“Ready for your trip to the spa today, Amethyst?” Rain Bell asked me as she sat down at the table with her breakfast. “Too bad I can’t come today.”
“There’s nothing that’d make me miss it,” I replied with a smile as I took a bite from my breakfast. I had actually had a bit of a restless night, feeling a bit anxious at the trip to the spa with Rarity and Fleur today. A bit ironic considering that the entire point of the spa was to calm you down. “I am a little nervous about it though,” I spoke up, voicing my concern. “I haven’t been to a spa before…” I trailed off, rubbing the back of my head.
“There aren’t a lot of things you’ve done before, huh, Amethyst,” Rain Bell deadpanned. “Well, at least you’re at lot more open about doing things than when you first came here,” She pointed out, spooning another mouthful of her cereal in her mouth.
It was true. Back in Manehattan I barely left home except when my mom forced me to. Maybe leaving home was a good decision on my part.
“Well too bad I have to work today,” Rain Bell said, interrupting my thoughts.
I looked up, feeling a little confused, and asked, “I thought you said that you weren’t one for spas?”
“They aren’t really my thing, but it’s better than having to manage the weather,” Rain Bell pointed out. “It gets really tiring, you know.”
“Oh yes, because a unicorn would know about kicking clouds,” I jested.
Rain Bell pouted jokingly and said, “You know what I mean.”
I peeked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall, noticing the time and spoke up, “Speaking of kicking clouds, aren’t you running a little late?”
Glancing back, Rain Bell muttered under her breath as she finished her breakfast hastily and shot out the kitchen, calling something out to me that sounded like “catch you later”.
Shaking my head at her carelessness, I finished my breakfast and brought our dishes to the sink.
__________
As I pushed through the doors of the spa, the noise of bell sounded above me. I walked inside and spotted Rarity and a pretty blue mare with a pink mane that I assumed was the spa owner looking up at me.
“Oh good! You’re here,” Rarity said. “Fleur should be here soon. So how have you been doing?” She asked as I took a seat on one of the chairs in the waiting room. It had simple blue walls with several plants and modest decor, all of which contributed to a relaxing feel to the room.
“Good, thanks for asking,” I replied as I got comfortable. “So what was that request that you said you had?”
“Well it was a request for dresses from some of the elite in Canterlot,” She started. “Nothing too fancy, but it’ll probably take a while. I don’t have any other pending requests right now, so I figured I’d take it,” Rarity pointed out.
I nodded at her and said, “Makes sense.”
As I finished speaking the bell chimed again and I turned my head to look. In walked Fleur, posing a little and looking stunningly beautiful as usual. I caught myself staring and quickly glanced away.
“Bonjour, Amethyst, Rarity” Fleur greeted us.
Shaking my head slightly to clear my head, I greeted her back, getting up from the chair I was sitting on.
“Hello Fleur,” Rarity replied back. Turning towards the blue mare, she said, “The usual please.”
“For all three of you?” She asked with a slight accent.
“Yes, please,” Rarity answered. The mare nodded and signaled for us to follow her. She walked us into a steam room, noticeable by fluxuation in the temperature and the steam floating around. We took seats at the benches as the spa pony took station near a bucket of hot water.
“So, how have you two been?” Fleur asked us.
Rarity spoke up first, “Very good. I’m still trying to think of what exactly to do for that request. I have several designs I can pick from, but I do not know which to use for it.”
“Maybe I can stop by after the spa?” Fleur suggested to her.
Rarity thought for a second, then answered, “Sure. I appreciate the help.”
“My pleasure,” Fleur responded before turning to me. “How about you, Amethyst?”
I looked up, Fleur’s voice snapping me back to attention “What?” I responded, a little embarrassed and confused after not paying attention. I had been too busy enjoying the steam and daydreaming.
“How have you been?” Fleur asked again, her beautiful voice strained with a small hint of annoyance.
“Um…” I stalled trying to think of something, but coming up with nothing. “Good.”
I saw the laughter in her eyes as she responded with a straight face, “That’s nice to hear.” She paused for a second, thinking of what to say next. “So, how’s your jewelry making coming along?”
“Not bad, thanks to Rarity supplying me with the materials to do so,” I answered, thankful that she wasn’t too mad about me not paying attention earlier. “I’ve been able to resell them to her as well as get some requests from Canterlot,” I finished, flashing a smile to Rarity.
“It’s my pleasure,” Rarity replied before turning towards Fleur. “Has Fancy Pants planned anything out for you anytime soon?”
“He’s saying that there might be a fashion shoot for me coming up soon, but nothing is set in stone yet, so no guarantees,” She replied quickly.”Otherwise I’m completely free.”
The blue mare spoke up, “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for your mud baths. If you’d follow me please.”
