> Heat Treatment > by The Masketta Man > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > An Overstaying Customer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diligent Work was moving rather rather quickly on this particular evening trot. Even though it was spring, the pegasi had scheduled some cool days for the next few weeks, probably as a minor relief effort for the mares suffering from the season, and though it was a far cry from the winter a few weeks back, tonight's chilly air still had him shivering.  It made him wish he had brought a jacket with him, but he’d be in the warm confines of the Ponyville spa soon enough. Ugh, he thought.  I get that stallions are forbidden from entering the spa until after closing, but does it have to close so late?  It’s chilly out here! It was only his fourth month on the job, but he had gotten a nice routine down, only to have it disrupted when Aloe, Vera, and Lotus kicked him and Bulk out for the next four weeks until the season ended, so that the spa could administer their “heat treatment”. Would be nice to have some calming potion whenever I’m asking a mare out, he thought, though he’d want it to have been a lot less saturated than the rumors of the heat treatment suggested its potion was.  Just a tonic for the nerves, not something that had him complacent enough to follow anyone’s orders, no matter what. As the building came into view, Dill couldn’t help but once again shake his head at how the building had this strange resemblance to a collection of tents. Sure, the walls were structurally sound, but the way the roofs tapered to a point that resembled the way a tent with a central support would just always had him imagining the building as some kind of circus tent. Since the front door was locked and barred, he trotted around to the Employees Only entrance, unlocked the door with a key conjured with magic, and stepped inside, shutting and locking the door behind him as instructed. This entrance was a typical back room. The floor and walls were a nondescript hard stone.  There was a pair of small, plain, wooden writing desks on the two walls that didn’t feature a doorway.  Up against the far wall, there was also a ledger, a safe, and a mail stand with different smaller boxes for each employee.  The cleaning cart was stashed in a corner, a filing cabinet stood in another corner, and the floor in the middle was completely devoid of decor. Not the brightest room in the spa, but a good place to get some work done.  At the sight of the bits purse sitting in his slot of the mail stand, Dill smiled, though he wasn’t going to take it until he was on his way out. Diligence was in his name after all. He had to make sure his chores were done first. She said ‘the list is on the desk’, he remembered Aloe’s instructions a few days ago.  Sure enough a small note had been left for him and, rather thankfully, it appeared to be short this evening. The girls had taken care of most of the work, including making sure the towels were ready to be warmed and making sure the sauna was properly cooled, along with other mandatory tasks. This left him with some rather simple mopping duties, a short inspection, and the storage of heat treatment potions with disposal of the used ones. Inspection first, since some places might only need a spot-clean, then mopping and disposal, he reasoned, brushing his short brown mane back, before trotting out into the spa’s main concourse to begin his work. However, his inspection came to a grinding halt when he stepped out into the spa proper and saw to his bewilderment that one of the rooms’ lights were still on, its light visible under the gap below the short black double-door that led to the bathing room. The Blossoms must have forgotten it, or perhaps didn’t notice it. In any case, it at least saved him the minimal effort of turning everything on himself in that room. I wonder why… Curiosity egging him on, he turned on the lights in the hall before pushing open the door and stepping in, and he found that the reason the lights were still on was because a pony was sleeping in the tub. Dill froze where he stood and his amber eyes widened in surprise. No one was supposed to be there at that time. The spa was closed! With him being rooted to the spot, this gave him time to inspect her, and to his shock, it was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle! He had never seen her up close, but there was no mistaking that straight navy-blue mane with the purple and magenta streaks in it, that perfect shade of lilac in her coat…  It was either the real Princess Twilight, or a very convincing lookalike. Though considering the Princess and some of her friends were regulars here, there were greater odds on the former.  And she just sat there in the tub, her head leaned back against the rim and a lazy grin across her face. Did the Blossoms just forget about a princess of Equestria? Before he had time to think about it, he whiffed a faint, musky smell pervading the room that seemed to make his mind go fuzzy. It didn’t take him long to cast a quick filter spell in front of his muzzle to clear his nostrils of it. Right. The aroma of the heat treatment.  