+++
title = "The Hero's Reward"
names = ["DCFTEF"]
date = "2014-02-25 00:27:50"
tags = ["F/F", "wooden spoon", "switch", "over couch", "non-consensual"]
spankers = ["Granny Smith"]
spankees = ["Rainbow"]
posts = [""]
+++
 
It had been a few days since the embarrassing fracas that led to the unmasking of the mysterious Mare-Do-Well and Rainbow Dash's realization that she'd been taking the whole 'hero' thing a bit too far. Her friends had played an epic prank on her...one that got their message across far better than any lecture or shouting match could have. Dash felt lucky to have such friends.
Today she was hanging a new memento on her wall. She'd written to Princess Celestia about her adventure and the lesson she'd learned but never expected to get a letter back (Princesses' are very important and busy ponies after all) but here it was; written on Royal letterhead stationary in beautiful calligraphy. It was just one paragraph, congratulating Rainbow Dash on her revelation and thanking her for the original letter, but any Royal communication was a big deal. The young Pegasus decided to frame it and hang it in a place of honor on her wall.
How does one hang a framed letter on walls made of clouds? It's magic, I ain't gotta explain shit.

>"Hey Dash! Rainbow Dash, you up there? You home?"
She'd recognize Applejack's distinctive accent anywhere, so Dash flew over to her front door to greet the guest. Maybe AJ would want to come up and check out the awesome job she'd done framing & hanging the letter.
>"Heya Applejack! Wanna come up and hang out?"
Her Earth pony friend kept all four hooves on the ground. She seemed nervous about something.
>"Eh, not right now. I was wonderin'...are you busy right now?"
>"I'm always busy" teased Dash, swooping down so close that she buzzed Applejack's hat, "being awesome is a 24-hour job."
The farm pony rolled her eyes.
>"Oh yes. How could I forget?" 
Then she got to the point;
>"If you aren't doin' anything right now, I wonder if ya wouldn't mind comin' down to the farm with me. Granny Smith is askin' t'see you."

>"Granny Smith?" asked the puzzled Pegasus pony, "Is she alright?"
>"She's just fine" Applejack replied, "she just wants to talk to you."
That seemed weird, and Applejack was acting weird too, but Rainbow Dash didn't have anything else to do this afternoon so she floated down, landing next to her friend.
>"Sure thing. What's she need to talk to me about, anyway?"
Applejack avoided answering the question directly;
>"I think it's just better if you talk to her."
>"Okay" Dash replied with a shrug, "lead on."

Without flying it took 15 minutes to reach Sweet Apple Acres; plenty of time for Rainbow Dash to queery her friend about what Granny Smith wanted, but she never cracked Applejack's wall of silence. Anytime she asked Dash just got an evasive answer, or AJ changed the subject. The cyan pony began to treat it like a game, but by the time they reached the farm Applejack still had not revealed a thing.

Granny Smith was in her usual chair. It was hard to tell if she was sleeping or not, but as soon as she heard hoof-steps coming closer she perked up.
>"Granny...I brung her like you asked."
>"Oh, good. Thank ye fer bringin' yer friend, Applejack."
>"Is there something I can do for you, Granny Smith?" asked the Pegasus.
The elder mare motioned toward another chair and instructed;
>"Have a seat."
All this felt very strange, like there was something going on that the two Apples were not telling her, but there was nothing to suggest this was anything but a polite visit, so Dash sat down to talk.
>"Rainbow Dash, I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day...in town."

Dash cringed. A few days ago she'd pushed Granny Smith all the way across Main Street in Ponyville, never having asked if she actually wanted to cross the street. She'd meant to come by and apologize...in fact she had a list of ponies she wanted to apologize to.
>"Eh...yeah...that" muttered the Pegasus, blushing awkwardly.

