SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Spa Day (New)

Spa Day

“So, don’t think me ungrateful, because I am very grateful,” Sunset said, as she and Pyrrha walked down the Valish street, “but why did you decide to treat me to a day at the spa and the hair stylists?” She picked at the scraggly ends of her hair. “Apart from the fact that my hair needs it.”

“Oh, no, that’s not what I was trying to say at all,” Pyrrha assured her. “Please, I never set out to…” She paused. “You’re joking, aren’t you?”

“In a sense, although my hair could do with a treatment, so thanks again,” Sunset said.

Pyrrha looked away. “I need to get better at recognising that sort of thing.”

“Nah, you’re fine.”

“How am I fine if I get embarrassed and afraid I’ve offended someone every time they make a joke in my presence?” Pyrrha asked.

“So long as we’re not actually offended, it doesn’t matter,” Sunset told her, “and as for the flustered thing, well, that’s just one of those things that make you adorable.”

Pyrrha’s eyes narrowed. “'Adorable'?”

“You are sometimes adorable,” Sunset said. “Has no one ever told you that before?”

“No,” Pyrrha said mildly. “No, they haven’t.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Sunset replied. “I mean, it’s not always true. But when you’re not beating people up in the sparring ring, then it can be true of you, just like it’s true of Ruby.”

“Yes, Ruby,” Pyrrha murmured. “In any case, I suppose the answer to your original question is that I think this must be the sort of thing that is better with friends. Not that I’ve ever had the chance to find out.” She bowed her head, as her face assumed a dejected expression.

“Oh come on!” Sunset cried. “How can you not realise how adorable you look when you make faces like that.” She shook her head. “But thank you. I’m looking forward to this.”

“I’m glad,” Pyrrha said softly. “I’m rather looking forward to it myself; I hope this spa is as good as its reputation.”

“That’s right; you’re as much of a stranger here as I am, aren’t you?” Sunset said.

Pyrrha nodded. “I found this place through online reviews, but there’s all sorts of conflicting information about whether you can trust such things. Hopefully, we can.”

“And if they’re not, well, how bad can it be?” Sunset asked. “What are they going to do, use the wrong sort of mud on our faces?”

“That could actually be quite embarrassing for us if they did,” Pyrrha informed her.

Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “You know, I wouldn’t have figured you for the spa-going kind of girl.”

Pyrrha laughed nervously. “As I said to Ruby when she was kind enough to compliment my hair: it takes a lot of work to look this good.”

“I thought that just meant your makeup and eyeshadow and things,” Sunset said. “I didn’t think it meant… whatever is waiting for us in there.”

“Have you never been to a spa before?”

“They’ve always been a bit out of my price range.”

“Oh,” Pyrrha murmured. “Well, if you enjoy it, then we can always come back. We could make a regular occurrence of it.”

Sunset hesitated, torn between her desire and her sense that if she started accepting Pyrrha’s charity, then she would be diminishing herself, humbling herself somehow. “Let’s… let’s just see how this goes, okay?”

“Of course,” Pyrrha said softly.

The two of them fell silent, letting the hubbub of Vale pass over them as they walked along. Occasionally, Pyrrha got out her scroll to check that they were going in the right direction and changed said direction appropriately, but otherwise, they simply walked down the street, attracting some notice – it was Pyrrha, after all – but not responding to it.

“Does it really bother you?” Sunset asked.

“Excuse me?” Pyrrha replied.

“This,” Sunset explained, waving one arm to encompass the people snapping pictures of Pyrrha on the street. “The whole circus.”

Pyrrha glanced at the spectators and gawkers that it seemed she had been trying to ignore up until that point. “I… it isn’t my favourite thing in the world,” she murmured. She looked at Sunset. “Does that surprise you?”

“Honestly? Yeah,” Sunset said. “I’d love it.” She tucked her hands behind her head, her fingers pushing through her hair that was in such dire need of a treatment. “I did love it.”

“'Did'?”

Sunset chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong - I was never an international celebrity - but amongst my little corner of the world, I was a pretty well-known figure, if I do say so myself.” Princess Celestia’s personal student, the pony she was closest to in all Equestria. “I was… I was a little bit like Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle. I knew everyone who was anyone, and anyone who wanted to be someone had to know me. And they all really wanted to know me because they thought I could get them in good with my teacher.”

“Does Rainbow Dash have to endure all that? And Twilight?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they did,” Sunset declared. “Although, when I was at Canterlot, their friends were generally pretty good at making sure that nobody got that close to them with ill intentions.”

“All the same, I imagine it was quite hard for them,” Pyrrha said.

“Why?” Sunset asked.

“Did it really not trouble you to be surrounded by flatterers?” Pyrrha asked. “To have your relationship with your teacher reduced to nothing more than something to be exploited for the advantage of others?”

“I never did them any favours; I just liked to hold out the possibility that I might,” Sunset replied. “I’d string them along for a bit, squeeze a few favours of my own out of them, move on. It was a good racket while it lasted.”

