Kind of like a Epic Production But Not
The dinging of the day spa's door at this time of day was a regular sound for the two ponies who worked and lived and basically breathed the need for taking care of the beauty of the residents of Ponyville. There was only one other spa that could rival their own prowess, and it was a hole in the wall in a seemingly abandoned building in Canterlot.
But it was on this day, regularly every two weeks, that Aloe closed up the shop and waited for their guest. Their guest never arrived from the front door, as she was often too squeamish to arrive through anything else.
"Did you bring everything out today?" inquired Lotus Blossom of her friend, setting down several items of note, including hair styling products, clippers and other such things to keep a pony's coat shining in the sun.
"I did," replied Aloe with a mysterious smile. A rap at the upper window, however, made her look up. "Ah, there she is now. Come on in, dear!"
Opening the window and darting on in, Rainbow Dash skidded inside in a hurry. "No one saw me come in, right?" asked Rainbow, her eyes darting from side to side.
"No one saw you," soothed Lotus Blossom as she coaxed Rainbow into a chair. "What do you want done first?"
"T-the usual, just get it done quickly," grit out Rainbow as she sat down in the chair. She really hated this.
Casting knowing glances at one another, Aloe put on some soothing music as Lotus picked up a nail file. Rainbow looked at the nail file like it was a snake trying to bite her. "Oh dear, your hooves are terrible. And since you missed the last appointment..."
"... I was busy," replied Rainbow lamely. "Saving the world? I mean, I would have made it..."
"Shush, shush, just let us handle it," soothed Lotus. She held up one of Rainbow's legs, inspecting the hoof. "It's a little overgrown, and the blue polish is chipped. Have you been helping Applejack at the farm lately?"
"I've been filling in, since Big Mac has went out on a trip," replied Rainbow, wincing at the closeness of the file. "Why?"
"Your hooves need a picking. Just calm and relax yourself, and it'll be done quickly. Aloe, a hoof, if you please."
Aloe circled around and wrapped Rainbow in a soft, but firm hug. Rainbow blushed but leaned back. If any of her Ponyville friends would realize how much trouble she had, how much paranoia she had of getting anything close to her hooves in terms of beauty and care things, she would be a laughingstock. But then it was her friends, they'd laugh for maybe a minute...
The pick came out and Rainbow winced for a moment as Lotus set to work, carefully working at her hoof. It took both of the siblings to work on her, one to hold her down, as it were, as Rainbow tried not to hitch in fear, her wings twitching. She really didn't like anypony touching her hooves like that, and it made her feel uncomfortable. But she knew, deep down, that if she let her hooves grow wildly, it would hurt her. And being an athlete, it would be detrimental to have worn hooves.
"There," said Lotus, finishing with her left hoof and starting on the other. Rainbow's tension began to slowly drain out of her. The picking wasn't bad, soothing really actually. She needed to relax, bite her lip and listen to the music. Was that the soothing voice of Bronco White? And he's doing a duet with Bolting...
"Done," said Lotus as the girls swapped places and Lotus took her turn 'holding' Rainbow down gently as the file came out.
This was the part Rainbow hated the most, the sound and sensation of her hoof being ground down. She could never get over it, even as a filly and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Just do it quickly..."
Grind. Grind grind... The first rough strokes smoothed quickly, and Rainbow Dash's breathing quickened a little as the filing gave way into smoother strokes. Again the process repeated itself with a bit of gasps, and then her back hooves. "Is... is it over?" She asked, looking at her hooves carefully, hoping to Faust it wasn't ground down completely.
"See for yourself," said Lotus with a smile, holding up the mirror as Rainbow inspected her hooves. "The polish hasn't been applied yet, but you're looking fairly nice now, my dear."
"Heh, yeah it's not so bad. Now what?"
"Now comes the brushing and everything else," said Lotus and the girls advanced with the rest of the materials.
Rainbow groaned. "All this girly stuff..." She pouted but soon, surrendered herself to the others. Perhaps it was the way they were nice about it, in the privacy of their own building with no one around. The soak in the tub, followed by a bit of a facial, even though Rainbow ate the cucumber slices, the preening of her wings, all of it.
Once she had finally stepped out and had her coat brushed, Rainbow looked at herself in the mirror appreciatively. "You girls do a lot of good work," said Rainbow as she placed a large amount of bits on the table, not just payment but a heavy tip for reserving the spa all for her own. "You even got the patch of feathers that was giving me a hard time too."
"It was the least we could do, Rainbow Dash," said Aloe gently. "But you know, you should come in more often than two weeks to get your hooves looked at."
"Everypony is telling me that, and it's only now that I've been able to do so," said Rainbow Dash, tapping her sparkling hoof against the floor. "But I've been so busy lately and with our new allies and stuff..."
"It's not Bugbears, is it?" At that, Rainbow looked up, jaw dropped. Lotus smiled. "It seems like only the youngest of the town don't remember them, but most of the adults do."
"How did... no, never mind. Yeah it's Bugbear stuff. I guess the Opal is out of the bag, huh?" said Rainbow sheepishly. "Still, it's better we don't talk about it. Hush-hush, super state secret stuff."
"This town goes crazy every two weeks, so it's not surprising it got bigger," replied Aloe, placing the bits into the cash register. "Still, Rainbow. We insist on you coming in a little more often."
"Yeah, I guess I'll try." Lotus placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Sorry about chickening out all those weeks ago."
"That's nothing to be ashamed about, Rainbow," replied Lotus gently. "You had a bad experience as a filly with a picking, so it's natural to be squeamish around getting your hooves touched. But they're beautiful hooves, and we'd hate to see you hurt yourself if you broke or chipped or cracked them while on one of your adventures."
"Tell you what," said Aloe. "If you can manage to bring just one of your friends, come in during normal business hours, we'll waive the fee."
"You'd do that? That's pretty generous of you," said Rainbow. "I get to pick, right?"
"That's right," said Lotus. "As long as they can fit into our spa."
Rainbow grinned as she took into the air. "All right, I'll make a note of that. Expect me back next week!"
And with that, she was off like a shot.
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A week passed and Aloe was beginning to think that she wasn't coming, until the door jangled open and Rainbow practically pronked in Pinkie-style. Behind her was Princess Luna herself, who looked rather interested. "We have heard you have the most luxurious spa treatments," she said.
"Turns out the Princess is as touchy with her hooves as I am," replied Rainbow. "Up for a challenge?"
Lotus laughed as she gestured to the chairs. "Please come and sit, Your Highness, Rainbow, you two are in for a treat."
As they sat, a loud cry could be heard from outside and a riotous thudding and a exclamation of, "We are so sorry!"
"Aloe, fetch the giant nailfile." A beat. "And some rope."