//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Rarity's Spa Confession // Story: The Chrysalis Letters // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// “Excellent,” Aeon said amicably, scribbling down Rarity’s name in his ledger. “I don’t recall seeing you here before, Miss Rarity. Is this your first time at the Metamorphosis?” “Oh, yes,” Rarity replied. Aeon levitated a fluffy white robe from behind the counter and deftly swathed Rarity in it. “I just so happened to be in Canterlot for the royal wedding, and I couldn’t leave without a visit to one of the most renowned spas in the city. Celestia knows I need it after what happened up in the palace.” “Oh, you mean the changeling invasion,” Aeon said as he ushered Rarity further into the building. “Yes, I can imagine that was a stressful event for quite a lot of ponies. Were you directly involved, Miss Rarity?” Rarity examined one of the paintings on the hallway wall as she passed it, nodding her approval. “You could say that. We tried to repel the changelings from the palace, but it was ultimately Princess Cadance and Shining Armor who won the day.” “Is that so?” Aeon nodded his acknowledgement. “We’ll start off with good, stress-relieving bath in our onsen, followed with a massage and a mane session. And then a hooficure.” “Oh, that sounds divine,” Rarity exhaled. “Lead the way, good sir.” The baths were already piping hot when Aeon and Rarity entered, allowing a blast of scented steam to blow out into the hall. “In you go, Miss Rarity,” Aeon bowed and gestured with his hoof. “Our gentle and talented staff are eager to meet you,” Then through the steaming door, he called, “There’s one Miss Rarity here to see you!” Rarity entered the onsen room, where Golden Lily and Ruby Gleam stood waiting, dressed in their spa uniforms.  “Welcome, Miss Rarity. We’ve got the bath nice and heated, so if you’ll just allow me…” Golden Lily lit up her horn and slipped the robe off Rarity’s body, hanging it neatly on a nearby stand. “Over this way, Miss Rarity.” Rarity mounted the squat stairs and stepped into the hot bath. She let out small murmurs of pleasure as the heated water engulfed her body. “Ah, yes… this is so soothing…” Ruby Gleam flitted around the room, dimming the lights and using a match to light some incense sticks. The room soon filled with a sweet aroma. At the same time, Golden Lily began to gently scrub Rarity’s coat, using a rose-scented body wash and a fresh loofah. A fine lather of bubbles formed in the bath, and Rarity closed her eyes, losing herself to the comforts of the bath. Ruby Gleam watched until Rarity’s eyelids began to droop, then she quietly left the room, heading for the massage room where Harpsy Chord was tuning her instrument.  “There’s a new client here today,” Ruby announced. “Her name is Rarity.” The harp player looked up from her work. “Is that so? I wonder…” “Lily’s giving her a bath right now, but she’ll be along here soon,” Ruby Gleam continued. “Apparently she was directly involved in the invasion.” “I see,” Harpsy Chord replied. “We will soon find out for ourselves, won’t we? Prepare the incense, Ruby. We can’t give our guest anything but the best treatment.” Ruby Gleam nodded and left the massage room, quickly returning with over a dozen sticks of incense, which she deposited neatly into holders around the perimeter of the room. In the meantime, Harpsy Chord strummed her harp gently, as she so often did as a warm up before the client actually arrived.  The walls of black marble reflected watery facsimiles of the harp player all around, punctuated by the pale flameless lanterns fixed at regular intervals along the surface. Harpsy Chord sat there and allowed her mind to wander while her hooves played across the strings of her instrument.  She had been in close contact with the changeling queen while she had been masquerading as the love princess. The name Rarity rang a bell; she had been among the group of ponies summoned from Ponyville to help with the wedding, if she remembered correctly. This was most likely the same Rarity who was renowned across Equestria for helping to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord. So far, things were matching up well to her base knowledge. Then there was also the letter. Just thinking about it made the pony’s eyes narrow, but she mastered herself and adopted the same, calm stance that she usually had while working at the spa. It wouldn’t do to think about replying to her sister’s vitriol when she was on the job. So she shelved that for later, once they closed up shop for the day. Harpsy Chord must have been lost in her own thoughts for longer than she had expected, for not long after she returned to the waking world, the door to the massage room was pushed open. Golden Lily and Rarity entered, the latter looking quite pleased and drowsy.  “Oh, my,” Rarity’s eyes widened as she entered the space. “You have a harp player?” “We do,” Ruby Gleam nodded, gesturing the the massage table and the myriad of oils and lotions that were set beside it. “She’ll be playing a soothing tune for you as you have your massage,” Golden Lily giggled. “It’ll be an experience you won’t have anywhere else!” As Rarity laid down on the massage table, Harpsy Chord began her recital, playing a slow, meandering tune on her instrument while Golden Lily lit the incense. Ruby Gleam fluttered above Rarity’s prone body, beginning to gently knead and rub at the white unicorn’s back. “Mmmm…” Rarity sighed contentedly.  Harpsy Chord’s hooves plucked and strummed at the strings of her harp while Ruby Gleam saw to Rarity’s massage. Golden Lily levitated a metal file out and began to gently work it over their client’s horn. Such ministrations were said to be very pleasurable for unicorns, as it stimulated the nerves that were inside the horn, not that Golden Lily had ever experienced it before. Scraaape. Scraaape. Soon, Rarity’s mumbles grew more and more incoherent and her eyelids fell lower and lower, until she was snoozing peacefully away on the massage table.  Golden Lily crept up to Rarity’s face, prodding it gently with her hoof.  “Miss Rarity?” Lily called softly. “Are you awake?” There was no reply from the slumbering unicorn.  “Miss Rarity?” No response. Golden Lily smirked. “I’ll go and get Aeon.”  “No need,” Aeon’s voice came from the door. “I'm already here. Moon is watching the front desk.” Aeon trotted inside, passing Golden Lily on her way to the harp The unicorn had his notebook and pen ready and he took up his position next to the massage table so that he could clearly hear everything that their client was about to tell them. “Now…” Harpsy Chord hissed as she strode down to Rarity’s level, her eyes glowing green. She lifted Rarity’s eyelids and activated her hypnotic gaze. “Are you a citizen of Canterlot?” The harp player asked Rarity. “Mmm… no,” Rarity’s mouth replied. “I am simply here as a guest of the newly married couple. I am from Ponyville.” “I see,” Harpsy Chord nodded slowly. “And what was your involvement with the royal wedding and in the changeling invasion?” “That’s a bit of a long story,” Rarity answered, her voice slightly shaky from the massage she was receiving. “You see, I was requested by Princess Cadance to design her wedding dress, as well as to be one of the guests of honor at the wedding itself.” Harpsy Chord nodded, even though Rarity could not see her. “So that means you were in the palace when the invasion began?” “Yes.” “Tell me what happened in the palace. In detail.” “Of course…” Rarity went on to explain the preparations they had been making to ensure a successful wedding. That bit didn’t sound any bit important to any of them, but then she started talking about her friend Twilight Sparkle’s suspicions of Princess Cadance, who at that time, was still the changeling queen in disguise. “The queen can’t even act nice when in disguise?” Ruby Gleam scoffed from above Rarity. “And she’s supposed to be the best of us? Ha.” “So right, Ruby…” Lily suppressed a laugh with a hoof before returning her attention to playing the harp. Harpsy nodded again. And to think Chrysalis was the one who taught them how to blend in before she had even picked it up as a specialty. Aeon sat by without comment, writing down every word that left Rarity’s mouth with his pen. After that, the pony had gone on to wail about how if they had taken heed to Twilight’s words, then perhaps they could’ve stopped the invasion before it even happened. “And how, pray tell, did Princess Cadance even escape her confines?” Harpsy Chord asked, her eyes still burning green. “Do you know?” Rarity mumbled something unintelligible, then smiled. “Twilight said the changeling queen had sent her down into the mines where the princess was being held…” There was a small expression of frustration from Ruby Gleam that she covered up with a cough. Aeon looked up for a moment, then shook his head and went back to writing. “Twilight tells me that she used her magic to clear a way out of the mines,” Rarity droned on. “They were able to escape in time to expose the changeling queen before the wedding could conclude.” “And what happened after that?” Harpsy pushed the spell further. “Tell me.” The tale continued about how Rarity and her friends had fled the wedding hall to retrieve the Elements of Harmony to fight off the invading changeling horde, but were overcome before they could reach them. They had been taken back to the throne room after that. “And then the changeling queen began to sing,” Rarity recalled. “In fact, she stayed at the balcony for long enough for Princess Cadance to bring Shining Armor back to his senses and use the power of love to repel all the changelings.” “Almost all of them,” Golden Lily remarked quietly.  “So the changeling queen left her prisoners unguarded, and revealed herself before the reception was over?”  “Yes,” Rarity confirmed. “That is what happened.” “Because of course she reveals herself before the reception is over,” Harpsy Chord muttered through clenched teeth. “Of course it’s too much to ask her to stick to the plan. Of all the…” The harp player caught herself and returned her attention to Rarity. “Is there anything else you have not told me about the wedding?” “Mmm, I caught the princess’ flowers.” “I think we’ve learned all we can from this one,” Aeon jerked his head towards the spellbound Rarity.  “Yes…” Harpsy Chord put her hoof to her chin. “Very well. Aeon, you may go back to the front desk.” The white unicorn tucked away his pen and notebook, then bowed and left the room. Golden Lily relinquished the harp back to Harpsy, and waited for the hypnosis spell to fade while Ruby Gleam went to snuff out the incense. “Miss Rarity?” Golden Lily asked, putting her hoof onto Rarity’s splayed foreleg. “Are you awake?” Rarity snorted in a most unladylike fashion, then opened her eyes.  “Oooohh…” She said with a stretch. “I feel… thoroughly worked over. It’s quite a remarkable feeling!”  “We didn’t think our massage would put you to sleep,” Ruby Gleam said. Her face was arranged in a sort of apologetic grin. “Well, you’re a credit to your work if you can relax a pony so much that they nod off,” Rarity yawned and smacked her lips.  “We have a mane session left, and then a hooficure,” Golden Lily chirped. “And after that, would you like to stay for a cocktail, complimentary of the Metamorphosis?” “That sounds lovely, darling,” Rarity pried herself off the massage table, but her limbs and body were too limp to do it. Golden Lily wrapped Rarity in her magical field and lifted her up, then deposited her onto the floor. “Thank you,” Rarity looked as though she were still unsteady, but was able to follow Ruby Gleam out of the room, followed by Golden Lily, leaving Harpsy Chord alone in the massage room. About two hours later, Aeon, now back at his spot at the front desk, waved goodbye to Rarity. “Thank you very much for coming!” he said with a bow of his head. “We hope you’ll stop by again.” Aeon kept a neutral half-smile on his face as he watched Rarity go, but inside, he was already readying himself for the next customer. He hoped that there would be more; Rarity’s happiness and satisfaction had filled him up somewhat, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. He sat there for a good three hours, with nopony else coming in. Snowy Skies came out around at about one o’clock with a sandwich and a smoothie, which Aeon ate at his desk. As he consumed his lunch, he took out his notebook and read over Rarity’s account once again. “The princess is not going to be happy about this…” Aeon said through a mouthful of rye and lettuce. “Not at all…” While he was no master strategist like the mistress of the house, he knew enough to know that Chrysalis had messed up phenomenally.  The bell at the front door tinkled, making Aeon look up from his notes. It was an cream-colored stallion in a suit, followed by a sprightly-looking pink mare with a flaxen mane. The two unicorns seemed to be deep in discussion. “...And I said, if you can’t make it, just come to the next meeting,” the mare was saying. “So we’ll need to buy more doilies for that.” “Yes, dear,” the stallion sighed. He was clearly exasperated, and Aeon didn’t need to use his changeling senses to tell he was both annoyed and exhausted.  