//------------------------------// // Trouble in Paradise // Story: His Greatest Treasure // by RoyalBardofCanterlot //------------------------------// Filthy knew something was wrong the minute he stepped onto the plush, red carpet of his living room. There was an energy of wrongness, a tension that hung over the mansion. He looked to the blue couch where his daughter usually rested and watched TV after school. She wasn't there which normally meant she was in her room serving a time-out. She could be out with her only friend, but Silver knew better than to disturb her when My Little Puppy was on. He looked around for his wife, walking into the kitchen in case she had decided to order the servants to make her a snack. She was not sitting at the long table. A green checkered tablecloth was spread over the table. It was immaculately clean. Two crystal candle holders were set in the center of the table and so was a bowl of fresh cut carnations. The servants had been busy. He made a mental note to give them their pay the next day. Leaving the kitchen, he passed the living room which was filled with colorful paintings and wall-hangings. Gifts and purchases he had accumulated in his occasional travels. A bookshelf was filled not only with books, but also knick-knacks and family photographs. He smiled at one in particular. It showed him, Spoiled and Diamond. She was smiling widely, holding both her parents' hooves. In the background was that great city built by the strong hooves of Earth Ponies, Manehattan. Filthy smiled himself at his daughter's smile. For the life of him he couldn't understand why his daughter didn't have more friends. She was such a happy child. The smile vanished from his face as he recalled what Cheerilee had told him about her bullying behavior. He had scolded her and wanted to punish her for it, but Spoiled had talked him out of it. Just a phase, she had said. That had been an odd discussion. Normally, Spoiled was the stricter parent. Sometimes, she was too strict for Filthy's liking. That time, she had almost insisted that their daughter's behavior was an excusable phase. Filthy secretly wondered if she hadn't been a bully herself at one point. He continued his trek down the long hallway and heard the rush of waters. Ah, so she was in the shower. It was something she did after her obligatory thirty minute attempt at housework which consisted of yelling at the servants to do things she could easily do herself. Filthy, as a young and virile stallion, would surprise her by slipping into the shower with her. She would always welcome him and, well, they had a good time all in all. He was not old and could feel masculine virility yet flowing through him. He did not slip into the shower with her today and had not in many years. Trying to remember the last time he had done so caused him to draw a blank. He walked away from the bathroom door and up the stairs. At the top step he heard the faintest sniffle. His ears perked up. Unless the maid had broken up with the cook (again), that sniffle could only belong to one filly. He hurried his pace. His daughter's cry always pierced his heart. He opened up the door. Diamond laid on her tummy, her face buried in a pillow. Her backside was a pinker shade than usual, hinting that she'd gotten a taste of old fashioned discipline. Spanking was an exceedingly rare occurrence in their household, but their had been times Diamond had crossed the line and ended up taken over her mom or even her dad's knee. (A certain zap apple harvest had ended that way). Still, she had only been spanked twice last year. Lately, Diamond's behavior had been very good. He sat down and ran a hoof through her mane. She hurled herself into his chest, wrapping both her forelegs around his barrel. He hugged her back, caressing her withers. After a few moments she calmed down, though she kept herself nestled into his chest. Being forced to miss My Little Puppy and a spanking was a harsh punishment indeed. What had she done? "Sweetie, why did Mommy spank you?" She wiped away her last few tears. "B-because I decided to be friends with the C-cutie Mark Crusaders a-and sh-she doesn't want me to." Filthy blinked. There had to have been some mistake. "Diamond? Is that all you did?" Perhaps, she had gotten into trouble with the Crusaders. They were trouble prone after all. Diamond nodded. "Y-yeah." He breathed again. He was going to get to the bottom of this. There had to be a miscommunication somewhere. There was no way Diamond was telling the truth. She was leaving something out. There was no other explanation. No, that wasn't true. There was another explanation. He just didn't want to think about that one. He gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder. "Daddy needs to go talk to Mommy. Please, wait right here." She nodded and curled back up on the pillow. He rose and left the bedroom. Spoiled Rich was just leaving the shower when he passed the bathroom. She had a white towel wrapped around herself which she casually threw into the dirty clothes basket. He laid an arm around her withers and, before she could protest, herded her down the hallway. "You, me, living room. Now." His tone tolerated no argument. She squirmed beneath his hold, but her years of sloth had left her weak while his habit of loading heavy crates full of merchandise had added to his natural, Earth Pony strength. They made it to the living room and he let her go. She pranced away from him, facing him. "How dare you handle me like that!" "Not in the mood, Spoiled. Diamond is crying in her room and she claims you spanked her because she made friends. I don't want to believe her. Please tell me she's lying. Please." Spoiled's eyes darted to the left. "She left out a few things." Filthy suppressed a flicker of anger. "Give me the bottom line, Spoiled." She snarled. "I'm not your employee, don't talk to me like one." He stepped closer to her. "No. You're my wife. And I expect honesty from you." She stepped back. "Yes. I paddled her behind. She wanted to make friends with that filthy farmer's sister and her featherbrain friend! It wouldn't be so bad if she made friends with the unicorn, she could be useful since her sister's got connections, but a filthy farmer? Or a featherbrain?" Filthy shook. He had fired employees on the spot for using those kinds of tribalist slurs. For a few moments he stood there, shaking and in shock. "Filthy farmer? My family are farmers or have you forgotten? I don't see a horn coming out of your head or wings sprouting from your back! We're Earth Ponies, we're all farmers! Maybe I haven't in a long time, but I can plow a field or buck