Blinding rays of Celestia's brilliant light poured into the small bedroom. These rays of light both lit up the bedroom and woke up a lavender alicorn mare sleeping on the bed.
"Uuuhh," Twilight moaned as she rolled over to look at her clock on the wall. When her eyes fell on the small round object her eyes widened in panic.
"No, I was supposed to be at the spa with Rarity an hour ago, shoot!" Twilight shot up and out of bed as quickly as she could. She grabbed her hairbrush and brushed her mane as swiftly as she could. She then ran downstairs to grab some breakfast before she left.
As she emerged from the staircase the voice of a young dragon yelled out to Twilight "Good morning Twilight, slept well?"
"Yes I did Spike, thank you," Twilight sighed "Maybe a little to well. I was supposed to go to the spa with Rarity-" she paused to pick up an apple from the countertop "-an hour ago."
Spike sighed in frustration and yelled "Maybe you should stop studying until two am every morning and we wouldn't be having this problem! I've been telling you this for years now but you never listen to me!"
Twilight visibly winced "I know I have a problem Spike, it just-," she gave him a small smile "-I'm trying to be better, okay?"
"I know you're trying Twilight," he looked up at her and gave her a small sad frown "But it doesn't seem like you're trying that hard, really. You keep staying up and reading until the goddesses knows when then you over sleep," Spike looked over at the wall to where a grandfather clock stood. The current time was 12am. "Or you really oversleep, and miss activities and events you had previously scheduled," he shook his head "It's the same pattern over and over again and it's really starting to get on my nerves."
He sighed "You should go to the spa. Knowing Rarity she's probably still waiting there for you. Don't want you to miss another activity with your friends."
Twilight looked down at her hooves in shame "You're right Spike, I should be trying harder," Twilight looked up at Spike "But from now on I will really, really try my best to get better, I Pinkie Pie Promise! It's just so hard..." she sighed "I guess old habits die hard."
Twilight looked at the door "I should get going, as you said I don't want to miss another activity with my friends." She walked to the door and looked back at Spike "I know I've already said this but I am going to really begin to try and get better, okay?"
"I know that you are Twilight," Spike smiled at her "Just go and have fun with Rarity, okay? We'll talk about this latter,"
Twilight nodded and smiled "Good bye, have fun while I'm gone!"
Spike smiled and waved at Twilight "I will, have fun with Rarity!" Twilight smiled and waved back. She then turned towards the door and stepped outside.
It was a gorgeous day out. It was just the perfect temperature outside, warm but not too warm. All over the place there were ponies going about their normal day-to-day life and having a great time in the superb weather.
But Twilight was to focused on getting to the spa to notice the gorgeous day. She instead quickly ate her apple and concentrated on her magic. In a brilliant, blinding flash of light she was standing in the spa just inches away to the face of a spa pony.
The spa pony gasped and jumped back, looking at twilight with shock (it's not everyday a pony just flashes into existence just inches from your muzzle) but after a couple of seconds she got over her shock and shook her head "What can we help you with, Ms. Sparkle?"
"Is Rarity here?" Twilight asked as she looked past the spa pony and into the spa.
"Yes she is, please follow me," the young pony said as she turned into the spa. Twilight followed her into the spa. They walked through the halls silently until they got to a door with a sign overhead reading "Sauna".
When they got to the room the spa pony opened the door and smiled at Twilight "Have a good time!" As soon as Twilight entered the room the spa pony quickly left the room and it's inhabitants alone.
"Twilight, darling! I was wondering if you were ever going to show up!" Rarity smiled warmly "What took you so long anyway? It's not polite to leave a lady hanging."
"I'm sorry Rarity," Twilight looked at her with a small frown "I overslept ... again."
Rarity shook her head "It's fine Twilight. Just try to be on time next time, please."
"I will, I promise." Twilight took a seat right in front of Rarity and sighed contently, it had been a long time since she had been at the spa and it felt amazing.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes together, enjoying the warmth of the sauna.
Rarity broke the silence and looked at Twilight "How was the IAoP meeting last week? I forgot to ask you when I saw you at the airport yesterday."
Twilight frowned "The first few days went well, we somehow got the Kingdom of Broadfield and the Hiroien Order to sign a white peace. But after that it quickly went downhill," Twilight sighed "Emperor Grayfeather died two weeks ago from a heart attack, leaving his fourteen year old son as the Emperor of the Griffin Empire, and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. The entire empire has erupted into civil war with thirty-seven different groups rising up and trying to seize power."
Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in shock and horror "Oh my, that's awful!"
"I know and the worst part about it is that there is nothing we can do. We spent days trying to find some sort of peaceful end to the conflict but they wouldn't agree on anything. It was war and nothing else."
Twilight sighed "Let's talk about something else please. It's making me sad just talking about it."
Rarity, still shocked from what she heard earlier, nodded and said "Of course darling, how about let's go and have a massage. That sounds like just the thing you need to relieve some stress."
Twilight smiled and said "That sounds wonderful Rarity."
Rarity stood up and opened the door "Shall we?"
Twilight smiled "Of course, let's go."
Twilight then got up and followed Rarity down the brightly lit hall.
After a few seconds of walking, Twilight asked "So Rarity, how is your business doing?"
As soon as the words left Twilight's mouth Rarity's eyes lit up. She loved the boutique. It was her business, and her pride and joy. "It's going just fabulously! I'm actually thinking of expanding to Canterlot! The Manehattan boutique is booming! I sell dresses almost as fast as I can make them!" Rarity grinned at Twilight "Thank you for asking."
Twilight smiled back "That sounds wonderful Rarity! I'm so glad your business is doing so well!" Rarity grinned, almost radiating pride.
They turned the corner and to their right there was a door with a sign reading "Massages". Rarity smiled as they approached the door "Here we are, the place where the magic happens!" She then proceeded to open the door and go inside. Twilight was soon to follow.
When they got inside two spa ponies walked up to the two newcomers and asked "How may we help you?"
Rarity looked at the two of them and smiled "Me and my friend here would like to have a nice relaxing massage."
The spa ponies smiled "Well then you've come to the right place! Right this way, please. We will make you feel more relaxed than you ever have before!" Twilight and Rarity happily obliged and followed the spa ponies, both smiling widely.
The two spa ponies lead them to two tables in the center of the room and asked "Could you please lay down?"
Both Rarity and Twilight layed down on their respective tables and got ready for the massage.
One spa pony asked the two friends "You two ready for the best massage you've ever had"
Rarity laughed "Of course darling."
"You miss?" The spa pony asked addressing Twilight.
"Yes, go ahead," Twilight said with a smile and a nod.
Then began the best massage Twilight ever had. She could feel the built up stress in her body slowly be removed with every movement the spaw ponies made with their hooves.
'This is a good day' Twilight thought 'This is a good day'. But little did Twilight know that just around the corner waited a big turn of events. Her life was about to be derailed and completely change forever.
(Revised March 25, 2019)