Dashie's Relaxation

"I really don't think I need this, Twilight. I'm perfectly fine."

Rainbow Dash didn't like to lie, especially to her marefriend. Even though Applejack was the one who held the Element of Honesty, Rainbow was also known as one to not mince words and try to be straight-up with other ponies. This time, though, she had to admit that she was not being entirely truthful. Worst of all, she knew that Twilight knew this too.

"Come on now, Rainbow," Twilight said, the gentleness of her tone betraying the irritation that arose from knowing she was being lied to. "You've been a nervous wreck for days now, and it's not healthy. Even Fluttershy noticed it, and for Fluttershy, of all ponies, to notice somepony being especially nervous and call them out on it..."

"...Means that they're really high-strung," Rainbow finished, rolling her eyes. "You're like a broken record."

"That's because you're always needling at me," Twilight responded. Rainbow stared at her in disbelief.

"Did you just...make a joke?" Rainbow asked, smirking.

"Did you like it?" Twilight asked in response, her wings fluttering with excitement. "I've been studying up on Snappy Retort's Compendium of Witty Comebacks! I could have also said you were making my head spin, or that it was because you'd irritated me for the vinyl time..."

"Alright, alright!" Rainbow groaned. "I don't think I can take any more of those puns!"

"Well, they'll stop once you agree to go," Twilight responded, one hoof patting the flyer she'd placed on the table.

"It sounds totally lame," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes and looking down at the thing. A "relaxation center" sounded dangerously like a spa, and while her last forced trip to the spa with Twilight and Rarity wasn't the worst thing in the world, she wasn't looking to go out of her way to make a return trip, let alone go by herself to a completely new one. She began to open her mouth in protest, but Twilight's hopeful look stopped her.

"Please, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "For me?"

There it was. The most potent, volatile weapon in Twilight Sparkle's arsenal. Those big, pleading eyes, weapons of mass destruction against the normally-sturdy metaphorical walls of Rainbow Dash's resolve.

As little as she wanted to go through with this, Rainbow did want to make Twilight happy. There was nothing she wouldn't do for Twilight, and if that meant a trip to a boring spa...well, maybe it was a sacrifice she needed to make.

"Fiiiiine," Rainbow relented. "You're lucky I love ya."

"I know I am," Twilight responded, giving her a sweet little smile. "And maybe next time, I'll join you!"

"You should join me this time," Rainbow said with a pout. "It sounds boring. At least if you're there I'll have something nice to look at."

"I'll ignore the fact that you just referred to me as a thing," Twilight said with a bemused smirk. "And you know I would love to come with you, but I have a lot of studying to do. And before you ask, it can't wait for tomorrow."

"You could really stand to relax from the whole studying thing, Twi," Rainbow told her.

"I'll relax tomorrow," Twilight said, getting up and swinging around the table to nuzzle Rainbow's cheek. "You relax tonight. You've been stressing out way too much over Wonderbolts auditions. This should be good for you."

"Yeah, yeah..." Rainbow muttered, getting up from her seat. She picked the flyer up, reading its contents. "Sweet Dreams Relaxation Center. Sheesh, could it sound any more lame?"

"I'm sure it could," Twilight responded with a giggle. "What if it was called Sir Boredombottom's House of Yawns?"

"Lamey McLame's Snoozefest Stadium," Rainbow offered, joining in with Twilight's infectious laugh.

"Plebeian Pat's Palace of Prosaic Platitudes!" Twilight exclaimed, bursting out in peals of laughter.

"Pardon?" Rainbow asked, head tilted.

"Never mind," Twilight said, blushing lightly. "Now, go on. You have a relaxation center to go to."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow responded, leaning in to give Twilight a kiss on the cheek. "Love ya, egghead."

"Heehee...love you too, Rainbow," Twilight said. The two gave each other a wave with their wings, and then Rainbow was off like a multicolored rocket.

