Author's Notes:

Ok so...this is my take on what could have happened in the MLP episode "Lesson Zero". I pictured this in place of the actual chat that occured in the library.

Hope you enjoy!

"Meet me in the library!"

Twilight's ears were pinned back and her head hung low to the ground as she slowly made her way towards the library she loved and lived in. Her mentor's expression and tone a brief time before had been one of irritated disappointment.

And why shouldn't she be disappointed?

Twilight had to admit that enchanting a doll just to create a friendship problem that she could solve and then use as this week's lesson scroll to Princess Celestia had been ill advised at best...and completely irresponsible and utterly insane at worst.

She was fairly certain she would never be able to think of Smarty Pants again without being reminded of this shameful day. Especially if she was banished back to magic kindergarten for an undetermined amount of time.

Her shame grew the closer she got to the library, as did her dread and grave concern as to what Princess Celestia might have in mind as punishment. Magic kindergarten was only one possibility. Why, the Princess could banish her somewhere far away. Or lock her in a dungeon. Or lock her in a dungeon in the place that she banished her to!

She arrived at home alot sooner than she would have liked to, and pushed open the door, peeking around it to spot the powerful solar monarch seated in the center of the room, her posture perfectly regal as always, awaiting her arrival.

Twilight was tempted to run for her life, but at the same time she had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that it would only disappoint her mentor more. So, gathering all her courage, she pushed the door all the open, stepped across the threshold...

And literally crawled across the floor til she was directly in front of Princess Celestia, who stared down at her with a fairly nuetral expression. Twilight had to force herself up to sit on her haunches in a slightly more dignified manner, though her ears remained pinned back and her head stayed down.

For a while they were both silent. Then Princess Celestia arched her left eyebrow and pinned her student with a heated stare that could have melted ice. Twilight swallowed hard and then sighed.

"I...I'm sorry, Princess."

"Twilight."

The severity in the tone made the nerve wracked pupil shrink to the floor, cringing. Princess Celestia took a deep breath and reached out both forelegs, drawing the trembling unicorn to her chest and nuzzling her. Twilight squeaked adorably, before relaxing into the loving embrace, letting the steady beat of her heart help calm her as it had a good many times before.

"H-how mad at me are you?" She asked softly, and nervously.

"Twilight, I'm not angry. Disappointed, yes. You turned almost the entire town into crazed ponies with a love enchanted doll, and why?"

"I...I...didn't have a friendship report for you..."

Twilight sniffed softly as she felt the Princess stiffen momentarily before relaxing again.

"Go on."

"So I thought...if I couldn't find a friendship problem, I'd make a friendship problem." Twilight confessed, sighing miserably. "So I took Smarty Pants and enchanted her with a love spell. I only meant to use her between a couple of fillies! Get them to argue, then peacefully remove the spell and break up thier fight. And I could 'solve' the problem I created and then use that to report to you. Only...it...backfired. It got out of control."

"Mmmm. Indeed it did. Anything else?"

"No...just...I'm really sorry."

"Twilight, I know you're sorry. But the fact remains that ponies could have been injured in that massive town brawl." Princess Celestia never loosened her hold on her, knowing full well her sensitive, and sometimes over distraught, protege needed the close contact and feeling of still being cared about. "Surely now you can see that your actions were unwise, ill thought, and potentially endangering?"

"Y-yes, Princess." Twilight could clearly understand that concept. "So...wh-where are you banishing me to? Or am I being locked in a dungeon? Or being locked in a dungeon in a place that you banish me to? Or am I being sent back to magic kindergarten?"

Princess Celestia blinked. "I'm not banishing you, or sending you back to Magic kindergarten. You're needed here in Ponyville, Twilight, I would not take you away from your friends."

"So...does that mean I have to write a triple friendship report to you as punishment?"

Another blink...along with a hint of barely restrained mirth as the Princess spoke. "Are you supplying me with punishment ideas?"

Twilight blushed and rubbed her neck with a hoof. "N-no, but...but I just thought that..."

