Princess Celestia Aurora Pendragon, Empress of the Sun, Demigoddess of Day, and a whole host of other titles that time had long since forgotten, was currently experiencing something she had not felt in a very long time.
Fear.
Not adult fear, no. This was the fear of a child, of a foal confronted with the knowledge that their mischief had been found out. Her eyes wide, she read the letter from the solar council once again.
"To Her Most Royal Highness, Grand Princess Regent Celestia Aurora Pendragon, Empress of..."
She skipped the titles, grumbling, vowing yet again to forbid the councils from using them...they wasted a whole bottle of ink to write her name!
"It is no secret to the citizens of Equestria that you have a mischievous streak in you a mile wide. And we of the Solar Council, representing those ponies of Daylight whose purposes you are meant to serve, have oft indulged your tastes, understanding the need for the release of the pressures of rulership."
"However, it has come to our attention that, in recent times, your behaviors, Princess, have taken a turn for the foalish. While often done out of our sight and purview, multiple sources have, when inquired, provided a plethora of anecdotal evidence to support this accusation."
"It is thus, with great regret and disappointment, that we of the Solar Council have, in a 45-5 vote, decided to appoint to you a personal disciplinarian. This pony, chosen from the ranks of your own Royal Guards, shall be considered to have all rights conferred upon them to restrict your privileges, consign you to whatever punishments they deem fit (within reason, of course)...
"...and of course the right to deliver a multitude of strikes upon your flanks."
"Yes, Princess, your appointed Disciplinary Guard shall have the right to treat you as a foal, including the right to spank you."
"As you are so fond of reminding many, Princess, those who act like foals are to be punished like the foals they are. This is, indeed, why the laws for court-ordered spankings remain on the books, at your own behest."
"We of the Council are sorry that it has come to this, but we feel it is necessary for the good of Equestria."
"Undersigned by the Heads of the Councils Solar and Lunar, as well as by Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna Selene Pendragon"
Whining as her shod hooves slowly clicked towards the bedroom, Celestia approached what she knew to be her doom. The letter had told her that her personal disciplinary guard had already been chosen for her, and would be waiting for her in her chambers. Another note, one received with dinner, was the reason she was now walking so slowly, her mind trying to process what was about to happen.
"Dear Princess Celestia,"
"You do not know my name, nor do you need to concern yourself with that information. What you should be concerning yourself about, young lady, is the state of your behaviors and attitudes over the past months. I have been speaking to the palace staff since my appointment to this post yesterday, and I have decided that you are going to be receiving bedtime spankings every day for a week this first week with me."
"To that end, young lady, before you come to your chambers tonight, you are to go out into the gardens and cut a switch, and bring it with you. I will be waiting for you at 10:15 sharp. Do not be late."
"Signed,
Your Disciplinary Caretaker"
Naturally, Celestia had disregarded such ridiculous instructions. She was a Princess, not some naughty little apple farmer filly! And she was much too large to switch, not to mention probably older than her "caretaker" and all their family members combined!
So why did she feel such dread as she pushed open the door to her rooms right as the clock chimed 10:15?
"Ah, right on time. But I see you arrived without the switch you were ordered to bring, young lady." said a masked figure sitting in one of her chairs. "I'm afraid that's most certainly going to earn you extra. Now, go and lay across your bed, young lady. I'm sure you are tired, so sooner started, sooner done."
Celestia stared at the smaller pony before her. With their face shrouded by the mask of anonymity...the same ones used by royal executioners in ages past...there was no way she could tell the speaker's sex, age, or even their race.
Either way, they were in for a sore disappointment. "I am sorry to inform you, my little pony, but I will most certainly not be participating in this foolish charade. I am the Princess of the Sun, and far too busy to be distracted such foolish antics." she told them, shaking her head as she moved over to brush her hair out before bed.
