The Colours of Dusk

by Gallifrey

Follow Me to the Bath House

Rainbow Blitz knocked his head back, tipping the last drops of delicious cider into his mouth. He hiccoughed slightly and set his mug back on the bar, giggling to himself. Maybe he was just being silly. Neither Dusk nor Dawn seemed the type to just jump into bed after so short a time. But still... the thought that he should perhaps let Dusk know the truth weighed heavily on his mind, as it skipped hoof in hoof with his fear. He groaned and slumped forwards, tracing his hoof in small circles on the counter. The silver-maned barkeep gave him a concerned look through his half moon spectacles, mumbling something along the lines of: "Pegasi..."

"How *hick* many am I on, dude?" he asked genially to the elder stallion behind the bar.

"This is yer first..." he said, trying to keep a straight face. "Yer Rainbow Blitz, right?"

"One and only!" he said proudly, displaying his wings and looking like a fool.

"Ah," said the pony. He'd served the bold and brash pegasus before, and would've recalled him sooner, but his memory wasn't quite what it used to be. But he did remember that Blitz was a complete lightweight. "W-Why don't you go play pool in the corner?" he offered kindly, trying to distract him from more alcohol. "It's free this afternoon."

"But the sign says it's two bits–"

"It needs updating," he said swiftly. "Off you trot."

Easily persuaded, he grabbed a cue and set up the table. Eventually, he realised that he was alone and had no opponent.

"Oh well, I'll just have to play with myself," he said, giggling like a school filly.

Rainbow Blitz always fancied himself quite a shot when it came to pool, snooker and the like, unfortunately, the reality was that Blitz couldn't have landed a ball even if the pocket was the size of Applejack's barn door, but still, he was happy, so nobody pointed it out to him.
Hitting the ball with his cue in the same fashion as a blind pony would hit an anvil with a hammer, he sent all the balls scattering in true Brownian Motion, including sending a red ball off the table entirely and by sheer coincidence, a yellow into a pocket.

"Nailed it!"

"Oh wow! Great shot Blitz! Can I join in?"

Blitz turned to see Berry sitting at a table, clapping happily.

"Uh, how long you been there, Berry?"

"Only thirteen point three seven seconds."

Shrugging, Blitz tossed him a cue, and missed, sending it clattering to the floor.

"Please be careful!" called the barkeeper.

"Sorry!"

"Ya know," said Berry as he lined up his shot. "Dusk and Dawn visited me earlier."

Blitz, who had been placidly laying his head on the end of his cue, jerked his head up and lost balance of the cue, sending it clattering to the floor.

"Once more, and you can leave!

"Sorry!" Blitz shouted. "Berry. Please tell me you didn't do anything to make the situation worse!"

"What? Oh, no! I just sat and watched them, I don't think they noticed," said Berry as he took his shot, bending the white around a yellow to hit a red.

"And?" said Blitz tensely.

"They acted completely normally, like two friends," said Berry simply. "If there was anything worth mentioning, it was that Dusk wanted to pay for their snacks."

"Ah, that's just Dusk being Dusk," said Blitz, taking a shot that sent the ball whizzing narrowly past Berry's head.

"I paid anyway, just to be on the safe side," said Berry, looking proud of himself.

"Aw Berry, you didn't have to do that!"

Berry shrugged modestly.

"I must admit, it makes me feel a little, uh, better," said Blitz, lining up his next shot. "Still gonna keep an eye on 'em though."

"I'm super happy to hear that, Blitz," Berry chirped. "Now all you have to do is let Duskie know how you feel!"

Blitz spluttered and dropped his cue, sending it clattering to the floor.

"Okay," said the barkeep, losing his temper. "Out!"

"I'm still not entirely sure about this," said Dusk, looking up at the gently swaying sign above him. It depicted a hoof on a purple cushion, it was being filed. Underneath the picture, in fancy gold lettering was written: Lotus' and Aloe's Day Spa. It seemed to swing tauntingly at him.

"Dusk, sometimes it's good to challenge gender stereotypes," said Dawn soothingly. "And also to try new things I guess," she added as an afterthought.

Dragging his hooves, Dusk followed Dawn into the spa. His initial thoughts were that of a very large bathroom, even though they were only in the foyer. The walls were shiny and enamelled with large, pale turquoise tiles, the graceful, curving roof had large, stained glass windows, sunlight cascading through it like a waterfall. Taking a deep breath, Dusk smelled what can only be described as cleanliness. He tilted his head in slight approval of the whole spa thing.

"May we help you?" came a silky, feminine voice from their right.

Dusk turned to see a beautiful pink earth pony mare with a shimmering blue mane. He started stammering, but thankfully, Dawn came to his rescue.

"Hello," she began politely. "We're both rather new to this, so yes, what would you recommend?"

"If it's your first time here, which... I think it is," she said, scrutinising them closely, "then it's free."

"Whoa, really?" said Dusk, surprised.

"Of course, we don't get prestigious awards for being greedy," she said pleasantly. "And if I may be blunt sir," she said, looking at his matted fur and twiggy mane, "you need it..."

"So, um, what are you going to do to us?" asked Dusk awkwardly.

The spa pony gave a chuckle, which echoed around the foyer.

"You needn't be so nervous Master...?"

"D-Dusk Shine, my name's Dusk Shine."

The spa pony turned to Dawn with a smile.

"And I'm Dawn Star," she said.

"Very pretty names," she complimented. "I'm Aloe. And as I say, you needn't be so nervous, the mares will take good care of you for sure."

Dusk found himself blushing.

"I-I have heard r-rumours about um w-what goes on in... ah, certain spas..."

"Rest assured, that does not happen in this establishment," said Aloe with another tinkling laugh. "Although, you never know, it might bump us up to number one in Equestria!"

