Bejeweled

"Miss Agate made significant progress since yesterday." Octavia told the unicorn, full of excitement as she took down the books from the shelf. They were the same first ten of the bottom row like yesterday.

"Really now? I'm all eager to see it." Rarity replied from the sofa next to them.

Agate stood up and with a charge of her horn she took over the first three of the paperbacks from the stack, engulfing them with her purple aura. She carefully placed them on the top of her head, then released it. Standstill. As the books stopped all kinds of movement and she was comfortable with the situation, she took a slow step forwards, then another, and another. Rarity was amused, she didn't expect her friend going this far in such short time. But now came the harder part, the turn. Agate hated this, the sharp turn to the left got her most of the times, the books always fell to the right sooner or later. She was extra careful this time, one limb after another with her head turning at a sloth's pace as well, then the small tower shaken itself. With a quick step to the right she fixed it and stood still for a few seconds again. The hardest part was over. All she needed now is to go straight past the arch that connected the room with the corridor and place the books on the small nightstand. One step after another, with her mind focused on absolutely nothing but the books she started her way to the nightstand. Slow, careful steps they were. Octavia was already full with pride of her, and Rarity's smile also shown her emotions. In the end, Agate arrived at the furniture and with a charge of her magic she placed her cargo on the destination. The run was perfect, and she was incredibly happy about it.

"Nah, Rares, how's that?" she told her ivory friend with a proud and challenging voice as she gazed over to the ivory one.

Rarity, of course saw the fire in those eyes. She decided not to refuse the challenge and put Agate in her place as she returned the wicked look with lowered eyelids.

"Not too shabby, darling, but let me show you how it is done." she replied, as her horn became surrounded by her signature blue aura. She stood up took up the rest of the pile, maybe six or seven books and placed them atop her head. Without any hesitation or waiting she started moving, with the tower on her being perfectly idle. She strolled as if there was nothing but her mane on her head, yet still as fast as if she'd just have a casual walk. Agate's eyes widened, especially when they saw the unicorn taking the turn like nothing. However, this was not the end by far. As Rarity walked towards her, the seamstress took a soft turn to the right and passed under the arch, making her way towards the craziest thing somepony could ever think of. As she turned from the small chicane, a subtle wink flirted with the armorsmith's eyes from between the red bearer of the arch and the bars of the stairs.

She was nuts, Agate thought. Such thing seemed impossible, yet the unicorn walked up the stairs in an ever so elegant manner. She couldn't believe it, she ran after her to see the rest. The tower didn't move significantly one way or another and Rarity climbed the stairs with no difficulty whatsoever. Then doing a 180 degree turn, she took the weigh off her head.

"So? What were you saying?" she told her as she set her beautiful purple curls back to their original place. Agate's mouth was still open, which made the unicorn burst out in a couple giggles as she made her way back.

"Miss Rarity's posture is perfect." Octavia complimented from the sofa with gentle claps she made.

"Thank you, dear, there are years of practice behind it." the ivory one replied as she nodded with her eyes shut, that opened wide again a second later "Since we can forget about the shopping plan for today, how about a day off in the Spa?"

"I'm sorry Miss Rarity, but I need practice for the upcoming symphony." Octavia denied polite as per usual. She already needed to redo her schedule because of Agate, she couldn't allow any more delays.

"Oh, that's a shame. How about you Agate?" Rarity asked, turning towards her other friend.

"Nah, spas are not my thing, only those broken-neck ponies who leak bits go there up in Canterlot. I'm having no money for that." Agate explained with a small frown as her eyes looked away. Rarity however knew her better, and could bet on her next collection that Agate didn't want it because she still insisted on not having any common ground with the ponies of Canterlot whatsoever. All she needed, was a gentle push from behind.

"Then be my guest for a hot bath." she invited her with a friendly smile on her face.

Agate was still hesitating, but it seemed as a good offer, considering it was... well, a hot bath. Not that weird body-beating, nor that awful soil with pickles, not that cabin, nothing of those outlandish things she saw in the catalogs, so what could go wrong?

A heavy sigh left her throat but she said what her friend wanted to hear "Alright, if its just a hot bath."

