Playing in the Park
Admiral Biscuit
“Off you go, Noi.” Golden Harvest gave the filly a gentle push in the rump.
“Can we just sit on the bench together?”
Golden Harvest gave her little sister a stern look. “When you're tired. Mom and Dad wanted you to run around and burn off some energy.”
“But I did on my way here.”
“I carried you halfway,” the older mare reminded her.
“You walk too fast.”
“We'll go to Aunt Cake's after, and you can have a treat.” Golden Harvest looked her in the eye. “But nothing sweet. Mom and Dad are making a good dinner, and you can't spoil your appetite.”
Noi gave her sister a long-suffering look, then began trudging across the park as if she'd been hobbled. Golden Harvest watched her go, a small grin playing on her face. Was I that stubborn when I was her age?
Her petulance only lasted as long as it took for her to think she was out of Golden Harvest's sight, and then she began kicking around pine cones with her hooves, galloping after them as they tumbled across the grass. She watched in bemusement as Noi punted one high in the air, and bounced it off her muzzle, then scampered off after it.
“Hey, Goldie!” Before she even had a chance to turn around, her forelegs were caught in a tight vice. She looked down at Berry Pinch's smiling face. “Is Noi with you?”
Golden Harvest nodded, and angled her chin in the direction her little sister had run.
Pinch galloped off after Noi, turning back and shouting a quick 'Thanks!' as she went.
“I didn't see you at the market today,” Golden said without turning.
“I didn't go.” Berry Punch walked next to her friend and gave her a soft nuzzle on the barrel. “But for the best reason—I was sold out of everything. Remember that weird stallion with the dumb glasses who was in town yesterday? Came through on a train? He bought my last bottles of wine, and didn't even haggle over the price.”
“Why can't I get lucky like that?” Golden Harvest sighed. “Nopony wants more than a bunch or two of carrots, ever.”
“Don't give me that sob story. You hardly ever take any back home with you.”
“'Cause I barter some of them for other staples, and Carrot comes and takes the rest for the bakery. Yeesh, I even gave you some last week, remember?”
“And now I owe you a bottle of wine, don't I?”
“I'll collect later.” Golden Harvest glanced back at the park, getting a bead on her little sister, who was happily splashing in a mud puddle with Berry Pinch. “You'd almost think they secretly like baths.”
“Pinchy doesn't mind. I got her a little floating duck for the tub, and she's strong enough to push it around with her field. She still wants me to help her scrub her mane, though—but I've seen her use the washcloth when she doesn't think I'm watching.”
Golden Harvest went over to one of the benches and stretched out on it, leaving enough room for Berry to climb beside her. “Have you got anypony helping her with the magic? Or is she figuring it out on her own?”
“She's a smart filly,” Berry said. “I'm sure I could send her to Dad's, and he'd help out. I'm not really ready to, though.”
“Not ready for her to grow up, are you?”
“Nope.”
• • •
“Okay.” Noi climbed out of the mud puddle and shook her coat off. “You be the buffalo, and I'll be the Appleoosan settler.”
“How come I've gotta be the buffalo?”
“'Cause it was my idea. And 'cause I came up with the game.”
“Fine.” Pinch splashed rebelliously in the puddle a few more times, then hopped out and rolled on her back in the grass while Noi watched in confusion. “Buffalos like to be all dirty and stuff. They have brown coats.” She streaked some mud across her cheeks with her fetlocks. “And they have stampeding paint. I saw a picture in one of Mommy's books.”
“You can't even see it through all the mud!”
“Well, what's your idea?” Pinch flicked a hoof and splattered Noi. “We could have a pine cone fight instead.”
“Nuh-uh. You can throw them with your field.”
“I bet I can throw them further with my field than you can with your hoof.”
Noi's eyes sparkled. “Oh! We can be pegasus archers!”
“Yeah!” Pinch looked around at the scattered pine cones and sticks. “Or grinders!”
“Grenadiers,” Noi corrected.
“We need somepony to throw them at.”
Both fillies looked over at the bench where Golden Harvest and Berry Punch were talking. Pinch grabbed the first pine cone, lobbing it with her field. It fell yards short, bouncing across the short grass harmlessly.