Rainbow waited until she was out of sight of the library, then slowed down to a much more reasonable pace. She was going to go as she'd promised Twilight, and she was going to at least look a bit enthusiastic to make her happy, but there was no way that she could muster up any real excitement for it. She was not the type to be content relaxing, unless it was cloud-napping. Nothing could beat cloud-napping, especially not a boring old relaxation center.

She didn't even need a relaxation center, she told herself. She was perfectly fine. Calm, cool, and collected. A silly thing like a Wonderbolts tryout wasn't enough to shake her. Even if her most recent speed test had her clocking in a few miles per hour slower than she had been, it couldn't ruin her cool. Even the knowledge that she'd messed up the Filly Flash three times yesterday wasn't enough to cause her to panic. So what if all the Wonderbolts would be at the tryouts, judging her every move? Who cared that they would be paying close attention to everything she did, from her tricks to her poise and straight down to her appearance, all to decide whether or not she was worthy to be chosen for the only thing she'd ever wanted to do with herself ever since she was a filly, where every single tiny, minuscule mistake she might make would potentially be a knife thrust into the back of her hopes and aspirations, enough of them leaving them bleeding on the ground, desperately gasping for air, rapidly inhaling to try and stop the life from up fading from their eyes. Gasping, panting, sharp inhalations...

Rainbow found herself falling suddenly, her muscles seemingly refusing to cooperate. She yelped in panic, managing to shoot her wings out and catch the air before she could take a nosedive into the ground. She brought herself to a soft landing on the soil, gasping desperately for air,

"...M-maybe I do need to relax," Rainbow admitted to herself once she was safe in the knowledge that she was the only one around to hear her admit that she might have been wrong earlier. She began to spread her wings, but upon further consideration of the events of the past minute, she decided that perhaps it was better to walk the rest of the way.

Rainbow winced as she approached what had to be the center. The outside looked lame and boring, with its muted pastels and yawn-inducing decor. Even the typeface on the sign looked wholly uninteresting. Just because. She was able to admit to herself that she needed it didn't mean that she would suddenly find it interesting, after all.

"Sweet Dreams Relaxation Center," Rainbow read as she touched down in front of the sign. She couldn't even sound interested as she read it.

"Very good!" a voice called out. "You're quite the reader!"

Rainbow jumped. Not because she was surprised, she told herself. It was more because she felt like getting the exercise at that exact moment. She quickly turned to the direction the voice came from, her eyes settling on a smiling powder-blue unicorn mare poking her head out of the window.

"My apologies, sweetheart," the unicorn said sweetly. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Startle? Naaah," Rainbow responded, sending mental signals to the goosebumps on her forelegs that they needed to evacuate the premises. "I'm totally cool."

"Of course you are," the unicorn replied with a little wink. "Were you looking for this place? Or do you just make a habit of reading all the signs you pass?"

Rainbow furrowed her brow. She did not like being spoken down to. There was something about the unicorn's tone, though, that was inexplicably making it hard for Rainbow to get upset with her for this indiscretion. Something about the way she spoke was too gentle for Rainbow's anger to let itself out on her.

"Yeah, I was looking for this place," Rainbow answered. "My marefriend thinks I need to relax a bit, and she saw one of your flyers."

"Oh, so they're working!" the unicorn said with a giddy little smile. "Excellent! Come on in, then." Her horn lit up and opened the front door for Rainbow.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, trotting inside. As soon as she stepped into the building, her senses of sight and smell were completely overcome. Everything was brightly-lit and colored; a far cry from the muted outer appearance. There was also a lingering, almost cloyingly sweet scent throughout the place. Rainbow was not quite prepared for this sensory overload, and found herself standing, dumbfounded, in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

"C'mon in, silly," the unicorn called to Rainbow as her magic shut the door behind her. Rainbow felt the door gently bump against her rump, and took a few steps forward.

"Uh...nice place," Rainbow said, still trying to come to her senses.

"Thank you!" the unicorn responded. "I'm Sweet Dreams, as you might have guessed by now."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow asked. "I thought it was just a name."

