. Luna, listen, this is a misunderstanding! I was-”

“I find it very hard to believe that there can be a misunderstanding about me walking into my office and finding a student shuffling around in my desk drawers,” she interrupted.

“But…”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

“But please, I just-”

“Young lady,” Luna said, her voice raising sharply, “If you do not do as you’re told this instant and get over my lap for your punishment, you can expect a good strapping and a note home to your parents!” she warned.

Derpy whimpered, opening her mouth again, but seeing the serious look on Luna’s face, she closed it again and flopped down over the bigger mare’s large lap, her frustration getting the better of her. It must have come off more petulant than she meant, because she was given a good, hard smack over her skirt. “Don’t give me attitude, young lady,” Luna warned. “That won’t get you anything but a harder spanking.” She reached down and pulled up Derpy’s skirt in a swift, no nonsense manner before grabbing the hem of her pure white, cotton panties, and sliding them down, all the way to her knees. “Hmm, well at least you have respect for the dress code,” she complimented. “I can’t tell you the number of thongs and tanga panties I’ve had to deal with over the last couple of years.” She rested her large hand over Derpy’s bottom, making the Pegasus girl squeak gently. She shivered a little bit and glanced over to the door again, seeing the three mares there snickering gently as they peeked at her before disappearing away from the door again.

“M-ms. Luna-”

SWAT!

“Hush! I said no excuses!”

“B-but the door is still open!” she protested.

“Hmmm, so it is.” She nodded and gave Derpy another firm swat. “Good thing most of the students are elsewhere in the building.”

“Aww! But, but, but, but…”

“The only ‘butt’ here, is going to be yours. And it’s going to be good and spanked before I’m finished. Now, enough delaying.”

SMACK! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP! SLAP! SLAP! SMACK!

“Eeep! ACK! OW! Ooooh!” Derpy whimpered. “B-but I-I….”

“Young lady, your protestations are NOT going to help you. I am not interested in hearing a single excuse you have for why you were in here, on your own, looking through my things!” she growled.

“Aww! But it huuurts!” Derpy whined, feeling her bottom cheeks bounce up and down as they were smacked. Despite how large her palm was in relation to Derpy’s bottom, Luna still seemed to favor the tried and true method of alternating from one cheek to the other, one smack in the center of each cheek and then another stinging to each sit spot.

WHAP! WHAP! SMACK! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP! SMACK! SMACK!

Derpy started to whimper and sob. Not really from the spanking itself. It hurt, yes, but she’d taken a lot worse before, back when she was younger. It was more the feeling of exposure that was getting to her. The open door, the loud smacks, the fact that at least three other mares knew what was going on…

The pegasus had almost always had the courtesy of a ‘behind closed door’ punishment in the past. But this? Even with just an open door into an empty hallway, it felt way, way too open. She let out another string of sobs as her bottom cheeks wobbled and she began to kick her legs out of instinct.

WHAP! SMACK! WHAP! SMACK!

“Now, Derpy,” Luna stated, in her usual calm, but commanding tone, “I certainly hope this is the only time I have to talk to you about something like this. What you did could be considered a very serious offense, you know, and had this been later in the year, I would definitely have considered…”

She continued her scolding as she spanked, but Derpy was mostly tuning her out, focused on her own tears and sobbing and the fact that her bottom was stinging up a storm right now. She started to buck as Luna’s palm fell even harder, and she tried to focus on the open doorway, petrified that a wandering passerby might walk past and see her in this state.

“Please don’t let them see, please don’t let them see, please don’t let them see,” she thought to herself over and over again. Her sobs were just starting to deteriorate into bawls when the spanking started to slow, and then came to a stop, the vice principal’s palm resting atop her buttocks.

“I trust that this has made an impression?” she asked after a moment.

Not trusting herself to speak at the moment, Derpy just gave an affirming nod.

“Good.” Luna gently stood her up. “Now, let’s complete the punishment.” She led Derpy over to her desk and bent her over it. Derpy gasped, teary eyes widening as she realized, to her horror, that her buttocks were perfectly aligned with that open door. Then that horror grew even further when she saw Luna walk around the side and open up the implement drawer.

“I-I thought we were done!” Derpy whimpered, wiggling softly. “Please, my bottom hurts so much already!”

“I know,” Luna said. “But rather presumptuous of you to think that it would end there. I am going to make absolutely sure that this foolishness does not return.” She drew out a short, thin strap and drew it taught in her hands.

Derpy felt a cold sweat starting to form on the back of her head. “M-Ms. Luna… please, I’ve learned my lesson, r-really I have.”

Luna looked at her, her face softening a little bit. “I’ll give you a choice. I was going to give you a dozen snaps with this. But I will drop it to a half dozen if you will also do corner time.”

Derpy flushed deeper and bit her lip. “Y-you won’t just not use it at all?”

The scowl returned. “Don’t push your luck, young lady.”

Sniffling again, Derpy gripped the front of the desk firmly. “I-I’ll… take the full dozen,” she said gently.”

Luna raised a brow, but nodded. “All right then. Just remember, that was your decision.” She slowly walked around to Derpy, pinning her tail to her back and setting a heavy hand against her back to keep her in place, before setting the cold, cruel strap along the top of her buns. “One dozen strikes,” she reminded her. “Then we’ll be done.”

Derpy nodded again and whimpered, gritting her teeth and clamping her eyes shut, trying to ignore the open door, or the light, rhythmic tapping that she was being given as Luna lined up her shot.

Tap, tap, tap…

Then it rested on her bottom for a moment. Next, she slowly started to pick it up into the air. Derpy tensed up, waiting for the first strike, wondering when it would come and what it would feel like.

She didn’t have to wait long.

CRACK!

“EEEK!”

It didn’t feel good.

CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!...

Luna gave a slight pause between each blow, both to allow the sting to really sink in, and to line up her next shot. Each smack left behind a painful, stinging red line that overwrote the sore redness underneath it, and each one was spaced uniformly, only about a quarter inch apart, ensuring that there wasn’t any overlap, but the redness would spread out and cover her entire butt by the time she was done.

CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!...

“AWWW! WAAAH! BWAAAAH!” Derpy let out a full fledged howl with every spank, using the time in between to take in deep gulps of air and blubber out a quick apology or a plea for it to stop early. She wasn’t sure if she could even be understood or not, but she still tried regardless. She couldn’t really focus on anything beyond the throbbing in her rear right now.

CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!...

Derpy bucked against the desk as the final four started to come down, her strap so low now that the final strike was almost all but guaranteed to snap against her sit spots. She writhed at the white hot agony she was in, sure that she was going to be sleeping on her tummy for several nights afterwards. And then the final strike came.

CRAACK!

Just as Derpy had guessed, it strike right across her sit spots, making her howl even louder than before as she lifted both legs up and spread them in one last, massive, two footed kick outward that might have actually struck Luna, had it not been for the panties around her knees keeping her from spreading them any wider.

Luna nodded in satisfaction and set the strap down on the desk right next to Derpy before helping the poor girl stand up. “There, I think we’re done here.”

“N-never again,” Derpy sobbed softly.

“Good,” she said with a nod. “Just so long as you remember this lesson.” She turned and started to walk behind her desk, to one of the cabinets in the corner.

Derpy didn’t wait around to see what else she had to say or do. The teary-eyed, embarrassed pegasus bent over, yanked up her panties so hard and fast that she accidentally gave herself a wedgie, and turned away, running out of the office as fast as she could.

Luna winced deeply as Derpy wiggled in her seat, sighing. “So… that’s what happened,” Luna mumbled.

“Do you remember now?”

“I… do yes. Especially the end. I was… going to get some cream and offer you some aftercare, but you were already gone when I turned around.” She looked down. “I tried to find you afterwards, but it was almost like you disappeared off the face of the earth, even though I kept seeing your name pop up for classes. Eventually I just stopped trying.”

“I… was avoiding you,” Derpy admitted. “I just didn’t want to see you again after that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about those three girls after the fact though?”

“With no proof?” Derpy asked. “And after you shut me down when I tried to explain the situation!?”

Luna winced. Derpy winced back. “Sorry,” they both said at once. Luna shook her head. “No, no, you have nothing to apologize for I… I see now why you’d be uneasy around me. I definitely didn’t… make a very good first impression.” She rubbed her arm gently. “Those girls… Adagio, Aria, Sonata… they didn’t give you a hard time afterwards, did they?”

“They teased me every opportunity they had,” Derpy admitted. “They never told anyone else, because they knew they’d be outing themselves if they did. But it made me… really self conscious. Even more so than usual.” She indicated her eyes.

“I see…” Luna mumbled.

“Yeah…” Derpy cleared her throat. “I’m um… I’m gonna get back to putting books away.” She turned away and started to unpack another box. Her ear flicked and she blinked, hearing some heavy footfalls for a second. She turned back around and her frown deepened when she saw that Luna had left the room. “Oh…” she sighed. “I guess it might be best if she wasn’t in the club.” she mumbled. “I mean… things are awkward between us, super awkward now. Way to go Derpy, you should have just sucked it up and not said a thing…” she turned and started to put some more books back into their place.

She’d gotten about halfway through it when the club door opened and closed again and she turned to see Luna standing there, with a very familiar looking strap in her hand. The pegasus tensed, that same cold sweat slowly starting to take over… but it stopped when she saw the gentle, slightly nervous look on Luna’s face. Her eyes flicked back from the alicorn to the strap. “Um… hi?”

“Hello again, Derpy,” she said with a nod, walking over and setting the strap down on the table.

“What’s that for?”

“For making things right,” she stated. “Derpy what I did to you was… above and beyond what you deserved. Had I just given you a chance to explain, perhaps did some investigation of my own, rather than just assume I knew what was going on from the get-go, I might have been more inclined to just let you off with a warning.”

Derpy shuffled uncomfortably for a moment. “O-oh, no, Luna, it was a year ago now, I did still break a rule, and…”

“And as a consequence of my not letting you tell me your half of the story, you have been avoiding me since then, and never spoke out about being teased and bullied by the girls that tricked you into that situation.” She chewed her lip. “And regardless of the length of time, the fact that it was still bothering you, to the point where you felt nervous and uncomfortable around me? That just tells me that I failed as an educator, and as an adult meant to guide young minds. Discipline and comfort need to be given in even measure, and I did not keep that balance.”

“Wow, that was… kind of poetic.”

“Thanks, it was my minor back in college.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I want to make this right, Derpy.”

“Um…” she wiggled a bit more. “How… do you think you’re going to do that.”

Luna started to blush a little, looking more than a tad nervous herself. “You’ve heard the expression ‘an eye for an eye’ before, yes?”

“I have,” Derpy said. “I tend to think it makes the whole world blind, though.”

“Hmhm, clever,” Luna praised gently. “But in this case, I think it is justified.”

“So… wait you’re… asking me to…”

“Give me what I gave you, yes.”

Derpy bit her lip. But she still wasn’t sure. “Which is?”

Luna gulped a little bit. “A… a spanking and a strapping,” she said, hands folding behind her back. “As firm as you wish. I… trust your discretion.”

Derpy’s head swam for a moment. Spanking the vice principal? For something she did to her two years ago? Hadn’t she had dreams like this when she was a Freshman? “Are you sure?”

“Derpy, I joined the club because I have a genuine interest in its subject and I was more than happy to help get it off the ground. And if we’re both going to be in this club, I am not going to have this hanging over both of our heads while we nervously try to sidestep each other or act like we might dredge up bad memories.” She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to make you do this if you’re truly uncomfortable with the idea… but I’m asking you, not as a teacher or as an authority figure, or even as a fellow club member. I’m asking as someone who wants to be your friend: Will you please spank me like I did you?”

Derpy listened to her in rapt silence for a moment. Once her mind had finally taken some time to process what was being said, she took a deep breath and gave a solemn nod. “Okay.”

“Wait, you will? Really?”

“You’re right, Luna. Running this club has been a big dream of mine since I first had the opportunity to try and get it up and running, and I can’t let something like this ruin my passion, my hobby… or a potential friendship. So yes, I will spank you, just like you did me.”

“Oh, well… good,” she nodded gently. “I was worried you weren’t going to be comfortable with doing this, but I feel like it’s the best way… um, what are you doing?” she asked, as Derpy walked over and opened the door to the hallway, nice and wide.

“Just prepping,” he stated.

Luna’s face flushed in realization. While it was after hours and the school was mostly empty, there was still the janitorial staff wandering around, and there might be a few other students or teachers staying afterwards for various reasons. Still, she couldn’t complain. She had told Derpy to spank her exactly as she had done.

Derpy pulled one of the chairs out from the table and set it so that it was facing the door. “Please come here, Luna,” she said.

Luna approached her. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, sure about me going over your lap.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I’m not exactly small,” she said with a light laugh, indicating her wide hips and tall physique.

“Oh!” Derpy blushed. “Well uh… just don’t squirm too much?”

“I’ll try.” She nodded and reached down to her tight jeans, gently unbuttoning them and undoing the fly so that Derpy would have an easier time getting them down. Then the vice principal slowly lowered herself down, carefully centering herself over the smaller mare’s legs. She just barely managed to fit herself over them, putting both of her hands on the ground to properly balance herself. She lifted her tail out of the way and laid her feet against the floor as well, her toes touching the ground.

Derpy wiggled a little bit, grunting lightly at the weight on her knees before gently grabbing the hem of her jeans and carefully starting to pull them back. Luna wiggled from side to side as they were shuffled down, helping her to get them down properly. Once they were down around her knees, she stopped and took a look at the older mare’s underwear, a light blush coming to her face. “Oh wow,” she mumbled.

“What?” Luna asked, looking over her shoulder, tossing her mane to the side.

“Nothing it’s just… you’ve got really cute underwear is all.”

Luna blushed a bit as well, wiggling her rear, showing off the ‘cloudy night sky’ patterned panties, with a large, full moon printed right over both cheeks. “Well… thanks.”

Derpy cleared her throat, regaining her composure. “But they still have to come down! N-naughty mares get spanked on the bare after all.” She gripped the hem of Luna’s panties and slowly started to ease them down, taking her time as she revealed her bubble bottom for the first time. It was even bigger than she’d thought it would be. Her only immediate thought on seeing the two wobbling globes in front of her was, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of butt to spank…’

She hoped her arm was up to the task.

After her panties were deposited against her pants, down near her knees, a thought occurred to Luna as Derpy wrapped an arm around her waist, or as best as she could do with how thick she was. “You know, I don’t know if you’ll be able to properly get a reaction out of me with a hand spanking,” she mused. “It might be best if we just skip right ot the straAAP!”

WHAP! WHAP!

Derpy landed a pair of powerful, resounding smacks against Luna’s bottom, one on each cheek, striking them upward, making each one wobble for a moment before they settled down and Derpy gave each one a light pat where she’d struck. “I think I’ll manage,” she said gently.

“Oh dear…”

WHAP! WHAP! SMACK! SLAP! SPLAT! WHACK!

Derpy alternated from cheek to cheek, not bothering to aim her strikes all that much, knowing that there was plenty of space for her to cover, so she figured there wasn’t much point in using a pattern, so long as she eventually covered all of it. And she spanked nice and hard and fast, trying her best to emulate both how Luna had spanked her that time in her first year, and also how her mom had done so when she’d been a little girl. Every smack created a very nice echoing clap sound around the room while the impacts made Luna’s ample cheeks pancake and contort and wobble hard.

Soon, she was smacking them hard enough to turn her butt into a dancing, jiggling mess.

WHAP! SMACK! SPLAT! WHAP SMACK! SPLAT!

“Owww, oof! Nngh!” Luna gasped and wriggled lightly, kicking her feet in surprise. She had accepted punishment, and knew she deserved it, but in her mind, she hadn’t thought that Derpy would be able to spank quite this hard…

WHAP! SLAP! WHAP! SPAT! SLAP! WHAP!

Luna began to kick a bit more firmly, hissing a little bit as Derpy started to smack at her sit spots. That’s when she realized that the door was still open to the club room and her nervousness skyrocketed, anxiety overtaking her as she thought about the potential of someone actually seeing her in this state. Her heart pounded a bit more, in time with the hefty swats she was being given. She wondered if this is how Derpy felt when she was in this same position… She groaned, not liking the feeling at all.

WHAP! SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! SLAP!

As Luna started to writhe in pain and embarrassment, Derpy struggled a little bit to keep her center over her lap, but she still managed, and continued to her quick, rapid strikes, taking in the big, blue buns she had in front of her. Luna’s rear was pinkening up nicely, and soon it would be a nice, bright red. Derpy wanted to get her to that point before moving to the next part of the punishment.

WHAP! SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Owww! OWW!” Luna whined gently. “Hnngh!

“I hope you’re learning your lesson, young lady,” Derpy said, totally serious as she started working over Luna’s sit spots a bit more, making sure they matched the rosy tint of the rest of her buttocks.

Luna’s blush deepened until it almost matched her cheeks in coloration. “Y-yes ma’am, I am!” she panted, lip curling into a quiver as she felt tears starting to leak from her eyes.

Derpy wanted to continue on for a little bit longer, and really get that booty smoking, but her palm, not used to such treatment, was starting to sting fiercely, and Luna’s rear was reddening up pretty nicely anyway. So she nodded softly and decided that now might be a good time to continue to the next step. “All right, stand up, Luna,” she said gently, helping the frazzled mare to stand up and allowing her to rub at her sore rump for a little bit. She tried her best to keep her serious face, but she couldn’t help but enjoy herself, just a little bit, at seeing Luna standing there, shifting from foot to foot, hands squeezing her butt, as she tried to get rid of the sting. “Okay,” she said after another moment, pointing to the table. “You know what’s going to come next, right?”

Luna gave a little hiccuping sound, something between a sob and a sigh before she nodded and shuffled her bare bottom over to the table. She cleared a space on it and bent herself over so that she was playing flat on the table while Derpy picked up the strap, giving it a few practice swings to get a feel for it. She smiled gently at the wiggling Luna. “I’m gonna give you the same choice that you gave me,” she told the alicorn. “You can take twelve with the strap, or you can take six and then take corner time.”

“B-but… I gave you the full dozen,” Luna whimpered.

“Because that’s what I chose. I… really didn’t want to risk more embarrassment by standing in the corner, I was already feeling self conscious enough.” She shook her head. “But you get the same choice.”

Luna wiggled a little bit more before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. “The full dozen, please…”

“Are you sure?” Derpy asked, though she got right up next to her hip and placed a hand squarely on her lower back, pinning her tail out of the way as well.

“I am,” Luna said, relaxing her bottom gently, though she gave a soft gasp of surprise as Derpy laid the strap across her cheeks. “I… deserve it.”

“Okay then,” Derpy said gently. “After this, we’re square and even, all right?”

“We start over? As friends?” Luna asked.

“As friends,” Derpy promised, smiling raising the strap up. “So let’s get through it then!”

She paused for effect, just for a moment. And then…

SWI-CRACK!

The first strike came down with a powerful snap across the top of both her cheeks, making her yelp loudly.

SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK!

Derpy didn’t take as much time between strokes as Luna had, instead flicking her arm up and down in a rhythmic, constant motion. This had the effect of building up the sting much, much faster, but at the cost of accuracy; her blows criss-crossed and overlapped one another sloppily as she moved from the top of Luna’s butt to the very bottom.

SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK!

“OWWW! AWWW! OOOO!” Luna whimpered and whined, arching her back upwards, shaking her ass hard, though it did little to save it from the incoming strikes. Long, overlapping lines of crimson were plain to see surrounded by the sea of lighter red from the palm prints, the wobbling of her bottom acting almost like waves on the ocean, or ripples in a pond. And it definitely looked like a storm was brewing.

SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK! SWI-CRACK!

Luna went limp, sobbing hard, muttering apologies and shuddering gently. Derpy nodded gently and took her time lining up this last strike, wanting it to be absolutely perfect. She took hold of Luna’s dock, gently pulling up, making her arch her back and raise her bottom up, revealing her sit spots perfectly. Derpy reared back, and light fly with one last, mighty flick, licking the strap right across both of Luna’s sit spots.

CRAAACK!

“EEEYOW!” she howled loudly, giving one powerful buck that made the table rock slightly before going limp again and sobbing gently.

Derpy set the strap to the side, taking a few deep, calming breaths. Her palm was numb and she could feel a few shakes and shudders run through her. That had been… surprisingly exhilarating, and looking down at her handiwork right now, she had to admit that she was very glad that Luna had made that offer. After a few more breaths, she reached down and ran her hand up and down the alicorn’s bare, soft, hot bottom. It felt so warm…

“Nnngh… i-is… is it over?”

“Almost,” Derpy told her gently. “There’s still one more really important thing to do.” She took her hand off of Luna’s butt, reluctantly, and then helped the mare to stand up, holding her side, as she was having a little bit of trouble keeping steady. Then, when she had both feet planted firmly on the ground, one hand covering her front in embarrassment and the other rubbing her backside in pain. Derpy walked forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Luna. “I forgive you,” she said firmly.

Luna sniffled and smiled, raising one hand to wipe her eyes before returning the hug gratefully. “Thank you. I-I… I needed that more than you know.”

The two mares stood there like that for a long while, just holding each other. Then Derpy blushed. “Um… I think it’s time for you to pull up your pants,” she mumbled.

“Ah, um… g-good point.” Luna gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle and broke the hug, turning away and bending over to grab at her panties and jeans. Derpy’s eyes widened and focused fully as she took the opportunity to just stare at the great big flank she was presented with for a while before Luna finally managed to straighten up and get her underwear and pants to follow. She let out a hiss and a sigh as the fabric traveled over her rear end, but finally managed to regain her composure, dabbing her eyes again. She smiled and turned back to Derpy. “Friends?”

Derpy smiled gently and picked up the copy of Super Human that Luna had been squealing about, offering it to her. “Friends.”

Luna gasped, shaking her head. “O-oh no, I… I couldn’t possibly…”

“Luna, you really like the game, right? You’ve been looking for it for a while? I’ve got plenty of other games here. But this one is special to you. So you should have it.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s why I’m offering.”

Luna smiled wide and took the book, hugging it close to her chest. “Oh thank you! How can I-”

Derpy held up a hand to stop her, smiling. “You don’t have to do anything. It’s just a gift to celebrate our new friendship.” She giggled.

“Well, there is at least one thing I can do,” she said with a smile. “Let’s finish putting this club room together, hm?”

“Yeah!” Derpy gave a firm nod, some of her bangs falling into her eyes before picking up a few more books. “So… I did always want to ask you… what sort of games do you like to play?” she asked with a grin.

Luna grinned back. “Anything at all, Derpy. Especially if I can get away with playing it at school in my office.”

The two of them giggled gently to themselves, proceeding to have a nice, long chat about their interests in RPGs as they finished putting together the brand new tabletop club.

Chapter 5: A Great and Powerful Rivalry

Spike yawned loudly all through first period that day. It wasn’t that he was finding the class particularly boring or anything, but it had been another night of tossing and turning for him. He’d been having some very weird dreams. Incredibly sexy dreams, but they were still kind of weird. Oh, he’d enjoyed it, but he certainly hadn’t enjoyed the way that he kept waking up before he could properly resolve them.

It had been more than a little frustrating.

As he was making his way out into the hall for the break between first and second period, he blinked, feeling someone snag his arm. “Hm?” he blinked and looked back behind him, seeing Twilight there. “Oh, hey Twi,” he greeted with a small smile.

“Hello Spike,” she said with a nod. “I’m sorry, but I need to ask you a favor.”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Well… you know how I’ve been accepted into that special extracurricular magic class?”

“The one for advance magical applications, right?”

“Exactly the one. A-anyway, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing up to it today?”

Spike blinked. “Huh? Why’s that?” he asked.

“Well, today’s lesson is going to be on basic offensive and defensive spells. Wizardry, basically. And given who else is in the program, I’d feel a lot better if I could have someone that I knew really well there, just for some moral support. I’ve already checked with Luna and Celestia and they say it should be fine, so long as the person I invite doesn’t directly get involved in the lesson.”

“Uh, well, I sure don’t mind being there if you need me, Twi,” Spike said with a nod. “But… I guess I still don’t understand why. You’re the smartest mare I know at this school, and I think pretty much everyone knows that you’re a magical prodigy. So… why so nervous? Is it the subject matter?”

“No, no, I’m sure I could handle whatever I needed to when it comes to the spells and decorum for Wizardry. It’s just… the other student who’s in the program with me. She’s a bit… uh, forceful?”

“Uh… what do you mean?”

Before Twilight could open her mouth to speak, there was a flash in front of them in the hallway. After a moderately loud pop, a big, musty cloud of bright blue, sparkling smoke spread around them, obscuring everyone’s vision. Several students gasped and hurriedly stumbled away from the cloud, fearing it might be dangerous. And then, in the center of the crowd, a figure started to emerge. She was a slender unicorn mare, with a bright blue coat and long, flowing silver hair. A similarly long, flowing, purple cape adorned with star clusters and constellations was tied around her shoulders, with a large, crooked wizard’s hat sat atop her head, with the same color and pattern as her cape. Below that, she wore the same school uniform as any other mare in the school, and she actually wore it quite well. However, below that, rather than some basic white socks that most girls wore with their shoes and skirts, this mare was wearing a pair of pantyhose stockings, reaching all the way up to her thighs, hugging her legs nice and tight. “Haha!” she laughed, giving her cape a rather impressive flourish, and producing a star-tipped wand in one hand, the other resting on her hip. “It’s so good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle, my eternal rival!” she declared, loud enough that her words echoed around the hall. “You think you have beaten me, hm? You think after the show you put on during our last lesson that you had humbled and humiliated the Great and Powerful Trixie?” She shook her head, her hair going everywhere. “HAH! Well, Trixie is back and better than ever! And today, she will show you just how proficient and powerful she is with her wizarding ways! You shall be the one defeated and humiliated this time, and-”

An alarm bell started to ring and up above them, a sprinkler started to spritz water down onto the mare standing below it, cutting her off. Her hair and clothes were soaked through in no time flat. Apparently, the blue smoke she’d used for her appearing act had floated high enough, and maintained enough thickness to trigger the hallway’s fire alarm. Thankfully, the fire system was segmented in this school, so it only activated the sprinklers for this one area.

Twilight had conjured a magical barrier above her and spike, preventing them from getting soaked, the rest of the students around them dashing away to get to somewhere dry.

Trixie just stood there, glaring at the two of them nearby. “Th-this is just a minor setback!” she declared, above the din of the alarms. “I am still the most powerful, most magical, greatest unicorn who has ever lived, and I shall prove it to you after school today! Hahaha!” She reached into her pocket and drew out a small blue ball, throwing it against the ground. It was supposed to cause a massive cloud of blue smoke to appear and cover her escape, but the water caught it before it could puff up to a more impressive size, leaving a messy, knee high fog around her legs. She turned tail and fled all the same, however.

Spike frowned deeply and glanced at Twilight before pointing down the hall. She nodded and the two of them walked a good distance away to get away from the alarm bell ringing above them, and the slick, slippery tiles below them. As spike wiped his feet off on a mat near the entrance to the school, he sighed and looked at Twilight seriously. “So, that was the other student in the after school magic program?”

Twilight nodded. “That was her all right. The Great and Powerful Trixie, as she calls herself.” She waved a hand, banishing the magical umbrella above them.

“I see. Yeah, Twi. I’m definitely going to be coming with you when you go this afternoon.” He glanced back down the hall, where several faculty members were shouting themselves hoarse about the state of the hallway. “I’m not sure if any pony having that sort of magical ability AND an over the top personality is a good thing.”

The rest of the day passed by without any real incidents. Pinkie almost starting a war with her sister, Limestone, over the last Ruby Jello cup was about as close as it had come, but the argument was diffused when another mare had come by and grabbed the cup while the two of them were trying to determine if they should arm wrestle or play rock, paper, scissors for it.

He’d also had a chance to talk with Rarity, briefly, in the library. Much to his dismay, he’d had to turn down her offer for another drink at the cafe after school, due to his commitment to Twilight. But she seemed more than understanding about it, and had pat his shoulder and let him be on his way. It might have just been his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw a real proper sway in her hips as she walked away from him.

Not really the time to dwell on it though.

He reported to the gym after school, where a small, but narrow platform stage had been set up in the center. Celestia and Luna were there, putting the final touches on it. Spike smiled and wandered over, looking over the stage for a moment. It was a basic, straight platform, with each end being wide and circular, almost like some sort of bridge. He tilted his head and looked over at Luna, but she just smiled and told him that it was for the lesson. He shrugged, leaving his pack by the wall and sat down with a book, figuring Twilight and… what had she called herself? Trixie, that was it… would be along before too long.

As he read, he wondered about this Trixie girl. She obviously had a flare for the dramatic, if that entrance, attempted exit, and boisterous taunting were anything to go by. But beyond that, he had to admit, she’d been pretty cute. That long silver hair went well with her coat color and… well, the whole stockings thing had been pretty hard to ignore.

He was just starting to picture her doing cute, sexy poses when the door nearby opened up and he jumped slightly, slamming is book closed, as though worried someone was going to see over his shoulder. Not that there was anything dirty in a book called ‘The Kirin who Called to the Sun’ but it was almost like he was worried someone would somehow look into his mind via the book.

It was weird, how his mind worked sometimes. Mind reading had been against the law for three hundred years, he didn’t have anything to worry about.

Glancing up, he saw Twilight there, walking in, a neutral expression on her face as she set her pack, and a small pile of new library books, off to the side, before walking over to where the principals were waiting. Spike hopped up and hurried over as well, eager to hear what was going on.

“Has anyone seen Trixie?” Celestia asked, frowning, a hand on her side. “We were sort of counting on both of you being here for this lesson.”

“We saw her… er, earlier today,” Twilight said, glancing back at the door. “But I’m afraid I haven’t seen her since.

Luna rubbed her chin in thought. “Hmmm… it wouldn’t have anything to do with the fire alarm that got set off earlier would it?” she asked, looking between her and Spike.

“Heh… yeah, about that…”

“Haha!” a voice said from the stage. A large puff of blue smoke burst from the center of it, but it dissipated quite quickly this time, with a flourish of Trixie’s hand as she appeared from within the mists. “It is I! The Great and Powerful Trixie!” she announced, pointing towards Twilight. “And today, I am here to prove once and for all that I am the superior magic user to you, Sparkle! I came prepared today, as you’ll soon seeEEP!” she yelped as Luna reached up and grabbed her ear, gently leading her off the stage. “Ow, ow, owwie, ow…”

“We don’t have a need of your theatrics, young lady,” the alicorn scolded gently. “Now, are you ready for today’s lesson or not?”

“I am, I’m ready!” she whined, wincing softly and pulling away as Luna released her ear. She rubbed at it, giving a light hiss.

Celestia let out a gentle giggle before she looked down to Twilight and Trixie. “Both of us were very impressed with how you handled yourselves the first day,” she said. “Because of that, we’ve decided that this advanced class needs to… well, advance a bit faster so that we can keep things challenging for the two of you.” She tapped the stage behind her. “So today, you both are going to learn the time-honored tradition of magic dueling.”

The three students’ eyes widened a bit. Spike nervously gave his wings a flap. “Um, no disrespect ma’am,” he said, grabbing her attention, “But uh… isn’t a duel sort of… you know, inherently dangerous?”

Celestia smiled. “Don’t worry, Spike, we’ve taken every precaution necessary to keep this a strictly friendly affair. Powerful magical barriers around both the combatants and the stage to keep their magic from getting out of hand. And of course, we’re going to limit the sorts of spells that can be cast to keep things to a minimum. Besides, most magical duels haven’t been deadly for centuries now.”

“If you say so,” Spike said.

“I say so.” she smiled. “Besides, Spike… those two have a lot of magical potential, but also a lot of raw power. It has yet to be refined and focused. And until that happens, exercises like this, that allow them a measure of freedom to truly cut loose, are just as important as anything they could learn in a book.”

Spike nodded and walked over to where Luna was positioning a set of chairs for them to observe the duel as Celestia helped Trixie and Twilight up onto opposite ends of the stage, putting up the barrier spells. The barriers around the ponies pushed up against their skin, almost like a thin shell, just barely visible against their fur. “All right, girls,” she said, “We’re going to treat this as a very basic duel. Power and endurance are the key to this. Each of you will take turns trading offensive and defensive spells. Nothing too powerful and no, I repeat, NO attempts to badly physically injure your opponent. The barriers might keep you safe, but a powerful enough spell will still hurt. When Luna or I tell you two to stop, you will stop immediately.”

“So how do we win?” Trixie asked, crossing her arms, glaring at Twilight.

Celestia rolled her eyes, but shrugged. “If either of you falls over, to where anything above your waist touches the ground, it will count as a loss. It means falling onto your knees or your backside is allowed, but if your back or stomach, chest, or head, touches the ground, you’re out. Arms can be used to save or steady yourself, however. If neither of you falls by the end of the match, then Luna and I will give our judgement based on performance and the number of spells that connect.” she clapped her hands. “Now, stand at the center of each end of the stage and when I give the word, you may begin.”

The two girls nodded, retreating to the very ends of the stage before turning to face one another. Celestia flipped a coin into the air to determine who would have first offensive attack. Trixie got it, and she held her nose up in the air proudly. Twilight just shrugged and readied herself as Celestia walked over and sat to Spike’s left, Luna sitting to his right.

Spike wrung his hands gently, looking between the two of them for a little bit. He still had a really bad feeling about this…

“Ready? Go!” Celestia announced.

Trixie threw up her hands and her horn gave a light blue glow as she muttered something, pointing to Twilight. Three large balls of light came zooming at her. Twilight gasped and quickly threw up her arms in an X shaped pattern in front of her, a large wall of energy materializing in front of her. The lights impacted the shield, hard enough to make Twilight take a step backwards, but she remained standing. “Hmm,” Luna muttered, “Starting off strong with a series of concussive blasts. It seems she’s coming out swinging today.”

“Yes, but Twilight’s response was quick and effective, though it does look like she underestimated the force somewhat.” Celestia mused.

After taking a moment to rebalance herself, Twilight’s own horn glowed and she flicked her arm forward in a large sweeping motion, causing a shockwave of dirt and rock to start rising from the wooden floor, flowing towards Trixie. The blue mare responded by pointing at her feet, making them turn to something resembling steel. The added weight stopped her from being thrown backwards, as was intended, but the ground under her was still fairly awkward, and so she was tipped backwards. She yelped and pushed herself forward, managing to keep herself from falling onto her back, instead landing on her rear. She glared at Twilight across the way, who just blushed lightly as she relaxed after the spell.

Spike gulped lightly after witnessing these spells. He hadn’t expected spells THAT powerful to be thrown around. Luna and Celestia though, they seemed more impressed than anything else. Celestia glanced at Luna. “The amount of control these two are displaying over their magic is pretty impressive.”

“Agreed. They’re thinking on their feet very quickly.”

Trixie huffed loudly and rolled up one of her sleeves, pushing her hand forward and making a clenching motion. Then she yanked upwards.

“EEP!” Twilight yelped as she was suddenly yanked up into the air, flailing gently. Trixie had managed to put a magical grip around her underwear and was yanking them up, out from under her skirt. Trixie smirked and bounced her up and down a few times before letting her drop. Thankfully, Twilight managed to fire off a small burst of air that allowed her to right herself onto her feet before she dropped onto her stomaching, groaning and writhing as she tried to pick her now stretched panties out of her crack.

Spike was blushing furiously after that while the alicorns giggled gently. “A little… unorthodox, but impressive that she was able to grip so accurately.”

“But Twilight’s recovery came swiftly. I wonder how she’s planning to counter-”

The statement was left unfinished as Twilight’s horn sparked powerfully and she put both of her fingers together, pointing her fingers towards Trixie, firing off a blast of powerful energy. Trixie’s eyes widened and she quickly threw up some sort of silver barrier, but the magical bolt from Twilight passed straight through it and bashed into her. However, rather than forcing her backwards or knocking her down, the blast of magic… shredded her school top, tearing it off of her and throwing it against the barrier , where it flopped over, tattered and torn. Trixie’ eyes wide, looked down at her now bare torso, nothing but a bright, silver bra keeping her breasts hidden from view. She squealed loudly and covered herself, eyes narrowing.

While Spike was distracted by the sudden view he was afforded, he did notice that neither mare sitting on either side of him was providing color commentary on this event. Not that they’d have much of a chance to, as things sort of went off the rails after that.

Trixie’s own horn glowed with a bright blue flame now and she started to throw several spells, one after the other at Twilight. Smoke and fire were all Spike could see for a moment, the barrier around the stage glinting and shaking by the sheer impact of the spells. He glanced to Twilight to make she was okay, and while she managed to throw up several counter spells before Trixie’s attacks impacted her, the spells managed to work around her just enough to tear at her own clothing, ruining her school uniform.

Spike frowned and glanced at Celestia. “Mom,” he implored in a whisper, “I think it’s time to stop the duel, this is starting to get a little bit serious.”

“You’re right Spike. This is rapidly becoming more of a cat fight than a duel.” She slowly started to stand up, but before she could utter another word, a great burst of magic made the barrier around the stage shudder again, and the two combatants inside were lobbing spell after spell at one another, no longer caring about defense of any kind, instead just focusing on trying to make the other fall over. But their wild throwing meant that they missed more often than they hit, and any semblance of strategy was being thrown out the window. Spike saw bolts of magic striking the stage and making puddles appear, small flowers and mushrooms sprouted from the ground, the wood splintered, a few sparks of lightning and even a small fireball here and there. Barriers or not, this was getting even more dangerous. Luna stood up and hurried to her sister’s side as she got to the edge of the barrier. “Girls, that is enough! You are to cease your spellcasting this instant!” she ordered.

The order went unheeded.

“That’s it, Sparkle!” Trixie declared loudly, placing her palms together, siphoning a huge amount of magical energy from her horn into her hands, a big, blue and silver ball of energy swirling around between them, and only growing bigger as the seconds ticked by. “Let’s see you stay standing after this one!”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she began to do the same as Trixie, gathering a huge mass of magical energy from her horn into her palms. “I didn’t want to do this, Trixie,” she warned. “But you just had to push me right on through to this, didn’t you? Because you just had to be a big, bratty showoff!”

“Girls! That is enough! I am ordering you both to stop this instant!” Celestia all but shouted.

“They’re going to have to release that magic,” Luna said. “There’s no way the two of them will be able to just dispel that much magical energy once it’s gathered there, no matter how talented they are.” Luna’s horn glowed. “No telling what it’s going to do. I’ll have to step in and absorb it.”

“Wait! Luna, we can’t even tell what sort of spell they’re going to cast, you can’t just-”

Celestia’s protest was cut off when Luna flickered out of existence, reappearing in the center of the stage, two barriers to her right and her left, just as the two students released their spells, which by this time had grown to the point that the balls of energy were almost as large as the girls upper bodies. The two hurtled towards Luna at lightning speed and she braced herself for impact. The spells collided with her barriers. They shrunk a bit. Then they broke the barriers and collided with Luna and each other.

KA-BOOOM!

The entire auditorium rattled from the impact., the force of the magical explosion enough to knock Spike backwards, off of his chair while Celestia had to brace herself to keep from being blown backwards as well, and even then she still slid back a few feet.

The barrier encompassing the stage managed to contain the brunt of the blast, but it shattered not long after the worst of the explosion had passed, and the wooden stage was torn to pieces underneath them.

The aftershock continued for a few more moments before the boom faded, and the light from the spells did likewise, leaving behind only a ringing in the ears of everyone present and a half blinded dragon who was quickly trying to scramble to his feet and make sure everyone was all right. Spike ran over to where Celestia stood, surveying the damage. “M- Celestia,” he said, catching himself, not wanting Twilight or Trixie to hear of his relation to the principal and princess. “Are you all right? Is everyone all right.”

“Everyone’s fine, Spike,” she said, in a calm monotone, that made Spike stop in his tracks. He’d seen that look on her a few times before. He’d heard that tone accompanying it too.

She. Was. Pissed.

Gulping, Spike looked towards the ruins of the stage. On either side, Twilight and Trixie were on their backs, dazed, their manes a frizzy mess, both wearing nothing but their bras and panties, their skirts and shirts apparently obliterated by the spell they’d cast. The magical barriers that had been around them had been shattered by the blast as well, but apart from being thrown backwards slightly, neither of them looked like they were injured. Spike breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

Luna, miraculously, was still standing, though she looked just as dazed as the two students. She hadn’t been as lucky as they had in the clothing department, however. She stood there, naked as the day she had been born, her mane and tail puffing out from the residual energy in the air. She swayed slightly, trying to keep her balance, apparently not aware yet that she was nude. Spike flushed deeply and turned away, coughing a little.

Luna yelped loudly and covered herself, flushing deeply, her horn glowing quickly as she teleported away, and then back in fresh clothes, though the blush on her face remained.

Celestia watched as the two girls groaned, slowly getting up, pulling themselves up out of the piles of wood they’d created. Trixie rubbed at her forehead and glanced around. Twilight joined her, but when the two of them matched gazes with Celestia, they quickly looked away. “So…” Trixie mumbled. “Who won?”

Celestia’s horn glowed and the two of them were teleported right in front of her, on their feet. They gasped and wobbled back and forth for a moment, caught off balance by the sudden shift in location. Celestia’s horn sparked again and their clothing rematerialized on them. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “That was an absolute disaster.” She crossed her arms, looking between the two mares, who refused to look at her. “I have to say, it’s partially my fault for not taking more precautions, but on the other hand, I was NOT anticipating you two to turn this dueling exercise into a petty, high school spat!”

“But Trixie started it!”

“But Twilight elevated it!”

The two of them started to speak together, over one another, struggling to make a case to Celestia, who just kept a very neutral expression on her face. Spike, however, noticed the little tells here and there. A very soft flick of the ear, an almost imperceptible twitch in her eye. She was rapidly running out of patience.

Thankfully, Luna’s fuse was a bit shorter, and the explosion was not nearly as bad. “ENOUGH!” she bellowed, her voice magically amplified to the point where the force of it made the two students jump back. “YOU DISREGARDED OUR RULES ABOUT KEEPING YOUR MAGIC CONTROLLED! YOU DAMAGED, NAY, DESTROYED SCHOOL PROPERTY! YOU PUT YOURSELVES, US, AND SPIKE IN DANGER!” Her face flushed redder. “AND YOU DISINTEGRATED MY CLOTHES!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight said, her voice meek and quiet. “I-I don’t… know what came over me…”

“W-well… to be fair,” Trixie tried, “You aren’t half bad looking, Ms. Luna.” She offered a forced, lopsided grin.

It was greeted with a stoic glare that made the girl shrink back, ears folded.

Celestia took a deep breath, letting it out. Her face softened, but her eyes held the same intense disappointment they’d had a moment before. “I’m going to have to bill your families for the partial repair of the dueling stage. And for the inspector to come and take a look at the structural integrity of the gym after that blast.” Luna gave a soft grunt and Celestia rolled her eyes. “And of course, compensation for my sister’s clothes.”

“It was my favorite, comfy casual outfit,” the midnight mare said with a pout.

“This will of course require discipline,” Celestia continued. “And… after that display, I’m going to have to seriously reconsider your candidacies for this program. You were allowed in here not just because of your natural talent with magic, but also because we believed that you were displaying maturity when it came to using it. This has certainly proved us wrong, and-” she paused, looking between the two. Twilight was covering her eyes, her chest rising and falling irregularly as she sobbed against her arm. Trixie’s fists were balled tight and she was looking down, her long mane covering her eyes, her teeth grit, tears dribbling down her face. Celestia felt her heart breaking as she tried to remain stern. “And… magic must be handled maturely, especially if you plan to use such powerful spells.”

“Ms. Celestia,” Spike said, slowly walking forward, between his mother and the two mares. “Wait, please… I… I could handle this,” he said.

Celestia and Luna glanced at one another and then at Spike. “What do you mean, ‘handle this’ Spike?” Luna inquired.

Spike blushed. “Let me… handle their punishment,” he offered. “Look, they really messed up, and I think they both know it right now. But as someone who was here to witness what happened, I think that this would have a better effect coming from a friend and classmate to them rather than an educator, no offense.”

“And you believe it would be enough to keep them from repeating this behavior a second time?” Celestia asked.

Spike nodded vigorously. “I promise, you won’t have to worry about them blowing up at each other in this class again. Just… please give them another chance? Let them off the hook and I promise I’ll handle them.” He looked up at Celestia, clasping his hands together. ‘Please, mom,’ he mouthed. ‘Don’t do this to my friend…’

Celestia sighed loudly again, but it was less frustrated this time, and more accepting. “Very well Spike. Luna and I will still be here to witness the punishment, but if we feel that it is acceptable, we’ll keep everything that happened here between the five of us.”

Spike let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Thank you,” he said, smiling at her. She smiled back, briefly, before looking at the two girls. Spike turned around to face them. “All right, Twilight, Trixie, get a hold of yourselves, okay?” he asked.

They nodded and both sniffled and took a few deep breaths of air, drying their eyes and doing their best to not let their tears show. He smiled at them, but then took on a firm, stoic expression. “What the two of you did was… incredibly dangerous,” he told them, crossing his arms, hoping that he looked tough. He spread his wings a bit, hoping it made him look a bit more imposing. “And that sort of behavior will not stand. Therefore… I’m going to spank you both, like the little fillies you were behaving as.”

Twilight flushed deeply. “S-spank us, Spike?”

He nodded in response.

Trixie burst out laughing. “Ah… haha, you got me there,” she said as she got a handle on herself. “Seriously, thanks for getting us off the hook, but you can’t be serious, Spike… you aren’t going to spank me. Not really. Right?”

Spike turned and drew the chair he had been sitting in towards them, setting it down and sitting in it so that he was facing both of them, Luna and Celestia taking their own seats so that they had a good view of what was going to happen. “Twilight, come here,” he ordered.

Gulping, the lavender mare shuffled over to him, toying with her pleated skirt slightly, standing at his side. He glanced up at her before turning back to Trixie. “Trixie, sit down on your knees and put your hands on your head,” he ordered. “Facing away.”

Trixie blinked. “Spike, seriously, look, how about I just start cleaning up all the wood around here and we-”

“That was not a request,” he snapped, glaring at her. “Now either you do as your told, or you’re going to get the brush in addition to what you have coming.”

Trixie jumped at his tone, eyes widening. Twilight let out a gasp as well. She had never heard spike be so… no nonsense before. “Uh…” she said dumbly.

“Trixie Lulamoon,” Spike said, his voice sharp, but slow, “This is your last chance. If you don’t do as your told before I get up out of this chair, you are going to get the tanning of your life.”

No one moved for a few seconds. Least of all Trixie. She just stood there, eyes wide, staring at him. Spike felt a blush coming on as her eyes traveled over his body, but he forced it back, trying to keep his self consciousness to a minimum. Finally, he put his hands on his knees and stood up, letting out an exasperated sigh, and took a step towards the blue unicorn.

“EEP!” she gasped, turning around and starting to bend down. “Okay, okay, I’m doing it! Look, I’m sitting down now, I- OWW!” she gasped and hissed and Spike took a firm hold of her ear and gave her a yank towards the chair. “Wait! Wait, I was doing what you told me!”

“It’s too late for that,” he said, pulling the writhing girl along. “I told you to do it before I got up, but you just stood there. Well, good on you, sticking to your guns, Trixie, your defiance has just earned you an extra hard smacking.” He sat back down and pulled the squirming unicorn over his lap. She kicked and bucked and writhed, but Spike easily gripped her hips and held her in place. “Twilight,” he said calmly, as Trixie continued to thrash and writhe.

“Um, y-yes sir?” she asked cutely.

He smiled at her. “Please go and fetch the brush for me.” He nodded to Celestia. “Ask the principal for it. Afterwards, I trust you won’t have a problem doing as your told, right?”

“N-no sir, not at all!” She quickly turned away, walked over to Celestia, and after a brief flash of teleportation magic, returned with a hard, oakwood hairbrush, with a nice, wide, flat back. She handed it to Spike and then immediately hurried a few steps away, getting down on her knees, placing her hands on her head, and keeping herself turned away from the view, as he had ordered.

“Good girl,” Spike praised, gripping the brush in one hand before flipping up Trixie’s skirt and, without a moment’s hesitation, pushed her panties all the way down to her ankles, her cheeks wobbling from the force of the push.

Trixie gasped. “Y-you nasty pervert! You can’t! Stop it right now! No, I didn’t agree to this!” She squirmed harder, reaching back to cover her rear, but Spike caught both of her wrists and pinned them to her back, transferring the brush to his prehensile tail to keep it out of the way. “Wait, wait, please, I’m sorry!” she said, shivering as she felt his palm push against her soft, plush bottom. “I’ll be good, I swear! I’ll do what you say!” Spike raised his palm up nice and high. “PLEASE! I don’t want a spanking!”

“Well,” Spike said calmly, a small smile on his face, “Then you shouldn’t have earned one.”

SMACK!

“EEP! OW!” Trixie hissed, arching her back as Spike’s hand came down on her right cheek. Her plump buttocks wobbled and jiggled from the smack, and before it had finished its little dance, Spike switched over and gave her other cheek a similar swat.

SMACK!

“AH! Come on, I said I was sorry!” the mare whined, kicking her legs hard, trying to swim her way off of Spike’s lap.

It didn’t help.

SMACK! SLAP! SPLAT! WHAP! WHAP!

Spike alternating from one cheek to the next, a light blush on his face as he took in the sight of her rear jiggling up and down, but he forced back any naughty thoughts he was having. This was for punishment. He had to treat it like one. “I’m sure you’re sorry, but you’re going to be sorrier before I’m finished, and perhaps you’ll not only learn to control yourself a bit better when I’m done, but you’ll also learn to follow instructions a little bit better, hm?”

SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! SMACK! SPANK! SMACK! SPANK!

“Aww! EEP! EEK! Y-yes, I will, I promise! OW! Spike, you’re spanking too hard.”

Spike glanced at her bottom again, watching as it pinkened up beautifully. But it was nowhere near red enough just yet. He shook his head and started to slap her sit spots, windmilling his arm a bit so that her cheeks wobbled up and down. “I’m spanking you as hard as I need to, Trixie. You not only put Twilight in danger, but yourself as well. What were you thinking up there on the stage?”

“OW! ACK! I-I was thinking I wanted to humiliate her and get a decisive victory!”

“And that didn’t work out very well for you, did it?” he scolded, clapping his hands down a bit harder, letting each impact sink in before delivering another one.

“WAAH! No sir! AWW!” she hissed and whimpered, fresh tears coming to her eyes. She tried to wring her hands free, but Spike’s grip was like iron. “AWW! H-how can you be so strong? YEEP! Y-you’re tiny! A little dragon!”

Spike blushed, but smirked, stopping the spanking for a second, rubbing her butt up and down for a second, making her groan. “A little dragon is still a dragon,” he scolded. He raised his hand up and gently blew on it, a hot bit of steam passing over his palm before he quickly smacked it down, making her buck nice and hard.

“YEEP!” she whined in distress, tears starting to fall from her eyes as another volley of slaps came her way.

SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP! SLAP! SMACK! SLAP!

Spike took a deep breath and stopped after a dozen or so slaps with his warmed palm. He shook it. The tingle in his hand was starting to get a little overwhelming. It didn’t hurt, but it was a very interesting sensation. “Okay… I think that’s enough punishment for your bad behavior during the duel.”

She let out a deep breath, wiggling her bright red bottom. “Thank goodness.” She tried to get up, but Spike held her fast. “Um… a-aren’t we done?” she asked, gulping.

Spike reached behind him and grabbed the hairbrush from his tail. “No. Now, it’s time for the extra you earned.”

She gasped and writhed in distress as he set the back of the hard, wide brush against her buttocks. “NO! S-spike, please, I’m begging you, please, let me up, I’ll be good, I swear, I’m sorry I was a bad pony, I’ve learned my lesson!”

Spike frowned a little bit, sighing as he looked her over for a moment, glancing at her tear stained face, her quivery lip, her ruffled mane. He gave her bottom a light tap with the brush, making her tense up and hiss in anticipation. “I’ll tell you what,” he said gently. “I’m going to give you ten spanks. If you take them all like a good girl, and count them properly, we’ll end it here.”

“Noo,” she whimpered. “Please, no more.”

“It’s either that, or I just give you a full spanking with the brush like I was planning too.”

She whimpered again, but sniffled and nodded, wiggling again, arching her buttocks towards him. “F-fine… please, just get it over with.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile, rubbing the brush up and down on her bottom for a moment before he lifted it up. Trixie tensed, every muscle in her body going rigid. Spike waited for a bit, waiting just until the point where she was starting to relax. And then…

WHACK!

“YEEEK!” she squealed, hissing loudly as her right bottom cheek cratered and rippled outward, Spike holding the brush against her bottom after the blow landed.

He waited a moment. “Trixie, you had better start counting.”

“O-one! I’m sorry!”

WHACK!

“AH! T-two! I’ll be good!”

WHACK!

“T...Three! Three! Waaah!”

WHACK!

“Foooour!”

WHAP!

“Five! Please… please, no more!”

WHAP!

“WAAAH! SIIIX!”

WHAP!

“SEVEN! OWW! IT HURTS TOO BAAAD!”

WHAP!

“E… eheheeeeight!”

WHAP!

“TEN!” she sobbed, and blubbered, going limp against his legs.

Spike frowned, looking down at her and then at her bottom, which was now a nice, deep, cherry red, quivering softly from her sobbing and shaking. Rather than call her out on the number she missed, he smiled gently and shook his head, lowering the brush to the ground and then gently caressing her bottom. “You did wonderfully, Trixie,” he praised softly. “We’re all done.”

She whimpered and sobbed gently as he slowly helped her up. She looked at him pitifully for a moment.

He chuckled gently and opened his arms. “Do you need a hug?”

She gratefully threw her hands around him and nodded, squeezing him tightly as he rubbed at her back and bottom in a comforting manner. He sighed. “Okay… I still need to deal with Twilight.” He stood her up, turned her around and gently folded her skirt over her tail so that her bottom would stay visible. “I want you to sit down on your knees, hands on your head, facing away from me. No rubbing, no moving from that position, understand?”

“Y-yessir,” she said, still sniffling. She turned around, giving her backside a quick rub while she still could before getting on her knees next to Twilight and taking the position that Spike requested.

Spike took a moment to admire his handiwork, Trixie’s soft, bouncy, red bottom on full display, before he leaned back and sighed. “Alright, Twilight, come here.”

Gulping, the unicorn mare nodded, slowly standing up and shuffling over to Spike, biting her lip. Spike took her hips without another word and laid her down over his knee as he had done with Trixie. He flipped up her skirt and gently slid her panties down to her knees. Twilight squirmed lightly, but kept the palms of her hands firmly on the ground as Spike pat a hand over her backside, her soft, thick cheeks squishing gently under his hand. “Since you did as you were told, you’re only going to get a hand spanking,” he said. “But I’m not going to be gentle with you. You earned this.”

“I know… I’m sorry sir,” she mumbled.

He sighed and nodded, pressing down against her back firmly before raising his hand up, taking a deep breath and then letting it fall back down against her soft, bouncy rear.

SMACK!

She gasped and arched her back, hissing loudly from the slap, and Spike gave her another one on the opposite cheek.

SMACK!

“EEP!”

Spike raised a brow and glanced at her. “Twilight?”

“Y-yes?”

“You haven’t been sticking to your workout plan, have you?”

Her ears folded back and she blushed deeper. “N… no…”

He sighed again and shook his head before he quickly started to smack her rear, back and forth, making her buttocks dance, nice and fast.

SMACK! SWAT! SLAP! SMACK! WHAP! SWAT!

“Ah! Nnngh! Oww! OOOH! Hnn!” she writhed and kicked gently, but otherwise did her best to keep herself still as the spanking continued, whimpering gently as the sting started to build up and the sound of the slaps echoed through the gym. Her cheeks jiggled and wobbled gently as he continued to smack each cheek right in the center.

“Now, Twilight,” he said with a shake of his head, “I hope that you’re learning your lesson from this. I expect a heck of a lot better from you.”

“Aww, yes sir, I’m sorry sir,” she whimpered again, wiggling a bit harder, Spike tightening his grip around her to keep her from wriggling too hard.

He couldn’t help but blush a little bit as she kept referring to him as ‘sir.’ Even if it was appropriate given the circumstances, he was still more than a little bit embarrassed by her taking such a submissive position with him. But that was Twilight, he supposed. Rigid, obedient, smart, and shy as all get out.

SMACK! SPANK! SPLAT! WHAP! SPLAT!

“Owww! Aww! It huuurts!” she whimpered.

“It’s supposed to. You were a very, very naughty girl, Twilight. Honestly, letting your magic get so out of control. You are so lucky that you and Trixie weren’t hurt worse.” He started to slap her sit spots, as he had done with Trixie, which made her buck and yelp louder. “And you’re also lucky that you asked me to come here. Can you imagine what would have happened if I weren’t here to speak on your behalf with Celestia and Luna after this? Gods, I don’t even want to think about what your mom would think if she heard about that.”

Twilight sniffled loudly and squirmed a bit more as her sit spots really started to throb, her cheeks wobbling and dancing harder. “Aww, I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” she sobbed.

Spike nodded. “Good. Because if I ever need to do this again, for any reason, I am going to get a paddle, you understand?”

“A-a paddle?” she gasped. “You… you wouldn’t!”

“Don’t give me a reason,” he responded.

WHAP! WHACK! SMACK! SLAP! SPLAT! SMACK! WHAP!

“Aww! I’ll be good! Oooh! Waaah!”

Spike started to slow the smacks down and finally brought his palm to rest against her bottom, rubbing it up and down as she continued to sniffle and sob gently. “I hope you mean that, Twilight. You’re a very good girl, I know you are.”

“Aww…” she whimpered and writhed a bit more as Spike helped her up and hugged her tightly, as he had done with Trixie. “Th-thank you, Spike… f-for coming with me.”

He smiled lightly and rubbed her back again, patting her chubby cheeks. “No problem. Feel free to invite me any time,” he whispered. He glanced over at Trixie, who was still writhing, back and forth, wiggling her exposed, red tush back and forth. He smiled again and motioned to Trixie. “Go and join her on the ground for a bit longer, Twilight. Calm down, okay?”

She sniffed and nodded, smiling and wiping her eyes before shuffling over to sit down next to Trixie, who glared lightly at Twilight for a moment as Spike got up and walked over to Celestia and Luna, taking a moment to take a deep breath and calm himself. “So… was that okay?” he asked, nervously.

Celestia smiled and stood up, nodding. She gave him a quick hug and pat his shoulders. “You handled it expertly, Spike. Consider the matter settled. So long as the girls don’t take it to this extreme again,” she said, looking over at the two squirmy girls before leaning in closer to him. “Luna’s planning to come over tonight,” she said. “Did you want to catch a ride home with us, or…”

Spike thought about it for a moment before he shook his head. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’d like to make sure Twilight and Trixie get home safe.”

“My my,” Luna mused, walking over and smirking. “Quite the white knight, you’ve raised, sister.”

Spike blushed while Celestia shushed the blue mare. She smiled gently and nodded. “Yes, I’m quite proud of him.”

Spike’s blush grew deeper. “Mooom…” he mumbled, embarrassed. His mother and his aunt chuckled before prompting him to take the girls and head out, as they’d probably be there for a little while longer, trying to make sure that the gym was properly cleaned and ready for the next day of classes.

The dragon hurried over to the girls, helping them to stand and then even helped to pull up their underwear, much to Twilight’s delight and Trixie’s embarrassment. “If you girls don’t mind,” he offered with a small smile, “I’d like to make sure you get home alright.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “My home’s not a huge walk from here, I could make it fine by myself.”

“And I gotta take the bus to get to mine,” Trixie said. “Seriously, you don’t have to.”

“Well… at least let me accompany you to the bus stop then,” he offered, holding out his hand to the two of them. The two mares blushed, but Twilight smiled and nodded, taking his hand, walking with him towards the doorway. Spike stopped and glanced back at Trixie. “Coming?” he called.

She coughed lightly. “Y… yeah,” she said after a moment, offering him a small, but sincere smile. The two of them started to rub their backsides as they walked with Spike, out of the gym and then out of the school. He couldn’t help but chuckle at their embarrassed wiggles and blushes as they tried hard to banish the sting of his mighty palm.

He had to admit… it was more than a little invigorating.

Chapter 6: Madness at the Mall (Part 1)

Spike had been having a very good, delightful dream when it was rudely interrupted by a particularly chipper and peppy ringtone blasting from the phone on his night stand. He winced, his eyes struggling to focus as he raised his head from his pillow. Finally, his bleary eyes managed to make out the digital clock on his bedside table. It was three thirty in the morning. “I swear,” he growled, in a low, croaky, tired voice, “If this is another spam call from Neighvada, I’m going to kill someone…”

He reached out a tired hand, sliding it along the cool surface, and grabbed his phone, pulling the bright screen close to his face. “Pinkie Pie?” he mumbled as he read the contact name. “What in the world does she want?” he swiped the answer button and drew it to his head. “Hello?” he asked, just barely hiding his annoyance.

“Hey there, Spike!” Pinkie greeted happily, her voice bright and peppy, like they were meeting at school. “Whatcha up to?”

“Well… I WAS sleeping…” he mumbled.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re a normie,” she teased, giggling.

“Pinkie,” he said, huffing and flopping back down against his pillow, “Why are you calling me this early in the morning?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you if you could do me a favor.”

“This early in the morning?” he emphasized.

“No silly!” she giggled. “After school!”

“And you couldn’t have asked me yesterday? Or maybe today? At school? After I’d gotten a full night’s sleep?”

“Hey, I’m sorry, I sometimes forget that someponies have different sleep schedules from me.”

“What exactly IS your sleep schedule?”

“Four hours a day,” she answered.

“Four… Pinkie, how are you even still functioning?”

“Spike, do you have any idea how much stuff I could be doing while I’m sleeping? Four hours of sleep is more than enough time to get enough rest to function during the day.”

“Especially when most of your food intake consists of sugar and caffeine,” he muttered to himself.

“Did you say something?”

“No no. Erm, anyway, what was this favor you wanted?” he asked.

“Oh right! Well, my mom’s birthday is coming up. My sisters and I wanna get her something special since she’s turning forty. That’s like, a pretty big milestone for a pony, right?”

“I suppose, yeah. Wow, I didn’t realize your mom was so young when she had Maud,” he mumbled, letting out a yawn. “So… what did you need from me?”

“Well, my sisters and I were planning to go to the mall after school today to try and find some gifts for her.”

“Okay…”

“And we were hoping to get an outside opinion on our gifts and our shopping techniques.”

“Wait, shopping techniques?” he asked.

The question went ignored. “And we were kind of hoping, since you’ve been a real good friend to me and my sisters for years now, if you’d come with us?”

“But… I mean, I’ve met your mom before, but I don’t know if I would be able to tell you if the gifts would be a good fit for her… I don’t know her super well.”

“It’s okay, Spike!” she said happily. “We still really want a third party there to help us out. Please?”

Spike rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, unable to think very clearly at the moment. “Mmph… and you want me?”

“Mhmm!”

“Well… I guess I don’t really have any plans this afternoon…”

“Awesome! That’s the spirit, Spike!” She made a kissing noise over the phone. “See you at school!”

“Yeah, yeah… and Pinkie?” he said, his eyes eyes already starting to shut.

“Yes, Spike? My most wonderful and valued best friend ever in the whole wide world and time and space?”

“If you ever call me this early again, I’m going to yank off your bottoms and beat your buns red and raw, you understand me?”

“...Kinky,” she giggled. “Well, these buns will be ready for baking any time, Spike! See you later!”

“Goodbye, Pinkie.”

“Sleep tight!” She hung up.

He groaned and sprawled back out on his bed, letting his phone fall beside him, unused. Just as he was starting to get back to sleep, his eyes shot open slightly. “Wait… did I just threaten to spank Pinkie?” he flushed deeply, and a small mountain started to rise up from his bed sheets, which he quickly squashed. He groaned louder and writhed, hugging his pillow closer against his head. “I did NOT need this right now,” he growled.

Spike did manage to get to sleep afterwards and despite being quite groggy when he woke up, he managed to get through the school day just fine. But Pinkie seemed quite insistent on popping up to remind him of their meeting after school at the oddest time. Between classes, during classes, during study hall… Perhaps the strangest was when she managed to pop out of his locker when he was trying to put away text books. When he’d asked how she was able to fit herself in such a small space, she’d shrugged, said she was taking ‘contortionist classes’ and then proceeded to lift her leg so that her foot was up in the air over her head and pull the leg to her front.

