You turn the nob for the warm water, completing preparations for tonight’s bath. You now turn to make your way to find the young filly you will be washing. Thankfully, unlike your last job, Fleur’s parents lived in a house with a reasonable number of rooms.
As you walk through the house, you are still shocked at how… well, ordinary it looks. It’s a nice house, not poor like Photo’s, but still nothing more than a shack compared to Fancy Pants’ house. You would describe it as middle class, but not wealthy either. For what it lacked in grandeur though, the house had a wonderful sort of family feel, was comfortable, inviting, and warm. Overall it was much nicer than the mansion.
You step into the front yard to see a foal Fleur sitting with a foal Fancy Pants, and smile at the heartwarming scene. Unknown to most ponies, Fleur was something of an ugly duckling when she was small, and not many of the colts wanted to play with her. Thankfully, Fancy Pants never cared one jot what anypony thought, and enjoyed her company. And so, there they sat in the front yard, as cute as buttons. Fancy Pants noticed a pretty pink flower blooming in the yard and picked it with his mouth (he wasn’t good at magic yet. Fancy Pants sweetly offered it to her, and in gratitude (but misunderstanding), she ate the tasty treat. This left Fancy pants with half the stem, which he ate with a happy, “Om-nom-nom” and you with a super high pitched “Squee.”
You interrupt the scene before your heart can give out and tell her it’s time for tonight’s bath. Fleur doesn’t like baths, but Fancy Pants (whose contract to have you bathe him has already just slightly expired) assures her in baby talk that you know what you’re doing and to not worry. She hugs her friend goodnight (DAWW) and follows you to the tub. Once inside you close the door and make your way over to the mat. You pick her up and set her on the rim to test the water. This turns out to be a good decision, because due to recent baths being hotter than normal, you’ve made the bath a little too hot for her.
Thankfully Fleur is helpful and together you cool the bath slightly before helping her in. You get out your trusty, “Pretty in Pink” Shampoo and pour some into your hand. You used this shampoo because she has a pink mane. However, when you took the job you did not know that her mane had been a very pale pink when she was little, and had only taken on its glossy pink shine later in her life. Her mane is beautiful even now, but she hates it. You continue to scrub the little mane until it is time to rinse.
You scoop up a handful of warm water and pour it over her little mane. After seven rinses her mane is back to its pale form, much to your satisfaction and her disappointment. Choosing not to dwell on it, you ask her to lift her tail, to which she complies. The same story holds true with her tail as did with her mane, as it lacks the luster, softness, or elegance of her later tail. You pour some more Pretty in Pink shampoo into your palm and begin tenderly stroking it through her little tail. You start to scoop up some water to pour over it, but she quickly hides her tail beneath the water, not wanting it to be seen. You give her a deadpan, “Really?” look to which she nods with a definite, “Yes.” You ask her to at least scrub the suds out of it so that it so that it will be properly rinsed, and one cute wiggle later her job is done.
Normally the bath would be mostly over now, but she has been playing outside and has some dirt on her, which really shows considering she’s white. She doesn’t really mind this part, so it goes pretty well. You scrub her little legs and belly with the brush, which she doesn’t mind because she’s not ticklish. Or at least that’s what she keeps telling herself. She doesn’t even giggle, but her expression distorts into the funniest forms possible as ticklish tear barely form in her eyes. Thankfully (for her) this is over in just a few moments and the laughs she has been holding in escape as a mere sigh.
Since she didn’t you decide to laugh instead and you give her the bath toys which she gladly accepts. You watch as she begins by having them act out having a tea party fit for princesses. This somehow escalates into the princesses having to fight off Discord (who at this time remember was still sealed in stone, and was not thought of as anything more than a fictional character to scare fillies), and finally into the Princesses having tea with Discord. You think to yourself how quickly that escalated, but then notice that she seems sad not having anyone to play with. But you are an awesome foalsitter, so you play with her. She is girly, but has a personality, and wants to play with friends, aka: a normal filly.
With the bath over (and the water definitely too cold now) you take her out and unplug the tub. You dry her with a soft towel and by the time the bath has drained a dry foal stands before you with a VERY frizzy mane. The frizz covers her eyes but you can tell she is giving you a, “please don’t laugh” look underneath it. If she can contain a laugh so can you, and you pretend you have no idea what she’s ‘talking’ about.
She hugs you for not judging and you carry her off to bedtime.
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The next day, Fancy Pants stopped to play again, and the ice cream truck made a round through the neighborhood. Fleur never had ice cream before and has pleading eyes for it. Fancy Pants notices and tugs at his attendant’s coat. They buy the truck.