//------------------------------// // Going to the Spa // Story: House that Heartbreak Rebuilt // by Jet_Black1980 //------------------------------// Chapter 15 Going to the Spa Twilight rubbed her eyes and lifted a cup of coffee from the table. “Three hours of reading and nothing about, ‘evil cutie marks.’ The only things that seem to come close to what H.B has described involve cutie pox and an obscure reference to Discord.” She took a long drink from the coffee cup. “But we’re not going to even try that can of worms.” She frowned. “Especially after what happened-” Just then there was a rapping at the door and Twilight looked up from her reading. Peeking at the time, she saw that it was getting close to two-thirty. Her eyes shifted at the door and then back at the clock. “That couldn’t be her. It’s only been an hour and a half!” Twilight waited for a little bit and then went back to her book, ‘Questions about Cutie Marks.’ “While a cutie mark can appear at any point in a pony’s life it is almost always symbol-” Another rapping and tapping came from the library door. Twilight looked up from her book annoyed. “Library is open! You can come in! Just open the door!” “No I can’t, Twilight! I don’t mean to disrupt what you’re doing! But could you open the door please?” Heartbreak pleaded loudly from outside. Twilight sighed and slipped the book behind a stack of other books. “Can’t have her seeing that,” she thought to herself as she got up and walked to the door. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to see what could potentially be a new H.B. “After all, she just did get back from Rarity’s shop! Heh, maybe she got her hooves painted or her mane done up or her eyelashes are cur-” As the door opened, Twilight looked back in a bit of shock and surprise. “Or...she could be wearing a strange green hat.” “Hey Twilight,” Heartbreak said with a slight smile on her face as she walked into the library. “Uhm, hi,” Twilight said blinking. There was barely any change in Heartbreak’s appearance at all. Her hooves looked the same, mane was the same, there wasn’t even a splotch of any makeup on her face. “You’re back...early?” Heartbreak raised an eyebrow. “What? You didn’t expect me to be there all day, did you? You didn’t say how long I had to be there. Just that I had to be there and that I had to spend some time with her,” she replied walking to the kitchen. “I know that...it’s just,” Twilight stared at the hat sitting atop Heartbreak’s head, “I didn’t expect you back so soon.” Heartbreak eyed a bowl of fruit and picked up an apple in her teeth. “‘Hut? Oo ‘ad oter flaans oo’ay?” Twilight rolled her eyes and plucked the apple from Heartbreak’s mouth. “What?” Heartbreak smacked her lips. “I said, ‘Did you have other plans today?’” “No,” Twilight replied. “It’s just that I expected you to be gone longer, after all, Rarity likes-” “To give makeovers, gab and do almost everything that I don’t like doing?” Heartbreak replied taking a swiping bite at the apple. Twilight plucked it away just in time to hear the sound of Heartbreak’s teeth clatter. “Did you at least try to get along with her?” She asked. Heartbreak rubbed her face. “I was there for over an hour right?” Twilight gave her a look. “Right, fine. I tried. It was a rocky start, but then I started drawing and she was looking over my shoulder.” “And you didn’t like that?” Twilight asked. “Actually the opposite. I like to have an, ‘Artproofer.’” Heartbreak replied. “Artproofer?” Twilight asked questioningly while lowering the apple to Heartbreak’s face. Heartbreak took a bite and nodded while chewing. “Yeah,” she said through some apple. “I have problems with proportion and lines sometimes. Minimizing some things, while blowing others out of the right....” she looked like she was struggling to find a word. “Dimensions?” Twilight suggested. “And you really shouldn’t talk with food in your mouth. You’ll get apple bits everywhere.” Heartbreak rolled her eyes and swallowed. “Yeah, dimensions. Plus the hardest thing for any artist to draw is a straight fetting line. And with hooves? It’s a lot harder. Rarity was a help in that department. Not so much anywhere else.” She took another bite of the floating apple. Twilight looked Heartbreak over once again. Was there anything other than the hat that was new? She blinked. “Her mane looks a little more stylized...” “I’m guessing that she tried to give you a makeover?” Heartbreak smirked and rolled her eyes. “The first thing was that she wanted to design a dress for me. Then a makeover, and there was a hint that she wanted to go to the spa. All of which,” she took a deep breath, “I calmly turned down.” “You know, a trip to the spa wouldn’t hurt you.” Twilight said. “Not you too,” Heartbreak replied swallowing her apple. “Maybe you should tell all the girls this, Twi’, but I don’t do spas. I don’t see how they are necessary. And before you start, I don’t want to paint my hooves, I don’t need a full brushing, and as long as I shower and wash, I should look fine. I’m just glad I got out there unaltered.” Twilight flicked the brim of Heartbreak’s hat. “Not completely unaltered.” “The hat? Actually that wasn’t from Rarity at all that was from-” “-A pony named, ‘High Hat.’ I must tell you, Fluttershy, it was the most horrible looking green hat I have ever seen,” Rarity said placing several bits on the counter of the front office of the spa. Lotus smiled at Rarity warmly and Aloe offered the both of them fresh hot towels. Rarity nodded, while Fluttershy politely declined. “I admit that it was a well designed hat, that’s for certain. Clean, crisp lines, good materials, but for a mare?! Maybe on a stallion, or for a Nightmare Night outfit... but still. It just seemed so wrong and out of place,” Rarity said getting up on the massage table. “Did she like it?” Fluttershy asked laying next to her friend. “Did she like it?” Rarity asked rolling her eyes. “She-” “-Loved it. It’s a nice gift from a p-p-pony I helped. Though I had to apparently drug him in order to help him,” Heartbreak grumbled making her way up the stairs. “You...loved a gift...from a stallion?” Twilight asked from the entrance of the bedroom. Heartbreak glared back at her. “Don’t read into that, Twilight. He’s still a jerk. A jerk who is on a road to recovery. But a jerk nevertheless.” “So, she wanted to design a dress for you? She must have felt really bad about yesterday,” Twilight replied. “Oh, she felt bad about something alright. Something that was my fault,” Heartbreak replied bitterly as she tugged off her saddle bag. “She was at-” “-The door listening just before it was kicked in,” Rarity whispered once Aloe and Lotus had left the room. “Oh...my,” Fluttershy said as the two of them got up off the tables and headed to the mud room. “What did you hear?” Rarity’s face crumpled and she was silent for a moment. “Rarity?” “Horrible things, Fluttershy. Just, horrible things.” She shook her head, entering the room where the spa ponies awaited them. “But our foreign exchange student,” Rarity said making sure that she used that term to describe Heartbreak, “Is very... unaccustomed to our ways. Oh, yes she knows a great deal about Equestria and those who live here.” Rarity slipped into the mudbath and leaned her head back as Aloe applied cucumbers to her eyes. “But?” Fluttershy asked as Lotus wrapped her head in a towel. “But there are things she is completely unaware of. For example, did you know she didn’t know what overwear was?” “Overwear?” Twilight asked. “Yes! Overwear! What the fet, Twilight?!” Heartbreak said glaring at her. “I have been here for nearly four months and there hasn’t been a peep out of you about it!” Twilight blinked. “Well, you didn’t ask about it, not to mention you tuck your tail so close to yourself that I didn’t think you needed it.” “Didn’t need it?!” Heartbreak rubbed her temples. “Was that the reason that the others didn’t say anything? I don’t need other p-p-ponies staring at me! ” “Well, that, and most of the time most ponies don’t look at your-” Twilight started. Heartbreak held up her hoof. “Right, I know this conversation is my own fault, but I really, really, really don’t want to have it. I just wanted to know why you didn’t tell me sooner.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “For the same reasons I just explained. That and I didn’t think anything about it. I mean, after all I was going through a great deal of the same problems you were. It just didn’t cross my mind.” “Good point.” Heartbreak sighed. “But the good news is that now I know.” She flopped on the bed and looked thoughtful. “I wonder how long I can get away with wearing one pair.” Twilight gave Heartbreak a rather irked look. “What? I only have one pair.” “You could ask Rarity for some extras you know,” Twilight suggested. “Ugh...I know... But only if she doesn’t make a big deal about it. She was practically wagging the pair I have now in my face! But, an extra pair or two would be a good idea,” Heartbreak admitted. “I’ll ask her about it tomorrow.” “So, besides the overwear, things went well?” Twilight asked. Heartbreak turned over and pulled her saddlebags closer. “I think they went good. I don’t know how Rarity thinks they went. Like I said things were fine when she was-” “-Helping her with her artwork. Outside of that? It was an awful awkward mess. She didn’t want any of the dresses I designed for her, she refused to allow me to give her a makeover, and even the most subtle hint of going to the spa made her cringe!” Rarity said shaking her head as they sat