//------------------------------// // Cleaning up // Story: A royal Respite // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Cleaning up It was after classes the next day, that four of the girls made there way towards Paradise Lake. Lunette was the last to arrive, and found the other fillies waiting for her. "Hey, Lunette!" Bright Eyes said with a smile. "Glad you could make it!" "I am truly glad to beith here, good Bright Eyes!" Lunette replied, totting up to her. "Verily, I hope that I shall be of assistance most valuable!" It was mid afternoon when Lunette arrived at Paradise Lake, ready and eager to help the other ponies in the cleanup. Bright Eyes, Clover, and Patch were already there, joined by several other earth ponies of all ages (other volunteers to help clean up the lake, Luna realized) who were all carrying large canvas bags on straps. As the Equestrian filly trotted up, Patch handed one to her. "This lake has gotten very cruddy since last year." Bright Eyes snorted, looking down at the filthy water. "So we'd better get started!" The all of the ponies got quickly to work, digging and scooping the garbage out of the lake with gloved hooves, and filling their sacks. Old pop cans, crushed up fast food restaurant bags, and glass hard cider bottles all came up and out of the lake. Lunette, who had to fish the foul garbage out with her mouth, gagged and coughed at some of the noxious waste she had to pull out of the lake. "What in the world is all this garbage doing in here?" The Equestrian Filly sputtered out. "How could such a beautiful lake become so polluted?" "It's the product of a modern society, Lunette." Bright Eyes replied in disgust. "The Republic's industrialization and pony indifference has let to the dumping of garbage and filth into our environment, contaminating everything." "Ponies toss their styrofoam cups out the window of their car, or chuck a disposable bowl away after they had a picnic." Patch shook her mane. "We used to think that all the pollution in the lakes and rivers came from the local factories... but much of it comes from a disposable society of uncaring equines " "But I totally agree with you, Lunette!" Clover added in. "This mess is totally icky!" Lunette stared down at the murky water in sadness. She remembered the large smokestacks on the factories she had seen around Coltonville, spewing poison into the air that could muck up a ponies lungs. And she remembered the green sludge she had seen, spewing out of a waste pipe on the other side of the lake. It was enough to make the Equestrian filly shiver. "Is this how our lakes and rivers would look?" Lunette wondered to herself, as she fished out a broken CD case. "If we didn't have magic to handle our techno-industrial needs?" It was then Lunette spotted a panicking baby duck in the lake, squawking and crying as it's helpless mother looked on. The poor thing had it's neck caught in a plastic pop can ring, and looked like it was being choked by it. "Quack! Quack!" "Eep!" Making sure no pony was looking, she lowered here head, and levitated the pop tab off from around the baby's neck, at which point the baby shook it head, and swam happily towards it's mother. Luna let out an exhausted sigh, as even such as small act of magic was tiring in this magic-poor region- especially as she had to constantly maintain her disguise. "Hey Lunette, whtcha doing?" A voice surprised her, causing the filly to spin around quickly. "Oh, Patch!" Lunette said with a sigh of relief. "It's only you!" "Yeah, I noticed you had kind of drifted away from the group." Patch replied. "I wanted to make sure you were ok." "Yes, I am faring well, thank you." Lunette looked back out at the lake. "Patch, how can thee live in such an environment most filthy?" "We don't have much of a choice." The earth pony whinnied sadly. "This is a country of earth ponies, without magic. It's either industry and modernization, or we go medieval!" "I'm starting to wonder, if that's not such a bad idea." Bright Eyes grumbled, as she fished an old magazine out of the river. "Then we'd have clear skies and clean water, just like Equestria!" "That would be terrible! We'd have no electricity!" Clover whinnied in dismay, as she fished an empty water bottle out of the lake. "And it'd be terrible if I couldn't use my hairdryer on my mane, after I took a shower!" "Yeah, I still don't think we should have to give up our modern conveniences." Patch argued, fishing an empty bun bag out of the lake. "If ponies would simply be more responsible, with what they throw away." "Fair Patch is correct." Lunette agreed. "Thee doth not have magic to fix thine problems, so it is best that each pony do their part to dispose of waste responsibly!" "How very insightful of you, Miss Lunette." Bright