The Outcast

I return to the cave and say, "I'm back, sorry I was out for so long, I found a spell that would help me hide much easier. What do you think?"

Equis hesitantly comes down from the branches after making sure it was Galadriel and says, "You had me worried for a little while, Galadriel. I can't see you underneath that tattered old cloak, please take it off."

I remove the cloak and set it down carefully, then ask, "Better? Please tell me what you honestly think."

She looks at the fallen angel, seeing they have a much smaller snow-white body having soot covering various spots of his body, with a straight, black mane and tail just like other ponies do. She notices instantly that his horn is a barely noticeable bump, and his eyes no longer glow. Liking his appearance, she says cheerfully, "You look good, It is good that your coat doesn't have any more missing patches. You will blend in well with the other ponies, but you might need to consider taking a bath as you are filthy from ear to hoof...literally." She then thinks for a moment and says, "Ah, I forgot to tell you this earlier since it wasn't necessary at the time, but citizens of Equestria use a currency called the bit. Since you are going to be mingling with others, you may as well make use of this." and summons a bag containing four hundred bits with a string loop to hang around his neck, landing on the ground with the sound of coins clinking together and adding, "I don't exactly have any use for them myself, but over the years, ponies have tendencies to get scared and lose their bits while wandering through this forest. Just so you know, that loop is there to hang the bag around your neck."

I walk up to the bag and use a technique I learned through one of the many books I read, to pick it up with my hoof and place it around my neck, saying with a kind smile, "Thank you for this, Equis. You really are too kind, I shall do what I can to repay your kindness one day."

Equis turns away, silently restraining a delighted squeal saying, "Oh stop it, you're gonna make me blush. Now go out there and observe the mannerisms of the other ponies so you don't stand out quite so much." She then turns around and half chuckles saying, "One more thing, ponies these days use indoor facilities to relieve themselves. If you ever need to 'go', go to a shop in a town and ask if you can use the gentlecolt facilities if you left your body as a boy or the little mare's room if you altered yourself to be a girl and where they are located."

I then make my way to the back wall and sigh saying, "I will strike out on my own tomorrow, I don't know when I will return again. Though I will try to see you before too many months or weeks pass." I lie down and let myself start to drift off saying, "Goodnight, Equis."

She then says, "Goodnight, Galadriel." then settles in and uses her power to check on what the future may hold, but sees unclear images as there seems to be something interfering with it. Sighing gently, she looks over at the sleeping alicorn in disguise thinking, 'I wish I could see what awaits you in the days to come, but ever since you appeared...future events have become unclear to me so I cannot assist you.'

When I wake the next morning, I head over to the tubs and have a good breakfast before putting the cloak on and making my way towards the cave entrance saying, "I will see you some other day, take care Equis." but then I am stopped when she speaks to me.

Equis then says, "Hold on a moment, there is something important I forgot to mention to you." while floating down toward him, feeling sad that he has to go and stops before him saying, "Ponies these days commonly have two names, so you will have to think of an alternate to go by. Try to come up with something decent because Galadriel is way to unique to use."

As I try to come up with something, I then say, "How does Glad Reel sound?"

She sighs and says, "It sounds awkward and a bit cheesy, you can do better than that."

I then try again and think of possible names from my own and then think of the bits I received and say, "Does Gold Reel sound better?"

Equis then floats around him saying, "Much better, and you will have to come up with a story that is not a complete lie in case you run into the Element of Honesty. Let's see what we can do with what I know about you... Oh I know! When you were fifteen, you were forced to leave your secluded farm by your father far to the west of Ponyville for doing what was right, so you wandered through forests and foraging for food. Eventually meeting a traveling pony that taught you about currency, and have been gathering things that ponies and merchants would like to purchase."

I commit it to memory and then nod my head saying, "I like that, it gives me enough room to add a few details if needed. Is there anything else I should know?"

As she takes a few seconds to think of anything else to tell him, but can't think of anything and then sighs saying, "No, there isn't. I hope you see and experience new things, take good care of yourself...Gold Reel." then heads back up to the branches to watch over her world.

