A Broken Flame

A Broken Flame

By Luckyfanisaac, Applefai, RainbowGlow, Anonymous Turtle, Dinosaur, Dolphin, and Iguana;

Day 3 part 2

Day 3

Current Time: 1:00 pm

Monday, July 10th

Opal and her friends stroll around town, showing DJ the outs and ins of their community. They visit the train station to show DJ the best train to catch if he wants to visit other towns. They, subsequently, all display him a map of the train lines and which one goes where.

Afterwards, they present him the library and its vast majority of books, by taking him up and down the aisles, showing him the sections that range from adult to foal, novels and autobiographies. As they reveal to him each section, they see the librarian and talk to her a bit.

"Afternoon young'uns, how are you all doing today?" Ms. Manesbury asks as she greets them.

"Oh, afternoon Ms. Manesbury, we're just showing DJ here around town." Opal Bloom responds as she introduces DJ to her.

"That's nice, pleasure to meet you young man, would you like to sign up for a library card?" she offers.

"Sure!" DJ accepts as Opal helps him out.

"Alright, just sign here and here." Ms. Manesbury says as Opal helps DJ out, signing his name on the back. Ms. Manesbury takes it to be laminated and brings it back.

"Here you go, dearie, please come again." she says as they leave.

After they leave the library, they take DJ to the Crystal Stadium, where sports are played.

"I never was a big fan of sports. They just seem boring." DJ says.

"Yeah, sports aren't for everypony." Gleamie replies with an understanding tone before turning to Archer.

"No offence."

"Little taken." Archer replies. Ever since she was little she's been a big archery and jousting fan. Her dad even took her to her first game when she was nine years old.

"Sorry to offend, but they just don't do anything for me." DJ apologizes as he tries to explain his stance on sports to her.

They end their tour by stopping at the statue of Spike ‘The brave and glorious’. DJ stares in awe as the statue glistens in the sun.

The girls all give their thoughts on Spike and start praising him.

"He's so brave. I hear he single handedly climbed the tower to get the heart." Opal says as she marvels at the statue. He’s probably the one of the few males she actually likes.

"I think he's letting the fame get into his head a bit, though." Gleamie replies as she looks at the statue.

“I would really like to impress him with my arching skills.” Archer expresses with her hooves on her cheeks.

“I think he is quite handsome,” says Sun Glimmer dreamily, “for a dragon, that is.”

"So, what do y'all want to do now?" Opal Bloom asks as they all ponder on what to do next.

"Hey, why don't we go to the archery range and shoot some targets?" Archer suggests with a grin.

They head over to the archery range and once they arrive Archer picks out a quiver with a score of arrows and shows off her skills in target practice with the others joining in.

DJ Hopper fires a few lasers at the target, actually feeling a slight rush as he locks on another target, using his laser he lets out a loud "EXTERMINATE!!!". As he blows up the target, he gets a bit carried away in the catharsis.

Once he realizes what he has done he drops his ears and looks back.

"Sorry." he embarrassingly apologizes to the girls for his carelessness.

"Ah, it's ok, it was pretty cool." Archer says while patting him on the back.

They then decide to head to Sun Glimmer’s family spa.

Shortly after arriving, they head into the spa, where they are greeted by the spa ponies, who gush at DJ Hopper’s cuteness.

"Oh my gosh aren't you a cute little colt." One of them coos.

“What a handsome little boy!” another one says.

"These are the spa ponies," says Sun Glimmer, "and this is my mother, Crystal Needles." she adds as she hugs her mother.

"Oh, you're a new face." Crystal Needles addresses DJ. "Are you a new friend of my daughter's?" she asks.

"Mom, this is DJ, DJ this is my mother." Sun Glimmer says as she introduces them to each other.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." DJ said introducing himself like a gentleman would, by bowing his head.

Opal can’t help but to giggle at how proper he is, but also finds it admirable.

"Why don't you all get a spa treatment of your choice? My treat." Sun Glimmer offers, wanting to offer them all any treatment of their choice.

The girls go for a steam room, a mud bath, a seaweed wrap, and a massage, to top it off.

DJ opts to join the girls in their treatments and goes into the changing room to take off his clothes and put on some orange swim trunks and a matching orange shirt. He then heads into the steam room with the girls, the steam blasting and warming him up instantly as it opens his pores. After a bit of convincing, since he’s worried about whether he can breathe in it.