Eyes raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you are smarter than I previously thought." "I shall take that as a compliment, good Bright Eyes." Lunette replied with a smile. The three ponies continued to work in silence for several minutes, before Bright Eyes spoke up. "So Lunette, I heard you and Lancer will be going out this weekend." Bright Eyes said coldly, blurting out what was on her mind. "I... uh..." Lunette turned a deep shade of red, and looked as if she wanted to hide. "Bright Eyes!" Patch snapped, looking over at the embarrassed Lunette. "That's none of your business!" "Yeah, those two can do whatever they want!" Clover agreed. "Leave 'em alone!" "It is all right, Patch." Lunette replied calmly, looking over at Bright Eyes. "Yes, my friend, Lancer did asketh me out. I was volunteered against my will to acom-pony him on one outing, nothing more. I am sorry if this upsets you, Bright Eyes." "Upset? Me? Nope, it's really none of my business." Bright Eyes snorted, pulling another piece of litter out of Paradise lake. "Why should it matter if we won a roller dancing contest together, or we shared our first kiss together! We're not dating right now, so what business is it of mine if he sees other fillies?" Taken aback, Lunette trotted over to Patch, and picked up littler while whispering. "Pardon me, good Patch... but what vexes thy friend so, about mine social outing?" "Oh, pay Bright Eyes no mind!" Patch said with a chuckle. "She and Lancer have always been close, they are our group's two little bookworms! It'd just she's never had the full courage to tell him how she really feels!" "Ah, I see!" Luna replied, smiling. "So all the two need a push to get together." Already , the filly's mind was turning over a way to kill two birds with one stone... The time just flew as they worked, and it wasn't very long before the sun was setting over Paradise Lake. As the last gum wrapper was fished out of the lake, the three fillies wiped the sweat from thier manes in exhaustion. "Good job, girls!" Bright Eyes congratulated them. "It looks like we got the whole lake clean!" "The water is so shiny!" Clover agreed, as the sunset reflected off the surface of the water. "Verily, we hath accomplished a great deal today!" Lunette replied with a smile. "Tis' only a shame that we must end the day now, and part ways!" "Hey, maybe we don't have to!" Patch added, smiling at the other girls. ""Sweetheart said we could come over to her place tonight after we were finished! Why don't we have a sleepover?" "Yeah! That'd be fun!" Clover agreed. "You want to come, Bright Eyes? How about you, Lunette?" "Count me in!" Bright Eyes agreed. "I'd love to hang out some more!" Lunette thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Indeed, I shall be most happy to join thee. I must, however, inform my sister of my whereabouts for the evening." Lunette trotted over to the pay phone at the lake's picnic pavilion, lifted the receiver, and put a jangle into the slot. ... Celestia was lying on the couch, having just come home and flopped over after school was done for the day. Turning the TV on, she lay her head down on the sofa's arm rest. "And that was our latest hit by Ponydonna, the singing sensation!" Dazzle, the green-maned hostess of PTV, whinnied on the screen. "Now, don't touch that dial on your telly, cause up next we'll be covering the ongoing scandal of Milla Vanilla! The pony who allegedly lip-synched all of his greatest hit songs!" "Get off the dammed screen, Dazzle!" The dishelved princess grumbled, taking another sip of Dr. Ponyper. "Put the music back on! I want to see those dancing stallion's flanks again!" It was at this point that the phone rang. Scratching her flank with her hoof, Celestia levitated the cordless receiver over to her. "Celeste here, whaddya Want?" "Sister, is that thou?" Lunette's concerned voice came over the phone. "Thou soundest awful!" "Yeah, it's -BUUUUUURRRRRRRRP-me!" She belted out, the five sodas she had drank reacting all at once. "Make it quick, Luna. I've got two frozen burritos in the microwave!" "All right I was just going to telleth thee, I am going to attend a sleepover at sweetheart's tonight, and-" Luna heard the sound of a microwave buzzer going off in the background. "Okay sis, have fun, byeeee!" Celestia abruptly hung up on her. ... "Microwave burritos?" Luna thought to herself. "It's a good thing I'm not returning home tonight, considering what happens whenever Celestia eats those things!" "Verily girls, I shell be joining thee tonight!" Lunette told the others. "Yaay! Sleepover!" The three fillies shouted into unison, before galloping back towards Bright Eyes's car in the Parking lot. Lunette trotted slowly after them, thinking to herself. "From fighting the Changeling