In Search of Relaxation
In Search of Relaxation
“Well, here we are.” Twilight stopped outside of a sprawling building sitting atop a hill on the outer edges if Ponyville.
“Are you sure about this, Twilight? I mean, Rarity gave you those spa passes, and my house isn’t too far from here. I could run home to get some bits and pay my own way.” Cheerilee looked at her friend, then to the building next to them.
“Yup, I’m sure. Come on.” The lavender mare stepped forward and opened the door. Cheerilee smiled and walked inside, followed soon after by Twilight.
“Hello, and welcome to the Ponyville Day Spa! My name is Lotus, how may I help you ladies this afternoon?” a blue mare greeted from behind the counter. She smiled softly, waiting patiently for one of her two customers to speak up.
Twilight stepped forward with a smile of her own, holding the passes ahead of her. “Um, hello. My friend Rarity gave me a pair of treatment vouchers, and I was hoping to redeem them.”
At the mention of Rarity, the spa pony’s smile burst wide open. “Ah, you are the friend Rarity spoke of? She told us you may be coming. Please, right this way, right this way.” The two vouchers disappeared, whisked from the air by a blue hoof before Lotus shepherded the two mares through a set of double doors to the right of the counter and deeper into the spa.
“We were very happy with the dresses Miss Rarity provided us,” Lotus said as she led the pair down a brightly decorated hallway that was steadily growing warmer, “and were just as happy to give her the passes.” They approached a door marked with three wavy lines above a dot of red--the same markings as the other doors nearby--that the spa pony pushed and held open. A waft of steam escaped, washing over the three mares in the hallway.
“Here we are, one sauna for two! You relax here, and I will find Aloe and prepare the rest of your treatment, okay? Great!” She gently nudged Cheerilee into the moist room. With one mare in the room, Lotus turned her attention towards the other until she walked inside. Once both clients were over the sauna’s threshold, the spa pony closed the door and headed deeper into the building.
After making sure her tail hadn’t been caught in the door by the eager Lotus, Twilight took a seat on one of the benches lining the walls; Cheerilee took the bench opposite. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying the steam on their coats.
Twilight sighed, rousing Cheerilee from her thoughts. “Rarity always talks about how relaxing the spa is, and I’ve always sort of just agreed with her when I came along, but I have to say this actually is really...” the librarian trailed off, a look of confusion crossing her features.
“Relaxing?” Cheerilee offered, cracking a grin.
“Yeah, relaxing.” Twilight giggled before repositioning herself on the bench until she was almost lying down. She peeked her eyes around the stone structure resting in the center of the room, the source of the steam, and fixed the teacher with a curious gaze. “Why do you teach, Cheerilee?”
“I-I’m sorry?” Cheerilee looked over the top of the structure to her prone friend. “Why do I teach?”
Twilight nodded. “I’ve been a student for all my life, and sometimes I think I could teach really well, because of everything I know, but it... never quite works out...”
Fed up with their awkward positioning, the teacher slid across the benches until she could lie down facing Twilight. “It’s not easy, I agree. My first day of student teaching I almost had a nervous breakdown and fled the room.” She laughed. “I made so many mistakes my first month or so.
“Um... I teach because, well, I guess because I like helping ponies, especially foals. My own foalhood was... interesting, and I like the thought that I can help ponies in the same position I was.” Cheerilee painted an awkward smile on her face and aimed it at the lavender librarian. “I know it’s lame, but it works for me.”
Twilight shook her head awkwardly, making sure to avoid facechecking the wall. “No, it makes sense. The princess has always been more to me than just a teacher, she made sure to explain that to me. More often than not, she’s just a normal pony, a mentor, a friend, a caretaker, and I don’t think I could be who I am today if she wasn’t.”
“Then why leave Canterlot and stay here?” The teacher fixed her friend with the same gaze Twilight used earlier. “You were only here for a day and a half. What about your friends in Canterlot, not to mention the princess herself?”
The lavender eyes shifted from her friend. “I... didn’t have too many friends in Canterlot... None, actually, aside from a couple of ponies I sometimes tutored from the School for Gifted Unicorns, the princess herself, and a couple of the castle staff. Everypony here was so nice I... I didn’t really want to leave.”
Cheerilee swallowed a rather large lump in her throat and inched forward to rest a hoof comfortingly on Twilight’s, causing the younger mare to grin. “I mean, I miss the princess and my parents, but we send letters back and forth all the time and visit when we can. It’s a little harder with Shiny because he lives so far away, but we still manage. It was an impulse decision, one that was kind of silly looking back, but I don’t regret it.”
“I’m glad you did too,” the teacher started, trying in vain to make her tongue cooperate. “I, um, I remember seeing you when you came back into town from the Everfree forest. You... I...” Cheerilee trailed off, throat finally wising up to her plan and seizing shut.
“Oh, do go on,” a pony said from the now open door to the sauna. “It was such a nice story, almost like Her Secre--”
“Aloe,” another pony further back called accusingly, “are you using the customers for gossip again?”
The pink earth pony in the door looked at the ground. “No...”
“Aloe...”
