"Alright everypony!" Mr Johnson instructed his class on the Uptown Springdale Western Riverbank, "today, we will be doing our part to making Springfield the cleanest place around!"
"Aww..." The class moaned,
"What's with that attitude?" Mr Johnson replied "this is a public space! Everypony uses this place for recreational purposes. How horrible would it be if it was left unclean! We've got to do our part for Springdale after all!"
"He's got a point..." Bear moaned,
"But isn't that what cleaners are for?" Eddie asked his friends, "I mean, if there are cleaners around the school, I'm sure there are also cleaners around Springdale!"
"If you ask me," Whisper replied, "all of you live in this fair town, so you've got to show how much you love the place by taking care of it! Just like the cleaners!"
"Whisper," Nate sighed, "Eddie can't hear you. Just me, First and Scoots."
"Well then," Scootaloo turned towards her friends, "it's such a shame that we aren't paired on the same team, but at least it's nice to meet somepony new!"
"Speaking of which, do you know who we're teamed up with? Aside from their names of course, since we know that." First asked,
"Meg, or Meghan (or Megan!) As you seem to call her by her full first name, is a cheerful girl that has always the latest gossip and news around Springdale as well as Neighpon, mostly involving idols, cartoons and what not." Katie explained,
"Lucas on the other hand," Nate replied, "he's a really shy but a very kind foal. A lot of others depict him to be strange for some unknown reason, but I haven't seen him do anything suspicious. However, he's the go to guy when there's any sort of uproar between anypony, the mediator that fixes issues and problems quickly and efficiently!"
"Okay everypony!" Mr Johnson instructed, "I want you all to meet up with your group members, and I'll divide the duties between them! After every hour, every group will rotate. Is that okay?"
"Yes sir!" The class replied,
Once all the teams have been assigned their duties, the class was underway through their jobs. Some were tasked to sweep the paved floors while others were given instructions on watering the surrounding flower beds. Though everypony seemed work their hardest in doing their part for Springdale, they were awfully discontent. The sibling's team were assigned to dust off the park benches and vending machines around their area. Along with working hard, the siblings also spent the time introducing themselves to their new partners.
"Nice to meet you!" Scootaloo greeted,
"Scootaloo was it?" Meg asked, a pinkish like pony with a brunette hairstyle and the cutie mark of a newspaper with an exclamation mark upon it. "It's nice to meet you too! It's really nice to meet the filly that beat Maya in fanciness!"
"You still remember that?" Scootaloo gulped in her breath as she released a fake chuckle.
"Of course I do! Any sort of big news in the entertainment business, or school, or rather just the things I'm actually interested in, I keep myself updated about it! After all, it's what my cutie mark is!"
"You must be Lucas right?" First shook hands with a pale-yellow foal with a black mane that covered one of his eyes. On his flanks appears to show the hooves of two separate ponies shaking firmly as it was a vow of friendship.
"Yeah." The foal nodded firmly, "and you must be First, the Equestrian brother."
"Do we still stick out as foreign?" First concernedly asked,
"I-I don't mean that as a bad thing, not at all." Lucas changed his tone, "it's just that... This is the only first time we're meeting foal-to-foal. Sometimes I just can't help but blurt out the bluntness."
"Oh okay. No harm done then." First comforted, "how long have you been living here?"
"Well..." Lucas replied, "Like Nate and the others, I moved to Springdale when the opportunity was given. New atmosphere, new faces, new leaf!"
"Hmm..." First cautiously took in the information, "nothing strange about him as of now..."
"Is this the first time you had to do this?" Scootaloo asked,
"Nope, every class has to clean a designated area in Springdale, and we do this 4 times a term. So things like this are very frequent here. I don't mind cleaning up the place, but it feels like we're doing ALL of the cleaning work."
"Well," Scootaloo shrugged, "I never liked cleaning or fixing in the first place, it's a big hassle."
"Well, as much as I'd love to know more about you and Ponyville, I think we should start focusing on our task." Meg gestured,
"Let's." Scootaloo nodded and sloshed a bucket of soapy water upon the side of a vending machine.
