Twilight and Boltsinger sat outside one of the many doors in the castle that now bore a treble and bass clef on it. The Alicorn looked curiously at it, wondering why she hadn’t noticed these symbols on the door before. She opened the door to reveal a large, empty room. She walked in, looking around. It didn’t seem all that different from every other room in the castle.
“What makes this room the ‘music room’?” She asked, walking back out into the hall. “It doesn’t seem any different…”
An amused laugh escaped Boltsinger’s mouth. “Allow me to demonstrate.” He rushed into the room and took a deep breath, letting out a loud and low bellow that shook the castle all over, knocking some of the books in the library off of their shelves. “That’s with the door open, sound carrying normally… Well, normally for me. Now, when I take a breath, close the door.” Twilight nodded. He took another deep breath, Twilight following the instructions she was given. As the door latched shut, she waited a few seconds. She heard a knock at the door and opened it, seeing a breathless Bolt in the room before her. “Did you hear that?”
“I didn’t hear anything.” the Princess replied.
“Exactly.” he stated, pointing a hoof at her confidently. “I just went at least three decibels higher than I did when the door was open, and you didn’t even hear it!”
Twilight released a little bit of surprise onto her face, walking back into the room. “That’s impressive. But why do you think we need a ‘music room', anyway? And why didn’t you tell me about it? It’s my castle, after all!”
Boltsinger looked a little surprised himself for a second. “You’re right. I should have told you right away, and I’m sorry for that.” He relented, putting a wing on her shoulder. “It sorta slipped my mind when I started working on it. You know how I tend to get absorbed in something I think is important, after all.” Twilight begrudgingly nodded, remembering the previous day’s events. “Anyway, I realized after prepping for Nightmare Night that my volume levels are… high. When I’m getting involved in a performance project that’s close to home, my practicing can disrupt everypony here to the point of a complete atmosphere change… and waking them up in the middle of the night, as Spike made me well aware of.”
“Go on…” Twilight said, holding a foreleg to her muzzle.
“So, I asked a friend of mine, you know her as DJ PON-3, to help me with soundproofing a room so that anytime anypony here needs to do something… loud and/or musical, or at least practice for it, we have a room to do that in!” He stood on his hind legs, his forelegs and wings spread wide. “What do you think?”
Twilight looked around the room one more time, seeing nothing in there but the two of them and some heavily insulated walls. “I suppose it makes sense, but it doesn’t look like too much of a music room. There aren’t any instruments in here.”
“Yeah…” He began, scratching his mane with his wing. “Well, I can’t exactly play any instruments, so… I didn’t think to put any in here.” He perked up, looking Twilight in the eye. “But… We could learn to play some if you’re interested!”
Twilight giggled at his excitement. “It does sound like a fun project.” She admitted. “But I don’t know what kind of instrument I would want to play. And you have whole songs covered with just your voice!”
“We can figure it out as we go.” Boltsinger told her, heading back to the hallway. “Well, that’s the music room. Any place you wanna go today?”
Twilight gave her special somepony a sly look. “Oh, I can think of one place…” She began, floating a familiar piece of paper in front of him.
Boltsinger looked at the paper with a shocked expression. “Is this the--” Twilight lit up her horn, a bright magenta flash flaring to life as the two appeared inside the Ponyville Day Spa. “--the… spa… ticket…?” He looked around at the venue, jaw slowly dropping. “Aaaaaand I’m here…” He turned to head out the door. “Well, I see you have a full day planned so I’ll leave you to it!” As he reached for the door, the all-too-familiar feeling of magical immobilization came over him, slowly pulling him away from the door.
“Oh, no, lover-bolt, you’re not getting away this time!” Twilight interjected, turning the stallion to face her. “I want to spend the day with you, and you were generous enough to give me this all-expenses-paid spa day, so… I want to share it with you!”
“I… see…” His eyes darted around the room, seeing all of the spa patrons looking at him with amused smiles. “Well, I guess I’m joining you at the… spa… today…”
Twilight released him from her magic. “I knew you’d see it my way.” She stepped beside him and placed a wing on his back. “Besides, you’ve been really stiff, lately. You could use some relaxation.”
“Um… define ‘stiff’...” He requested, thinking back on various points of ‘stiffness’ he had experienced in the past couple of days. “‘Cause there are a few possible reasons behind stiffness.”
“Well, you sleep on your back most of the time, and I’ve been noticing that sometimes your wings start standing up straight, even though you’re not being called anywhere.” the mare explained. “You also don’t take much time to sit down and just relax. It’s like you can’t stop moving long enough to rest unless you’re reading, sleeping, or we’re doing lessons. I just want you to be able to sit back and just enjoy being taken care of for a day." She shot him a pleading look. "Do it for me?”
