Episode 3

The mystery of the missing sock

"MeloDY!" Kandi chimes. "Melody! Cupie's lookin' for ya!"

Melody slowly opens her door. "At four in the morning…?"

"Oh, no no no." Kandi shakes her head. "Tomorrow morning. But she said to let you know."

"I meant to let her know tomorrow morning." Cupie groans, walking into view. "Well, since you're up now I guess there's no sense in waiting. Come along, Melody. I've found a chore for you."

Melody follows Cupie down the hall, and to the basement of the complex. She turns a light on to reveal a laundry room.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner." Cupie comments. "The laundry from our room has been piling up for a while now. We could use somepony to help us get caught up, and keep us on top of it."

"I gottcha." Melody nods. "So just wash and dry, and bring it back up?"

"Exactly!" Cupie nods. "The clothing from our room is stored in this one. Just bring it back up in this basket when it's dry, and we'll sort through our own things."

"Sounds good." Melody nods. "I'll start on it before breakfast, alright?"

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. You know we appreciate you making food for us, but by no means are you obligated to."

"It's no trouble, really." Melody shrugs. "I have to cook for Harmony anyway, and I know you guys like what I make."

"Suit yourself." Cupie shrugs. "And, it is appreciated."

It wasn't until seven the same morning when Kandi came barging in again.

"Mel-o-DY! Cupie's looking for you!"

"Kandi…" Melody groans. "We already did this, remember?" Does that girl ever sleep…?

"Right, sorry to wake you again Melody." Cupie says as she enters the room. "Actually, me and Kandi were going to the fair and were wondering if you wanted to tag along."

"It's super fun! And there's lots of stuff to do!"

"Aaaaand, it's a great way to get to meet other ponies around Clantopia." Cupie throws in. "You could totally hold off on the laundry until later today if you wanna come with us."

"We're leaving in, like, five minutes! Four! Three!" Kandi says.

"Gosh well thanks for the invite, but I think I'm gonna have to pass." Melody replies. "I'm still in the process of settling in, you know; finding where everything is, getting to know the ponies that live in the complex… and- and Harmony! You know, I can't just leave her by herself."

"Bring her with!" Kandi says as she bounces. "There's plenty of fun things for kids to do at the fair!"

Cupie gives Melody a suspicious look, though. "Uh huh. I don't see why you can't get 'situated' after the fair. It doesn't come around too often, you know."

"Um…"

"But no one's forcing you to go if you don't want to." Cupie says, and raises her eyebrows.

"I-it's not that I don't want to, really! It's just… well, I kinda don't want to go out just yet, to be honest." Melody sighs. "There's bound to be ponies who know me, and I'm just not ready for the bombardment yet. I know that must sound conceded."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Cupie chuckles. "We'll take you to some other celebration at a later time. Sorry to wake you!"

"Before you go-" Melody interrupts. "Would you mind taking Harmony with you? I really think she needs to make new friends her age."

"What do you mean by that?" Kandi asks.

Melody signals down the hall, to which, upon further examination, fighting can be heard.

"Gimmi!"

"No!"

"It's mine!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

Cupie opens the door to find Techi and Harmony fighting over a square piece of paper. Harmony was winning.

"I need that!"

"What for? Finders keepers!"

"It goes in my deck!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Your deck is red!"

"Is not! It's-"

Techi pauses.

"Oh. Well, I guess it is." She laughs. "Still, what do you need a queen of clubs for anyway?"

"I'm gonna start building a deck of my own." She claims triumphantly.

"Um…"

"See. Harmony is making friends her own age!" Kandi gleams. "Three times her age, actually! That's, like, three friends in one!"

"Techi, we're going to the fair." Cupie announces, ignoring Kandi's comment.

"Hey- how long has everypony been standing there?" Techi freaks.

"Long enough to witness you lose a piece of paper to a child." Melody laughs. "Harmony, hun, Kandi and Cupie are going to take you to the fair."

"Will my friends be there?" She asks.

"Your new friends will be." Melody offers. "Please?"

"Fine." Harmony huffs, and stands. "But I want money for cotton candy and caramel apples."

Melody drops a sack of bits in front of Harmony. "Now not too many sweets before you eat some real food, alright?"

"Yeah yeah, come on, let's go!" Harmony demands, and starts out the door.

"Slow down there, we still have to-"

"Three two one GO!" Kandi leaps up, and follows Harmony outside.

"Well, I guess it'll be alright, then." Cupie comments to herself as she hesitantly follows the two out.

"So why aren't you going newbie?"