Rarity began chuckling behind her ivory muzzle, she knew exactly that its going to happen. Deep inside she knew there is a little bit of fascination inside her friend towards it, she didn't know for sure why, she just felt it.

"The spa it is, then. Well, see you later Miss Octavia." she added as their bassist friend seen them off.

"Bye Tavi." Agate added, as the waving pony closed the door behind them.

"Trust me, dear, you're going to love it." Rarity told her friend who was still quite skeptical about the whole thing. "By the way, it is going to be Spring Spa Weekend soon. I think with a weather like this it's going to be a huge success." she added in hope of motivating her friend.

"What day is it?" Agate asked in a bit of confusion as she didn't pay much attention lately, especially today when they woke up extremely late because of yesterday's little nighttime playing which resulted in Rarity not being able to wake up Sweetie Belle in time, which ended up in her sister being late from school.

"Friday." she replied as she stared at the ground. Rarity didn't really want to bring it up in her mind for she was quite ashamed of it. On the top of that, they spent the entire forenoon looking for a way to remove the artificial color from their mane and tail. Good thing their first stop was at Twilight's, though, otherwise they'd still be looking around.

The two mares fell into silence afterwards. It was planned so differently from what they were doing now, but it was late to mourn already when they woke up in the morning.

~~~

Rarity stopped in front of a strange blue building that looked more or less like a tent on the top. She entered the building with a joyful greeting along her friend, who also let a small 'Hello!' out but was more interested in what lied all round.

"It's much bigger than it looks from outside." she noted as her eyes examined the building, the beautiful plants, pillars, the tiny waterfall sculpture and decorations on the walls.

"Hmm... I'll be honest, I actually haven't noticed that." Rarity replied as she followed Agate in her crazy actions of behaving like she never ever was here before, up until a voice called her.

"Good Afternoon, Miss Rarity, the usual?" that voice asked, making both of them focus that way. It was a blue earth pony with a long, pink mane that was set backwards with a pretty white headband. She had a strange and very strong accent but not canterlotian, much more a northern-equestrian.

"Just a hot bath for two today, thank you." Rarity replied, making the mare's head make a gentle nod before she turned around to leave the counter. Agate noticed something pink from the corner of her eyes, but it disappeared as soon as she looked towards it.

"This way, Agate." the ivory one called, as she wrapped up a beautiful gold-white spa robe with her signature R letter, and giving a normal, purple one to her friend as well. The three mares headed into the spa section afterwards. Rarity was leading the way to a gigantic tube of water in the middle of a room, with a few beds around and an arch that was leading to a different room.

"It will take a bit of a time until the water warms up, but please make yourself comfortable. Let me know if there is anything I can help with." the blue mare behind them told them, rushing through a "Staff only" labeled door.

Rarity took down the robe, folded it, then placed them on the small platform as she folded it. Agate followed her steps up the stairs, however she just simply threw the robe down there.

The water wasn't that warm at all indeed, but they both knew it will change soon. In fact the rising of the heat was notable. The blue pony returned from the secret room.

"Just a few seconds." she said, trotting off. There was something oddly charming about her, actually, yet the smith couldn't really put her hoof on it. She just liked her.

After a while, the water started to steam from the heat, and the ivory one laid back with a pleasured moan escaping from her mouth.

"Ahh... isn't it wonderful?" she asked. It was time to relax and rest.

"You know, I think I could have made this tub of water boil faster." Agate replied.

"Could you now?" Rarity asked in a questioning manner. That was new to her and she became curious on what other things might her friend hide in her sleeves.

Agate nodded as her horn began to charge up. She began to work with enormous forces as her eyes shut and she began to groan with her teeth showing even.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Rarity interrupted "I don't want to boil alive in here, you know." she told her. That, and she was also afraid something else could happen she preferred not to think about.

Agate turned around to get a look at the interior when 'she' appeared again. The pink one, who she saw before. She looked exactly like the skyblue pony but her coat being pink, while her mane being blue, instead of vice versa. Even the cutie mark was the same.

The unicorn moved to the side of the wooden pool to get a better look on the pony who were placing strange black stones on an amethyst unicorn that, strangely enough had the exact same manestyle as her. The sight was exciting her so much she began wagging her tail left and right, making small sweeps in the water.