In contrast to the usual clean, steamy, and soapy smell of the bathing room, this had a very herbal fragrance to it.  If Dill had to hazard a guess, it would probably be crushed pine, though that could simply have been extra fragrances added to give it an appealing smell rather than a repulsive one. “Good thing I came in here first.” He trotted over to the bathing tub where the purple pony resided, intending to usher her out.  While this was a mistake, he definitely had to tread carefully here. As he went over, one of her eyes opened and immediately locked onto his nervous ones. “Oh, hello!” She smiled at him. “Who are you?” “I’m Diligent Work.  I clean the place,” he answered, gesturing to his cutie mark. A mop and broom crossing each other with a grey bucket in the middle to go with them, all on his tan coat. A very simple cutie mark, just like his job.  “Any reason why you’re here so late? The Blossoms usually send everypony home when they close up.” Twilight sat up and tapped her chin thoughtfully, the water sloshing around her body movements. Some droplets even dripped to the floor. “Hmm, I think they said something about ‘not moving until the herbs finished burning.’” Dill blinked as if it was the worst answer she’d come up with for staying. The room was relaxing, but this just annoyed him. The girls were better than this.  How could they have not noticed a princess of Equestria falling asleep in the bathing room? “They weren’t talking about you.” he said, sighing and trotting over to open up one of the cabinets near the back of the room, where there was a special tool to help him snuff the special incense burners in the spa. “They most likely said something along the lines of ‘not moving the burners until the herbs finished burning’.” He gestured his hoof over to the incense burners set up at a few points around the room, where they were vaporizing an herbal potion of some kind and sending its fumes into the air. “Since they’re earth ponies and all and those burners have that whole magical fire thing going, that’s my job.”   “Oh...” Twilight replied, her ears drooping just a bit. “It just… seemed like a good idea. It’s really helping me with my heat.” “Yeah. They never meant that you should stay though.” Dill rolled his eyes. “You just took the idea as a command, and the influence of the potion made you obey it.” “Why would the potion do that?” Twilight tilted her head, confused. “Because the potion’s fumes calm ponies to such an insane degree.” Dill moved toward the first of the four burners around the room, hefting the fire-snuffer onto his shoulder. The burners looked almost like chemistry stoves.  A bowl with magical coals rested on the table, with thin supports holding a small metal plate just a few inches above the luminescent fires that burned on the coals in question, heating the plate, which in turn heated an elegant potion vial, from which the vapors of the potion issued forth, the tan fumes mixing with the steam of the room. “But what… how does that make me obey?” Twilight muttered, tapping her chin again. “I should know this…” “Because it calms ponies to such a point that they’re more susceptible to suggestion,” he said, snuffing out one burner’s magical flame, using his magic to remove the burning potion and set it to the side to cool, moving over to another. “The Heat Treatment floods the air with it. At this point, you’d probably do anything I tell you without a single question.” “I will?” Twilight asked, seeming unconcerned by the implication that she would do anything he said, no matter how degrading it would be, though her self-preservation instincts wouldn’t make her go too far. “Like what?” “Like if I told you to get out of the tub and dry yourself off, you’d--” he glanced over his shoulder when he heard loud sloshing from behind him, to find that she was already clambering out the tub. Her magic floated a towel over her back, where she began to vigorously rub every inch of her body to dry herself off as quickly as possible. “...yeah, that.” “What?” Twilight asked, confused once more as she neatly folded the damp towel and placed it on a nearby stand with several others. “You did what I said.” Dill snuffed out another incense burner. As he strode over to the third one, he stopped and he got an idea... An awful idea... Diligent Work got a wonderful, awful idea. “Shake yourself like a dog,” he ordered Twilight, all thoughts of snuffing out the burners gone. It wasn’t every day that he got to mess with another pony like this, much less an alicorn princess! She immediately complied, almost instantly shaking herself vigorously as he said that. It was a very clumsy effort, barely resembling an actual dog, but the simple fact that she had done it made him grin. “Shall I bark for you too?” Twilight asked, sounding as nonchalant as though she had just asked about the weather. “No, that won’t be necessary,” Dill rubbed his lips for a moment before he had another command. “Shoot fireworks from your horn.” Blasts of magenta exploded