Author's Note

This Chapter will be a lot... fluffier than usual. Probably because the next chapter is going to be quite plot driven. So I guess enjoy this chapter for what it is: Three hot bodies taking a bath.

Chapter 5: A bath is quite therapeutic... when not interrupted

In a castle as old as the one Spike lived in, things tended to not be in the best shape. The walls were dirty and overgrown with vegetation, the floors hadn’t been swept in years, dust was everywhere and there were more than a few floorboards that were rotting away. In all the hype towards taking a nice, relaxing bath Rarity had just assumed that she would be going to a bathhouse similar to the one she had back at her castle, and only through touring through the musky halls of her new one that she realized that it was very possible that the bathhouse would be a swamp house.

“Spike...” Rarity asked nervously. “Don’t be offended by this, but how often do you bathe?”

Spike shrugged. “Whenever I feel like it.”

“Oh... Ok,” the princess said, forcing a grin as the dragon stopped in front of a cobweb ridden door that looked like it hadn’t been opened in years. “Please tell me this isn’t the entrance to the-”

“Ladies, welcome to the bathing chambers!” Spike said rather happily. “Apologies for the messy door. It’s been awhile since I’ve used it.”

“That’s not reassuring...” Rarity muttered as Spike pushed open the door. Rarity flinched, expecting to be engulfed by a pungent wave of sewer gas and dead animals smells. But all her nose picked up was the scent of... lotus flowers and camomile? Why was she smelling flowers? She opened one eye and then the other in utter amazement. “Oh my goddess...”

“Yeah, the door’s a little misleading,” Spike said. “I usually use the other one connected to my room.”

Stepping into that room was like stepping into another world. The bathhouse looked like it had been scrubbed down daily, with not a speck of dirt anywhere to be seen. The flooring was all nice, smooth tile leading to the massive pool of shimmering clean water that sparkled from the light of the chandelier hanging above.

A tear rolled down Rarity’s cheek. “It’s so beautiful, Spike. It's the most beautiful bathhouse I've ever seen.”

“Is this all water?!” Rainbow gasped, rushing to the edge of the bath. “How did you get all of it in here?” She dropped to her knees to examine it closer. “Wait a minute... I’ve heard about this... is this the ocean?”

“It isn’t, my sweet, sheltered, princess,” Rarity said, walking next to her. “This is a bath.”

“Sick... so what do we do with it?”

“We sit in it, relax, clean ourselves...” Rarity continued to explain all the fundamentals of bathing to Rainbow Dash while Spike waddled over to a large cylinder tube sticking in the ground at the side of the room.

He took a deep breath and unleashed a stream of brilliant green fire into the tube and soon afterwards the tub started to steam up.

“Get in while it’s hot,” Spike said as he reached for his pants and pulled them down. “I’m not getting out again to reheat it.”

“Oh yes let’s gahg!” Rarity screeched a little as she watched the dragon down his trousers. “What are you doing?!”

“Taking a bath...?”

“But you’re getting naked!”

“What’s the big deal, you’ve already seen me naked,” Spike groaned. “Hell I’ve seen you naked.”

“Don’t remind me...” she moped. The memory of another seeing her exposed, and in the presence of her lover no less! It was shameful. Still... the dragon did have a point, and it was his bathhouse... “Well, whatever Spike. Just remember that I’m a taken mare. So no funny business.”

“Yes, I’d hate to make the hoard of gold jealous,” the drake said sarcastically as he walked into the bath and took a seat. He felt better almost immediately. Like the last twenty-four hours never happened. “Ah...” he sighed, slipping deeper into the water until only the top of his head and snout were visible.

Rarity found herself watching him rather closely as he slunk into the water, turning a little red as her eyes wandered deeper down to see his- “Whoa!” She said aloud, shaking her head. What the hell was that?

“You OK, Rare?” Rainbow asked.

“Splendid,” the white mare said, turning away from Spike. “Well, Spike said to get in the water fast, so shall we?”

“I don’t know...” Rainbow gulped, now her cheeks were turning a little crimson. “I mean it was cool that Spike’s naked because he’s a guy but isn’t it weird for two girls to be naked in front of each other?”

“Nonsense, it’s perfectly normal,” she said. “It’ll give us a chance to bond. That’s what a bath is all about. Now get naked before you make me strip you myself and I really don’t want to touch you.”

