//------------------------------//
// Ember's Personal Time 
// Story: Massage Stories 
// by nobody495 
//------------------------------//

The Dragon Land’s spa was in full boom. The many dragons were lining up to have their massages done. Some went as a joke, though were actually surprised by how good it actually felt. Soon, word spread about them, and before long, the many, many dragons were taking regular breaks to attend. And Celestia knows a dragon needs to have their muscles tended to. Eventually, word would spread from the common dragons, all the way to the Lord of Dragons herself, the cyan, slightly curvy dragoness, Ember. She herself had faced much stress and tension boring into her poor body, so she couldn’t help but be a little interested in what this service had to offer. 
So, she decided to head over, lined by a couple of burly-looking dragons for protection sake. Not that she particularly needed it, Equestria was in a world-wide state of peace following the defeat of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. Still, they insisted, though in a way that tried to absolve them of any worry for her and instead make it seem like they were doing them a favor, and totally not begging to be by her side. Either way, Ember was on her way to the suddenly famous spa in the Dragon Lands. 
The spa itself was fairly colorful, in contrast to the otherwise derelict landscape around it. It looked just like its Ponyville counterpart, albeit with some larger than normal doorways. Ember and her escorts could see the line of dragons extend past the door, but upon seeing her get near, they began to step away and let her pass. Deeper inside they went, passing the door and approaching the counter, where a bubble gum-pink pony stood with a straight, blue mane and tail stood. She saw the dragoness approach, and of course, you don’t lay in the Dragon Lands long without learning about her. 
“Oh my! So nice to meet you, Ember!” the pink pony greeted. “I am Aloe Vera, ready to do whatever you want!” Ember looked over her, and all over the very pastel interior of the spa. Part of her was still trying to adjust to the change of scenery, from these colorful ponies just standing out over here, to this building that stuck out like a sore thumb inside these lands. Still, she had some significantly more important issues to deal with. Namely, her own her time. 
“I guess it’s nice to meet you,” Ember said. She then noticed Aloe peering between her and the other dragons. 
“Are these guys with you?” she asked. 
“Nah, I’m here for myself,” Ember said. She’d then wave off the guards, he walked away to instead sit on the benches in the lounge. Ember then faced Aloe herself. “Anyways, I’ve had a long few weeks, if you can imagine. So, if it’s no trouble, I would appreciate it if you gave me the best you can.” 
“The best we can?”
“The best you can. I want a full body massage…” She then peered around, making sure that nopony else was near her, before leaning in close to Aloe. “And maybe some work done on my claws, if I’m really feeling it.”  With that, Aloe leaned away before nodding in approval. 
“Oh, we’ll get you the very best massage we can!” Aloe assured. She then reared back before turning towards one of the halls. “Oh Buuuuuulk!” And with that, Ember was suddenly aware of the sound of hooves stamping towards the counter. Ember rose a brow in curiosity, and tried to peer past the counter and towards the source. She’d seen quite a bit, but this pony wasn’t quite what she’d expected to see today. Approaching was the largest Pegasus she’d ever seen, boasting soap-white fur and a buzz cut mane, with extraordinarily large legs, the muscles throbbing with each step. Contrasting the absurdly buff physique was a pair of comically small wings upon his back. This appeared to be the esteemed masseuse of the Dragon Land’s spa, Bulk Biceps. 
“Oh Bulk, this lady rules the Dragon Lands,” Aloe introduced. “She came here for the best massage her body could ask for. Surely you can accommodate, couldn’t you?” 
“YEAH!” Bulk Biceps bellowed out enthusiastically. 
“Yeah!” Aloe agreed. She then stood aside. “Now, just follow Bulk Biceps, and he’ll give you the best our spa has to offer!” Ember still felt weirded out, but felt like she couldn’t quite stop himself right now. No, if she were to, just, not follow him, then surely she’d be branded a chicken or something. Besides, it’s not like she didn’t come here for the best treatment. Ember shrugged her shoulders, and then followed the pegasus, who stamped forwards, his hooves smashing the ground beneath with tremendous rings out into the halls, each clip and clop seeming to shake her to the core, which was especially startling, even to her. 
