I need to relax (Open to All)

Sweat and fatigue radiated for the unicorn, slowly making his way to the Ponyville day spa. He had read a flyer, saying that one could get the relaxation needed after a hard day of work. Blackfire had been working on a cottage all day, having to run back and forth to the cottage and market, since he kept running out of supplies. He needed to be pampered like someone who boasted being the best carpenter in the world would. Opening the door, he lacked his arrogant tone and pompous attitude. He walked up to the front desk and began speaking.

"I'm so tired, give me a treatment to revitalize myself. I can pay, I just want to relax." He said, nearly tripping as he spoke.

The spa ponies dragged him onto a chair and began spreading a creme over his face. As well as washing his mane. Surprisingly, he had nothing to say throughout his treatment. He layed back and let the ponies do their job.

Shamrock Spring liked to visit the spa now and then. It was good to properly clean the dirt off one's hooves and feel like a new pony again. Sometimes she came with friends, but today she was coming alone. Trotting in, she smiled at the spa ponies. "The usual girls, and thanks a bunch!" She followed them over to a chair near a grey unicorn. She had to try not to sneeze while they smeared creme over her face. It always tickled so much!

"You look plum tuckered out," she commented with a bright smile at her neighbor. Not that it was easy to see a smile with cream over her face. "Probably need this more than I do. Name's Shamrock!" She couldn't recall if they'd met before, but it couldn't hurt to be sure.

Blackfire was feeling relaxed, the most relaxed he'd felt in a long time. He was prepared to fall asleep, when a strange sensation was felt in his face. He tried to ignore it, but it kept getting worse and worse. His face was burning and itchy, was it the cream? He jumped out of the chair, shouting like a madpony, as he ran to the hot tubs. Once there, Blackfire jumped in, wiping the cream off underwater. Once he resurfaced, he looked around at the ponies staring at him.

"I think I'm allergic to that. Please refrain from using it on me again." He said calmy, as he began to relaxe anew in the hot tub. This was much better, although the spa ponies seemed aggravated.

"Also, my name is Blackfire. It's a pleasure to let you meet me." He said, to the pony next to the chair he was formerly on.

Was it something I said? ShamrockSpring wondered. The poor unicorn looked quite upset. She couldn't recall any pony every bouncing around and shouting when she talked to them. Not like that at least. She shrugged, relaxing as the spa ponies continued their work. Maybe he just really wanted a bath instead? Ah, but it seemed he was allergic to face mud, poor dear. No wonder he'd jumped up so quickly.

"Pleasure's mine," Shamrock returned warmly. This was certainly turning into an interesting spa day. "Pity about the mud. It does wonders for your complexion. First time?" It was an easy guess. If he'd come before, he would have known.

"Yes. I'm not used to being pampered. I live a pretty relaxing life." He said, calmly.

Blackfire felt good in the hot tub, but there must've been more to this revitalisation thing. That could wait a while more. He dipped his horn into the water and began heating it. Raising the waters temperature to the point where it began to bubble. The heat was incredible, but Blackfire was most comfortable.

"Ah, now this is what I'd call a hot tub." He said, stretching his limbs in the boiling water.

"If you guys have any vegetables, throw'em in, make a soup." He said, laughing at his own little joke.

"Relaxing, eh?" Shamrock returned with a chuckle. Blackfire didn't look like he'd relaxed much today, but then again that explained why he was here. Shamrock flicked her ears while the spa ponies rubbed moose into her mane and tail. The trick with the water was certainly something she had to admit. It certainly saved a lot of time too!

"Don't mind if I wait for it to cool a bit first," she chortled with a friendly wink. "Afraid it might be a bit much for me." She continued to laugh heartily at the joke. "I don't think pony soup will go over well with the neighbors! Clover soup, now, there's an idea. Maybe add some daisies and..." she drifted off, lost in thought.

Blackfire listened to what Shamrock had to say. He nodded and said 'uh-huh' as she spoke. The water on thr other hand was not easily ignored. He felt his whole body feel so relaxed and calmed. A little to relaxed. He tried lifting his hoof, to see that it felt heavy.