“Your massage room is ready,” the pink pony named Aloe said from the door. “Lotus and I are ready to lead you there, if you wish. Of course, you could stay in here longer if you prefer...” Her voice carried an unmistakable hint of hopefulness.
“No, we’ll go ahead,” Twilight said, rising slowly to unsteady hooves. “Ready, Cheerilee?”
The teacher bit down on her tongue in order to prevent a pained whine from escaping. “Y-Yeah, of course! After you.”
Aloe and Lotus lead the two other mares deeper into the spa complex into a much more airy room containing a quartet of massage tables and a large bath bubbling happily in the corner. “Pick a table,” the pink twin said, motioning to the set across from the bath, “any table.”
Twilight smiled before clambering up onto one of the tables and lying down. Cheerilee moved to the table opposite, and the spa twins split up to pick a client. The teacher watched with apprehension as the pink mare, Aloe, moved towards her. “Just sit back and relax,” she said with a smile.
As Cheerilee settled onto her table and her masseuse settled in to begin, a loud groan, followed by a contented sigh echoed around the room. Three pairs of eyes focused instantly on Twilight, who was trying her best to look embarrassed. “She’s, uh, she’s really good,” the librarian said. “Sorry.”
“I take it as a compliment, dear.” With that, Lotus returned to work, slowly kneading her hooves into the lavender mare. The room fell silent, save for the occasional coo or grunt as a particularly tough knot was worked out by the experienced hooves of the spa twins.
Cheerilee sighed and rested her head on the cushioned table while Aloe worked her over. It felt good, great even, and the teacher had to take a moment to remember that her salary didn’t allow for liberal spa visits, followed by a semi-serious debate on what she would be willing to give up for liberal spa visits, especially if Twilight was involved. The teacher slowly opened one eye and glanced over at her lavender friend, a look that was returned with a somewhat sleepy smile.
“What were you going to tell me, back in the sauna?” the unicorn asked. The steady rhythm on Cheerilee’s back slipped, just for a moment.
Cheerilee broke eye contact with her friend, “It... it was nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Oh... okay.” Twilight turned away and closed her eyes, giving herself fully to Lotus’ hooves.
The weight on Cheerilee’s back shifted, prompting the teacher to glance over her shoulder to Aloe. “You should just tell her,” the pink mare whispered into the fuschia ear.
The teacher sighed softly. “I know... I’m... I’m just...”
“Afraid?” The spa pony smiled reassuringly down at Cheerilee.
“Terrified.”
Aloe nodded sagely. “I do not blame you. She is a gorgeous mare, with many friends who would rip you to pieces should things go horribly wrong, assuming they even got off the ground.”
Cheerilee looked over to her crush at the words, whimpering involuntarily. An image of the princess, normally calm visage twisted into one of cold fury flashed in her mind’s eye.
“Aloe.” A sharp voice pulled the teacher, and her masseuse, from their thoughts. Lotus stood before them, eyebrows knitted together. Back on her table, Twilight opened one eye, using it to peer towards the teacher’s table. “May I speak with you in the hallway?”
“But, Lotus, I...” The pink mare’s face fell. “Of course, sister.” She moved away from Cheerilee’s table, mouthing the word ‘sorry’ to the teacher before silently leaving the room.
Lotus leaned towards Cheerilee’s ear. “Please, forgive my sister. I think Miss Rarity and Miss Fluttershy’s visits may have... skewed her image of what is appropriate to discuss with a customer. They have been coming for years, you see, and they are more akin to good friends than customers. Er, no offense.” The last thought came quickly, tacked on in an attempt to avoid the fuschia mare’s ire.
“No, it’s okay. She only said something I already knew. Please, I don’t want to cause any problems...” Cheerilee nervously looked between the door out of the room and the still-irate face of Lotus.
The blue spa pony pulled back and smiled. “I do apologize for the interruption, ladies. If you like, you can step into the mineral bath while my sister and I retire to other clients.” That said, she stepped out of the room, making sure to shut it soundly behind her.
Twilight slowly slid from her massage table and, after taking a long moment to regain her balance, made her way over to Cheerilee. “What was that all about?” she asked, casting a quick glance to the door.
Cheerilee slid from the bench as well to join her friend on the floor. Foreseeing a problem, Twilight stepped forward to help brace the other mare until she found her hooves. “T-Thanks.” The teacher stepped back and rubbed at her burning face with a hoof, somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden contact.
Twilight climbed the small flight of stairs up to the elevated bath. “Just didn’t want you to fall and get my bath all dirty.” She flashed Cheerilee a quick smile, ensuring her friend knew she was joking before sliding into the bath, the hot water eliciting another soft sigh from the librarian. “I might start coming with Rarity on her spa days. This is great...”
The water shifted slightly as Cheerilee climbed into the bath as well and sunk down onto one of the recessed benches.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Twilight said a few moments later. “Why did they leave like that?”
“Oh, I... I don’t know...” Cheerilee averted her eyes, avoiding the librarian’s questioning gaze.
