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 Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 9:33 pm
 Barley Pop was in the shed, looking for a rake. She huffed and fussed about, letting out a light and unlady-like cussing when she scratched herself on something or other. Finally she removed all the nessesary tools to do what she had set out to do.
Clean the yard.
The poor thing was covered in fallen little twigs, leafs and the odd blossom that dropped too soon because of the late April showers they been having. She needed to trim the bushes as well, but it hadn't been listed as her chore. It seemed like extra credict that she didn't need, she was getting the last large double chocolate piece of cake in the fridge so long as the yard was clean. She looked at the clippers. It was fun to cut up misbehaving bushes tho.
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:49 pm
It was, Sunny Delight thought, a beautiful day. It was warm, but not so hot that she couldn't go out exploring. Slinky was still being punished for its role in breaking Niner's spaceship, so she brought a ball with her instead, kicking it down the street as she ran by. One of her kicks was slightly less than centered, and she ended up sending the ball into someone else's yard.
"Oops!" Sunny ran after the ball, stopping at the edge of the yard in question. The ball was a few feet away, but she didn't want to intrude without asking, especially since somephony was out there. "Sorry about that!" she called. "I hope Ball didn't scare you or anything!" It would be really annoying to have to ground two of her toys.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she peered over at the pile of tools, most of which she'd never seen before. "Hey, whatcha doing, anyway?"
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:05 pm
Barley nearly jumped out of her skin when a ball bounced just besides her. She manage no to cry out in surprise, but couldn't help but give a dirty look to the younger filly peeking into the yard. Calming herself, after all, it had to had been an accident, she walked over, kicking the ball lightly towards Sunny Delight. "Hmmm" Was her even response.
She looked back at her tools for a moment, as if recalling she was doing something. "Cleaning the yard. Spring comin'."
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:12 pm
"Oh." What did spring coming have to do with cleaning the yard? Sunny had no idea. She looked around, eyes widening as she took the space in. "You have to clean the whooooole yard? All by yourself? How come?"
There were places to go, phonies to meet, but they could wait, Sunny decided. This phony was clearly in trouble- even though she looked completely fine- and it would be wrong to just leave without finding out more.
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:22 pm
Barley gave a snort of a laugh. Alright, so the yard was pretty big, but it wasn't like she hadn't done it before, although last time her brother was involved..."Yup, that I am. Cause mama asked me."
She trotted back into the yard. "Why? Wanna help?" She didn't think the younger filly would say yes, she probably wanted to go and have fun, not work.
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:27 pm
So it was work, but not punishment. That was good. If it was punishment, Sunny would feel inclined to leave, and she didn't want to do that just yet. Not when this filly- a new friend just waiting to be made, surely- was in a jam. A jam that only Sunny could help her out of!
So when the question came, she didn't even have to think about it. "You bet! Where should we start?" Exploring could always wait until later. And maybe if she did succeed in making a new friend, they could go together!
"Oh, my name's Sunny Delight. But you can call me Sunny! Or SunSun, or Sunny-D, or Deli, or, well, anything you want!" Sunny paused for a moment to catch her breath. "How about you?"
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:37 pm
She stared in surprise at the positive answer and then very excited introduction. Chuckling softly, Barley gave a smile. "Nice to meet ya, Sunny. I am Barley Pop , but you can call Barley, or Bar, or Lee, or Pop? Not a whole lot of options like your name."
She turned towards the tools. "First we are going to rake the yard." She decided against trimming the bushes, she didn't have enough goggles for them both.
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:48 pm
"Are you kidding? You have tons of options!" Barley Pop was a great name! "You could be PopPop, or Popcorn, or BarPop, or Popsicle!" A lot of Sunny's suggestions revolved around food, and for good reason. As usual, she was kind of hungry. But now she had promised to help, and she wasn't about to back out just because of a grumbly tummy.
"So, Pop Star... how do you rake a yard?" Just because Sunny was willing to help didn't mean she knew how to help. But she was ready and able to learn, and would even try to pay attention. Surely eight hooves would be better than four, even if four didn't quite know what they were doing just yet.
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:52 am
She looked amused by Sunny's antics. "I suppose you are right, my brother does call me Popper from time to time."
Pop star, she found herself laughing at that one. "Well, its very simple really. Its like sweeping the ground with a broom, expect your broom has odd little metal fingers on the end." She pulled the rake over. "And you sweep it up until you have a big pile of leaves and twigs and what not."
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Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:14 pm
That didn't sound so hard. Sunny took the other rake and scratched at the ground experimentally. It got caught once or twice, but gathered a small pile of leaves, twigs, and bits of dead grass. Apparently the purpose was to get those things out of the yard. That was feasible.
But boring.
"Oh, I have an idea! How about we have a contest, to see who can get the biggest pile? 'Cept no stealing from the other pile, 'cause that just means we'll be at it even longer." The point was to make the chore fun, not endless. "On your mark, get set... rake!"
And just like that, without waiting for an answer, Sunny was off, clumsily dragging her rake across the yard.
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Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 11:23 pm
Imaginative little thing, wasn't she? She hadn't met many pegasus, but the few she seen fleeting about were quiet hyper in personality, she wonder if it was a breed trait. Seeing Sunny had a head start, Barley laughed and started to rake up her own pile of yard debris.
"Do you always make up games?"
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Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 11:31 pm
Dash across the yard, then back, then back again. Sunny was absorbed in her game, and for a moment she didn't even realize that Barley Pop had spoken. When the question finally sunk in, she paused for a split-second, then kept going. No distractions were going to keep her from winning! Even if there wasn't a prize or anything.
She wouldn't be rude enough to ignore the question, though. "Of course! Why do boring things when the same things could be fun?" That was obvious, wasn't it?
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 10:24 am
As she waited for her answer, she took short strokes of the rake to the ground, gathering more leaves then sweeping right across the yard.
"Ah, well, mah brother and I make things in competitions, not games" Barley chuckled. "There is always something at stake. Like doing the next chore all by our lonesome!"
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 6:59 pm
"But we are making something!" Sunny pointed a hoof at her small, but steadily growing, pile of leaves. Sure, it wasn't exactly her greatest creation ever, but it counted as a product of her work. "And we're competing. Or at least, I am- at this rate, I'm gonna win!"
That was absolutely an exaggeration, but it got Sunny pumped up, and hopefully lit a fire under the other filly's tail. This would be no fun if she won by default.
Finally the reason why one lone phony had to clear the entire yard was made clear. "Ohhh, I get it- so you lost a game with your brother? What were you competing in?"
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 7:44 pm
Barley pulled the little piles she been making into a larger one, still slowly moving through the yard with short sweeps. "Yah, we were cleaning the pots, I was drying and he was washing and I couldn't keep up!"
She laughed. "No, you ain't. I am gonna win!"
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