Eventually, the two were able to make it to a room deeper into the spa, it being a low-lit room with one of those tell-tale massage tables in the middle of it, it cloaked in a thick, white towel, the foam donut covered in paper sheets to make it so patrons didn’t have to deal with the germs of those past. The room itself was bathed with the soft smell of candles, and she could see some shelves with various crates put in them, surely meant to store all sorts of massage equipment. Bulk Biceps motioned towards the table, stepping aside in order to let the dragoness pass. 
Ember followed his lead and walked over to the table, where she’d get into position, lying down on her front and fitting her face into the small opening. With her in place, Bulk Biceps would make sure the door was shut, before walking over to one of the shelves, his mighty hooves pounding the ground with each step. Once there, he’d drag out one of the crates, where Ember could hear him rummaging around for something. Ember wasn’t sure what, if anything, could stand up to her fine layer of scales, but then again, she wasn’t exactly in the profession. 
Eventually, the pegasus returned, clasping a device carefully. Ember couldn’t help but wonder what that was, so she brought her face out of the table to get a good look at this. There, he’d find that Bulk Biceps was holding a strange device. It looked like a roller for baking, except segmented into multiple small wheels with blunt spokes at them running along the length of the roller. He approached Ember, before carefully placing her head back into the hole in the table. 
“You coulda just asked,” Ember remarked. 
“Yeah…” Bulk Biceps said in a somewhat apologetic tone. However, after a bit of a stop, he’d continue around towards her backside, leaning up over the foot of the table. Once there, he set the roller down just above the base of her tail. 
“Careful where you put those hooves,” Ember chided. 
“Yeah.” Bulk Biceps reared back, before rolling the device forwards and across her back. Ember grunted and shivered as the bumpy wheels rolled over her. She’d expected her scales to no-sell that silly toy, but the bumps somehow managed to dig into her. Bulk Biceps made sure to put his weight down on the sides of it to make sure the device was boring into her as much as possible. He’d start with her lower back, where he’d roll the roller from the upper ridge of her glutes, up to the small of her back. He’d repeat the process, forwards and back, himself holding his breath as he put in his effort as if he himself were going through some workout. Maybe it was his strength that was getting past her draconic scales in tandem with the design of the wheels. 
Bulk Biceps, meanwhile, would initially start with running from the base of her tail to the small of her back, but would alter the roller’s route. He ran over the same part repeatedly, before turning the roller to head towards another spot. He’d make sure that when he did that, he’d return to where the roller started. From the base of the tail, he’d roll over to either side, and from the small, he’d roll over down to her hips, getting a slight tickle-induced wiggle from her as he’d brush near her backside. After repeating that motion, he’d pull the roller up, before leaning down near either leg. 
Once there, he’d bring the roller into place, making sure he was at the thigh though a couple inches beneath her buttocks, per her request. Once there, he’d roll down the side, from thigh to the outline of her foot. The sides didn’t get much of a reaction, but when he got to the back and rolled down the main meat of her legs, she couldn’t help but tense up, a blush dressing her face as Bulk tended to those things. He didn’t realize how much tension was left in those, she was sure she’d feel more of it in her wing stems. Apparently those things did need some tending to after all. 
Soon, he’d make it to the other leg and do similar work to it, rolling on the sides then down the meaty parts. And he could practically feel her shiver as he tended to her. Soon, those were dealt with, and he then pulled the roller away. From there, he’d walk around to her front, standing before where her head was positioned, while carefully examining her back from here. Clearly he was trying to figure out where he’d have to roll, what with her wings being in the way. He placed the roller on the base of her neck, before starting with a curved path around those limbs. 
“Nngh…” Ember moaned as he ran over her shoulder. When the tool hit those, she immediately realized how much she needed this. There was definitely some work to be done there, what with it supporting her flapping wings. He’d repeatedly rub this line between her side and her shoulder, before bringing the roller to the other side, and rubbing over that way, getting another soft moan out of the dragon lord. He’d keep up the assault, going from shoulder to side, shoulder to side. Sometimes, he’d roll the roller in place over her neck, which got her to sigh happily. 