“O-Ok...” Rainbow said as she slowly started to peel her dress off. Rarity started to do the same, turning around in respect for Rainbow and to keep an eye on Spike. The dragon seemed to be in his own world though, and possibly starting to fall asleep.

It didn’t take them long to get naked. Rarity even folded up her dress nicely before turning around to see Rainbow. Rarity was amazed by how fit the pegasus was. She was a lot leaner than her, a lot thinner too but she had nice muscle definition, and her belly had the faint etching of each of her abs. Her hands were clamped around her marehood but it gave Rarity and eyeful of her boobs. Not particularly big, at least not big as her own.

“Now why were you so embarrassed?” Rarity asked. “You’re quite stunning, Rainbow.”

“S-shut...” the rainbow-maned princess frowned. “Miss big tits bitch...”

“Excuse me?”

“Like what the hell are those?!” Rainbow pointied furiously at Rarity’s rather large rack. “Why does every mare else in the world have sweater rippers while I can’t even wear a strapless dress?”

“I don’t think anybody's making you do that...”

“Whatever, let’s just get in the bath...” Rainbow stomped over to the edge of the pool and dropped one foot in before screaming and taking flight. “Why the fuck does the water burn?!”

Rarity went over and dipped a toe into the water. It was quite warm, yes... but it wasn’t boiling. “You’re overreacting,” she said as she stepped in as well. “You just need a moment to get used to it.”

“Water shouldn’t be hot! It goes against the laws of nature!”

The unicorn frowned. Baths were a gift from the heavens! “Oh suck it up, buttercup.” She reached out and grabbed Rainbow by her hovering ankle and gave her a big tug and engulfed her foot back in the water. The flying princess screamed a little, but it quickly died down and was replaced with a few moans. “See? It’s feels nice.”

“It’s like... being wrapped up in a warm blanket while flying through the air,” Rainbow cooed. The pegasus descended down a little, easing her way into the water until she was sitting down next to Rarity. “Holy shit... this is sooooo good.”
“See?” Rarity beamed. “I told you that you just had to get used to it.” She herself got a little more settled into the tub. She sighed happily. “There’s nothing more relaxing in the world.”

“I want to live in here...” Rainbow purred. “Just leave me here forever, and let me die happy.”

“Don’t we all...” Rarity said. She started to look around. “Hmm, I wonder if the dragon has any soap.”

“Soap?”

“It helps you get cleaner... my goodness you really have nothing up there in the clouds, do you?”

“Not really, just clouds and high morals. Kind of why I left.”

“Yes I’ve noticed your rather... colourful vocabulary.”

“Just because we’re all sunshine and butterfly farts up in the Sky Kingdom, doesn’t mean there aren’t others that want to rebel and get out of there. I mean you don’t think I’m the first pegasus that’s ever gotten sick of being five feet from the sun. Just... the first princess.”

“No judgement here... I’m just surprised you only just left. How could you live a life with no possessions, no things... no treasure!”

“I mean that’s not really why I left... I don’t really see the point in hoarding all that crap. Like, in what universe would anypony need all those shinys?”

Rarity gasped. “Are you crazy? Gold is wonderful! It’s the very foundation of everything in this world!”

“... It’s just a bunch of shiny metal things.” Rainbow said. “Honestly, looking at all of it was giving me a headache.”

“Well, I never!” Rarity said in a huff. “I guess some ponies don’t know true beauty when they see it. That treasure is too good for you.”

“OK...?”

“I guess I should be happy though... I won’t have to fight you for its affection...” Rarity started to mutter to herself. “Actually, now that I think of it, I never thought about whether or not you could have posed as a rival for me.” She looked back to Rainbow. “So you have no feelings about the treasury? Romantic or otherwise?”

“No,” the pegasus laughed. “I’m not some weirdo.”

“It’s not weird!” Rarity yelled, standing up. “It’s perfectly normal to love treasure!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “Wait... are you, like... in love with treasure?”

“I...” Rarity turned a little red. “So what if I am?”

There was a moment of silence before Rainbow finally burst into laughter. “Holy crap! That’s freaking dumb! You groundees are so weird!”

