Sarosian

Chapter 3: Spa

“Uhh, Twilight? Are you sure it’s such a good idea for us to have lunch out in the open?” We had just left the western fields, but opted to walk back into town, as the entire morning in the air had caused quite a bit of pain in our wings.

“You’ll be fine, just ignore everypony.” The princess tried to reassure me. It wasn’t working.

“So everypony’s reaction at the party was just a joke… And when I went to get my saddle from Sugarcube Corner this morning. Everypony stared at me; like I didn’t belong here.”

“Twilight, you can’t expect everypony to accept you immediately. You have to understand that while Ponyville is a very open-minded town, nopony has seen a Sarosian for over a thousand years. Besides, you haven’t exactly been trying to meet new ponies. From what you told me at the party you only ever go outside when you have to, and even then you always wear the saddle to cover your wings and tie your ears into your mane,” the princess poked my shoulder, “No, we are going to have lunch, and you’re coming with me.”

“But-”

“No buts.” I sighed in defeat, this wasn’t going anywhere.

“Twilight, everypony just stares at me. That’s all they do. If it’s not at my eyes, it’s at my wings. And it’s never while I’m looking at them.”

“They’re just curious about you. How many different questions did we ask you during the party last night?” I glanced towards the sky trying to recount them all. “Exactly my point. We actually got the opportunity to learn about who you were. Nopony else in town knows you. If ponies stare at you, then say hi as you walk past. As I said before, Ponyville is very open-minded, you just have to ask Lyra or Bon Bon about that.”

“Who?”

“Oh, well, Bon Bon runs a chocolate shop on the South-side of town, while Lyra usually plays music in the town square during the days she’s not at Bon Bon’s store.”

“Hey! Twilight! Twilight!” I heard a trio of voices from behind me. I turned around instinctively at my name, momentarily forgetting the princess.

Three fillies, one of each race, rode up to us. “Hi girls. Been up to much crusading lately?”

“Actually, that’s one reason we came to find you,” the orange pegasus filly jumped off her scooter, purple mane sticking out from under a crash helmet, “I was-”

The pegasus was instantly shoved aside by a yellow earth filly with a vibrant red mane. “We were wonderin’ if we could borrow Spike for the day tomorrow.”

“Spike?”

“Uh huh!” An alabaster unicorn with twotone pink and purple mane jumped forward. “We need him for… Uhh…”

“Hey, he can breath fire right?” The pegasus fought her way back to the front.

“Not really, no. But-” the princess froze for a moment, I certainly had no idea what was going on. “Tomorrow, no, I’ll need Spike’s help to reshelve the Library. But he’ll have the next two days off after that. Either way, you’ll have to ask him, since they’re his days off, if Spike wants to join you crusading, then that’s his choice.”

There was a collective groan from the three fillies, until the pegasus sprung back into life. “Come on crusaders! We just have to ask Spike, surely he’ll help us out!”

The orange one must’ve been the leader, since upon hearing her the other two gained her enthusiasm and piled back into the trailer, taking off down the road into town. “Girls wait!” Twilight shouted after them, but the three fillies didn’t stop.

Both the princess and I stood still for a moment, I glanced between the clouds of dust left by the three fillies, and Twilight herself. “Who were they?” I was almost afraid to ask.

“Sweetie Belle is Rarity’s sister,” Twilight obviously saw my confused expression, “the unicorn.”

“Right.”

“Applebloom, the earth pony, is Applejack’s sister, and Scootaloo, well, you don’t know her parents. But the three of them go to school together, and spend all of their time outside of school trying to discover their special talents.”

We both continued down the road, entering the outskirts of town and the streets slowly became more populated. I managed to blend in while walking beside the princess, but assumed it attributed to her covering one side of my body. That didn’t stop others from staring though.

“Don’t be so paranoid. Let them look.”

“It doesn’t affect you because you haven’t felt it.”

“Actually, I have...” I craned my neck to face the princess, continuing our walk. “I haven’t even been a princess for a month yet, but ponies insist on bowing before me, offering services free of charge. I was stared at before, and I am still now. Sarosians have been underground for a thousand years, but at least there are a lot of you. There are only four known alicorns in Equestria. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence and just under a month ago,” Twilight let out a heavy sigh, “me. So I do know what you’re going through, just not specifically. But honestly, I’d rather be ignored then swarmed.”

