A jingle from the bell over the door at the entrance to Feathers and Rest Spa attracted the proprietor's attention. The proprietor, a pegasus stallion with cream colored coat and crimson mane, trotted quickly out of the back room to see who had come in.
It wasn't a customer; though Forest Feather did smile at the arrival. Just inside the barn-style split door was a young unicorn colt with a dusky blue coat covering his body and a deep faded gold mane and tail shaded with streaks of lighter gold. The colt looked mildly annoyed as he turned to Feather. "Dad? Some ponies are here for you with a --" He cut off when he saw a hoof put to Feather's muzzle in a quieting motion. Feather said in a hushed tone, "Thanks Dusk Glow. Please don't say anything to your sister or mother until I do, it's a surprise!" He glanced at the youngster thoughtfully. "In fact…"
"Yeah dad?" The colt looked up conspiratorially as Feather grinned.
Feather leaned in and whispered, "Go keep your mother occupied around back of the house, nowhere near the front or kitchen windows, okay?"
"Will do!" Dusk Glow said, quickly cantering into the back room and up the stairs. Feather heard a clattering of hooves on wood as he went up the stairs and then the soft murmur of voices. Good, that kept them out of the way.
With a glance towards the back room to make sure his daughter and wife weren't present, Feather ducked behind the counter. He carefully pulled out the lockbox that held their bits and selected a few as a delivery tip. These he tucked into his mane where they wouldn't fall and trotted out the door. Outside stood two bulky earth stallions as well as the surprise. He had to admit it was bigger than he'd expected, but seeing it finally near their home was a welcome sight.
One of the stallions, a ruddy red color with black mane, slipped his harness and walked up. "You Forest Feather?" He asked gruffly.
"That I am. I trust you found the spa all right?" Feather inquired.
"No troubles. The boss said he appreciated the work and if anything happens to let him know; he guarantees his work and will be out to repair anything that needs fixing. Said it was nice to work on such a setup, and last time he did was for a blowhard showmare who was a pain to deal with." The stallion shook his head. "Where can we set it up and give you the final details?"
"This way. If you could please be quiet too, that'd be wonderful. It's a surprise for my wife and she's inside being distracted, but I don't want anything to try and draw her attention!" Feather smiled at the two.
Both delivery stallions grinned right back. "Sure thing."
It took ten minutes to get everything ready and for Feather to be told all the nuances of the gift. The delivery stallions gratefully accepted their tip and trotted back down the road. Feather watched them go before going back into the spa. The door jingled at his entry.
"There you are, Feather!" Said a warm and accented voice that made the stallion jump. Standing behind the counter was a unicorn mare. Her body was covered in a deep, clear blue like that of a late night sky and her mane was unusually long even for a mare. It came in all shades of blonde, with beads at the end of each strand of hair. As she looked upon the pegasus her eyes twinkled. "Almost thought I had that you had run off! I came to ask you about lunch with the children and myself. But you were not to be found!"
Feather smiled at her playfully. "Well my dear Starry Dreams, there is a good reason for that. What do you say we grab the kids and I'll show you?"
Starry Dreams was more than used to Feather and his occasional penchant for jokes and silliness. From her expression it was clear she suspected he was up to a trick of one sort or another. Still; she did not question him and walked to the stairs. "Dusk Glow! Sunset Dancer! Come down for lunch!"
In a moment the mare returned with their children in tow. Dusk Glow came in quietly and with an abashed expression. Feather guessed it was because he hadn't been able to fully distract his mother. The other foal quickly made herself known by the buzz of wings and the sudden weight atop the stallion's head and neck. "Hi daddy!"
Sunset Dancer was a pegasus filly, almost a replica of her father in looks aside from several lighter streaks of crimson running through her mane, and the wavy nature of both mane and tail giving her the stylized lineage of her mother's side. Currently her favorite perch was her father's head, which was a habit of hers the stallion was still adjusting to. "Hi sweet pea," Feather said with a small shake of his head. This ellicited a squeal from the filly and knowing grins from both Dusk and Starry.
"So just what was it you wanted to show us?" Starry asked curiously, moving to walk beside her mate. Feather led them out the door of the spa.
"You know how before we had the twins you'd go out and do your dancing shows and dream magic around Equestria? And afterwards you'd mentioned how you would like to go visit some of those places again once the children were older and could handle the 'rough living'?" Feather questioned her, still smiling.
Starry gave him a confused look. "Yes, but it has been some time since we last discussed it, and thought the children still too young. And you had the spa to worry about."