Rarity noticed that naturally, and moved next to her to check on what must be it. Deep inside however, an emotion arose of a strong taste: Success.

"Those are lava stones, darling. Their heat helps the energy to circulate in the body as well as to relax the muscles." Rarity explained in whispers, hoping Agate gains more interest in the topic.

"I was actually looking at her." Agate whispered back, signing with her eyes towards the pink pony's direction to let Rarity know "She looks totally like the other girl, but colors swapped. Even their cutie mark is the same. It's so cool." she added in a way Rainbow Dash would have said.

The ivory one had a sudden urge to hit the wood her hoof was lying on at that moment with her head... possibly multiple times. But wait! This didn't necessarily meant complete failure. If she is interested in them maybe she will be interested in what they are doing.

"You know them?" the armorsmith asked, getting just even more excited.

"Well, she is Lotus... wait, no, she is Aloe. Uh, I tend to mix them up unfortunately." Rarity told her, as she tried to recall which one is which. It was not a very easy task if you were not their close friends, and she knew she was most likely not the only one with this problem.

"It's cool, thanks." Agate nodded as she turned to her friend with a smile. Rarity swam back to her own territory and laid back to relax. Agate also swapped to a more comfortable position.

"The shops are open tomorrow in Canterlot, right?" Rarity asked, changing the topic to one more at hooves.

"Yeah, they're usually open on Saturdays as well." Agate replied, confusion reflecting from her face.

"I was thinking, if I could travel there with the last train I could get there tomorrow morning and still save the plan we worked out." the ivory coated told her. They were either saving or losing a lot of time with this decision, much like having a sixteen in Blackjack.

"No Rares, no need to push yourself so hard. A weekend is a big delay, we can make up time after we took some rest." Agate replied, almost in an ordering voice.

"Do you realize that we are half at the time limit and we have done nothing so far?" Rarity responded in that intimidating, angered manner Agate usually tried to avoid hearing. There was something in it that made her get back into her turtle-shell.

"Okay, if you insist. So you get the fabric and the furry stuff there and I get the other little accessories and all that around here." Agate recited their plot, Rarity nodding in response. The mustard coated sighed up "Not a five-minute walk... It's going to be a good chance to get familiar with Ponyville at least."

As the blue coated pony appeared, on her way towards the staff room again, Agate quickly turned around and started waving her hoof and tail for her attention.

The earth pony of course trotted there with a kind smile "May I help you?"

"You're Aloe right?" the unicorn asked.

"Lotus, actually, my sister is Aloe." she giggled in an bit of an embarrassed manner.

"Do you know what is this Spring Spa Weekend about?" Agate asked, but was interrupted by the mare behind.

"Agate, don't chit-chat around with Miss Lotus, she is busy." she told her off, turning towards Lotus "I'm sorry for the interruption."

"It's alright Miss Rarity." she smiled back, turning to Agate again. "During Spring Spa Weekend, spas take most their equipments out into the nature to celebrate the way it refreshes after winter. We'll be providing services in the Ponyville park the next two days." she explained.

"Neat, thanks much."

"Anything else I can help you with?" she asked, both of them shaking their heads as a response.

Rarity looked quite angry hearing this. "Agate, are you planning on going while I'm away by any chance?" She didn't fully trust her newfound partner yet, which was reasonable at this point. Getting the trust of hers was a real challenge, for ones more than for others.

"What? No of course, I was just... wondering." the other unicorn replied, but it was not satisfactory to the seamstress in the least. She stood up and took her way to the stairs. Her hooves were all pruney so it was time to get out the water anyway. Agate followed her once again as they dried themselves, then wrapped the robes around that soaked in the rest of water with time.

"So, how was the hot bath?" she asked with a tiny grin, though knowing Agate, she didn't set her hopes too high about the answer.

"Like... a hot bath?" Agate responded with a questioning look. "I don't know, Rares, I still feel a bit... strange. As in, I feel no different than before.".

"This might be the case, but believe me your skin just loved all those minerals." the other one responded. As the unicorns returned to the counter they gave back Lotus the robes and Rarity paid up for the service, with some tips, of course.

"Thank you girls." said the unicorn as she opened the door with her magic.

"You're welcome Miss Rarity, please come again." Lotus and Aloe replied together, much for the armorsmith's fascination. They gave off this strange, warm charm from them, and the smith liked that a lot.