“It is not weird!” the unicorn growled. “At least I’m not some birdbrain who’s clueless to anything below the stratosphere!”
“I might be clueless but at least I don’t fuck coins!” Rainbow continued to laugh, almost heeling over from it.

Rarity was fuming so much she made the water boil around her. In a act of rage, the princess slapped the water as hard as she could, kicking up a rather large wave of water and splashed Rainbow. The pegasus wasn’t expecting it and took the wave right to the face, stunned slightly, coughing a little.

“Hey! What the hell was that for?!”

“You know why, birdbrain!”

Rainbow growled at the unicorn, smacking the water like she did and sending a good splash of water towards Rarity. The white mare hadn’t expected her opponent to respond so quickly, and was barely able to close her eyes in time before the water hit her face.

“Eek! My hair!” Rarity squealed as her long purple locks uncoiled under the weight of the water and smacked her right in the face. Rarity’s face was like a magnet for wet hair unless she tied it off beforehand, something she had not yet done for here. She parted her hair, glaring at the cocky looking pegasus in front of her. Rarity sent another wave of water at her with a vicious howl, but this time, Rainbow was ready for her. The pegasus princess flapped open her soggy wings and shielded herself from the blow before retaliating with gusto.

“Take this!” Rainbow cried, extending a wing and spinning into the bath’s surface. The force of her large wing sent a tidal wave to Rarity and nearly knocking the unicorn off her feet. “Oh I’m really starting to like baths now!” She cackled, getting ready to send another wave towards Rarity.

“Then let’s see if you like this!” Rarity spat back, her horn glowing with magical energy. “You’ve forced me to play my ultimate trump card: Magic!” around her, the water began to swirl upwards, making what looked like watery tentacles poking out of the water. These water tendrils shot towards Rainbow knocking her back with watery blows even with her winged defense. “You think the bath is your ally, Princess? But you’ve merely adopted the bath; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see a towel until I was already a woman, and by then it was nothing to me but IRRITATING!” She sent out more of her watery projectiles. “The bath betrays you because it belongs to me!”

She had the upper hand now, as all Rainbow could do was stand there and defend from the hits. But her wings were getting heavier with each impact of steamy bath water, being absorbed by her feathers and fur. She would drop her guard soon and that’s when Rarity would go for the killing blow. “Time to end this.” She said, gathering as much water as she could with her spell. It was like she had summoned a storm in the bathroom, water flying everywhere until coming together in a towering cyclone before her and sent it towards the pegasus.

Rainbow peeked through her feathers. Her opponent had made her move, now it was her turn. “I’ve flown in the strongest storms imaginable, I won’t be defeated by a princess’s parlour trick!” Rainbow dropped her guard, this time spreading both of her wings as far as they would go. She readied her hands and began spinning herself. Both of her mighty wings scooped up water as well as her hands, making a water tornado of her own. It surrounded her, and with the force of her wings she flung it straight into Rarity’s own attack.

The two pillars of water clashed in the center of the bath, not breaking, but combining into one giant spinning cyclone of watery death, and it was sucking everything it could into it. Both Rarity and Rainbow were too tired to try and fight it and soon the two princesses were overtaken by the the watery fury.

The princesses screams were muffled by the water as the force of the spirals current whipped them around mercilessly, and the two mares were helpless to do anything otherwise. Eventually though, the horrible mass of watery destruction that the two had created gave out, flinging the girls out at dangerous speeds. It took quick thinking and a little magic for Rarity to catch herself before smashing onto the floor. Unfortunately, she didn’t see Rainbow shooting in her direction as well, and the two tumbled onto the floor.

Rarity groaned, her head was spinning and her entire body ached. Everything still felt intact though, so that was a plus at least. However, when she tried to get up, she realized that there was something pinning her down. She leaned up a little and nearly screamed. Rainbow had somehow flopped on top of her, and in a rather compromising position. The blue mare’s face had somehow nestled itself right in between her breasts.

The white mare turned red. “Umm... Rainbow Dash?”

“Ermaah...” Rainbow groaned. Being flung around had really put her brain for a spin. She wasn’t sure where she was, but whatever it was, it was soft... so soft... “Mmm... squishy.”

“Hey!” Rarity snapped, smacking the pegasus on the top of the head. “Wake up! My chest is not a pillow!”