"Twilight, look at me."

The bewildered young mare did as instructed, finding no hint of anger or ill will in the violet eyes gazing back at her with a loving, almost motherly expression.

"I am not doing any of those things, nor am I going to demand twice or triple the friendship reports you write. I do not expect a report every single week, Twilight...only when you happen to discover each lesson do I expect a report."

"Oh..." Twilight's expression was one that stated she felt like she should have known that.

"However," the Princess continued calmly, "I cannot allow such a matter to go without consequence. Your actions were quite foalish, Twilight. Therefore I think I have a suitable punishment in mind."

"W-what's that?" Twilight asked nervously, wondering if maybe she was going to end up temporarily grounded from living in the library.

'Oh no. I hope she doesn't do that! I love these books! I couldn't possibly-'

"I am going to spank you."

Well. Of all the possible punishments on Twilight's mental list, that had not been one of them.

She stared aghast, her mouth hanging open, eyes as wide and round as saucers. "Wait...wh-wha-what? You mean...I can't...I...wha..."

Her words broke off in a series of incoherent squeaks as her face turned red, while she struggled to process the statement. Princess Celestia watched her work it all out in her mind. When the squeaks and wordless mouth movements stopped, Twilight inhaled sharply. Her eyes met her mentor's with a mix of dread and determination.

"Will it let you forgive me if you do?"

Princess Celestia stared at her for a moment and then sighed as she pulled Twilight into another gentle hug.

"I already forgive you, my faithful student." She said softly, nuzzling her. "But I need to make sure that this never happens again. And this will also help you to stop feeling so terribly about your actions, and forgive yourself. Do you understand?"

Twilight tried to think about any book she had read containing anything about spanking, and the only thing that came to mind was repetitive phrases like "alleviates guilt", "clears the concience", etc. Also alot about it being painful. The "painful" stuck out in her head and she rubbed her muzzle with a hoof.

But there were different levels of painful though. Princess Celestia blinked in confusion as Twilight levitated over a few books and started reading through them, almost frantically.

"Twilight, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking for anything else I can find on spanking. There's got to be details on how it will hurt, and how long it should last, and if there's any implements used, how each would feel as far as pain goes...well then there's also the fact that it can make you cry, but...."

Twilight never looked up, eyes scanning every bit of info she could come across. With each pass, however, she actually looked extremely nervous, and even fearful, obviously mentally calculating all this in her mind. This led to her beginning to hyperventilate.

The Princess didn't have the heart to be amused by her turning this into a scientific study right now. Her magic caught the books and removed them from Twilight's grasp, and then pulled her into yet another hug.

"Breathe, Twilight."

Twilight obeyed, and her breathing slowly evened out to normal. Only then did the Princess speak again.

"This does not require in depth analysis, Twilight. All it requires is for you to trust me." Her voice was soft and kind.

"But...I mean...the likelyhood of it hurting alot is...is..." Twilight shuddered.

"I won't lie to you, it will hurt, but not anymore than it has to. And I promise you I will not give you too much."

Twilight looked up into her eyes, and somehow found comfort in the words. It didn't take alot of logic or analysis to know this was not going to be pleasant, but she knew it was coming from a pony who cared enough to correct her ill advised behaviour so it didn't happen again. She took a breath to steady her nerves before nodding slightly.

"Ok."

Princess Celestia gave her a final nuzzle to soothe her, then lifted her up and carefully placed her in position across her lap, her left foreleg wrapped around her to hold her there. Twilight's stomach flipped at the unfamiliar position, but she didn't protest. She'd made up her mind to just accept this. She trusted her mentor, and if the Princess said this was neccessary then she wasn't going to argue the point.

"Very well, Twilight Sparkle." The tone was loving but firm, and her full name being used let her know beyond a doubt she was in trouble...yet still she felt cared for. "Why are you in this posiition?"

"Oh...this is where I tell you what I did to earn this." Twilight said slowly, consulting her mental spanking checklist. "And then when I do that, you start, and then..."

