A Bad Day at the Spa

Following her bath, Applejack was moved into a chair to be rinsed. This in itself was an odd thing to do. Usually, the rinse would happen right out of the tub, but in this case, they'd moved her, first. "What's the point of doin' that?"

"It removes the soap solution from your skin," replied the bath attendant, preparing another basket of supplies for their next treatment. "Having you in the chair just makes it an easier transition to the next phase, that being your mane, hooves and facial."

"Uh, huh... An' what's wrong with jus' havin' a showerhead between here an' there?"

"I think it's cost-cutting. Extra plumbing, plus a new showerhead. I can see why they opted instead for just a longer hose for the mane nozzle; water is water. But yes, I think it's very odd."

The door opened and closed, and a new mare walked in. "Good morning. How are we today?"

"Very sleepy," answered Applejack.

"Well, that's good. After this, you're actually scheduled for the deep dream treatment. Due to the way that one works, you're very likely to fall asleep during it."

Applejack furrowed her brow. "And just what is that s'posed ta mean?"

The bath attendant smiled. "Oh, don't worry. There's a skin treatment that we do that takes quite a long time, and you're not supposed to move around during the process. So, we encourage our patrons to fall asleep. We even have some proprietary spells to make your dreams pleasant. Princess Luna herself has to train our specialists, so you can expect good quality sleep."

Applejack was a bit uneasy about falling asleep here. Still, she knew that whatever they did to her, Rarity would hear, and Sapphire Shores would soon follow. It was Sapphire's gift, after all, and a bad gift would reflect very poorly on the pony of pop, and she would not take that lying down. Not to mention Twilight's fit if something bad happened. If Princess Luna herself was training the staff here, this would cause such a fracas that it'd be shut down immediately.

"Sweet Celestia, what happened to your hooves?!" shouted the hooficurist. "What in Equestria did you do, kick a tree so hard that all the apples fell out?"

"Yup," answered Applejack. "That's how Ah earn a livin'."

Her face contorted into a grimace of horror. "You're going to do it again?"

"Yup. How else do ya expect me ta feed my family? Let alone the rest of town..."

The hooficurist fell silent and set down her basket of tools. "I'm going to need stronger equipment," she sighed, walking out of the room.

"Wow," chuckled the bath attendant. "I've never seen her just walk out like that. You must have some really rough hooves."

"Just the back two," shrugged Applejack. "They gather the apples, the front two turn 'em inta pies an' tarts an' such." She yawned. "This ain't gonna take too long, is it? Ah really do need that nap..."

"We'll try to move this right along. Tilt your head back for me?"

Applejack lowered her mane into the sink basin to let it soak. As it did, she had to sit and endure as some grey-green gunk was smeared on her face. It smelled awful, too.

"Is this one a' them there mud masks?"

"Close. This is a scrub mask. It'll help to clean and exfoliate, after which we'll apply a clay mask to draw out any deeper blemishes."

"Don't make-up usually cover that up?" scoffed Applejack.

"Of course. But we'd rather solve the problem at its source, so that you can go out without makeup and still look nice."

"That's probably the smartest thing Ah've ever heard in regards ta beauty products."

"Don't you spend a lot of time with Rarity, being her assistant?"

"Ah ain't her assistant, Ah was just assistin' with somethin' that came up."

"I'm back!" called the hooficurist. "I had to leave and come back, because I don't keep chisels and sandpaper in my kit."

Applejack glanced over. "Ya know, Ah'm actually partial ta the idea a' keepin' my calluses. Like Ah said, it's my livelihood. Can you imagine how much worse Ah'd be if Ah couldn't put any force behind it?"

The hooficurist growled. "Will you at least let me heal the damages? It looks like the left one's about to split open."

"Kicks McGee? Yeah, that one's been hurtin' for a few days now. Thought Ah just stepped on somethin'."

"Looks like you stepped on an axe."

"Ah prob'ly did. We have five of 'em."

After a grueling forty-five minutes of hooficure, which literally required the use of sandpaper, Applejack was escorted into the next room. Applejack had assumed that it would have a bed, but the mattress looked like it was from a piece of patio furniture, and the blanket was a plastic-looking cover that would trap everything under her neck in the chamber.

"So, this is our dreamer steamer," said the bath attendant. "What we do is we pump steam into the chamber to puff up the skin and soften it. After a few hours in that, we'll give you a soft scrub to remove anything that came to the surface. Then two more of those. Should take about six and a half hours, so this is a great time for a nap. That's why we call it a dreamer steamer."

"Good. Ah need it right about now." Applejack climbed up onto the table. "What's with the restraints?"

"Purely a safety measure," smiled the attendant. "We had Bob Barley in here a few years ago to reduce his nerves before going on tour, and the dream was so vivid that he punched one of his own teeth out."

"Ah remember that tour," responded Applejack. "Ah bought tickets for me an' mine, but he never showed. They didn't even give us a refund."

"Oh, the whole right side of his face swelled up. So, to make sure that such a thing doesn't happen again, we use the restraints to secure your hooves."

"Prob'ly a good idea," agreed Applejack. "My back hooves can knock every apple out of an entire orchard; they could prob'ly knock the top cover offa this thing." She lay down and spread out her hooves. "Hook me on up, I'mma head off ta dreamland..."