//------------------------------// // Spas and Sweets // Story: Dimension Jumper // by redtau //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash beat us to the spa by a good fifteen minutes. Scootaloo had done her best to keep up, but where our speedy driver had to dodge pedestrians, Dash could just fly over any obstacle. “Not bad squirt.” Rainbow called to her little fan. I had no idea a filly could grin that big. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were looking a little green from motion sickness. I had to breathe shallowly for a few minutes myself, and was still a little wobbly when I dared to exit the wagon. We walked into the spa, me draped in the blanket and the crusaders wandering around. A soft pink pony with long, light blue hair looked up from behind the counter and smiled at us. “Hello, and welcome to The Ponyville Day Spa. I'm Aloe. How can I help you today? A mud bath or a relaxing massage?” I glanced around at the empty waiting room and then pulled back the blanket hood. “Um, a cure for poison joke?” Aloe gasped in shock. “Oh my, that is quite a joke. Let me go and get the bath ready.” She retreated into the back with a bit too much speed. I took the opportunity to check myself in a nearby mirror. My plaid fur was painful to look at when I moved, the grid pattern only accentuating the numerous cuts and bruises my flight through the forest had earned me. My right eye looked a little milky, but it was hard to notice because of the plaid. I had damaged the eye in the same accident that cost me my arm. I couldn’t see very well out of it normally, but Machnia helped compensate for it. Then, of course there was the hair. Well, it's not plaid, and it’s not hot pink. I had to sigh, this wasn't any better. It was day-glow orange and looked like I had stuck my tongue in a light socket. A pony came out from the back, looking like a palate swapped Aloe. She was checking something on a clipboard and looked up. “Miss?” she caught sight of me and did a double take, “Oh my. I'm Lotus, miss. Your bath is ready, if you could follow me.” I turned to the Crusaders. “You girls going to stay here?” “Shore!” Apple Bloom said. “We gots ta show you around thuh rest a town!” Lotus lead me to a small back room where a steaming green bath was waiting. The comforting, if slightly herbal scent filled the air. “The cure shouldn't take more than a few minutes soak.” Lotus said, waving at the tub. “I'll send Aloe in with towels in a little while.” I struggled for a moment before getting my long sleeve jacket off, followed by my t-shirt and undershirt. “OH!” I spun round to see a startled Aloe, towels in one hoof, the color seeming to drain from her face. “Oh, um,” she stuttered, eyes locked onto me, “I – I brought y-you some towels for when you’re done.” I took a hobbling step towards her and she took a half step back. “I'll, um, just leave them here for you.” She set the towels down and quickly left. Well that was rude. “She probably has never seen anything like this before.” I looked down at where by right shoulder came to an end. The cybernetic component had a connection port and a few interface plugs, but it looked like someone had stitched a three inch metal disc into me. It was not my most attractive feature, even now that I was plaid. Speaking of which, I kicked off the rest of my clothes and hopped into the warm bath and let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, I needed this.” I closed my eyes and relaxed. Five minutes later and my fur was back to its “normal” color, a light tan with a black and blue tail. On my left foreleg I had what looked like a bracelet of dark purple crystals, they were actually growing through my skin. D’s bond to me was in these crystals, and they grew and moved as he gained more power. I noticed that, like the crusaders, I lacked a distinguishing mark. “Any chance you could fix this?” I said quietly, waving a hoof at my blank flank. What do you want it to be? Whatever it is, it seems it will determine what you are “good” at. What are you good at. I furrowed my brow in thought. “Running away from my problems? Failing at relationships? Getting in trouble?” There are a number of reasons why someone would want to spend their lives dimension hopping, not all of them good. I don't think there is a mark for self pity. “You're no help at all." I sat and soaked for a bit, thinking. "How about exploration, I seem to be pretty good at that.” I watched as the image of a map and compass appeared on my sides. There, not bad work. Don't forget to wash your mane. I dunked my head underwater for a moment, scrubbing at the last remnants of the