"Why aren't you?" Melody retaliates.

"Fair enough." Techi shrugs.

"Besides, I have to do laundry and other stuff. Speaking of which… are you hungry?"

Melody soon discovered that the dryer machine was, and has been, broken for a long time. She's just now hanging up the remainder of the clothing on the lines outside of the complex.

"Phew."

"Somepony's been busy." Feather notes, flying in from town.

"To say the least. Hey where the hell have you been? This is the first I've seen you all day." Melody notes.

"I've been going with Thiala to her rehearsals. There's only a couple left before shooting starts." Feather explains. "You know the weather's calling for rain tonight, right?"

"Aw, are you kidding?" Melody slumps over. "I just spent the past hour putting all this up."

"Why?" Feather laughs. "Do really wear this much clothing?"

Melody gives her a puzzled look. "What do you mean? This is all your guys' laundry, isn't it?"

Feather scans over it. "I don't think so. I've never seen anypony accessorize this often. Besides the occasional hat."

"Well where did all this laundry come from then?!" Melody exasperates. "You know what- forget it. It can get washed again in the rain, I'm not taking all this mystery laundry back in."

"Did I mention they're calling for strong winds?"

Melody groans painfully.

"Must you leave me behind every time? You know I don't have wings, don't you?" Thiala asks as she approaches the complex.

"Well who's fault is that now?" Feather mocks. "Since you're here, why don't you lend us a hoof with bringing all this laundry in?"

Thiala gives Feather a weird look. "Why would I do that? It's not mine, I'm not touching it."

"Whose is this then?!" Melody freaks.

"Never mind that. We better start bringing this in before those clouds get here." Feather notes. "Thiala, seriously. Just take some with you."

"I don't think so." She says, and walks away.

Feather and Melody, and later Techi too, finish bringing in the last of the clothing.

"Phew, I think that's all of it." Melody sighs. "Thank you both for your help."

"No problem, but you really should consider wearing less accessories." Techi points out.

"But it's not my- oh why even bother…"

"Techi, you wouldn't happen to know why we have all this laundry, would you?"

Techi shakes her head. "I've never seen it before."

"You guys you guys you guys!" Kandi bursts through the doors. "There's about to be a HUGE storm! Take cover!"

"We know." Techi and Melody say simultaneously.

"We just finished bringing in all the clothes anyway, so it should be alright." Melody adds.

"Forget about the clothes- save yourselves!" Kandi pleads, and ducks under a bed.

"Kid. Really. Chill." Techi responds, and drags the hyperactive pony from under the bed.

"Dark clouds on the way, girls." Cupie mentions as she walks in. "Melody, did I not say to dry the clothes before bringing them back?"

"Dryers broken." She shrugs. "Hey- I have a question about that, by the way…"

"Certainly."

"Where does all this laundry come from?"

Cupie gives her a puzzled look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you told me the pile down there was all the laundry that we use here." Melody explains.

"Yes." Cupie confirms.

"But from what it seems, nopony here really wears any of these clothes."

"Except for the occasional hat." Feather adds in, while she watches Techi fight with Kandi back and forth.

"Except for the occasional hat, that is correct." Cupie confirms.

"Right." Melody says. "So why do we have all these vests and capes and other things if nopony wears them?"

Cupie sighs. "Look here Melody." She puts a hoof around her back. "It's time we had a talk." She walks her forward, towards no real destination. "Over time, ponies accumulate a certain amount of laundry, just as they do with dishes or tissue, or dirt on their mane when they don't shower. The thing is, just as we have to clean ourselves and throw out our trash and wash our dishes, everypony must also wash their laundry if they expect to have clean clothes."

Melody's confused. "But you can't compare it to- we actually USE dishes. For our food." Melody explains. "We don't use laundry."

"And we can't use laundry if nopony cleans it."

"But nopony is GOING to wear the laundry even if I do clean it."

"It won't be laundry then though." Cupie explains. "They'll be clothes. Clean clothes."

"You get what I mean."

"I see your concern here Melody, and I'm trying my best to explain it to you. Laundry is just a natural part of the life cycle. It's best we not question these things, rather just allow it to take its course." Cupie tells her.

"I am so confused."

"Um, hello! Did anypony bother to tell me they were leaving?"

"Harmony!" Melody gasps. "You guys left Harmony at the fair?!"

"Oh…" Cupie winces. "I thought you were still with Kandi. Sorry."

"Sorry?!" Melody snaps. "What if she got lost?"

"Whatever Melody, they didn't mean to abandon me. Besides, the weather pegasus called off the storm. Something to do with the fair staying open later." Harmony explains.

