This chapter involves disciplinary spanking in a non-sexual context. If this is objectionable to you please take responsibility and stop reading now.
Part 3
Downstairs there were no heart-to-heart talks and no bottles of fine aged whisky...just an angry mare, a younger mare miserable with guilt and a filly growing more & more nervous as the time for her to face the consequences of her own actions in this night's misadventure drew closer.
"Well Cadance, I suppose we've said all that needs to be said tonight" said Twilight Velvet coldly, "it's late, I think it's past time you went home for the night."
"Yes ma'am" answered Cadance weakly. She'd apologized so many times she felt utterly empty inside. The pink filly could not remember feeling worse at any other time in her life.
All this time Velvet had been writing a letter, one she finally finished. After blowing on it a few times to dry the ink she folded it with her magic and levitated it to Cadance. "This letter is for your parents, Cadance, it tells exactly what transpired tonight. I do not think you are the sort of girl who would hide this letter, but just to be sure I will bring it up the next time I see your mother around town, am I understood?"
Once again, the best answer Cadance could give was "Yes ma'am." Accepting the sealed letter she added one last time "Professor Velvet, I can't say it enough...I'm so sorry I let you down. I..."
"Yes, I understand" Velvet cut her off, "but what you do to make up for it is entirely up to you. Tonight is not the time to discuss it, I still have my daughter to attend to." That last part made Twilight Sparkle cringe and whimper. Whatever that meant it did not sound good for her. "Good night, Cadance." And with head hung low the teenager left to meet her own fate.
Twilight Velvet was silent for a few moments before turning her gaze on Twily. The little purple filly opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but her mother's steely expression stopped the words in her throat. "Twilight Sparkle" she ordered in a flat tone, "bring me the book you were reading. The one that gave you the idea for this experiment."
"Yes Mommy" she squeaked, and hurried to find the volume. She worried what her mother would do; it seemed so unfair that Cadance got blamed for what happened...was Mom going to blame the book too? Twilight's mother was a University Professor, a teacher, she'd never destroy a book...would she? It seemed awful, but Twilight Sparkle did not have the nerve to disobey her and hide the offending tome. "Here it is." Velvet levitated it to the coffee table and set it down in front of her daughter.
"Open it to the appropriate page" she commanded in the same humorless monotone. Not wanting to anger her mother further the purple filly complied, locating the chapter on the kite experiment and pointing to the passage. "Now read it...aloud." That made Twily frown. She loved reading, but her eyes and mind worked much faster than her mouth. Reading out loud, especially with other ponies listening, made her nervous & embarrassed, she felt dumb for stumbling over complicated words and occasionally mispronouncing. Her mother frequently had to correct her and make her re-read sentences as Twilight struggled through the chapter. Making things worse and adding to the filly's stress was Mom's promise to "attend to" her. It was difficult to concentrate on the book in front of her when Twilight's main worry was what would soon happen to the rump behind her. Mercifully, she reached the end of the page and stopped.
"Turn the page" her mother ordered.
With a groan, Twily did as she was told. Is she gonna make me read this whole book out loud? The filly continued "In 1753 a st-stallion named G.W. Richmane...a Germane fizz-a-cist...living in St. Poniesburg...attempted this ex-ex-experiment and was e-lec-tro-cu..."
"Electrocuted, Twilight" growled her mother. "He was killed. Now why would you try such a stupid and dangerous thing after reading that?"
Twily blushed and felt like a complete idiot. "Because I didn't get that far in the book, Mommy."
"I thought so." Twilight Velvet reached over her daughter's shoulder and closed the book. "You got excited and rushed into something before stopping to think about it...without even finishing the chapter...didn't you? Twily we've had to talk about this before, haven't we?" This was a perilous thing to admit for Twilight Sparkle. She was trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place. By agreeing that she'd been "talked to" about this before she acknowledged that her warnings were all used up and punishment was a certainty this time. But by arguing her innocence she ran the risk of making her angry mother even angrier. There was little time to think up a clever or daring defense so Twily threw herself on the mercy of the court.
"I'm sorry Mommy!" she cried "I promise I won't ever fly a kite off the roof in a lightning storm again! I promise I'll actually finish reading about stuff before I actually go try to do them and..."
"All that is well & good, Twilight, but that's not the real reason you're in trouble, is it?" The filly said nothing, allowing her mother to continue scolding seemed the best way to delay doom. "You are in trouble because you got excited, rushed ahead and did something without considering whether it was dangerous. Do you understand?" Twily kept silent, but nodded her head. "Do you understand?" her mother insisted in a slightly more ominous tone.