horrid orange color away. Then I climbed out and toweled off before getting dressed. “Guess I should go up front and talk about payment.” I opened the door quietly and made my way back towards the front of the spa, careful not to disturb any other guests. “You should have seen it Lotus,” I stopped just around the corner from the front desk as Aloe's voice drifted to me. I could hear her talking in a room marked “Employees Only”. “It looked like somepony had heated up a train wheel and fused it into her skin. It was horrible! And she was covered in scars... she scares me Lotus.” I didn't want to listen to this. The arm and eye were reminders of my past mistakes. I limped my way to the front desk, wondering what to do and feeling a little sorry for myself. Once there, the sight of the crusaders hard at work did much to cheer me up. Apparently Lotus or Aloe had brought out a small pyramid of a dozen or so hot rolled towels. The kinds that are a little moist but can be used to clean hands and feel good on sore muscles. The crusaders had knocked them over and were very busy fixing their mistake. “Man, there sure are a lot a these here towels.” Apple Bloom said, laying a cold, folded towel out flat on the floor to dry. “I know,” Sweetie agreed, “It seems like we'll never get them all folded.” She picked up and folded a towel from a crumpled pile, focusing hard on the task at hoof. “Or picked up!” Scootaloo said, snatching up one of the towels stretched flat on the floor. She wadded it up and tossed it into a nearby pile. “Or dry!” Apple Bloom lamented as she reached for another folded towel. It took a lot of effort not to giggle at the endless loop they seemed committed to. “Um, girls,” The three looked up at me, “Let’s make one pile of folded towels right here, for Lotus and Aloe to handle, ok?” Glad that someone else was going to have to deal with their mess, they quickly put all the towels into one place. Just as they finished, Lotus came out front. “I'm sorry; it looks like the crusaders made a bit of a mess.” I grinned at Lotus. Lotus seemed transfixed on my right eye. “That’s alright,” she waved at the girls, “We can just send them back through the wash real quick anyway, no harm done.” She coughed and went over to a little cash register. “Now miss?” “Sarah.” I said. She gave me an odd look. “Old family name.” That usually works. “Miss Sarah, the poison joke treatment costs 24 bits.” Sweetie Bell gasped at the price, with made me a little nervous. “How would you like to pay?” “Um, credit? I don't have any money on me right now.” I hated being broke. Machina could sometimes synthesize money for me, but that was not possible with her missing. Lotus frowned. “We usually don't extend credit to visitors.”. “I could work my debt off here,” I offered. She cringed slightly at that, and I realized that such an offer would not go over well with Aloe. “Maybe we can hold you in debt for a short while. What do you do?” “She's an explorer!” Scootaloo volunteered. “Really? That explains... some things." She glanced at my arm quickly before looking busy with some papers. "Maybe you can pay us back with the herbs used for the remedy.” “Where can I find those?” I asked. “Out in the Everfree Forest. You can get the list of herbs and their descriptions from the local library.” “You can't just give me the list here?” Lotus shook her head. “Our treatment is slightly modified from the original cure, and much of what we use is dried and shipped. I wouldn't know what the plants look like when green and growing.” She smiled “Besides, I want to protect our secret tweaks. You will have to look up the remedy on your own.” “OK, that sounds fair.” I nodded, seeing Lotus as the more sensible of the pair. “I'll try and get them for you this week, OK?” She grinned. “That would be wonderful.” She waved us goodbye as the crusaders and I walked out the door. “Is she gone?” Aloe peaked out of the back room. Lotus sighed and nodded. “Yes she's gone. She didn't even mention anything about your rude behavior. Honestly Aloe, if a pony has lost a leg and an eye adventuring then it must be tough. Imagine if you had lost a limb and had to live with everypony staring at you.” Aloe looked sadly down at the floor, upset that she had let her initial fear run away with her. “Now see if you can fix the lights,” Lotus told her, turning to take the stack of dirty towels back to the laundry, “They have been dimming and flickering for the last fifteen minutes in a couple of rooms and we are getting complaints.” The crusaders carted me through town to a house that looked like it was made of gingerbread, candy and frosting. “That is the strangest