"Twilight." The Princess fought to keep her voice free of the amusement she felt at her student's having a checklist for this. She wasn't surprised by it really. "I am familiar with this process. What I need you to focus on is why you are here. Let me focus on the rest."

"Yes, Princess." Twilight pulled her mind from the checklist and breathed deeply. "I'm here because I tried to create a problem...I mean, because I DID create a problem. And it could have ended with ponies being hurt."

"Correct. And I hope that this spanking serves as a reminder not to do it again." Princess Celestia steadied her on her lap, her grip firm yet only restrictive enough to keep Twilight from falling off. "I want you to think about your actions, Twilight."

"Yes, Princess."

Twilight gulped as she was shifted slightly. A second later there was a soft whacking noise, followed instantly by an unpleasant sting. She yelped slightly. As the Princess's hoof connected firmly with her flank a second time, Twilight realised this was going to be a pretty painful ordeal. She squirmed a bit, wondering how long this would last. She guessed more than just a few hoof-smacks, considering her behaviour, but surely it wouldn't go on too long.

The next clap of Princess Celestia's hoof against her flank yanked her from her thoughts and made her yelp again. She started to think about the actions that led her here.

SMACK SMACK

"Ow!" She yipped, squirming a little as the smacks continued to fall at a slow and steady tempo.

The Princess was paying attention to her student's reactions, and kept the force behind each smack the same, satisfied with the squirms and soft yelps. There was no need to swat harder; Twilight was getting the message loud and clear.

Tears were forming as the spanking continued, and the heat in her flanks was building to an almost unbearable flame. Twilight reflexively kicked her hind legs in response to each solid smack.

She deserved this, she knew that. Her foolish act had led to alot of trouble between townsponies and for what? Just to come up with a report to write? She had done this to avoid disappointing the Princess, and had instead ended up doing exactly that.

It was this thought that finally broke the dam holding back the building flood of tears. They streamed from her eyes as she became vocal.

"Ow...sorry...gah! Princess, I'm s-sorry...ow..."

"I know." The Princess kept up the steady rain of smacks, tightening her grip as the young mare's struggles grew increasingly more frantic.

Twilight cried and yelped, whined, and eventually she lay still and just sobbed out broken apologies. When that moment came where she was limp and unresisting, the Princess paused briefly and rubbed her hoof along her back.

"Almost done, Twilight, I promise. Just a few more."

A sob was all the response she got. She steeled herself and rapidly delivered a flurry of sharp smack to her more sensitive sit spots, before gathering her up in her forelegs and holding her close.

"S...so...sorry..." Twilight hiccuped amid sobs as she nestled into Princess Celestia's warm chest.

"Shhhh...I know. Its alright now, Twilight, its all over. Shhhhh."

Gradually Twilight calmed down and got her breathing under control. She sniffled...and then jumped slightly as a soft, slightly damp cloth rubbed her remaining tears away.

"Ow. That hurt more than I calculated." She stated finally.

Princess Celestia chuckled. "How do you feel?"

"It hurts."

"Yes, I know, but that isn't what I meant."

Twilight sighed, suddenly sleepy. "I feel...well I feel cleansed I guess? Not guilty. I don't feel miserable now."

"Good. And I trust we will have no repeats of this?"

"Ohhhhh no! Nuh uh! I have learned my lesson, Princess. No more enchanted toys." Twilight gave her sore rump a quick rub and hissed. "Ow...."

The Princess giggled. "I wouldn't do that." She rose and smiled. "If there is nothing further that needs discussing, I should return to Canterlot."

"Princess..."

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"For spanking you?" The amusement was clear.

"N-no. Not exactly. Thanks for caring enough to do it."

Twilight eeped as she was hugged tightly.

"Of course, my faithful student! I will always care." The Princess nuzzled her a final time before releasing her.

Twilight walked with her to the door and watched as she flew off towards Canterlot. After a moment, her eyes widened and she went after a quill and paper. This could be a report!

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

The alicorn in question was completely unshocked at the scroll that awaited her on her arrival at the castle.