in the air a few inches above her head, softly illuminating the room with bursts of light, even as she just stood there with a relaxed smile on her face.. “Sing the Silly Pony song!” “Who’s a silly pony? I’m a silly pony!” Twilight sang, standing in place as she did so while the fireworks continued to go off from her horn. “Do a silly dance with it,” Dill added, feeling a bit unnerved by her just standing there. Twilight immediately began to shake and dance around as she sang the silly pony song, sliding across the floor of the bathing room erratically as the magenta magical bursts continued to explode above her head. Dill knew when a pony could and couldn’t dance, and Twilight very much couldn’t. It was honestly cringe-inducing, especially when she tried to twirl and fell over. But without missing a beat, she continued to sing, and the fireworks continued to go off. “Alright, stop,” he ordered, feeling like he’d had his fun, and it was time to finish his work. At once, the fireworks shut off, the singing stopped, and she finished dancing. However, she had come to a complete standstill facing away from him, giving him an eyeful of her rump and-- he did a double take-- something much, much more enticing.  There just beneath her tail, Dill could see her treasure. At once, his mouth went dry and his eyes went wide at the sight of it. He didn’t mean to see it or do anything like that! “P-princess Twilight!” “Yes?” she turned to face him, looking completely unconcerned that he could see her mare bits. “Y-your--!” His voice died in his throat as his cock started to slip from its sheath. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of it this whole time. Even after she had dried herself completely, her lower lips glimmered with the faintest bit of moisture, and they appeared to be rather swollen, no doubt from the heat. “My what?” she asked, before noticing where his gaze was. “Oh! Did you want to look under my tail?” And at once she lifted it, exposing all of herself to his hungry eyes,causing all of the air to leave his lungs. I am so fired! he thought.  He just knew Aloe, Vera, and Lotus were going to punish him for this if they found out. If… The word continued to echo in his mind. It was late at night. They were gone. The only ones here were himself and Princess Twilight. No one else would know. No one else would know! The wonderful, awful idea he had was back. And his sexual frustration was now fighting alongside it. At the sight of her lifting her tail for him, his friend to the south had expanded to its longest degree, and was now standing proud and erect between his legs. “Diligent Work?” she asked, still sounding completely unconcerned about exposing herself to a stranger’s hungry eyes. “C-call me Dill,” he grunted, taking several deep heaving breaths to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to do was find himself under the thrall of the herbs too, but he could use some of their calming properties. Especially considering what was about to go down. “Okay, Dill!” Princess Twilight smiled sweetly to him, her tail hiked up and her pussy presented to him, winking from stimulation even if she didn't realize it. It was utterly enticing. The way her lilac hair framed her lips as they beckoned Dill to come forward for his attention. Dill found himself leaning forward, inching ever closer to the princesses sacred treasure. He wanted to taste her. He had to. This was the perfect time to sate his curiosity of how a mare would taste, especially Twilight Sparkle. His muzzle was within inches of her opening, feeling her estrus radiating off her person like she was burning up. The sight of her winking once again elated his desires. And without prolonging the opportunity, he stuck his tongue out and gave her soaking lips a long lick from bottom to top, tasting her flesh for all it had to give for him. She gave a short closed hum in stimulation, yet not moving from her place. Her essence was rather thick and tasted sweet like he imagined from all of the clop he watched of the same thing. Dill licked again, trying to get every inch covered as if he was conquering uncharted territory, soon to be his for the taking. She tastes so good... He continued to lick rigorously and without fault, to the point where her hind legs would twitch from her longing exasperation between her legs that was slowly dwindling to utter bliss. Even from the potion that rendered her into an obedient statue, she could still react as any other mare would from a stallion showing them a good time. And her reactions inspired Dill to continue longer than he had hoped. But time was of the essence and not on his side. He could do this all night, but he couldn't expect to keep his job if everyone found him with his tongue all over her twitching entrance. Besides, he wanted something else to do. Something that he had been waiting for since he was a teenager. He drew back from her lips, not hearing any complaints from the alicorn. "Climb back into the tub and prop you hooves on the rim," he ordered, still breathless from the tiresome but well rewarded events. He didn't forget that he still had to clean the place up and with that in mind, he figured that this tub was the easiest way of destroying all the evidence of what transpired here tonight. As he climbed into the tub after her, the gravity of the moment came crashing down around him.  