Art of the Mannequin
By Volcash
Chapter 1
The doors of the Ponyville Day Spa swung open as two ponies strolled inside, tails intertwined affectionately. They were immediately overwhelmed by a wide array of delectable scents as fumes from the various herbal treatments wafted through the air. On the right was Lyra Heartstrings, who walked with a peppy spring in her step and a happy glint in her golden eyes. On the left was Bonbon, her fillyfriend of two years today, and she was slightly less peppy. She had bags in her eyes and her hooves dragged with exhaustion.
“Thanks for setting up this spa appointment, Lyra,” Bonbon praised.
“It was nothing, honey,” Lyra replied. “I just wanted to make our anniversary special.”
“Well, you certainly did a good job of it.” Bonbon paused for a deep, long yawn, and then continued speaking. “I can’t believe it’s been two years already.”
The green unicorn took notice of her fillyfriend’s tired state. “Are you sure you’re alright? Should I reschedule our appointment?”
“No. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve just been really busy at work lately. What with Hearts and Hooves Day around the corner and all…”
“Yeah, I know. Everypony wants sweets for their sweethearts.”
“And I’ve been up really late these past few days making candy.”
“Well then, it sounds like a relaxing spa day is just what you need.”
The happy couple walked over to the front desk, where a bright pink mare waited to greet them. “Hello, and welcome to Ponyville Day Spa, my name is Aloe. How can I help you?”
“I made a reservation earlier, and I’m here for my appointment. My name is Lyra Heartstrings.”
Aloe looked down at the desk and skimmed the clipboard in front of her. “Hmm, let me see… Ah! Here you are; Heartstrings, party of two. Just take a seat over there, and we’ll send somepony over in just a minute to recommend some treatments.” The pink earth pony gestured across the room to a couple of beds, to which the two mares trotted, and climbed onto. The ponies then rolled over onto their backs and let their hooves dangle over the edges.
Moments later, they were approached by a white unicorn in a pink smock. Her mane was a deep purple, with several streaks of lighter purple that matched her eyes. Her smock covered her flanks, and thus her cutie marks were hidden. Her horn was glowing white, and a tray of steaming white towels followed closely behind her.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” the mare began. “My name is Lavender Petals. Might I start you off with a couple of hot towels?”
Lyra and Bonbon nodded in approval, and a pair of towels floated off of the tray, landing gently over the mare’s faces, covering their skin with a layer of soothing heat. Lavender Petals left the ponies to themselves, and went off to tend to other matters.
The two lovers simultaneously took in a deep breath. Lyra’s nostrils filled with a pleasant aroma: a fresh steamy towel, with a generous dose of herbal fabric softener. Bonbon’s nostrils filled with a much less pleasant aroma: Diethyl Ether. The beige pony’s legs went limp as the noxious fumes invaded her lungs, eventually slipping off either side of the table to join her hooves.
Lyra took a few seconds to enjoy the calming warmth of the towel. “See, Bonbon? Isn’t this relaxing?” She waited for an answer, but none came. “Bonbon? Bonbon, are you alright?”
Her horn flashed green as the towel lifted off of her face. Then she picked up a hoof and nudged a corner of Bonbon’s towel out of her face, to find her eyes shut. Lyra looked at Bonbon’s chest, noticed it rising and falling in a slow, uniform rhythm, and chuckled at the sight.
“Wow, Bonbon, when you said you were tired, you were not kidding!” She returned the towel to its original position on her unconscious fillyfriend’s face, and then returned herself to her original position, placing her own towel back over her face.
A few minutes later, Lavender Petals came back to check up on Lyra and Bonbon. “And how are we doing over here ladies? Are you two ready to move on to something else? Perhaps a mud mask facial?”
Lyra lifted the towel off of her face and sat up on the bed. “That sounds great.”
“Alright, just follow me and we’ll get you set up.” The white unicorn turned to Bonbon, still out cold. “And what about you, miss?”
“She fell asleep a couple of minutes ago,” The lyrist explained. “Just let her sleep. She’s been working really late recently.”
Lavender turned and trotted away. “Okay then, let’s get your facial ready.” A sneaky smile found its way onto her face as Lyra followed the white unicorn to the facial station, leaving the comatose Bonbon by herself.
Lavender sat Lyra down on the other side of the spa and slathered the green pony’s face with mineral mud, which was a similar shade of green. The spa pony then placed slices of cucumber over her patient’s eyes, and returned her attention to Lyra’s unconscious fillyfriend.
Lavender trotted to Bonbon’s side and her horn flashed white. A white fabric laundry cart wheeled itself over to them, and positioned itself on the opposite side of Bonbon’s bed. The white unicorn nudged Bonbon in the side of the chest, sending her body sliding off of the bed and into the cart. Lavender’s horn flashed white as several towels flew off of various racks and shelves nearby, collecting in a heap on top of the immobilized mare, hiding her from view.
Lavender wheeled the cart, Bonbon and all, out behind the spa where a different cart was waiting. The second cart was brown and wooden, had an empty hitch at the front, and was full of rolls of fabric. Her horn sparked again, and she went to work. First, the fabric flew out of the second cart, and the towels out of the first. Then Bonbon was lifted out of the laundry cart, and into the wooden one.
Her magic aura’s next destination was herself. Her mane shimmered, and the highlights disappeared, leaving her mane one deep shade of purple. Her tail did the same, and then they both broke into one gigantic curl. A plastic contacts case leapt out of the brown cart and hovered in front of the unicorn’s face, and then her colored contacts ejected themselves from her eyes, returning to their home in the case, and turning her eyes from purple to blue. The contacts case settled back into the cart, and her smock went with it, exposing the white mare’s cutie marks: three blue diamonds.
Rarity stacked the rolls of fabric on top of Bonbon’s unconscious body, hitched herself up to the cart, and rolled it out onto the street, trotting off with Lyra’s fillyfriend.