Chapter 3: Social Bathing
”Have you ever wondered why there are less unicorns than pegasi or earth ponies?”
Sunset cocked her head, looking up at Celestia. Even laying side to side, the alicorn dwarfed most other ponies. “Uhm, it has to do with our lower life expectancy,” she replied, reciting what she had learned at school the week before. “Our lower birth rate, and our predisposition to disease.”
Princess Celestia’s smile didn’t falter. She listened to Sunset patiently, and when the little unicorn was done, she closed her eyes and gently shook her head. “But why do those things affect unicorns more than the others? In fact, let me ask you another question. Have you ever wondered why there aren’t any more alicorns out there that we know of?”
Now that was a question Sunset had never truly considered. Not because she hadn’t thought about it, but because it was so obvious! “Well,” she said. “Because you are unique! You’re the most powerful pony in all of Equestria! You move the sun and the moon, and you’re immortal!”
“And why do those things relate to the lack of alicorns?”
Sunset frowned. Was she supposed to have learned this at school, or was Celestia testing her in some other way? The teachers had certainly been utterly factly about this, probably because they loathed the idea of living less than mudponies.
“Uhm… Because…” Why was Celestia unique? Why were unicorns lower in number? What did these things had to do with anything? They had been reading ‘Gem Enchanting’ just a moment ago!
Celestia only looked at Sunset. She was waiting for an answer, but Sunset didn’t know it! Or… did she? Celestia never really asked questions she knew couldn’t be answered. That’s how wise she was! Sunset had to know! She thought about the facts once more, and could only see one thing relating everything.
“Unicorns are stronger than pegasi and mu- uh, earth ponies, and alicorns, as the embodiment of all three races, far surpass us all. So… we are less because… there must be a balance.”
When Celestia nodded, Sunset felt her heart skip a beat and her cheeks heat up. “That is called Harmony.”
~~~~~~~~
Sunset closed the anatomy tome, satisfied. She had read it completely, and now knew quite a lot about the human body. She’d need to re-read it again when she was to prepare the paper she’d present to Celestia upon her return, though. Still, there was something that bothered her; for some reason, she felt that the book was holding information from her.
It was normal, she supposed. Books would disclose subjects only pertaining to their contents, especially encyclopedias. But these didn’t even have references to other books she could read to learn more!
Leaning back on the chair, Sunset looked up at the ceiling. Well, at least she had 30 whole moons to prepare this project instead of the one week timeframe her school usually gave. It even seemed unfair in Sunset’s favor!
Hah! Easiest grades ever!
She stretched her arms to her sides. How long had it been since Dandy left? Probably a couple hours. She looked around, and found no one. Then again, who did she expect to see? Trixie was in her room, grounded.
Sunset was free to do as she pleased, except go out. She so wanted to investigate the streets, but she feared she’d get lost and it would be impossible to return. Big cities barely had any appropriate landmarks. She supposed she could ask Dandy to give her a tour some other day.
Standing up, Sunset took the tome back to the shelf. Now that she knew about this new body of hers, what could she tackle next? The encyclopedia had a variety of themes she found would be interesting: History, geography… There were some about mathematics and… informatic? What was that?
She reached for the tome, but stopped as she heard a voice. She turned back, but found no one there. The voice was soft and it seemed to come from another room. Was it Trixie? Sunset waited for a moment, noticing that Trixie seemed to be having a conversation. Who was she talking to? Were there more humans in this apartment? If so, Sunset needed to meet all of them.
“... so unfair!” Sunset heard Trixie say. Her voice was still muffled, but as Sunset got closer to her room, she could easily pinpoint the words. “Yes, I know. But you know why I do it. I’ve told you twice already.”
Silence.
“Now don’t you look at me like that!” Trixie said angrily.
More silence.
“No, no… you’re right. I’m sorry…”
Who was she talking to? Nopony seemed to be replying. How then? Sunset shook her head. The only way to know something, was to investigate and ask the right questions! Assumptions were for theories before experimenting!
