Everyone
Filly in hot water
Candy Mane turned the faucets of the bathtub up, testing to make sure it would fill up with warm, almost but not quite hot water. She sprinkled some bath salts and soap in, watching as tiny white foam started to spread over the slowly rising surface. Humming silently she picked up a long-handled foals' bathbrush with extra-special soft bristles and pushed it into the water to let it soak. It would take a few minutes for the bath to be ready, so she exited to pick up a clean towel.
She walked to her youngest daughter's bedroom. In the corner, Barbara Seed, or "Babs" as everyone called her, flinched slightly at the sound, but didn't move otherwise. She was seated on a hard, wooden stool, just high enough that her hind legs were left dangling in the air a few inches from the floor. She had her forehead pressed against the corner and forehooves crossed over her chest, probably to make sure she wouldn't even accidentally rub her red bottom, which would have been a big no-no. It had been supposed to be a mom and filly evening, just the two of them with the rest of the family in a concert that Babs was still too young to attend. Babs had been sullen about missing out on the fun her older siblings would be having, so Candy had decided to stay home with her, which had cheered the filly up a lot. They were going to cook together, watch a good movie, play some games, whatever they wanted. It was really rare to get a whole night for just the two of them together, so they'd wanted to cherish it.
That had changed when her daughter had sauntered in with her head hung low. Even before she saw the red note stuck on top of Babs' saddlebags, she'd know something was up. Another bully, another fight, another black eye, detention... It was becoming way too common lately. Candy Mane let her eyes gloss over as she looked at her daughter. They were so similar, mother and daughter alike. Both a bit chubby, yet nowhere near fat, and shared a very short temper. A combination that every single bully could smell from afar. The problem was the strenght of Babs' strong muscles from her Earth Pony heritage and roller derby hobby. When she got angry and punched or bucked someone, they were lucky to get off with a black eye like today. Every time there was a red note, cold shivers ran down Candy Mane's back, wondering if something irreparable had happened. Babs had naturally tried to explain everything, blaming it all on the pegasus filly that had been tormenting her for the last week or so. She knew it would be to no avail, but she'd still tried, like always. And like always, she'd ended up over Candy's lap and gotten a loud, long spanking after their quick dinner. Neither of them even mentioned cooking something together or any of the other things they'd been planning. Just a quick sandwich and then to Babs' room for her punishment and into the corner until bathtime for Babs.
Candy Mane sighed and shook her head as she rummaged through her daughter's drawers, pulling out a crumpled, yet mostly clean blue towel and tossed it onto her back. She also pulled out a pair of pink pyjamas with little yellow and blue flowers on them and laid them on Babs' bed for later. In the corner Babs shuffled a bit sideways, her rump probably stinging badly from having to sit on the hard wooden stool. Candy Mane walked out and into the bathroom, laying the towel ready on a rack. The bathtub was halfway full, just enough for a filly to take a bath without too much water rushing over, so she turned off the water. After the sound of rushing water, the silence was almost deafening. Only the quiet pops of the bubbles of the bath, and her throbbing heart. It was beating way too fast, and Candy mane knew why. She was worried. Earlier when she'd given Babs her punishment, it had felt almost routine. A spanking was supposed to be the last resort, the worst possible punishment, only reserved for the worst things, like stealing, or endangering yourself or others. Lately though, Babs had been over her lap several times, and each time it felt like it mattered less to her. Candy had spanked her so hard today that her hoof still tingled, but Babs had only let out a few small sniffles and apologised for misbehaving. It clearly wasn't enough to deter her from misbehaving from fear of the punishment.
Candy Mane took a deep breath and poked her head out the door. "You can come in now, your bath is ready!"
Finally allowed to move from her corner, Babs gleefully rushed to the bathroom and half climbed, half jumped into the tub. She let out a short yelp as her hooves sank into the water.
"Too hot?" Candy Mane asked.
"Naw, It's good!" Babs answered. She slowly lowered herself, red rump first, into the watet with a grimace that slowly turned into a content smile... and then to confusion. "Mom? Why are you still here?"
Candy Mane smiled back at her daughter. "It's because today I think I just might give you the bath."
Babs' eyes widened in confusion. "Mooooom! I'm already ten! I can take a bath on my own! I mean I've taken them alone for—"
"Oh, I know you can, honey," Candy interrupted. "But I thought that it could be a nice way to spend some time together." With a bit lower voice she added "You know, what with missing out on doing other things today for a certain reason."
Babs lowered her gaze in shame. After a moment she muttered "Umm, okay."