>"Yes...that" growled Granny Smith humorlessly, "and more."
Rainbow Dash shrank in her seat a little. Her behavior over those few days had been shameful, and despite her noble intentions about apologizing to every pony she might have offended she had not actually gotten around to doing any of that apologizing yet.
Granny Smith sank her dentures into her;
>"Boastfulness...pridefulness...showin' offishness! Causin' trouble and harassin' folks in the park! Plus you busted up a public award ceremony!"
>"I'm really sorry I..."
>"Don't you interrupt, young mare!"
That shut Rainbow Dash's mouth tight. She gave a desperate glance toward Applejack, but the orange pony offered no aid. She just stood there watching, looking awkward and nervous.
Granny Smith continued;
>"Ponies around town a'been talkin'. Sayin' somepony ought to put that filly in her place."
Dash thought her friends had done that already, but after being snapped at she did not dare interrupt Granny Smith again.
>"Now seein' as how you're as close as sisters with my grand-daughter...and you ain't got a momma or a granny here in Ponyville to tend to it themselves, I suppose that duty falls to me."

Rainbow Dash sat bolt-upright in her chair; she could not believe what she had just heard.
>"Uh...I b-beg your pardon?"
It was no secret that despite her age, Applejack still got her rump spanked once in a while...in fact Dash thought it was hilarious. More than once the orange farm pony had shown up at the library or SugarCube Corner still smarting from a correction from her granny...it was just how Apple family fillies were raised. When that happened Rainbow Dash NEVER hesitated to tease her for it.

Suddenly the tables were turned. There was no doubt what Granny Smith meant...she intended to give Dash a dose of the same treatment her own grand-foals received on occasion.

>"Ehhh...I just remembered an urgent weather job I need to attend to! Gotta go!"
The Pegasus was capable of escaping that room in less than one second flat, but Granny Smith barked a command that made her feel as if her hooves were stuck to the floor.
>"You stay right there, young filly!"
Earth ponies were not supposed to have magic, but somehow Granny Smith's voice stopped Dash in her tracks as quickly as if Twilight had grabbed her tail. She settled back down on the couch, paralyzed with worry.
>"Now I'm sorry it gots to come to this, but there's no denyin' you earned it" the elder mare said in a softer voice, "you been actin' like a little foal that ain't got a lick a' sense so somepony needs to treat you like a little foal."

Only then did Rainbow Dash notice the wooden spoon Granny had tucked into the cushions of her chair. A new wave of fear washed over her, but she was powerless to escape. Granny Smith's voice conveyed an authority Dash could not bring herself to defy.
>"Now let's not make this difficult. Bend over the arm of that there sofa. No complaints or things are gonna go harder for ya."
The old mare got up and crossed the room with surprising quickness. When she was just inside hoof-reach Dash finally panicked and tried to run, but it was too late...she was caught. Still, she was one of the best athletes in Equestria...surely she could escape the grasp of one elderly mare.
Wrong.
Rainbow Dash struggled but found herself unable to get away. Any direction she twisted or squirmed she was countered with better leverage and grip from Granny Smith. It was like she had some senior citizen pony kung-fu...all of Dash's strength, speed & agility was worthless against it.

Of course, Applejack knew exactly what to expect. From her vantage point across the room she recognized the same moves that spelled her own doom many times throughout her foal-hood (and a few times during her young adulthood). Granny Smith had decades of experience wrangling unwilling colts and fillies...poor Rainbow Dash didn't have a chance.

With a great deal of fighting & struggling from Dash but a minimum of effort from Granny Smith the two ponies took their positions. The blue filly found herself bent over, rump high in the air, staring at the sofa cushions, while the pale green mare stood over her, one hoof on the younger pony's croup for balance.
>"Now Rainbow Dash, I told ya to quit all this fussin'! You're a young mare and you're strugglin' worse than little Apple Bloom!"
>"I AM a young mare!" cried the desperate Pegasus, "I'm too old for this!"
Granny Smith nodded.
>"Darn tootin' yer too old fer this. I'd expect a filly your age to act more mature, but when you act like a foal you get a foal's punishment!"

Granny punctuated that sentence with five stinging spanks, targeted all around Dash's rear-end. Each one left a little pink impression where the spoon's face had struck.
Rainbow Dash did not take her discipline with grace...she struggled and fought. Just before she got her wings free Granny Smith had to shift her elbow forward, efficiently pinning them down.
>"I've had just about enough of this!" she snapped, "You best lay still and take yer meddycin or I'm gonna use something a little more potent than this itty-bitty spoon!"

For the first time Applejack spoke up;
>"Dashie, please! Just do as she says...it'll be over quick! You don't want anything worse, the spoon is bad enough!"
After delivering another six or seven smacks Granny ordered her grand-daughter;
>"You hush too. This is Rainbow Dash's spankin', it's her decision if she wants the switch or not."

