...Is Worth Two Pains In The Flank
In Lotus Blossom's well-considered and not-at-all-biased opinion, running a spa was the single most stressful job in Equestria.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't unusual for siblings to manifest similar talents: farming families didn't remain so without producing a steady supply of farmers. However, identical marks were considerably more rare, even among twins. (Lotus, the elder by a whole and repeatedly verified seven and a half minutes, still insisted she'd manifested first. The theoretical duration of an eyeblink counted.) In the case of Lotus and Aloe... well, strictly speaking, their shared talent wasn't particularly spectacular. Their deepest magic manifested as impulses which gently wafted calming words into the air, typically at the exact moment when their hooves were working on a particularly nasty knot in a client's right flank. They could instinctively pick out a scent for a first-time arrival's bath water, and the plumes of multi-hued steam would carry that pony's favorite memories within them. When on the job, bad subjects for casual discussion would never arise in their minds. (They did tend to show up in the ears: their clientele typically insisted on telling them exactly why the emergency appointment had been necessary, in great detail.) Put simply, the twins had a magical knack for making ponies relax...
...but their mutual talent didn't work on themselves, or -- and perhaps this was because they were twins -- each other. They had no special ability for calming each other down and since they were siblings, many of their interactions tended to do exactly the opposite. (Well, they did so for Lotus: Aloe tended to absent-mindedly trot along at a stress level approaching zero. Lotus wasn't certain as to whether this was due to her younger sister being (in her opinion) slightly less intelligent, or because Aloe's blood was apparently one of the world's natural opiates.) The pony who felt it was her job to keep an entire settled zone relatively calm, under some degree of control, and not fainting in the streets any more than usual, also found that job to be a stressful one.
And there was just so much to stress about.
Start with the spa itself, for it could take more than the twins to help ponies relax, especially when things got -- hectic. There were certain magical considerations to operating a full-service facility: the sauna had to be kept hot, the ice bath had an equal need to be cold, and those ponies who insisted on going directly from one to the other while trying out the fad called a polar plunge had to be warmed back up in a hurry, well before the thermal shock set in. Different sections of the building had conflicting temperature requirements, and making it all work had taken them into the realm of pegasus magic. The spa didn't have thermal regulation: it had its own internal weather system -- something so complicated that to leave the front doors open for too long would risk thunderheads developing near the ceiling, and one client who'd decided to adjust the sauna's heat level on her own had come within three flaps of creating a tangle. Internal hurricanes tended to disrupt relaxation.
Neither sibling was naturally inclined towards running a business, and so both had seen their shared (although Lotus had envisioned it first) dream ambushed by a number of practical considerations. There had been the purchase cost for a building that seemed to have somewhat more internal space in need of climate control than the exterior had advertised. The expenses involved in turning the place into a proper spa: those had been considerable. Following a certain Summer Sun Celebration, a patchwork emergency repair budget had been wearily birthed into the accounting books, meant to cover the periods before the government's official disaster relief payment came in.
Despite all of the research they'd done prior to opening the doors for the first time, they hadn't been completely sure how much to charge for the spa's services, especially not with Canterlot so close: a single digit too high might just send ponies galloping for the train. And so they had initially been happy when a young businessmare of some small experience had approached them with a list of suggestions for client lures. She'd been helpful. In fact, she'd been so helpful with her offered plans for frequent visit discounts, referral bonuses, customer loyalty programs, and suggestion box contribution coupons that Lotus suspected they currently were about two additional percent away from adding Rarity to the payroll.
There were other financial aspects built into Lotus' blood pressure reading. The spa used a tremendous amount of magic: a device here, a wonder there -- it all added together, and two earth ponies couldn't be expected to keep the thaum charge levels up. Their employees (and there were employees who had to be paid, so many employees, and that could still technically add one fashion designer at any moment) did what they could there, but none of them had talents for maintaining the enchanted items, let alone repairing the things -- and some things needed a lot of repair. The reliable mainstays were generally just that: the central pool's water bubbler, the dryer's heating system. (Very few ponies used dryers: cloth was typically hung outside in warm weather or dripped indoors during the colder months -- but the spa went through a lot of towels.) But those were the mainstays. The experimental pieces were somewhat -- riskier. And, despite all the problems they created, required.
