Campfire Danger

 

This was essentially a week-long camp for foals and a relatively young pegasus tradition. Created not too long before the reunification of ponykind.

 

Being by far the most urban of the three pony tribes, many parents recognized the benefits of giving their children a chance to experience some nature, so a camp was set up at a forest close to Zephyr Heights. It was nothing like Bridlewoods, but it was their best option before the tribes reunited and it still served this purpose well.

 

Now, ponies of other tribes were allowed to attend as well and many foals being eager for participate. It was an exciting time for Princess Pipp as well. She would be attending the event like how she did as a filly with her sister only his time, she'd be a camp councilor, which she had volunteered for.

 

It was a strange choice for a pony like her, one that even surprised her mother. This actually came about via a dare from her sister: She and Zipp got into an argument about how she could not handle anything nature-related after a failed camping trip, which led to this. Now Pipp was very determined to prove Zipp wrong.

 

She would go to the camp, take care of the kids and get through it with absolutely no problems!

 

There was only one camp counselor for the area with the tents, the others staying in different cabins across the forest to set up the activities for the foals and to make sure that the forest was safe, so the princess would mostly be the sole adult at the beginning.

 

Pipp was sitting comfortably in the councilor’s cabin while the colts and fillies were setting up their tents. They were put into groups, and encouraged to set up their own tents to teach self-reliance, so she didn’t have much to do yet.

 

”And that’s day one camp, pippsqueaks! As you can all see, things are going very smoothly!”

Of course, this was after she had made an entire livestream of the event so far, which was extremely important.

”Councilor Pipp!” Called out one of the fillies after knocking on her cabin. She sounded panicked.

Pipp sighed. “Well, pippsqueaks, looks like duty calls.” She said before ending the livestream and putting her phone away. She had work to do.

 

There seems to have been a commotion outside, one that required her urgent attention. Pipp almost had a panic attack when she saw it.

 

Turns out that some of the campers had decided to start an early campfire for reasons even Pipp’s mind, which was tempered from decades of social media usage, could not comprehend. That would normally only be mildly dangerous. Even foals knew not to touch fire, but the ones who started the fire decided to do it in a very peculiar way: Instead of lighting the wood on the campfire like normal, they lit a large stick first, and tried tossing it to the campfire circle. Of course, they missed and now a trail of fire was rapidly spreading on the grass.

 

Many of the foals, who were tasked with watching out for fires, were already busy trying to put them out using small water buckets they were filling up from the nearby well. The rest were too busy crying and panicking as the fire was threatening to spread into a complete inferno.

 

Her hoof instinctively reached towards the saddlebag she wore, which contained her phone, before her mind caught up and for once, she did not immediately try recording the event.

 

Instead of waiting for a full blown forest fire, she flew back to the councilor cabin with speeds that would surely make Zipp very proud of her, grabbed a spare bucket, larger then the ones the kids had, and frantically filled it up to join the others in fighting the flames. The heroic pegasus had successfully helped put out the fire possibly seconds before it could reach the tents.

 

After an extensive breathing session, Pipp looked around, fear slowly turning into anger.

”Alright, who did that?!” She asked “calmly”.

 

There was some nervous shuffling from the gathered foals, but eventually, some started to point to one source: Three nervous little fillies. Pipp turned towards them, ready to unleash a torrent of complaints towards the miscreants, but stopped once she noticed that they were Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz. Her three favorite Pippsqueaks.

 

”You?!” Pipp shouted.

”Were sorry.” Seashell apologized while the others looked bashful.

Needless to say, Pipp was shocked and disappointed that her own closest fans would do such a thing.

”Why would you do something like that?!” Pipp asked, pointing at the now fire-free campfire.

 

The fillies winced at her harsh tone, before Glory spoke up:

”We saw a really cool video showing off a way to light a campfire.”

”And we wanted to try it out.” Continued Peach. "We didn't think it would spread so quickly."

”But I never made a video about THAT!” Pipp said, abhorred at the idea of making camping videos of all things.

”It wasn’t from you!” Shouted Peach. “It was from somepony else.”

Pipp wasn’t sure what was worse: The fact that there was some other influencer making such potentially harmful content or that her favorite fans watching somepony other than her. Either way, she had to ask them about it later.

 

For now…

 

”Princess Pipp?” Asked Seashell.

Pipp groaned. “What?”

The filly gulped. “Are we in trouble?” She asked timidly.

Pipp blinked. What kind of a question was that?

”Like, of course you are! What did you think was gonna happen?!” She scolded.

”I-“

She did not let the filly speak. “Just set up your tents. Once you’re done, head straight for my cabin!”

The three fillies and the other little ponies who were still watching cringed. Most of them haven’t seen any actual punishments handed out during these camps, but it was obvious that those three were in serious trouble.