"This sauna is one of the best in the land. The steam really opens up your pores and kinda melts the stress away. The heat comes from the hot stones and you can adjust it by pouring water over them," Sun Glimmer says, talking about the sauna and how it works.

"Hmm, interesting. Where I'm from, the males would usually produce the heat from a side room or from a storage bank of heat and it spreads to mares as they try to absorb it." DJ expresses as he leans back on the bench.

"Hmm, I can tell." Gleamie says as she sits right next to DJ, starting to feel the heat coming from him.

"Oh, that's just my body heat." DJ expresses as Gleamie starts to move in closer, because it’s starting to get much warmer compared to the room.

Archer sits across from Gleamie and DJ and on Sunny’s right. She then gets up and comes over, standing in front of DJ and realizing that Gleamie is right, it does seem warmer next to him.

Sun Glimmer then gets up and sits on DJ’s left, wanting to get warmer too, followed by Archer who sits next to Sunny.

Opal Bloom tries to lean closer into Gleamie since she’s sitting on Gleamie’s right side.

DJ blushes, feeling a bit cramped as all the girls try to get closer to him, trying to get warmer.

"You all should back away a bit, it seems he's getting uncomfortable." one of the spa ponies, Golden Glitter, who’s putting water on the rocks says, seeing DJ blush.

"I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't m-m-m-mind." DJ stutters a bit while blushing, causing Opal to giggle as she brings her right hoof to cover her mouth.

"You're such a silly colt." she says as she nudges him with her other hoof.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Cadence has completed DJ’s room and finished putting fireproof enchantments on all the furniture.

“I hope he likes it,” she thinks to herself as she ponders on what to do now.

After a moment's thought, Cadence then decides to try looking for DJ and Opal Bloom to check up on him.

Back at the spa, DJ and the girls exit the sauna feeling very hot and sweaty, but exceptionally relaxed as they get blasted with cold air from exiting.

"Wow, you never realize how cold it is here until you take a shvitz." Gleamie says as she shivers from the cold blast.

The other girls nod and comment in agreement on how cold they suddenly feel, wrapping their front hooves around their bodies and shivering, while DJ giggles.

"That's a pretty common feeling." he says as he watches the girls go to the ladies’ locker room to take a shower.

DJ goes into the boys’ shower room and cleans himself on his own, scrubbing his head and arms as best as he can without a loofah, not sure if using his own cleaning equipment was allowed.

Meanwhile in the shower the girls are all giggling and talking about DJ and what they all just witnessed.

"He's really cute when he blushes." Sun Glimmer says, while her voice cracks.

Opal giggles, thinking it was funny seeing him all flustered.

"Yeah he is, he's a sweet one, I know that." she replies.

"Yeah, but I do wonder how girls absorb heat from where he's from." Archer says with Gleamie, nodding in agreement.

After washing up, the girls exit the shower as they all meet up outside the shower rooms and head into the mud room to get wrapped in seaweed and take a mud bath.

The girls all get covered up in fresh seaweed and then jump in the jell-o like slime mud.

DJ Hopper teeters on the edge, a bit hesitant.

"I don't like to get dirty." he says as the crystal spa ponies come up and stroke his back gently.

"Don't worry, dear. The slime doesn’t get on you and you're clean when you exit." they say while rubbing his back.

"Ok, but I don't want to be naked." DJ replies, agreeing to join the girls in the mud bath.

"Of course. Come with us." the spa ponies say as they pull him behind some blinds and wrap him in seaweed on the parts that weren’t covered by his swim outfit. He then takes off his shirt and the ponies wrap his stomach and back with seaweed.

Once he comes out, the girls greet him as they all enter the crystal mud bath together, all wrapped in seaweed. DJ had a scarf of seaweed around his neck, a seaweed shirt, and seaweed socks on his back and front legs.

"So DJ, have you enjoyed the tour?" Opal asks him as she settles into the mud.

"I loved it, and I'm grateful that you showed me around and introduced me to the Empire and to your friends." DJ replies as he gives her a hug to express his gratitude, making her blush in the process.