"Uh Scoots?" Meg noticed,
"Yeah?"
"Why did you do that?"
"So it can instantly cover up the entire side!"
"I can certainly see that you really don't like cleaning... You've got a lot to learn." Meg chuckled, "first off: That's a big waste of water. It's conservative to just use the cloth to dip into the water and simply wipe down the area. Like this."
"Oh." Scootaloo watched as Meg demonstrated the way of cleaning while switching her glance to the almost empty bucket of water, then to the excess amounts of water trickling and dripping down the side and finally to the towel on her back. "So that's what that's for, sorry. But--"
"I know I know." Meg interrupted, "it requires more Horsepower and strength, but it works out a lot in the end. At least this place isn't Neighpon. Over there, water is a valuable thing and everypony tries their best to conserve it as much as possible. As for here, you can share the same bucket of water with me for now."
"Thanks!"
Over in the park benches, First and Lucas were diligently dusting off the seating areas while scouring for the largest and smallest of garbage.
"This seems too easy." First wiped his forehead, "at least I just broke some sweat, but that's through repetition of dusting and picking things up in the hot sun."
"You are absolutely right." Lucas replied as he handed some hoof gloves and a plastic scraper, "the real trial begins underneath the benches."
"Really?" First peeked underneath to change his face into pure shock and cringe "Oh no..." Staring at what seems to be a nightmare for a cleaner: Endless stalagmites of chewed gum, stuck like immovable bats.
"Disgusting, isn't it?" Lucas asked, "That's what put me off eating gum ever again, even if it costs 10 cents at Granny Edna's."
"Hurk!" First retched as he poked one of the gum pieces, which left a small dent as the hard plastic edge moulded its shape into the soft moist surface.
"This is so horrific!" First choked, retching once more, "I swear that one's a new arrival!"
"Hah hah, welcome to the real world First." Lucas laughed as First carefully scraped of the dry and wet pieces of gum into a plastic bag, making sure that none of them end up near his physical presence at all costs.
"Hold on a minute..." First signalled,
"What is it? Those pieces of gum aren't going to walk into the trash by themselves you know."
"Do you hear something?" First asked,
"... No." Lucas focused,
"Wait..." First continued perceiving the sound, this time with the extent of pushing his ear onto the floor. "Ah! There it is!"
"Something underneath? That's the sewers known as the Underground Waterway. Narrow in walkways, but stretches throughout Springdale down below. A lot of the times, you can occasionally hear the water running from underneath, which is probably what you are hearing right now.
"I see..." First continued listening, "doesn't sound that strong."
"That so?" Lucas also crouched, "well, I'm not sure how the sewage system works in where you live but..." As Lucas too placed his ear on the paved floor, a sudden look of concern crossed his face. "Wait a minute... It doesn't sound strong..."
"Well, it's not our problem." First replied as he happily got up, his scraper at the ready "We've got gum to scrape!"
"Uh... Weren't you just complaining and gawking at how disgusting the job is?"
"But like you said Lucas, they're not going to clean themselves! We should stop wasting time complaining, and get the job done while we're energised!"
"I'm not sure about myself being energised, but you're right. Let's get this over with so we can complain later."
"Lucas? First?" A feminine voice called as Meg frantically galloped over, "we've got a problem!"
"What is it?" Lucas asked,
"It's your sister First, she's gone insane!"
"How so?" First asked, "If she's insane with speed, then that's typical of her."
"What if she's fired up in doing something?"
"She's normally like that too."
"Literally fired up?"
"Now that type of insanity is a concern." First pricked up, "what is she doing now?"
"She's going all gung ho in wiping and polishing the vending machines, she's going full try-hard!"
"Still sounds like her, the fact that she's on fire is more problematic."
"Then you should talk some sense into her!" Meg suggested as she lead to way to the vending machines. Before their eyes, the three watched a pony wiping down the vending machines all around with mad and rapid movement, with the fire within her eyes and all around her body moving like a fireball.
"When we are given this job, we do it with gusto!" Scootaloo commanded, "We will not falter until the job is done!"