Rainbow stirred a little as her head slowly unfogged. “Huh? What... where am I?” She lifted her head, and was greeted with Rarity’s bountiful twins. “Ah... b-boobs! What the hell happened?!”

“We got a little... carried away,” Rarity sighed, pushing Rainbow off of her. “Are you OK?”

“Head hurts a little... but yeah,” the pegasus muttered, rolling her side and scooched up next to Rarity. “That got pretty intense, huh?”

Rarity chuckled a little. “Yeah... maybe a little.”

“You know, you’re not half bad in a fight,” Rainbow said.

“Same,” Rarity smiled. “I’ll be honest... that might have been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had period.”

“The Sky Kingdom really is that boring, huh?”

“You have no fucking idea, Rare...” Rainbow sat up and looked to Rarity. “You know I never did get a chance to say thank you.”

“Hmm? Whatever for?”

“For getting me kidnapped,” She beamed. “If you hadn’t did what you did I’d still be running for my life and who knows where I’d end up.”

“Oh well, I didn’t do that much, really,” Rarity blushed. “I just... saw a little of myself in you and couldn’t stand the idea of you being sent back to your kingdom, that’s all. I know what it’s like for others to not understand what you want, even if that thing’s a little... weird.”

“Being sexually attracted to gold IS weird,” Rainbow said bluntly. “But... it doesn’t make you a bad pony. Besides...” the winged princess gulped, turning her head away. “I wouldn’t be friends with a total weirdo.”

“Friends?” Rarity’s eyes lit up. Truth be told, Rarity did not have many friends... or any for that matter. Sure she had servants and her family, but no pony that wanted to spend time with her that wasn’t blood related or serving her. But thinking back, the two of them talked and laughed together, goofed around with a splash fight that got way out of control. Hell, she told Rainbow about her gold fetish and she still called her a friend. It brought a tear to her eye. “Come here, bestie!” She lunged at Rainbow Dash, glomping her with a surprise hug.

“Ah! Rarity! Stop!” Rainbow cried, trying to wiggle out of the grasp of the unicorn. “We’re still wet and naked!”

“Come with me,” the overjoyed Rarity said, grabbing her by the hand and taking her back to the tub. “We’re going to do something only friends can do!”

The sing-songy way Rarity said that made Rainbow nervous. “What are we going to do...” she asked, taking a step back into the tub. Around her, several buckets started levitating off the ground and spinning towards Rarity. The unicorn had grabbed what looked like a scrub cloth from somewhere and was now leering at her with ill-intent. “R-Rarity...?”

“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Rarity said with an almost possessed like cackling. “I wanted to do this with you since I first saw you, Rainbow...” She licked her lips and aimed one of the floating buckets at the pegasus princess and splashed her with its contents. It was soap, and it quickly mixed in with the water to bloom several mountains of bubbles.

“W-What is this stuff?!” Rainbow panicked, trying to brush the buildup of bubbles off of her. “It feels so weird!” Suddenly, Rarity had closed the distance between the two of them. She now now leaning over the smaller pegasus. “R-Rarity?”

“Shh... relax, dear,” the smile on Rarity’s face was almost haunting. “Just let this happen.” without any hesitation, Rarity’s hands shot out, clenching each of Rainbow’s soapy little tits. The unicorn’s fingers went to work, rubbing and fondling around the pegasi perky bust, each harsh movement emitting a little squeak from victim. It was almost cute, considering the tough facade that the Sky princess put up.

“Rar-ah!” Rainbow continued to moan. “W-Wha are y-ah! D-doing to me?”

“I’m cleaning you,” the white mare said. “It’s something girls do in the bath, especially between friends!”

“B-but do-do you have to be so ha-aarsh!” Rainbow cried.

“Of course I do, you’re filthy!” Rarity said, now looking a little more annoyed as her scrubbing of Rainbow’s boobs got more intense. “Plus you probably don’t know how to properly wash yourself.” She gave the center of the princess’s breastbone a little more shine before finally letting go. “There we go, now onto those wings.”

“NO!” Rainbow screamed in protest, but it fell of deaf ears. Rarity was already making her advances. Rainbow backed away as much as she could until she was cornered at the edge of the bath. “R-Rarity listen, my boobs were one thing, but my wings are really-”

“Dirty? I agree,” interrupted the unicorn. “Now if you’d kindly turn around this’ll be a lot easier for both of us.”