I then trot up to the entrance, eager to get out there and learn new things when I pause just past it and look back asking, "What will you do with those tubs since I won't be back for awhile Equis?"

Equis looks over at the tubs and then says, "Oh don't worry about them, I will have the timber wolves come and return the water to the stream, then take the tubs back to the farm from where they came from. I'll see you later..."trailing off as she wishes he would remain here and softly mumbles, "I'll miss you."

I smile back at the tree and say, "Don't worry, I will visit again in a few months or so. Until then, Equis." and head out of the cave to begin venturing towards the unknown civilized world.

After exiting the cave and climbing the stairs, I trek into the darkness of the Everfree. I keep watch for any dangers as I walk through the forest, feeling a little eager to see what life has in store for me.

I spend a couple hours of walking down a wide path when I reach the edge of the forest and take the first step out into the open, following through with my desire to learn more about what's out there.

As I'm following the path, I start to see residences in the distance with a small lake nearby. Noticing that a few wear some accessories such as a hat, a necklace, I feel a little out of place with the cloak I'm wearing as I see others glance at me curiously. Continuing into the town itself, I look around with great interest as I look for a pony that doesn't look so busy. I eventually find a light orange mare wearing a wide brim hat standing by a stall selling different colored apples when I see a glimpse of a fruit tree popping up out of the ground within my mind.

Applejack looks at the odd pony wearing an old, tattered cloak as they look at her cart as if they were lost in thought and clears her voice by coughing, saying, "Scuse me pardner, ah've never seen ya before, may ah help you? If yer curious, ah have four different kinds of apples to sell fer a bit each."

I then shake my head to clear it and then cough lightly saying, "My apologies miss, I was lost in thought for a moment. Umm, would you mind telling me what the different kinds are?" and notice with a second glance that she has a pair of beautiful green eyes, a long, blonde mane and tail both bound in a pony tail with a red band, having a cutie mark of three apples on either side of her flanks.

She then nods and says, "Ah sure can, the yellow ones with a greenish tint are Golden Delicious, and they have a sweet, yet aromatic taste as you bite into them. The deep red ones are Red Delicious, and they share the same sweet flavor but have a fresh taste instead of an aromatic one. The green ones are called Granny Smiths, and they have a tart, yet lightly sweet flavor. Last but not least are the green and yellow ones with some pink on them called McIntosh apples, they have a crisp, yet sweet flavor. Which ones are ya looking to buy?"

I tilt my head and look them over and then say, "Hmm...I would like to try a McIntosh please." I then take the bag off my neck and open it, then take out a single bit saying, "Here you go miss."

Applejack then takes the bit with her hoof and nods appreciatively saying, "Thank ya kindly." then sets it in a saddlebag on her hips, and then heads over to the bucket holding McIntosh apples and plucks one out by the stem, setting it on the ground when a breeze blows by and catches a whiff of the stallion's ripe smell saying softly, "Pardon me, I don't mean to be rude...but ya smell like ya were tending to some animals."

I chuckle and say, "I appreciate you bringing that to my attention, miss. I got a little lost in the forest a little while ago and didn't really think bathing in the stream would help at all, would you know of a place where I might be able to properly cleanse myself?"

She then whistles at hearing that and says, "Ah'm amazed ya made it outta that forest in one piece, nopony dares to go in there due to how dark and creepy it is. Eyup, there's a place called the Ponyville Day Spa just down this road a ways. If ya follow this road, take the third path to the left, then the first right, it will be on yer left side. Yer looking fer a large off-white building with a blue roof having many peaks, ya'll know it when ya see a heart shaped wooden sign above the door of a pony having a long, wavy mane and tail."

I then pull out another bit and offer it to her saying, "Here is an extra bit for your honesty and assistance, thank you."

Applejack then smiles and accepts the bit saying, "Oh, thank ya, it's no big deal pardner. Do ya mind me asking you a couple questions?"

I smile and say, "I don't mind, what is on your mind?"

She then looks up at him and asks, "Are ya new in town, or are ya only visiting?"