Relaxation was an evolving industry. Rumors were birthed as whispers on the wind, and the sounds somehow never carried directly into the twins' ears. Instead, they were repeated by clients. Somepony would have heard about a fabulous new method for settling the fur grain, it's absolutely necessary, darlings, a proper spa can't possibly function without it! -- and after that somepony had tossed her curled purple tail and happily sauntered her way out of the building, Lotus would wearily head off in search of an order form, because proper spas were all over Canterlot and therefore Ponyville had better keep up. New equipment would be brought in and to be fair, quite a bit of it worked. Most of it worked because ponies who'd been told that something was going to help them relax would create their own placebo effect: after all, if the Canterlot ponies were finding release in somepony sticking suction cups all over their backs, then how could Ponyville residents do any less, even with muzzle-sized angry red bumps flaring through their fur? The rest tended to explode and even if it was technically possible to meditate over the more colorful fireworks, very few ponies found any degree of inner peace within the acrid smoke. So there were times when equipment had to be replaced. Walls occasionally followed.
Of course, sometimes life in a post-Bearer society would assert itself and Lotus would open the doors to find the entire population of Ponyville overflowing the street and atmosphere. They would be shivering, shaking, no more than moderately twitching, and quite prepared to take some of their stress out on the ponies around them if it would mean being the first to get inside. It tended to balance the books somewhat, at least until she'd discovered that several moons of adding Zecora's potions to the main pool had left a buildup of violet gunk within the pipes.
And then there was the fact that Lotus and Aloe, in an effort to save on expenses during what they'd quickly figured out might just be a fairly rough start-up period, had decided to live in the spa. Together. (Lotus' bedroom was hidden away near the laundry area: Aloe was just over the sauna and so benefited from heated floors on winter evenings.) Lotus supposed there was at least one other pony in Equestria who could appreciate the special stresses which came from living with somepony you truly loved and, strictly speaking, weren't allowed to kill. Just about everypony in the realm had at least one question they would have truly wished to ask Princess Celestia and in Lotus Blossom's case, it concerned the possibility of banishing somepony to Moon, at need, for, say, about ten minutes.
Neither sibling could truly help the other relax: it was often the opposite. A mare who was known for always being calm and smiling and perfectly content also couldn't afford to ask her employees to provide her with a private massage session: after all, ponies talked, and spa attendants twisted that into gossip. And so Lotus was the one who took the occasional day trip into Canterlot, where the spa services were quite expensive indeed -- but it was still cheaper than traveling to the natural hot springs of their birth home, along with being a significant savings over retaining a law firm to create a defense for the murder trial.
So as far as Lotus was concerned, keeping the La-Ti-Da spa running (and, as much as such could be hoped for, in one piece) was the most stressful job in Equestria. She brought healing, respite, precious breaths where all tension drained and the pony she was ministering to released all of their pain, if only for a moment. And all she asked for in return was enough income to keep the spa running and a good night's sleep.
For Lotus truly loved to tuck herself under the blankets, settle her body against the mattress, and drift into a good night's sleep.
Like the initial snowflake drifting down as the harbinger of that winter's first scheduled storm, it started out as something small.
Technically, Lotus didn't have an office. There was a room where the accounting ledgers were kept, but that was more commonly known as Lotus' Hurting Place, because no part of her mark was for math. But there was also a trot-in linen closet, because the spa went through a truly ridiculous number of towels and when the urge to scream rose, there were worse options than pushing one's snout into a double hoof-height of plush fabric.
Lavender poked her muzzle through the door at the same moment Lotus' nostrils began to take in air instead of fabric softener. "Do you have a minute?"
"I zink so," Lotus smiled, because Lotus always smiled.
Lavender visibly turned the sentence over a few times. Swallowed. "You..."
She didn't sigh. "I think so," Lotus tried. Eastern Saddlezanian accents were naturally resistant to fading, and fought just as hard against full comprehension. "Vhat can I help you with, Lavender?"
"It's just three little things," Lavender quickly assured her. (Lotus nodded, listened, smiled some more.) "First, Miss Rarity's brought in a new customer. It's her first time here, and..."
She always smiled, and she didn't sigh. "Of course. Punch another hole in her referral card." Which would leave about one and a half percent to go.
"The imported mud delivery is at the back entrance," Lavender continued.
"I vill pay for it." Something else which Rarity's patronage had produced, for Ponyville's premiere rupophobe apparently had no problems with getting her hooves dirty as long as the dirt in question had come from at least five gallops away. She would ask for mud facials, and cleaning mud out of fur was seldom a casual chore. Mud baths were even worse. And then there was the minor fact that long-distance hauling was paid for by cargo weight, mud wasn't the lightest of substances, and Rarity wasn't going to lower her body into any bubbling tub full of manure-colored sludge until she saw the paperwork which bore a verified point of origin. But the designer had heard all about trace minerals which could only be found in their perfect natural balance within those distant locations, and had told so many other ponies about them as to set up a demand for those benefits, all of which would probably be produced via placebo.