" That can't be good." He thought to himself.

"What else do you spa ponies do to help the likes of me relax?" He asked, throwing himself out of the hot tub and onto the floor.

He was lifted by a much larger spa pony, and thrown onto a bench of some sort, face down. Blackfire felt his whole body being contorted and compressed, along with the sound countless cracks.

"This is relaxing?" He saidt to himself, before his hind legs were pulled over his head.

For someone who wanted to relax, poor Blackfire didn't seem to be having much luck, ShamrockSpring thought sadly. She leaned back to enjoy a light massage herself. She would get into the hot top later after the mud had set on her face for a while. She giggled a little at Blackfire's question.

"It may not seem it, but it's great for the aches and pains," she explained helpfully. She gave a contented sigh of her own. It did seem Blackfire was getting the whirlwind treatment to be sure. "Though they don't usually have to result to quite so much with me," she added with a chuckle. "What have you been doing to make yourself so tuckered out?"

Blackfire had suddenly lost the feeling in his hind legs, causing him to panic. He was about to scream when the spa pony jerked his hind legs downwards, and away from his body. This caused a painful popping in his backbones. He forced himself off the bench and onto the floor again.

"I am a carpenter. It is not a job for the faint of heart. Or one with a weak body or mind." he said, feeling profound.

Blackfire was suddenly lifted up again, much to his shock. He was dropped onto the bench again. This time, Blackfire wouldn't allow it. He waved his hooves at her, and got off the bench. He began backing away.

"Okay okay. If you don't like me, just straight up say it. No point in hurting me." he protested.

Had he been looking where he was walking, he would've seen the mud bath directly behind him. Unfortunately he didn't. He fell into the mud bath, his mouth filling with the mineral enriched mud. Blackfire resurfaced, spitting the mud out.

"Well...this is slightly better." he said, laying down and letting himself forget the horrid events this spa had brought upon him.

"I can tell," ShamrockSpring nodded appreciatively to Blackfire. Poor colt certainly looked as though he worked hard. She couldn't imagine being a carpenter herself, but she could appreciate them. Whatever would she do without her shelves and fences for her gardening? She had to stifle some laughter though as Blackfire seemed to have again gotten on the wrong side of his spa treatment. Maybe this wasn't the best place for him to relax after all.

"You don't seem to be having much luck relaxing," she pointed out sadly. Personally she was quite comfortable, but she had been here before. "Anything I can do to help? Maybe some treats at Sugarcube Corner would be more your style?"

"I'll take that offer if you throw in a milkshake." he said, getting out of the mud bath.

Blackfire was now filthier than when he had entered the spa. Didn't they do the opposite? Blackfire asked for a place to shower, and one spa pony, holding in her laughter, pointed to a corridor. He walked over to it and gave a short bow before walking into the shower area. Moments later, he ran out, clean as can be. However, he had brought a shampoo bottle with him and gave it to one of the spa ponies before sitting down in his chair again.

"Clean my mane. It's the third greatest thing on me. My first is my magic and the second in my winning personality." he said, smiling as his mane was being cleaned.

"Deal!" ShamrockSpring started to hold out her hoof to shake, and nearly kicked the file out of the attendant's mouth. "Goodness, sorry," she apologized with a lopsided smile to the pony. She waited patiently while Blackfire showered, deciding to skip a soak so she would be ready to go when he was. She'd mostly come to clean out her hooves anyway. She smiled as he returned, letting one of the helpers finish the last of coming out her tail.

"That must be some magic," she joked, chuckling. She was starting to like Blackfire, for all he was a bit odd. Of course, she liked almost everyone, but that didn't make it any less true. "Cause your personality is already a winner in my book!"

Blackfire smiled as he was being praised and cleaned. Once his mane was as clean as he would allow it to be, he got and and went to the front desk to pay. He dropped off a bag of bits and made his way to the door.

"I'll see you later. As for now, I'm off to be great." he said, running out of the spa.

The spa pony at the front desk opened the bag, to find a note saying 'You've been scamed sweet heart' as well as about a dozen rocks. The other spa ponies ran to the door, only to find that Blackfire had escaped without a trace.

