Chameleon was unsurprised. The tremors that rattled the chains in the darkness had not often been spoken of by the guards, and then in whispers, but Chameleon had made sure he caught every word.
"It is hard to have an enemy you can't fight," Summerset murmured, and Chameleon jerked at the thought of the blue-haired pony reading his mind. But the other unicorn never looked at him and appeared lost in thought.
There is such a thing as coincidence, Chameleon reminded himself as he carefully followed the other unicorn down a flight of stairs. Sometimes. Whether this was one of those times remained to be seen.
"Here we are," Summerset said, interrupting the green pony's train of thought.
Following Summerset through a light tasseled curtain hanging in a doorway in place of a door, Chameleon misstepped and scrambled as he skidded in a circle on the slick floor. As he regained his footing on the wet tiles, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast, airy room dominated by a pool of cool water sunken into the floor. Several ponies sat surrounded by towels on the broad steps leading down to the pool and others were chest deep in the perfumed water. Earthlings, unicorns, pegasi . . . as far as Chameleon could tell, the only thing they had in common was that they were all gaping at him. He straightened and bit back a scowl as he glanced around for his guide.
Summerset had gathered a stiff-bristled scrub-brush, a towel, and a piece yellow soap. "Well . . . I guess you should get in," he said, his voice uncertain as he eyed first the pool, then the other unicorn.
"Perhaps we should wait for assistance," Chameleon said as the bathing ponies began hastily pulling themselves out of the water. He did take a few steps closer to the water, just enough to inspire a renewed scramble onto the tiled floor and a cascade of dirty looks. Within seconds, the last bather had evacuated the room.
"What do y'need assistance with?" The voice came from an arched doorway on the right, from a crabbed figure of a black unicorn shuffled into the room. Chameleon stared. The newcomer was wrinkled and greying and . . . old. Impossible. Ponies don't age, not past adulthood . . . But somehow this pony had.
"I said what do you--" The aged unicorn stopped in mid-sentence to stare at Summerset with foggy eyes. "Oh, it's you. You've got some nerve, kid." His voice was flat and his greying muzzle twisted like he wanted to spit.
"I--"
"Tell Hypernion I finished dancing to his tune a long time ago. Dancing . . . ha." The black unicorn's limbs creaked as he shifted stiffly.
"Cosmos, I didn't come here to--"
"I don't care what you came here for, you little sycophant."
Interesting, Chameleon thought (as Summerset straightened in indignation.) And informative. Chameleon casually wandered towards the pool, without the slightest flick of his ears to indicate he was listening.
"You listen to me, Cosmos . . . I know you lost a lot and for that I am truly regretful, but--"
"A lot? I lost EVERYTHING! Not that you and your--SWEET RAINBOW!! WHO THE HELL IS THAT?? GET AWAY FROM THERE!!"
Mmm . . . shouldn't have gone towards the water. Chameleon turned.
"That's why I'm here," Summerset said. "I didn't even know you were working here, Cosmos. We just wanted to get him cleaned up, so that--"
"OH no. No no no. Not in this bath room. I'm not having his filth clogging the drains."
"But isn't that the whole point of this place? So that ponies have a chance to clean up when they're dirty?"
"Kid, the guy's a walking pile of manure. That's way beyond 'dirty.'" The black unicorn scowled, first at Summerset, then at Chameleon. The latter looked towards the rippling water with a wistful look in his eyes that he didn't have to fake and didn't try to hide. Cosmos hesistated, shaking his stringy purple forelock out of his eyes. "He's not getting in the pool. Not a chance." Cosmos frowned at the smeared, stained footprints Chameleon had left on the wet tiles, avoiding the emerald green stare of the other unicorn. "But . . . maybe there's a way. Follow me."
Cosmos walked through the archway, followed by the other two unicorns. The room on the other side was also completely tiled, but divided into two sections. The half immediately on the other side of the doorway was defined by the rough wooden shelves lining the walls, holding stacks of neatly folded white towels, ceramic bottles with dribbles of shampoo running down their sides, and plenty of brushes--scrub brushes, back brushes, and hairbrushes. There were piles of soap too, colorful waxy lumps misshapened and warped by hot water and use. (Of course no pony wanted to hold soap in her mouth, which explained the soap-handles scattered across the shelves. The pieces of wood were carved in a rough "L" shape, with the longer leg of the "L" able to be gripped comfortably in a pony's mouth while the shorter leg was pointed--too dully to scratch, but enough that a piece of soap could easily be skewered on it.)
The far side of the room was built about five inches lower, except for a "dais" along the back wall that held a small stove and a pile of quartered logs that served as fuel. A pile of dirty towels sat limply on floor, next to two small, craggy troll-like creatures (both females, judging from their dresses) who were industriously scrubbing linens using a large wooden tub and washboards. Their energetic efforts splashed water everywhere and despite the concavity of the floor and the drain in the middle of the room, the floor was slick with soapy water.