After a bit of that, he’d stand next to her arm, where he’d hoist it up over one of his forelegs, and begin running the roller over it, opting to aim for those meaty parts again. Ember’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as he did that, really enjoying the feeling of them being tended to. She clenched her hand a little, before relaxing her fingers as he squeezed the tension out of her biceps and forearms. He’d keep on rolling and making sure those were good, before contemplating running them over her hands. These usually weren’t good spots for this device, but her claws seemed bigger than the average client… Though, he decided he should play it safe, just in case. 
Figuring he’d done whatever he could’ve with the roller, he’d turn back to the shelf and walk away. Ember sighed and began to climb up to look after him. 
“That was certainly something, but not quite the best thing I ever went through,” Ember stated. Bulk put the roller back in place, before facing him and motioning towards the shelf. “Oh, there’s more, is there?”
“Yeah,” Bulk Biceps answered. Ember sighed before setting herself back into the hole in the table. 
“Alright, let’s see how good this is,” she said. Bulk Biceps nodded in affirmation, before searching for something else in that shelf. Eventually, he’d uncover it, and after he was finished rummaging, Ember felt like peering out again. She’d see, in the pegasus’ grasp, a small, wooden thing that had what looked like a handle for twisting, and beneath it was a cylinder-like point. “Now what the hay is that?” 
Bulk Biceps approached her, the dragoness leaning back down into the hole. Once there, he’d raise the device, before planting it between her wings, where that roller couldn’t reach. She rose a brow curiously upon feeling it plant in place. And then, he began twisting it. It felt like he was driving a fat nail into her back, but instead of skewering, it ground on her. Ember’s eyes widened as pain initially registered. She gave a soft flail and stretched out her limbs, her eyelids fluttering as the somewhat painful stimulation coursed through her. 
“Urgh! I-is that supposed to help?” Ember asked. 
“Yeah,” Bulk Biceps assured. He kept on twisting and twisting, altering precisely where that device would press down. It hurt a bit and Ember kept grunting and gritting her teeth in response. Despite that, however, she could feel… results. Her muscles seemed to’ve started untensing, loosening under his massaging ways. Now the pain was starting to melt away, causing her to sigh happily, her fingers and toes really limp. He’d sometimes hit a sore-spot, but that was merely a tense bunch of muscle. It seemed her muscles needed some tough loving to get back to where they needed to be, and Bulk Biceps was more than happy to provide. 
He’d carefully place that twisting device around her back, aiming around her wing stems to get at wherever he couldn’t reach before. Dragons seemed to have a lot of tension over there, which made sense. He’d be careful not to strike the stems themselves, they were a bit too sensitive for his techniques. Soon, he managed to run circles around those stems, and could feel the difference. Normally, there’d be some sort of resistance behind those muscles because of the tension that they held. However, after he dealt with those poor spots, he could feel the resistance melt away, no seeming more like she was a warm jello instead of tough meat. 
With those dealt with, he’d go away from her wings to instead check the rest of her back for anything really worth grinding the tool into. Thankfully, the roller was pretty much only surface level, which left a lot of the underlying muscle untouched. He was able to find more spots that needed skewering into, from above her waist, to the sides of her spine, to the base of her neck, and so on. He’d receive some gasps and grunts from Ember, who’d slowly mellow out after a bit of the grinding. He’d dress all over her back, aiming to buffet out all of her tension. 
“Ngh!” Ember would sometimes grunt. “Ooooh~” she’d sometimes moan. She was a bit repetitious with her reactions, but at the very least it was a very audible means for Bulk Biceps to realize what was working and what wasn’t. Soon, he’d press the device into various parts of her back in search of any more spots that need his help. However, after enough work, he’d seem to render it all to a limp form. Plus, something about her moans seemed weirdly therapeutic. It was as if he himself was getting a bit of a massage. 