~~~

"Sweetie, we're home." Rarity shouted as she opened the door of her boutique. She didn't waste any time and ran upstairs to pack a few things for her journey. Agate, on the way, looked inside the filly's room in case she was there. A small, moaning blob of white welcomed her.

"Hey, Sweetie." she told her, receiving another moan muffled by a pillow. The filly was still under the weather.

"Did Cheers smack you upside the head?" she asked with a tiny giggle. If it would have been her she would have most likely forget about it already.

"Mhmm..."

"It can happen with everypony, trust me." Agate said patting the little pony on her back "I for one got kicked from Celestia's school."

Hearing that, Sweetie Belle crawled a bit further under her pillow, popping her head up the other side with the answer "Really?"

"Yeah, I got to go to Canterlot Primary afterwards. I think it was slightly better there, even." the mare laughed "Look. Bad things happen, learn from it and forget, that's all."

"Agate, where did you go now?" Rarity called from outside, in response Agate just screamed "Coming." and with a last smile left Sweetie.

Rarity was ready to leave and already headed downstairs when the other one opened the door in front of her. Rarity was only carrying a pretty reticule with her this time with all the important things she needed inside.

"Alright, I'm going, will be back tomorrow afternoon I think. Watch for Sweetie please." she rambled in hurry. There was no time to lose, and the seamstress was determined as ever to complete this task. Once Rarity set her mind to something she was holding to it with tooth and nails.

"Wait!" Agate yelled, rushing into the bedroom. Several seconds later that seemed an eternity did she just return, throwing something to her partner in a large arc.

"The keys for the workshop, there might be some mess but nothing catastrophic." she added, as the ivory mistress caught the object with a confused look. They key was on a keychain alongside with a small purple stone of a tear shape and many various shades scattered across it.

"Thanks." Rarity replied as she dropped the key into her bag and got going with a final farewell.

Agate still had one last thing to do, for it was laying on the ground as she entered the bedroom: she needed to bring back the werepony costume for Gothica. She packed it back into the bag she received it in as well as her purse and hurried out.

"I'll bring these back, will come later." she shouted as she trotted down the stairs. The keys to the boutique were still in the door, seemed Rarity left them there so they could find it with ease. Agate closed the shop, turning the little sign, thus letting everypony else also know about it and trotted to the building she now knew the exact way towards.

It didn't take long until she found it, and now she went up the stairs and entered with much more confidence. Though, in contradiction, the falling dolls scared her even more than the last time. Another one to the list of scared ponies, which Gothica was happy to add. She handled her business in a few minutes and was to return home on a little bit different route this time, for the sake of practice.

The Sun was soon to disappear from the horizon once again, as the unicorn was cantering on a street she never walked on before, as long as a very familiar building with odd blue top caught her attention. It was the spa again. She stopped for a second and took a closer look, to notice the small sign on the door still said "Open". The small stand on the side shown a more accurate information, however. She was hesitating, yet for a strange, unknown reason something was luring her towards the building. She brought her wallet, and that wasn't in the favor of going on forwards, as the growing curiosity took over her body. Curiosity that even she couldn't explain.