a tree with the best of them!" Spoiled rolled her eyes. "Yes, your father made you work on a farm. I'd never make Diamond do something like-" "Shut up." Spoiled's jaw dropped. Filthy continued. "What the hell is wrong with you? That filthy farmer is my best customer! Our families have been partners for generations!" Once, he had even gone so far as to consider Big Mac a friend but that relationship had cooled at some point. Spoiled lifted one perfectly manicured hoof. "Partners?" She snorted. "They practically work for you! They'd be nothing without you to sell their products-" He stomped his hoof and snorted. "You are a moron who knows nothing about business!" "How dare you-" "Just shut up!" He roared. He stalked so close to her their noses were touching. Fear flashed in her eyes as she became aware of how large and imposing her husband actually was. She nearly tripped over the couch as she was pushed back. "Business is about relationships! Do you know I know which one of my employees are married and I ask after their families every time I see them! At the very least I try to let them know I care about them! The Apple Clan is the reason my clan is so rich! We work together! Together, Spoiled! Together! It's a partnership! If Diamond decides Applebloom is her one true love and elopes with her I'll foot the wedding bill because I couldn't imagine anything better for my business!" Spoiled sniffed. "You'd marry our daughter off to a farmer!" "We're Earth Ponies you tribe traitor!" She moved farther away from him. His lips were curled up in an expression of utter disgust. He stalked towards her. "I can bet your clan were farmers at some point!" "No, we never were-" "Then maybe they were all just too damned lazy to do an honest day's work!" She jabbed her hoof into his muscular chest. "Don't you talk about my clan that way! And I am not a tribe traitor!" "Could've fooled me! You practically get on your knees and inhale every time a unicorn farts! You don't have the slightest shred of pride, racial or otherwise!" He jabbed his hoof into her chest, pushing her back. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be content to just sponge off of me! I thought you were doing your duty, being a good mother to Diamond and now I see how wrong I was!" "I am a good mother to her! I'm looking after her prospects." "You're delusional! And I can't believe you would punish her just for making friends!" "I punished her for associating with lowlifes!" He stopped. "What did you spank her with?" For a moment she was caught off guard by the change in subject matter. "My hairbrush." He nodded and saw the implement laying on the stand next to the couch. He picked it up. It was hickory wood, fine craftsponyship. It had been a birthday gift for Spoiled. Suddenly, he felt a wave of self-hatred that his gift to her would be used to unjustly punish their daughter. Spoiled's eyes widened. "Filthy, y-you wouldn't dare! I'll divorce you!" "That's supposed to discourage me?" He turned to glare at her. "Diamond didn't deserve her punishment. But you do deserve a sore backside and so much worse." She tried to run, but Filthy was quicker and stronger. He grabbed her by her hoof. "Did she try to run?" He dragged her over to the couch and sat down, bending her across his knees. He had given her playful spanks once, long ago. Harmless love play. This wasn't play. Her kicking only served to put her rump in a good position. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You deserve this, Spoiled. Deep in your heart, if you still have one of those, you know you do." "S-stop!" "I bet Diamond begged! Did you listen to her?" He brought the hairbrush down across her backside. The resounding crack of wood across her behind filled the room. He landed a second, equally firm smack in the same place. He lifted his brush and landed a third smack, leaving a dark pink mark. He moved lower, getting into a good rhythm as he brought the hairbrush down against her behind again and again. She kicked her legs and squirmed as the hairbrush continued to relentlessly fall against her rump. He tightened his grip over her and concentrated on the right side of her rump. He lifted the hairbrush and brought it down again and again, the sting of the brush causing her to yelp and shout. "Please stop!" She was helpless as the hairbrush continued smacking her backside. Filthy brought down several more smacks across the right side of her rump, then he turned his attentions to the left side of her rump. He unleashed a barrage of firm swats to the left side of her rump and then went back to smacking the right side. He peppered her pink posterior with the stinging spanks. She stopped squirming as the spanking continued. The spanks moved to her sit spot. He swung the brush against her reddened rear, smacking the exact center of her rump. She yelped, but he continued spanking. He fell into a steady cadence of spanks, the hairbrush raining down hard slaps that alternated from the left side of her rump to the right and then to the sit spot again. Three hard smacks fell in rapid succession to her sit spot then the hair brush began to fall across the right side of her behind. He lifted the hairbrush once more, preparing to land more spanks when a voice rang out. "Daddy? What are you doing?" He was too late to stop the trajectory of the hairbrush which landed across his wife's backside. He looked up. Diamond was at the end of the hallway. She stepped into the living room. "Are you spanking Mommy because she spanked me? But I deserved it." He set down the hairbrush and nearly threw Spoiled from his lap as he walked towards Diamond. He walked over and embraced his daughter. She embraced back. Filthy realized that she was convinced that whatever her mommy said or did was the right thing. How much damage had Spoiled done while he tried not to see it? He felt tears welling up in his eyes. "No, Diamond. Your mommy did a very terrible thing and she deserved to be punished for it. You did nothing wrong. You can make friends with anypony you want." He stroked her mane. "How would you like to go get some ice cream and then we can take a little trip to Manehattan. We'll visit your cousin, Amethyst. You like her don't you?" Diamond's face brightened into a smile. "That sounds fun!" She turned to look at Spoiled who had an expression that was a mix of embarrassment and anger. "Does Mommy have to stay here and think about what she did?" Filthy stared at Spoiled. "I'd highly suggest that she do that. And think about what she wants to do in our future-if we have a future." Diamond took his hoof. He squeezed it as they walked out the door.