With that in mind, Sunset knocked on the door.
There was the sound of hurried shifting before the door opened. “Uhm… yes?”
“Who are you talking with?” Sunset asked, trying to look past Trixie. So far, she saw no one. “If there are more humans, I think I should meet them.”
To her surprise, Trixie heated up and looked down. “Uh, well… There’s… uhm…” She looked back, then at Sunset. Ultimately, she decided to open the door.
Sunset stepped in.
There were clothes of all kinds scattered everywhere, magazines were hastily stocked in a fragile pile on a corner, and various book-looking objects surrounded another of those T.V.s. The walls were decorated with posters of various cartoons, but Sunset only recognized the one they had watched in the morning.
The bed was a mess, and there were more clothes upon it. One thing that stood out to Sunset was that everything was a different shade of blue or purple.
“I was talking with Mr. Squibbles,” Trixie admitted in a low voice, failing to avoid her cheeks from becoming a bright red. She pointed, and Sunset followed the direction.
She had completely missed a cage placed on a wardrobe, as it was half covered with a blanket and some more magazines. Sunset walked closer and saw it was a rodent’s cage. And right beside the wheel, there was a small ball of brown and gray fur.
The little hamster looked up at Sunset, moved its snout, then looked away.
“You were talking with your hamster?” Sunset asked.
Trixie hunched over herself. “Uhm… well…”
Sunset sighed. “Well, I guess it’s my fault for assuming.” Hadn’t she just thought against assuming things? She looked at Trixie, and finally noticed the huge blush on her face. “Why are you so… flustered?”
“Well… this, uhm, this isn’t normal, is it?” Trixie replied, avoiding to look directly at Sunset. “D-Don’t you think it’s weird?”
“Why would it be weird?” Sunset asked, and Trixie finally looked at her with widened eyes. “Pets may not be as smart, and they may not be able to talk, but they are intelligent. They can understand you.”
Trixie blinked and gaped for several seconds. “You… really think that?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I know so.”
Tears began forming in the corners of Trixie’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“What for?” Sunset asked. What was it with this girl?
“For, uhm, you know… cheering me up?”
Sunset frowned in confusion. “Well, if learning something cheers you up, then you’re on the right path.” She looked around the room once more. “So, there aren’t any more humans I should be meeting?”
“... No…”
Now that had been an odd way to reply. Then again, Trixie was an odd one. Sunset turned to her. “I think you should know I’ll be living with you guys for a while.”
Trixie’s brows raised in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. Turns out my money is worth a lot of your money, so I’ll be paying for rent and stuff,” Sunset replied, then let out a heavy sigh. “I’m kind of glad. Celestia had me study home economics, and it’s such a drag… It’s better to let somepony else take care of it.”
“Uh… sure…”
Sunset nodded to herself. Besides, one bit a moon was such a great deal, she had to remind herself that it wasn’t a scam!
She looked at Trixie again, noticing she was still in her pajamas, and Sunset remembered she, too, had slothed all day. Well, might as well, she thought.
“Say, Trixie,” Sunset said, and Trixie immediately looked up at her. “I really want to take a shower, and I need you to join me.”
Trixie stopped in her tracks, and her whole face turned beet red. “W-W-W-WHAT?!”
“Join me in the shower,” she repeated. Sunset had already understood humans had some sort of nudity taboo, but she hadn’t considered… “Wait, you’re telling me you guys don’t do social bathing?”
“Wh- N-No!” Trixie stammered. “You ponies do?!”
“Well, yeah!” Sunset replied, indignant. “I may prefer to be on my own, but even I can’t avoid social bathing!”
Trixie gaped. “T-Tha- B-But…”
“Trixie,” Sunset said more forcefully. “You humans may not partake in this, but I need to take a shower, and not only do I not have my magic, but I also don’t know how to clean this body. Besides, I remember paying you for your assistance!”
