If one were to look upon Rainbow in this one moment, they would deduce, rather accurately, that she was doing her best to keep herself calm. Clad in nothing but the slippers and white towel of the spa, the athlete sat upon the edge of what was, in just a short while, to be the table upon which she would receive her massage. That thought played out in her mind, and she let out steady breaths as a result. Aside from that breathing, the only sound that could be heard right now was that of the nearby wall clock, which, naturally, didn't really help the girl all that much. But her attention soon refocused onto the door of the room, which then swung open to reveal her partner for this session; Flash.

"Sorry for making you wait."

His voice was tinted with nervousness, but was also genuinely apologetic, to which Rainbow gave a nod of acknowledgement. However, it was here when she then took note of his own attire. As was standard for those taking part in spa's treatments, the boy was, like her, wearing nothing but a towel, which was wrapped right around his waist. In spite of how awkward this clearly was for the pair of them, Rainbow couldn't help but give a small snicker.

"Nice outfit."

To this, Flash frowned.

"You're one to talk!"

The girl swept aside some of her hair, maintaining her smirk.

"Hey, let's not split hairs over this, Flash. Because let's be honest, as weird as it is for me to be here, the whole towel look suits me better than you."

Flash opened his mouth to speak, only to halt himself as he looked down at his current appearance. After a moment or two of further silence, he slumped his shoulders, letting out a deep sigh.

"Okay...fair point."

Despite the humour of that one moment though, Flash maintained his sense of apprehension about all of this, walking towards the girl with slower-than-normal movement. Rainbow watched him, giving a slight blush from the knowledge of what was to occur here. But, pride-filled as she was, she turned, trying to prevent Flash from seeing her that way. When he finally arrived at her table though, there was a long and uncomfortable quiet between the two youths, with neither of them really knowing what to say about all of this. In the end, Flash broke that silence, saying perhaps the only thing he could under the circumstances.

"I...I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing here."

Rainbow looked back to him, keeping her smirk, albeit a reduced one.

"Well, if it's any help, they did provided a pamphlet on the general stuff."

Flash's eyes drifted to the side of where she was sitting, finding that, as she'd said, there was indeed a pamphlet with the spa's logo on it. Picking it up, the boy glanced at a few of the images within, scratching his head as he did so.

"Okay...I guess I could do this stuff."

Rainbow nodded.

"In that case...let's just...you know..."

She couldn't get her words out, but Flash already knew what she would have said, and gave her a nod.

"Yeah, I know."

The rainbow-haired girl seemed as unsure of all this as he was, but even so, she started to re-position herself along the table. Lifting her legs onto the thing, she laid belly-down upon it, folding her arms in front of her and resting her head on her now-crossed hands. She tried keeping her body as straight as possible, and it took all her willpower to keep her eyes ahead at the nearby wall.

"Okay, Flash...you can start now."

Naturally, Flash gulped at this, looking his friend over, then glancing back to the pamphlet, before setting the latter to one side for now. He took a step forward, raising both hands and preparing to reach for her shoulders, when he noticed something on the side of the table. A series of hooks, from which tools and other items were currently being hung. Among them was a bottle that was simply labelled "massage oil". Flash stared at this item in particular for a few moments, before hesitantly speaking up to Rainbow.

"I...er...I don't suppose you want some oil in all of this?"

Rainbow looked over her shoulder to him, then looked down to the bottle, as if only now noticing it. She pondered his question for a time, before simply letting out a brief chuckle.

"No offense, Flash...but I think this is gonna be weird enough without that stuff."

Flash sighed, sounding more than a little relieved, and after Rainbow once more assumed her proper lying-down position, he made his first move in all of this. Carefully, he reached over to her exposed shoulders, holding onto them as tenderly as he could. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, as did Rainbow for that matter, before starting to delicately squeeze her muscles. At first, his motions were so light that Rainbow could barely feel them. But as time went on, and he gained slightly more confidence, he applied a bit more pressure to it all. That, at last, actually seemed to do something, as Rainbow let out a relaxed sigh.

