Crystal Empire, Equestria
Giovenith wrote:The employee stayed behind. "I have also been instructed to guide the rest of you to whatever treatment or feature you'd like. Remember, all expenses paid."
"Warm up a hot tub, please," Amanda said, rising from her seat. She disappeared into the Belas' room.
Sandy turned to Domenica as he stood up as well. "Thalia is the Muse of Comedy, a minor Olympian goddess. I spoke to Her and one of Her sisters either a few years ago or twenty-one hundred years ago, depending on your point of view." A smile flickered across his face. "But you'll have to join us in a hot tub to, uh, discover Amanda's opinion on slavery."
"And if you'll excuse me, I need to change clothes." He also entered the Belas' room, and pulled the door closed behind him.
Amanda returned, wearing a red tankini. Much of her exposed skin was marked by small scars, and there was a birthmark-like blotch covering most of her left leg. She looked at Giovenith and Domenica with a smile. "You're welcome to join us."
Sandy joined her a moment later, wearing only a tiny, barely-decent black speedo. "I'm sure the Equestrians can fix you up with a bathing suit." He glanced toward the spa's guide, who hastily nodded, causing Sandy to nod in reply. ...even if Cadance needs to conjure them herself.
As the two of them left with the spa pony, it became apparent that Sandy was rather the worse for wear. An inch-wide pucker scar on his lower right, just below the ribs, was matched by a ragged, tea-saucer sized scar on his lower right back. There was a birthmark-like area colored like the one on Amanda's leg covering most of the left side of his torso, with a keyhole-shaped area of normal skin in the middle, and he also had a long scar on his upper right arm. None of this seemed to bother him in the slightest.
Hot Tub
The hot tubs were tucked away in a corner of the spa's pocket park, secluded from the park's other amenities and lightly screened from each other by bushes. Only one was in use, and the Belas followed the guide to another, much larger than the others and clearly recently made: a huge barrel, easily seating six or eight humans, made of new wood with shiny metal bands.
Amanda started to dip her hand in the water to check the temperature, but Sandy stopped her with, "No need. It's hot enough. They must have a... staff unicorn sorcerer." She climbed the short staircase to the top and settled in. She let herself float down until just her head was above the water, and leaned back to rest it on the tub's rim, closing her eyes, and relaxing as she did so.
Sandy climbed in beside her, stretching his arms out so that one was loosely around Amanda; he played with her curls while he let the water loosen his muscles.
For a while, they switched between sitting in silence, making small talk, and idly snuggling. Finally, Amanda propped herself up against the hot tub's side. "How do they do it, Sandy? Thousands, maybe millions of them, just like you, plus the little pegasai controlling the weather, and they're more or less at peace. How do they manage?"
"Doubtless, the presence of active and friendly gods helps immensely. Both Celestia and Cadance say they were created to fill their roles; the Equestrians have a friend in the highest place."
Amanda turned to face him. "Which reminds me, did you ask Celestia about Cape Town in the sky?"
"She said they were... like they are now before they invited Her to rule them. That's, uh, probably true; the pegasoi don't Sound like Her; She Sounds like them, in part."
"Great: so long as the bigger hammer sticks around and keeps them in line, they'll be good. That's not very helpful." She scowled at the conclusion. "No, wait, Willow said She's not all that active. And they have the rule of law." With a frown, she settled back in the water. "Back to square one."
"How many people in Philly have guns?"
"Our best guess was that about a quarter of the households have them."
"And the murder rate is...?"
"OK, Mr. Wizard, what's wrong with you guys then?"
Sandy had no immediate answer. He laid back in the water, steepled fingers resting on his chest; the hot tub was just wide enough for him to float on his back. A minute went by, then another, before Sandy sat back up. "They managed in Alexandria, dozens of spellcasters in the Mouseion, probably hundreds in the city. Better trained than we were, and with the Dawn too. They must have managed in Moslem Iberia as well."
He rubbed his jawline. "Back home is the Wild West. No central authority, and little tradition of cooperation."
"And we ended up at the OK Corral, with innocent people caught in the crossfire. Yes, indeed. So, elsewhere..."
"...where there's, uh, anything like a government that can--"
"...keep the supernatural peace, they'll be no worse than Philly." She looked around, and spotted one of the spa staffers off the distance, and waved them over. "A couple of glasses, please, and a side table to put them on."
When they arrived, Amanda asked Sandy for wine in hers. She sat back, sipping her glass, to think that answer over.