Candy sat on the tilework floor next to the bath and sank her forehoof into the warm water. After fishing around for a moment she found the brush she'd put in the earlier. With her other forehoof she tested the bristles, noting how soft and gentle they felt on her frog. Without another word she dipped it back into the water and slowly started to rub Babs' back with it. Babs practically flinched as the warm bristles touched her, and she kept arcing her back.
"Don't be like that, honey," Candy Mane said. "You used to love it when I gave you a bath."
"Yeah, but..." Babs started, but didn't know how to continue.
"Just close your eyes and enjoy it. I'm not going to tell anyone."
Babs peeked at her from under a half-closed lid. "Promise?" she asked in a lot more childish voice than she normally used.
Candy Mane leaned in and gave her daughter a small kiss on the cheek. "Promise."
When she continued scrubbing Babs' back, there were no more complaints, and after a minute or so, Babs started to visibly relax, letting her posture droop down. The brush worked its way gently all over Babs' body, her back, her sides, her neck, spreading its warmth all over the filly. "Now keep your eyes closed," Candy said, and proceeded to scrub Babs' mane. Babs' mane had been the subject of several small arguments at their house. Candy Mane thought her daughter had a beautiful mane and hoped she would grow it out a bit, but Babs insisted on keeping it short. Once when Candy had refused to take Babs to the barbershop, the filly had cut her own mane in anger. The results had been messy to say the least, and had led to an emergency house call from the local barber. After that, Candy had given up on the subject. She still couldn't figure out how such a short mane could have so many tangles.
After Candy was finished with Babs' mane, she rinsed most of the foam off with clean water from the shower. "Now you can lie back and really soak yourself up," she told Babs. Babs lazily complied, slowly sliding underneath the surface, only leaving her head above. As the warmth of the water fully came into contact with her, Babs let out a long, shivering sigh. Candy stroked her daughters' muzzle with a hoof and they shared a short smile. Candy then carefully lifted up one of Babs' submerged forehooves and started to scrub it with the brush. Babs giggled from the tickling sensation, but didn't pull her hoof back. After that came the other forehoof, and then Candy changed her focus to Babs' semi-submerged chest. Babs giggled again, louder this time, and somehow managed to draw some of the foam inside her muzzle, which caused her to sneeze. Once, twice, three times she sneezed, with every one of them her hooves shot up from the water, splashing some onto Candy as well, yet not for a second did Babs stop laughing, and Candy soon joined in. After her giggles died down, Babs once again relaxed and sank back into the water. Candy proceeded to pull up one of Babs' hind legs and started to scrub it thoroughly, starting from the tip and working her way down. She then did the same with Babs' other hind leg. Babs's eyes were drooping shut, clearly so relaxed that she would soon drift away into slumber at this rate.
As her brush touched down between Babs' hindlegs, one of her forelegs pushed into the way. "Mom, umm, I can wash there myself."
"There's nothing there that I haven't seen or washed hundreds of times, honey. Just relax."
"But... but..." Babs stuttered, but was interrupted by a big yawn. She blinked her eyes sleepily a few times. "Mmmhkay."
Candy carefully continued to scrub, cleaning her daughter's private parts with her brush, then her rump, making sure not to push too hard on the already tender skin, and finished with her tailhole. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" She said.
"Mm-mmmh" Babs mumbled lazily.
"Now I'll just wash your tail and we're all done," Candy said. She pushed her forehoof into the water and down to her elbow and found the short tail against the bottom of the tub. It twitched a few times as she ran it through her hooves, and she once again marveled at the amount of tangles in such a short thing.
"All done now. I'll let you soak a bit before I come to wash you off."
There was no answer, and Candy Mane didn't even expect one. Her daughter was all ready for bed, just like she always was after a bath. As she walked out the bathroom, the chill of the dry air sent goosebumps running through her skin. She looked at herself in the mirror, snorting softly at the sight of herself. Despite her best efforts, she had bits of foam all over herself, including her namesake mane. As she looked behind herself, she could see her own wet hoofsteps on the floor. She grabbed a towel from the master bedroom, dried herself off, and tossed the towel on the floor to dry the worst puddles away. She then walked back to the bathroom. The only sound in the bathroom was the slow breath of the filly in the bathtub. Candy walked to the tub and pulled the plug out to let the water run down the drain. Babs slowly came to as she found out that she wasn't floating weightless in warmth any more. Neither of the spoke as Candy rinsed Babs off with clean warm water. Babs managed to stumble up to all fours, but not before letting out another huge yawn.
"Don't worry, we'll soon get you to bed," Candy said. She grabbed the towel she'd brough earlier and proceeded to dry Babs off. This time the filly didn't even try to complain. After Babs was mostly dry, Candy hugh the towel out to dry.
"Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Carry me?"