I glanced down the road, letting Twilight’s words sink in. “I never thought about it that way.”

“But since we’re out together, other ponies will see that if I am alright with you, then they will come around sooner. Same with the others. Pinkie Pie knows everypony, so she’ll be able to convince them to at least get to know you. If you hang out with Applejack then her reputation will rub off on you too.”

“Why is it that everypony looks up to you all so much?”

*

I was wishing that I’d never asked. Twilight told me countless story after story of adventures that the six of them had gotten up to. There were stories of dragons, changelings -whatever they were-, ancient kings, the wild west, records being broken and, -still to my disbelief- time travel. But in between the constant storytelling, the princess and I had found a place to eat lunch, ordered, and finished our meals before the waiter came and took our plates.

“And if it wasn’t for Starswirl’s unfinished spell, I wouldn’t have discovered the truth behind his words, which granted me these wings,” Twilight flexed her appendages for effect, but winced immediately afterwards. “Maybe there was a little too much flying this morning.”

I didn’t have to unfurl my wings to know they were sore. “I’ll be feeling it tomorrow.”

“Well, you do have work tomorrow, so you’d better get used to it.” The princess paid for our meals, at her insistence, and we both headed back towards the library.

Moving through Town Square, we were silent. After learning of the seemingly endless adventures that the group had gone through, it helped me understand just how well-known they were; not only in Ponyville, but throughout Equestria. Since they had only saved everypony’s lives four times, I think, I had lost count after all the stories.

Twilight, however, spotted one of her friends and galloped off to greet them. It was Fluttershy.

“Oh, hello Twilight I was just heading over to see Rarity.”

“You’re off to the spa aren’t you?” The princess asked knowingly, to which Fluttershy hid behind her mane and nodded. Twilight flexed her wings, and winced again, but lit up with thought. “Hey Fluttershy, what do you normally do when your wings are aching?”

“Oh, well. Actually, I usually go to the spa. Although Aloe and Lotus are earth ponies, they know exactly where the tension is.”

The princess glanced at me, then back to Fluttershy, her features brightened significantly. “Do you mind if we come along? After flying with Rainbow all morning I could really use a good massage.”

“Oh, I don’t know… Usually it’s just Rarity and I-”

“Can we ask Rarity then?”

“I- I guess…”

I wordlessly followed Twilight and Fluttershy. The two were having an incredibly one-sided conversation about the princess’ morning work with Rainbow Dash. Occasionally Fluttershy would get in a word or two of agreement, but most of the time Twilight asked questions relating to pegasi and weather management in general, and from the look on Fluttershy’s face, she probably knew less than Twilight did.

As was described last night, Carousel Boutique was indeed three buildings down from Sugarcube Corner. Passing through the centre of town I made every effort to stand between the two friends, they didn’t seem to mind, and the crowds didn’t seem to notice me. There were a few eyes that lingered, but I was sure they were watching the princess, not me.

Twilight took the lead and pushed open the door, I noticed an ‘open’ sign on the adjacent window.

A bell rang as the three of us stepped inside. The air was much cooler inside, as a bell-chime took my mind off myself and Rarity appeared from another room. “Twilight! Hello Fluttershy, hello- er, Twilight,” Rarity paused when saying my name, I suppose the awkwardness of saying the same name twice got to her more than anypony else, “Well; I can’t say that I was expecting you. But it’s good to see you anyway. What brings you all here?”

“Well, actually, I was wondering if you had room for two more to go to the spa?”

Rarity lit up like fireworks. “Oh, yes! The spa! It completely slipped my mind. There’s been this aristocrat in Canterlot who simply must have his suit before the end of Spring. And, while a fine stallion in every sense of the word, he really needs to learn that sending a letter every single day requesting a status update is going to cost him a fortune in postage, but the mail system takes days between here and Canterlot.” Rarity’s horn started glowing as she levitated a small pile of letters into the centre of the room, “I mean really, there’s cautious and then there’s insanity…” The fashionista returned the letters to her desk and moved towards the three of us at the door. “But, he pays well, and measuring him up  was quite the delight!”

