(1) Dawn - The First Ray of Light
The sky was dark. The stars glittered brightly, everything was serene and calm. The only thing moving were the clouds, slowly but surely chasing the wind.
The blue alicorn felt she could hear somepony cough a mile away. She could see and almost hear the twinkle of the stars. It brought a little foals' song upon her lips. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder -
Suddenly, a warm ray of light seared through the middle of the sky without any warning. At last, at last, the blue alicorn sighed. The dawn, the rising of the sun, was about to begin.
"Tia, Tia! I think I found - oh griffonapples, nope."
Tia was starting to wear away. Coming from a middle-class family, she just wasn't used to this street filly lifestyle. Come on, Tia, she grunted. Just a step to go, maybe, I'll find something.
She wasn't the rash one. Lulu was the rash one - she always went for Plan A. Tia, however went for Plan Perfect. But her sister wasn't quite fond of that, because she took pretty long. Come on, Lulu, I only thought of how to wash the fireplace for eight hours once!
A thought came bursting out of her mind, forming a little smile on her face. "Lulu," she croaked, "why don't we get like .... a job? We can make money like, like, our p-parents, right?" Their parents' lives had been cut short by a forest accident.
Lulu stopped. Her wings ruffled uncomfortably (she was a pegasus). She put out a strong, heart-lifting laugh, like the ones she was famous for. She fell down, laughing uncontrollably. She just kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing. Tia was starting to get annoyed after about a minute. After two minutes, she used her magic and silenced Lulu. Lulu wheezed for a little. "I'm so stupid, Tia, oh why didn't -"
She started laughing again. Tia was about to silence her, but she quickly resolved herself within a few seconds. "Why didn't I think about that, why?'
"I don't know. But what kind of job could we get?" Tia paused for a little, and she knew better than to trust her own, slow thinking.
"Well, I've always liked how the palace looked. Maybe we could work there?"
"Work there? Are you crazy?!" That idea was preposterous! Tia thought. Maybe a little filly from a noble family, but never two dirty, bitless fillies! They would kick us out without a thought.
"I don't think I am. We did learn quite a lot from our parents, and Sweetbits told us they used to be pretty well-known."
Lulu watched as her older sister started her so-called "Plan Perfectanization" stage. She sat down and put a hoof on her muzzle, and her eyes gained this faraway, blank look.
Five minutes later, her eyes returned back to normal. Her hoof hit the road in excitement. "You know what, Lulu, that might work! We'll show whoever is at the gates our skills and..."
Lulu, impatient as she was (she only waited for her sister's thinking because it was impossible to stop her) zoned out and just nodded. Her sister was the leader, and her plans always worked. Sometimes Lulu thought that she couldn't survive without her sister.
"Hey there! Equus to Lulu! I was thinking we wash in the river, so at least they might get the impressions that we are at least clean."
Lulu, still zoned out, just nodded. Tia levitated a feather to Lulu's muzzle and started to rub it. Her face contorted in an effort to stop a sneeze, but a large sneeze erupted anyway, rubbing her muzzle once again on the feather hanging in the air. She sneezed more violently, and one of her wing feathers somehow rubbed against her muzzle in the process of floating down to the ground. This time, it created a magnificent sneeze so violent Lulu promptly got knocked off the ground and smashed into a wall nearby. Only then did the sneeze attack end.
"Lulu! Are you okay? Sorry," Tia exclaimed.
"I-it's okay," Lulu mumbled, standing up and stretching her now aching wings.
"Do you know what where the nearest river is?"
"Well, we're in Painton right now, so...the nearest major river would be the Marezon River, and the nearest minor river would be the Doublewing Creek, and the nearest body of water would be the Ashtallion Ponds."
"Lulu, how big are the Ashtallion Ponds?" Tia grinned a little mischievously. This meant she was quizzing her sister.
Lulu frowned in her thinking. "They're supposed to be around .... um ..... 2 meters in diameter." She went on. "There are many kinds of lily pads that grow -"
"Oh sister! I don't need that much information! Just tell me if there are any species that could deter our cleaning."
"Uh...there might be piranhas..."
"No, then. Definitely not."
"So, probably the Doublewing Creek."
"Which one's closer?"
"The Doublewing Creek."
"Then let's go!" And with a hop, Tia started trotting in the direction of the sign that said, "Doublewing Creek ->". Somehow, she showed many times the energy levels as she had shown the days prior. Maybe, Lulu thought, maybe it was a good idea? Maybe I actually thought a good idea. And with that, she followed her sister, with more confidence and enthusiasm then when they had gotten there.
"Thou shall not hurt Princess Lulu!" Lulu exclaimed, directly her less-little-sisterly-than-usual words at her sister, which was, right now, 'Princess' Tia in their little game.
"No! I reserve the right to defend my enemies against you, terrible apparition!" She grabbed a clump of sand with her magic and threw it at Lulu, which blocked it with a wing.
"Yes! I am the ruler of Moonville, and Sunville shall be mine too! YARGH!" Lulu grabbed a stray fish, and lifted it into the air, directing it at her big sister, but the fish turned and plopped into the water and nipped her injured right hoof.
"Ah! No, mercy, Mr. Golden Trout! Stop, stop!" The fish now was viciously swimming below her belly, which was extremely ticklish.
Lighting up her horn, Tia, who was very advanced in magic in her age, teleported the fish downstream. "Do not do that to a living creature, dear sis," she said, resuming her normal, formal way of speaking, which was quite unlike her sister's informal choice of words.
Teleporting the fish back, Tia said, "Now, apologize."
"Sorry, Mr. Trout. I just ... got caught in the moment, and didn't mean that. You'll accept my sorry -"
"Apology," Tia corrected.
"Accept my apology, will you?"
The fish nodded it's head. Lulu smiled, and blew some bubbles in his direction. The fish smiled and pushed a small rock in her direction. Lulu smiled mischievously and picked up the rock with her wing and flung it in Tia's direction.
Clank! The rock smashed against her barrier and fell down. "No, you will not, attacker! Stealth does not work!" From her land position, she took a weed and threw it in Lulu's direction, who plunged underwater to pick up ammunition. Tia leaped after her. "You still have to preen!"
Surfacing, Lulu pouted. "I hate preening," she complained.
"You have to. Besides, we want to create a good impression, right?"
"Right," Lulu said, with still a hint of a complaining tone.
And with a sigh, she began to preen her feathers.