She entered the spa once again...

~~~

"How long?"

"Just roughly thirty minutes, it'll be over soon."

Then, when they'd have call it a day, the door opened.

"Hello?" a voice was heard coming from a very familiar unicorn.

"Ah, Miss Rarity's friend, Good Afternoon." Lotus greeted with a warm smile.

"Hello Miss Lotus and Miss Aloe." Agate said as she started playing with the tip of her front hooves. The sight of the twins both in front of her got her pumping, in her mind she was already screaming and squealing on the top of her lungs.

'Oh my God that's so awesome.'

"How may we help you?" Aloe asked. Her voice was very similar to her sister's but of a higher pitch.

"Yes, you know Aloe this afternoon I saw you doing that thing with the black stones, can I try that too?" she asked, having more and more trouble controlling herself. There was something in that two that hyped her up, if anything, twins were her weaknesses.

"The Lavastone Massage? Of course." Aloe replied with the same adorable smile. It wasn't anything new to her that they don't know the name of this therapy.

"That'll be fifteen bits, madam." Lotus added from the side, from behind the counter.

"Fif... teen? Or fifty? I think I heard only fifteen but was it fifty?" the unicorn blabbered in absolute confusion.

The skyblue one repeated slowly "Fifteen miss.".

Agate was shocked. In Canterlot, spas are extremely expensive, even if we take in that everything costs more in a capital. Yet still, such difference hit her below the belt. She took out her wallet and paid right up in front.

Lotus gave her a robe which Aloe helped in her putting on, despite she didn't require it.

"Please follow me Miss..."

"Agate."

The two ponies headed back to the main room Agate knew all too well, but this time she was the one laying on the bed instead. The spa was completely empty, which was not a surprise at this time of the day.

"Just lay down comfortably while I prepare the stones." Aloe told her in a lovely and soothing voice, as she trotted off for the other side of the room, and came back with a rolling stand that was a bit similar to a barbecue stand, only with smooth, shiny jet black stones instead of coal. She took out one and placed it on the top of the laying mare's spine, just below her neck, to which she responded with a small hiss.

"It might be hot at first but will cool down a bit later." Aloe calmed her as she placed another stone a little bit below. Agate - though the feeling give her the urge - resisted to turn around, after all, it would mess up everything. The stones began to cool down after long seconds, and as Aloe laid down another one she started to get used to the feeling.

"I've never been to spas, you know. It feels weird." Agate explained as another stone was put on top of her.

"First time experience is always unique." Aloe chuckled as she warmed up her hooves by two stones "Now, we'll begin the actual massage part." she added, as she began rubbing her hot hooves against the upper back of her client. "Well? How does it feel?"

"H-hurts." the other one replied in a painful whisper, making Aloe lower the pressure against her.

"Better?" she asked for feedback once again, as her hooves made circular motions on Agate's back.

"Yes." Agate replied, though her voice still gave the impression it was uncomfortable, it just simply felt foreign.

"Just relax, Miss Agate." the beautician told in a calm manner, as she changed to wider and longer movements back and forth on the unicorn. Agate started to enjoy it after all, her body was finally able to let loose and from all that warmth, it felt a little bit numb as well.

After some time, Aloe let loose of the pressure as a whole and took out the two small stones. Considering her client's lack of knowledge and that it worked so far in the relaxation she explained this step of the process as well.

"Now I'm going to massage your sides with the stones." she said with the same deep and calm, almost seducing way she did before. She pressed the two hot objects against the mare's left shoulders, with small motions to left and right, rather than in circles. She proceeded to the right with the process, to the so called barrel, and the flank afterwards. It felt so incredibly good, Agate began to let out tiny little moans behind her mouth.