He was going to have sex with Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was currently doped up on the spa’s heat treatment. If anything was discovered, he could be banished, or imprisoned, or sent to the moon, or placed in Tartarus, or imprisoned in Tartarus while being banished to the moon! The Water Restoration System would completely wash away any fluids that resulted from their activities tonight, filtering and destroying any impurities and leaving nothing but more pure water to be used for bathing and the sauna. No one else would know. Twilight’s wings opened immediately and she flew up and back down to land lightly in the tub, propping her elbows on the lip of it, while keeping her tail raised and her butt presented to the tub’s center. Dill took a deep breath and climbed in after her. The water was still very warm, but he could hardly feel it as he took up a position behind her. She continued to watch him, still smiling as if it were just the nicest day out. “Are you going to have sex with me too?” she asked, beaming. “Y-yes,” he grunted, still trying to calm himself. But before he took up the position, a moment of clarity came to him, and he remembered other things as well.   “Soundproof the walls,” he ordered. Her horn shone again and the walls were bathed in a magenta glow. “No one will hear anything else that happens in here,” she announced proudly, still beaming back at him. “A-alright,” he let out a sigh of relief that he had remembered that. “N-now… I’m gonna…” “You’re gonna have sex with me?” she asked. “Yeah.” “Oh,” she smiled encouragingly. “Do, uh…” he trailed off, suddenly unsure of why he was asking this. “Do you have anything to say to that?” “No,” she shook her head. “I just wanted to know.” “Uh, okay,” his breathing was becoming heavier, especially since he was now staring down at her exposed treasure again, and using a hoof to line up his lower head to her lower lips. “I’m…” he gulped, “I’m about to put it in.” “Okay!” her smile widened. When he was sure he had it in place, he stepped forward to push himself in. As his breast and ribs slid along her back, he finally felt his tip poke at her butt, but it seemed to have hit resistance. “I’m not in,” he observed. “Nope,” Twilight shook her head. “You are close though. Just lift it up and move it to the right about an inch.” Reaching back with a hoof, he did just that, rubbing his head along her butt and smearing the pre that he could feel leaking out of his shaft onto her coat. Not that it mattered, since everything was submerged except for their necks. But then he felt it. His tip seemed to find a place where the resistance ended, and it slid forward easily, as though it were in a soft tube of velvet that was snug around it. “Ah,” Twilight sighed, her head drooping a bit. “Y-yeah,” Dill breathed, marveling in the sensation. It was so warm! It was like he was pushing his dick into the softest, warmest, snuggest sleeve he could think of. Her walls clenched around him, trying their hardest to work his shaft and coax him to spill his seed inside of her. He stepped forward again, now bringing his breast right up against her neck and pushing into her even more. “Ooh,” she sighed. “Does that feel good?” he asked, whispering it into her ear, considering it was just a few inches in front of his muzzle. “It feels good,” Twilight dipped her head, still smiling at him. “Does it feel good for you too?” “It feels amazing,” Dill sighed, his eyes clenching shut as he focused on the feeling surrounding his shaft.  The sensations assaulting his stallionhood were almost overwhelming. The heat, the wetness, the pressure her walls exerted… This was bliss. this was heaven. Infinitely better than his hooves, and he was just sitting there! And as he pulled out, he shuddered in pleasure as the sensations magnified, even letting out a gasp, before subconsciously bucking his hips and pushing back in. “Oh shit,” he felt his forehooves clutch at her, pulling her into him reflexively.  Twilight didn’t seem to react, though she did rest her head on the lip of the tub and allow her eyes to flutter shut. As Dill finally adjusted to the sensation, he began to thrust, slowly, deliberately.  He wanted this moment to last. He was bedding Princess Twilight Sparkle! Somehow, some way, the sheer improbability of the moment had overpowered any petrifying fear. “You feel nice,” her voice was barely above a whisper. “Th-thanks,” Dill replied, smiling nervously himself. He pulled back again, this time trying to do what he had seen whenever he browsed ClopHub on his laptop back home. But he felt as though her vagina was sucking him back in, trying to keep him from pulling out with every inch he retreated. Until finally, he pushed forward again when he couldn’t bear it any longer, his hips meeting hers with a satisfying smack. Twilight cooed at that, but continued to stand stock still, just allowing him to use her to his heart’s desire.  