It wasn’t long before Rainbow was panting. The humid air was sweltering, and she only noticed that her wings had opened to their full length when she heard Rarity fuss in protest over the one brushing her face. Rainbow snapped her wings shut to her sides and shot Rarity an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright, darling,” Rarity said, smiling. “I know it’s hot, but we’ll only be here a few more minutes. We don’t want to get dehydrated, after all.” As if to emphasize her point, she took her glass of water and took a long draw from it. “In the meanwhile, try to relax. It’s much more enjoyable that way.”
“If you say so,” Rainbow mumbled. Sighing, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, tilting her chin up and letting her sweaty mane tumble over her shoulders. If she wasn’t so hot, she might have been able to take a nap. She could definitely use the rest after getting annihilated by Rarity at tennis.
Just as she was starting to get comfortable, or as comfortable as she could get while sweating through her coat, the door to the sauna opened. She opened her eyes and held up a hoof as the mare from before beckoned to them from the doorway. “The baths are ready for you, Misses. I hope you enjoyed your sauna.”
“It was divine,” Rarity purred, rising to her hooves and walking toward the door. With a grunt, Rainbow followed her, towel draped across her back and sweat dripping from her brow. She didn’t know what Rarity was talking about; now she was just more sweaty and disgusting. Her down feathers felt like some sort of mush clinging to the undersides of her wings and her sides. Preening later was going to be awful.
The receptionist led them down a short hallway and around a corner to a small room mostly dominated by crystal clear water. If it weren’t for the gentle shaking of the Concordia and its massive engines, the surface of the bath would’ve looked like a mirror. Still, it was nice enough, and the decorations of flowers and soft music playing over hidden speakers made the whole thing feel peaceful and serene.
“Please enjoy your bath,” the mare said, backing away from the door and gesturing for Rarity and Rainbow to enter. “After you are finished, we will begin your massages.”
“Sounds lovely,” Rarity said, gaily trotting past her and into the bath. Tossing her towel on a bench, the unicorn gingerly put a hoof into the water, shivered once, then gracefully slipped under the surface. She emerged a moment later, rivulets of water running off of her face and through her mane, and found a corner to sit in with a ladylike trill. Opening her eyes, she arched an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Coming?”
In that moment, Rainbow saw an opportunity for revenge. Flinging her towel to the side, she stretched her wings and lowered her head. “Oh, I’m coming, alright,” she said, grinning at Rarity. With a flap of her wings, she galloped across the floor and hopped into the air.
Rarity had just enough time to pale and hold up a hoof. “Rainbow, wait—!”
Rainbow’s cannonball sent water splashing everywhere. Across the tile floor, against the walls, even up to the ceiling. Rarity blinked and lowered her hoof as the water drained off of her head and shoulders, while Rainbow emerged from the middle of the bath with a bout of rowdy laughter. “Gotcha!” she squawked between laughs, pointing at Rarity and drifting across the water on her back.
At the doorway, the receptionist maintained a strained smile. “Splashing in the baths is prohibited, Miss…”
“Eheh… whoops,” Rainbow said, rubbing a hoof behind her head and drifting toward the wall near Rarity.
“Please enjoy yourselves,” the earth pony continued, stepping away from the door and putting her hoof on the handle. “I shall come and fetch you when we’re ready to move on.” Then, with a small little bow, she shut the door, leaving Rainbow and Rarity alone in the bath.
Rainbow opened her eyes to see Rarity huff and shake her head. “Must you?” she asked, glaring at Rainbow.
“Uh… yeah?” Rainbow said, smirking back at Rarity. “You think it was going to be this easy?”
“I thought I’d be able to get you to relax a bit, dear,” Rarity said, tilting her head back and looking up at the ceiling. “You could use it.”
“Me? Nah. I don’t need any of this pampering and stuff.” Stretching her wings, Rainbow sank down in the water until only her muzzle poked out of it. “Though after that sauna thing, the cold water is nice.”
“I told you,” Rarity said, a pleased smile on her face. “Just wait for the massage.”
“Eh… if you say so.”
Silence filled the chamber as the two ponies relaxed. Rarity, however, being a creature of gossip and talk, didn’t let it last. Water trickled off of her mane as she raised her head and turned toward Rainbow, who almost looked like she was asleep in the bath. “Rainbow, darling?”
Rainbow’s ears perked. “Hmn?”
“It’s been a long time since we really talked,” Rarity said. “How’s life? How’s the Wonderbolts?”
Rainbow opened her eyes. “I thought we talked about this crud last night.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Humor me. I wasn’t in the right state of mind then, and neither were you. The details are a bit… well, foggy.”