Pyrrha gave Sunset a mildly disapproving look.

“What?”

“What did your teacher think about that?”

Sunset hesitated. “We never really talked about it… but she probably wasn’t very happy.”

“Do you think she knew?”

“Oh, she knew everything,” Sunset replied. Except for the fact that I wasn’t the pony she was looking for. “I… I’m not suggesting that you should take that approach, but at the same time, this isn’t so bad! Fame, attention-“

“Attention bestowed as upon an object, not a person,” Pyrrha added.

“Yeah, but you’ve got three friends at least now, and that’s not counting Iron or Rosepetal,” Sunset said. “So have your cake and eat it too; that’s my advice.”

Pyrrha frowned and didn’t respond.

“Can I ask you something?” Sunset asked. “If this bothers you so much, why didn’t you throw a couple of fights and diminish your mystique a little?”

“That… no, Sunset, I could never have done that,” Pyrrha declared. She smiled slightly. “You aren’t the only one who can be driven by pride at times.”

Sunset chuckled. “Now that I understand perfectly.”

Pyrrha’s smile broadened, but only for a moment. “Do you know how Ruby’s getting on with her mother’s diary?”

“That’s an abrupt change in conversation,” Sunset remarked.

“I’m curious,” Pyrrha murmured.

Sunset shrugged. “She’s learning things about her mother, I’m sure,” she said. “But if she’s learning anything new about her eyes, then she hasn’t mentioned it to me.”

“I see,” Pyrrha whispered.

Sunset frowned. “Is something up?”

“No.”

“If there is you can say so.”

“It’s nothing at all, really,” Pyrrha assured her. “I think we’re almost there.”

The spa in question was built in an old fashioned, slightly Mistralian style, like a public bath, with marble columns lining the exterior and creating a shadowed colonnade beneath which Sunset and Pyrrha passed before they reached the glass doors which opened for them automatically. A few people were sitting in the waiting room, lounging upon plush chairs, playing on their scrolls or reading magazines; quite a few of them were men, and from the way they were checking their watches, Sunset wondered if they were waiting to pick up their significant others.

Pyrrha walked up to the desk, Sunset following behind her. A woman in a blue blouse looked up at them as they approached.

“Hello,” Pyrrha said. “I have an appointment for two in the name of Nikos?”

The eyes of the girl behind the desk widened just a little at that, but she maintained an otherwise professional demeanour as she typed the name into the computer. “Of course, Miss Nikos, welcome.”

They were shown into a changing room with white tiles and lockers lining the walls, in which they both stripped out of their outfits and wrapped towels around themselves for modesty before heading into the sauna. Water was released at intervals upon the braziers of smouldering fire dust crystals that stood beside the door, filling the room up with steam.

Sunset sat upon a wooden bench, letting the steam soak into her pores. After mere moments she was already starting to relax.

She closed her eyes, and smiled. “I’m already glad you brought me here, Pyrrha, thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Pyrrha replied softly. “Sunset?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Do you have any plans for spring vacation?”

“It’s not even midway through the semester yet.”

“I know,” Pyrrha said. “But… I’ve always spoken to Ruby, and, well… I was wondering if you might all like to visit Mistral during the break. As my guests.”

Sunset opened her eyes, which didn’t make a great deal of difference because there was so much steam in the room that she couldn’t see much of Pyrrha in any case. Mostly, what she could see was Pyrrha’s vibrant red hair. “You want us all to come and stay with you over the vacation?”

“Only if you want to, of course,” Pyrrha murmured.

Sunset paused. “Aren’t we a little common for you?”

“Sunset!” Pyrrha exclaimed. “Are you implying that I’m the sort of person who would be friendly towards you all here at Beacon and then feign to be ashamed of you back home?”

“I suppose I did, didn’t I?” Sunset admitted. “But that was… I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Pyrrha said quietly. “I suppose I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand what you meant, but I’m not ashamed of you or Ruby or Jaune. I… I’m glad and proud to call you all my friends, and as my friends… I’d like to share my home with you, a little.”

“I get it,” Sunset murmured. She hesitated. Princess Celestia used to worry that I didn’t get invited to sleepovers, and now, I’m being invited to a whole different kingdom. It was… quite touching, really. “I’ve heard that Mistral’s a nice place.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Pyrrha whispered. “And with so much to see and do.”

“I’m sure,” Sunset replied softly, “but I’ve also heard that… um…”

“Sunset?” Pyrrha asked.

Sunset had been about to mention the fact that Mistral had a reputation for faunus rights that was almost as bad as Atlas’s. But she had survived Atlas, and it wasn’t as if Vale was a shining beacon of equality for all of its pretensions. Screw it, I’m not going to live my life walking small and soft and letting the ignorant tell me where I can and cannot go. I’m Sunset Shimmer, and I do as I please, and I don’t let anybody tell me ‘no.’ “I’m in,” she said, “thank you, Pyrrha; this… it’s the… this means a lot.”