>"A SWITCH!?"
That sent Dash's struggles into overdrive, but Granny Smith more than had the situation covered. She took one step forward and suddenly gained so much leverage that Dash could barely move.
>"Well, that's that then" she sighed, "Applejack, go fetch it."

The Earth filly was nearly as upset as if she was getting the licking herself. She pleaded on her friend's behalf;
>"Granny, it ain't that bad! She just ain't used to our ways. Please don't take a switch to her, please!"
>"YES! Listen to Applejack! PLEASE don't use a switch!"
But neither of them shook the elder mare.
>"Applejack, do as yer told" she said calmly.
Left with no choice, AJ lowered her head and muttered;
>"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash."

While Applejack ran to acquire the terrible implement Dash struggled more, and she was rewarded for her bad behavior by a steady rain of sharp smacks on her behind. Already salty tears dribbled out onto the couch cushions and things were soon to get worse.
>"I'm sorry! Granny Smith please stop! It hurts!"
She got a dozen stingers right on the tenderest part of her fanny as an answer.
>"Well, it wouldn't be much of a punishment if you enjoyed it" replied Granny Smith.

Just then the front door opened; it was Apple Bloom and Big MacIntosh back from the market. As soon as she saw what was going on Apple Bloom was gone in a cloud of dust. She had a foal's instinct to get as far away as possible when anypony was getting their rump spanked. Regardless of the reasons it was not something she wanted a part of.
Big Mac just stood there in the doorway, jaw hanging wide open. Granny Smith welcomed him with calm courtesy that seemed beyond belief given what was going on.
>"Good afternoon, MacIntosh. Come on in, we're just taking care of some private business here."
>"Eeeee...Nope" answered Mac, as the door slowly closed. 
It had been years since he'd felt that wooden spoon, but in just minutes he was as far away as Apple Bloom.

It seemed like an eternity of helpless agony to Rainbow Dash, but Applejack returned in just a few minutes. The cyan Pegasus could turn her head enough to see what she carried in her mouth, and it sent Dash into a fit of pitiful begging.
>"I-I'm sorry! Please, please, PLEASE don't use that! I'll be good, I promise...please just finish with the spoon!"
Applejack too hoped her grand-mare would relent, but it was just not going to happen.
>"You keep yer peace now, it'll be over soon" coo'ed the old mare softly, "plenty of young ponies have felt a good apple switch across their backside. They didn't enjoy it but it never did'em any harm...ain't that right, Applejack?"
The orange filly took the switch out of her mouth, blushed and answered sheepishly;
>"That's right, ma'am. But do ya hafta use one on Dash? I'm sure she's learned her lesson."
>"Just give it here."
Dash whimpered in fear as her friend delivered the rod to her tormentor. AJ had risked going on the light side, but it still looked like pure, stinging terror to the unlucky Pegasus. She couldn't watch...Dash grasped a pillow and buried her face in it, waiting for the inevitable pain.

When it arrived it was worse than anything Rainbow Dash had imagined.
In the adventure novels Twilight loved (she was always urging Dash to read them, but reading was for egg heads) there were chapters where the evil villains pressed hot branding irons to the flanks of their helpless victims. It was all silly fiction of course...no civilized society would ever do that to a pony...but that was how the switch felt on Rainbow Dash's rump. She screamed out as it cut a red-hot stripe of pain across her entire hindquarters. There were a few seconds to catch her breath...and then another one slashed her rump.

Dash would have gladly traded a hundred more stinging smacks from the wooden spoon for the pain of that switch, but the choice was not hers. Granny Smith laid stripe after searing stripe onto the bawling Pegasus pony, careful never to hit the same spot twice. She varied her angles too, leaving a criss-cross lattice of angry pink stripes on Rainbow Dash's blue backside.
>"OWWWWW, please no more, pleaOWWWWWWW! *sob* I can't take any more, OOWWW!"
Granny Smith knew exactly how much a young mare could take, even if that unlucky young mare disagreed. Her prisoner no longer struggled or fought to escape...she laid there obediently, sobbing & screeching, begging for the ordeal to be over.
>"Grannnnny Smith I'm OOOWWW, s-sorry, please stop, OooWWWW!"