"It's frozen," Lavender awkwardly added.
"So at least it iz densely packed," Lotus smiled. Well, three hours later and she would have been paying for the weight from that first seasonal coating of snow, so at least the timing had been good. "And ze third?"
"Quake just pulled a load of towels out of the dryer, and he said it was making a funny noise."
The pleasant smile became slightly wider.
"A noise," Lotus tried. The dryer was the most reliable enchanted item in the spa: it had never required service...
"A noise," Lavender re-repeated.
"Vhat kind of noise?"
"He didn't say. Just that it was... funny. And then he went off-shift."
"Vere the towels dry?"
"Perfectly," Lavender assured her.
So potentially just a minor problem, then: something which would make for a refreshing change of pace. "Very well. Send somepony out to fetch our usual solution."
The usual solution arrived under protest.
"I don't know what I can do," Ratchette tried again as a smiling Lotus led her past the massage tables, where several clients briefly glanced at the attractive steel-grey mare. "The dryer channels heat. That's a pegasus domain, Lotus, and that makes your dryer into a wonder. If there's something wrong with the magic, I --"
Lotus blinked, glanced back.
"You are a pegasus," she observed.
Ratchette, who was often in the presence of ponies that felt she was unaware of her own species, awkwardly rustled feathers.
"...yes..."
"And you cannot fix a wonder?"
"I'm a device mechanic," Ratchette desperately tried. "That means things enchanted by unicorns."
Lotus looked at the mare's wings. The complex mark. Back to the wings, politely smiling all the while.
The pegasus winced. "So unless it's purely a physical problem --"
"-- it may be," Lotus offered. "It's just making a noise, Quake said. A funny noise. Funny ha-ha, perhaps? So that could be a problem with the gears around the drum. And I vould rather not ship it to Canterlot: it is too crucial a piece to be vithout for long, especially in the vinter. I cannot hang things outside, and the sauna is not a dry heat. Please, Ratchette? At least look at it for me?"
The mechanic took a breath. "I can look. I just can't promise to do anything, Lotus."
"Looking may be enough," the spa owner smiled. "So. Our laundry room is this vay..."
Up the ramp, which briefly gave them a view of the mud baths: the frozen blocks were being steadily hoof-chiseled down. Through the door into one of the hidden hallways, then down that corridor, past Lotus' bedroom and the mattress she was already longing to visit, and finally they were in front of the burnished copper frame, with the wonder's hue a near-match for Ratchette's eyes.
Ratchette's teeth gripped the front lever, pushed and got the door open. "Would you turn it on the lowest setting?" she asked once her mouth was clear. "I just want to listen for grinding. Or anything else. Since it's empty, there won't be any problems with things flying out."
Lotus nodded, reared up to reach for the controls --
-- there was a sound.
Eventually, Lotus would learn that it was a pair of sounds which, if rendered phonetically, would read as something like bee-bay. Exposure created expertise.
"I touched nothing," Lotus said.
"I know --"
At which point, the dryer interrupted with chick-a-dee-dee-dee.
Ratchette blinked.
"You do need a pegasus," she said. "But you don't need me..."
The incredibly full coral tail gently swayed as Fluttershy stuck her head into the open dryer.
fee-bee? asked the wonder.
"...um..." the Bearer of Kindness tried, with her voice echoing somewhat within the copper drum. "...yes. Yes, you did the right thing in sending for me, Lotus. Um... bee-bay-bee?"
Lotus was briefly glad that Fluttershy's position made it impossible for the caretaker to spot the stare: one simply didn't expect that kind of song to emerge from a pony throat.
fee-bay-chick-chicka, the rather surprised dryer countered. bee-bay?
Notes and syllables went through various arrangements for a few minutes, and then Fluttershy pulled her head out of the dryer.
"...well," she smiled, "I think everything's settled."
"Zettled how?" Lotus carefully asked. "What exactly is happening?"
Skin flushed under yellow fur. "...oh, right... Well, you have chickadees. Two of them. The black-capped subspecies --" which was when she spotted Lotus' confusion. "-- birds. You have birds."
"Birds," Lotus tried.
"...yes," replied Fluttershy, still looking pleased.
"In ze dryer." There seemed to be certain technical issues involved.