Queen, standing up to Discord, and Ruling Equestria with dignity... to lying on the couch watching PTV, getting smashed on Dr. Ponyper, and emitting various gasses from eating reheated microwave trash." Lunette shook her mane. "Oh sister, how the mighty have fallen." .... The car ride was certainly a novel experience for Lunette, as she had never rode in one of the mechanical contraptions before. The other girls let her ride in the front seat, and she stuck her head out the window, letting the breeze blow through her mane. "This is so amazing..." Lunette whispered under her breath in awe. "Aww, come on, Lunette!" Clover said with a laugh. "It's only a car ride!" It wasn't long before the four girl were back at Sweetheart's house, a blue, two-story cottage with a pink roof. Sweetheart's parents greeted them at the door, warm smiles on their faces. "Hello girls, Come on in!" Her father, a white stallion with a cash register cutie mark, greeted them. "Please, make yourselves at home!" "I've got the popcorn maker warmed up!" Her mother told them with a smile. “Give me about an hour, and we'll have a warm buttery bowl for each of you!" The three of them trotted upstairs, and Sweetheart came out of her room. "Hi everybody! Thanks for coming over!" The filly said with a smile. "I hath never been to a party of slumber." Lunette told them nervously. "Tell us, what does one do?" The three other fillies looked at each other in surprise, then all looked back towards her with ever smiles. "Makeover time...." They all said in unison. "Oh dear..." Lunette gulped, as the other girls went for the eye liner, lipstick, and hairbrush... .... "That... was actually a pleasant experience!" It wasn't long before Lunette was sitting on a pillow, with a face full of mud, and her hair up in curlers. She was shocked how much she enjoyed such a girly activity, and was currently listening to Bright Eyes talk about her time s a foreign exchange student. "And I actually thought the Polynesian ponies were going to eat me!" Bright Eyes said with a laugh. "Either that, or feed me to a volcano!" "My word!" Lunette replied. "Tis a wonder that did not cause a diplomatic crisis with Tropical Island!" "Oh, that's nothing!" Patch said with a laugh. "Did you know Clover here almost ruined her sister's wedding? She was convinced the groom, Cheval, was cheating on her sister Meadowlark!" "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" Clover groaned. “I’d like to forget about that little fiasco, ya know!" "Wait a second... Cheval? The famous stage actor from the island nation of Fansee?" Lunette's eyes went wide. "Then... your sister is Meadowlark Bloom, the ballerina!" "Yep, that's her." Clover said with a sigh. "And I will never be as great a ballerina as my sister!" ""Verily! Thou should not be striving to be liketh unto thine sister. Rather, though shouldst try to be the best thee can be." Lunette told the filly, putting as hoof on hers. "Believest me, nothing good can come from jealously of thine sibling... an experience I know far too well!" "So you have any funny stories, Lunette?" Sweetheart asked the Equestrian filly. "Well...uh..." Lunette struggled to find an answer. "When I was being angry and unreasonable one time, my sister mooned me!" The four other fillies sat there and stared at her for a moment, then suddenly all three burst out laughing. "With the size of her flank?" Bright Eyes giggled. "That must've been a sight to see!" "Cool story, Lunette!" Sweetheart told her, trying to control her laughter. "You're really fun to talk to!" It was at that point, that there was a knock on Sweetheart's bedroom door, interrupting their little gossip session. "Must be my parents with the popcorn!" Sweetheart whinnied. "Come in, it's open!" It was then, that three little fillies armed with pillows, suddenly exploded into the room. "Sugar! Cream! Peaches!" Sweetheart yelled at the three pink maned fillies. "What are you doing in here?" "Crash big sis's slumber party!" Peaches yelled. "Pillow fight!" The other one yelled. Before Lunette even had time to react, she had a face full of pillow. She responded by smacking Bright Eyes with one, then dodging a return blow from her, which in turn hit Clover. "Free for all!" Patch yelled, as the pillow started to fly all over the place. The battle brutally raged across the room, as feathers were fling everywhere. Luna giggled as she was struck again and again, and there soon wasn't a pillow full of feathers anywhere in the room. "What is going on in here?" An angry Sweetheart's father snorted, standing there with the bowl of popcorn he had brought up. "Okay, that's it! We're playing a new game, called 'clean up the feathers'!" All four teen fillies- even Lunette- fell backwards and burst into laughter.