Without any preamble, she suddenly found the brush pulled from her grip, and then felt it brushing softly through her thick mane. In contrast to the gentle strokes, however, the pony's next words were quite harsh. "So, you don't have time for personal discipline to replace self-discipline, but you have time to pull pranks and troll the entire court? Or need I remind you of the glitterbomb disco ball from last year's grand galloping gala? Or the rerouting of a water slide ever-so-slightly to pour its contents onto Grand Duke Blueblood's commencement speech when it was switched on for the day? Or even the randomness where all fountains in Canterlot suddenly turned bright yellow? Ponies have been sentenced to far worse than spankings for far less than you have done, your highness...under your own laws, might I add."
Celestia just sat there, stunned...how did this pony...how did they...who could have....LUNA. It had to have been Luna, throwing her to the wolves to cover her own tracks.
"And don't think it was your sister who told on you either." they said, dashing her thoughts away. "The council have long known it was you behind these inexplicable jokes, and they have turned a blind eye. It was the last one you pulled, where you turned into a dragon to scare Prince Blueblood, that was the final straw."
Celestia had to suppress a smile...that had been fun on Nightmare Night. Prince Blueblood had jokingly approached her in the outfit of a Knight, wielding a fake sword, and so she had turned herself into a giant black dragon, spouting green fire. "Now shall you deal with me, Prince Blueblood...and all the power of hell!" she muttered to herself, smiling.
In answer, the hairbrush, which had moved to brushing her tail, suddenly clapped down into her cutie mark, causing her to yelp loudly. "You might have thought it humorous, Princess, but the resulting stampede and rumors took weeks for your public relations committee to quell. There are still ponies who believe their princess has been replaced by an evil five-headed dragon queen, one of whom left on an expedition to find a platinum dragon not three weeks ago."
Celestia sat there stunned...not so much by the hit, but by the revelation, and by the fact that this pony had dared to actually strike her. Crossing her front hooves, she shook her head to try and regain her dignity. "Hmph...that didn't hurt." she snipped.
"Your yelp suggests otherwise." they snipped back, and Celestia found her ear in a gentle magical pinch, tugging her towards the bed. "And I should warn you, princess...you may think you don't have to obey me, but I have the power to curtail your privileges. I can change your dietary options, cut your pocket money...I can even arrange to have your magic supervised. Or worse...I can arrange for all your precious desserts to be thrown in the garbage."
That stopped her cold...not her cakes. Sugar was her one big indulgence, she needed the energy it gave her in order to get through the day!
"That's what I thought." came the cold reply to her silence, and she swore she could hear a smirk behind that voice. "Now, are you going to bend over the bed like a good little filly, or do I need to call the kitchen and have your midnight snack cancelled?"
Caught at a crossroads, Celestia whined a little before obeying her caretaker, slowly pulling her ear free and crawling across her bed, leaving her bottom sticking out and with her tail held high.
"That's a good princess. I think we can take a couple swats off for that. However, because you neglected to fetch the switch you were ordered to bring...I'm going to be using this." they said, and the instrument of her doom floated into her view.
It was a regulation prison strap. The same kind used on guards who misbehaved and prisoners convicted of minor crimes.
Immediately surging up, Celestia found herself gently held down by a hoof on her back. "Y..You can't use that on me!" she begged, shaking her rump from side to side. "I..I'm..."
"You're a naughty little pony who needs her flank spanked. Nothing more. And if this strap is good enough for minor vandals and shoplifters, then it's certainly good enough for the princess of the nation. Now...hold still. You're getting thirty."
Whining, Celestia stayed still, the threat of losing her cakes looming in her mind, only to be eclipsed by the feeling of the fake leather being laid against her plump rump. "P...Please be gentle?" she begged.
"No. Your actions don't deserve my being gentle." came the response, as she heard the swish of leather through the air, praying it would be over quickly.
The crack of the strap against her flanks reached her ears a split second before her body registered the OH SWEET SUNLIGHT HOW THAT HURT!!! Celestia yelped and jerked forward in pain as the second crack landed against her upturned bottom, only adding to the pain she was already feeling. “OWW! It hurts!” she cried out, only for her punisher to shake their head.