Soon, he felt that he skewered enough tension out with just this thing. There was still a bit more left to this visit, though, but it was good to start with all of this stuff. Now all she’d have to do was sit up. He took up the device, before walking back to the shelves. Ember, meanwhile, was left lying there, in a state of bliss from all of the attention her body got. She carefully craned her head up to get a view of what was next for her. If it was anything like the last few, she knew to be excited. Not that she’d show it or anything… 
Eventually, she saw Bulk Biceps pull up an especially strange device. It was a flat sheet, looking kind of like the plate set on top of a weighing machine. However, several somewhat sharp-looking stones lined the face and formed the shape of a pair of draconic feet. It looked sort of like the plate was to be set in place so that her feet would bore into the stones to feel them massage her, somehow. Bulk Biceps walked back over to the massage table, where he set the sheet down at the floor below. He then looked towards Ember, before motioning her to sit up. 
Ember said nothing and easily followed directions. She shifted about on the bed, before leaning her feet over the edge and bringing them down on that sheet. She gently treaded the top of it, not putting too much weight on them. Meanwhile, Bulk Biceps leaned in real close to them, while hovering a hoof over one of them. And then, down they went. Ember immediately gasped out as the rocks bore into her feet! She gritted her teeth and wriggled around a little, the sensation beginning to feel torturous. Bulk Biceps, meanwhile, didn’t seem to mind, merely biting his tongue as he carefully ran his hoof around her foot to alter which part was to weigh into the foot more than the other. From the base of her toes, to her sole, and so on. 
Ember shuddered about and dug her claws into the massage table, now beginning to sweat profusely as she was forced to endure the stabbing sensation in her feet. But it wasn’t just blind pain going into her. No, this painful sensation ebbed away at her defenses to allow a more sensitive side to eek out, making it feel like the stones were now starting to more rub her than bite her. At that moment, her grunting and shuddering turned into her sighing and melting. She felt gravity pull her backwards and threaten to smack her down upon the table behind her. Again, Bulk Biceps made sure to watch out for her reactions to judge what parts of her feet to weigh down and what parts not to. 
He’d keep on wearing her down, driving her soles into those feet. Eventually, with enough poking and prodding, she’d had enough. She sighed and went limp over the bed, panting and panting. Bulk Biceps recognized her state, and would drag the plate away from her, going back to the shelf. With that, she’d turn towards him.
“I feel like you got almost all of me,” she said. “Is there more?” Bulk Biceps turned towards her, and sort of shrugged. “What do you mean?” The Pegasus motioned towards her. “Does it… depend on me?”
“Yeah,” Bulk Biceps answered with a nod of his head. With that, Ember stroked her chin and leaned back, contemplating it. Then, she sighed in expectation of what he’ll do. 
“You know what, let’s move on to the next part!” Ember said. 
“Yeah!” Bulk said enthusiastically. With that, he took something off of the shelf, with a little too much gusto, ending up tossing it down onto the ground. His small wings fluttered in shock, and he reached down to snap it back up, though not before getting something out of it. He placed a small pumice stone on the ground, as well as a foot file, and a tub. Ember rose a brow at the appearance of those toys while the muscular pony put the box back on the shelf. And then, he’d take up those supplies, fill the tub with warm water, and walk over to the foot of the table, before he motioned for her to put her feet down in the tub. 
“Not sure what you expect to do here,” she said. She kicked her feet over and placed them into the warm water. Once in position, Bulk leaned in. He set the foot file aside on a nearby stool, and then brought the pumice stone near her soles while angling them upwards to get a better angle at them. Her mind immediately thought back to her time on that plate Bulk Biceps had set out for her. In a moment, she recoiled in slight anticipation of what this stone could possibly do to her. And then, the mighty Pegasus brought it forwards. He dragged the side of it down from her joints to the heel, which immediately got Ember to snap her eyes wide open. She huffed and puffed and dug her claws into the table beneath her, clenching her eyes shut as the stone dragged torturously thoroughly down her foot! 
