//------------------------------//
// 88 - Spring Cleaning 
// Story: New Endings, Old Starts 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

"Hey." Sunset leaned back against a wall, her body supported by her bed. "You will not believe this."

"Try me," came the country-twanged response. "We've seen some crazy thin's."

"True..." Sunset inclined her entire body for a better view. "But there's a little girl in a bright blue frilly dress in my house, and she's cleaning it."

"Huh... Didja invite her there, or did she jus', ya know, show up?" Applejack's confusion was clear on the line. "Wait! Is this the girl ya showed off at school?"

"Exact same one," laughed out Sunset. "Little pony girl, cleaning my house."

"You asked her to clean yer house?"

Sunset raised a free hand swiftly, not that Applejack could see it. "No! She just wanted to, on her own. She practically wrenched my arm behind my back to do it. You should see this..."

"So, show me."

Oh, right. "Sec." She pulled the phone away and soon had it streaming a video instead. She directed its camera at the scene.

Comforting was busily picking up anything she rated as 'trash'. Old wrappers and packaging were easy to make such judgments on. Old Food (capitalized in case of sapience, not impossible) was hurriedly cleared from plates, which then was scooted to the sink. She added clothing with obvious holes and degradation to the 'probably tossed out' pile, but not directly into the trash bag she was filling. For that first pass, she ignored anything that wasn't in one of those easy categories of needing immediate removal.

"Look at her go," came Applejack's voice from the phone. "Awful industrious little thing."

Sunset pulled the phone back to rest by her head. "Right? And it's my house. I'm not sure how to feel..."

"Shoot, ah'd be thankful."

"I am!” Sunset watched the continued cleaning of her mess. "I made this... The more she cleans, the longer it takes, the more obvious it is that... I've been living in a disaster."

"Sugarcube, stop talkin' a second. Look, ya ain't had no simple life. Shoot, ya were a pony from some other world, then ya wen't and took over a high school for fun. Now yer savin' the world as often as not sometimes, and ya got a new gaggle of friends."

"And that means I should be alright with this?" Sunset waved at the slowly tended filth.

"No. But it does mean you should try not to feel so bad havin' it pointed out by someone who cares 'nough to get to work fixin' it. Look, we all need a helpin' hand sometimes. If yer feelin' that bad, hang up on me already and join her. Pretty sure she won't say nothin' bad 'bout another set of hands on the job."

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Yeah... Yeah... Shoot, I have to finish my homework."

"So do that," advised Applejack. "And if she's still workin', then ya can consider tossin' in with her. Bet it'll make her day."

"Why are you so sensible?!" groaned out Sunset, but she started to smile. "Alright... Alright, homework first, then maybe join in on this cleaning project."

"Atta girl. See you tomorrow." The line went cold, Applejack taking the initiative to end that call.

Noticing Sunset shifting her attention to a desk, Comforting hurried over and began clearing it off of things in the way. She filled her bag and had to get another to resume the task of tossing things into it. "Good luck with homework." Wow, homework. It just hit her that she hadn't had to do homework in a while. Ponyland didn't bother with it. Human-ponyland clearly did. Would she have to do some when they made her a student? Probably... But it was still HS homework. She was an adult! Mentally... Mostly? She'd be fine!

Sunset started her assignments. "Thank you." She could spread her books open without bumping into something. It was a privilege she forgot she had lost in her own little house. "Man..."

Comforting patted her side, but bounced off a moment later to resume her crusade against clutter. She came and went from the front door several times, carting full garbage bags out and leaving the house less awkward to exist in with each. "Hm."

Sunset heard the question in that little grunt. "Something wrong?"

"Just... amazed." Comforting held up her little hands. "It's like... I flattened strength in this world. I should be a lot weaker, I think... But I'm doing alright."

Sunset smirked at that. "That only works up to average or so. There are strong people that are strong. If we had Bulk Biceps in here, which I don't want, he'd be carrying several of those bags at a time."

"There has to be a limit." Comforting reached, resuming filling a fresh bag with things to get rid of. "I'm smaller than you. I can't be as strong as you."

"I doubt that." Sunset folded her arms across her front. "But strong enough to take out the trash? You're doing that." She unfolded to get back to her work. "Almost done here, then I'll help."

"You don't have to." But she wasn't stopping Sunset. "Oh! Start with that." She pointed at the maybe pile. "You have to decide what stays and what doesn't."

"Right." Sunset put the finishing touches on homework and shoved those books aside to get over to that pile. "Wow... I forgot I had this." She began plucking through the clothing and a few abandoned toys. "Look at you..."

Comforting kept half an eye on her, wondering if she'd actually toss anything out, or if fond memories would prevent that. "Yuck..." She tossed an especially old thing with eyes that bulged out when squeezed. "One of the first things I got, when I came here." The pivotal moment had passed. She was throwing things out slowly but steadily. "Part of... why I want you to have fun..."

"Hm?" Comforting continued to work, even if her curiosity had been piqued. "Why is that?"

