The week went by rather smoothly, which was a surprise to the colt as he wasn't expecting it to go as such. During that week he spent his time talking to the other girls while also reading a bit from the library in the castle. Twilight would often hang with him as well during this time, both of them talking about random things that he found in the books that caught his interest.

He also found himself spending more time with Ditzy and her daughter outside of work, something which he found to be very enjoyable. Whenever Ditzy had to run an errand, Spark would offer to look after Dinky, and they would play and have lots of fun together. To him, it felt like a part of his foalhood being back.

As for Trixie, he never really got a chance to talk to her much after the incident with his horns. The few times he saw her she was more than happy to greet him, but otherwise she was busy doing a chore or another important thing. In any case, Spark was just happy that she meant what she said before, though he still wishes to talk about that kiss.

Today, with work being done, he was busy looking around for a possible blacksmith to fix something when he ran into Fluttershy in the market area, who was carrying a small book with a broken buckle on it. He was so focused with his search that she saw him before he did. "Oh! Hello, Spark. What brings you here?"

He blinked before looking around for a few moments before seeing her, then he smiled as he saw the yellow mare. "O-Oh, hello Fluttershy." He greeted her. "I was looking for a possible blacksmith to fix something of mine." He told her. "Um...w-what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just here to get my book fixed. It won't stay closed anymore," she said, showing the broken buckle.

He looked at the buckle of the book, and curious he also looked at the title, wondering what kind of book she may be reading. What he saw made him confused, for it was called, "How to speak animal." Couldn't Fluttershy already do that?

"Um...don't you already know how to...you know..." He asked, pointing at the book she was holding.

The yellow mare tilts her head rather cutely. "I can what?" she asked, seemingly clueless.

"You know...to...t-to, um..." He tried to tell her in some way that he thought she knew how to talk to animals, but instead he came up with nothing. Instead he shook his head and gave a sheepish smile. "Never mind." He said, his wings giving a rustle. The shy mare looked at said wings and was happy to see that they were in much better shape than before, though she is sad he is still wearing that hoodie at all.

She smiled and looked at Spark's jacket. "You really shouldn't wear that all the time. No one should hide such pretty wings."

He blushed at the compliment and looked away shyly. "I-I...I don't have...n-nice wings..." He said softly.

Fluttershy tilted her head. "You don't? But Rainbow Dash said they were."

He blinked and glanced at her again. "She did?" He asked, very much confused.

Fluttershy closed her eyes with a smile. "Oh, yes! She's commented on it before. Said despite how messy they were they can be a real nice pair if properly preened on a daily bases."

Now this confused the red pony, having no idea when Dash would have said something like that. Or why, more importantly. True his wings were a whole lot better thanks to her sessions (none of them getting any more out of hoof as of late, thankfully...besides some light teasing from her) and he has been able to maintain his wings on his own now, at least at a basic level. She does make sure that he is always keeping his wings clean whenever they practiced flying and he does still have issues keeping them clean sometimes.

Looking at the pegasus mare, he just nodded his head as he gently kicked the ground. "O-Oh..." Was all he could really say, not sure what else to do besides that. He felt a bit more self conscious of his wings now and the possible attention that they might get, which caused him to ruffle them up. In doing this, he winced and gave a soft grunt as a rather large cramp he had been dealing with once again ached through his joints.

Fluttershy noticed this and frowned. "Oh dear, are you ok? It looks like your in a bit of pain.”

He nodded his head. “Y-yea, just...just a small cramp, it’s nothing.” He said as he gave her a comforting smile, trying to shrug it off as nothing. As another wave of pain washed over him his wings twitched as he nearly staggered, quickly catching himself.

The shy mare wasn’t having any of it. “I think you should go see a doctor, it can’t be-”

“NO!” He shouts before flinching back at his own voice. Shy also flinched back, her eyes wide as he looked at him with surprised. “S-Sorry, I just...not a fan of doctors. T-Too...too invasive.”

“Still, you need to get that dealt with. It doesn’t seem like it’s doing you any good, and I know Dash can be rather tough when it comes to flying, and thinking about you being in so much pain...” She falls silent and just gave him a sad look.