I look into her eyes and say, "I am new in town, but I'm staying to learn new things before I move on to the next place."

Applejack then asks, "Oh, alright then, what's yer name pardner?"

I then say, "My names Gold Reel, and you are?"

She then holds out her hoof to shake his and then says with a grin, "Mah name's Applejack, it's nice to meet ya, Gold Reel."

As I raise my hoof to hers and am surprised about how strong her hoofshake is and chuckle saying, "Likewise, miss Applejack. You sure have quite the strength there, it took me by surprise."

Applejack then lightly blushes as she notices she shook his hoof so hard it caused his hood to fall down, revealing that he has a snow-white coat with a tangled black mane and amber eyes, saying apologetically, "Ah'm sorry, ah didn't hurt ya did ah? Ah didn't mean to shake yer hoof so quickly that yer hood fell."

I laugh lightly and then shake my head saying, "Not to worry, you didn't cause me any pain. I guess I underestimated how strong a young earth pony like you could have."

She then releases his hoof and still feels a little embarrassed, setting her hoof down saying, "Yeah, ah sometimes forget about my own strength ah've earned from buckin' the apples off of mah family's apple trees."

I then return my bag around my neck and then decide to leave the hood down saying, "It sounds to me like you get a pretty good workout doing that, I should get on my way before I drive off any of your potential customers miss Applejack. Good day to you." I then pick up my apple by the stem and then turn to head down the road.

Applejack watches him turn to leave and sees a black spot on the side of his neck and asks out of concern, "Uhm are you alright? That burn on the side of your neck looks like it might hurt."

I then turn my head to look at her, remembering the marks all over my body and set the apple down, then laugh it off saying, "Oh that mark." then raise my hoof to point at it and brush my hoof along it, smearing a little of the soot around on my neck, saying, "This doesn't hurt at all, it is just some charcoal residue from when I was crushing it down for somepony."

She feels relieved at hearing he is not in any pain, but can't shake the feeling that the rest of that is a lie. Deciding what really matters is that he is not hurt, she ignores it and says, "Oh, alright then. Ah'm glad yer not in pain, have a good day Gold Reel."

I nod my head and say, "I will, see you around miss Applejack." then pick up the apple and make my way to the spa, spotting some benches with a can between two of them. I look around to see others sitting on similar benches and tossing various items into them, taking my seat as well and eat my apple. After tossing my core into the can, I continue down the path to find the Spa right where Applejack said it would be and notice a sign on the outside stating that it is open.

A clerk sits at the desk with a smile on her face as a pony walks in, wearing a tattered, black cloak with the hood down having a spot of soot on their snow-white coat with its mane in a tangled state. She then looks into their brilliant amber eyes and catches a foul aroma coming from them and asks politely, "What can I do for you this fine day?"

I look at the light green unicorn mare with a auburn mane and tail with blue eyes and ask, "Hello ma'am, I would like to inquire about what services you might provide in this business."

She then pulls out a list and says, "Well sir, we offer various top-quality care and cosmetic treatments such as, baths, massages and hooficures. We have package deals that include multiple treatments, would you like to hear about them?"

I smile at her and ask, "I would, thank you miss." then listen as she states what each package entails. Once she finishes, I reply, "I admit that those all sound really nice. Unfortunately, I have a bad back, so I will have to turn down the package deals. Can I get a deep tissue cleansing bubble bath, the steam bath, a seaweed wrap, the deluxe mane and tail treatment, and a complete hooficure?"

Relieved at hearing their request, her smile widens and cheerily says, "You most definitely can sir," then calculates the cost and adds, "and that will be a total of 75 bits. Would you like to pay the total now, make a tab, or pay once the treatments are finished?"

I lightly chuckle and say, "I would like to take care of the total now, and I do apologize for my current state and the...foul aroma." Reaching up to take the bag off my neck, I then set it on the counter, kindly asking, "As it would take me too long to count that amount out, would you be sweet enough to take care of that with your magic?"

A light blush appears on her cheeks as she nods and says in a light tone, "I would be happy to do that for you sir." then counts the amount out, looking up at him asking, "Would you like to double-check my count, sir?"