Having heard all of Twilight’s relatively accurate observations, he breathed a relenting sigh. “Okay. I’ll do it for you.” He stood back as Twilight handed in the slip of paper, offering up some bits for her partner’s treatments. “But I don’t want to do anything too invasive!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t force you into anything you don’t want to do.” She beamed back at him, seeing a fairly stoic face looking back at her. “... Except getting treatments in the first place…” She gave an embarrassed laugh as the two headed farther into the building. “So, now that you’re open to the idea, what do you want to try?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ll just take your suggestions, I guess.” He told her. They made their way through the hallway, coming to an open room with several ponies getting treatments all over. Some were bathing in mud, others in a large hot tub in the middle of the room. Several ponies were getting their hooves done in various ways, while others had what Boltsinger could only describe as ‘goop’ on their faces, just lying there with cucumber slices covering their eyes. “Aaaaaaaand now I’m less sure than ever…”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to the steam room first.” Twilight informed him, heading in another direction. “We’ll see what happens after that.” Boltsinger followed, figuring that it wouldn’t be too awful.
“So, we just sit in a steam-filled room?” He looked at the door Twilight was heading for. “That doesn’t seem too bad.”
“It’s sweltering…” A profusely sweating Boltsinger said, heavily panting with a towel around his rump as a toweled-up Twilight was lying comfortably on the seat. “How is this relaxing?”
“I admit, it takes some getting used to.” Twilight began, inching closer to him. “But once you do, it feels really nice.”
“I’m gonna take your word for it. What’s next?” He inquired, hoping to get out of the hot room soon.
“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten my hooves done. Maybe you could try that?” She suggested, getting up to leave the steam room. “Besides, with the kind of landings you’re prone to, your hooves could use some work.”
“I… guess…” He got up to follow, shuddering at the thought of somepony handling his hooves. He walked alongside the Princess, nervously looking at everything happening around him as his face grew increasingly tense.
Twilight looked back at him, seeing the confusion and fear on his muzzle. “Bolt, are you alright? You seem a bit… scared.”
The stallion’s ears perked up as he turned to look at her again. “What? Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine? I’m at the spa with you! Best day ever, right?” He rabmbled, his speech devolving into nervous laughter.
“Are you sure?” She wondered, stopping and leaning her head towards him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this uncomfortable before.”
“You clearly didn’t see how I was when Rarity was handling my mane for the Gala, did you?” He deadpanned, his eyes quickly returning to their journey around the room. “I mean, you gave her the hair brushes that all snapped apart in my mane as they pulled every single hair every which-way... “
“Okay… Let me know if you change your mind, though.” She told him with a reassuring look, continuing on her way.
Boltsinger took a deep breath, giving his muzzle a good wing-slap and continuing on. “Okay… So, hooves? Shouldn’t be too bad.”
Boltsinger gritted his teeth, trying to stifle himself as the spa ponies took a file to his hooves. “So… scrapey… Feels weird… Not… sure… if… like... this…” He looked over at Twilight, who looked perfectly comfortable with the same treatment, eyes closed. She rolled onto her side, putting her hooves in place for a thorough polish and looked at him through half-lidded eyes. He flashed a wide yet insincere smile at her as she closed her eyes once more, laying her head down.
“Twilight! Boltsinger! How lovely to see you here!” a familiar mare called from the room’s entrance. Rarity trotted up between the two wearing a white robe with purple trim, matching her own natural colors. “What brings you here, today?”
Twilight opened her eyes again, looking at her glamorous friend. “Boltsinger got me an all-expenses-paid day of treatments for my birthday, and today I’m cashing in on it!”
“Aww, how sweet of him!” She declared, bringing her forelegs together beside her head. She turned to the stallion. “That reminds me. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you here, before, Bolt. How do you like it?”
His face twisted as the spa ponies continued filing his hooves, but his ‘smile remained, if only slightly. “It’s… great. It’s… um… relaxing?” The file made another sweep over a hoof, making his teeth clench tighter. He grunted slightly as it continued. “... Scrapey…”
Rarity cringed a little at the sudden change in his expression. She leaned in close to him. “You know, dear, you don’t have to put up with uncomfortable treatments if they bother you this much.” She whispered.
“It’s that obvious?” He asked. Rarity gave a swift and definitive nod. “But… I already started… I feel like I need to see it through….”
“All right. But nopony would be mad if you decided not to.” The mare stated. She turned back to Twilight and leaned in. “You know he’s putting up with no end of discomfort for you, right?”
“I know.” The Princess confirmed. “But he’ll never admit to it. I think my argument earlier about wanting to spend the day here with him may have been a little bit too strong.”