“It means a lot to me too,” Pyrrha said, sounding slightly nervous now. “I hope… I mean I’m sure that you’ll enjoy it. That you’ll all enjoy it.”

“Have you spoken to Jaune yet?”

“No,” Pyrrha admitted. “I haven’t actually asked my mother about it either. I’ll speak to Jaune when we get back, and then… at some point… I’ll ask my mother. I’m sure she won’t refuse. She’s probably quite keen to meet all of you.”

“You mean to size us up?” Sunset asked.

“No!” Pyrrha said quickly. “Well, that is… please don’t worry about it. And as you say, it’s still quite a way off, yet.”

“I’m not worried,” Sunset said. She sighed deeply. “Worrying, in this place, seems excessively difficult.”

---

“I guess you must feel like you got the short end of the stick, huh?” Jaune said as he wrestled the clucking, squawking chickens back inside the coop.

“No,” Ruby said, in between giggling at his efforts. “Why would I think that?”

Jaune stopped and looked back at her. “Well, because Pyrrha and Sunset are off at the spa getting… whatever it is that girls do at a spa, and you’re, well, you're stuck here with me.”

“I’m not stuck with you, Jaune,” Ruby declared reproachfully. “You’re not my second choice. In fact, stop doing that!”

Jaune blinked. “Stop doing what?”

“That!” Ruby repeated, wagging her finger at him. “Stop talking about yourself like you’re such a loser.”

“Well-”

“Nope,” Ruby said, before he could finish. “Jaune, do you know what the best advice I’ve ever gotten from Sunset is?”

Jaune shook his head. “No, what?”

“We get treated the way that we act like we deserve,” Ruby told him. “She told me that after… I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong, like you’re not wanted.”

“But you’re-”

“Two years younger than anyone else here,” Ruby reminded him. “Sunset thinks that makes me a prodigy, but to a lot of people, it makes me someone who doesn’t deserve to be here yet. What Sunset was trying to tell me, what I’m trying to tell you, is that you’ll never belong here if you always act like you don’t.

“I know it must feel like Pyrrha and I are smothering you when we tell you to believe in yourself… doesn’t it?”

Jaune hesitated for a moment. “Yeah, it kinda does, sometimes.”

“But that’s not why we’re telling you that,” Ruby insisted. “It’s because… why do you think that Sunset always carries herself like… like a queen? It’s not because she believes in herself that much… or at least I don’t think that’s it, or at least I don’t think that’s it all the time. I think she does it because… because no matter what doubts she has she wants to act in such a way that nobody else has any reason to doubt her. Believing in yourself won’t make you a better huntsman, but it might mean that other people stop treating you like you don’t deserve to be here, and…” she trailed off into a mumbling so faint that Jaune couldn’t make it out.

“What was that?” he asked.

“And,” Ruby looked down, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt, “and it would make me feel a lot better, too. I… I don’t like it when you beat yourself up all the time.”

Jaune hadn’t considered that. He hadn’t considered that he might have overshot the mark from self-deprecation a bit, not least from sheer repetition. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I hadn’t thought about that. I guess I’ll try and keep a lid on it from now on.”

Ruby smiled, her silver eyes gleaming. “Thanks, Jaune. Now, is there anything that I can actually help you with? I feel like I’ve been watching you work so far.”

“We’re back,” Sunset called, as she and Pyrrha approached the farm.

“Hey!” Ruby cried. She frowned. “I thought you’d look different when you got back.”

“What do you mean ‘you thought’?” Sunset demanded, folding her arms. “We do look different. We look better than mortal man deserves.” She smirked in Jaune’s direction. “So avert your eyes, Jaune.”

“Nope!” Ruby declared. “Jaune is going to carry himself with confidence from now on, aren’t you, Jaune?”

“I, uh… yes!” Jaune said, in what he hoped was a firm, confident tone of voice. “Although, for what it’s worth… you look good.” He found himself looking a lot more at Pyrrha than at Sunset as he said that.

Pyrrha smiled. “Jaune, there’s something that I’d like to ask you.”

Jaune got up from on his knees. “Sure, you can ask me anything.”

“I know it’s quite early to think about the vacation,” Pyrrha began, “and I’m sure that you already have plans, but if you didn’t… then I was wondering if you might like to visit Mistral with me… and Ruby and Sunset of course,” she added quickly, a slight flush colouring her cheeks. “I mean, if you’d like, of course.”

Jaune was about to admit that he had been planning on doing nothing more than staying in school over the vacation, but then he remembered what Ruby had just said about confidence. “Sure,” he said, “that sounds… really great.”

“Wonderful!” Pyrrha cried, almost too enthusiastically. Her face became even redder than it had been before. “I mean, um, I’m very glad,” she said. “I know it seems like a long way off, but I can hardly wait to host you all when the semester ends.”

Comments

[Mastermind4892]

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Ruby: "PONY-PEDI"

[Kixtia]

10423859
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[alfonso_rd_33]

Yay, Pony-Pedi!