I then take a glance at the coins briefly, then look at her again and say, "No thank you miss, I trust that you counted it correctly."

She then hands the bag back to him, then puts the bits into the register and closes the drawer before walking out from behind the counter saying in a gentle, light voice, "If you would, please wait a moment while I ask the current occupants if they mind you joining them?"

I shake my head with a gentle smile and say, "I shall because it would be rather rude of me to just go in without warning them in advance."

The mare then nods her head gratefully saying, "Thank you for understanding, I will return momentarily with their decision." and then exits the room, quickly making her way across the hall to the bathing room and closes the door behind her and walks up to the two VIP clients, bowing to them as Aloe and Lotus wait on them saying, "Excuse me for bothering you two, Your Majesties. There is a customer with a rather strong aroma that many would find unpleasant, and they have requested a deep cleansing bath, would you two permit him to share the room with you on the other side?"

Luna's eyes go wide as she quickly looks over at the clerk and asks in surprise, "This customer is a stallion?"

Celestia smirks at her sister's shy reaction and says, "Relax dear sister, they do have privacy screens that can block the stallion's view from us so that they can't check you out."

She stares at her sister and gives her a mock glare while her face turns red and says, "I am not even going to dignify that with a response." With a huff, she turns her nose up at her teasing saying, "Since my sister has no problem with a stallion seeing her while she bathes, then neither do I. I'll allow the stallion to share the room with us."

A fierce blush races across her face as she is caught off-guard by her sister's remark and spins her head around to give her sister an aghast look saying, "Oh come on sister, you don't have to be like that..."

Luna then smirks at her sister's backpedaling and says, "With your track record regarding the stallions back in the day, I'm sure you have nothing to be so embarrassed about."

Celestia blushes even more as she says, "C-Come on Lulu... I-I-I haven't even..." then looks away and down at the floor saying barely above a whisper, "All I ever did with them was make out a bit..."

She smiles at her victory saying, "Now we are even for your teasing over my wardrobe during those days." and chuckles while looking at the clerk saying, "We have no problem with it as long as there is a large screen in place, we will just breathe through our mouths until it is safe for our noses."

The clerk then bows to them again and says, "Very well, Your Majesties. I will let him know to follow me after I finish setting the screens up for you." then goes to a side room to bring out a large screen. Once she sets the curtain up and makes sure their tubs can't be seen from the door or from the back of the room, she leaves the room and pokes her head into the front room, asking, "The two have agreed to allow you to share the room with them. I need to prepare your bath first, would you like a fragrance oil added to your bath for no extra cost?"

I consider it and then ask, "What do you have for choices?"

She then says off the top of her head, "We have ten available for stallions. The most popular ones requested are, Bergamot, Cedarwood, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, and Sandalwood. The less requested from least common to most rare are, Pine Needle, Black Pepper, Musk, Bay Rum, and Vetiver."

I think about what those might smell like for a bit before shrugging and saying, "I will go with Vetiver."

With one last question to ask, she says, "Okay, for the second half of your bath when I prepare a fresh tub...do you want the scent to be faint, light, fair, heavy, or thick?"

I give a moment to think it over and say, "Perhaps I better give heavy a try."

Nodding her head, she then says, "Alright, I will be right back when your bath is ready." and goes to get the cleansing mixtures to prepare the bath for the stallion. After filling the tub with hot water, she then dumps the mix in followed by the specialized salts to give the water deep cleansing capabilities. As the salts create a bubbling reaction as they dissolve, the soap bubbles start to appear and create a light layer. With the bath ready, she leaves the room to bring the stallion in and opens the door to the front room saying, "Alright, your bath is ready. Please remove your cloak so I can clean it for you."

I nod and then untie the cloak saying, "Before you say anything when I remove this, know that I am not injured at all...just a bit dirty." and then slip it over my head, and hand it over to her saying, "Here you go, please try to be careful with it as it is rather old and not in the best shape."

