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// 40 Mischief, for the Greater Good. 
// Story: Moonie shorts [Filly Nightmare Moon] 
// by Eighth 
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	Just like the day before, Anon is slouching into the couch and wasting the day away. You were told only the day after it happened that Anon was let go from Sugar Cube Corner. He seems pretty depressed and has slumped into a lazy mood. The dishes have begun to pile, Anon hasn't taken a shower, and he hasn't even begun to look for another job yet.
“Anon, I’m hungry,” you whine.
“Alright,” he replies as he climbs out from the cavern his ass has made into the sofa, “What do you want?”
“I dunno… Risotto?”
“I don’t feel like cooking for lunch.”
With a sigh, you just grab some cereal yourself while Anon returns face down into the couch. Part of you feels sorry for him, the rest is getting annoyed at how lazy and unproductive he has been. As you chew away on your Krusty Flakes, you stare at the pile of dishes that are going untouched.
“I spose I’ll set an example,” you mutter to yourself as you place your bowl on the pile.
Using your magic, you turn on the water nearly full blast then begin searching for the dishwashing liquid. It’s nowhere near the sink and going through each cupboard yields nothing. Then you notice the empty container sitting in the bin. You ponder your predicament for a while, then figure dishwashing liquid is just soap for plates, so you head into the bathroom to grab some soap. 

As you’re heading back to the kitchen, you pass by the laundry room where there’s a pile of Anon’s dirty clothes on the floor. The washing machine will take a while to soak all these, so you figure you could turn it on while you do the dishes. Your magic isn’t quite strong enough to lift such a large pile, meaning you have to put all the clothes in one or two at a time. Because you’ve never properly worked the washing machine, you carefully go over the detergent’s instructions before closing the washing machine’s lid and turning the dial. The whole this begins to whir and violently shake once it’s on, causing you to fall off it. You flutter your wings to balance yourself out before you land, then with a proud beam, you pick up the soap you were carrying and head into the kitchen.
“Moonie, what were you doing? I can hear the washing machine.”
“Just cleaning Sir Bearington. He fell into some mud this morning.”
“Okay then. Just be careful.”
“A-Anon…”
“Hm?”
You’re about to speak up when you notice your hooves are getting wet. Looking down, you lift a forehoof to inspect the puddle that’s gathered around you that’s come from the kitchen.
“Are you feeling relaxed?”
“Eh, I guess.”
“Good. You stay there. Exactly like that. I’ll go… Get you a drink or something. Don’t move,” you tell the giant alien man before bolting to the kitchen in a panicked frenzy.
The entire kitchen floor is flooded with the water coming from the sink. You leap onto the counter and begin turning the tap handle the wrong way which causes you worry more. Then the tap handle comes off. You stand there in a daze, holding the tap handle in front of your face as the water is now overflowing even more.
“Moonie, what are you doing?”
Anon grabs the handle off of you and puts it back on before turning off the water. He turns to you and lets out a sharp, disappointed breath.
“Look, go take a bath, while I deal with this here.”
It’s best not to argue here, so you do as you’re told and go soak in the bath for a while.

After you’ve dried off, you head into the kitchen to find out how Anon is doing and probably help him clean the mess you’ve made. The carpet makes a sloshing sound as you push the kitchen door open.
“Hey, Anon, how’s--”
The sight to behold stuns you. The puddle is completely gone and Anon just finished washing the last of the dishes.
“Hey, I’m going to go do the laundry. Find a way to keep out of trouble for me, alright?”
He gives you a quick pet on the head as he walks by you. You’re still in a shock. Just like that, Anon isn’t slouching around anymore.
“All I had to do was cause trouble?” You grin as the realisation comes to you.
With an excited shiver you begin looking for what else needs doing around the house.