Archer and Sunny play around in the slime as Opal and DJ talk. Gleamie moves over to Opal’s right side while DJ’s on Opal’s left side, joining in on the conversation.

"So DJ, what did you like the most about the tour?" Gleamie asks.

DJ ponders the choice for a moment before he answers.

"I liked the statue of Spike, the archery, and the spa." he blushes as he continues, a hint of shyness in his voice.

"I especially enjoyed the affection from the spa ponies, the crystal maids at the castle give me the same treatment, which I really like." he replies bashfully.

Opal giggles a bit. "You're such a silly boy for liking affection from girls." she says as she playfully nudges him.

"So, do you all go to the spa often?" DJ asks the girls.

"No, usually I'm at the archery range." Archer says, shoving some of the slime towards Sunny.

"I'm pretty busy on the farm." Opal replies.

"I'm usually doing my own thing." Gleamie replies.

"I'm pretty much here all the time: since my family owns it I get in for free, and if I bring guests with me they get a discount." Sunny replies, smiling and shoving some slime back at Archer.

As they all relax in the bath, they talk in the relaxing atmosphere, striking up a conversation about relaxing things, like music, and drift away in the mud bath.

A few minutes later Cadence comes in, looking for DJ. She’s greeted by a smiling Crystal Needles.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cadence! Is there something I can help you with? Would you like your usual treatment?"

Cadence smiles affectionately at her.

"Good afternoon, Crystal Needles. There’s no need to address me in that way, dear, feel free to call me Cadence. I came here to look for a peculiar young colt, his name’s DJ." Cadence says as she starts to look at the bath. "Oh, here he is! I’ll head over there now." Cadence affirms.

She makes her way towards the bath. Sunny catches sight of her, getting excited.

"Oh my gosh," she whispers impatiently, "Princess Cadence is here!"

DJ raises his ears, turning his head to look at Cadence. His hearts beat loudly in enthusiasm. He rushes over to the edge of the pool.

"Hey, Cadence, what are you doing here? Come over here!" DJ exclaims, his arms outstretched at the Princess to join them and to ask for a hug.

"My word, what do I do?" Sunny mouths, mainly to herself.

"I don’t know, I’m freaking out…" Archer replies, gulping. They both aren’t used to being in Cadence’s presence.

Upon Cadence’s approach, Archer and Sunny clumsily bow their heads in the tub, careful to not dirty them. Opal and Gleamie, on the contrary, offhandedly nod, accustomed to the Princess’s company. Cadence just smiles slightly.

"Girls, I’ve told you several times, you don’t need to bow in my presence, feel free to just be yourselves."

"Oh, I’m sorry, Princ- um, Cadence, we won’t do it again." Sunny attempts to apologize.

"Yeah, absolutely, we are extremely sorry, Cadence." Archer adds.

"It’s okay." the Princess says, faintly shaking her head while she smiles.

"Cadence, what are you doing here?" DJ curiously asks again.

"Oh, I’ve just finished decorating your room and I came here to tell you this. I think that you’ll really like it, DJ, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you." Cadence jokingly says, and her smile widens by seeing DJ’s eyes light up in eagerness to find out how his room will be.

"Wow, that’s cool! Thank you so much, Cadence, but I’m afraid that I’ll come with you only after I’ve finished my spa treatment." DJ tells the Princess, "I think that I’m getting a little too comfortable here." he adds with a chuckle.

"Do you want to join us in the tub here? I don’t want you to wait for me, besides, it’s truly relaxing…" he proposes.

"Sure, I think that I really need some relaxation." Cadence approves.

Cadence takes off her lavishly decorated armor and joins DJ and the girls in the tub, after getting wrapped in seaweed, sinking into the mud. DJ takes the opportunity to approach her and give her a tight hug around her belly, and snuggles up to the Princess feeling safe and warm. Cadence, in turn, tenderly wraps her well kept hooves around his small body.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm…" DJ voices as he sighs in contentment and relaxation, wagging his tail in the process.

Suddenly his body starts to cast an amber glow, suffused at first, growing more intense as time passes. Opal, Gleamie, Archer, and Sunny observe the occurrence in fascination, deeply allured. Archer and Sunny come close to Opal and Gleamie to have the overriding consultation on why the colt is glowing in this way. They gather together and silently voice their considerations.

