A Kindred Spirit

Having done various odd jobs around the castle during the day, and getting used to the new nuances of being a pony, I found that the sun was beginning to fall into the west. I started in a purposeful trot for a predetermined auxiliary hall that was to be the setting for the dinner of myself, the Elements, and Princess Celestia. It struck me that I should at the least clean up before dining with such important figures; it would be entirely inconsiderate if I showed up dirty and sweaty.

Then I realized that I had no chambers to return to. I decided to ask a guard if they knew where any sort of bathhouse could be found. I was dreading that I would be in some sort of public bathing area when the kindly guard told me this bit of news:

"Sir, I was asked to tell you that if you needed to wash up, the lady Rarity requested you come to her chambers."

This was an unexpected piece of news, but it was the very Rarity thing to do...

"Thank'ya, sir." My accentual melding of the two words was automatic. "Now where might I find her chambers?" I asked politely.

Listening to his directions, I managed to find her suite; it was difficult to miss in the first place, if you knew which tower it was in. Approaching the large double doors, I managed to stand on three hooves, raising my front right to knock firmly on one and wait for an answer. "Come in, come in!" was the sing-song reply. I did as it commanded and entered the grand room, to the smiling face of a purple maned mare.

"Oh! Hello!" she sang.

"Hello, Miss Rarity," I said.

"Dear, you simply must stop calling me "Miss"," she chided. "The washroom is just over that way." The alabaster mare motioned to a pair of simpler, less grand doors (I had seen a LOT of large doors today) across from the large, posh bed. I smiled, thanked her for her generosity, and trotted softly over to the doors. Mentally cursing my lack of hands, I attempted to open the door twice before Rarity happened to notice my struggles, opening the door from across the room with a ice blue shimmer of thick magic-laced air upon the handle. I shot her a look of gratitude before entering the room laid open before me to hear the door shut softly behind. I surveyed the room.

I found it as stately as any other part of the palace; the walls were of white marble, with Roman style ornamental columns laid into the insets. The floor was of some smooth stone or another; I paid it little heed, for the bathtub before me was what I was staring it. It couldn't have been any smaller than a full size bed; it was, like the walls, of polished marble, blending seamlessly with the floor in which it was laid. A slender metal pole rose from its side to a discreet shower head. I carefully descended the small steps cut into the stone to find myself with only my wings, which I had just unfurled, and neck above the water line, which was observable due to sieve-like openings high on the sides of the tub, undoubtedly being overflow drains. Deciding to let forth now the waters of bathing, I turned the ruby-handled knob almost a full turn with my mouth, and did about a fifth-twist of the sapphire one to make sure it wasn't scalding. "Do these ponies have anywhere near the same value in their natural resources as humans do?"

The water flowed out from holes above the overflow drains and began to soak my coat in its hot, wet graces. I sighed; I hadn't showered or bathed in days...

Suddenly I was mortified at this thought. Surely the princess didn't allow me her bed, grimy as I was? No, of course not. The change of body probably came with a cleaning...

Anyway, back to those divine jets of steaming water. The glorious feeling was too divine to be offset by the instinctive upset of my instinct at my now drenched wings. I saw a bar of soap in an oddly tight looking dish... and then realized I had no way of using it on myself. Damn. However, on further inspection, I realized that the silver-shafted pole on which it sat was actually something to assist me in my cleaning. I brightened. I proceeded to somewhat awkwardly lather myself while the tub was filling. Having that exercise done, I set aside the device and turned a glass knob, thinking that it must toggle the flow of water. It did so, and the flow from the spouts weakened and faltered as a new cascade came careening from the faucet onto my head and mane, the latter falling into my face. I smiled at the knowledge of the engineers and plumbing ponies; it was good to see vestiges of home in the works of Equestria...

But what is home now? Where is my home? Who is my family? Who were my friends? Who am I? A random-human-turned-pony with no memory of himself, but only the world that he left behind. Who am I?

I had found myself in an identity crisis.

Well... let's see... my personality is probably the same as it always was. I have that. I've made friends with the eight most powerful ponies in Equestria... I definitely had that. That was fantastic. Amazing. It's all a start. Let's keep the ball rolling; make new friends, get a job...

Having partially resolved my identity crisis, I moved on to other thoughts. I know how I got here; but who sent for me? That's a biggie. I'll make that a main task.

I began sifting through my mind to determine some main suspects. All the while I had been autonomously cleaning; I stopped, unplugged the drain, clambered out of the tub, and slung a towel around myself. I was immediately glad for lack of ventilation in the room; having a gust blow over my wet coat would chill me. An idea formed in my mind; I laid the towel on the rack, and stepped back into the tub. I raised my wings and brought them down, spread wide as I could in the roomy confine of the bath, and immediately was rewarded with a powerful, drying blast of air. Having mostly dried myself, I exited once more the washtub and walked to the door. I hesitated; it really still was bizarre and a little uncomfortable to go out in full view of the public without any clothes on, and Rarity was a lady. I brushed this old manner aside and just managed to pull the handle and exit the bathroom, along with a jet of steam.

"My, my, someone likes it hot," teased Rarity, looking up from whatever it was that she was just working on.

"Yes'm," I said simply, the formalities manifesting themselves again. She gave me another chiding look for this before speaking. "Well, part of the reason why I invited you here is so I could clean you up a bit before we go to the dinner. Even though I'm sure nopony would care if you looked as you did earlier today, I find it prudent to look your best at a gathering like this one."

I gave a sigh of mock exasperation as the amusement on my face was clearly apparent. "Alright, alright. If you insist."

She gave a big smile and exclaimed, "Great! Let's start with your mane and tail. Wait! I simply must brush your coat first! Where did I put my brush? Opalescence! Did you take it?..."

As she passionately buried herself in her work, my amused smile remained. This would take a while...