Chapter 70: At The Spa
***Saturday, Day 90***
**Morning**
*Rarity*
The white unicorn strolls through town on her way to her scheduled spa appointment with her friends. The first few days after her disastrous journey into the Everfree had been trying, but she had slowly moved past it. As she crosses the street, a confusing sight catches the corner of her eye. A familiar white pegasus stallion lies near the side of a building half asleep and completely filthy from head to toe.
Rarity gasps and trots over to him as she exclaims, “Orion what happened to you!? Were you mugged?”
The pegasus in question slowly becomes more lucid as his eyes crack open and he sees the fashionista.
The stallion looks around unsurprised as he answers. “Oh, did I have one of my night episodes again? Sorry, it’s a periodic side effect of my nocturnal habits. From the looks of it I went on quite the adventure.”
Rarity looks at him, surprised at his nonchalant attitude. “Darling, you look even worse off than when we were buried alive!” She brings the stallion to his feet with a quick burst of magic. “No no no, this will not do. A stallion of your standing cannot be seen like this, you shall accompany me to the spa so you can be made presentable.” She turns to walk away but notices the stallion hasn’t moved yet. “Come along, we don’t want to be late!”
Orion shakes his head and follows after the mare. “Oh, umm... right away!”
The alabaster pair make their way quickly through town and soon arrive at Ponyville Day Spa. As the door slides open, the two are greeted by the blue mare behind the counter.
She smiles at them and perks up at seeing Rarity. “Oh, welcome Miss Rarity. Your friends are waiting for you in the secondary lounge.”
Rarity nods and smiles. “Thank you, Aloe. Oh, and Mister Orion here shall be joining us so be a dear and add him to the tab, alright?”
The spa pony nods and ducks beneath the counter as the astronomer objects. “I really can pay for myself, you don’t have to-”
The fashionista cuts him off. “Up up up, I won’t hear a word of that. You, along with the rest of my friends, are my guests here and I shall not hear of you trying to pay for it yourself. It is my treat and, no offense meant, I do believe you need it more than any of us.”
The stallion looks at himself and says nothing as the two enter the other lounge. Within the room are Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.
The four stop chatting as the two walk in and Rarity greets them. “Good morning girls! I hope you don’t mind, but I picked up another pony for our little get together. Apparently Orion here was out sleepwalking this morning and got into Celestia-knows-what.”
Applejack laughs lightly. “Yeah, no tellin’ what someponies get up to when they sleepwalk. Big Mac had that for a week and Ah still remember exactly what happened.”
Fluttershy speaks quietly. “Oh, he didn’t break anything did he?”
The farmer only laughs harder. “Nah, but you never forget when a pony cooks some of the best pancakes ya’ve ever tasted while they’re asleep and can’t even remember how they did it.”
The pink twin sister of Lotus walks in to find six ponies laughing their hearts out. She takes one look at Orion before asking, “Shall we start with the baths this morning?”
Rarity nods quickly. “Oh yes, thank you Aloe.”
The group soon find themselves relaxing in the warm waters of the oversized baths. Orion warranted his own smaller one due to the amount of filth on him and being the only male, but at least he is easily recognizable now. He comes up for air after another soak just as the girls are starting to chat again.
The fashionista is the one to start the proverbial snowball down the hill. “So, Twilight, what’s this Rainbow Dash told me about you and Volt going away to Canterlot?”
The purple pony speaks up, “Yes, my parents sent me a letter demanding to meet Volt and I thought I could use this as an excuse to also see if I can gather information on these Refined Diamond Dogs from the Canterlot Archives.”
Applejack looks over from her own spot in the tub. “Wouldn’t yer brother have told ‘em everythin’ they needed to know?”
“Well, they probably already got everything out of him they could, but they like to see ponies for themselves before they accept any conclusions.” Twilight answers.
The farmer nods. “Yeah, that makes sense. Guess Ah just got lucky my immediate family is right here in town so I could show Hydro to ‘em early.” She fiddles with her hat that she had set off to the side. “Reunion’s a whole different matter...”
This time Orion pitches in “So I take it Volt does pretty well dating the prodigious student of Princess Celestia herself. It seems like it would be a lot of pressure to not make a mistake.”
The only answer to this statement is the sound of Pinkie giggling since crickets are not allowed in the spa.
“Speaking of your family, Applejack,” Rarity begins, “I did hear the most interesting rumor concerning your brother...”
AJ lets out a slow breath. “Oh boy, what is it this time?”
“Now now, it’s nothing terrible,” the unicorn insists, “just a little tidbit floating around that a particular mare has been having an eye on Macintosh for some time.”
The apple mare grumbles. “Well, Ah suppose it ain’t the first time... usually they get over it after a few weeks though, who’s the special one?”
“Oh oh oh! I know this one!” Pinkie splashes water out of the tub as she bounces in excitement. “I heard it’s Manila!”