And then, after that one drag, Bulk brought it up again, and stroked downwards. He’d repeat this stroking, getting more and more groans and mutters from Ember. She shifted her legs around, which made it a little bit harder for Bulk to do his job. He was forced to shove his leg over her ankles to pin them down, leaving just her upper body to shake around as Bulk ground down her soles. The stone felt warm and wet, though seemed intent on digging into any and every crack with its sheer size. Ember’s toes would clench and curl as the pumice stone bore into her. 
“Grr! B-Bulk-!” Ember gasped out. She ground her teeth and bucked around. Despite her strength, his leg seemed more than enough to pin her down. Her face was red with effort, and sweat poured down her brow as she wriggled around. If her guards were anywhere nearby, they mighty mistake this session as an attempt on her life, or at the very least some torture session. Then again, Ember herself wasn’t entirely convinced that it wasn’t. 
And yet, soon it came to a clam. It seemed as if the pony was testing out how much pressure he needed, for in a few moments, he was now rubbing circles into her sole, and it felt more like a smaller version of a pony hoof working into her foot. At that, she sighed merrily and leaned back.
“Jeez, can’t you be a little gentler about that kind of stuff?” Ember asked. 
“Yeah…” Bulk answered in a repentant tone. Despite his clear grievance over his work there, he was working without pause. Now, it seemed like he knew just how much the dragon needed to feel good. He’d rub under her toes and over her heel, and especially rub into her sole. Despite having work done on her foot right before this tool, there was a very clear difference. The sheet she’d stood on was all about quantity over coverage, while this pumice stone was more about covering. It felt nice and warm… nice and warm…
Eventually, he settled on enough of that for the stone. He set it down on the stool, before taking up the file. And with that, he’d hold the new device under her feet, hooking just under her claws. And then, he dragged it downwards, eliciting a shocking screeching noise. Not from Ember, no. The noise that file drew forth sounded akin to a maul smashing through armor, accompanied by the telltale smell of friction. There were even sparks of ember gliding off before dissipating as soon as they were formed. Bulk himself reared away as those sparks flew forwards. 
“Uh, are you doing ok?” Ember asked her masseuse.
“Y-yeah,” Bulk answered with uncertainty. He kept on keeping on, the file seeming to snag some dead scales and dump them below. He’d keep on dragging, and as he did, she couldn’t help but feel some relief as those blasted scales were worked out. When a scale wasn’t settled properly, it’d sometimes get caught between others and drive itself under the armor-like sheet and nip the flesh. But it seemed like this file was good enough to drag those things kicking and screaming out of their place, partially literally in this case. 
He’d scrape more and more, stopping only when Ember would pull a foot away from him. Eventually, he’d finished up with the second foot, at which Ember sighed. 
“Feels like I’ve got a new set of claws,” Ember said. She flexed them a little to prove it to herself, sighing in relief as she felt them breathe. “I cannot thank you enough.” Bulk nodded and saluted to her. 
“Yeah!” he declared enthusiastically. Ember then looked over the things, again flexing them. Her mind was thinking through something else. Something more… unorthodox for her. 
“You know I pondered some claw-work if I felt it back at the counter, right?”
“Yeah.” 
“Well, I think that I could go for that. Think you can work on them?” 
“Yeah!” With that, he scampered towards one of the shelves. Not the massage-tool shelf, no, but one beside it. He’d then pull out a few nail files, vials of nail paint, as well as foam rings meant for separating claws, before walking towards the table. He set the devices aside, before taking up the foam separators and setting them in place, them wrapping around her claws while making sure there was enough space between to keep them safe while he’s working on the other ones. Her feet and hands were forced to be stretched out while he’s at work. 
He brought up the file, before leaning in, and carefully grinding it along said nails. Again, they screamed out as he ran the file over it, shedding off small scrapes of nail alongside sparks of embers. Bulk Biceps still seemed uncertain as he ground them into place, going from toe to toe to make sure they were nice, thin, and symmetrical. Soon, the nail shavings were left down on the ground, leaving Ember to look over her newly pampered toes. She wiggled them a little to admire them. 