“Assis- But this is different!”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake, Trixie! Isn’t it humiliating enough that I have to ask for help in such a basic thing?! You agreed to it! Besides, I don’t see what the problem is! According to the encyclopedia, I literally have nothing you’ve never seen before!”
By this point, Trixie had stepped back all the way until she hit a wall, then had hunched over. She looked up at Sunset, her face still red, and, finally, nodded defeatedly. “F-fine, I’ll help you!”
Sunset puffed, exasperated.
“But I’ll be wearing a swimsuit.”
That made Sunset groan loudly. “Why must you make this so complicated?! How am I supposed to wash you if you’re wearing clothes?!”
“W-Wash me?!”
“Well, duh!” Sunset replied. “How else am I supposed to learn how to do it?”
Somehow, Trixie seemed to glow an even brighter red. “But I, you, but… I-I can teach you how to do it by yourself! No need to do it to me!”
“This is unbelievable!” Sunset said as she threw her arms above her head. She facepalmed and breathed in heavily. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. But you better teach me properly. I don’t want you missing important details because of that stupid taboo of yours!”
Trixie, finally, just nodded.
~~~~~~~~
Sunset stood outside the shower, inspecting it. It was so small! She supposed it was due to the apartment being generally small, but this was ridiculous! Even if humans bathed alone, they were prone to hitting everything in such a small space if they weren’t careful, right? And if it looked so dauntingly claustrophobic just for Sunset alone, how would it feel once Trixie joined?
But… there was nothing she could do about it. She needed help, as much as she loathed to admit it. Besides, it was a good opportunity to get to know Trixie a bit more. Not that Sunset particularly cared for the girl, but she felt like she owed her, and Sunset Shimmer did not owe anything to anypony!
Now… where was the boiler? Sunset looked around the bathroom. Its size certainly gave no space for a boiler. “Huh, maybe apartments are different,” she said to herself. She was used to the castle’s bathrooms that pumped the water directly from the hot springs at the summit of the mountain. And even before that, all of Canterlot’s houses had boilers inside the bathroom where the heat could easily be controlled. Schools though, they had massive boilers right outside the communal bathrooms in order to avoid students getting hurt.
Were apartments built after a similar idea?
Shaking her head, Sunset decided to investigate later. And so she opened the faucet nearest to her. “Uhm, is this one the hot water?” Damn, she had forgotten to ask! Water was already falling, and some freezing cold droplets sprayed on her face. She yelped and stepped back.
Well, she’d better leave that to Trixie and observe how she’d do it.
And so, she began undressing.
She thought her body would immediately start feeling cold, but it wasn’t the case. In fact, she felt a bit of heat. Looking up, she noticed steam rising from the shower. Ah hah! She had opened the right faucet! She couldn’t help but feeling proud at getting it right on her first try!
Once she was naked, she folded the clothes and placed them on the toilet.
That’s when Trixie entered the bathroom. As she had said, she was wearing a one piece purple swimsuit with two yellow lines crossing her belly. Her flowing silvery hair reached below her waist. Now that must be a nightmare to take care of, Sunset thought.
Trixie had barely glanced at Sunset and already she was heating up. Were all humans like that?
Sunset placed her hands on her hips. “Well, let’s get to it. The sooner we start, the sooner it’ll be over.”
Looking away, Trixie nodded. She then leaned in to the shower and put her hand under the stream of water. Only one minute later she turned back and gestured Sunset to go inside. She made a point not to look when Sunset walked past her and into the shower.
“You know, I really don’t understand what’s so bad about this,” Sunset said as the water hit her, and it was so pleasantly warm! “I’d understand if you or me were a different gender, but…” She scooted over to let Trixie step in and close the weird blurry door.
“It’s just how it is…” Trixie replied, still looking away from Sunset. “I-I mean, there are communal showers at school so we can wash after swimming or doing sports. But they are separated to be used individually, and everyone at least gets in their underwear before coming out to the lockers…”
Sunset blinked as Trixie turned completely away from her. Somehow, she looked smaller now.