“You'd never protect Canterlot,” Noi decided, as she picked up her own missile. “I can buck this all the way over the bench.”
“Here comes Commander Hurricane!”
The two fillies turned around just in time to see Derpy glide low, Dinky held securely in her hooves. She came up just short of them, dropping Dinky lightly to the ground between the pair. While Pinch went to nuzzle the new arrival, Noi narrowed her eyes and tossed the pine cone in the air, bucking with all her might . . . and missed completely.
She gave the offending pine cone a withering glare, before trotting over to Dinky and giving the filly a good nuzzle. “We're playing settlers and buffalo. Do you want to be a buffalo?”
“I'll be a buffalo,” Derpy said. She dragged her hooves through the mud, rubbed it on her cheeks, and spun back around to face the trio of fillies. “Run—run or I'll stampede you.”
She waited for them to shriek and begin galloping off before giving chase, darting across the park, around trees and bushes, in a futile pursuit that wasn't quite fast enough to catch the elusive fillies. Golden Harvest and Berry Punch watched from the bench.
“Remember when you had that much energy?”
“Nope.”
“Me, neither.” Berry Punch sighed.
“Derpy's got the right idea. Maybe if you're playing, you never get old.”
“You can join her. Get some mud on your coat.”
Golden Harvest stuck out her tongue. “No thanks. I'd rather stay here and relax. Just watching Noi is tiring me out.”
• • •
“Thanks for the cookie, Auntie Cake!” Noi gave her a kiss on the cheek, leaving behind a muddy streak, and then turned to face her husband. “Bye, 'Mister' Cake!” She giggled as she said it, but he gave her a friendly wave anyway.
By the time they'd rounded the corner, the cookie was nothing but a distant memory. Noi happily trotted through the streets of Ponyville, her older sister following at a more sedate pace, waiting out the brief sugar rush. Sure enough, by the time the filly had passed Mr. Breezy's shop, she was flagging, and she barely made it to the bridge before she slowed to a walk. Golden Harvest had caught up by the time they were passing Sweet Apple Acres, and took the lead on the road up to their house, occasionally looking back for her little sister, slowing and waiting for Noi to catch up as they reached the final stretch to the front door.
“I can't wait to have dinner,” Noi said.
“Not before you have a bath.” Golden Harvest motioned at her mud-covered coat. “No way are you going in the house looking like that.”
Noi turned and looked at herself, before making sad eyes at Golden Harvest. “I don't wanna.”
“Too bad. You should have thought of that before you played in a mud puddle.”
“Are you going to take a bath too?”
“I'm still clean. I can wait until after dinner.” Golden Harvest gave her little sister a wicked smile. “It's going to be so good . . . I'll think of you, I promise, when I'm eating Mom's casserole.”
“She made casserole? That's not fair!”
“Yesterday I traded a bunch of carrots to Roma for some tomatoes, and Mom bought fresh daisies. I told you before we went to the park.”
Noi hung her head. “I didn't remember. We were playing settlers and Buffalo.”
“You can play in the park without getting all dirty, if you want to.” Golden Harvest ruffled her mane with a hoof. “Me and Berry did.” She didn't mention Derpy, who'd left the park as mud-covered as the fillies.
“You just did boring adult stuff. You didn't have any fun.” She fixed her sister with a glare. “I bet you talked about stallions.”
“We did not. Well, maybe a little.”
“Fine, whatever.” Noi stomped around the house. “Stallions are icky.” She reached a hoof up and fumbled with the knob.
Keep thinking that until you're thirty. Golden Harvest watched her shove the door open.
“Will you come with me?” Noi triumphantly pushed the door open, then turned to face her sister.
“I can smell dinner now.”
Noi turned her head towards the kitchen, then back at Golden Harvest, a look of desperation in her eyes.
“Dirty ponies don't get to eat until they're clean.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Noi picked up a mud-covered forehoof and looked at it thoughtfully. “Can I take a bath after dinner?”
Golden Harvest shook her head.
“Will you take a bath with me?”
“I'm not dirty.”
Noi darted forward like a viper, trailing her hoof across Golden Harvest’s barrel. “You are now.”