Taking care to walk slowly, Feather nodded in agreement. "Yes, and I do believe they are still too young to be traveling 'rough'. But I thought about it… if it wasn't so rough, I could carry on the spa and the kids would have somewhere safe and easy to bed down at night. I mostly just need a way to transport a few of the larger spa pieces, like a massage table and the grooming gear. Most of my clients are pegasi coming for wing groomings, and they can just as easily come to me as long as they know where I'll be. So I thought, how could we have a way to meet those goals and go out and travel?"
As he said the last words the group rounded the corner of the spa. His ears flicked back, hearing Starry stop dead in her tracks in the fresh spring grass.
"Feather… Oh Feather, Forest Feather what did you do?" Starry's voice held a heavy note of shock. As he turned his head he saw her standing stock still, staring wide eyed with her jaw dropped. "It's…"
Feather leaned in to nuzzle Starry's cheek and whispered, "I thought, a travelling show-wagon would solve our needs best." He felt Sunset lift off his head, and saw her and Dusk both tearing off to look at the family's newest acquisition.
Before them stood a large travelling wagon. The yokes for pulling were resting against the ground and a few small steps led up to a tiny deck and barn style split door. The wagon widened near the top, with a small overhang on the front, and at the peak of the rounding roof sat a raised flat walkway. In the back it spread out extending to the very edges of the walls with a tiny railing coming up around it. The sides were adorned with windows and various carvings of stars, feathers, moons, and swirls. In the back just barely visible was a large rear mounted trunk.
What garnered the most attention about the wagon was in front of and attached to it. A decently sized stage of solid wood was laid out towards them. Several small legs dropped down from the wooden decking, supporting it in the soft grass. The coating on it practically glowed in the sunlight and at the rear of it was a special stepladder-staircase up to the upper platform atop the wagon.
The wagon itself, with all its carvings and stylized markings, was done mostly in deep wood tones with the roof in a dark crimson that closely matched Feather's own mane and tail. Many of the accents were red and almost all the rest were gold, giving the wagon a warm and inviting feel. A sudden breeze whipped up, and from behind the wagon a flapping of some crimson fabric showed, giving away the fact that there was still more to see.
"What… you… you. You. You!" Starry turned on Feather, her eyes flashing. Before the stallion could react he was tackled flat onto his back, as Starry alternatively laughed and cried nuzzling into him. "You big.. big… I don't know what! This is beyond words!" The mare's eyes glimmered as tears formed for a moment. "You kept this secret for long?"
Feather leaned up to kiss the mare's nose. "Since last fall. The wagonwright in Canterlot did it for me after I spent several talks with him. It's why it seemed like we weren't doing so well for a while. But I knew it would be worth it, not just for you but for all of us. And I remember our long ago talks about a wagon for you too, so, the first time you left."
The mare's eyes widened. "This is why you often went to Canterlot the last few months, yes?" Her grin grew bigger as Feather just smiled in response.
He had just gotten up off the ground, giving his whole body a shake, when the twins came running up. "Come on momma, you gotta see this!" Sunset said, quickly taking a hold of a bit of her mother's mane and giving it a light tug. Dusk Glow piped up, "Yeah! It's really cool!" He turned to Feather. "You gotta tell us about it!"
The adults looked at each other with a smile seeing the kids so excited. They walked right up to the stage.
Feather's eyes glinted as he looked at his family, explaining about the wagon. "The dance floor here actually is six pieces. There are four leg support beams underneath which slide under the wagon, and two pieces for the flooring that fold in half. They hang over the sides of the wagon over wheels when not in use." He spread his wings and lifted off just enough to float over the platform and land upon it. "I did ask they make it strong enough for a family of four. Come on, let's see if it's up to scratch!"
The children didn't need a second offer. They quickly scrambled up and began to chase each other around on it, Dusk running and Sunset occasionally taking flight. Starry Dreams got on top more sedately, and then did a little pirouette. "All four, you said?" She asked.
A nod answered her question. "All four. I figured… why not do some other things as a family? We can be more than a spa and just you dancing your beautiful moves, my Prance beauty."
The mare's cheeks darkened in a blush and she tilted her head so her nose was partly hidden in her mane. "Flatterer."
"You know you love it!" Feather said with a grin, nuzzling his mate. "The ladder is strong enough to dance around on. The top of the wagon up there was made as its own little walkway… I don't know how you'll use it, but it can also be used to store things when we travel, like bags or other items. I figure when we stop we can always stash those items under the wagon."
"Everything was thought of!" Starry exclaimed with a smile. She did a quick hop to test more of the platform. "Is it hard to set up?"