"How does it feel?" Aloe asked again, as she passed behind the unicorn to repeat the process from the other side.

"So good..." Agate moaned out of sheer pleasure. "I can see why Rarity wanted to show me this place. She comes here often, right?" she asked. If Rarity was here often than they could hang out much more together, and they could also have something in common to talk about.

Aloe began chuckling a little once again "Miss Rarity is our VIP customer, she indeed comes here frequently.".

'That explains the custom robe.'

Agate began giggling as well "I wonder what she'd think if she'd find me here in a sudden."

Both mares kept on laughing as the little Aloe returned to her lava stones and put the ones she held back into where they belonged.

"A little bit more on the back and we're done." she explained, as she did exactly what she stated, rubbing her hooves at Agate's back up- and downwards, making her let out even more little moans.

"So you're twins with Lotus, hm? I wish I would have a counterpart like that." the mare said to keep up the conversation.

"Actually, we're just sisters, but it's great to have her indeed." Aloe replied as she once again let go of her client, picking and stashing the now cold stones from her body. As soon as Agate could she stood up from the bed when something odd caught her attention.

"Well? How does it feel like, Miss Agate?" Aloe asked.

Agate however, just kept moving her right front limb back and forth, as she'd try to toss away something in front of her.

"How?" she asked back, as she began waving her other hoof to the left and right, sweeping it across the ground "How did you do that?"

Aloe looked confused in a sudden, as Agate did a few small hops then turned her neck left and right.

"They move so easily, how did you do that?" she repeated once again, but now that Aloe knew the answer, a satisfied smile grew on her face.

"A massage helps in relaxing the muscles and releasing all the pent-up tension inside. Miss Agate had a lot tension in her back, it must have felt stiff, hmm?"

"This is amazing!" Agate shouted in joy "Aloe you're a miracle! Thank you so much!" she added as she hugged the earth pony out of the blue as a sneak attack. Even though it was a bit of awkward, her sincere laughter made the beautician proud of her work, for that was her job and nothing felt better than giving somepony a life-changing experience.

"Oh my gosh, there are so much stuff." she said, her eyes popping open and looking around but her body not letting go of her heroine yet. With a sudden gasp she made her decision "Can I try the steam-cabin-like-thingy next?"

Aloe awkwardly glanced over at Lotus, who peeked at the clock. There was still about fifteen minutes left before closing, so a quick sauna was in the limit.

"Sure, but that'll be ten bits plus." Aloe told her with a warm smile.

"Mind if I pay afterwards? So we wouldn't need to run back and forth." Agate asked, letting go of Aloe who shook her head after some hesitation.

"This way please." she said, leading the excited unicorn to the other room. A huge wooden hut was in the left side, just right after the arch, while two smaller pools filled with a mud was on the right. Aloe opened the door to the sauna, where everything was made of wood, the walls and the benches that made up an U-shape, as well as a large holder filled with water and stones.

Aloe turned on the heating device that was masked by the wooden box, to get the water with the rocks boiling, while she took a bucket on the side and ran to get some water, returning a few seconds later.

She dropped the bucket of water on the bench as she started explaining the system "The sauna cleanse the pores of your skin and-"

The interruption was caused by her sister, who gently signed that she'd need her help with a bit of poking.

"I must leave for a little, Miss Agate, excuse me." Aloe said. She raised the ladle to take a bit of water she poured on the hot rocks, creating an huge smokescreen of a magician, disappearing along her sister after it settled.

"Oh, mane, that's pretty warm here." Agate marked, but as far as she knew this was the point of it. The heat kept rising, however, eventually making her lie down. After all, she was the only one there. It just got hotter and hotter, she was starting to wonder when it is going to be too much.

