With the day nearly over, the streets of Canterlot were becoming more and more vacant, as everyone, student or otherwise, was beginning to make their way back to their homes, ready to rest and relax after whatever they’d been doing. In one place, however, there was one person who seemed more than a little excited. Pinkie Pie, who was currently standing outside the entrance to the town’s local spa. Standing in one spot, she was practically bouncing up and down over how eager she was for this. But, she was not alone here, as both Twilight and Adagio were close by. In an almost uniform manner, both of the other girls were wearing standard disguises, fedora hats and trenchcoats, always looking around to make sure nobody but Pinkie spotted them. In this moment, Twilight spoke quietly to her friend.

“Okay, Pinkie. You know what to do, right?”

The other girl nodded.

“Sure do, Twilight!”

Stepping forward, Adagio bore a look of utter seriousness.

“Remember everything we said about this, okay?”

Pinkie nodded again, giving a little salute as she did so. Had things been easier for them, Twilight and Adagio might have continued on, just to make sure Pinkie knew exactly what was expected of her. But, they hadn’t the chance, as they both immediately took on looks of shock. For there, walking down the street, was none other than Flash. Moving as fast as they could, both girls darted behind the building, hoping that the boy had not noticed them. Their worries proved unfounded however, as Flash’s attention seemed to be entirely on Pinkie, whom he waved to with a smile. Pinkie waved back with an even bigger smile, and as Flash finally reached her, he was the first to speak between them.

“I got your message, Pinkie. What’s up?”

Giggling, Pinkie clasped her hands together before giving an answer.

“I have some super amazing wonderful news, Flash!”

Chuckling slightly at the girl’s behaviour, Flash spoke up again.

“Okay, what is it?”

Turning, Pinkie gestured to the spa beside her.

“I know how we can get your Mom an awesome full treatment spa day for her Birthday!”

At first, Flash seemed taken aback by this news, but after a while, that turned to curiosity.

“How did you know it’s my Mom’s Birthday coming up? And…how do you know she likes spa trips?”

To that, Pinkie rolled her eyes and snorted a little.

“Please! I’m Pinkie! Knowing Birthdays and what makes people happy is kinda my thing!”

Thinking on that, Flash shrugged his shoulders, after which he broke out into a smile.

“Okay, guess that makes sense. And you’re right of course, Mom does love that kinda stuff. So, what do we need to do to get it for her?”

Looking to the boy, Pinkie smiled even wider.

“Already taken care of, Flashy! They’ve got this special deal going on so that, if someone buys a spa activity for two people, rather than just themselves, they get this ticket for another full treatment day for someone else absolutely free!”

Hearing that, Flash scratched his head.

“That…doesn’t sound like it’d be good for their profits.”

Again, Pinkie giggled.

“Silly! I never said the deal was special for them!”

Flash paused for a moment.

“That makes sense…I guess.”

Shaking his head, he sighed a little before speaking up again

“Okay, so who are you going to the spa with?”

Looking to him, Pinkie clasped her hands behind her back, smiling sweetly at him with her eyes half-lidded. It took a while, a few minutes at least, but eventually, Flash began to understand, as evidenced by the widening of his eyes.

“Oh no! I’m sure there are plenty of other friends you’ve got who could go with you instead!”

Another giggle emerged from Pinkie before she responded to that.

“Well duh! But they’re all busy today, and besides, if the gift is for your Mom, it makes sense that you be a part of this too, right?”

Thinking on that, Flash’s expression was one of both concern and confusion, as he took a moment to scratch his head a little.

“Well…erm…I guess…”

But, before he finished, he found himself being grabbed on his arm by Pinkie.

“Great! Let’s go!”

And with that, Flash was now at Pinkie’s mercy, being dragged with full force into the spa. Although he was very much taken aback by this, the boy was thankfully given a chance to compose himself when Pinkie finally let him go when they entered the place in earnest. As expected of a place like this, it was filled with pristine whiteness, with a single attendant, Aloe, at the front desk. As Flash looked the place over, Pinkie rushed over to the desk.

“I’m here for the four O’clock, please!”

Looking at a list on her desk, Aloe broke out into a small smile.