Dusk chuckled nervously, but it came out as a near hysterical giggle.

"Getting back on topic," said Dawn, rolling her eyes, "what can we expect today?"

"Yes," said Aloe, blushing in turn. "Um, yes. Our standard treatment covers, a power shower, a full body massage, a facial–" She tactfully ignored Dawn's snort of laughter. "–hoof care, a session in the sauna, and finally, a soak in the pool. Sound good?"

Dawn's eyes had glazed over slightly.

"It certainly sounds... interesting," said Dusk with an air of caution.

Dawn nodded weakly, a smile on her face.

"Very well, follow me please."

This might not be so bad after all, thought Dusk lazily, as he felt a pair of hooves grind slowly and deliberately down his back. He was lying face down on a plush, snow white bed. His body melted into it like it was made of cloud. It was nice to have a mane relieved of twigs at least.

"Mmmf!" he grunted involuntarily into his pillow.

"I'm sorry, Master Dusk," said a mare who'd introduced herself as Lotus Blossom. "Was that too hard?"

"N-No, it's fine," said the unicorn muffledly.

"I think Dusk Shine's just enjoying this a bit more than he anticipated," said Dawn, who was in a separate bed next to him, the amusement clear in her voice.

"Quiet, you," said Dusk. She was quite right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
In fact, Dusk was in a totally different world. He'd never experienced anything like this before. Years and years of muscular tension were unravelling under the skilled hooves of Lotus. The knots caused by many hard years of... reading books were being kneaded out of him like lumps of flour from dough. He shut his eyes in pure bliss as he melted like jelly into the bed. There was a pause to Lotus' ministrations and Dusk cracked open a heavy eyelid.

"What's– aaaaagh!"

He yelped as he felt his tail be moved to one side and then two hooves press down on his rump.

"Just relax, Master Dusk," said Lotus soothingly. "I won't go for anything too ah, sensitive."

"That's surprisingly reassuring," said Dusk in a high voice.

Dawn grinned into her pillow.

They were alone. The sizzle of boiling water bounced around the tiny, wooden room. A mushroom of steam rose up to join the thick cloud that dominated the room. Dawn poured a little more water onto the coals with a ladle and then returned to Dusk's side.
Dusk meanwhile could barely breathe, the air was hot, dense, and as sticky as boiling treacle, but he supposed this was necessary for whatever this was doing to him. He swept his sweaty fringe from his eyes.

"Can you please explain to me why we're wearing towels?" asked Dusk, drawing his own closer to himself.

"Well, it's traditional I guess," she replied. "Traditional things hardly ever make sense."

"I suppose... and why does it have to be so hot? What does this actually do?" he asked, panting slightly.

"It's good for your skin," said Dawn happily. "You sweat all the toxins out, or so I'm told. It's generally good for your pores too." She was very pleased to be in an environment where she knew a lot more than he did.

"Oh," said Dusk with interest. "It's certainly doing its job in making me sweat at least."

"You got that right," said Dawn, pouring some more water over the coal. Sitting back down, she cast her mind back to the bridge, and Blitz's behaviour. She had her suspicions about the guy, but had to put her hypothesis to the test, like any good scientist. She began to wonder how to approach the subject that was on her mind. They sat in silence for a little time. "Dusk?"

"Mm?" said Dusk, who was laying back with his eyes shut.

"You know Rainbow Blitz, is he... um, how do I put this..." Dusk opened one eye. "Is he– does he, prefer the company of stallions?"

Dusk's eyes looked lost.

"He hangs out with me a lot, but I don't see–"

"Is he gay?" she said bluntly.

"Oh! Yeah, he's gay."

"Is he open about it then?"

"Yeah, he only came out about six months ago though. Come to think about it, he started acting a bit different around that time..."

"Hmm," said Dawn thoughtfully, "have you ever considered, you know..."

"I wouldn't know about that," said Dusk blushing deeply, he was never comfortable when it came to romance, or even potential romance.

"What about your other friends, Berry or Butterscotch? They seemed sweet enough, even if Berry's a little... energetic."
Dusk stumbled over his words like a pony with four left feet, his blush going supernova.
"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," said Dawn quickly, seeing Dusk's crimson face.

"I'm okay, I think it's the heat," he mumbled.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Dawn digested the new information, and while Dusk sat in excruciating embarrassment.

"You wanna go to the pool?" she offered, diverting the conversation. "The water's nice and cool."

Dusk nodded, grateful for the sudden snapping of the tension that had been hanging in the air. They both got up, and several things happened very quickly. Dusk's hoof got caught on his towel, and with a strangled cry he fell forwards, straight into Dawn, who went tumbling to the floor with him. There was a confused flurry of hooves and tails, and Dusk closed his eyes tightly, wishing that this wasn't happening. They came to rest, and Dusk didn't dare open his eyes, he could only hear heavy breathing in the dense air, and the rise and fall of a chest from under him. He timidly opened his eyes to assess the situation. To his horror, he found that he was straddling Dawn and that his hot and sweaty body was pressing, quite intimately, into the mare who he was now bearing down upon.

This can't be happening, this cannot be happening!

Dawn was flat on her back, her damp mane was covering an eye and her face was but inches from his, their hot panting mingling together in the steamy air. Her expression was merely of surprise. Dusk's mind was going into meltdown from the five hundred things he was thinking about at once. The fear, the embarrassment, and even the arousal...

"So..." said Dawn neutrally. "This is cosy."

Dusk was still in too much shock to form a cognitive thought or action, let alone process what she just said.

"I–"

"You know Dusk, you work fast I'll give you that," said an impressed voice from behind them.

Dusk's heart leapt in terror. The door to the sauna had opened, the clouds of thick steam dissipated to reveal a white unicorn with a fabulous mane standing before them.