"Hmmm...not bad."

The boy smiled, if only because it was gratifying to know that he was doing something right in all of this. The work on her shoulders carried on for a minute or two, before he decided that he'd worked on them long enough, and so started to move further downwards, to the part of her back between the shoulders and the top rim of her towel. The girl blushed at this, but again kept her face hidden as it happened. As before, Flash worked his hands there as best he could, and while clearly new at this technique, he was nevertheless yielding results, as Rainbow let out more than a few further sounds of relaxation.

"Okay...I can kinda see why Rarity enjoys this stuff so much."

Again, Flash smiled, but it was short-lived, for there came a moment when he'd worked on as much as he could before he finally came to something of a roadblock.

"Um...Rainbow?"

The athlete looked over her shoulder again, seeing the nervous look on Flash's face as he started to explain himself.

"Do you...um...want me to start...further down?"

Immediately, she understood what he was asking, and thus gained an expression that was just as nervous as his. A silence fell, and she considered his question long and hard, before eventually coming to her conclusion.

"Roll it back, but...no butt stuff."

Even in spite of the awkwardness of this situation, that had just been such a Rainbow-esque thing to say that Flash couldn't stop himself from giving a small laugh, much to the girl's slight irritation. Even so, she laid down again, waiting as Flash slowly gripped the top rip of her towel with his thumbs and forefingers. Taking another breath, he did as requested, rolling it back bit by bit, until it was as far down as Rainbow would probably have liked. With that deed done, he got back to work, massaging her about as well as he'd been doing until that point. And Rainbow, for her part, was looking more than a little satisfied by all of this, smiling to herself with her eyes closed in a general look of contentment.

"You know...I'll bet Sunset would look forward to this kinda thing if you did it with her."

Flash smiled.

"Well...if that ever happens, I hope I do as well with her as I'm doing with you."

Rainbow chuckled in response, before then getting back to silence as the boy continued to work on her. And Flash did as well as he could, applying pressure in all of the tougher-feeling areas of his friend's back. This took the better part of five minutes before he was satisfied that he'd done everything in that general region. Then, as he'd been asked, he completely bypassed her rear-end, which was probably for the best, given how nervous he continued to appear with this position. Instead, he went to her thighs, and while he started by doing as he'd been doing previously, he halted after just a few moments of trying to massage her there.

"Geez, Rainbow! These things are pretty tense down here!"

A look of pride crossed the girl's face.

"Hey, that's what happens when you do as much sport as me, Flash."

Her bravado earned her an eye-roll from Flash, who got back to his role in spite of it. It had to be said however, that while he was fairly confident in the massage he'd given her so far, her legs were another matter entirely. It was as she'd said, that a lifetime of athletics had given her some pretty well-defined muscles down there, even though they, like the rest of her, were relatively slim. As such, Flash found that he had to put on even more effort into kneading the various tensions he found there. The only signs that he had that he was doing a good job here were the occasional contended sighs that Rainbow would let out, so from that, he just kept on doing what he was doing. This part of her took up more time than her back ever had, but even so, he eventually managed to finish both thighs and lower legs.

"Okay...just one part left."

Rainbow didn't have to guess what that part was, as she felt Flash's hand now underneath her lower-left leg, just starting to gently lift it up while his other hand was placed upon the slipper she wore there. Instantly, her eyes shot open and, to Flash's shock, she bolted upright, with her leg yanked from the boy's hands. Flash looked on with confusion as Rainbow now sat upon the table, both knees held up to her chin, and a fierce red blush upon her cheeks. Her tone was one of both nervousness and, to Flash's surprise, even a touch of embarrassment.

"Oh! You don't need to go that far, Flash! I...er...I think we're pretty done with all that stuff, if it's okay with you!"

Flash raised an eyebrow.

"Are...are you okay, Rainbow?"

The girl nodded frantically, trying her best to put on a look of confidence, and failing utterly.