“Ah, yes. Welcome! Feel free to proceed with your handsome gentleman friend over to the changing rooms.”

Pinkie nodded frantically at that, turning to Flash with a smile as she started walking to that very place.

“Come on, Flash! We’ve got spa stuff to do!”

Flash, seeing this exuberance, sighed slightly, but nevertheless found himself chuckling at it all. Following her, he entered a long corridor, littered on either side with what appeared to be personal cubicles, the aforementioned changing rooms. Pinkie, as one would expect of her, had already darted into one, slamming the door behind her. As for Flash, he chose a nearby one, making sure the door was securely locked before turning to see his spa outfit. Unfortunately for him, all he saw there was a simple white towel, hanging off the wall. He looked around, perhaps expecting to see something else just out of sight, but there was no such luck. Looking at the towel, a slight grimace crossed his face before, eventually, he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.”

And with that, he started to undress, making especially sure to make it so that his trademark leather jacket was particularly well kept as he placed it to one side. With everything else off him, he took the towel and, having no other option, wrapped it around his waist, making sure his personal area was properly covered.

“I could have sworn spas are meant to provide more than this.”

But, with little else to do, he sighed again before heading out of the cubicle, and it was here that he caught sight of Pinkie, who was standing and waiting for him.

“Hey there, Flashy! Ready to do spa stuff?”

Like him, the girl only had a towel to wear, again white in appearance, which she’d wrapped snugly around her middle. Now, being the kind of guy Flash was, he turned, if only to avoid looking like he was staring at her.

“Oh, er…sure? I mean, what do we even do here?”

Giggling again, Pinkie reached down into the top of her towel before pulling out a sheet of paper.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to choose! But, we can only pick one, okay?”

Turning to her, Flash took the paper, seeing the list of the spas available treatments written all over it. After reading it for a moment, he looked up to Pinkie again.

“May I ask what you're doing?”

Pinkie clapped her hands together as she responded.

“Oooh! I’ve picked the massage! It’ll be soooooo good!”

Raising an eyebrow at that, Flash looked down to the paper again.

“Alright, in that case, I’ll…I’ll go for the hot tub.”

Unbeknownst to him, Pinkie looked away with a smirk on her face.

“Heh, I knew you’d pick that.”

Looking up to her, Flash’s expression was one of confusion.

“Pardon?”

Pinkie turned to him again.

“Nothing! You just go and have a nice time, okay, Flashy? We’ll meet back here after we’re both done, alright?”

Flash opened his mouth to speak, only to be prevented from saying anything when Pinkie, as usual, darted off in a cloud of smoke. Now alone in this place, Flash stood there with some uncertainty before letting out a sigh, after which he raised a hand and rubbed his temples a little.

“How do I get myself in these situations?”

When that was done, he exhaled deeply before making his way down the hall. Room after room he looked in, and in each, he kept finding the wrong stuff. But, luckily for him, he eventually happened upon the right room, and within he found the expected hot tubs. There were about three in total, and while all were bubbling away, none of them were in use, which frankly suited Flash just fine. Breaking out into a small smile, the youth closed the door behind him, making his way over to the nearest tub. Once by the side, he looked around to make sure he was alone, after which he took a deep breath before removing his towel, placing it on the side before carefully slipping into the tub. The feel of the water was odd at first, but after a while, he found himself feeling more and more relaxed, as evidenced by the look on his face. After a while, he let out contented sigh, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the side of the tub.

“Ah…now this is relaxing!”

“I'll say it is!”

Flash’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately saw that, as he’d already figured out, Pinkie was sitting opposite him on the other side of the tub, water right up to the top of her chest, with her smiling sweetly at him. Needless to say, the boy was more than a little shocked by this.

“Gah! I…I…Pinkie?! What are you doing here?!”

To that, Pinkie shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, I got halfway down the hall when I figured, you know what, I can have a massage any day of the week. But I haven’t been in a hot tub in years! So I thought I’d come down here and join you!”

As one would expect, Flash had crossed his legs during this, hoping very much that his friend’s eyes wouldn’t be wandering downwards anytime soon, even if the bubbling water did make it nigh-impossible to see such thigns. However, as he dwelt on this, a new and concerning thought came to him, especially after he noticed Pinkie’s own towel discarded on the side.