He sighed as he eased his wings a bit to fold them on his back before he turned to face her. "M-Maybe...but I haven't had a problem with it before." He told her. It is true, he has never had an issue with it before. "And her training isn't that hard. my wings are-" He started to say before wincing again as yet another shock of cramps shook through his back.

Fluttershy saw the saw the wave of pain once again pass through him, and then an idea popped into her head. It was another opportunity to help him, and it was so convenient, too, considering things. "Why don't you come to the spa with Rarity and I? We normally have our spa sessions on this day of the week."

Hearing about the offer did cause him some pause, but he shook his head. "N-No, thanks, I don't wish to intru-" he gasped as he stiffened up, his cramp getting a bit worse.

"Feel that? That's your muscles saying otherwise. I'd feel bad if you didn't come with us and relaxed," she said with a worried look.

"B-but I..." he tried to tell her, but as soon as he made eye contact with her, he just froze up. Looking into her eyes, seeing the worry that she held for him, it just brought his heart to a near standstill.

“Please.” She said so kindly and softly. “For me?”

He blushed like mad as he looked at her, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally looked away and gave a nod. "O-Ok...I...I'll go." He said, glancing back at her with a sheepish smile.

She gave a wide grin in response. "Oh, that's wonderful! I'm actually going after this if you'd like to join me!"

As he heard this, he realized he almost forgot why he came here in the first place, and said, "Oh, I almost forgot I needed to-" before he got another cramp. Seeing how they weren't going to go down anytime soon and that he should get it fixed sooner rather than later, he just nodded his head, forgoing his original reason for coming out. "I-I...I think I'm ready whenever you are, Fluttershy." He said, still blushing.

She smiled and quickly finished what she was doing. Once done, Fluttershy led him to a rather nice building. It was pristine on the inside, without a single spot. At the desk were twins, one blue and one pink. Spark, of course, huddled close to the yellow mare once they walked inside, still feeling very much nervous about going to a spa. Plus the way those two looked at him with such curious eyes made him nervous. Thankfully his hood is up as always, so he took comfort in that.

The blue one looked over to Spark and Fluttershy with a smile. "Ah! Velcome! Ve have been expecting you, Fluttershy! And who is zis?"

"He's a very good friend, and he'll be taking the same treatment as Rarity and I."

"Ah! Vell, ve'll need some payment, yes?" she said. Fluttershy nodded and reached into her bag to grab the bits.

This caused the red pony to look at her in surprise. "W-Wait, you don't need to pay, I can-" he tried to say, only got the yellow mare to shake her head.

"Nope. Don't waste your bits. You need this." Seriously, what was with everypony paying for him?

He blushed even harder, feeling rather thankful for how nice they all were, yet at the same time wishing he could pay for his own things. But it was already done, and with it out of his hooves the twins led them to their first destination, the steam room, where Rarity was just about to walk in herself.

"Oh! Fluttershy, darling! I was beginning to wonder if you'd make it this week!" exclaimed Rarity. She hugged Fluttershy tight before noticing Spark. "Oh! Spark is here as well?"

The red pony just smiled shyly and gave a nod to the white mare. "Um...h-hi Rarity." he greeted.

"Hello, darling! Are you here for a treatment?" she asked.

9

"Y-Yes. Fluttershy...c-convinced me to join you two...i-if it isn't a bother, of course." He said, pawing the ground once again.

"Not a bother at all!" she replied. "Come, come! Let's not dally." She opened the door, letting a burst of steam flow out.

Fluttershy gave a small smile to him, encouraging him to walk in. As he started to breath slowly to calm himself down, Lotus was quick to speak up. "I'm zorry, but I must ask zat you remove your clothing before entering ze steam room.." She told him. "You don't have to worry though, I can hold onto it in one of our lockers."

This got him to nearly freeze up, and is about to decline when he saw the look on Fluttershy's face. it was one of slight hope, seeing if he was finally going to take his hoodie off, even if it is for a little bit. Not wanting to have his only major protection be damaged by the steam, he nodded and slowly took his hoodie off, and soon he was naked once again, holding it over to the blue mare.

Fluttershy almost squee'd at the progress. Sure it was necessary for him to get into the steam room, but it still counts in her mind. Rarity walked in first before sitting down on a bench. She patted the spot next to her.