”And nopony touch anything fire related!” Pipp ordered before marching back inside, leaving the big bucket, which she had filled up after the fire went out again, next to the campfire spot just in case.

 

Inside, Pipp began to panic once more.

 

She had no idea how to deal with this. She couldn’t just let those three off with a scolding, but she had never handled discipline before.

 

She needed advice.

 

”Mooom, please, I need your help! Tell me what to do!” Begged Pipp into her phone after calling her mother, Queen Haven.

After a bit of silence, Haven answered:

”Pipp, honey, you can’t just call me and immediately start begging for my help without explaining what the issue is first.”

”Oh.” Pipp blushed, then proceeded to explain her plight.

”… Well, that is a problem. What were those silly fillies thinking?” Haven asked, disappointment clear in her voice. “They didn’t learn it from you, did they?”

”What?! Of course not! Why would you even think that?!” Asked an outraged Pipp.

”Just making sure, dear.”

”Well, what should I do with them?”

Haven actually chuckled. “Oh, just give them a spanking.”

Pipp gasped. “I can’t do that!”

”And why not?” Haven asked with amusement in her voice.

”B-because I can’t!” Pipp blurted out. “Are you seriously suggesting I hit them?!”

”Only their rumps. They deserve it, do they not?”

While Pipp could not disagree, she did not falter. “But I’m not their mom! It’s not my job to punish them like that!”

”Pipp, you’re the camp counselor. It’s your job to take care of those foals, and that includes discipline.”

”Seriously?”

”Yes, dear. Why do you think the parents’ permission slips include permissions for physical discipline?”

”They do?”

”Of course. Didn’t you read it?”

 

Pipp did not answer that.

 

”Anyways, you’ll ideally want to keep punishments short, so spankings are probably your best option.”

”But I can’t do that!” Pipp protested still. “I don’t even know how!”

Haven chuckled. “Of course you can, sweetie. Just get a nice sturdy stick, call them in and smack their rumps with it. It’s that simple!”

”But-“

”Anyway, I have to go. Royal duty calls!” Haven said before hanging up.

 

Now with her support line gone, Pipp was left well and truly alone.

’Knock knock!’

Well, not quite.

 

Pipp groaned. May as well get this over with.

 

She took a deep breath and said “Come in!” with the sternest tone she could muster.

The door opened and in came the three trouble making fillies.

”Were really so-“

”Please not now.” Pipp interrupted irritably. “I can’t believe you three would do something that… silly!”

”The fillies winced.

”Do you even realize how dangerous that was?!”

They looked at each other nervously before Glory spoke up:

”W-well, the guy who did it in the video said it was safe, so we figured it had to be.”

Pipp frowned, even more frustrated at this situation then she was before.

”Seriously?! Wasn’t it obvious?! Throwing burning fire?! Did you even think this through?!”

They did not answer.

”Of course not.” Pipp sighed. “And now I need to figure out what to do with you.”

”D-don’t suppose you could let us off the hook this time?” Asked Seashell.

”Yea, we learned our lesson.” Continued Peach.

”Please don’t try to weasel your way out of this. It’s hard enough as it is.” Pipp said in a tired voice, making the kids actually feel guilty.

 

After a bit of thinking, the princess couldn’t really think of a better option then what her mother had suggested. It’s not like she had any experience in dishing out punishments to come up with anything better.

 

”Glory, Seashell, Peach Fizz.”

The fillies stood in attention.

”Look, I don’t hate you or anything.” Pipp began, anxiety slowly creeping into her own voice. She was probably just as nervous as her three fans right now. “You’re still my favorite little pippsqueaks.”

The foals smiled weakly at that.

”But as camp counselor, I also have a job to make sure you never do this again.”

”We won’t-“Glory spoke, only to be silenced by a raised hoof.

”So since your parents aren’t around right now, it’s up to me to handle your punishments.”

Pipp looked down at the nervous trio, knowing that they would probably start begging as soon as she revealed what their punishment would be. She really didn’t want to say it, but she had to.

 

She took a deep breath. ”You three… Are getting a spanking.”

 

As expected, the moment the foals fully comprehended Pipp’s words, all tartarus broke loose.

”You can’t!”

”Were really sorry!”

”Anything but that!

On and on they protested.

 

”Quiet!” Pipp shouted, ending the tirade.

”Look, I don’t wanna do this either, but my hooves are tied! What you three did was super dangerous, and now I have to deal with it!”

”But Princess Pipp…” Seashell said in a begging tone.

”No buts.” Pipp shut her down. “I’m going outside for a bit. I’ll be back soon. You three better stay here or else I’m telling your parents, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be a whole lot worse for you three if they find out you’ve been trying to run away.”

Peach , and her friends looked quite scared at that thought. They knew Pipp was correct.