Aeon waited for the two ponies to stop talking. The stallion seemed resigned to just saying ‘yes’, and ‘that’s right’ to the mare’s constant stream of dialogue. Finally, the mare stopped to breathe. “Welcome to the Metamorphosis!” Aeon interjected. “My name is Aeon. How may I help you?” “Oh, yes!” the mare squealed. “I’m here to get ready for my weekly book club meeting, and I really wanted to get a hooficure and a massage to make myself look all pretty for the gals, you know?” “One hooficure and full-body massage,” Aeon noted down in his ledger. “May I have your name?” “Sunshine Sprinkles!” She supplied brightly. “And this is my husband, Jackpot Justice.” “Very good,” Aeon said. Then he turned to the Jackpot Justice. “And for you, good sir?” “Oh, I’m only here to give my wife some company,” Jackpot said in a beleaguered tone. He saw the chairs that were arranged in the lobby and slunk over to them. “I’ll just wait for Sunshine to be done.” “I see. All right.” Aeon gave Sunshine Sprinkles a fluffy white robe and led her into the spa proper, then came back out to his spot at the front desk. Jackpot Justice and Aeon sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, the quiet only interrupted by the seated stallion’s breathing.  Finally, Aeon decided to try conversation. “Busy day?” Jackpot nodded wearily. “I’ve been walked all over Canterlot, looking at tea sets and bookmarks and quills with my wife.” “Ah, yes. She mentioned a book club.” “Sunshine holds those every week at our home,” Jackpot sighed. “She invites all her friends and they sit there for hours, discussing the latest C.W. Step book.” “The famous romance novelist,” Aeon nodded sagely. “I’m familiar.”  “I love my wife, but sometimes it’s too much for me to take,” Jackpot Justice shuddered. “So much pink, and frills, and lace, and that incessant giggling. I usually go to the bar when the book club is on, but lately my wife has been trying to include me in their meetings…” The stallion ran a hoof down his face. “I know she means well, but…” he ended the sentence with a groan. “Ugh. I wish I had time for a drink.” Aeon smiled. “As it so happens, we have quite a well-stocked cocktail bar in the next room. Would you like to relax in there instead of here?” “Cocktails, you say?” That caught the stallion’s attention. “That sounds splendid.” “I’ll just lead you in. I can’t stay because I’m watching the front of house, but Snowy Skies will be more than happy to serve you.” The cocktail bar was through a short hallway from the lobby, and it was one of the more opulently furnished rooms in the spa. The walls were hung with deep red damask, and there were several booths and tables that were trimmed in red and gold. At the far end stood the bar, with dozens of brightly colored bottles and decanters arranged on the shelf behind. Scores of crystal glasses were stacked on the side, glittering in the light of the flameless lanterns that illuminated the space. An off-white pegasus with a blue mane was standing behind the bar, smiling at the two stallions as they neared. “Mr. Jackpot Justice here is in need of refreshment,” Aeon told the pegasus. “I leave him in your care.” “Yes, sir,” the pegasus nodded. Aeon then turned around crisply and went back to the lobby. “Welcome to the Metamorphosis’ cocktail bar, sir. My name is Snowy Skies. What would you like to drink?” "Uh, can I get a Manehattan?" Jackpot ordered. "No cherry and extra ice." "Certainly, coming right up," Snowy Skies turned to the shelf at the back of the bar and took down a couple of bottles. As Snowy Skies poured out the whisky and other ingredients, Jackpot leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It had been such a tiresome day for him. He just didn’t know where his wife got all that energy. The sound of ice being crushed in a martini shaker shook Jackpot out of his reverie. The pegasus bartender shook the drink around for a little more, then expertly uncapped the shaker and poured out the drink into a fluted glass. “Your Manehatten, sir,” Snowy Skies pushed the glass at Jackpot, which would’ve slid right off the counter if Jackpot didn’t pick it up in his magical field. He lifted the glass to his mouth and took a sip. “This is good stuff,” he said appreciatively, taking another sip. “Might I ask how a spa and massage parlor comes to have such a comprehensive selection of spirits?” “Hm? Oh, it’s something that’s been part of the Metamorphosis since day one,” Snowy Skies said as she cleaned a glass with a cloth from her apron. “We find it helps guests unwind fully after a spa session. We offer one cocktail on the house to each customer.” “That sounds marvelous,” Jackpot said, draining his glass and shivering a little as the liquor burned its way down his throat. “Why, I might book a session sometime myself!” He laughed. “Very good, sir.” Snowy’s face broke into what was almost a smile, but her eyes didn’t quite manage it.  