“It is supposed to hurt, young lady. That is why it is a punishment, and not a reward.” They said, over the sound of another pair of cracks and the resultant howls from the punished princess. “And it is going to continue to hurt until you learn the error of your ways and change the foolish and immature decisions that you make and have made.” They continued, lashing her a fifth time and allowing her a few seconds to breathe.
Celestia was in shock at how much her hindquarters were stinging…surely thirty was a bluff, right? She thought to herself, though she knew in her heart it wasn’t. “P..Please…can we stop…I’m sorry…” she asked, only to be met with the strap striking into her sit spots three agonizing times, causing her to somehow howl even louder.
“No. And do not ask again. I am punishing you with the exact same penalties you yourself set down, and no mercy can be shown to those sentenced to suffer those penalties. Why should you receive any differing treatment?” her tormentor asked, lashing the strap down another three times across her raised rump.
Celestia finally just started sobbing as the pain took over, every stroke of the strap bringing her behind to new heights of agony as she fought to stay still. At one point, she could bear it no longer, and begged again for the spanking to stop, only to once again be met with a trio of strappings right to the sensitive undercurves of her buttocks. She squired and wriggled, gasping and sobbing, all as her intransigent caretaker lashed the strap down again…and again…and again…all onto a behind that had gone over five hundred years without feeling the sting of much-needed discipline.
Said caretaker was taking their time with the punishment, carefully aiming every stroke of the strap across a part of the princess’s bum that wasn’t yet painted as pinkish red as the other parts. Celestia’s rear was quite large, a testament not only to the amount of cakes she ate, but to her sheer size. Punishing her as effectively as others was a challenge indeed. Fortunately, though, she was alarmingly sensitive, and by the time they reached twenty-five strokes, the princess was left sobbing into a pillow.
“Time for the final five.” Tia heard them say, and she cried even more. Her rear was on fire! She couldn’t take any more of this! She opened her mouth to try and beg for mercy one last time, only for the strap to strike down forwards and backwards across her rump. Gone was the slow, measured pace…they were spanking her as fast as she could be spanked!
Tia howled and whined and kicked her forehooves as she felt the burning increase, brought back to the pain of the very first set of five once more before she finally heard the blessed sound of the strap being placed beside her, feeling a hoof rub her flank as she yipped.
“Hm, I seem to have done a good job. Your flank is a nice dusty pink with a shade of red.” They told her. “Now…go and do as I told you, and cut that switch.” They ordered, and Tia gasped in fear.
“N..No…I..you said you were going to use the strap instead! Please!” she begged, only for them to shake their head.
“I said nothing of the sort. I said that your refusal to bring the switch was going to earn you extra, and that I would be using the strap. The 30 strappings was the extra that your refusal earned you. Now, do as I have told you, and go get that switch.” They ordered, pointing a hoof out the door.
Meekly and timidly, the Princess obeyed…now she knew what she didn’t before. Whoever this pony was…they meant business.
Princess Celestia looked all around the gardens, trying to ignore the hushed sniggering and sounds of sympathy from some of her fellow ponies as she looked for a suitable branch. Even just walking through the halls had been a torment of embarrassment and humiliation, knowing that nothing she did with her tail could hide the dusty red shade of her cheeks…either pair!
And that had only been compounded by having to come out into the open-to-the-public gardens, where she had, of course, been mobbed by ponies at first, ponies who only left once they saw the tear-stains on her cheeks and realized what had happened to her.
Sighing, she continued her search, digging into the bushes and looking for a long, straight branch that would satisfy her tormentor and make him leave her alone. At least it would be over for the night…
And then she felt a tug on her fetlock. Looking down, she smiled a little at the young colt who smiled back up at her, grinning as he showed his missing teeth. “Hi, Princess!” he chirped, shaking himself a little. “What are you doing in the bushes? Are you playing hide and go seek too?” he asked, and she suppressed a giggle.
“No, my little pony…I…I’m looking for a long, thin branch, nothing more.” She said, and the foal stopped, then giggled.
