twilightpony | Groom Room Graduates

At long last, that's about it for the spring molt. To celebrate, all seven of us went for an end of molt spa trip. To be sure we could get in, Rarity had made our reservations in advance. Ponyville is full of itchy, molting ponies yearning for a mud bath, seaweed wrap, a sauna sweat and generally to not look and feel so ratty.

Our appointment was in the early afternoon. We waited our turn in the crowded lobby. There were dust bunnies made of pony hair lurking under the chairs and tables. Rainbow Dash was uneasy at the prospect at getting brushed by the spa ponies, but the promise of sweating in the sauna and soaking in the fragrant hot tub was just too alluring. During spring molt, all the spa customers get brushed and brushed hard. Otherwise the spa would have to shut down half the soaks. Who wants to wallow in mud that is full of shed hair?

Finally Lotus stuck her head through the window of the booth in the lobby and called for 'Rarity Unicorn, party of seven'. That was us! We were ushered into a bare room where a team of ponies stored our things in a chest (Applejack and Rarity's hats, my saddle bag of books, Pinkie's various party supplies) and brushed us all down. Rainbow Dash brushed her own fetlocks and belly. Nothing was left unbrushed. They even brushed out the inside of our ears. It was hard to keep still for that! There was a lot of giggling. Getting scoured with all your friends makes it easier to tolerate.

At last they let us out of the brushing room and into the spa! Aloe took our orders. Rarity thought she looked a little tired. Aloe said it's always tough when everypony is molting heavily. Rainbow Dash made a bee line for the sauna, Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer decided on a seaweed wrap, and the rest of us decided to start with a massage and a hooficure.

We all ended up in the hot tub together, except for Starlight Glimmer. She decided that, to go with her new life, it was time to change her mane style. It had been in a tight, no-nonsense roll, but now it's more like a loose scroll. I wonder if she'll keep this new look. I think it looks good.

After the spa we went to have tea and cookies at Sugar Cube Corner. Rarity told us she'd made three dozen felted pony doll bodies so far. She'd resorted to dyeing some of the felt during the process to get a wider range of colors. But she needed hair for manes and tails, so after tea we went over to her boutique where she collected lengths of our freshly washed manes and tails. Rarity reopens her boutique tomorrow.