"Hey you two." The pair looked up at the sound of Cosmos' voice, breaking into smiles as they saw the unicorns. They quickly threw down their washboards and scuttled over.
"Greetings, visitors! I am Blim!"
"And I am Griddle! We are . . ." She paused dramatically. " . . . WASHERS!"
"We do a good job, yes!"
"Oh yes, grundles GOOD!"
"I'm sure you are," Summerset said politely, trying to shake his leg free of the grundles' soapy hug. Chameleon merely nodded in greeting, privately noting that despite their effusion and friendly smiles, neither of the little creatures had ventured too close to him. Well, he was very dirty, after all . . .
"I've got a special job for you two," Cosmos announced.
"Oooo!" the grundles chorused. Griddle went so far as to clap in excitement.
"But it's gonna be tough," the purple-haired unicorn warned. "Think you're up to it?"
"Grundles good," Blim declared. "Grundles can handle anything!"
"Great. Clean up that unicorn." Cosmos jerked his head towards Chameleon, turned around, and left as Chameleon and Summerset stared after him and Blim and Griddle stared ahead with frozen smiles.
"Grundles good," Griddle ventured after a minute or two.
"Yeah, good." Blim looked at the muck-encrusted unicorn. "Nothing grundles can't handle." She took another look. "Probably."
To their credit, their smiles only flickered for an instant as they traded glances. Then they were pushing the tub of towels to the side of the wash room and setting up a new washtub near the middle of the room.
"How long do you think this will take?" Summerset asked as Blim began pulling heated buckets of water off the stove and Griddle gathered armfuls of soap and shampoo.
"How long? Hmmm . . ." Blim frowned thoughfully. "Hour or two?"
"Two hours?" Summerset looked worried. "I don't suppose you could knock that down to, say, a half hour?"
Blim gave him a look. "Grundles not that good."
"Well . . . um . . ." Summerset shifted apologetically as he looked at Chameleon. "I'm afraid I have a meeting in a bit. Would you mind staying here with the grundles while I . . . ?"
"Not a problem," Chameleon said. Couldn't have planned it better.
Summerset nodded and hurried through the archway while Chameleon carefully negotiated the five inch drop separating the two halves of the room.
"You ready?" Griddle asked, looking over the steaming tub.
"Oh yes," Chameleon said quietly. "Yes."
Stepping over the high side of the tub was difficult, with his legs still sore and stiff from decades of neglect and when he finally did manage to get in, his lower legs turned the water a muddy brown, (almost black) within seconds. Blim and Griddle insisted that he get out so they could dump out the tub.
Chameleon stood with a muddy puddle gathering around his two-toned legs--now recognizably dark green below his knees, though a stubborn coating of dirt and other less pleasant substances still clung to them--as he watched the grundles pouring new water into the washtub.
"Ready sir!" Griddle beamed. To grundles, all ponies were "ma'am" or "sir", even filthy ones.
"I've been . . . away a while," Chameleon commented as Blim and Griddle started attacking his layer of grime with soap and scrub-brushes. "Seashadow is still queen, I understand?"
"Oh yes," Griddle replied, working on the unicorn's left leg. "Seashadow, beautiful unicorn. Very good--"
"And her consort?"
"Not a unicorn . . . Magenta, funny name for a pony--"
Says the one named Blim, of all things. Great Rainbow, but the water feels good. "But the queen has advisors besides her consort, surely."
"Yes, yes, many advisors. Picked by her, and Magenta helped. Lower head, please!" The unicorn obediantely lowered his head and Blim began slathering his stiff, brittle mane with shampoo before continuing. "Very good advisors. Vision, very wise, knows how to make friends. Moongleam, good fighter."
"Mist," Griddle added as she stood on tiptoes to sluice soapy water over Chameleon's back. "She looks for answers to problems in the city."
A diplomat, a general, and a spymaster, Chameleon translated, trying to focus. They were scrubbing more than two decades of filth out of his fur. The water was steaming . . . and so, so clean . . .
"And Rainrose," Blim continued. "She is--"
"Very pretty," Griddle interrupted, then giggled.
"Grid-dle!" Blim said, more in amusement than in reproach. "Rainrose keeps track of money and--"
"VERY pretty!" This time Griddle had to dodge as Blim tried to splash her.
Chameleon tilted his head to one side and smiled. Very pretty, eh? I know Griddle's not the only one who thinks so. Standing kneedeep in soapy water, with his mane sopping over his eyes and trails of water trickling off his back, the grey-green unicorn let a quiet chuckle escape.