“Did you get in trouble with your Mommy or Daddy?” he asked, giving her a knowing gaze…one that was oddly familiar to her, actually. “Did they send you out here to cut a switch because you’re gonna get spanked or being a bad princess?”
At that blunt explanation of her situation, Celestia blushed even more, then meekly nodded. “Well, if you promise to keep this a secret between us, little one…yes. I am in trouble, and I am going to be spanked with a switch.” She confessed.
The colt nodded. “I’ll help you look! Crystal and Starry and Blaze can wait…Blaze’d never find me anyways.” He said, turning and beginning to hunt through the branches as well, picking one up that would have fit him and showing it to her.
She shook her head in response. “I…appreciate it, but that one is too small. I am much bigger, you see…” she started to say, only for the colt to dart behind her…and then gasp.
“You already GOT a spanking? And now you’re getting another one?! Wow…you must have been really bad…” he said, coming back in front of her and sitting down, looking up at her with an amazed smile.
Tia blushed more, laying down, glad they were at least hidden by the bushes. “Well…I was, in a way…I pulled a lot of pranks on ponies, and my caretaker told me to bring a switch tonight and I didn’t…” she said, only for him to giggle.
“Well that was dumb! Don’t you know anything? When your Daddy says get a switch, you get the biggest switch you can find. That way he’ll think you’re really sorry and maybe go a bit easier on you. If you get a small one…or don’t get it…he’ll KNOW you’re not sorry, and then you’re REALLY gonna get it!” he told her, with all the wisdom of his…oh, maybe nine or ten years old. Something familiar about him still, though…
“I suppose that’s true…” she said, and he nodded. “But…what if I really am not sorry? Being a princess is hard work, my little pony…the pranks I play are how I relieve my tension and have fun.”
“My Mommy says it’s only a prank is everypony is laughing, even the vacuum.” He said, and she smiled.
“Victim, my little pony.” She corrected, and he nodded.
“Yeah, that!” he said. “Mommy says it’s only funny if they’re laughing too…if they’re not, then you’re being a big mean bully and having fun by making them sad. And if you do that, you should be sorry, and say sorry too. And mean it!” he told her, and she looked at him in shock.
He stared at her now, those familiar eyes nagging at the back of her mind as she shook her head a bit, digesting his words before leaning down and nuzzling him. “Thank you, my little pony. That..is a very wise thing to say.” She told him.
The colt smiled and nuzzled back, before gasping and reaching over next to her, pulling off the perfect branch to switch her bottom with…she actually whimpered again looking at it. Long, thin, and very whippy and green…there was no doubt in her mind this was going to hurt, and hurt a lot. But…the colt was right. If nothing else, this would at least impress her tormentor.
“Thank you again.” She said, accepting the switch in her magic and tucking it under her wing…no way was she going to let the adult ponies see that she was picking a switch! “What is your name, my little pony?” she asked, getting up to leave.
“I’m Second Law, and it was nice to meet you, Princess!” he chirped, going back to hunkering down and hiding.
“It was nice to meet you too, Second Law.” She said, shaking off that déjà vu feeling and slowly walking back inside the castle.
As she opened the door, Celestia transferred the switch into her mouth, stepping inside and laying it on the bed as she turned to face her caretaker, whimpering a little as she nodded. “I…I got the switch, sir…ma’am?” she said, making it into a question.
“Sir.” He answered, at least answering that for her. “And I see you got a very good one at that. What took you so long?”
“It took a while to find one, and I stopped to talk with a young colt who helped me find the one I needed.” She answered, hoping to earn some leniency with her honesty.
Her hopes, however, were soon dashed. “Very well. I won’t punish you for taking so long, then. Back over your bed, Princess. Tail up, and do not count these ones. This spanking is meant to punish you for the things you actually did. I am going to keep switching you until I feel you have truly learned your lesson.” He told her, the pony picking up the switch.
