Calm, soothing music drifted lazily through Aloe and Lotus' spa. The fruity aroma of dozens of creams, moisturizers and gels hung in the humid air like fog. The floor was laid out in smooth blue tiles. Mirrors, spiraling columns and healthy green ferns lined the purple walls. A puff of steam billowed into the room as somepony stepped out of the wood-lined sauna. The coolness of the massage table beneath Rarity's face contrasted nicely with the muggy, warm air around her.

“Mm, a little lower on the shoulder, darling,” she said. Lotus' blue hooves circled lower in response. “Ahh, yes, right there.” Across from her, Aloe gave a gentler version of the same treatment to Fluttershy.

Rarity's spa date with her yellow friend was always one of her favorite parts of the week. It was not always exclusively with Fluttershy—Twilight came with them once in awhile, and from time to time Pinkie Pie would tag along, though they could never get Applejack or Rainbow Dash to join them—but the two of them attended more regularly than any of their friends. It gave the both of them time to relax and let go of the stress of their week, and catch up on one another's lives.

The white unicorn let a soft moan escape her lips as the tension was worked out of her muscles. She had missed last week's session because of a large order at her boutique and she intended to relax twice as hard this week to make up for it.

In her intensified state of relaxation, Rarity was unlikely to notice the expensive-looking green bottle labeled ‘Pom de Belle’ resting on the top shelf just outside the sauna room. Even if she had not been distracted, such an item was hardly unexpected in a place like the spa. Rarity also paid no heed to the spa patron who had just stepped out of the sauna. Other patrons were another thing that warranted no concern for her. She made minor note of the young pegasus that the spa sisters had hired to keep the place tidy as they worked, but the filly was nothing to make a fuss about as she hovered around, dusting the shelves.

Flying was not a perfect art. Even the best fliers among the Wonderbolts were subject to little cross breezes and pockets of warm air from time to time. As a rush of warm, damp air escaped from the open door to the sauna, the young pegasus bobbed momentarily in her flight. Her left wing overcompensated, clipping the bottle of Pom de Belle with the end of a feather. The container wobbled and spun, tipping in an arc like a ballet dancer before finally dropping off the edge of the shelf.

A creamy yellow earth pony mare, having just stepped out of the sauna feeling quite refreshed, had absolutely no reason to expect a bottle of rejuvenating cream to suddenly drop from the air and land on the freshly waxed tiles in front of her.

Rarity heard some kind of commotion. She looked up to see a creamy yellow earth pony mare sliding towards her across the tile floor on a bottle that, if she had the time to read labels in that moment, contained a rejuvenating cream called Pom de Belle. Rarity did not, unfortunately, have time to read labels. She might have had time to blink, but she had been in the middle of a very good massage and the muscles in her eyelids were a bit slow as a result.

There was a terrific crash. The mare from the sauna got a face full of massage table. Rarity got a face full of Pom de Belle. Lotus, surprisingly, had managed to evade the collision entirely.

“Oh my goodness! Are you all right, Miss Rarity?” Lotus asked. Her sister went to help the other patron.

Rarity’s hooves went to her face. “I—ow, I think I got some in my eyes!”

The blue spa pony picked up the now empty bottle. “Oh dear. Don’t worry, it is non-toxic... I think.” she muttered the last part under her breath. “Here, let’s rinse that off your face.” A warm damp towel wiped the ointment away. “There. Is that better?”

Rarity blinked, feeling her cheeks with her hooves. “Yes, yes that is much better. Thank you.”

Lotus breathed a sigh of relief. “As an apology, we would like to make the mud bath free of charge for you today. If you would step this way, please?”

As they always did during their weekly spa dates, Rarity and Fluttershy spent their time laughing and chatting from beneath their mud-masks. Rarity told her friend about the photo-shoot she had coming up later in the week. Fluttershy shrank a bit at the prospect of more cameras until the unicorn assured her she would not be doing any of the modeling. The yellow pegasus shared some stories about the antics of her animal friends. Rarity found it amusing when she heard about the duckling that had found its way into the chicken coop and began strutting around and trying to cluck.

Before long, their spa time was over. Rarity felt the cool cucumber slices lift from her eyes.

“There. Now, how do you feel?” Lotus' softly accented voice asked her.

Rarity smiled. “Marvelous, as always. You two do fabulous work.” Fluttershy made a quiet noise of agreement.

The unicorn felt the cool tiles of the floor beneath her hooves as she made her way to the shower to get cleaned off. She missed the knob the first time she tried to turn the water on. “Oops, how clumsy of me,” she chuckled. A second try rewarded her with a warm jet of water. The shower cleared all the mud from her coat, leaving her with a tingling fresh sensation all over. It took Rarity another couple of tries to turn the shower faucet back off again.

Once all dried off and back in the lobby, the refreshed mare dug through her bit purse. After pausing a few moments in hesitation, she levitated a few bits out of it and onto the counter.

“M-Miss Rarity,” Aloe stammered, “this is too much!”

“Keep the change, I insist,” Rarity replied, shrugging her saddlebag onto her back. “You deserve every bit.” The unicorn turned toward the door. “Fluttershy, my dear? Could you do me a favor and walk me back to my Boutique? I'm afraid I may have gotten a little too relaxed and may be unsteady on my hooves.”