“I’m not usually into this sort of thing, but I’ve gotta admire the work here,” she said. As she did, Bulk would turn his attention towards her hands. Like that, she’d have to make sure her arms were extended just far enough to make sure he can grind down on them safely enough. He’d make sure to get between them to again grind on them, getting another grinding noise out of them… until the screaming stopped. Ember and Bulk each rose a brow, at which the pegasus would lift the file towards himself. He spied a small bit of the file’s strip eaten away. “Is everything alright?” 
Bulk looked towards her, before looking at the file yet again. He furrowed his brow and huffed in slight annoyance. He then turned away and walked towards a wastebasket in the corner of the room. Ember couldn’t quite see the contents from this angle, but there were more nail files within, though the presence of them were hinted to her by the sound of clanking metal. He then walked back to that shelf from before, before drawing another file from it. He got back in front of Ember, where he’d carefully position the file between her fingers and continue. 
“Need stronger files, yeah?” Ember asked. Her pamperer let out a defeated sigh. 
“Yeah,” Bulk said in resignation. There was a bit of quiet between the two, save the further screaming from the file. 
“I think I could help you out.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, after your service today, I think your company deserves more support.”
“Yeah!”
“Though, do mind, there’s always time to rescind my charity if you mess up the rest of this.”
“Y-yeah…”
“Though, you don’t seem the type to mess up, do you?”
“…”
“No you’re not. I’m looking forwards to the rest of your work.”
“Yeah!” With that, his uncertainty seemed to’ve faded. He wasn’t going in with blind abandon, but he was going in with confidence as he made sure her claws were ground into just the right shape. She wriggled her fingers a little to also admire those claws. 
“Very nice, very nice,” she muttered to herself as she looked over them. After a bit of that, she looked towards Bulk, who was motioning towards the vials of nail paint. “Ah, you want to know which one I need, right? Hm… She looked over her claws and her own complexion in deep consideration. “Hm… I’ve seen some ice cream with blue and pink mixed together, and I did like that combination… Let’s try the pink paint.”
“Yeah!” First, he took the foam that separated her digits and flipped them in order to have the foam cover the dividing line between digit and nail. He then took up the pink vial and brought it close. He drew the brush from it, eliciting the pungent smell of the product, which got a cough out of the dragon lord. However, just as quick as it came on, it faded thereafter. Holding the brush, Bulk began to paint her claws. It felt kinda funny, feeling the small brush daintily dress her nails. She held still as much as she could, though this stillness only made her more aware of the feeling of that brush. He was clearly practiced at this, though. 
It wasn’t long before her toes had been dressed in pink. He’d made sure to be careful with his strokes so as not to leave glaring stains in the coat, else ruin the paint. But, on a look over those digits, he was satisfied as he looked over freshly pink nails. He nodded in affirmation, before moving up to the hands. There, he’d paint those as well, taking careful strokes over them with near surgical precision. Eventually, those claws were dressed nice enough, prompting Bulk Biceps to step away while Ember loo
“ked over the new coat. 
“Oh this is nice,” she said, gently flexing her fingers and toes. She nodded in approval, and Bulk himself seemed happy enough. 
…
After a long period of Ember sitting still, eventually the paint settled and she was allowed to step out and into the lounge. There, she approached that pink pony from before, her nodding happily. 
“That was just grand,” she said as she handed over some bits. “And, in the future, expect donations here.” At that, Aloe clapped her hands excitedly. 
“Oh thank you, miss!” she declared. 
“Hey, thank the staff for their amazing work with me today,” Ember said. She looked past her towards the muscular pony, who she gave a knowing nod to. He smiled and nodded back. 
“Please don’t be a stranger!” Aloe said. “Feel free to return!”
“I just might,” Ember said, waving her goodbye as she headed towards the exit, which prompted the guards to stand up. As they did, they couldn’t help but look down at those nails curiously. She heard a distinct snicker from them, at which she shot the two of them a wicked glare. They immediately felt like they were thrust under some guillotine and turned away flustered. With that, Ember shrugged, and left that splendid, splendid spa.