Spike had to admit, it was kind of impressive, and hot.

Once the school day was over, he met Pinkie and her sisters outside of the school and they took a quick bus ride over to the Canterlot Plaza, where the massive mall awaited them. Along with Pinkie, there was her younger sister, Marble, who had just started attending their school this year, her elder sister Limestone, a tough jock girl who was a year above him and Pinkie, and her eldest sister, Maud, who would be graduating at the end of the year.

He had a lot of fond memories of spending time with the Pie sisters growing up, but it seemed like he never got to see them nearly as much nowadays, so he was happy to have a chance, however brief, to catch up with them all. “So Maud, how are your specialty classes going? What’s it like being a senior?”

“It’s fun,” the dark grey mare said, her voice monotone, brushing a few strands of her perfectly straight mane behind her. “The classes are tough, but I like the subjects, and I can use them as college credits next year when I go to get my rocktorate.”

“Still planning on becoming a geologist, huh?”

“Yes,” she said.

“As if she’d do anything else with her time,” Limestone said with a snort.

“And what about you?” Spike countered quickly. “How’s that deadlifter career coming along.”

She narrowed her eyes, but smirked after deciding that he wasn’t making fun of her. “It’s coming. I’m up to three-eighty!” she flexed her impressively muscled arms. They were taught and thick, but not overly so, still looking lean when she rested them at her side. Of course, Spike was sure she could just twist him into a pretzel if she wanted to, and her strength paired well with her fiery temper and her extreme protectiveness of her sisters. Especially Marble.

Dear Marble sat at the edge of the bus, trying to become one with her seat, hugging her backpack tightly against her chest, her bangs obscuring one of her eyes. Spike offered her a small smile, causing her to blush and look away. “And what about you, Marble?” he asked, keeping his voice a little low, a habit he’d developed when he realized that talking too loud tended to startle or upset her. “How’re you liking your first year so far?”

“Um… uh…” she said, wiggling softly in her seat.

“She’s only been there a couple days,” Limestone said. “Not really a chance to form an opinion yet.”

“Well yeah,” Pinkie said, putting an arm around Marble and drawing her out of the safety of her corner, “But first impressions are pretty important too! So come on, Marble, what do you think?” she asked, still wearing that eager, encouraging grin.

“Um… it’s nice,” she finally mumbled, so low that Spike thought she was asking for ‘ice’ or ‘rice’ at first.

“See? She likes it!” Pinkie clapped her hands.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far,” Maud said, the very slightest hint of a smile coming to her face. “I’m also very proud of you, deciding to try school out this year.”

Marble blushed deeper and smiled, but tried, in vain, to remove herself from Pinkie’s grip and slide back to the safety of her corner.

“Ah, that’s right. You were home schooled for a long time.” Spike nodded.

“Anything wrong with that?” Limestone asked, narrowing her eyes.

Spike put up his hands defensively. “No, not at all, just saying.”

“Just… wanted to stay with my sisters is all,” Marble mumbled lightly.

The bus stopped just outside the plaza and the five of them walked out, heading towards the mall. Pinkie grinned as they approached and hopped in front of the group. “Alright girls, here’s the situation!” she said. “There’s five of us and we each have our own ideas about what to get mom for her birthday. So I think the best thing is to split into teams, go to the stores we want to check out, and buy our stuff.”

Spike raised a hand. “And um, how exactly am I supposed to help out?”

“I’m glad you asked!” she said with a grin. “You’ll spend some time with both groups! We’ll pick out our gifts, and let us know what you think!”

“Well… okay,” he mumbled, shrugging. If she thought that he would be helpful, he’d have to stop questioning and just go with the flow right now.

Besides, if it meant spending some time with the pie sisters, well, it wasn’t going to be too bad.

After a brief discussion over who would go with who, Maud and Limestone decided to make up one group while Pinkie and Marble would be the second, and Spike would start off with Pinkie and Marble and then switch over after about an hour of wandering around. They’d all reconvene at the big fountain in the middle of the mall when they were done. It didn’t take long for the groups to get separated once they entered the mall, which was oddly busy for a weekday afternoon. There weren’t even a huge amount of kids from the school in there, it was just really full at the moment, it seemed.

Spike followed closely behind a skipping Pinkie Pie and a shuffling Marble as they entered and he looked around. There was a large arcade off to the side, because of course there was. There was always an arcade at the entrance to the mall. “So, where are going first?”

“Clothing store, definitely! Mom could really use an update to her wardrobe.”

“Uh… um…” Marble pulled on her sister’s sleeve. “But she likes the… conservative, plain stuff, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, but she’s starting to wear out a lot of the stuff she’s got. Remember what happened when she was out in the fields the other day? When she bent over.” Pinkie made a tearing sound and pointed at her backside, making Marble blush and giggle gently.

Spike snickered lightly and blushed as he tried his best to picture the incredibly strict and serious mare, Cloudy Quartz, bending over and ripping her pants, and trying to keep her cool while also not trying to show her distress… or her cute tush.

He shook his head. He really had to get a handle on his imagination like this.

Pinkie and Marble weaved their way through the crowded floor easily enough, Spike struggling to keep up, but still able to do so. Before long, they came across one of the fancier clothing stores in the mall, called “The Runway.” Spike frowned, glancing around for a moment, at all the fancy, designer clothes of various styles and sizes. “Are you all… sure about this place?” he asked, feeling up a pretty white dress for a moment, glancing at the price tag. “This stuff is pretty expensive.”

“Yeah, but that’s what’s gonna make it look so cool! They’ve got some nice, modern stuff here for mature women!” Pinkie was already loading her arms with several different outfits.

“Er… yeah… right…” Spike muttered, glancing to the side, taking in a mannequin dressed in what he could only describe as a silk hula skirt, a g-string with several long strips of silk hanging down around it. It looked like it would most likely slide down to about just above the knee, perhaps a little shorter than that, if the mare wearing it was of proper size. The top was some sort of soft material that was meant to imitate the rough look of a coconut bra, though it looked far more comfortable than actual coconuts would, that was for sure. Still, if that was what ‘mature’ women were wearing… well, he wished some of them lived a little bit closer to him.

Shaking his head, he jogged a little bit to keep up with Pinkie as she suddenly transferred the massive armload of outfits over to Marble, who squeaked under the weight of the pile. “Okay, Marble, I want you to take all of these clothes and go into the changing room and try them on so that we can get a good look at them!”

“What?” she asked quietly. “B-but… why me?” she asked.

“Because, you’re about mom’s height, aren’t you?”

“I-I guess so… but I mean… her hips are wider than mine, aren’t they? I don’t think I’d fit into-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Pinkie insisted, gently pushing her younger sister towards the changing rooms. “Even if you gotta hold up those bottoms, it’ll give us a pretty good idea on how it’ll look on her!

“But… but…”

“C’mon, Marble, you know as well as I do that mom NEEDS an update to her wardrobe! We gotta get her something that she can really cut loose in! Something super hip! Something that might actually get her to let her bun down for a bit!”

Marble groaned loudly, but stopped resisting as they reached the changing rooms. She glanced back at Pinkie, who gave her an enthusiastic smile and nod, and then she looked over to Spike, who gave her an unsure, but encouraging smile, and a thumbs up. She took a deep breath and nodded before shuffling forward and walking into an open changing room, closing and locking the door behind her.

Spike took Pinkie’s hand and had her back up a few paces so they’d be out of earshot of Marble. “Pinkie,” he started, “are you sure about this?”

“About what? It isn’t like mom doesn’t like getting new clothes. Well, except for that time we all got her socks for Hearth’s Warming. That wasn’t a fun holiday.”

“No, I mean about making Marble into a model. I know she’s the proper height and everything but… well, you know how she is. She hates being the center of attention. Heck, she hates attention period.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Spike, she’ll be fine. And she’s getting better about it. I mean, she’s actually going to school now and everything!”

“Pinkie,” he said, looking at her a bit more seriously now. “You remember back in middle school, when we went to that Karaoke bar together? You, me, your parents, and your sisters, when you invited me over for that sleep over, and we went out to eat that night?”

“Oh yeah, that was an awesome night!”

Spike crossed his arms and tapped his foot, looking at her. “You remember what happened when Marble took the stage?”

Pinkie thought about it for a moment. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ shape as she realized what he was getting at. “Ohhh yeah… she didn’t come out of her room for a while after that.”

“Mhm, that’s what I thought.” he said with a nod.

“But Spike, come on, it’s not gonna be that bad now. She’s gotten better, and it’s not like we’re going to be putting her up on a stage or anything!”

“You’re missing the point, Pinkie. Marble doesn’t like anything that’ll make her stand out. You know this!”

Pinkie huffed gently. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “Seriously, Spike, just calm down a bit, you’re being way too paranoid.”

“Fine, fine,” he grunted. “But if this ends up bothering Marble, I don’t even want to think about what Limestone is going to say to you about it.”

Pinkie shuddered a bit, clearly thinking about what Limestone would say or do if she did end up upsetting Marble, sister or not. Then, she shook her head lightly. “Spike, it’s just a little bit of modeling, how bad could it be?”

Spike glanced between her and the changing room. “How bad are the outfits you picked out for her?”

Pinkie blushed, not answering, as the door swung open and marble walked out… in a skin tight leather leotard with fishnet stockings. It actually covered a lot of her lower torso, likely for someone with wider hips of course, but it still hugged her form impressively. “Pinkie,” she said, just loud enough for the two of them to hear while she squirmed back and forth, “I-I don’t think mom would enjoy wearing this…”

“Hmmm…” Pinkie stroked her chin. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Okay, we’ll call that one a no-go. Try on one of the other ones?”

“Mhm…” she turned around and started into shuffle back into the room, only to show the way the leotard hugged the outline of her cheeks and crack in a revealing manner. They could even see the shape of her panties under it ever so slightly.

Spike would have loved to just savor the glimpse he’d got as the shy earth mare hastily closed the door behind her, but he was interrupted by a light whistle from behind them. He and Pinkie turned to see that a small crowd had gathered during the brief time Marble had been in that revealing outfit. Mostly teens and pervy old men, but they were all there to get a peek at the beauty changing in the room ahead of them.

The dragon let out a loud sigh. “Pinkie, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” he said, waving a hand at the crowd.

Pinkie was quick to dash over and disperse them, shooing them all away with an annoyed look on her face. “Go on, get outta here,” she huffed. “Damn pervs, peepin’ on my sister.”

“And what does that make you, if you're the one giving them something to peep at?” Spike mused, placing his hand on his chin like he was some sort of philosopher.

“Now don’t you start.”

“Anyway,” Spike said, growing serious again, “I don’t really think that it’s going to matter much. They’re going to come back and they’re going to keep ogling her. I really don’t think we should keep making her do this.”

“Spike, just a few more. Come on, how else are we going to get an idea on whether or not it’s gonna look good on my mom?”

“Um… picture your mom wearing them?” he asked.

“Spike, I don’t want to imagine my mom in sexy clothing.”

“Then why did you consider getting her some?”

“Because mom needs to loosen up! And there’s a big difference between having Marble model in a store and having her do something like that on stage!” She gave a great big pout.

“It doesn’t matter,” Spike said, keeping his voice even. “You know how she feels about strangers.”

Pinkie didn’t have a chance to argue back as the door opened up again and the shy, grey mare walked out a second time, this time in a large, pretty red sundress and a matching sun hat that dipped down to hide her face slightly. Once again, it was a little too wide around the waist, but it wasn't as obvious, being a dress. She squirmed nervously yet again, but this outfit didn’t seem to attract nearly as much attention. “H-how… does it look?” she asked, nervously.

The two of them stared at her for a moment and then Pinkie clapped her hands in delight. “Marble, you look amazing in that thing!”

“R… really?”

“Yeah, actually!” Spike said, nodding his head quickly. “Marble, that sundress… actually looks really nice on you.”

She gave a faint smile, her face heating up from the praise and her tail waggling back and forth. “W-well… I’m glad you like it. Um, do you think mom would like it?”

“Hmmm, well right now I’m thinking about getting it for you instead,” Pinkie teased, giggling gently.

Blushing harder, Marble turned and shuffled back towards the dressing room, but she had a bit of a bounce in her step as she did so.

As she closed the door, Spike smiled. “She really did look good in that.”

“Yeah, she did.” Pinkie grinned and gave him a light nudge. “So… you gonna ask her out?”

Spike flushed and sputtered a bit. “Wha? Where did that come from?” he asked.

“Well hey, my sister needs to get out a bit more and-”

“Pinkie, stop, I see what you’re doing.” Spike sighed. “It’s sweet that you care about your sister enough to try and get her to be more outgoing… like you do with Maud and Limestone too… and even your mom. But maybe they’re just not as extroverted as you, and that’s fine.”

“But I’m worried that they’re just gonna shrivel up and hide in a cave somewhere!” Pinkie whined. “I don’t want my family to just turn into a bunch of spinsters!”

“They’ve still got time, and who knows, they might find someone they like on their own. I like Marble, but… no different from how I like you or the others.”

Pinkie sighed again and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, I’ll try and dial it back a little bit.”

“Good. I just don’t want your sisters to end up getting overloaded is all.” He smiled.

The door opened a third time, but just by a crack. A tiny voice called out to them, “Uh… Pinkie, do I really have to come out in this one? I-I don’t think mom’ll like it…”

“Oh come on, let’s at least see what it looks like!”

“Pinkie, if Marble isn’t comfortable, I don’t think…”

“O-okay… here I come,” she said, pushing open the door all the way and walking out… in what was definitely a belly dancer’s costume. She was flushed bright red, and was currently holding up the baggy, silken bottoms, which had hips far to wide for the much more thin young woman. Apart from that, the top she was wearing, a strapless bra contraption, bright blue to match the silk bottoms, fit her quite well… mostly because puberty had hit poor Marble like a ton of bricks.

“Pinkie, that’s not a casual outfit, that’s a costume,” Spike said, glaring at her.

“Um, hello, have you seen some of the things that ponies wear nowadays? And what about Somnambula! She walks around in something like that all the time, you know!”

“Um… c-can I please, please, please go change now? I’m really uncomfortable,” she mumbled, sniffling gently.

Pinkie’s ear twitched and she glanced over. “Marble… is it really bothering you that much?”

“Toldja,” Spike muttered lightly, as Marble nodded to her sister.

“Aww, I'm sorry, Marble! C’mere you,” Pinkie said, hurrying forward and wrapping her sister in a rough, loving hug, lifting her up off the ground.

“Eeep! P-Pinkie, no!” she gasped. “My hands slipping! I can’t hold onto-”

But it was too late.

The bottoms she was holding slipped out of her grip, her hands loosening around the fabric and it fell to the floor under her, leaving the mare and flashing her sister and the dragon with a very clear look at her bright white panties, hugging her cheeks nice and tight, with a pattern like a zen garden on them, as if someone was making circles and spirals in sand on her cheeks. Not only that, but her cute little panties were now completely exposed to the small crowd that had once again formed out of curiosity to see what was going on.

There was silence for a moment. A long, awkward, uncomfortable moment, with many, many eyes trained on the scene.

Then, Marble started to cry, letting out a cute little whine as tears spilled from her eyes. Pinkie started to set her down and apologized over and over again. Spike, once he got over the initial shock of seeing Marble’s underwear, quickly decided to act, and hurried forward, gently pushing on both of their backs, moving them back towards the changing room. “Go, go, go,” he said quickly, glancing back at the curious, ogling crowd before gently sliding both Pie sisters into the changing room and ducking in himself, closing and locking the door. He sighed and turned to Marble, who was trying to get a handle on herself, wiping away at her eyes, hiccuping gently and telling Pinkie that it was fine, that she was fine, and that she could stop apologizing.

Pinkie, despite her sister’s insistence, continued to apologize, a look of distress on her face as she seemed to finally and fully realize that she probably shouldn’t have put Marble, of all ponies, into this sort of situation.

Spike frowned gently, glancing from one to the other before taking a deep breath. He thought back to how he’d handled Twilight and Trixie after that little ‘altercation’ the two of them had during their magical duel. He bit his lip, wondering if he was overstepping bounds here. But looking between the distressed Pinkie and the whimpering Marble. He knew what he had to do, if only to help allay his friend’s guilt. He crossed his arms and put on as stern a face as he could muster, glancing at the pink pony. “Pinkie, I warned you…”

“Yeah, I know you did,” she groaned, rubbing Marble’s shoulders. “No need to rub it in.”

“I’m not rubbing it in,” he stated. “I’m telling you that this wouldn’t have happened if you had just considered that maybe Marble wouldn’t have enjoyed being a model, even if it were for something like a private show to determine if it’d make a good gift for someone else. And I can see you realized that.”

“Yeah…” she mumbled lightly, coughing a little bit. “I uh… I did.” She looked a bit uncomfortable.

“You know your mom’s not gonna be happy about this. Your sisters too.”

Pinkie groaned. “Y…yeah…”

Marble sniffled and shook her head. “It… it’s fine,” she whimpered, finally getting a handle on herself. “I-it’s no big deal. W-we don’t have to tell them.”

“It is a big deal,” Pinkie argued, a hand on her hip. “Marble, I upset you, and I am so sorry about that. Even if I got to see you in a bunch of really cute outfits… and Spike did too.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Eheh… yeah that was nice.” He shook his head. “But that’s not the point. Pinkie, you did a dumb thing, and even if we don’t tell anyone, you’re going to be walking around with a lot of guilt on your head about this. It’s going to be real obvious, eventually, and someone’s going to ask what’s wrong. And you aren’t exactly the best liar out there.”

“Heh… I guess that’s true. I do have trouble keeping confidence.”

“I know,” Spike mumbled, thinking back to how many surprises she had unintentionally spoiled over the years. “But… there is a way we can deal with it, here and now, you know.”

Both girls looked at him, a quizzical look on their faces, tilting their heads in curiosity.

Spike gave them a moment to try and figure it out on their own, but after a moment, he sighed and said, “Pinkie, I could punish you right here and now.”

“Ohhh,” they both said at once. Spike rolled his eyes and sat down on the changing room bench. Pinkie gave a light sigh and a giggle. “It’s not a bad idea, Spike, but I don’t think it’d work. I mean, you’re like, my best friend. And no offense, but you aren’t really a ‘spanky’ sort of guy.”

“Pinkie, come here,” Spike said firmly.

“Wait, what? You’re serious? Spike, I already said-”

“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Spike said, his tone firm, and his body rigid, “Come here this instant. If I have to get you myself, you’re going to get extra.” When the Pie sisters continued to just stand there, he crossed his arms. “One…” he started to count.

Pinkie jumped and flushed, covering her rear, shuffling forward. “Darn it, why’d you have to start counting?!” she whined. “I hate that.”

“Well, it worked, and I told you to come, and you wouldn’t.”

“Come on, Spike, you can’t really spank me! You’re my best friend!”

“And any good friend would give you what you need. I don’t want you to get in trouble for this, and I don’t want you to beat yourself up over it. And I know you will.” He reached out and took her wrist. “So before that happens, I’m going to take matters into my own hands.” He gave her a light yank, not really forcing her, but suggesting that she continued forward. She did so, moving forward and slowly sliding down over his knees, wiggling her hips lightly as Spike repositioned her. He made sure that her flank was right in the center of his lap and then began to gently work her bottoms down, face starting to heat up, wondering if maybe he was going a touch too far.

Pinkie raised up her hips, however, offering no resistance, and in fact, making it easier for him to bare her. He shivered as he slid her pants and panties down around her knees, revealing her thick, bouncy cheeks. “Well,” Spike mused with a light smile, “Now I know where all that cake goes.” He pat a hand against her rump, making each cheek wobble gently.

“Hey, come on, they aren’t that big!” Pinkie protested with a light huff. “Wait, are they that big? Marble, do I have a big butt?” she asked, wiggling it back and forth, which only made it wobble more.

Both Spike and Marble blushed at the action and Spike pressed a hand into the big, soft mass to try and keep her still. Marble cleared her throat. “W-well… it’s um… certainly not small,” she commented.

Pinkie giggled. “Hah. Just messing with you, I know I got a lot of tutti-fruity in the booty!”

Spike gave her a light glare and raised his hand up, quickly bringing it down in a powerful arc against her rear, making her cheek jiggle up and down as it struck. Pinkie let out a surprised squeal and arched her back a little, though Spike held her down before she could get up off of his lap. “I think it’s about time to start,” he announced, raising the hand back up again and bringing it down on the opposite cheek before she could protest further. Several more swats soon followed, sending her cake-filled cheeks jiggling back and forth quickly.

SMACK! SPANK! SMACK! SPANK!

“Oop! Eep! Ack! Aw!” she gasped lightly and hissed as the sting started to sink in, writhing over the dragon’s knee. “Oww, s-seriously, we could just say I apologized and get on with our lives! Meep! Oww, that stings!”

“It’s supposed to. And we could do that, but I don’t think that it would really take care of your guilt, now would it?”

“Oww! Spike!”

“No, you need a spanking, Pinkie Pie, and I’m going to make sure that you get what you need.”

“I-I could have just… n-not told anyone,” Marble mumbled, though she was rather hypnotized by the scene in front of her, Spike’s hand moving expertly between her sister’s cheeks as he made the skin under her pink fur turn a nice, dazzling shade of red. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem to take much to get her cheeks reddening, though she didn’t seem like she was in a lot of pain.

“I wouldn’t ask you to keep a secret like that,” Spike said, smiling up at her, though the swats did not stop, and Pinkie’s feet started to kick and wiggle gently against his smacks. “It’d be too much for you.”

Marble blushed deeper and rubbed her arm, glancing away briefly. “I-I suppose that’s true. And… Pinkie did upset me a little bit…” she finally said.

“Aww! I knew it! Owww! I’m sorry, Marble,” Pinkie whined, glancing back at her sister with cute, wide eyes.

WHAP! SMACK! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Marble wiggled a bit more, a tad self conscious as she was still half naked. “N… no, it’s fine… really. Apology accepted.”

“Good,” Spike said softly, though his hand trailed lower as he spanked, starting to clap against her more sensitive sit spots, even swatting against her upper legs a bit.

“Meep! Aw! Waah!” She gasped and writhed a bit more, the tears in her eyes starting to fall as the healthy color in her rear got a bit darker.

SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP!

Spike was holding back, just enough to not push her over the edge. He was not going as hard as he had with Twilight or Trixie, knowing that the punishment needed to fit the crime. This was a far smaller scale punishment, and so he treated it that way. They’d already apologized and everything, so this was really just to make sure that the lesson sunk in and they wouldn’t repeat the mistake again.

SWAT, SWAT, SMACK! SPANK, SPANK, SLAP!

That and… well, Spike couldn’t help but find the hypnotic wobble of her soft, large, pink cheeks rather cute as well. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind though. He had to finish up here, and he didn’t want to make himself feel guilty for enjoying this on some level.

He tightened his grip around her hips and raised his hand up just a little bit higher. “Almost done,” he promised. But he was going to make sure that these last five really left a good impression.

WHAP!

“EEP!”

SMACK!

“OOP!”

SLAP!

“AWW!”

SPLAT!

“EESH!”

And finally, one right in the center, right along her crack.

CRACK!

“WAAAH!” she howled, arching her back and sobbing. “I’m sorry!” she whined.

“I know…” he smiled and leaned back. “There’s another pony that you should say that to though.” He helped her to slowly stand up and she immediately started to rub at her bottom, whimpering gently.

“Ow, ow, ow… I’m sorry, Marble… seriously, I won’t ever ask you to do that again… I should have known better.”

Marble smiled gently, her blush fading as she walked forward and hugged her tightly. “It’s fine,” she whispered. “I forgive you, Pinkie. Thank you for apologizing… just um, please, no more fashion shows?”

“No more fashion shows,” she promised, rubbing her sister’s back as she held Marble close, the two of them cuddling lightly as they comforted one another. Spike smiled, a small blush on his face as he watched the two of them, though his eyes inevitably drew downwards, focusing on Pinkie’s bare butt and Marble’s cute panties. He jumped lightly as Pinkie suddenly turned to spike. He looked up at her watery eyes and her big, bright smile. “And Spike?”

“Uh… yeah?” he asked, blushing a little as he tried to keep his eyes on her face.

She slid forward, straddling his lap as she sat down on it, hugging him tightly as well, nuzzling her cheek to his. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“Er… n-no problem,” he said with a smile, rubbing her back as he held her as well.

“I love you,” she whispered to him as she cuddled with him, wriggling and writhing her buttocks against his lap.

Spike’s eyes widened and he felt a small feeling of panic come over him. She loved him? Wait, did that mean love, as in ‘love’ love? Or was it just ‘as a friend’? Or… something else? She couldn’t mean it like that, right? She was just being extra friendly because of all the emotions. How did he respond? Should he respond. “Uh…” he said, stupidly.

“Um,” Marble interrupted. “M-maybe we should get dressed and uh… put all this away?” she asked, motioning to all the clothes strewn around them.

“Oh! Yeah, right.” Pinkie coughed, quickly drawing herself up off of his lap, a toasty blush coming to her face to match her rear. She turned away from him, bending over, giving him quite the view of the full moon before yanking up her panties and hiding her cheeks from view. “Uh, maybe clothes aren’t the right thing to get Mom... “

“Yeah,” Marble said gently. “Let’s um… let’s go look somewhere else, okay?”

“Sure,” Spike said, coughing gently, smiling a little as he stood up, clearing his throat as he tried to stealthily adjust his pants a little bit. “Let’s go girls. We’ve still got to see what Limestone and Maud are up to after all.”

The two mares nodded, before they helped to gather up the clothing around them and hurried it out of the room, apologizing to a few annoyed mares for taking so long in the changing room (and getting quite a few questioning glares from ponies who were wondering just what they were doing in there to begin with). Then they went off to find the others, and hopefully, a good present for Cloudy Quartz.

Chapter 7: Madness at the Mall (Part 2)

After a few more minutes of hanging up everything that Pinkie had pulled off of the racks, the three of them left ‘Runway’ and visited a few more smaller shops along the south area of the mall’s first floor. They came away with nothing that the sisters were really happy with, and Spike’s opinions, for the most part, matched theirs.

So, they went back to the meeting place where they were supposed to meet with Limestone and Maud, bought a few drinks out of a vending machine, and waited for the others. Marble and Spike sat and sipped their drinks lightly while waiting for the others, who were a little bit late. Pinkie, however, decided to stand, and rocked back and forth on her heels while she took big gulps of her ultra-sugary, grape-flavored energy drink.

Spike had no real interest in thinking about how THAT would taste…

Another few minutes of waiting, and the two other ponies finally happened by them, one of them looking quite surly and the other looking as deadpan as ever. Spike offered up a small, welcoming smile as they approached, though he toned it down a little when he saw the glare on Limestone’s face. “Uh, hey you two,” he greeted, raising his drink up in greeting. “How’s the gift hunt going?”

“Terribly,” Limestone huffed. “Maud shoots down every suggestion that I make! First it was the jewelry shop…”

“Mom doesn’t like jewelry.”

“And then it was the bakery…”

“Mom doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, and she doesn’t like eating a lot of breads. She says it’s bad for her hips.”

“And then after THAT, we went to the computer and electronics store…”

“Mom’s scared of technology. Do you remember how hard we had to push her to get a smart phone?”

“And lastly, before we came here, we even went into a damn toy store, just to see if there was something, ANYTHING in there we could find that mom might like! But nooo, not a damn thing.”

“You wanted to get mom a slinky.”

“I’m running out of ideas here!” Limestone growled in frustration.

“And I’m getting very annoyed,” Maud said calmly. Her face didn’t change, but she did put a hand on her hip. “Please stop being unreasonable about this, Limestone. We need to think about a really good gift for mom. We can’t just grab something random off of the shelf-”

“It wasn’t random! I was trying to get her into something new, something exciting!” She flailed her arms in frustration.

“Limestone, stop it,” Maud warned. “You’re acting like a filly.”

“And you’re acting like a great big stone in the mud!”

Spike stood up, hoping to stamp out the flames before I wildfire could start. “Easy, girls, easy. Look, there are still plenty of other places to check, and I’ll be along to give a third opinion, all right?” he smiled at them.

Maud glanced at him and Limestone glared, but she huffed loudly and crossed her arms. “Whatever, fine.”

“Okay,” Maud said, relaxing a little. “Are we going to go now?”

“You sure you don’t need anything to drink?” Marble asked, smiling and offering her half finished canned ice coffee to her sister.

Maud smiled lightly and took the can, taking a few sips from it. “Thank you,” she said.

“Hey, where’s my drink?” Limestone growled. Pinkie hopped over and held up her own can, but the mare quickly raised a hand. “Something that’s not going to give me a caffeine overdose, please?”

Spike frowned, looking down at his own drink and sighed. Only a couple of mouthfuls left. He shrugged and walked over, offering it to the surly mare. She glowered at it for a second, but her face softened, at least a little. Spike had only seen her give a genuine smile a few times, and he treasured the few times he’d seen it happened.

She came close this time, but still managed to keep it as a wry grin as she snatched the bottle from him and gulped down the remainder of the drink. “Thanks,” she said with a nod. “We ready to go?”

“I think so,” Maud said, glancing at Spike. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah,” Spike said with a smile. “Let’s go and find a good gift for your mom!” He glanced over at Pinkie and Marble. “You two gonna be okay?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, we’ll hit up the other stores and see if we can find something that the other girls missed. Meet back here when we’re done?”

They all nodded and, plans made, they broke away from each other, Marble and Pinkie heading in one direction and Spike, Limestone, and Maud heading in another. He smiled, walking between the two sisters, glancing at them. “Don’t worry, girls,” he said happily. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find a gift in no time!”

“It’s been two hours and we still haven’t found a gift,” Spike groaned, rubbing at his legs as he sat down on one of the benches outside of their latest failed attempts. They’d gone into a movie store, hoping to find some of the older, more classic movies that Cloudy might have watched when she was younger. Not only did they walk out empty handed, since anything that Cloudy might have liked was out of stock, they weren’t even sure she had a means of watching it.

“Pretty sure that she still uses a VCR,” Limestone had noted about halfway through their search.

“I don’t even know what that is,” Maud had muttered.

Spike sighed and set his feet back against the ground. “I feel like, between you guys and Pinkie, I’ve already covered every single store in this place, and we still haven’t found anything your mom might like. Is she ALWAYS this tough to buy for?”

“Yeah,” Limestone said with a sigh. “She’s very discerning, and she doesn’t really want or need a whole lot of stuff. If she needs something, then she just goes out and gets it herself.”

“It used to be easier,” Maud said. “She liked the things that we made her as kids.”

“Well, yeah,” Limestone grunted. “What mom wouldn’t love the stuff their kids made for them. But we can’t just make her a bead necklace or a cute little palm print in a slab of clay, or a drawing of a butterfly anymore, we gotta get her something special!”

Maud sighed, but she nodded. “I suppose you’re right. But she’s so very strict and spartan about everything… hmmm…”

Spike rolled his eyes, blinking as he settled on an adult novelty shop in the distance. “Feather Fluster” it was called. He gave a small chortle. “Maybe we could find something for her in there?” he said, pushing his thumb towards the shop.

Their eyes followed his thumb and Spike was surprised to see Maud’s cheeks redden up a little bit as she saw what he was pointing at. “Spike, let’s not be lewd about this,” she said. “I seriously doubt we’d find any-”

“Oh hell yeah!” Limestone said, slamming her fist into her palm. “That’s it! That’ll be perfect! We’re gonna get something spicy for mom!”

“Wait, really?” Spike and Maud said at once, though Limestone was already walking towards it, determined. Spike glanced at her. “Well… we’ve already checked everywhere else, right?”

Maud’s face flushed deeper. “Do we… have to?”

“Oh come on, don’t go Marble on me now,” Spike said. “There’s no harm in at least looking around. Who knows?” he asked. “At this point, I’d be fine with just finding something, anything, that might make your mother happy.” He walked with Maud, following after a more than a little enthusiastic Limestone. “Seriously, your mom is so…” he struggled to find a way to describe her.

“Old-fashioned?” Maud offered.

“I guess that’s a way to describe it, yeah. Like, would she like a book or something/”

Maud’s ears perked a bit. “That… might work… but I don’t know what she likes to read. She’s not much into fantasy or science fiction or anything…”

Spike shrugged. “Pity we’re not shopping for Twilight. I could get her a book, any book, and she’d absolutely love it, provided she hasn’t read it before.”

Maud nodded. “Same with Pinkie. She’s very easy to buy for. She just seems happy to get whatever gift she’s given.”

“Yeah, but I think that’s one of the reasons she’s so desperate to get a good gift for your mom… didn’t expect Limestone to be so gung-ho about it too.”

“Oh, we’re all really, really into it,” Maud said, glancing at him. “I’m very frustrated about not being able to find a good gift for mom. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been so frustrated about anything, and this isn’t the first time either.” Her voice was as even and monotone as ever, but her fists were clenched in her annoyance.

Spike smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her something. Promise.”

She nodded to him. “Thanks for coming along, Spike. I know this day hasn’t been easy for you.”

He shrugged. “Eh, it happens. And I get to spend the day with the pie sisters. That’s a pretty big plus right there.” He winked at her.

Again, her face heated up just a little bit and he enjoyed the very slight smile he’d managed to coax out of her.

The two of them entered the adult shop and glanced around. It was brightly lit, and rather inviting for its subject matter, though the outside had no open windows, and the sign on the door made it very clear that only ‘mature’ ponies were allowed in.

They saw Limestone looking over a small display of lingerie sitting in the middle of the store. Maud walked up and shook her head. “You know mom would never wear that.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “But damn, wouldn’t we look good in those?”

Maud covered her chest as she looked over the see through top, and tiny breast strap that accompanied it. “Maybe…” she mumbled.

Spike’s mouth twitched into a small smile as he tried his best to imagine the pie sisters all parading around in matching lingerie. While the image in his mind was certainly sexy, he found it funnier than anything.

A small swat against the back of his head knocked the fantasy away and he glanced over to see a scowling Limestone glaring at him. When he gave her a questioning look, she raised a finger at him. “Stop it. I know exactly what’s going on in that head of yours, and I don’t recall giving you permission to think like that.”

He glared at her. “H-hey, you were the one who put the idea in my head!”

“And now I’m trying to get it out of your head!” she countered.

“Aren’t we here to get a gift for mother?” Maud asked. “Maybe we should start looking?”

“Fine, fine, okay.” She cleared her throat, but gave Spike one more glare before the three of them started to look through the things on the shelves. There was a lot of typical adult stuff you would expect to see, mixed in with a lot of novelty or gag gifts that were immediately discarded by the trio. Ginseng pills, various lubricants, some very suggestive card and board games, but nothing that really seemed to speak to them. Spike was looking over a wall of BDSM toys, with a very heartfelt sign above the display, reminding everyone to ‘play safe and play sane.’

He sighed, scratching his head as he looked over the paddles, tawses, cuffs, and so forth, shaking his head. “No way we’re going to find something for her here,” he mumbled. “We should just head out and-”

WHA-CRACK!

“ACK!” Spike arched his back and let out a pained hiss from both the slap across the rear he’d been given and also the fact that his teeth slammed down on his tongue in surprise. “Owww! Double ow!” he groaned and turned back to see who had done that. Limestone stood there, smirking a bit, holding up a card. “Whath the hell?” he asked. “I bid mah tongue!”

“I was bored,” she said with a shrug. “So I decided to check out this sample for the spicy card game they were selling over there.”

Spike glared at her and snatched the card from her, still waggling his tongue around, trying to push past the pain he felt in it as he looked it over. It was from a card game called “Flanks” and was labeled as a ‘daring’ card, whatever that meant. “Trick an opponent you like into getting into position and then give them a great, big, slap right where they sit down.” Spike narrowed his eyes and glared at the grinning mare in front of him. Her eyes said all they needed to. While Pinkie would have done something like that as a harmless prank (and probably would have held back), Limestone had done it to start something, and she was practically daring him to do something back to her. His eyes widened. “Lime, come on, we’re trying to find a present here.”

“It’s a lost cause, Spike,” she said with a sigh. “This whole day was just a big waste, so I’m gonna have some fun with my favorite dragon.”

“I’m not playing a dirty card game with you,” he said, frowning at her.

“I wasn’t inviting you to,” she said with a wry grin. “I’ll just play it myself.” She drew out another card and looked at it, smirking. “Oh hey, look at this one, it says 'strip the nearest player and take a naked selfie with them'.” She smirked, sadistically, and started to make grabby motions with her hand.

Spike flushed and backed away from her. Not that he thought she’d actually do it, but… While Limestone was nowhere near as silly or unpredictable as her sister, she had a mean streak in her that made her do random things if she thought it would make someone uncomfortable or pained. While her sisters were usually off limits, he’d been on the receiving end of things like that from her more than once.

He’d rather avoid it if he could. “Don’t even joke about that, Limestone, that ain’t funny.”

“I’m sure it will be to someone,” she said with a chuckle.

“You try it and I’ll whup your ass!” he threatened, quickly, without thinking about it.

They blinked, staring at one another for a moment. Then, Limestone burst out laughing, tossing the cards away from her, shaking her head. There were a few others around them, watching them, but otherwise going about their business, apparently not at all weirded out by their antics. Spike guessed that this sort of stuff might have happened on a regular basis in a place like this. “Spike, did you seriously just threaten to beat my ass?”

“W-what if I did?” he asked, rubbing the back of his head, becoming a bit more self conscious. ‘Good going, genius’ he thought to himself.

She laughed again and smirked a bit. “Well, if you insist,” she grinned, turning around and bending forward. She yanked her pants down, just enough to show off the fact that she wasn’t wearing any sort of underwear at all. Spike had to plug his nose as she gave it a good, firm shake. “Well?” she challenged. “I’m waiting! Come on, be the big, tough dragon you were acting like.” She sneered and added, “At least give it one smack, then we’ll be even.

Oh, a part of him really wanted to give her more than one, but he’d settle for what she was offering. A quick glance at the onlooking crowd showed that many of them were being rather encouraging about this. What felt even stranger was that no one seemed to be watching purely out of a sexual impulse, but rather just out of curiosity and amusement. The fact that Limestone seemed totally at ease with the whole situation definitely helped.

“Alright then, you asked for it!” Spike stated. He cracked his knuckles, rolled up his sleeve, and got into position right behind her. She moved her tail out of the way, and arched her back, giving him total access. “I’m really gonna make this one count!” he warned.

“You better,” she taunted.

Spike smirked, surprised by how much he was getting into this, and examined her backside. While she did have some nice, round, pert cheeks, her bottom was much smaller and tighter than Pinkie’s and even Marble’s behind. Still, it seemed like some of Pinkie’s baking still managed to find its way into her occasionally.

He took a deep breath, centered himself, then reared back, twisting at the hip, raising his hand up nice and high into the air. He even paused for a bit of a dramatic effect. Then, he whipped himself forward, slamming his hand down as hard as he could, right over the center of her rear.

WHA-CRACK!

The sound echoed around the little store and everyone present, even those who had shown no interest in their antics before, stopped to look for the source of the sound. Neither of them moved. There was a long moment of silence between them. And then…

EEEEYOW!

Spike howled in pain and pulled his hand away, grabbing his wrist and shaking it firmly. “AGH! OW! NNGH!” he groaned and stumbled away, clenching and flexing his fingers several times as his hand seemed to go completely numb from the sting.

Limestone, once again, burst out laughing and stood up, though she didn’t bother to yank up her pants, putting a hand on her hip and turning towards him. “So, how was it?” she asked, glancing back at her butt. There was a light, pink palm print across both cheeks from where she’d been struck, but she didn’t seem to have felt it at all. If she did, she was hiding it really well. Spike on the other hand…

“Nnngh!” the dragon intoned. “I feel like I just whipped my hand against the side of a mountain! GEEZ!” he hissed again, grinding his teeth together in an effort to get the sting to calm down.

“HAH!” Limestone gave another sneer. “Well, let that be a lesson to ya, dragon,” she said, pointing a thumb at herself. “My ass is solid as steel, so you better think twice about threatening me with an ass whupping!”

Her laughter was matched by a few of the onlookers, who seemed to have taken a liking to this impromptu show. Spike flushed, rather embarrassed by this turn of events, and continued to rub his thumb against his palm in the hopes of soothing the stinging throb. “Geez, Lime, I knew you were a bit of an ass, but come on, that was just mean.”

“Ah, sorry, didn’t realize dragon pride was as fragile as sandstone,” she taunted, enjoying herself. “Don’t worry, Spike, you still got a lot of growing to do. Maybe someday you’ll actually get a chance to try again!”

“Until then,” a monotone voice said from behind her, a firm hand reaching out to grab her shoulder, “I guess it’s up to me to handle you.”

Limestone gave a little squeak and a jump, causing her pants to fall all the way down to her ankles as she looked over her shoulder to see Maud standing there. While her face looked as neutral as ever to Spike, Limestone paled when she saw it. “Wh-what’s with that look?!” the brash sister asked. “I was just, uh… j-just having some fun.”

“At Spike’s expense. He came here when he didn’t have to, he tried to help us find a gift, and you come along and embarrass him.” She shook her head. “I was irritated before. Now I am upset.” She reached down and suddenly grabbed Limestone by the ankle, pulling and flipping the girl upside down, making her yip in surprise. She peeled off her pants, tossing them to a startled Spike as well, leaving her totally naked from the waist down, and her T-shirt in danger of falling down off of her breasts. Thankfully, she WAS actually wearing a bra. “And showing off your butt in public. That’s very naughty, Lime.” She started to walk towards one of the wall displays in the store, one that had several paddles hanging from it.

“H-hey! Wait! Q-quit it! Come on, Maud, you know I was just having some fun, I was getting frustrated and bored!”

“But taking that out on spike was very uncalled for. It’s not like when you tease me or Pinkie, or even Marble. And you know Mom would tell you the same.” She reached up and browsed the paddle selection. Shaking her head, she looked to a nearby employee, who was watching the scene with a light blush on her face. “Excuse me, do you have one of these in a size six?” she asked, pointing to an oak school paddle with eight holes drilled into it.

“Uh, o-only ones without holes, I’m afraid.”

Maud nodded. “May I borrow one for a moment?”

The employee nodded and hurried off to get the paddle while Spike just stared, mouth agape, at the scene. Maud was effortlessly holding the flailing and writhing and pleading mare up, ignoring her free foot, which kicked at her occasionally, though Maud didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

When the employee returned with the paddle, she took it and gave it a few practice swings. “Yes, this will work perfectly. Thank you very much.”

“M-Maud, wait a second! Wait, wait, wait! I’m sorry, okay?! Spike, you can hear me, right? I’m sorry, dammit!”

“You never were very good at apologizing,” Maud mused, raising her up a bit more. “Hands on the floor, straighten your other leg,” she ordered.

Groaning, Limestone did as she was told, pushing her palms to the ground, which essentially allowed her to handstand, Maud keeping her balanced with her hand on her ankle. “Do you have to use the paddle?”

“Yes. I want you to learn your lesson after all.” She pressed the paddle against the mare’s backside, making Limestone whimper. “You’re getting Pinkie’s favorite number.”

“A-a baker’s dozen?! Maud, Nooo!”

Maud ignored her and raised the paddle back before sending it whooshing through the air and clapping against both of her cheeks, nice and firm.

WHAP!

“AAOOOW!”

Spike jumped a bit from the impact sound. It had looked to him like she’d barely put any sort of power behind the swing, but the effect certainly spoke for itself… and Spike made doubly sure to never get on Maud’s bad side…

WHAP!

“IIISH!”

WHAP!

“OWW!”

WHAP!

“NUU!”

WHAP

“EEK!"

Limestone started to smack her palms against the floor, hoping that the impacts would stave off some of the pain in her rear, but judging from the way she was still reacting, it wasn’t working that well. Her eyes were full of tears, and she had them squeezed shut tight in the hopes of stopping them from escaping. Again, it seemed like a fruitless attempt.

WHAP!

“Ah! Maud, please!”

WHAP!

“NNNGH! I’m sorry!”

WHAP!

“YAAA! H-h-huurts!”

WHAP!

“UWAAAH! I swear, I’ll be good!”

“I hope so,” Maud stated, pausing briefly to rotate her wrist. “Because you know that if mother had heard about this, your bottom would be in a much worse state.

Spike bit his lip, leaning back a little as he took in the sight. He didn’t know what the heck Maud was doing differently (maybe she was just THAT much stronger) but she was effortlessly making Limestone’s bottom turn a dark shade of pink, with room to grow darker, and he was fairly certain he could see her bottom cheeks wobbling, ever so slightly after each snap. He writhed gently, glancing around at the crowd, who were smiling and observing with interest. He even saw a few couples pointing and talking to each other lightly, as though they were discussing trying something similar when they got a chance.

Her break finished, Maud got back to work, ignoring her sister’s pleas.

WHAP!

“YEEEOW! Aww! N-no more!

WHAP!

“Maud, please, I can’t take it! It’s too much!

WHAP!

“WAAAH! This is so fucking embarrassing!”

Maud frowned deeper, the paddled raised for the last smack. “Excuse me?”

A cold sweat breaking out on her cheeks, Limestone gulped and shook her head. “N-nothing! Nothing at all!”

“I thought not.” She spread her legs a little and leaned back further. “One more stroke. Don’t make me have to start over.”

“Nooo!” she whined.

Maud reared back just a little bit further and snapped the paddle down. The resulting sound was even more deafening than the Twelve that had led up to it.

WHAAAP!

“WAAAAAH!” Limestone howled, her arms shaking a bit from both the pain and the strain of being held upside down for such an extended period. The tears finally started to flow as her sister carefully lowered her down to the ground. She sobbed and sat there on her knees, reaching back and grabbing at her poor bottom, which was now throbbing, nice and red. Maud nodded softly and pat the paddle against her palm for a few minutes before offering it to an employee and thanking them for allowing her to use them.

Spike smiled and walked towards them, a hand on his hip. “You okay, Limestone?” he asked, genuinely.

“F-fine,” she hissed, sniffling and groaning as she tried to work the sting out of her rear “Ow, ow, ow.”

Spike sighed and offered her his hand. “Well, no offense, but you were kind of asking for it.”

“Oh sh-shut up,” she grumbled, grabbing his hand as she stood up. Maud handed her pants back. “This day sucks.”

“I don’t think it’s been that bad,” Maud mused. “But… all things considered, we really haven’t found anything for mom…”

Spike frowned, looking between them and then back at the employee walking away with the paddle. He thought hard about the events of the day, everything he knew about the pie family, about the way their mother operated. His eyes lit up a little bit. “Girls,” he said. “I think I have an idea…”

Spike flopped down on his bed that evening, groaning softly, in a t-shirt and his boxers. His feet were throbbing and his legs felt week. “Damn, it feels like I ran a marathon today and all I did was walk around a mall a couple times. A few times… maybe a lot of times.” He shrugged and wiped his head. He’d told his mom he’d be out late, and of course, there had been a big plate of snacks waiting for him when he got home, but he didn’t really feel hungry at the moment, just really, really tired.

Maybe he’d go to bed a little bit early tonight, nothing seemed to appeal to him in this state…

His phone, which he’d set to vibrate, started to buzz and he blinked, reaching over and grabbing it. He raised a brow and sat up, crossing his legs. A video call? From Cloudy Quartz. Oh boy…

After the day he’d had with her daughters, he really couldn’t figure out what she’d want to talk to him about, but it’d definitely be rude if he didn’t answer her. He tapped the answer call button and held it up.

Cloudy Quartz, still looking as much like a school librarian as ever, with a small pair of spectacles, and her hair tied up in a tight bun against the back of her head, appeared on his screen, glancing over her shoulder. “Am I doing this right, Pinkie?” she called.

“You’re doing great mom, don’t worry!” a perky, energy-filled voice said behind her.

Cloudy looked down at the phone and blinked. “Ah, there you are. Hello, Spike.”

“Uh, hey there, Mrs. Quartz,” he greeted. “What can I do for you?”

“I understand you were responsible for helping my daughters pick out a birthday present?”

“Er, yeah, I was. Though I got the impression that your birthday wasn’t for a few more days, at least.”

“That is true, but apparently my girls were just so excited, they wanted to give it to me early.” The stern woman got a genuine smile on her face for a moment. “That being said, I have to admit, I was surprised to see what they had picked out for me. Or rather, what you had helped them choose.” She held the phone away from her a little bit more, widening the shot so that he could see that she was holding a beautiful, bright, finished wooden paddle. Along its front, four names were signed, her daughters signatures.

Spike blushed. “Er yeah. No offense ma’am, but it took us a while to settle on something. You’re kind of hard to buy for.”

“I would have been happy with anything that was bought for me.”

“Well yeah, but your daughters wanted to get you something special.”

“So then, why did you suggest a paddle, and why did you go along with it?”

Spike bit his lip as he considered how best to answer the question. Finally, he said, “Discipline has been a big part of your life, and their lives for a very long time. They’ve actually talked to me a few times of some of their more memorable punishments, and while they almost always wince, they also… have a bit of a wistful response too. They know that you only discipline them out of love, so that they can learn to be better, and that you want them to be better than you were at their age. I just thought that an acknowledgement of that, that they love and appreciate you, and the love and discipline you provide, might have made a good gift.” He scratched his head gently. “It was either that or socks, basically.”

That actually got a chortle out of her. “Well said, Spike. And I do appreciate it, really. There was a lot of thought put into it.” She nodded. “I just wanted to call and confirm this with you. Thank you very much for helping my daughters pick this out.”

“It was my pleasure, ma’am.” He smiled. “And uh… happy early birthday, Cloudy.”

“Thank you.” She tapped at the screen and immediately tossed down her phone. It landed with a whump and a bounce on a couch or chair, or something of that nature. It landed with its back propped up against the back, landing on its side. She apparently hadn’t actually ended the call, and he was about to say something… until he saw what the phone’s camera was pointing at.

There was a long line of bare backsides bent over in front of him, four cute bottoms wiggling gently from side to side, arranged from the smallest to the thickest. Pinkie, of course, was all the way on the thick end, while Limestone was at the other. Maud was next to Limestone and Marble next to Pinkie. Spike gulped softly, eyes wide as their mother walked up next to Pinkie, gripping the paddle in her left hand. “Now that that is taken care of,” she announced, loud enough for the phone to pick up on, “I think it’s time we got back to the matter of hand.” She tapped Pinkie’s already sore tush with the long, heavy implement. “I am very disappointed in you girls, going into a dirty store of all places!”

“B-but it was to get a present for you!” Limestone whined.

“Yeah! A-and me and Marble were only in there for a second while we were buying the paddle for you!”

“All the same, you girls should know I do not approve of proper young ladies going into dirty places like that.” She clicked her tongue. “Of age or not, it doesn’t matter, it certainly doesn’t mean you’re too old for a good bottom warming.” She paused. “Also, Maud told me about why she disciplined Limestone… but Pinkie, I want to know why your cheeks are already red as well. I know for a fact it certainly wasn’t Marble who did it.”

Marble gave a nervous whine as her name was brought up and Pinkie glanced over her shoulder, looking up at her mother. “W-well um… it was Spike…” she mumbled, giving a brief account of why her rear was in such a state.

“I see, so Spike handled your discipline all on his own, hm? Quite nice of him.” Cloudy smiled again. “I’ll have to commend him for that again when I see him next.” She grabbed Pinkie’s Tail and pushed it out of the way. “Now, enough of this. We have a nice, long punishment to get to.”

Spike knew that he probably should have stopped the call there. Watching this probably wasn’t okay, and if the girls did find out that the phone was still on, he could only imagine that they wouldn’t appreciate it.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

Spike grimaced as Pinkie started to wince and yelp from the slaps. The blows were enough to set her sensitive, tender cheeks to dancing, and they came swift and hard. She delivered three powerful smacks to Pinkie’s rear and then moved onto Marble, doing the same.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

She certainly didn’t offer any quarter to any of her daughters, that was for sure. Even Limestone, who’s bottom was still quite tender from the spanking from Maud she’d gotten, was given the same three spanks at the same level of power. Even Maud, stoic as she was, couldn’t stop herself from letting out some adorable little yelps as her cheeks were smacked, making them jiggle, just so.

Spike bit his lip and had to remind himself to blink, as his eyes were starting to dry out from being open for so long.

“Yes, this is certainly a very good choice in implement, girls,” Cloudy complimented as she went back to the start of the line and began again, in the same pattern. Three spanks, and then onto a new butt. “I’m very impressed. You’ve all got quite a keen eye for good equipment, if nothing else.” She smiled at her daughters, though that didn’t slow her arm down at all.

Spike’s breathing picked up as he watched each bottom in line slowly starting to darken. The camera on the phone wasn’t the greatest, but it was good enough that he could make out the color detail in each cheek, seeing them throb and slowly deepen to a fine, deep red, the girls in question starting to whimper and sob as their bottoms trembled and writhed under the powerful mare and her weapon. He gulped and arched his back, rolling onto his stomach, trying to stifle both his moans and the physical effects of everything he was seeing.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

On and on it went, and Spike’s head swam as he watched it continue, the spanking slowly breaking down each of the girls resolve until all four of them were red and sobbing. At last, Cloudy, who had apparently worked up quite a sweat from the job, wiped her brow. “All right girls. Time out time. Turn around those chairs, and straddle them. Bottoms on display, ten minutes each."

Each of the girls nodded and did as told, grabbing a chair from in front of them, turning them around, and sitting down on them, leaning against the backs of the chair, while their butts, still quite vulnerable and bare, had their cheeks hanging off the edge, in full view of the phone.

Gods, he was sure he could see everything.

Spike shuddered and finally hit the ‘end call’ button with a shaky finger, tossing his phone away, panting softly. “Oh geez,” he whispered. “I should NOT have been watching that,” he mumbled. Even as he said it though, the thought that he had seen something very forbidden, and incredibly sexy, was quite delightful. Another fantasy started to creep into his mind, of the pie sisters bending over, baring their bottoms to him, lining up for him to inspect, and maybe give a few swats himself. All four of them, just for him to look over. Slowly, in his mind, he started adding other mares to the line up. Trixie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity… Rara… the line just kept getting longer and longer in his head, and as he walked down it, he was wielding more than just his palm as he moved from backside to backside. Paddle, brush, belt, switch…

Spike ignored how tired he was. He leaped out of his bed, threw off his clothes, dashed into his private bathroom, turned on the shower, and threw himself into it, groaning loudly as the icy cold water tumbled over him, and he sighed with relief as steam seemed to rise off of his scales. “Whew…” he breathed. “Gotta take care of that now,” he mumbled. “Otherwise, I’m not gonna get a whole lot of sleep tonight…”

He smiled a bit as he just sat there, eyes closed, letting the water wash away both his excitement, and the fantasy he’d been having in his mind. “Damn,” he mumbled, as his mind cleared. “I’ve still got homework to get done…”

Author's Note

Hello, lovely readers, it is I, Midori! I hope you have enjoyed the first month of uploads for Galaxia High, with the first four chapters uploaded immediately and a chapter a week since! Unfortunately, this was mostly prepared ahead of time and finished up over the course of the month, and so things might slow down a bit. But fear not! The next chapter is being worked on and I have no intention of letting this story die off like many others, and Goombasa is helping to ensure that. Chapters will be uploaded when they are done, so look forward to them. :heart:

In the meantime, if you have followed and read this far into the story, and enjoy it? Please leave a like to let us know! (Fimfic doesn't tell me how many favorites the story has, just that it gets them.) Have a spankin' good day, folks! :raritywink:

Chapter 8: Self Defense for Dragons

Author's Note

Okay, I realize the irony of me saying that updates might slow down and then posting a new chapter the very next day, but in my defense 1) I did say we were working on the chapter, and 2) I also said I'd upload chapter's when they are finished from now on. So new chapter immediately! Don't question it, enjoy it! 👍

Chapter 8: Self Defense for Dragons

The bell rang loudly as the second class ended for the day. Spike sighed as he shuffled out the door and into the hallway, others pushing past as he slowed down. He’d woken with quite the headache this morning, and wasn’t sure of the cause. A hot shower hadn’t helped, nor had a good bit of orange juice with breakfast. Even the aspirin he’d taken before heading off hadn’t really done much, merely reducing the sharp pain to a light, dull throb along his temple. It had made it very difficult to concentrate all morning long, and the few times he’d been called upon to answer a question, he’d been woefully underprepared, leading to a few embarrassing giggles from his classmates.

Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. Maybe he could take another pill with the food and hopefully take care of the rest of this. But for now, he was heading over to the library to pick up a few books before the next class started. He was grateful for the generous gaps between classes. It gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs, take care of some personal business, mentally prep themselves for their next class, and so on.

In this case, he wanted to grab a few old articles that he would need for research purposes, and once that was done, he started down the halls towards his next class, figuring he could just use the remaining time before the next bell to start reading one of the articles. He vaguely wondered if he could have been given a more boring topic for a research paper as the development and implementation of the Equestrian World Stock Exchange, but he had to admit, the idea of looking over something that helped to form the mercantile and middle class back when there wasn’t such a thing was kind of intriguing…

And if he had difficulty, he could just get Celestia to tell him all about it. She’d lived through it, after all.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of something like an argument nearby. He frowned, tilting his head and following the noise. If he’d learned anything at this point, it was that there was usually something ‘interesting’ at the other end of the noise. Plus, one side of the argument was starting to sound a little bit familiar at this point. His sleuthing eventually led him down to one of the empty classrooms, this one an advanced biology classroom with a sign on the front informing everyone that the class and professor were out in the field at the moment, and wouldn’t be back until the end of third period. He was somewhat envious of students who were taking classes that let them get out into the fresh air for an extended period of time. But there wasn’t time to worry about that now.

The door itself was caught half closed. Apparently the hinge was too tight to close by itself, hence why the sound had carried as far as it did. It was easy to see why they’d overlooked that issue, though; the two inside were focused heavily on arguing with one another.

“You stay away from me, you absolute brute! You touch me again and I’ll… I’ll…”

“You’ll what, little pony? Spark some magic at me? Step on my toes? Cry to your mom? Well, you’re gonna be doing that anyway. I think it’s time for another lesson on respecting your betters! C’mere!”

“No! Not again! Don’t you dare!”

Spike’s eyes widened. Yet again, Garble had cornered Rarity and was preparing to humiliate her yet again. The tall, muscled dragon reached out and grabbed her by her arm, yanking her forward, despite her valiant attempts to resist. Her horn was glowing brightly, furiously, as she attempted to use the magical leverage to get him to release her, to no avail. He was yanking her over to the desk, laughing at her attempts to get free. “Maybe we’ll try something more than my hand this time, huh? Bet the teach’s got a spare paddle hidden away somewhere in here. Or I could always just take off my belt…”

“NO! DON’T!” Rarity howled as he became more forcefully in his yanking of her.

Spike tensed, shivering as he thought back to the first day of school, what he had witnessed taking place in the janitor’s closet. How he hadn’t jumped in to help, hadn’t gone to help anyone. How he’d confessed that to Rarity. Guilt and worry surged through him, immediately pushing back any doubts from his mind. He wasn’t about to let history repeat itself now that she was a friend, one who trusted him, something that he’d always had difficulty finding and keeping. If it was Pinkie or Twilight in there, he wouldn’t hesitate either! Tossing his pack down against the wall to the side, he took a deep breath and shoved the door open all the way. “Hey!” he shouted.

Garble blinked and glanced up, in the middle of trying to turn Rarity over the edge of the desk. The mare in question, both hands planted firmly on the edge of the desk in an attempt to keep herself standing, glanced over as well, eyes wide with fear, but also curiosity as to who could have been shouting. Her face brightened up considerably when she saw who it was. “Spike!” she called.

The beefy dragon raised a brow, though he kept one hand on the back of Rarity’s neck. “You got something to say, small fry?”

“Yeah!” Spike said, taking a few bold steps forward. They became just a bit less bold when he realized just how much bigger the other dragon was compared to him. But he soldiered on, regardless! “You better let go of Rarity right now!”

Garble’s face twisted into a light sneer. “Playing the hero, are we runt?” he snorted. “Tell you what, you turn around and walk out of here right now, and I’ll pretend I didn’t even see you.” He clapped one hand down on Rarity’s skirt clad behind. “Hell, stand right there and I’ll even let you enjoy the view.”

Spike’s face flushed about as red as Rarity’s at the action, but he shook his head and took one more step forward, this one bringing him close enough to Garble that he had to crane his head upward to keep eye contact with him. “I said let her go. And I mean it, Garble.”

“And what are you gonna do, welp?” he challenged. “Pretty bad idea to announce yourself if you were gonna stop me. I’m sure as hell not gonna let you just walk out of here if you want to go and get help… but that wouldn’t be very ‘heroic’ of you, would it?” He finally released Rarity, shoving her over and causing her to stumble to the side, onto her rear. “So, you wanna save the fair maiden and ride away? Then let’s go, little man.” he put up his fists.

Spike gulped lightly, glancing at him. His self defense classes, the few he’d actually taken, had mostly settled just on that: self defense, and had made the assumption that the one he was trying to defend himself against was not only untrained, but also a lot closer to his size and shape. Garble was massive, which would make him slower, yes, but he looked lean enough to still be able to move relatively easily, as well as put a lot of power behind his blows. His form also meant that the grapples, holds, and takedowns that Spike had been learning probably wouldn’t be that terribly useful, especially if he couldn’t take him by surprise. If he tried to charge, he’d probably just get pounded. Add to it, Garble’s long reach meant he wouldn’t be able to get in close for a punch or a kick, not that he really knew the proper form for such things anyway. Oh, and then there was Rarity to consider too, he didn’t want her to get hurt and-

KA-CRACK!

Spike’s world went blurry and he cried out in surprise and pain as a knee was delivered straight to his crotch. He curled up and flopped over onto his side, cupping his injury as tears stream from his eyes, all the wind rushing out of his lungs. He felt paralyzed from the pain. “Nnngh…” he groaned,

“Spike!” Rarity gasped, turning a glare on Garble. “You fiend! You leave him alone!” she threatened.

Garble turned a powerful glare on her and she gulped, shying away from him as he turned his attention back on the helpless Spike. He gave the groaning purple dragon a kick in the side, forcing him to roll over, and then put a foot up on his hip. “Pathetic,” he snorted. “And you call yourself a dragon? Tch, at least a pegasus would put up a fight. They’d lose, but at least they’d try. You wanna be a hero? Next time, try beefing yourself up.”

“Th-the faculty will hear about this!” Rarity threatened.

Once again, he glared at her. “You really think I care about whether or not I get expelled from this place? I’ll probably just end up back in a school in dragon territory. At least there I’ll actually get a challenge. Dragons fight all the time in our normal school. You ponies should try it sometime!” He laughed and reared back to give Spike another good kick, but as he turned around to look…

WHAM!

A fist connected with his face, hard enough to make him stumble back against a bookshelf behind him. He coughed, gasping and grabbing his chin, rubbing at it. “What the hell…?”

“Howdy!” a southern drawl greeted. “Sorry to barge in like this, but I get mighty riled when I hear a friend of mine havin’ a tough time.”

Spike finally managed to get his vision to clear enough for him to see who was speaking. Applejack, the big, tough earth mare he’d seen before, stood over him, fists raised, a grin on her face. He flushed as he realized he was right underneath her, able to peek up her skirt. A pair of bright green panties with red apples printed on them greeted him, and he quickly averted his gaze, realizing that if she saw him doing that, he’d most likely get crushed into dust. His focus instead turned to the second pony walking in, a dark yellow unicorn with a fiery red and yellow mane. Sunset Shimmer, he realized, the two mares who had been comforting Rarity after her first run-in with Garble.

“Yeah, pretty stupid of you to just assume no one else was going to come running. Especially after that second scream.” She pointed at Spike, who flushed and glanced away. Had it really been that bad, he wondered. “Anyway, this is your chance to walk away. Leave Spike and Rarity alone, walk out of here, and all you’ll get is that shiner Applejack just gave you.”

Garble’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’m afraid of a couple of ponies who just wandered in here and got the drop on me?” He snorted, cracked his knuckles and lunged forward, slamming his fist towards Sunset. She just smiled and put her hands on her hips.

CRUNCH!