"...well -- not quite in the dryer. They're in the venting hose, just inside the wall portion."
"It is vinter," Lotus pointed out, feeling as if she was being rather sensible. "Just the start now, but vinter. Why do we still have birds?"
"...they don't migrate," Fluttershy educated, looking rather pleased for the opportunity. "They just stay in the same area year-round." A little faster, "Did you know that they can adjust their metabolism? They lower their own body temperature when it's cold, so they'll use less energy! There's hardly any other birds who can do that. There's a few, though. For example, swifts --"
"-- I did not know that chickadees existed," Lotus carefully cut in. "As birds, or anything else. Until today."
"...oh." Fluttershy now looked embarrassed, which was an expression Lotus was fully accustomed to: it usually showed up every time anypony at the spa was about to groom that tail. "...so I should probably just drop off a book tomorrow and --"
"How did they get in? I know the hose goes through the wall, ends just before the outside. But there is a cover."
"...what kind of cover?"
Lotus tried to picture it. "Vell... it had to be fairly light, so the hot air would push it open for venting... balsa. It is balsa -- oh."
Fluttershy nodded.
"Door goes up," Lotus said. "Birds go in. Yes?"
Again. "...they stay in the same area all year -- but they just lost their nest. And even though they're among the best birds when it comes to dealing with the cold, they still prefer someplace warm and sheltered when they're resting. They mostly take over abandoned woodpecker nests in an emergency, but they were flying by the spa and they felt the warmth coming up... well, it didn't take long to move in. So that's all it is, Lotus. Just chickadees. They haven't done any harm, and I don't think they could, no matter what happens. They're little birds -- but you haven't hurt them, either, and that's really the important thing. The nest is too far above the dryer for the heat to hurt them, and none of the nesting material is going to catch fire. The birds are okay, and your wonder is fine."
"So you vill fix this?" Lotus smiled.
Fluttershy nodded, smiled back. "...it'll only take a few minutes. I just have to go get some things first..."
"Vhatever you need," Lotus generously said. "Please give me the bill when you are done."
It was the first snow of the year, and so Lotus used her next break to step outside for a few minutes. She liked snow, at least in small, slow-falling amounts which really hadn't accumulated on anything yet. Say, as giant drifts along the curves of the spa's roof, which just kept picking up weight until the ceiling began to creak.
There would be snow in Saddlezania, and steam rising from the hot springs which cut through it. Well-trampled paths to the best soaking spots wound between the temporary skeletons of trees. Winter was beautiful back home, in a part of Equestria distant enough to have kept some of its old traditions. (Just Eastern Saddlezania, though. The Westerners had become -- acclimated.) The gently-falling flakes made her think of home, and that was no bad thing. She would go for a trot with Aloe right after the spa closed, and they would talk under Moon as shared memories warmed the night. Snow, no matter where you were, was always familiar.
The sounds of hammering coming from the left side of the spa were new.
Lotus frowned. (She could do that, with nopony around to see.) Then she trotted around the building until she saw --
"-- Fluttershy?"
"...oh!" the hovering pegasus beamed. Steel-covered hind hooves hammered against the wall again. "I'm almost done!" Suddenly worried, "Do you like the style? I tried to match your building as closely as I could. So it would look natural. Only I'm really not good with things like matching colors and types and... oh, I should have gone to Rarity first, I can take this one down and get another if you don't like it..."
"-- vhat is that?"
"...you can't even tell it's a bird feeder? I knew I got the wrong one! I'll just go back to the store and --"
"I haf asked the wrong question," Lotus smiled. "Vhy is there a feeder on the side of the spa?"
A small gust of internal hot air momentarily pushed the hinged balsa flap up. Lotus caught sight of twigs and what looked like scavenged tail hairs before it closed again, added to a glimpse of dark, bright eyes and a tiny black-capped feathered head.
chick-a-dee-dee-dee
"So they won't have to go very far for food," Fluttershy educated. "They're active in the winter, but food is still harder to find, especially now that the snow's started. And chickadees are really good with feeders. I'll talk to some of the other animals who stayed and explain that this one is just for the chickadees. ...oh, and I ordered you a season's supply of feed from the pet store. That'll be delivered. I know this is a little high up for you, but since you have pegasi on staff, they can just do the refills --"
"-- I thought," Lotus carefully, pleasantly, and not-altogether-unvaliantly tried, "you would take them to your home."
Fluttershy blinked.
"...they're comfortable," she finally said. "...they're safe. They're warm. They have a nest."
