Rainbow Dash flew through her front door, as it vaporized in all directions, and crashed onto her kitchen floor with a thud. She groaned as pain pumped through her muscles, signifying that she had done far too much hard work that day. The clock on the wall said 5:00, but the ambiance of the day said it was somewhere around the evening hours. She managed to clutch a soda from the fridge, and wobbled to her bedroom. Plopping on her bed with a huff, the soft embrace of her cloud bed was almost overwhelming as she nearly shed a tear at the amount of comfort she experienced. Sleep's embrace was a welcome thought, and a nap was almost in sight. However, that nap would have to wait.
Glaring at her from the far end of her room next to her closet was the accursed hamper. It was filled to the top with shirts, towels, and some other miscellaneous articles of clothing. All of the soiled linen was soaked through with sweat, emitting a lovely odor through her room. The hamper was leaning forward a little, trying its best to hold the weight of clothing. As much as Rainbow dreaded it, it was time for laundry day.
She bundled up her clothes in a sac, and flew down to the Ponyville Laundromat. "Of all the things I built for my house, you would have thought I would have remembered to put in a damn washer and dryer…" She grumbled some more to herself as she walked in through the doors, a powerful smell of used linen and dryer sheets there to greet her.
She honestly didn't do laundry too often, seeing as how most ponies in Equestria never wore clothing on a daily basis. However, she did occasionally sport a nice shirt to a dinner, or maybe a jersey to a sporting event. Incidentally, this past week, being a barrage of both occasions, had quite the chore before her.
The contents of her bag poured into the washer in front of her. She reached in her bag for some coins to operate the washer, but looking at the sign made her gasp. "Three bits?! Are you kidding me? Ugh!" Three bits were jammed forcefully into the slot for the washer's coin receiver, and the heavy metal crank was slammed inward, activating the water. "Hmm. Now let's see…one cup of detergent should do the trick." Reaching for the detergent, her left ear twitched as she heard Fluttershy call her name from the opposite end of the room. The detergent bottle she was still holding emptied its contents into the washer, about three-fourths a bottle's worth. Her hooves fumbled clumsily with the bottle as she closed the lid with haste. Fluttershy walked casually to the bench and smiled at her friend.
Rainbow plopped next to Fluttershy, and weakly smiled back. "Hey 'Shy. What's cookin?"
Fluttershy jumped a little at the question. "Um…cooking? I'm here doing laundry."
Rainbow looked at her friend for a long time before saying, "Was that a joke, or are you being serious?"
"Oh, um…it was a joke. Yes, a uh…funny…um…"
"Riiiight. Anyways, what have you been up to lately?"
"Oh, you know. Just the usual."
Unbeknownst to the two friends who were catching up, the lid on Rainbow's washer started to rise up as the suds pushed their way through. It was brought to their attention once the machine began to spit, sputter, and cough soap bubbles all the way to the ceiling. The pegasi jumped from their seats as the loudest cough from the washer called out to them, demanding to be drained of all the soap.
"Uh, Rainbow Dash, how much detergent did you pour in your load?"
"About a cup, why?"
Fluttershy's face fell at her words. "I'm not too sure that was just a cup's worth…"
As they went back and forth some more, water started to pool at their hooves. Rainbow Dash lifted a leg up, examining the water dripping from it. "Um...so, what are we going to do about this?"
"We could mop it?"
It was Rainbow's turn to deadpan.
The two friends scrambled for cleaning supplies, while the water started to gradually die off. Rainbow looked back and flew over to the machine. "Hey! I think it's stopping. Hah! It probably didn't want to face my awesome wrath!" After she said that, she stepped her right front hoof down, accidentally cracking the water hose that connected to the washing machine. Her eyes opened wide as she felt water rapidly spray against her legs. "Uh...sorry about that."
Meanwhile, Fluttershy was hovering above the pool of perfumed water as she darted around the room. "I'm going to go get help, I'll be right back!" She flew out as Rainbow yelled something about her being a traitor.
The owner of the laundromat, Soap Suds, came back as he finished up his lunch break. He stepped in a puddle, and quickly opened the door in response to see what was wrong. Water splashed as the door flew open, revealing Rainbow Dash trying futilely to mop up water that was at least four inches high in any direction while she displayed her knowledge of the colourful, brilliant language of vulgarity. A sobbing Fluttershy tried desperately to plug the hose up with a cork, but the violent surge of spraying water spat it back out every time she stuck it in.
Soap Suds let out a prolonged sigh as he calmly walked over and whistled, gaining the attention of the two hooligans. He looked at the floor in front of him, showing them a large grated drain hole. He slid a little tab to the left of it and it opened, allowing water to rapidly empty into it. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed hard on the floor, watching the water guzzle down the drain as Soap Suds stared at them with droopy eyes and a small frown. They sat quietly for a few moments.
Soap Suds walked over to them both, and sighed once more. "Let me guess, too much detergent?"
Rainbow Dash looked bashfully at the tiled floor as she tapped her front hooves together."It was only a cup…"