“No one wants others to see them naked. Why would they?”
“Why don’t they?” Sunset found herself asking. The water was hitting her back, preventing Trixie from getting wet. “I don’t get it. You’re all girls, right? You and me are girls. Why would there be a taboo like that?”
Trixie reached for a small bottle from a corner shelf and looked at it. “It may be different from where you come from, Sunset. But it’s just how it is here.”
Sunset made a face and crossed her arms. What kind of reason was that? Just the way it is? For all their advanced knowledge, they sure seemed pretty stupid. But what was Sunset to do? Force them to her own customs?
She sighed. “Look, just teach me how to do this. I won’t ask you to do it again if you’re that uncomfortable.”
Trixie nodded and turned back to Sunset. “Thanks,” she said with a small smile. “Uhm, I don’t know how you did it before-”
“Coat first. Shampoo, rinsing, brushing, conditioner, rinsing, brushing. Then mane. “Shampoo, brushing, rinsing, conditioner, brushing, rinsing, brushing again.”
“That… That’s a lot of brushing.”
Sunset shrugged. “It’s worth it, though. Mine are the softest and most brilliant coat and mane in Equestria… Only after the princess’ herself, of course.”
“Well…” Trixie cleared her throat. “If you want to do all that again, I suppose you can. But the normal process is… Well, first get your hair wet.”
“Done that.”
“Oh, right, uhm…” Trixie’s blush returned at that, then handed the bottle to Sunset. “Put some on your hand. Not much, just about, uhm, the size of a coin. You’ll want to use your fingers to massage your scalp with the shampoo. Then rinse up.”
Sunset fumbled with the bottle, but managed to get it open. Then, she poured some on her hand. Or, that’s what she had intended, at least. She had pressed the bottle so much, a huge amount of pink shampoo poured from it. She yelped, and Trixie snatched the bottle from her.
Sunset felt her cheeks flush. Oh, this was going to be even more humiliating than she thought, wasn’t it? She shook her head. Well, might as well ridicule herself just this once. She put the shampoo on her head and moved her hands, feeling her fingers move across. It was… odd.
It certainly didn’t feel like a massage.
Right then, Trixie stepped closer, her face beet red again. “H-Here, let me help you and show you how it’s done.” When Sunset lowered her arms, Trixie gestured her to turn around, so she did. “It’s not your hands, but the fingers you have to move,” she said, then began massaging Sunset’s scalp.
“Oh, ohhh.” Now that felt quite nice. Sunset focused on the feelings and tried to remember. She’d have to do it herself from then on, after all.
“So,” Trixie said as she tried not to tangle her fingers with Sunset’s incredibly voluminous hair. “Why do you?”
“Hm?”
Trixie cleared her throat. “Why do you do the, uhm…”
“Social bathing?”
“Yeah.”
Sunset closed her eyes as she remembered when Princess Celestia had told her about it. “Aside from needing help sometimes, It’s a good way to know your peers,” she said. “Bathing forges and strengthens bonds, because when you wash another, you care about them. It is about socializing, about being part of a group. And as much as I dislike the idea, I can’t deny the importance of groups.”
Trixie stopped her ministrations and leaned back. “You, uhm, you can rinse up now.”
Sunset shoved her head right into the stream’s path, letting the shampoo wash off. This felt nice, better than when she was a pony. Why? She passed a hand through her face and opened her eyes, turning back to Trixie. “What now?”
“Now, more shampoo,” Trixie said, already pouring some to her hand. “Here.” Awkwardly, Trixie placed the shampoo onto Sunset’s hand.
Now this was humiliating.
“You will want to spread it to the rest of your hair, like this,” Trixie said, mimicking the motions with her own hair. Sunset fully turned to face Trixie in order to properly do what Trixie did. This part was easy!
Trixie stopped her movements when Sunset seemed to be doing it right. “So, you never mock each other when you’re bathing?”