"Yes I do" squeaked the youngster, painfully aware of where this was leading.
"Good" Twilight Velvet said, "now come on. We will discuss this more tomorrow, but it's late and there's one more thing we need to do tonight." Her daughter gulped nervously...she was pretty sure that one thing was not going to be pleasant. Velvet led her reluctant daughter up the stairs. When they reached Twilight Sparkle's room the filly tried to scurry inside to a place of relative safety, but with a sharp magical tug on the ear her mother steered her back on course. This spelled doom for the purple foal...there could only be one reason mom was leading her to the parents' bedroom.
"Mommy...please! I swear I'll never do anything stupid or dumb or reckless like this again!" Twily pleaded as they walked into her parents bed chamber. Tears had already begun dripping out of her eyes but they had no effect. Twilight Velvet sat down on her bed and drew her squirming daughter near. The filly made every reasonable effort to escape but mother held total control, lifting her up and draping Twily over her lap...the worst position young Twilight Sparkle could possibly imagine.
Just when things looked as if they could not get any worse, they got worse. Without a word Twilight's mother levitated her wooden hairbrush over to her, sending the filly into a new fit of terrified struggling. "Mommy, please no...not that!" She'd felt the hairbrush on her rump before; on two occasions her mother had finished a simple hoof-spanking with a blistering flurry of smacks from the hairbrush...followed by a warning that if Twily misbehaved in the same way again her next spanking would be administered with the hairbrush, beginning to end. To the filly's horror it appeared that she had reached that dreaded day. "Please, please not the hairbrush! You can just spank me with your hoof...it'll hurt enough!"
"Young filly you can stop the theatrics" snapped her mother, "after what happened tonight you should consider yourself lucky a sore fanny is the worst pain you're experiencing. You could have been killed so you should thank the stars that you're still alive to feel this paddling!"
It was hard for Twilight Sparkle to feel lucky, laying across her mother's lap, waiting for the first awful whack...but there would be plenty of time to think about all that as she slept on her belly tonight. Her mom was done lecturing, and before she had time to cringe and tighten every muscle the first spank fell on her unprepared rump. Twily bawled and kicked her legs as smack after smack followed, setting her tiny purple bottom ablaze with pain. It was worse than any hoof-spanking she had ever gotten, and this was only the beginning! "I'M SOOOORRRYYYY!" Twilight squealed but her tearful apologies had no effect on the determined mare wielding the hairbrush.
Over and over again it smacked poor Twilight's rump. If the heat she was feeling in her rear-end was any reliable indicator the wailing filly was amazed that the wooden hairbrush had not burst into flames yet. Every spank her mother delivered elevated the awful agony to a new & undreamed of level...only to be surpassed then the next blow fell seconds later. By this time poor Twilight Sparkle could not even form words to beg for mercy, she could only bawl as tears poured from her eyes. She felt like she could not bear another terrible whack from the hairbrush, yet her spanking seemed like it would never end.
At last it did end. Twilight Velvet finished up with ten final spanks, harder than all the rest, and finally set down the awful implement. She gave the little filly a minute to catch her breath; Twily's crying had not yet abated. Her hindquarters had turned a rosy shade of pink...nothing that would not fade by tomorrow, although Velvet hoped she'd made enough of an impression that the memories would stay fresh for a lot longer. Once her daughter's bawling had died down to sniffling and choking sobs she guided the filly off her lap and gathered her up in her arms. Mother wiped her daughter's tears and a sticky trail of snot from her nose with tenderness that belied the awful paddling she had just doled out.
In spite of everything that felt wonderful to Twilight Sparkle. Mom hugged her close, rocked her back and forth like a little foal and did not lecture at all. "I-I-I'm s-sorr-y-y" sobbed Twily, burying her head into momma's chest, "I'm s-sorry I was so st-stupid tonight and sorry I m-made so much t-t-trouble..."
"Shhhh" Twilight Velvet calmed her weeping daughter, stroking her mane, "you're not stupid, Twily, and you can make all the trouble worthwhile if you learn from it. Are you going to learn from this, Twilight?" The filly never took her head out of its comfortable nook in momma's chest, but she nodded her head emphatically. "Good. Now it's very late. We'll talk about this more tomorrow, but it's well past time you got to bed."