"I was never going to pay!" he shouted from afar, followed by laughter.

"Later!" ShamrockSpring waved as Blackfire left. She still wanted a few touch ups so she figured she could catch up with him later anyway. She relaxed into her couch and was just thinking she might have that soak after all, when the spa ponies opened his bag. Shamrock had to laugh at the trick. It was pretty funny, especially after all the things that had happened to him while he was here. "Don't you worry," she told the other ponies with a chuckle. "After today, I don't think he'll be back anytime soon!"

Unity's hoof pushed the door in and she peaked her head around the corner. Brash had told her that she had to get out the house and relax a bit. Unity hated the thought of being outside and about with other ponies about. Not knowing people was as bad to her as falling off of a cliff. Unity walked up to the counter, her eyes darting around the room. When her gaze finally settle on the pony behind the counter Unity spoke.

"Umm, Can I have a facial? . . . and maybe sometime in the hot tub? Oh, and a massage please." She asked with a nervous grin on her face. The reception pony nodded awkwardly at Unity and some ponies led the way to a chair.

Once there they applied some facial cream to her face. It smelt odd and she wasn't too comfortable with this paste on her face but not long after they took her to a massage table ,and as soon as the the hooves hit her back all the tension seemed to melt away. A smile crept on her face and it was the first genuine one she has had without her brother being near her in a long time.

"I can get use to this," she purred as she relaxed more into her table.

The spa was just full of new ponies today it seemed. ShamrockSpring waved at the newcomer and waited until she got settled. She was enjoying some rest herself and didn't mind the peace and quiet for a bit. "You said it!" she agreed heartily with the new pony. Shamrock yawned and stretched herself out on the couch. They attendants were still working on her hooves, but otherwise she was mostly done. "Don't think I've see you 'round before," she commented with a smile. "I'm ShamrockSpring! Pleased to meet you!"

Her ears perked when she heard a voice near her. She at first thought it was her imagination and did her best to settle back down, but it dawned on her that the voice was actually another pony. Unity lifted her head and looked at this new pony.
"Uh, Hi. I'm Unity-step" She said somewhat timidly. "Um yeah, I just moved her. My brother made us because he hates not being around other ponies." the more words that came from her mouth the less timid it grew.

The masseuses seemed to grow in her own confidence as her hoof accidently smashed Untiy's wing. Unity let out a yelp, looked back at the masseuses and decided to put her head back down since the pain had passed. After a moment she said, "So. . . You been in Ponyville long?" a nervous grin slowly appear on her face.

ShamrockSpring chuckled warmly. "Well there are certainly plenty of us here," she agreed heartily. Poor Unity-step seemed so shy, but maybe she would relax if they talked more. Shamrock liked meeting new ponies and she seemed to have no shortage of them today. "Welcome! And to your brother too if I ever get to meet him."

Shamrock winced a little as the attendant hit Unity's wing. Either the ponies here were having a bad day or Unity was very sensitive, it was hard to tell which. Shamrock smiled at the young pegasi and nodded. "All my life!" she declared proudly. "I'd be happy to show you around sometime."

Unity's eyes widened in surprise that someone was being nice to her like this.
"Yeah, that would be nice I think." she said with a slight coo in her voice.
This is not how she imagined her first conversation with someone besides her brother would start. She thought all other ponies were too into themselves to be nice much like her brother.She shook her head and chuckled at her own ignorance.

"Is there a lot to do here? I mean, you know, um fun wise?. . . I mean I'm not saying this isn't fun I just mean like um- like what do most ponies do for fun? I'm not to date, I mean up to date on fun? I mean I try to be! ugh. . . I don't-. . ." She spoke with excitement in her voice as she stumbled over her words. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed in embarrassment and collected her thoughts.
"What other fun things are there to do in Ponyville." She said a bit over-articulated.

With a little extra effort, Iron Kettle pulled the caravan to the front of the day spa before latching and locking it down. Carefully he pulled himself loose from the harness and shook himself from his head to hooves. Dust and dirt puffed up in all directions, but he still looked pretty grungy from all the traveling. Usually he wasn’t one to randomly walk into a day spa, but since he and his sister lacked a place to freshen up this was the best option. While Teacup spent her time finding a new home for the both of them, Iron Kettle figured it wouldn’t hurt to grab a bath.