"I mean, there’s no doubt here, he’s producing a fire! Maybe wherever he’s from they do this often…?" Archer proposes, casually looking at DJ while she speaks.

"Hmm… maybe he is part crystal pony?" Opal proposes.

"Well, that doesn’t explain what is happening now… but, in all honesty, he’s twenty percent cuter now, and that’s saying a lot." Sunny expresses her point of view with her voice cracking at the end.

"He sure is, but maybe we would worry about what’s happening… I can feel the mud getting hotter, do you all think that he could boil us alive?" Gleamie expresses.

"What?" the others, wide eyed, reply in unison, unintentionally raising their voices.

Cadence and DJ look confusedly at the group, slightly tilting their heads to the side. The girls, on the other hand, smile back at them before returning to their conversation.

"Well, we’ve got to find out! Who’s going to ask Cadence what the hell’s happening?" Opal asks.

She gives the group an expecting look as everyone remains silent, trying to avoid her stare.

"Well?" she queries.

"Well what? I’m certainly not going to do it, and that’s all." Gleamie states crossing her hooves.

"I’m not either. I barely even know her!" Archer adds.

"Ok, then Sunny should do it." Opal Bloom says, and, seeing Sun Glimmer’s displeased glance, she adds, "I mean, it’s your family’s spa, Sunny, and I’m sure that they wouldn’t like the fact that their beloved spa is practically on the verge of burning down…"

"Oh my gosh, fine I’ll do it!" Sunny reluctantly approves, after letting out an annoyed huff.

"Um, hey, Cadence…" Sunny awkwardly utters.

Cadence turns her head to face the crystal earth pony.

"Yeah?" she kindly asks, with a smile on her face.

"Gosh, this is so awkward, who made me do this?"she thinks to herself.

"Um, we were wondering, you know, why DJ is kind of glowing…?"

"Oh! Don’t worry, this is a legitimate question. He glows like this when he is particularly delighted," she answers. "Don’t worry, the light released is completely harmless, it won’t burn down the spa or anything like that." Cadence continues, chuckling lightly.

The girls all sigh in relief. Thank goodness.

"Oh, we weren’t thinking about that at all! We were just curious." Sunny voices, laughing back rather awkwardly.

The spa ponies come to inform the group that they should get out of the tub now, lest their body temperature increase to an unhealthy level. Because of this they all exit the tub and let the spa ponies take off the seaweed wrap from each of them, before heading out to get some relaxing massages, which will end their spa session in a quintessential way.

The group makes its way towards a large massage room. Its setting is particularly luxurious and welcoming at the same time. The crystalline walls are made of tangerine and ember parts combined together to form a mosaic, in a way. Dimly illuminated by the warm lights of a copious amount of scented candles, they cast out colorful lights. Ten cream colored massage beds are symmetrically placed, one next to the other. Light piano music is played by a source that the group can’t quite decipher, placed nearby. From left to right, Gleamie, Opal, DJ, Cadence, Sunny, and Archer proceed to lie down on their respective seats.

"Hmm, I can feel some tension coming from you, DJ." the massage pony states, "Also from you, Opal… I think that our famous special massage is the right thing for you two now."

"Opal! That’s bizarre… She's always so light-hearted and merry. Maybe it’s because of farm work. Yeah, it has to be that." a thoughtful DJ Hopper considers as he relaxes on the massage bed.

The massage pony starts rubbing DJ’s back, finding his knots and working vigorously on them. Other spa ponies start to take care of the others. DJ’s skin, in the meantime, warms up in release, as he sighs deeply. When he feels that his muscles find the needed relaxation, hot fire inadvertently bursts from him, causing the spa pony’s hooves to get warmed up.

"Wow! That was… curious." the spa pony notes.

"Oh, sorry about that, it’s kind of a peculiarity of mine…" DJ responds.

"No worries, DJ."

"Now, would you like a wing massage, Miss Cadence? And what about you, DJ?" the massage pony that is taking care of the Princess proposes.

"Sure, I’d really like that, thanks dear." Cadence answers.

"Yeah, I’d like that too, thanks." echoes DJ.

Cadence and DJ spread out their wings, which are both magnificently vast.

"Wow!" the spa pony that was working on him exclaims as she marvels at the impressive wingspan. "Those are pretty big for a Pegasus." she comments as she starts to massage his wings.