Feeling rather naked without his hoodie, he hesitated for a few moments before the shy mare gently nudged him into the steam room, that smile always on her face. Giving a nod, he walked in and sat down next to the unicorn, Fluttershy sitting down next to him, so now he was between them both, which just made him even more nervous, and it showed as his wings flexed and twitched from his anxiety.

The yellow mare is quick to pick up on this. "Don't feel nervous, Spark," said Fluttershy as she sat down. "This is a place to relax in."

“Indeed, no anxiety is allowed in these halls while you are here.” Rarity agreed with a smile of her own.

He nodded and took a deep breath before carefully exhaling. He closed his eyes and began to focus on just trying to relax. Slowly, he could feel the tension melting away from his body, the steam gently soaking into his fur, and he gave a small smile as he started to relax. The two mares smiled as they glanced at each other, slightly surprised that he actually started to calm down, but very glad to see Spark finally relaxing.

"See, darling? All anypony really needs in order to relieve stress is a simple trip to the spa. It works wonders!" exclaimed Rarity.

"Then after this are hooficures, mud baths, and the jacuzzi. The last one's my favorite," said Fluttershy.

He blushed at the mentioned other activities, especially the mud bath one. However, he would talk about it when it happened. For now, he just smiled and nodded in agreement. "I-I...I guess so," he said.

"So how have you been doing?" asked Rarity.

He tilted his head in thought for a few moments before he replied. "Can't really complain. Everything has been going rather well for me...which is surprising. Normally by now I would have expected to be run off cause of my...w-well...um..." He paused as he looked at the floor, still too shy to say it, even though the girls knew what he was talking about. After all, the steam had matted his fur enough so that his horns were now in plain view of them both.

Sensing the tension starting to build up, Rarity quickly tried to think of something to change the subject before turning to Fluttershy. "So um... How are your animals?"

Fluttershy smiled in return, understanding what the white unicorn was trying to do. "Oh, they're just fine! So, Spark! Have you gotten off the ground yet?"

He shook his head as he looked at the kind mare. "N-No, not yet. I did learn how to glide a bit, so...t-there's that at least." he said. He didn't notice how the white mare looked at his horns, most likely for the best considering how he already thinks about himself.

Fluttershy looked at Spark's horns as well and smiled. "You know, they're not so bad. They're like animal horns. I really like animals."

He wasn't really sure how to take that, but the fact that she even liked them at all caused him to blush even more. "R-Really?" He asked, his cheeks bright red, even visible through his coat. She nodded and smiled at him while he just stayed silent in embarrassment. Rarity found the whole thing to be rather adorable, giving a small smile as she tried to contain herself from it.

(One Hour Later)

"...and she says to me, 'Zat iz vhy ve use ze towels in ze first place!'" Rarity finished in a joke.

Spark laughed as he heard the joke, unable to stop the small chuckling fit as he did so. It had been a relaxing hour in the steam room, both of them huddled a bit close to him, Fluttershy more so than Rarity. it seems they were a lot more into cuddling and such here than other places, and for a pony like Spark it took some getting used to. However, after a small nuzzle from the shy mare and that amazing smile of hers, he just couldn't say no and allowed them to practically hold him. Plus it helped that the steam room was acting like a sedative for his mind, keeping him nice and relaxed. It was almost like the sauna had a magical effect on all of them.

Rarity removed her cheek from Sparks's and looked at the clock on the wall. "Ten more minutes until hooficures, darlings." She reminded the yellow mare, grinning excitedly.

He groaned as he got up from his spot, shaking his wings a bit before closing them. They still were a bit cramped, but not nearly as much as before. "Um...I-I'm not sure I want to do that, I'll be honest." He said with a blush, looking at his hooves. They seemed fine to him.

The girls gave him curious looks. "Why not?" asked Fluttershy. "They can be very relaxing."

He still shook his head. "Maybe so, but I...I just don't think that it's a good fit for me." He said. It was then that his wings gave a jerk as he winced, though he was able to hold it together, the two mares easily saw the wince. Thankfully, Rarity perked up as an idea popped into her head.

