A Well-Deserved Break: The Other Way to a Unicorn's Heart

by TimeBomb0

The Arrival

"I think that's it over there!"

Twilight directs your attention to a building hidden in the back of the town. It's a rather sizable building, much bigger and more lavishly decorated than most of the other ones, yet it blends so well into the surrounding mountain that it would be easy to miss unless pointed out by someone like your marefriend.

After travelling across the countryside for most of the day, you and Twilight now find yourselves in the village of Witherton, a quaint town built into the side of a mountain much like Canterlot. The balloon trip itself was pleasantly uneventful; the two of you spent most of the time engaging in small talk about any topic that came up, landing only to make the occasional pit-stop and enjoy a packed dinner - two daffodil sandwiches prepared by you earlier this morning. As planned by Twilight, you both arrived at the village just as the sun was starting to set, bathing the town in a homely orange glow.

As the balloon lowers towards a pony-made landing spot, you become certain that the big building is none other than the Hot and Happy Hot Springs Resort. Aside from the name being stitched in fancy letters on a canopy above the entrance, the building is quite a marvel to behold. It somehow captures the quaint feeling of the rest of Witherton while looking like a high-class establishment at the same time. You had overheard some of your customers talk about it as one of Equestria's go-to spots for a vacation, and you completely understand why if the rest of the place is as high-grade as the outside.

With a light bump, Twilight touches the balloon onto the ground, and the two of you exit the basket. You are immediately greeted by an earth pony in a bright red vest and cap. You aren't sure what to do, but Twilight is ahead of you there. She levitates some bits into the colt's jacket pocket, and he climbs into the basket and takes off with the balloon. For a moment, you panic as the thought of you just being robbed pops into your head, but this thought dissipates immediately when you notice a few other colts near the entrance of the resort wearing the same outfit. This is definitely a high-class place, you think to yourself.

Your last thought is only further confirmed when you and Twilight walk inside the resort. The reception area matches the same level of attention to detail as the outside of the building. A waterfall runs along a good portion of one of the side walls while you hear soothing music play over a series of gramophones hung to the walls and connected by magic. You could almost spend your entire weekend with Twilight lying down together in this one room and still feel like it was worth the trip.

The two of you approach the receptionist's desk, currently helmed by a female earth pony. This mare sports an attractive light green coat, and her bright yellow mane, done back in a white headband, gives off an alluring shine. It would seem that the employees here are able to enjoy the resort's special services as well.

"Hello, and welcome to the Hot and Happy Hot Springs," she greets both of you in an accent that you can never hope to identify. "Do you have a reservation here?"

"Of course," Twilight responds, "I believe we're under the name Twilight Sparkle. We're supposed to be here for a weekend stay."

"Okay, let me check real quick," says the receptionist, turning her head from the two of you down to her book. "Hmm, let's see here....ah, yes, here you are! Sparkle, party of two, weekend stay. It says here that the bill for the room has already been paid in full, too." You catch her smile grow a little more when she relays that last piece of information to you. You suppose that she's glad she doesn't have to go through the monotony of working the cash register and exchanging money, at least not for these two customers.

"Aster, is someone there?"

You hear a voice not that different from the receptionist coming from the door behind the desk. A second later, it opens up to reveal the source: another mare, this one with a bright yellow coat and a shiny green mane, also held back by a white headband. She walks up to the mare you've been talking with, and you almost rub your eyes to convince yourself you're not seeing double.

"Of course, Cassia," responds the first mare, "You've actually come at the perfect time."

Aster brings her head down behind the desk and emerges a few seconds later, carrying two keys in her mouth. She deposits them on the desk, at which point both you and Twilight lift them into the air with your magic.

"My sister will take you to your room now. Please enjoy your stay here."

"...sister?" Twilight asks. Your turn your head and notice Twilight displaying the same look of Deja vu that you had earlier today. "...have we met before, by chance?"

"Hmm, I don't think so," replies Cassia, "but we do have plenty of family members in the spa business. Perhaps you've seen a few of them already?"

"That...seems likely," Twilight responds. You can almost see the cogs turning in her head as she pieces things together.

"Well, let's get you two into your room. I'm sure you have a lot of rest and relaxation planned for this weekend." Cassia says. She turns around and begins walking down a hall past the reception desk. "Right this way, please."

You and Twilight follow the yellow-coated twin into the hallway and up a flight of steps, you doing your absolute best to look at anything but the employee's flanks. It's one thing for you to be caught staring at your own marefriend in that way, but you especially didn't want to come off as "that" kind of coltfriend.

"Here we are."

You breathe a sigh of relief you hope neither Twilight nor Cassia noticed when she turns around and stops at room 215, the room reserved for the two of you. "If there is anything you need, feel free to come by the desk and ask. We hope you enjoy your stay here, Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle." Cassia relays this last piece of information to you and then leaves, returning to the reception desk. Once she rounds the corner, you insert your key into the lock and let you and Twilight into your room.

You may only have a regular one-bed room reserved, but this room makes the suites in the hotels you've been to before seem cheap by comparison. Lovely original portraits adorn the walls, and the small table in the corner houses a vase of roses so properly cared for that they put the decorative pieces at your cafe to shame. You even notice one of those fancy magical boxes that display moving pictures with sound right across from the princess-sized bed.