Applejack raises an eyebrow. “Who?”
Fluttershy answers. “Oh, umm, she’s the front desk worker over at the veterinary clinic where Rhino and I work. She’s very nice and I, umm...” she ducks behind her mane, “I may have heard her mention Big Macintosh a time or two... i-in a good way of course!”
The farmer crosses her forelegs as she thinks on this. “Hmm... Ah may have to have a little chat with her next time Ah bring Winona and the pups in for somethin’.”
They enjoy the baths for a few more minutes before one of the spa sisters comes in and lets them know it’s time to get out and head to the massages. Everypony stands up and walks out of the baths when a sudden ‘pomf’ sound comes from behind them. All of the girls turn around to see Orion behind them and looking at his wings.
He turns and sees the mares looking questioningly at him. He smiles nervously and wiggles his wings slightly. “Sorry, just airing them out.”
The still-wet mares stare for a moment longer before shrugging it off and proceeding as the pegasus stallion sighs in relief. The group dries off and are soon in bliss as the massage ponies work their wonders.
Orion asks as he waits for one of the masseuses to get to him, “So how come your Rainbow friend isn’t joining the rest of you here?”
Rarity gives him a look. “Well it’s not as though I didn’t ask.”
Applejack continues from there. “Spas just really aren’t RD’s thing. Says they're a bit too girly for her, plus she doesn’t really like ponies touching her hooves. She probably thought taking a fly around with that blue stallion of hers was a better use of her time.”
“Speaking of stallions,” the fashionista redirects the conversation, “how are you three doing with yours?”
Applejack takes the cue to answer, “Well me and Hydro are doing swell. Why just yesterday he helped me clear the southwest field. Big Mac’s still doin’ the math on it, but we think the irrigation system we installed made that section of the fields more self-sufficient so we don’t have to worry about ‘em so much.”
Fluttershy taps her hooves together nervously. “Rhino and I are fine. I was a bit worried since we didn’t spend much time together for a while, but we talked and he has been taking me out on dates almost every day this week to make up for it.”
Twilight starts out a bit hesitantly, "Well, actually Volt and I... umm... After his last near death experience with the diamond dogs he told me the day after that umm....”
Rarity’s curiosity is sufficiently peaked. “Well, go on dear, don’t leave us in suspense.”
The lavender unicorn takes a deep breath before blurting out excitingly, “He said he loved me!”
Traditional gasping, followed by squealing and congratulations followed this announcement.
Rarity takes notice most of all. “Tell. Me. Everything!”
Twilight seems eager to spill everything now that she has gotten past the initial hurdle. “Well, Volt and I went on a date to the movies to try and have some normalcy after the aforementioned trip. I noticed he had been acting a little funny as well. Afterwards, as he walked me back home, he told me that he had some things to say and that he wanted to get them off his chest after almost dying again. He said it then. I was so overjoyed that I almost didn’t return the sentiment. It felt like something out of my favorite romance novels.”
The fashionista continues pressing for details. “Oh my, what happened next? Normally situations like that end in acts of passion.”
Twilight blushes moderately. “Well we did kiss afterward, but nothing more since we both agreed to keep our relationship clean. But we did start a new type of dating activity.”
Rarity smiles devilishly, “Oh do tell darling.”
“Well every other day we meet up and read parts from romantic plays.” The bookworm sighs “Nothing is better than expressing love through literature.”
Applejack keeps a straight face as she responds. “Well that sure is some......special time y’all seem to be sharing.”
“I don’t know it seems like fun to me.” Pinkie says bouncing.
Rarity sighs longingly. “Yes, just some time alone with your beloved. I hope you don’t think me shallow, but I really do envy you girls for that companionship. Somepony to tell all your problems to, somepony to hold you and tell you everything will be alright, somepony to be with you through the good and the bad... I can’t remember the last time I had been on a date.” She sighs heavily again as she looks off into nothing.
The taken mares feel a bit awkward after her little monologue. Fluttershy breaks the silence, “Well, we could always stop acting like that around you if it makes you feel bad...”
“Bad? No no no, you misunderstand, I love seeing you girls happy.” She pauses slightly. “I just look forward to the day I find that happiness myself.”
Applejack gets a mischievous grin as she points to the only stallion in the room. “Well, ya could always try this one.”
Rarity ignores the joke and looks over Orion with an inscrutable gaze. “Hmm...”
***Rainbow and Blue***
“Come on Blue fly faster!” Yells the rainbow-maned pegasus.
Meanwhile, Blue Breeze strains himself to keep up with his marefriend who is at half speed. He still manages to crack jokes though. “Don’t mind me, I’m just holding back because I had a big lunch.”
Rainbow rolls her eyes and stops. “Blue, if you aren’t going to take this seriously then why did you ask me to train you?”