"Sure! It's just...um...you know...I don't really like..."

She mumbled her final words of that sentence, prompting Flash to looked on with uncertainty.

"Er...pardon?"

Rainbow's blush grew, and she tried avoiding his gaze.

"I just...I don't like people touching me...there."

At first, Flash was utterly bewildered by this kind of behaviour from her. But, in the silence that followed, he looked at her, at the kind of embarrassment that was now plastered all over her face, and after almost a full minute of this, he began to look to her with realisation. He gave a small but genuine smile, nodding his head and speaking to her in that calm and friendly way of his.

"It's okay, Rainbow. We don't have to go forward with that if you don't want to."

Rainbow looked to him, her face lighting up slightly from his words.

"You...you mean it?"

Flash nodded again.

"Sure. I mean, if you were ticklish, you only had to come out and say it."

Rainbow, in stark contrast to her earlier nervousness, let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I just figured it'd sound weir..."

Her smile faded, and she turned to look upon Flash with a fairly blank expression.

"Er...what?"

Flash's own smile faded, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he began to explain himself.

"I said it's okay, and we don't have to..."

But he was halted when Rainbow held up her hand.

"No! I mean the other thing you said! About being ticklish?"

Flash shrugged his shoulders to this, but then regained his earlier look of confusion.

"Sure. I mean...isn't that the problem?"

Rainbow continued to stare at him blankly for a while, before slowly morphing into a look that suggested she'd been insulted.

"I...am not...ticklish!"

Flash took a step backwards.

"Look, Rainbow, I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just...I thought that's why..."

But again, she interrupted him.

"Well, you thought wrong, okay!"

Flash nodded, raising his hands in a defensive manner.

"Okay! I'm sorry!"

However, it seemed as if this was not enough to sate the girl at this point.

"No! You know what?!"

To Flash's surprise, he watched as Rainbow reached forward, yanked off one of her slippers and threw it to one side. She then lifted her leg, with her now-bare foot barely an inch from the boy's face. And while Rainbow maintained her angry look, it was nevertheless sharing space with a new blush upon her cheeks.

"I'm Rainbow friggin Dash! And I'm gonna prove to you that I'm not...not...that!"

Taken aback by all this, Flash stumbled for a bit on what to say.

"I...you don't need to prove anything!"

But Rainbow shook her head.

"Nope! Too late! You've called down the thunder on this one, Flash! Now get to work!"

Flash opened his mouth to speak, only to be struck with the knowledge that, in this situation, he had no idea whatsoever on what to actually SAY. Realising this, Rainbow frowned further.

"I mean it! Massage, tickle, fondle, whatever! Just...just do it already!"

The boy continued to be dismayed at all of this, but his flabbergasted expression was soon brought to an abrupt end when, for just a brief moment, his eyes flickered downward. Immediately, a fierce blush of his own now crept upon his face, and he turned his head to the left, raising his right hand and shielding his eyes further from his friend.

"Um...Rainbow?"

But Rainbow merely cackled to this.

"What? You getting shy all of a sudden?"

Flash shook his head.

"No...it's just...with your leg up like that, I...I almost saw...well...down your..."

At first, Rainbow had no idea what he was talking about. But realisation soon came to her, and her eyes darted downwards to the bottom rim of her towel. With her leg up in the position that it was, she now understood Flash's concern, and immediately brought her leg back down. She forced her knees together as hard as she could and looking to him with both anger and embarrassment.

"Wha...what did you see?!"

Flash looked back to her, shaking his head frantically.

"Nothing!"

But again, Rainbow glared at him.

"WHAT DID YOU SEE?!"

"NOTHING, I SWEAR!!!" Flash replied.

Both of them were panting from this awkward and stressful moment, their eyes never leaving the other. After a good few minutes of this discomfort, Rainbow slapped her forehead, letting out a long exhale, before turning slightly and sitting on the table in a more normal fashion, with her legs dangling over the side again.

