It was a gloriously sunny Saturday, and all over town, men, women and children were doing what they could to enjoy the day in whatever way they saw fit. However, there was one person amongst this plethora of joy and contentment who was far from happy today. And that person was currently being dragged down the street by her wrist against her will. Most who passed her, and the one who dragged her, would have looked on with either confusion or some slight amusement, but either way, they knew better than to get involved.
"For the love of Faust, somebody get her off me!"
The one shouting out to the world was a young woman in her mid-teens, whose skin was a light blue in colour and whose hair bore a most striking appearance, that of all the colours of the rainbow. She wore a very sporty-looking outfit, complete with sneakers, and if any onlooker were to be asked, they would assume that she was the kind of girl who liked being active. They would not be wrong in thinking so, for this was none other than Rainbow Dash, noted athlete and captain of most of the sports teams of the local school, Canterlot High.
Her "assailant", on the other hand, couldn't have been more different. Her dark-purple hair was heavily styled to an elegant and "classy" appearance, and served as a stark contrast to her pearly-white skin. And that, coupled with her outfit, that of a far more feminine style than Rainbow's attire, gave an air of sophistication. But then, that was probably the best word to use about this girl, for this was Rarity, another student from Canterlot High, but one who had far different tastes than her current companion. This was a girl whose life was dedicated to fashion and design, and had gained a reputation for having impeccable taste in aesthetics.
But perhaps the biggest difference between these two was their expression. For Rainbow was bearing a look of utter terror as she tried in vain to pull away from her friend. Rarity though seemed completely oblivious to Rainbow's situation as she carried on walking down the road. After a few more tugs, Rainbow eventually spoke out again, but this time to Rarity herself, rather than some random passer-by.
"Come on, Rares! You know I hate this sort of thing!"
Rarity let out a brief chuckle before replying.
"Oh don't be so silly, Rainbow! It's not like it'll kill you to try new things."
Rainbow frowned at her.
"If I said it would, would you let me go?"
Only now did Rarity turn to look at Rainbow as the two kept walking, her face that of the uttermost seriousness.
"No."
Her word was direct and clear, as was it's message: Rainbow wasn't getting out of this. The sports captain gained a look of nervousness for a brief moment before Rarity faced forward again, her previously-serious expression now replaced with her more cheerful one. Rainbow let out a groan of annoyance, as she knew all too well that once Rarity put her mind to something, there was no getting out of it. So, Rainbow walked alongside Rarity, her wrist still gripped by the latter, as the two travelled downtown for a few minutes before turning a nearby corner. Once around it, only then did Rarity let go, as she walked a few steps further before assuming a pose, the kind that one might expect to see from a magician's assistant.
"Ta-da!"
Looking forward to where Rarity was gesturing, Rainbow finally saw it. It was a simple, while building, and though Rainbow had never entered it, she knew it was a place that she would never willingly choose to go to. Looking ahead, she saw that there was a clear sign above the front door, bearing it's name: "Equestria Spa". Rainbow, bearing a grimace that made her despair clear, looked from the building to Rarity, who was still grinning wildly.
"Rarity...you know I don't..."
Rarity's expression became one of annoyance. It was known to everyone who knew Rainbow that she was not the kind of girl who went for this sort of thing. Spa treatmetns and the like were as foreign to her as, in all fairness, Rainbow's activities were to Rarity. And yet, somehow, she'd been talked in to visiting this place. Though in all honesty, it was more a case of Rarity bursting in as Rainbow was napping in the park, grabbing onto her wrist and dragging her along ever since. Still, Rarity would not be deterred. So, as Rainbow began to back away, the fashionista quickly walked behind her and started to push.
"Rainbow, you'll love it. Trust me on this. If you don't I'll never say another word about it."
As Rainbow continued to be pushed forward, she considered that for a few moments before looking over her shoulder.
"Promise?"
Rarity stopped pushing for a few moments before raising one hand and placing the other over her heart.
"Promise."