For the first time in years Twilight Sparkle did not feel too big and mature to have her mother carry her to bed, where Twilight Velvet tucked her in and sent her off to happier dreams with a kiss on the cheek. In just minutes the purple filly was fast asleep (on her stomach) with her Smarty Pants doll cradled in her arms.
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It took the weather ponies about a half hour to re-start the storm, so Cadance had a lucky respite from the rain in which to walk home. It was about all she had to feel lucky about tonight. She'd screwed up miserably; she had disappointed the family which had trusted her, Shining Armor hated her, and worst, she had put the life of a filly she loved in mortal danger. It was already the worst night of her life and she hadn't even explained the incident to her parents yet.
Although her saddlebags were laden with school books it was Professor Velvet's letter that weighed the most. Cadance trudged along, worrying about how much it told but too afraid to open it up and look for herself. Whatever it said, her parents would not be pleased...but the teenaged pony felt as if she merited every bit of disapproval they could dish out. Surely there would be punishment to go along with their disapproval, and even though Cadance felt she deserved it she could not help but worry as she imagined what it might entail.
After the longest short walk of her life Cadance arrived home. She did not wait for the butler or housekeeper to open the door for her; she had her own magic key. No pony noticed her enter the foyer, so she toyed with the idea of running straight up to her bedroom and not telling her parents until tomorrow...but that would mean a sleepless night of worry. Better to get it over with right away Cadance resolved, although the very thought sent ten pound butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
Cadance's mother was in the sitting room reading. Marking her daughter's arrival she lifted her head from the book and said "Oh, Cadanzia darling, I did not hear the butler let you in."
"I let myself in" sighed the teenager. Her mother's nose wrinkled a bit in disapproval...that was not the proper way for a young princess to comport herself. That slight disapproval did not worry Cadance, the news she carried would soon overshadow it.
"I thought you'd be staying later at Professor Velvet & Professor Night-Light's home" continued her mother, "everything went well I hope?"
Cadance's posture slumped, she held her head low in a manner that no princess should ever stoop to...at least in her mother's opinion. "It...it didn't go well, mother. I made a tremendous mistake and...well, it's all in this letter."
Her mother set down the book and accepted the letter which was levitated to her. At first she showed no emotion at all but as her eyes reached the bottom of the page the eyebrows above them formed into a harsh V shape. Cadance cringed when her mother finally set it down next to the book. "I don't need to tell you, this is very disappointing."
"Yes ma'am" answered the pink filly. She'd been saying that a lot tonight.
"You were entrusted with foal-sitting Twilight Sparkle, yet you defied her parents instructions with regard to bed time. Then you dozed off at your task, even though they had left clear directions on what to do if you became tired."
"I'm sorry...I feel just horrible about it" whimpered Cadance.
Her mother took a long time to answer, but finally said "Yes, as well you should. Cadance you are normally such a clever & responsible filly. I don't understand what you were thinking!"
"I don't either" sighed Cadance.
The answer she got was sharp and unyielding; "You know that is not an acceptable answer. Tonight a tragedy was avoided by sheer luck. The chain of events that led to this incident should have been cut by you, but you failed at the worst time possible."
Even though her mother's voice remained level & calm the scolding seared Cadance's heart like a hot iron. Every word was absolutely true. "I'm so sorry...I just don't know how things went wrong so badly."
"Because you thought you knew better than the parents of your charge" her mother continued "you made up your own rules rather than following the instructions you were trusted to follow."
With no defense Cadance simply sobbed "Yes ma'am."
"Well you'll have plenty of time to think about it" her mother finally declared "you'll spend the next month grounded. School and straight home, no exceptions." That confirmed Cadance's worst fears; she'd expected a heavy sentence. The filly hoped that would be the end of it, and she'd now be allowed to go upstairs to her room where she was looking forward to a good long cry. But with one command Cadance's mother turned things from bad to even worse; "Now you'd better not keep your father waiting. He'll need to see this too." She picked up the dreaded letter and handed it back to her daughter.
Although Cadance freely accepted her complete and total guilt in the matter she was still petrified at the thought of confessing that guilt to her stern father. Her composure broke, and she begged her mother "Please...we don't have to tell Father about this...do we?"
Her mother scoffed. "Cadanzia do not be ridiculous! Do you think this is the sort of thing that can be concealed from your father?"
"But...you've already punished me!"