Two more customers came and went that Monday after Sunshine Sprinkles, before the Metamorphosis closed its doors for the evening. “Good work today, everyone,” Spirit Wave said as the employees went to remove their uniforms. “I think we’re back in business. And after that fiasco with the invasion, I’m impressed we got as many customers as we did.” “Well, you know,” Ruby Gleam said reasonably. “Perhaps they wanted to unwind after said mess of an invasion.” “Maybe,” Snowy Skies nodded. “We made a couple of extra bits from one Jackpot Justice in the bar. He said he would recommend us to his friends.” “Excellent!” Ruby Gleam cheered. “More food for us.” “And more secrets to add to the stash,” Aeon smiled. As they hung up their aprons and headbands, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat at the door. It was a white unicorn with a reddish-purple mane. “Oh!” Spirit Wave exclaimed. “Dahlia, you’re up.” “Yes, mistress,” Dahlia said, bowing her head. “I have recovered from my injuries and am ready to return to the castle.” Spirit Wave walked in a quick circle around Dahlia, examining her from all angles.  “Well, it certainly seems like you have made a full recovery,” the spa owner nodded. “I originally wanted you to go back to the castle so we would have a better account of what happened up there, but thanks to our first client of the day, we know all that we need to know. But...” Spirit Wave raised her hoof. “We do still need our eye in the castle to keep watch on those living there.” “I will be back there first thing tomorrow morning.” The unicorn nodded. “Has the queen replied as to why the plan had failed?” “Psssshhh…” Ruby Gleam flipped herself around and planted a hoof on her snout. “The queen can go f-” “Nothing concrete yet...” Spirit Wave said, stone faced. “But I think I have a pretty good idea as to what went pear-shaped, thanks to Miss Rarity.” “Makes you wonder if the queen will have a different story of what happened.” Golden Lily snickered. “I wonder what she’s up to now.” “I intend to find out,” Spirit Wave muttered. “But now that we’re closed, you all may head out and have dinner. I will stay here and pen my reply to Her Majesty.” “Wooo, dinner!” Lily was the first changeling out the door. The others followed, with a little less gusto. Spirit Wave was about to turn and head downstairs when she realized Aeon was still there. “You’re not going?” Spirit asked the white unicorn. Aeon shook his head. “I just wanted to ask if I could get anything for you while I was out.” “Hmm, I wouldn’t say no to a chicken burrito. It’s been a while since I’ve had some meat. But they don’t have those here, do they?” “I’m afraid Canterlot only caters to the vegetarian palate,” Aeon said with a roll of his eyes. “I could purchase a bird from the pet store though, if you feel like roasting one.” “No need to be so uncivilized, Aeon.” The Metamorphosis owner stuck out her tongue, then wandered towards the stairs. “Enjoy your dinner. I’ll be here roasting something else should you need me.” Aeon bowed his head and followed the rest of the staff out onto the twilight streets of Canterlot.  Spirit Wave watched the door swing shut, then gave a huff of indignation and stomped back to her room. The letter from Chrysalis was still lying on the floor where she had thrown it that morning. Dropping her disguise, the changeling princess snatched a sheet of paper from her desk and put her pen to it. I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the ponies who was there when you revealed yourself. I believe the plan was to wait until the ponies were all partied out before launching the invasion? And you couldn't even do that right. Why even formulate a plan at all if you won't follow it? As for your disguise, you should know better than to keep behaving the same when acting as someone else, much less the Princess of Love. As for why I wasn't there, ask yourself if anyone could have predicted your stoneheaded behavior. It's your fault the invasion failed. Not mine, yours. Psithyra slapped down the pen on her desk and rolled up the letter. Her sister had never been good with plans, which made her wonder just why she’d come to her after all these years. She probably just needed someone to agree with her wanting to take over Canterlot, and then completely throwing their plans out the window. “There’s a reason we have plans, Chrysalis…” She lit her horn and sent the letter away with a small whoosh. Then Psithyra flopped down onto her bed and pulled out a romance novel, by C.W. Step, of course. It wouldn't be as tasty as fresh love, but she really didn't feel like going out tonight for dinner. Psithyra doubted Chrysalis would reply soon, so she wasn’t going to hold her breath. Eventually she reached the end of the chapter and stuck a shred of paper in to use as a bookmark, then turned off the lights and went to sleep.