Everypony but Rarity blushed at her insinuation. But no extra comments were made. We all stepped outside, I watched Rarity lock her door and flip the ‘open’ sign around before stepping off the front porch and joining us on the street. “So, Twilight. How did things go with Rainbow Dash this morning?”

It took a few moments for me to realise that Rarity was talking to me. I had forgotten that Twilight and I had been alone when she volunteered to join in. “Oh, it was fine.” I said quietly, still unsure how to speak to Rarity... Or Fluttershy… Or anypony who wasn’t Twilight.

“Surely it was more than just fine.”

“Well, I start work tomorrow…”

“That’s wonderful! Will you be working with Rainbow herself?”

“No, she said I would be working with the rain teams as there’s a major storm planned a few weeks from now, and I’d need to learn how to handle rain clouds before then.”

“Ah, so you’ll be working under Raindrops then.”

I nodded in response, getting a smile from Rarity as recognition. The four of us walked across the centre of town, gaining no more attention then when it was the princess and myself. Ponyville Spa was easily noticeable from a distance, and without wasting any time we entered the establishment, met with a full-on assault of scents ranging from lavender to rose.

A hotel-style desk sat against the back wall while a small water feature trickled quietly off to the right, effectively creating the perfect mood for relaxation from the beginning. The sounds of a door closing came from the hallway opposite the water feature drew our attention as a soft pink mare approached

“Hello and welco- Rarity!” The pony paused, looking over the rest of us. “Princess Twilight! An hon-”

“Aloe darling, calm down,” Rarity cut off the pink mare, “I know I have an appointment for two, but will there enough time for the four of us?”

The ponies eyes widened momentarily before returning to normal. “But of course!” The spa pony made to turn away, but paused. “Will it be the works for all of you?”

“Oh, no. That won’t be necessary. I’m only-”

“Why yes, we will.” Rarity cut off the princess, earning a glare from her.

“Excellent! Please take a seat. I shall prepare towels and robes for you all.” The pink mare turned around and headed back down the corridor, as the four of us found a seat around the water feature.

“Rarity! What are you doing?”

“What? Is it wrong of me to want my friends to feel as beautiful as they are?”

I immediately looked towards Rarity at that remark, although all I got was the back of her head. “That part is fine, but shouldn’t you at least let us decide how much we can afford to spend?”

“Twilight, darling, both of you have been out in the sun all morning, flying around and pushing clouds. You both deserve this since you can hardly move your wings without wincing,” Rarity then turned around to face me. “And you need to get ready for your new job tomorrow. Which means you need to be fresh! Believe me when I say that Aloe and Lotus have the best hooves this side of Canterlot.” Twilight’s glare softened, I watched as she tried to flex her wings, but wince in pain with every movement. “You’ll thank me later. Besides, it’s my treat.”

The princess’s softened glare turned completely to regret. “You don’t have to do that Rarity.”

“Nonsense! Think nothing of it.”

Another pony approached from the long hallway, she was the complete opposite colour scheme from Aloe. “Zis way please,” The four of us stood and followed the blue mare through a set of double doors at the end. Rarity walked beside me, with Twilight in front and Fluttershy a few steps behind. “Ve shall start you all off vith ze sauna, zen follow vith ze spa. After zat, ze mud bath, a quick shower, zen finish vith ze massage. Is zat to everypony’s liking?” I tilted my head and nodded, glancing towards Rarity who answered affirmatively for the group. I must ask Rarity exactly what she said. “Good! Please take vith you your robe and towel,” the accented mare gestured to a row of clothes hooks, as each of us put on the robe.

While Rarity and Fluttershy naturally wrapped their manes in the towel, and Twilight mimicked the action using her magic, I tried to gather my mane the same way, but ended up only wrapping half my mane and both my eyes. A bright blue aura surrounded the towel. “May I?” Rarity spoke, I quickly nodded, then held my head still. A slight tug on my mane and everything was as it should.

“Thanks.” I responded.