"But they are in my dryer hose --"
"-- and there might be other things to think about," Fluttershy continued. "Later. If it happens, which it probably won't. But they're happy. They're not hurting anything, they have shelter and food and they're comfortable, and they're... little birds." With the one visible blue-green eye now matching the soft voice's plea, "They're just little birds, Lotus..."
The spa owner took a breath. Smiled.
"It is a very nice bird feeder."
"...thank you."
"A season's supply, you said?"
"...plus some extra." A thoughtful pause. "Just in case."
"Ve could call an exterminator," Aloe helpfully suggested within the relative privacy and fabric-assured soundproofing of the linen closet.
Lotus glared at her sister.
"Just to move the nest!" Aloe quickly clarified. "To -- vell, there must be somewhere it can be moved..."
"Ponies vill see," Lotus said. "All ponies vill see is that we brought in an exterminator. To deal with birds. Birds which Fluttershy herself installed a feeder for. Ponies vill talk, she vill hear, and then she vill tell Rarity. Who tells the world. Generosity stops bringing Kindness to the spa once a week, other ponies stop coming because we have been so cruel to the little birds, and possibly both Rarity and Fluttershy finally have the breakdowns ve are forever postponing, to spectacular effect."
Aloe blushed.
"No exterminators," Lotus declared. "Not even to move the nest. Ve cannot afford it. Not socially."
"So they stay there?"
"They are little birds." Lotus was trying the words out for size. "Fluttershy said they vill move in the spring, when it is warm enough to seek a home which Sun can touch. The dryer still runs? Then they stay. Othervise, it is not worth offending the Bearers, and all that comes vith that."
"Little birds," Aloe thoughtfully repeated.
"So I haf been told. Repeatedly."
"Ve," Aloe said, smiling, "haf no pets..."
Immediately, "No."
"Pets are relaxing," her little sister mischievously added.
"So I've been told. I haf been waiting for Rarity to tell me of a fad for spa cats." Lotus shuddered. "Which she vill do, even if she must invent one, at the moment Opal has kittens. No, Aloe. No pets."
"Vell," Aloe decided, the streaked blue tail lightly swaying, "as you say... little birds. So. Back to the job?"
"Ve finish the day," Lotus smiled. "Ve go for a trot together: it is first snow, after all." (Aloe happily beamed.) "And then sleep." A slow sigh. "I dearly look forward to sleep..."
bee-bay
For the fifth time that night, her eyes snapped open.
fee-bee fee-bay
Ears flattened against the skull.
chick-a-dee-dee-dee
Lotus rolled onto her back, tried to find a way of moving her forelegs which would end with her hooves pressing down on her flattened ears. It turned out to be an achievable position, if one somewhat more suited to Lyra. (Lotus tried not to be the one who massaged Lyra. Watching the post-rubdown stretch was an experience which could follow her into dream.)
chick-a-dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee
Her mark was for helping ponies to relax. Unless she was dealing with music or the gentle vibrations which could hum against muscles to make them loosen, absolutely nothing about her talent dealt with sound. She had no way to anticipate how it could change within venting tube and copper, or conduct perfectly through walls. Or perhaps the tube itself was partially within her wall: somepony else had installed that and it had taken much less than a day, so she'd never seen exactly where the whole thing was going...
chick-a-dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, bee-bay
Lotus stared at her dark ceiling. Forced her eyes shut, made her breathing slow. And eventually, she fell asleep.
fee-bee!
For about five minutes.
Technically, it was never too early to arrive at the cottage. Its mistress tended to be awake at all hours anyway: taking care of emergencies, dealing with the animals who were only active under Moon. There was a rather persistent rumor which claimed Fluttershy's talent included the ability to get by on very little sleep, and Lotus had spent most of the trot out deeply envying her.
The claw-scarred door opened.
"...yes?" came the perpetually worried inquiry, which was actually a little bit hard to hear.
"My pardon for dropping by at zis hour," Lotus smiled as Moon made the cloud of her breath softly glow. "But I had a question."
"...okay," Fluttershy uncertainly said. "Is it something about the feeder, or...?"
"Ze chickadees. They are nocturnal?"
"...not really. They're most active during the day."
"Most active," Lotus tried.
"...well... when they're warm and safe, they might sing a little at night, or forage for a snack if it's close."
"Oh."
"...plus birds don't sleep like ponies. It's not so many hours in a row."
"Yes..."
"...so they'll wake up and check on things. Especially if they're thinking about --"
"-- and they do this for the vinter?"