Stopping for just a moment, Sunset considered. “I’ve seen some fillies mocking each other, then again, they were always at it, not only during bathing. I’m so glad I stopped going with them.”
“Your classmates?”
“Yeah,” Sunset replied. “Bunch of rich idiots that think they’ve got it figured out just because daddy or mommy buy them everything. Can you believe they tried to turn me into their lackey? Hah! As if!”
Trixie blinked a couple of times. “Did they bully you when you refused?”
“Bully me?” Sunset said, then laughed. “Hah! Oh, Trixie, you’re so funny! Bully me, she says! Haha!” When she managed to calm down, she saw Trixie frowning at her. “Even if I weren’t Princess Celestia’s protege, I am still the most powerful unicorn in Equestria! Had they ever tried anything against me, I would just need a quick spell and their furs would fall off.”
Trixie smiled weakly. “It must be nice,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I said it’s nice,” Trixie said louder, then gestured Sunset to rinse up again.
It had taken too long for Sunset to spread the shampoo in her hair. She sighed as the water stream hit her head again. These hands, however, seemed to be way better for cleaning, as they could separate and go through the hair strands way easier than hooves. When she opened her eyes, she found Trixie blushing. Again.
“Now what? More shampoo?”
Trixie shook her head, then turned to the corner shelf and grabbed a bar of soap and a loofah. “Next is your, uhm… Your body.” She spread some soap on the loofah and handed it to Sunset. Then, she mimicked the movements in her own body for Sunset to imitate.
Sunset noticed that the lower they went, the redder Trixie got. She had to admit she was impressed. With so much blood pumping to the girl’s head, Trixie should’ve passed out by now.
Finally, after much fumbling and almost tripping several times when trying to wash her legs and feet, Sunset was finishing her shower, rinsing up her body. This had certainly been an interesting experience so far, and not exactly a bad one. Of course, water streams felt way better on her fur -especially her back-, but the versatility of her hands and fingers allowed for much softer massages. All in all, probably an even trade, she reasoned.
The shower’s door opened, and Sunset turned to see Trixie stepping out.
“Wait,” she called.” Where are you going?”
Trixie looked everywhere but to Sunset. “Well, you already finished. You can use the towels to-”
“Now don’t give me that!” Sunset said. “At least let me return the favor and wash your hair!”
More blushing. Sunset found it oddly amusing that Trixie heated up so easily and by seemingly everything. “W-Why?”
Sunset snatched the shampoo bottle. “Because it doesn’t seem fair to me, and I am nothing if not fair.”
Trixie hesitated, then sighed defeatedly before getting back in and closing the door. “But just my hair, ok?”
“Sure thing,” Sunset agreed, then poured some shampoo into her hand. This time, she had managed to only get a handful. When Trixie turned her back to Sunset, she placed her hands on the girl’s head. “Now, you tell me how I do it.”
Trixie nodded. “Uhm, you can use the whole hands to spread the shampoo, but try to use the fingers so you get used to it.” Sunset did as told, trying to give Trixie the same massage she had given her. “Ouch! Not so hard!”
“Sorry.”
It took some time, but Sunset finally managed to get washing Trixie’s hair without the girl correcting her. She had to admit, Trixie’s hair was really soft and silky, letting her fingers go through as if it was water. It even rivaled her own. But it was so much longer!
“Your hair is beautiful,” Sunset found herself saying. How could she not? Her fingers felt soft just by touching the silvery blue hair. “You must take care of it just as much as I do.”
Trixie seemed to tense up at that, but it was so fast Sunset thought she imagined it.
“Uhm… thanks. Yours is beautiful too.”
Sunset nodded to herself. She didn’t need to be told that, but it was always good to hear somepony else say it. Ah, but Trixie’s hair really was mesmerizing. Wet hair normally couldn’t compare to its dry and brushed form, but Trixie’s somehow made up for it with its softness. Sunset couldn’t quite remember when was the last time she had been so enthralled by hair that wasn’t hers or Princess Celestia’s.
