Lotus Blossom looked at the little alarm clock that sat behind the counter. The appointment for Rarity was due in three, two, one, –.
“Hello girls! The usual please.”
The azure pony couldn’t help but smile as she walked up to the spa’s most faithful customer. “Good afternoon, Miss Rarity.” She offered her the bathrobe. “We took the liberty of making a new special robe just for you. The last one was getting a bit out of style.”
Rarity inspected the new attire. “Oh dear, I just admire your eye for detail.” She stepped into the gown and started walking down the corridor. “Now, let me tell you about that new spa I visited in the Crystal Kingdom last week.”
A twinkle appeared in Lotus Blossom’s eyes. “Oh yes, please do.”
***
“But finally I got the last crystal into her hair just right and it turned out that the ones I tugged in behind her ears shifted to the back and it all looked just fabulous! Princess Cadence was just breathtaking!” Rarity relaxed on a lounger and enjoyed her facial mask. “But can you believe they thought I’d never had taken a mud-bath before?”
“Well, I hear they have been gone for a thousand years. Maybe mud-baths were new back then? Would you like a filing or just a scrub for your horn?” Aloe sat next to Rarity and was just about to apply the weekly horn-treatment.
“Oh, I think a scrub is enough this week, my dear. But their mud was sooo relaxing! And it made my coat glittery too. There were a million crystal shards in it. Simply magnificent!”
“That’s a great idea, Miss Rarity. If you’d like I’m sure Lotus Blossom willl look into getting some of this special formula for us.” Aloe started the treatment and didn’t stop until even the last bit of dirt was cleaned from her customer's horn.
“Oh, that would be just wonderful! But please, pay attention to buy quality. Can you believe the spa in Manehattan I told you about last month? Turns out they used simple mud from their river! The nerve!”
Aloe looked at Lotus Blossom who just prepared the mud-bath for Rarity. “Unbelieveable!” Lotus Blossom winked back.
***
Aloe turned the sign on the spa’s door to ‘closed’. “So, what are we going to do tonight?”
“The same thing we do every night, Aloe,” the azure pony replied. “We try to make sure that Miss Rarity never goes to another spa. Ever again!”
Aloe drew circles on the floor with her hoof. “I still feel bad for what we did at that spa in Manehattan. Do we really need to destroy every other spa in Equestria, Lotus Blossom?”
“If we lose our number one customer, we would have to –," Lotus Blossom looked left and right, then her voice dropped to a whisper. “We would have to cater to stallions again. And I’m not talking about giving Big McIntosh his weekly massage after workout. Or you pampering those colts Glitter Shell and Aero. I still don’t get what you see in them. I mean –”
“Eeew!” Aloe shook her mane. “Please don’t say what I think you’re thinking!”
“Cranky Doodle Donkey.” Lotus pronounced this in the way other ponies would say, “And when they opened the shack it was full of skulls.”
“I asked you not to say it!” After Aloe finally fought the shivers down, she looked at the other pony. “Ok, so what do we do?”
Lotus Blossom rubbed her hooves together and smiled a sinister smile. “First we need some tickets for the late night Crystal Express, a bag of gypsum, some red balloons and a lock of Twiligh Sparkle's mane. Just follow my lead. After all, I’m the brain of this operation, and you – you are just pink.”