“Well, it’s… I dunno, Rares. Good?” The pegasus shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“That’s hardly an answer and you know it,” Rarity accused. “I would’ve thought you’d be too busy with the Wonderbolts and everything to still be involved with weather management.”
“I mean, I kinda am,” Rainbow said. She leaned forward and dipped her muzzle into the water, blowing bubbles for a few seconds, before resurfacing. “Yeah, I’m on the team, but we really only do spring and summer shows. That leaves a lot of time in the offseason where we’re doing… well, nothing.”
Rarity cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you have appearances, autograph signings, that sort of thing, though?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, kinda. They only last like a few days at the most. Then it’s back to doing nothing until the start of spring when the weather’s good enough to officially practice again. The weather job is just something to do when I’m not on tour. Besides, Element of Loyalty here. I’ve made a lot of good friends at the CWC in the years I worked there. I couldn’t just leave them hanging, right?”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Rainbow,” Rarity said. “I never thought about that.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said, tossing her sodden mane over one shoulder. “That, and if I left managing Ponyville’s weather up to somepony else, who knows what would happen. I’ve been running that joint for years, Rares. Where would they be without my awesome expert touch?”
“I shudder to imagine,” Rarity said with a bemused smile. “You’ve certainly done such a good job managing the weather in our little town over the years. Color me impressed.”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Rainbow asked, brushing a hoof across her chest.
“No, I suppose there wasn’t, or at least, there hasn’t been for a long time now.” Rarity slid down in the tub until only her head was above the water. “Some of us had our worries back in the day when you first started. As prone to distraction and your love of stunt flying as you were, ponies were worried you’d simply slack off. But no, you rose to the occasion, and with impressive results.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, some of the bigger branches of the CWC were trying to get me onto some of their other teams. Manehattan was a big one. They always need new and better managers there, their district is so huge and complicated.” She sighed and paddled her wings through the water some, reveling in the cool feeling between her feathers. “But, like, what’s up with the dresses and all that? That going good?”
“Very good,” Rarity purred. “I’ve got a boutique in most major cities and an army of competent assistants to run them. I’m at the point where all I have to do is design the headlining dresses and my assistants and other designers can fill in the rest of the catalogue for me. The thing practically runs itself.”
Rainbow Dash just smirked at her. “But you’re doing a ton of extra work and crud because you can, right?”
“Oh, you know me too well,” Rarity said, giggling. “Though I’ve been more focused in the business side of the whole thing as of late, I can’t help but take on extra projects when I can. Even though I’m flying to the Confederacy for a business proposition, the whole thing started because I wanted to see what dresses for griffon hens would look like. After several weeks of toying with designs, I ordered a custom-made griffon ponyquin to arrange them on and started putting out feelers into the market. It was at least a month before this became anything more than a mere curiosity I wished to satisfy.”
“Heh, figures.” Rainbow slid down in the bath, mirroring Rarity, and watched the water ripple as the Concordia momentarily jostled in some turbulence. “You know, I used to think it was funny…”
Rarity’s eyebrow climbed up her forehead. “Hmm?”
“Like you wanted to start this great big fashion empire and all that jazz… but you wouldn’t move out of Ponyville. I didn’t get it; there had to be better opportunities elsewhere, right?” She shrugged. “But, like, then I realized that Ponyville is where we all were, and just by being there, you could do all this awesome stuff for us, because you cared. And I just…”
She searched for the words for a few seconds, but eventually just settled on frowning at her muzzle. “I don’t know where I was going with that, but I guess what I’m saying is that you’d make a pretty awesome Element of Loyalty if it wasn’t already taken.”
“Oh, well, thank you, darling,” Rarity said, blushing at the sudden complement, especially considering who it came from. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it.” Grunting, Rainbow ducked her head into the water for a split second and shook out her mane. “Just something I thought of out of the blue. You’re a pretty great pony despite the whole ‘dresses dresses fashion’ thing.”
Rarity rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s smirk. “Yes, and you can be surprisingly poignant when you want to be.”
“Poy-what now?”
Rarity giggled. “Oh, never mind,” she said, smiling. “I’m just happy to be sharing this experience with you. Tell me, do you still think the spa is really that bad?”
Rainbow pinched her shoulders together and glared at the water like she’d just remembered she was supposed to be mad at it for existing. “It’s… okay.”
“Oh, darling, you’re so sweet, you know?” She raised her forelegs over her head and stretched, humming with pleasure. “Well, if you’re still not sold, then I suppose that we’ll just have to see how you handle the massage.”
“When is that?” Rainbow asked, looking around. “I feel like I’m getting pruney.”
As soon as she said that, the door slid open behind her. She turned around to see the receptionist standing in the doorway, towels on her back. At the other end of the bath, Rarity hummed and stood up. “Right now, darling.”