He shook his head as the kids wizzed between them in their impromptu game of tag, watching Dusk dart up the ladder in chase of his sister. "I just did it with the delivery stallions before I came in. It takes ten or fifteen minutes to set up the full wagon with two of us, or should! It's pretty easy to take down too they said."
"That will be very useful, when we must take down after a show to move on. Is bad to spend half a day at it," The mare said thoughtfully. As the children flew down the stairs Starry made her way over and then up to the small platform atop the wagon. Feather spread his wings and took flight, landing at the end of the walkway over the mollicroft windows. "I am sure a routine I can come up with to incorporate this."
"Especially with music from our little colt!" Feather said. Starry smiled. They were both sure once their son was older he would realize his special talent was in music, the way he played his instruments. "And of course Sunset will join you… she loves your dances."
The adults made their way down and walked around the back of the wagon, to the far side. As they rounded the corner a small awning in a deep crimson fabric appeared swaying slightly in the breeze. A pair of poles held the awning erect, and twin stakes kept them taut. Underneath stood a small massage bed and small collapsible table with box atop.
Starry turned to Feather with a laugh. "This your side must be?"
"It sure is, pretty filly," Feather said right back. He walked up to the massage bed. "The table and bed both collapse and tuck under the wagon. I'll probably have to dust and wash them down after each time we stop, but that's a small price to pay. The box is empty," He said quickly as Starry went to open it up. "I'll have to put my oils and other items in there later. The inside is much the same. We'll have to pick what we want to put in it."
"I am not surprised," Starry responded, looking around and examining the mounts that held up the dance platform section for transport. "I doubt they would fully furnish it in our chosen styles."
"Just wait," Feather said with a conspiratorial grin. "Come on, let's go look inside."
Starry paused a moment. "This is a large wagon. How can we pull it?"
Feather chuckled. "I asked it be made of light woods. It's also mostly made for only travelling on roads, which will be easier. The two of us can pull it, or just one of us can but it'll be a bit slower going. It'll be more than fine, I'm sure!"
The two adults walked around the corner once more, carefully stepping over the yoke rails for pulling. The twins, now exhausted or bored of their game of tag, joined them as they stepped onto the small deck.
"It's not really big, daddy," Sunset piped up as the four of them tried to crowd onto it. "I dunno if it'll work to rest on!"
Feather chuckled. "Well it will for you and your brother to rest and study when we travel. Your mother and I would only be able to lay down one at a time. But still! There is the inside. So without further ado…" Feather carefully pulled the split door open and grinned.
A collective gasp went up from the family as they peered inside. In typical child fashion the colt and filly ran straight in and began climbing on everything; jabbering at once. Starry, for her part, had tears in her eyes again as she turned to Feather in shock and happiness.
While the outside of the wagon were in wood colors and crimsons, similar to Feather's favorite colors, the inside was definitely homage to Starry Dreams herself. The walls were a deep midnight blue of late night sky, speckled here and there with silver carved stars and swirls. Carvings of dark white clouds adorned the ceiling areas, and in the back over the bed a full moon on the roof could just be made out. Even the floor was the same dark blue, with tiny silver drops to mimic stars.
"It's amazing, Feather," Starry whispered to him. She slowly walked in with the stallion following a moment later. To their left sat a padded bench with cabinets under it, and a full size built in wardrobe. Tucked between the wardrobe and the large bed in back was a small ceramic fireplace, cream-colored tile standing out in the mostly dark wagon. A tiny pipe went up to the roof and out.
On the right side was a cabinet from floor to ceiling, another bench, and a small table with pullout seat underneath. The window over the table looked out over the dance flooring. But what grabbed the most attention was the raised bed in the back third of the wagon. It came halfway up the walls, with obvious storage underneath it.
The bed area was partitioned off from the rest of the wagon by a tiny gauze hanging, and on either side were carved railing supports making a deep blue wooden 'grille'. At the very back was a large window which currently showed a view of the woods behind the spa. Atop the bed itself was a large dark blue mattress which the twins were already jumping on along with dozens of silver and blue pillows.
Feather leaned in and nuzzled Starry's cheek, whispering in her ear. "We'll all sleep together, but I think the twins can handle that. I know that's how it used to be done anyways, back in the herd days. Under the table is a small magical icebox to keep things cool for us too."
A kiss was what responded to his words and Feather smiled as he returned it in kind with one of his own. "A better gift I could never imagine, Feather." Starry's eyes shone with a mixture of happiness and tears, before walking to the back and climbing on the bed. She carefully settled in as the foals laid down on either side of her.
"So my children," She said with a smile and glance at Forest Feather, "Will you be ready to go on a trip soon?"