"Darling? Would you like to get a massage instead?" asked Rarity.

He tilted his head in confusion at this. "A massage? Um...w-what's a...massage?" He asked. He knew what a hooficure was, but not a massage?! This got the mares to stare at him with incredulous looks.

Rarity laughed nervously. "That's a very charming joke, darling!" She laughed for a bit more before it slowly died down, leaving a confused Spark to look at them both.

"Um...I don't think he's joking Rarity." Fluttershy stated.

The white mare’s eyes went wide with shock. "Oh... oh dear no. That's not acceptable. No one should go their whole life without even hearing of a massage," said Rarity. He just stared at her as she began to nearly go on a tangent."It's simply not right. I will personally ask Lotus if she'll give the massage."

As this went on Fluttershy noticed that Spark was still just as confused as before, and she gently tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "It's like a back rub," she explained. “You'll love it."

Spark raised an eyebrow at this. "Um...I guess?" He agreed with a nod. If it's just like a back rub, than it should be fine for him...he hoped.

"It's settled," said Rarity, finally having calmed down enough from her moment. "We shall go in," she glanced at the clock. "Five minutes."

Flutters looked at Spark with heavy thoughts on her mind. The biggest question, however, was if he'd ever considered settling down during that time.

It wasn't that big of a thought since he had already decided to stay in Ponyville, but the question remained still. In any case, Spark remained leaning back, a small smile on his face as he sighed, doing his best to enjoy the rest of the time in the steam room. During this time the girls chatted to each other about their day and about some sort of book series that they were reading.

"But if Miss Penny Pinched wasn't so blind to his true worth, the book would have ended happily. I don't understand why they ended it on such a sour note," questioned Rarity.

"I think it delivers a strong message. Ending it happily just means you can get away with what you've done to others without consequences. I'd say the book ended fairly," reasoned Fluttershy.

Spark was so zoned out with listening to the two talk that he didn't even notice when the doors opened and Aloe peaked her head in and announced, "Ok dears, the hooficures are ready!"

“Oh Aloe, by chance can you have your sister massage Spark here? He has never even heard of a massage before.” Asks Rarity.

“Oh mon dieu! Zat’s just not acceptable!” Aloe said, eyes wide with shock. Spark just sank a bit in his seat, still unsure as to what the big deal is with not knowing what a massage was. “Vut ov course Rarity, I zhall lead him to the room.”

Nodding her thanks, the two mares getting up from their seats and stretch their legs out, letting small, satisfied sighs before glancing at the red stallion. "Good luck, darling. Fluttershy and I will be getting hooficures." Rarity said, giving him a comforting smile.

He swallowed as he looked over at the pink mare who smiled at him, and with a nod to himself he got up and left the steam room after looking at the other two one last time, both of them still giving him comforting smiles. As he followed the spa pony, he couldn't help but to sweat a bit at what may happen next. And it wasn’t from the steam room.

Aloe noticed this as she looked at him worriedly. "Iz somezing ze matter, dear?" the pony asked as they walked.

He quickly shook his head. "Oh, no. I just...t-this is my first time in a spa. A-And...and first time getting a massage." he told her.

"Oh I noticed and it iz rather adorable!” She said, giggling. He blushed at the fact that she did notice, but she quickly added, “Fear not. Lotus and I are trained in ze art of relaxation, and ve vill not judge you on the fact that youv never been to a spa before. If anything, it juzt makes us more determined to make your time here zat much more enjoyable!" she assured, smiling.

He smiled lightly back, finding her confidence to be rather reassuring. Soon they reached an empty room where Lotus was busy tidying up. “Zizter! Spark here is in need of a massage. And this iz hiz firzt time, so make it a memorable one for him!” She said grinning.

The blue mare paused as she looked at her sister first, then at Spark with some surprise. “Oh, hiz first time? I shall make sure it is very pleasant zen indeed!” Lotus agrees. She motions him over to her, to which he follows and stands next to her. Aloe, seeing he is in good hoofs, leaves the room to attend to the other two mares.