Passing through another door, the four of us stood in a wide open room with four sections. Furthest to the left was a set of six mud baths, a fair distance from them was a moderately sized swimming pool, on a raised platform behind the pool was a large spa, and covering a large portion of the right side of the room was the sauna. We all followed Lotus to the sauna, she opened the door and quickly ushered us inside. “Ve vill come and get you ven it’s time for ze spa.”

“Thank you Lotus.” Rarity spoke for us all again. I waved to the blue mare as she closed the door.

We all found a seat surrounding a pile of hot stones in the centre of the room. Rarity levitated a bucket from the front of the room and ladled some water over the heated rocks, sending a thick cloud of steam around the room.

I took a deep breath, the thick air clearing my head, although it felt harder to breathe than if I were flying. “Hey Rarity,” Twilight spoke, “Would you happen to know what Sweetie Belle and the crusaders are planning for their next attempt?”

“Twilight, you of all ponies should know that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with her plans. She changes her mind more often than you read books,” the princess frowned at that remark, “Why do you ask?”

“Well, Twilight and I ran into them on our way back into town today. They asked if they could have Spike help them out. And after I said they should ask him, Scootaloo wondered if he could breathe fire,” Rarity took on a contemplative look, “Do you think you could ask Sweetie what they have planned?”

“Why didn’t you ask when Scootaloo asked that?”

“I was going to, but they just left before I had a chance to. I will be asking Spike the same thing when I get home tonight, but one thing that Ponyville doesn’t need is three fillies playing with fire.”

*

The four of us stood in a plain white room, which smelled strongly of lavender, vanilla and cinnamon. Three of the four walls were covered in shelves or cabinets, containing all things from oils and lotions, to brushes and files. Six benches sat, in two rows of three, facing each other, designed to fit a pony laying down, with specific gaps to fit each limb comfortably. Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy had removed the towels from their manes, each of which looked quite frazzled after the shower and drying without a brush. I followed suit but paused as the others disrobed and picked a bench to lay down on. Both Aloe and Lotus were present, each digging through separate drawers, but another two spa employees were also present.

“Please remove your robe, miss Twilight.” A tan-coloured mare with a purple mane spoke to me, gesturing towards the unoccupied bench adjacent to the princess.

I glanced at the mare, then back towards the princess. “It’s alright Twilight, no-one will judge.”

It was starting to get unnerving that Twilight knew exactly what I was thinking. I took a deep breath. It’s alright, the princess said I’d have to relax around other ponies. If I was going to live in Ponyville, they’d all know what I was eventually…

I took a deep breath and disrobed, hanging the clothing article on a hook on the front wall. There were two gasps, then another pony cleared their throat, when I turned back Aloe had a stern glare towards the other ponies. Obviously sensing that some things wouldn’t work, she spoke. “Rarity, is it alright if Vera tends to you today?”

The white mare glanced between the two. “I don’t mind.”

The tan mare, Vera by name I assumed, trotted over to Rarity’s side, as Aloe stood beside the clean bench. “Miss Twilight, if you would lie down we can begin.”

I took position on the bench and Aloe started running her hooves over my shoulders and back. I assumed Aloe was just feeling for tension points, since very little pressure was used.

“So, Twilight. How did you find Rainbow this morning?” Rarity asked, I lifted my head to respond, only to have Aloe tap the back of my head, silently requesting for me to leave it down.

“She was alright, I guess,” It was sort of an odd question, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer it. “In what way?”

“Well, just in general. I know she can come across as a little brash, arrogant and obnoxious when you first meet her, I was just wondering if she behaved herself with you.”

“She didn’t make a bad first impression if that’s what you mean. Although from last night I quickly learnt that she speaks her mind. Which is always a good quality, I never have to wonder what she’s thinking anyway. But even through what she said last night, I knew it wasn’t rude on purpose.”

“Rainbow is inquisitive, but she doesn’t think before she speaks,” Twilight pitched in. “Much more of a ‘hooves-on’ pony.”

“You can say that again dear.”

“So how did you all get to know each other?” I asked.

“Most of us were already friends before we all came together,” Rarity spoke again. “Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to flight school together in Cloudsdale, so they’ve probably been friends together for the longest. Pinkie Pie has been in Ponyville for about four years now. Actually, now that I think about it that is about the same time Fluttershy and Rainbow moved here. And, you’ve met Pinkie, so I’ve known her since she arrived. Applejack and I never really spoke to one another until Twilight moved here just over three years ago,” she paused for a moment. “How long have you known Dash for, Fluttershy?”