There was a brief moment of silence between the two girls before Rainbow let out a sigh, nodding her head whilst bearing a look of utter misery on her face. Seeing her friend accept the offer, Rarity squealed with glee, though Rainbow had to cover her ears briefly to keep from being deafened by it. With that done, Rarity began to run towards the place, and to Rainbow's soon-shock, she grabbed onto her wrist once more and pulled her with her. It didn't take the two long before they reached the front door, and Rarity entered first.
As Rainbow followed, she took stock of this new and alien world she'd just entered. The place was, much like the outside, a pristine white in colour, almost to the point of seeming sterile, like a clinic or hospital. All over there were things that would usually never be within a hundred miles of Rainbow, like potted plants or small tables covered with piles of health and beauty magazines. One look at this place made it clear that this situation was about as un-Rainbow-like as you could get. Looking ahead, she saw that Rarity couldn't have been happier, but then, she probably spent every other day in a place like this.
"Welcome to our spa!"
The voice caught Rainbow off-guard, even more so considering that it was two voices speaking at once. Turning, she saw that, standing at the welcome desk, were a pair of women, just a few years older than herself and Rarity, and both wearing massive smiles on their faces. From the looks of them, they were clearly twins, and while they had pretty much the same face, they were exact opposites in terms of their colouring. One had light-blue skin, not dissimilar to Rainbow's, and whose shoulder-length hair was bright pink. The other had those colours reversed, with blue hair and pink skin.
Both of them were dressed in matching white uniforms, and both had their hair tied back with white bands, which only served to enhance the clinical feel of this place. Rainbow eyed the two, who were clearly waiting for her to do something. Before Rainbow could say anything however, Rarity stepped towards the two and spoke.
"Aloe! Lotus! It's so good to see you again!"
Rainbow looked on as the two women beamed at the sight of the young fashionista. They both walked together around the desk to greet her as one of them spoke.
"Ah, Miss Rarity! To what do we owe this visit from our favourite customer? The usual, I assume?"
But Rarity shook her head at that, gesturing to Rainbow before answering.
"Not today. No, today is for my good friend here, Rainbow Dash. I believe I made the proper arrangements?"
The two looked to Rainbow for a brief moment before turning to one another. The pink-skinned one gestured to a a book on the nearby desk, and the other nodded her head and went to it, reading through a few of the pages before tapping her finger vigorously on it.
"Ah, yes! The full works, we have it right here!"
With that settled, the twins made their way over to Rainbow, who couldn't help but take a step backwards at their approach. Once within a few feet of her, the two gave a little bow before speaking in unison.
"We will endeavour to provide the best of services to you this day, Miss Dash!"
Rainbow, who was now bearing a very nervous look on her face, looked over to Rarity, who was still smiling, before clearing her throat, gaining the attention of the twins.
"So...what is it that I'm getting exactly?"
The two smiled in a welcoming way towards her before the blue one gave their answer.
"You'll be getting the full works, as we call it. This includes all of our services, from mud baths, sauna sessions, massages, manicures, pedicures, hair-brushing, and all the rest of what the spa offers."
Rainbow, upon hearing all of that, morphed her face into a grimace, one that Rarity seemed to be a little annoyed at seeing. It wasn't helped when she heard what Rainbow had to say afterwards.
"Every word that just came out of your mouth makes me feel like my street cred is dropping like a rock in a river."
The twins looked at each other, one looking confused and the other concerned, before facing Rainbow once more.
"Oh? Miss Rarity told us that you were, in her words, "raring to go" about it."
Rainbow looked over to Rarity, who was looking away with a rather embarrassed look on her face. The former, after continuing to glare at her friend for a few moments, let out a groan before burying her face in her hands.
"I'm never going to live this down, am I?"
Rarity then looked to Rainbow before walking over to her, gently pulling Rainbow's hands down from her face.
"Trust me on this, Rainbow. Aloe and Lotus are professionals. If you want this kept a secret, they won't say a word."