She felt a soft wing stabilize her. “Of course,” came the sweet voice of her friend. “Thank you, Aloe. Thank you, Lotus. We'll see you next week.”

Birds tittered cheerful songs in the trees on the way back. The heat of the summer sun was interrupted only by the occasional cool breeze. The cobblestones echoed with a crisp ‘thok, thok, thok’ as the ponies’ hooves struck.

“Are you all right, Rarity?” asked Fluttershy. “You look...pale.”

Rarity laughed. “Darling, in case you haven't noticed, my coat is white. Pale is normal for me. Why, it would be cause for concern if I wasn't pale!”

“I suppose...” the pegasus said quietly. “But back at the spa, you gave them a hundred-bit coin. I know that you're generous, but...”

“That was a hundr-” Rarity coughed loudly. “I mean, yes, of course. Those girls work so hard to provide us with a nice, relaxing time every week, they deserve a little something extra.” She felt the wing at her back pause. “Um, Fluttershy dear, why are we stopping?”

“Rarity,” her friend said with some concern in her voice, “we're here.”

Rarity's welcome mat bristled beneath her hooves. “Ah! So we are. Thank you so much, my darling.” The unicorn pushed her door open and stepped inside. “I'll see you again soon!”

“Are you sure you're all right?”

The designer grinned as she stood in her doorway. “It's nothing that a short nap won't fix.” She began closing the door behind her. “Have a good day, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy's voice came from behind the door. “Oh, okay. Goodbye, Rarity.”

Rarity took a deep breath of the cool air inside her boutique. There would not be any customers, since she always closed her shop when she left for her spa dates. But there was always a chance her little sister may have dropped in after school. “Sweetie Belle?” she called. “Are you around?”

No answer.

The unicorn let the rest of her breath out. She took a few careful steps into the interior. She nearly stumbled as her hooves bumped against one of her plump sitting cushions. It took her a minute to reach her hardwood sewing desk with its lamp that had allowed her to keep working at her projects well into the night. Rarity moved her face up close to the bulb. She brought her hoof up and pressed the switch.

Click. Nothing. She felt faint heat against her muzzle, but she saw no light.

Click. Nothing.

A terrible knot formed in the mare's stomach as she waved a hoof in front of her own eyes. Nothing.

Rarity was blind.

* * *

“No, no, no, no, no! I'm ruined! Ruined!” Rarity cried. She would have dragged her red divan out to sprawl dramatically over, but, being unable to see, she could not find it. Blindness limited most of her options at theatrics, in fact. She could not wrap herself in a black cloak, as she could not tell black from bright pink. Curling up on her bed and sobbing was still an option, if she could navigate the stairs up to her bedroom.

Pull yourself together, Rarity! she admonished herself. Surely this is only temporary. Aloe and Lotus would never stock something so dangerous that it could permanently blind a pony... would they?

Rarity nearly jumped out of her own coat as a hoof rapped against her front door. “...Who is it?” she called hesitantly.

A young stallion's voice came from the other side. “Miss Rarity? I'm from Snap Shot's studio.”

The photo-shoot! If the white unicorn had had any color in her face, it would have all drained out. If word starts spreading around the industry that I can't see, my fashion designs will be worthless! Who would want to wear something designed by somepony who can't even see? Rarity disguised her panic with an airy laugh. “Oh, of course! We are still on for Friday, are we not?”

“Can I come in? It feels a bit awkward talking to a door...”

“No!” Rarity shouted. “I mean, uh, it's such a dreadful mess in here. Scissors, fabric everywhere!” She waved her hooves, doing her best to knock everything within her reach onto the floor.

The voice from the door chuckled. “After Mr. Shot's studio, I don't think it's possible for messes to bother me.” A faint whine from the brass hinges told Rarity that the door was swinging open.

In desperation, she grabbed the first piece of fabric her hooves felt, wrapping it around her head like a turban. She could not let him see her eyes.

“This could hardly be called a mess... Miss Rarity? Why do you have-”

“It's part of the creative process, dear,” Rarity said, her voice only slightly muffled by the fabric around her face. “I must get in touch with the materials I use. The texture, the smell... I must become one with the fabric.” Her impromptu garment felt smooth and stretchy. She hoped she was not 'becoming one' with that hideous bolt of neon green knit rayon. Celestia only knew why she still kept that awful thing in her store.

The stallion coughed lightly. “Ahem. Well, you look busy, so I won't take up too much of your time. Snap Shot sends his most profuse apologies, but he will not be able to make it to the shoot this week. Family emergency.”

It was only half an act when Rarity feigned disappointment in her voice. While she was currently in no state to hold a photo-shoot, she had been looking forward to it all week. “So, it's canceled, then?”

She could hear pride beaming in the assistant's voice. “No, the shoot is still on,” he said. “Mr. Shot pulled some strings, and got an old colleague of his to agree to come in his place. I understand you have worked with Photo Finish before?”

Lacking any color to drain from her face, Rarity was certain she was now draining the color right out of the fabric on her head. “Y-yes, I have.”

Hooves clapped crisply on her floor. “Excellent! Well, I'll let you get back to your, uh, creative process. Just wanted to give you a heads-up. See you Friday!”

The unicorn waved a hoof as she heard her door open and shut. “See you...”