"...they're warm," Fluttershy beamed. "And safe. So yes, if they're up and singing a little, they're fine." And as the expression started to collapse, "Lotus -- is something wrong?"
Lotus took another breath. Exhaled, watched the resulting little cloud break up. And listened to the permanent background music produced by squeaks, growls, hisses, wingbeats, birdsong, the tic-tac of tiny claws, and every other noise produced by the cottage residents who just happened to be up at that hour. All of which Fluttershy slept through every night of her adult life.
"No," Lotus smiled. "I vas just vondering. Good night."
It had been a week.
"Dear," the so-close-to-being-paid pony said, "you look tired."
"It is our busy season," Lotus smoothly lied as she led the unicorn away from the pool. "Homecoming, Hearth's Varming, Hearts And Hooves Day... the vinter contains so many times when ponies become stressed. And for Homecoming, vhen I must be very careful, massaging around the bruises produced by a full family reunion. Ve all get tired, Miss Rarity."
With open concern, "Are those bags under your eyes?"
"Are zere?" So the makeup regime wasn't holding up for an entire workday.
"Quite," Rarity decided. A brief pause. "Fortunately for both of us, I recently learned of a marvelous treatment for removing them. There is a plant which normally only grows in Pundamilia Makazi --"
Lotus, in no way naturally suited to business, still managed to instantly calculate the cost of importing living plants from the zebra homeland during the winter. "-- I vill look into it." In about three moons. Possibly six. "So. As it iz cold, and you are quite wet..." She nodded towards the waiting pile of plush folded towels.
Rarity smiled. The unicorn's horn ignited with a partial corona, and light blue surrounded the white fabric. The towel began to unfold itself.
"The excess water off this way," Rarity said, "and then to your hot-air blowers. Did I tell you that I saw a one-pony drying room at the last winter Innovation Exposition?"
Repeatedly. "Yes?"
Disgruntled, "I might have also mentioned that Twilight practically dragged me away from it, at least until the moment when she simply levitated --"
There was a little sound. It was a rather small noise, as such things went, and if it hadn't been for the fact that such a sound had never occurred within the spa before, it was possible that both mares would have overlooked it. Instead, four ears twisted.
"-- what was that?" Rarity asked the world, and then answered the question through looking down.
Lotus looked and, with Rarity's attention fixed on the new arrival, felt free to briefly shiver.
"It is," Rarity observed, "a rather rough twig. Partially tangled with what appears to be one of somepony's shed tail hairs." A closer inspection. "That could be one of Diamond's."
"Yes," Lotus quickly decided. "That shade is about right for the Rich filly. So --"
"Why," Rarity inquired, "is there a twig, with pony hair on it, folded into the towel?"
Lotus thought, and rather quickly.
"Relaxation," she said.
Blue eyes came up. False eyelashes vibrated slightly near the tips.
"Relaxation," Rarity repeated.
"One places the twig within the towel," Lotus continued, "and then one rubs the towel against their body, as usual. The twig and hair together produce a -- contrast of surfaces. Like using a heated stone with little nodules raised on the smooth places. It gives the body something different to feel. It provides sensation within the simple act of drying. A tiny, partially random massage."
The designer was staring at her now.
"It iz very new," Lotus declared. "Only a few spas are using it. Very exclusive places, vhich try to keep their secrets. So perhaps news had not spread. At any rate, the fault is mine. This is new to us, and so the twig should have been more securely bound --"
The horn ignited again. A glow-surrounded twig floated off the floor, was pressed against the towel's plush loops. Fabric was brought to rest against skin. Thoughtful rubbing occurred.
"Scratchy," Rarity said after a moment.
"...I suppose," Lotus said, "as new methods go --"
"-- and not kind to the natural grain and lie of my fur," the designer continued. "It is leaving trails. Small ones. I am fully aware of every place it has been, and can anticipate every location where it might be going."
"-- and the recommending pony, quite frankly, vas --"
"-- but it is," Rarity mused, "oddly... relaxing."
The corona brightened. The towel rubbed all the faster.
"Like rubbing up against rough bark to get at an itchy spot," the placebo-lost unicorn declared. "Not that I would ever do such, of course. Not in public. But in the privacy of a spa... yes, this is... doing something."
Lotus blinked away the stare, which did the bags under her eyes no favors.
"If I had any complaints," Rarity added, "which of course, I do not, simply suggestions to be potentially removed from the box and granted their due reward... it is that the result is lacking in scale..."
chick-a-dee-dee-dee
The twins looked at the open dryer. Then they looked at the little twigs resting at the bottom of the drum.