looking library I have ever seen.” I said, eying the place and wondering how ants hadn't dragged it off. “That's nawt thuh library,” Apple Bloom drawled, “That's Sugar Cube Corner.” “They sell cakes and cookies and bread and cupcakes!” Scootaloo was licking her lips. “And,” Sweetie Bell chimed in, “It's where Pinkie Pie lives. You have to meet her.” “I do?” “Yeah,” Apple Bloom turned to me, helping me out of the wagon, “Pinkie knows everypony in Ponyville. When somepony new comes ta town, she throws a big party so they can meet everypony.” “I might only be in town for a week or two.” I told them, smiling. ARCO had never lost a conversion pod before, but everyone had trained for the possibility. If everything went according to the drills, a recovery team would be here within two weeks to pick me up. “Ya still gotta say hi ta Pinkie.” The crusaders circled and pulled me into the bakery, where a blue mare with pink mane greeted us. “Hello there dears, Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! Can I get you anything?” “Are you Pinkie Pie?” I was hopeful. “Sorry dear, I'm Mrs. Cake.” She smiled at us. “I haven't seen Pinkie Pie in few hours. Why don't you have a seat and I'll check with my husband about her.” We all piled into a booth and I was more than a little relieved to sit on something more comfortable than that tiny wagon. A few minutes later Ms. Cake came out with a sample platter of cookies and cups of water for us all. “Sorry girls,” she said as she set the tray down, “Pinkie is out for the day.” “Awww.” The crusaders chorused. They were so cute sometimes. “She went over to Sweet Treats to learn about candy making.” Ms. Cake continued. “You can probably catch up with her there.” “Well come on then girls, lets go catch up to her.” I was eager to get going, exploring a new world, and maybe even finding the library. “Ahm not so sure we should.” “Why not AB?” Sweeite was reaching looking over the selection of cookies. “Whell,” Apple Bloom looked down and scratched her leg, “That's whare mah friend Twist lives.” “OK, cool,” I said, tasting a cookie. These were really really good. “Lets go meet her. We might even get some free candy.” The other two crusaders got big grins at the idea. “Hang on,” Scootaloo interjected as she swallowed another cookie, “Who is Twist? You didn't talk about her at all around the clubhouse.” “Oh, did something happen?” Sweeite was concerned. “Yeah, she got her cutie mark.” Apple Bloom said sadly. “Oh.” I raised my hoof to my empty sleeve, knowing how a life changing event could ostracize you from even old, close friends. “She stopped hanging out with you after, huh? “That is awful.” Sweeite put her hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. “That's just not right.” Scootaloo was upset, folding her forelegs and sulking slightly. Apple Bloom looked down guiltily. “That's nawt exactly wut happened. She got her mark the day before Diamond Tiara's Cute-seen-yair-a. Ah wus so busy trying ta get mah cutie mark before the party that I plumb fergot about her. An then ah met y'all at the party and we formed the crusaders. Ah guess I jest sorta left her behind.” “Well that's just silly.” I said. “If Scootaloo or Sweetie Bell get their cutie marks, are you going to kick them out of the crusaders?” Apple Bloom's eyes went wide. “NO!” she shouted “Course nawt!” “And you wouldn't stop hanging out with them if you got your cutie mark would you?” I smiled as Apple Bloom shook her head vigorously back and forth. “Right,” Sweetie Bell said, “it's not like we will all just happen to get the same mark at the same time.” “And no matter who gets a mark or what it is or when they get it, we will always be friends.” Scootaloo chimed in, hugging the other crusaders close to her. “All right then,” I stood up dramatically. “Let's go find Twist!” “YEAH!” three fillies cheered and rushed out the door. “Thank you for the cookies Ms. Cake.” I called as I hobbled after them, hoping they wouldn't get too far without me. Mrs. Cake waved to the departing crusaders and went to pick up empty glasses and sweep up the cookie crumbs. “Dear,” she called to her husband, “Can you come do a little maintenance on the dining area?” “What's wrong, sugar cube?” Her husband called from the kitchen. “One of the lights is flickering, I think it's about to go out.” Mr. Cake stuck his head through the door and squinted at the light fixtures. “I just swapped the bulbs on most of them. Which one?” Mrs. Cake waved at the just cleaned table. “That one.” Mr. Cake watched it for a few seconds. “It's not flickering now. I'll change the bulb just in case, we might have gotten a bad batch.”