“Oh… Almost as long as I can remember. Close to fourteen years.” Fluttershy seemed much more comfortable speaking whenever her friends were involved.

“Really? That long?” Twilight spoke. “I didn’t know you two grew up together.”

“We helped each other a lot. Getting through school, Rainbow helping me with my flying, I helped her with the homework. We both had a lot in common. But when I told her I was moving out of Cloudsdale, she insisted on coming with me. And that was about five years ago,” Fluttershy paused for a moment. “Luckily, Rainbow got the job of weather manager shortly after. That was how she met Applejack anyway.”

I thought for a moment. “How could that have got them to meet? What does Applejack have to do with being weather manager anyway?”

“When Valiant Wind, the old weather manager, retired, Rainbow took over with almost no idea as to the workings of Ponyville. After scheduling several solid weeks of full sunshine in the middle of Spring, Applejack made sure to be heard.”

“She doesn’t like the sun or something?”

“No, it’s not that. Because she runs Sweet Apple Acres, she needed at least a few days of solid rain to make sure she had enough apples for the summer. Unfortunately, once the weather manager sets the schedule, everypony else sets their holidays, so once clear skies was scheduled, over half the weather team went off to visit family or friends out of town. Of course, Applejack didn’t know that, so when Rainbow said she couldn’t do anything about it, there was a bit of a fight between the two.”

“So how’d they become such good friends?”

“Well, Rainbow told me all about what was happening, and I convinced her that the farmers actually did need the rain. So, Rainbow flew back to Cloudsdale and towed three days worth of rain clouds back with her. And over the next few days, Rainbow gave Applejack exactly the rain she needed.”

“And they’ve been friends ever since?”

“The best.”

“What about you Twilight?” I asked.

“Oh, I met all of them in preparations for the Summer Sun celebration back three years ago. Remember the story about us defeating Nightmare Moon?” I nodded, but when no response came I voiced affirmation. “Well, that was when I realised they were my friends, and that I wanted to live in Ponyville.”

“Excuse me, but miss Twilight, can you spread your wings please?” Aloe asked me, I slowly opened them, wincing as my left wing reached full-span. Her hooves feeling around the underside of my right wing, then over to the left one. I flinched as she pressed into the joint on my left wing, she apologised quickly. “You do a lot of flying?”

“Only this morning. And from now on, I suppose, since I’m a weather pony.”

Aloe hummed softly. “There is a rather large knot in the muscle under your left wing. This will probably hurt a bit, but you’ll feel much better once it’s gone. Is that alright?”

“It probably won’t do me any good the way it is, will it?”

“If you let it sit, then the pain you felt just extending it now will feel worse when you’re trying to fly on it tomorrow.”

I shrugged, trying to relax as much as possible. “Then let’s get it over with.”

The conversation continued as I drifted in and out during Aloe’s work. She was right, there was something in my wing muscles, and it was painful until release.

“There we go.” Aloe said almost triumphantly. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that I’d be able to fly unhindered tomorrow, and that the constant pain would finally subside. She rubbed over the area several more times, “Extend your wings out again please,” I did as she asked, finding the movement unimpaired and completely free from pain. “Excellent! I’ll give you a brush down, then we’ll be done.”

I heard Aloe step away from me, I took a moment to look up and see what the others were up to. Both Twilight and Rarity were having their horns filed, while Fluttershy had her feathers straightened.

I glanced towards Twilight, visibly enjoying the feelings of having her horn filed. Maybe there was a certain feel to it, since as far as I knew it was just bone. But after a quick look at Fluttershy, she seemed to be enjoying herself too. I flared my wings open again, rubbing a hoof against the membrane, maybe pegasus wings had a different feel too. As Aloe moved back towards me, I returned to laying down, feeling her run the brush from the base of my neck down to the tip of my tail, which I twitched instinctively.

Aloe continued unperturbed, working the brush down each leg, making sure my fur sat in a uniform direction. “Alright, there we go. All done.” She announced. I shuffled off the bench and back onto my own hooves. Feeling better than I had when I woke up today. “How are they coming along girls?”