To her combined delight and dismay, Twilight slid around the bath until she was right next to the teacher. “Is everything okay, Cheerilee? You’ve been acting weird since we got here.” A sense of dread sparked to life in the teacher’s chest, growing steadily as Twilight tried to gather her thoughts. “I didn’t... offend you in the sauna, did I? I-I know I made the conversation get a little... personal, but it was just so relaxing in there and I--”
A relieved laugh slowly bubbled inside Cheerilee, forcing its way past her lips and into the mostly silent room, cutting Twilight off. Oh, of all the things she could have said there... “S-Sorry, Twilight. I just...” The teacher covered her mouth with a hoof as she attempted to stifle her giggles. “I guess I’ve just been really stressed lately. Thanks for this, I needed it.”
Twilight simply hummed and relaxed into the bath, leaning ever-so-slightly on Cheerilee. The teacher stiffened at the initial contact, but she soon relaxed in time as the softly bubbling pool calmed both mares. For her part, Cheerilee barely dared to breathe, worried that any sudden movement would cause the librarian to come to her senses and move, something she was not willing to let happen. I’ve worked so hard, containing myself. Please, just five more minutes, just like this.
Much to Cheerilee’s pleasure, she got five minutes and more, and she counted every second.
*****
“Thank you for coming out here today, ladies,” Lotus said from her place behind the counter as Twilight and Cheerilee exited into the lobby. “Please come again!”
“Bye!” Aloe added from her sister’s side. The twins beamed at the librarian and teacher, waving as the duo began their trek home. “They look cute together,” the pink mare commented after the spa’s doors clicked shut.
Lotus nodded in agreement. “Mmhm.”
Twilight yawned as the cool evening air danced across her coat. Their path had inevitably taken them almost right in front of Cheerilee’s house, where the duo now stood.
“Thanks for coming with me, Cheerilee. I had fun, and we even got something accomplished,” Twilight said, finally ushering in the conversation both of them knew was coming, the goodbyes.
The teacher smiled. “Yeah, feels weird doesn’t it?” The statement brought a chuckle out of Twilight.
“So, um, when are you free again?” Maybe she imagined it, but Cheerilee thought she could see the faintest blush on lavender cheeks.
“Well, schools are closed on Friday for conferences. We might be able to make a night of it.”
Twilight smiled. “Sounds good.”
“Alright then.” Cheerilee walked up the steps to her porch and opened the door. “It’s a date.” The pair said their goodbyes and separated, Cheerilee deeper into her home and Twilight on the longer trek back to her library.
Arriving at the wooden door in the wooden structure Twilight pushed it open without a second thought, depositing her saddlebag in a small cupboard by the door. “Spike! I’m home!” she shouted, turning her head briefly to watch the door click shut.
“Hello, Twilight,” a familiar voice called, Canterlot accent litling through the air. The librarian spun around quickly, expression of panic giving way to a light smile.
“Oh, hello, Rarity. What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, catching sight of her friend relaxing in a large, overstuffed chair.
The white unicorn leaned forward sticking Twilight with a firm stare. “Darling, we need to talk.”
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"We need to talk" is code word for bad news.
This ever-so reminds me of Green, which was a romance story about Rarity and Fluttershy. However, unlike that one, this one is paced much more to my liking. I can follow what's going on and It's not insanely long. Yet. I guess the reason I didn't like Green as much is that it just became too daunting to read all that book at once, which I tend to do. If I keep up with this one, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Great story so far!
On a sidenote...
God, I feel like Cheerilee, except without someone physically here to crush on. I'd do nearly anything just to lean into that special someone and relax for a moment. Feel the comfort of their body on mine.
Oh well, such is the life of a single man.
I predict a "How can you lead her on this way?" coming.
4036549 Or it could be code for, "You are going to go out with her this instant."
one sign of a good story is leaving the reader giggling like a madman.
Mass comment time
4036549
Spoilers.
4036921
Spoilers, and thank you.
4037248
Haven't read it yet, it isn't finished, thank you, and you're just not my type, sorry.
4037335
Spoilers.
4037661
Still spoilers.
4037677
I try.
I love this story.
The pairing is a good one, the slow buildup is beautifully done, and the humor is very real and relevant. Thank you for crafting such an exhilarating love story and sharing it with us!
I find this story especially refreshing after enjoying "Cheerilee's Thousand", which is also excellent but quite the opposite in result. At least, I hope so - I really want your story to end well for them!
Thanks again, and have a wonderful day and more!
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
4038812
Currently, we have two endings ready. Which one gets finished depends on how sadistic and pissed off I am at the time.
Not really. Made you think for a minute thought, didn't I?
*next chapter*
4038965 I will take 'things that piss me off' for 500.
4038965 4039057
Funny, but no.
4039059 Plus I kind of doubt Rarity would come to Twilight, of all ponies, for fashion advice.
4041791
...That has been my naming scheme since I first published the original two years ago, and you're pointing it out now?
Dun dun DUUUNNN! ::insert video clip of overly dramatic hamster here::
i can't wait for the next chapter haha
4047808
Well it's, uh, it's definitely not already finished and just sitting there for me to finish the last chapter or anything...
Nope. We don't do any of that "planning ahead" guff here...
4047815
good to know, more time for other storys