“You’ll have to show me how to brush,” Sunset said. “And you absolutely must let me brush your hair.”
She could practically feel Trixie blush harder. “Uhm… I-I suppose that’s ok.”
~~~~~~~~
Shower finished and body clumsily dried, Sunset found herself wrapped in two towels. One around her body and another one wrapped around her hair. At least this part of the after-bathing process seemed to be the same as in Equestria.
Trixie had insisted she’d go ahead and get dressed while she finished the shower. Not that Sunset particularly complained. The shower was quite small. Besides, Sunset supposed Trixie had already blushed quite enough already.
On her bed, Sunset found some more clothes. “Trixie must’ve brought them before joining me,” she said. There were pink panties, a blue t-shirt with white long sleeves, and brown short pants. Not exactly what Sunset expected Trixie to wear, for some reason, but she wasn’t one to complain.
She tossed the towel from her body and quickly got dressed. She fumbled with the t-shirt, but she managed to put it on without disrupting the towel on her head too much. When she was done, she exited her bedroom. She couldn’t hear the shower anymore.
“You almost done?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah,” Trixie replied, her voice echoing inside the bathroom. “Wait in my mom’s room. I’ll go when I’m dressed.”
“Sure,” Sunset said and went to the last room she had yet to see. This one was really organized. The walls were a soft shade of orange, and the furniture in general was brown in color. There was a huge mirror placed on top of an even bigger wardrobe, upon which were dozens of toiletries of all colors and sizes.
After a while, Trixie entered the room, dressed with blue pants and a purple t-shirt with a yellow neck. A towel was also wrapped around her hair. She was holding a brush.
“Uhm, you should take the towel off now,” Trixie said.
Sunset nodded and did so, her hair falling free. She looked into the mirror and froze. “Whoa, I look like a manticore!” Her hair was everywhere!
“What?”
“My hair never does this! Ah! I believe it’s because I didn’t brush it at all. I’ll have to bring a brush into the shower next time!” She said as she sat down on the bed.
Trixie sat down next to Sunset, then reached out and grabbed a strand of Sunset’s hair. “Well, it’s still moist enough. We can fix it right now.” She grabbed her brush and passed it through Sunset’s hair. “I don’t know how you do it, but I always count to sixty brushes before moving to the next part.”
“With a hair as long as yours, that must take an eternity to do,” Sunset noted, watching Trixie work through the mirror.
“Only about twenty minutes,” Trixie admitted.
And it was around that same time that Trixie took to brush the entirety of Sunset’s hair. It looked good, Sunset admitted, better than she had expected. Somehow, Trixie had managed to return Sunset’s hair to its natural shape and weight, something even the maids had trouble managing!
“It looks really nice. Thanks, Trixie.”
Trixie blushed again, and handed the brush to Sunset. “Your turn.”
Sunset grabbed the brush and waited for Trixie to unwrap the towel from her head. She grabbed Trixie’s hair. It was so silky! Yes, it was still moist, but it truly felt like holding the softest of fabrics.
“How on Equestria did you manage this?” Sunset asked as she began brushing. She attempted to be careful not to pull Trixie’s hair, but she didn’t need to as the brush simply passed through the hair as if it was water.
“Manage what?”
“This!” Sunset insisted. “Your hair! You’re the second pon- uh.. second one I meet that has such silky, soft hair.”
Trixie lowered her head a little. “Well, I spend a lot of time taking care of it.”
“Well, kudos to you, Trixie,” Sunset said, finding that she enjoyed just passing her fingers through Trixie’s unbelievably soft hair. “So, you always come to your mom’s room after you bathe?”
“No, I always do it in my room.”
Sunset cocked her head. “Then why did you tell me to come here?”
Trixie looked away. “I needed to get dressed.”
Ah, again with the nudity taboo. Sunset supposed she could stop insisting on the matter. It wasn’t so difficult, as she quickly found herself enjoying just brushing Trixie’s fabulous silver mane.