"How?" Lotus asked.
Aloe looked at the wonder. Then her eyes went up, to the visible part of the venting hose.
"That iz not a straight path," the younger observed. "It rises. It is perhaps not perfectly level within the wall -- no, it is not: I remember now. I vatched it go in."
"You vatched?"
"The stallion who installed it was rather handsome," Aloe shamelessly declared. "And it vas sweaty work. So. Not level. The nest may not be perfectly level, and so when the birds move around, maybe little pieces drop off, fall through the hose. They repair, so then there are more little pieces." A tiny frown. "Which does not explain the tail hair..."
"Lining for the nest," Lotus said. "I asked Fluttershy. The birds scavenge."
"Oh."
"So... we must now watch for wood snagged in the towels," Lotus sighed. "For the rest of vinter. And with what Rarity has 'suggested'..."
"Not too expensive," Aloe pointed out. "Easy to try."
"Hard for us if it fails."
bee-bay
"It could be vorse," Aloe decided -- and then her skin paled beneath the fur.
"How?"
"They... leave the nest, yes?"
"To visit the feeder," Lotus said. "I haf caught glimpses, brief ones only. They seem to be very active. The feeder gets much filling."
"Do they leave..." Aloe swallowed. "...to do -- other things?"
Lotus blinked.
"Full linen inspection," she declared. "All available staff."
"And once it's baked on, it vould be harder to -- remove --"
"Now."
"Move over," Lotus told her sister, and used her left forehoof to shove a little harder. "Aloe, wake up and move over..."
"Go away," the younger twin mumbled. "It's night. Go 'way."
"I've tried the massage beds," Lotus declared. "I've tried the reclining couches. I haf tried the floor. And my room is -- they're moving more than ever at night, Aloe, I can't sleep unless it's a proper bed and you have the only other one in the spa, so move --"
Sleep-deprived eyes finally considered the exact nature of the surface her sister was no-longer-resting on.
"-- vhy do you have a single?"
"Because," Aloe muttered, "ve're twins."
"And?"
"I shared a bed vith you until secondary school. I don't haf to do it any more. Single mattress, single pony."
Lotus blinked, and just barely got her eyes open again at the end of it.
"You've been in my room," Aloe declared. "You know how I sleep."
"I'm tired."
"So am I. Because my sister wakes me up in the middle of the night!"
"Ve could switch rooms? Just for a little vhile?"
"I like my room."
"Aloe, I need to rest..."
"Ve switch and I don't rest!"
Tones dropping now. "Ve are going to switch. Back and forth. One night in each place, over and over, until spring."
"Because?"
"BECAUSE I'M OLDER!"
At which point, Aloe, who had woken up all the way, decided to resolve the issue in the most sisterly manner possible.
Two bruised bodies slowly trotted towards Lotus' bedroom. Aloe was towing most of her bedding with her teeth.
"It's just for tonight," Lotus told her.
Aloe didn't say anything. Part of that was to avoid dropping the quilt. The rest was in the name of preventing Round Two.
"And the night after tomorrow night. Until spring."
The younger glared at her.
"Ve are sisters, Aloe. We share the load."
They reached the elder's bedroom. Aloe spat out the bedding.
"If I could ask the Princess one question..." Aloe softly stated.
"Yes?"
"It does not matter."
fee-bee
"Oh?"
"Ten minutes would not be enough."
For the first time in weeks, Lotus' smile was a fully natural one.
"I love you," Aloe said. "I understand. I should haf offered some time ago, to split the burden. I simply vished to stay in my own bed, for as long as I could."
chick-a-dee-dee-dee
"I understand," Lotus sighed. "Let me tuck you in."
"Vill it help?"
bee-bay
"No."
She tucked Aloe in.
"One night of full sleep in every two," Lotus sighed again. "For both of us. I wish I could offer earplugs, or the lie that they vould help. But I have tried. The sound goes through. But perhaps ve can still become used to it. After all, it gets no worse than --"
peep!
They both froze.
peep! peep! peep!
It took some time for Fluttershy to reach the cottage's ground floor, plus even more before she could find the strength to ask that the siblings speak a little more slowly and with somewhat less accent.
"...so it's a little unusual," she finally got to say. "But they're not the kind of birds who have just one set time. They're more likely to do it in the spring, but they're a young couple, and they're safe and warm with lots of food, so..." The pegasus beamed. "I'll come by once Sun is raised! To see how the newborns are doing. I'm sure I ordered enough extra food, just in case, but you know how it is -- oh. You don't..." Still beaming, "...but I'm sure they're fine! And you'll learn what it sounds like when they're okay. And when they're hungry. They call out when they're hungry. And when they're this young, they're hungry just about all the time!"
