Running a spa isn't easy. Lotus Blossom is expected to lower the stress levels of an entire town on demand, with nopony ever thinking about what those demands might be doing to her. Keeping the La-Ti-Da Spa functional, calming, and more or less in one piece means paying attention to the small details. Birds in the dryer vent counts as a small detail. But at least that's just a minor problem.
Or not.
(A standalone, no-prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome.)
Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Chapters (1)
A new Estee story. That's certainly something to be thankful for. Especially a fantastic study on the role the relaxer's mind plays in relaxation, how quickly one can grow used to an irritant, and a very intriguing hint at the crazy quilt of disparate nations that the royal sisters sewed together into the slightly more cohesive structure that is Equestria.
Also, the most hilarious form of Flutterblindness... for those of us who don't have to try to sleep with chickadees in our walls. Thank you for this.
oh, what a clever ending!
Yes & on toasty warm Summer days, too!
Somehow, though, you're not as grateful then.
Personal experience, dealing with birds:
Tape record the bird & play it back when they're trying to rest. It will drive them nuts
Oh yeah "I wonder what vintners buy 1/2 so precious as what they sell?" (Omar Khayyam)
See, I think I know who that would've been except that it just seems like an unfair assumption.
I can tell that Aloe's the younger one, even if it's only by seven and a half minutes.
Such a lovely story, I could really feel the sibling love there.
Plus it's a look at a pair of ponies who I haven't really seen featured in their own stories.
And he does it again! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, the way you characterized Aloe and Lotus was basically perfect! The only minor thing I'd have to dispute you on is that there's a third Spa sister, or at least a relative. She hasn't shown up since season one I'm pretty sure, but my brain is weird like that with remembering ponies. Her name was Vera, maybe a sequel idea?
Anywho, great job as always and keep it up!
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I had a smile on my face the whole time I read this. Loved your Lotus and Aloe and I would love even more to see them appear in more of your stories.
I have an idea for you. Its canon that Bulk Biceps (I prefer your idea of Snowflake) work part-time at the spa where he give painfull looking massages (Episodes: Castle Sweet Castle, No Second Prances, Applejack's "Day" Off, All Bottled Up), maybe you could do a story where Aloe and Lotus interview him for the job. Or you could do a story where Snowflake doe a shift at the spa.
I love your stories with Snowflake in them and now that you have done a story with the Aloe and Lotus, I feel there is a story to tell with those three within your wonderful universe.
peep!
OH! Nice! ... And they managed to sleep through it, eventually, I assume, given that ending!
... Interesting how there's no note on how usually oily / greasy she is from her work?? *shrugs*
Fluttershy! So oblivious! So funny!
... I wonder how understanding Rarity would be of the sisters' financial situation, being a small business owner herself... Well, we'll never know?
... Who's the wonder expert of Ponyville, actually? Could it be Rainbow Dash?? ... ... Mrs. Wonderment sells Devices. I never got how incongruous that was until now.
What great fun.
It makes me wonder how spa treatments go for the rest of the Mane six.
You've given hints about Rarity here. Fluttershy's relaxation would increase every time somepony left the room. Pinkie would probably find amphetamines relaxing, but pronking everywhere must play havoc with her legs. Rainbow's treatment must start with a concussion check, and an assessment for other injuries. If it wasn't unethical, leaving the spa's ledger and an ink pot within Twilight 's line of sight might assuage her guilt at not working during those early moons. Applejack probably requires the same earth pony magic used to move mountains to provide a suitable deep-tissue massage.
A really cute and sweet story. I enjoyed it very much.
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I like that, too. The intent behind saying it is such a reversal from what we knew was meant in Mechanical Aptitude, and what is implied is the usual usage ("Therefore you ought to be able to do this" vs. "Therefore you cannot possibly do this").
Poor Lotus. I just want to hug her.
I invited a lion along with me on vacation once.
It was very relaxing listening to the anguished screams of his prey.
Another sweet little masterpiece! Few things cheer me up as quickly as seeing a new story from you, Estee!
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I figure the sisters are in decent financial shape. If they can afford a half-dozen employees, their revenue is going to be pretty high, and they're plowing a lot of their profits back into improving their business. So they've probably got a fair bit of (rapidly growing) assets in the spa equipment and building itself, even if they're not drawing as much of a salary as they might prefer.
Heck, with a little advertising and word-of-mouth, Canterlot residents might take a day trip to the "pleasantly rustic" spa.
I am not...sure...how I feel about this story. It is so well written I am stressed out on behalf of Aloe and Lotus... Yay I think?
You know that game where you add "Except in bed" to the end of fortune biscuit fortunes? When ever I read something crazy like this or see some barmy-crazy artwork, I mentally add "and they never found the body..." to the end.
Oh dear.
I fear I may have accidentially done something similar at $WORK. (sorry Spanner!)
SIG: It is making a funny noise!
Spanner: A 'funny noise' ?
SIG: Yeah. Normally it goes *shunkashunkashunkashunkashukashunka* Now it is going *shunkashunkashunka* *grind* *grind* *scrrraaapppeee*. Can you look at it? I am going on break! Ta!
Spanner: ...
Blimey.
It is bad enough competing with co-workers for control of the thermostat IRL. I cannot imagine how crazy it would be in an Equestrian office where you could simply create your warm/cold front...
I would imagine that would lead to the uniquely Equestrian institution of indoor hurricane insurance...