"I'm actually a winged earth pony or an Earthagus, if you will." DJ replies kindly as he purrs at the gentle rubbing.

"Oh, sorry about that. They’re majestic, by the way." The spa pony apologizes, while the girls just raise their heads in awe as they continue to get massaged.

"I thought you were a bit big boned for a Pegasus." Archer observes as she looks up from her massage.

"Are you calling me fat?" DJ asks, while raising an eyebrow.

"Oh no, sorry, I should've been more clear." Archer retracts. "I'm just saying you have a large bone structure for a Pegasus."

"DJ and I are working on making him able to fly." Cadence then explains.

"Oh, that’s cool!" Archer expresses.

"I know, right? Cadence made me do a lot of wing exercises… I was exhausted by the time that the session finished. Firstly, she made me move my wings up and down to start flying, but, since my muscles there are pretty weak, I could only fly a few inches. So I started doing some wing exercises, such as wing ups, trots, some stand up stretches, tug of war, and a few others, and Cadence stated that I was quite strong for being a small colt, but in reality I’m weak compared to the standards of where I come from." DJ explains.

"Well, you seem pretty athletic to me… you were tremendously good at maneuvering when we were playing tag." Opal considers.

DJ slightly blushes.

"Thank you, Opal, that actually was part of my training, call it schooling if you will, that I was taking to be some sort of traveler." DJ explains.

"Some sort of traveler?" Opal tries to inquire further.

"Yeah…" DJ answers, not willing to uncover additional details.

A silence follows as the spa ponies do the wing massages.

"Ok, do you girls want a hooficure while you get your massages?" the spa ponies ask.

"Yes!" Opal, Gleamie, Archer, and Sunny simultaneously exclaim, with excitement in their crystalline voices.

"I’d like one too, I really need my hooves to be touched up." Cadence adds.

"Um, can I get a hooficure too, please?" DJ Hopper timidly asks with his ears splaying back and looking up shyly.

The girls are surprised by his unusual request, and stare at him.

"What? A colt has needs too." DJ defends himself.

"No, it’s nothing… it’s just that no male has ever asked for that, for all that I know, at least." Sunny quickly replies.

"Oh, never mind. I just want to keep my hooves as tidy as Cadence's ones are." DJ affirms.

"DJ, you know that you don’t have to do it, right? It doesn’t change a thing on how I, or anyone else, really, perceives you." Cadence asks DJ, reassuring him.

"Oh, no, it’s not about that. I want to do it for myself, don’t worry." DJ assures.

Therefore, a spa pony removes Cadence's shoes and starts working on her hooves. Another one, on the other hand, comes up to DJ and starts to take care of his hooves. But soon the pony stops, since she doesn’t know how to treat his uncommon mechanical fingers.

"Um… I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve never seen hooves of this kind, is there a specific way to care for them?" the spa pony politely asks DJ Hopper.

"Oh, it’s ok, I understand that it’s not common here to have them. Just work around the mechanical fingers and get any dirt off of them, please. Here, I’ll extend them." the colt explains as he expands his fingers.

The spa pony starts working delicately on him.

"If you don’t mind me asking, why do you have such a peculiar gadget?" she curiously asks.

"It’s alright. I use them to control my magic." he explains.

"Magic! Of what kind?" the pony questions.

"Let me show you a taste." DJ responds.

He picks up a file by levitating it and starts spinning it around, firstly slowly, but then in such a fast way that no one could even see it. He stops the spinning as he returns the file to the spa pony, who is utterly amazed at what she has just witnessed.

"Wow, that’s spectacular, DJ! You are very talented for being such a young pony." she observes as she compliments DJ, whose cheeks, in turn, start to redden brightly.

"You’re too kind." a smiling DJ Hopper thanks her, his cheeks still of the color of rubins.

"No, not at all, the compliment is a hundred percent genuine." the spa pony responds. "Anyway, we’re done with the hooficure. Now we’re going to top everything off with another session of massages. You and Miss Cadence will get another wing treatment, since they are body parts that need special attention." she states.