The light slosh of the water was the only noise in the spa as he continued to pound away. Thrust after thrust, he felt himself grow in confidence and speed.  He was doing this, he was really doing this!  The thoughts that he, a simple night shift pony, was currently bedding Princess Twilight Sparkle, spurred him even further, his thrusts growing faster, establishing a rhythm as he pounded into her with reckless abandon, and with each passing thrust, he could feel a familiar pressure welling up in his loins. As his cock continued to piston in and out of her, he couldn’t help but lean down and wrap his hooves around her barrel, giving him even more leverage with which to ravish her. She definitely sensed his shift, because her thighs twitched, squeezing her walls and his shaft within her. “Ooh,” she cooed again, her lower half now going limp entirely, barely hanging on to the rim of the tub as he fucked her with all of his strength.  The pressure was growing more and more, though it still felt a bit far off. Vaguely, he wondered if she was close too, so he shifted his hooves, now starting to massage her teats.  The added stimulation caused her to clench reflexively around him, causing the pressure to suddenly grow even stronger. “Getting… close…” he gasped.  Her pussy grew tighter around his dick with each passing second.  Maybe he would be able to make her climax as well! If it weren’t for the fact that this was highly illegal, it’d be something to brag about later. “Don’t s-stop,” Twilight whispered, looking just as into it as he was, her head resting on the lip of the tub and her eyes shut as he thrust in again and again.  “Please, don’t stop…” The thought that a princess of Equestria telling him of all ponies not to stop, was just too much. “F-FUCK!” he shouted, hilting himself inside of her and exploding, shooting spurt after spurt of his spunk as deep into her as he could, with her pussy milking him for every last drop. It lasted so much longer than it ever did when he clopped. Vaguely, he wondered if the orgasm would never end. Until finally, he felt himself come down, and he went limp, still clutching Twilight to stay upright, though he could feel himself slipping free. “W-wow,” he breathed, before readjusting and stabilizing himself on her back.  “Th-that was…” “That was very good,” Twilight said, still leaning her head down on the lip, a dreamy smile on her face. “I didn’t quite reach orgasm, but I was close! You came a lot. Any more, and I definitely would have cum too. I can even feel it seeping out into the bath water,” she added, still breathless, though she made an effort to stand up. Alarm shot through Dill as her words fell on his ears, and he suddenly realized just what he had done. He had just cum inside of Princess Twilight. During heat season. Oh no, I really am going to get imprisoned in Tartarus after being banished to the moon! he mentally screamed, pulling out of Twilight and backing up to the edge of the tub. As he pulled out, stray bits of his cum slid out of her submerged pussy, just like she’d said, but he knew it wasn’t nearly all of it. What am I gonna do!? he thought, mentally panicking. She’s gonna get pregnant! “Is everything okay?” Twilight asked him, looking back at him with concern.  “You look like you’re about to suffer a panic attack. You know, it’s not uncommon for tallions to suffer withdrawal if they feel they haven’t lasted long enough.” “It’s n-not that,” he clutched at his head, rubbing vigorously at his short black mane while his mind raced with the apocalyptic scenarios playing out.  “It’s th-that I came inside of you and you’re gonna get pregnant and I’m gonna get sent to the moon or something!” He was pretty sure he was going to hyperventilate soon if this kept up.  There had to be a way out of this, there just had to! “You’re reminding me of how I reacted before I had my first time,” Twilight said, sounding almost... nostalgic?  Why did she have to get all nostalgic about panic attacks? And why now!? “Wh-why would you get in a panic attack over your first time?” he asked.  It probably wouldn’t help, but maybe talking with her would at least calm him down.  Having a clear head was the easiest way to think of a way to handle all of this. “Well, Shiny was my brother.”  Dill’s jaw hit the floor, but Twilight was continuing, blind to his shock.  “It would have ruined his relationship with Cadance. But then Cadance found out anyway, and it turned out, she was into the idea of the two of us being together.  So now, every so often, she brings me up to the Crystal Empire for a weekend.” “W-with sex?” he asked, weakly. “Yep!” Twilight chirped.  “I had actually come here to get myself cleaned up before I went up tomorrow.  Wanted to make myself presentable, you know? Who knew I’d be having sex with a cleaning pony before I went up to the Crystal Empire to have sex with my brother and his wife?” “Great,” sighed Dill.  