in the sauna. Fluttershy eyed Aloe as she dumped a ladle of water onto the hot rocks. The sound made her want to jump a little but she remained focused on Rarity. “I can’t imagine why anypony wouldn’t want to go to a spa! And she is a pony that could use a spa treatment! A nice relaxing massage! A good facial to clear away those puffs under her eyes, some curry combing of her coat?” Rarity said distantly. “Uhm, what about her, you know...” Fluttershy asked eyeing her own flank. “Her...Oh!” Rarity said jumping. She frowned and tapped on her chin. “Those... uhm,” “Scars,” Fluttershy said, her eyes darting back and forth. “Yes, scars,” Rarity replied looking down. “Could be quite troublesome if other ponies were unaware of them. I suppose she could give them a warning before the treatment. After all if she looks good, then she’ll feel good. I’m sure of it.” she shook her head. “I wanted to make her look-” “-Pretty,” I explain grimacing. There is a small quiet between the two of us. “And I take it that you don’t like that?” I am really trying to avoid some bogus explanation about how I didn’t have too many female friends and because of that I never did to those things. Because that would only lead to a montage, where Twilight and company, would drag my ass off to the spa to try and get me all prettied up. “I explained it to Rarity rather simply.” I look up at her upside down on the bed. “I have already had an extreme make over. I don’t need another one.” Twilight quirks an eye at me. She doesn’t get it. “Twilight, I might have been in this body for about four months, but I am still not used to it. I know how most of what works: works, but appearance wise? I still have a mental image of who I am.” The explanation of this like many other things smacks me emotionally a bit. “And I don’t want anyp-p-pony taking that away from me.” Twilight looks at me as if she doesn’t know what to say. Finally she lifts a hoof and blinks. “I see...I guess this will be a problem between you two?” I shake my head. “I don’t think it will be. I mean we can get along alright as long as we stick to artistic stuff, and she refrains from drawing me in a dress again.” I roll my eyes. Had she not been so enthusiastic, maybe things would be better. “it was nice of her, but...” “You’re not comfortable with it,” Twilight says finishing my sentence. “Yeah. I don’t want a dress, because A, I’ve never had to wear one. B, I just don’t want one and C, I don’t have anyplace to put it.” I tap my hooves while listing the reasons. Ugh, it’s just not the same without fingers. “And I don’t want to use any of your closet space, Twilight.” Twilight has her hoof up and her mouth open. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes a bit. I think she gets the point that I don’t want a dress, so let’s move off that issue. “But I think today went alright.” I turn over and open my saddlebag before nabbing my journal with my mouth. I spit it out next to me before I drool on it. “All things considered that is, I think we’ll get along just fine.” “We’re going to have some major problems if she keeps putting up walls like this, Fluttershy. I want to get along with her. I really do, but she was blocking me at every turn. I mean really? No dresses? No makeovers? Not even a spa trip?” Rarity said as the two of them sat in the relaxing pool. “How am I to work with a pony like that? And I am to take her with me to the auction in the cities come this Monday! That’s two days away! I can’t have her going out like that! Whatever am I going to do, Fluttershy?” “Well...” Fluttershy stopped herself mid sentence. “Oh, no..” “What is it Fluttershy, darling? I could use any advice at this juncture!” Rarity pleaded. “Well, it isn’t my place to say, because you’re doing the teaching here,” Fluttershy replied meekly. Rarity only responded with a desperate look. “Well, if you really want my help...” “Yes, please!” “I don’t really come to the spa to get prettied up, I mean, it’s nice to look... nice,” Fluttershy attempted to explain. “And while I come here to spend time with you, I also come here to make sure things are... healthy.” “Healthy?” Rarity asked. “Oh yes!” Fluttershy said, nodding. “Aloe and Lotus are trained in a bit of the medical field, I mean they have to be. After all, what if a customer comes in and something happens to them?! They need to know what to do, plus if they find something while they are attending to you, then they can bring it to your attention and maybe, in turn...uhm...well to a doctor?” Fluttershy said fumbling at the end. Rarity blinked. She hadn’t thought about some of the added health benefits of spa treatments when she was talking with Heartbreak. “You bring up some excellent points, Fluttershy. Thank you!” Fluttershy merely smiled. “Anytime.”