Now it was Garble’s turn to rear back and howl in pain, as he cupped his fingers, which had impacted some kind of invisible barrier. Sunset smirked and waved a hand, the barrier shimmering in front of her. “Reflection Barrier,” she stated. “Awesome defensive spell. It takes whatever force is applied to it and reflects it back twofold. You might wanna go to the nurse after that, you might have broken a finger or two.”

Growling, Garble lunged again, this time at Applejack. “Alright fine, maybe someone with magic is a bit of a problem, but you aren’t going to get in another cheap shot.” He jumped over Spike’s prone form and lashed out at her with his good hand.

“Nope, I sure won’t,” Applejack responded, grinning. She flicked her hand up, knocking away his arm, and stepped back as he attempted to kick her. She ducked under another strike and pushed her palm forward, catching him in the stomach. He grunted and took a few steps backwards, blinking, snarling at her.

“You really think you can hurt me?”

“Naw,” she said. “But you ain’t hurtin’ me or my friends, are ya?”

Eyes narrowing, he threw another kick at her. She drew closer to him, raising her arm up, taking the kick in her side, but didn’t even flinch as she flicked her arm down, grabbing his leg, and yanking it up. “H-hey!” he gasped as he tumbled backwards, falling against the ground. He hissed as he tried to soften his landing by using his injured hand, but, instantly regretted it. Snarling, he pulled himself back up, cupping his injured wrist before glowering at the two of them. Again, he tried to attack Applejack, who deftly moved out of the way, sliding left and right, always backing just out of reach, dancing around him until she put herself between him and the others, him near the door. “I’m getting real tired of this,” he snarled.

“I ain’t really a fan of this either, but it can end whenever you want it to ,” she stated, waving a finger to him. “You just gotta turn around and walk out and this’ll stop.”

His eyes narrowed. “Like I’m going to let a pony get away with humiliating me.”

“Sugar cube, no one here’s embarrassin’ you ‘cept yerself.” she warned. “Now, we ain’t got time to keep playin’ here. We’re gonna be late for class if ya keep this up.”

He snarled again and whirled around, attempting to whip his tail at her. Applejack ducked under the strike and lunged forward herself, bringing her leg up as she got into range and catching him in the stomach yet again, hard enough to send him flying backwards, out of the room and into the hallway. He coughed and hissed as he hit the wall, groaning and growling loudly, narrowing his eyes at them before writhing and hurrying down the hall.

“Well, look at that,” Applejack said, gently taking off her stetson. “Looks like there is a pony who can give him a run fer his money.” She glanced down at the floor and helped Spike to stand up. “You okay, hon? Where’d get get ya?”

“F-fine,” he groaned, taking a deep breath. “Eerk… hope I can still have kids,” he grumbled.

“You sure?”

“Y-yeah, just… super sore right now.”

“And what about you?” Sunset asked, walking over to Rarity. “Are you okay?”

“Yes dears, I’m fine,” she said with a sigh, hurrying to Spike’s side and gently wrapping her arms around him, concerned. “Oh, you, that was so incredibly brave of you, standing up to Garble for me!”

He flushed a bright red, smiling a little. Suddenly, the pain in his groin wasn’t nearly as bad. “Y-yeah, um… no problem, Rarity.”

“Mighty brave, but mighty stupid too. Ain’t many around the school the same age as him that can take on a dragon. Should’ve gone and grabbed someone to help you out. I think he would’ve beat you down pretty badly if we hadn’t happened along.”

“W-well I couldn’t just stand around and let him do as he wanted, could I?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, but there’s a lot of other things you could’ve done, stuff that would have been a lot less dangerous than trying to take him on head on like that. I mean… didja really think you could’ve taken him on like that?”

“W-well, I… I don’t… I mean, I couldn’t…” he trailed off, feeling another blush raising on his face.

“Never mind that now,” Sunset interrupted, turning back to Rarity. “What happened? Why’d he start harassing you? I thought you were going to take steps to make sure this didn’t happen again.”

“I did,” Rarity said, turning up her nose with a huff. “I have been doing my best to completely ignore him and stay out of his way.”

Sunset blinked. “Really? You seriously that was going to keep him off your back for the whole school year?”

She flushed lightly. “W-well… it was worth a try,” she mumbled.

“Uh huh… and you didn’t talk to anyone about it, he hunted you down, and he tried to do the exact same thing again, right?”

“M-maybe.”

Applejack blew a few strands of hair from her face. “Sugar cube, we told you to get in touch with someone and let em know what’d happened. Any of the teachers, maybe even Celestia or Luna to let them know that there was a bit of a bullying problem in their school. You know they’d put a stop to it immediately if they thought there was a problem.” She crossed her arms. “So… why didn’t you?”

She flushed and bit her lip. “It was… embarrassing, what had happened.”

Sunset sighed, massaging her temples for a moment. “You realize that corporal punishment is a legit thing here, right? The teachers are as likely to spank you bare for forgetting an assignment as a bully is for no real reason.”

“Well yes, but… but…”

“But nothin’, Rares, and yer lucky I’m so worried about ya, or I’d probably put ya over my knee myself fer bein’ so foolish. Now, first things first, we’re gonna get you and spike to the Nurse’s office, and then yer gonna get in touch with someone about what’s been happenin’ with Garble, okay?”

Rarity groaned, running a hand through her hair, but she gave a light nod. “You’re right, Applejack. I shouldn’t let my vanity get the better of me like this. But would you three mind coming with me when we do so? I’d feel a touch more confident.”

“Sure, I’m pretty sure we can get out of being tardy if we explain the situation.” Sunset glanced up as the next class bell sounded. “Speak of the devil.”

Spike sighed. “I-I don’t think I need to go to the nurse…”

“Oh hush yer fuss,” Applejack said, putting a friendly arm around his shoulders. “You looked like you took a pretty bad shot, we should at least make sure.”

“A-alright…” he sighed, looking down for a moment and then back up at Applejack. “Hey, AJ?”

Her ear flicked. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Teach me how to fight like you did?”

After school, Applejack stood with Spike in the middle of the gym. She’d changed into workout clothes, and had done some preliminary stretching. Spike had also grabbed a change of clothes out of his own locker, at her behest. Sunset was there with them as well, though she hadn’t bothered to change out of her school uniform, instead tapping away on her phone, occasionally glancing up at them. Why she was there, Spike wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t question it. “Alright, Spike,” the earth mare said, a hand on her hip. “You wanna learn how to defend yerself, huh?”

“Yes ma’am!” Spike said, his eyes drifting down over her, eyes wide as he took in the rippling muscles and abs she had, her workout top covering her chest, but leaving her stomach, her rock-hard, powerful looking stomach, totally exposed. She’d tied her hair into a much tighter ponytail than usual, knotted up near the back of her head, and didn’t wear anything on her feet.

“And why do you wanna do this?”

“Because… I want to be able to protect myself, and those I care about,” he said, still focused on her stomach as she approached. She gently grabbed hold of his chin and pulled his head up so that he was facing her.

“Eyes up here, Sugar,” she said with a smirk. “I know I’m a work of art, but you ain’t here to browse a gallery.”

He blushed deeper and nodded to her. “Uh, yes, sorry about that.”

“S’okay, I get that sort of thing all the time.” She smirked. “Nice to know someone likes a strong looking pony.” She winked at him. “Anyway, gotta know, you done any sort of training before?”

Spike shook his head. “I learned some really basic self defense techniques when I was younger, practiced them for a while, but they all assume I’m going against someone who’s close to my size, height, and weight.”

She nodded again. “I see.” She rubbed her hands together. “Alrighty, well, that means you know some of the basics, which’ll save us some time. But here’s the thing, Spike. My way of fightin’ ain’t that special beyond the fundamentals. It ain’t about learnin’ fancy moves or styles or anything like that. It’s just about keepin’ yerself loose and ready. You go with the flow of yer opponent, and let them do most of the work for ya.”

“What do you mean.”

She smiled and took a fighter’s stance. “Hit me,” she ordered.

“What?”

“C’mon, you ain’t gotta be worried bout hurtin’ me. Come at me and throw a punch. Hard as ya like.”

Spike frowned. There was no way he’d be able to hit her and actually do any sort of damage, she was built like a brick wall. Shrugging, he took his own fighter’s stance and drew forward, throwing a firm punch, as he had been taught. Applejack leaned back, but grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward. He let out a yelp as he tumbled forward, smacking head first into her chest. She didn’t seem to mind as she steadied him. “Ya see? And you know how to throw a proper punch. But I was still able to use the force of that jab to pull you off balance, and to me. Coulda done a bunch of other stuff too. Dodged to the side and punched yer ribs, kicked out at yer legs to try and make ya stumble… It’s defensive offense, basically.”

“Pretty sure that’s used in a bunch of martial arts,” Sunset called from her seat.”

Applejack ignored her and put her hands on her hips. “That’s all ya gotta know, really. Just go with the flow.” She took up her stance again. “Now, you try.”

“But wait, I’m not sure if I-”

“Too late!” she called, lunging forward and chambering a kick. Spike gasped and tried to dodge out of the way, jumping to the side, but she twisted and caught him in the hip as he did so, forcing him to fall backwards. He grunted, but stood up quickly. She’d gone easy with the kick, mostly for his benefit, though a part of him really didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t able to dodge even when she wasn’t trying very hard. “Yer too stiff.” she walked forward and took his wrist. “Relax yerself, totally. Move like yer a leaf in the breeze. Or like the ocean. You tense or tighten up too much and your opponent’s gonna see your moves comin’,” she told him. “Plus, you’d be surprised how much power you can put behind a punch or a kick when you’re whippin’ yer arms or legs around right.”

“I’ve just always fought like this,” Spike admitted. “Tense up, throw a punch or a kick, and put power behind it while keeping your guard up. I’ve never been relaxed, even when I was learning how to fight. I’ve never figured out how not to be stiff.”

“A problem that most boys have,” Sunset commented.

Spike flushed and Applejack frowned, turning towards her friend. “You just gonna make smartass remarks the whole time you’re here?”

“Pretty much. No point in going home until you go anyway.”

Spike blinked and gave Applejack a questioning glance. She shrugged. “She’s stayin’ with me and my family while some stuff’s goin’ on at her house.” She shrugged. “Anyway, off topic.” She shook her arms a little bit and took Spike’s wrist. “Let it go limp,” she said.

Spike nodded and took a deep breath, relaxing his arm totally, his wrist and fingers flopping forward as she held it up by the forearm. “Like this?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Remember how this feels. And when I let go, only use the muscles absolutely necessary for holding it up in front of you.” She started to lower her hand away and Spike concentrated slowly tensing up each muscle one by one, until it was only enough to keep his arm raised, palm outstretched. He felt like some sort of zen monk with how strange the feeling was.

“There ya go,” Applejack said with a grin. “You just gotta practice feeling out how stiff you gotta be fer this to work.”

“I’ll bet that’s what plenty of girls say to their boyfriends when-”

“Alright, that’s it!” Applejack said with a huff, turning and storming over to Sunset quickly, before the latter could react. She ended up dropping her phone on the mat as Applejack grabbed her arm, just below the shoulder, and hauled her up to a standing position before bending over and pulling her up onto her shoulder, like she was a sack of wheat. The unicorn gave a few very unlady-like hisses and grunts as she kicked and flailed her feet about, pounding her fists against her back. This proved to be ineffective.

“H-hey! Let go of me, you big gorilla!” she ordered.

Applejack ignored her, smirking and reaching up, grabbing the hem of her skirt, flipping it up over her backside, revealing the bright purple panties she’d been wearing. “This is also a pretty good way to practice keeping yer arm and wrist real loose,” she stated. The hand holding Sunset over her shoulder curled around her panties and gave them a yank upward, giving the mare a massive wedgie, making her squeal loudly as they disappeared into her bottom crack, revealing her soft, bouncy cheeks. “Just find yerself a smart ass and then make her ass smart.”

“Applejack, don’t you dare! I’m warning you!” she said, gasping and squirming harder as she arched her back in an attempt to get her underwear out of her crack, but all it did was stick her rear out further.

“Warn away, sun buns,” she teased, raising a hand up and flicking it forward with a satisfying SMACK!

“Oooh!” she yelped loudly, tensing up and bucking cutely as her cheek wobbled upwards from the impact.

SMACK!”

“OOH!”

Her opposite cheek got a similar treatment.

Spike flushed deeply, mouth agape as he watched the display. Applejack didn’t seem to mind, and Sunset seemed a little preoccupied to bring up his being there.

“Oop! Ack! AJ, you better let me down! AAH! O-or else!”

“Or else what?” Applejack challenged, swiftly alternating from one jiggling mound to the other, making the mare hiss and groan a bit. “If yer gonna make a threat against me, ya better make sure you can back it UP!” she yelped, her voice raising several octaves on that last word, going up on her tiptoes and making an pained expression. Spike tilted his head to see what was going on. Sunset, a soft blush on her face, had managed to activate her magic, something that Spike found quite impressive given how difficult it was for a unicorn to maintain a constant magical aura when their body was under stress or in pain, and had gripped Applejack’s underwear, underneath her gym shorts and hoisted them high.

“Heh,” she scoffed, as Applejack let go of her in an attempt to get her underwear into a less frustrating position. “Of course you’d be wearing panties like this,” she teased. Applejack’s light green and apple print panties were exposed again. But it took Spike a second to notice this, as Applejack was forcing her gym shorts down in an effort to get hold of her undergarments, giving him a good look at her own rear end. Like the rest of her, it was made of muscle. He could only imagine that if anyone tried spanking that, they’d probably break a finger or two. It reminded him of his recent experience with Limestone, actually. But then he noticed the speckles all over her rear and he shuddered.

“F… Freckles,” he mumbled to himself, feeling his body heat up far more than usual. He had a bit of a… thing for freckles…

Once free if her shoulder, Sunset smirked and gave her panties a twist, forcing Applejack to arch her back and turn her bottom to face the unicorn. “You really shouldn’t mess with a professional smartass… emphasis on ‘smart.’” she teased, holding up a hand. Her horn glowed brighter and a fiery energy enveloped her palm as she whipped it forward, giving Applejack a nice, hard underhand slap against her rear, making a pleasant clapping sound. She did the same with her other hand against her opposite cheek, making the mare jump forward and start smacking at her own butt.

“ACK! Hot, hot, hot!” she yowled. She flushed and glared at Sunset as the unicorn released her magical grip on the farm girl’s panties, laughing softly. “You were tryin’ ta set my buns on fire!” she accused.

“Oh come on, it was just a little bit of magically induced heat. Not like smacking your butt was gonna do anything otherwise.” She continued to laugh a little, but gasped and tried to turn Tail as Applejack advanced on her, but she was a touch too slow, and the tough earth mare grabbed her and flipped her down onto the mat. She’d stepped out of her gym shorts, leaving her in her stretched out underwear. She smirked, grabbing Sunset’s legs, pulling them up, lifting her lower back up off of the ground as she lowered her own rear downwards, sitting atop Sunset’s surprised face, making her flail and gasp and smack at the farm pony’s rear in an attempt to get free, though it did little to help her.

Applejack smirked and, still holding her legs up, removed her skirt and pried her panties from her crack, sliding them up and off. Once her bottoms were to the side she then started to smack at her exposed cheeks, once again starting to make them wobble and bounce painfully. Spike could still hear the muffled yelps and whines Sunset was giving off under Applejack’s cheeks. “You give up yet?” Applejack said, though she didn’t cease her smacking at any point. “I’ll get up offa ya when you say sorry fer being such a brat! ACK!”

She jumped up and gasped, writhing a bit and rubbing at her backside as she looked back at Sunset, who was taking a few deep breaths and sitting up slowly. “Too far, AJ!” she said, shaking her head. “Seriously, sitting on my face?”

“Well, you didn’t have to go bitin’ my bum to get me off like that!”

“It was the only way I was going to get your attention!” she countered.

“Sides, last I checked, you don’t mind a lil bit of face sittin… least that’s what your net history says.”

Spike wasn’t sure if it was possible for a pony to go pale and blush at the same time, but the odd look on Sunset’s cheeks right now probably was a good approximation of the phenomenon. Her eyes narrowed and her horn flared up, with so much of an aura that it might have rivaled Twilight and Trixie’s duel from a few days ago. “Alright, that’s it, you asked for it!” Sunset declared.

Applejack yelped as both of her wrists and ankles were gripped by Sunset’s magic. She was forced down to the ground as her feet were pulled out from under her, her legs spread, her wrists pulled together behind her back, forcing her into a very… subservient looking pose. The farm mare gulped a bit as she looked up at the magic user, who was rubbing her arms and pushing up her sleeves as she approached. “Er… sorry?” she tried.

“I’m gonna see just how tough that butt of yours is, AJ,” Sunset stated, walking up behind her and cracking her knuckles. “Try not to yell too loud, huh?”

“Um… should I still be here?” Spike asked, squirming self consciously at the display.

Blinking, both mares glanced up, as though remembering that he was there for the first time since they had started their horseplay. Sunset blushed deeply and quickly covered her front while releasing Applejack from her magical grip. Applejack, for her part, sat up on her knees and tried to yank her panties out of the crushing wedgie they were still in. “Er uh… g-guess we got a little carried away there.”

“A-are you two…” Spike started, pointing between them with two fingers.

They both shook their heads. “Nope, just real good friends!” they both said at the same time.

“Uh-huh…” He didn’t look convinced, which made the two of them blush more furiously, and become more self conscious. “AJ, um, thanks for the lesson, I promise I’ll practice when I get time, but um, right now, I think it might be a good idea if I headed out for the day?”

“Y-yeah, might be good,” she muttered, reaching for her discarded gym shorts while Sunset dressed and adjusted her skirt. “Er, we’ll have another lesson whenever you’re ready.”

“Is uh… Sunset gonna be there too?”

One said yes, and the other said no. Then they reversed their opinions before finally settling on ‘maybe.’

“O-okay then,” Spike said, clearing his throat. “Then I’m just gonna… you know… go away for a while?”

“Yeah, uh sure…” Sunset mumbled, looking away.

“S-see you tomorrow,” AJ said.

They continued to stutter and mumble goodbyes to one another as Spike backed his way to the gym entrance, grabbed his bag, and finally slid out the door, groaning loudly. He immediately walked to a nearby water fountain. A sign above it stated, ‘Out of Order, Do not Use, Water Pressure Too High.’

Spike ignored the warning and stepped onto the pedal at the base of the fountain. With a hiss, a massive spray of water shot forward, dousing his face and dribbling down his neck and chest, soaking his gym shirt. He sputtered and groaned, but shook his head, letting the cold water cover his head entirely before shaking it furiously to flick off the excess, and ran a hand over his head spines. “Stupid sexy ponies!” he declared to the ceiling, before stumbling out of the gym and into the fresh, afternoon air. He took out his phone to call his mother for a pick up, resolving to banish the encounter from his mind and not think about it, or what would have happened had he not interrupted them.

Not thinking about it.

Nope, definitely not thinking about it…

REALLY not thinking about it.

...Dammit…

He was totally thinking about it...

Sideswipe: Sunrise, Sunset

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Chapter 9: The Other Side of the Fence

Spike was feeling good that morning. He felt well rested, he’d aced his homework, and his mom had even made a reasonably sized breakfast this time, so he didn’t have to feel bad about leaving uneaten piles of pancakes behind.

Yep, the morning was looking up. However, he couldn’t help but notice that after he got to the school just as the pre-school breakfast was being laid out, any time he saw Pinkie and Twilight together, the two of them were always whispering to one another, almost always with a blush on their face too, or some sort of nervous or elated smile on their lips. And the one time he’d made eye contact with Twilight during one of these instances, she’d turned so red, he worried someone might think she was Cheerilee’s younger sister or something.

Finally, he was able to catch up with the two of them as they were finishing their meals in the hall just outside the library. He smiled a little as he got close to them, but blinked when he saw that Twilight was still blushing furiously and even Pinkie’s cheeks seemed a little pinker than normal. He slowly approached them, looking between his two friends for a moment. “Uh, hey,” he said, unsure of how best to approach them. “How’s it going?”

“Awesome!” Pinkie said, still having her boundless, cheery energy despite her strange behavior.

“Oh, fine, fine,” Twilight said, glancing anywhere except at Spike. That gave him a signal that something might be wrong. Twilight was not good at hiding her worries or thoughts. Everything often played out on her face, and she was incapable of keeping eye contact when she was saying something that was too far off from the truth.

Spike’s brow remained raised. “Fine, huh? Then I guess you two are just gonna keep up your secret talk all day?” he asked.

“S-secret talk? We weren’t talking about-”

“We were talking about how you spanked us!” Pinkie said with a small smile.

“Pinkie!” Twilight gasped out in horror.

Spike flushed deeply, probably even more deeply than Twilight while the pink earth mare just stood there, smiling at him. “Um… what?” he asked.

“Well, the two of us met up outside of school before you go here today, and I was complaining about the fact that my butt had finally stopped hurting after mom finished using the new paddle on me, but I still felt like I had to wince every time that I sat down, and she casually mentions that she and Trixie were feeling that for a while and I asked why, and she did her whole, ‘oh, it’s nothing’ thing that she does whenever she’s trying to play off having said something embarrassing, so I pushed her and eventually she said she and Trixie got into this big impressive magical duel that I bet would totally look awesome if they adapted it into a movie-”

“Pinkie, you’re trailing off again,” Spike warned.

“Oh, right, yeah, sorry,” she said with a laugh. “Anyway, after that, I sort of gasped and went ‘you too?’ and she asked me what I meant, so I told her about how you spanked me and we’ve just been talking shop this whole time.”

“Shop?” Spike asked.

“E-exchanging notes,” Twilight clarified, though she still looked horribly embarrassed. “When we both found out that you had… punished us,” she cleared her throat again, “We couldn’t really resist talking it over. What it felt like, how it compared to other punishments…” she trailed off.

“Whether we want you to do it again.” Pinkie finished, making Spike’s body go rigid for a moment. She giggled at his reaction and bumped her hip against his. “C’mon, Spike, don’t pretend like you didn’t enjoy yourself!”

“I-I did not,” he argued with a grunt, rubbing his cheeks in the hope that he could smooth the blush away. “Those were…” he dropped his voice, realizing he was talking much louder than was necessary. “Pinkie, those were punishments, of course I didn’t enjoy them.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “So you’re telling me that you had two pretty mares over your knee at different times, completely submissive to you. You bared and smacked their butts until they were bright red, while the mares were squirming and writhing and whimpering over your knees. And afterwards, you hugged and comforted them with them straddling you naked from the waist down, while you rubbed their backs and butts. And you’re telling me you DIDN’T enjoy it? Not even a little?”

“No!” Spike said firmly. But under Pinkie’s unblinking, inquisitive gaze, he found himself walking back his answer in his own mind before finally sighing. “Not… in the moment. I mean yeah, spanking… it’s a bit of a turn on, I guess.”

“You guess?” Twilight asked, trying her best to keep her face neutral, though she was blushing just as much as Spike was.

He groaned a little bit. “A-alright it, it’s a big one. Seeing a bottom getting slapped is very erotic to me. So yeah, I did enjoy your punishments on some level. But I swear to both of you, I was not doing it for any sort of sexual gratification. I kept my mind out of the gutter while I was punishing you.”

“And afterwards?” Pinkie queried with a snicker.

“Uh… um…”

“Did the memory keep you nice and warm?”

Spike bit his lip and groaned. “Pinkie, come on, it’s embarrassing all right?”

“Not to me,” she said with a shrug. “I mean yeah, getting spanked by you at the moment wasn’t fun. Specially with the context. But when I think back on it, and just think of the spanking itself?” she smiled at him and leaned forward, giving him a sexy, little grin, a very teasing one. “I wouldn’t mind another one.”

“A… another one?” Spike asked, his voice breaking in surprise. “I-I uh…” he glanced at Twilight. “Wh-what… what about you?”

“Uh… w-well, biologically speaking, we can’t really control how our bodies react to such stimuli, though the way that our brains process certain sensations can illicit-”

“Twilight, I promise, I won’t judge. Hell, I’ve no right to judge anyone for their preference. And I promise, anything we say here won’t be repeated to anyone else.”

She blushed deeper and groaned. “I felt… the same way that Pinkie did. I felt absolutely horrible while you were spanking me, for what I had done to earn it. But afterwards? My sore bottom felt... warm and tingly, a-and of course seeing Trixie over your knee was, uh… hehe…” she flushed deeper and glanced away.

“Wow. I uh, really didn’t think of it that way. Like, I knew I sort of had a thing for spanking but I never really thought about others enjoying it… especially not those who are on the receiving end.”

“Well, context really helps,” Twilight mumbled again.

“So… you girls were talking about it.” He rubbed the back of his head again, squeezing it. “How… how’d I do, heh?”

“Well, you definitely made us feel sorry for what we’d done,” Twilight said. “A-and like we said, the memory is… pretty pleasant too.” She chewed her lip.

“And… you want me to do it again?”

“On consensual terms,” Pinkie explained with a nod. “I don’t think I’ve ever really had a consensual spanking.”

“Me either,” Twilight admitted. “But I like the idea. A lot.”

“And when were you girls planning to talk to me about this?” he asked.

“Ideally? Never,” the unicorn admitted. “I-it’s just… super embarrassing. I mean, talking about things like this in the open isn’t really considered proper.”

“Yeah, my mom would definitely let me have it if she heard me talking about stuff like this,” Pinkie mused. She got a devilish grin. “Seems like I might need a-”

Spike covered her mouth before she could finish that statement. “P-Pinkie, I’m not gonna spank you!” he said with a hiss.

“Why not?” she teased, wiggling her hips and pushing his hand away from her face. “We’re already being pretty forward about this. C’mon Spike, let’s get it out of our system. It’s not like we’re gonna have sex or anything.”

“Pinkie!” both Spike and Twilight hissed.

“What?” she huffed.

“We’re in school! It’s the middle of the day!”

“We’ve got time!” Pinkie said with a light smile, leaning towards him. “Please? It might be a nice outlet.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sincere or you’re trying to bait me,” Spike said with a huff. He reached behind her and gave her rear a firm pat, making her yelp and jump, much to the surprise of the students passing by them, plates still in their hands.. He blushed at being so impulsive. Pinkie giggled and rubbed at her backside. “See, you’re getting into it.”

“Pinkie, why are you so adamant about this?”

“Because… I want to know what it’s like. Don’t you?”

“W-well… now that you and Twi have brought it up, yeah. But not here.”

“Y-you know,” Twilight said, hesitating for a moment, “The gym’s probably not being used right now. Which means the locker rooms should be open.”

“So… you want to sneak down to the locker rooms and…”

“Just for a little bit? A short one?” Pinkie said. All three of them were blushing deeper now, but they had some small smiles on their faces.

Spike took a deep breath. “I know I’m going to regret this… but okay, Pinkie.”

She giggled and clapped her hands together. “I knew you couldn’t resist.” She stuck her tongue out. “No one can resist the Pinkie Plot.”

Spike rolled his eyes and blushed again as he saw a few more weird stares from some of the passing ponies near them. “Well… let’s get going then, before you accidentally blurt the plan out in front of a teacher or something.”

“Are you saying I’m not discreet?”

“You’re about as discreet as a spanking in a library,” Twilight mumbled as they started to move down the hall.

“Oooh, I’ll have to remember that for later,” Pinkie said with a giggle, winking at her.

Twilight just flushed, and from the expression on her face, Spike could tell she was seriously thinking about what she’d just said.

The gym was empty like they had thought, and was easy enough for them to get into on their own. The lights were low to conserve energy, making them feel as though they were somewhere that they weren’t supposed to be. This technically became true when Spike entered into the women’s locker room. He blinked as he looked around. “Wow,” he mumbled. “I was expecting something a bit… cleaner,” he admitted.

“Why?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I mean, with it being a girl’s locker room and all…”

“We’re just as messy as boys, sometimes, Spike,” Twilight scolded. “I mean, this is a changing room after all.”

“Er, yeah I suppose,” he muttered, slowly sitting down on a nearby bench as Pinkie came to a stop. “So I guess we’re doing this, then?”

“Yep, yep!” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down on her heels. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I think I am.” He reached up and took her hand. “Are you?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Twi?”

“I-I’ll just watch from here for now,” Twilight said gently, Smiling at him.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath, griping Pinkie’s wrist and drawing her down over his lap. She let him do so, adjusting herself as she did so, wiggling a little bit until her bottom was perfectly centered over his lap. “Comfy, Pinkie?”

“I am,” she said, her voice growing quiet as she relaxed over his knee.

“A-all right then.” He took a deep breath and slowly wrapped an arm around her waist. He was having difficulty summoning up that stern persona he’d had before when punishing her. Still, he locked his arm around her, holding her in place, and then raised his hand over her backside. “Here we go…”

“Wait!” she said quickly, shaking her head. “This isn’t right. C’mon, spike, you have to take up my skirt and pull my panties down!”

“Whu… b-but I thought that this was supposed to be playful!”

“Well yeah,” Pinkie glanced at him, her own face still a little flush. “But as long as you aren’t hitting too hard, that’s… playful to me.”

Spike cleared his throat, resting his hand on her skirt covered backside, glancing back at Twilight, who merely gave a shrug, not sure what to say. He took another breath and flipped her skirt up, biting his lip as he looked over her cute, bright white cotton panties. “Going ordinary today?”

“Yeah, decided something cozy would be good,” she giggled, wiggling it back and forth.

Spike chuckled, enjoying the movement of her hips for a moment before he pushed her tail out of the way and gently slid a finger into the hem of her panties. “Alright, these are coming down.”

“Thanks for the play-by-play, Spike. Is there a back to this chair? Because I wouldn’t know, that’s how on the edge of my seat I am,” Pinkie giggled.

He blinked and flicked his hand up and down, nice and quick, giving her a surprise swat across her cheeks. She yelped, arching her back and squirming a little bit. “Out of quips?” Spike asked.

“For now,” she said, giggling a little bit.

He nodded and gripped her panties again, slowly curling them down, taking his time this time. He felt his heart pounding a little bit as he slid down her underwear, revealing her fleshy, bouncy cheeks bit by bit. It felt… really good, finally being able to let himself openly enjoy what he was doing, in a way that was consensual for everyone. He could feel Pinkie squirming and wriggling against his lap, but not out of fear or pain. She actively rolled and lifted whatever side he was sliding down at the moment, helping him to drag her panties down. He stopped when they were just below her cheeks. He couldn’t resist sliding his hand up and resting his palm on her backside. She let out a light, contented moan as he rubbed his hand up and down. “You heal fast,” he mused.

“Yeah, I got a tough butt. And mom knows just how firm she’s gotta be to get her point across without making us suffer from a sore tush for days on end.”

Spike nodded again. “So, last time I’m asking, just to be one-hundred percent sure. You really want this on the bare?”

“I do,” she said firmly, wiggling one more time. “If I say red light, that’ll be your cue to stop, okay? But I don’t think it’ll come to that.” She glanced back at him. “I trust you, Spike.”

Spike nodded to her, and held her firmly around her waist before caressing her soft cheeks for a moment before raising his palm up in the air. He felt a bit of confidence surge through him as he took in his target. He smiled and let it fall.

Pap! It smacked against her rear firmly, but not powerfully. Her cheek gave a light wobble of protest and Pinkie let out a light squeak. Spike paused for a moment, letting the feeling of the swat sink in for a moment for both of them before bringing it down against her opposite cheek, roughly the same spot and power.

Pap!

It made a pleasant clap and wobble in response and she shivered a bit, biting her lip. Encouraged by her soft mewls and light wiggles, he gave her another swat. And then another. And another after that. Soon, his hand was rising and falling in a steady rhythm, the soft smacks echoing around them. He glanced up from his work for a moment to see how Twilight was doing. She stood off to the side, hands at her side, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Her eyes were glued to Pinkie’s rear, taking in the gentle bounce each cheek gave in response to Spike’s slaps. He could see a few beads of sweat appearing on her head and smiled lightly before turning back to Pinkie’s rear.

Pap, pap, pap!

She groaned and bit her lip, glancing back at him. “Spike…”

“Is it okay?” he asked, pausing. His slapping hadn’t even added a new layer of pink over her bottom, but he was still concerned he had gone too far. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, in fact… you can uh… you can go a little bit harder if you want,” she offered, arching her back and pressing her bottom outwards a little bit.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. That was wonderful but I want it a bit harder.”

“Okay. Just let me know if I go too far.”

“Of course,” she said with a nod.

Spike braced himself, tensing a little, holding her down more firmly. “Just remember, you asked for this.” He smirked and smacked his hand down a bit more firmly, enough to leave a lovely palm print on her buttocks and making it wobble beautifully. Pinkie let out a few firm gasps and arched her back, but didn’t ask Spike to stop. So he kept going. He slapped and smacked and spanked away, his attention focused entirely on her rear end now. He smirked a little bit, actually getting a bit more into it. This was very freeing, and he could hear Pinkie giggling and squealing as he spanked. Apparently he’d found the perfect strength for her. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, teasingly.

“Yeah I am!” she announced shamelessly. “Oooh, oop! That’s perfect right there!” she groaned. “Stingy, but not super hard. Mmmph, you’re actually pretty good at this, Spike!”

“I should hope so, given how often I’ve been doing it lately,” he mumbled, but he smirked and kept it up. He glanced up at Twilight and gave her a firm ‘you’re next’ waggle of his brows, which made the young woman shiver, her tail frizzing slightly, and her horn letting out a light spark of magic that she couldn’t control.

A thin, lovely layer of dark pink was starting to appear on her buttocks, and every swat made it throb with another soft pulse. Spike couldn’t help but let out a delighted sigh. He took his time this time, really taking in everything that happened when he spanked her, not just in terms of the sight, but in the sound as well. And the feel of her soft, warm bottom against his firm, tingling palm was intoxicating. He didn’t want to stop, and from the sounds she was making, it sounded like she didn’t want him to stop too.

The fact that he would eventually have to stop was the only negative in his mind at the moment, though he was sure that Twilight would enjoy a bit of attention herself after he was finished with Pinkie…

Speaking of, he decided that Pinkie had had enough. He was loathe to stop, and when he stopped, he gave her bottom a few soft caresses. “How was that?”

Pinkie groaned. “Did you have to stop?”

“Yes, I did. You've had enough, and we only have a limited amount of time. I have to be firm, but fair, as your spanker.” He smiled lightly and leaned back. “Stand up, and stick your nose in the corner.”

Pinkie whined lightly and slowly slid up off of his lap. “Urf, really? Corner time?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod, reaching over and patting her rear a few times. “No arguments.

Huffing again, she giggled and wiggled her rear. “Should I keep my tush on display?”

He blushed lightly. “Er... yes,” he said. “Yes, you definitely should.”

She giggled again and turned around, swaying her tail back and forth as she got against the wall, setting her hands against her sides. She didn't look particularly sorry, but Spike thought she looked very cute as she was right now. He spent another few seconds enjoying the view before glancing at Twilight. He saw that she was enjoying the view as well, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. “All right, Twilight,” he said, getting her attention. “Close your mouth and come over here, like Pinkie did.”

She gulped, but nodded, slowly walking around to his dominant side. “Uh... just be a little bit more gentle with me, okay?” she requested.

“I will, promise,” Spike said lightly and taking her hand. “You sure you want to? You can always back out.” He offered her a more confident smile.

Twilight took a deep breath and shook her head. “No. I'll be fine. I promise.”

“All right then.” He gripped her hand more firmly and drew her down, positioning her rear right in the middle of his lap, but she stopped him, wiggling back. He frowned. “Did you change your mind?”

“N-no... I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind if I chose a different position?”

“Uh, sure, if you want.”

She nodded a little bit and stood back up, quickly, knowing they were short on time. With her face turning tomato red, she reached under her skirt and slid down her panties, shuffling them off completely. Spike gasped a little bit, his own face flushing. When he gave her a questioning look, she gave a nervous smile and set her underwear to the side. She sat down on Spike's lap, making him gasp, and then leaned forward, so that her groin was over his lap, but her upper torso hung off towards the door and both of her legs were off to either side of him. “I... think this is called the Bongo Position?”

“Y-you sure about this, Twi?” Spike asked, taking a deep breath and smiling a little bit. All he had to do was give her skirt just a little push...

“Yes,” she said with a nod, though she was squirming lightly. “I'm... curious. Please?”

“Okay. If you're sure.” He took another deep breath and lightly slid her skirt up. Her bare, soft plot was revealed to him quickly and he didn't bother to suppress the moan that bubbled up at the sight. A finger trailed up along her hip and then across her cheeks. She squeaked and gave a light squirm as she groaned, biting her lip. “Ready?” he asked, after she'd stopped her squirming.”

“Mhm...” she mumbled. “S-start off gentle, okay?”

“I will,” he promised. He rested one hand against her waist, keeping her steady as he raised his opposite hand up, taking a deep breath, already feeling quite confident after his time with Pinkie. He brought it down with a soft, but quick swat.

PAP! Her bottom cheek gave a lively bounce, and Twilight gave a squeak and a soft buck, arching her back. “Was that alright?” he asked, hovering his hand just above her bottom.

“Yes,” she said with a nod. “Please, continue.”

He smiled at the invitation and raised his other hand, making sure that she was able to keep herself balanced before he brought both hands down, swift and gentle, alternating from cheek to cheek.

Pap! Slap! Whap! Smack!

She gasped and groaned, shifting and wriggling, her cheeks bouncing and wobbling back and forth with each slap. She kicked her legs back and forth, lifting her rear up a little bit, panting a bit harder. Spike smiled a bit more and started to slap her faster, enjoying the way her cheeks jiggled with each impact.

“Ah! Hnngh, mmm...” Twilight's horn started to spark, a few harmless puffs of magic falling to the floor and disappearing just as quickly as they had come. She flushed deeply and glanced back at Spike, who paused the slapping for a moment, rubbing her cheeks up and down. “S-sorry you had to see that.”

“Wow, Twilight,” Spike observed with a small smile, “I didn't realize you'd enjoy it that much.”

Twilight tensed slightly and groaned. “Sh-shut up, this is embarrassing enough as it is.”

Spike clapped his hands against her cheeks, soft enough to surprise her and make her jump slightly on his lap. “Don't be embarrassed,” he said softly. “The three of us are here because we wanted to know what this would feel like, right?”

“Y-yeah, that's true.”

“Just enjoy it, Twilight,” Pinkie said with a giggle. “This is totally confidential, what we're doing after all!”

Twilight seemed to relax a little bit at that. “Y-you're right. I just... I've never felt anything like this.”

“Then I'll keep going?” Spike offered.

She nodded, letting out another breath, relaxing her cheeks. “Yes, please.”

“Okay.” He gave each cheek a few squeezes before he raised his hands up again and started to drum on her bum, nice and slow, swatting and slapping it at each and every angle, keeping the slaps gentle, but enough to make her rear dance for him. His vision was focused solely on her cheeks and he took in a deep breath trying to calm his heart, which beat in time with the smacks of his palms.

Swat! Smack, Slap! Plap! Clap!

“Ah! Mmm, hnngh...” she shivered and whined, arching her back a bit more, wiggling back and forth, moving in time with his slaps so that her butt was always perfectly under his palm. A soft, pink glow started to emanate from her bottom as he continued to pay it as much attention as he could. “Ahh, S-spike...”

Yes?” he asked, though this time he didn't stop slapping, making her yip and groan as she spoke. His heart trilled at the sound.

“Ah! Mmmph! Y-you can... you can go a little bit h-harder!” she squeaked lightly.

He grinned a little bit. “Okay.” He started to slowly increase the power of his swats, though he kept it up at the same speed.

SWAT! SMACK! SLAP! SLAP! WHAP!

They both started to moan a little bit in harmony as she started to wince and squirm a bit more firmly, to the point where Spike had to once again grip her waist to keep her still, using his free hand to continue the smacking. “Ah! AH! Oooh, that stings! Ow! Mmph!”

“Should I-I slow down?” Spike asked, his breath catching in his throat as he continued to smack away, his palm throbbing in the best way.

“No! Please, k-keep going! This is perfect!” she squealed, her horn starting to spark a bit harder, almost in time with his swats. Spike could feel Pinkie's eyes focus on them from her spot at the wall.

“You know, Pinkie,” he said with a breath, “I could punish you for watching right now.”

“But you're not gonna,” she challenged, giggling. “I already got my spanks.”

“Oh really?” he asked. He grabbed Twilight's hips and carefully lifted her up, turning her around and adjusting her so that she was bent over one of his knees. He pat the other one. “Get your ass over here.”

Pinkie squeaked, but let out a delighted giggle, hurrying over to Spike's side and sliding down so that she was over his other leg. Both girls gave a light wiggle, straddling his legs and pressing out their bottoms. He smirked and reached down, gripping their rears firmly, glancing between them with a moan. “You are both in for it now,” he announced, raising his hands up high and-

SLAM!

All three of them gave a firm jump as the heavy door to the locker room slammed shut, the sound overpowering everything around them. The three of them glanced up to see what had happened and were face to face with a very irate looking gym teacher. Stormy Flare stood there, hands on her hips, glaring at them, her eyes flicking to each of their blushing faces. “Well,” she grunted, “This wasn’t what I was expecting to find when I came in here.”

Spike gulped and glanced down at Pinkie. “I thought you said no one would be here!” he hissed.

“I didn’t say that, just that no one was using it!” Pinkie whispered back.

Spike groaned and resisted the urge to give her another powerful smack across her bare cheeks as Stormy advanced on them, her stride swift and powerful. “And just what do you think you three are doing in here?”

“Uh, um…” Spike cleared his throat, trying to look for a plausible way to explain their actions. Nothing came to mind. He didn't even have a chance to offer any sort of rebuttal before she reached him and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him forcefully to his feet. Both girls yelped as they tumbled off of his knees and onto the floor.

“I think I can figure it out here,” she stated with a growl. “A boy takes two girls into an empty locker room and starts spanking them in an attempt to assert dominance because they've upset him in some way. Classic example of old Pegasus logic in action,” she stated, spreading her wings.

Spike's eyes widened. “But, M-Ms. Flare,” he tried, his voice weak with nervous fear.

“I think you've had enough 'butts' for now,” she stated. “But I certainly haven't.” There was a massive fire in her eyes, making his blood freeze up. Stormy Flare had always been a rather intense physical educator, but he couldn't think of a time when she'd looked so... angry! Upset, annoyed, intense, but never angry.

Except for now. She really didn't look like she was interested in talking. Once Pinkie and Twilight got up onto their feet, they backed away from her for a moment. Spike glanced at them for a moment, looking for some assistance, but neither of them seemed brave enough to interrupt the woman on a rampage.

Stormy yanked him forward and put her foot up on the bench that he'd been sitting on. She yanked him upwards, forcing him to climb up over her knee, his arms and legs dangling freely. He squirmed and writhed gently. “M-ma'am, wait, please, let me exla-EEP!” he yelped as she gave him a firm slap over his pants.

“I suggest you keep your mouth shut, young man. I'll not hear any excuses from you little chauvinists.” She snorted. “As if I had to deal with this stuff enough from those backward-thinking pegasi who like to think that they can still use the warrior's way to keep women under their thumb. And you dragons tend to be just as bad, if not more so!” She grabbed the back of his pants and yanked them down, and then did the same with his underwear.

He gasped loudly, his face flushing bright red, far brighter than it had been while he was in a more dominant position. It had been a very long time since he'd been on the other side of the fence and he could already tell that this was going to be a hell of a lot worse than anything he'd taken before.

A part of that was also due to embarrassment. Despite the sudden interruption, his body was still reacting to earlier, and he knew that she could feel his half hard member writhing a little bit as he laid over her knee. “And of course you got off on it,” she said, her tone one of shaming. “Tsk... you are in for it, boy. You're going to learn some proper respect and hopefully you'll think twice about being such a pervert.”

“But, but, but-”

WHAP! SMACK! SLAP!

Three harsh, powerful smacks landed against his rear end, making him yelp and twitch and squirm over her knee. He hissed loudly and whimpered, but the break between them was short lived as she immediately started to lay into him again, one arm holding him firmly in place, the other working over his rear in quick, rapid succession.

SLAP! WHAP! SLAP! WHAP!

“Hnngh! Ah! OW! EEP!” he groaned and felt more blood rushing to his face at all the cute little noises he was making. He could also feel the eyes of Twilight and Pinkie on his rear end and was painfully aware that not only could they see his shapely rear, but if he kicked and squirmed too much, they might catch a glimpse of something more... He bit his lip and gave a small whimper as the smacks continued to cover every inch of his poor, soft, scaly hide.

SMACK, SLAP! SLAP! WHAP! WHACK!

He winced and groaned, arching his back a little bit. It was obvious to him why she was such a feared teacher. She really knew how to swing her hand to inflict maximum pain. Her slaps weren't random either, as Spike could very clearly feel the pattern she was following. One blow to the center of each cheek, one along the sides, one to each sit spot, repeat.

It was scarily effective.

SMACK! SLAP! WHAP! WHAP! SLAP! WHACK!

He sniffled and started to kick his feet a bit harder, gripping her leg tightly with his hands, being careful not to squeeze too hard, lest he accidentally end up sticking her with his claws. He bucked a few times, but her grip was like iron on his side, so all he really succeeded in doing was making himself look a little weak. He clenched his eyes shut, holding back tears, trying hard not to think about the fact that his butt was probably turning a very deep shade of red right now.

WHAP! WHACK! WHAP! WHACK!

Her blows slowed down a little, but the power behind them remained consistent, which only helped to build the sting every time she brought it down. “If I ever catch you doing something like this, to anyone,” she growled, her voice as sharp as a sword, “I will personally drag you into my office and paddle your ass black and blue, do I make myself clear?”

“C-crystal ma'am!” he groaned, flicking his tail back and forth. A particularly hard slap in the middle of his backside made him yelp loudly.

“Keep that tail still, Spike!”

He groaned loudly, but flicked his tail off to the side, doing his best to keep it out of the way as she continued to smack his butt. He could practically feel the vibrations running up and down his lower back now.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Hnngh! OW! Ma'am! PLEASE! I'm sorry!”

“Good. That's a start,” she said, her hand beginning to slow more, though this time the power decreased as well, and before long, she slowly lowered him off of her leg, down to the ground. He whimpered and reached behind him, rubbing at his ass nice and hard, hissing and squirming gently. God, he could feel the warmth radiating off of it. Stormy set her hands on her hips, standing before him. “Now, you owe those girls an apology,” she ordered.

Spike nodded and started to reach down to grab his pants, but she shook her head and took his arm, forcing him to turn towards the girls. He yelped and reached down, covering himself as he was faced with two blushing mares. Twilight's horn gave another spark, this one more massive than before. “Uh... I-I'm sorry... about what happened,” he mumbled.

“Er... y-yeah, apology accepted,” Twilight tried, clearing her throat. It sounded very dry, like she desperately needed something to drink. Pinkie just gave a bit of a numb nod, her own focus down where Spike was currently blocking.

Stormy nodded and gave him another firm slap on his backside. “Good. Now get your pants back up. First period will be starting before too long, and if any of you are late, you'll probably get another dose.

They nodded in agreement and Spike turned around before finally uncovering himself. They'd already seen his ass, so he figured it was a better alternative than letting them see his (now very confused) arousal. He yanked up his underwear and his pants quickly, taking a few opportunities to rub at his rear end now and then as well. At last, once he had collected himself a little bit, and once the girls had redressed themselves as well, the three of them excused themselves from Stormy, shuffling their way back towards the locker room's exit. All three of them were far too embarrassed about what had just happened to look at each other.

“I'll be seeing you in gym later, Spike.” she stated.

Spike felt a massive chill run down his spine when she said that. He gulped. He couldn't help but feel like that was almost... a threat...

Gym wasn't going to be fun today.

Author's Note

This chapter was a chance for us to delve into two things the series has lacked up till now. One is consensual spankings fun for everyone involved, which we intend on having more of, of course. The other was having Spike get spanked too. He's not above or immune to spankings, no boy is, and while they won't happen as much they can still happen. Enjoy, and look forward to more!

Chapter 10: Running the Ringer

The fateful moment arrived. The moment that Spike had been dreading, hoping that it would never come, yet knowing that it was inevitable.

It was time for Gym Class.

He walked in, hoping to keep his head low. He went to his locker room with the crowd of other boys, and then waited until everyone else was changed and filing out, hoping to blend in with the crowd. Unfortunately, the problem with that was it was hard to keep low and blend in with the class when there wasn’t any other dragons in this class with him. When the class started to do their regular warm ups, Stormy was already on him. When he started running laps, she shouted at him to run faster, warning him that he’d end up getting paddled if he held up the class too long trying to finish up his run. Spike tensed, but kept going at his own pace, knowing that he was, at most, in the middle of the pack.

Later on, when he was doing push-ups, she stood over him the whole time and grunted. “Lower,” she ordered. “You better keep your body rigid and go as low as you can before you come back up, Spike. Or else.”

He didn’t need to be told what this whole ‘or else’ thing meant. He made a conscious effort to make sure that he was going as low as he could. His arms burned and he could feel sweat dripping down his scales as he tried to keep up with her demands.

The absolute nadir of it came when she was standing over him, glaring at him while he was trying to stretch out after the warm up workout. He was arching his back out, grunting and bending his back backwards as he tried to work out his body’s kinks when she pressed her foot against his backside, making him squeak and tense softly as he tried to keep himself quiet. His backside still pulsed and throbbed in pain after his initial run-in with her. “Come on, Spike, I know you can do better than that.”

“D-do better at stretching?” he hissed lightly. “I can’t exactly stretch more than this,” he groaned.

“Don’t give me backtalk,” she warned. “I know you’re more flexible than that.”

He groaned and forced himself past his comfort zone, pretty sure he was looking more like a capital L to those around him. He held it for as long as he could, biting the inside of his cheek until she finally stepped off of his rear and backed away. He panted and groaned, laying himself down against the ground, his forehead against the cold ground. He pulled himself up and bent his back forward, grunting as he felt a light throb from it for overextending himself.

He was able to finish the rest of his stretching without her hovering over him, but he could still feel her eyes following him regardless of where he went. Finally though, when the warm ups were finished, she blew her whistle to get the attention of the rest of the class, calling them to line up as she outlined the lesson of the day. “Today, we’re going to be starting some basic weight training,” she stated. “We’ll be focusing primarily on increasing endurance. I’m more interested in seeing you all being able to do a long, prolonged workout rather than a single deadlift. That in and of itself is a form of training, and competition, but even a simple, light deadlift right now is beyond most of you, and I’m not going to be responsible for anyone getting injured here. Now, all of you partner up. Groups of two to four, and then go and claim your weights.”

Spike sighed again as he saw a bunch of the students hurried away from him and hurriedly grab groups made up of their friends. Most of them moved away from him or tried their best to ignore him, worried that if they partnered with him, then Stormy might start giving them issues as well. He was worried he might be working out alone, until there was a sharp whistle from nearby. “Yo! Spike! Over here!”

He blinked and glanced over, smiling a little bit when he saw Rainbow waving towards him, Fluttershy and Derpy standing together next to her. He smiled and waved back, hurrying over. “You wanna join in over here?” she offered.

“Sure!” he said with a nod, grateful for the offer.

“We actually were just discussing a few things about the club.”

“Oh yeah, our first meeting is coming up pretty soon, isn’t it?” he asked with a smile, glancing at Derpy, who blushed.

“Y-yeah, actually.” She smiled and sat on one of the weight lifting benches, reaching into her pack and pulling out a book for Ogres and Oubliettes, flipping through it. “I-I figured we’d start with something real simple? Maybe just make some characters and shuffle our way through the starting adventure in the back of the player’s handbook? I know most everyone who picks up the book is probably familiar with it anyway, but… well, it’s a good starting point, right?”

“Well, we have to start somewhere,” Spike said with a grin. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

“Um, it was actually my suggestion,” Fluttershy said, biting her lip. “I-I know most of us are seasoned players, but-”

“We don’t exactly know each other’s strengths or styles yet,” Rainbow finished for her, patting her shoulder. “It’s a good suggestion, Flutters. You don’t have to be shy about it.”

“Yes. And the same goes for the rest of you,” Derpy said quickly. “I’ll reiterate this at the club meeting proper, but I don’t want any of you to feel like you can’t contribute. I always want to hear suggestions for activities for us to do,” she said happily.

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Spike said, lifting up one of the ten pound weights and letting it settle against his palm before he slowly started to curl it. “So, what sort of characters do you like to play, Derpy?”

“O-oh, well, I’ll probably be DM'ing for this one, but when it comes to characters? I always really liked bards.”

“Bards?” Rainbow asked. “Why’s that?”

“I just always saw them as a super creative class,” she said, flipping through the book. The other two pegasi shuffled over closer to look over her shoulder as she tapped the book on the ‘bard’ class description. “Not only do they have their own unique brand of magic, centering on sound and music, but because of their focus on charisma, they’re kind of like the go-to class for problem solving when might and magic doesn’t work. I’m not saying a wizard or a fighter can’t be super creative, but bards just feel like they’re tailor made to be spanners in the works. The sorts that try to talk or con their way out of something rather than bash their way out.”

“Hah, that might work for you, but I prefer the bashing,” Rainbow said. “Give me a big, beefy berserker or a ranger, something with some teeth.”

“Well, that’s all well and good… if you want to get totally left behind at later levels,” Fluttershy mused.

Rainbow glared at her. “Scuse me?”

She blushed. “S-sorry it’s just… I mean, what does a fighter have when it comes to doing anything in the game? They hit things, and they hit really hard. But they don’t have the damage output of a rogue with backstab, and most magic users have them almost completely beaten in terms of versatility. Even bards can be pretty good sword fighters if you outfit them properly.”

The small group continued to discuss this, and soon, they were all sitting together and talking, laughing, discussing their particular likes and dislikes for character builds and the sorts of campaigns that they liked to run. Weight training was completely forgotten as the four of them got deep into the conversation. This eventually did get them noticed, however, and the whistle was blown, causing the four of them to jump and the rest of the class to stop what they were doing, glancing over to see what was going on.

Stormy Flare slowly walked towards them, a hand on her hip as she let her whistle fall down against her neck again. “And just what is going on here?”

“Oh uh… s-sorry ma’am,” Spike said, quickly standing up. “We got… a touch distracted is all.”

“A touch, hm?” Stormy asked. “Looks like you four haven’t done much for ten minutes.”

Fluttershy flushed and bit her lip. “Oh dear, has it really been a full ten minutes already? S-sorry ma’am!”

“Can’t blame you, you do have a very distracting dragon amongst you.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked over at Spike, who tensed up as their eyes met. “Spike,” she stated. “I think we need to have another talk about your behavior.”

“But… I… I…”

“Hey!” Rainbow interjected quickly, rushing to Spike’s side. “There’s no need to blame Spike for this,” she said quickly. “I was the one who started the conversation anyway, if you’re gonna be mad at anyone in particular, go ahead and be mad at me.” This wasn’t strictly true, as it had actually spawned from Fluttershy and Derpy specifically, but Rainbow seemed more than willing to take the blame for them.

Spike smiled gratefully at her, letting out a breath. Her loyalty was inspiring.

However, Stormy gently placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her to the side, her glare still focusing on Spike. “It’s nice to see that you are willing to defend a friend, Rainbow Dash, but I’m quite sure that Spike was the one who started this whole thing. And as the one who instigated it, he is the one who is going to receive punishment.”

Spike gulped softly. His still sore rear tingled a little bit. He could argue about how unfair this sort of treatment was, about the fact that she was jumping to conclusions (again), or about the fact that teachers were supposed to remain impartial, but he was fairly certain she wasn’t going to listen to reason while she was on this sort of warpath. He groaned, and was about to accept his fate, when the sound of a throat clearing reached them. “I think you’re tunnel visioning a little bit, Stormy.”

Their heads turned to see who was speaking. A brilliant amber coat, contrasted by woven, amaranth tale and mane. A stern figure and a muscled physique. It was Flash Magnus, the other physical educator at Galaxia. While Stormy handled most of the basic physical education classes, as well as some of the extra-curricular classes like gymnastics and the school flight team. Flash handled quite a few more specific classes, such as basic flight classes, and most of the other sports teams. But because of that, the two of them were always at each other’s throats when it came to use of the gymnasium and its equipment and facilities. Pretty much everyone who attended the school had been witness to at least one of their legendary battles of will. And at least one rumor seemed to suggest that the only reason their arguments ever seemed to end was that Flash was one to invoke ‘Pegasus Rule’, taking Stormy to task for crossing a certain line with him.

Stormy’s eyes narrowed as he approached them. He nodded to Spike, giving him a light wave of his hand, as if to push away any bad thoughts that he might have. He turned to the other teacher. “From what I was seeing, it looked like those three girls there were the ones who were carrying on the conversation the most. Spike actually looked like he was doing something resembling weight training at least.” He pointed to the small weight that Spike had been curling with early on during their conversation.

Stormy huffed. “Well, from my point of view-”

“It doesn’t matter what your point of view was,” Flash said, cutting her off. “It matters what happened. Now, I do agree that someone should be punished.” He pointed to the three girls. “And I think it should be these three.” He put a hand on his hip. “Stormy, fetch your paddle, if you please. I think a dozen strikes for each of them should be a sufficient punishment.”

The girls squeaked, Rainbow glaring at him, Fluttershy and Derpy glancing down, their faces turning red. Stormy’s wings fluffed up a bit as she glowered at him, raising them up and stepping between them and him. “Now you just wait a moment!” she growled. “Where do you get off coming in here like this and then making demands in MY class. This is my classroom, these are my students, and this is my gym,” she stated.

“Technically the gym belongs to the school,” he reminded her calmly. “It’s a shared facility remember?” He leaned forward, brow furrowing a bit. “And I’d watch your tone, Stormy. You’re getting pretty uppity with me.”

“Don’t you start bringing up those old pegasus ways to me again,” she warned. “I’m not just going to roll over for you.”

“Well, you don’t have a choice in this matter,” he stated. “Especially since I’m sure Celestia and Luna would not approve of you zeroing in on one student in particular, ignoring the others, right? That would get YOU quite the reprimand if they heard about it.”

The mare ground her teeth together for a moment before growling softly. “Perhaps… they do deserve a punishment for partaking.”

“Glad you agree,” he said with a nod. “Now, fetch the paddle.” There was no nonsense in his voice.

Her eye twitched and she glowered at him for a moment before twisting and starting back to her office.

Fluttershy groaned loudly and writhed a bit, nervously glancing between the retreating Stormy and the stern looking Flash. Derpy tried to offer her some reassurance that a dozen swats wasn’t going to be much, though Rainbow managed to ruin that by musing that if it was anything like what he gave during acrobatics practice, none of them were going to be sitting down for the rest of the school day. Fluttershy groaned, but Spike saw her bite the corner of her lip as she glanced away from the others, wings stiffening a bit. Derpy gave Rainbow a mismatched glare in response.

Spike just stood there, rubbing his arm. While he was glad that he wouldn’t have to suffer a second time around with Stormy, and he did agree that he alone didn’t deserve punishment for what was happening, he didn’t want the girls to suffer punishment just for talking. Add to it, it was no secret Flash was a bit of a traditionalist, clearly raised to believe what he was doing was right in relation to Pegasopolian law. But that misguided viewpoint caused him to be unnecessarily strict and brash with mares.

He watched the girls squirming a little bit. Derpy in particular looked especially nervous. Fluttershy was attempting to maintain her composure, trying to keep her breathing steady. Rainbow was trying her best not to show her own fear of getting paddled. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her wings were raised but not stiff, and her feathers were puffed out as she glared at the stallion in sheer defiance. But Spike, and probably Flash as well, could see the underlying nervousness behind her tough exterior.

Stormy returned a moment later, taking her time in approaching the group, walking stiffly, the scowl still on her face. She held her faithful paddle in her hand, a worn, old fashioned thing. There was an old myth at the school that the paddle wielded by the physical education teachers was the very same one that had been used by the original educator that had been here when the school first opened. Spike found the notion kind of ridiculous, especially since it was a myth that had somehow persisted in a school where most of the students were at least late teens to adults. It seemed kind of childish to him.

The older Pegasus offered up the paddle to Flash, who took it and nodded, patting it against his palm a few times. “Thank you,” he said with a nod.

“Don’t mention it,” she grunted. “Really, don’t mention it.”

“I won’t. Now, all four of you girls, lower your bottoms, and bend over the weight bench,” he ordered, pointing the edge of the paddle to the bench in question.

Stormy blinked. “Excuse me, four?” she asked.

“Yes, four.” He pointed to Stormy as well. “You’ll be joining them.”

“I beg your pardon?!” she gasped, glowering at him, her own wings fluffing up.

“Yes. I think you could use a bit of discipline after your behavior here. Ignoring students who break your rules in favor of going after one you have it out for? Giving me a hard time when all I was doing was ensuring proper justice? You definitely need another session with me, and now is as good a time as any.”

The words ‘another session’ caught Spike’s attention and he could see a small flush coming to Stormy’s face. She fluttered her wings lightly in agitation before leaning forward, glowering at him again. He wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “Excuse me, but we are the exact same rank in terms of the positions we hold, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to embarrass me in front of my students.”

“Should I go and talk to Luna then? See what she thinks about you targeting a student like you did?” He pat the paddle against his palm again. “Luna has a particularly firm sense of justice when it comes to situations like that.”

That actually seemed to rattle Stormy a bit. She ground her teeth for a moment, glancing at them and sighed. “Damn it all… girls, do as he says.” She shot Flash another glare. “You know this whole thing is bull.”

“I certainly don’t see it that way.” He mocked, giving her an underhanded slap on her bum as she turned away, causing her to jump. She whipped around and clenched her fist as though she was going to slug him in the face, but stopped herself, snarling softly.

Spike was glad she didn't go through with it, but this still didn't feel right. He stood up and slowly walked forward as the girls started to prep themselves for punishment, his mind working quickly. “Hold on,” he said, ignoring the stares of his classmates. The rest of the class had stopped what they were doing by the time the paddle was brought in, and had gathered around to watch what was going to happen. The fact that Flash was willing to do this in public, especially with socially shy or awkward ponies like Derpy (And kind of Fluttershy, though spike wasn't sure if she would mind or not), made the dragon's blood boil. For once, he was very easily able to separate his libido from the situation. He got up close to Flash, the teacher raising a brow as the dragon spoke. “Flash, you can’t do this.”

He blinked in surprise. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because…” Spike cleared his throat. “Because it goes against school code,” he stated.

Magnus frowned. “Hm?”

“You’re operating under old pegasus laws,” Spike stated. “But the school code of conduct states that in these walls, the school rules are the first and foremost laws that need to apply. It states very clearly that tribe or species specific rules will apply to a given situation if, and only if, they are absolutely, one-hundred percent necessary for those who are attending to observe them. This extends to species-specific needs, nothing having to do with discipline. And it cites several examples of rules that would not be enforced in the school, one of which is Pegasopolean Law, referring to the roles of gender in their society, specifically the rights of Stallions over those of Mares.”

Magnus frowned deeper. “Well, I would point out that those viewpoints are still enforced to some extent in Cloudsdale-”

“They are, yes,” Spike said. “But not as an official law. Those that follow Pegasopolean beliefs are not as numerous here as they are in Cloudsdale and it’s basically to the point where it is something that needs to be observed by all parties in order to be considered legal… of course, under the tenants of old Pegasopolis, consent by the mare can be given by the stallion who has the right to do so. But this is not Cloudsdale, the school does not recognize the idea of Pegasus stallions being immediately dominant to Pegasus mares, and using that as justification for punishment is considered a breach of your contract as a teacher.”

He blinked lightly. “I’m not sure that I…”

“You did read the contracts, right?” Spike asked with a raised brow. “They did say specifically that, while teachers do have a certain leeway when it comes to disciplining students in their class, it cannot be for differences in ideals, and the way you are presenting your intent to punish Stormy, especially, seems like it reeks of the idea that she should be punished merely for daring to speak against you, rather than anything she actually did wrong. Also, as Stormy pointed out before you threatened to 'tattle' on her,” Spike put emphasis on the word. “I would also point out that this isn’t your class. You have no right to punish anyone here. If you really believe that she’s done something wrong, you would have to report it to someone higher in authority, who would make a judgement call based on information provided by both you 'and' her, as well as the testimony of the students if it were necessary. But in this case, I think, regardless of what you said, Celestia or Luna would find in favor of Stormy Flare.”