She looks the stallion over, seeing soot left behind from burn marks on various parts of his body and then takes a calming breath saying, "O-Okay, if you would please follow me sir."

I follow her through the door, closing it behind me and go through another door into a bigger room with a series of tubs. I immediately notice the sound of a violin being played and turn towards the sound to see a pony sitting in a chair playing a violin, noticing that they have a light bluish mint color with a brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak through them both, also having sunglow eyes and a golden harp for a Cutie Mark. Turning from her, I then see a long screen around the front of some of the tubs for privacy apparently. I then turn my head back around to see the mare heading to the right side, and see a tub filled with steam rising from between the layers of bubbles on top of the hot water underneath.

She then stands beside a moveable wooden set of stairs and turns towards him and says, "Since these two desired privacy screens, I ask that you refrain from disturbing them unless they ask you something. If they do, then please be very respectful towards them with how you answer. I will now bring you some bathing brushes for you to use."

I then walk up the wooden stairs and slowly step down into the tub, letting out a blissful sigh as I then hear the door close behind the mare thinking, 'I might have to find a way to earn bits so I can afford to do this more often.'

Unable to keep quiet any longer at the mare's behavior, Celestia sniggers behind her hoof and lightly chuckles. Calming herself a moment later, she looks at Aloe beside her and gently says with an amused tone, "Wow, that mare really is green, miss Aloe. It might take some time for her to be less rigid and dutiful when we come here just to relax."

Knowing that she is only having a little fun, Aloe chuckles lightly and says, "I think you are right about that ma'am, but I think she will figure it out...eventually."

Celestia then turns to her sister and says, "I'm glad that we made time to come here before things get hectic in a few days, sister."

Luna looks back at her and smiles saying, "So am I, we really should try to do this more often. It is such a relief to be able to just relax and let our bodies unwind from the stress." Wanting to have a bit of fun, she looks at her sister softly saying, "Psst." then looks over to the direction where the stallion is currently bathing for a moment before looking back at her sister, repeating the motion a few times until her sister gets it and nods her approval.

Celestia then motions Aloe to come closer with her hoof, then whispers into her ear, "Would you mind breaking the ice for us by apologizing to him for the new mare's strictness?"

Aloe softly chuckles and looks in the stallion's direction saying, "I do apologize for our new mare's behavior, sir. We are trying to help her adjust to working with ponies that are well known throughout the Equestria."

I let my head sink closer to the water as a smile crosses my face saying, "It is quite alright, I can understand why she feels that way ma'am."

Lying on her back with her head above the bubbles, she then casually asks, "Oh, really? Could you tell me why you think that is, sir?"

I then say, "Yes ma'am, it is because that I think that if everypony knows you and likes you a bit too much and started to crowd around you wanting your attention or something from you, it would make sense that you would desire a way to get away from it all for a little while."

Stunned at his spot-on answer, Celestia and Luna look at each other for a few moments. A silent conversation happens between them as they exchange looks.

When the wordless conversation ends, Celestia then looks towards where the stallion is at and asks curiously, "Would you still think that way if you learned that we might be nobility?"

I then sigh and say, "I doubt it ma'am, because in my way of thinking after reading enough books, even a starving beggar could rise up to nobility if fortune happened to be on their side.

Again, the two sisters are surprised about the reply as Luna asks in a lightly challenging tone, "What do you mean by that? Like if you lost everything and happened to to learn of something involving a noble that you could use to regain your status?"

I chuckle and sigh saying, "No ma'am, that is just a twisted way of exercising greed, which is bad. The fortune I speak of is not materialistic, it is the kind of fortune that you have a degree of control over by the choices you make."

Celestia looks at Luna, seeing that she is just as confused as she is by what he said. When her sister shrugs her shoulders at her look, she turns back toward where the stallion is bathing and cocks her head and asks, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't understand what you said, would you mind clarifying that?"

