Later on that day, Clover returned home. Sure enough all of her friends were waiting fopr nher.

She apologized, "I'm sorry, girls. This is just kind of a bombshell for me, still."

Patch shook her head. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Clover. Nopony could possibly blame you for being overwhelmed."

Sweetheart said, "You know, it would probably be worthwhile to have a day of relaxation. Just the four of us. And fortunately, I came prepared."

So saying, she reached into her Pocket and brought out four tickets. Clover's eyes widened. "Are those what I think?"

Sweethear nodded with a grin. "Uh huh! I headed to the local Spa a couple of days ago. I figured that you could use a little something to kick back with. These are enough for four deluxe treatments. I got a few of those!"

"I don't suppose there's a discount for buying multiple coupons at once?" Clover ventured.

"Mmmmaybe?" Sweetheard said, innocently.

Patch waved that off. "Whatever. Either way, all the more fun for us!"

Clover smiled. "You know, you're right. Let's do it!"

So saying, the quartet trotted over to the spa proper. Inside, of course, were Aloe Vera and Lotus Blossom. To decrypt what they said:

"Welcome to the Ponyville Day Spa!" Aloe greeted. "How can we help you today?"

Sweetheasrt flashed the four tickets that she'd had earlier.

"Oh! Miss Sweetheart! I knew you looked familiar." Aloe said, joyfully.

"Thanks for remembering." Sweetheart deadpanned facetiously. "Unfortunately, things have... become slightly more complicated." she added, choosing her words carefully.

Lotus tilted her head slightly. "How so?"

Bright Eyes poked Clover's side. As if she'd pressed a button, Clover's wings instinctively spread.

Aloe lowered her eyelids. Lotus's eyes widened. "I think I see the issue. Well, we can adjust." Going back behind the front desk, she wrote something down. "So let's see... That will be a spell in the hot tub, a hooficure and a massage for all, and a wing preening for one. Then we have the facials and a scented bath and/or sauna. (1)" She also ventured, "Should I make notes to tentatively add a horn filing in the future?"

Bright Eyes smiled widely. "Got it in one." she said. "Clover here's going to be a princess sometime soon."

Lotus nodded. "Okay and do you have a preference of scents for the bath?"

All three looked at Clover Clearly this was her decision. She thought for a moment. "What kinds do you have available?"

"Of course, of course. We have.... Blackberry, Cherry Blossom Pound Cake, Eucalyptus Mint, Mahogany Ccoconut, Teakwood (regular and intense), Vanilla and Fireside), and.... Spiced Apple."

Thinking again, Clover decided, at length. "Let's go with the Eucalyptus Mint."

The sisters nodded in unison. After that, the four mares were led for the hot tub. Sweetheart queried, "What's the difference between the hot tub bit and the scented bath?"

"That has fewer bubbles, for one." Lotus joked. "Basically, that allows the scent to soak in, whereas doing this in thee hot tub... shakes up the scent, if you will. Scatters it. Also, the facial mask might be washed avay. Or either might alzo get in your eyes or something. So the hot tub is done first, along with your mane and tail. It loosens up your muscles as well."

Sweetheart nodded. That made sense.

They were allowed to soak in the water, the girls each selecting a different shampoo. Shower caps were placed on their heads with that in them.

"I had no idea these existed." Clover said. "They make this a lot easier. I'm sure you know how much effort it takes to fully wash this much hair."

After rinsing from that, they were led for the hooficure. They decided to paint their hooves different colours, too. Sweetheart chose a rose red, Patch selected gold, Bright Eyes went with cerulean blue. Clover had selected violet, but it diddn't take to her hooves for more than a few seconds before the blue colour reasserted itself. After that, she'd waved it off.

The massage was incredibly relaxing. Lotus did Clover's herself. She'd added shea butter as well, which soaked through her coat into her hide.

Afterward, she was taken for the preening bit, which Aloe did. She had some broken feathers, which were removed with care. Each one was removed with a resulting jolt of pleasure. Shortly thereafter, new quills had grown in place of those, much to the surprise of both.

After that was the mane/tail-do, (which was forgotten in the description). Clover had decided on a dreadlocked ponytail. The others had decided against it. Clover also decided that she wanted her mane to be red. That actually did work. At least for the moment.

After that, they got led to the scented bath, the facials also being added. Clover was tempted to eat the cucumber slices, but held herself back. In the meantime, Clover regaled her friends (and inadvertently the two spa Ponies as well) with what she had done over the past few days.

After that, they were le d to the sauna. When they came out of that and dried off, they'd found that Clover's previously lavender coat had been fully changed (on her legs) with a sort of alternating spiral-y pattern. The effect was striking, but not unsightly.

In either case, the quartet came out feeling like a million bits. Clover asked Sweetheart, "What should we do next?"

Sweetheart shrugged. "I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. What do you want to do?"

Clover thought for a moment. Then, looking nearby, she saw the Ponyville Arcade. Clover pointed there. "Let's go with that."

The other three agreed excitedly.

Inside there was a plethora of different games. Many were to be played in the bipedal form, others not. Most of them also gave out prize tickets.

After the four checked in (getting the lump sum deal), they each went to a different area of the place. Bright Eyes and Patch went for a section of the place together. Sweetheart started playing ping-pong with somepony nearby. Clover on the other hoof, found a different machine.

Just Prance

(2)

Clover tentatively stepped onto the platform, going to her bipedal stance. Her hooves tingled when she'd selected a particular song.

Dark Horse

'Okay. We'll start slow.' she thought. The music began to swell...

As the song ended, she looked at her five star rating with pride. This was certainly better than she'd have done before. 'Okay. Now for something a little more... bouncy.'
Selecting the figure on the right, she waitted for the music to start...

Five stars again, naturally. She looked for the next song. "Now it's time to REALLY test myself." she said aloud.

That one actually had her sweating at the end. She heard applause behind her. She'd gathered a bit of a crowd. She looked back at the game. Five stars, with the high score by a long shot.

"I think it's time to cool down." She selected the next number, a little slower.

As she stepped down from the platform, one watcher said, "Nicely done, Princess!"

Clover returned, hotly, "For Luna's sake! DON'T CALL ME THAT! Thanks, but eish!"

She looked back at the machine itself. There was also a long string of tickets left behind. She tookthose abd moved along.

At length, pooling their resources, the four had enough to earn a home version soda fountain (some syrups included), and a fair bit of candy to boot.

With Patch shoving all of that in her Pocket, the four friends left for home, feeling rather good.

Author's Note

1: Is this how it works? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Side note: I'm going to go without accenting their speech. It would get annoying to parse after a while.
2: Sorry; I'm not describing these!