All according to plan, Granny was reaching the end. She had saved one unblemished sector of the crying filly's bottom for her big finale. Applejack, who was still watching from across the room, cringed...she knew what was coming.
Dash screamed as an extra hard lash landed right across her sit-spot, where previously only the spoon had left its mark. With the strength in her aging arm about to fail she wrapped up with a big effort, laying two more stripes across the tenderest part of Rainbow Dash's fanny. That was it. She was done.

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. That had been painful for her to watch but at least it was over. Giving a glance over to her grand-mare to make sure it was okay, she hurried over to comfort her still bawling friend. Together with Granny Smith she helped Dash get back on her hooves; AJ held a tissue to her nose and let Dash blow, while Granny hugged the filly close, stroking her mane.
>"There there...ya got through it. Applejack here told me ya were a tough little pony."

Rainbow couldn't believe it, but being comforted by Granny Smith actually felt good after such a painful ordeal. It really shouldn't have been a surprise...when she'd been a naughty little filly the comfort of sitting in daddy or mommy's lap had always been the bright spot at the end of a painful punishment.
>"Now, I understand you got a list a' ponies you might'a offended when you were actin' so foolish?"
Still choked up with tears, Dash just nodded.
>"Well I wanna see you make some progress on that list. It don't do no good just sittin' on yer bedroom table" Granny told her. "If ya like, I can go with ya. It'll be a mite easier than just facin' all those ponies alone."
Rainbow Dash looked up at her and sniffled;
>"Yeah...I think I'd like that."
>"Good, we'll start tomorrow. Now you best get on home and take some rest. Applejack is always plumb tuckered out after she gets a switchin'."
The orange Earth filly blushed in embarrassment, but had to admit Granny was right.
>"After that why don't you come fer supper tonight? We'd love t'see you, and we can make plans fer tommorry." 

Once she'd gotten calmed down Dash apologized to Granny Smith once again and set out for home, Applejack at her side. There was an awkward moment as the two passed the gates of Sweet Apple Acres.
>"You knew she was gonna do that to me, didn't you?" muttered Dash.
She was still a little angry at Applejack.
>"Umm, kinda" AJ admitted, "it's not like she discussed it with me or nuthin'...but I seen it enough times to know when she's in the mood to give somepony a lickin'."
>"Well thanks a lot for warning me" said the Pegasus, "I can't believe how much that switch hurt!"
>"Hey, the switchin' was all your fault! If you hadn't fussed so much and fought her..."
>"It's not like the spoon was any fun either!"
>"Well ya had it comin'!"
Both ponies were silent after Applejack said that.

>"What do you mean, AJ?" asked Rainbow Dash, "You think I deserved to get whipped?"
She sounded like her feelings were hurt.
>"Well, sorta...I don't know." Applejack struggled for the words. "The way you been carryin' on the past few days...makin' ponies mad...actin' like a darned fool."
Dash wrinkled her nose at the accusation.
>"But you and the gals set me straight on that. I even wrote a letter to the Princess!"
>"Don't get me wrong, Dashie...I hated watchin' you get switched, it was awful..."
>"Not as awful as it was for me."
Applejack stopped walking and put her hoof around Dash's withers.
>"I know how bad it hurts. But I don't think Granny was wrong. A prank from yer friends and a letter to the Princess don't set everything right. I'm real sorry it had to happen but...YES, I do think you deserved that whuppin' you got."
She nuzzled Dash's cheek and added;
>"I sure do hope you don't hate me for it."

Rainbow Dash was silent for a few moments, but finally answered;
>"Nah, I don't hate you, or Granny Smith. I didn't like that spanking one bit, but I know she gave it to me for a good reason. I'm real sorry I acted like such a jackass, and I'm sorry I teased you all those times Granny Smith blistered your butt. It really hurts. Do you forgive me?"
Applejack smiled broadly.
>"Already done, partner."
Happy that her friend didn't hold today against her she kicked up her heels in relief and suggested;
>"I know what'll get yer mind off yer troubles. Wanna go for a run?"
Rainbow Dash took a look back at her rump, still sore & covered with burning pink stripes.
>"Maybe not a run. How about a nice slow trot?"
Now it was AJ's turn to tease;
>"Did I hear you right? Rainbow Dash wants to take it slow?"
>"Eh...maybe just this once" she replied, her cheeks turning as pink as her back-side.

THE END