"I didn't have so much fun." She crunched in a pile of papers into the bag. "It was hard... I was... lonely... I mean... did you already hear how it started?"

"You fought with the other girls at first, right?"

"Right," admitted Sunset with a heavy sigh. "I fought with almost everyone... I clawed and held onto every scrap of happiness I could find. I had just... Listen to me! Sorry, you didn't come to hear my sob story."

Comforting squatted next to Sunset. "No, really, go on." That was way more interesting than cleaning up. Didn't mean she couldn't grab things while she was there, which she did. "You're not boring me."

"You are such a funny little girl." Sunset smiled at her little helper. "If you're sure? See... I came from Equestria too, you know that, right?"

"Yep!" Comforting fired an emphatic thumbs up, a bright smile on her face. "Why'd you leave?"

"Because of Celestia... More specifically, my relationship with her." Sunset sagged. "I was busy thinking the world owed me... and she wasn't giving, so I ran off. It was dumb." She put a hand over her face. "That mirror has a sense of ironic justice, let me tell you. It sent me to where I was as young on the outside as I was busy acting on the inside. I needed it... and it gave it to me, like it or not."

Comforting gently patted her on the shoulder.

Sunset jumped at the contact. "Hey... Um. Alright, not gonna second guess myself. Does that make any sense to you?" She rolled a hand at Comforting's pint-sized form. "From where I'm sitting, you're a little kid that shouldn't be thinking about this much."

"I'm thinking about it because I care, and you're thinking about it." Comforting swayed on her legs back and forwards. "That isn't that unusual... Especially where I come from."

"Equestria?"

"Before that." She made a rewinding motion with her hands. "This would be life #3, if you look at it the right way, and in this one, I'm an old-soul little kid in the care of a lovely Sunset Shimmer. And I'm alright with that."

Sunset quirked a little smile. "Wow... Far out, if you don't mind me saying. I've only had the one." She pointed at herself. "Didn't really put much stock in that whole 'reincarnation' thing. Nobody I know remembers any past lives, so hard to just... accept that. But here you are."

Comforting shook her head quickly. "I can't say it's an everyone thing. I can't say it's ever happened more than me times before, but that feels super entitled, to say I'm the only anything." She flopped down, her frills billowing around her. "But I like being cute, and helpful. This life is delivering that!"

Sunset fired a thumbs up. "Cute and helpful, can't argue that." She stood up and went to attack some other clutter. "But I'm not letting some kid, nice or not, steal all my thunder. Let's get this place sparkling."

"Okay!" Comforting eagerly accepted the enthusiastic call to battle. The dirt didn't stand a chance.

Sure, the place wasn't upgraded to a perfect score in cleanliness, but they managed, together, to get it from disaster to reasonable. Sunset dusted her hands, huffing for breath. "Wow... I really let that go..."

"Bet you feel better." Comforting twirled to point at all the things at once. "Doesn't it look better? You deserve a nice place to live in."

Sunset plonked a hand on Comforting's head. "You are too cute. Now, you said this was #3, so there has to be a #2, which I assume is Equestria?" Comforting nodded quickly. "Were you a foal there, or a grown pony?"

"Neither!" Comforting curled a hand to her chin. "It gets complicated really fast. Ever meet or at least hear of Discord?"

"Hear of, yes..." Sunset hiked a thumb at a book. "Twilight's written about him a few times... Wait, are you Discord? Get out!"

"No!" She waved her hands in quick negation. "But something like him. I was a girl before, and still a girl now. But I was a chaos spirit." She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Also, technically, this makes you on #2."

"I..." She frowned at that. "Huh." Sunset couldn't directly battle the logic. "Is it really a 'new' life if I can go back to my old one if I want?"

"I could go back to my #2. #1 is right out." Comforting sliced negatively with one hand. "I will go back to #2, this is a vacation, not a permanent thing."

Sunset hiked a brow at that. "Do you usually do a bunch of housework as a 'vacation'?"

"If it helps a nice person that's been great to me, yes." Comforting seemed quite firm in her view. "Only one thing remains." She pointed to the filled sink. "I am too small to do dishes..."

Sunset smirked, imagining Comforting's little arms dangling over the side, at best, and trying to do dishes she couldn't even see. "Fair... We could get a stool, but if I let you clean dishes in that new dress, Rarity will murder me. I'm already on her hit list for letting you clean at all..."

Right! Comforting twisted and turned to get a look at herself. She reached with some effort to the back of her neck and pulled forward the tag just enough for a peek. "Machine washable. Got one?"

"Hm? Oh, sure." Sunset led the way to the tiny little laundromat in her house. "You know how to use it? Not a pony default..."

"But that was #2," reminded Comforting. She shook loose the dress and soon had it loaded in the washing machine. "And..." With a triumphant press, the machine began chunking and whirring, cleaning her new clothes. "We wait."

Sunset gave a polite applause. "Great job, alright. All that cleaning worked up an appetite. How about some pizza as a reward?"

"Yay!" Good deeds came with some prizes.