The Woodworking Apprentice
A woodworking master was a highly respected profession in Equestria. These ponies would make only the finest wood products. If you wanted something perfect, extremely durable and was willing to pay the extra price for it, you would go to these ponies.
Of course, these masters had to learn their craft from somewhere and this is where apprenticeships came in. Indeed, this was a job where the master would take an apprentice, usually a young pony with a talent for this craft under their wings and train them to become future masters.
One such apprentice was a brown pegasus colt with a red mane and tail who had recently acquired a cutie mark through fixing a wooden chair. His parents were quick to find him his current master, a dark grey coated and orange maned unicorn stallion after he expressed a desire to pursue this career path. A few months later and he was working alongside him.
”Alright kid, today were making a paddle.” Said the woodworking master.
The apprentice nodded, although he had to hold back a wince. He, of course, knew that they would be making any sort of wooden object, including ones used for paddlings, but being at an age where spankings were a common punishment made these assignments a bit uncomfortable. He recalled the shock of having to help make a paddle for the very first time and hoped that whatever colt or filly who got the receiving end of it would not be too mad at him.
”What do we do first?” Asked the master.
He would usually ask this before they began making anything to help build the apprentice’s memory of the procedures.
”If the buyer requested a specific design, then we first need to draw up the schematics for how it will look. If the buyer wants your recommended design, then we can begin by getting wood and marking out the shape.”
”Very good.” Praised the master. “Thankfully, the recommended was requested today so we can get straight to work. Bring me a small plank of oak wood.”
The apprentice nodded before going to get the wood. His master preferred to use oak for spanking implements, although he has heard examples of other woodworkers using different types of wood. It was up to the personal preference of the individual woodworker.
After the colt delivered the wood, he helped his master draw and mark the shape of what the paddle would be on it by holding the ruler still for him. Then, he watched as the stallion used his saw to cut out the shape from the hard wooden oak, allowing the surprisingly strong scented saw dust to fall to the floor to be mopped up later, showing just how messy of a job this could be. Since this was a short plank, he wasn’t allowed to help with this just yet. He was still a young colt who had only recently started learning woodworking, after all and his master valued safety above all else.
Once the shape was cut out, the future paddle’s sides were trimmed so that it would not be too thick for proper use. What was left was a thin piece of block, which was then put back on the saw to have the handle properly shaped.
”Yes, this’ll do.” Announced the master. “Now, I want you to make its edges smooth while I make the straps for the handle.”
”Me?” Asked the apprentice. Up until now, he was only made to do the handles for objects such as this. He never smoothed hard edges before.
”Yes, you. I think you know enough by now to do it. Just be sure to make the handle round and the base still thin, like how I showed you.”
”Alright.” Said the colt with some hesitance.
Now alone, the apprentice grabbed some sandpaper and got to work. He decided start with the handle, figuring that it would be the easier part. As he worked on it, his previous hesitance slowly faded away. His master was right: he was ready for this. Still, it was not a short process as perfection was required.
As the colt did his task, he wondered what his classmates were doing.
His apprenticeships allowed him permission to skip some classes, but he was still forced to take others that were deemed essential. Something about still needing a proper education, social life and all that junk. He found it pointless and stupid.
His apprenticeship did make him a bit of a popular figure amongst the other foals. They would often ask him about the work he did with his master. These questions would sometimes get awkward when they'ed ask about him making spanking implements.
So far, he did help make a couple of paddles and some other things that could also be used for spankings. He wondered if those were ever used on the butts of anyone he knew. He felt some guilt thinking about it, even though he knew that he shouldn’t.
Once he was satisfied with the handle, he continued onto the sides. They required trimming so that they would be nice and smooth both for aesthetics and to avoid accidental cuts. He was a bit more careful with this as he couldn’t just rely on doing circular motions for it as the whole thing needed to be consistent in its looks. After some time working on it, he double checked the sides and fixed up anything he believed to be needing it.
With that, he was done. He inspected the “weapon” he had helped create. It was a nice paddle, small enough to easily wield even if its recipient was close by and large enough to cover a good chunk of a pony butt. It was thinner than a typical paddle, which was the master’s preference.
Every woodworking master had their own ways of making certain products. The apprentice recalled his master saying that one colleague of his made them resemble ping pong paddles while another went with a more traditional design with the flat part being thicker than the one in his hoof. All of them tortured bums in their own uniquely horrible ways.
He wondered if he would eventually start making his own designs or if he would copy this one in the future. Either way, he did not envy whoever’s parents were ordering this.
”Ah, I see you’re done.” Said the master as he walked in, startling the apprentice.
”Yes sir.”
”Give it here then.”
The apprentice obeyed. He nervously watched as his master inspected the weapon. He did not want to disappoint him.
”Good job, kid. Couldn’t have done it better myself.” The stallion praised earning a smile from the colt.
The apprentice was very proud of himself for pulling this off so well at the first try. He had a lot of respect for his master who, while strict, was generally nice to him and a very good teacher so he always did his best to impress him.
”Since you did such a good job so far, how would you like to put the wrapping on?”
”I’ll do it!”
Eager to earn more praise from his teacher, the colt carefully put the wrapping onto the handle of the paddle. It was made from the usual black synthetic leather that was common with pony equipment that used it. This part was much easier for him as he already had some experience with it.
”Very good.” Said the master when it was finished. “Now.” He continued. “Time to enchant it.”
