Pinkie Pie led us to the spa, where Rarity and Fluttershy were waiting outside for us. Well, mainly for Twilight, but she had insisted that I come along.
"Darling! I'm so glad you could make it!" Rarity said, smiling broadly. “And my little Spikey-Wikey is here too!” I blushed, first from the attention, then from the embarrassment of blushing.
"Now everypony's here!" Pinkie Pie shouted, standing next to Fluttershy, who winced at the outburst.
"Rainbow Dash isn’t here," Fluttershy said softly. I looked everywhere except at Twilight.
"Oh, well," Rarity said. "We all knew she wasn't going to come; her invitation was more a courtesy than anything. The spa isn't really one of her favorite places. Besides, she probably isn’t even awake yet." I yawned, unintentionally emphasizing how early it was. Little did they know that I was really yawning because I’d been up all night.
"Applejack isn't here either," Fluttershy said. "She's too busy on the farm.”
"That's okay," Pinkie Pie said. "This time." Fluttershy shied away from the sudden dark edge in Pinkie's voice.
"Right," Rarity said, chuckling nervously. "Well, shall we?" Rarity led us inside and specified that we were there for “the usual.” Aloe and Lotus distributed robes to the four ponies, but exchanged a look when they saw me. They apologized for not having a robe that would fit me properly, and offered to give me one of the smaller pony robes.
“No thanks,” I said. “I don’t need one.” It would be difficult enough to focus with Rarity there, but if I allowed himself to be too absorbed in the pampering, I was afraid I might forget about the reason I was there at all. If anyone started talking too much about Rainbow Dash, Twilight told me I needed to pretend to remember something she was supposed to do, giving her an excuse to leave.
Once everyone had a robe who was going to get one, Lotus directed us to the sauna and began ladling water over hot rocks, filling the room with steam. The ponies settled down to enjoy the treatment, and I stood just inside the door, intent on remembering why I was there. Determined not to be distracted by... Rarity, just sitting there, looking so beautiful... I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focus again. The movement caught Rarity’s attention.
“Oh, Spikie, darling, do sit down. The point of a spa is to relax; don’t stand over there so stiffly. One would think you’re guarding something. If you’re guarding us, don’t worry, we’re all perfectly safe here.” I flushed and mumbled incoherently as I walked away from the door to sit between Twilight and Rarity. Rarity leaned close to Fluttershy and whispered, but she spoke just loudly enough that I was able to make out what she said.
“Isn’t he just so adorable when he’s embarrassed?” Fluttershy giggled softly and my blush deepened. I looked away, hoping Rarity wouldn’t know I overheard her.
“Now,” Rarity said, this time loud enough for everyone to hear. “I know Rainbow Dash didn’t want to be here today, but what is Applejack doing that so important? I thought she was looking forward to this.”
“Um, she’s pruning her orchard,” Fluttershy said.
“What?” Pinkie Pie almost shouted. “Oh, come on, that doesn’t take that long, she could be here with us and do that after!”
Twilight spoke up. “Not that long? Pinkie, even with Big Mac’s help-”
“Big Mac is helping?” Pinkie’s expression was half confused, half disgusted. I had no idea why.
“-it would still take them days to get all those branches removed.” Twilight finished, seeming not to notice Pinkie’s reaction.
Pinkie blinked, processing what she’d just heard. “Oh. Oooooooohhhh... I get it now.”
“You get what?” I asked, as confused as she looked a second ago. “No one was telling a joke, unless I didn’t get it either.”
“No, I was just confused. I didn’t hear what Fluttershy said right.”
“But why can’t it wait until later?” Rarity asked. “Is it really so important that she pulls all those limbs down now?”
“The Pegasus ponies have a big storm scheduled for next week,” Fluttershy said. “The, uh, other Pegasus ponies. Not me. I’m sorry.” She squeaked and hid behind her mane.
“If the storm tears down the limbs, it could cause a lot of damage to the trees,” Twilight said. “I hope she can get it done in time.”
“She said Rainbow Dash was going to help her with it too,” Fluttershy said. I glanced at Twilight, who swallowed hard.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkie asked. “You’re all pale and sweaty. Are you sick?”
“Oh, darling, is it too hot in here for you? I think we should get you out of here. Lotus, dear, I do believe it is time for mud masks.” Lotus smiled and nodded, gesturing us into the next room, where Aloe had prepared the rest of the items needed for the usual treatment. While Aloe and Lotus started to apply the mud masks, Rarity announced that further conversation would need to wait until after the masks were removed, to prevent them from shifting during treatment.
“Why does that matter?” Pinkie asked. I suspected she was just looking for a reason she didn’t have to stop talking.
“If the mask slides, then it won’t be an even coating, which means our faces won’t have an even treatment, which means once the masks are removed, our faces won’t be even! That would simply be the worst. Possible. Thing!” Pinkie sighed heavily and made some complicated gestures that seemed to mean she wasn’t going to say anything else for a few minutes. Twilight and I, meanwhile, sighed with relief that no one was saying anything else about Rainbow Dash, at least for a while.
After the masks were removed, conversation resumed as Aloe and Lotus filed Twilight and Rarity’s horns and some of my scales. Discussion started to drift dangerously close to Rainbow Dash again, but was interrupted when the massage stage of the visit began. Pinkie Pie started making noises and listening to how they were changed by the impact of Aloe’s hooves against her back, much to Rarity’s chagrin. I found the sound oddly relaxing, although maybe it was just my own massage. My eyelids started to droop...
