Rinsing off

Having finished helping Granny Smith with the morning dishes Stone Mane stepped out on the front porch of Sweet Apple Acres in my Equestria dreamscape.

Applejack had corralled her little sister to help her bring down some lightweight cotton summer bedding from the attic so they could be cleaned up. Next week there was several days of really hot weather scheduled. So with extensive mosquito netting already installed on the Farmer's Porch everypony was going to be sleeping on cots out on the porch next week.

Curious where Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had gotten to the colt headed off for the clubhouse. He didn't know the 2 fillies very well but they seemed like okay ponies.

At the same time Scootaloo was wondering where Sweetie Belle gone? One second the filly had been trotted alongside the pegasus filly. Then suddenly the unicorn had squealed in excitement. Then she yelled a name that Scootaloo didn't know, but from the swarm butterflies she had torn off into orchard after the filly assumed that was they were called that. Within a few seconds Scootaloo had lost track of Sweetie amongst the rows of trees. After a few minutes of fruitless searching. The irony of this was not lost on the filly as she looked for her friend amongst the apple trees. Eventually she gave up and headed back to the farmhouse.

It was in front of the farmhouse that the 2 foals met up.

"Hey Stone! Have you seen Sweetie Belle?" The filly asked.

The colt shook his head. "Nope! Haven't seen her since breakfast. Last I saw she was heading out the front door with you. Why?"

The filly looked back at the orchard. "Oh! That silly filly suddenly took off into the orchards chasing some butterflies and I lost track of her. I was wondering if maybe she'd somehow made it back up to house ahead of me." Scootaloo looked back at Stone Mane. "You know for a filly who's not very athletic Sweetie can be fast as the wind at times."

The 2 foals began searching around the barnyard for the filly. However as they were returning to the barn they heard the sound of running water coming from it. Stone Mane was familiar with the work shower. Link Wondering who was using it the foals followed the sound. Peering around the corner they froze. They'd found the user of the shower.

Completely drenched Princess Luna was using the work shower to rinse off the dust and bits of hay from her coat that she'd acquired while helping Big Mac fill the hay loft. Link Slowly she walked in a circle under the shower. For ventilation the smaller back door had been left opened. Celestia's golden morning light poured through it and it cast brilliant glistening highlights on the alicorn's dark body. Water flowed off the mare's body in glimmering sheets. As the mare slowly paced she tossed her head and flicked her tail to-and-fro which created brief constellations of sparkling light inside the barn.

Now due to the fact that ponies often don't wear any clothes in public it's not unheard or scandalous to find a mare or stallion bathing in an outdoor setting. However neither of the foals had ever imagined seeing the Co-Ruler of their kingdom like this. Stone Mane didn't know for how long him and Scootaloo stood there, but suddenly he heard a sound he'd heard last night in the Dream Realm. Link

Flap! Flap! Flap!

Luna paused her rinsing off and looked back over her shoulder. However the 2 foals had quickly retreated away behind the doorway of the barn and were now quietly trotting away. Neither looked at the other as they stared straight ahead with a wide-eyed expressions. Half way across the barnyard they encountered Sweetie Belle trotting out of the orchards. The filly's mane and tail had numerous, colorful wildflowers woven into her mane and tail. Looking like some pony version of a woodland nymph she came to a stop and grinned at the 2 foals.

"Look! what I found!" The unicorn squealed. "Aren't they so pretty?!"

Stone Man silently nodded his head. Scootaloo was silent and stood still, but after a few seconds her wings twitched again.

Flap! Flap! Flap!

To be continued.