"Well First? What do you think?" Meg asked,
"Join me my friends! And repeat after me! No shirking! No loitering! No giving up!"
"That's something my big brother would say, though a bit more commandeering and forceful than he is." First answered, "but she's very motivated to clean up!"
"Equestria is a beautiful land, with everything in it! I'm going to work hard to preserve that beauty!!!"
"That's true indeed!" First nodded, "but... I don't think she'd be THAT dedicated. Perhaps some of Lady Fluttershy rubbed off on her."
"First, she looks insane enough to me. Can't you tell that from your own sister?"
"I do! And she's not insane! She's just more motivated to be concerned about the environment. I'm happy with that!"
"Then what's with herself being on fire?"
"I have no idea! It doesn't look like it's harming her anyway!"
"You think that thing peeking behind the vending machines is responsible?" Lucas gestured,
"Really?" Meg peeked around, "I don't see anything there..."
"Oh, that's right... Never mind..." Lucas looked away uncomfortably.
"Anything there?" First's train of energised optimism broke into sudden realisation. "Hmm... Hey guys? I'm going to go to the toilet. Is that okay?"
"What about your sister?" Meg replied,
"She's fine!!! She's always like this at home or in Ponyville!" First laughed as he galloped away, not before secretly nicking the Yo-Kai Watch off his fiercely motivated sister.
"You done it again First," First chuckled as he hid behind some bushes. "Flash is going to be mad if he ever finds out that I've been practising my stealth abilities through thievery." Pulling out the lens, he scanned the mentioned spot behind the vending machines. Much to his unsurprising chagrin, a Yo-Kai appeared within the lens, and was uncovered to be a miniature bipedal lion with a flaming mane.
"Rowr!!!!" The lion roared and cheered as it focused his sights on the roaring Scootaloo.
"Okay, she's not fine." First smiled, "Hey Whisper. Whisper?" With First looking around, he spotted the white plump ghost taking a nap on the slopes of the river bank, nestled comfortably in the soft grass.
"Whisper!" First gently tapped the ghost awake,
"Goodness gracious..." Whisper mumbled, "Why do you have the time to ask for my help? I'm busy cleaning the environment."
"Sure you are." First laughed, as he picked up the ghost and shook him violently, scaring Whisper to his wits.
"S-Stop shaking me!" Whisper yelled, "I'm fully awake now! Nothing to see here!"
"This Yo-Kai." First pointed to the blazing lion, "do you know him?"
"Um..." Whisper took out his Yo-Kai pad. "This appears to be Blazion. He's a Yo-Kai that causes anypony to be fiercely motivated and passionate. It can be any action you are doing, or any occupation."
"Wow!" First gasped, "that Yo-Kai sounds like my sister!"
"But I thought she detests cleaning."
"Ironic isn't it?" First continued laughing, "Well, I think it would work out fine!"
"What do you mean?"
"Scootaloo hates cleaning. Now that she's got Blazion inspiriting her, she can do her duty without her facial complaints, and Springdale gets cleaner by the second! It's a win-win situation!"
"First, you seem awfully energetically happy about this. Are you sure you're alright?"
"What do you mean?" First asked, "I feel fine! I'm happy, and I feel so energised! You think there's a Yo-Kai behind that?" And with a joking gesture, First aimed the watch at himself, only to glimpse at the hazy purple silhouette of a butterfly.
"Oh..." First shrugged as he uncovered the Yo-Kai assailant: A butterfly adorned with the three warm colours of red, orange and yellow, with a small hue of light green on his bottom wings. He also has a long yellow curved nose with wisp antennae, as well as the pattern of red eyes on his upper wings. His real eyes however, were just a single black dot in the middle of a white dome, two of them.
"Aww..." First sighed with awe as the Yo-Kai butterfly fluttered frantically when he found out he was discovered. "It's looks like a bright and cute butterfly. Fluttershy would like this... Don't worry, I won't harm you." Feeling the warmth of the foal's words, the small butterfly calmed down and flew closer to the foal.
"..." The butterfly stared intently into First's, without breaking eye contact or changing expressions.
