//------------------------------// // The Bath of the Century // Story: The Furious Bath // by toebahbee //------------------------------// It was a Tuesday afternoon, the sun up in the air, the birds chirping and the sounds of a busy city loomed below. In between the hustle and bustle, a homeless foal held resident in between the towering buildings. The foal’s skinny figure hinted at malnourishment, so to stay healthy, the foal relied on the food thrown out by more fortunate ponies. Seeing very minimal food on the ground, the foal resorted to Dumpster diving. The foal started to trot to the Dumpster. Before diving in, the foal took a deep breath. After savoring the fresh, untainted air, the foal swung the hatch open, gently leaning it against the wall. Leaning in, the foal sorted all the trash from the food. Any and all scraps of food found were eaten before smelt and with minimal chewing. Nearing the bottom of the Dumpster, the foal leaned too far forward and fell against the back of the Dumpster. The disturbance caused the hatch to slam closed, creating a sound that reverberated throughout the alley and into the streets. "What was that?" A few ponies who caught the sound inquired. Some left ignoring the sound, whilst others had curiosity walk to it for them. The closer they got, the more trash they saw sprawled all around the ground. The smell itself also getting worse, some ponies retreating from the stench to heave. The foal inside struggled against the hatch, the hatch rattling due to the beating from the foal’s wings and shoulder. The remaining ponies saw the dumpster rattle and cowered away in fear. While the ponies ran out of the alley, a human slipped in, curious as to why they all left so soon. Walking deeper into the alley, the human caught sight and smell of the rattling Dumpster. Unfrightened, the human walked towards the Dumpster and listened to the heavy breathing of a foal struggling. The shaking got more and more violent until the hatch swung open fully for a short while, gravity helping the hatch’s rapid descent. Before the hatch closed, the human used his arm to stop and push the hatch back against the wall. Right as he did, a filly dashed out of the Dumpster, her hoof colliding the human’s face in her escape. The human stumbled back, rubbing his head at the point of contact. After recovering, the human gave chase, following the filly into the streets. The filly looked behind her for a moment and was greeted with a rapidly gaining human. Seeing this, she started flying higher and through the alleyways. The human seeing the filly go so high paused his chase and started running up the stairs from a nearby building. Once at the top, he caught sight of the filly in an alley, taking a breather. The human slowly jumped to the building across the filly and made his way down. On the ground, the human was behind the unknowing filly. The human paused and sniffed the air, and immediately shoved his fingers up his nose protecting his nose from the evil bombardment of rotten apples and other vile smells radiating off the filly. Before continuing, he walked deeper into the alley, searching for anything to clean the filly. Rummaging through the trash, he found a little metal tub and used dish soap next to it. Taking what he had found and started his search for water. Not finding any, he sneaked into a nearby building and went to the sink. Grabbing the dish soap, he cleaned up the metal tub and filled it with water, the human now straining from the added weight. Taking a bar of soap from the sink and replacing it with the used dish soap, he quietly made his way back to the alley and back to the filly. Once he returned, he saw the filly on the ground snoozing. The human seeing his opportunity, quietly placed his tub of water near the filly, letting only a minimal amount of water splashing. In position, the human gently rubbed the soap all around the filly, as to not wake it up. The filly felt something soothing all around her body, easing her into a deeper sleep. That is until she realized that something must be causing it. Snapping her eyes open, she looked up and saw a human. Her back on the ground and eyes up, she locked eyes with the human. The filly seeing this immediately attempted to flare her wings open to make her escape. The human wrapped his arms around the filly, pinning her wings shut. In his grip, the filly used her forelegs and tried to push away. The human’s overpowering grip proved too much for the filly’s strength. The filly then put her hind hooves on his stomach and started to push. The human’s grip weakening, he redirected himself in front of the tub of water and let go of the filly. The filly fell back with a splash of water, shocked at the initial touch of cool water. The human grabbing his soap, he held the filly down to scrub her. Despite the comfortable scrubbing, the filly kept thrashing in the water, splashing it everywhere. With the filly not calming down, the human forcefully held her forelegs and hindlegs against his body, preventing any form of resistance. Starting at the head, the human slathered soap all over the filly’s mane, ear, and her face; being careful around the eyes. The filly shut her mouth closed and stopped her futile struggling. She groaned at how she was being treated like a foal. After the head was all soaped up, he moved down to her sapphire coat and legs. Once he got to her wings, he started at the tips and gradually back to the base. Next was her tail, which was done simply by running his hand from base to bottom. After he was finished, he let go of the filly into the tub, letting the filly herself rinse. The filly immediately started by dunking her head in the water, ridding of its soapy. Next she fell onto her body and rolled, rinsing her wings and tail in the process. After she was finished, she jumped out of the tub and shook the rest of the water off. The human helped to wipe any leftover water. Once dry, the human took a sniff at the filly, and was rewarded with the scent of watermelon. A look of glee spreading across his face. He picked up the filly with a smile that'd rival most clowns'. Letting go of the filly, he walked away with a, "My job here is done," look on his face. He bid the filly one final farewell before making his way back home.