“Erm…Pinkie? I don’t suppose you’re…you know…wearing a swimsuit or something under there, are you?”

To that, Pinkie shook her head, maintaining her smile the whole time.

“Nope! Au naturel is the only way to enjoy a hot tub, silly!”

With every moment that passed, Flash found more and more colour draining from his face. But, as time went on, he stayed silent, watching as Pinkie just sat there, smiling at him from the other side. He hoped in his heart that things would stay this way, and so he looked away from her, desperately trying to avoid letting himself stare at her when she was like this. Unfortunately for him, taking his eyes off her was the absolute last thing he should have done, as moments later, he felt a warmth beside him. Turning, he found, to his dismay, that Pinkie had scooted all the way around the tub, so she was now sitting right beside him, to the point where her thigh was pressing against his own. Staring at her with shock, he opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut to the chase when Pinkie spoke up herself.

“The water wasn’t really that warm for me over there, so I figured, how about I come over here to you?”

Flash darted his head away, now feeling quite a bit warmer himself.

“Um…Pinkie? You don’t perhaps see anything wrong with what’s going on here, do you?”

To that, Pinkie shook her head once more.

“Don’t be silly, silly! We’re just friends here! Just a boy friend and a girl friend, sitting together naked in a hot tub while barely an inch from each other. There’s nothing inappropriate about that!”

Turning, Flash raised an eyebrow.

“I…I’m not sure if I agree with you.”

Looking to him, Pinkie gained a look that Flash, to his utter shock, recognised immediately as sultriness.

“Oh? You want us to be closer?”

Flash’s eyes widened as big as dinner plates as he shook his head frantically.

“Nope! I…I think we’ll just stay here as we are, if…if that’s okay with you.”

Pinkie smiled as normal, nodding to the boy before looking away from him. Flash, as before, stayed utterly quiet, now finding that the event which was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon had somehow turned into one of the most stress-inducing moments of his life thus far. As for Pinkie, she didn’t make it easy for him, always doing little things that would have turned his blood red hot. A few seconds of accidentally brushing her foot against his. Stretching out to a point where her uncovered chest might rise above the water. Occasionally letting out contented moans that sounded like something else entirely. As for Flash, his restraint was truly bordering on sainthood at this point, as he simply resigned himself to counting the seconds as they passed on the nearby clock. But, eventually, his salvation came, as there was a loud “ding” soon heard at the end of it all.

“It’s over!” he exclaimed.

But, he soon tempered himself as he cleared his throat.

“Oh! I mean…oh no! It’s over!”

Turning to him, Pinkie retained that sweet smile of hers, apparently ignoring the false excitement he’d just given out.

“Thanks for joining me with this, Flash. I had a really fun time.”

Flash turned to say the same, only to be struck with the realisation that Pinkie was hoisting herself out of the water. Immediately, he turned, covering his eyes as she left the tub and reached for her towel.

“Er, yeah! Me too.”

After a few moments, Pinkie, now covered, looked to the boy.

“You coming?”

Flash shook his head, still nervously smiling as he did so.

“I’ll…I’ll catch up, okay?”

Pinkie nodded at that before turning around and making her way out of the room. Only when she was gone did Flash finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Mom…I hope you appreciate this.”

As for Pinkie, she made her way along the hall, but, after a while, stopped completely. After checking around herself, she walked over to a nearby window, opening it up to find Twilight and Adagio on the other side.

“Well?” Twilight asked.

To that, Pinkie shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah…he ain’t budging.”

Looking to Adagio, Twilight’s expression was one of triumph.

“Ha!”

Rolling her eyes, Adagio sighed.

“Okay, fine! So he’s a regular Sir Galahad! There’s no need to feel smug about it.”

Still smirking, Twilight turned to Pinkie.

“So…where is Flash.”

Thinking on that, Pinkie gained a smirk of her own.

“Oh, I think he’s just making sure he’s not “standing-at-attention” before leaving.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, showing clear confusion. Seeing this, Adagio afforded herself a brief chuckle.

“Ask your parents, princess.”