A chorus of ‘soon’ and ‘nearly’ came in response, which seemed to be a good enough response for Aloe to start packing up, moving the brush to a box in the corner and moving each of the robes and towels into another box beside that.

I sat down on a chair behind Twilight, since Roxie, a very pale blue coloured mare with two-tone purple mane and tail, had begun work on her wings, same as what was done with Fluttershy. I watched as Roxie worked, taking care to align each feather perpendicular to the actual wing bone. Twilight’s hooves twitched occasionally, and her tail flicked from side-to-side, completely unnoticed by the spa pony. Or ignored, since it seemed like regular behaviour when unicorns had their horns filed or pegasi had their feathers aligned. I made a note to ask Twilight about that too.

As Rarity and Fluttershy sat down beside me, and Twilight joined shortly after, we all moved back into the main foyer where we all began.

“Rarity, you weren’t kidding, that massage was amazing.” I stood behind Twilight and Fluttershy with Rarity at my side.

“I told you they were the best.”

“Oh please miss Rarity, you speak too highly of us.” Aloe said from behind the counter

“It certainly is praise well earned.” I answered the pink mare.

“Thank you. You’re too kind,” Aloe wrote down a few notes in the book and looked up at Rarity. “Since you had already paid for Fluttershy and yourself, we’ll send you the difference.”

“Thank you Aloe,” Rarity responded. “See you again in a few weeks?”

“I always look forward to it.”

And without another word, the four of us left the spa, and turned back towards Rarity’s home. “Don’t you feel better now Twilight?”

“Which one?” I asked.

“Both of you, I mean really. It wouldn’t take a magician to notice how much both of you enjoyed it.”

I had to admit, Rarity was right. I spread my wings made an experimental flap, lifting myself off the ground for a moment before returning to the ground in step beside the others. “I don’t know about Twilight, but I feel amazing,” I watched the princess out the corner of my eyes. “And from what I saw, you were too.”

The princess blushed slightly from my comments. “You weren’t lying. They had magic hooves.”

The four of us stopped outside Rarity’s home, bidding her farewell and Fluttershy left soon after, opting to fly back to her place since it was in the complete opposite direction.

The sun was hanging low on the horizon, it wouldn’t be long before it was night. “Were you really the reason all of you became friends?”

Twilight paused for a moment, but continued her stride. “I suppose you could say that. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie never said a word to each other before I moved in. So, I suppose I’m to blame for it all.”

“Why are you to blame? Who said it was a bad thing?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“I know, I know,” We continued in silence for few moments. Stopping outside the library once we arrived. “Tell me, what is a unicorn’s horn made of?”

The princess tilted her head in confusion. “Why would you want to know that?”

“Well, when I saw you and Rarity getting your horns filed, it looked as if the action would be painful, and yet, the two of you looked like you were actually enjoying it.”

Twilight flattened her ears and a blush emerged on her cheeks. “Uhhh, well. The horn itself is essentially just bone, but it’s different because we don’t actually feel anything with it. However if it is left alone to just grow then eventually it puts too much strain on the rest of the skull, causing constant migranes. Fortunately, nothing can actually do any damage to a unicorn’s horn unless it has been specially enchanted to do so, or has magical properties itself. The reason as to why unicorns enjoy it so much, is because it’s… Uhh… Actually, how’s this: How does it feel when you preen your wings?”

“Uhh, Twilight… I don’t have feathers, I can’t preen.”

“Well, I- uhh… I guess you’re right there,” the princess paused for a moment. “Have you ever had anypony touch your wings before?”

I quickly thought back over my time. “No… Well, outside the accidental bump here and there… Not really.”

The princess seemed to deflate at my comment. “Then I guess I can’t explain the feeling to you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to be sorry about. If it’s something you can’t explain then what’s there to apologise for?”

“I suppose you’re right,” Twilight looked towards the sky. “It’s getting late. And you have work tomorrow.”

“I certainly do,” I flared my wings and prepared to take off. “Hey Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for today. For showing me around and helping meet your friends.”

“What are friends for?”

I leapt into the skies and waved back at Twilight. What are friends for indeed?

*