Magnus raised a brow, looking genuinely stunned as he scratched the back of his head. “You certainly seem confident in what you say. How do you know about the teacher contracts here, though?”

Spike tensed for a moment, but shook his head. “They’re a matter of public record,” he stated, which was true. His mother believed in complete transparency when it came to students and families understanding exactly what sort of agreements everyone who worked there was under. “I considered it a bit of light reading.”

Magnus squinted at the boy, clearly trying to think of something to counter him, but he was apparently pretty ill prepared for a lengthy debate on the matter. “You do realize that Stormy is guilty of at least favoring the girls over you, yes?”

“This is true,” Spike admitted. “And I was sort of angry at her for it, and perhaps it is a failing of hers. But punishing her in this manner is very counter-productive to addressing the real problem, especially since it’s not only about punishing her for what she wanted to do to me. It’s feels like you're establishing dominance, and making sure that she feels like she has to be subservient to you.” He took the stallions shoulder. “I know that's not your intention, sir, but it's how it looks. Just let this one go.”

Magnus glared at him again, but his eyes softened as he glanced at Stormy. “I suppose I can’t argue with you. I was just trying to help you, but it seems my brand of help is... unwelcome. So I’ll take my leave.” He set the paddle to the side and sighed. “Stormy, I'm sorry for how I was treating you. Enjoy the rest of your class.”

She looked taken aback by the apology. “Thank you?”

He grunted, scowling a little bit as he turned and started for the entrance to the gym. The other students started to disperse a little bit, especially as Stormy gave them a glowering look that meant ‘get back to weight lifting or else.’ There were a few who definitely looked like they were disappointed nothing had happened, but no one was about to complain about not seeing their teacher’s butt get blistered when she was standing right there, paddle still within reach.

“Whew… thanks for that, Spike,” Rainbow said. “Was really worried there, for a second.”

“Yes.” Fluttershy breathed. “I don’t think I could have taken a public spanking.” She reached back and cupped her cheeks a bit. Spike saw her pout a bit and had to hide the smile he got, knowing the real reason she looked upset. She'd wanted it to happen, he was sure.

“I’m just glad you got him to understand why what he was doing wasn’t right,” Derpy added.

“I not fully sure I did.” The dragon gave a light shrug. “But he did seem genuinely sorry at the end there. If he tries to harass any of you over this again though, go straight to Celestia. I know she won’t let this sort of thing stand, especially not amongst her teachers.”

Stormy huffed. “That’s enough talking, from all of you,” she stated. “All of you, get back to your weight work.” She set her hands on her hips. “And Spike?”

“Yes ma’am?” he asked, nervously.

“...Thank you,” she said.

He smiled a bit. “No problem, ma’am.”

The rest of the period was spent working on the weights. Aside from a few quick exchanges here and there, Spike and the girls avoided any more long, drawn out conversations. They weren’t really willing to chance a trip over the teacher’s knees after everything they’d been through.

When it was over, Spike went back to the changing room and got cleaned up with everyone else. There was a lot of hushed discussion about the fact that they’d almost seen Stormy Flare getting her rear roasted, with a lot of disappointed sighs that it didn’t happen. Spike just rolled his eyes and ignored that sort of talk. At the very least, Stormy had stopped hounding him the whole time.

After the locker room cleared out and everyone started to move to the gym exit, a whistle caught his attention. “Spike!” Stormy called. “Come here. I need to have a word with you!”

Spike winced. Well, he supposed it was too much to hope for that she might totally forgive and forget the grudge that she’d gotten when she caught him being inappropriate with Pinkie and Twilight. He shuffled over to her, quickening his pace when he saw her starting to tap her foot impatiently. “You uh… wanted to speak to me, ma’am?”

“I did yes.” She pointed back towards the girls’ locker room. “Come with me. We’re going to talk in there.”

He blushed a little bit, but nodded, not offering any sort of argument. She turned and started to walk to the locker room, Spike hot on her heels. “Ma’am, if this is about earlier…”

“It is, partially,” she said, leading him inside. He blinked as he found Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy Hooves there, waiting for them… bottomless. He flushed deeply as he saw Derpy and Fluttershy standing there, covering their fronts. Rainbow Dash however, seemed to have no shame, standing there with her legs slightly spread and her arms crossed, revealing her peach for all the world to see.

“W-Wha… what’s going on here?” Spike asked.

“Um, w-well,” Fluttershy said, smiling through her blush, “We just… wanted to give you a great big thank you for what you did for us earlier.”

“And I wanted to give you a formal apology,” Stormy said. To spike’s utter surprise, but also his boundless joy, Stormy began to strip off her own pants and underwear. “What I did was… well, it was rather cruel. While you did deserve some form of punishment, I was far too harsh on you, and I continued to dog you afterwards because I thought you were just some sort of perv or misguided misogynist, looking to satisfy a dominant’s urge. I admit, I was wrong. What you did today was very sweet. You stood up to Flash and prevented him from unfairly paddling both me and these three girls. They also seem to have taken a shine to you… so we discussed it, and we have agreed to do something nice for you, to reward you for heroism.”

“So… we decided… we’d let you play with our butts a bit! You know, since they didn't end up blistered and bruised,” Derpy mumbled.

“Wait, r-really?” he asked, flushing bright red, plugging his nose before he could start spraying blood everywhere. “I-I mean… you're all okay with this?”

Fluttershy nodded. “We are, Spike. I mean, a good guy like you does deserve something special, right?”

“And… Stormy?”

“I’m doing this of my own volition. And I do feel that I owe you something. But I insist that when you get to me, you do give me a proper comeuppance for my behavior.”

Spike smiled and sat down on the edge of the bench there. “Well… if you are all absolutely sure.”

“We are,” Rainbow said, grunting as she laid herself down over his knees. “Now come on, get yourself some booty,” she teased with a smirk.

“You sure aren’t embarrassed about any of this.”

“Hey, it’s among friends,” she said with a nod. “Nothing to be nervous about. Isn’t like you’re the type to go spreading this around, right?”

“Oh! Of course, this doesn’t leave this room,” he promised with a nod, reaching down stroking her backside. As he’d expected, Rainbow’s rear was impressively firm and athletic, with just enough give to it to make it feel a little soft as he rubbed it. He started to swat it, though he didn’t do so very seriously. He was pretty sure if he actually did try to spank her, he’d do a lot more damage to his hand than to her bottom. Still, the soft claps he left behind were rather fun to deliver, and Rainbow didn’t seem to mind. She blushed and grunted and wiggled a bit, but otherwise stayed silent.

Spike bit his lip and wriggled a bit more than even Rainbow was, papping away at her rear for a while, enjoying the way her bright blue buttocks took on a light shade of pink, a pleasant tingle coming to his palm as he continued.

Pap! Pap! Pap!

He shivered a bit as she gave a little yip and her bottom twitched as she wiggled back and forth. He breathed for a moment, leaning back. It was then that he saw that her wings had straightened. Curious, he reached out and brushed a hand along the top of one of them, making her yelp. Yep, they were stiff as a board. “H-hey!” she gasped. “Y-you don’t touch a girls wings like that!”

“You’re okay with me swatting your ass, but not stroking your wings?”

“It’s a pegasus thing!” she said with a huff.

“Also a rainbow thing,” Fluttershy said with a giggle.

“Sh-shut up!”

Spike snickered a little bit and gave her a more firm pop against her sit spots. She jumped a bit from the feeling and Spike winced as a small sting ran through his palm. He rubbed at it and cleared his throat. “O-okay, I think that’s enough for you, Rainbow.’

Rainbow smirked a bit and slowly stood up. “Heh. Maybe someday you’ll actually have a chance to show me what you can really do.” She turned away from him and reached back, giving herself a very powerful swat across one cheek. Spike jumped at the impact, and flushed when he saw that her cheek actually wobbled from the strike, a dark pink palm print appearing on her rear where she’d struck.

“U-uh…” he coughed a little bit as she walked away and gently grabbed her panties, bending over and giving him a nice, extended view of the full moon as she dressed. He gulped a little bit as her panties slowly started to slide over her cheeks and then shook his head to bring himself back to reality as he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He glanced over and saw the radiant smile and mismatched eyes of Derpy. “Oh um… g-guess it’s your turn?”

“If uh… if you want.”

“I-I do want,” he admitted, smiling. He wiggled a little as Derpy walked towards him and turned around. She stuck her bottom out towards him, bending forward and placing her hands on her knees, well within arm's reach of him.. As opposed to Rainbow’s muscled, athletic physique, Derpy’s rear was a sight bigger, soft and bouncy. He slid a hand along her cheeks and dock, pushing her tail away and making her squeak a bit. “You sure you aren’t uncomfortable?”

“No actually,” she breathed, smiling back at him. “Go ahead, Spike. I trust you.”

He nodded at her words and let his finger trail down her soft rear for a moment, getting a feel for it before raising his hand up and giving her a light swat, the same as he’d done for Rainbow. Her bottom gave a generous wobble and he took a deep breath, feeling his entire body tense up from the sight. It wasn’t helped by the adorable yelp she let out, and the little jump her body gave. He repeated the action with his other hand, drumming on her cheeks for a moment, getting a rhythm down.

He started to spank her a bit faster, alternating from one cheek to the other, firmly enough to really make her bottom bounce, the sound echoing around them. He blushed as he realized he might have been going a bit hard, and glanced at her. “Is this-”

“Yes,” she said quickly, blushing. “I’m fine, please, go ahead!”

“Uh… a-all right, if you’re sure.” He smiled lightly at her and continued his little drum solo, taking her words as indication that he could continue on. He spanked and slapped at her bottom quickly, but made sure not to go much harder. She started to wriggle, swaying her hips back and forth as he swatted, her wings stiffening like Rainbow, but flapped a few times as well. Was she getting into it?

It seemed like it. When he could pull his eyes away from her beautiful backside, he was able to see that she was glancing over her shoulder to take in the action herself, and was smiling the whole time. Encouraged, he started to move his strikes lower, swatting at her sit spots, smacking her bottom upwards a little, really making them dance.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Eek! Oop! Aw!” she gasped and arched her back a little bit. Her buttocks pressed out further and shifting from foot to foot. Spike smiled wider and licked his lips a little, stopping the spanking for a moment, giving her a reprieve so that he could stroke and caress her much more sensitive rear. She moaned and mewled a little, relaxing a little bit and letting her arms fall limp. “Oooh… Wow, that feels good actually,” she mumbled, pushing her cheeks towards him a bit more, into his hands, ecouraging him to massage them more firmly.

“I would hope so,” Spike said. “I don’t want to make you feel bad.” He cupped and rubbed her posterior. “But I think I should let you go now,” he whispered.

“You… don’t have to,” she said. She sounded a tad disappointed.

Spike considered, and smiled and gave her a few more soft swats as she straightened up, making her squeal and giggle gently, covering her front as she danced about a bit. Her dancing only made her backside bounce more and Spike had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from letting out a particularly loud moan as he enjoyed the show she gave him. Like Rainbow before her, she took her time in sliding on her panties, her face flush and her eyes half lidded. It actually looked to him like her eyes had focused and were looking straight ahead, if only briefly, as she glanced back at him. He smiled back and squirmed, attempting to subtly adjust himself, as he was really feeling the effects of their ‘reward’ at this point.

And finally, as Derpy tugged up her skirt and hid her bottom from view, Fluttershy approached him. He gulped a little bit and wiped a bit of sweat away as she stood before him, stretching her shirt down to cover her nethers.

“Fluttershy,” he greeted with a soft nod. The pegasus girl blushed, her own wings already extended outwards. “So... how shall I spank you?” he said, his voice a touch husky as he tried to contain his excitement.

Fluttershy spoke, her own voice a little husky as well. “M-maybe something like this?” she asked. She got on the bench next to him and laid down on her back, raising her legs up in the air, exposing her buttocks, and a little bit more, to him.

Spike's nostril's flared and his tail flicked upwards, stiffening a little bit as he looked at the position she was in. He gripped her ankles and pushed back to keep them in place. “Are you sure?” he asked. “This is a... pretty embarrassing position.”

Her chest rose and fell quickly as she glanced up at him, her long, pink hair pooling around her head. “I know... th-that's part of why I'd like to try it.”

He smiled lightly. “Well... all right.” He wasn't about to argue with her. He reached down and carefully stroked her rear up and down. Just as large, soft, and bouncy as he remembered from the last spanking he'd been able to witness of hers. He took in a deep breath, unable to stop himself from giving her chubby cheeks a few soft squeezes. “Ready?”

“Definitely,” she said with a nod, grabbing the edge of the bench and giving it a squeeze.

Spike smiled and reared his hand back. He brought it down against her squishy rear with a firm, quick pap. The satisfying clap made him moan. Shamelessly. He felt her tense a little bit, and she wiggled gently.

Smack! Slap! Whap! Spank!

With each spank, Fluttershy let out a delightful little squeak, and Spike let his fingers brush against her bottom with every swat. He alternated from cheek to cheek, hugging her legs firmly to keep them up and out of the way. She moaned a bit more loudly. “S-spike?” she asked softly.

“Yes?” he asked equally gently.

“You... can go a bit harder if you want.”

“Are you sure? Any harder than this and it's probably really going to sting,” he said, grinning, unable to resist a chance to tease her a little bit. “And your bottom is really going to get red. Any harder and it'll probably feel like I'm punishing you.”

He felt a shudder run through her and her bottom cheeks tensed under his fingers. “I-I'll be fine. I think I can take it. Please Spike, this is a reward for you,” she said. “Do... whatever you want...” she prompted, giving him a wide smile. Her eyes twinkled with joy, however, at the suggestion of a harder spanking, and Spike wasn't one to deny her what SHE wanted. He gripped her legs a bit more firmly and then reared his hand back a bit further. Then brought it down, nice and hard.

CLAP! Her bottom cheek bounced beautifully from the smack and she squealed, arching her bottom up into the air. Spike gave her another spank. And then another, and another, once again alternating from one cheek to the other, but this time really giving her some proper spanks. She gasped and writhed against the bench, but he kept his grip on her feet, keeping her in position as he smacked away, watching as her bottom wobbled and jiggled. He smiled as her squeals and squeaks turned to whimpers and moans. Her eyes closed and a small, satisfied smile came to her face between the stinging slaps. There was really no point in denying it now. Fluttershy had a thing for hard spankings. He'd figured that out quick enough, despite her attempts at being subtle, but she must have felt fairly comfortable letting a bit more of it show now.

“Eeep! Oooh! Aww!” she whined. “It stings!”

“It's supposed to,” Spike said. “It's a spanking after all.” He glanced at her rear. “And you're starting to get nice and red,” he said. “You'll probably be feeling this for a while afterwards.

“Y-yes,” she agreed, nodding gently. “I-I'm probably going to be feeling this for... a while afterwards.” She groaned, shifting a bit more, her cute bottom cheeks jiggling as she rolled from side to side, always lifting up the cheek that Spike was about to smack.

“I'm sure...” Spike chuckled and gave her sit spots a good working over as well, slapping the creases on the bottom of each cheek, really making the pegasus buck a few times. His palm was tingling now, though, a soft throb starting to come through it. Much as he would have loved to continue on forever, and he was certain that Fluttershy would have liked that as well, he'd have to bring this to a close sooner rather than later. But he wanted to make it a memorable end. He pushed her legs backwards, making her squeak as her bottom slid up into the air and she was forced to roll with the motion, until she was laying on her upper back, stiff wings pinned under her. The motion also caused her to spread her legs a bit, revealing a bit of her peach. She gasped loudly and flailed, her face flushing even redder than her bottom. “Oooh, Spike! What are you going to do?” she asked cutely.

“Give you a grand finale,” he told her. He placed one hand against the back of her upper legs to keep her in the new position and then dropped his other hand down onto her bottom, letting gravity do a good bit of the work as he started to rapidly drum on her ass, spanking fast and hard, making her rear dance as fast as he could.

“Oooh! Owww! Awww!” she squealed, shuddering and flailing her arms a bit more, squirming against his hold. “Oooh! Aw! S-Spike!”

Spike just smiled, and gave her three more hard, firm strikes, right in the center of each wobbling cheek. Then, he finally stopped, rubbing at each fleshy mound for a moment before slowly and carefully lowering her legs down to the bench. She clamped them together tightly and once again pushed her shirt down to cover her nethers, panting deeply. He chuckled, finding it adorable how she had suddenly regained a sense of modesty now that the spanking was over. He took one of her arms and helped her to sit up, her wings shuddering as she did so. She hissed and writhed as her thick cheeks pressed against the now warm wood of the bench. Carefully, she stood up, reaching back and pressing one hand against her bottom, rubbing it up and down, unintentionally causing it to jiggle up and down just a bit more. Spike sat down and leaned back for a moment, enjoying the view as she stood with her naked rear facing him, trying to compose herself. “So,” he said after a moment. “How... was that?”

“Wh-why are you asking me?” she breathed, biting her lip, the blush still covering her face. “Th-that was all you,” she said, shuffling over to the others, where Derpy offered her her underwear.

“Right, right,” Spike said with a nod. “All for you.” He nodded to her, letting out a light sigh.

And finally, as she joined her two blushing classmates, Stormy slowly approached him, her face slightly flushed and her wings spread wide.

Stiff.

Apparently, she’d found the display particularly erotic as well. “Well,” she said with a nod. “Even when presented with an opportunity to have fun, you still considered the girls’ feelings first.”

“I get that this was for me,” Spike said. “But what’s the point if I actually do come off as a creepy guy? I didn’t want to go any further than what they were comfortable with, and if I was going to try something, I wanted to make sure that it was something they’d enjoy too, at least a little bit.” He glanced at her hands, noticing that she'd grabbed the paddle at some point. Had she brought that in earlier? Or had it been in here before they walked in, he wondered.

She nodded, and then offered him the paddle. “Well, if you want to give someone what they want, I want you to give me what I deserve. No pussyfooting, all right?”

“Are you sure ma’am?” he asked.

She sighed. “Yes. What I did to you was unwarranted and I let my bias cloud my judgement. I jumped to conclusions and punished you harshly without hearing your story. While you still would have been punished, I… probably would have been a bit less harsh had I heard the entire thing. And I definitely would not have continued to treat you so poorly in gym. Magnus might have been an ass, but he was right, I was using my position as teacher to continue punishing you beyond what you deserved, and I need to accept that.” She straddled the bench, one leg on either side of it, and bent forward, resting her palms on the wood, thrusting her rear out and pushing her tail out of the way.

“Okay,” Spike said gently, standing, holding up the paddle and standing next to her. “But I want you to understand that I don’t bear any grudges against you, Stormy. You’re right, you did go a bit harsh on me but… I do know I shouldn’t have been doing what I was doing with Twi and Pinkie. At least… not on school property.” He gave a nervous chuckle and gripped her dock, pulling her tail up. Her bottom looked… soft. Not overly bouncy or jiggly the way that Fluttershy or Derpy’s had, but certainly not the athletic steel wall that Rainbow’s had been. It was a happy medium, shapely and bouncy, but not fat. He gave it a few gentle taps, testing it. Some heft and bounce to it, but no exaggerated ripples.

A part of him felt a touch disappointed by that. “Okay… as you want, I’m going to give you a real spanking. You ready for this?”

She grunted. “I gave you the paddle, didn’t I?” she asked, glancing back at him. “And you better not hold back!”

He blushed, not really used to the person on the receiving end being the more dominant one. “Yes ma’am!” he said quickly. He gave her bottom a few more preparatory pats before raising the paddle up high, eyes focusing in on the mature, thick bottom currently awaiting his attention.

WHAP!

The sound echoed like a gunshot through the locker room as he gave her a firm, hard smack, across both cheeks. She gasped and let out a pained hiss, flexing her cheeks lightly, but otherwise remained as she was.

WHAP!

Spike landed a second slap, similar to the first, building atop the deep pink mark he'd left behind. When he got a similar reaction, but heard no complaints, he started to raise the paddle and swing it in quick, powerful arcs, down against her rear.

WHAP! SLAP! SMACK! SLAP! WHAP!

She grunted and grit her teeth, but remained as still as she could, the only sign that his slaps were even causing her any discomfort was the occasional twitch in her hips and of course the slight bounce in her buttocks as Spike started to pick up his pace, spanking her quicker and harder than he probably had any other mare to date, from the small pool of ladies he’d done so with up to now. After all, she was a tough woman, chances were good he wouldn’t make much of an impression if he tried to go easy on her, even with the implement.

Not that she wanted him to do that. As the spanking continued, she glanced over her shoulder, looking at him firmly. “Is that really your best?” she asked, shaking her backside a little bit, as though trying to shake the sting off of her rear.

“Er, well… I suppose I could go a bit harder, but-”

“But nothing, Spike,” she asserted. “I want you to spank me, and spank me hard. Make me sorry for how I treated you.”

He sighed. “Okay… if that’s really what you want.”

“It is. You better spank me hard, Spike, or-”

CRACK!

“EEEYOW!”

Spike grunted lightly from the effort he’d put into the smack. That had been near his full power from this position. A searing red splotch appeared where he had struck her. He reared back before she could fully recover and gave her a second. CRACK!

ACK!

Then a third. CRACK!

EEP!

A fourth.

CRACK!

“HNNGH!

And the pattern continued. Slow, powerful smacks rained down from the young dragon onto the older mare’s behind, each one making her buck forward in pain now.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

“I hope… this… is what… you were… hoping… for!” Spike said, emphasizing every word with a flick of the paddle.

Stormy winced and hissed, nodding, clenching her eyes closed to try and stave off the tears that were starting to form. “Y-yes! This is exactly what I was hoping for in a punishment!” she admitted, her voice cracking lightly as he struck her while she was speaking.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Spike briefly took his eyes off of his admittedly pretty target to glance up at the others. They were all watching him, entranced. Even Rainbow, who had been more stoic and aloof, even during her spanking, seemed more impressed than anything with him. All of them had rigid wings, and seemed more than a little mesmerized by the performance in front of them.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Spike could feel his wrist starting to throb a little bit. If he kept this up, chances were good his hand would go completely numb afterwards. Not that it wasn’t worth it of course. But he wondered how long he would have to keep this up until she was satisfied. He didn’t want to bruise her too badly. But he kept going. He smacked and spanked her just as hard as he could, leaving behind more red blotches on her coat that slowly spread into one another, coalescing into one giant, hot, red, throbbing pain center.

“Hnn! Ah! Mmmph!” She groaned and panted harder as the tears started to drip from her eyes, dropping down to the ground and streaking her face. “I’m… sorry Spike…”

Spike nodded. “Apology accepted,” he said. He looked at her bottom for a moment and resolved to end the punishment soon. Regardless of what she felt she needed, Spike felt like she’d more than paid for what she’d done. But he’d give her just a bit more to make sure that the lesson was totally drilled in.

Heh, lesson. It was a lesson she was inflicting on herself, really.

CRACK! SMACK! CRACK! SMACK!

She started to writhe and squirm a bit more frantically as he laid out ten more, from the top of her cheeks, right down to her sit spots. He looked over her crimson behind and then nodded before delivering one final blow, right in the center, leaving behind one last deep red mark in a sea of garnet. Then, setting the paddle to the side, he rested his palm on her bottom and carefully started to rub and caress her sensitive rear, allowing her to go limp and relax against the bench, giving her a chance to collect herself. “There,” he announced as he listened to her ragged breathing. “I think we’re all done here.”

“Y… yes,” she panted, sniffing and wiping her eyes quickly. “That was… quite well done, Spike.”

“Thanks,” he said with a blush. “Um, is it wrong of me to say that I enjoyed that somewhat?”

“Well, that was part of why I allowed it.” She slowly started to stand, waiting for him to remove his hands from her before standing up fully. She groaned and reached behind herself, rubbing at her backside softly. Spike flushed, realizing he was perfectly level with her crotch and got a nice look at the little tuft of fur that sat just above it. He blushed and glanced away. “Don’t worry,” she said with a groan. “I think we’re completely even now.”

“Heh, after that? I’d like to think so.” He slowly stood up. “Thank you ma’am.” He offered her his hand, which, after another moment of rubbing, she took it and shook it gently, nodding.

“Thank you, Spike.” She smiled lightly.

“And thank you three too,” Spike said, blushing as he glanced back at the three young women nearby. “This… made me feel a lot better.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah well… just don’t expect it to happen all the time.”

“Heh, of course. But I’ll treasure the fact that it did happen.”

“We’d um… better get out of here before someone else comes in,” Fluttershy mumbled.

Derpy nodded in agreement. “Probably a good idea. Will we see you at the meeting tomorrow, Spike?”

He blinked. “For the Tabletop club? I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Derpy.” He smiled and pat her shoulder gently.

“Awesome.” She giggled and clapped her hands together. “Looking forward to it!”

The three pegasi walked out, leaving him alone with Stormy for a moment. Stormy smiled. “You’d better get moving too. I have to prep for my next class, and you don’t want to be late for lunch. That and you are still in the girls locker room.” She smirked and pointed to his pants. “Maybe you should make a stop at the bathrooms first, though.”

“Eh?” He blinked and glanced down, his purple scales flushing bright red yet again as he realized that his pants were quite noticeably tented. “Ah!” he reached down and covered his arousal as best as he could. “S-sorry! It wasn’t… I mean I…”

“Spike, the girls and I expected something like that to happen when we agreed to let you do this,” she stated. “It was part of your reward.” She shrugged a bit, her own wings still sightly rigid as she attempted to force them back down herself.

The dragon’s long tail flicked back and forth, almost as though it was wagging. He smiled wide at her. “That’s insidious, you know.”

“I do,” she chuckled. “Now go and see to yourself. See you later Spike.”

“Goodbye, Stormy. And thanks again,” he said. With his heart feeling lighter (and beating much faster) he turned and hurried out of the locker room to go and seek some relief in private.

Author's Note

NEXT TIME ON GALAXIA HIGH!

Spike and Lyra sit on a bench.

Chapter 12: Club Canter

Spike met with Rarity near the school’s gardens. The situation itself was rather… romantic, actually. They were standing among the rose bushes and the petunia beds, walking together in a small circle around the the student-run garden area. Any casual observer would think that they were taking a romantic stroll during school hours. “So… what was this thing that you wanted to talk to me about?” Spike asked. “This big favor that you’d mentioned?”

“Well,” she said after a moment, glancing at him and smiling. “I have a very good friend. Octavia Melody.”

“The first chair cellist, right? In the school orchestra?”

“Oh, you know her?”

“Not personally, no. But I’ve seen her perform. She’s pretty talented.”

“She is, yes. But you see, she’s been quite stressed as of late. What with her mother pushing her to apply for a specialty school rather than attend here and having to replace her old cello and whatnot.”

“Wait, her parents don’t want her coming HERE?” Spike asked, rather flabbergasted by the idea. “This is Galaxia High though! It’s the most prestigious school there is.”

“Her family is made up of classical minded musicians. The sort who believe that if you don’t dedicate your life to your craft, you don’t deserve to call yourself a musician.”

“Sounds rough.”

“It is, yes. And so they think her time would be better spent at a school that focuses on music. Only music, nothing else.”

“But you can’t just focus on one thing, that’d get boring. She should be allowed to have interests outside of her craft.”

“Exactly. And she’s a grown mare, so it’s not like they can force her or anything, especially since she’s working to pay for her own tuition, and earning scholarships and such.” She shook her head. “But that’s just another thing that has added to her stress. And so, I told her that she needed to get out and have a bit of fun on her own for a bit. But she doesn’t like going out on her own, and when I asked her if she’d like to have a ‘girl’s night’ or something with me, she said she wasn’t interested.”

“So then…” Spike hesitated, “What… do you want me to do?”

“Well, we argued a little bit, and she finally said that if I could find her a nice boy to go out with, she’d put her schedule aside for a night and actually take some time for herself and go on a date.”

“Why a boy? What makes a boy different than going out with her friends?” Spike asked, confused.

“Between you and me? I think she’s desperate for more constant companionship. Something that her friends can’t give her. That, and from what I understand, her mother has been hounding her to find herself a man. So I’m not sure how much this is a sincere attempt at finding a partner as it is trying to placate an overbearing parent.”

“Uh, Rarity,” the dragon cleared her throat and glanced away, “I… don’t really know how comfortable I am with going through with something like this. Because I think I know what you’re gonna ask me, and I-”

“I know how it sounds, Spike, but it isn’t like I’m asking you to enter a relationship with her…” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Just… spend an afternoon with her? Show her a good time and let her know that she’s a good mare who doesn’t need to spend all her time shut in and working on nothing but music.”

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Well.. I suppose, but…”

“Spike,” Rarity said gently, taking his hand. “If you do this for me, I promise, I’ll do something really nice for you.” she locked eyes with him. “Please?”

Spike blushed and bit his lip. “You don’t have to. But… I will accept.” He smiled. “I’ll do what I can, Rarity.”

The unicorn let out a light sigh of relief. “Thank you, Spike. I’ll let her know.” She gave him a great big hug, making him stiffen and blush even further.

“No problem,” he said happily. He returned the hug, the two of them tightening their hold just a little bit.

The day had been a bit of a whirlwind after that. Rarity had gotten in touch with Octavia to set up the details, and she’d pretty much demanded that their ‘date’ take place that afternoon. It had been quite a shock to Spike, who had thought he’d have at least another day or so to prepare, but he managed to get everything sorted. He didn’t know a lot of good hang-outs, and knowing nothing about her, he decided to go with the safest bet he knew of.

So he was standing on a street corner where he and Octavia had agreed to meet, waiting for her. School had let out about an hour ago, and he’d taken the scenic route here, since Octavia had messaged him, saying that she had to return home briefly to put away her things. He glanced at his phone occasionally, waiting to hear from her, or anyone. But the only person who had messaged him since the end of school had been his mother, who just wanted to make sure that everything was going okay. He lied and let her know that it was going fine and he’d be back before sundown, and he’d send her a message if anything was going to keep him out later.

And then, at last, he received a message, from Rarity. “Sorry about the delay,” she sent. “But she’ll be there soon.”

“What kept her?” Spike sent back, raising a brow at the screen. “She said she just needed to drop off her things.”

“She tried to stay home v.v”

“Wait, what?”

“She started to get cold feet. I got her motivated though.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Oh, you know, just some girl talk.”

“Oookay…”

“Thanks again for doing this, Spike, I really, really appreciate it.”

“I know. And it’s no problem, Rarity. I just hope this works out. I mean, I don’t exactly know her that well…”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Where are you taking her out to?”

“Club Canter,” he said.

There was a brief pause. Well, more than brief. He frowned gently and sent another message. “Something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” she sent back. “Have a good time!”

“Okay. Talk to you later, Rarity.”

“See you soon!”

The messages stopped after that. He sighed and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed for a moment, thinking he’d probably be waiting a while longer if she was only just now starting to leave.

She must have hurried quite a bit though, as he noticed a mare resembling the picture that Rarity had sent him starting to approach him. Her face was neutral, even a little stoic, and she carried herself with an air of regality and importance that he was used to seeing from the nobles that wandered the streets of Canterlot when they didn’t force their servants to go out for them.

Well, at least she didn’t have her nose in the air. From what Rarity had told him, she put on a noble air, but wasn’t nearly as stuck up as the nobles that wandered around the streets. He was just fine with that. He dealt with enough of the upper crust when he was at home.

“Hey there,” he greeted with a small smile. “Octavia?”

She nodded gently. “Indeed. And you must be Spike.”

“I am yeah.” He smiled and held out his hand to her. She looked it over for a moment before reaching forward and shaking it. Her grip was firm, he noticed, and quite calloused. Years of handling a string instrument had given her quite powerful fingers, it seemed. “It’s nice to meet you, Octavia.”

“Likewise,” she said, giving him a courteous smile, though not one that was infused with much emotion. “So then, I suppose you have plans for our ‘date’ then?” she asked.

“Er, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll have some fun. I promise.”

“Mhm,” she still looked dubious. “Well, some time in a nice quiet place, making some pleasant conversation with good company might do me a world of good.”

“Um, yeah, of course,” Spike said, twisting on his own smile. “A nice, quiet place…”

Club Canter made quite a statement with the youth of the city when it first sprang up. It was known as a haven for those looking to both unwind and let loose their frustrations. It wasn’t a trashy place, as the owners had taken great pains to keep the place as respectable as possible without sacrificing its appeal to younger demographics. So far it had been a success, and one reason for that had been its love of all things contemporary, and nothing was more contemporary about it than its music. Electronic music was the name of the game, and while nothing could be heard outside of it, once those doors were opened, the thumping bass and electronic twang of a DJ’s table filtered out into the open air, just barely under the limit of what one would consider noise complaint worthy.

As the two approached the doors, held wide open for the afternoon rush, Spike chanced a glance back at his guest and immediately regretted it. Octavia’s lovely face was twisted into a firm scowl as she looked up at the place, a hand placed on her hip. “Is this… really where we’re going?” she asked.

“Uh… yeah,” Spike said, shyly. “I-I’m sorry. I’m not really experienced when it comes to dating and this is really one of the only places I could think of to take you.”

She gave a sigh. “I suppose it isn’t your fault. You weren’t exactly given a lot of time to prepare for this.” She nodded. “They don’t serve alcohol or anything here, do they?”

“Light stuff, but you need an ID to even get in,” he said.

“I see.” She shrugged. “Well, at least a drink or two would be nice.”

Spike didn’t drink, but he wasn’t going to say no to her if she wanted a sip or two. This was for her anyway, and he’d already screwed up once. He should have known better than to take a fancy pony like her to an establishment like this, but… at the same time, he’d seen plenty of ponies of all different sorts go in here. Even the more snobbish ponies tended to come here once or twice.

“Maybe it was just the music,” Spike mused to himself as they approached the door. He flashed his ID to the two hulking bodyguards standing at the front, and Octavia did the same. The entryway was quite brightly lit, and the inside of the club was similar, with plenty of large windows along its roof and its sides to let in as much natural light as possible, as opposed to a typical club bar that was often portrayed as being dark and lit with neon. Club Canter did have those neon lights at night, but during its day, the club was bright and inviting, making it much more appealing to those looking for a place to hang out during all hours of the day, rather than just at night.

“This wasn’t what I was expecting,” Octavia mused as they walked into the main room of the club. She spoke a little loud to be heard over the music, which was blairing, but not uncomfortably so. It was still possible to hear each other by talking at a decently normal volume, but whispering was out of the question. At the far end of the room was a small, descended dance floor in front of a large stage that took up a good chunk of the back wall. Upon the stage was a DJ booth, flanked by some impressively large speakers, a couple of microphones on either side of the booth, as well as enough tech to make a live show amazing for anyone listening. The right side of the club had both a snack bar and an alcohol bar (though they did offer non-alcoholic drinks as well). The left side had several old arcade cabinets sitting there in a neat, little row. Sitting in the center of all of this was a large array of circular and square tables where ponies could sit and enjoy their drinks and snacks and of course the company of other ponies.

“What were you expecting?” Spike asked with a light smirk. “A mosh pit?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “Places like this are not really known for being… respectable.”

“How many clubs have you been to before?” Spike asked.

“Er…” she cleared her throat. “N-none,” she admitted.

Spike nodded. “I know this place might be a bit louder than you’re used to, but I promise, it’s not like those night clubs that you see in movies all the time. I’d really like to know how that got started, the idea of a seedy nightclub bar. I’ve never actually seen one of those in real life,” he mused.

“Have you been in many clubs?” she asked.

“More than this one, yeah,” Spike said. “Wouldn’t say I’ve been in a lot, but, none as nice as this place.” He motioned around them. “So, what’d you wanna do?” he asked.

“I thought you said you had a plan,” she said, her frown returning.

“Well, uh, the plan didn’t really extend to much beyond ‘have some fun at Club Canter’ or something like that.”

“Mhm…” she mused, her frown deepening. “Most men I know would have had a bit more in mind than that.”

‘Ouch,’ Spike thought. “W-well… for a start, how about we get something to eat and drink, huh?”

“Drink, yes. Eat, no. I’m not hungry at the moment.”

“Ah, sure,” he said with a nod, leading her over to the bar and raising a hand towards the mare on the other side. “Fruit smoothie for me please.”

The mare nodded. “And for the mare?” she asked.

Octavia said, “Your smoothest, please.”

“Smoothest, eh? Coming up.” She disappeared behind the counter, bending over.

“So, Spike,” Octavia said, giving him a polite smile, drumming her fingers against the bar. “Care to tell me a bit about yourself? Even if this is a one-time arrangement, I’d like to know a bit more about the dragon that Rarity spoke about so highly.”

Spike blinked. “She spoke highly of me?”

“Oh yes, nothing but praise for you,” she stated with a nod. “And you do seem like a sweet man, going out of your way to go out with me.”

“Even if it’s not exactly going well at the moment,” Spike mumbled.

“W-well, as you said, we’ve only just begun.” She cleared her throat. “And I don’t want to seem ungrateful for your efforts. I’m just… a bit of a ball of stress right now.”

Spike smiled softly. “Nothing to be stressed about right now. Anyway, about me… not really sure what to say. I don’t really have a major at school right now. I’m still working through my required credits, but after that? I really don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my time here.” He glanced at her. “I guess there’s no points for guessing what you’re studying.”

“Heh, yes, I suppose,” she said with a weak smile. “Classical music and composition, basically everything that has to do with that. Just like my mother before me. And her mother. And her mother’s mother too.”

Spike frowned. “Pretty big family tradition, huh? How are you enjoying it?”

“Oh… it’s fine. Really.” She gave a soft shrug and grabbed her drink as it was set in front of her almost as if on instinct. She took a sip of it and gave a soft exhale. “Mmm… vanilla,” she mumbled.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like it’s fine.”

Sighing, the mare slid a straw into her drink and toyed with the ice cubes in its center for a moment. “I suppose Rarity told you about my situation, yes?”

“Yeah, she did say that you were under a lot of pressure.”

“I like music. Don’t get me wrong. Especially classical music. And I love performing it, I’d never want to imagine life without it. But the fact that it is forced upon me. The fact that my family insists that it must be my life, it is very exhausting. When I am not studying, I am practicing. If I’m not practicing, then I am reading. And if I’m not reading, I’m either eating or sleeping.”

“Yeesh,” he muttered. “And here I thought my mom was unreasonable when she went through the whole ‘find my son’s secret talent’ phase when I was in elementary school.”

“What was that like?”

“Oh, it was overwhelming. It was a new activity every single day. Karate, swimming, running, a dozen different sports, two dozen different instruments… uff.”

She gave another sigh, and took another sip as Spike slurped at his smoothie. “I’d give anything to have the opportunity to try all that, if only for just a little bit.”

He smiled softly. “You could, you know.”

Her ear perked. “Sorry? The music must be getting to me, I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Well… I mean, you’re a grown woman, right? You can do both. You could just-”

She raised a hand. “I see where you’re going, Spike, and appreciate the effort, but you are not the first one to make this sort of speech to me. In fact, Rarity attempted very much the same thing not long before convincing me to go on this day out.”

Spike frowned, hanging his head. He indulged in his smoothie a little more, and Octavia worked on her weird vanilla drink for a moment. Neither spoke, the music winding down as it started to shift to a more atmospheric, moody piece. Smiling, in an attempt to salvage the mood, Spike slowly stood up, downing a bit more of his smoothie before offering his hand to her. “Would you like to dance?”

“Dance?” she asked, slowly glancing over at the dance floor. “I… no, no thank you.”

“Oh come on, it’s a slow song, it’s not like you have to make a fool of yourself. Just a bit of shuffling. Maybe it’ll help loosen you up a bit?”

Octavia frowned at him and then at the dance floor. But again, she sighed, downed the rest of her drink, slid it away, and got up, nodding. “All right. I suppose there’s no harm in it.”

The two of them turned and made their way down to the dance floor, being vacated by a good number of its occupants, either bored with the slower pace of the music, or completely exhausted from their time swaying and bopping and bobbing to the thumping beat. Those that remained on the dance floor were mostly couples who enjoyed being up close and personal, or the odd single pony that seemed to enjoy slow dancing with themselves.

Spike smiled as he stepped onto the hard tiles that marked the start of the dance floor. He motioned to Octavia, offering his hand to her. She smiled back at him, but ignored his hand as she stepped onto the hard surface. He shrugged and started to sway gently to the music in front of her. She didn’t move. Spike started to feel more than a little bit awkward as she just looked at him. His swaying started to reduce until he was merely shuffling back and forth, giving little awkward half steps that couldn’t really be called dancing so much as just nervous standing. Octavia seemed to be having a similar problem as she shifted her weight from foot to foot in some approximation of movement, but nothing that got her to move from the spot she was rooted on. Spike cleared his throat. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“I just…” she groaned. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, Spike. I don’t think this would have worked out regardless of where you took me. Thank you for the effort though.” She turned and started to walk off.

Before Spike could make an effort to stop her, a voice rang out over the low drone of the slow music. “Yo! Tavi! Octavia, is that you?”

The voice was far louder than necessary to get anyone’s attention, but it definitely succeeded in that regard as Spike, Octavia, and several over nearby club patrons twisted to see what was going on.

A white unicorn with a short, spiky, electric blue mane was approaching them. She wore a tight, white T-shirt with a black collar and sleeves, and a pair of form fitting black shorts. A pair of teal and white headphones with a purple eighth note symbol on the silver ear cups sat around her neck. Upon her face was a pair of purple lens sunglasses. “I thought that was you! Man, never thought I’d ever see a mare like you here in Club Canter. Color me surprised!”

“Erm... “ Octavia blinked and cleared her throat a little bit. “I-I’m sorry miss, you seem to have me at a disadvantage. I-I don’t… I mean…”

Spike frowned. She obviously seemed flustered at having been recognized by someone that she hadn’t met herself.

The mare smiled and raised a hand. “Heh, guess I should’ve expected that. You aren’t exactly the most talkative mare in class. The name’s Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch. The two of us have Musical Theory and Song Writing classes together.

“Oh...OH!” Octavia’s eyes lit up with recognition as she pointed a finger at her. ‘You’re the mare who’s always sitting behind me, trying not to let the teacher see that you’re falling asleep.”

“Guilty as charged. I mean, I love music, but I’d be a lot more into that stuff if they presented it a lot more interestingly.” She glanced at Spike. “Yo, Spike my man.”

“Hey there, Vinyl. No set tonight?”

“Eh, I did mine a while ago. Got another one lined up later, but Neon needed a time to shine, you know?” She indicated a messy-maned stallion standing up behind the DJ booth, working the controls back there.

“You know her?” Octavia asked.

“Not well,” Spike admitted. “We have a couple of basic classes together, and I come here every now and then. Vinyl works as one of the main DJs here.

“Yeah. It’s helping to pay off my tuition actually,” she said with a thumbs-up. “I’d like to start working with some of the bigger music production companies in Canterlot, but they’re still hyper focused on the whole, ‘Electronic music isn’t real music’ stuff, so I figure if I can show them that I have a proper musical education, maybe they’ll be more inclined to listen to what I have to say.”

“Well… honestly, it kind of-”

“Gonna stop you right there,” Vinyl said with a small smile. “This ain’t the place for that sort of conversation. Sides, I didn’t come down here to try and legitimize my music with you. I just wanted to say ‘hi’. I don’t ever see you around town, and you barely talk during class.”

“How would you know?” Octavia asked, a smirk forming. “You’re always asleep.”

“I’m conscious often enough to know some pony always has her head buried in her text book, or is always hugging her Cello close to herself.” Vinyl grinned and lowered her shades a little bit. “Nice smile, by the way.” The earth mare blushed and looked away as the unicorn chuckled. “But you’re still pretty stiff. I saw that dance of yours just then.”

Octavia’s face turned red. “I-I was just… not feeling it. I thought it might be best if I left-”

“No way,” Vinyl said with cheerfully, a hand on her hip. “You gotta learn to loosen up, sweetheart. When I can tell that every single muscle in your body is so tense you could pass for Frankenstein’s wife, you need something to get you to relax.”

“I-I’m fine. This whole trip here was an attempt to get me to relax, but I just…”

“Can’t?” Vinyl asked.

“N… no. I just can’t stop thinking about… everything,” she admitted. She glanced at Spike. “Despite my friend’s best attempts. N-no offense.”

Spike shook his head. “None taken.” In all honesty, he’d been winging it for most of their interaction, and his own social ineptitude had kept him from getting her to open up at all. But in the presence of someone who was one of the most extroverted girls in school? Heh, he hadn’t known anyone who wasn’t able to open up at least a little bit to Vinyl. Especially when she started getting strange.

“So what technique would you- H-hey!” Octavia gasped as an arm was wrapped around her and she was led over to one of the free tables. “I-I didn’t say you could touch me!”

“And that’s one of your issues. Afraid of contact, afraid of conversation, you are way, WAY to insular. So I’m gonna help you loosen up! Whether you like it or not!” She smirked.

Spike blinked, following after them. “Uh, what exactly are you-” he was cut off when Vinyl sat down and pulled Octavia onto her lap, bending her over so that she was straddling one of her legs.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Vinyl Scratch, if you do not unhand me right now, I-I’ll… eeep!” she gasped as Vinyl’s hand gently rubbed against the seat of her pants. “S-stoppit!” she squeaked, her face reddening.

“Hey, um… don’t you think this is going a l-little far?” Spike asked, flushing deeply. He glanced around, noting that no one around them was paying any sort of attention despite the volume of Octavia’s protests. Maybe it was the music?

“Just relax,” Vinyl said. She gave her butt a few small pats.

“H-how am I supposed to relax when you’re… you’re… mmmph…” she squirmed and slowly started to relax against Vinyl’s knee.

“Heh, I figured.” She rubbed her bottom and gave it a few light, quick swats here and there. “Not the first time I’ve done something like this. I’m an ass expert,” she snickered. “It’s a sensitive area. You apply the right sort of pressure to it, you can actually cause someone to de-stress a bit. Now, Tavi, I want you to just relax and think of music for a bit.Your favorite music, not something that you’re being forced to play. Something that you would want to hear. To listen to, something that would make you happy and help you relax, okay?”

“Wh-what would… you think of?” she asked, squeaking as she felt her pants being shuffled down. Spike lit up and looked away for a moment before his eye was eventually drawn back to her lovely white panties, decorated with a music staff pattern. He couldn’t help but notice that the only notes on it were the sort used to indicate beats for percussion instruments…

“Me?” the DJ asked with a smile. “Dvorak’s String Quartet, #12.”

Both Octavia and Spike blinked and glanced at her. “You mean ‘The Amare'ican’?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s the one. Never fails to calm me down when I’m feeling super stressed out.” She began to gently pap Octavia’s rear over her underwear, just enough to put a little bit of wobble in her rump.

Octavia visibly deflated, and let out a deep breath, her body going limp, her cheeks bouncing a bit more now that she wasn’t trying to tense them up. Every now and then, her body gave a soft twitch, but other than that, she stayed where she was. Vinyl’s swats and pats and rubs were gentle and stimulating, but they weren’t necessarily erotic. She didn’t attempt to swat at her sit spots at all, nor did she go near the crack. She kept her focus on the cheeks themselves, never going near any area that would have been more inappropriate, and she didn’t make any attempt to bare her completely.

While this was going on, Spike remained a captivated audience, taking in all the details that he could. He could see Vinyl’s eyes behind the purple shades. She was laser focused on her target. Her wrist was rigid. There was no loose flicking or powerful swings. Her movements were slow and deliberate, carefully aimed with a patience and practice that convinced Spike that she had done this many times before. Probably not just for relaxation either, and she did look just as relaxed as Octavia.

Well, okay, maybe not quite as relaxed as Octavia. The grey mare’s face was totally obscured by her mane, hiding her expression, but she was taking deep, even breaths, suggesting a state of calm. He hadn’t seen her this loose or relaxed since meeting her. Of course, the star of his attention was her backside, pressed against its fabric prison. The panties were not exceptionally tight, but just tight enough to give him an idea of the detail and definition in her rear. Perhaps they were loose because she’d lost some weight recently? No, he shouldn’t speculate about something like that, it would be rude. Even if it was the case, her bottom was still full and plump and reacted to Vinyl’s palm in a most delightful way.

And it was here that Spike couldn’t help but reflect on just how many spankings he had seen and given in such a short amount of time.

He decided that fate had been quite kind to him for that.

And as the beats of the song from the booth started to fade again to a low hum, signaling a light transition from one track to another, Vinyl brought her palm to rest atop Octavia’s rear. “How do you feel?” she asked, her normally boisterous voice low, maybe a little husky.

“Amazing,” Octavia mumbled softly.

“Loose? Relaxed?”

“Like I could be rolled up into a ball.”

“Sorry about being so forward about it,” Vinyl said, carefully helping her to sit up, sitting her on her knee. “But you really needed it.”

“I agree. On both fronts,” Octavia huffed. “I should be scandalized by what you just did, but I… can’t be.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Yeah? Well I just wanted to help out a bit.”

“I… think you did,” Spike said, clearing his throat.

Octavia squeaked, as if realizing that he was there for the first time. “S-Spike, you had best not tell ANYONE about what you just witnessed, do you understand me?”

Spike nodded quickly, crossing a finger over his heart. “Not a word to anyone, Octavia, I swear.”

“Least he could do for getting a free show,” Vinyl snickered. “So, I’m curious,” she said, returning her attention to Octavia. “I told you what music I think about-”

“And I’m quite surprised you would choose such a piece,” Octavia interrupted. “String Quartet No. 12 is a beautiful bit of music. No offense, but I never would have expected someone like you to enjoy it.”

“Hey, it might not be my medium of choice, Tavi, but I do like classical. You gotta appreciate where music’s come from before you can make it modern, at least that’s always been my philosophy on the matter. It’s one of the reasons I show up to every one of your shows.”

“Every one of… MY shows?”

“Yep. You and the orchestra always know how to pick out the best pieces to play. And your solos are always out of this world.”

“I-I’m flattered.” She blushed, smiling wide, looking away from the mare for a moment. Spike couldn’t help feel a light pang of jealousy at how easily Vinyl had coaxed such a huge smile out of her like that.

“Anyway, like I was saying, I was curious what the music you thought of was.”

“Oh… it’s nothing, really,” she mumbled.

“Aw, c’mon, fair is fair, I told you what mine was.” She smirked. “So what was it? Bet it was something like Ein Klein Nachtmusik, right? Or maybe something softer and more sombre? Du bist die ruh, maybe? Nah, gotta be something like The Tender Land.”

“You… are far more knowledgeable than I expected,” Octavia said, sounding rather impressed.

“Like I said, I appreciate classical. Not my favorite, but that’s because everyone’s always talking about it in this dry, snobby way, rather than focusing on how it feels or sounds. I like classical, but I don’t really like classical culture.” She shook her head. “Anyway, c’mon! Was I warm?”

“Er… rather cold, actually. In fact, you were probably all the way at the south pole.”

“Seriously?” she asked, raising a brow. “Well, shit, now I’m super curious.”

“It was um… uh…” she glanced between Vinyl and the still silent Spike. “Ahem… Lone Digger.”

Silence for a moment. Spike tilted his head. “The… caravan palace song?”

She nodded gently, her face flushing more. “Yes”

Vinyl slowly lifted up her glasses, showing off her bright, red irises. “Really?”

“Y-yes,” she said again. “It’s one of the few songs I’ve really been exposed to outside of my classical studies and I… really latched onto it. The lyrics are a touch gruff, but they do make me feel quite good…” she trailed off softly.

“That is so awesome,” Vinyl said.

“I-it is?”

“Of course it is! I mean, yeah, I was way off the mark with my guess, but wow, you’re a Caravan Palace fan. That’s super cool.”

“I-I guess…”

“Don’t guess, Tavi,” Vinyl said, seriously. “Don’t be ashamed to like what you like, don’t feel like you gotta defend your choices, to me or anyone else. It might not be what you PLAY, but if you enjoy it? Don’t pretend you don’t. Nothing bothers me more than someone trying to put on airs around someone else.”

Her blush throbbed as she slowly stood up, sliding her pants up, wiggling a bit. “Th-thank you, Vinyl. Even more than the whole… butt rubbing that you gave me, those were words that I really needed to hear.”

Vinyl got up with her, chuckling. “Anything for a friend and fellow music lover.” She gave a mock salute. “Anyway, I’ll let you two get back to your day out. I think I’ve done my job.” She started to turn and walk away, when a very strong, calloused hand grabbed her arm.

“Wait a moment,” Octavia said. She blinked and quickly released her. “Sorry, that was rude of me. Um… I actually wanted to know if you’d like to get a drink with me?” she asked, motioning to the bar where she and Spike had been sitting a moment before.

Vinyl smirked. “Get a drink?”

“And maybe talk a bit more?” she offered that same wide, shy smile she had before. “Maybe… get something to eat as well?”

“Depends. Is your date into that sort of thing.”

Octavia gasped and glanced at Spike. “O-oh, spike, I’m so so-”

“I’m not her date, Vinyl,” Spike said with a light smile. “Just a guy who was trying to help her loosen up a little bit more, and I’d say you were a lot better at it than I was.” He shrugged a little bit.

“A-are you sure you’re all right with this?” Octavia asked.

“I am.” Spike pat her shoulder. “I’d love it if we could stay friends in the future, but for right now, I think hanging out with Vinyl would be more fun for you anyway.

“W-well… all the same, thank you, Spike. I know it didn’t really work out for us, but I’m glad you brought me here.”

“I am too,” he said with a nod. He gave her a quick, gentle hug. “Have a good time, Octavia. I hope you can stay loosened up for a while longer.”

She smiled warmly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“So will I,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “See you at school tomorrow, Spike?”

“Yeah, sure Vinyl.” He waved to her. “Have a nice day.”

“Oh, my day just got better,” she said, motioning over to the bar. Octavia nodded and followed her.

Spike turned and started to walk out, pulling out his phone and bringing up his text conversation with Rarity. “Well, I think we can call this a success,” he sent to her.

“Really? What happened?”

“Not really anything having to do with me. But I’ll tell you about it later. Just wanted to let you know she’s definitely loosened up and enjoying herself. Just not with me.”

“Aww, I’m sorry Spike…”

“It’s fine. Like I said, everything worked out. And I think she’s with someone who’s definitely going to make her happy from here on out.”

“All right then. Thanks again, Spike. I owe you big for this.”

“I know,” he sent back with a smirk. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Actually,” she responded almost instantly. “I was thinking we could talk about it right now? Perhaps at my place?”

Spike was taken aback from that response, and it took him a moment to regain enough sense to type coherently. “Are you sure about that?”

“My family won't mind some company. Mother might even bake some cookies before you arrive. Please?”

Well, she did use the magic word. “Okay, Rarity. I'll gladly stop by on my way home.”

“Great! See you soon.” She ended with a purple heart emoji.

Spike pocketed his phone and stretched his arms out a little bit as he walked to the exit. And as he started to walk out of Club Canter, he couldn’t help but grin as a familiar song began to play in the background.

“Hey brother, what you thinkin’?
Leave that ol’ record spinnin’,
You feel the rhythm goin’
(They call it lonely diggin’!)

Sideswipe: Strumming on Heart Strings

The blaring sound of a revving engine could be heard in sync with Lyra’s snoring as she clutched a game controller hard in her grip. Her hand was resting on the thumbstick, resulting in the unfortunate driver in the cart racer she was playing rolling around in circles for eternity.

The sudden bleeping of a shrill ringtone caused the two sounds to stop simultaneously as Lyra was yanked firmly from the dream she was having, and her controller tumbled down off of her bed, finally breaking her racer out of the purgatory he’d been trapped in for who knows how long. “Mmmph,” she mumbled, slowly rolling over and reaching for her phone. “Who the hell could be calling me this early?” she mumbled. “It’s only… only…” she glanced at the clock beside her bed. “Ten-thirty in the morning? Urf, great, I fell asleep playing games again.” She shook her head and yanked the phone towards her. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Her sleepy hands apparently couldn’t grip well, as the phone slipped out of her hand and landed with a loud ‘pomf’ in the deep, fluffy bedding that she slept in. It was quite effective at muffling the sound, and she cursed as she felt around in the sheets, finally finding her phone again just as the ringing stopped. She gave another curse and sighed as the icon for a message being left. From…

“Bonbon?!” her face paled a little bit. “Crap, crap, crap! Nnngh!” she hesitated for a moment before playing back the message on speaker.

“Hey Lyra,” the recording said in the mare’s sweet voice, “Just calling to check in and make sure we’re still on for our date today. I’ll meet you in the dog park, around one, like we agreed. If you could just give me a call and make sure that that’s still okay, then I’ll see you then! Looking forward to it! Bye!”

Lyra let out another groan and flopped face first into her body pillow, giving the attractive, shirtless stallion on the front a firm, encouraging hug. “Dammit, I almost forgot about that! And now I missed her call! She’s gonna think I’m such a flake!” She rolled over and kicked her feet a few times. “I-I should call her right back! Ugh, but if I do that, she’s gonna think I was ignoring my phone! And if I wait too long, she’s gonna think I’m ignoring her altogether!” She took a few deep breaths and rubbed at her eyes. “Okay, calm down, girl. Step one: get cleaned up. She’s not gonna want to date you if you look like you just rolled out of bed.”

She rolled out of bed and made her way into the bathroom just down the hall from her bedroom, going through her usual daily routine. Brushing her teeth. Brushing her mane. Brushing her tail. Showering, and then realizing she had to brush her mane and tail again now that it was wet and shampooed. Floss and rinse with mouthwash. Lift up her arm and sniff, deciding that she didn’t need deodorant that day and praying that she didn’t regret that decision later on.

When she got back to her room, it had been about a half hour. She sighed and tossed her towel to the side, shaking out her still damp mane before grabbing her phone. “Okay, calmed down, woken up, time to do this.” She speed-dialed Bonbon’s number quickly and held the phone to her ear. It only had to ring twice before she answered. “Uh… h-hi!” Lyra greeted. “Bonbon?”

“Yep!” the earth mare answered back in a chipper fashion.

“Uh, well, just returning your call is all.”

“Oh, all right.”

Silence prevailed for a moment.

“So um…”

“Oh, uh…” she cleared her throat, biting her lip. “Just wanted to, uh... let you know, yeah, one works great for me, and I’d love to meet you at the park!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! So I’ll see you in a couple of hours then!”

“Ah… couple hours?” Oh, that’s right. It was 11. Her date was at 1. Two hours.

TWO HOURS!

“S… see you then!” she said happily, giving a soft chuckle.

“Looking forward to it! Bye!”

“Bye…” she said.

As the call was disconnected, Lyra stood there for a moment, the grip on her phone loosening until it dropped down onto the bed in front of her with yet another loud pomfing sound. Lyra bent forward, reached under her bed, pulled out a paper bag, and began to furiously breath into it, in and out, as hard as she could, until the thing popped from overuse.

It was a beautiful day. A bit chilly, as the soft nip of autumn was slowly starting to become more of a bite, but the sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the green in the trees was highlighted by a few small streaks of gold, red, and orange as the leaves were in the process of change. Ponies still walked about outside for little else than just enjoying the day. Traffic was limited as everyone was out on their hooves right now.

Lyra was one of those ponies, bundled in a small purple jacket her mother had gotten her for Christmas last year. It was a cozy thing, and she loved the color because it clashed so heavily with her fur. She felt it made her look distinct, easy to recognize.

Ironically, she hated it when ponies looked at her. For as much as she’d wanted to be noticed by somepony, any pony, and get to know them, Lyra dreaded the act of getting their attention.

She dreaded being seen.

She was scared of being spoken to.

And it was made all the worse because the pony she was going to see and talk to was someone who was willing to give her a chance.

“Shut up, brain!” she snarled at last, grabbing her forehead in exasperation. She blinked and glanced to the side, noticing a small family giving her a wide berth. Aww dammit, did she say that out loud again? She sighed loudly and rubbed her cheeks, shaking her head. “Come on girl, psych yourself up. You’re going on a date, it’s not a big deal! Just relax and stop overthinking this. Just stop acting like a mess and she might even think you’re semi-normal!”

Her pep-talk finished, she entered into the Canterlot Dog Park, a wide open field with a few small trees lining the outside, a high fence running between them to keep the animals from running out into the streets just outside of it. A single stone path wound its way in a large circle around the park with a few small benches strewn along the the path.

She couldn’t see Bonbon just yet, and so she started to walk. She blinked as she moved from the grass onto the cement path, her hard-soled shoes making a satisfying clack and click as she walked. Her ears flicked as she started to adjust her pace so that it made a light drum beat. Clack, clack, clack, clack…

She smiled and started to sway her hips from side to side as the drum beat started to expand to include a small counter-beat in her head. Then she added in a little bounce into her step as the strings came in her mind. Oh, and a bass line started to come after that. Soon, a whole rock band was playing in her head and she was dancing along with it, down the path, swaying and shimmying along with the music in her head. “Ba da ba, bom ba da! Shaba-duba! Shaba-duba!”

She twirled herself along the stone pathway, kicking out her legs and shaking her rear like she was at a club, despite the music only being in her head. And then, out of nowhere, a set of lyrics started to accompany it and she just couldn’t hold them in.

“We’re runnin’ through the starlit night!

The world’s all ours, and we’re shinin’ bright!

Every day I’m with you, feels more like a dream!

Don’t ever want to wake up, because you’re more than you seem!”

She stomped her feet down and blinked. “Huh… nah, that doesn’t work… That was real clumsy of me.” She blinked, the music stopping all at once as she realized that she was in the middle of the park… and a ton of ponies were staring at her. She blushed gently and bit her lip, waving shyly at them as they all gave her weird looks before slowly turning and starting to move away from her. She groaned a bit, her face turning a bright red. The red soon turned a few shades deeper when she heard someone applauding her from behind.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Bonbon said with a smirk. “And I enjoyed the show that went along with it.”

“Er… th-thanks,” she cleared her throat and smiled. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Bonnie.”

“You didn’t. Not long. Oh, and uh, just between us, mind not calling me that?”

‘Shit, first thing outta your mouth and you’ve already screwed up!’ Lyra screamed at herself internally. ‘Don’t go around spouting pet names, you big dumb… dumb!’

She managed a smile and kept her thoughts buried deep as she could, nodding. “No problem. Sorry about that.”

Bonbon shrugged. “No big deal. Just got called that a lot when growing up and it kinda bugs me a bit, ya know? Anyway, good to see you again. So, what did you have in mind?”

“I-in mind?”

“Yeah. The last time we called, the day before? You said you had something in mind for where we could go.”

Lyra screwed on a smile and gulped deeply. Truth be told, she’d been lying when she’d said that, figuring that she would just think of some place nice to take her afterwards. The problem was, Lyra didn’t really go out. Aside from her home and school, the only places the unicorn frequented were the local hobby shop, the local food court, and a few small game shops that she went and spent most of her hard earned money in. She definitely didn’t think any of them would make a very good first date site. But she was drawing a blank on any other place to take her. The silence seemed to stretch on for hours, even though it was just a few seconds.

At last though, Bonbon threw her a bone. “If you didn’t mind, actually, I did know a pretty nice cafe just outside of the park that I think would be a good place for us.”

“Yeah! YEAH!” she said, nodding enthusiastically. “A cafe is a perfect place for a date! Let’s go there, yeah!” she smiled wide, letting out a breath, glad to hear that she was being let off the hook. She just hoped that she hadn’t made too much of a bad impression yet…

Bonbon giggled a bit and offered her arm to the other mare, who glanced at it for a moment before slowly looping her own arm through hers, and the two of them started to walk out of the park. Lyra was keenly aware of the eyes that were still on them, or at least she thought they were on them. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she just hoped that, if ponies were staring, they weren’t staring at Bonbon.

After a moment of walking, they stepped out onto the Canterlot sidewalks. Lyra hung back a bit, allowing Bonbon to lead, since she was the one who actually knew where they were going.

‘Well, this could have gotten off to a better start.’ Lyra’s mind grumbled at her.

‘Shut up, brain, I don’t need to hear it.’

‘Don’t need to hear what? How you embarrassed yourself before you even met up with her? Dancing around like some weirdo? Oh, and don’t even get me started on not having something prepped for today. Hell, you didn’t even remember what time the date was gonna be! You should be ashamed of yourself!’

‘I am. You’re doing a very good job making sure of that.’

‘Why she’s even giving you a chance, I will never understand… Guess we’ll just have to hope that it goes better than the last couple of dates you managed to land. Remember last year?’

‘Please no, don’t bring that up.’