 

A bit later, Pipp found herself scouring through the forest near the camp for a proper switch.

”Ugh, why wasn’t mom more specific about this?” She asked herself, not really knowing what kind of stick was needed.

Her first choice was a thin, weak looking thing that would surely break after a few swings, but she knew it was too weak, and kept searching despite not really wanting to.

 

Her anxiety was through the roof. When she volunteered for this job, she did not expect to have to administer actual physical discipline. The very thought of doing that made her nauseous.

”Why did I have to volunteer for this? Stupid Zipp. It’s all her fault!” Pipp complained.

If not for Zipp’s teasing, this would never have happened. She was way too young for this kind of responsibility. She wasn’t a parent!

 

Eventually, after tossing away another unsuitable switch, she started thinking more about her sister.

 

Zipp was next-in-line for the throne. This never bothered Pipp as her only aspiration was to get 6 billion Ponytube subscribers and to garner a loyal and loving fan base. It’s not something she thought much about, even if Zipp did often seem bothered by it.

 

Was this what actual responsibility felt like? Should she be a bit more mature about this? Her own fans were put in such a dangerous situation because of somepony else doing the same thing as she was. Maybe with so many young ponies watching her, she should be more careful with what she uploads.

”This sucks. I shouldn’t be the one feeling this bad.” Pipp muttered to herself.

 

These thoughts would have to be revisited sometime later as Pipp finally found a suitable stick. It was thin, but not too thin looked very hard to break.This could do a lot of damage if she wasn’t careful. So with that, she began her slow march back to the cabin. She couldn’t wait too long. There were other foals that may need her attention, after all.

 

Back at the cabin, the now very much scared fillies were discussing their plight.

 

”You don’t think she’ll actually s-s-s… Do it, do you?” Asked Seashell.

The other two looked at the earth pony.

”She did seem pretty serious about it.” Said Peach. “Plus I’m pretty sure she’s getting us a switch.”

”What’s a switch?” Glory asked.

”It’s a stick they use to spank pony rumps.” She blushed. “My parents sometimes spank me with one. I guess it makes sense for them since there’s so many trees in Bridelwood. It sucks cuz’ I have to pick one for myself.”

Glory gasped while Seashell Grimaced.

”Mine usually use their hooves, sometimes a hairbrush.“ Seashell admitted with a similar blush. “They then sometimes make me stand in the corner for like, a century.” The young earth pony complained.

”I never got spanked before.” Glory admitted, causing the attention to turn towards her.

”It’s not super common back home.” Said the pegasus.

Seashell smiled a little. “Lucky you.”

”It can’t be that bad, can it?” Glory looked at her friends. “I mean, it probably doesn’t even hurt that much, right?” She asked in clear desperation, a few tears already leaking from her eyes.

 

Seashell and Peach looked at each other, unsure what to say to their friend, which Glory took as a sign that it was indeed “that bad”, causing her to start sobbing. Thankfully, her friends didn’t need to council her much as Pipp came back, switch in her mouth.

 

Peach looked at the switch in disappointment. She had hoped that Pipp would pick something easier on their rump, but those hopes were shattered. Seashell just looked scared, immediately figuring the exact function of the new tool.

 

And Glory, broke down.

”I don’t wanna spankiiing! Please, I’ll be good!” She whined.

Pipp shook her head. “We already talked about this, Glory. The answer is no.”

”Pleeease!”

”I said no!”

Glory looked at Pipp fearfully. Raising her voice clearly scared the filly even more.

 

The mare had thought out how she would do this on the way back, so at least they didn’t need to wait any longer. Any more waiting and her pippsqueaks might end up fainting based off how horrified they looked.

 

”Alright, pippsqueaks, I know none of us want this, but it needs to, and will happen. First off, I want you to keep your rumps still for me. If I have to hold you down, I’ll have to spank you separately, and it’s going to be a lot longer for you. Do I make myself clear?”

Two of the fillies nodded slowly.

”But princess Pipp!” Glory, still crying, tried to talk her way out of this again, but was shut off by a glare from her idol.

”Glory, please. You’ll make it worse for your friends if they have to wait for me to finish with you first.”

This shut the young pegasus up.

”Now then, stand here and face the wall!” She ordered, pointing to a spot with the switch, which she now held in one hoof.

Peach, Seashell and even Glory, reluctantly obeyed.

”Tails up!”

Peach and Seashell shakily raised their tails. Usually their parents did it for them, but they understood the command. Only Glory looked back in confusion.

”Your tail needs to be out of the way, Glory.” Pipp said softly before walking up to the younger pegasus and grabbed her tail, placing it over her back. “Keep it like that, OK?”

”Do I have to?”

”Yes, you do.”

”O-okay…” Glory kept her tail out of the way.