"...vhen..." Lotus swallowed, then choked out the smile. "Vhen do they leave the nest?"
"...well..." Fluttershy thought it over. "...it usually takes about two weeks before they venture outside on their own. Plus or minus a couple of days. Their parents will leave food outside to lure them. But they don't completely leave for a while after that. It's just to get them searching and used to being outside. And when it's this cold, with most of the nesting material under the snow and food so close..." Happily, "I think you'll have them all the way to Wrap-Up!"
Aloe shuddered.
"...and they're very curious," Fluttershy added. "About everything. And they're not afraid of ponies at all, so if you leave a window open a crack, they might just come in to see you! Or, you know, if a door is open for an extra second. Or just open normally." Some more thought. "Especially if they smell all the food inside. Rarity said she was going to ask you to start serving flax-seed crackers. I think they'll love flax seed. Are you stocking those yet?"
No answer.
"...you're shivering."
Both sisters were. Rapidly, tails vibrating out of rhythm while shredding the individual styles.
"It is vinter," Lotus finally said. "And cold. Ve just thought you should know. As soon as possible."
"So I'll see you in the morning, then!" Fluttershy gushed. "To check on the babies! Oh, and I may place an order for extra feed, once I see how many there are. Because usually there's at least six, but it could be more. That's okay, right? To buy them more food?" (Aloe forced a nod.) "Is there anything else I can do?"
"I zink," Lotus decided, "you've done more than enough. But thank you."
"...you're quite welcome," the pegasus smiled.
"And about the way we... arrived..."
"...yes?" Fluttershy asked.
"Ve are earth ponies, you see. And vhen there is such a hurry to -- deliver news... and the knocking becomes -- enthusiastic..."
They all looked down at the splinters, which had scattered quite some distance across the living room floor.
"I vill pay for the door," Lotus wearily smiled. "Vith apologies. And perhaps a bell. Good night."
peep! peep! peep! peep! peep! peep! peep! peep!
Virtually all of Ponyville participated in the Wrap-Up, and it did odd things to the hours of those businesses which operated in the aftermath. Restaurants stayed open deep under Moon, serving meals to those who'd forgotten about little things like food during the efforts of the day. And the La-Ti-Da spa matched those hours, soothing the aches of ponies who'd worked a little too hard, along with helping them to relax so they could truly become part of spring's renewal.
The twins worked late after the Wrap-Up, because they always did. But eventually, their labors ended, and they dismissed their staff, reminding everypony that there would be a later than usual opening. The employees nodded, put their tips into saddlebags, and clocked out. (Quake took a moment to rub up against the half-panel of paperbark maple, which had recently arrived from Mazein.)
"To bed?" Lotus asked. "My night, I zink."
"Yes," Aloe yawned. "I am sorry, Lotus. I wish you could sleep... anywhere else, but..."
"The mattress on the floor was a good idea," Lotus wistfully said. "It iz me, Aloe. Simply me. Used to a full bed, that's all. When you become accustomed to something..."
They wearily began to trot, moving in different directions -- and then Aloe paused. "I forgot something," she apologetically said. "There iz still a load of towels in the dryer."
"Vell," Lotus considered, "it vould go faster together."
Aloe nodded, and they matched course. It only took a little time to reach the laundry room, and then they emptied the dryer together, folding in silence.
Complete silence.
It took some time for the quiet to reach their ears, and then nothing would make it leave.
"..vhere are they?" Lotus softly said. "Not a chicka for minutes. They always hear us... they always let us know they heard..."
"It is spring," Aloe gently answered. "Spring at last. They have left, Lotus. A new nest, a new home." And a smile. "They are gone."
Lotus took to her bed. Settled in under the covers: lighter now, on the first night of spring. Curled up slightly, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, slowed her breathing. And, completely free of stress at long last, she fell asleep.
For about five minutes.
"Aloe?"
"...I'm tired..."
"I can't sleep."
"But... but they're..."
"Sing to me."
"...what?"
"Bee-bay. Fee-bee fee-bay. Chick-a-dee-dee-dee."
"Lotus, just go to bed --"
"-- you may also peep! But only if you're hungry."
Author's Note
Thanks to ChudoJogurt, who suggested the spa as the best setting for this, and Georg, who provided a closing line after the original blog post. Of course, he had it as happening to Luna...
