How are the two of you?” Bucky looked at both Dinky and Piña, both of whom were working on their missed school assignments. Piña was looking back at him, and Dinky was busy staring down at her desk.

“Would it sound weird if I told you that it felt good to be doing my school assignments?” Piña replied as she closed her textbook. She bounced off of the bed where she was sprawled out, pronked across the floor, and then wrapped her forelegs around Bucky’s neck, giving him a hug.

Bucky of course, hugged her back.

“Are you going to let them spank us?” Dinky asked, looking up from her assignment. She looked worried, fearful, and hopeful all at the same time.

Piña let go, backed away, and Bucky focused his gaze upon Dinky. He sat down on the floor, sitting near the door. His ears drooped down to the sides of his face, causing strands of his black and silver mane to spill down upon his cheeks.

“I dunno, do you think you deserve a spanking?” Before Dinky had a chance to reply, Bucky got in a few more words. “Be honest… your answer might influence my decision.”

The words in Dinky’s mouth died as she realised that there was a lot more on the line than she first thought. Bucky had always been fair in his dealings with her, and she had no reason not to trust him. She tried to think about what Bucky might want to hear, but knew that he was too clever to fall for that. She chose the honest approach and began to think about her words.

“We did a bad thing,” Piña said to Bucky, “and while some good came out of it, we had no idea that things would work out the way they did or that we were meant to go. When we made the decision to go, even before we stole your airship, we knew that we were disobeying the rules and being bad.” Piña’s ears drooped down, going limp, and she hung her head. “The fact that everything worked out for the best was just plain luck, an accident.”

“Yeah,” Dinky said, the word coming out as a gasp of relief as Piña had said what Dinky thought were all of the right things.

“So you can admit that you’ve done something wrong.” Bucky’s voice was low and patient. His left eyebrow raised, little glints of silver hairs now mixed in with the black.

“Yeah, but spanking is serious business.” Piña’s ears perked up, now standing erect, and she shook her head. “Wing slapping is one thing, getting a little swat is another, but Bon Bon is talking about spanking us with a paddle or a brush.”

“And that’s gonna sting,” Dinky grumbled as she looked at her father, “except it won’t hurt Sentinel much… and that’s not fair.”

Bucky’s eyebrow raised a little higher. He hadn’t considered that. The worst blows with a hairbrush against Sentinel’s backside would cause very little pain, all things considered. Sentinel was tough and pain resistant. Whacking him with a brush wouldn’t do much to discourage Sentinel, something bigger, heavier, and harder hitting would have to be used, or something thinner and more whip-like, such as a switch. Bucky scowled, not liking this at all. It didn’t seem very fair that Sentinel would have to be punished in a far worse way than his sisters just to get the same message across.

Dinky almost stopped breathing when she saw her father scowl, thinking that he was angry with her. Each breath that came out of her was almost a squeak and it took serious effort to keep breathing. She was so panicked that it felt as though her throat was closing.

Shaking his head, Bucky began to think of Loch Skimmer and Ripple’s father, the pony that Bucky had flogged. He didn’t like thinking about it. His scowl intensified, and Bucky had no idea that his expression of disgust was causing Dinky so much distress. Without knowing why, Bucky wanted very much to give Loch Skimmer a hug and see that she was okay. Ripple too, but Loch Skimmer was with foal, which made Bucky worry far more than he normally would.

“Daddy, I’m sorry… I know I messed up… please, please, don’t let Bon Bon or Berry spank me… I’ve already suffered a whole bunch and you have to believe me when I say that I’ve learned my lesson.” Dinky focused her pleading stare upon Bucky and her lower lip began to tremble. “Bon Bon has all those muscles… she scares me… I’ve already been having nightmares about Sombra and I don’t want to have nightmares about Bon Bon pounding on me like I’m a lump of caramel.”

His expression softening, Bucky looked at Dinky. “And just what do you think should be done with you?” He cleared his throat and tried to deal with his growing feeling of unease. He needed sleep, Bucky realised that in the back of his mind. Perhaps now was not a good time to be engaging in this.

“I’ll help Dandelion Fluff and her husband Pinto Bean in the garden and the greenhouse. There is a lot of planting to be done still, and weeding, and all of the stuff that has to be done to make a garden grow.” Dinky drew in a deep breath as she realised that this wasn’t enough, she hadn’t expected to have to bargain for her own punishment and her mind raced as she tried to come up with different ideas to appease her father. Bucky was tough, but he was fair, and Dinky trusted in his sense of fairness.

“Hmm.” Bucky rubbed his chin with his talons.

“I’ll help Applejack with her orchard—”

“Oh, yes, yes you will, that is already planned,” Bucky said, cutting Dinky off.