After a bit of finishing up, Lotus has one of the tables set up. Looking over at Spark, she patted the large table beside her. "Lay here, pleaze. On ze stomach."He gave a small nod as he first sat on the table then laid down, face down as she instructed, adjusting himself so that he was looking forward comfortably. He didn't know what to expect at first, but before he could even guess, the pressure of hooves were on his back, slowly pressing down on his spine.

He started to panic a bit as a rather strong feeling of pain began to build up, making him wince as he quickly tried and pulled back from it. Thankfully, seeing how he reacted, Lotus was quick to respond and comfort him. "Hold ztill. It only hurts for a second. Trust me on zis, pleaze."

He didn't say anything for a few moments before giving a small nod and doing as she said, slowly relaxing once again. As she pushed down, the pain returned, but as she had promised, his back popped loudly, giving him immense relief.

His eyes went wide and he grunted at the pop before letting out a large gasp and then a long sigh. Now fully relaxed, his muscles were loose enough for the blue pony to get to work. It was like he had stepped into the ether itself, his body feeling more relaxed than he had ever been. No stress, no worries, not even a single thought plagued him throughout it all.It was amazing how this could happen from just a bit of back rubbing, at least in his opinion. He sighed as he allowed the mare to fully take over his body, the relaxation flowed through him like water over rocks. He was starting to even feel a bit hazy from the massage, his mind getting muddled in being so relaxed, never having been so calm before in his life. It was almost addicting to him and he didn’t want it to stop, not even for a second. Especially with how they managed to rub the pain right out of his wings, doing it so effortlessly and as to not cause any lewd thoughts to enter his mind. He barely even noticed other ponies were touching his wings he was that relaxed. It went on like this for the rest of the hour, the time slowly going by, while at the same time it felt like no time at all. His sense of time was rather off during it, so he had no idea if it was an hour or ten minutes when she finally lifted her hooves off of his back.

"Iz all done, sir! We hope you have a good day,~" Lotus said with her cheery smile.

He blinked his eyes as he looked around with slight confusion as he realized he had dozed off a bit. He looked himself over and gave his wings a few flaps, surprised with how smooth the movements felt. Moving his legs a bit showed the same thing as he just smiled at the twin. "Wow, I...I feel amazing. Thank you, you are amazing!" He said with a large grin

She giggles at the compliment. "Iz no big deal! We do zis every day after all.~" Lotus walked over to the counter and picked up a pamphlet before bringing it over to Spark. He looked at the paper curiously as she brought it over. It appeared to show what specials the sisters offered each day. Massages seemed to be 20% off on Tuesdays.

Seeing what it was, he just smiled his thanks as he took the paper. "Um...s-still though...t-thanks again." He said, his cheeks heating up a bit as his shyness started to return to him. It was at this point that Rarity and Fluttershy entered the room, having just had their hoof treatments finished.

"Hello, darling," greeted Rarity. "How was your massage?"

He smiled at the two as he gave his wings a ruffle. "Amazing! I never felt so relaxed in my life!" He said, letting out a small sigh at the memory of it. Of course he blushed right after he realized how he acted as the two of them giggled at his happiness.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," said Rarity.

"We should do this again next week," suggested Fluttershy. "Honestly, you looked like you really needed that treatment."

He thought about it for a few moments, idling kicking the ground as he did so. He had to be honest, he really did enjoy it, plus spending some more time with Fluttershy was very nice too. It was something he rarely got a chance to do. "I-I...sure, if you're there I won't m-mind..." He says rather softly, but loud enough for them to hear it, his cheeks going red once again.

Fluttershy gave him a quick smile, happy to see him smiling as well and of course more than pleased to hear that he wanted to continue doing this with them.

It was at this point that he looked at the clock and realized how late it was getting. He gave them a small smile before saying, "I think I should head back, it's getting rather late and I need to get some sleep for work tomorrow." He told them.

"Well, alright, darling. Sleep well!" replied Rarity.

"I hope you have sweet dreams," said Fluttershy.

He nodded his head and with a wave to the two mares heads out. Looking outside, he took a small breath and exhaled before heading back to the castle, a bit of pep in his step thanks to the miraculous massage.

Little did he know, that a certain pony was watching him from beyond a few stalls, watching his every move.

Author's Note

Sorry it took this long to post. Also been working on Where The Apples Grow for a big return.