He was calmer now, revelation that the Princess bonked her brother on a regular basis aside, so at least there was that.  But there was still nothing there that he could use! How was he going to get out of this mess? But then, through some stroke of fortune, another idea occurred to him. One that could potentially let him get away with it.  It was a slim hope, but his last one. “P-princess Twilight?” “Hm?” she asked, having not budged even after he had pulled out. “Do you know anything about the heat treatment potion?” he asked. He wasn’t completely familiar with it himself, but if anyone knew its properties, it would be Princess Twilight. “I do, actually!” Twilight nodded. “Weird that I couldn’t remember it earlier. What do you want to know?” “If I tell you to do something while you’re under its influence, and then it stops influencing you, will you still remember that thing and do it?” “Yes, I will,” Twilight nodded again. “Your suggestion will be kept in my subconscious. I won’t even know it’s there till it’s time to do it, or I might find a way to justify it to myself instead.” “Okay,” Dill let out a relieved sigh. This could work. “You said you’re going to see your brother and his wife tomorrow, right? And you’re going to have sex?” “I am. Hopefully lots of it!” “Okay,” Dill took a deep breath as he steadied himself and organized his thoughts. “You are going to make Shining Armor cum inside of you.” “I’m going to make Shining Armor cum inside of me,” Twilight repeated, grin broadening at the idea.  “Ooh, I like the sound of that.” “D-do they usually make you take birth control of some kind?” he asked, suddenly realizing this could be over before it began. “Not usually,” Twilight shook her head, “but we’ve never had sex during heat week before. I think they might this time.” “If they make you take birth control, you are going to act normally and take it,” Dill continued, still sensing a way out. “But later, when it has worn off, you are going to corner Shining for some one-on-one time, and you will make him cum inside of you.” “I’m going to have sex with Shining alone, and have him cum inside of me, after any birth control they make me take wears off,” Twilight repeated, still beaming. It was starting to get rather unnerving now. “When you walk out of this room, you will not remember any of what happened after I stopped snuffing the incense burners,” he said, climbing out of the tub and grabbing a towel to dry off. “I won’t remember anything that happened after you stopped snuffing out the incense burners when I walk out of this room.” “All you will remember is that you had fallen asleep in the tub, that I woke you up, and that I sent you on your way.” “All I’ll remember is you waking me up in the tub after falling asleep, and then you sent me home,” she repeated, before her smile widened. “That was really nice of you.” Okay, he finally felt like he was in the clear. He had accounted for the possible pregnancy, he had made sure she wouldn’t remember anything and would leave. Was there anything else? “Oh, you can climb out of the tub now,” he said, and she did just that, clambering out and drying off when he gave her a towel. “Make sure to clean up your v-vagina so no one can see any of my cum leaking out.” She rubbed extra vigorously after he said that, until to the outside observer, there was no trace of their tryst. “Anything else?” she asked. “Uh, yeah,” he felt a strange quiver in his gut. Might as well go for broke. I’m in deep enough as it is. “K-kiss me?” “Sure!” she chirped, before leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “I meant on the lips,” he clarified, though he touched the spot she had kissed him at. “Kiss me like you do Sh-shining Armor.” “Oh. Okay!” So she did. She leaned forward and his lips met hers. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. She started to kiss him passionately, hungrily. Her hooves flew at the back of his head, stroking his mane and caressing his neck, and her tongue thrust itself into his mouth, easily subduing his own inexperienced muscle and claiming his mouth as her own. Dill, however, just reveled in the thoughts that were flying through his head. A princess of Equestria is kissing me! he crowed. Before long, though, he had to breathe, so he pushed her off, and she returned to her spot, grinning at him. “Was that your first kiss?” she asked.  “You didn’t use your tongue like someone who had practice normally would.  Did you like it?” “Great!” he gasped, grinning stupidly. “That was awesome.” “Thank-you!  