Author's Note
A One-Shot-Ober Fic
“Why, you conniving little b—” Golden Harvest clamped her hoof over her mouth.
“Moooom! Goldie said a bad word!”
“I did not!”
Noi gave her a serious look. “You should wash your mouth out with soap, 'cause you said a bad word.”
Golden Harvest leaned close to her little sister, until their muzzles were almost touching. “I. Did. Not. Say. A. Bad. Word.”
“You thought it. You should wash your brain out with soap.” Noi rubbed her hoof across Golden Harvest's breast, leaving another streak of mud. “I'm a dirt monster!”
“Go!” Golden Harvest stepped back out of hoof range. “Get in the tub!”
“Not unless you come with me,” Noi pouted. “I don't wanna be up there all by myself. I could get drownded.”
“When I was your age, I wasn't as stubborn about taking baths.” Golden Harvest gave Noi a push.
“Were, too.” Noi wiped her hooves off on the mat before starting up the stairs. “Carrot told me he used to have to drag you upstairs and wash you when Mom and Dad left and he had to foalsit you, 'cause you always got yourself all dirty.”
Her cheeks reddened. “That was then. I'm not a little filly anymore” She gave Noi a gentle push up the stairs, then glanced down at the streaks of mud on her coat. A damp rag would wipe them off, and she'd be clean enough. Noi's coat was going to take a lot more work.
“Get in the bathroom.” Golden Harvest narrowed her eyes—Noi was hovering at the door, glancing down the hallway as if she were preparing to bolt.
“Fine.” Noi lowered her ears, and shoved the door open with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. “I'm hungry. Can't I eat first?”
“No. I'm hungry, too, and I can't eat until you're clean.” She followed her sister into the bathroom and pushed the door mostly shut. “Get in.”
“I don't wanna get in until there's water in the tub,” Noi said, giving the bathtub a sideways look. “It's too cold otherwise, and there aren't enough bubbles.” She started to move across the room, towards the door. “Where's my duck? I can't take a bath without my rubber duck.”
“You're not going to take a bath,” Golden Harvest said.
“I'm not?” Noi gave her a hopeful look.
“You're going to take a shower.”
“But . . . Mom says showers are for big ponies.”
“I think you're big enough—don't you?”
Noi glanced warily at the bathtub, the shower head, and her big sister. “Really?”
“I'll be with you. You'll be fine.” Golden Harvest pushed on her sister's rump. “Go on, get in. You can stay at the back at first.”
Noi climbed into the tub, looking up at the shower head as if it were full of snakes. Golden Harvest followed her in, pulled the curtain shut, and turned on the water, waiting until it got to a comfortable temperature before closing the valve on the faucet. She closed her eyes and stuck her head under the warm spray, sighing happily even as she heard her sister's hooves skittering in the tub.
“Come on up. The water's nice.”
“I don't like it,” Noi said. “It's too splashy.”
“It's just like rain, but warmer. You like rain, don't you?”
“I like rain because rain makes the crops grow and if the crops didn't grow we wouldn't have any food to eat.” Noi huddled against her hind leg. “But this isn't rain, and I'm not a crop.”
Golden Harvest chuckled. “It's so much better than rain. Go ahead, stick a hoof in.” She turned to face her little sister, and watched in amusement as Noi shut her eyes tightly and reached out with a hoof, jerking back when the water touched it before bravely reaching forward again.
“See, that isn't so bad.”
“It feels weird.” Noi pulled her hoof back and stood on all fours again, just out of range of the water.
“But not bad, right?”
Noi shook her head, and reached out with her other hoof. This time, she kept her eyes open and watched as the water washed the dirt out of her coat. “It's kind of like rinsing the dishes . . . do the dishes think the water feels funny?”
“Dishes can't feel.”
“I knew that.” Noi slid a little closer to the water, letting it wash up to her knee.
“If you get your mane wet, I'll soap it for you,” Golden Harvest offered. “Close your eyes and just step forward.”
Noi hesitated, then scrunched her eyes shut and moved into the water. Golden Harvest grinned as the filly's natural bravery got the better of her, and she began actually enjoying the shower, moving around and letting the drumming water run over her back. She even turned around to get her tail, flicking it back and forth a few times before she was satisfied at how wet it was. Then she moved out of the water, and looked up at Golden Harvest.