Dinky gulped. She was running out of bargaining chips. She glanced around the room, her eyes darting around, almost as if she was hoping to see something that would fix this somehow. Her backside was on the line now and she suspected that her father had her right where he wanted her, an admission that she had done something worthy of a good spanking along with the acceptance of said punishment.

“I have an idea,” Piña said in a low whisper to Bucky, her ears drooping once again. She blinked, her eyes full of tears, and she looked fearful.

“I’m listening,” Bucky said to Piña.

Piña sucked in a deep breath, cleared her throat, coughed, and then let it all out, deflating. She tried again, taking another deep breath, and like Dinky, she trusted in her father’s fairness. Knowing it was important, she looked Bucky in the eye as she said to him, “Father, we’re bad foals, and everypony needs to know that we’re bad. You should auction us off to the highest bidder and we can do chores for them. We can work all summer and we can keep having auctions. Whatever money gets raised can go to the orphanarium or the hospital or whatever and ponies get chores done and we get punished.”

“Piña, that is a very good idea.” Bucky’s ears perked up as both Piña and Dinky groaned in unison. “I’ll run that by your mothers and we’ll discuss that. No promises, but from what I understand, Bon Bon is hankering for a spankering. I’ll have to see if I can stay her heavy hoof.”

“But you’re her husband, she has to listen to you,” Piña squeaked.

“Is that so?” Bucky glowered at Piña and watched as the pink foal tried to melt into the floor and become a pink puddle. It was obvious that Piña knew that she had just made a mess of things and Bucky continued with his withering glare. “I understand that you want some kind of answer, some kind of assurance right now, but you are not going to get it. You’re going to have to sweat it out.”

“Okay.” Piña nodded. “I have a lot of schoolwork. I need to get back to it.”

“Very well,” Bucky replied, “you get your school work done. Somepony will call you downstairs when it is lunchtime. Until then, not one peep and no leaving your room unless you need to use the bathroom.”

Having said his piece, Bucky stood up, turned, and left the room.

As Bucky came down the stairs, he saw Berry Punch standing by the front door next to a box. She was looking at him and he quickened his step to hurry down the stairs. He watched as Berry pointed at the box.

“You had a package delivered by courier. Expecting something?” Berry looked at her husband and gave him a weary smile.

“I dunno… does it say who it is from?” Bucky asked.

“Nope,” Berry replied.

“I hope it isn’t a severed head.” Bucky moved for the box, which wasn’t very big, but was, as Bucky noticed, large enough for a severed head.

“What is the world coming to when a pony expects a severed head in the mail?” Berry Punch, who liked to indulge in a little black humour, took a few steps back as Bucky opened the box, and she hated his fussy, meticulous nature. Boxes were meant to be ripped open, just like presents.

The box was filled with packing straw and on the top of it was a piece of paper. Bucky lifted it up, holding it in his telekinesis, and he saw fine script on the paper. Taking a deep breath, he began to read the paper aloud.

“Bucky, thank you for giving me a chance. I’ve been in contact with Princess Celestia. Things are difficult, but at least we are talking and she is treating me better than I had expected. I’m working on your army, it won’t be long now. Your heart’s fondest desire has been sent to Princess Celestia, safe and sound, and cryogenically suspended. I’ve sent you a little token of my appreciation.”

Pausing, Bucky flipped over the paper, more was written on the other side.

“I’ve named her Crisis. You don’t need to worry about keeping her warm, she’ll be fine, but she does need love if you want a healthy hatchling. I made her just for you, she’s special, a hybrid, and perhaps one of my greatest creations. Think of her as a peace offering. Whatever you do, please don’t come and kill me in the night. Thanks a lot, Wolfchow.”

The letter was not signed. Bucky lowered his head and poked his nose into the packing straw. He bumped into something rubbery and warm. Using his telekinesis, he began to pull out the straw, scattering it all over the entryway floor.

“Bucky?” Berry asked, coming closer.

Staring down into the box, Bucky lifted out something that was blackish-green with his telekinesis. “I have an egg.”

“You know what Bucky, it occurs to me that I’ve been married to you for too long. Because this, this don’t phase me in the slightest. I just heard a stallion, my husband, announce that he has an egg, and seems like the most natural thing I’ve ever heard.” Berry Punch stretched out her neck and nosed the egg. It was dry, warm, and rubbery.

“I have to go look after my egg,” Bucky said, holding it close, pressing it against his neck. He took off down the hall, leaving behind the box and a mess of straw all over the floor.

“Nope, still not weird.” Berry Punch heaved a sigh and sounded Berry tired.

Author's Notes:

And now we have a Crisis.