From behind Rarity, Boltsinger let out a massive sigh of relief. “Finally!” He looked at his hooves, seeing just a hint of a sparkle in them. “I’m… gonna go to the bathroom!” He sped off to a nearby room with a simple picture if a stallion on the door, stopping at the mirror and repeatedly slapping his muzzle with his wings. “Okay… That was an ordeal… But it’s worth it! You are doing this for Twilight! You love Twilight! You can put up with a few more things, right? Right?!” He cracked his big, nervous grin at the mirror, trying to convince himself. “Right! Now let’s get back out there and do some more! For Twilight!!!” He raised a hoof triumphantly as he made his way back out. “So? What’s next?!”
Twilight trotted over to him as Rarity went her own way. “Are you ready for the next part? I saved the best for last!”
“Last?” The Pegasus repeated. “Last is good! I can do last!” He looked confidently forward. “What’s last?”
Twilight beamed. “Massage!” She exclaimed as one of the spa ponies appeared next to her.
“Okay, I can do that!” He faced the hallway. “Yeah…” he trotted forward, a genuine smile forming. “Yeah!”
“YEAH!” a loud, familiar voice shouted with a crashing noise. “You ready for this, little pony?!”
Boltsinger looked up, his smile wiped clean from his muzzle. The therapist before him was unmistakably the very pony he had cast to be Frankenstag’s Monster. “Hi… Bulk Biceps… What are you doing here?”
“I work here! Massage therapy!” The buff pony explained. “Now, come on! We got some massaging to do!” He stepped forward, pushing himself against the smaller pony and tightening his pectoral muscles. “Let’s get you relaxed!”
Boltsinger's face was caught between Bulk Biceps’ muscles as he found himself lifted into the air. “This is not relaxing…” He said, his voice completely muffled by the muscles around him. Bulk Biceps trotted into another room, smaller pony in tow and dreading what was to come.
Twilight laid on the massage table, the spa ponies rubbed her back with their forelegs as she melted into the table, her wings loosening up. She opened her eyes a little, smiling and simply enjoying herself. “This is heaven… I wonder how Boltsinger’s massage is going…”
In another room, on a very stiff table, Boltsinger lay with a pained expression. Bulk Biceps was hard at work, pushing hard against the orange stallion’s back. The Sound of cracking joints and bones could be heard from within his body as he let out sharp winces and yelps of pain with every new crack.
“Wow, you are really tense!” The bulky therapist noted. “Is this your first massage?”
With another crack and a yell, Boltsinger spoke up. “Yup!” More cracking ensued. “Not… entirely sure how I feel about it... “
Bulk pulled over a step stool, climbing up onto it. “Okay, little guy, this might hurt a bit!”
Boltsinger gritted his teeth. “Can’t be any more painful than it already--” the immense pony began stepping on his back, his full weight pressing down on him “--HAS!!!” his legs, wings, and tail all sprawled out around him as he went limp, closing his eyes and continuing through his ordeal in silence.
Outside the spa building, Twilight stepped out. She figuratively and literally glowed from how refreshed and relaxed she felt. She turned her head to face the door, a content smile on her muzzle as she watched her companion make his exit.
“That was a very relaxing day.” She asked. “How are you feeling?”
Boltsinger stepped out of the building, a dingy black aura surrounding him as he rigidly approached her. His wings looked mangled and he moved slower than usual.
“That was the most stressful attempt at ‘relaxation’ I have ever experienced…” He admitted, plopping his entire body onto the ground beside her. He looked up at her, pained. “I love you, and I love that you can relax here, but I’m just not sure how comfortable I am with… all this.” He worked his way back to his hooves. “I’m willing to come back, really I am, but I’m not sure how much I would do in regards to their services.”
Twilight gave the tired stallion a tight hug. “I understand. And I’m sorry for forcing you into something you were uncomfortable with.” She stepped back, looking puzzled. “But why did you put up with each full treatment if they made you feel so awful?”
“When I start something, especially for somepony important, I make sure to see it through.” He gave a weak smile as he started the slow walk home. “Even if it’s really, really painful…” He stopped to stretch, feeling another crack and pop in his back and wincing. “Like that…” He said with a groan.
Twilight giggled and matched his pace. “All right, slowpoke. Let’s get you home and relax your way.”
Boltsinger perked up and stretched his wings into place. “That sounds wonderful…”
Twilight laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek. He reeled his head back, wings shooting up and standing on end once again. “Hmm… There’s that stiffness again... “ the Princess pointed out. “Ooh! I could look up some massage techniques to help you with that so that you don’t have to go to the spa for it! What do you think?”
Boltsinger blushed furiously. “Not sure how well that would get rid of this particular ‘stiffness', but if you wanna give it a go, I won’t stop you.”
Twilight tilted her head as she looked at the stallion’s wings. “What do you mean?” She wondered.
Boltsinger waved a hoof in front of him. “Nothing you need to worry about.” He told her, trying his hardest to get his wings to rest. “Let’s just get home.”