"Ugh! This...this whole thing has been a disaster!"

Flash's own mood began to relax a little, and after a moment's hesitation, he walked beside the girl, sitting right next to her. There were a another few minutes where nobody said anything, until finally, Flash looked to her again.

"If it's any consolation...I'm feeling pretty embarrassed about all this too."

Rainbow turned to him, raising an eyebrow, which prompted him to continue.

"Okay...I guess it wasn't much consolation then."

In spite of the embarrassing occurrence from before, Rainbow couldn't help but laugh a little. Flash seemed surprised by this, but in time, he started letting out a chuckle of his own. The mood lightened further as their laughter not only carried on, but also grew louder, and eventually, the two youths were letting the absurdity of the moment simply wash over them.

"This...this was just ridiculous, wasn't it?" Rainbow asked.

Flash nodded.

"Yeah...pretty much."

A small smile crept onto Rainbow's face.

"I never thought things between you and me would get this...weird."

The way she'd said that caught Flash's interest. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but there was nevertheless something in her tone that suggested something beyond just finding humour in their situation. When he looked to her, he saw something in her eyes. It was just the tiniest flicker, but even so, he recognised it; disappointment. This sent the boy's mind into a conundrum. What could she be disappointed about? How badly the treatment had gone? That couldn't be it, given how little she'd have wanted to be here in the first place. And then, a new thought came to him. One he, at first, dismissed. But as he continued to look at her, that thought grew and grew, until he simply came out and said it.

"Rainbow...can I ask you something?"

"Er...sure?" she replied.

Flash took a deep breath, then looked her right in the eye.

"...Do you like me?"

Rainbow instantly coughed, in the same manner one would when told shocking news while drinking something. However, in this particular instance, there was nothing to drink, and yet she still somehow managed it. Looking to him, at the honest look he was giving her, she knew this was no jest on his part. It was a genuine question, which naturally led to her stumbling for a bit, before finally forcing a chuckle.

"Of...of course I like ya, Flash, old buddy old pal!"

To emphasise her point, she gave a playful punch to the boy's arm, continuing to force her smile. But Flash was un-amused by this, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"No, Rainbow. Do you...like me?"

This time, there was no getting around it. Flash looked at Rainbow in that way that let her know that he was going to know if she gave a false answer. Her blush returned, and while she occasionally opened her mouth to give some sort of cover response, in the end, she simply let out a sigh. Her shoulders slumped, and after a few moments, she worked up the courage to look to him again.

"Well...I mean...I kinda...yeah."

The boy never let his eyes stray from her.

"How long?"

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.

"Around when Twilight did that whole spying thing on you."

Flash stared at her for a time, before letting out a sigh, his expression softening.

"...There was never any contest, was there?"

Rainbow looked down at the ground, a look of guilt upon her face, and slowly shook her head. Flash sighed again, staring at the ground himself.

"...I see."

Rainbow looked back up to him.

"How did you figure it out?"

Looking back to her, the boy smirked slightly.

"No offense, Rainbow, but...it was a pretty convoluted setup."

Considering that, Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah...good point."

After another pause, she spoke to him again.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

But Flash interrupted her.

"No, it's...it's fine."

He looked to her with a degree of sympathy.

"If anything...I'm actually flattered you think of me that way. But...I would hope you know why it'd be a little...inappropriate."

Rainbow nodded.

"Right...Sunset."

Flash nodded back.

"Don't feel too bad. It's not the first time another girl has had those kinds of thoughts about me while I was dating Sunset. Remember Lemon?"

Rainbow snorted out some laughter.

"Who could forget?"

But her smile vanished once more, as she looked to him with more than a little shame in her eyes.

"And...look, about everything else..."

Flash halted her.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It was a little...odd...but I'm not upset."

Rainbow seemed taken aback by this.

"S...seriously?"

Flash then looked back up to her.

"Kind of. I mean, it's a surprise, going through all this, but I'm not angry. As for what we did together today, well...as long as Sunset was okay with it, which she was, I wasn't against helping you out here. In fact..."