"And doubtless your father will have his own punishment to add" answered the older mare without pity. "Are you implying that you do not deserve everything you are to receive?"
"No ma'am" whimpered Cadance, but her knees were already knocking.
"Then do not keep him waiting. He is in his study."
Princess Cadance loved her father dearly, but in the same breath feared him. In her eyes he was the definition of royal. Their family lands may have disappeared long ago but Crown Prince Mi Amore still wore his ancient title with dignified authority. The fun loving informality of Princess Celestia was not part of his personality, yet he was not cruel or demanding. Ponies respected and deferred to him because of the natural air of authority that surrounded the Prince. On any other day Cadance loved being anywhere near her regal father...tonight she just felt gut wrenching anguish at the thought of how disappointed he'd be with her.
The filly gave a feeble knock on his door, almost too soft to be heard, but Prince Mi Amore responded in his deep voice "Come in." He could make it sound like an invitation and a command at the same time. Cadance timidly opened the door just wide enough to slip in, and approached his desk.
"My dear, what a pleasant surprise" he greeted her from behind his desk, "I did not expect to see you tonight. Where you not foal-sitting for Professor Night Light and his wife?"
"I was, sir" she replied, head hung low. "But things did not go well. I'm to show you this letter from Professor Twilight Velvet."
With a grave expression her father accepted the letter, but he did not unfold it. "I think it would be better if you told me what was inside first...before I read this." Cadance gulped nervously. Her father was like a chess player in his every move and had trapped her in a tight corner. She could give a mild version of the night's events, which did not make things sound so bad, but if the letter contradicted her story she'd be in worse trouble for lying. On the other hoof she could confess to every terrible thing...but in doing so she might admit more than was actually in the letter. Determining that she was in enough trouble already, Cadance chose the latter strategy, and tearfully explained what had happened, accepting the blame entirely.
Before she was even done the Prince had opened the letter and begun to read. They both finished at the same time. For a long & uncomfortable minute he looked upon his trembling daughter, but at last he spoke; "I am disappointed, my dear. There is no other way to say it. The parents of the foal you were to care for left specific instructions and provided recourse for you if things did not go to plan. Tonight's incident happened entirely because you willfully disregarded their plan and substituted your own. In fact you let yourself be negatively influenced by the very foal you were supposed to be caring for!"
"I know, father...I'm so sorry."
"Cadance, is that the conduct of a Princess?" he asked "Since birth you have been trained to be a leader...and now, when placed in a position of small but important authority you allow a little filly who does not yet even have her mark to talk you into something so foolish?"
"I didn't think anything bad could happen" sniffled Cadance.
With a snort from his nostrils her father replied sharply "Yet as you now see...you were wrong. Only by fortunate fate was a tragedy avoided tonight, my daughter. Tell me, how would you feel right now if things had gone differently? Imagine what you would be doing at this very minute if little Twilight Sparkle had fallen off that roof, or had been hit by lightning."
That was a dark & terrifying place in her mind that Cadance did not want to look. It made her seriously consider a worst case, nightmare scenario that she had done nothing to prevent. "I'm...I'm..." the young mare tried but could not force out a coherent sentence. Her father the Crown Prince had stepped out from behind his desk and brushed muzzles with her. "Dearest, I am sorry to put you through this, but it is important that you appreciate the gravity of what has almost transpired. This could have been a tragic burden that you carried with you all of your life. Anypony can make a simple mistake, Cadance, but no pony can bring back a life that has been lost because of that simple mistake." He wiped away a few of her tears with his own muzzle, but he knew there had to be a few more tears before the admonishment was over. "Daughter, I do not wish to prolong your anguish further...I am sure you are tired and would like this night to be well over, but there is one more thing that must be done." She looked up at him with genuine fear in her eyes; a look that nearly broke his heart but did not break his resolve. "Cadance, take your position."
"B-but father...mother already grounded me for a month!" pleaded the frightened teenager.
"Then you may take comfort in the fact that this portion of your punishment will be over much quicker" Prince Mi Amore answered.
Cadance knew what to do, although she'd been desperately hoping she would not have to do it. Those hopes were dashed now, and the pink filly knew better than to argue or try to beg her way out of it. Eyes awash with tears, she laid down over a cushioned ottoman and awaited her dreadful punishment.
The Crown Prince opened a cleverly hidden cabinet in his study wall and withdrew the object his daughter feared. It had been a long time since he'd been forced to use this cane but tonight Cadance's regrettable behavior had called it into service again. "Do you have anything else to say for yourself?"