"It is!" Sweet responded. "It's my name! Anyway, come on and have a seat, and we'll get you signed in and everything."

Rainbow nodded and headed over to the chair indicated by Sweet. She couldn't shake the calming feeling that seemed to come from every word Sweet said. She felt it trying to tickle at something in the back of her mind, but she couldn't place exactly what it was.

"Sorry again for startling you," Sweet said, placing a neatly-stapled couple of papers into Rainbow's hooves. "Today's opening day, and I've been waiting all day for my first customer! To be honest, I was starting to worry that maybe Ponyville wasn't the right place for this kind of establishment, but even one customer is encouraging! I mean I know it's early to get discouraged, but..."

Rainbow found her attention drifting in and out as Sweet spoke. As soothing as her tone was, that didn't make her speech terribly interesting, and that plus her somewhat-short attention span was a lethal combination. Rainbow spent the next ten or fifteen seconds thinking about how great clouds were. Clouds just like the little cloud on Sweet's flank. Maybe Sweet's talent was something to do with clouds, which was kind of weird considering that she was a unicorn. Though she supposed that Rarity had been doing her best at trying to manipulate clouds back when the whole cutie mark mixup fiasco had occurred. Maybe Sweet did that kind of thing when she wasn't running this place, and she was actually good at it.

"So does that sound good?" Sweet asked, knocking Rainbow out of her reverie. Rainbow tilted her head, feeling like a schoolfilly again as she found herself trying to recall what had been said to her while her mind was wandering. Not willing to admit that she'd stopped paying attention, she gave a quick nod.

"Yeah, sure," Rainbow said. She watched Sweet smile, and felt rather proud of herself. Smooth as always.

"Alright!" Sweet said with a smile. "I'll go prepare the tea. When you're done reading over that form, just sign on the last page and come meet me in the living room. It's the second door on the right in the hallway through this door. See you in a few minutes! Make sure to read thoroughly!" With that, Sweet gave Rainbow's mane a little rub and headed through the door she'd just indicated, closing it behind her.

Rainbow frowned. Nopony rubbed her mane except Twilight and...well, nopony except Twilight anymore. After a moment, she decided to let it go for now and only raise a protest if she did it again. Sweet seemed rather nice, after all. It would be a jerk move to get angry at her just for that.

Rainbow stared down at the papers she'd been given. It sure looked like an awful lot to read, and she could already feel the apathy setting in. She took a deep breath, then began reading.

"The signer of this document hereby acknowledges and agrees to the terms listed in the proceeding document," Rainbow read in a fine monotone. "By signing this, the signer releases Sweet Dreams Relaxation Center and all employees of Sweet Dreams Relaxation Center from responsibility for..."

Rainbow yawned. A big, deep, pronounced yawn.

"Bored," she said aloud, as she was wont to do when things bored her so. She'd seen things like this before. They were always full of big, boring words that meant pretty much nothing. She flipped quickly to the last page and signed her name on the dotted line, then spent the next few minutes playing a sweet drumbeat on her thighs. Once she figured enough time had passed for it to be believable that she had read the whole thing, she got up from her seat and entered the hallway that Sweet had entered.

The sweet scent was even stronger in the hallway, so much so that Rainbow could practically taste it. She still couldn't quite place the scent, but she had the feeling that she'd have plenty of time to try and identify it. She had no idea how long she was meant to relax here, now that she thought about it. She figured she'd ask Sweet over tea.

Rainbow poked her head into the second door on the right. The living room was a rather cozy-looking place, and Rainbow decided to get herself comfy on the big, soft sofa while waiting for Sweet to arrive with the tea. She flopped onto the cushions, resting her head back and making herself at home.

"I see you're getting comfy already!" Sweet sang as she entered the living room, tea tray floating alongside her.

"Yeah, I guess this couch is a'ight," Rainbow replied, wondering just how Sweet managed to surprise her so easily. Rainbow watched the form she'd signed float out of her hooves and in front of Sweet's face. Sweet nodded with a smile upon seeing Rainbow's signature, then stashed the form away.