As we got up from the bench and followed her, I looked at Rarity, wondering what the point of bathing in mud was.
__________
Apparently mud baths were great for relaxing and also helps your complexion or so Rarity would have me believe. I still had a few doubts that she was right, but after several moments of disbelief I was quickly reassured by everypony else that it was true.
I had to admit that it was relaxing, but as our baths drew near an end, a pink mare, with inverted colors to the mare before and equally cute, walked into the room and spoke up.
“Sorry to let you know, but it’s just me and Lotus today so we can only take two of you at a time,” She apologized.
“It’s no problem, Aloe,” Rarity said to the mare as she turned to us. “So any volunteers?”
I was about to offer to when Fleur spoke up, “I will. These baths are much better than most I’ve been to, so I don’t mind sitting in here for a little longer.”
“Alright then. If you’d follow me, please,” Aloe said motioning for me and Rarity to come with her to the next room.
Inside was Lotus and several massage tables, one of which Rarity climbed on top of and laid down. I followed suit, getting comfortable as they started our massage.
I lay there enjoying it as the rhythmic motions relaxed my muscles. I must admit that at first I didn’t think I’d enjoy it very much, but after they started, any doubt in my head melted away. All the stresses that I had or didn’t even know I had dissipated in the wave of bliss the massage brought with it.
Going against my body’s wish to just lay there and do nothing else except enjoy the massage, I spoke up, breaking the silence between me and Rarity.
“So, Rarity. There’s this pony I like…” I started off, trying to get her attention. “I was wondering if you knew the best way to ask them out.”
“Ooooooh, does somepony have a crush?” Rarity teased. “Who is the lucky stallion?” I looked away, frowning. “It’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Rarity said, ignorant to what was going on in my head.
Now I would have told Rarity if it was a stallion, but it wasn’t. It was Fleur. And Rarity didn’t know that I was a lesbimare yet. However, because of that, I was a bit hesitant to tell her. She would find out later though, so…
I sighed as I resigned and told her, “Well. Since you really want to know…” I stalled.
“Oh come on,” She whined, “Tell me already, darling..”
Sighing one last time, I revealed my secret, “Well, it’s Fleur.”
Rarity looked a bit confused as well as shocked. “Wait, Fleur as in Fleur de Lis?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Fleur as in Fleur in the other room?” She asked, still looking shocked at what I just said and trying to comprehend it.
I rolled my eyes at her, “Yes,” I said, my voice containing a hint of annoyance.
“Wow… Well this is a surprise. I guess I should have seen it though,” Rarity mused. “I never thought you would be a lesbimare, Amethyst.”
Starting to get a little flustered, (Which was actually kind of hard to achieve with the massage I was getting.) I interrupted her and said, “Yes, well can we get onto the advice, please?”
Rarity gave me a sheepish grin. “Oh, yes, my bad. Well, just ask her out to dinner. I’d suggest a nice, fancy restaurant, but I can’t think of any right now,” She said with a frown.
“If only Rain Bell was here,” I said, frowning as well. “I haven’t ate at any restaurants around town, let alone know the names of any at all.”
“I think I have an idea!” Rarity exclaimed, eyes sparkling with delight. “There’s a classy Prench restaurant called ‘The Poney Caracolant’. It’s supposed to have really great food from what I’ve heard. I’ve never gone there before though.”
“Well hopefully what you heard was true,” I said, thinking about what else I’d need to do. “Um… I’ll need a dress then, right?” Rarity nodded. “I don’t have any…” I started then realized who I was laying down next to. “Could you make a dress for me, please, Rarity?”
“Consider it done, darling. I’ll even do it for free,” She offered.
My mouth agape, I responded, “What… No, I couldn’t. Not for free!”
“I insist,” Rarity said with a smile before she turned towards the spa pony massaging her. “Well I think I’m done with my massage for now. Thank you, Lotus.”
“It’s my pleasure,” She replied, before turning to fetch Fleur.
“Are you going to ask her out now, Amethyst?” Rarity asked, waiting for my answer before she trotted to the next room.
“I’ll try to,” I responded, suddenly not as confident as I had been while we had been planning. Rarity shook her head as she headed to the hot tub. “Oh, Rarity!” I called out, getting her attention. “Thanks for all the help with this.”
__________
A few minutes later, Fleur walked out and laid down for her massage. I knew that I needed to ask her out, especially after having planned out everything, but instead, I was overcome with nervousness at the time. “I wish Rarity was still here,” I muttered to myself.
“What was that?” Fleur asked, looking over at me.
“Um, nothing,” I said quickly. Fleur looked at me like she didn’t believe me. Acting on a spur to start up conversation again to try to coax myself to ask her out, I asked, “So how are you liking the spa so far?”