Rainbow looked into her friends eyes, trying to see if there was any deception or exaggeration there. But there wasn't. Then again, Rainbow should have expected that. After all, Rarity might be willing to do many things, but even she would not be so careless as to take Rainbow to a place that was going to blab about her being here to the rest of town. Her eyes briefly darted to the twins, both of whom were smiling over the praise their "favourite customer" had just given them. Letting out a long sigh, Rainbow spoke.
"Alright. Let's get this over with then."
Despite her friend's less-than-enthusiastic response to the whole thing, Rarity nevertheless looked happy. She looked over to Aloe and Lotus and gave a nod, which the two returned, before making her way out of the spa. Rainbow kept her eyes on her until she left, knowing that she'd be back at the end of the day to see how things went. Letting out a groan, Rainbow looked at the twins, both of whom were now giving her their full attention. The blue one gestured to a nearby door before speaking.
"If you would, Miss. The changing rooms are right this way."
Rainbow had to fight the urge to grimace yet again upon hearing that. She knew from Rarity own accounts of her time here that people generally didn't wear their own clothes during these sessions, but even knowing that didn't help. Still, she'd agreed to this and she was going to see it through, no matter how much she wanted to just charge out of the door right now. So, begrudgingly, she made her way through the door the twins were gesturing to, which let to a small hallway, one side of which had a number of doors marked "changing rooms". Picking one, Rainbow entered.
Once inside, she saw that her spa attire was already in here, a simple, brown, knee-length dressing gown. Again, this was not the kind of thing Rainbow would usually involve herself with, but if that's what they wore here, then she had little choice. Groaning once more, she proceeded to get undressed, staring with her sneakers. In principle, she knew this was, in many ways no different to stuff she'd done before. When she and her friends had gone to the beach in summer or to the town's local pool, she knew changing in public rooms was expected. Even so, that stuff was fun, whereas this, she knew in her gut, was not.
So, having changed out of her usual clothing, she was now wearing not only the gown provided, but also a pair of matching brown slippers that had been on the floor beneath it. Leaving her former clothes in the room, she made her way out, where she was greeted once more by Aloe and Lotus. Although she knew that there were people out there, most notably Rarity herself, who would often remark how strange it was that Rainbow liked the things she liked, Rainbow now found herself thinking similar thoughts about these two. Having to spend all day pampering their customers with this kind of stuff, it boggled her mind.
Still, she went along with it, and followed the two as they gestured to another room further down the hallway. It felt weird, being dressed in only this gown, knowing she'd be spending intimate time with two complete strangers. How Rarity was so comfortable with this kind of thing, she'd never know. Once inside the next room, she was pointed to what looked like a combination bed and table, complete with white mattress. It was one of several in this room and, knowing that the numerous treatments were about to start, Rainbow made her way over to it and sat down. Once there, the twins looked at her before speaking.
"Which service would you like first?"
Rainbow found that probably the hardest question she'd been asked today. She didn't know the first thing about any of this, and though she'd never admit it, she felt that it probably would have been a good idea to have asked Rarity about it before she left. As the moments passed and the twins kept staring at her, awaiting her answer, it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She felt like one of those insects that the science club liked to pin down and study, like she'd been stripped bare, albeit in a purely metaphorical sense of course. After a few awkward and uncomfortable moments of silence, she shrugged her shoulder and responded.
"Er...I dunno...whichever you like first, I guess."
The twins looked at each other for a few moments, with expressions making it clear that they didn't usually get that kind of choice during these sessions. However, those expressions soon changed to smiles as they looked back down to Rainbow.
"I'll get the brush."
"And I'll get the file."
Rainbow looked on as the two walked off in different directions, yet both going to a number of various cabinets which lined the outside of the room. Aloe rummaged around for a few moment before pulling out a hairbrush, smiling and holding it up triumphantly. Lotus did much the same, except with a nail file. The two walked back over to Rainbow, who had been watching them with a raised eyebrow the whole time, as Lotus grabbed a nearby green footstool and sat on it, while Aloe stood next to Rainbow. Remaining silent, Rainbow listened as Lotus spoke first.
"I'll make a start by giving a manicure, followed by pedicure."
She looked up at her Aloe, as did Rainbow, before the other sister continued.