"Oh, the couch is nothing," Sweet said with a smile, setting the tray down on the endtable. "If you think that's comfy, just wait until what's coming up." She then nudged one teacup a bit closer to Rainbow. Rainbow looked down at it with a little smirk. She was never a big fan of tea. Twilight tried to push it on her a lot, but it just never appealed to her. She preferred the coffee Twilight would make every morning, but Twilight had made sure to keep it from her after the water tower incident.

"Drink up!" Sweet encouraged. Rainbow gave her a little smile. She seemed so nice, and Rainbow didn't want to turn down something such a nice pony had offered her. She picked the teacup up and took a nice, healthy sip. She hummed in approval as she swished the hot beverage around in her mouth. It had a wonderful taste to it, a flavor she couldn't place but wished she could, so as to be able to find and experience it on her own time.

"You still haven't given me your name, sweetie," Sweet said, watching Rainbow enjoy her beverage.

"Oh, right," Rainbow replied between sips. "Name's Rainbow Dash."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dash," Sweet said, giving her a little smile. "So before we start, why don't you tell me a little something about why you're here?"

"It was my marefriend's idea," Rainbow answered, taking a quick sip before continuing. "I've been training hardcore for Wonderbolts tryouts, and she thinks I'm a little too stressed over 'em." As soon as the words left her mouth, the teacup returned to it. This stuff was amazing.

"Oh my," Sweet said, sipping her own. "That's a lot of pressure for a young lady like yourself."

Rainbow raised a brow. She knew she looked youthful and awesome, but Sweet looked to be about the same age she was. What was with this "young lady" business?

"Uh, right," Rainbow said. "I mean I know I can make it, but I guess Twilight was kinda right. It has been affecting me a bit."

"And how did Twilight find out about this establishment?" Sweet asked, watching with a smile as Rainbow continued to enjoy her tea.

"No clue," Rainbow answered after swallowing. "She found the flyer somewhere and thought I should go."

"Wow," Sweet said with a grin. "And she knew you would be interested in this kind of thing?"

"To be honest, I'm really not," Rainbow said, now nearly done with her tea. "But she really wanted me to try it, and I guess it's good to have new experiences and stuff, right?"

"Right!" Sweet said, positively beaming. "Oh, I wish more ponies thought like you. Business would boom!"

"Heh, yeah, I'm pretty awesome," Rainbow responded with a smirk, finishing off the last of her tea.

"Oh my, you drank that all so fast!" Sweet exclaimed as Rainbow set the cup down. "What a good girl!"

Rainbow gave the mare a cock-eyed look. Perhaps talking to customers like they were children was one of Sweet's quirks, and she knew plenty about quirks with her group of friends, but she wasn't sure if she liked this particular quirk. It had been a long time since she'd been spoken to in such a manner, and it wasn't exactly in a situation that was at all similar to this one.

"Quickly now!" Sweet suddenly said, getting up. "Follow me!" Before Rainbow could say a word, Sweet had bolted out the door she'd entered through. Rainbow was starting to get a little weirded out, but that was hastily forgotten as she leapt to her hooves. If anypony could do something quickly, it was Rainbow Dash. Besides, she was sure there was nothing to worry about. Sweet seemed way too nice and fun to be concerned about.

Quick as a flash, Rainbow bolted out of the room. She caught sight of Sweet out of the corner of her eye, waving her towards a room further down. Rainbow smirked and felt a little childish giggle escape her lips as she ran towards Sweet. She could hardly see what was stress-relieving about being told to quickly follow somepony, but she didn't really care. It seemed fun!

Rainbow briefly considered zooming past Sweet. She wasn't exactly moving super-fast, and Rainbow was feeling the need to show off to her for some reason. Logic swiftly took over, though, as she realized that she had no clue where she was going without following Sweet. She settled for simply running up behind her and keeping pace. Without warning, Sweet ducked into a door on her right, and Rainbow zoomed right in after her. She took a breath, ready to make some comment about how fast she was, when the sight of the room made her stop short.