“I...” Rainbow was at a loss of words. Somehow she knew that Rarity was going to get her way regardless of how much of a fuss she put up. Reluctantly, the pegasus turned around, leaning over the deck of the pool. “Just... be gentle, OK?” She hid her face in the ground, not wanting her friend to see just how vulnerable she was right now.

“Of course, Rainbow,” Rarity beamed, getting nice and close to Rainbow. She levitated another bucket over, getting her hands nice and soapy before rubbing them along her friend’s back. Rarity began by loosening her up with a message, unknotting all of those tense muscles in her back, and boy were there a lot of them. “You need to relax a little, dear. You’re only hurting yourself right now.” She leaned over the pegasus to start rubbing on her stiff shoulders. Rarity’s boobs pressed up on the crest between Rainbow’s wings, giving her a little bonus massage.

Rainbow quivered a little as she felt Rarity’s warm body overtake her. Her body seemed overly sensitive to every brush the unicorn gave her, making her almost ticklish to the touch. It took a little bit of time, but eventually her body started to relax a bit and once it did that... the massage started to feel kind of good. Rarity was surprisingly good at this, or maybe she just didn’t have a good point of reference, but that mare’s horn wasn’t the only thing that was magical.

She started getting a little flustered, maybe she was enjoying this a bit too much, especially the way Rarity’s thumbs grinded against the joints of her wing bends. It was the hardest working part of her body, carrying what felt like the weight of the whole world sometimes. All that stress was melting away though... and it felt nice. Her wings started to flutter happily and stretch out, practically inviting Rarity to clean them.

“Do you think you can get my wings next?” Rainbow hummed. “I feel like I have a whole forest caught in my wings.”

“I’d be happy, too,” Rarity grinned, spreading more of the soap on the wings of the pegasus, and she started to wash the pegasi down again. It was a nice bonding experience between the two. They were having fun, just goofing around with not a care in the world, something neither of them had too much experience in. They could trust each other... they could be vulnerable with each other...

They could forget that there was a dragon in the tub with them while they wash their bodies.

Spike had been snoozing in the pool until his two captives had created a natural disaster in his bathhouse. He managed to hold on to the side to keep from flying off with the girls. After that he tried to get back to sleep but then things got... interesting.

Rarity had started groping Rainbow Dash boobs and well... he was a hot-blooded dragon. He’d have to be gay or a fool not to at least observe the situation, like a predator lurking in the deeps, and his eyes were about to do some feasting.
From his angle, Rarity had Rainbow bent over, pinned under her rather generous breasts. Her angelic white hands walked up the cyan, feathery wings, twirling and caressing Rainbow’s nubs. The white princess pressed her hips against Rainbow’s rear end to keep her from squirming too much, and boy did she squirm. Rainbow was purring like a horny animal, her tongue hanging out limply, drool getting mixed up with the steamy bathwater. Her eyes were getting blurry with happy tears, barely able to stay open.

If Spike hadn’t seen Rarity’s ironclad gold fetish in action he’d be positive the two of them were having sex. Even if they weren’t doing it, it was still the sexiest massage he’d ever seen and it was making his heart race. He pinched his legs together a little, not wanting the little dragon to stick out too much as he continued to silently watch.

“Right there...” Rainbow squeaked as Rarity started fiddling with the tips of her wings. “Yeah! That’s it... it...” She buried her face in her arms, giving a loud, stifled scream. Her wings sprung open, knocking Rarity backwards as she took off into the air. The pegasus curled up into a twitching ball, biting her lips as she spun around above Rarity. When she unclured, she let out an orgasmic howl, and a glittery spray was rained down onto those below.

Rarity got a facefull, almost stunned at the fact that she was just splooshed in the face by her best friend. “Eeek!” She screamed, splashing water in her face. “Rainbow! What on earth got into you?!”

“Oh goddess...” Rainbow hummed coyly. “I’m sorry...”

“It’s... it’s fine,” Rarity sighed, making sure that her face was completely dried off of lady cum. “Next time a warning though, OK?”

“Sorry...” she giggled embarrassingly as she landed back in the water. “Whoa! Did this shit get hotter? Can cum do that?”
“What? No that doesn’t make... but it is hotter, now that you mention it,” Rarity said, now noticing the fresh layer of steam coming from the surface. She turned around and noticed the source.