I’ve been practicing, myself.” Twilight beamed at him. “Oh, a few last things,” he thought, suddenly struck with some more inspiration. “Oh?” “If I am still working here at the end of heat season, and at the beginning of next heat season, the same thing will happen,” he instructed. “You are going to come here to receive treatment, and you will stay behind in this room. Hide if you have to. If they turn off the burners before I get here, turn them back on and wait for me in the tub. Then we’ll do this again. If I’m not working here anymore, disregard this order.” “I’m looking forward to it!” she said, dipping her head. “Anything else?” “No, I th-think that’s everything,” he said. The die was cast now. There wasn’t anything else he could really account for. “Go on home, Twilight.” “Alright. See you around, Dill!” she said, grinning at him. As she left the room, Dill finally felt himself sink down into the ground. Welp, might as well get the cleaning done and go home now, he thought wearily. Not like I’ll be doing it anymore after tonight. As Twilight trotted home, feeling quite refreshed from the spa, she couldn’t help but think back to the cleaning pony who had roused her from her sleep. He was really nice, she thought, glancing back at the spa as she trotted home. Spike and Starlight are probably wondering why she wasn’t back yet. Really, she could be so absent-minded sometimes. How could she have fallen asleep in that tub? Well, in fairness, it was a rather nice tub, and the water felt really good. That heat treatment, though, was something else. Her heat felt sated completely, though she knew it wouldn’t last the entire season. She’d probably need to make a return trip, maybe closer to the end. That seemed like a good idea. Give the heat treatment its due course, but do it if her heat came back, and once more at the end of her cycle just for good measure. Maybe I’ll see that cute colt again, she wondered, smiling a bit to herself. Maybe she could hide herself or something to make sure she did. Maybe if she caught him after hours again, it’d give her a chance to talk to him. But that was for later. For now, it was time to get some sleep, then head on up to the Empire the next morning. “Ugh,” Dill groaned as he lumbered out of bed sleepily the following morning. Why did someone have to come calling to his house this early? And why did they have to knock so… so loud? It hadn’t been a good night. He’d dreamt that Princess Celestia herself had found out, and sure enough, he had been thrown to the moon, in a prison cell, in a cage from Tartarus. Manually. No teleportation. He had literally been thrown to the moon. Needless to say, he’d had several early and rude awakenings that night, but he kept trying to soldier through it... Only to suffer another one this morning. The knocking at his door got a bit more urgent and he shook himself out of his sleep. Must be important. Maybe it was the police…? His hoof had been outstretched to push the door open, but it suddenly froze. What if it was? What if they had found out? But suddenly, he felt his hoof automatically push the door open-- --and he stumbled back when he saw Aloe, Lotus, and Vera standing there. Vera was the first to react, stepping inside and offering him a creme-colored hoof. “Sorry, Dill!” she apologized, smiling nervously and hiding a bit behind her purple hair. “We didn’t mean to wake you.” “Oui, we zought you were already awake,” Lotus added, rubbing at her own mane sheepishly. “We couldn’t wait for you to come in zis evening, Eet ees razzer important, after all.” “Wh-what’s so important?” The three mares all looked at each other and giggled excitedly, which bewildered Dill, but then they started to clap their hooves together. “You’re being promoted!” Vera announced, giving him a quick hug. Diligent Work just sat there stupidly as the three spa ponies cheered at Vera’s announcement. He was what? “Pro...moted?” he repeated, blinking just as dumbly as he had moments ago. “Oui!” Aloe exclaimed, giving him a hug of her own. “Preencess Twilight came by zis morning! Said you found her sleeping in ze bathing tub. Silly us, how could we have forgotten?” she added, glancing back at her sisters. “Yet she tells us you acted like a true gentlecolt, waking her up and sending her on her way despite ze heat treatment’s effects! As such, we have decided to give you a pay raise.” “I mean,” he inwardly cringed at the memories of last night and how much they didn’t know, “I was just doing my job…” “Ze fact zat we can trust you to resist the temptations of ze treatment means we can keep ze spa open longer so zat mares may leave when zey are ready,” Vera answered, “razzer zan interrupt zeir treatment so zat we may send zem home dissatisfied. And you can be trusted to rouse zem when you feel it is time for zem to leave.” “Preencess Twilight was just gushing her praise of you,” Aloe grinned slyly at him. “Has our leetle Dilly made a good impression?” “I guess…” It was like ice was sliding down his back, oddly enough. He should be happy that he was being granted this responsibility and promotion. He should have been glad Princess Twilight had gotten him a pay raise and apparently was saying good things about him. But the only things going through his head… were the possibilities. He now essentially had free reign over the spa after the spa’s usual closing times, and more mares could stay late. More mares, under the influence of that wonderful drug... Though he’d have to avoid making the same short-sighted mistakes as he had with Twilight. He’d need to be prepared. But still, despite his shakiness, he felt himself grin as the thought of his new evening activities filled his head. “So… when can I start?”