~~~

Meanwhile, in the staff's room, or better said, basement, bad news were being discussed.

"So it won't arrive until next week?" Aloe asked in frightened tone.

Lotus sighed, her tone indicated that she was to tear up "No, unfortunately. Wish I've had saw this coming and ordered more."

"Then... what are going to do?" Aloe asked, trembling from fear, as it would be an apocalyptic situation. Maybe it even was.

Lotus strengthened her soul and replied with confidence "Okay, we won't take the pool then, hopefully it won't be a big loss." however, her confidence didn't last too long as she sighed up from the fear of what the close future might bring. "Look, let's clear our minds with a seance and discuss it meanwhile."

Aloe hummed and nodded, her innocence and fright reflecting in her eyes. She took a last look back, before the sisters left the furnace and the empty shells with the 'Fire Crystals' labels.

Agate started to grow uncomfortable in the sauna, especially with that irritating fly landing on her from time to time, trying to disrupt her sleep. But not this time though, as she whipped her tail hard and fast by natural reaction to hit the drop of sweat on her flank, effectively knocking down the bucket, which's cold contents poured all into the hot stone-soup.

~~~

Lotus took the matches from the cupboard, as well as flipping the sign on the door with a skilled move of her tail. In the meanwhile Aloe prepared all the incense, long candles in a spiral form of wax, with a material inside that released a mesmerising smell when burned. She laid them down one by one on the platform around the pool, while her sister lit them. After all candles were lit, Lotus turned down the lights with a click. The result was simply astonishing, the sight, the smell and the sounds of the water created such a powerful atmosphere that could cleanse the mind and body from all the stress, resulting in calmness and better, more rational thinking, something the two ponies needed desperately.

Lotus stepped into the pool, her sister afterwards, not making a simple ripple on its surface. Though the water wasn't as warm as usual, it was not cold either. The two girls took a deep breath together, held it for a few seconds and exhaled, again, together.

"Do you think the crystals can arrive next Monday?" Aloe asked in almost whispers.

"I can only hope, we can't use neither the pool nor the sauna until then." Lotus replied.

"I'm scared, sister." Aloe told her as she moved closer, giving a hug to Lotus to help calm her shivering little soul down.

"It's going to be fine. Who knows, maybe the ponies will enjoy a cold pool more." the blue one whispered back as she curled her hooves softly around Aloe, stroking her mane downwards with her hooves.

"Hot, hot, hot, HOT!!" a scream broke the silence as a second later, a mustard coated unicorn rus~hed in from behind the ark. Her body was steaming as she was literally sliding in on her sweating hooves. Without any thinking, moreover, before anypony could even have the chance to think, the only thing the two sisters saw is the mare charging towards them. She sprinted a few slippery steps then jumped, landing in the pool with a semi-belly jump. Agate's little stunt created a wave large enough to soak the beauticians' face as well as knock over or down the only light sources in the room. As Lotus and Aloe opened their eyes again, along with Agate emerging from below only one thing was welcoming their vision: complete darkness.

The armorsmith was the first to talk "Oops! Wait, I can help.". Thus, she began forcing all the power she had into her horn, that dimly lit in a purple way at first, but then began to send tiny sparks in the air.

"Hnnnnngg!". Agate's teeth seemed as they could crack in any second from the force, as the rims of her horn began glowing with an orange color, lighting up the room once again, like a candle. The orange light illuminated the hall much more than her regular, purple magic.

The girls knew she can't hold it for long and jumped out from the tub to collect the incense once again, quickly drying them with the end with their mane. Lotus brought over hers to Agate fast and held the end of the candle close to the horn so hot now, it turned from orange to almost pure white, lighting the stick up once again. Right afterwards, the unicorn's horn went dead, Agate let out a powerful exhale as she rested her head against the wood with heavy breathing. The two sisters traded flames multiple times as they restored the seance, however only afterwards did Aloe notice the steam the water let go of.

"Miss Agate, I'm sorry but we're closed." Lotus told her in a rather angered manner, as she took a dip into the water. Much to her surprise, it was very hot.

"It's my fault sister, I'm the one who forgot about her." Aloe interrupted to take the responsibility for her actions.

"No, it's my bad girls." Agate added as she shaded the rims of her eyes "Seems like I'm making more trouble than good. I guess it's time for me to leave."

"Not at all, Miss Agate. Please stay!" Aloe shouted, turning to her sister on the right, whispering something in her ears, which Lotus replied with similar whispers.

"Miss Agate..." Lotus said in a slightly different and innocent tone "We'd like to ask you a small favor if it is possible."

"We're on shortage of fire crystals, which we use for heat source. However, we need them badly for the outside pool in the Spring Spa Weekend otherwise our losses could be huge." Aloe explained, her voice and eyes looking at possibly the only hope they had left: Agate. "Could you help us with your magic in keeping the pool warm? We could not thank enough."

"Oh girls." Agate moaned like a fangirl, as she swam to the two other pony "Of course I can help. You made my body feel like new, this is the least I can do." she explained, grateful as ever.

"Thank you very much." the earth ponies shouted in joy, as their hooves emerged from the water facing against one another.

"One more thing." Lotus added "Could you please keep what you have seen a secret?"

"Rarity and I get into such misleading poses all the time, I know how you feel." Agate laughed, with the two other ponies joining later.

Eventually, Agate rested her head against the wood next to Aloe as well. The smell of the burning incense was so very relaxing, she felt like in Heaven at that moment. She let yet another deep moan leave her throat before starting a bit of a chit-chat with the most adorable pair of girls she ever met.