I then say, "Oh, my apologies ma'am. From the books that I have read, I consider fortune to be more like a force you cannot manipulate, but it is able to affect whatever it wants. It is on us to decide how best to put that fortune to use, be it for good or bad. For after all of our choices are made, we will have to live with them when our end comes." Not knowing where the hell that came from, I shake my head saying, "I greatly apologize for speaking about such a heavy topic when you came here to relax ladies, I shall leave you in peace and place my head underwater to get it under control." then takes a breath and pulls his head under with his eyes firmly closed, thinking, 'What is wrong with my mind, why did I say something so serious and strange to them when they are wanting to relax.'

Luna then hastily says, "Hold on, we aren't upset over what you said. In fact, we both would like to speak with you a bit more."

She and her sister wait for him to reply for a minute when she looks over to Aloe and asks, "Would you please go ensure that he is alright and not trying to drown himself?"

Aloe nods and then trots over to his tub, using her hoof to brush some of the suds aside and watches his head carefully until he slowly exhales and brings his mouth above the water. When he breathes in again, some suds get pulled in and cause him to sneeze them out. She then sniggers at seeing bubbles being blown into the air and can't hold back her laughter as she heads back to Celestia's side saying, "He is not drowning himself, he just stuck his nose above the water to breathe. Then he went to take a breath, and some suds were pulled in that caused him to sneeze and send a bunch of them flying into the air."

As they all hear that, they join Aloe in the laughter as the clerk comes in with a few brushes held in her magic , hearing the commotion and asking, "Did that stallion do something indecent?"

Lotus then settles herself enough to calmly say, "No, he was answering a question for them when he got a little self-conscious and ducked his head under the water in embarrassment. After a bit, Aloe was asked to go over and ensure he didn't try to drown himself. When he stuck his nose above the water to breathe, some suds entered his nose which made him sneeze and send a bunch of them flying up into the air."

The clerk begins to snicker at hearing that, then slowly breaks out laughing saying, "Oh I wish I was here to see that happen."

Aloe then giggles and says, "If you want to have a little more fun here, you need to loosen up when it is allowed."

She then sighs and says, "I will try my best, but it is hard to break free from a habit like that." then heads over and uses one of the brushes to tap his nose, waiting for him to stick his head above the suds.

Hesitantly, I raise my head up just enough to open my eyes and ask, "Yes miss?"

The clerk then holds the brushes in the air near him and says, "Here are some brushes that you can use, I will set them on the top platform of the stairs so you can reach them. After you're done with them, there are a few hooks on the left side of the tub for them to hang from." then sets them on the platform.

I then nod my head and then say, "Thank you miss." and then reach for one of the brushes, but pause and ask, "Um..what is the difference between the brushes?"

She then grins and says, "Well...the large one with the bristles with a strap on the wooden part is so you can reach areas with your front hooves. The long handled one with a smaller head is for the areas you can't reach with just your hooves, the one with the large curve in it is for the...hard to reach areas if you get my meaning. Then the other, softer and more flexible round brush with spaced out teeth is for you to work out the tangles in your mane, unfortunately we don't yet have one you can use on your tail. But we can worry about that later after your steam bath."

I then grab the round brush, saying, "Thank you miss." then use it underwater to start on my neck.

Curious, Aloe then asks, "Oh Sweet, I'm just curious here, but what is the condition of his mane and tail?"

Sweet then hears him scrubbing up and heads over at the curtain with a chuckle saying, "Well, when he came in here, I got a good look at it and what I saw...it wasn't good. It looked like a cat treated it like a ball of yarn, it was also dry and had lost its shine, and appeared to be brittle with several split ends."

Lotus then sighs and says, "What a sad state that is."

Celestia then raises an eyebrow at the curtain and asks, "Indeed it is, if Rarity ever saw it like that, she would throw a fit and drag you in so she could fix it."

Luna then laughs and says, "Oh she truly would lose it." then pokes her sister with a hoof silently, then winking at her and adding, "You make a really good point there, sister, I really think you should tell her."

Catching on to what her sister is getting at, she grins and then says, "I think I will do just that to get justice for his rudeness earlier of escaping the conversation." She then looks over at the clerk and says, "Would please come closer Sweet Pea, I have something I would like you to do." while holding her hoof up to her lips in a shushing manner before using said hoof to bring her closer so she can whisper to her.