"... Don't talk too much?" First asked,
"This is Enerfly." Whisper pulled out the information, "he's a butterfly Yo-Kai whose dust and powder from his scales can give anypony an optimistic burst of energy, allowing them to perform better without any sense of exhaustion. This can also revitalise and recover any energy lost within anypony or animal, a better supplement than any sports or energy drink. There has been cases about him that whoever he inspirited ended up to be very rich and famous throughout their hard and optimistic work!"
"Wow! He sounds like a good Yo-Kai be inspirited by!" First jumped for joy, "lucky me! Does that mean I'll be famous?"
"Never mind that! What about your sister!?" Whisper pointed to the crazily motivated filly, "Blazion may be a good motivational aid, but what happens if she decides to do something dangerous! Certain cases involving Blazion were certain protests within Neighpon and Equestria, anypony who was motivated in yelling out their ideals got themselves arrested!"
"Hmm... That doesn't sound good at all. I'll try to talk it out." First thought carefully, and trotted over to the lion, with the two Yo-Kai trailing behind.
"Excuse me? Blazion?" First called. With a quick look behind him, the lion quickly spun to face the pony seeking attention. Wearing a dapper martial robe of black and red, the sharp eyed and fanged lion roared in response of a pony looking back at him and stepped back with a martial stance.
"Take it easy Blazion!" First calmed without any form of fear, "I come in peace and negotiation. Is that okay?" The lion tilted his head and thought for a few seconds, then relaxed his muscles and bowed in response.
"Thanks for understanding!" First smiled, "now then, is it okay if you can do a single request for me? It won't take any for your time, I guarantee it."
"First, have you still forgotten that you are inspirited by Enerfly? You're still awfully happy about the situation."
"I really appreciate you motivating my sister to clean up. She always hated cleaning or fixing, which mostly leaves things to me or my older brother to clean up her mess." Blazion bowed at the compliment,
"I was just wondering. After we've been done, can you please not... Inspirit my sister any longer?" First kindly asked. Blazion thought through the proposition, looked at the fired up filly showing her motivation causing her partners to feel awkward, and agreed with a firm sharp nod.
"Thanks a lot! Wow! You really are understanding." First thanked,
"Rowr!" Blazion raised his fists in determined victory.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo raised her hooves in the same manner, the fire around her blazing intensely as she starts working even harder.
"Hey guys!" First came out of hiding to meet the team, "is everything alright?"
"Not at all." Lucas shook his head, "your sister is just getting fired up even more."
"Don't worry about it." First reasoned, "Think about it this way, she's just a furiously motivated gal that wants to get the job done. She won't be too much of a bother if you don't pay any attention to her. Being motivated by doing cleaning may sound lame, but at least it she's opted to do it. That means it's less work for us! I guarantee you, she'll be back to her normal cool self after work. She is trying to be Lady Rainbow Dash after all, Equestria's Fast Flyer!"
"Well, your optimism about your sister's 'motivation' is pretty suspicious too. You've never even changed that smiling face of yours when you left for the toilet!"
"But you've got a good point though..." Meg sighed, wiping her forehead, "thanks to her, I don't have to help Scootaloo wipe down the vending machines, and things can get done faster!" She plopped to the ground with exhaustion, "I'm tired and done as it is... I don't want to do this anymore." The very words and action reached the ears and eyes of the Blazing Lion, and with a shock of horror and anger, he released his inspiritment on Scootaloo and pounced through Meg, inspiriting her in the process. To their shock, a familiar set of flames burst onto Meg as she stood up and tightened her hoof,
"I'm going to make sure I clean this place top to bottom!!!" Meg yelled as she clutched the scraper and rapidly hacked at the pieces of gum underneath the bench.
"Meg!" Lucas gasped, "not you too!"
"Ugh..." Scootaloo collapsed to the floor, "what just happened? I'm so tired all of a sudden, my heart beating as fast as Rainbow's!"
"Scoots?" First quickly ran to his sister's side, "are you okay? What happened?"