The stallion made his way in and was greeted warmly by the receptionist. The place was predominantly full of mares and fillies, which made his cheeks turn a slight pink at the overwhelming amount of them. But this wasn’t the time to be shy.

When the filly asked if she could be of service to him, he shook the embarrassment off his face and replied with his tenor voice, “Um, yes. I just got into town and I just need a basic clean-up.”

The receptionist looked him up and down with both approval and a sympathetic smile at his dirty dilemma before instructing him to follow her. The slate gray stallion did as he was instructed and eventually he was introduced to a hot shower and a rub down to start with. Once the basics were over, he was led to have his hair cut and his hooves polished. It was at this time that he was seated close to two other ponies that were also having services rendered to them as they chatted. It appeared that one of them was a long time resident of Ponyville while the other had just gotten there.

It wasn’t like Iron Kettle to really pry into others’ conversations, but he couldn’t do anything else at the time since two fillies were having a field day cleaning him up. He couldn’t really understand the need to fuss so much over things so simple, but he had to admit that the immense amount of pawing left him quite relaxed.

Eventually he built up enough courage to glance over at Shamrock Spring, “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but…I’m also new to the area. I was wondering if you knew where the local Inn might be?”

"Well of course," ShamrockSpring answered happily. She loved Ponyville and was delighted to share with anyone who asked. "We have plenty of shops and gardens. Sugarcube Corner has some of the best sweets in the area. Whitetail Woods is nice, if you prefer peace and quiet. There's a library too, though I'm not much of a reader myself. Let's see..." She paused, trying to think what else was fun. Almost everything seemed fun to her, so it was hard to narrow it down.

At that moment, a fairly dirty grey pony and ShamrockSpring gave him a wave as he spoke. "No trouble," she assured him with a smile. "It's just down the road on the left. I'm ShamrockSpring, by the way. Welcome to Ponyville!"

There was a more in Ponyville than she had previously thought. Unity decided she should give this place a real chance to be home, she must do it, if not for herself then for her brother. She liked the sound of Whitetail Woods, it sounded like her type of place. She laid there for a moment daydreaming of walking through the Whitetail Woods and all the different plant life she could see.

Just then a grey pony walked in. He obviously was new here just like Unity was. She popped her head up to get a better look at him. She smiled at him and gave a timid nod of acknowledgement. "Yes. Welcome to Ponyville!"

Demsi and Dovah stepped into the spa. Dovah had his daughter's tail in his mouth and was dragging her in. Seledora was obviously not happy about leaving the house and had her eyes clamped shut.
Demsi walked up to the counter and laid several bits down. "Please clean our daughter up. She hasn't bothered to leave the house in a while and needs some pampering." said Demsi.

"I don't need anything other than to go back home." said Seledora, her eyes still shut tight.

Dovah let her tail go and said "You need to loosen up dear," and then whispered to the pony behind the counter, "Don't let her slip away until you've done every thing you can for what we gave you."

Demsi patted her daughter's head and kissed her. "Don't be afraid dear. No pony here is going to hurt you. They just want to help you relax. Can you do that for mommy?" said Demsi, tickling Seledora's nose with her own.

Seledora finally gave in and sat up, opening her light blue eyes. "Yes mama." she said in a sigh.

Demsi followed Dovah outside as the spa ponies began to take care of Seledora. She was looking curiously at the other ponies but never said a word.

"I'd be delighted!" ShamrockSpring agreed readily with Iron Kettle. She liked having tea on nice, clear mornings before a walk in the gardens. A new tea shop sounding lovely! She chuckled a little, pleased by all the new faces. This was turning into quite the day for new ponies to come to the spa. She almost didn't have time to greet them all!

Next to come was a family of unicorns. The poor filly the dragged in with them looked awfully shy, or else just didn't like baths it was hard to tell. Shamrock waved cheerfully as the attendants led her inside. "Why hello there!"