 

Pipp stepped back, looking at the exposed rumps. She was actually doing this. She almost thought this was some weird nightmare which was Unfortunately real.

 

”Now, bend down from the front a bit, please.”

The three did as she said, bending their forelegs so that their rumps were sticking up, ready for what was coming.

”Good job.” She complemented. “Now stay like that while I… you know, and it’ll be over soon, got it?”

”Yes, Princess Pipp.” The fillies said in unison.

 

Pipp took a step forward, switch ready.

 

Generally, whenever a big event would come up in her life, Pipp would always make a livestream about it. This could be considered a big event. Pipp, for once, did not feel like recording it. She had the saddlebag containing her phone on the desk, where it would stay until she was done.

 

Raising the switch against the anticipating fillies, Pipp decided to give Glory the first swat since she was the most scared. As the foals held their breaths, Pipp took hers.

 

’THWACK!’

”Ah, Ouch!” Glory whined, squirming in her place.

”Stay still.” Pipp warned.

”It hurts!” Glory complained.

”It’s supposed to. You know that.”

Glory whimpered, but thankfully did not try to get out of position, though she was shaking pretty heavily. This did not do any favors for her friends, who had to see her reaction before it was their turn.

 

Next to Glory was Seashell, so Pipp swatted her next.

’THWACK!’

”EEK!” Seashell didn’t take it that much better, clearly surprised at how much it stung. She did not complain like Glory though.

 

And finally, it was Peach’s turn.

The young unicorn had already felt similar wooden "tools" bite into her rump in the past, but seeing her two friends get it first still made her pretty anxious.

’THWACK!’

Peach gasped at the pain. Not as loud as the other two, but still obviously more than uncomfortable with this.

 

And then it was back to Glory.

’THWACK!’

”Ooow!”

She shifted her rump a little.

Then Seashell.

’THWACK!’

”Owie!”

She leaned forward a bit.

Then Peach, who had her rump clenched.

’THWACK!’

”Gah!”

 

And it was Glory’s turn again.

’THWACK!’

”AH!”

’THWACK!’

”Noo!”

’THWACK!’

”I’m sorry!”

 

Pipp continued this painful cycle for some time, each swat giving her more and more confidence, with, the fillies were not nearly as confident in their chastisement. They started a fire at the camp grounds without permission and now another one was being made right on their sorry hindquarters.

”Ouch!” “It hurts!” “No more!” Were their words to describe it.

 

Pipp alternated switch smacks between each rump a few more times until 6 angry red lined decorated the filly flanks.

She figured it would be best to end it there.

”It’s over, girls.”

 

The crying, snot nosed, red faced fillies began to rub their bottoms. Pipp was willing to give them a bit of time. She couldn't help but smile at the oddly amusing display.

 

Once the nursing session was finished, she was faced with said crying, snot nosed, and red faced fillies They looked quite apologetic.

 

All three started saying their apologies at once.

Pipp smiled, holding back tears herself. “Oh, come here you three!”

A group hug commenced.

 

”Please don’t make me do that again.” Pipp said after they separated.

”We won’t” Said Peach.

”Good.” Pipp looked over them, and got an idea.

She went to one of the closets in the cottage, and grabbed three small raincoats, kept there as part of the camp supplies, in case one of the foals forgot to bring one or an umbrella.

”Here, put these on.” She handed it to the fillies.

They looked confused.

”I’m pretty sure everypony will know what happened here.”

Now their faces went red with realization. The entire camp will know they got spanked!

”But for now, you can at least hide those rumps of yours.”

”Thanks Princess Pipp.” Said Glory, who had only just stopped crying.

”No problem, and let me know if anypony gives you trouble for this, alright?”

Her little fans nodded in unison.

 

Thankfully, despite the trio's punishment being obvious to everypony, none of the other foals gave them any trouble for it, mostly because they were afraid of what Pipp might do to them if they couldn't resist the urge to tease them about it, though they did get some awkward looks. Their example served well to keep the others very careful of handling fire.

 

Later that night, once everything was set up and it was time to light the campfire for real, Pipp made the three set the fire, making sure to teach them how to do it properly. By then, the spank marks were barely visible in the dark, though they did choose to stand for campfire story time rather then sit on the hard logs. Clearly the fire still wasn't the only source of heat they felt. Some of the gathered ponies did chuckle quietly at their plight.

 

At bedtime, once Pipp finished inspecting the camp, and making sure all the foals were safely in their tents, she set up her alarm clock for early tomorrow. The princess had a duty to get up earlier than usual for now if she wanted to make Zipp eat her words.

 

She forgot to ask about that horrid creator ponytuber who gave her pippsqueaks that terrible idea. Pipp made a mental note to do that later. Then maybe ask her mom to use her royal powers to give that pony a good talking-to or something.

 

She just hoped there wouldn’t be any more spanking after this.