Little known pegasus fact: heavy flying tends to make confessions easier because it uses less breath to just admit things. Blue adheres to this rule as he looks away from the chromatic pegasus. “Because I’m still too weak, even with my gauntlets. I want to believe that if I can train my body, I will be better equipped to face the dangers of my hobby.”
Rainbow gives him an appraising look. “You seemed pretty confident when you first got them. I guess those diamond dogs hurt more than your body.”
The stallion sighs and mutters half-jokingly. “My dream of being a super powered pegasus was crushed pretty fast. I thought I would be invincible with those gauntlets, but I couldn’t even beat my first real threat.”
The light blue mare grins. “Maybe I can come next time. Those mutts won’t even know what hit them with me in the fight.”
Blue’s tone slowly degrades to melancholy. “I don’t know Rainbow... Maybe we should just not get in their way again, they made it pretty clear they were toying with us. Maybe it would be better if I stopped going in the Everfree for my personal reasons too....”
Suddenly, Rainbow has zipped up to his face with a no-nonsense look on her face. “Hey! I don’t date losers who give up after one loss! Just for that I am going to triple your training routine so it covers your attitude and your body. If you give up now, then you and I are going to have a serious talk about your employment, among other things.” She turns away from him. “Now keep up or get grounded.” She flies off.
Blue just hovers in place for a moment. “Ouch...” He starts heading after his marefriend, still talking to himself. “At least the shot to my pride doesn’t hurt as much as my wings will in the morning.”
A quick peck to his cheek makes him turn and see Rainbow smiling at him. “That’s better, look on the bright side and work through the pain. You just needed motivation.”
***Rhino***
**That night**
I walk out of Pinchy’s room after tucking her in and see Hydro huddled over the coffee table with papers strewn across it as he mutters to himself. I catch the words ‘finish it up’ and ‘terrain proof’ as I walk over to him and ask, “Hey, working on something?”
Not even looking up from his work, he replies. “Well, that depends on your definition of ‘working,’ but yes, I’m trying to make some.... improvements to a project.”
I raise an intrigued eyebrow. “Did something make this particular project jump up in priority? You usually do this kind of thing in the morning, not at night.”
He looks to me with a grim expression. “I’m not exactly in the mood for games so I’ll give it to you straight. Rhino, our friends are put themselves in harm’s way and we’re darn lucky no one was seriously hurt. We’ve just been sitting here on the side lines while they went and risked themselves. I’m not just going to sit by anymore. If there’s a fight, I’m going to be in it, and I’m going to be ready as best I can.”
I blink at the blunt statement. “Wow. This Refined Diamond Dog thing really got to you, didn’t it? Although, I guess all of us were affected in some way...”
He lets out a deep breath and looks away. “Yeah it did. I mean, we’ve been in tight spots before with Torchlight and Fluffers but this... this isn’t just an enemy that we go and beat, they are practically next door. It really gives you perspective, you know?”
I think about his words for a moment before saying quietly, “So, what are we gonna do about it?”
He looks at me seriously. “You already know the answer to that.”
One look at my friend and I can confirm his statement. “We fight.” He nods and I continue. “So, exactly what is all this then?” I gesture to the papers.
He smiles for the first time tonight. “Well, let me introduce you to DAISI D.”
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Destructive Advanced Intelligence-Seeking Ionization Device
Yeah... I suck at this.
Looking forward to more soon!
2697709 I like what you came up with there! Let's see if anyone else tries to figure it out.
Oh boy. Can't wait to see this fun contraption! XD
I also spotted what I believe was a minor error:
Was that meant to be "your body"?
2697953 Green is beautiful, no matter what Rarity says.
Oh yeah... Hydro's busting out the steampowered war machines.
Made my day when I noticed the update.
Definitive Artificial Intelligence / Special Instruction Device
2697975
I think we all know blue-gray, AKA slate gray, is the best color.
2700242 It's my way of saying the stories exist, just not in their original forms.
Hydro serious'd up, time to see what he's got brewin in that mind of his.
-Mis
2703141
Blue Breeze, Killjoy, Etc, Etc. you guys share characters so often that it technically can be called a partially shared universe.
2703159 I've actually never been in one of Killjoy's stories, but is is true both mine and Blue's characters have been in a few stories together. Overall I like to think of them as alternate dimensions. It's quite fun to see known characters in new and different situations. Plus, having characters get around promotes origin stories, and well known characters can draw more of an audience to the story that uses them. Everyone wins!
2703198
Killjoy had a character named Rhino in his test run of the college-thingy series. as well as Blue.
of course, its a good thing, im just pointing out the obvious. (Snrk).
2703203 Hmm, I don't remember that... any chance you have a link handy? It's alright if you don't, I'm just curious now.
2703227
i haven't been able to find the page for that story since that story wasnt once he made the actual version. odd because that story wasn't small (100+ chapters, 200K+ words).
2703227
and great now i cant even find the other one!