The water around Spike was boiling with streams of smoke spewing out of his nose.

It hit her like a bag of brick. Spike had been there the whole time! How in the hell did she forget the dragon that lived here?! She wanted to scream, she wanted to cover herself up or do something. But all she could do was stand there... speechless.

“Oh crap...” Spike muttered under the water. He hadn’t even noticed his worst tell going off. Whenever he got excited, he started smoking from the snout and his body temperature rose. He looked like a steamed lobster with a boner. “Uh...” he got up, smiling nervously. “Well, I think I’m clean enough and it’s getting late! Time to go to bed, g’night!” He leapt out of the tub, not even bothering to dry off before running out of there.

“Whoa...” Rainbow said. “I completely forgot he was there. Did you know he was there.”

“He... he was boiling.”

“I know, that was weird,” the pegasus said. “Is that like a dragon thing?”

“I think... I think he was checking us out.”

“Oh goddess you think?” Rainbow gulped. “Can dragons be attracted to ponies? Is that a thing?”

“I... I think I’m going to sleep too,” Rarity said, slowly getting out of the tub and walking to the door, not even bothering to put her clothes back on. “Good night, Rainbow.” She walked out and closed the door. All Rainbow could hear after that was a horrible, agonizing screech.

“Damn girl...” the sky princess said, surprised. “Wait... no one told me where to sleep.”

*****

Under the cover of night and hidden in the trees, a small shack was tucked away. In the boarded up windows, the faint glow of lamplight leaked through. The rest of the little shanty was covered in barbs and spikes. It was a scary little place, and it was packed with a gang of scary ponies. It was the hideout for the Broken Skull bandits, a rather infamous band of highwaymen that plagued the local roads. They would shake down carriages and caravans that dared crossed them, lest they taste the end of their blade... they were trouble, even giving the local soldiers a hard time. They were a tough bunch...
Well, at least that’s what their job bounty said. Within the cabin, all members of the Broken Skull gang laid defeated, some twitching in pain, some not moving at all. They had been taken out, and only a lone stallion stood above them, cleaning the blood off his knife with a white cloth.

“Honestly, you guys...” the stallion sighed, pulling out a couple of parchments from within his tattered coat. He shuffled through them, they were all bounties for thugs and murders across the lands. He finally found the one with picture of the cracked skull on it. “It says here you’re worth a good twenty thousand bits, so I was hoping for a bit of a tussle. Heck, I didn’t even use my second knife just to keep things interesting but after seeing you guys in action... well I’m ain’t mad, just disappointed.”

“Y.. you’re a monster...” One of the few living ponies groaned. He had gotten lucky with just broken arms and a concussion.

“Kid, there’s much worse things out there than me,” the stallion said, shuffling through more of his bounties, picking one from among them. “Just be happy you won’t ever have to worry about it.” he carefully stepped over the bodies and made his way to the door. “Well, you fellas have fun.”

“You... you’re not going to stay? What about t-the bounty?”

“Hmm?” the dark stallion wondered. “Oh, I was never interested in that, this was just a little practice while I was on my way to a real job.” He waved the bounty in his hand. “This here says the eldest daughter of the Platinum Family was kidnapped by a dragon, and they’re offering whatever you want in exchange for her safety. Now doesn’t that sound like something you could retire off of?”

“A-A dragon?!”

“Yessir,” he said, tossing the rest of the stack of bounties to the floor. “Figured I’d throw my hat in the ring. An old timer like me has his days numbered and I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of them relaxing in the countryside. Though if it’s in the belly of the beast that works just fine too.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a match and lighting it. “I wonder... they say dragons can’t burn. But y’all can, right?”

He tossed the match onto the pile of discarded bounties, setting them ablaze. Within a few seconds the wooden floor started to catch as well. He closed the door behind him, leaving the wounded pony to his demise. He didn’t bother watching the shack go up in flames, all he needed was the amber glow in the night. He looked back at the note he kept.
“A dragon huh... takes down whole armies and an old fool like me wants to fight it. Must be getting senile...” He gave a long yawn. “Well... An end’s an end at the end, and with luck, that end will be to you... dragon.”