“Spikey-Wikey...” My eyes shot open to see Rarity and Twilight standing next to me. They were both smiling, but while Rarity’s smile was warm and genuine, Twilight’s was forced, and there was something in her eyes that made me uncomfortable.
“You were so relaxed you fell asleep during your massage,” Rarity said. “You slept through that and our hooficure. Come along now, it’s time for the mud bath.” Twilight silently warned me to stay where he was, so I yawned and stretched while Rarity left the room. Once we were alone, Twilight leaned in close.
“What are you doing?” She whispered furiously. “You’re supposed to be here to help me make sure they don’t find out about what happened, not to be falling asleep while they ask me if I’ve seen Rainbow Dash! I had to lie to them and said I haven’t seen her in days!”
“I’m sorry, Twilight, the massage just felt so good, and I didn’t sleep at all last night; I couldn’t help myself.”
“Please try, Spike,” Twilight said. “I need your help with this. Now let’s go, before they get suspicious.” Twilight walked stiffly out of the room. I followed closely, determined not to let her down again. It was too late. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were looking at Twilight with concern when she joined them.
“Are you alright, darling? What was that about?”
Twilight’s smile snapped back into place before she answered.
“I’m fine. With Spike falling asleep like that, I was just worried I’d given him more responsibility than he can handle. He said I haven’t; that he was just so comfortable he couldn’t help falling asleep. Come on, Spike.” We joined the other three in the mud baths. I sighed, relaxing in the mud. Mud may not feel as nice as lava, but the company was far superior. I looked over at Twilight, and she seemed to be relaxing some too. I hoped she was relaxed enough I could joke around a little.
“Just to warn you,” I said. “This is so nice that I might fall asleep again.”
The ponies all laughed. Twilight’s laugh didn’t even seem forced.
Twilight was much more cheerful after the spa visit, and let me ride on her back as we went home.
“I think that was exactly what I needed to refresh my mind, Spike. Now I’m sure I can find a way to-” She glanced around at the other ponies around. “To solve the problem.” She started to hum happily as she trotted along the road. Her smile slipped and she slowed to a stop when she noticed ponies around giving her dark looks.
“What’s that all about?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “I don’t know them. I mean, I’ve seen them around town, but I don’t even know most of their names.”
“You don’t think... You don’t think they know, do you?”
“Oh, dear Celestia, I hope not,” Twilight said, her voice shaking slightly.
“Excuse me, did I do something wrong?” She asked the nearest unhappy pony.
“How can you be so happy on a day like this?” The pony asked, glaring.
“A day like this? What do you mean? What’s happened?” The other pony walked away without answering. Twilight walked in the direction the other ponies were coming from, and we soon learned that they were leaving a funeral. We didn’t know the pony who had died, but we did overhear some bits of conversation.
“...fell and broke his leg...”
“...infection had set in and there was nothing they could do...”
“...to think somepony could be fine one day and dead only a couple days later...”
“...so sudden...”
“...never saw it coming...”
Twilight didn’t say anything else on our way back to the library. I tried to talk to her, but she didn’t answer me. After a couple tries, I gave up. She didn’t say anything when we got home. She set me down on the floor, picked some books from the shelves and took them to her desk to start reading. The silence continued until I brought her something to eat. I set her plate on the desk where she was reading and turned to leave when she spoke, surprising me.
“Spike? Did you hear what they said? That somepony was fine one day, and dead only a couple days later?” I turned to face her and wasn’t sure how to answer. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“I know, Twilight. It’s sad, but that’s life, you know? Stuff happens, and there’s no way around that.”
“Yeah,” Twilight agreed sadly. “No way around that.” She glanced at Rainbow Dash on the corner of the desk, then looked at the plate as though seeing it for the first time. She looked back up at me and gave a little smile.
“Thank you.”
“You’re wel-” My reply was interrupted by a sudden burst of flame from my mouth. Fortunately I felt it coming and turned away from Twilight first. Inside the flame a scroll materialized. I caught it and opened it. Twilight’s face lit up when she saw it.
“It’s from Celestia! She must be answering my letter! She’s sent some more books and this whole thing can be forgotten soon! What are you waiting for? Read it!”
I cleared my throat and began.
Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student,
I know that you are always eager to learn, and that is one of the reasons I made you my personal student. However, the magic you are researching is very dangerous. In fact, these kinds of spells are the same as those my sister began to use just over a thousand years ago.
If you have any questions about any of the spells you’ve already learned about, ask me, but it may not be safe for you to read any more of the books yet.
Princess Celestia
Twilight’s face fell and she sat down.
“Now what I do?” She asked. “There has to be an answer in one of the other books, but if I insist then she’ll want to know why, and I’ve already given my only excuse for it!”
“She said to ask about any of the spells you had any questions about, so maybe you should just ask about the book spell,” I said. “Find out if there’s any way to undo it.”
Twilight’s eye twitched. “I’m sorry Spike, I can’t do that. She’ll know why.”
I looked at her doubtfully. “How?”
“Princess Celestia is very smart. You don’t get to be Princess without being smart enough to figure out something like that!” She took a deep breath and stood up.
“I’ll just have to keep re-reading the books I already have. There must be something in one of them that will help.”