The enchantment process involved the master placing the paddle on a table set up for enchantment purposes, which looked more like a pedestal with various runes embedded inside of it. Next to the table, there was a small drawer that contained an odd piece of cloth that was magically enchanted itself. The master wrapped that cloth around the object, placed it on the table and grabbed a small rod from the top of the drawer. He then used his innate magic with the magical rod to quickly enchant the paddle.
This was standard procedure for small items like this and relatively easy once one learned to do it. Larger items, such as tables, however, were far more tricky to enchant requiring a lot more time and effort.
All equipment made by woodworkers were magical artifacts, although their effects weren’t very flashy: All they did was ensure that the objects do not catch fire or rot as easily as they otherwise would. By no means, were their works indestructible, but they were hard to break and the longevity given to them from the magic made them last for a very, very long time. This paddle could very well be handed down from generation to generation for a long time in whatever family it would be given to.
One did not need to be a unicorn like the master was to do these enchantments, but the apprentice did not have enough control of his internal magic to properly do it yet so, just like with the sawing, he was stuck watching his master work.
As the master finished, he gave the paddle a few quick swings, seemingly satisfied with it. It was then that the apprentice’s good mood took a dive downwards as he remembered what was coming next.
”All right, turn around.” The master ordered.
The apprentice groaned and did just that, bracing himself for what was to come as he knew that this was a required step in the whole process.
’Smack!’ ‘Smack!’ ‘Smack!’
Three hard swats with the paddle straight onto the colt’s bottom. Naturally, he yelped and started rubbing his sore backside almost immediately.
”Did you have to hit that hard?” He whined.
The older pony shrugged. “Sorry kid, you know we need to make sure it works properly, and this paddle is definitely not meant to be swung lightly.”
It was considered an important part for woodworkers to test out their creations before giving them to the clients. Whether it be sitting in a chair for a few minutes or in this case, giving the paddle some test swings.
With spanking implements, it was generally up to the apprentices, who were usually children to take the brunt of the testing. The colt sometimes wondered how woodworkers without apprentices tested them. He knew from one of his master’s stories that at least one woodworker would pay his daughter a bit to test the implements he made on her, but surely, that couldn’t have been an option for all of them.
The master then left the room to give the newly made paddle a quick cleaning in preparation to give it to his clients. The apprentice, meanwhile, could not help but take a look at the damage the object had caused. He flew up to the only mirror in the work room, as he was a little too short to look at it normally. Indeed, his bottom now sported three bright red marks. They stung too. He would definitely not want a full spanking from that thing.
He remembered when he first had to test a paddle. He was so nervous to go home, thinking that his parents would assume that he did something bad while at work but thankfully, they already knew about this particular aspect of his job so all he got from them was an amused chuckle, although his classmates comments of him helping to make and test out a paddle did get on his nerves, something that he would have to deal with today as he'd be having a class that he would have to attend before going home.
”Well-made, isn’t’ it?” Suddenly asked the master, who had just walked back in while levitating a clean paddle with his magic.
The colt yelped and dropped to the ground. He turned around to see the stallion staring down at him in amusement. He blushed in embarrassment.
The woodworker gave a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry kid; I remember checking myself out whenever I had to test these things.” He gave the colt a wry grin. “Just like how I’m sure the unfortunate recipient of this baby will be looking at his own flank soon enough.”
The apprentice winced. “Yea.” He said timidly, still embarrassed.
”Anyways, the clients are here. Come, let’s go greet them.”
”Already? They must live close by.” The apprentice thought as he followed the older pony.
At the cash register, where requests and transactions took place, a pair of ponies were waiting for the two. The colt immediately recognized who they were.
”Mom?! Dad?!” He asked at the shock of seeing his parents.
”Hello to you too.” Said the colt’s father.
”B-but why?” He asked as a sudden growing sense of dread materialized within him.
”To pick up our order, of course.” Answered the father as he took out a small bag of bits from his saddlebag.
”Your teacher told us about how you skipped school yesterday.” The mother elaborated, causing the apprentice to let out an audible gulp.
”Um, th-that was-“ He tried to say but was stopped when his mother put a hoof over his mouth.
”Save it!” She scolded. “Were proud of your work here, but being an apprentice does not excuse you from skipping school, especially since you don’t even have to attend all of your classes.”
”At least your work gave us the avenue to get just the thing we need to deal with such an issue.” His dad chimed in as he paid for the paddle.
The mare rolled her eyes. “After your finished working here, I expect you to go to school and then straight back home." She glared at her son "Do you understand?”
The young colt could only frantically nod.
”Good. You already got a taste of your new paddle already. Expect your hindquarters to get to know it a lot more once you get home.” Said the mother before she and her husband told their goodbyes and left.
”Can’t say I envy you, kid.” Said the master. “Your butt definitely won’t like that paddle we made.”
The stallion gazed at the shocked colt in sympathy. “Come back to the work room when you’re ready. I need your help with a table.” He started to make his way back to the workroom before turning back. “Oh, and remember that stool we made for your parents a while back? I heard your parents mention it in relation to your paddle, so you might wanna watch out for that as well.” He realized that he probably made it worse by telling that. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad." He tried to reassure him before walking away.
Now alone, the colt suddenly felt the three spank marks start to ache. He subconsciously curled his tail around them, knowing full well just how much worse it would soon get. He knew that there was no way out of this, so he could only spend a good minute whimpering at that spot before joining his master to continue his work and school day.