As I scrub away at my neck, I then say, "I sincerely apologize for my impolite actions earlier. Oh noble maidens, I humbly beseech thee for mercy."

The clerk then gets closer and moves her ear closer to her saying, "Yes ma'am, what can I do for you?"

Celestia then looks to her sister and asks sarcastically, "What do you think, dear sister? Should we show this young stallion mercy?"

Luna pretends to think it over and says with a smirk, "Nay, I think not for I feel quite insulted."

She fights to keep her laughter from getting out and then quietly whispers into her ear, "I want you to first go over there and take his mane brush back for some reason you'll have to make up, then go find Rarity, which she may be at her boutique. Once you find her, relay my request for her to come here for a special emergency once his steam bath is over. Make sure not to mention that the patient is a stallion or what the emergency is, and at my direct request, she is to call my sister and I ma'am instead of our names or royal titles to keep our identities secret. After you tell her that, return and continue with his treatment and watch for her arrival before you guide him to where his treatment will be. Once he is set up, lead her back to the room and continue with the treatments he requested."

Sweet Pea swiftly nods with a smile on her face saying, "Yes ma'am." then makes her way towards where the stallion is still scrubbing away and looks at the brushes saying, "Oh no, I brought you one that is worn out, let me go find you a replacement." and quickly takes it with her magic and heads out of the room to put the perfectly fine brush back.

Feeling like I've been had, I huff silently and continue to scrub while waiting for my punishment to arrive. As I reach for the long brush to reach the rest of my body, I wonder how long the spell will last and look around the room for a large mirror. Spotting several of them along the side of the room and clear my voice asking in a lightly pleading tone, "I beg your forgiveness for asking you a question, oh noble maidens, but might you be willing to spare an attendant to roll a large mirror over so that I might be able to tell where I am missing?"

Celestia giggles at getting him to talk to them again and says in a playful mood, "Hmm...well I suppose I could spare her as my needs are currently met." then looks at Aloe and asks, "Aloe, would you kindly go see to his kind request?"

Aloe makes her way over to the wall and retrieves a mirror, then pushes it towards his tub and adjusts the angle asking, "Is this angle to your liking sir?" Noticing his head and back are above the suds as he uses the long brush on his sides, she sees he has a deep black mane and tail with a snow-white coat.

I then turn my head to look at the mirror and say, "That is perfect, thank you miss." then look at my side as I scrub the places that I have missed, not noticing the faint glow returning to my eyes.

She then looks at his eyes and notices a faint glow to them and asks, "Umm sir, is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Confused for a moment I look at my eyes in the mirror and then spot the faint glow to them and then chuckle saying, "Oh no miss, that is just a trick of the light, I assure you. Ever since my birth, my parents thought that same thing until I got older. They learned that because of the color and brilliance of my eyes, they tend to catch the light and shine brighter than they should."

Relieved at hearing that everything is alright, she smiles and then chuckles lightly saying, "Alright then sir, I shall leave you be and return to my duties." and heads back towards Celestia, then stops and looks back at him saying, "If you haven't heard already, my name is Aloe Vera." and asks, "What might your name be, sir?"

I then look at her and say, "Oh, how rude of me. My name is Gold Reel, miss Aloe Vera. I try not to address a pony by name until proper introductions are conducted."

She then smiles back at him saying, "How polite of you to do so, sir Gold Reel. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here at the spa." and returns to her place at the princess's side.

As Aloe returns to her side, Celestia lowers her voice and whispers just loud enough for Luna and Lotus to hear, "I'm eager to hear what he looks like, so please tell us the details Aloe."

I then hear hushed whispers and ignore them as I watch the spell slowly fade away, returning me to my original appearance as an alicorn. Looking toward the door then at the screen separating our view of each other, I return my focus to the mirror and recast the spell. Hastily envisioning my body to return to the way it was before, I wait till the spell finishes and then look around to see if anyone saw my form. With no one staring at me or screaming, I sigh with relief and then pick up the dropped brush and continue scrubbing the sides of my body.