Be a colt at the Grand Galloping Gala.
 
Your parents wanted to attend one of these events for a long time and recently got the chance. You were given the option to stay at home with a foalsitter and pizza for dinner, but you practically begged them to take you along.
 
Sure, the dumb clothing that you had to wear for some reason was uncomfortable and yea, you had to be annoyingly polite, but you were very proud to be able to attend such a "grown up" party. Not to mention that the food and drinks were great!
 
You were expecting to be the only foal attending, but to your relief and disappointment, there were a few others. You did awkwardly mingle with a few of them, but there wasn’t much else you can do.
 
There was a specific pony that soon caught your eye. A colt who looked to be around your age. Unlike you (much to your somewhat smug pride) this colt was not well behaved at all. While he didn't really interact with the other kids, he more than did so with his parents: He kept whining at them for all sorts of things that you could not help but overhear.
 
"This suit itches!"
"This music sucks!"
"Can we go home already?!"
"At least lemme go outside or something!"
"I didn't even want to come here! Why did you have to make me?!"
 
You notice that his parents and many others around him were growing more and more annoyed by his antics. You could not help but wince. While you didn’t get into trouble all too often, you could tell that this colt was in for a bad time with the way things were going.
 
While you did actually feel bad for him, seeing as he apparently didn't want to come in the first place, you couldn't help but inch closer to him and his now angry looking parents in a childish sense of curiosity for what was about to happen.
 
What did happen was something you could never have predicted.
 
First, the colt's father grabbed his son, turned him around to face him and proceeded to give him a whispered lecture. The colt proceeded to blush at this, suddenly realizing the attention he was getting. Then, his mother started talking as well. You couldn't make out what she said, but whatever it was got the father and some random ponies who happened to be standing closer to the two nod and the colt to step back with a terrified and mortified expression.
 
Before you could figure out what could have possibly garnered such reactions, the mother grabbed the colt by the ear and started dragging him towards one of the chairs, the father and some other ponies following them.
 
"She can't possibly mean to do that." You think to yourself, also following the group but making sure to keep a low profile.
 
Apparently she did. Not even bothering to take her son somewhere private, she sat down on the chair, put that poor colt over her knee, pinned his tail on his back revealing his now exposed flank to you and the partygoers and proceeded to spank him right then and there.
 
Now, while you rarely got punished, let alone spanked yourself, you did kind of expect that colt to get something like this. What you did not expect was that his parents were willing to do the deed right in the middle of the still very much ongoing Grand Galloping Gala.
 
The colt, having already proven not to be the silent type, did not take his punishment very well and his wailing attracted more onlookers.
 
Meanwhile, you just stood there, unable to tear your eyes away and looking on in morbid fascination. While you yourself have gotten a few spankings beforehand, all of those were private. You never actually saw an ongoing spanking before and you never could have imagined one being given in the middle of the Grand Galloping Gala of all events.
 
Now you felt really bad for that poor colt. You couldn't imagine how horrifying it would be if such a thing were to happen to you.
 
To make things worse for him, those ponies that were watching the spanking unfold the closest seemed to not only be lacking any sympathy for the colt, but you could even see some approval in their expressions.
 
Not to mention the fact that the mare seemed to hit him harder than your parents ever did in those few spankings that you yourself got.
 
And it just kept going. The colt was obviously trying to break free with much squirming and hoofy kicking, but it just seemed to be of no use and it proved to be especially futile when the father chimed in to help hold his son down with his magic earning a complement from one of the more snobbish looking ponies next to him.
 
Just as his bottom was starting to redden to match his blush, you felt a hoof on the side of your neck gently tugging you away from the scene. You look up to see your mother, who gently led you away with a disgusted looking frown.
 
She took you outside and looked at you with concern.
 
"I'm sorry you had to see that." She said. "Such horrible parents."
"I didn't think they would do that to him." You said.
Your mother huffs. "That poor colt obviously needed some discipline, but it should have been done in private."
"I heard him say that he didn't want to come here." You admit, suddenly feeling ashamed for listening in.
She shakes her head sadly before looking right into your eyes.
"I hope you realize that your father and I will never punish you like this."
You blink.
"Sure, if you behaved like the way that colt did here; I'd probably tan your hide."
You wince.
"But I would never do it in front of all those ponies. That would just be needlessly cruel."
Her words felt strangely comforting.
 
After about ten minutes of silently standing there, you two go back inside.
 
The first thing you notice is the colt facing one of the walls of the hall, most likely made to stand there by his parents. His butt now sported large crimson colored blobs all over it. Even from a distance, you can tell that he was crying by his shaking.
 
Meanwhile, his parents were surrounded by those same arrogant looking ponies that were looking on with approval earlier. They were nodding at what seemed to be bragging from the couple.
 
Seeing those two made you appreciate your own parents a whole lot more.
 
You look at your mother, who looked angrier then that time you skipped school to hide out in the arcade all day, which was when you were given your first ever spanking.
 
Suddenly, Princess Twilight Sparkle herself marched right up to the group. She looked mad.
 
You and your mother watched on, as the Princess of Friendship seemed to be angrily scolding the spanked colt's parents and the ponies around them. You didn't hear what she was saying, but you found it funny to see multiple grown adults act like they were a bunch of little kids getting lectured by their parents from a mare who was probably younger then all of them.
 
"At least the princess has some common sense here." Your mother says.
 
You never figured out what happened to the colt or his parents as you went back to enjoying the party as normal shortly afterwards, but you did catch a glimpse of Princess Twilight taking that colt somewhere away from the event and his parents, who you eventually lost track of.
 
Funny how this is the one thing you remembered from your time at one of the most important parties in Equestria.