The massage ponies start to give wing massages to Cadence and DJ, while the girls get the regular ones. DJ starts to get really sensitive at the treatment, since he isn’t used to his wings and the sensations that begin to come from the treatment yet. The colt is wholeheartedly ecstatic, while his senses are profoundly stimulated. Because of this, his body starts to cringe and slightly recoils, while his mouth, drowning in bliss and pleasure, starts to utter moans. The girls, turning their head to witness the whole scene, start to giggle while covering their mouths with their clean, now well kept hooves. Meanwhile, DJ, overwhelmed with all the blissful sensations building up, senses that he’s starting to feel sleepy. “These spa ponies are so good, maybe a little too good.” DJ thinks to himself.

"Can you move me right next to Cadence, please? I want to lay under her right wing, if it’s possible." DJ requests.

"Of course, we’ll do it now." the spa ponies reply.

All the spa ponies that are in the massage room help to lift the bed up, so that it doesn’t groan against the floor, potentially bothering the others, moving it in a way that it’s positioned next to Cadence’s one. The Princess lays her right wing over DJ, embracing him as he cuddles up to her, feeling euphorically warm and protected.

"Caaaaadence…" he exclaims softly, in a low voice, sighing in bliss as he relaxes and closes his eyes, feeling safe in her presence.

They all relax as they enjoy their massages, absolutely delighted, DJ resting under Cadence’s wing as a spa pony massages the Princess’s left wing, and another one works on DJ Hopper’s right wing. The colt gradually starts to close his eyes as he falls asleep, glowing yellow intensely, in deep relaxation. After a while, the massage ponies have finished the final massages, DJ’s glow now spreading across the room, causing Opal and Gleamie to turn their heads away from him, blinded by the intense light. Cadence, at this point, gently nudges DJ awake as everyone gets ready to exit the spa. The colt, with shaky legs, slowly puts on his clothes as Cadence waits for him. They make their way towards the exit of the spa, gradually because DJ’s limbs are still unsteady from the relaxation, where they meet the girls.

"Sunny, thank you so much for the spa treatment, it was really needed for my tight muscles!" Archer affirms with a smile.

"Yeah Sunny, thank you!" Opal and Gleamie echo simultaneously.

“Yeah thaaaaaaaanks Ssssssssunnnnnyyyy.” DJ slurred.

"Gosh, it really did something… my body feels a lot tighter, like, look at my muscles! They are so toned." Gleamie observes, posing her body in a flattering way so that the others could look.

"Yeah mine too…" Opal approves.

"Yup, I approve. My family’s spa certainly does wonders." Sunny says.

"Absolutely." Archer agrees.

The girls all imitate Crystal Gleam’s stances, causing DJ to blush, heat warming every part of his body, as he finds them quite attractive. Opal Bloom notices it and decides to tease him by continuing to pose, accentuating even more of her body. Eventually DJ Hopper cannot resist his senses, and his wings pop up unintentionally, causing Opal Bloom to laugh so hard that she falls on the ground, finding that taunting DJ is beyond exhilarating. At the same time DJ, cherry red and profoundly embarrassed, tries to hide behind Cadence, inspiring the girls to giggle, including the Princess, finding his sheepishness extremely cute and adorable.

"Alright girls that’s enough. I think you have teased DJ plenty." Cadence says, trying to calm DJ down.

"Princ- um, Cadence, I’m extremely sorry for her childish behavior… I swear, she’s usually not like this! I’ll talk with her later." Gleamie apologizes to the Princess, trying to lift Opal from the ground.

"Oh, I… I d-don’t m-m-mind, I sw-swear!" DJ stutters, with a trembling voice.

That causes Opal to laugh even harder, while Gleamie mouths to her to stop it.

"I… I’m sorry! It’s… it’s just that he’s… so… so… funnily cute!" Opal states between each laugh, out of breath.

"Oh my gosh, Opal, what does that even mean? Get up!" Gleamie exclaims, desperately trying to calm her down.

"Ok, ok, I’m calm! I’m… calm." Opal expresses, getting up.

"Ok, girls, I think that DJ and I must go back to the castle. He can barely stand up… do you want to come with us? You can also see DJ’s new bedroom!" Cadence proposes.

"Um, I don’t think that-" Sunny and Archer begin to say.

"Absolutely! We cannot wait to see it." Opal and Gleamie interrupt them.

The group makes its way towards the castle, with DJ Hopper riding on Cadence’s back.