"No sir" she whimpered, but then added "I mean...I'm very, very sorry."
Prince Mi Amore had sympathy for his daughter, and knew her apology was genuine, but that did not dissuade him from what he knew must be done. Cadance had made a foolish & childish error this night, and she had to be disciplined in a way that would make a memorable impression on her...as a foolish child would be. "Right then. Cadenza, how old are you?"
At that Cadance lost her nerve and turned around in fear. "Daddy, please no!"
"Young filly, answer the question."
Cadance knew her father had not forgotten how old she was, but this was part of the ritual. One lash of the cane for every year. The most she had ever taken before was 13 lashes, so with palpable fear in her voice she squeaked out "Sixteen years old, sir."
"Very well" he sighed, pulling his daughter's multicolored tail out of the way...the adorable blue bow that she always wore at its base was a detail which nearly broke his heart. "You do not need to count. Chin up my girl...this will be over soon." With no reason to delay his unpleasant duty any longer Crown Prince Mi Amore drew back the cane, paused for an moment and brought it down on her rump with measured but substantial force.
The shock of that first lash was followed by searing pain, as if somepony had pressed a hot iron against Cadance's backside. Dignity was left behind immediately; the pink filly cried without hesitation. Her father did not make her wait for the next few blows, delivering four of them in quick succession before allowing Cadance a brief respite. She tried her best to stay still and accept the punishment but when the pain took hold her body did what came naturally, twisting and kicking to escape the cane's awful bite. Father was ready though, and placed his spare hoof on the small of her back to prevent escape. Between cries and gasping for air Cadance tried to apologize for moving but the words just would not come out. She hoped desperately that it would not earn her extra strokes.
Once he was sure his unfortunate daughter had caught her breath Prince Mi Amore raised the cane up again and continued. There would be no more rests; he swung the rod at a steady pace now, one spank every three seconds or so, exercising great care to be very accurate with its painful tip. A cruel or thoughtless stallion could inflict terrible damage with a cane such as he used, but that was not the Prince's intention. He felt bad enough listening to his little Princess cry at the top of her lungs...the thought of causing her genuine injury was more than he could bear.
For poor Cadance there was nothing to do but scream, sob and pray that it would be over soon. She had lost count of the strokes almost as soon as the whipping had begun, now all that existed was the building agony in her rump as each lash fell, and the despairing hope that each one would be the last. In her agony the whipping seemed to last for an eternity and get worse with every stroke.
But her father had only intended to administer 16 lashes and when he reached that count he stopped. Cadance lay across the ottoman, bawling her eyes out; her rump crisscrossed with marks from the cane. They would fade in a matter of hours but the Prince hoped he had made enough of an impression that it would not fade from his daughter's memory for a very long time. She lay there sobbing for a whole minute, catching her breath and regaining her senses. It was over.
Slowly, she rose to her hooves. Desperate to regain some semblance of dignity in the eyes of her father she forced her head up high. Cadance had never considered herself a prideful pony, but now that it was utterly shattered she felt a terrible emptiness in her heart. Never before had she really considered how important it was to her that grown ponies like Twilight Sparkle's parents trusted & respected her; or that her own parents saw her as a capable, responsible young mare. All that was gone now...tossed away because of one stupid mistake. She only had herself to blame.
Cadance was unable to keep her eyes open through the tears, but to her surprise she felt a gentle arm around her withers. Her father, usually so regal & formal, hugged her close, tucking Cadance's head under his chin. She buried her face in the soft fur of his neck and sobbed. "There, there, my girl. It's been an awful night, I know, but it's not the end of the world. You are the dearest & most important thing in the hearts of your mother and I, and a even thousand foolish mistakes will never change that."
"Daddy...I'm s-so sorry" Cadance wept, but it felt good to be rocked in his embrace and let all her sorrow pour out. The weight in her chest was fading away with each heavy sob, unburdening her heart. "I'm sorry I disappointed you & mother. I'm sorry I screwed up..."
"And I have every confidence that you shall rise above this to be an even better young mare" Prince Mi Amore assured her. "You will regain the respect & responsibility you deserve in no time...but as for our love, you have all of it right now and that will never go away. I...I don't tell you that enough, my dearest."
She sniffled and dug her head in tighter. Such a display of affection from her father was rare and she wanted to relish every moment of it. "Thank you, Daddy."