“Merveilleux,” She said, clearly enjoying her massage. “I’d even go so far as to say better than most of the spas I’ve been to in Canterlot.” She paused for a second, enjoying the massage before she spoke up again. “Et toi?”
“Well I haven’t been to a spa before, but I’d say that this one is pretty good as well,” I answered. The conversation paused for a while and I took the time to muster my courage to ask.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke up. “Hey Fleur…” I began, getting her attention.
“Oui?” She asked, tilting her head a little.
“I was wondering… Would you go out with me to dinner, on a date?” I asked, suddenly tense as I waited for her answer.
She looked surprised at my question… more surprised than I liked. Great job. You screwed this up, Amethyst, I criticized myself, feeling hopeless for this to have any success now.
“I… I need some time to think about this,” Fleur responded, looking away from me.
Well it’s not a definite no… I brought up to myself. At least there’s still a chance for me, I thought, sounding a lot more confident in my head than I really felt. “I’m going to go to the hot tub now,” I excused myself, getting up and thanking Aloe on the way.
__________
As I stepped into the hot tub, Rarity asked, “So did you ask her?”
“Yes,” I replied sullenly. “And before you ask, she didn’t say yes. She didn’t say no either. At least it’s better than nothing, right?”
Rarity frowned. “Yes. I thought this might happen… You do have to realize that she does deal with the Canterlot elite though, and they are against anyone who isn’t completely straight,” She explained. “Fleur’s probably debating whether or not to take that risk, but at least she’s thinking about it,” Rarity pointed out.
She did have a point, I thought to myself. The very fact that she didn’t completely shut me out meant that Fleur is at the very least considering it. Maybe I do still have a chance!
“Tell you what,” Rarity began to say. “I’ll talk to her when she’s over at my boutique later today. Let’s see if I can’t convince her for you,” She offered with a smile.
“You’d really do that for me?” I asked, not believing my luck.
“Sure. And while I’m not into mares, I think you and Fleur would make a cute couple. As I’ve said before, it’s the least I could do, darling,” Rarity said with a smile.
“I really need to find some way to pay you back for all your help…” I said, clueless as to pay back even a little of the generosity my friends had given me.
Rarity laughed and said, “Getting you and Fleur together would be payment enough.”
I frowned and said seriously, “No. I need… no have to do something to pay you back for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve helped me out more than most ponies that I’ve met before. Albeit, I haven’t met that many, but still,” I quietly added as an afterthought.
__________
Fleur entered the hot tub several minutes later, sitting across from us. “Sorry that we didn’t get to spend that much time together today,” Rarity apologized.
“Oh, it’s alright. It’s still better than most spa visits I’ve had before. Definitely relaxing…” Fleur paused before saying in a neutral tone as she looked at me, “and… different.”
I turned my gaze away from her, feeling rather embarrassed and awkward.
“Well, at least it isn’t boring,” Rarity pointed out, letting the conversation die down. We sat there in the hot tub, unsure of what to talk about next so we sat there, relaxing instead.
I broke the silence and turned to Fleur to try to make the feeling of awkwardness die down. “So do you have anything planned for the next few weeks?” I asked, then realized it might’ve sounded weird, and added, “For modeling, I mean.”
Fleur let out a feminine chuckle as she replied, “I figured that was what you meant. And as far as I know, I still have nothing planned out. If I remember correctly though, Uncle Fancy said that he might have found a photo shoot for me in a week or so.”
Once again, the conversation died down for a little before Fleur spoke up again, turning to face me.
“Amethyst, I noticed you’re still looking a little on edge. I’d like you to know that even if I say no, I don’t want that to come between our friendship, if that’s okay with you.”
I looked away, not sure how to respond and altogether, feeling a little bit more on edge that she said that. I’m sure that she might have seen that some other way, but instead, it felt more like she had already decided not to.
__________
As our trip to the spa concluded, we gathered outside to bid farewell to each other as I went home and Rarity and Fleur headed to her boutique.
“Well, see you two later,” I said, feeling a little sad that our trip was over. As my first time going to a spa, I’d have to say that it was a rather enjoyable moment.
“I’ll see you soon,” Rarity replied, giving me a wink before she whispered to me, “I’ll make sure to talk to Fleur about that date. Tell me what she says to you.”
“Will do,” I said back to her, “I can’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me.” Rarity just smiled back to me
Fleur turned to me and said, “I’ll think about your offer for a date and tell you once I’ve made up my mind. Can I stop by your house to tell you when I have?” She asked.
“Yes, I should be around,” I replied.
Fleur nodded. “Alright, sounds like a plan. Au revoir, then.”
“Bye, Fleur,” I said, turning to head back home as they headed off in their own direction. Taking that last conversation into consideration, I wasn’t quite sure what Fleur’s answer would be. All I could do was hope that she would answer with a yes.