“Soap me,” she demanded.
“Say please.” Golden Harvest taunted her with a bottle of lavender mane and coat shampoo—her own personal soap which Noi was never ever to use.
“Pretty please?”
“That's a good girl.” Golden Harvest worked the soap into her mane, tail, and coat, ignoring Noi's occasional squirming. Once she'd gotten a good lather, she pushed her sister forward again. “Now rinse it out.”
While Noi did, Golden Harvest scrubbed herself, sitting down in the tub to shampoo her mane. Noi, who was now mostly rinsed off, decided to help, gently scrubbing through her big sister's mane.
She moved to the back of the shower while Golden Harvest rinsed herself off, then looked down at her dirty belly. “Hey, Sis, how do I clean my tummy? The water won't reach.”
“You have to stand on your hind hooves,” Golden Harvest explained.
“I'll fall down!”
“I'll hold you.” She guided her sister into position. “You need to be right here, and then stand up.”
Once again, Noi squeezed her eyes shut, waiting until she felt Golden Harvest's hooves lightly touching her back, before nervously getting to her hind legs. “Feels funny,” she muttered, cracking an eye open to watch as the warm water rinsed the dirt off her belly.
“Now take a step back,” Golden Harvest instructed. “I've got you. Put some soap on your tummy, and rub it in. When you've got a good lather, step forward again and wash it out.”
Noi nodded, and squeezed some soap onto her left hoof, quickly put it against her stomach, and began rubbing it around, making sure she got everything. Once she was satisfied, she stepped forward again, Golden Harvest's sure hooves firmly gripping around her barrel. She thrust her chest into the water, and bravely took a second step, until the spray was nearly touching her throat.
Once the soap residue was all gone, she stepped back again, finally dropping back to all fours. “Now you hafta do it,” Noi observed.
Golden Harvest nodded, and switched places with her sister. She slid her hind hooves around, making sure they had good purchase against the tub, before standing. She grinned as she felt a pair of small legs wrap around her barrel. “I've got you,” Noi said. “I won't let you fall down.”
“Thanks.” Golden Harvest smiled—if she did slip, Noi wasn't going to be much help holding her up, but it was a sure sign her little sister was starting to get into the idea of showering. She quickly soaped her belly clean and rinsed it off. She reached forward, opened the faucet valve, and then turned off the water. “Now, because the shower curtain's still closed, you can shake yourself off.”
“Mom says I'm not supposed to shake myself off in the bathroom, 'cause water goes everywhere.”
“When the curtain's closed, it's okay,” Golden Harvest assured her. “But only when the curtain's closed.”
Noi nodded and enthusiastically shook herself off, spraying water all over the shower. Golden Harvest waited until she was done before doing the same, then she opened the curtain and stepped out of the tub, tossing Noi a towel.
Once they were mostly dry, Golden Harvest attacked Noi with a brush, grooming first her coat, and then her mane and tail into a presentable configuration. She gave her sister a pat on the head. “Go tell Mom I'll be down in a minute, okay?”
Noi nodded. “Can I tell her I took a shower like a big pony?”
“As long as you tell her I helped,” she said.
“I will.” Noi nuzzled her cheek. “You're the best big sister ever.”
Before Golden Harvest even had a chance to reply, Noi pranced down the hallway, her head held high. “Come on, let's eat dinner. I'm hungry.”
“I'll be along in a minute.” She stuck her head out the door just in time to see Noi's tail disappear down the stairs.
As she was brushing her own mane into shape, she could hear Noi's voice from downstairs. “Goldie let me take a shower! I'm a big pony now!”
Golden Harvest picked Noi's wrinkled towel up off the floor and hung it in its proper place, then paused a minute by the bathmat. A small, filly-sized muddy footprint was stamped on the very edge, and she set her own forehoof beside it, pressing down into the terry hard enough to leave an impression of her own hoof. Then she hung it over the rim of the bathtub and headed out of the bathroom. Dinner was waiting.
Author's Note
A One-Shot-Ober fic