"I don't know, one moment I was pumped up, doing things without any complaint and freaking motivated by doing it. After that, something stopped within my body and suddenly all my bones and muscles ache! Wait a minute..." She peered at First's neck, the Yo-Kai Watch hanging down from it. "How are you wearing that?"
"I took it off you when you were uh... On fire." First shook his hooves,
"You didn't. You practice your Sleight of hoof on stealing? You of all ponies! Didn't Flash tell you not to use what we've learnt for bad!?"
"It's the only thing I can think of!" First reasoned, "and besides, it's not for a bad thing! Here, you can have it back. You want to scan the benches and the thing above me. Yo-Kai is why." He passed it back,
"Okay," Scootaloo groggily took the watch and permanently revealed the two Yo-Kai for her eyes. "So who are we dealing with?"
"Blazion," First pointed to the lion, "is the epitome of fierce, fiery, passionate motivation. He's responsible for your vigorous outburst. The one above me is Enefly." he pointed above him "he's one that can energise anypony. He can help you recover your energy, and allows you to be very optimistic. Currently, Blazion seems to be the problem."
"Sounds like trouble." Scootaloo watched as Meg began to take deep breaths, "if Meg is certainly tired out as she said, I dread to think what would happen to her body when Blazion's done with her."
"Oh no! You're right!" First realised, "when he stopped inspiriting you, you were tired out almost immediately!"
"Yeah, maybe I exercise a lot."
"But Meg on the other hand... She's going to get hurt! We need to stop him! Blazion!"
"Rowr?"
"Leave Meg alone! She's really tired! She's not as fit as you think! If you push her any further, she's going to get hurt!"
"Rowr Rowr Rowr!!!" Blazion hopped madly,
"I can't speak Lion!" First called back,
"Blazion said that he doesn't like slackers. If he sees anypony slacking off, he's going to get them working until it is literally impossible for them to continue any further, because you must give it your all." Whisper translated
"You and Cutta-Nah won't get along very well." Scootaloo joked,
"It's not the time for Jokes!" First panicked, "what can we do???"
"Well, how about Enerfly then?" Scootaloo pointed to the butterfly attached to First, "if you said what he is, then why don't you ask him to help revitalise Meg?"
"... Good idea!" First complimented, "hey Enerfly, I know you seem rather interested in me, but is it okay if you-" Without letting him finish, Enerfly flew over and gave a rapid fluttering of his wings. The glittering dust and powder generated from his wings floated down onto Meg, which cause the filly to relax her muscles and slow down, the fire around her dwindling a little.
"Wow! Thanks a lot Enerfly!" First thanked, "I didn't even ask you!"
"Wow! Working really hard does make me feel a lot better!" Meg mentioned to herself, unaware of the two Yo-Kai inspiriting her,
"Seriously Meg? And to think ponies call me weird." Lucas shrugged in disgust. This action once again sparked Blazion, which caused him to change is inspiriting target onto Lucas. ".... Roar!" Lucas roared as he fired up, personality-wise as well as literally. "Let's get cleaning! I will not complain!"
"Phew..." Meg collapsed on the floor once again, unable to move anything but her mouth, her face flooded with sweat, "why did I continue working? It hurts so much now... At least... That energising feeling is still there..."
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that Blazion takes a lot out of you." Scootaloo looked at their fully pooped partner.
"At least Enerfly can keep her alive." First replied.
"Wait..." Scootaloo looked around, to see the other groups of their class looking at what was happening. A pumped up foal and a collapsed filly. "Don't tell me they saw everything. Did they?"
"We've got to change the situation. Otherwise, Lucas is going to be more than a 'weird foal'!" First replied,
"Hey Whisper? What do you think?" First asked,
"Finally! You notice me!" Whisper replied, "anyway, I was thinking, why not call Happiere? I mean..." He imitated Happiere's face, "he has a soothing atmosphere."
"Well..." Scootaloo thought to the other Yo-Kai they have, "it seems like the most reasonable option. Making them sick, cute, or whatnot would be a problem. Maybe just smiling would be nice. First?" She pulled out the Watch
"Here," First took out his medallium and passed Happiere's medal over.