He frowned slightly.

"...the only thing I'm actually upset about is that you lied to me."

Rainbow hung her head again.

"I'm really sorry about that, Flash."

The boy nodded.

"I know you are. I just...wish you could've come to me straight about this. You know I don't like things being kept from me like that, Rainbow."

For a moment, further guilt crossed Rainbow's face, but she stayed silent, as did Flash. After a while, the boy let out another sigh, ending in a surprising chuckle.

"You know...if nothing else...we can definitely say that today was a memorable one."

In spite of her prior guilt, Rainbow joined in on the laughter once more.

"No argument here."

Flash looked back to her.

"Don't worry. I won't tell Sunset what really happened here."

Rainbow hid her face again, and once more, Flash was unable to see the look of guilt she bore. But she didn't get the chance to say anything further on the matter, as Flash sat upright before speaking up again.

"Well...if it's all the same to you, I think we've both had enough of this place today."

The girl let out another laugh.

"Yeah...I'll say."

And with that, the two of them started to stand up and off the table. Unfortunately, however, as they did so, the bottom rim of their towels became accidentally snagged onto the rings meant for hanging tools off the table. As such, when they stood up, the motion caused both of those towels to be suddenly yanked off the pair of them. The instant that happened, Flash slapped his hand over his eyes.

"Argh! I'm sorry!"

He couldn't see her, but he heard her and her equally-apologetic voice.

"I'm sorry too!"

The boy knelt down, fumbling around for his towel, which he was thankfully able to find shortly afterwards. In a haste, he wrapped it around himself, before finally speaking up yet again.

"Are you covered too?"

"Yep," she answered.

Sighing, Flash removed his hand, and saw that Rainbow had indeed wrapped her towel around herself once more.

"That was...unfortunate," Flash remarked.

Rainbow gave one of her usual cackles.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Flash offered her a small smile.

"Still...at least we were fast enough to cover our eyes."

She looked to him with confusion.

"Cover our...?"

Then realisation crossed her face.

"Oh! Right! Sure! I mean, of course we both covered our eyes! Hehe..."

A pause was felt between them, and when it ended, Rainbow cleared her throat in a nervous manner.

"So...I think we were leaving?"

As the door of the spa creaked open, both Flash and Rainbow, now fully clothed, stepped out of it. The air had become coddler since they first entered, and they thus saw their breath as they exhaled. Slowly, they turned to one another, and while there was an awkward silence at first, it soon changed into a genuine smile between them.

"You know...we could always just forget that this afternoon ever happened," Flash suggested.

Rainbow chuckled.

"That's probably the smartest thing either of us has said today," she replied.

They laughed to themselves over the ridiculousness that had gone on between them, which ended when Flash gave the girl a pat on the shoulder. Rainbow smiled in appreciation, before then standing by as she watched him make his way down the street. She stayed and waited just long enough for him to finally be out of sight, before her smile faded, and she turned around.

"Okay...he's gone."

After a few moments, Rainbow saw her friend, Sunset, emerge from just around the corner, wearing a curious expression.

"How'd it go?"

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.

"Took a few weird turns, and yeah, it was about as embarrassing as you could expect...but yeah, it went like we thought."

Sunset chuckled.

"Yeah...I figured it would be. But thanks for keeping him in there as long as he was."

Rainbow's smile disappeared, and she seemed a touch nervous.

"Sunset, I...I think we need to stop this."

The former unicorn looked to her with confusion, prompting Rainbow to explain herself.

"Seriously, I think the guy's starting to suspect. Any more of this and he's gonna catch on."

After taking that in, Sunset sighed.

"Yeah...I figured we could only go so far before that happened."

Rainbow looked to her with concern.

"So...what's the plan?"

Looking back to her, Sunset's expression was a serious one.

"Simple. We get the girls."

Turning., Sunset gazed down the street Flash had just walked.

"...It's time to tell him."