Whining more now, her last hope of escaping this gone, Celestia meekly obeyed, laying herself across her mattress, moving her tail to the side, and grabbing a pillow to cry into, only to have it removed. “No pillows, young lady. You take your punishment like a big girl.” She heard the order come, and then heard something even worse…the sound of a long thin piece of wood swinging down through the air.
“YEEOWWW!!!” she screamed as a thin part of her left buttock suddenly came aflame with agony, only for an equal shriek to be drawn from her as it was mimicked on her right. “Please! Please no more!” she begged, but to no avail.
The switch came snicking down into her bottom again and again, eight more times before she was allowed a break to breathe. All the worse was that it had reawakened the fading pain of her original strapping, only adding to the punishment she was receiving.
He stopped after the tenth strike, letting her breathe as she whimpered and whined, looking back at him. “Please…I’m sorry…Please stop…” she begged, only to see that dreaded branch raise up again and swing down…she tensed at the last second, only to cry out again when she realized that actually made it hurt even worse!
“I’m not stopping until your bottom is pained and red, like you deserve. This is what happens to those who break your laws…and you yourself broke them.” He told her, and then began switching her in earnest, the whippy little branch snapping down again and again.
Poor Tia was in purgatory now, her entire world collapsing into nothing but the fire building all over her hindquarters, each lash of that switch across one of her buttocks drawing out more tears, more pain. She was nothing but a burning butt constantly getting hit by a dreaded branch of wood and a pair of eyes constantly shedding tears into her blankets.
Until, after a moment, she realized…she had been crying but the branch hadn’t come down. With a small inhalation, she got control of herself and looked back at him, the masked pony nodding again. “I think you have been spanked enough for tonight.” He told her, turning to the side and putting the switch away into a box.
“That said, you are not completely without punishment. Off of that bed and into the corner with you, Princess. On your hind hooves, tail kept to the side, forehooves behind your head, nose right in the corner. No peeking around, no rubbing your bottom, and no talking, or it will be all the worse for you.” He warned. “You stay in the corner and think about why you are receiving these spankings.”
With a whine at the pain in her rear end, she obeyed, moving off of her bed and rearing up into a standing position in a nearby corner, keeping her hind end exposed as she placed her nose right where the two walls met, folding her forehooves behind her head as she felt her balance shift. Then she gasped as she heard the whirring of a camera!
Before she reacted, she kept her mouth shut, hearing a grunt of approval from her caretaker as she heard paper folding and the sound of glue. Instead of listening to him doing something, her thoughts turned inward, not to the spankings, but to what the colt had told her. About bullying, and how her pranks really had taken a turn for the nasty….Duke Blueblood in particular had been extremely upset about his speech being ruined…
“Alright, you can come out now.” Came the voice, and she turned and tumbled back onto her bed, burying her face into a pillow as she whined, trying to fit under the covers as quickly as she could. He stood nearby, nodding. “I hope your time out was enlightening, Princess. I’m not going to make you tell me what you learned yet.” He said.
“W…Why were you taking my picture?” she asked, and he nodded.
“I am using photos of your behind as a form of progress report for you. I will show you the report in two weeks time.” He told her. “Now, as I am your caretaker, I think it is time for you to go to sleep.” He said, going over and dousing the lights in her room.
Tia whimpered in the dark, feeling only the pain on her flanks…and then she heard a melodic voice begin to sing. It wasn’t any language she recognized, but it was very peaceful indeed, and she soon found her eyes drifting shut as she entered into her sister’s realm for the night, passing into dreams of hide and seek in a giant field of bushes.
The caretaker smiled to himself as he stepped out of Tia’s bedroom and into his own adjoining room, stretching out and flopping down upon the provided mattress with a sigh of relief. Oh, how he had HATED doing that…but, it was the only way she was going to learn what needed learning.
And hey, at least he had sung her to sleep. Not many ponies ever got to hear his beautiful singing voice…really, he would usually only sing for his best friend, and then only if she asked him to.
“Sleep well, Little Tia. You’ve got a long way to go yet, but I think you’ll get there in time.” He said to her, turning and shutting off his own lights and drifting off himself.