"Come on out my friend!" Scootaloo tossed the medal into the air, "Calling Happiere! Yo-Kai medal..." Scootaloo caught the medal and inserted it into the Watch, "Do. Your. Thing!"
"Summoning Heartful!" The clock hands rotated around as the watch released a light green pillar of light,
"Speedy, Artful, Sing la la la! Everywhere Heartful!"
"Happiere!" Happiere smiled, "Bonjour les enfants! To what do I owe ze pleasure?"
"Bonjour to you too Happiere." Scootaloo greeted back, "is it okay with you if you can lighten up the place? Such as that guy?" She pointed to Lucas,
"But of course!" Happiere smiled, "zis is what I do! Breathe eazy everypony!" Happiere flew to the air and let out a wide, open-mouthed smile. A bright yellow aura scattered all around the group, affecting mostly the entire team.
"Eh?" Lucas became catatonic all of a sudden as his surprised face eventually changed into a very happy smile.
"Oh... Ha ha!" Meg picked herself up. Being affected by Happiere, she too began to smile.
"Rowr!" Blazion, the most sharpest and worked of the Yo-Kai copied Happiere's motion and he too smiled. Enerfly also began flying calmly, his white eyes giving a sense of smile.
"Whew!" Lucas smiled as he grabbed a tray with drinks and approached the other team members, "work is certainly exhausting! Why don't we all take a break?"
"Yeah!" Meg joined in, also carrying a tray with drinks, "its fresh lemonade! Ha ha ha!" The contagious smile of Meg and Lucas seemed to cause even greater confusion within the audience, but one by one did they reluctantly accept the drinks with a appreciative smile.
"Phew!" Scootaloo smiled brightly, "all's well that ends well with a good smile!"
"Dang, Meg sure is cute with that smile. Defeintely much better than being scary motivated." First smiled too,
"First, you say that with any lady and filly." Scootaloo laughed, "Didn't you say the same thing about Applebloom?"
"Eh heh heh... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Anyway," Scootaloo turned to Blazion and shook his paw, "I'm glad we can settle things with a smile at the end."
"Rowr!" Blazion smiled, his sharp gaze returned, while sneaking his medal onto her hoof...
"What the!?" Scootaloo unbelievably looked at her palm, a shiny medal nestled on it. Enerfly from above began to rapidly flutter his wings once more, but instead of the energising powder and dust, a medal fell from his possession instead.
"Even Enerfly too!" First replied, "Thank you, you honour us with your offer of friendship."
"It truly is all's well that ends well! Ho ho ho!" Happiere laughed, to which the siblings and Whisper joined in.
After the day-long cleanup was over, First and Scootaloo retreated to their house, enjoying their time outside, yet dreading the day where they must go to court. The biggest thing on the filly's mind however, was what First's impression of Lucas.
"Hmm..." Whisper thought to himself, "I would understand if that he can see Yo-Kai, other ponies would call him weird."
"But... he doesn't have a watch!" Scootaloo reasoned, "he couldn't have seen them. Is he one of the select few?"
"Perhaps." Whisper replied, "maybe we should just leave him be. Where is your brother by the way?"
"He's in the toilet." Scootaloo replied, "although, it's been 20 minutes now. What happened?"
"Ahh..." First strolled out of the bathroom and washed and dried his hands, "it's great to answer nature's call! Better not keep my sister waiting!" Climbing up the stairs and opening the door, he was greeted with an unpleasant and scary view of a very cloudy and foggy atmosphere with yellow lights outside the balcony.
"Oh no..." First's eyes widened, as he opened the balcony doors and looked around. "You've got to be kidding me. Terror Time now!? Is it because of the time I stole from Scoots!? It wasn't a bad thing! I did it in order to solve that cleanup! Why am I in here?"
"GARGA!!!" A familiar giant beast landed in front of him, raising his giant studded club. The sight of the giant oni reminded First about Whisper's words about Terror Time.
"Oh... Hi Gargaros, you look nice today." First greeted nervously, "WAAAAA!!!!!!!"