‘Why not? You know that Minuet would if she was here. Arguing with ponies, cheap food, taking her to a freaking card shop, peeping in on her while she was changing…’

‘T-that was an accident!’

‘Which is why you just kept looking while she was trying on clothes.’

‘It was just super boring!’

‘Not much of an excuse. She didn’t think it was, which is why she blistered your butt to hell and back. How long did it take before you could sit down again?’

‘...Three days? Look, can we please, please, please think about anything else?’

‘Okay then… how about the Jello Incident?’

‘I. HATE. YOU.’

“Lyra!?” a distant voice said.

Lyra blinked and stopped, eyes widening as she realized that she was in front of a crosswalk, with the ‘Don’t Cross’ sign flashing above her. She watched a few cars roll by her, glaring at her, one particularly surly stallion flipping her off as he drove by. Apparently they’d stopped in a panic when they saw someone almost walking into the road.

Turning around, she saw Bonbon slowly jogging towards her, a look of concern on her face. “Are you okay? You scared me half to death!”

“Uh… s-sorry,” she said slowly. “I… think I got caught in my own head a bit.”

‘Way to go, dumbass.’

‘SHUT! UP!’

Bonbon sighed. “I was wondering why you were being so quiet. I didn’t know what to think when I stopped walking and you just kept going. If I’d known you weren’t paying attention to where you’re going, I would have kept a harder grip on you.” She gave a soft laugh.

“Ahaha… y-yeah.”

“Ah well, no harm, no foul. Just… try to be a bit more aware from here on out, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” she said quickly, giving Bonbon a sloppy salute.

Bonbon smirked and took her wrist, adjusting her stance. “Don’t ever try that around my pop,” she warned with a chuckle. “He was a royal guardsman for twenty years. He knows what a proper salute is supposed to look like.”

“Oh… uh, hehe, well if I ever get to the point where I meet your dad, I’ll keep that in mind!” she promised. ‘Meeting her father? Oi vey, that’d be a fun time…’

Bonbon smiled and once again wrapped her arm around Lyra’s, leading her quickly across the road and towards a humble little cafe sitting at the street corner. The name printed on the awning covering its front door and a smattering of tables sitting outside read ‘The Cinnamon Swirl.’ A rather sweet sounding name, one that made Lyra think of a nice, thick, sweet cinnamon bun. Mmm… sweet buns…

She shook her head as she realized that her thoughts were starting to shift to another sort of buns. No, no, this wasn’t an online chatroom, she wasn’t looking up naughty stuff, she was on a date. She needed to bury that sort of stuff for the time being.

A small bell gave a gentle tingle as they walked inside and a smiling mare standing at the front nodded to them. “Hey there!” she greeted. “And welcome to the Cinnamon Swirl! Table for two?”

“Yes please,” Bonbon answered. “Near a window if it’s available.”

“Of course, of course.” She grabbed a pair of menus from a pile sitting next to her and led them into a large dining hall dotted with at least two dozen small, circular tables, surrounded by four chairs each. Only about six of them had anyone sitting at them, and most were not full to capacity.

The greeter led them to a table sitting next to a window that looked out on a small garden display that had been set up in the back. It had a small zen garden and a little fountain with a few birds floating about, enjoying the nippy air. A cat sat on a bench nearby, content to just watch the scene play out, apparently not interested in the birds themselves. Lyra and Bonbon sat themselves down as they were told that someone would be with them momentarily.

They settled in quickly and Lyra glanced out at the scene before her. “Pretty nice place,” she said.

Bonbon nodded. “I like it here. I’ve been coming here since I was like ten. They make everything they serve in house, from scratch. The muffins, the chocolates, the hard candies, the taffy, even the tea and cocoa.”

“Wow, seriously?”

“Yeah. It’s amazing. That’s actually something that I want to do when I open my own place.”

“Open your own place?” Lyra echoed. “You wanna own a place like this?”

“Yeah! I’m actually taking classes for baking and cooking sciences with a minor in business so that I can open up a place like this. Cafe, candy shop, something like that.”

“Well, why not both?” Lyra asked with a small smile. “You could just mash it all together in one great, big super cafe!” she grinned, squishing her hands together for a bit of visual flair.

“I suppose I could, yeah, but running a candy making operation in the back of a cafe would be pretty noisy.”

“Eh, just call it new-wave electronica music!” Lyra suggested with a snicker.

“Hello there, ladies,” a stallion said, walking over with a pencil and notepad in hand. “I’ll be your waiter today. Can I get you something to drink to get started?”

Bonbon nodded. “Fruit punch would be nice, please.”

“And you, ma’am?” he asked, looking at Lyra.

“Um… you don’t have any energy drinks do you?”

“I’m afraid not, ma’am.”

“Oh, okay. Um, how about some sodas?”

“No, none of those either. We make pretty much everything here in house, so we do have some carbonated water infused with fruit if you’d like.”

Lyra stuck out her tongue and made a light retching noise. Noticing the look her date gave her and the insulted frown on the waiter’s face, she quickly pulled her tongue back in and glanced at the menu. “Er… how about the cocoa then?”

“Certainly,” he said with a nod. “I’ll be back with those in just a moment.” He turned and started off, while Lyra leaned back in her chair, a small blush of embarrassment rushing into her cheeks.

“Was that really necessary?” Bonbon said.

“Sorry, I… just don’t really like sparkling water or stuff like that. It just tastes weird to me.”

“Okay, but it was pretty rude of you to just act like you were gonna heave right in front of him. Specially after he said it was made in-house. That’s like going up to a musician and flat out saying ‘I don’t think you’re music’s any good.’”

Lyra winced at the lecture. Bonbon didn’t raise her voice, but that sort of tone was one that Lyra had heard plenty of times, from her mother and her teachers, and everyone else who had made it very clear that she had stepped over a line or done something wrong. She could already feel her mind working overtime on this. Her hands went a bit numb as she squeezed her fingers together in hopes of banishing the burning thoughts racing through her mind. “Yeah… sorry,” she said, her voice growing quiet.

“You okay, Lyra?” Bonbon asked, leaning forward.

Lyra didn’t meet her gaze. “Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.” She started to bounce her leg up and down, taking a small breath. The motion comforted her, the way it always did when she was heavily stressed out or having an anxiety attack. The repetitive motion helped her to calm down quickly and she took a deep breath, finally managing to meet Bonbon’s concerned look, though she had to quickly look away, feeling another wave of shame and awkwardness overtake her.

“Alright then,” Bonbon said at last, leaning back. They remained silent for another minute more until their drinks were brought over and the waiter set them down in front of the two mares. When prompted, Bonbon pointed to the menu. “A daffodil and daisy sandwich please. Extra mustard.”

“And you ma’am?” he turned his attention to Lyra.

While he had a polite smile on his face, Lyra imagined the hate and hurt behind his eyes for what she’d done before, how rude she’d been. She had to will herself not to writhe in discomfort. She groaned a little bit. “Before that I wanted to say I’m sorry about what I did before…”

“Oh,” he said with a blink. “No, it’s no trouble, don’t worry abo-”

“No, it was trouble,” she interrupted him, shaking her head. “It was super rude of me and I should have had better impulse control, and I know you’re probably thinking I’m super rude right now, but I’m really not, I just don’t care for sparkling or carbonated water, and it was a knee-jerk reaction, and I should have been more sensitive, especially when you said it was made in house, I mean even bonbon pointed out that was basically me insulting someone’s livelihood and passion, and as a musician, I should have been more sensitive to something like that and-”

She blinked as the sound of someone snapping her fingers in front of her brought her back to reality. She glanced up and saw Bonbon leaning over the table, hand in front of her face, snapping her finger a few times. “Hey there, you back with us?” she asked.

Lyra sat back, looking around her. A few pairs of eyes were glancing at them. Apparently she’d been talking a bit too loudly. Yep, she could feel another few shades of red creeping up onto her face. “W-where’d the waiter go?” she asked.

“Well, he was looking a little bit uncomfortable when you started on that whole tirade, so I asked him to bring out a slice of chocolate cake for you.”

“Oh… okay.” she cleared her throat. “So that whole tirade was just a waste of time then… an embarrassing waste of time.”

“Not really,” Bonbon said, reaching over and patting her hand in a comforting manner. Lyra resisted the urge to flinch away, like she normally did. She didn’t like being touched if she hadn’t been the one to instigate the touch. She tensed a bit, but relaxed when Bonbon gave her a light rub. “Your heart was in the right place, right?”

“Y… yeah, I guess,” she mumbled gently, though she offered a light smile. “Er… thanks.”

“No problem.” She leaned back. “So… Lyra, you said you’re a musician, right?”

“Well, working towards it at least, yeah.”

“What do you play?”

“Well, I’ve learned the basics of a lot of different stuff, but my focus right now is on string instruments. The lyre mostly. But I also do a little bit of singing.”

“Is that so?” Bonbon tilted her head in curiosity.

“What? Something wrong with that?” Lyra asked.

“Nah, not at all. I’m just a little surprised. I mean, I heard you sing earlier, but you don’t seem like the sort that would be comfortable on the stage.”

Lyra blew a few strands of hair from her face and shrugged. “It’s weird to explain, but yeah, I actually feel pretty comfortable up on stage. It’s sort of like… there’s a wall there, you know. There’s something separating me from everyone down in the audience. Like, they aren’t really looking at me, and I can’t really see them. Like I can be who I want to be while I’m up there, and I don’t have to put on a mask.” She paused. “Yeah, that’s a good way to put it, actually. Most actors say that they put on a mask when they get up on stage? I always feel like I’m finally able to take mine off. Except the mask is always cracked and frayed, and so people are able to see through it anyway, and I’m always worried that ponies are going to hate what they see underneath and I-”

Bonbon gave her hand a squeeze, cutting her off before she could continue her tirade. “I get it, I do,” she said gently.

Lyra bit her lip and opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut when the waiter re-appeared with their sandwich and cake. He set them down and nodded to the two of them before leaving them again. He didn’t even say a word, which made Lyra give a slight half-wince. She watched him go for a moment before picking up her fork and looking down at her cake. Bonbon carefully took up half of her sandwich and started to bite into it, taking big bites, but chewing thoroughly before swallowing, following it up with yet another big bite.

Lyra smiled a bit, watching the bigger mare eat for a moment before taking her own big bite… by shoving the fork into the center of the cake. About half of it broke off as she lifted half of it up into the air, smirking as she shoveled as much of it into her mouth as she possibly could. She shoveled and pushed and forced until a full half of the slice was in her mouth, her cheeks bulging with chocolaty goodness. She could barely force her jaw closed.

Bonbon blinked and just stared at her as the unicorn opened her mouth wide a few times, noisily chewing away at her food as she took slow, gentle swallows. She periodically reached over, washing the chocolate down with more chocolate, pouring some of the cocoa into her mouth as room was made for it. And just as it seemed like she might have emptied her mouth, she scooped up the other half and shoved it in, a small layer of chocolate frosting pushing against her lips before dripping down onto the plate. Her teeth clacked and her lips smacked as she gulped it all down in the same manner, ending the display with a loud smack of her lips as she rolled her her tongue along the outside of her mouth, catching any stray frosting that might have been lingering there. She let out a grateful belch and gulped down the last of her cocoa as well. It was only then that she seemed to notice Bonbon’s stare. “Uh… hi,” she greeted.

“Hey,” the mare said back. “Not gonna lie, that was one of the most fascinating and disgusting things I’ve ever seen.”

The bluntness of her words shot through Lyra like bullet and she felt cold, raw panic rising up through her again. She started to bounce her leg again, harder this time, but that resulted in her knee bouncing up a little too hard, knocking against the underside of the table, making the cups and plates on it clatter slightly. The shock of the impact forced her to stop the motion immediately, which only heightened her panic.”S-sorry. I’m sorry… I…”

She was coming undone. She could feel it. This was the moment where it call came crashing down and whatever could have come from this date, it wasn’t going to happen now. She’d already pushed it too far, but she’d been too weird, too childish. She felt herself taking deep, quick breaths. Was she starting to sob? She couldn’t tell, she felt totally numb.

And then the warmth came. This was totally new. Usually whenever she started having one of her breakdowns, it was just a cold, numbing emptiness that rolled over her and made her completely seize up and then devolve into a giant puddle of sobbing. Oftentimes, she’d come out of it surrounded by a couple of empty ice cream tubs, but right now? All she felt was a gentle, comforting feeling enveloping her. The world came back into focus around her as a voice accompanied the feeling. “Deep breaths. Hold onto my arms. Visualize a feather in front of you. Breath in gently and blow out slowly, just enough to keep that feather floating in front of you.

She nodded and reached up, taking hold of Bonbon’s arms, the source of the warm feeling she had been experiencing. Then she started to breath. In and out, slow and careful. She breathed just hard enough to keep the feather in her mind floating in front of her eyes. Slowly, her heart calmed and her tense, shaking form calmed. She leaned back against Bonbon, smiling a little bit. “Whew…”

“Feel better?”

“Yeah, a little bit.”

“Good.” Smiling, Bonbon gave her a few gentle pats on her shoulders before returning to her seat. “Well, this has been pretty interesting,” she said gently.

Lyra squirmed a little bit, but managed to keep it together. “Y-yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” the mare asked, tilting her head. “For what?”

“For… everything.” she sighed and leaned forward, folding her arms in front of her. It was that time. Time for her to lay it all out. “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but I’m… a mess. Like a literal, complete, and utter mess. I don’t have any idea how to behave in social situations. Even talking to ponies is a challenge for me. I just have… trouble processing things the way others do. I like a lot of things others find strange, and I like to talk about strange things. But when I’m with others? I’m always so scared about saying or doing the wrong thing. And when someone expresses disappointment or annoyance with me, or tries to correct me, I just get this sinking feeling in my stomach that I’m not normal, and I try to overcompensate for that, but when I do that, I end up making more mistakes, or I do something like bouncing my knee, which just makes ponies look at me weird, and…”

Bonbon nodded and reached out, putting a finger to to her lips. “I get it. You feel like there’s a lot wrong with yourself.”

“There IS a lot wrong with me. There’s a big difference between being yourself and being… whatever the hell I am. And it’s really hard to cope.” She sighed gently and glanced back. “I’m sorry for wasting your time, Bonbon. Thanks for giving me a chance, but I’m not gonna embarrass you anymore.” Slowly, she started to get up and walk away, but stopped when she suddenly felt something gripping the back of her tail. Blinking, she twisted around, tilting her head when she saw Bonbon holding her tail near the tip in a vice-like grip. “Um… can you let go, please? I’m trying to make a sad, dramatic exit.”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. She gave the tail a gentle tug and Lyra dutifully responded by backing up a couple of steps, standing next to the table. “Why’re you taking off like that?”

“Because… this date was a disaster?” Lyra said slowly, hesitantly.

“Yes,” Bonbon agreed. “It’s been pretty embarrassing. You’ve been behaving weirdly, and I could tell that you were wrapped up in your own head, worried through so much of it. But when you did loosen up, and showed me a bit of yourself, you immediately worried about what I’d think of it.”

Lyra felt a lump forming in her throat and worried that tears were starting to gather in her eyes. She prayed that they weren’t visible. She didn’t trust her voice, feeling the crushing weight of disappointment washing over her again. She did not take criticism well. She just nodded in agreement with everything that was just said about her.

The earth mare smiled gently. “So you think that means you don’t deserve a marefriend?”

“Well, it definitely means I shouldn’t stick with someone if I’m only gonna embarrass them.”

“Well I don’t think you should give up so easily. I’m sure not.”

“E-eh?” Lyra blinked, eyes wide.

“Lyra, I’m gonna be straight with you. I like you. I see a kind, creative mare in there somewhere. But you’ve got a big pile of problems on top of that, and I wanna help you with those problems.” She chuckled. “My parents desperately want me to find a stallion who will take care of me, and give me everything I could ever want. But I want to earn my place in the world, and I want a mare who needs me to take care of them! Not the other way around. Besides, I like to keep myself busy with projects, and you're definitely a project.”

“Wow,” Lyra mumbled. “I can't tell if you're looking for a relationship or a business venture at this point.”

“Hey, I did say I like you, didn’t I?” she asked. “You need help, and I wanna help you. I wanna get closer to you. Learn a bit more about what makes you tick, and help you change the parts you don’t like about yourself.”

“Don’t you mean what OTHERS don’t like about me?” Lyra asked.

Bonbon shook her head. “What YOU don’t like about yourself. Like I said, you are a good mare. But obviously, you don’t like a lot of the tics and habits you have. But I don’t wanna change who Lyra is. I just wanna help Lyra bring out the best of herself…. Are you okay?”

Now the tears were leaking from her eyes, but for entirely different reasons. “That’s the… the…” she sniffled and swallowed for a moment. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever offered me. Bonbon… thank you.”

The mare smiled warmly and opened her arms to the unicorn, who quickly jumped up and rushed into her embrace. The few other customers gathered around them let out an audible ‘aww’ from their seats. Lyra blushed, but for the first time, she didn’t feel any massive embarrassment from it. She’d found herself a marefriend! Someone who was willing to give her a chance, someone who even actively wanted to HELP her for a change! It was a real nice change-up from usually just being told to behave or just suck it up, when other ponies didn’t understand that it just wasn’t that simple for her. Her smile widened when she felt Bonbon’s hand stroking the back of her head, running through her mane.

“And I think we can start now.” Bonbon quickly laid down payment for the meal, plus tip and then stood up.

Lyra blinked and glanced at her. “Uh… what do you mean?”

“Come with me,” Bonbon said, gently taking hold of her upper arm. The motion made Lyra blush a bit as she was gently led to the cafe’s exit, her mind racing with possibilities of what she could mean by starting now?

Lyra shivered gently as she stood before Bonbon in her living room. Thankfully, her parents were nowhere to be found. Out for some fun of their own, Bonbon had said. She looked down at the hairbrush and wooden spoon sitting on the table in front of her. “So what do you think, Lyra?”

Lyra took a deep breath. “Just to be clear here… and make sure I haven’t missed any details… you wanna spank me?”

“Well, yeah, but not just because you’re cute.”

Her blush deepened. She’d never thought of her rear end as cute before, so to hear a compliment on it was rather nice. “But I’d still have a say in the spanks, right? As the… submissive in the relationship, as you put it?”

“Yep. And I’d use spanking to reward and punish you.”

“This seems kinda weird,” Lyra admitted.

“Well, weird problems need weird solutions,” the mare said. “And we’re gonna start now. I’m gonna give you a sample. It’s gonna be gentle, but if it’s too much, you just say so, okay?”

“O… kay…” Lyra smiled. “I guess with the way the day’s gone, I’ve had this coming anyway,” she gave a nervous chuckle and shuffled over to Bonbon.

‘She’s probably gonna beat your ass raw,’ her mind taunted her.

‘Brain, shut up, I really am not in the mood for this…’

‘Wonder if she’s gonna take out all her frustrations of the day on you. Wonder if you’ll be able to sit down after she’s done with you. Wonder if-’

‘I SAID SHUT UP! This is Bonbon! She’s not doing this because she’s a sadist!

‘Yeah? Well maybe you just make ponies turn into sadists because they can’t stand you. She said she was gonna give you a chance, but I bet she really does just feel sorry for you. We’ll see how long this lasts…’

“Lyra?” Bonbon asked. “You okay?”

Lyra blinked, once again breaking out of her stupor. “Y-yeah! I’m fine, I promise.”

“Okay… just wanted to make sure.” Bonbon reached out. “Come over here whenever you’re ready. And remember, you got the power to back out at any point. We don’t HAVE to do this. But once you commit, we’re both in it for the long haul, okay?”

“Just… Bonbon?” she asked, slowly approaching her.

“Yeah?”

“Promise me this isn’t just a joke?” she asked bluntly, half pleading. “Please promise me that you mean what you say? I-I… I’m scared. Not of the spanking thing. It’s a spanking, it’s temporary. I’m scared of… of… this not working out.”

Bonbon took her hand and drew her close, hugging her tightly. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “You don’t gotta worry. I’m not here to take advantage of you or hurt you. I want to help. I want us to become closer. And if this doesn’t work, we’ll find another way. But I wanna try this out first.”

Her worries soothed, if only temporarily, Lyra nodded. “Okay… how are we gonna do this.”

“Just lemme take care of it, and if it gets to a point where it makes you uncomfortable, just let me know.”

They were already at a point that normally made her uncomfortable. Contact with others just wasn’t something that Lyra typically enjoyed. But for some reason, with Bonbon, it didn’t bother her nearly as much. Maybe it was how gentle she was, how willing she was to back off. She wasn’t forceful and she did not demand anything of the mare, even as she lowered her over her knee. Lyra took a deep breath and smiled. She’d never been spanked before. Well, not properly any way. She’d gotten a motivating smack on the rear from her parents now and then, but never anything serious.

Bonbon wrapped one arm around her waist in a gentle motion. While she gripped her firmly, it was more like a soft hug rather than a restraint. She ran her hands up and down Lyra’s backside, still covered by her clothes. Lyra wiggled a little bit, taking in a few deep breaths. ‘This feels more and more like it’s turning into a softcore porn’ she thought to herself. Not that she was about to complain.

She loved porn.

Then she felt Bonbon’s fingers slide gently into her pants and arched her back as they started to come down. Lyra’s face heated up and she gulped a bit, but said nothing. Even when asked if she wanted to stop, she just shook her head, confirming that she didn’t mind going forward. Soon, her pants and panties were around her knees, her bottom exposed to the cool air around it. Again, Bonbon started to rub it up and down, her hand gentle, never going any further than the center of each cheek. Lyra’s breathing picked up and she slowly relaxed. “This is the sort of thing you can expect for good behavior, Lyra,” Bonbon said gently.

“Mmm… does the stuff from today really count as ‘good’ behavior?”

“Heh, some of it, not really, but I’m not about to hold that against you when we hadn’t established this sort of thing beforehand.” She stroked her up and down again and then started to gently pat her, moving from one cheek to the other. “If I start going too hard, you tell me right away, okay?”

“O-okay,” she breathed, shivering as she enjoyed the pats and soft swats that she was receiving, stretching out a little bit. This was… fun. This felt good. She felt so at ease, despite her situation. She did wonder what a punishment spanking would feel like though. “Are you planning to use the brush and the spoon on me?”

“Later on yeah… why?”

“I kinda… know what to expect with a reward spanking, I think. But… I’m kinda curious what a punishment spanking feels like.”

The pats stopped and the soft rubs returned. “You sure? I mean, I could give you one if you…”

“After today? I do feel like I could use it… and I wanna know what I’m going to get if I ever earn another one.”

“All right,” she breathed. “If you want a proper spanking, I’ll give you one. But again, since this isn’t a real one, if you really do think it’s too much, just say Red Light, and I’ll stop right away, okay?”

“Okay.” She blinked after a moment and slowly craned her head to look up at her. “Hey, Bonbon… how do you know all this stuff?”

“What do you mean?”

“About like… spanking and punishments and doms and stuff?”

“Uh… ahem… Well, I'm not perfect, and a bit blunt if you couldn't tell, so I do have experience with my parents tanning my hide. Other than that, I’ve got a bit of a thing for BDSM,” she admitted with a light smile. “Did a lot of research into the topic and stuff. B-but it’s not like I’m gonna use this as an excuse to get off or anything!” she said quickly.

Lyra’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Hey, you got nothing to prove to me.” She wiggled again and settled down, taking a deep breath. “I trust you. If you’ll trust me.”

“Okay.” Bonbon smiled and rubbed her butt again before slowly raising her hand up. Her grip became a bit firmer. And then she brought her hand down, her large palm covering most of Lyra’s cheek in one strike.

SMACK! SMACK!

Quick as a flash, two firm swats landed, one on each cheek. Lyra let out a squeak of pain and surprise at the feeling and writhed a little bit, which only started to increase when she writhed against her new marefriend’s legs as the smacks started to come down a bit more frequently.

SMACK! SPANK! SPANK! SLAP!

“Nngh! Oof! Ooh, that stings!” she hissed lightly.

“That means it’s working,” Bonbon said with a bit of humor, smiling a little bit as she went back to spanking her, alternating from cheek to cheek, swatting the center of each buttock and then the sit spot below it.

SPANK! SMACK! SPANK! SPANK!

Lyra gripped the pillow in front of her, pulling it close and hissing, giving a few more hard kicks as the swats rained down. It wasn’t as painful as she’d thought it would be, but it still stung harshly, and she couldn’t stop herself from letting out some groans and whines and hisses as her bottom was slapped.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SLAP!

“Uff! Oof! Hnngh…” she breathed and bucked a little bit. The sting was building, and she could feel the warmth spreading. “Owww… nnngh…”

Bonbon stopped for a moment, rubbing her butt. “Stings, right?”

“A lot,” she breathed with a nod.

Grinning, the mare reached over and picked up the wooden spoon next. “If you want to keep going, we’re going to move onto this next.” she gave her a few light taps and strokes with the spoon.

Lyra shivered a bit, her heart rate up and her body giving a quiver. But not from fear. She was… enjoying this? She wasn’t sure.

She had to confirm.

“Keep going,” she prompted, relaxing again.

Bonbon nodded and took hold of her again before raising the spoon and bringing it down with a gentle flick of her wrist, peppering her bottom in quick, firm smacks in a slow, stinging circle.

SMACK! WHAP! SPLAT! SMACK! WHAP! SPLAT!

Lyra squeaked and gave a firmer buck. The spoon was smaller than her hand, so she hadn’t expected it to hurt more, but the smaller surface area left behind more concentrated, powerful stings. She hissed and gasped and groaned, wriggling back and forth, feeling her backside wobbling with every smack. “Oooh… so hot… haa…” she panted.

Bonbon’s smacks faltered a bit. “Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were really enjoying this, Lyra,” she said.

SPANK! SMACK! WHAP! SLAP!

“I-I think I am,” she admitted, mewling.

“Well… guess this wasn’t much of a punishment…”

“Doesn’t… mean we have to stop it…”

“Heh, maybe I just have to find your threshold,” she teased. She set the spoon to the side and picked up the hairbrush, setting it against Lyra’s bottom.

The unicorn shivered gently as the cool wood was pushed against her. She took a deep breath and arched her back, unable to stop a light moan from sliding out of her mouth. “Wow,” she breathed. “This is turning out a lot like a kinky fanfic.”

Bonbon snickered a little. “Bet you read plenty of those.”

“Hey, don’t judge,” she mumbled. “It’s a legit artistic medium.”

Bonbon just rolled her eyes and gave her a firm smack on one cheek with the brush. Lyra let out a loud yelp and groaned a bit as yet another new stinging feeling dropped down over her backside. She shivered and panted a little bit as the brush rose and fell between her two bottom cheeks. Bonbon was slower and more methodical with this implement than she had been with the spoon or her hand. The time between strikes was just long enough for the sting in her butt to reach its absolute height before slamming down against her rear again.

SPANK! SMACK! WHAP! WHACK!

“OW! OOF! NNGH!” Lyra winced and groaned a bit more, squeezing Bonbon’s leg firmly as the smacks continued.

“Hurts, don’t it?” Bonbon asked gently. “Remember, you can make it stop any time you want.”

“I… can… take… more,” she breathed softly.

“You don’t have to impress me, Lyra,” Bonbon said gently, giving her a few more spanks.

WHAP! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP!

“Mmmph! Nnngh… I WANT to take more.” she said with a blush.

Bonbon blushed as well. “This is… taking a turn heh…”

“Not a bad turn, I hope…”

“Not at all…”

WHAP! SMACK! SLAP! WHAP!

Bonbon giggled a bit. “You got a cute butt, you know that?”

“Th-thanks… nngh…” she panted a little bit. “I don’t… think we can call this a punishment anymore.”

“Well… it was basically just to see if we could find your tolerance level.”

“W-well… I think we found it… hehe… mmph!”

WHAP! SLAP! SPANK! SPANK! SPANK!

“Oooh! AWW! NNNGH! MMPH!

SPANK! SMACK! SPANK! WHAP!

“Haaah… aaah! NNGH! OOH!

WHAP! SLAP! SPLAT! SPLAT!

“OOOH! AWH! R-RED LIGHT!”

The spanking stopped immediately and Bonbon set the brush aside as Lyra went limp with relief, her body shaking and her breath ragged. She felt so sore… but so good. Not even just in a sexual way. The tears down her face felt cleansing. Her body felt like she’d done a full workout at the gym twice over. It had been a long time since she’d felt this sore and good at the same time.

She loved it.

And then it only got better.

Bonbon carefully lifted the mare up into her arms and had her straddle her lap, causing her bottoms to slide off completely. Both of them blushed for a moment, but it subsided when she pulled the smaller mare close and held her tight against her bosom, nuzzling against her, holding her, caressing her. Lyra let out a relieved sigh and hugged her back, tightly, snuggling as deeply into the embrace as possible. The pain in her rear soothed to a mere sizzle and she glanced up at Bonbon. “Hey, Bonbon?” she asked.

“Hm?” the earth mare asked, continuing to stroke and caress her mane and back.

“Is it too forward for me to say I love you right now? After all of this?”

Bonbon seemed to give the question some thought before shaking her head. “Nah, go ahead."

Lyra smiled again. “I love you, Bonbon.”

“I love you too, Lyra.”

Yet another wave of joy and warmth spread throughout her. For once, her thoughts were quiet and she could say that she was totally at peace with herself. She took a deep breath and just lay there, closing her eyes, wanting to stay in Bonbon’s arms for as long as she possibly could.

Chapter 13: Just Rewards

Spike walked down the street, looking at the long row of houses in front of him. He glanced back down at the phone, making sure that he was heading towards the right address. Rarity had given it to him right after inviting him over through texts, so that they could talk about a reward for his time with Octavia. He’d tried to insist that it wasn’t necessary, but she’d countered that his generosity deserved a bit of generosity in turn.

The cul-de-sac that Rarity lived in was the typical suburban neighborhood. Every house had been made almost exactly the same, with the dimensions altered slightly based on the lot. It was a little further down the mountain than the usual wealth and opulence of Canterlot, but close enough that it was still considered upper-middle class at least. The only thing really differentiating the houses from one another was what was sitting on their front lawn or their driveway. In one was a swing set, a small T-ball stand, and a host of bikes leaning against the outside of their garage. Another had two large SUVs sitting out in the middle of their driveway, suggesting a large family, but had none of the niceties that a typical family would have on their lawn. Yet another didn’t have anything on their lawn at all, and all of the blinds were pulled closed.

Rarity’s house, located at the very end of the neighborhood, was a touch more modest. Like all the other houses, it was a two-story family home, with a spacious front yard, a small car sitting just outside its garage. The grass was just a little bit taller than the houses sitting across and next to it. The car was a slightly older model than those drive by the families in the heart of the neighborhood. The paint on the outside was a touch faded and there was no evidence that it had been retouched in a long while.

He smiled a little bit and gave it another once over before checking his phone. Rarity had warned him about her family getting giddy with her having a boy come to visit in her latest text. Spike walked up to the door, pocketed his phone and took a deep breath before gently knocking. He blinked, hearing some music from inside. Slow jazz, it sounded like? Pretty loud too, if he could hear it clearly from outside the door. After a few more moments, and no one coming to the door, he knocked at the door a bit more firmly, and loudly.

The music died down a little bit and he knocked a third time, thinking that he’d gotten their attention. Finally, he started to hear the sound of someone approaching and smiled as the door was opened wide. He was greeted by an older mare with a large, poofy mane, and a wide, wide smile. “Well hey there!” she greeted.

“Um, hi,” he greeted, shyly. “My name’s Spike. I’m a friend of Rarity’s.”

“Oh yeah, she did mention she’d have a little friend coming over! Wasn’t expecting a dragon of all things! C’mon in! No need to stand out here in the cold!”

“Er, well, actually, it’s pretty nice outside todaAAAY!” he yelped as she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, quickly, shutting the door behind him. He blinked as he was led over to the couch and told to sit down. “You just wait right there, I’m going to go and let Rarity know that you’re here.”

“Um… yeah, sure,” he said. “Uh, I don’t think I caught your name, by the way.”

“Oh me? My name’s Cookie Crumbles,” she said happily. “Nice to meet you, Spike!”

“Likewise,” he said, still trying to get his head on straight after the sudden shift into the house.

He glanced around after his head stopped spinning. Cookie smiled at him as she walked out of the room, towards a staircase he could see in the next hall over. As he tilted his head, he saw filly sitting on the couch next to him. She looked around the age of a tween, he guessed. She was half slumped backwards on the couch, her feet dangling off the side as she kicked them back and forth in a display of boredom. A half eaten bag of chips sat at her side, and the television remote balanced on her stomach as she sat there, looking very much like a lump on a log. The TV was broadcasting a rerun of a slightly older show, Druid’s Day. Spike had seen a few episodes, it was one of his mother’s favorite soap operas.

He wasn’t sure it was the sort of thing that was appropriate for a younger pony to be watching at this point. “Uh, hi there,” he greeted.

“Hey,” she said, glancing over at him. “You’re Spike, right?” her voice lacked any sort of curiosity, it mostly just sounded like she was trying to confirm something that she’d heard said earlier.

“Yeah. Are you Rarity’s sister?”

“Yep,” she said with a nod, offering him a hand as the TV went to a commercial break. “Sweetie Belle.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said, taking her hand and giving it a shake.

“You too. So, you’re my sister’s squeeze?”

“Er, w-well, I don’t know if I’d put it like that,” he said, blushing gently. “But I am a pretty good friend to her if that’s what you mean.”

“Uh-huh,” she said with a nod. “Right.” She smirked.

He blushed a bit more, glancing over as he heard her mother calling upstairs. “Rarity, dear, your friend Spike’s here!”

“I’ll be right there!” she called back.

“Better hurry, you don’t want to keep your boyfriend waiting, hon!”

“Mooom,” Rarity whined, “Don’t call him that, he’s just a friend who happens to be a boy!” And then, after a brief pause, “Oh, and don’t let dad hear this, you know how he gets about boys being over here.”

“Did somebody say something about boys?” an unfamiliar voice echoed from somewhere else in the house.

Cookie chuckled gently. “Nothing you need to worry about dear! Just a friend of Rarity’s come to visit.” She smirked a little wide. “A friend who happens to be a boy!”

There were several loud, rapid thumps, like the sound of someone jogging through the house in bare feet as fast as they could reasonably do without accidentally slamming into something. A large stallion, with pure white fur, like his daughters, and a deep brown mane and tail (as well as a luxurious, bushy mustache) burst into the room, glancing around. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously, but he had a light, playful grin on his face. “Alright, where’s the boy who thinks he’s taking my baby girl away from me?”

Sweetie Belle helpfully pointed a finger towards the dragon sitting next to her. “Right here, dad.”

The stallion glanced at the young dragon, who gave his wings a light, self-conscious flap. He set one big, meaty palm against his side and walked towards him. He was a big stallion, with tough, muscled looking arms and a thick neck, though the paunch he was sporting on his front suggested someone who used to work out, but wasn’t really doing much of that anymore. “So you’re the dragon that my daughter’s been talkin’ about lately?”

“Um… yessir,” Spike said, coughing lightly. “N-nothing but good things, I hope.”

“Yep. But I gotta ask what yer intentions with my daughter are.”

“Oh um…” Spike smiled, rubbing the back of his head lightly. “No need to worry sir, I’m just here for a friendly visit, I promise.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I figured!” he reached forward and clapped Spike on the shoulder. “Just gotta be a dad, all the same though. The name’s Hondo Flanks, by the way. Seriously though, don’t try anything with her and we’ll get along fine, yeah?”

“O-Of course. I’m not that kind of guy. I promise.” No need to bring up how often he’d seen Rarity’s bare butt at this point. Her bare, RED butt, he reminded himself. Gods, he had to put those thoughts away. The last thing he needed right now was to explain to her father why he was blushing so hard…

Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about the moment becoming awkward as Rarity came down the stairs. She was wearing some comfortable looking pajama bottoms, obviously custom made, as they had her cutie mark pattern all along their legs, and a bright blue button-up shirt that matched with her eyes. He did blush a bit as he saw her smiling at him and he smiled back.

“Hello Spike. Thanks for coming.”

“Oh, it was my pleasure. And it’s uh, nice to meet your family as well.” He motioned to her father and her sister. Her mother had apparently headed back to the kitchen, where he caught a vague whiff of something baking. Cookies, perhaps? Yeah, definitely smelt like cookies, and that would definitely go with her name.

Rarity nodded and walked over, taking his hand. “Well, I’m just going to take Spike up to my room for a little while and-”

“Whoa there, little missy,” Hondo said quickly, walking over. “I don’t mind you bringing a friend around like this, but I don’t think I’m very comfortable with you being alone in a room with him.”

“Dad, it isn’t like I’m going to try anything sexual with him! That would be quite foolish of me, doing something like that when everyone is home. Not that’d I’d do it when you weren’t home either, I’m a proper lady after all.”

“Well, I suppose… but if he spends too much time up there, I’m comin’ up to check.”

“Dad, please, there’s no reason to invade my privacy,” she said with a light huff.

“No need to get huffy with your father,” Cookie called. “Just don’t give him a reason to come up there and tan your hide, hon.”

Rarity’s face flushed in embarrassment. “Mother! Hush!” she whined.

“Scuse me?” her mother asked, peeking in from the kitchen, raising a brow at her daughter.

“Er… uh… I-I’ll be down later for dinner!” she said, quickly grabbing Spike’s hand and quickly pulling him up the flight of stairs towards her room. He didn’t resist as she pulled him up into an upper hallway. At the end, there were two doors sitting across from one another, one with an elaborately carved sign, reading ‘Rarity’ in cursive script. The other door bore a similar sign, but in a far more scratchy and informal script read ‘Sweetie Belle.’

Rarity, of course, opened up the door with her name on it, and tugged Spike inside. The dragon tilted his head as he looked around. He’d expected something a lot more organized than what he was seeing. The floor was covered in threads and fabrics of all sizes and descriptions. A huge shelf covered one wall, from one side to the other, full of various tinker and tailor equipment, extra needles, unopened thread, some measuring tape, some brand new yard-long sheets of fabric, notepads and sketchbooks of various sizes, pencils and pens, everything that anyone could ever want when it came to tailoring, costume design, and so forth.

Spike carefully stepped over several of the small pieces littering the ground. “Wow, um… I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Expecting what?”

“I mean, you strike me as a very organized mare everywhere else. Well, not to the point of Twilight, that’s for sure, but… I would have thought that this place would have been in a better state than this.”

“Oh well, actually, this is my version of organization. I just can’t seem to concentrate on my projects if I have the space around me completely organized and clean. Everything has its place here. I call it organized chaos.” She grinned a little bit and walked through the room, easily stepping through the chaos around her, with the gait and speed of someone who had done this several thousand times before. “So, come on in!” she said with a small smile.

Spike smiled and followed after her, careful to avoid stepping on anything in front of him. When he got to the bed, he sat down on it next to her. He frowned, realizing that the bed itself was rather small. Well, small for him. It would fit Rarity, just so, but it didn’t seem to be designed for more than one person to lay down on at any one time. “Well, if you enjoy it being like this, I’m certainly not going to tell you not to have it like this.”

“But it sort of sets off your OCD, does it?”

“Yeah, if I’m honest, Twilight sort of rubbed off on me like that. I just like a nice, organized area where everything has its place.”

“I admit, my parents don’t have an appreciation for my methods. But it just makes my work so much easier. I know where everything is, I know what I need, and I love feeling like I’m always making progress on something. And keeping everything messy like this just helps with that.”

“Well, you have a better mind for it than I do,” he complimented. “Is your sister the same?”

“Sweetie Belle? Well, she's messy, but not for any artistic reasons. It doesn't help that she's a little ball of energy,” she said with a titter.

The drake raised his brow hearing that. “She looked like she had as much energy as a bag of wet flour when I talked to her.”

Rarity bit her lip for a moment. “Right, well... Sweetie had a long and unproductive day, so she's in a bit of a mood. Normally she's far more chipper and ever so curious, I assure you.

“Well, maybe I'll catch her in better spirits next time.” For a moment, he just ran his hand along the edge of the bed as the two of them smiled at one another. “So,” he said after another moment of silence, glancing up at her, “What exactly… did you want to talk about?”

“Well, like I said, I wanted to figure out something that I could give you as a reward for what you did for Octavia.”

“It’s really not necessary,” Spike said. “I mean, I didn’t even really do much. The most I did was get her and Vinyl in the same space. The DJ did most of the work.”

“Yes, but you still instigated the meeting, which is definitely worth something,” she said. “Come on, Spike, there must be SOMETHING you want.”

Spike sighed a little bit. “Really, I can’t think of anything that I want for this. It was just a favor for a friend.”

She blushed softly. “A friend?”

“W-well I mean, we are friends right? C-close friends, but I… well, er…”

She laughed softly. “Easy, Spike, I know what you meant, I was just having a bit of fun.”

Still flustered, the dragon cleared his throat and adjusted his wings a little bit. “Oh… w-well…”

She reached over and squeezed his hand, sliding closer to him. “Actually, I know, exactly what a good reward will be. It’s nothing fancy, but I think you’re going to like it.”

“W-well, what did you have in mind?” he asked.

“Well, it involves you, and me, and something quite special…” she grinned and leaned forward a bit more. “Something that will let you see a different side to me.”

Spike’s head immediately went to several different unsavory areas. Despite knowing that she was probably not referring to any sort of activity he was thinking about, his mind couldn’t help but go there, and it flustered him. “Uh, well I, I mean… um… uh...

She giggled gently and leaned forward. “Come here, Spike,” she whispered. “And I’ll show you your rewa-”

The door to her room suddenly burst open, making both of them jump a little bit, Rarity quickly shifting away from Spike a few inches and Spike leaning his head back, hands in the air as though the police were raiding them. “Hey Rarity, dear,” Cookie Crumbles announced as she walked in, a small plate in her hands, “I just wanted to check in and see if you wanted something to eat!” She paused when she saw the two of them slide away from one another on the bed and raised a brow, a small smirk coming to her face. “Oho, and what’s going on over here?”

“Nothing mother!” Rarity said, a scowl appearing on her face. “And I would thank you very much if you didn’t try to break down my door when you wanted to ask me something!”

“Aw c’mon, hon, I wasn’t that rough with the door, it’s taken a lot worse before, and sides, I just wanted to see if you and your guest wanted a little snack!” She smirked. “So… really, what was going on in here?”

“That is NONE of your concern!” Rarity said, louder than was necessary, her face heating up fiercely. “Now please leave! We don’t need anything to eat, thank you!”

“Really? Because I could’ve sworn you were getting a little cuddly with him when I first got in here.” She tilted her head around the room. “And I coulda sworn your father and I had asked you to clean this place up a little bit yesterday.”

“I’ve already explained to you, mother, that this is my inspiration room, and the mess here isn’t actually a mess, it’s-”

Her mother gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes, though she had that same patient smile on her face. “Hon, you’ve explained it to me before, and I get that you’ve got a whole avant-gard thing going with your room and whatnot, but it REALLY makes it hard for me when I try to bring the vacuum up here.

“Well, you’re just going to have to deal with this, because this is my work!” she said, stomping her foot.

“Excuse me?” her mother asked, her smile fading at last. “Rarity, you watch your tone, hon, there is no reason for you to talk like that to your mother.

“Well then maybe my mother shouldn’t be jumping into my room when I’m trying to have a conversation with a friend and then start criticizing the way that I want to live my life, okay?”

“Rarity, you curb that attitude right now,” she warned. “Or else.”

“Or else what?” she asked.

“You know very much ‘or else’ young lady.” the voice of her father declared as he walked into the room.

Rarity groaned a bit. “Dad what are YOU doing here too?”

“Got concerned when I heard your voices starting to rise from downstairs.”

Rarity blushed. “Oh… were we really getting that loud?” she asked, glancing over at Spike for confirmation.

The dragon shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. “Well… I didn’t really want to say anything. Not my place to get in on family affairs, you know.” He cleared his throat.

“Well still, you could have said something,” she huffed. “Anyway, could you all please get out of my room now?” she asked, pointing to the door. “I just want to finish talking with my friend here!”

“And what were you talking about?” Hondo asked, raising a brow.

“NOTHING!” she said. “Geez! Mom, Dad, you’re embarrassing me in front of Spike!”

“Rarity!” her father snapped firmly, “Watch your tone. Your mother and I don’t take that sort of behavior lightly, you know that!”

“Well I wouldn’t be behaving like this if the two of you would just respect my boundaries!”

“Tsk, she really is a teenager,” Cookie said with a soft sigh.

“Well, she just needs a little reminder about the fact that she’s our little girl too,” Hondo said, sliding further into the room, pushing the things on the floor aside with his feet as he advanced on Rarity.

She gasped loudly. “Dad, everything in here was placed just so! It’s going to take me forever just to get it right again!”

“I can appreciate you wanting to keep a mess where it is, dear, but your mother and I DID tell you to clean this place up before, so that we could vacuum it while you were at school. Artist or not, you aren’t going to be keeping our house looking like a pig sty.”

Rarity tossed her mane back. “Pig sty?! Dad, this was-”

“Organized chaos, yep, I heard you the first time you said it, hon,” he said, reaching out and taking her arm. “But you still got that attitude. Just because you’re an artist, does not mean you get to speak that way to your parents, especially when we ask you to do something and you don’t do it.”

“Eep!” she gasped as her father gently pulled her forward, back towards the bed. “Dad no! Not while I have a friend over!” she whined, trying to pull away.

Hondo kept a firm hold on her, shaking his head. “We’ve been over this before, when you had those nice cheerleaders over in middle school, young lady. It’s been a while since we’ve had this talk, but it seems you need a refresher. If you don’t want your punishment to be in front of your friends, then you shouldn’t have put on that sort of attitude in public.” He stopped in front of the bed, ignoring his daughter’s attempts to wriggle out of his grip. “Mind steppin’ off and giving me some space, Spike?”

Blushing deeper, the dragon slowly pulled himself up off the bed and shuffled over to the side, giving the large stallion plenty of room as he sat down and yanked the unfortunate mare over his knee, centering her backside over his lap as she started to flail and kick. Spike gulped a little bit as he realized that he was seeing her get spanked. Again.

Without a single shred of pomp and circumstance, her father grabbed Rarity’s bottoms and easily yanked them down, all the way to her knees, leaving her buttocks quite bare and quite vulnerable. Spike couldn’t help but notice the way her cheeks wobbled with how quickly they were exposed. He gulped and squirmed again as he looked over her pristine and soft they looked. Not a single mark on it… for now.

“Daddy no!” she begged. “Please, Spike’s watching!”

Spike immediately shifted his gaze away as she pointed that out. But his eyes inevitably wandered back to the scene next to him once the sound of palm against butt started to fill the room. He gulped a bit as he watched her butt bounce and wobble, Rarity bucking and squirming, her legs kicking down against the bed under her with a nice, loud whump.

“So, Spike,” Cookie said, grabbing his attention. “What are you planning to study in school?”

“Uh…” caught off guard, the dragon took a few moments to process the question. “W-well, I’m mostly just doing my general studies right now,” he noted, speaking a bit louder so as not to be drowned out by the yelps and cries and pleas of the mare being spanked just a few feet away from him. “I’m… n-not really sure sure what I’ll be studying after that.”

“Well, you’ve still got time. I’m sure you’ll figure something out, right?”

“Y-yeah, I suppose,” he said, glancing to the side, squirming, feeling a touch uncomfortable trying to carry on a regular conversation while his friend was getting her tail tanned next to him. Well, it wasn’t the first time he’d seen her get spanked of course, but the situation felt strange, off-putting.

WHAP! SMACK! SPLAT! SLAP!

“EEP! OW! NUU! DADDY! OUCH!”

Spike winced a little bit as the spanking continued, but he felt obligated to continue the conversation now. How often did this happen that her mother was totally unfazed by this? “So um… did you study baking in school?” he asked.

“Oh, no actually,” she said with a smile, putting a hand on her hip. “You might not believe this, but I was actually a chemistry major. But I found baking to be a certain kind of chemistry, and I just sort of took to it.”

“And uh… how’d you meet your husband?” he asked.

SMACK! WHAP! SLAP! SLAP!

“Aww! OW! Daddy, no! Not the sit spots!”

Cookie thought about it for a moment. “Well, he was working a side job as a security intern at the time. Turns out, I got a little gung ho in the chemistry lab one day, and wouldn’t you know it, caused a bit of a smoke-out. No one was hurt, thankfully, but I did ruin a lot of really expensive equipment.”

“Luckily, I was the one who find you, darling,” Hondo said with a smirk, though he didn’t look up from his work on Rarity’s behind.

“Oh, yes, that was very lucky.” She smiled. “He agreed to report that it was just a freak accident for me, and keep it off my record, since I was already in hot water for a few things I’d done before. I was a bit of a wild child back then.”

“Yup, but you gotta tell him what you got in exchange, dear.”

Cookie blushed and laughed. “Well, he took stock of the damage and told me that I was going to get a spanking. One spank with a paddle for every dollar of damage.”

SPANK! SMACK! SPANK! SMACK!

“WAAH! DAAAD! OWWW!” Rarity bucked and writhed harder, reaching back to try and defend her butt as she writhed. Her father didn’t miss a beat and quickly grabbed both of her wrists, pinning them to her back, on top of her tail, and just continued to smack and whap at her after making sure she was secure.

Spike cleared his throat, the story Cookie was telling, combined with the spanking nearby caused some very risque thoughts to start cropping up in his head. “H-how… long did it take you to pay that off?” he asked.

“Dunno,” she said with a shrug. “We both stopped counting after the first thousand. But just to make sure, we have a little session now and then,” she snickered.

“O-oh…” Spike coughed gently. “I see.”

“Now honey, no need to go around telling others about that,” Hondo chuckled, glancing at Rarity’s backside and bringing the spanking to a close with one more powerful blow to the center of each cheek. Her buttocks gave one last firm wobble, and her red cheeks throbbed gently. “Hmmm, I think this is enough,” he said gently.

“Y-yes, it is enough!” Rarity whined, squeaking as her mother reached over and gave her a soft swat, making her whine again.

“You aren’t the one who gets to decide that, young lady,” her mother scolded. “But I do agree with your father. That looks fine to me. You aren’t going to get an attitude with us again, are you?”

“No mom! I promise!”

“Good,” she said with a nod. “Now, corner time, young lady.”

“Mom, please, noo…” she whined.

SWAT!

“Ack! Oww, okay, okay, I’m getting up,” Rarity mumbled, slowly pulling herself up off of her father’s lap, a pout firmly planted on her face. Spike noted that she laced her fingers together, probably in an effort to keep from reaching back and rubbing her bottom. She shuffled her way over to the corner of her room and placed both hands on her head, raising her tail out of the way, showing off her backside, her face almost as red as her bottom.

Her father stood up and shuffled over to her night stand, reaching into it and producing a small egg timer. He set it for ten minutes and set it down on the edge of the stand. It started to loudly tick down. “All right, we’re all done here,” Hondo said. “Don’t move before the bell sounds. We’ll call you for dinner, dear.”

“Yes, papa,” she sniffled.

Nodding, both of them started to walk towards the exit, Cookie stopping and smiling to Spike again. “I really enjoyed talking to you, Spike. We should talk together again soon.”

“Um… s-sure,” Spike said gently, sitting back down on the bed, feeling a tad weak in the knees.

Nodding, Cookie and Hondo slowly walked out, closing the door behind them. Spike could hear the sound of them walking away and then down the stairs again. Once they were a good distance away, Rarity let out a breath and stepped out of the corner immediately, rubbing at her bottom, grumbling inelegantly.

Spike blinked in surprise, glancing at the timer for a moment before looking back to her. “Um…”

“Oh don’t worry, Spike,” she said at last. “It isn’t like they’re going to come back and check on me,” she said.

“I would have thought that they would.”

“They trust me to stick to my punishments,” she muttered. “Though I think I’d prefer if they’d at least come back and check on me afterwards.”

“They don’t even give you aftercare?” he asked, surprised.

“Oh, no, not at all,” she said with a sigh, moving to her night stand and pulling out a small bottle of cooling lotion. “But I’ve gotten used to handling it for myself.”

Spike frowned deeper. “That sounds… mmph.” He shook his head. He’d been spanked growing up. But afterwards, his mother had always made sure to draw him close, hold him tight, and let him cry, let him feel better, before assuring him that all was forgiven, especially when she brought out a cold, wet cloth, or some lotion, and would gently apply it to his hot, stinging scales. To not have that after a punishment, especially after one delivered by family? He found that incredibly disappointing.

He made a decision. He stood up as Rarity approached and snatched the lotion from her before she could start to squeeze it out into her hand. “Come here,” he said gently, sitting down and patting his lap.

Rarity blushed deeply, covering her front as she realized her pajamas and panties were still down around her ankles. “S-spike, you… you don’t have to, really.”

“No, I want to,” he told her with a small smile. “You asked me before what you could give me for helping out with Octavia. Well, now I know what I want. I want to help you out right now. Lotioning your own rear can be a bit of a pain. So let me handle it for you, okay?”

She continued to blush, but she gave him a grateful smile. “We’ll be in a lot of trouble if my mother or father come up and catch us.”

“Probably, but you said it yourself, right? They aren’t going to be coming back up to look at you for a while more, are they?”

“I suppose that is true, yes.” She nodded and moved towards him, carefully lowering herself back over his knee, back into the vulnerable position she’d been in before.

Spike cleared his throat and took a deep breath to keep a handle on his libido as he stared down at her thick, soft rear as she wiggled it back and forth, trying to get comfortable. It was a tad swollen from all the attention it had been given. He popped open the lotion bottle. “Ready?” he asked.

She nodded. “Ready.” She lifted her tail out of the way, giving him full access to it.

Breathing softly, he hovered the lotion bottle over her rump and gave it a careful squeeze, some of the white cream drizzling out onto her cheeks. She let out a gasp and a relieved moan as the cream made contact with her sore, sensitive tush. Spike did the same with her opposite cheek, letting a generous dollop of the stuff cover the center of each cheek. He set the container to the side and smiled, carefully sliding one hand over each cheek, spreading the cream out nice and careful. He felt her tense a bit as his cool hands traveled over her hot fur, but she didn’t struggle or squirm, and it didn’t take long before she relaxed completely over his lap, letting out a sigh of bliss. “Ahh… that feels wonderful.”

Spike smiled, trying his best to control his own blushing and breathing as his fingers trailed along her backside, trying his best to keep the massage gentle for the sake of her bottom. “It does,” he muttered.

“Mmm? Did you say something, Spike?”

“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head, sliding his fingers down along her sit spots, careful to get a good bit of the lotion along that more sensitive area of her buttocks. She moaned and squirmed a bit more, but didn’t try to wiggle away. Instead, she seemed to lift her rear towards his hands, welcoming his ministrations as he made sure to rub and caress the lotion as deep into her fur as he could, right down to her blistered skin.

She let out one last sigh and went totally limp against him. He smiled and wiped off the excess lotion onto his own arms before rubbing her back a few times, giving her a moment to catch her breath. Spike raised his head as the timer went off, indicating that it had been a full ten minutes. He reached over and stopped its ringing, depositing it back in the drawer before helping Rarity to stand up. “Are you all right?” he asked her gently.

“Just fine,” she whispered. “Better than that, in fact. I feel wonderful after that. Thank you so much, Spike.” She bent forward, carefully shuffling up her bottoms.

“Hey… well… thanks for letting me do it,” he mumbled, slowly standing up and giving her hand a squeeze. “I promise, no talk about this with anyone else.”

“I know,” she said with a nod. “I trust you.” She pulled him forward and hugged him tightly, giving him a soft, loving nuzzle. “Thanks again.”

“No problem. Sorry this visit didn’t go quite how you wanted it to,” he said.

“It’s fine. It was embarrassing, but it turned out just fine. And hey, you even got to name your own reward, in addition to what I was going to give you.”

“In addition to…” he blinked. “Ohhh, right, you were about to show me something you were going to give to me. Rarity, you really don’t have to, I mean, I’d be more than satisfied with… with uh…”

“Touching my butt?” she asked, raising a brow at him.

“W-well, when you say it like that.”

She laughed again and reached into her nightstand drawer, producing one small, paper ticket. “I’ve been holding onto this for a while. It's for a fashion show.” She waved it towards him. “I worked all summer on some designs for the fall show, and they were impressed enough with my designs that they wanted me there, and even sent me a free ticket to it for a friend. I was rather hoping you’d be willing to come with me as my plus one?” she asked.

He smiled wide. “You don’t even have to ask! I’d love to go! When is it?”

“Oh, not for a while yet. Which is good, because I’d like to go to an event when my bottom is not smarting so badly.” She blushed. “Incidentally… er, please, no word of this to anyone else?” she asked. “The whole, parent spanking and you lotioning my butt?”

“O-of course not.” He shook his head.

“Great.” She smiled gently. “Do you want to hang out for a little while longer? Maybe… talk a bit more?”

“I’d love to… and honestly, the cookies that your mom brought up here did look really good.”

“My mother does bake some extraordinary treats, yes.” She smiled. “Come on, let’s go downstairs and get some before my pig of a sister decides to hog the entire plate for herself.”

“Sure.” He offered her his arm and she grinned gently, taking it. Arm in arm, the two of them stepped over the now shifted mess in front of them and walked back out of her room, eager for conversation and cookies.

Chapter 14: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 1)

Chapter 14: Of Ogres and Oubliettes pt. 1

The school was emptying now. The final bell had rung several minutes ago, and eager students had already fled out of its doors like air out of a balloon. The only ones who stayed behind were the few members of the faculty that still had a small amount of work to do, the students who were in detention, or those who were staying for their club activities.

One such group of students, and their educator, were sitting down for the long awaited start to their own club activities. Bags of chips were flung onto the table. Paper rustled as character sheets were laid out. Books and reference cards were splayed in front of each seat, and flavorful, carbonated beverages were opened with loud pops and hisses as four ponies and one dragon all settled down for an adventure.

Derpy set up a dungeon master’s screen to separate all her notes and reminders, and of course, to hide her dice from the others. The other four players drew out their own dice and laid them on the table. Luna’s eyes glanced around the table before settling on the dice that Fluttershy was using. She reached out and gently plucked one of her six-sided die, rolling it back and forth in her palm for a moment. “Interesting make,” she mused with a small smile. “These aren't made from glass or stone, are they?”

“Um, no,” Fluttershy said gently, taking the die back. “These were a gift from my uncle over in Zebrica.”

“You have family in Zebrica?” Spike asked.

“He travels a lot for his work,” she clarified. “They’re actually made from old cockatrice bones.”

There was silence for a moment, and they all stared at her. She cleared her throat and blushed again, gently pushing her dice back and forth in front of her, listening to the click and rattle as they all brushed against one another. “Um, yeah. D-don’t worry, it’s not like they killed the poor thing. But there are a few cave routes down on the coastline where the more tropical forms of them breed, and it’s also where they tend to go when they’re getting ready to die, so there are a lot of old skeletons laying around there. The people who live nearby use the bones to make tools, furniture, and toys like this.” she rolled one of the dice. “It was… um, a sweet gift.”

“That’s pretty macabre,” Rainbow noted with a smirk. “Didn’t take you to be a secret goth girl, Fluttershy.”

“I-I’m not! This is the only thing like this I have, I swear.” She squeaked and hid behind her wings.

Derpy giggled and pointed at Rainbow’s dice, which were more the typical sort of hobby shop dice that could be made with a small rock tumbler. “And what about those things?” she asked, tapping one of them. “Look at how smooth those corners are. These babies have been rolled so many times that they don’t even HAVE corners anymore.”

“Hey, hands off of the Jade Special,” Rainbow said, snatching away the dice. “These guys are real important to me. I’ve been using the same set of dice for this game since I was a kid.” She tossed one of them up and down. “I mean, yeah, these guys are getting a little worn down, a little bit more long in the tooth, but… they aren’t quitting yet. And they’re super lucky now too!”

“Super Lucky?” Spike asked. “How do you figure?”

“At this point? Any time I’ve ever been in a pinch, nine times out of ten, these little guys have always managed to pull my ass out of the fire.”

“I think it’s mostly because they’ve been rolled so much, they’re partially loaded at this point,” Luna whispered to the others, though loud enough that Rainbow could still hear it, causing her to give the alicorn a quick glare. “What? It’s true. You roll a die enough times, eventually, it gets so worn down that it’s more likely to roll onto certain numbers.”

“Well, it’s not like they’ve been totally accurate,” Rainbow said. “So I’m gonna keep using them. What about your dice, Luna?” Rainbow asked, motioning to the closed dice bag in front of her. “Whip em out, let’s have a look at em.”

“We’re… we’re still talking about dice, right?” Derpy asked, giving Rainbow a sideways glance.

Spike almost choked on his soda at the unintentional laugh that almost broke out. It’d be even funnier to him if they weren’t referring to his aunt, though none of them knew that. A glance at Luna’s blushing face and he almost burst out laughing again, covering his mouth to hide his smile as the others were a bit more open about their snickers and chuckles.

She recovered quickly enough however, and opened her bag, pouring them out. They were brand new hobby shop die, red, with black numbers hand painted on them. “These are mine.”

“What, that’s it?” Rainbow said, disappointed. “Those are boring. Brand new? Solid colors? C’mon, you’re allowed to live a little bit more than that.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I have quite the collection of dice at home, as well as a stack of character sheets from old, deceased characters. But for a new group, I believe in a fresh start. Fresh characters, fresh dice, fresh faces.” She smirked. “Your die might have seen a thousand battles, but mine are young, and eager to prove themselves. I’m sure they will not fail me.”

“Well, we’ll see,” Rainbow said with another grin, cracking her knuckles.

Derpy snickered a little bit. “It’s not like this is going to be much of a tough campaign.”

“You’re going easy on us, Derpy?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, it should last us a couple sessions, but I figured something that wasn’t super tough would be a little bit better for us to get to know each other’s play styles and everything.” She grinned. “Hopefully you all won’t die too horribly.” She giggled.

“Please tell me she’s not a killer DM,” Spike groaned. “I had enough of those playing with Shining Armor’s crowd when he introduced me to the game.”

“Sounds like you have some stories,” Luna mused, smirking a bit. Spike shot her a half glare. She’d seen at least one of the games play out when she was out and about in one of her disguises.

“Yeah,” he said at last. “There was this one guy who was always there, Gizmo. He was a real know-it-all type, kind of annoying, but he meant well, most of the time. Except when he ran campaigns. I’m not exaggerating when I say every single encounter that he put into his games would have been the equivalent of the climactic final boss in any other campaign. And he threw them at the party constantly.” He leaned back and put his hand over his face. “It is incredibly frustrating having to roll up like, five or six different characters one after the other because every time a character goes into battle, he ends up dying.” He shook his head.

“Well I’m not THAT bad,” Derpy said with a huff, crossing her arms. “I promise, my campaign is balanced, for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“Well… so long as you use your head, of course.” Derpy giggled a little bit.

The players glanced at one another for a moment, a look of worry crossing their faces, though they were quickly replaced with a couple of grins as they all relished in the potential of a challenge. Derpy stretched her arms up over her head and splayed her wings out behind her. “Okay. I’ve already looked at and approved all your character sheets for the start, so I’m gonna take a bit of time to set the scene before we start. Are we ready?”

When everyone gave an affirming nod to her, she smiled and took a deep breath. “Our tale begins on the continent of Utrogoth, deep in the forests of Mirkwood…”

The fog was thick within Mirkwood’s borders that day, as the small troop of adventurers entered it. At the head of the group, shield raised before her and palm on the hilt of her blade, was a dragoness. She was Lady Sulfur, a paladin of the highest grade, in service to the great flame god Ifrit. His core tenant was that magic, with rare exceptions, was forbidden, and should not be used, save in the most dire of circumstances, as magic was the domain of gods, and gods alone.

However, her abbot had told her of a vision that he had, that her services were needed deep in the Mirkwood, in one of the small villages there. She was surprised that a paladin would be necessary at such a remote location, but she was not one to doubt her abbot’s words, nor would she ever turn away from someone who needed help. He had also warned her that she would need the help of others to accomplish this task, and in perhaps the strangest twist that she had been told about, she had been asked to get herself some companions who could use magic as well. Specifically, a druid, and a sorceress.

She had been incredulous at first. Druids, she could deal with. Their magic, which often worked in tandem with nature, was not as much an affront to the gods, though she did take umbrage with the ones that attempted to take direct command of nature.