Candy Mane smiled to herself as she backed up against the bathtub and felt the warm and slightly damp filly plop onto her back. She carefully walked out the bathroom door and into Babs' bedroom, sliding the limp filly on top of her bed. Babs didn't even try to resist as she was dressed in her colourful pyjama. Candy Mane grabbed Babs' manebrush from the bedside table and climbed onto the bed next to her daughter. She started to carefully untangle her tousle of a mane so as not to hurt Babs. The manebrush looked and felt ancient. Babs had gotten it from Granny Smith on her last visit to Ponyville because she'd lost her own somewhere on the farm. It was old and heavy, but it had become precious to Babs, even though she could barely use it for more than a few strokes before her hooves got tired. But it was perfect for teasing out all the tangles, knots, and the occasional twig a filly could get into her mane, that was sure. Babs lay on her belly restfully, so it was easy for Candy to move onto her tail, proceeding to straighten the hairs there as well. The top of Babs' rump was out the pyjama bottoms and she gave her cheeks a light tap with a hoof, remembering the spanking from before and it was then she had the idea. She mulled it around her head for a bit, coming to the conclusion that sometimes the last resort wasn't the actual last resort, and that sometimes you needed something more.
"Babs?"
"Yes, mom?" the sleepy Babs answered.
"You are not going to like what I'm about to tell you."
Babs turned her head to look at her mother over her shoulder.
Candy's face was stern as she spoke. "Earlier today we talked about how you just absolutely can't fight at school, didn't we? You're such a big and strong filly that you might end up really hurting someone bad. You understand that, right?"
"Moom," Babs said in a drawn out, tired voice. "Didn't we talk about this already? You even punished me for it." At the word 'punish', her bottom cheeks clenched for a moment on instinct.
"I know, honey. But I've given you several spankings these last few weeks and you still keep getting into fights."
"I'm sorry. I promise not to get into any more of them."
That was the last straw for Candy. She didn't want to go through with what she was thinking, but there was something in Babs' voice right then. A sort of monotone, the sound of routine. She was only saying what she was supposed to say, but didn't mean a word of it. If Candy let things go as is, her daughter would end up into more fights at school, and eventually into far more trouble as she grew up. She had to do something, and the heavy ancient manebrush in her hand was the answer.
"I'm sorry, honey, but I don't believe you. I think you've outgrown spankings as a punishment. Clearly they don't work on you, because then you wouldn't get into fights all the time."
"Does... does that mean I'm not going to be spanked any more?" There was a mix of feelings evident in Babs' voice; confusion, hope, disbelief, all jumbled in there.
"Yes... and no. I won't be giving you any spankings by hoof any more, but I'll be using this instead," Candy said, and pushed the heavy hairbrush into Babs' forehooves.
Babs stared at the thing like it was completely alien to her. "B-but mom! You... you can't."
"I'm sorry, but I've already made up my mind."
Babs swallowed the lump in her throat. "O-okay. I gotta... I really gotta be good from now on."
"Yes, yes you do," Candy said. She carefully picked up the manebrush from Babs' unresisting hooves. "And to make sure, I think you should get your first manebrushing right now."
Babs shot up from the bed like a rocket to stand as far away from her mother as she could. "B-b-b-but you can't! I already got a spanking today! And I promised I'd be good! And—"
"Come here, Barbara," Candy said in a calm, unrelenting voice. "You don't want me to come and get you, do you?"
"No! No, mom! No! No you can't! I already... mom you can't"
"I can and I will. Either you come over here, or I will come and get you." She motioned for her daughter with her free forehoof, the other one still holding onto the manebrush. "We can do it the easy way, or the hard way. One..."
"No! Mom! I promise I'll be good! I won't get into any more fights!"
"Two..."
"Mom! you can't! Please!"
"Last chance, Barbara," Candy Mane said as she got up from the bed.
"Mooom! Please!"
"Three." With that, Candy lunged at her daughter, her forehoof striking out like a coiled snake, grabbing Babs by the ear. Babs yelped and tried to struggle, but moving around made the pain much worse.
"Okay! Mom! I'll come! Please! Lemme go!"
"Too late for that now," Candy said. She curtly dragged her daughter to her bed and sat on the edge, pulling the screaming and trashing Babs over her knees by her ear. Even for a filly of ten, she was really strong, and it took a lot of effort from Candy to keep her down, but she was no slouch either. In her youth she'd been quite the athlete and even finished a mareathon a few times. Struggle as she might, Babs soon had to give up on her struggles. "The more you struggle, the worse it'll be, so you'd better stay put." There was no reply, but Babs seemed to settle down somewhat, so Candy could risk letting go of her. "I'll make sure it'll be quick and you can go to bed soon."