You love it Rarity and you know it!
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This was really well written. For the sake of the twins, I wish there would've been a satisfying, "Fluttershy, you have good intentions... but dangit, listen here...!"
"trotted around the building unless she saw"
"trotted around the building until she saw"?
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I could actually imagine a very odd conversation on one of Applejack's trips to the spa, where Lotus describes an idea she got after a trip into the city.
Applejack: So let me get this straight. Next month, you want me to host a bunch of Canterlot city slickers each Saturday, show them how to buck apples, and let them buck apples for a morning. Then, I'll let them each select a bushel from what they've bucked, and bring them all over here to the spa.
Lotus: We'll have a small hoof-operated cider press waiting.
Aloe: And then they'll press their own cider. We'll barrel most of it, except for the mugs they'll get to drink while they're in the hot tub, sauna, or getting a massage.
Lotus: I told them it would be an excellent workout.
Applejack: So...they want to tire themselves out, make cider that isn't as good as what they could buy from us, and they want to pay us to do this? What kind of foal-
Lotus: They asked how much we would charge. I quoted what I thought was the crazy total of 250 bits per pony for the day.
Aloe: We already have 20 ponies interested for each of the next three weeks. We can split the bits 50/50 between the spa and Sweet Apple Acres.
Applejack: Whoa Nelly! Let's do the crazy!
Huh, just noticed this story made the front page.
Anyway, being an older sibling myself, I like this interpretation of Lotus and Aloe's relationship. Siblings are always annoying, but in most normal functional families you can't help but love them. Granted, it helps that we don't live in the same house anymore. Honestly, if I worked and lived with my sibling, I doubt we would last a week.
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As Pinkie Pie frequently defies physics in ways that even Twilight Sparkle can't figure out, WHO KNOWS.
Oh this was just GLORIOUS! Though I DO feel like they should have stood up to Fluttershy JUST a little, or at least asked for her advice about how to get the birds to quiet down when they were trying to sleep. Maybe see if Fluttershy knows a good way to provide cheap sound proofing or something.
Also, this is EXACTLY why you need to be cautious when dealing with others with vague generalities, and why it pays to be SPECIFIC.
Definitely a fun read, with hilariously terrible ending
And such is the happening of not being able to communicate your desires properly - had Fluttershy known how badly the birds affect both Aloe and Lotus then she would behave differently.
Oh well, at least it made for a good story
The very next thing to buy? A wire mesh cage to fo around the inlet pipe to keep anything from coming in. And a Spa Cat.
been there, sort of (idiots doing construction)
had to put up with all the noise, and the drifting mess for EVER.
...
but then the only reason I did put up with it was because I would never survive prison and wiping out the idiots running industrial equipment at 7 in the morning is crime for some stupid reason.
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Wonder expert of Ponyville? She of the Seven Bubbles, perhaps? Uncoordinated in only 3 dimensions because she's seeing in 6.
It's Ditzy Doo. There's a rather popular headcanon that she's a Planeswalker. Her mark is symbolic of the multiverse.
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Have you ever read Apple Knots, perchance?
An excellent story, as usual. However...
Switch the comma after "so" to a period.
Well now Lotus will never be able to sleep.
I kind of expected after that second digression about Lotus's homeland that she would have some Rainbow-esque baggage about it, but this was just a nice laugh.
Weird how often your biggest (but not best) customer is also your biggest pain in the ass.
The Lotus, with eyes of flame
Came wiffling through the tulgey woods
And burbled as she came!
So, Lotus slew her dead
and with her head
She went galumphing back.
I love how Lotus doesn't realize that the reason why Aloe seems to always be happy is she is doing the exact same thing that Lotus is.
This story amused me.
I reviewed this story as part of Read It Later Reviews #83!
My review can be found here.
Chickadees do not make that noise when they are happy. They make it when they are threatened. That odd stacatto cry of theirs is a warning system. Interestingly, it not only alerts other chickadees to the presence of a threat but also categorizes them according to the level of threat that they pose. The number of notes that follow the initial alert noise indicate how dangerous the threat is. A large earth-bound thing like a human may warrant one note ("eh-uh ehh"), whereas a more agile creature like a human child or a large dog may earn two notes ("eh-uh ehh ehh"). Truly terrifying things like a cat in a tree or, worst of all, a circling hawk may get four or five notes. Knowing that, if you listen to chickadees you will able to find predators in the immediate vicinity and know vaguely what they are before you can see them.
Amazing how 2 ponies, even sisters, can look at the same event in different ways
To one, it is proof that at least this much is still right with the world
To the other, it is proof that of all the injustices that the world inflicts on her, the worst is her sister
Hot sauce. The chemical that makes it taste "hot" affects all mammals but no birds. Put it on the feed and squirrels and other mammals won't eat the feed but it will be fine for birds.
I laughed. Thanks for the cute and sweet one-off.
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Doesn't work for other birds, though. And Fluttershy might not like using a painful deterrent when she could just ask critters to stay away.
You know, this story makes me wonder how many more unusual homes Fluttershy finds for animals. And does the spa's heating system have a colony of tropical geckos living in it?
I had something similar happen to me. Birds had a nest of chicks right outside my bedroom window, which was right next to my bed, and I heard them loud and clear during feeding time. They never kept me up all night, but they always woke me up at the crack of dawn, sleeping in was out of the question for the next few weeks. Goes to show why they say "Early bird gets the worm."