Several days had slipped by. My leg was feeling better, and my pants were repaired. Rumors were circulating around the castle, and I was known enough to get some of them. Psychic Granny had not weathered the assault she received, and the charges against the deposed council member had only increased as a result.

I had a hard time feeling any sympathy for him. He'd cost a lot of ponies a lot of time and blood, not to mention personally killing at least two of them, likely more. Had they already gained access to Tartarus? Seemed like a likely place for such a person. Easy had looked perplexed when I asked her about it. "That's just an old mare's tale," she scoffed, waving it away.

I was allowed to wander the castle, but not to leave it. Fortunately I had Easy to talk to at least, and books to pursue if I dared to approach the library again. A soft knocking rose my attention towards the door of my room.

"You have a guest," came Water's voice through the wood. "I believe you are familiar with them."

Easy glanced at me a moment before she called out, "open the door."

The door's knob glowed as it twisted and the door opened, revealing Water Lily and Soft. I smiled at the both of them and waved them inside. Soft took the invitation without hesitation, but Water stayed outside. "If I can get you anything, you have but to ask, but I'm on duty, sorry." She took her leave without waiting for much of a reply, the door closing behind her.

Soft nodded to me, then Easy. "Good to see you both. I come bearing felicitous news."

I hiked a brow. "She's calling off the war?"

"Exactly that." He pointed a hoof at me. "She's not happy with the spell being in two places, but that's a fair step higher than zero. Knowing the pony responsible is being brought to justice has eased things considerably." He sighed softly. "So much wasted, and for what?"

Easy rolled a hoof. "So a pony could feel important and roll around in undeserved bits?"

I grunted at that. "I'd love to hear his view of it, but I doubt I will, and it doesn't matter in the end." Looking to soft, I rolled a hand, "Any new word from court?"

"Only the one I will be delivering tomorrow morning. I had hoped I could talk you into coming." He cracked a little smile. "It would be a pleasure to have you in the crowd when I delivered the news. You did play a key role in ensuring it."

Easy leaned forward on her bed. "Is that invite for him only?"

"Perish the thought." He coughed into a hoof twice. "You are his manager, are you not? I wouldn't imagine he would come without you."

"Exactly." She bobbed her head, looking pleased. "Soon we'll get to things that need real managing."

"One thing." I held up two fingers. "You said two instead of zero, but they only named one city."

Soft chuckled softly at that, tapping the ground with a hoof. "Why, if they have a spell in some other city, there will be one here, in Canterlot. That goes without saying. Besides--" He raised a brow at me. "--you are going to make this city grow. I am uncertain exactly how true the methods you may bring are, but you have given us little reason to doubt you so far. You are earnest, if nothing else."

Easy waved the uncertainty away. "We're gonna make this the place to be. Ponies will be fighting for the right to live here." She grinned wide at me. "Right?"

"That's the goal." I rose up onto my relatively new hooves and felt the equally new tail swaying behind me. I had gone so very native. "I'll be there, tomorrow."

"You look unhappy." That was a casual reminder that I also had expressive pony ears, broadcasting my emotions and removing a lot of my deception ability.

I raised a hand to cover the fuzzy things as if that looked any less obvious. "I'm not used to having these, or these, or this." I pointed down to my hooves and back at my tail. "I'm not sad about coming to court, promise."

Easy shook her head. "They look nice enough at least. You could have gotten ugly pony parts."

"She has a point, if crudely stated." He turned for the door. "See you in the morning, Sir. Let's put this ugliness behind us."

Easy grabbed the door for him as I waved lightly, turning back to her. "We have somewhere to be."

"Yeah, tomorrow." She rolled her eyes as she said it. "Anything for the rest of today?"

I didn't have any grand ideas, just little ones. "Let's plumb."

She hiked a brow. "You're joking."

"Nope." I grabbed my phone and pulled up an article. "Let's start small and see how the pipes in the castle are laid out."

"What makes you so sure they have pipes?" She hopped down from her bed, trotting towards me for all of the few steps it took.

"They have tubs and it didn't look like they were bucket-filled," I reasoned as I stuffed the phone away. "Let's have a look."

"After you, Boss."

I led the way, heading directly for the bathing room. The door wasn't locked, but I didn't dare rush in. I rapped on it with the back of a hand. "Anyone in there?"

"Just me, Sir," came a soft voice. The door opened, revealing a maid. It wasn't Water, but she had a gentle smile much the same. "I was cleaning. Are you looking to bathe, Sir? I can assist." She noticed a pony behind me. "For two?"

I advanced into the room, the maid backing out of the way automatically. "I'm actually here to look at the bath, not use it. Can you bring me some tools? Hammers, screwdrivers, things like that?"