Sorceresses though? Gods, she would have to pray for days for forgiveness from Ifrit to make up for working with one of the biggest enemies of her gods’ teachings.

Even so, she had done as requested, and had put out a call to adventurers in the local area in and around the city in hopes of attracting someone to come and help her. She had not specified the need for magic users, knowing that they would come regardless.

And they did. The first that they hired was a barbarian from the northlands, a diamond dog calling himself Copper. Just Copper, he said. No surname to speak of. His speech was strange, oddly eloquent sounding for one of the northern tribes, definitely using an old dialect of Equestrian. Still totally understandable, but anyone who grew up with more modern speech patterns would need a moment to process everything he said.

“Oh, thanks for that,” Spike muttered with a huff.

“Well, sorry, Spike,” Derpy said. “I’m just going off of what’s written on your speech. If you’re going to have a character speak with an outdated dialect, then why wouldn’t you expect the other characters to have trouble understanding them?”

“And this is why I take care to give my characters feats and skills related to language,” Luna said proudly, tapping her sheet. “So it’s not a problem for me.”

“It’s not like he’s speaking an entirely different language.”

“He certainly spouts out enough ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ that it kinda sounds like one,” Rainbow teased.”

“Can we please get back to the game?” Spike grunted.

“Sure, sure.” Derpy cleared her throat. “Anyway…”

A druid was next to offer her services. A sphinx she was, something that Sulfur had not been expecting at all. She had been under the impression that sphinxes were creatures of the far, far south. This one, however, turned out to be quite the gab and was happy to discuss the fact that she had been living on the outskirts of the city for a long while, heralding what she called a ‘free range farm’ whatever that was supposed to be. And then she continued talking, and talking, and talking, and Sulfur was half tempted to just turn her around, slap her rear, and send her home if she wasn’t going to cease her prattling. But as she was one of the only druids who had expressed any interest in assisting her, Sulfur had reluctantly agreed to let her stay. “What is your name?” Sulfur asked her.

The sphinx paused in her nonstop torrent of gab for just a moment, her eyes lighting up at the realization that she had yet to tell the dragoness her name. “Oh! So sorry,” she said, bowing her head a few times in apology. “Yes, so sorry! You can call me Nepeta!”

“...Nepeta?” Sulfur asked, raising a brow.

“Do you like it? I chose it myself!”

“Really, Fluttershy?” Luna asked, raising a brow. “A little bit on the nose, isn’t it?”

“You actually know what it is, Ms. Luna?” the pegasus asked with a tilted head.

“Of course I do. I went to school at one point too you know.”

Spike scratched the back of his head. “Uh, well, care to fill the rest of us in here?” he asked. “I feel like I’m missing a joke here.”

Luna crossed her arms. “Nepeta is the scientific name for catnip,” she said with a small smile. “She named her sphinx character ‘Catnip’ essentially.”

Fluttershy blushed lightly and wiggled in her seat. “I thought it was a pretty cute name.”

“Yeah, almost as predictable as a dragon named Sulfur, or a diamond dog named Copper, right?” Rainbow asked with a playful smirk.

Spike and Luna blushed as Fluttershy let out a little giggle. “Guess we’re all not that creative when it comes to names.”

“At least yours sounds a little creative,” Spike complimented. “Names are hard. I know it’s a rather stereotyped name, but Copper’s a good fallback for a Diamond Dog.”

“Oh, just you all wait until you hear Rainbow Dash’s character name,” Derpy said, snickering again.

“What’s wrong with my name?” Rainbow asked, huffing a little bit.

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Derpy said with a gentle shrug of her shoulders.

After convincing the talkative feline to calm down a little bit (and asked her to start respecting some personal boundaries) Sulfur waited to see if there would be any magic users who would be willing to come with her. Much as she expected, those with magical talent walked into the room where she was interviewing potential candidates, saw the crest on her armor, and immediately turned and walk out.

And then… SHE walked in.

“Well HELLO there!” the griffon stated as she walked in, grinning in delight as she looked around. “Uff, these meeting rooms are always so drab, aren’t they?” she asked. “They could at least put down a welcome mat, and maybe set out a little plate of snacks. Oh, I suppose they might not have the budget for that.”

“Hello,” Sulfur said, louder than necessary, attempting to get the woman’s attention. “And thank you for your interest in this campaign.”

“Oh, no trouble at all, it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.” She smirked and pointed at the Ifrit crest on her chest. “Specially with a spitfire like you leading.”

Sulfur’s eye twitched again, but she managed to keep her annoyance under wraps. “Yes well, I suppose you will do so long as you are a competent mage.”

“Competent is my middle name.” She chuckled and tapped her beak. “Well, actually I don’t have a middle name. Mom wanted it to be Taako, my father wanted it to be Abigail, and so they just agreed to disagree.”

“Fascinating,” Sulfur said. She didn’t find it fascinating in the slightest. “But if you are good enough in magic, I suppose I just need to know your name.”

“My name eh?” she asked. She pulled the wide-brimmed hat from her head and bowed before her with a flourish. “I am the feathered fiend of fire, the Lady of the eventide, the righter of wrongs wherever I go, and a lover of all that is fine and beautiful. You may call me Red Quinoa, Mistress of Magic!”

“So, I just wanted to point out,” Derpy said, making a ‘time out’ motion with her hands. “I’m pretty sure that’s pronounced ‘Queen-Wa’ Rainbow.”

Rainbow’s ear flicked and she shook her head. “No way. It’s gotta be Quen-oh-wah,” she said. “Like, that’s how it looks, right.”

“Why would you even name your character after a grain anyway?”

“What?” Rainbow asked.

Spike took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times and looked up Red Quinoa real quick before showing the screen to Rainbow. Her ears folded back a bit as she groaned, looking at the explanation. “Aww, c’mon! I thought it was some sort of badass warrior name! I don’t wanna be named after a chewy grain or anything.”

“Well, it’s too late to change it now,” Derpy stated with finality. “We’ve already started, so you’ll just have to deal with it. Besides, apart from the name, she’s a fine character.” She grinned. “So let’s actually get this adventure started!”

Her party assembled, Sulfur led her intrepid crew into the forest. Even as she did so, however, she could sense something strange about the woods. Her innate sense for evil was tingling slightly, but she could not feel where it was coming from, nor was it incredibly strong. But it was there, a constant, soft buzzing at the back of her skull.

Her canine companion walked next to her, his own hand fingering the head of a throwing axe hanging from his belt. “You feel it too, do you not?” she asked softly.

“Aye,” he said with a nod. “Thou cans’t feel it. The air is afoul. Something is amiss.”

She nodded. At least he kept his sentences short and sweet. “I doubt our company realizes this though,” she grumbled, glancing behind her. Ever since they had started their journey, the druid and the sorceress had done little but chat with one another. They chatted loudly and constantly, about any little thing, both of them seeming quite comfortable getting in each other’s face and laughing at any little joke. They even had their arms around one another, like old friends, or, gods forbid, lovers. “It’s like they were made for one another.

“Thou speakest as though thou is sure of their ineptness. Oeur companions are a strange bunch, but I’ve little reason to doubt their power.”

“That’s perhaps the most you have said since joining my party. I trust you do not speak these words lightly.”

Copper shook his head, glancing back at the two magic users, who were gayly singing a small tune to themselves as they all moved down the strangely uneven path leading deeper into the forest.

“Back to silence, eh?” she sighed, but did not press him. At the very least, he had spoken, which strangely put the paladin at ease. If a silent beast like him was willing to speak on their behalf, she’d continue to tolerate them for a while longer… so long as their behavior didn’t get them in trouble.

In due time, the company found themselves in front of the large, wooden gates of the village. The wooden walls separating it from the forest were about twice the height of an average pony, and its top had obvious ramparts for anyone who needed to peek over, or get a better view of any sort of flying threat. Sulfur vaguely wondered if this village had found themselves under attack many times before. “Right then…” she muttered. “I had assumed there would be someone waiting for us here, but the gates are closed… in fact, it doesn’t look like they’ve been opened in some time.”

“Pardon me,” Red Quinoa said, smiling as she walked past her, gently flexing her fingers. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?”

Sulfur blushed and cleared her throat as the griffon walked towards the front gate. “I-I was going to try that!” she protested. “I was just… you know, making an observation!”

“Well, make your observations when we’re inside,” she said, taking hold of her gnarled, thick, wooden staff and slamming the head of it against the gate.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Helloooo! Anyone in there?” she called, giving the gate another few raps.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

They received no answer for a long while. “Is… is no one home?” Nepeta asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Oh come on,” Red said with a huff. “Someone’s gotta be there. Hang on maybe I’m just not knocking hard enough!” She smiled and leaned back.

“I wouldn’t do that if I-”

WHAM!

Sulfur’s warning went ignored as the griffon reared back and slammed her shoulder against the door. She staggered back, hissing and clutching at her arm. “Ow, ow, ow, okay, not my best idea, admittedly!”

At last, however, a head poked up over the side of the wooden gate, glancing down at them, head tilted to the side in curiosity. “Oh,” the armored stallion said. “I guess you aren’t gnolls.”

“Uh… no we are not,” Sulfur called. “My name is Sulfur, of the Church of Ifrit. We received word that aid was requested here. I and my party-

“My party and I,” the stallion corrected her, earning an annoyed grunt from the dragon (and her player).

“My party and 'I' have come to assist in any way that we-”

“Sorry, no one here’s sent any sort of request.” the pony called, interrupting her again. “Not a bit.”

“Uh… but…” She cleared her throat.

“Please tell me you didn’t lead us to the wrong village,” Red whined, rubbing at her knees. “My poor chicken legs are about to give out on me!”

“But how many other places could there be out here?” Nepeta mused. “I mean, Mirkwood is pretty big and all, but there’s really only one or two pathways through it, and if there are a lot of nasty creatures in it, then it stands to reason that less targets would be good, but then again, more villages would mean more protection, so-”

“Both of you, please be silent,” Sulfur snapped, reaching into her travel bag and producing a letter. She waved it above her head. “I have here, a letter from your chief,” she called. “It has their seal and everything. It was sent to my abbot, who sent me in response.”

The pony blinked a few times, still staring down at them. Then it looked off into space, as though listening for a sound that was not coming. At last, he nodded. “Right, right, of course. My mistake then. Forgive me, it has been a hard few days. I will open the gates right away.”

Sulfur nodded. “Thank Ifrit for that.”

“I’ll say,” Red said with a smile. “I was NOT going to spend the night on the forest floor, that’s for sure. All those little bugs and rocks and dirt and dust all over the place.” She stuck out her tongue.”

Sulfur grit her teeth and did not answer the magic user as the sound of a large deadbolt being pulled could be heard, along with a board being removed from the front of the gate. It was slowly pushed open, the stallion from before standing there. “Please, all of you, come in.”

They nodded and the party moved as one inside. They stopped just as quickly as they saw a large crowd of ponies gathered in front of the gate. All staring at them. Smiling.

“All right, this is relatively unnerving,” Nepeta mused. “I mean, I enjoy being the center of attention, but this kind of ridiculous.”

Sulfur nodded in agreement, carefully fingering her sword again, wary of all this. Someone forced their way through the crowd, pushing to the very front. “Hello, hello,” they greeted. It was a mare, a relatively short and stocky one, bearing no wings or horn. Her coat was gray and her mane and tail a slight shade of off-yellow. Her mane was bushy and reached all the way down to her rear. “Welcome, welcome,” she greeted again, walking forward and grabbing Sulfur’s hand. “It’s so nice to see that you have heeded our call. Forgive me, yes, forgive me for not having a guard posted, ready to welcome you, but we’re all rather cautious these days. Yes, rather cautious.”

Sulfur nodded, eyeing her up and down. That tingle was still in the back of her head, but again, it neither grew nor shrank. It was just constantly humming. It warned her that something dangerous was near… something evil… but she just couldn’t pinpoint it.

Her palm stayed on the hilt of her weapon as she finally addressed the woman. “Yes, I heard mention of Gnolls, Miss…”

“Silver Scroll. Yes, that is my name. Yes, Silver Scroll. And yes, it is the Gnolls that are causing us some trouble. I will be happy to tell you all. Yes, tell you all. Please, come with me.” She nodded to the crowd, waving her arms quickly. “You all can go away now! Let our guests be, let them rest! Yes, let them rest!”

The crowd nodded, almost as one, and slowly started to move away, going back to whatever was their duty and task from before.

“Well,” Sulfur slowly turned to her party. “I think it is safe to say something strange is going on here.”

Red Quinoa gasped loudly and slapped her palms against her face. “Noooo, you think?” she asked.

Nepeta snickered a bit and shook her head as Sulfur’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to go with the chief and see what she has to say. While I am doing that, I want you three to wander around town. See if you can figure out anything about what’s going on around here, and if you find anything incriminating, try not to alert anyone about it and contact me immediately.”

Copper nodded his head. “As you say,” he said to her.

“Good, good.” She glanced at the druid and sorceress. “And for gods’ sake, please don’t go throwing your magic around. If they asked for a paladin of Ifrit specifically, I doubt they want to see you using that stuff here.”

“Oh come on, it’s not like I’ll be tossing fireballs and summoning demons left and right, what do you think I am, a barbarian?” She paused and glanced over at Copper. “Er, no offense.”

“None taken,” the canine assured her.

Nepeta nodded. “We’ll see what we can do. But you be pretty wary too.” Her nose twitched lightly. “She smells strange. I can’t put my finger on it, but keep her in your sight while you’re with her.”

“You need not worry about me. I’m a paladin,” she said with a grin. “I know how to handle myself.” She glanced between them for a moment. “Godspeed, all of you.” She turned, seeing the mare still waiting for her, and quickly hurried after her, her shield pulled close to her chest and her palm resting on the hilt of her blade.

#####

Nepeta wandered around the south side of the village for a good while. While the villagers still made her a little wary, her personality made her feel as though she at least had to try and socialize. So she did. She said ‘hello’ and ‘hi’ and ‘how are you’ to each person that she passed, but they either ignored her, or gave the smallest, most curt answer that they could muster, and did not bother answering any of her questions afterwards.

Frustrated, the sphinx decided on an old method of getting attention that almost always worked back in her homeland. If you wanted to draw the eyes to you, then you had to give them something to look at, after all. So, she gently stripped herself down to her birthday suit, laying her clothing and equipment to the side, hands on her hips. She started to strut about, swaying her hips side to side as she walked about, putting on a coy grin accompanied with bedroom eyes. She put a little bounce in her step, so that other parts of her would bounce as well. She arched her back as she walked, something that most other species would gawk at, but as a feline, she was easily able to push out her buttocks and bust at the same time, making sure all of her assets were on full display.

But no one even glanced at her. Nepeta's ears lowered in disappointment. Did ponies just not find cat women sexy anymore? Her frustration began to mount as she walked around, still completely starkers.

Eventually, she found herself walking towards a large garden of sorts. Her eyes widened as she saw the size of the plants growing from its soil. For a moment, her frustration at being ignored fell away. “Oh wow!” she said, hurrying forward, stopping next to it, examining the massive stalk in front of her. Glancing over at the mares tending to it, she said, “This is amazing! I didn’t think garden vegetables could get this big! What sort of…” she stopped, realizing two things. First, the mares were ignoring her… and pretending to do things (they were miming as though they were weeding the garden, but really all they were doing was bending over and raising their arms). Second, the plants in front of her were very, very out of place. Not only were they large, but many of them should not have been able to grow in this environment. Her eyes widened and she placed a hand against one. “Tell me your story,” she whispered to it, calling to the plant to give her an idea of what had gone on since it had sprouted.

Instead, what she received, was white hot pain. The Sphinx jumped back and hissed, hugging her hands under her arms. Whatever was going on here, the plants were just as hostile as the people. She had never encountered anything like this. Glaring at the nearby mares, she walked over to them. “Hey! What’s going on here? How are you able to get this garden to grow like this?”

No answer.

Her frustration boiled over. “Would you all stop ignoring me!” she said, stomping around and starting to flail her limbs, her claws unsheathing. She ended up knocking against the stalk of one of the plants and instantly, the two mares nearby jumped up and hurried over to her.

Seeing them approach, Nepeta smiled and sheathed her claws. “Well, I wasn't expecting a tantrum to get me what I wanted, but I- EEP!” She yelped as her arms were suddenly grabbed and the two mares wrestled her to the ground with relative ease. Nepeta wasn't weak, at least she liked to think she wasn't, but these two girls caught her by surprise, and soon, she was down on her stomach. One of the mares pulled her wrists behind her and sat down on her back, pinning her arms, wings, and tail out of the way, while the second sat upon her legs, pinning her down completely. “H-hey! Let go!” she gasped.

They did not. The two mares rubbed at her thick bottom for a moment before the two of them began to rapidly, and harshly, slap at her buttocks. Neither said anything, but they put all their strength into every smack.

SLAP! SMACK! WHAP! SLAP! SPLAT!

“OW! EEP! OOP! ISH! ISH!” The sphinx hissed and gasped, trying to buck and arch her back, attempting to wriggle out from under them, but they were putting their full weight against her, and her awkward positioning pretty much guaranteed that she was totally at their mercy.

And they were taking full advantage of that. Four palms working over two cheeks was definitely more efficient... and painful.

SPANK! SLAP! WHAP! WHAP! SMACK!

“OWWW! AWW! I'm sorry if I upset you! EEK! Come on, I'm sorry! AH! OW!

SPANK! SMACK! SPANK! SMACK! SPANK!

“MEEP! OOOF! No, come on! My tush huuurts! OWWW, my butt!”

They spanked and spanked and spanked, for several minutes, swatting away until her buttocks were a bright, throbbing red, and she was crying loudly. Then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped, with the two mares each giving her one last slap on each cheek, followed by a rather invasive squeeze of her flank before they slowly stood up and walked back to their original position, bending over and mimicking their weeding once again.

The sphinx sniffled and whimpered, groaning and reaching behind her, rubbing at her butt. “It was an accident!” she whined loudly, kicking her feet in frustration. “Ooof, it's swollen!” She whined and whimpered a bit more before slowly dragging herself back to her feet, still hugging and rubbing her buttocks. “Urf... grr... weird plants, ponies ignoring me, not even commenting on my butt a single time while they were smacking it... This place is so strange.” She shook her head, deciding it might be best if she went back, redressed herself, and told the others what she found.

“The worst part about all of this,” she mumbled, “Is that I can't even show off my spanked butt to anyone here! No one cares! Urgh, this day sucks!”

Fluttershy’s face was a deep crimson and she covered her face with her wings, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. “Did you have to be so vivid with how you described that, Derpy?”

The others laughed softly, and Derpy giggled softly, rubbing her own slightly red face. “I guess I was getting a little bit descriptive, but you're the one who botched the roll. Anyway, roll for knockout damage.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked. “I have to roll for damage for that?”

“Only knockout damage, not lethal damage. Not like they were stabbing your butt or anything.

Wincing, the yellow pegasus rolled her die. “Two,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Only two?” Rainbow asked. “They were at it for a while, weren't they?”

“Well, she's also got to deal with swelling, which means anything she wears on her waist will be ill fitting until her butt heals,” Derpy said happily.

Fluttershy just squeaked and continued to wiggle softly in her seat while Luna leaned forward. “I suppose we should move on? Rainbow, why don’t we find out what your little grain is up to next?”

Rainbow gave her a slight glare, but shrugged. “Sure, sounds fine to me. Derpy?”

“Right, right.” The snickering dungeon master cleared her throat for a moment. “Let’s see, Red Quinoa, Red Quinoa…”

The griffon hummed to herself as she walked down the well worn dirt path near the center of the town. She smiled as she looked around, watching the villagers wander around aimlessly. None of them seemed to be in any hurry, or really have any idea where they were going. They were just moving for the sake of moving. Even the ones who were standing at the various stalls and shop windows weren’t doing anything beyond standing there.

The mage rubbed her beak a few times. “Hmmm,” she mused. “Well, not gonna learn anything just standing here.” She walked forward, towards one of the shops, an open window on the bakery. A Mare stood there, dressed in an apron (and nothing else, she realized) and staring at her with the absolute, biggest smile on her face. Red Quinoa put on her own charming smile and leaned on the side of the window. “Well hello there, you beautiful thing,” she greeted.

“Hello,” she responded, the smile still on her face.

The conversation ended there for a while. Red Quinoa tilted her head. The mare tilted her own head. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I’d like?”

“Am I supposed to do that?” the mare asked.

“Well, that’s generally what ponies working the counter are supposed to do.”

“All right then.” She nodded. “What would you like.”

“Well, I was thinking I might like a great big loaf of your finest white bread, but after laying eyes on you? I think I’m more in the mood for a pair of big, soft buns!”

“Buns?” she asked. “Buns… oh, I think I understand.”

“Heh, do you?” Red asked with a shrug. “Well, I mean, it wasn’t exactly subtle, but-” she was cut off as the mare turned around and hopped up onto the window sill, pushing herself backwards until her bare buttocks wobbled over the side of the sill, leaving them totally exposed. “Uh…”

“Here you are,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “I’m afraid these are the only buns I have. These are buns, yes?”

“Of… a sort,” Red said. She was rather surprised by how forward she was. And again, another glance at the passing villagers revealed that no one seemed to care. “Hmm… well this is kind of boring,” the griffon muttered, though she reached out and squeeze the large buttocks in front of her. No one here seemed to know… well, anything. Her perfectly crafted innuendo was wasted here, and that was incredibly annoying. Experimentally, she tried giving the mare a firm pinch, her claws digging into the soft flesh of her rear. She didn’t react at all. She gave it a brisk smack, and not so much as a squeak. “Can you not feel anything?”

“Should I be feeling something?” she asked, staring blankly into the bakery ahead of her.

Sighing, Red Quinoa disengaged. “Where’s the fun in flirting when no one here even knows what flirting is?” She shook her head, downtrodden, and started to walk away, pausing to let a pair of mares pass who were mimicking having a conversation, though neither of them seemed to be saying anything to one another. As one final desperate experiment, Quinoa reached down and grabbed their skirts as they walked by, gently lifting them up and watching their bare buttocks bounce and wobble as they walked. She blushed. “Well… that’s not too bad…” she muttered.

Grinning, and realizing that no one around her seemed that off put by what she was doing, she whistled to herself as she walked about, flipping up skirts and pulling down trousers around her, making her own fun, taking in every single tush she could. It wasn’t as fun as getting a mare or stallion all blushy by paying them compliments or teasing them, but hey, if she was going to be stuck in a village where she couldn’t romance a single individual, she was at least going to make her own fun.

“Wow, okay, so we have two perverts in the party,” Spike teased with a laugh.

Rainbow laughed as well. “It’s not nearly as bad as strutting about naked for attention. Even if my character is doing it out of boredom.

“W-Well, Nepeta’s a naturalist, so she doesn't normally wear clothes anyways!”

“I’d just like to know what either of these events has to do with the story proper,” Luna said with a huff. “Can we just skip Spike’s solo scene and move back to the actual story?”

“Oh come on, Luna, that’s not fair,” Spike said. “I promise, no pervy shenanigans, and we’ll keep it sweet and short.”

“Besides, it’s not like all the butts were totally worth nothing,” Derpy said, smiling down at her notes. “Now you know just how weird things have gotten in the village.”

“Uh-huh.” Luna rolled her eyes. “I think you’re all just really perverted.”

Spike slowly looked up at his aunt with a look that said he had plenty of stories he could tell about her. Luna shot back a glare that essentially said ‘You leave my harem games out of this.’ before turning her attention back to her character sheet.

“Anyway,” Spike said, “Are we moving on with Copper?”

Derpy nodded. “Right, let’s go.”

Copper didn’t speak to anyone or anything. He merely observed all the strangeness that was happening around him. And as he did so, he saw more oddities. While the plants remained healthy, even the weeds and the wild flowers poking up out of the ground, everything else looked neglected. The houses were showing obvious signs of wear and tear, as though no one had thought to clean them. The storehouses were the most troubling. The smell emanating from them was incredibly pungent. Rotting meat and molding vegetables suggested weeks, perhaps months of neglect. Were the people here not eating? One would assume that any place struggling would have cleared out the store houses totally, but these supplies had not been touched or tended too for a good, long while.

He gazed over at a pair of ponies passing by. Their clothing suggested laborers, made from common material, cheaply made, starting to fray at the edges. His keen eyes, however, could pick up no sign of malnourishment or weakness. While they moved stiffly and strangely, they were not slow, and did not seem to be lacking energy, or begging for food and water.

The diamond dog went to the well next and looked it over. The bucket was bone dry, and had not been lowered into the water for a good long while. Looking down into the well, peering as deep as he could, he could not see the bottom, encased in shadows… but some sort of strange scent seemed to be wafting up from it, an earthy, musty scent...

He reexamined the plants around him and realized that any sort of garden area was completely overgrown, not just with weeds and wild grass and plants, but the fruits and vegetables that had been growing there to begin with. They were bigger and healthier than he had ever seen before. He tilted his head and reached up, gently pulling a very ripe tomato off of its vine. He examined it, twisting it this way and that. Firm and perfect, not a single blemish on it anywhere. In fact, the entire plant was completely in tact. And so were the plants around it.

This wasn’t right. Even in the most immaculately kept gardens with the most vigilant of gardeners, there would at least be some evidence of insects or animals managing to get in and ravage at least a little bit of it.

He blinked, suddenly aware of eyes on him. He turned, eyes widening as he saw a huge group of villagers standing there, looking at him. Staring. Not just staring, they were glaring at him. He blinked again and looked between them and the tomato in his hand. Clearing his throat, he carefully laid the tomato down on the soil, giving it a light pat, and stepped away from the gardens. All of them continued to glare at him and he began to finger the head of the axe hanging from his belt. Thankfully, they slowly started to go about their business again, but their eyes all remained on him for an uncomfortably long time. Even when it meant they started to walk into walls or trip over anything, their eyes never left him, not until they were a good distance away.

Copper breathed easily as they finally left him be. He’d have to be careful of how he was treading around here. But first, he had to go and find Sulfur. She’d want to know about all of this right away.

“There, see?” Spike asked. “No lewdness, no perversion, just straight up plot progression and clue gathering. Happy, Luna?”

“No, not really,” the alicorn huffed. “That was boring.”

“Wow, you’re never happy are you?” Rainbow asked with a roll of her eyes. “Loosen up a little bit huh? Have some fun with the situation.”

“Well, following the path at least makes my job easier,” Derpy said with a giggle. “Anyway, we’ve still got one more one-on-one session to do, and that’s for Sulfur.”

“Well, nothing ridiculous is going to happen here, that’s for sure,” Luna declared.

“Boring,” Rainbow, Spike, and even Fluttershy stated, making the mare blush.

“Oh hush up, all of you, we’re on an adventure, not a perverted concert tour.”

“What sort of concerts were you going to, Luna?” Derpy asked.

The educator shrugged and waved a hand. “The sixties were a heck of a decade, Derpy.”

“You’ll have to share some stories some time,” she giggled. “Anyway…”

While all of this was happening, Sulfur accompanied the chieftain back to her hut in the center of the village and sat down in one of the chairs. The chief paced about the room for a long while. Sulfur took in the house around her. It was immaculate in terms of organization, but it looked as though it hadn’t been cleaned or dusted in a long while, and almost everything in there did not seem as though it had been touched in a long while. Bowls and silverware rested wherever they wished. The bookshelf looked as though the books had not been handled in a while. Even the bed, while looking neat, did not look like it had been slept on in a long while.

Perhaps the chief was just that stressed? She knew some in her order who had been there before. It would also explain her rather erratic behavior. “So then,” she asked gently, “What… do you know about what’s been happening here?”

“The gnolls,” she answered, nodding her head several times. “Yes, yes, it’s all because of the gnolls and their dark magics.”

Sulfur’s eyes widened. “I had heard about the gnolls as we were entering the village, but… magic as well?”

“Yes, yes. I know not what sort, no, not at all, but ever since they started to move closer and closer to our poor village, they have been pushing at our defenses, trying to break in. When that failed, strange things began to happen. Everyone started acting odd.” She shook her head. “Yes, very odd… I am… worried. Scared. Afraid.” She twisted around to glance at Sulfur. “The gnolls are powerful. Not enough to get through our defenses, as they have tried, but if they break us with magic…”

“Don’t worry,” Sulfur stated. “I will make sure that they, and their filthy magic, do not harm you or your people any more.” She stood up, setting a hand against her chest. “I swear on my life as a paladin of Ifrit, they will trouble you no more. Just tell me where I can find them.”

“Find them? Yes, the Gnolls always attack at our south gate, yes. The south gate.” she pointed out the window towards the far gate. “If you go deeper into the forest, yes, deeper into the forest, yes, you will find them. Please, get rid of them. Yes, get rid of them.”

“I will. For now, get some rest, and hold down the fort here. I’d suggest not letting anyone else in or out of the village now.”

“I will bear your advice in mind, Paladin. Good luck. Yes, very good luck to you. Let us know as soon as you can about your… success, yes?”

“Rest assured, we’ll be back before the day is out. May Ifrit’s flames bless your home.” She bowed her head and turned, slowly walking out of the house.

“Yes… flames and all that,” the chief said, watching her go.

Outside, Sulfur found her three companions waiting. The magic users immediately ran towards her and started speaking animatedly about what they had encountered. Sulfur just stared blankly at them in the hopes that they would eventually shut up and start talking normally so she could actually understand what was being said.

Thankfully, Copper came to her rescue, walking forward and quickly swatting the sphinx and griffon on their backsides, drawing their attention away from her. They yelped and glared at him, but did close their mouths. Sulfur took a deep breath. “Well, we have our objective. Did you find anything?”

Copper nodded gently. Before he could open his mouth to tell her, however, she walked past him, making him tilt his head. “You can tell me when we’re on the road. I don’t want to waste too much time standing around.”

“Wait, wait, where are we going?” Nepeta asked. “This place is really weird, Sulfur, I think we should-”

“When we find a deal with the gnolls, we’ll have solved the problem. If those beasts have magic, there’s no doubt that whatever you saw that was strange here, it was caused by their magic. That would probably explain why my sense for evil is constantly going off. This place is probably filled with dark magic.”

“Wait, gnolls? With magic?” Red Quinoa blinked. “And magic? Here? But I don’t sense any spells or magic hanging over this place, and my sense for magic is-”

“Your magic is similar to this, I understand that much,” she said with a huff. “And I brought you along to assist in dealing with enemies that can use magic, but unless you can dispel whatever’s hanging over this village here and now, we’re going to march out there and take out the source of this magic.”

The griffon scowled lightly at her. “Wow, okay, first of all, super rude of you. Second of all, if there is magic hanging over this place, it’s gotta be some of the most intricate, stealthy magic every crafted, something that might take months, even years to properly craft, if an experienced sorceress can’t sense it. Third, even if I could sense the magic, which I can’t, so there probably isn’t anything here, I’d need to know it’s nature, or at least how it was cast, before I could do anything about dispelling it.”

“All the more reason to go out there and deal with the gnolls. I see no reason why the leader of this village would have lied to me.”

“I can think of at least three good reasons, but fine, you’re our fearless leader or whatever. If that’s what you wanna do.”

“It is.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I suggest, if you wish to be paid for your services, if you have nothing constructive to add to this investigation, you hold your heretical tongue!”

Red Quinoa just glared at her for a moment, and after the silence had a chance to reign, Sulfur turned away and started to walk towards the south gate. Red Quinoa gave a slight snort as she followed after her. “You’re lucky you’re so damn cute,” she muttered.

“Yeesh, Luna,” Rainbow said with a smirk.

“Sorry, was I getting a bit too in character?” she asked, frowning. “I wasn’t yelling at you, Rainbow, rest assured.”

“No, no, I really like it,” Rainbow grinned. “We’re playing different characters, there should be some conflict there. I like this dynamic, and it’s keeping the story a bit more interesting.”

Spike and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “Besides,” Spike noted, “From the way that Derpy was grinning, I think it’s safe to say that everything’s going all according to her plan.

She blinked a little bit and glanced up over her screen, quickly wiping the grin from her face. “No, not at all, nope!” she said, shaking her head, her hair falling in front of her eyes briefly. She giggled happily. “But this is still going great, I love how you all are playing this. Um, maybe we should take a break though? We’ve been going for a little while now, and I think I could use a bathroom break.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Spike said. “So quick break and then we’ll come back and move onto the next part?”

“Right. I think it’s safe to say we’re going to have an encounter coming up soon,” Fluttershy said. “With Gnolls…” she sighed a bit.

“Something wrong, Fluttershy?”

“I just wish ponies would use gnolls as something other than villains at some point. I mean, they can be used as a playable race and everything.”

“Well, to be fair, they are a little bit more feral than the other main races,” Luna said. “They make good villains!”

“But they’re so cute,” the pegasus argued.

“Cute?” Spike asked. “The big, slobbering hyenas? With the hunched backs and the uneven fangs? They’re cute?”

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Rainbow said with a grin, taking out her phone. “Spike, come here. I wanna introduce you to a little site called Ogre-booru…”

Chapter 15: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 2)

Chapter 15: Of Ogres and Oubliettes pt 2

The group reconvened about ten minutes later, refreshed and ready to continue. Derpy, after her trip to the bathroom, was already back at her seat, scratching and scrabbling at her notes a bit, smirking a little. Whenever one of the others shuffled behind her, she would turn over all of her stuff, hiding it from view. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “It’s not like we’re trying to sneak a peek, Derpy.”

“Well still, I don’t want anyone seeing what I’m doing.”

“Are you actually adding stuff?” Spike asked.

“A little bit, here and there.” She shrugged. “I try to write out some contingencies in case things don’t go the way I predicted, and I did have a few ideas for some new encounters I wanted to throw in.”

“Um, didn’t you have plenty of stuff before?” Fluttershy asked.

Luna nodded in agreement. “You don’t want this to bloat out of control, you know.”

Derpy rolled her mismatched eyes. “It’ll be fine. I promise. It’s not like I’m gonna load it down with ultra high-leveled monsters in an attempt to get you all killed. That’s not gonna happen…” she grinned. “At least not until you’re all super high leveled too.”

“Derpy, I swear to faust, if you try to send us to Wonderland…” Rainbow warned.

“What’s Wonderland?” Spike asked, tilting his head. Fluttershy nodded as well, not sure what was being talked about.

Luna groaned and leaned back, running a hand over her face. “Wonderland was an early, early adventure, back from the first edition of O&O.”

“Was it any good?” Spike inquired. He shrunk back as both Luna and Rainbow glared at him. “So… that’s a no?”

“It’s meant to kill you,” Luna said firmly. “Literally everything in that adventure is an ultra-high powered enemy that will attack you almost on sight.” She shook her head. “I played it when it first came out, and I can tell you from firsthand experience, I rolled up five new characters by the time my party reached the end of the adventure. And then…” she clapped her hands together. “Total party kill. Right at the end. The DM wouldn’t stop laughing about it the rest of the night.”

“Ouch,” Derpy winced. “I bet you stopped playing with that DM afterwards, right?”

“It was my sister,” she grumbled lightly.

Another wince, and again, Spike had to hold back snickers. That would probably explain why Luna absolutely refused to play tabletop games of any kind with Celestia anymore.

“And what about you, Rainbow?” Derpy asked. “I mean, you didn’t start playing until third edition, right?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I was curious and looked up some info on a bunch of older campaigns when I was looking for some ideas for my own at the time, and just reading that thing made me feel like cringing.” She wriggled a little bit and shook her head.

“Mental note… see about adapting that one for fifth edition,” Derpy muttered, scratching a note to herself on her paper. She ignored the glowers that got her from everyone around her. “Okay, we ready to continue?”

Sulfur sighed to herself as the group made their way deeper into the forest. Just like the village, just like when they had first entered it, it was unusually silent. No animals made a noise as they moved deeper into the trees, and a small fog had started to roll in around them. That didn’t seem natural. It was quiet… too quiet…

Or at least it would have been, if the druid and the sorceress weren’t busy talking, and talking, and talking, and talking and…

Gods, how did someone even manage to have that many words in their mouth?!

“I’m telling you, there’s no way whatever happened in the village could be magical,” Red Quinoa stated. “There should be some sort of magical residue left behind, some sort of trail that would lead back to wherever it originated from, be it from a location, the original caster, or some sort of artifact or whatnot. Magic doesn’t just spontaneously seep out into the world.”

“I beg to differ,” Nepeta countered. “All of nature carries with it its own magic of a distinct flavor. My own powers derive from being able to tap into that natural magic, allowing me to speak to plants and animals and whatnot. And it’s why we’re able to use spells to sense the life force of others, and why the undead don’t give off something like that.”

“Okay, point taken, but sensing a life force is different from sensing the magical buildup and residue from actually expelling magic, or concentrating it on a single spot or object. I might not be able to sense life, but I can sense magic, and I can tell you right now, that if someone DID cast a spell in that village, they have to be, like… a magical ninja or something!”

“...What’s a ninja?” Nepeta asked.

“Would you two be quiet!” Sulfur snapped, twisting around to face them. “I can barely hear myself think! Gods, what does it matter HOW they were enchanted? It’s obvious that they WERE enchanted. I am not interested in how it came to be, I just want to undo it.”

“You were plenty interested in the how when it was pointing towards the gnolls,” Red noted. “And like I’ve been saying, if I could actually identify the sort of magic that was used, we might not even have to fight at all.”

“Fighting is quicker,” she stated. “Besides, gnolls are a disgusting, savage race, with little to recommend them beyond their strength. If they’re learning how to use magic? All the more reason to put this particular encampment down.”

Nepeta’s hackles rose a bit and she let out a soft hiss. “I resent that disrespect for life,” she growled. “You are a paladin, is it not your duty to defend life?”

“Life worth saving, druid. I see no gain in letting a bunch of monsters free.”

“Monsters? They are capable of thought,” Nepeta said, taking a dangerous step forward.

“Um, girls?” Quinoa said, raising a claw.

“A necromancer is capable of thought as well, but would you abstain from calling THEM a monster when their entire reason for existence is perverting the sanctity of life and death?”

“Ladies?” Quinoa said again.

“If it is capable of thought, of understanding, there is a chance of talking them down, of understanding their stance and coming to some sort of compromise!”

“Compromise?” the paladin said incredulously, pulling herself up to her full height, glowering down at the smaller woman with a contemptuous snarl on her lips. “It’s already bad enough that I have to work with those who use magic in any capacity, you expect me to give any quarter or consideration to those who use that perversion of the natural forces of our world to actively harm others!”

“Oh, of course, why would I expect a Paladin of Ifrit to understand anything about the nuances of magic in this world when they equate a water production spell to a giant fireball!”

“Listen you-”

“HEY!” Quinoa shouted, raising her staff up and whapping both the druid and the paladin on their foreheads, just enough to get their attention.

“WHAT?!” they both snarled at her, turning their glares on the sorceress as they rubbed at their heads.

Quinoa motioned around her. “Where’s Copper?”

They blinked and glanced around, noting a distinct lack of diamond dog around them. Sulfur let out a loud curse and slammed the point of her massive shield into the ground. “Gods take this accursed place!” she snarled. “First I have to put up with two obnoxious magic users and now one of our party’s gone completely missing! What else could-”

“Please, don’t finish that statement,” Nepeta begged. “The last thing we need is for a devout to go and tempt fate.”

“You think I’m obnoxious?” Red asked with a sniff.

Sulfur groaned and rolled her eyes. “Forget about it. Let’s just find Copper before-”

“Before what?” the diamond dog asked, slowly walking out of the foliage.

“Copper!” Nepeta smiled. “You’re all right! We were worried about you!”

“Well, we were worried when we realized that you weren’t with us,” Quinoa said with a shrug.

“Where were you?” Sulfur demanded. “When did you break away from us? And for what purpose.”

“Hush,” he said, raising his hand gently. “You’ll alert the Gnolls.”

“The gnolls?” she asked. “Are they close?”

He nodded gently. “Aye. I found them.”

“Is that why you went off on your own?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?” Sulfur growled. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“Easier to confirm with one person,” he explained. “I saw signs of their movement, and it was easy to find you again. I knew what I was doing.”

“All the same… don’t… don’t split from us again!” Sulfur growled. “Seriously, I don’t like being alone with those two.” She pointed between the sphinx and the griffon, who just smiled and waved at her.

“Fair enough,” he said. “Follow. And keep quiet.” He turned and started to walk back the way he had come, deeper into the woods.

“Yes… Keep. Quiet,” Sulfur said, turning her attention back to the magic uses.

The two of them glanced at one another, shrugging gently. “As the princess commands,” Red Quinoa said with a smirk, following after them.

After a bit of walking, Copper pointed into a particularly thick part of the forest, where the trees were growing so thick that there was barely enough room for them to squeeze between. “In there,” he said. “The trees in this place are made to grow thick, as though protecting something. The underbrush is lightly spaced to make small travel paths. The scent of fur is still fresh, and the trees are marked with small claw scratches meant to indicate the start and end of their territory.”

“And you’re sure the marks are not of regular beasts?” she asked.

“Too high up to be for wild cats. Bears rub their fur off on trees to mark them. Most canids urinate to mark territory.”

“Ew,” Quinoa muttered, sticking her tongue out.

“Oh hush, nature is fascinating,” Nepeta scolded. “So then this is the start of their territory?”

“In there, yes,” Copper indicated the large wall of trees. “Deliberately moved and planted to hide whatever’s inside. There is an entryway some ways around the front.” He motioned for them to follow and again the troop set off, careful to walk along the small, single file path hidden underneath the foliage. Soon enough, they came across the entryway. It was basically two large, criss-crossing trees, forming something resembling an archway, with a break in the thick trees that surrounded it, though the break was only large enough for them to walk in one at a time.

“All right!” Nepeta said, smiling as she walked forward. “Let’s get in there and get this over with.”

“Wait!” Sulfur said, reaching towards her. “Don’t go rushing in!”

“We’re not going to surprise attack them, Sulfur,” Nepeta argued. “I want us to try to approach this from a diplomatic angle before we try anything eeEEEELSE!” she let out a loud shriek as she was suddenly yanked up into the air by her ankle, a long, inconspicuous vine snapping upwards and holding her above the ground, about an arm’s length, upside down. Her skirt fell down around her middle, revealing her bare backside and peach to the world. The sphinx let out a loud yelp and tried to push her skirt back up, though it didn’t do much for her.

Fluttershy groaned loudly and gently thumped her forehead against the table in front of her. The others couldn’t help but laugh at her. “I can’t believe I just walked right into that,” she whined.

“And this,” Derpy said with a devilish grin, “Is why you always want to have someone on your team who has at least a couple of levels in rogue.”

“Or, you know, check for traps before rushing in,” Spike mumbled, glancing at Fluttershy, who looked back apologetically from her bent position.

“S-sorry,” she mumbled, sighing.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Rainbow said. “Not like it was fatal or anything… and it gives us a really nice view.”

“Curb your imagination, Rainbow Dash,” Luna scolded. “Focus on what’s coming.” She glanced at Derpy. “If she counted on this, I think we’re going to have a fight on our hands.”

Derpy cracked her knuckles. “Oh yeah you do!”

Out of the underbrush around them, a rustling could be heard. Sulfur growled and yanked her sword from its sheath, just in time for four large, savage looking gnolls to pop out from under the leaves and brush, or drop down from a nearby tree. Two with large axes, one with a sword and a shield, and the fourth pulling back a bowstring, a large arrow notched in it.

“Looks like we have a fight on our hands,” Sulfur said.

Copper pat her shoulder and shook his head when she glanced at him. He pointed up towards the squirming sphinx above them. She’d dropped her staff and had no way of easily reaching her tools or items right now. She was helpless. And the bowman probably wouldn’t think twice of sticking an arrow between her ribs if they made a threatening move.

“Looks like we’re going to have to try for Nepeta’s plan,” Quinoa offered.

Growling again, she sighed and lowered the point of her blade to the ground, though she refused to sheath it. “We come in peace!” she called to them. “We mean no harm. We merely wish to speak with you on a matter most urgent.” Her tone was stern and commanding, and the gnolls tilted their head this way and that as they listened for a moment before glancing at one another, communicating through their body language. Sulfur physically relaxed when she saw the bowman relax his own grip and place his arrow back into its quiver.

“Come,” one of them barked, its voice rough as gravel. “We take you to queen.”

Red smiled a little bit. “See? It pays to be nice, now and then!”

“We’ll see,” Sulfur said gently, watching as one of them walked over to Nepeta and cut her down. The sphinx dropped down onto his shoulder and he pat her backside, making her yelp as he started to walk away with her. She squirmed and flapped her wings a few times, but he held her in place, giving her a few swats on her rump to get her to stay still. “Hey!” Sulfur growled, taking a few bold steps forward. “Let her down, this instant!”

“She comes like this,” The gnoll responded, giving her another squeeze. “You follow. You be good. She be fine.”

“No choice,” Copper said as he walked forward. “Do as they say for now.”

“Well, at least they didn’t take our weapons, right?” Quinoa asked as they started to walk.

One of the gnolls, the one with the sword, turned to them. “Also, you give weapons.” His lips curled into a smirk. “And clothes.”

“Seriously, Derpy?” Rainbow asked, as the other pegasus leaned back and let out a loud laugh. “Was the whole clothing part really necessary? And you only added that in because of what Red said!”

“Well, that’s what you get for saying something that your dungeon master can hear!” she said between bouts of later.

Spike flushed lightly and leaned on his hand, drumming his fingers on his character sheet. “Well, great. Now we’re naked and helpless, and they have Nepeta over a barrel-”

“A shoulder,” Luna corrected.

Spike shot his aunt a light glare and ignored her silly grin before shaking his head. “You better hope we can talk our way out of this, Rainbow.”

“No worries guys,” Rainbow said, leaning back and stretching her arms in the air. “I got this.”

Sulfur couldn’t remember the last time she had suffered such an indignity as this. Traipsing through the woods, led by a bunch of savages, defenseless, her weapons, armor, and shield in the clutches of said savages, totally nude. She kept her arms crossed over her chest the entire way, keeping a glare firmly on Quinoa’s nude form. If she was at all put off by this, she gave no indication about it. In fact, she seemed quite jaunty for someone who had just been stripped totally nude, walking forward with a bit of a spring in her step, which made her breasts bounce enticingly, and her feathered buttocks much the same. She considered looking away, but the alternative was looking directly ahead of her, where Copper walked, his muscled hide flexing with every wide stride he took.

Nope, she was already dealing with some very confusing feelings about female anatomy, she didn’t have to double down by looking at guy butt.

Nepeta had also been stripped, though the gnoll carrying her seemed to be so fond of her that he was now carrying her naked form bridal style. The sphinx was quite all right with this and lounged luxuriously in his arms, letting out a delighted purr as she kept one claw wrapped around the back of his neck. The gnoll in question had quite a goofy grin on his face as they walked.

She’d give the gnolls this, they hadn’t attempted to manhandle them at any point. They’d kept their distance while they’d stripped and handed over their things, and not a one of them had attempted to lay a finger on any of them since, save for the one who now seemed to be under Nepeta’s thrall.

They finally arrived deep in the center of the ring of trees, where they found some form of a rudimentary village. Well, Sulfur felt ‘village’ was a bit of a stretch. The dwellings were little more than large animal hides stitched together and then tied to branches and saplings, bent to form something of a roof. The foliage had been trampled down, and there were areas that had been dug out for fire pits and such, but there wasn’t a single permanent construction among the lot. The closest that they had was some sort of massive, dead tree that sat at the center of their settlement, an absolute giant. It wasn’t just dead, Sulfur realized, it looked as though it had been petrified. The area around its trunk, moving out in a six foot circle, had been dug out and replaced with well tended soil, sprouting a uniform bed of flowers, shimmering in exotic colors. Nepeta’s eyes widened. “Ars Grena,” she said aloud, catching the attention of a gathering of other gnolls nearby.

The one holding her blinked and set her down. “You know Meadowbrook?”

“Aye,” she said with a nod, immediately getting to one knee and placing her palms on the ground as she glanced at the tree. “The Goddess Meadowbrook is my deity. I lead my life in her service.”

“Hoho, little kitty has good taste,” a new voice said from behind them. All of them turned to see one of the largest gnolls they had ever laid eyes on. Sulfur could stand eye to eye with the ones who had brought them here, no problem, but this one? She stood a good head higher than her!

She wore naught but a loin cloth covering her nethers, the rest of her form totally naked, her muscles rippling with every step that she took. A gigantic, double-bladed battle axe clung to her back from some sort of leather holster. “Not often someone come here who know of Meadowbrook!” she announced, her voice more smooth than that of her fellows, but still just as firm and aggressive. Her expression soured a little as she advanced on them, pulling her axe free of its holder and resting its head on the ground in front of her. “Not often some like you come here either, though. You bring weapons. You not ponies. So… why you here?” she quirked a brow. “Why you look for us.”

Sulfur tensed. “We are here on behalf of the pony village to the north of here,” she explained. “To stop you and your incessant attacks on them, as well as break whatever spell you’ve put upon them.

Silence fell over the encampment. A ring of gnolls began to form around them, the four of them backing up against one another.

And then, they laughed. “Magic? Us! Lizard, you quite funny!” she laughed. “I am queen of this tribe. We believe in Meadowbrook, but we no druids! We no wizards! We fight with claws and steel, not magic.”

“But…” Sulfur frowned. “They were all acting so strangely…”

“You tricked,” she stated simply. “You led here by mistake.” She smirked. “You look good, and you make me laugh, so you all go free…” she snapped her great fingers and pointed to the gnolls that had led them here. “Give em back their things and get em out.”

“Hold!” Sulfur growled. “I’ll not take your word alone that we were tricked!”

“You take ponies word. Why ours different.”

She glowered at the larger woman. “You still attacked them, though.”

“We have reasons,” she stated, putting a hand on her hip. “Gnoll business. Not your business. You wanna know? You go elsewhere.”

“We’ve no time for your games!” Sulfur snarled, taking a step forward. “Ponies’ lives are on the line! I demand answers, or I will call upon the god of hellfire and raze this entire place to the ground.”

Again, silence.

Then she snarled. “A whore of Ifrit,” she growled. “Bringer of fire. Bringer of death.” Slowly, she stepped forward again, pulling her axe up. “You want to know? Then you fight me… give me reason to let you leave now.”

Sulfur tensed and gulped, slowly taking up a fighter’s stance. Nepeta frowned deeper as the circle of gnolls started to close in on them. “Wow,” she noted, “You’re REALLY bad at this whole diplomacy thing,” she grumbled.

“Well you certainly weren’t speaking up!”

“How could I?! YOU WERE SHOUTING YOUR HEAD OFF!”

As the two of them argued, Quinoa slowly sauntered forward, humming gently to herself. She stood between the rest of the party and the angered gnoll queen, who stopped her approach and watched the little mage with interest. “Hi, hello there!” she greeted, bowing with a flourish, flicking her tail up, giving Sulfur a nice glance at her tail end as she did so. “Please, excuse my friend over there, she has a chronic case of righteousness and doesn’t know up from down when she gets heated.” She ignored Sulfur’s snort and pulled herself up. “We do apologize for barging in like this, but our intentions are pure and we are on a bit of a time crunch. Now, I’m sure that we can come to some sort of agreeme-”

WHAM!

The Gnoll queen’s heavy fist slammed into the small griffon’s face and sent her tumbling, end over end, back towards the others. She laughed, as did the others. “Puny thing… You wanna know, you fight. You lose, you stay here and we have fun with all you.”

“Well done, Sulfur, getting us into this situation,” Nepeta hissed. “And here I was thinking Quinoa would get us into trouble.” She glanced at Copper. “Any ideas, big guy?”

He shook his head, eyes scanning the crowd of gnolls, looking for a way to make their escape.

“Relax,” Quinoa said, slowly standing up, brushing herself off, spitting onto the ground, and finally checking to see if she was bleeding at all. “I got this.”

Sulfur’s eyes widened. “Don’t be an idiot, griffon!” she hissed. “She laid you flat with a single punch. I don’t care what sort of spell you have planned, there’s no way that you can beat her!”

“I said relax,” she said, slowly turning towards her, her eyes serious. “I can handle this. I’ll get us out of this and get the answers we need. But I need you to trust me,” she said. “Can you do that?”

Sulfur frowned, her gaze shifting from anger to worry to terror, and finally to acceptance. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Very well,” she whispered. “I’ll trust you. Just, don’t go getting yourself killed, all right?”

“Nice to know you care,” she said with a chuckle, winking at her.

The dragon blushed. “I-I do not care, but I… need your help, is all.”

“Obviously.” She brushed a hand over her head feathers, took a deep breath, and turned back to the queen, who stood there, grinning at them. She started to walk forward again, cracking her knuckles, a determined look in her eyes.

“Back again?” she asked with a smirk, rearing back for another punch. “That’s fine. I can hit more, if little birdy wants!”

“Hit me again!” Red Quinoa said loudly.

“E-eh?” the gnoll blinked.

Derpy blinked several times. “Uh… what?”

Rainbow grinned. “Just get ready to roll the dice, Derpy.” She held up her D20. “I’m gonna put this charisma of mine to good use!”

Red Quinoa nodded. “I’ve never seen a more perfect punch before,” she praised, slowly making her way towards her, palms upturned, and a wide smile on her face. “Your prowess is amazing. I can’t imagine how long it must have taken you to learn to throw a blow like that with such finesse and power.”

The queen’s ears lowered and she dropped her axe again, not expecting to hear such words. “Oh well, uh… just a punch,” she said, rubbing the back of her head. “Just throw fist, fist hit thing, thing go down.”

“A simple art yes, but one that you have no doubt perfected.” Quinoa was right up next to her now, and reached out, carefully placing a hand on her hip. “Oh, and your entire body is built for the fight. For the hunt. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve known many a woman in my day, but I’ve yet to see anyone, of any species as muscled and powerful, and yet as lithe and flexible looking as you.”

“Y-you trying to fool me,” she growled, taking a step back. “No one find me pretty!”

“No, no, you are not pretty,” Quinoa affirmed. “You are beautiful.”

“Beautiful?” She snorted. “Now I know you lie.”

“What?” Quinoa shrugged. “Everyone has their own standard of beauty. Some might prefer a soft, elegant, pale unicorn with an ample bosom and a thick rear, but I? Oh, I prefer a woman who could easily crush my head between her thighs, could lift me up above her head with one hand… and of course could hold me tight at night and make me feel safe and comforted. Oh, and also have a rather nice bottom too,” she winked at her lightly, a light blush coming to her face as she described her own perfect lady. The sincerity in her voice couldn’t be faked.

“W-what you trying to do by saying all this?” she growled, trying her best to look fierce and angry, but was far too flustered to do so. “I-I will not be swayed by words.”

“If not, then that is your decision, and I shall abide by it,” Quinoa said softly, getting down on her knees. “But I have no wish to be your enemy. If anything, from the moment I saw you, I was hoping we might at least be friends. And if the fates be kind, perhaps more, if we got to know one another.” She sighed. “I am not strong, at least not physically, so if that is what you look for in a mate, I suppose my courtship ends here, my lady. But if nothing else… might I at least have your name?”

Derpy let out a string of profanity as she thumped her head against the desk. Rainbow just laughed while the other three players applauded her, looking down at the die she’d rolled. “Nat Twenty, baby!” she declared, pumping her fists a few times. “I have successfully gotten myself a big, sexy, muscle girlfriend!”

“But… but my campaign!” Derpy whined, sitting up. “You were all supposed to get your butt kicked and thrown out and go out there and look for other clues! I’ve got like… like…” she grabbed a big stack of papers from the table, holding it up. “Like three more sessions worth of campaigns and dungeons and stuff to do all over the forest as you slowly learn more and more about the threat!” She tossed them down on the ground. “Now she’s just gonna tell you all about it! Urgh!”

“Hey, don’t hate the player,” Rainbow said, tapping the top of her D20 lightly. “Hate the game, right?”

Derpy’s eyes focused for a moment on her. “I hate you so much right now.”

“It’s not that bad, Derpy. Come on, maybe this will be an interesting twist, right?” Spike asked, attempting to diffuse the tension. “Let’s see where it goes.”

She sighed. “Fine… but we’re gonna have words later, Rainbow Dash, I promise you that.”

“Oooh, my feathers are shaking!”

“Oh shut up!”

“Name?” the queen asked carefully. “Name is… name is Kylah,” she stated. She slowly bent down, so she was a bit closer to eye level with the smaller griffon. Both of their faces were flush as they looked at one another. “Why you say such nice words. Sweet words…”

“It’s an honor, Kylah. My name is Red Quinoa, and I’m not one to hide my feelings,” she stated. “And I certainly don’t want to play with anyone’s emotions merely for my own gain. I do find you quite beautiful. Let us help one another.”

The queen thought for a long moment, sitting cross legged. “You will be my lover,” she declared at last.”

Quinoa blushed a bit deeper and got a goofy grin on her face. “Wow, that was easy! So um, do you think-”

Kylah held up a hand. “Wasn’t finished. You be my lover. You get knowledge you want. If you impress.”

“Im… press?” Quinoa asked, tilting her head to the side. “I thought I’d already wooed you, by that reaction.

Again, the gnoll’s face flushed and she flicked her ears back, not meeting her gaze. “Did. Like you. But tradition says you need testing if you gonna be with me.”

“Oh, well, never really been one to think too hard about tests before. Kind of bounced my way through most of my magic exams. That’s why I became a sorceress, really. Waaay less rules than trying to be a wizard, bleh. So, what sort of test are we talking here? Essay? Oral? I prefer multiple choice, myself.”

“Come here, little birdie.” She smirked, slapping her knee. “We test your endurance.”

“Oh… ohhhh... “ she flushed deeper and gulped a bit. “Well, uh… mmmph… M-maybe we shouldn’t move too fast here…” She yelped as she was yanked forward, and draped over the thick, muscled thigh.

“Prove you have what it takes to be mate to me,” she growled, a grin on her face as she brushed a finger up and down the griffon’s backside. “Hoho… so soft…”

“Are we… going to help her?” Copper asked the other two women next to him.

“She started this,” Sulfur said with a huff. “As far as I’m concerned, she can see it through to the end. Erm… but I wouldn’t mind getting dressed now,” she said, looking around for her clothes.

“Mmm, speak for yourself,” Nepeta said, arching her back and stretching out, drawing the attention of most of the other gnolls away from Quinoa and their queen. “I’m rather enjoying this bit of freedom… that’s right everyone, eyes over here,” she muttered, shaking her hips and doing a few cute poses.

Kylah chuckled and gave Quinoa’s soft backside a few gentle pats. “Ready, Reddy?”

“Reddy? Is that my new name now? Heh, that’s kinda cute actually… I guess I am.” She tensed up and hugged the big woman’s leg firmly, preparing herself.

Kylah gave her a few more soft pats before resting her palm against her cheeks and raising it up nice and high. Quinoa gulped and craned her head to glance back at her. “Try not to break me in half?”

“No promise,” she said, holding her hand in the air for a moment. Quinoa gulped and went back to holding on for dear life, squirming under the bigger woman’s grip. And then she heard the whoosh of the hand coming down… and then…

Spat!

She squeaked and gave a buck against the gnoll’s thigh as she felt a soft, tingling sting spread throughout her cheek. “Eh? What was- mmmph!” she gasped again as a similar swat landed on her opposite cheek. It stung, to be sure, that this was the sort of sting that Quinoa could handle… and frankly it was a sting she found rather nice.

Spat! Spat! Whap! Slap! Smack!

“Mmmph! Ah! Haah… nngh… oooh…” The griffon groaned, writhing and grinding herself against her newfound lover’s lap. “Y-you’re going easy on me.”

“Don’t wanna break in half,” she teased, swatting her sit spots upward, making her rear wobble quite magnificently. “Mmm, such cute bottom…”

“Nnngh… mmm, glad to hear you’re enjoying it!” Quinoa said as the swatting continued.

Swat! Smack! Spat! Spat!

Quinoa could hear the woman’s breathing beginning to pick up, her own breath coming in quick, loud gasps as the soft stings started to coalesce together in a pleasant mass, loving the sensation. “Ohhh… mmm… haah, haaah…” she panted harder and squeezed her leg. “Y-you can go… a bit harder if you want.”

“Oho? Not scared of breaking?” she asked, her voice growing low and husky.

“Nnngh… mmm…” Quinoa’s own voice was shaky as she arched her back. “Not anymore… my love…”

They both moaned in tandem as the spanking continued, Quinoa’s feet starting to kick out behind her as Kylah grew more enthusiastic in her slapping, putting more power behind each swing, the clap of each swat echoing in the open air around them.

SWAT! SMACK! SLAP! SPAT!

“Ah! Aw! Mmmph! OOOH!”

“Nnngh! Rrrgh!”

“Awwooo!”

“Haaah… haaah… Quinoa… you pass,” she panted as she spanked her rapidly reddening rear up and down, turning it a shade darker than its natural state.

“Ungh! MMM! OOH! G-glad to hear it! AH! Oh yeah!” She started to buck backwards, thrusting her hips up to meet the hand above her. “Ooooohhhmmm…”

“Mmmm…” They devolved into a moaning, panting mess as the spanking continued and Sulfur slowly had to turn away, though that did nothing to silence the sound of slapping and moaning. She was still naked, as the gnoll who held their clothes and possessions had yet to relinquish them. Probably waiting for the go-ahead from his queen. She ground her teeth together, as the sounds, combined with the fact that Nepeta was off to the side near her, still entrancing a captive audience with a strange, feline dance, shaking her naked hips from side to side to some tune that was only in her head. And standing next to her, of course, was the naked diamond dog, who, bless him, was trying his best to keep a straight face to the stupidity around them, but he was still a man, and his body was reacting as a typical man’s would. “How can you be so calm with all this happening around you?” she asked, squirming.

“I’m not,” he said, indicating his hips and the long, stiff appendage that was hanging there. “But not much we can do about it now, yeah?”

“Mmmph! I just want to get the information and get out of here,” she lamented. “W-we can’t afford to keep wasting time here.”

“That and you don’t like seeing others naked,” he noted.

“Th-that doesn’t help.”

“Is your order opposed to romance? Love?”

“No!” she said quickly. “Just… don’t like nudity,” she muttered.

WHAP! SMACK! SLAP! WHAP!

“Nnngh! D-don’t know… how much more I can take!” Quinoa shuddered, tears starting to form in her eyes. “Haaah… Ohhhh, Kylah!”

“Oooh… Quinoa,” the gnoll growled in ecstasy, letting a flurry of random slaps streak across her bottom, turning it into a giant, jiggling, throbbing mess.

SPANK! SMACK! WHAP! WHACK! SLAP! SLAP! WHAP! WHACK!

Both of them, bird and hyena, let out loud howls of pain and pleasure as they both finally went limp, Kylah leaning back on her arm while Quinoa shuddered and moaned, weakly nuzzling against her knee. “Ahhh… haaaah… you all right, you beast?”

“Am,” she answered with a weak nod, carefully helping Quinoa to sit up in her lip, having her straddle her leg. “You all right, birdie?”

“Am,” she answered, writhing against her rough fur for a moment. “Mmm… and eager for more.”

“Me too…” the two of them smiled longingly and lovingly into each other’s eyes, slowly drawing in close, their lips meeting in a gentle, loving kiss, their arms slowly encircling one another as they moaned and mewled against each other.

Sulfur finally had had enough, and twisted around, still keeping her gaze centered on the ground, as she moved forward, letting out a loud huff to get their attention. “Excuse me,” she called, “But could we PLEASE get a move on?”

The griffon rolled her eyes, but reluctantly broke the kiss, her talons coming up to scratch and massage at Kylah’s chin. “I hate to say it, but she is right. My love, those ponies are in danger, and we need to help them. Once this task is done, I would love to… get even closer to you. We could have more fun.”

She let out a deep, dissatisfied sigh, but nodded. “You are right, Reddy,” she told her, gently helping her to her feet before standing herself, and taking up her large axe, shouldering it. “Come to tent. I honor agreement. I tell you what you need to know.” She motioned for them to follow and slowly started to walk away, Quinoa taking large, quick steps, half jogging to keep up with her.

Nepeta reluctantly stopped her charming routine to follow, and Copper followed soon after. Sulfur brought up the rear, shuffling her feet lightly. “Erm… could we please-”

“No. Later. Talk first,” Kylah stated.

