//------------------------------// // Spa day // Story: Phoenix blood // by Mikoyose //------------------------------// I woke in my bed, shocked as I thought over whether I was going insane or I had heard Isaac's voice. I sat up and faced the window, the sun's rays streaming through the glass. Shaking my head as I tried to come up with a reason I heard Isaac's voice say 'I'd listen to her.' while I was dreaming. It couldn't have been my mind bringing up his voice or it would've said something different. I sighed as I popped the joints in my neck, my eyes drifted to the coupon. One free massage. "This might help." I said before I bit the ticket and left the room. Bon bon wasn't there though Lyra was. She smiled at me from the table in the kitchen. "Good morning James." she said. I nodded in reply and walked out the door. It was a regular day, from what I had seen so far, in Ponyville. The ponies were going on about their business, buying groceries, furniture, cookware, etc. I took a deep breath through my nose before stretching my wings and taking off for the spa. Having a small idea of where it was located I flew over the village, passing Pinkie Pie in more of a rush than usual. I flew past Rainbow laying on a cloud. She didn't follow me, I looked back and saw that she flew towards Twilight as she came out of an alley. My paranoia was kicking in. I shook the thoughts out of my head and focused on flying to my destination. Soon I came upon the spa, as the sign outside read. I looked over the building before entering, Aloe was at the service window and Fluttershy was sitting on a nearby sofa. She hid behind her mane as I looked at her. I walked up to the service window and spit out the coupon onto the table. She smiled at me, "I thought you'd never come." she said as she took the paper and led me to the center of the building, a very large space with a massive, what I'm guessing is a Hot tub and surrounding that were several bed like tables and a few two or three inch pools. As Aloe led me to a table she said to lay down on it and relax and I did so. I heard the door open and Rarity's voice, "Hello Fluttershy, I'm sorry I'm late I was just finishing up a suit for..." she stopped there before continuing nervously and a bit louder, "For... one of my clients. The usual please." That last part I'm guessing was for the service window. A few seconds later the white unicorn and the yellow pegasus walked in with an earth pony that was color swapped with Aloe, blue mane with a pink body and a white lotus on her flank with the same white headband. The three of them walked into a steamy wooden hut, a sauna. Aloe returned with a bottle and set it aside after putting some of the contents on her hooves and beginning the massage. Almost instantly my muscles relaxed, the one thing I'd never been able to do. "My you have many knots in your back. Tell me, where did they come from?" "Life." I answered simply as the deep tissue massage continued. "Don't ask." I added before she could ask anything. As it went on Fluttershy and Rarity exited the sauna and walked over to some tables on the other side of the room, the third pony followed them. "Who is that?" I asked, pointing with my chin at the earth pony. "Zat is Lotus, she is my sister. Why do you have your eye on her?" she said jokingly. I said nothing and the rest of the massage went on in silence. Once it was over I thanked her and left without another word, feeling great. I walked back home, thinking on what 'Isaac' meant, forget your past and move on was what he said essentially though I know that's going to be difficult. This time as I walked through the village I didn't speak to anyone as i was lost with my own thoughts on what was happening in my sleep. Then my mind drifted to the concoction Jordan had made, had it killed me? If it did, is this where the dead go? As my train of thought focused on that it zoned in on a single idea. Could... Could Rosemary be here? I was staring at the ground and didn't notice the Doctor walking up besides me with Shining armor. "Are you alright James?" Shining asked snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at the unicorn my expression the same as ever. "I'm fine." "James. I came to apologize. We didn't mean to open old wounds." I could hear the sincerity in his voice along with sympathy. I sighed, "It's fine. That's all in the past, can't do anything about it now. Don't worry about it. Oh and Doctor I need to speak with you." "What is it James?" the chestnut stallion asked. Shining stood close, I didn't tell him anything. If he wants to hear why not let him? This wasn't a secret. "Would there be any chance that Rosemary could be here in Equestria?" His ears fell, that didn't bode well. "I don't think there is. I'm sorry James." I felt my own ears sag, I knew I told him how I got here, through Jordan's concoction back at his home. I knew this couldn't be a hallucination or a dream, breaking my legs and not getting sent to a scientist proves it. I sighed and mumbled, "Just a stupid, useless idea." I turned away and flew off, wishing Dash was there to give me something to be distracted with. I wished something would happen to get my mind off of the past. I returned to my temporary home, mood slightly elevated by the flight. When I opened the door the inside of the room was dark, instinct kicked in and I searched the darkness quickly for irregular shapes, there were many inside. I was about to slam the door and fly away as quickly as possible but stopped and shook my head when I remembered where I was, This is probably Pinkie's idea. I sighed and walked in after standing in the doorway for about a minute. When I was inside the house the door slammed shut behind me a second after that, the lights came on. The living room was filled with mares. I gave them each my usual analysis, No visible weapons, no places to conceal, a few unicorns and pegasi. They could be dangerous. I scolded myself silently as I realized what I was doing, keeping my face as emotionless as possible. Some of the mares looked nervous, something I noted immediately was that there were no stallions whatsoever, though there were few in Ponyville anyway. The lights dimmed and a spotlight surrounded me, Pinkie's voice sounded "Welcome James! This is your Mare Meet and greet!" Something about that worried me. That's when I saw the banner Pinkie made in the gloom, 'Mare Meet and greet.' the words were red and in the center of a pink heart above two depictions of ponies. One made to look like me and the other a silhouette with a white question mark. I turned to my right and saw Twilight, Pinkie, Dash, and Applejack. I glared at them, knowing what they were trying to do. Applejack lowered her hat and looked away, Dash rubbed the back of her head, Twilight was sheepishly smiling and Pinkie had a big grin on her face. I was angry, I can usually cover my emotions but this was crossing the line and I felt myself losing control. I knew they could see it as Pinkie's smile faded, the nervous smiles on the rest followed suit.