Over the next few days you cause all kinds of trouble for Anon with the goal in mind of getting him to stay on his feet. And it works brilliantly; spilling juice on the beds gets him to change and clean the sheets, drawing with chalk on the carpet got Anon to vacuum, and a stink bomb in the fridge motivated him to clean and restock it. Those are just a few of the long list of what you’ve been up to. Now you’re out and about in the town, looking for what you can do to get Anon out here and find a job.
“This will be kind of complex, now that I think about it,” you mutter to yourself.
“Heya Moonie,” chirps a unison of voices from behind you.
You spin around to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
“Oh, it’s you two. How are you?”
“I’m good, Daddy just bought us lunch at the Gilded Giraffe,” she brags with her head held up in pride, “Isn’t that right Silver Spoon?”
“Yeah, it was divine. I had this vanilla sou--”
“So, what are you doing?” Diamond Tiara interrupts.
Silver Spoon was excited to talk about something, but once Diamond Tiara speaks up out of turn, Silver just steps back with an apologetic smile.
“Helping out Anon with something.”
“Ah, so you’re busy.”
“We could help if you want?”
“Unless you know somewhere that’s hiring, there’s not really much you can help with.”
“I heard Anon lost his job at the bakery.”
That annoys you. Not Diamond Tiara being a gossiper, there’s no surprise there. It’s that rumours of Anon being fired have already made the rounds of the town, but nobody came with a job offer for him.
“That’s a shame. Anon was the best baker there,” Silver Spoon chirps up.
“His cupcakes needed work. They didn’t have the right burst of flavour,” you reply.
“I like them.”
“Anyway,” Diamond Tiara interrupts once again in an irate tone, “I don’t think Daddy is hiring.”
“I had to volunteer at the town office last week for that school assignment, I think they were looking for people.”
“Perfect. Thanks,” you state before you dart off to the town office, leaving Princess Brat and her parrot behind.

Once you’ve arrive at the town office, you begin looking around for something to wreak havoc upon. You push open the door to see a pile of papers that nearly reach the ceiling and from under that pile is a nervous Mayor Mare, frantically scurrying around, back and forth, trying to fill out multiple papers at once.
“This’ll be easy,” you mutter with a smile.
Pushing over a few pot plants, you begin to draw devilish symbols on the walls with the potting mix. Then you walk over to the largest stack of papers while an unsuspecting Mayor Mare places another form on top of it. Clearing your throat to grab her attention, you then push it over. The stack then collides with another causing all the forms from both to float through the air like snow around the two of you. Mayor Mare gives you a very annoyed and tired glare before having you sit in the corner to wait.

Mayor Mare sent someone to go get Anon who has been stuck in the office with the Mayor for some time. You’ve been forced by Anon to clean up everything. You were kind of proud of some of your drawings, but they’ve got to go. Picking up all the papers was the most time consuming because one pile was complete and the other was empty, so you had to look over each one. Once the job is done, you lie on your back in exhaustion and wait for Anon. A few minutes later Anon leaves Mayor Mare’s office.
“I’ll see you on Monday,” she says with a wave and a smile.
“See you then. Come on Moonie,” he replies.
The Mayor seems to be in a good mood, she even looks a little refreshed even. Anon also seems to be feeling chipper too, until you step outside, then his face drops into a very cold and stern scowl.
“I think she likes you,” you tell him in a cheeky laugh.
“Moonie.”
“Yes?” you reply with an upward inflection.
“You’re going to explain why you’ve been such a troublesome brat the past few days.”
“Me? A brat? Pft, some gratitude that is. Here I’ve been, working my flank off to get you off your own and this is the thanks I get.”
“Oh, really? You’ve been causing trouble for my benefit.”
“I’ve always been about the greater good you know.”
“Mhm, well then, you’ll be pleased to know you’ll be getting double chores now.”
“WHAT?!”
“For the greater good, of course.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“Oh, yes it is. And if you screw them up on purpose, I’ll start sending you around to other people’s houses to do their chores. Got it?”
You bite your tongue but it’s not enough to stay it, so you settle for grumbling obscenities under your breath. The Anon you know is back and he has a job.
“What was that?”
“This is why a being a hero sucks!”