"And I'll be giving our hair-brushing technique. Afterwards we can move onto a sauna session, or possibly a massage. Whichever you prefer."
Rainbow let out a sigh. This was it, she told herself. If her uncertainty about this whole thing was still there, she'd just resigned herself to it at this point. So, in preparation for Lotus' work, Rainbow slipped her feet out of her slippers before offering her left hand to Lotus, who gently took it into her own. Aloe meanwhile moved closer to Rainbow and lifted her brush towards the girl's head. Rainbow hated having people touch her at any time, and now she's was going to be expriencing a great deal of it. So, letting out a long sigh, she uttered her feelings on this whole matter.
"This is gonna suck."
............................
Rarity waited at the reception area of the spa, pacing up and down as the seconds ticked by on the nearby clock. She had not seen Rainbow since she dropped her off here this morning, and it was about now that they'd planned to meet up with each other again. Although Rarity had every confidence that it was in Rainbow's best interests to go through with something like this, it would have been a lie to say that she wasn't just the tiniest bit nervous about all this. After all, Rainbow had been quite adamant about not wanting to be a part of it, and though she'd ultimately been willing to go ahead with it, Rarity knew it was for her sake rather than any real desire on Rainbow's part.
Still, she'd been here plenty of times herself, and knew that the services they provided here were good. At the very least she was confident that Aloe and Lotus would make the experience as comfortable as possible. Nevertheless, her nerves were ever present as the minutes rolled on. Eventually though, she was jarred out of her musings by the sound of creaking as the nearby door to the spa's facilities began to open. Her head snapped in it's direction as, sure enough, Rainbow Dash began to walk out, decked out in her usual attire. Rarity put on a smile, but it faded somewhat when she saw that Rainbow was looking more than a little annoyed.
"So...enjoy yourself?"
Rainbow said nothing to that, but merely marched towards her fashionista friend, who stood there with a look of nervousness upon her face. Once the two were just a foot away from one another, there was an uncomfortable silence between them. After what seemed like an eternity, Rainbow finally broke the silence.
"What did we agree?"
Rarity considered those words carefully before realising what Rainbow was referring to. Understanding her friend's calling back of their agreement, Rarity looked a tad disappointed.
"Oh...you didn't like it?"
Rainbow shook her head.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. It's not for me."
Rarity looked down at that. She was so sure she could turn Rainbow around if only she'd go through with it. That was clearly not the case, and though she'd like nothing better than to try and convince her friend to give a place like this a second chance, they'd made a deal, and she was not one to go back on her word.
"Well, Rainbow, this is unfortunate. But, a deal's a deal. On my honour, I will never mention this again."
Rainbow looked at her for a few moments before breaking out into a smile.
"Thanks, Rares."
Rarity smiled back, and the two moved forward and embraced each other in a brief hug, knwoing that they weren't going to let this bother them. After breaking away from each other however, Rainbow gestured to the door she came out of before speaking.
"You go on ahead. I just remembered I left something in the changing room."
Rarity nodded at that before making her way to the front door. Before exiting however, she raised her hand to her chin and gained a ponderous look on her face.
"Hmm...I wonder if Applejack would like this place?"
With that said, Rarity left the building, leaving Rainbow alone there. Well, nearly alone, as the girl noticed that Aloe and Lotus had taken up their usual places behind the welcome desk. Rainbow looked back to the front door and windows, making sure that Rarity was no longer there. With her friend fully out of sight, Rainbow made her way to the desk, where she spoke in a hushed voice to the twins.
"So...any free slots in the next few days?"
The two broke out into smiles, bowing to Rainbow in confirmation of their secret arrangement. With Rainbow smiling back at them, she confidently marched away and out of the front door. However, after only having taken a few steps outside, she was stopped in her tracks by the sound of someone clearing her throat. Slowly turning her head, she saw that Rarity was leaning against the wall of the building, bearing a facial expression that just screamed "I won". In this awkward silence, in which Rainbow's face grew bright red with embarrassment, she chuckled nervously and shrugged her shoulders.
"Um...same time next week?"