Candy slipped her free forehoof underneath the waistband of Babs' pyjama pants and pulled them down low enough to reveal her rump. Thanks to her daughter's dark coat there was no sign of her previous spanking, but Candy knew that combined with the warm bath, Babs' rump would be really tender. With no more delays, she switched the manebrush to her other forehoof, turned the wooden back in front and pushed it against her daughter's bottom. The wide manebrush could easily reach both of Babs' cheeks, and covered almost half of each as well. Candy pulled her hoof back, and brought the brush down right in the middle of Babs' rump.
All four of Babs' legs shot out wildly with the first smack. The effect was completely different from how she'd been acting during her previous spanking. As Candy gave her daughter a long time to recover and let the reality of what was about to happen sink in. Babs was shaking all over, and there was no sign of that cocky bratty filly that she'd had over her lap earlier.
"M-mom! That thing hurts real bad! Please, no more!"
There was no other answer except a loud smack as the manebrush landed again and again.
"Yoww!" Babs shrieked. She tried to reach back to cover her rear, but Candy easily blocked the attempt with her free hoof.
Several more smacks landed, and Babs let out a sniffle along with her pleading. After a few more, she was sobbing. After the brush landed right on her sit spots, she started bawling wordlessly. Candy kept going for a while longer, making sure to make the first lesson with the manebrush be as unforgettable as possible, yet she had to fight back her own tears as she saw how much her daughter was suffering. Her only hope was that this would be the first and last time that she'd ever have to do this. After maybe a dozen more light swats, not meant to hurt as much as drive the last of Babs' tears out, she put the brush down on the bed. Babs was sobbing, not even able to kick or fight any more, all the fight gone from her. Just like how she'd been after her first spanking years ago. Unlike that time, her rump from her tail to the top of her knees was bright, glowing red from where the wide brush had landed. Candy knew she could have put far more power into each of her smacks, probably enough to cause actual bruises. The mere thought made her feel sick.
Candy started to stroke Babs' mane and back, signaling wordlessly that the punishment was over. Babs' painful sobs slowly turned to those of relief. After she was merely sniffling, Candy lifted her up like she weighted nothing and wrapped her hooves around her in a tight hug, which Babs answered by clinging onto her for dear life. They stayed there for a long time, Candy stroking Babs, Babs hugging her tightly, until finally her hooves started to relax and go limp. Candy reach to the bedside table and took a few tissues from the box there and wiped Babs' face and letting her blow her nose. Her face was still a bit of a mess, but she was smiling. Candy carefully placed Babs onto the bed, on her back, still with her pyjama bottom down to the knees. Babs wiped her face into a forehoof one more time and tried to blink the last of the tears from her eyes. As her rump touched on the soft bed covers, she winced and pulled them up, her hind hooves almost up to her ears. "M-mom? Can I turn on my tummy?"
"In a moment, honey."
Babs looked at her from between her legs in confusion, but didn't say anything.
"So how do you like the manebrush?" Candy asked.
Babs' lower jaw started shaking. "I never wanna get it again! I promise, like, for real promise, that I wont' get into any trouble ever again!"
Candy smiled at her daughter, finally seeing the sincerity in her eyes. Maybe this experience had gotten through to Babs and would make her think twice when she was going to do something silly. But it was also her daughter she was thinking of... "We'll see."
"So can I turn over now?"
"There's one more thing."
Babs' eyes opened wide in horror as she realised what kind of a position she was in. She tried to straighten her legs, but Candy was faster as she pushed Babs' hind legs against the filly's body, completely revealing her target and preventing Babs from protecting herself. With her other hoof she gave a loud smack onto the bright red exposed buttocks. "When I tell you to *smack* come over to me *smack*, you will do *smack* as you are told.*smack* Am I making myself clear?" *smack smack smack*
Babs was flailing about with her forehooves, unable to kick, with even the old-fashioned hoof-spanks working their magic on her throbbing rump. "Yes! Yes! I promise!" Babs shouted. She didn't start to cry, but the message had clearly been received.
Candy briskly pulled Babs' pyjama bottoms to cover the filly's red rear, then turned her onto her belly. Babs immediately started to rub her bottom, and despite that usually being a no-no, Candy didn't stop her. Babs' rubbing soon slowed down, and the evening's events finally started to catch up to her. A huge yawn, way bigger than anything up to that point, overtook her. "I'm sorry, mom."
"You're forgiven, honey." Candy leaned into Babs and they shared a short nuzzle. Candy planted a kiss onto her daughter's forehead and pulled her blanket up. Babs was asleep by the time she got to the door and switched off the lights.