Sulfur let out a loud groan and looked longingly back at her clothes, being tossed in a pile by the gnolls behind them. Not wanting to delay them any longer, she reluctantly continued to trudge behind them, wrapping her tail around her hips in an effort to hide her nethers from view, and keeping her arms crossed over her top.

“Okay, let’s take another break,” Derpy announced, closing the monster manual she’d been referencing for the gnolls.

The others blinked. “Um, isn’t it a bit soon to be taking another break?” Fluttershy asked gently. “I mean, I think we all still have plenty of snacks and drinks, and I certainly don’t have to use the bathroom again.”

“Yeah, what gives?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, thanks to Rainbow and her stupid romance roll,” she shot a passing glare at the pegasus, who just shrugged and stuffed a few chips into her mouth, “I have to streamline a couple of things real quick before we can continue. So… I dunno, talk about yourselves for a few minutes, I have to try and salvage this adventure over here.”

“Salvage it?” The blue-furred pegasus said with a laugh. “There’s nothing to salvage. I’m having a great time.”

Luna glanced at her with a frown. “You derailed a campaign that she had probably spent a very long time trying to put together, have romanced an NPC that was probably only meant for a single encounter and probably didn’t even have a name before you asked for it, and waylaid the entire adventure so you could get some sexy mental images out of it.”

“Yes, exactly! Thank you, Luna!” Derpy said triumphantly, sticking her tongue out at Rainbow.

Rainbow blushed. “W-well, when you put it that way.”

Luna smirked at her and held out her hand. “I knew you were a smart player! High five!”

Grinning, Rainbow did just that, laughing.

Derpy let out a groan and tossed a huge fistful of papers over her shoulder, not commenting to either of them as she got to work on trying to salvage her campaign.

Spike just glanced at Fluttershy. “So… wanna step out for a second?”

“Um… sure, might be for the best,” she muttered, scooting out of the chair and following the dragon out of the room to leave Derpy to their work and Rainbow and Luna to swap several stories about how they had managed to foil the plots of many an unfortunate dungeon master.

Author's Note

This chapter ended up stretching on a bit longer than we anticipated, so we had to split it in two. Look forward to part 3 soon folks!

Chapter 16: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 3)

Author's Note

After reading this, the latest chapter, please consider checking out this important blog post on the new patreon for the story!

Galaxia High Patreon, this is a link!

Chapter 16: Of Ogres and Oubliettes (Part 3)

Chapter 16: Of Ogres and Oubliettes pt 3

“So, are you having fun?” Spike asked with a small smile as he stood out in the hall with Fluttershy.”

“Oh, definitely,” she said with a giggle. “I haven’t been able to cut loose like this in a long time. I’m really glad we got this club up and running.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” He said with a grin. “Makes me think of my old group back in middle school,” he muttered. He shook his head and looked back over to her. “Gotta say though, I didn’t really expect you to play such a… well, an open character.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Well, I haven't known you that long, but you at least seem to try to be subtle about it when you enjoy things like spankings in front of others.” Spike saw her face instantly change to one of horror. Never had he seen someone go pale and blush that hard at the same time. “Oh, shoot, you WERE trying to be subtle! Fluttershy, I didn't-”

“Was it that obvious?!” she interrupted, her chest visibly inflating as her breath picked up.

Spike quickly shook his head. “No! Of course not! I just... after seeing it so many times in the same week I just started to pick up on it.” When her hands went to the seat of her dress, he realized bringing up how many times he'd seen her flank this week might not be helping the situation. “I'm sorry, I'm not trying to upset you, really! P-Please calm down!”

Fluttershy began to glance around, took some slow breaths, and finally calmed down. If only a little. “I'm not... normally so open, o-or lewd. You wouldn't know that since you don't know me that well, so I've probably given you a really bad impression of me.”

Spike winced. “No, it's not like that! I don't think you're that kind of girl! That's why I was surprised by the kind of girl you were playing!”

The yellow mare's hands fidgeted with each other. “I’m not required to play a character that’s exactly like me. That’s part of the fun of games like this. Playing characters that can be so different from myself. I've kind of given up on being more open and assertive in real life, so I figured that I’d do it in other places. Stories that I write, characters that I play, that sort of thing.”

He saw an opportunity to change the subject. “You slide into other roles so well. When you’re describing what Nepeta is doing, or when you’re speaking as her, it’s amazing how different you act. You aren’t playing a character, it’s almost like you become someone else, like you get right into the head of whoever you’re playing. Have you ever tried acting?”

Fluttershy glanced up at him surprised, brushing her hair from over her shoulder with a much softer blush. “I... tried back in middle school, but I get terrible stage fright. It's easier for me to play characters I really like with a much smaller audience.”

“Is that so? Then, do you like anime by any chance? Cus if you did there's this cosplay cafe I've been wanting to check out in the downtown middle-ring shopping center. Maybe we could-”

“NO!” Fluttershy cried out, wings bursting out rigid and her face terrified and flushed.

Spike reared back against the wall, his own shock from her visceral reaction visible. “D-Did I say something wrong?”

The door next to them opened, and Derpy poked her head out. “Okay, I think I’m all set. You guys want to come back in and we’ll get back to it?”

“YES!” The embarassed pegasus paused to clear her throat a bit. “I mean, yes, let's get back to it. Okay, Spike?”

“I... okay, Fluttershy.” She clearly didn't want to talk anymore, so he wouldn't push the issue. He watched her hurry in, and followed after her.

Sulfur wriggled a little bit as she sat down on the dirt floor of the tent. It was far larger than the typical ones she’d seen outside, but was still not really made for a huge number of visitors. Even with Red Quinoa sitting on Kylah’s lap nearby, Sulfur still sat nearly knee to knee with Nepeta and Copper, all of them still nude. She could feel the nervous blush overcoming her scales, worrying that it was obvious how uncomfortable she was.

Neither of her companions commented on it, at least. Maybe it wasn’t that bad.

“So then,” Kylah finally said, raising her head. “You wanna know why we attack village?”

Sulfur nodded. “We were told you had been preventing anyone from leaving for a long while now,” She stated. “That you attacked them constantly, trying to get in.”

“Not to hurt ponies, no,” she shook her head. “To stop the Master.”

“The Master?” Nepeta asked. “What do you mean?”

Kylah sighed and brushed a finger over Quinoa’s back. “Moons ago, ponies come to forest to make home. But they start building home in bad place. Secret place. Place where the Master sleeps.” She glanced at them, her face stoic and serious. Sulfur thought she saw a hint of regret in those eyes. “We try to stop. Send some to talk sense. Ponies panic when see us. Kill our messengers. Continue building. Start digging downward.”

“Downward?” Nepeta asked.

“The well in the center of the town,” Copper said. “It goes deep, unusually deep. And when I looked down into it, I couldn’t see the bottom, or hear any sort of water underneath.”

“No water. Only master. We try to stop them. We get desperate. But they build walls. Have better weapons. We grow nervous. Attack more. But we not able to stop them.” Her ears flicked. “They have found it. The Master. I feel it.”

“And what exactly is the Master?” Nepeta asked, leaning forward, tail twitching nervously behind her.

“Master is ancient thing. Evil thing. Ruled forest long before my birth.” Kylah cast her hand forward. “Grandsire sealed away master, under the earth. Freed forest from grip. He control plants. He use plants to control others. His power spread as he grow strong.”

“The plants in the village forced me away when I tried to connect with them,” the Druid said, snapping her fingers.

“And the villagers were all acting like weirdos, too!” Quinoa finished. “Whatever that Master thing really is, it’s obviously got a hold on everyone in the village!”

Sulfur grit her teeth. “Then we really were tricked.” Her hands balled into fists. “Ifrit damn that thing…”

“Can stop,” Kylah stated. “It not yet strong enough to control forest. But need to hurry. Time short. Will try to go beyond forest if it gets forest back.”

“Then we have to hurry back and stop them,” Sulfur said quickly, standing up.

“Yes! That is what I like hearing!” Kylah roared, standing up.

“You’re coming with us?”

“Course!” she chuckled. “My people fight Master before, we fight now!”

“No,” Red Quinoa said quickly, hopping up and waving a hand. “As much as I like the idea of storming the place with an army of Gnolls at my back, the Master’s probably expecting that at this point. It’s probably thinking either we’ll kill all of you and be none the wiser, or you’ll kill us and then just go back to trying to hack your way inside. Either way, it wins.” She tapped her beak. “We need to get back inside and get straight to the Master.”

Sulfur smirked and slowly rose to her feet. “I have a plan,” she announced with a grin.

#####

It felt so good to be wearing clothes again. Clothes and armor both. Also, having her sword and shield back helped a lot too. She felt protected. She felt confident.

She really wished Nepeta would get dressed already. Sulfur groaned a bit and looked at the naked Sphinx, her clothes stuffed into her pack, all of her bits bouncing and wobbling as she walked. Copper, and even Red Quinoa had redressed themselves once they had been presented with their clothes and gear again. But Nepeta? No, not at all, she had just stuffed what little clothing she had back into her pack and started traipsing along as if it didn’t matter. “You do realize we’ll be back at the village soon, right?” she asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“So do you not think it might be best to get ready for a fight?” she asked.

“I’m ready,” she said with a nod. “Trust me, I’m ready.”

“Really? Because you look like you’re getting ready to go out at night, walking the streets for a lonely man.”

“Or woman, thank you very much,” Nepeta said with a pout. “And don’t you go talking bad about my night walks, they are purely for innocent purposes.” She pouted and flicked her tail gently. “But all you need to know is, out here, without my clothes? I am at my strongest.”

“And your most vulnerable,” the dragon grumbled.

“If she wants to be nude while fighting plant zombies, let her,” Red said. “I just don’t get why we had to drag Kylah like this all the way back.”

Sulfur glanced back towards Red Quinoa, who, along with Copper, were dragging a tied up Kylah behind them. She’d been tied down, loosely, to a large bark shield, one of the gnoll’s making, to make it look like she was a captive. Sulfur shrugged. “If this Master is capable of using plants as its eyes, then we’ll want to try and keep up the facade as much as possible, until we get in and can see what is going on. No telling how far its influence has spread after all.” In truth, she honestly just found a measure of satisfaction in seeing the big woman trussed up and dragged along like this, considering the humiliation she’d suffered at the gnoll’s claws earlier.

Quinoa glanced back at her with an apologetic look. “Sorry about this, love. You all right back there?”

Kylah let out a small barking laugh and wagged her tail lightly. “Worry not for me,” she said with a grin. “Have taken much worse. This actually nice, being led about. Don’t like being tied, but otherwise fine.”

“Well, we kept the ropes pretty loose for you,” Red told her with a smile. “When the time is right, you can jump up and help us out.”

“Just remember,” Sulfur said as the top of the wooden walls began to come into view, “The ponies in that place are most likely under the control of this Master, not dead, but not in control of themselves. If they move to stop us, try your best to keep your attacks non lethal. I don’t want any unnecessary blood on our hands.” She glanced at Kylah in particular. “That goes for you as well, Kylah.”

“I not want to kill anyway,” she stated. “Ponies annoying, but they not dangerous, generally.”

“Generally,” Sulfur muttered. They continued onward, growing silent when they faced the massive wooden gate back into the village. The dragon took a deep breath and called out to them, “Hello! We’ve returned from the gnoll encampment! They’ll not trouble you anymore! And we come bearing their queen!”

Much like the first time they had arrived, after a long silence, a guardspony poked their head up over the side, tilting his head several times as he looked them over. “Welcome back,” he called. “We will open the gate in a moment for you.”

Sulfur nodded. “Much obliged! Thank you!”

“So far so good,” Nepeta muttered, cracking her knuckles.

“Get ready,” Copper said. “When we get in, we get as close to the well as we can, and then try to get down to where the Master is.”

They nodded in agreement and Quinoa reached down, rubbing the gnoll queen’s head. “Remember, look fierce, but defeated. We bested you in combat, so hopefully they’ll buy it.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Nepeta quipped with a chuckle, “None of them seem able to recognize basic social cues anyway. Doubt it would care one way or another.”

Sulfur made a waving motion with her hand, hushing them as the gates were swung open and they slowly started to walk in. Just like before, there was a massive crowd of villagers around them, staring at them with wide, vacant eyes. They tensed as they drew closer, but the crowd slowly parted as they started to move forward. “We’re going to take her to the mayor’s home, to discuss payment.” she called.

“No need, no need!” a happy voice said, as the mayor of the town walked forward. Sulfur noted that her movements were more stiff and unnatural than their first visit. “I am here! Yes, here… we will take care of… that thing.” She pointed a twitching finger at Kylah, who let out a soft growl at her.”

“We’ll not hand her over until after we’ve discussed payment. At your house.” Sulfur frowned deeply as the crowd slowly started to press in around them, getting uncomfortably close.

“No, no, no,” the mayor said, drawing closer to her. “I think not. I think… we can discuss everything right he-HURK!”

She was cut off as Sulfur bashed her shield into the mayor’s face, sending her backwards to the ground. “So much for subtlety!” the dragon announced.

The mayor snarled, her eyes growing completely white, face twisting into a scowl. “They know! THEY KNOW! GET THEM!”

“Everyone shield your eyes! Quinoa, do it!”

The party shut their eyes tight, save for Red Quinoa, who raised her staff up high above her head and shouted out a spell as loud as she could. Her gnarled staff let forth a magical burst of light that lingered above them, causing the villagers to recoil away, groaning in pain. “My eyes!” they all declared, nearly as one. “My eyes!”

“Now, run for it! We have to get to the well!” Sulfur shouted, twisting around and barreling through the villagers in her way, her shield raised as she knocked them away. As the light faded, she chanced a glance back and was relieved to see the other four running after her. As the villagers began to recover, Nepeta twisted around and tossed two large sacks at the ground. Seeds spilled out onto the soft dirt in front of the villagers and instantly, a massive tangle of overgrown weeds and vines sprouted forth, wrapping and twisting themselves around the villagers’ legs, causing them to trip and stumble, or keeping them from moving at all. They ignored the inconvenience and continued to crawl and scramble towards the party, trying to pull themselves free while even ignoring that the plants existed.

“That should buy us some time!” Nepeta said as she ran to keep up with the others. “I think that was most of the village back there!”

“You had to say something didn’t you?” Quinoa asked as more villagers began to pour out from the alleyways and around the back of the various structures around them. They weren’t moving quickly, but there were still far more of them than there had seemed to be when they had first made it there. Quinoa growled and swung her staff at one of them, knocking them down, while Kylah snarled, bringing up the rear and throwing everyone who got close to them away, hard enough to send them tumbling head over heels.

“There’s the well!” Sulfur said, pointing towards the large, stone well sitting in the center of the town square. However, a large group of villagers were shuffling their way in front of it, forming a makeshift wall to keep them from reaching it. “Hellfire,” she cursed, “We don’t have time for this.” She stopped and raised her shield as the wall began to advance on them.

Red Quinoa panted as she came to a stop. “I think I can launch a spell down in there that will take care of the problem, but I need time to prepare it. It’s going to take a lot of energy. Do you think you and the others can keep them off of me?”

Sulfur grunted a bit and knocked away an advancing villager, who fell to the side, but immediately started to pull themselves up. “I’ll try. Now hurry and cast your damned spell,” she ordered.

Quinoa smiled and nodded, setting her staff on the ground and clapping her hands together. “In the name of the eternal flame and the ever wave, I ask you, the spirits of our world to grant me your power…”

As she continued to whisper the incantation, the villagers continued to converge on them. Nepeta continued to throw small fistfuls of seeds to the ground, invoking more tangleweed plants, but they grew more slowly. She cursed and flapped her wings, taking into the air to keep herself out of harm’s way. “The closer we get, the more power this thing has over my plants!” she called. “I can’t risk casting anything having to do with plants or I might end up causing more problems!” She let out a hiss, and kicked a nearby villager in the jaw.

Kylah roared and grabbed an armful of the villagers, throwing them back into their fellows. “Hurry, love!”

Quinoa didn’t answer, being deep in concentration at the moment, magical energies starting to flow out of her.

“I’m going to try and route them away!” Copper shouted. He started to throw stones and rocks into the crowd, shoving them away, attempting to get the attention of as many of them as possible. It seemed to work, as those that he harrassed and attacked turned their attention to him and started to shuffle back his way, away from the rest of the group.

That still didn’t stop the large, advancing wall of them in front of the well. Sulfur punched one and bashed another with her shield, but their lack of pain made them continue to crawl forward even after she downed them. “Any time, Quinoa.”

“... and let the sun and moon vanquish this horrible darkness that has blighted our world!” Quinoa called, raising her hands up and making a motion as if tossing something. A large glowing orb of energy flew forward, falling down deep into the well. The shambling villagers stopped, their attention slowly turning towards the well itself.

KABOOOM!!

A massive fountain of fire launched up and out of the well, shattering its walls, followed quickly by a puff of black smoke billowing up and out of the hole in the ground. Sulfur raised her shield up to defend herself from the falling debris, a good bit tumbling down over her body, clanking against her shield and armor.

The villagers around them howled loudly and clutched at their heads, falling to the ground, or getting on their knees, howling and wailing as they clutched at themselves.

Quinoa panted and stumbled forward a little bit. “Whew… and that, ladies and gentlemen, is my magic burst.” She groaned and started to fall forward.

Kylah caught her and helped her tired body come to a gentle rest against the ground. “Are you well, love?” Kylah asked gently.

“I’m fine. Not the first time I’ve done that.” She grinned up at her. “My body always goes numb when I use that spell. Don’t think I’m going to be good for much for a while.”

“No need,” Nepeta said as she touched back down, carefully stepping over a writhing, crying villager. “I think you might have actually taken whoever this Master character was out completely with that spell! Nothing could have survived that!”

“Yes,” Sulfur said, slowly approaching the rest of them. “You… you did it.” She cleared her throat and tapped her shield against the ground. “I… think that I owe you a bit of an a-”

The ground under their feet started to rumble and shudder. Kylah gasped and raised herself up, but before she could do anything, a massive vine burst from the ground, it’s long, slender tendril whipping forward and wrapping around her body, lifting her up into the air.

“Kylah!” Quinoa managed to push out, her voice weak and strained as she tried to force her body up. She didn’t have to, however, as a second vine burst forth and yanked her up off the ground with a firm lurch, making her let out a squawk.

Nepeta saw the pattern and attempted to leap up into the sky to keep from getting caught, but no sooner had she left the ground than another two vines shot up through the ground, one grabbing hold of her ankle, anchoring her to the surface while the second lassoed around her wings, pulling them taught and keeping her from being able to fly as they slowly coiled around the rest of her.

Sulfur’s eyes widened as she watched this happen and quickly leaped to the side, avoiding yet another vine that lunged out of the ground. She whipped out her sword and hacked at it, cutting through it in a single slice, it’s base writhing as it disappeared down in the earth below. She glanced over to the now widened hole where the well once stood. Something was forcing its way through. The giant top of a mushroom slowly protruded out, followed by a thick stalk underneath it, possessing two giant, dead, black eyes, letting out a loud, angry droning sound. Its top was scorched black, probably the after effect of Quinoa’s spell, but it hadn’t been enough to finish it off apparently. And as the rest of its body appeared, a giant plant appeared below it, some sort of strange, ravenous, writhing mass of tangled weeds and giant leaves, several large mushroom sprouts covering its form.

Eyes narrowing, she let out a battle cry and charged forward. If she could take out that beast, perhaps that would be the end of it. She leaped out of the way of another vine bursting from the ground. The beast lashed out at her from where it sat and she blocked it with her shield, though the force caused it to fly from her hand behind her. She growled loudly and let out another battle cry as she gripped her sword in both hands and slashed through yet another couple of vines that attempted to reach out to her. She charged forward as fast as she could, flinging herself towards the huge mushroom creature, blade raised above her head, preparing to cleave the creature in twain!

However, a large group of the villagers, or rather, the master’s puppets, were on their feet again, and threw themselves in her path just as she was fixing to bring the blade down. She stopped herself just in time as they threw themselves on her, grabbing at her arms and legs. While she managed to beat a couple of them back, they held her just long enough for another vine to snake around her, constricting against her and lifting her up into the air. Her legs were clamped together and her arms pulled tight to her sides. She tried to buck her way out, but the vine held her tight, as it did with the others. Kylah was trying hard to yank herself free, snarling and snapping her teeth at the vine, but it was always just out of reach of her powerful jaws. Quinoa, still drained from her burst, was about as limp as a rag doll and offered no resistance to being held. Nepeta, for her part, was looking at the Master with wide, fascinated eyes. “What’s so interesting?” Sulfur asked, still trying to wriggle her way out of its grasp.

“Amazing! It’s a giant Myconid! I had though they’d all been chased off from this part of the forest eons ago, but this one… this one not only survived, but it grew to an enormous size! And it’s releasing spores! Yes, those spores are how it’s controlling everything, it’s almost like it’s releasing little tiny bits of its own mind into the air, infecting others with its will! When the villagers dug the well, they must have released it from where it was sealed and gave it a chance to start spreading its spores again! And look, it must have been entombed with that Tendriculous! That’s where all these vines are coming from, and it’s using it to spread its spores and deliver nutrients to the plants in the village to make them grow stronger so it can use them once it’s infected them! This is fascinating!”

“Be fascinated later! If we don’t get out of these vines, we’re all going to be dead within minutes!”

“Well, not necessarily,” Nepeta said as the vine began to twist and rotate her, as though the plant was inspecting her. “Myconids are both curious and cruel creatures. They generally like to toy with their prey and captives a bit before killing them.”

“Oh, well that’s comforting,” Sulfur growled, gasping as she felt the vine grasping her starting to wriggle about between her armor and into her clothes. “What do you think you’re doing beast!” She snarled and opened her mouth, preparing to let loose a large burst of flame, but before she could, a second vine shot up and wrapped tightly around her snout, binding it shut, preventing her from breathing fire. And then the first vine, with surprising dexterity, began to undo her armor. Bit by bit, she was stripped of anything she was wearing on her scales. A quick glance to the side showed Quinoa’s robes and Kylah’s loincloth fluttering down to the ground as well. Soon, even the tunic and tights she was wearing under her armor followed suite. A giant root, probably attached to the giant creature the Myconid was riding, rose up out of the ground and the vines lowered all four of them down to it, bending them over, their backsides raised behind them. More vines sprouted from the ground and started to shift and tap at their bare bottoms. Sulfur let out a loud groan through her clamped mouth. ‘Oh hell,’ she thought to herself.

“Wow, it has been a long, long time since I’ve seen such a bad series of rolls from so many ponies at once,” Luna lamented.

Spike shook his head. “Hey, you were doing fine for a while, Luna. At least until Derpy kept making you roll over and over and over again.”

“Hey, I already cut like eighty percent of this campaign thanks to little miss romantic over there,” Derpy said, pointing at Rainbow, who just whistled innocently. “So if I say Luna had to make four different saving throws in a row in order to avoid getting captured, then that’s what’s going to happen.” She crossed her arms and nodded.

“Um, I think she’s still a little bit sour about the whole thing with the Gnolls,” Fluttershy whispered to Spike.

“Eh, just Dungeon Master syndrome. She’s taking it a lot better than some ponies I knew,” he whispered back. “Best to just roll with it. Not like she’s actively trying to get us killed. At least not yet.” He glanced up. “Okay, so I’m still free, and since I was leading a bunch of the villagers away, I should be well out of that thing’s line of sight, right?”

Derpy nodded. “The path that you took led you to being on his left side, almost facing his back. The villagers following you all collapsed and lost interest at the same time as everyone else did, so you are pretty heavily stealthed right now.”

“Where am I in relation to the rest of the party?”

“The Myconid rose that root up right next to him and has them placed so that they’re all facing back to you as well. None of them can see you and you can’t see their faces.” Derpy picked up a pencil. “Alright, since you’re perfectly poised for a sneak attack, you’re probably gonna instigate a sneak attack, so-”

“Actually, I’m going to hunker down and watch for now.”

“Wait, what?” Fluttershy gasped. “You’re just gonna sit there and watch?”

“Dick move, Spike!” Rainbow said with a huff, grumbling and drumming her fingers against the table.

“What?” Spike asked, blushing. “I just… I can't just rush in there. I've gotta wait for the most opportune moment! Wait for him to let his guard down, right? Right?”

“Perv,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Ecchi,” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Moron,” Luna finished.

Spike grew redder and redder with each of their accusations. “Hey, Derpy’s the one describing all of this! Besides, it’s not me who’s interested in seeing where it goes… my character is.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Derpy said with a nod. “Whatever you say, voyeur.”

The diamond dog leaned against the side of the building he was hiding behind, eyes wide, a small blush coming to his dark fur as he took in the small lineup of backsides in front of him. While he was still a good distance away, he was still close enough to make out the details in them. Of course, he’d already seen Quinoa and Nepeta’s backsides plenty, though out of respect for her, he’d avoided directly looking at Sulfur’s rear when she was naked, as he had picked up on how uncomfortable it made her. Now unable to do anything but look towards it, though, he had to admit, he hadn’t expect something that fleshy. The same with Kylah’s backside as well. The gnoll was definitely more muscled, but her backside still stuck out a fair bit. It was rather nice to look at.

Right, right, they were in danger! He had to try and focus! He had to-

WHAP! SWAT! SMACK!

He half jumped when the long vines holding them down started to whip back and forth, drumming on their bottoms. There were two vines to a rear, one working over each cheek and his eyes widened, jaw dropping slightly at the sight. The women started to yelp and squirm and hissing, writhing against the binds that were holding them in place, but none of them were strong enough to break free. Apart from Quinoa, who was just whining and whimpering as her limp body wiggled about after each snap, the others gave out hearty bucks and writhes with every strike.

That plant was definitely not holding back either, whipping them hard enough to leave bright red welts behind with every snap, and judging by the way that the Myconid was giving them all of its attention, it was putting all of its concentration into tormenting them as much as it could. Even the villagers it controlled, despite merely being extensions of it, had all eyes glued to the scene of it. The perverted plant was probably peering at them from every conceivable angle all at once from the way that they were surrounding the group.

WHAP! SLAP! SMACK! WHAP! SPLAT! SPAT!

The edges of the vines snapped against every conceivable inch of their bottoms, from the center of their cheeks, to up near their docks, right down to their sit spots, leaving a trail of red, stinging welts all along their rumps. The snaps were hard enough to make their bottoms wobble in a rather enticing manner, which was a bit of an annoyance for the fighter, as he found it more than a little distracting. The redness from the snaps were starting to spread out like ivy over their buttocks, making them all glow brightly. It was like a big row of torchlight.

WHAP! SLAP! SNAP! SMACK! SMACK! SNAP! WHAP!

The yelps and howls from his companions began to grow louder as their will was slowly eroded away by both the pain and, he had to imagine, the humiliation they were feeling. Kylah and Sulfur were thrashing about even harder now, Sulfur’s mouth open enough for her to scream, but the vines kept her face pointed away from the vines, not that she could concentrate enough to breath any fire. Nepeta and Quinoa, by contrast, were both compeltely limp now, both bawling like naughty pups over their sire’s knees, barely offering any resistance as their plump rears were turned cherry red.

It was then that Copper noticed something strange. The Myconid’s head, that giant mushroom top, was starting to shake and shiver, a small, dusty looking cloud of purple spores starting to gather around it. His eyes widened as the gears in his head started to turn again. The Myconid wasn’t doing this for pleasure. It was weakening them. If it broke them down enough, they wouldn’t have the willpower to resist its control and it would be able to take hold of their minds easily.

It wanted to control them, rather than kill them.

Copper cursed lightly as the spanking continued, the red welts starting to darken even further. If it didn’t stop soon, they’d probably be bruising. And that was probably the point it would try and take control.

WHAP! SPANK! WHAP! SPANK! WHAP! SPANK!

He shook his head again. No more distractions, he couldn’t let himself get distracted any further. If he didn’t act soon, his friends might very well become his enemies. Taking a deep breath, he drew his broadsword from his back. He couldn’t chance throwing something from this distance, and he doubted that an axe lodged in the thing’s back would completely kill it. He wasn’t even sure if it had a brain or a nervous system!

No, he had one chance to sneak up on it, so he had to make it count. He dropped his bag, he let go of nearly all of his equipment, gently laying it down to the side, holding up his blade. “Be you god or demon,” he whispered, glancing at the sky, “Be with me. My cause is worthy.”

His prayer said to whatever deity was listening, he raised his blade and slowly started to edge his way towards the beast’s back. He flattened his ears to try and block out the howls and cries of his companions. He focused his eyes on his target to avoid looking at anything else that might be “distracting”, and inched forward, blade raised. He got closer, and closer.

Soon, his soft edging turned into a slow walk. Then a jog… and then when he was within range, he tilted forward and broke into a full on sprint. The Myconid stood and slowly turned around to see what was coming at him. Copper let out a battle cry and lunged up into the air, as Sulfur had tried to do before. But there was nothing stopping him now.

The blade came down, and in one crisp, quick, clean motion, bolstered by the strength of his swing and the weight of his body, he cleaved the Myconid clean in two, and buried his sword deep in the head of the Tendriculous.

It gave a bubbling, gurgling howl as its master’s two halves fell from it, and then slowly fell limp as Copper fell to the ground, it’s body immediately starting to shrivel and turn grey. The diamond dog yanked its blade out and held it up, glancing at the halves of the mushroom creature, but neither side moved. It’s blank eyes grew glassy and faded. Copper let out a small sigh of relief and glanced to his companions, hurrying to the side and yanking the dead, shriveled vines off of them. “Are you all okay?” he asked.

Sulfur groaned and slowly slid off the gnarled root before reaching up and pulling the vine off of her mouth. “What… took you so long?” she panted.

“I had to… ah… pick my moment carefully,” he said, smiling at her. “Glad to see you’re all right.”

“You too,” she grunted. “Quinoa? Nepeta? Kylah? You three still with us?”

“I’m sore, but alive…” Nepeta mumbled.

“Humiliated too,” Kyla groaned. “Love?”

“Here… and exhausted and still numb… and warm now,” she grumbled.

“Rest for a moment,” Copper told them. “I think we all need a moment,” he said, motioning to the crowd of villagers who were all starting to slowly recover.

“I cannot believe your luck, Spike,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “First, you decide to put all of us in danger and just take in a free show. Thanks for describing that, by the way, Derpy,” she said.

Derpy rolled her eyes gently, but shrugged.

“And then you roll an eighteen for stealth, nineteen for move silently, and then a perfect natural twenty for your hit roll, and cleave both of them in HALF in one hit!”

“Well, I mean, it was kind of my thing,” Spike said with a smile. “Well, okay, stealth isn’t really my thing, that was definitely all luck. But it worked, right?”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” Derpy said. “Might have been even cooler if it came at the end of a much longer, awesome campaign,” she grumbled, once again glaring at Rainbow.

“Ugh, Derpy, I’m sorry, all right? I was just playing my character, it’s part of the game, right?”

“Well yeah, but it still annoys me!” she groaned, flailing her arms a bit.

Luna cleared her throat. “Maybe we should continue and wrap up before we get into that?” she suggested.

“Fine, fine, we’re almost done here anyway… and almost out of time,” Derpy lamented, glancing at the clock. “So let’s see…”

Several hours of rest, and many explanations to the confused villagers later, the party was given a complimentary room at the small inn in town. They were being heralded as heroes, but sadly, the villagers were just too poor to pay. It made sense. After all, they’d been lured here by the Master, who had probably tried hiring them specifically to kill off the gnolls, or maybe get itself some stronger bodyguards. Either way, Sulfur had refused any sort of payment anyways, though she had promised proper compensation to her friends once they returned to her temple and she could tell her Abbot what happened.

Kylah and Copper were quick to lend a hand in cleaning up the place, particularly cleaning out the store houses of all the rotting food and supplies. Kylah had offered to have her people come and help them forage for fresh foods and restock their supplies, in an effort to build better relations between the forest gnolls and the village, and as an apology for the misunderstandings when the village had first been built.

Nepeta, Quinoa, and Sulfur, however, were still recovering in their room at the inn. While Sulfur did want to go out and assist the others in cleaning up, she knew there was something else that had to happen first. She observed the two others carefully for a moment. Nepeta, despite her lack of an ability to sit at the moment, was hurriedly scribbling down notes in her journal about what she had seen and experienced. Quinoa, on the other hand, was finally starting to recover from her earlier magic burst and was up and about, stretching her limbs again.

“You know, you don’t have to hang out with us,” Quinoa noted. “I know we make you uncomfortable.”

Sulfur blushed and sighed, rubbing her arm gently. She was back in her tunic again, her armor packed up neatly next to her bag. She figured she had little need of it now. She walked forward, a hand on her hip, looking between the two. “Perhaps, but… I owe you both a big apology,” she stated.

Nepeta’s ear flicked and she looked up from her journal. “Mreow?”

“Come again?” the griffon asked, blinking.

Sulfur bit her lip. “I was… quite harsh, on both of you during this job, mostly due to my own prejudices, my own dislike of magic. But despite my behavior, both of you have acted as both dependable fighters, and good counsel throughout our time here. I humbly apologize for my behavior. To both of you, and I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive a foolish Paladin.” She bowed low to them.

The two magic wielders glanced between each other for a moment and then smirked at one another before smiling at her. “You really wanna make it up to us?” Quinoa asked as Nepeta set the journal to the side, on the bedside table.

“Er… yes?” the dragon asked, nervously.

They nodded and Quinoa slid over to the bed, carefully sitting her sore rear down on the soft mattress, letting out a soft hiss. She pat her lap gently. “Alrighty then. Come here and bend over.”

“Er, is that… is that strictly necessary?” she asked, flush coming to her face.

“Hey, you said anything,” Nepeta said.

“And it’ll be a sign that you trust us,” Quinoa added.

Sighing, the dragon shuffled forward, rubbing her arm. “V-very well. If it will help you to accept my apology, I will do this.” She slowly and obediently bent herself over the griffon’s knees, wiggling lightly. She squeaked as she felt her tunic lifted up and her tights being pushed down. She groaned as her swollen, welted bottom was put on display, her face flushing almost as red as her tush. “Please be gentle,” she mumbled, steeling herself for what was about to happen. She deserved this. If they wanted to punish her for her behavior, that was their right. She could not deny them this.

She let out a rather adorable squeak as she felt something very cold and soft press against her backside. She raised her head up and craned it back towards her rear, blinking in surprise as she saw Nepeta gently drizzling some sort of cream over her backside. Quinoa then began to rub it into her scales, carefully sliding her palm along her soft bottom. She shivered, the effect being almost instantaneous. “Mmmph… mmm…”

“How’s that for gentle?” Quinoa asked.

“I-I thought you were going to… to…”

“Spank you?” Nepeta asked, chuckling as Sulfur nodded her head. “No, never. Well, at least not after what we all went through. Our butts are still in rough shape too. We just wanted you to trust us. And you did.”

She relaxed and sighed, wiggling her backside again as the two of them continued to tend to her rear. “I… thank you, both of you.”

“No problem,” Quinoa said softly. “Now just relax and enjoy yourself for a bit, okay?” she asked, as she brushed a finger along her sit spots, making the dragon shiver again.

“I… I will,” she mumbled, sighing again. And she did enjoy herself. Both of the magic users carefully caressed and rubbed at her sore bottom, offering her a good amount of relief. Whatever they were rubbing over her, it pushed away the fire and the pain quite quickly, dulling the terrible throb until it was little more than a light ache. She sighed and smiled, closing her eyes softly, trying her best to ignore the fact that two women were currently caressing her ass and just enjoy the feeling.

#####

“So… what happens now?” Quinoa asked. The party had reconvened and gathered their things together, in preparation for leaving the village. “I guess this is the end of the job, right?”

Sulfur nodded. “Well, we’re going to have to go back to town so that I can speak to my abbot and deliver my report. He will not be pleased about not receiving any sort of payment for the job, but I’m sure he’ll understand when I explain the situation. After that, I… I suppose our business will conclude. I’ll pay you each your fees and then you can… well, go off and do what you wish.”

“Well…” Copper said after a moment. “Actually, after I am paid, I could use some help going back to my homeland. My tribe has been in a civil war for itself for years now, about the time I left. Perhaps you could come with me and help me to settle things there.”

“Oooh, if we’re going to the northlands-” Nepeta piped in, “-there are several old, mysterious areas we could examine on our way there, probably plenty of discoveries to be made… treasures to find.”

“And I do have a bit of a collection of maps and legends that might lead us to something more interesting on our journey,” Quinoa offered.

Sulfur blinked. “Well, if you are all going to be doing that, you’d probably need a responsible paladin to try and keep you three out of trouble.” She offered them a small smile.

“Four,” Kylah announced.”

“Four?” Sulfur asked, blinking as she looked at the large Gnoll. “You’re coming with us?”

“Will not leave love.”

Quinoa blushed and leaned back against her, nuzzling her chest. “She and I decided that we really didn’t want to be separated,” she said.

“What of your people?” Copper asked. “Will they not worry for their queen?”

“I tell ponies where to find us,” she said. “Left em with proof of my words. My people understand. I see world. I stay with love.” She stroked Quinoa’s feathers gently. “I no leave her.”

Quinoa let out a soft squeal and squeezed her staff tightly as she leaned back against her hand.

Sulfur rolled her eyes. “Well, this will certainly make going back into the city interesting. But you must behave yourself, Kylah. No causing trouble, for anyone, unless we tell you to.”

She snorted gently, giving a rather cute pout. “I behave,” she promised, a slight blush rising from under her fur as she reached behind herself and rubbed at her backside.

“Aww, does someone need some cream when we stop for the night?” Quinoa asked her, smiling up at her.

Kyla grunted and gave her a firm swat on her own stinging rear. “I be fine… but yes please.”

Nepeta and Quinoa giggled a little bit while Copper set a gentle hand on Sulfur’s shoulder. “I suppose this means you’re stuck with us a while longer, friend.”

“I know. I’m completely okay with that,” she said with a grin. And so the small troop of adventurers, with a new addition to their number, left the little village, and headed off to more adventures waiting for them down the road.”

“The end,” Derpy said with a soft sigh.

“Well, that was awesome,” Spike said, stretching out his arms. “I mean it, it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to play this game seriously.”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed. “It’s fantastic.”

Luna frowned as Derpy began to fold up her screen and put away her books and notes. “I’m sorry about your campaign, Derpy,” she said gently. “But you know we can still play plenty of other games next time.”

“Are you kidding?” Derpy asked with a big smile. “That was some of the most fun I’ve had since I learned how to play this game! I mean yeah, it’s annoying that my campaign got sort of derailed a bit, but like, seeing everything that happened, watching it all play out, that was amazing! I live for this sort of thing! And the way Rainbow did it was actually really ingenious! Seducing a gnoll queen? Like, I figured someone would try it, but I didn’t think they’d actually succeed!”

Rainbow smiled. “So you aren’t mad?”

“Nope.”

“No hard feelings?”

“Nope.”

“We gonna let bygones be bygones?”

“Nope.”

“Wha-OW!” she winced as Derpy pinched her ear and yanked her forward, depositing her over her knee before the pegasus could react. “H-hey! Wait! Aww, come on, Derpy!” She glanced over at Luna as Derpy started to tug her pants down. “Luna, you’re the teacher here, stop her!”

Luna giggled. “Well, I’d love to, but my own personal philosophy when it comes to this? Is the Dungeon Master should be allowed one free attack on anyone who ruins their campaign. Derpy might not be mad at you, but I think this is perfectly within her right.”

“Aww, come on!” she groaned as her pants were pushed all the way down to her ankles.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow, your butt won’t be as rough as Quinoa’s was.” Derpy said, patting her rear.

Rainbow blushed. “Well, I sure hope not!” she huffed, pouting a bit as Derpy began to swat and slap at her backside. The athletic pegasus was used to things getting rough, so her pain tolerance was enough for her not to start yelping when Derpy took her palm to her backside, but damn, she was still smacking pretty hard. “Ngh! Mmmph!”

SMACK! SLAP! SWAT! SWAT! SPAT! SLAP!

“Ow! ACK! Aww! Are you gonna do this every time we play together?!”

“Only if you ruin my campaign again.”

“No fair! That’s like, half the fun gone right there.”

“Then you either have fun my way, or you have fun with a sore butt,” Derpy stated, maintaining the swats, and smacking up and down Rainbow’s cute rear.

SWAT! SMACK! SLAP! SPLAT! SMACK! SLAP! SLAP!

“EEP! Ow! Nnngh! Unff!” she hissed and kicked her legs a bit.

Spike blushed a little bit and coughed, averting his eyes, glancing at Fluttershy. “S-so, do you want to go and give them some privacy or…” He blinked when he realized that all of Fluttershy’s attention was focused on Rainbow’s rear, which was fairly close , giving her a perfect view of every smack and every bounce of her backside. “Orrr, we could just sit here and wait this out,” he said, smiling and rolling his eyes.

“Says the dragon who waited in the campaign specifically so that Derpy would have to go into detail about what was happening to us,” Luna stated with a smug smirk.

“Hey, that was her choice to describe it like that,” Spike said defensively with a blush. “She could have just glossed over it and gotten to the part where it was preparing to take control of you, but nope, she went into every little detail.”

“And you knew she would,” Luna accused.

“Well I didn’t hear any of you complaining.”

“It would have been rude to interrupt!” Luna said in her own defensive tone now.

Derpy rolled her eyes, half listening to them as she continued to whap and smack at the mare over her knee.

SPANK! SLAP! SMACK! WHAP!

“OW! ACK!” Rainbow groaned. “Come on, Derpy, isn’t this enough? ACK!”

“Nope!” she said with a smile. “I almost never get to do stuff like this, so I’m gonna enjoy this!”

SPANK! SLAP! SMACK! SMACK!

“Hnngh! Grrr, not like I was intentionally ruining anything!”

“Tell you what, Rainbow, next time, you can be Dungeon Master for our next game, and if I end up ruining yours, you can do this to me. Fair?”

Rainbow grumbled and huffed a few times before nodding. “Fair.”

“Great!” She smiled happily and let loose another flurry of slaps against the bare flank on her lap. They cratered the toned flank impressively with some equally impressive echoes to the claps.

SWAT! SMACK! SPAT! SPAT! SLAP! WHAP!

“EEP! OOP! Ack, that smarts! Nnngh! Hnngh!” Rainbow winced and bucked a little bit.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow, almost done,” she promised, giggling.

“Well thank the stars for that! ACK!”

SPANK! SLAP! SMACK! SMACK! WHAP! WHAP!

Derpy finished up with one final smack, right in the center of her butt, really putting a good wind up on the strike so that it would have a nice, firm impact. Rainbow arched her back and let out one more yelp and hiss as Derpy pat her rear a few times. “Okay,” the grey mare said. “We’ll call that good. Thanks for being a good sport about it, Dashie.”

Rainbow responded by letting out a snort, but smiled as she was let up, giving the other mare a tight hug.

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Well, that happened.”

Fluttershy snapped out of her trance with a warm glow appearing on her cheeks. “Y-yeah um… I-I guess it’s time for us to go?”

“Oh wait, we can’t go just yet!” Derpy said. “We have to decide what we’re doing next time. Like I said, I was expecting this campaign to last a few more meetings…”

“Well, you already said I could run the next game,” Rainbow stated. “So I’ll handle that. I’ve already got a few ideas in mind, and I have some old ideas I can use if I can write out anything new in a week. Good?”

“Sure, that sounds fine,” Derpy said with a smile, getting up. “And um… thanks again to all of you for coming. Rainbow, Spike, Fluttershy, Luna. This… this was a dream come true for me, finally being able to run a club like this.”

Luna smiled and nodded, slowly getting up and placing her hands on her hips. “Well, you did a fine, fine job, Ms. President. I’m looking forward to more.”

“Same,” Spike said. I’m really glad we were able to make this happen, Derpy.”

“Thank you. All of you.” She fluttered her wings excitedly.

“See you next week?” Fluttershy asked.

“Definitely,” they all agreed. Everyone started to pack up and Spike cleared his throat. “Ms Luna, could I get a lift home with you?”

“Sure, your house is on my way home, so why not?” she smiled and motioned him along, shouldering her own bag as they started to walk off, bidding everyone else good night. But Spike faltered, causing her to pause. “Something wrong?”

Spike glanced back at Fluttershy. “Could you... give me a minute?” The navy blue alicorn smirked and nodded, leaning against the wall as he chased down the pegasus. “Fluttershy! Can I talk to you for a minute?”

The pink haired pony stumbled and glanced back. “Huh? Oh! Spike, sure. W-What's wrong?”

“Nothing! I mean, I guess kinda something?” He sighed and frowned. “I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. You don't like others knowing about certain interests that you have, and feel like you have to put on a face in front of them. I didn't mean to make you feel bad.”

She folded her ears back with a wince. “Spike, you don't have to apologize. Like you said, you didn't mean to make me upset.”

“But I don't want you to hide who you are either!” That caught Fluttershy off guard. “You actually feel comfortable being yourself when in the club, and I don't want you to pretend or hide or be too shy to be you around me outside of it. But I feel like you can't unless we get to know each other, build trust. I know I might seem like a perv, and you'd be right! But I'm more than some horny boy. Please, give me a chance to prove it.”

Her wings flared up. “Spike, are you asking me...”

“Out on a date, yes!” He placed his hands together pleadingly. “It doesn't have to be right away, and it would mostly be an excuse to get to know each other better. So what do you say?”

Fluttershy was quiet for a long moment, expression unchanging, body unmoving. “I need to think about it. I-If that's okay.”

Spike was a bit dissapointed by that answer, but, he couldn't blame her. “That is. Take all the time you need. And, hey, in the meantime? We still got the club, right?”

Her expression brightened a bit, and she nodded. “Thanks, Spike. See you next week.”

“You too!” He watched her go for a moment, hands in his pockets, before returning to the waiting Empress of the Night.

“How'd it go, cassanova? You attain a marefriend?” she asked in a teasing tone.

“I got a maybe.”

“Oof. Apologies, nephew, but give her time to warm up to you. Dates are not just an excuse to get to know someone, it's to get to know someone better that you already trust. For some, at least.” She motioned him along and they continued away from the others. Once they were a ways down the hall, Luna glanced at him. “So, did you have fun.”

“Heck yeah. You?”

“Definitely,” she agreed with a smirk. “We should talk really loud about how great it was when we get home, so your mother will hear us.”

“Wanna make her jealous about not being a part of the club?”

“Yup!”

Spike rolled his eyes, but he nodded, holding out his fist. “Let’s do it.”

“That’s my nephew,” she chuckled, pounding her fist against his as the two of them walked out of the school building together.

Sideswipe: The Cosplay Cafe

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Chapter 17: The Great Chase (Part 1)

Chapter 17: The Great Chase, Pt. 1

Spike was up early that Saturday, feeling weirdly well rested. Generally, he liked to sleep in on Saturdays, but today, he’d gotten a good amount of sleep, and so, he was downstairs in time for breakfast. He met his own personal maid on the way down the stairs and she gasped.

“Oh wow!” the griffin said with a small smile. “I was just on my way up to clean up around your room, your majesty. I wasn’t expecting you to be up. I mean, I assumed you were gonna be up before lunch, maybe a little bit before, and I was thinking about how best to get you up this morning. I was considering just yanking the blankets off of you, but I can’t remember if you prefer sleeping in the nude or not, and a bucket of cold water would have been way too childish, I think, but just telling you to wake up seems like it might have been a little bit less effective and a bit more invasive, maybe? I dunno, I just don’t feel like shaking you awake is always the most effective route to take and-”

“Good morning to you too, Gabby,” Spike said with a smile, cutting off the torrent of words bubbling from her beak. He liked Gabby quite a bit, but if he let her keep going, there probably wouldn’t be an end to her talking. There were times when he loved having a nice, long conversation with her, but first thing in the morning, she could tire him right out if he let her.

“Oh, right, good morning!” She nodded again with a small bob of her head and a light ruffle of her wings. “I’ll go and tidy up your room since you’re up early, before I go and get cleaned up myself.”

“Sounds like a plan. Have you already had breakfast?” he asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I ate before coming here,” she promised, waving to him before hopping the rest of the way up the stairs.

The drake smiled as he watched her go. She was a sweetie, to be sure.

He hurried down the stairs, greeting a few more of the early morning crowd, dressed in his cozy Saturday morning pajamas, a simple plaid pair of pants with a matching button up shirt. As he got into the kitchen, he noticed that the staff had already prepared a morning meal for him, his aunt, and his mother, and decided to do them both a favor. He went over to the coffee machine sitting next to their fridge and started to mix up a pair of cups for the two alicorns he knew would be coming downstairs any moment now.

And as if on cue, two forms shambled in, both looking incredibly sleepy. Celestia’s usually bright and vibrant, flowing rainbow mane was flaccid and opaque, lacking the shimmering quality to it. Luna’s mane was similarly disfigured, looking more like a rat’s nest than anything. Both had heavy bags under their eyes, Celestia looking as though she was having difficulty keeping her own eyes open. She moved through a combination of instinct and the guiding hand of a maid standing behind her, lightly nudging her in various directions as she moved.

“Good morning mom, auntie. Good morning Dusty,” he greeted to each of them as they walked in.

Both alicorns gave an affirming grunt as they moved for the full cups of coffee he’d prepared for them, though the grayish-brown mare with a bright, orange mane gave him a soft smile in return. “Good morning, Prince Spike. Nice to see you up so soon today.”

“Is it really so strange to see me up this early on a Saturday?” he asked. “I am an adult, you know.”

“Adult, child, doesn’t really matter, you still sleep in during the weekend… a lot.” She grinned. “Though I bet these two wish they could do the same.” She motioned to the two mares who still looked like they were sleep walking about the kitchen, barely aware of what they were doing.

Luna, dressed in little else than a massive, oversized T-shirt reading ‘Blame my Sister’ over the front, flopped down into one of the chairs with an impressively loud ‘whump’ the chair below her giving a soft creak of protest.

Spike frowned gently. He knew that his aunt kept a rather hectic schedule, only sleeping between her duties at school and her duties as the Night Empress, but it had been a long while since he’d seen her so worn down. “Are you okay, Luna?” he asked.

“Mhmm,” she said, giving a light nod. She set her mug to the side, and began to push her hands across the table, ignoring the pancakes and milk and fruits in favor of pulling a small bowl of bananas in front of her. She grabbed one, expertly peeled it with deft, graceful fingers, tossed the banana to the side, and shoved the peel into her mouth.

Spike winced, opened his mouth to say something, and then decided it might be best to just let that situation resolve itself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother take the opposite chair, her big, fluffy bathrobe tugged tightly around her chest and shoulders. She had her coffee mug in one hand, and a pot of coffee in the other. “And uh… how’re you, mom?” he asked, slowly.

She answered by setting her own full mug down, a few small splashes of coffee dribbling out over the edge before tipping her head back and bringing to pot up, attempting to pour its contents down her throat.

“Hey, hey, hey, slow it down, Celestia!” Dusty said, quickly reaching over and carefully tipping the pot back, relieving it from Celestia’s rather loose grip. “Just use the cup like a normal mare, it’ll be more than enough.”

“But I neeeeeed it,” Celestia whined, sprawling her upper torso onto the table, and reaching out in front of her, drawing a stack of waffles close to her face, shoving one into her mouth and chewing on it noisily.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I present to you, the God Empress of the sun, Celestia,” Spike said, making a sweeping gesture towards his mother. She responded by twisting her head towards him, and opening her eyes just wide enough to send an effective warning glare his way. He just snickered and drew a bowl of fruit towards himself, but his amusement soon turned to concern as he watched the two very tired mares try their best to work up the energy to properly enjoy their breakfast. “Hey mom… Aunt Luna,” he said slowly, getting their attention.

“Mhmm?” they both said in unison, finally able to force their eyes open enough to actually look in his direction.

He drummed his fingers against the table a few times. “Are you two going to be okay for classes today?” he asked.

They both gave a weak nod, Luna finally figuring out what part of the banana she was actually supposed to eat, and Celestia begrudgingly lifting her coffee cup to her lips, taking a more reserved sip. “No need to be concerned, dear,” Luna said gently. “We’ve been doing this long enough that this is pretty routine for us.”

“You sure?” Spike asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two this wiped out before.”

“We’ll get our second wind soon enough, hon. Like Luna said, this is pretty standard for Saturdays. You’re just usually asleep before we go.”

Spike frowned gently. “Mom… Luna,” he glanced between them, hesitating for a moment. “Listen… I know that the school means a lot to both of you, but I’m starting to think that you two might be taking on a bit too much. Luna, you don’t even have a chance to get a full night’s sleep. You sleep when you get home from your job at school, and then you go to work at night, and then you take a nap like a hour or two before breakfast and you just keep repeating that until Sunday, when I don’t think you even leave your bed.”

“My bed is… just really, really comfy on Sundays,” she argued gently, blushing.

“And what about you, Mom?” Spike asked. “You have the benefit of actually being able to get a good night’s sleep, but I know for a fact that you don’t. You spend all your time at the school taking care of things there, and then you bring most of that work home with you after it closes, and you split your evening time between finishing THAT work, and your duties as an Empress.”

Celestia rubbed the back of her head, through her messy mane, unable to deny her son’s accusations.

“Look, like I said, the school is really important to both of you. It’s basically your baby, I understand that. You established it as a means of making secondary education feel closer to a high school setting to help adults feel less self conscious about their age or ability when applying for schooling beyond what they learned in basic education.” He decided not to mention that a lot of the baggage from high school had apparently followed the supposed adults that now came to their school, now wasn’t the time for that. “The school’s been doing really well, and I get that you want to be directly involved with it… but don’t you think that the two of you are a little bit overburdened with all of this right now? There’s no shame in stepping back and letting someone else take care of things for you.”

Sighing, Celestia took another sip of her coffee before glancing at the digital clock hanging from the wall. “I suppose you have a point, Spike. And I will seriously consider your words. But right now, we’re running a bit behind. I need to get dressed and ready for magic classes, as does Luna.” She shoveled a few more mouthfuls of food into her mouth and downed the rest of coffee in an impressively quick manner. “Dusty, let’s go.”

“Yes ma’am, right away!”

“Come on, Luna.”

“I’ll be along in a minute,” she said, licking her lips as she shoved another slice of banana into her mouth. “Mmm, sweet bliss…”

“We don’t have a minute, Lulu, we’re going to be late, and I’m not going to leave those gifted youths waiting for us because you didn’t get enough banana in the morning.”

Spike’s lips almost twitched into a small smile, but he managed to keep himself from giggling by quickly reciting, ‘I am a mature adult’ several times in his head.

Luna groaned and forced herself up. “Does this mean we’re going to be changing and getting ready on the way there, again?” she grumbled.

“We don’t have time to do it in our rooms. Now come on, move that moon of yours,” Celestia said, giving her younger sister a few quick pats on her backside as she got up. Luna responded by whipping her palm against Celestia’s hind end, making her howl in pain. “OWW! What was that for?!”

“Sorry, I just thought the sun might need some heating up this morning,” she said with a grin. She took off down the hall, letting out a small laugh as her sister chased after her.

Dusty sighed a bit and shrugged. “Guess I gotta go and make sure they don’t tear each other apart before we get to the classroom… again.” She started to follow after the two feuding empresses before glancing back at Spike. “You gonna be all right?”

“Yeah, no problem,” he smiled at her. “See you later, Dusty. Keep my mom out of trouble, okay?”

“If ever there were an impossible task,” she lamented, chuckling as she jogged after Luna and Celestia.

Spike sighed and started to go through the laborious process of putting everything away and putting the copious leftovers into containers so that they wouldn’t spoil before anyone got a chance to enjoy them. He’d probably end up giving it all to the rest of the staff anyway, if they wanted it.

As he cleaned, he frowned gently, noticing a book sitting on the table among all the glasses and dishware. He tilted his head. He didn’t remember either of them coming down with a book in hand. Maybe someone had left it down here last night. Wouldn’t be the first time, and the maids tended to leave personal effects where they lay, and point them out if the owners came looking for them. He pushed a bowl to the side and picked it up, blushing a bit. “Yowza, I thought Luna said she’d stopped reading these kinds of books.” He double checked the book mark peeking out of the middle of its pages, confirming that it was indeed Luna’s, and closed the book again when he realized the page she was on used some combination of the words ‘passionate’, ‘throbbing’, and ‘firm’ at least four or five times. “Better take this back up to her room,” he mused.

He made his way back up the stairs, walking past his room to the end of the hall where his mother and aunts’ rooms sat across from one another, one marked with a large engraving of a bright yellow sun, and the other with a bright, white moon.

He opened the moon door wide and smiled as he stepped in, intending to just toss the book onto the bed and then go on his merry way.

He wasn’t expecting to run into anyone in there. And he certainly wasn’t expecting to see that someone bent over, rifling through his aunt’s underwear drawer.

They drew out a pair of black panties and gave a soft whistle as they held them up, stretching out the waistline a little. “Oh boy, Jackpot!” she exclaimed in a rather loud whisper, before folding the panties and stuffing them in a small saddle bag hanging at her side.

Spike scowled as he took in the intruder. He definitely didn’t recognize her as part of the castle staff (not that the staff made a habit of going around raiding other ponies’ underwear drawers, much less the Empresses’) and he clenched his fists lightly at the sight. She definitely looked like a street punk. Her fur was a strangely shiny looking neo blue, with a dark pink mane, shaggy and unkempt. Her mane was puffed out, making it look larger than it probably was, but her tail was cropped quite short, to the point where it was little more than a small bob sticking out from her tailbone. She was dressed in a black yukata and enough fishnet to catch a shark. On second glance, she didn't look like a street punk, more like a ninja hooker. He took a step forward, but was careful to keep himself between her and the only door out of the room. “Hey!” he shouted, loudly.

She jumped, eyes wide as she looked up from the drawer, which she’d begun rifling through again. Her eyes matched up with Spike’s and a long, uncomfortable silence grew between them. “Ummm…” she started, glancing between Spike and another pair of panties, this one a sexy, slinky red ensemble. “This is EXACTLY what it looks like, yeah,” she said, stuffing the underwear into her bag.

Spike’s eyes narrowed. “Alright, you put those back right this second,” he ordered, starting to advance on her. “Or I’m going to-”

He was cut off as she suddenly lunged at him, grabbing both of his shoulders, and then hefting herself up, almost like she was vaulting over a balance beam, flipping herself over him cleanly, and landing next to the bedroom door. “Muahaha!” she laughed, turning back to him, “A valiant effort, my scaly friend, but you see, there is no one alive who can capture Panty Raid, the greatest underwear thief in all of Equestria!” She twisted and bolted down the hall, giving a loud giggle as she did so.

Eyes narrowing, the drake took off after her, trying his best to keep her in his sight as they ran through the castle halls. “Where are the guards when you need them?” he growled.

Spike frowned deeply as he pursued Panty Raid down the halls. The way she twisted and turned, it almost seemed like she knew these halls pretty well. He wondered, had she done this before? How’d she get around all the alarms and defenses the castle had, if that was the case?

He’d have to figure that out later. Right now, he had to make sure he actually CAUGHT her, or he wasn’t going to have a chance to interrogate her.

He paused for a moment as he saw her throw open the doors to the staff showers, specifically the ladies shower. He could hear several squeals and yelps of surprise, but he grit his teeth and threw himself in, trying his best to keep his eyes focused straight ahead so that he didn’t accidentally see anything he shouldn’t have.

“Oh, hi Panty Raid!” a familiar voice said from nearby. He dashed toward the voice, blushing deeply as he came through a small cloud of steam clouding the spacious showers, only to find Gabby standing there, in a towel, wrapped loosely around her body. “Oh! Hello there, your majesty,” she said happily.

He knew griffons were casual about stuff like this, but he didn’t think they’d be THIS casual. “Erm, hi. You said Panty Raid ran through here?”

“Yeah, she just ran deeper into the showers,” she said, pointing down the line of separate shower stalls.

“Why didn’t you stop her?” he asked, sounding a tad exasperated.

She frowned, giving Spike a bit of a blank look. “Ummm…”

“Never mind, that doesn’t matter. Right now though, I’ve got to catch up with her.”

“Oh! I’ll come with you,” she said quickly, pulling the towel a bit tighter around herself.

“Are you…”

“No time to discuss it,” she chided. “If you wanna catch her, we’re gonna have to hurry!” She jogged past Spike, and the bemused dragon groaned as he took off after her, putting his hands along the sides of his face to shield his eyes from the various shower stalls and open curtains as they ran by, his face flushing as he realized that a bunch of the maids were yelping or calling out to them. Gabby even took the time to stop and talk to them. Finally, the reached the other end of the showers and burst through the curtain… into the public bath. He flushed deeply, seeing no less than five naked mares sitting there in the communal baths in the center of the room.

Damn his mother and her sense of old Romane aesthetics!

Gabby and Spike edged their way around the room, an awkward and cold silence brewing in the hot steam as Spike tried his best to look away, but found it almost impossible to do when faced with the group of mares, all of whom he knew, at least as workers.

Berry Punch had her usual lazy grin on her face, and leaned back, as though showing off her goods.

Shamrock Shake flushed deeply and pulled her upper body as deeply into the water as she could.

Twinkleshine just stared blankly at him and Gabby as they made their way around the edge of the room.

Blossomforth was blushing beet red and looked rather confused, as if she was unsure if she should be embarrassed or flattered to see the prince running through their bathing area.

When they finally fought their way through the steam trap that was the bathing area, and emerged out in the outer hall on the other end, Spike scowled as he saw the various cube drawers pulled out, clothing rifled through. Panty Raid had no doubt gone through them and nicked every pair of knickers in there. He stopped to catch his breath and inhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his snout lightly. “Gabby?”

“Yeah, Spike?” she asked, slowly coming around to the front of him, still wrapped in a towel.

“Why did you let her get past you?”

“I um… didn’t know I was supposed to stop her,” she said after a moment.

Spike glanced at her and put a hand on his hip.

“Well I didn’t!” she said flailing her free arm.

Spike responded by reaching forward and giving her towel a firm yank, pulling it free from her body. It fell down around her ankles and the mature looking griffon let out a loud squawk and pulled her wings around to cover her chest. “Y-Your Majesty!” she gasped. “Now’s not really the time for that, is it?”

Spike’s own face heated up. “Oh get your mind out of the gutter, you feather brain,” he scolded, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her towards a bench sitting next to the entrance to the shower room.

He sat down and pulled her over his knees. “Ack! Do you really need to?” she squeaked.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to take care of this properly, so this is gonna be quick, but I don’t believe in leaving this sort of thing until later,” he stated. He pushed her tail out of the way, his face heating up as she took in her pert, soft backside. It was smaller than most mares, but the griffons tended to have more slender, softer bodies to go with their slightly less powerful wings compared to the tougher bodies of the Thestrals and the Pegasi.

Now wasn’t the time to consider the state of another species’ rump compared to another. There was only one rump he needed to worry about right now. With one hand put over her wings to keep them from flapping all over the place, and to keep her waist centered over his lap.

It wasn’t the first time he’d disciplined her, but he didn’t have to do it often. She was a diligent worker and a very responsible maid… but goddess preserve her, she could be SUCH an air head sometimes!

WHAP! SMACK! SPANK!

“Eeep! Ouch! Yeep!” she gasped and squeaked, twitching back and forth slightly, grabbing his leg to keep her upper body still, but she couldn’t keep her hips from shaking.

Spike had to force himself to keep from thinking about how cute she was. He bit his lip and tensed, trying to focus more on his palm as he flicked it up and down. But the problem with that was, it meant he had to follow its trajectory every time, meaning his eyes inevitably fell on his target.

And then he was right back to thinking about how cute the griffon’s backside was.

Why was it so hard to ignore how soft and bouncy a pretty butt was?!

SMACK! SPANK! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

“Aww! Spike, I’m sorry! EEK!”

“I’m sure you are,” he scolded, giving her a few upward strikes on her sit spots, making her get up on the tips of her talons as he slapped, making her bounce in a slow rhythm. “Because you’re going to help me track down this Panty Raid pony and get my aunt’s underwear back.”

“EEP! Yessir!” she whined, giving his leg a squeeze. He grunted a bit, the edge of her talons squeezing hard enough for him to feel it through his pants and against his rather tough scales around his lower legs.

“Good,” he said with a grunt. He glanced down the hall. He’d have to wrap this up quickly. He started to flick his arm forward at the elbow rather than raising it up high, giving her a good, swift, rapid-fire pummeling, moving in a swift circle around her entire bottom, leaving behind a nice, pulsing, pink glow.