"Let's see here....arrive at resort, check!" You hear Twilight say. You turn to her and see she has already set her saddlebags down to the side and pulled out a quill and notebook of sorts. "Pay for valet-parking, check! Check into room, check! Put saddle-bags down and get out checklist, check! Yep, looks like everything is going right on schedule...for once."

"Yeah, that's great, Twilight." You speak genuine truth to her as you set down your saddlebags. You can't recall the last time she made a plan that went off without a hitch. Maybe it's a first for her?

However, your run-in with the receptionists has left you with a question that you can't help but ask.

"Um...Twilight?"

"Yes?" She looks away from her checklist and towards you.

"Since when were we married?"

"We're what, now?" She gives an inquisitive stare at you before she finally understands what you mean. "Oh, you're talking about the "Mr. Sparkle" thing, right?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not my last name," you respond half-jokingly.

"Don't worry about that. It was probably a mistake...that, or my friend Rainbow Dash made the reservation and decided to play a joke on us." She rolls her eyes unamused at her own idea. You aren't entirely sure if she's being serious, but you've seen how some of her friends act, and can't rule out the possibility.

"Okay, then," you reply, satisfied with Twilight's answer. "You know, Twilight, I still can't believe that your friends all paid for us to go on vacation like that. This place must have cost a pretty bit just for a weekend stay."

"I know, I was just as surprised as you when they told us."

She was correct on that part. With nothing else to do at the moment, you reminisce about the events that led to your vacation with Twilight.

It was the day after Winter Wrap-Up, your first one in Ponyville. Both you and Twilight had your hooves full that day. Her duty as the event organizer kept her frantically moving about the entire town and checking on nearly every citizen for the whole day. Meanwhile, you had elected to prepare and provide lunch for as many of the ponies working the fields as you could. It wasn't easy to convince the mayor to give you this role after word got out about you accidentally poisoning most of the attendees at one of Pinkie's parties with expired ingredients. However, she finally relented when you gave her a taste of your latest dish, a salad with a hint of elderberry to the taste.

Thanks to Twilight's leadership, the citizens of Ponyville were able to finish Winter Wrap-Up in record time, even beating the other surrounding towns for the first time ever. The next day, you, Twilight, and all of her friends decided to have a celebratory dinner together at Chez Ponie, the ritzy restaurant across town from yours. It was there that, after much bickering as to who got to reveal it before Pinkie blurted it out, they announced that they paid for a reservation for two to the hot springs resort and they were giving it to Twilight and you for all your hard work.

They had been planning something like this for quite some time, they explained, since Twilight either always had her head in her books or was aiding her friends and Ponyville in some significant way. You had proved just as busy; you had not taken a day off since you first took over the cafe, not to mention the work you put into restoring your reputation after the party mishap.

"Anyone home in there?"

Twilight's voice jerks you back into the present, and you find that she's standing in front of you, looking both concerned and a little irritated.

"Oh! Um, sorry, did you say something?" You reply. You feel another blush forming on your face, and can't help but look sheepish.

"...yeah, as I was saying, I, uh, would like to try maybe visiting one of those private springs tonight," Twilight responds. To your surprise, her irritated look dissipates into a less confident one, and you could almost see some pink breaking through her purple-coated cheeks.

"You do?" You can't resist saying this next line. "Did one of your friends suggest that idea?"

"No!" Twilight exclaims, jumping away a couple feet. You can definitely make out the pink breaking through her cheeks now. "Um, well, maybe a little, but uh, it's purely for, erm, academic reasons!" She flashes a nervous smile to you, and you hold back a snicker at how cute she looks when trying to hide a secret and not doing a very good job of it.

"Academic reasons?" you inquire, your smile turning from one of embarrassment to one of smugness. You figure the poor thing must still be mulling over her friend's "suggestion".

"Yeah!" she replies, her eyes darting around as she tries to piece together her excuse. "I've, er, been kinda curious about how hot springs work, so I read up on them and want to try them firsthand with you-uh I mean, for academic purposes, of course!"

That snicker you've been holding back eeks out slightly at her Freudian slip. "Well," you begin as you try to stop from succumbing to a giggle-fit, "If it's just for 'academic' purposes, then that sounds lovely."

"R-Really? I mean, great! That works just fine!" says Twilight as she slowly regains her composure.

"So did you have this little trip written down on your schedule?" You ask.

"...actually, my schedule stops at me getting my checklist out of my bag." She confesses. "I figured we're on vacation, so what the hay?"

"...okay then, so when do you want to go?"

"Maybe...now?" She replies. That nervous smile comes back, albeit not as strong.

You chuckle a little in your throat at her initiative. "Sounds good to me."

"Okay then, shall we be on our way?" She asks you.

"Yes, let's."

Comments

[Magical Trevor]

Wow, I'm a jerk, poisoning the other me... Then again, if I hadn't poisoned other me, then other me wouldn't have had such an awesome time with Flootarshai!

~ Magical Trevor, Minstrel of Equestria

[Karrakaz]

41878 so it's kinda like: if it gets me the girls ? sure! I'll poison myself! I'm afraid i must agree

[Crafter]

lol more spa twins. totally had a flashback to pokemon with the whole Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny thing.