"Oh, um..." She looked obviously out of her element. "I'll see what I can do." She dashed off in a tizzy, likely racing for someone more knowledgeable in crafts to ask.

Easy walked behind me as I approached the bath. "It's full of water, to start. How do you empty the thing?" She looked left and right, scanning the area. "The tubs I used you had to use buckets to fill, and you tipped them over when you were done."

I could easily imagine the metal basin she'd likely use. The porcelain work of art before us was not one of those. "There has to be something..." I looked along the walls, feeling them as I went. "Here we..." I felt the wall come up just a little, a hidden button? "Go." I pressed down on it.

The water didn't so much as flow down as it promptly ceased to be, sparkling faintly as it went. "Magic," I sighed out sadly. Effective? Sure, but I was trying to engineer, not magic it... I sank down beside the empty bathing tub, all clean and sparkling as if there hadn't been bathwater waiting to be used.

Easy, on the other hoof, was busy clapping her hooves with obvious joy. "Wow, that was great. I should have thought of that. Why wouldn't the palace have magical artifacts for silly little things like that? Why are you looking glum?" She walked over and casually reared up next to me. "You're much more honest these days."

"Wha--" I didn't get to finish my question as she nipped one of my hanging ears. I pushed her away even as she laughed. "I was hoping for a non-magical setup. I can't do much with one powered by magic."

"Why not? Isn't magic easier?" She tilted her head a little, looking genuinely baffled.

"But not every person in this kingdom has that." I waved at the empty tub. "How expensive do you figure this trick is? If you wanted your tub to fill up with hot water whenever you pressed a button, how costly would that be?"

Easy frowned, considering it from the look of it. "Not cheap," she settled. "Maybe after I'm rich and famous."

"Exactly." I tapped at the porcelain side of the tub. "The answers I'm aiming for are for everyone, not just the richest of the rich. That explains the lack of a drain." Without the water and suds in the way, I could easily see that the tub was entirely sealed with no such need for any outlet for the water.

"I've seen those." Easy nodded firmly. "If you don't like tipping your tub out, just open the drain and let it come out." She made a twisting motion with her hooves. "Just like that. Kind of handy. Dad never installed one on our tub, cheapskate that he is."

I felt a smile coming on and my ears perking up. "Just like that, but both ways. You open a drain that keeps fresh water out of the tub and it comes in. You open a drain on the other end and the water goes out when you're done bathing."

Her eyes shined. "That would be fantastic, but you'd need a lot of water to do that, right? Always right there, waiting to pour into your tub." She sank to her haunches. "You plan to make that much water ready for anyone?"

The door swung open as the maid returned with another pony, a stallion in very clear wizardly attire. The stallion wore a pointed hat and had a long beard. He was not Star Swirl, but easily fit in the same mold. "I was told someone wanted to interfere with the tub?" He saw us there at the side and hurried over, leaving the maid behind. "What is the meaning of this?"

I scrambled to my feet, which I didn't have. They were more hooves really, and as if in objection to my thinking of them that way, they slipped, and I went over into the tub. Magic glittered around me, pulling me back up to stand beside the tub, the wizard's horn glowing. "As I was saying?"

Not the best way to make an impression. "Nice to meet you. I'm--"

"Mister Langerman, the princess' pet." He gestured in a slow roll. "I am not that sequestered in my studies. Why are you interfering with this fine work of enchantment?"

"He's an engineer!" hotly defended Easy, moving between me and the wizard.

I gently nudged her back to the side. "I'm investigating how water is moved in the castle. I had thought this was a feat of engineering, but it was, instead, a work of magic."

He cocked a bushy brow. "Engineering? The word is foreign, but, yes, it is magic, and, permitting, it will remain." He strode past me, his glowing horn turning towards the hidden button. The tub refilled with hot water, bubbling faintly as soaps were apparently added automatically. "Is there anything wrong with it, Mr. Langerman?"

"Quite impressive, really." I waved a hand at it. "How much would it be if I wanted such a tub for myself?"

"More than you will likely ever have," he stated flatly as if it were a simple truth. "You..." He paused just long enough to look up at my head and back to my face. "--have no horn, so teaching you the principles would be a waste of time for all involved."

I didn't suspect learning magic would help me much. "My methods are different. I think I've learned all I can from this. Nice work."

"Of course." He tipped his head towards me before turning to the maid. "Make sure he didn't break anything," he hissed as if I couldn't hear, and he tromped off, likely angry that I had disturbed whatever study he had been in the middle of.

The maid walked up to us with a nervous smile. "I'm sure you did nothing wrong, Sir, Ma'am. He's just like that. Don't be too angry with him."

Author's Notes:

Good news to share tomorrow. Today? We look at tubs. Seems legit, right?

Want this story updated faster? Want to get your own story written? Want to support the author in his writing? Join the atreon!

Join my discord to chat!