SPANK! SPANK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Ow! Owww! Sh-shouldn’t we get after her then?” she squeaked.

“I know, I know,” he said with a sigh. “I just don’t like leaving a job half finished.” He slowly stood her up and she hissed, rubbing and squeezing at her backside, her wings instinctively moving to her front, covering her chest. Spike was rather grateful for that.

“Owww… s-spanking me should not be a job,” she hissed.

Spike almost commented that it wasn’t really a job so much as it was a joy, but he didn’t think that sort of quip would be appreciated. Instead, he just shook his head and stood up, turning away. “A-anyway, get dressed. We have to try and figure out where she took off to.”

“Well,” Gabby said, musing as she rustled around, looking for her clothes, “Let’s see… if we came out in the outer hall, she’s most likely going to make her way out into the courtyard from here. Or maybe into the maids’ dormitories. I mean, if she was really interested in grabbing more underwear, that’s definitely where she’d go, right? Or maybe she’s worried about being caught…”

Spike snapped his fingers. “She probably assumes she lost us. Considering she took her time to ransack the clothes out here, I bet she wouldn’t have a problem doing the same in the dorms, especially since that place is probably pretty empty right now with everyone either starting, or having already started their morning shift! Brilliant detective work, Gabby.”

“Aww, pshaw, it’s nothing that impressive,” she said, giving an embarrassed giggle. “Just gotta pull this around my wings aaaand… okay, I’m ready!”

He turned back to her, nodding. She’d traded in her usual maid uniform for a more casual skirt and T-shirt ensemble. He nodded to her. “Awesome, great, let’s go.” He motioned to her and took off down the hall.”Before she takes off again.”

“Right! I’ll call Luna and Celestia and let them know about the situation,” she said, pulling out her cell phone.”

Spike stopped and grabbed her wrist, shaking his head. “No, no way. We’ll handle this.”

“Are you sure?” she asked with a frown.

He thought back to the tired, exhausted, worn out faces of his mother and aunt, how much they were struggling to keep awake or even function this morning. He shook his head firmly. “I am. They have enough on their plate already.”

“Well, you can certainly tell that she works quick,” Gabby observed as they followed a trail of loose underwear from the door leading out into the gardens from the dormitories.

“Sloppy is more like it,” Spike muttered, blushing as he looked over the trail of various panties, tangas, briefs, bloomers, and thongs left in the thief’s wake. Did they really have that many maids working here, or were they all storing extra pairs in their dorms? I was fairly certain they didn’t have THAT many live-in maids.

Then again, the palace was pretty big, almost labyrinthine at times…

Not the time to think of that, focus on catching that panty pilferer!

He glanced up and frowned, seeing a rather confused looking maid walking along the path ahead of them, gently picking up a few of the spare panties and stuffing them into a small laundry basket under her arm. Spike smiled as they approached. He recognized her. “Sunflower! Hey, Sunflower!”

The orange mare with a gold mane glanced up, a small smile gracing her perplexed face when she saw who it was. “Oh! Your Majesty, it’s good to see you!” she greeted. “Strange, you’re not usually up this early on Saturdays.”

“I wish people would stop pointing that out,” he muttered. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have seen a mare run by here with a sack of underwear, would you? Weird, neon-ish blue, dark pink mane, looks like she’s going to an 80’s toy convention?”

“Hmmm, nope, can’t say that I have, but that would explain all of this.” She pointed to the trail. “Wouldn’t explain how some of them got up into the trees though.” She pointed to a pair of panties sitting next to the trunk of a thick, old oak that had probably been here long before the palace had even been built. Spike could see a new decoration hanging from one of its lower branches, a pair of bright purple panties, caught on the short twig. The upper branches, however, were so thick with leaves, it was impossible to see up to the top. “Well, I think it’s obvious where she went. Gabby, could you do me a favor and take a quick fly up and-”

“Uh… n-no can’t really do that,” Gabby said, blushing.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I mean, like, she took my underwear too, so, y’know.”

“Oh… ohhh.” Spike flushed as the image of the griffon flying up without underwear on, and him able to see up her skirt fluttered through his mind. “Er, well then, never mind. I’ll just…” he flexed his shoulders and blinked as his own wings unfurled. “Oh, yeah. I uh… heh, you’re gonna laugh, but I always forget I have these things.”

“Well, you weren’t exactly born with em. They had to grow in,” Gabby said gently.

“True, but still. It would be nice if I actually took this into account more often. Anyway, I’ll just fly up there, take a quick look around, and-”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty, I’ll take a look around!” came a call from above them.

Gabby and Spike blinked, glancing up the wide trunk of the tree. While they’d been talking, Sunflower had pulled herself up several branch levels and was fast approaching the middle branches. The dragon’s eyes widened. “S-Sunflower!” he called. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for who you’re looking for,” she called back down, grunting as she hoisted herself up another branch, hiking up her maid skirt a bit, forcing Spike to look away as she revealed a little bit more than she was probably intending. It wasn’t like it was an incredibly long skirt, but it was long enough that doing something like climbing a tree in it was very impractical.

Not to mention the shoes she was wearing. They weren’t heels or anything, but they definitely didn’t have the sort of traction someone would want for clambering up the side of an old oak. “Get back down here!” Spike hollered to her. “I REALLY don’t want anyone breaking their back here, Sunflower!”

“It’s okay!” she called. “I used to run track in High School!”

“What does that have to do with…” Spike shook his head. “Look, just get down here!” he called, spreading his own wings and giving them a light flap before flying up towards her. He grunted at the strain. He really should have taken a few more flying classes, get his strength up a bit. He crossed his arms, trying to look stern, though it wasn’t easy when supporting himself in the air like this. “Sunflower, stop. I can fly up a little higher and check for myself. You can get back down to the ground. Please, I really don’t want you falling down from this height.”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “It isn’t like I’m gonna sli-”

The slick heel of her shoe slid off the edge of the branch, throwing her off balance. She tried to correct herself and catch a branch before tumbling down, but there was nothing within reach. “Welp, down I goooo,” she said with a surprising amount of calm as she tumbled backwards.

Spike gasped and made a grab for her, but he wasn’t fast enough, and could only watch as she flipped backwards, down off of the branch she was standing on. “Oh geez, I can’t look,” he gasped, covering his eyes, not wanting to watch the poor mare end up as a puddle of paste on the garden floor.

He was expecting a slam, or a yelp, or some sort of exclamation of pain. He wasn’t expecting a creak and a loud, high pitched squeal. Blinking, he cautiously lowered his arms down from his face and looked down, his eyes bugging out at what he saw.

Somehow, physics had decided to play dirty today. At some point during her fall, her skirt had flipped upwards and one of the stronger lower branches had managed to catch her as she fell… by catching the back of her panties, stretching them out, and giving the poor mare one heck of a wedgie. Well, that would explain the squeak. At least she wasn’t hurt, but her underwear, a pair of plain, white cotton panties, didn’t look like it would last long.

Careful not to let gravity take too much control over him, Spike lowered himself back down to the ground. From here, she was just out of reach, and was squirming back and forth in discomfort. “Uh… you okay?” he asked.

She managed a strained smile as she looked down at him, her voice a loud squeak. “It feels like my peach is being juiced,” she whined.

Spike blushed and winced at the mental image that particular description conjured up. “Don’t worry, just stop squirming, or your underwear might-”

Even as he spoke the words, the strain on the delicate fabric became too much. With a long, drawn out ‘RRRRIP’ noise, the front of her panties gave way, though the leg holes somehow remained firm, so instead of just falling the rest of the way to the ground, she was tipped forward and sort of spilled out of the ruined undergarments. She let out a yelp and managed to land, with a rather painful sounding thud, on her hands and knees, arse pushed up into the air. Spike flushed, eyes wide, biting his lip as he took in Sunflower’s generous backside, unable to look away after a spectacle like that (appropriate that her last name was Spectacle). Her chubby, sunflower cutie marked globes gave a soft wobble as she slowly wriggled and writhed on the ground, checking to see if anything was injured.

“Are… you okay?” he finally managed to spit out, as she slowly righted herself, sitting her bare bottom up in the grass.

“Yeah, I think so,” she mumbled, resting on her knees. “Just a bit disoriented. Urf…” she groaned and craned her head backwards, over her shoulder, glancing up at the discarded underwear, ripped and flowing in in the breeze. “Great, there goes another pair…”

“Another pair?” Spike asked, wondering what she meant by that.

The branch creaked and he turned his attention upwards, just in time to see Panty Raid hopping down to one of the lower branches. She WAS up in there! “Aww, don’t worry, little guys,” she said, snatching up the torn white cotton. “I’ve got a nice little sewing machine back at the crib with your name on it!” She grinned and stuffed the torn white cotton into her bag.

“There you are! Get down here!” Spike called to her.

“Hmmm… nah! What fun is a chase if I let myself get caught?” She laughed and leaped down off of the branch, flipping in mid air… and flopping down on her stomach with a loud WHUMP. Spike couldn’t help but wince at the sound. “Mmmph… meant to do that!” she said, hopping up and taking in a deep breath. “Anyway, byes!” she said, waving to them, twisting around and dashing off.

Spike groaned. “Damn it all! Gabby, Sunflower, come on!” he offered Sunflower a hand to help her stand up. “We’ve gotta get after her! I think she was heading towards the kitchens!”

“You ever stop to think that maybe this place is too big and confusing for its own good?” Gabby mused. She didn’t receive an answer as Spike gave both her and Sunflower a firm tug forward and the three of them took off running after the thief, who was busy taunting them out in the distance.

The run to the kitchens wasn’t too long, and it actually looked like they were starting to gain some ground on her as they approached the swinging doors that led into the royal kitchens. Spike felt another blush rising into his face, not just from the exertion, but also from the fact that there was a naked mare standing just outside of the entrance to the kitchen, , her bright, red bottom on display, and her hands on her head. Judging by her light scarlet and orange mane and tail, and very light, almost grey blue coat, it was Windy Whistles.

“Windy,” he called. “Grab her!”

The mare’s ear flicked up and she glanced over her shoulder, blinking in surprise, seeing several ponies and one dragon running towards her. She could have easily stepped in Panty’s way and stopped the mare from advancing, or at least slowed her down enough for Spike and friends to grab her.

But she didn’t. Panty just dashed past, throwing the doors to the kitchens wide, laughing. A soft stream of cursing came from inside, and Spike skid to a stop, taking several deep breaths. “Windy, what the heck?” he asked. “Why didn’t you stop her?”

“Gustaf put me in time out,” she grumbled gently, huffing. “I am not about to risk getting another hide tanning from him. He is SUCH a meanie!”

“What did he spank you for?” Gabby asked as she and Sunflower caught up with Spike.

Windy grumbled again and shook her tail a few times, hissing as the thick tail-fur strands brushed against her throbbing rear. “I was trying to convince him to put together a slightly healthier menu. I understand his stuff is super fancy or whatever, but it’s not doing the waistlines around here any favors. Would it kill him to throw in some more greens and fruit? Maybe put together a salad that isn’t baked? Oh and all those desserts that he makes! Is it any wonder why Celestia’s getting such a great, big, fat bu-” She cut herself off and blushed, glancing at Spike. “My point is, he should be introducing more healthy stuff into his menu!”

Spike groaned. “Look, we don’t have time for this. Windy, I need you to come with us, we’ve got to catch up with that panty thief!”

“So someone’s finally chasing after her, huh?” she asked. Before Spike could ask her to elaborate, she shook her head. “I would, but… time out, ya know?”

“We don’t have time for this. Windy, I officially pardon you as the Prince of Equestria, now come on!”

She blinked a bit, blushing. “W-well, okay then, I just have to grab my clothes from inside the kitchen!”

“Whatever, just come on!” Spike twisted and dashed into the kitchen, dodging around the island counter in the center and running past several sous chefs who were working on one dish or another.

“Vat is the meaning of zis?!” a heavily Prance accent said from the far side of the kitchen.

“Sorry, LeGrand,” Spike shouted as he ran through, followed by two maids and a naked mare, “Emergency! We’re after the mare who ran through here before!”

“Ach! Of course zere would be a stampede after her! Everyone interrupting me when I am trying to work!”

The large-beaked griffon let out a snarl and picked up a large metal spatula, glowering them as they made their way through the kitchen. “And you!” he said, pointing the thing at Windy as she ran by. “Vat are you doing out of ze corner?!”

“Prince Spike said he needed my help and pardoned me!” she said, yelping as Spike tossed her her clothes, which he grabbed off the counter as they sped past. Her underwear, of course, was conspicuously absent.

“I don’t care if ze empress herself said you could come out, you are being punished for wasting my time!” he growled, advancing on her.

“Sorry, gotta go, important stuff to do!” she said, trying to speed along a bit faster. “We’ll talk more about the changes to the menu after this!”

“No ve vill NOT!” he announced, rearing back and pouncing at her as she ran past him, flicking his whole arm downwards and catching her bottom, right in the center with the spatula, a resounding, butt-crushing SPAT echoing around the room.

“EEEEYOW!” she howled, as a new grid-like square was added to her bare, tender backside, the force of the blow catapulting her forward, out of the kitchen just as Spike, Gabby, and Sunflower rushed out as well.

Spike panted and stopped looking around.”I’m getting really tired of playing this cat and mouse game,” he grumbled. “I feel like we’re going to cover the entire palace grounds at this rate.

“At least she's waiting for us, Your Majesty,” Sunflower said, pointing down the hall. “See?”

Eyes narrowing, Spike glanced ahead, all the way to the next hall intersection. Panty Raid was standing there there, dancing a taunting jig, a long line of panties tied together into some sort of short chain as she swayed back and forth, sliding the pilfered panties along her butt, like she was shining a shoe.

“She's toying with us.”

“Can we rest for a sec?” Gabby panted.

Windy concurred, flushed in the face. “Please, I'd like to get dressed before Gustaf comes out after me.”

“Fine… fine,” Spike grumbled. “I just hope that she doesn’t decide to take off again…”

Just like before, Panty Raid didn’t seem very focused on actually getting away. She always kept a good distance between herself and Spike's group, but never dashing too far ahead or disappearing out of sight for long. In fact, the last few times she’d rounded a corner or dashed past an obstacle, she’d give some sort of indication as to where she went, either leaving a spare pair behind, or just waiting for them to catch up.

But it seemed that she was getting bored with the chase. The gap between them was widening and Spike had to wonder how she managed to keep up this sort of endurance when his own was starting to fade.

He pumped his legs as hard as he could, looking at the ground as he rounded yet another hall corner as they entered a more public part of the palace, only to slam right into someone who was walking around said corner. He yelped as the impact made him lose his footing and he pitched forward, landing on top of… someone. Whoever it was, they were wonderfully soft. He groaned and waited for his vision to stop blurring before slowly sitting up. “Oww… really sorry about that…”

“Ouch! Well you should be! Why don’t you watch where- Oh! Spike, is that you?”

Spike blinked and glanced up at the mare he’d slammed into. “Trixie?” He frowned and slowly got up, offering her his hand. “Sorry about that. What are you doing here? I thought you had special magic classes on Saturday.”

“Those classes are AT the palace, though I got lost looking for the bathroom again. But never mind me,” she said, taking his hand as he helped her to stand. “What are YOU doing here? And what’s got you so hot and bothered? You look like you’ve been running a marathon.” She dusted off her blue hoodie and purple skirt before pointing to his face, which was probably flushed red, both from his constant sprinting and the constant threat of seeing more underwear all over the place.

“N-never mind that. Did you see a blue mare with a messy, dark pink mane run around the corner just now?”

“You’re the only one who came around that corner while I was walking down this hall,” she said.

Spike groaned and leaned against the wall, grumbling curses under his breath. “Damn it all, she got away.”

“Spike? What’s going on?” she asked.

Before he could answer, the sound of three panting and gasping creatures drew his attention and he twisted around to see Gabby, Sunflower, and Windy rounding the corner, their legs wobbly, their faces gaunt, and their chests heaving as they tried to keep up with him. Save for Windy who wore a determined expression and continued jogging in place when they all stopped. “Hey, Spike?” Gabby said, her voice raspy, “Th-think we could take a break? I dunno how much longer I can keep running like this.”

“Mmph, it doesn’t really matter,” Spike said with a sigh. “Looks like she got away for good now.”

“Mom?” Trixie blinked, glancing at Sunflower.

“Eh? That’s your mom?” Spike asked. “I… was unaware of that,” he mumbled.

“What the heck is going on here? I mean, I know you work as a maid, but… what’s going on?” she asked. “Why are you running yourself ragged?”

“D-don’t have to worry dear,” she breathed, wiping sweat from her brow. “We’re just helping Prince Spike hunt down a panty thief.”

Spike’s eyes widened and his body went rigid. He, Gabby, and Windy all looked at her, horror stricken. The unicorn mare looked between each of them, first with a questioning look on her face, followed by a wince as she covered her mouth with both hands, seemingly realizing the slip of her tongue.

“Wait…” Trixie said, slowly turning towards Spike, her own eyes starting to widen. “PRINCE Spike? Did I hear that right?”

“Aw shit…” Spike muttered to himself.

His mother was going to kill him...

Author's Note

This chapter had a lot of name drops for staff and maids that work at the palace! Sorry to leave you guys on a cliff hanger, but the next chapter won't be done for a bit, so be patient!

*Cough* ~~Support us on Patreon~~ *Cough*

Chapter 18: The Great Chase (Part 2)

Chapter 18: The Great Chase, pt. 2

Spike paced up and down the small line of ladies who he had managed to gather through this whole fiasco. After a brief, but fruitless attempt to pick up the panty thief’s trail, he’d decided to take a moment and calmly, logically assess the situation.

That and he also had to deal with the fact that Trixie now knew a little bit more than she should have. She kept asking, over and over again, for more information, more of an explanation, as he’d tried to figure out where that weird ninja mare had gone to.

But now, with everyone slightly on edge, he could see that he wasn’t going to be able to deal with both at once. So, he asked them all to take a seat at a nearby picnic table, as he took a deep breath, collected himself, and let out a deep, calming sigh. “Okay,” he stated. “Yes, Trixie. Your mom didn’t misspeak. I really am a prince. I am Celestia’s son, adopted when I was just an egg. I’ve been raised by her ever since.”

“But why all the secrecy?” Trixie asked.

“Trixie, you freaked out when your mom let it slip. Can you imagine how other people would react if they knew a prince was attending school with them?”

She frowned and toyed with a lock of her hair. “I suppose I get what you’re saying. Still don’t really appreciate my own mother keeping secrets from me,” she said, pouting a bit.

Sunflower blushed and squirmed a bit in her seat. “Dear, it was part of the Non-Disclosure agreement! Everyone who works at the palace in any capacity has to sign it so we don’t go about blabbering about the things we see or talk about there, and that includes things like Celestia’s personal life,”

“All the same,” Trixie said with a grin, “I’m not under any sort of NDA.”

Spike tensed. “Trixie, don’t you dare.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not gonna,” she said, waving a hand. “At least not right away. Buuut,” she leaned forward, “I wouldn’t mind a little something in return.”

“You’re gonna blackmail me?” he asked, raising a brow. “A prince? Celestia’s son?”

“Pfft, as if. All I’m asking is for a little favor in return.”

Sunflower glared at her. “Now see here, young lady-”

“And I’m sure that Celestia wouldn’t be too happy with me if I let slip who it was who told me in the first place.”

Sunflower glared at her daughter and snapped her mouth shut, growling gently. Windy leaned towards her. “Wow, quite a daughter you’ve got there.”

“Way too clever for her own good,” Sunflower grumbled.

“So… what is it that you want?” Spike asked, warily.

“Well… I’ve never been on a date with a prince before,” she said with a small smile.

Spike groaned again, biting his lip. His mother was going to kill him

One thing at a time.

“Okay, fine, we can hash out the details later. In the meantime, I have to figure how to catch that thief.”

“You said she was a panty thief, right?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, she is,” the dragon confirmed. “Didn’t seem to have a problem at all with stopping whatever she was doing, even running from us, if it meant she could swipe a pair.

“Hmmm… well then,” Trixie stood up and reached under her skirt, wiggling a little bit. When Spike realized what she was doing he blushed and glanced away while Gabby and Windy started to giggle and her mother grew pale, snapping at her to pull those things back up. She was summarily ignored. “How do you catch a wild animal that’s prone to running? You gotta set out some bait, right?” She held up her underwear, swaying it in front of a purple dragon who was rapidly turning crimson.

“O-okay, well… that makes sense,” Spike said, clearing his throat. “And… I mean, you are pretty much the only mare here who has underwear left.” He rubbed the back of his head. “B-but you didn’t have to take them off just yet!”

Trixie shrugged. “I’m wearing a skirt, it’s not like you can see any-”

A sudden burst of wind blew by, lifting her skirt up before she could react, leaving her bare waist exposed for all to see for a brief moment, revealing a plump, bright blue bottom, and her soft, visible peach. Then, the wind vanished and her skirt fell back down, hiding everything from view again.

“Thing…” she finished. Clearing her throat, the now red-faced mare sat down. “I think I’ll just stay sitting here,” she muttered, one hand clenching her underwear and the other pushing down on the front of her skirt self-consciously.

Spike took a moment to center himself again, trying to push the image of what he’d just seen out of his mind. He’d file that away for later. “All right… so we have bait. But there’s no telling how far she’s gone. How are we supposed to get her attention.”

“Oh, oh!” Gabby raised her hand. “I’ve got a bunch of group chats going on my phone! Dunno if she’d have one, but word spreads around fast, maybe I can get her attention through social media.

“Are you sure no one will mind that you’re essentially asking about underwear?” Windy asked.

“Pfft, it’s the internet!” the griffon said with a shrug. “Talking about lost underwear is probably gonna be the tamest conversation I have this week.”

“Lewd,” Sunflower muttered. “I’m still not crazy about using my daughter’s underwear as bait,” she admitted, drumming her fingers along the picnic table. “But if we need to, we should probably set up an ambush in the gardens. Plenty of hiding places among the more exotic plants, or the larger trees there, we’d be able to hide ourselves and see her coming. In fact, I think I know just the spot.”

“Good, that’s excellent,” Spike said with a small smile, looking at each of them. “Windy, you’re my mom’s physical trainer, right? When you aren’t doing maid work, I mean.”

“Well yeah, I do that for both Celestia and Luna… not that either of them really takes my advice all that seriously,” the scarlet and orange maned mare huffed, leaning on her elbow. “But why’s that important.”

“Well, you’re definitely the most physically fit out of everyone here. If the thief got close enough to you, do you think you could run them down on your own?”

“Probably yeah,” she admitted. “If I had a good chance to get going? And if I could get into the air. Pretty sure I could take her down before she got anywhere.”

“Okay then. You’ll hang up in the air, in one of the trees. The rest of us will hide in a circle around Trixie’s panties in the garden, and we’ll act as an ambush in case she tries to make a break for it. Gabby, you’ll send out a call to your friends, put it out on the open web and see if it attracts her attention. When she goes for the bait, Windy’ll come down on her. If this all works out, we might have finally caught her!”

The maids nodded and all three of them saluted him. Trixie raised a brow. “Okay, can I just say that is probably the weirdest thing I’ve heard described in a long, long time?”

“Sure,” Spike said with a shrug. “But I think I can easily say it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve described,” he admitted, thinking back to the recent session at the role playing club. “Anyway, we all have our assignments. Let’s make this happen and catch this pervert!”

The group positioned themselves in the deep area of the castle gardens. Spike and Gabby were hiding themselves behind an especially ancient weeping willow. Nearby, Windy Whistles had clambered up into the branches of a nearby oak, hiding among its thick, wide leaves, poised in a position that she could easily jump from when the time was right. Down below that tree, positioned off to the side, Sunflower was laying down on her stomach, hidden among a small field of ferns. Trixie, opposite her mother, hid herself behind a massive rock with several species of different mosses growing upon it.

Everyone was in place. In the center of the rough circle they’d formed, out in the middle of a small patch of grass, was Trixie’s pair of panties, just innocuously laying there, waiting for anyone to come by and grab it.

Spike glanced at Gabby, who was glancing at her phone, scrolling and tapping at its screen. “Think she’ll actually go for it?”

“Put the word out. Lots of comments on the picture I took. Plenty of mares asking what size they are, offering to take them if no one else claims them.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Doubt the thief would be stupid enough to actually post there and incriminate herself.

She shrugged. “Well maybe. I mean, she’s-”

Spike held up a finger to silence her. “Shh! Here she comes!” He pushed himself flat against the bark of the tree, carefully glancing around the corner, just enough to see the figure casually skipping her way into the garden areas, humming to herself. She stopped and casually started to stroll straight towards the area where their trap was laid.

She stopped, glancing down at the panties on the ground, setting down the large bag of pilfered delicates she’d been carrying around with her this whole time. “Oh, would you look at that,” she said, both projecting and enunciating her words, “A poor pair of abandoned panties! Whoever would do this. Well, don’t worry, I will pick them up and add them to my collection.” She bent her knees down and reached for the underwear, slowly.

“NOW!” Spike ordered, twisting around one side of the tree trunk while Gabby dashed out from the other side.Both of them lunged for the thief, who snatched up the underwear and then leaned back, like she was going under a limbo pole.

Both Spike and Gabby went soaring over her, and she straightened up as they both flopped to the ground, sliding another foot or so on their stomachs, Spike in particular landing hard enough to knock the wind out of his chest.

Trixie clambered up to the top of the rock and leaped off of it, attempting to tackle her, but she merely inched out of the way, leaving Trixie to slam into the ground with an audible thump. “Ooof, that looked like it hurt,” she said. “You okay?” she asked, smirking as the force of the landing had made Trixie’s skirt flip up, revealing her bare backside. “Yeah, you’re okay,” she giggled with a grin.

Sunflower leaped out from under the fern leaves, with an impressively loud war-cry, and dove for her, but yet again, Panty Raid merely dodged out of the way, leaving the maid skidding across the grass. She laughed a bit and twirled Trixie’s panties with her finger as she looked at them. “Boy, that was a pretty good attempt, guys,” she complimented. “But could you have set a more obvious trap? I mean, panties? Lying on the ground? Just asking for someone to grab em? And posting them in a group chat? Pfft!” she shook her head, but then frowned, glancing to each of her would-be captors. “Wait… someone’s missing here. Wasn’t there another-”

“FEEL MY JUSTICE!” Windy announced as she swooped down towards Panty’s back. The thief twisted around just in time to meet her shoulder charge head on, the mare slamming into her hard enough to not only knock all the air from her lungs, but send her flying backwards. She landed on her comically large burglar sack of underwear, knocking into it so hard that its contents sprayed from its top, flying into the air in a lacy, multi-colored fireworks display before all of them tumbled down to the ground harmlessly, Panty lying prone among them.

Spike grunted and slowly got to his feet, grinning, pumping his fist in the air. “Yes!” he announced triumphantly. “We got her! Nice save, Windy, I was worried there for a second.”

Windy smirked and dusted her palms gently. “Just had to make sure I struck when she least suspected it. Are you all okay?” she asked, helping Gabby to stand.

“Nothing hurt by my pride,” Trixie announced as she pulled herself up to her feet, tugging her skirt back into place quickly.

“You sure?” Sunflower asked, grunting as she brushed off the front of her uniform. “You did take a fall from a pretty high place,” she indicated the top of the rock.

“Mother please, I’m a performer, I know how to take a fall or two,” the mare stated, wincing as she rubbed at her hip. “Ow…”

Spike sighed. “Well, the important thing is that no one was seriously hurt and we caught her,” he said, pointing to the still dizzy thief. “Now come on, help me restrain her and get this place cleaned up before-”

“So, this is where you’ve been,” a voice said from behind them.

Spike winced, recognizing the voice as he turned around. His mother stood there, hands on her hips, a frown on her face. Next to her, Luna was crossing her arms, a rather bemused look crossing her features, while opposite her, Dusty was trying her best to keep from laughing. “M-mom, uh, hi! What are you doing out here?”

“We were missing a student,” she said, pointing over at Trixie. “And so we had to postpone the class and come out here looking for her.” She brushed a hand through her hair. “And when we did, we discovered that quite a lot had been going on today. Underwear everywhere on the castle grounds, distressed maids upset that someone had come running through their showers, chefs complaining about ruined concentration and everyone barreling through their workspace, and now this.” She motioned to the chaotic scene around her. Just what on earth happened?”

Spike was about to start offering up a tentative explanation, but before he could, Luna walked forward, glaring down at the thief. “I think I know where it started, at the very least.” She nudged the thief with her toe. “All right, Panty Raid, enough. I know you’re not hurt, now get up.”

“Aww, Lulu, you always spoil my fun,” she whined, kicking her legs up and landing on her feet.

“Wait, you know her, Aunt Luna?” Spike asked.

“Unfortunately,” she said with a soft smile. “Like Dusty is to Celestia, this brat is my personal maid.”

Panty Raid grinned and gave a light wave to him. “Yo.”

Spike’s jaw dropped. “What?! B-but I… I’ve never seen her before!”

“Eh, I don’t really put myself out there quite as much as the other maids do,” she said with a shrug.

“She works night shift with me, so you're usually asleep when I interact with her. That and I generally don’t let her run amuck on her own,” Luna stated. “As you can see, we’re still dealing with her little… kleptomania issues.”

“Hey, I’ve gotten better! I went a whole…” she ticked off some figures on her fingers as she did some mental calculations, “three days without going through a single underwear drawer!”

“Mhm,” Luna rolled her eyes again.

Slowly, Spike glanced over at the other gathered maids. “Did… did you three know about this?”

Gabby blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Well, yeah. It’s not the first time she’s gone on this sort of grand panty larceny streak, though I don’t think she’s ever managed to get away with something quite this big before.”

“And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling maids,” Panty declared with a huff.

“Well why didn’t you tell me?” Spike asked, a flush coming to his face as he realized how silly he must have looked with how determined he was to catch her.

Sunflower gave a soft shrug. “We thought you knew,” she said gently. “We thought you were just playing along with the game.”

“Game?”

Windy sighed and shrugged, her wings folding behind her. “Well, that’s what some call it. Others, like me, call it a big pain in the a-” she cleared her throat as she saw Celestia glaring at her. “Er, flank. Every now and then, she runs around, grabs some underwear, and we gotta chase her, though it’s usually Luna who ends up having to catch her. Kind of hard to hide from your alicorn boss after all.”

Spike blanched as he looked at them and then turned back to his mother, who was shaking her head firmly.

“The maids normally know to keep this rather discreet,” she stated. “And not run around making scenes all over the palace over it. Very embarrassing scenes, I might add.” She walked past her blushing son towards Trixie, who gulped and folded her hands behind her back. “And as for you, Ms. Lulamoon… care to explain why you are here and not in class?”

“W-well,” she stuttered, “Your son asked me for help and I didn’t really think much of it, so I-”

“Wait,” Celestia said, holding up a hand. Her eyes narrowed. “My son?”

Spike’s purple scales started to fade as he felt the color draining from his face. Trixie seemed to realize the misstep she’d made and mechanically nodded her head, unable to do much else. Sunflower rushed forward, standing next to her daughter. “I-it’s my fault!” she said quickly. “We’d been chasing Panty for a while, and I was getting tired, and we were all agitated and Spike ran into Trixie and I… accidentally… let it slip that he was the prince.” Her voice faded as she talked and she looked down at the ground.

“I see.” Celestia’s wings folded and unfolded a few times behind her as she took a few deep breaths.

Panty sucked in a light breath. “Oooh… I sense some drama coming along. Maybe it’d be a good idea to just… head… off…” she started to tiptoe away, but before she had even managed to take five steps, a burst of shadow magic enveloped her, and with a strange sounding pop, all of her clothes disappeared along with the shadow magic. She yelped in surprise and covered herself quickly as Luna reached down and grabbed her tail, pulling her back towards her.

“The only place you are going,” she announced firmly, “Is over my knee.” She pulled Panty close and bent down onto one knee, pushing the squirming thief over her large leg, grabbing both her wrists and tail in one hand. “Panty, you are really in for it this time! Look at this mess! Look what your games have done! I am so, so tired of cleaning up after you!”

“Um… would it help if I said I was sorry?” she tried, with a nervous smile.

WHAP!

Luna’s hand came down with a powerful smack, hard enough to make the mare’s bouncy cheeks completely pancake for a moment. It was safe to say that was an emphatic ‘no’. Luna didn’t give her a chance to recover either. Ignoring the bucking, kicking, squirming, and squealing, she rose and lowered her hand in quick, powerful strikes, moving from her elbow rather than her shoulder, allowing her to deliver fast strikes in rapid succession, all over her bare bottom, her large hand able to cover a good portion of her generous behind with every smack.

“OW! AWW! YEEP! Hnngh! I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, come on!”

“You’re going to be much more sorry when I’m finished,” Luna announced. “I understand you can’t help it at times, but I have asked you to keep it private and subtle. I’ve even told you that taking from my drawer is perfectly fine so long as I get it back eventually!”

“Hnngh! B-but that eliminates part of the fun! OW!”

Luna sighed and started to windmill her hand upwards, clapping her bottom firmly from below, enough to make her cheeks bounce upwards. “Tell me, are you having fun now? Was it worth it?” she asked.

“Uwaah!” Panty Raid flushed and pulled at her arms, attempting to free them, kicking her legs so hard that Luna had to lean back slightly to avoid taking a foot to the boob a few times. “OW! OW! If I say yes and answer honestly, will you give me a break?!” she howled.

“Not at all,” Luna answered, and started to slap her sit spots with careful, concentrated strikes slapping against each spot over and over again, right in the same spot. “I promised you a nice, long lesson, and you’re not going to be sitting comfortably for a long while.” She smirked as she slapped each bouncy, wobbling cheek. “I dare say, by the time I’m done, you probably won’t be able to wear panties for a while.”

“AWW! Noo! Have mercy, my lady!” she begged, flailing her legs even harder, sending her shoes flying, so fast that Sunflower had to duck to avoid taking a heel to her face.

Celestia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Well, Luna’s probably going to be at this a while,” she admitted. “Sister, don’t forget we have a magic class to get to.”

“Don’t worry,” Luna said over Panty’s begging. “I. Promise. I’ll. Be. There. With. Time. To. Spare.”

She punctuated every word with an especially loud clap, right in the center of each cheek.

WHAP! SLAP! SPANK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“EEEK! EEP!”

Celestia nodded. “Spike… Trixie, if you two would come with me?” she asked, pointing back towards the palace.

Spike tensed. “Mom, Trixie being late for class was my fault, she doesn’t deserve to be-”

“Don’t worry, she’s not being punished. However, she should be in class, and since Luna and I will be indisposed for a moment, I just want her nearby. I don’t need her wandering off.” She sighed again. “Dusty, I really hate to ask you, but-”

“Say no more,” Dusty said, holding up her hand. “I’ll help get this all cleaned up. We’ll figure out a way to get the underwear back to its proper owners.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Windy, Sunflower, Gabby, would you mind helping?”

They nodded. “Not a problem, ma’am!” Gabby said happily.

“Good, thank you.” Celestia motioned to Spike and Trixie. “Come on you two, let’s go.” She turned and started to walk away, Spike hesitantly following after her and Trixie shuffling along behind him.

“Oh, Celestia!” Windy called, as she was walking away, “Don’t forget, tomorrow's your aerobics class! I expect to see you there!”

Celestia stopped and tensed up gently. “Er… o-of course!” she called. “I’ll be there!”

“Hopefully you won’t have cramps again this week!”

“Ahaha, I’m sure I won’t! See you then, Windy!” she called, stiffly resuming her walk back to the palace.

Despite his nervousness, Spike couldn’t help but snicker a bit at his mother’s absolute hatred for all things having to do with working out.

The den…

Spike couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in this room. Or rather, the last time he’d been in the room for a talk with his mother. She was sitting in a chair in front of him, and had been silent for upwards of a full minute. Spike just stood there, in front of her, awkwardly. Hesitantly, he finally started to speak. “Mom, I uh… I know this whole situation has been a little bit chaotic-”

“It has,” she said with a nod, interrupting him. She rubbed her forehead. At the very least, she looked like she’d woken up a bit more since this morning, but her eyes still held a slight glaze from a lack of sleep, and Spike could tell from the frown on her face that what she really wanted right now was a big cup of tea and to just lie down in bed.

But she still had work to do, she would say.

“So, let me just see if I understand this correctly,” she said gently. “You walked in on Panty stealing Luna’s underwear. You gave chase, ended up dragging three maids into it, when they had their own tasks to see to, and disrupted or distressed several castle staff during the chase, before running into Trixie, who you dragged away from her class, so you could use her underwear as bait to catch Panty.” She leaned back. “And through all of this, you never thought to contact Luna or I about this?”

“Mom, I didn’t know who she was,” Spike said. “I legitimately thought she was an intruder! And besides, you didn’t need anything else on your mind, you’re overworked enough as it is.”

“Spike,” she said, her voice still soft, but carrying a firm edge to it as she looked at him seriously, “I am not only an educator, but also a ruler. I am used to putting myself to the side and dealing with crises that crop up around me. Not to mention, with as much as Luna’s dealt with her in the past, I would not be surprised if she knew an easy way to catch her and bring an end to her shenanigans before they really began.”

Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “I just… really didn’t want to bother you,” he admitted gently. “Thought I could handle it on my own, give you a break.”

“That is… very sweet of you, dear,” she admitted, her face softening. “And I appreciate the sentiment. But it doesn’t change the fact that you might have done more harm than good in the long run. Speaking of which…” she sighed and crossed her arms. “About letting your identity slip.”

“It was… bound to happen sooner or later…” he muttered.

“Yes, and it isn’t like you’d go your whole life living in the shadows. But I’d hoped we’d be able to avoid anyone finding out about you being my child until after you’d at least graduated, so you wouldn’t have to worry about special treatment from anyone, including your peers.”

“W-well Trixie has agreed to keep it a secret!” Spike said quickly.

“Has she?”

“Yeah!” When she cocked an eyebrow at him, he cleared his throat. “Er… provided I go out with her first…” he muttered.

“Mhm, I see,” she said gently. “Well, so long as she doesn’t go about blathering about it, there’s not much I can do. I will have to have a word with Sunflower about her own behavior in all of this. As for you though, I’m disappointed,” she admitted. “The chaos, the leaked secret, all of it could have been avoided, son.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I suppose you know what has to happen now.”

The dragon squirmed and cleared his throat, but nodded. “I-I do.”

It had been a really long time since he’d had to take a punishment, for anything. Still, he remembered exactly what to do. His mother drew her chair forward a little so that it sat closer to the center of the room. Spike walked to her side and undid his pants, letting them fall to his ankles. Then, he carefully slid over his mother’s wide lap, blushing. No matter how many times he found himself in this situation, rare as it was, it was still embarrassing. She adjusted him a little bit so that his hips were sitting square in the center of her lap and his legs were up off the ground. Gods, she was good at making him feel tiny… He squirmed a little bit as she wrapped one hand around his waist, pulling him towards her stomach and holding him in place. He gulped a little bit as she pulled his tail out of the way, but rather than pinning it to the side, she merely let it fall to the side of his body. Then he felt her gripping the back of his boxers and tensed as she tugged them down, to just below his cheeks. He felt incredibly vulnerable now, and gave another squirm.

Her hand rested against one of his cheeks as she lined up her shot. “You know I don’t enjoy this, Spike,” she said softly.

“I don’t really enjoy it either,” he muttered.

She nodded. “All right then. Let’s get it out of the way and all will be forgiven.”

“I understand.” He gulped and took a deep breath, gripping one of her legs, tensing.

Celestia nodded again and raised her hand up nice and high. And then she let it fall.

CLAP!

Spike winced and let out a soft hiss as his scaly backside was struck and he groaned loudly from the impact. His mother certainly hadn’t lost practice when it came to this. It didn’t take long for more to start following.

SLAP! WHAP! SMACK! SMACK! CLAP! WHAP!

As opposed to Luna, who delivered swift and hard smacks before, Celestia was being slow and methodical. She put her entire arm into every swat, raising her hand up high and then dropping it, slapping at the center of each cheek, her strikes falling in relatively the same areas. She didn’t let her strokes travel much, instead striking the same spots over and over again. Spike hissed and grit his teeth, wincing with each strike as she built upon every blow that came before it. He tried his best to flex out the pain, but it was growing too fast for him to work through. He started to groan, kicking his legs gently and curling his clawed toes in pain as she smacked and swatted and slapped at his bottom.

Spike, as a dragon, was fortunate enough to have very thick skin. His scales provided an added layer of protection against most forms of pain. He was damn near completely fireproof, and could withstand most forms of pressure with minimal damage.

So why did his backside have to be so damn soft?

Or maybe his mom was just that strong? He wasn’t sure, it was difficult to think about it while she was smacking his backside.

He was starting to squirm harder, and his grip on her leg tightened as her hands started to move southward, covering the parts of his backside that she wasn’t able to get before. He whimpered. “M-mom, I’m sorry!” he hissed.

“I know dear. But you’ve earned this.” Her mouth twitched into a light, soft smile. “I would expect you to be used to this, with how much you’ve seen over the years.”

“Nnngh, w-well, seeing and giving are kind of different from receiving!” he whined, kicking a bit more, his tail starting to twitch.

“Be careful of your claws, dear,” she said gently. “They might rip a hole in my pants.

“S-sorry mom,” he groaned, whimpering harder.

SLAP! SMACK! SPANK! SPANK! SMACK!

“Don’t worry, we’re almost done,” she promised, sighing a little bit as she looked over his reddened bottom.

“C-can’t we be done now?” he panted. “I-it stings!”

“It’s supposed to dear, you know how spankings work.” She took his tail and lifted it, making him arch his back up a bit before raising her hand and really laying into him, the slaps much harder now.

WHAP! SMACK! SLAP! SLAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

“AH! OWWW! OOOH! EEEESH!” Spike whimpered, beginning to sob as his resolve broke down and his bottom throbbed even harder. “I-I’m SORREEE!” he howled.

“Good. I hope that we don’t have to repeat this lesson again any time soon.”

“Y-you won’t! You won’t, I promise! ACK! OWW! UNGH! AWW!” Spike sobbed and finally threw both of his hands behind himself, blocking his buttocks. “Mom, PLEASE! It won’t happen again!”

She frowned deeply. “Spike, you know that blocking means that you get extra, right?”

He whimpered a bit, writhing, giving another few soft kicks. “I-I know,” he said hesitantly. “But… but I really am sorry, and it hurts so much…”

She sighed. “It… has been a while since I’ve given you a proper spanking.”

“I know…”

“So… I’ll overlook it. Just this once.”

Spike’s body immediately relaxed, relief washing over him. “Thank you mom…” he said weakly, pulling his hands away from his bottom and wiping his wet eyes.

“No problem, honey,” she said gently, reaching to a small tube of cream sitting on the edge of the desk. She always kept a small tube of the stuff on hand in case she had to comfort a spanked bottom. Not necessarily Spike’s, of course, but she liked to be prepared either way. She popped the cap open and carefully applied a small dollop of the cool, relieving cream to each of his sore, scaly cheeks, before slowly starting to rub it in.

Spike sighed and uttered several raspy, tired thanks as he started to relax a bit. “Mmmph… I still don’t think you shouldn’t work as hard, mom…”

Celestia sighed again. “I know I shouldn’t. But I have to, dear. I appreciate the concern, I really do. But I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“You sure?” he asked, slowly looking over his shoulder at her.

“I am,” she said with a small smile. After another moment of rubbing, she carefully took his underwear and yanked it up over his bottom, helping him to stand. He groaned and gave himself a few rubs before reaching down and tugging up his pants, refastening them, a deep blush on his face. “Oh don’t be so embarrassed,” she said with a small smile. “I’m your mother, I used to change your diapers, you don’t have to be embarrassed about this.”

“Somehow, that makes it even more embarrassing,” Spike muttered. “Full grown young adult dragon getting spanked to tears by his alicorn mother? Yeah, still embarrassing regardless of how I spin it.”

Celestia huffed. “Well, it was in private at least.”

“With a classmate standing right outside.”

“I doubt she heard a thing, these doors are really thick,” Celestia said, standing up. “Speaking of, I guess I have to deal with Trixie now.”

“Mom, what are you gonna do to her?” he asked with a frown. “You aren’t gonna… erase her memory or anything, are you?”

“Of course not hon, you know what memory alteration magic is like. Very dangerous, incredibly unethical. Don’t worry, I just want to speak with her.” She opened the doors wide and looked out into the hall. “Ms. Lulamoon, if you would come in here for a moment?” she asked.

“S-sure,” Trixie said, shuffling in, her face ripe with blush. Spike blushed as well, sure that she must have heard at least part of his punishment, if that was the sort of look she had on her face at the moment.

Once she was inside, she stood next to Spike, shifting softly from foot to foot, clearly nervous. He set a comforting hand on her shoulder, which seemed to set her at east, at least enough for her to stop shifting.

Celestia crossed her arms as she looked at her. “Trixie, after a bit of deliberation, and because Spike has asked me to overlook it as he has taken the blame for it, you won’t be penalized for not showing up to class on time. But we are going to be starting class late because of it.”

The unicorn let out a relieved breath, nodding. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“However, Spike tells me that you tried to blackmail him?”

She gulped. “I-I wasn’t, not really,” she mumbled. “I just uh… okay, I know I threatened to tell other ponies, and I’d be quiet if he dated me but I… I wouldn’t do that to someone. Not really, ma’am,” she said, eyes wide. “I-it isn’t my place to reveal that sort of info.”

“And yet you couldn’t just ask my son out on a date?” she asked with a raised brow.

“I don’t… do well at that sort of thing,” she admitted after a moment.

“Mhm… well, nothing to do about it then.” Celestia shrugged. “Spike, you’re going on a date with her.”

“Eh?” they both blinked.

Celestia smiled. “Consider it a reward for her being honest… and for helping you apprehend Panty.” She smirked. “If that doesn’t work, consider it part of your punishment for all the chaos you caused.”

Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Rather not think of it that way,” he mumbled.

“Oh! Th-thank you ma’am,” she said. “I… that actually makes me feel a lot better, knowing you approve…”

“I can’t promise anything will come of it, of course, I’m not going to push my son into a relationship, but I don’t see any reason why you two having an outing together is a bad idea.” She smiled and leaned forward, placing a hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “However, Ms. Lulamoon… if you ever let this detail slip without the consent of myself or my son, OR you ever try to blackmail him again, there will be nowhere that you can run, nowhere that you can hide, nothing that you could say or do that would save you from my unyielding, immediate, fiery wrath. Is that clear?” she asked, her eyes flashing with what looked like actual fire.

Trixie squeaked, her blue fur turning pale for a brief moment. “C-crystal ma’am…”

Spike actually gulped a little bit. His mom was usually gentle and understanding to every one, and even when she got annoyed or mad, she was really good at keeping herself even and inviting. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her so intense… well okay, maybe once when she found out he was being bullied when he was much, much younger… yeah, that was probably it. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, mom,” he said gently.

Celestia straightened up and nodded. “Wonderful! Well, you two will have to work out the details of that a little later on. We really should get going, Trixie. Luna’s probably back, waiting for us in the gymnasium. We need to get these lessons started or I’m going to get in a bit of trouble myself if I have to push my schedule back too far.”

“Alright then.” Trixie cleared her throat. “Think we could talk after my lessons, Spike?”

“Sure… erm, meet you outside on the grounds?”

“Sure, that sounds great.” She smiled. “Sorry you got… er, punished.”

“It’s fine.” He blushed. “I did kind of deserve it after all. Anyway, you get going.”

She nodded and headed out the door, Celestia starting to follow before glancing back at him. “What’ll you do in the meantime, hon?”

“Probably go back to my room… rest a bit, lick my wounds,” he shrugged.

She giggled a bit. “Sounds fine. I’ll see you later, dear.”

“See you later mom. Love you.”

She nodded and smiled as she headed out in pursuit of her student. “Love you too, Spike!” she waved as she disappeared down the hall.

After she left, Spike groaned and gave his bottom a firm squeeze, writhing in place. “Nnngh! Still hurts so much!” he hissed. “Mom might not work out, but I think all that tennis is really improving her fore-swing!”

Still clutching at his backside, Spike shuffled his way back through the halls of the castle, intent on turning on his fan, pointing it at his rear, and just laying there for an hour in the hopes it would calm down before dinner so he wouldn’t have to squirm while he was trying to eat.

Author's Note

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Chapter 11: Spike and Lyra Sit on a Bench

Chapter 11: Spike and Lyra Sit On A Bench

Spike sighed a little bit as he flopped down on the bench just outside of the school, sitting in the small garden area near the gymnasium. He picked a few stray sesame seeds from his teeth as he rifled through his bag. He had to ask his mom to get him some different bread. The seeds in the whole grain stuff were annoying.

He’d spent the first part of his lunch looking for his friends, but surprisingly he wasn’t able to find any of them. Not in line, not at the tables, not anywhere. So, all by his lonesome, he’d eaten a sandwich and some chips and then decided to go outside and enjoy the relatively nice sunshine on the cool, fall day.

Briefly, he thought about ringing his friends and seeing where they were, but a part of him felt like he’d just be bothering them if he did that. It was a rather ridiculous thought to have, he realized, but at the same time, he just didn’t like to feel like he was bothering others. He’d briefly thought about ringing up his mother or his aunt just to have someone to shoot the breeze with, but again, he reasoned that they were both probably very busy at the moment. Hmmm, maybe he could try getting in touch with Derpy, see if she needed any help setting up the meeting tomorrow? Nah, she’d probably already have everything planned out, what with how enthusiastic she was about the whole thing...

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw someone else running towards him, from the direction of the track field, a young unicorn mare. She was mint green, with a slightly messy mane, pulling her backpack along by one of its straps. A piece of buttered toast hung from her muzzle with her teeth clenched around it. She skidded to a stop in front of the bench, her green cheeks red from exertion. She yanked the toast out of her mouth and sighed. “Well… no success this time,” she muttered. She glanced over at Spike. “Hey, was there anyone walking around here recently?” she asked.

Spike glanced around with a tilt of his head. “Uh, no, just me,” he said.

“Aww, dammit!” she groaned, tossing her backpack onto the bench next to him, hard enough to make the dragon jump. “Urf, well there goes my lunch break. And all for nothing…” she grumbled, shoving the rest of her toast in her mouth.

Spike frowned, tilting his head. “What do you mean all for nothing? What were you trying to do?”

“Was trying to get a girlfriend,” she said.

“Girlfriend?” He blinked again and then looked at the toast crumbs falling from her mouth and being carried off by the wind. “Wait, don’t tell me. Running full tilt, toast in the mouth. You were trying to pull a cliched anime trope, weren’t you?”

“Well, with the rotten luck I typically have dating, I figured it was worth a shot!” she plopped down on the bench, huffing a bit as she shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth, chewing it noisily. “Name’s Lyra by the way. Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Spike,” he said with a nod, offering her his hand.

“No last name?” she asked.

“Not really a dragon thing,” he said. Which was true. While dragons did have families, they typically did not use surnames to identify themselves. Of course, the real reason was he didn’t need her asking questions about why he had the same last name as Celestia and Luna.

She didn’t press the issue. Instead, she shrugged and leaned back. “Alrighty then. Nice to meet you, Spike.”

“You too, Lyra.” He nodded to her and the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Lyra was looking at her phone and he just stared off into space for a moment. “So,” he said after a moment, wanting to do something about the boredom that was settling over him. “Toast in the mouth? Really? You know that only works in the shows when they’re late for school, right?”

She smirked and glanced up. “Sometimes I just feel like doing something stupid,” she said with another shrug. “I figured it was worth a try.”

“You know what a better way to get a girlfriend would be?” he asked with a smirk. “Actually talking to a mare, instead of trying to get the mystical anime gods to do things for you.”

“Okay, if I thought talking to a mare would work, I would have done it already.” She paused and then looked over at him. “Did it work for you.”

“Did… what work for me?”

“Talking to someone. I mean, I assume you have a marefriend if you’re gonna be giving out advice like that.”

“Er… well…” he cleared his throat. “I have several friends who also happen to be mares, yeah.” He paused as a thought donned on him. “Actually all my friends seem to be mares.” The scales on his face paled a tone as his eyes dilated, and he muttered, “Oh my gosh I have no guy friends.” He noticed the mare was giving him a crooked smile and snapped out of his momentary existential crisis. “A-Anyways, they're really close friends, but I don’t think that I can call any of them my marefriend.”

She smirked. “Alrighty then. I think I’ll stick to my own ideas then. If you’re gonna give me relationship advice, maybe you should have some experience yourself, right?”

“I guess that’s technically true, but I don’t think I actually have to BE in a relationship to tell you that it’s probably better for you to try and talk to a mare if you’re interested in them.”

She sighed. “This feels like a weird conversation to have with someone I’ve just met.”

“Hey, you started it.”

“How did I start it?” she asked. “You were the one who asked about the whole toast thing.”

“And you were the one who decided to TRY the toast thing.”

“Shut up, I was lonely and tired, okay?”

“And so you made yourself late in the hopes of getting a date.”

“Exactly, got it in one. Freaking genius over here.”

He rolled his eyes. “At least I can talk to girls.”

“Ouch, low blow,” she muttered. “You always this big bucket of sunshine?”

The two of them sank into silence again, the sound of a strong wind being the only noise between the two of them. Neither of them wanted to continue this line of conversation. About five minutes passed before Lyra attempted a different topic. “So, how’d you get into the school?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s a pretty prestigious place. I know Celestia tries to keep the tuition fees and stuff down, but at the same time, there are certain criteria ponies gotta reach to get in. So how’d you get in?”

“Eh,” he shrugged. “Good grades, I guess.”

“You guess?”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. What about you?”

“Musician’s scholarship,” she said with a smile. “Almost my entire curriculum is music related. Music theory, musical studies, musical history, genre classes, you know, that sort of stuff.”

“Really? I can’t remember seeing you in the school chorus or at any of the band performances either.”

She shrugged a bit and glanced away. “Y-yeah… haven’t really taken any performance classes yet.”

“Why’s that?” he asked. “I thought that was a prerequisite for the music program here.”

“Well yeah, obviously, but you don’t exactly have to take em right away.”

“But you do have to take them.” He smiled.

“Y… yeah…”

He frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine, how are you?” she asked, giving him a crooked smile.

“Is there something wrong with performing in public?”

There was silence for a long while. Lyra sighed and leaned back, her head rolling back behind her an impressive distance. Spike was sure that he heard her neck pop after a moment. “I don’t like being in front of a bunch of ponies, alright?”

“Oh, not a fan of crowds, okay,” Spike said with a nod. “But then… why music? I mean, it kinda goes claw in claw with performing, doesn’t it?”

“Common misconception!” she said, holding up her finger. “You are perfectly capable of being a musician without giving live performances or even appearing in front of a crowd, especially in this day and age, when home recording and production means are readily available, even to someone on a tight budget. I could make a living writing music or lyrics, or by just creating tracks and releasing them from the comfort of my own room.

“Oh… so you’re afraid of crowds?”

“I’m not AFRAID of them,” Lyra huffed. “Just… don’t like em. Specially don’t like being the center of attention.” She shook her head. “What about you? I mean, you got good grades and such, but you got any idea what you’re going to do for a major here?”

He shrugged. “Not right now. I’m just knocking out my general studies requirements right now. I figured I’d wait until I didn’t have any more of those to distract me and then I’ll figure out what I wanna do with the rest of my time.”

“So absolutely nothing in mind then?”

“I’ve thought about a few things. Computer science, digital art. Only thing I really know is that I wanna do something with computers, but that’s about it.”

The two of them continued to chat for a moment longer until some soft footfalls approached and they both glanced up, half expecting to see a teacher, but instead, they saw another mare approaching. A tall, cream colored earth mare with a dark pink and dark blue, swirly mane was approaching them. Spike smiled, recognizing her. It was Bonbon. He’d done a couple of projects with her for a few of his classes. She was a sweet mare, but very much no-nonsense and down to earth. While she was a touch on the chubbier side, Spike could tell from the way that she carried her arms and legs that she wasn’t fat. No, that was muscle sitting under all that pretty fur. She might have worked as a candy maker, but he’d seen her competing in local dead-lifting competitions before. He was pretty sure she could bend him, or anyone else she wanted to, into a pretzel.

“Hey there,” she greeted with a light nod to each of them, mane flowing in the breeze. “Room for one more on that bench?”

Spike smiled and slid a little bit further against the edge, nodding. “Sure, plenty of room.” He set his bag on the ground in front of him. “Right Lyra?” He blinked when he didn’t get a response. “Lyra?”

“Uh…” the minty unicorn muttered, just staring up at the mare, mouth open slightly.

Rolling his eyes, spike gently grabbed her her tail, at the mid point between the dock and the tip, and carefully tugged her along the smooth surface of the bench, until she was sitting in its center. She grabbed her pack as she slid as well, pulling it out of the way. “S-sure,” she said with a nod. “Sit right down if you want!”

“Thanks,” Bonbon said with a nod and a smile, sitting down and grunting, taking out a small sandwich and putting some headphones over her ears, leaning back and bobbing her head as she ate.

Lyra continued to stare at her, that same dopey expression on her face.

Spike gave a light grin. “Well?”

“W-well what?” Lyra asked, twisting her head around to glance at him. She had a light blush covering her cheeks and her ears were flicking up and down lightly as she looked around.

“Talk to her,” Spike prompted.

“N-no, she’s listening to music, that’s rude.”

“She won’t mind. Sides, I saw how you were looking at her. You’re attracted to her, aren’t you?”

Her blush grew deeper, almost totally overtaking the green in her fur. “M-maybe I have a thing for bigger, stronger girls,” she muttered. “Maybe I’ve seen her around a few times.”

“You’ve never talked to her though?”

“No!” she hissed, glowering at him some more. This one was actually strong enough to make Spike do a double take. “Quit reminding me that I’m a failure as a pony.”

“I never said that,” Spike said quickly. “Okay, so you have trouble talking to her… or anyone really, maybe you just gotta take that first step?”

“I wouldn’t know what to say!” she said.

“Well… hello would be a good start.”

“You know, your sarcasm isn’t appreciated.”

“I’m being serious. Just say hi, and ask her how she is.”

“But what if-”

“Lyra, if you keep asking ‘what if’, then you’re never gonna get any closer to getting in a relationship if you really want one. I mean, you wanna know how to get a girlfriend? This, right here. Sit on a bench and talk with her for a bit.” He motioned to her. “She’s right there, and you didn’t even have to throw yourself at her with toast in your mouth.”

“Urgh… fine, but if I make myself look like a fool, it’s on your head.”

Spike nodded. “Fine, but please, just talk to her, okay?”

“Fine, fine, fine,” she growled, twisting back towards the Earth mare, still enjoying her sandwich. Taking a deep breath, she reached up and gently tapped the other girl on her arm.

Blinking, Bonbon set her sandwich down in her lap and removed her headphones, hanging them around her neck as she offered Lyra a light smile. “Hey there,” she greeted.

“Uh… Hi,” Lyra said, screwing on a nervous smile. “How… are you?”

“I’m doing pretty good,” Bonbon said, either ignoring or oblivious to Lyra’s nervousness.

“So uh… you like to eat?” she asked, glancing at the sandwich.

Bonbon raised a brow, but nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“N-no I mean… do you like to eat with other ponies?”

“When I can yeah.”

“Oh, so you’ve got a bunch of friends already. N-Never mind,” she said, slowly turning away.

Spike crossed his arms and glared at her. “You’re giving up too easily,” he hissed.

“I can’t do this, she already thinks I’m a weirdo.”

“You just gotta get a little bit further on,” he encouraged. “Come on, it isn’t like you’ve driven her away or anything.”

“Scuse me, but I’m right here,” Bonbon said, ear flicking lightly.

Lyra winced and cursed a little bit before slowly turning around. “Uh, yeah, s-sorry about that, I just…”

“What are you doing after school?” she asked.

Lyra blinked. “Huh?”

“After school. You got anything going on?”

“Uh… um…”

“I know a place we could go to if you were interested. Get some coffee and maybe something to snack on?”

“A-are you sure?”

“Well yeah. I mean, you are interested, right?”

“YES!” Lyra practically shouted. “I-I mean yes, I mean, well, I mean, I don’t know what I mean, I mean…”

Spike put a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward. “My friend here would be delighted to go,” he said with a small smile. “She’ll meet you at the school doors after the last bell, alright?”

“Awesome, sounds great.” She popped the last of her sandwich into her mouth and offered her hand to the unicorn after chewing thoughtfully. “I’m-”

“Bonbon, right?” Lyra asked, quickly taking her hand and shaking it softly.

The earth mare tilted her head. “Have we met before?”

“N-no, no, but… uh, I-I’ve seen you around before. Heard your name from a few other ponies.”

“Oh.” She smiled a little bit. “Well, seems you have me at a disadvantage. What’s your name?”

“Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Heartstrings,” she mused. “Isn’t that the name of that big string instrument company in town?” she asked.

“Family business,” she said with a nod. “My mom runs it.”

“Thought the name sounded familiar. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lyra. See you after school?”

“Y-yeah! That sounds awesome, thank you.” She gave the other mare a wide, bright smile and nodded enthusiastically a few times as Bonbon slowly got up, adjusting her skirt, and started to walk off, back towards the gym entrance.

Just then, a particularly strong gust blew by, making Spike and Lyra wince as it buffeted against their sides. When it struck Bonbon's back however, it unceremoniously blew up the back of her uniform skirt, eliciting a “ACK!” out of the mare as it exposed her knickers. She was either a bit large in the barge or wore a size or two too small, because the striped undergarments hugged up into her crack so tightly that the lower half of her creamy cheeks were visible. Lyra's jaw almost unhinged with the sight she got, Spike's own cheeks flushed behind her, and the mare quietly whispered to herself, “Thank you gods of anime for this gift.”

Bonbon shoved down the back of her skirt and looked over her shoulder, only to find Lyra staring dramatically into a book she'd swiftly taken out. Spike joined her with a hand to his chin, also examining the fine piece of literature. Bonbon was confused by this, but figuring neither of them saw her panties, she shrugged and continued on her way. Once she was totally out of sight, Lyra let out a yelp of joy and shot up, literally jumping for joy! “Haha! I did it! I managed to ask a mare out! And not just any mare, but one of the cutest in the school!”

Spike smiled a little bit. “Toldja all you had to do was talk to her.”

“I owe you big for this, man,” she said, turning around and grabbing Spike, hefting him up and squeezing his palm, making him wince. “Thank you so much for this.”

“H-hey, no reason to thank me, I just thought you could use a hand is all.”

“Damn right I could have. I’m a mess, after all.” She laughed. Spike wasn’t sure if she was making a joke or a plea for help, though it didn’t really matter when she yanked him into a powerful hug. “Best wingman ever! Hope the rest of the school day goes by quickly!”

“Er, yeah, no problem.” He returned the hug with a few small pats to her back. “Let me know how the date goes, alright?”

“Yeah I… wait, date? It’s a date?”

“Er… well, I guess you don’t have to call it that, but two mares going off to talk over coffee? Most would say that’s a pretty respectable first date, right?”

“OH MY GOD, IT’S A DATE!” she yelled in his face. “I gotta go and get ready!” She twisted and dashed back towards the school. “ThanksagainI’llletyouknowhowitgoesokaythanksbye!” she called back to him, waving.

“Uh… okay…” Spike frowned. “I really hope I didn’t just set those two up for disappointment,” he muttered. “Heh, me, a wingman.” He shook his head. “All I did was nudge her into talking to the girl for goodness’ sake.” He blinked a little bit as his phone hummed and vibrated in his pocket a few times. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, checking his messages. Rarity had sent a few quick messages. He tilted his head and scrolled through them quickly.

“Spike, need your help!”

“It’s urgent!”

Spike frowned and quickly sent a message back. “What’s wrong?”

“A friend of mine needs help and we need another perspective.”

“Sure, I can help. Where are you?”

“We’re in the hall near the library. Think we can talk before the next class?”

“Sure. Be there in a sec.”

“Thanks Spike. You’re a darling.”

Spike smiled and felt a light blush coming to his face. He sent back a you're welcome to her before pocketing his phone, shouldering his bag and heading off to go and meet with her, wondering what her and her friend would want help with.