"What? You mean-"

"We brought all that in for nothing?" Feather finishes. "I'm out."

"F-Feather!" Melody wines.

"You better let that hang up Melody." Cupie suggests. "It might start smelling bad if you let it sit in a pile like that for too long."

"But I-"

"We'll wait until you're done with that before getting ready for dinner." She cuts her off, and retreats to her room.

Harmony stares at her.

"What, are you going to help me hang all this up or something?"

"Not a chance." Harmony replies, and trots off. "And I ain't waitin' for my food either, so you better make me a snack before you even think about getting started."

"Techi no- nonono the storm is gonna get me! It's gonna get all of us! Right out of the sky!" Kandi screeches

"For the last time, nothing dangerous is going to happen!" Techi shouts.

"Oh lord…" Melody sighs, and begins gathering the clothes again.

The group gather about an hour and a half later, while Melody is finishing up dinner. She passes out a plate of chicken and rice to the Clanadian ponies.

"This smells so good. I can't wait to taste it!" Kandi announces, licking her lips.

"You might want to, it's still hot." Melody warns.

"I must say, it's quite nice to sit down with everypony and eat meals like this on a regular basis. I don't get to see you all as often as I would like." Feather comments.

"That's a very sweet thing of you to say, Feather." Cupie smiles.

"Uhg." Thiala groans, coming from her room. "As if I don't see enough of you during the day. Do we have to eat at the same time?"

"Thiala, show some respect." Feather glares at her. "If you don't like eating with us then why don't you go get food for yourself?"

"And what, walk to the store? Too much effort." She claims, and plops down in her seat. "Besides, what if the pegasus decide to do the storm last minute? It could be dangerous."

"Do you guys know anything? Really. You think us pegasus would conjure up a storm that was of actual danger to anypony?" Techi grunts.

"Melody, the food is delectable. Great job as always." Feather says, attempting to steer the topic off the subject of bicoring.

"Can I eat it now? Is it cooled off? I am STARVING! Okay, okay, I'm going in!" Kandi says, and dives her face into her food.

"Dear, you do know there's a fork available to you." Cupie points out.

"What fun would that be?" Kandi asks, bits of her food falling from her mouth.

Cupie sighs. "Anyway, I appreciate you cooking for us today Melody, even after being so busy with the laundry."

"Yeah." Melody nods. "I still don't understand it, but, you're welcome."

"So Melody, when are you planning to get back out there and start performing again?"

"Actually there's a-"

"Uhg!" Thiala interrupts. "'oh Melody, your foods so good, oh Melody you're so helpful! Melody your food tastes so delectable' Melody Melody Melody- why is that all anypony ever talks about anymore? Forget this- I think I'd rather walk to the store and get my own food."

With that, Thiala gets up and grabs her bag before leaving.

"…anyway, I heard about a collage concert the Clantopians hold around the full moon. I was thinking about auditioning to do a song there."

"I've been meaning to ask." Feather chimes in. "Do you have a songwriter, or do you sing your own work?"

"Actually I mostly do cover work." Melody explains. "I bought a song from a poet once, but only because I really liked his lyrics, and it hadn't been released yet."

"He sold it to you?" Feather perks up. "What was his name?"

"Come to think of it… I don't remember." Melody says, scratching her head.

"Melody dear, never purchase lyrics from an unknown name. If you spend money on an unreleased piece of music, make sure they've made a well-respected name for themselves prior to."

"Oh I know that. He was somewhat of an acquaintance of mine though, and, like I said, the lyrics really hit me. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have accepted it, but this was a special occasion." She explains. "I needed something original for a contest I was entering."

"Tsk tsk tsk." Feather shakes her head. "Be real. Anypony of your standards should be handed music. Hell, ponies should be begging you to sing their work."

"You think so?"

"You're an artist, Melody. You have a beautiful voice, and you have a name for yourself. You do realize that by singing another writer's piece, you are thereby spreading their fame as well as your own?"

"I… guess I never thought of it that way."

Feather smiles. "I suggest you be careful though. I'm certain if you were looking, you could find plenty aspiring writers who would even be willing to pay you to sing their songs. That doesn't mean the music will be any good though if the writer is inexperienced."

"Well thank you for the advice, Feather, but… I mean, I'm a cover artist. I really don't want to get into the whole trade thing."

"Huh." Feather shrugs. "Pity."

Melody glares at her now, but Feather continues to munch on her rice nonchalantly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hm?" She looks up for a moment. "Oh, nothing. Just that you could be making so much more out of your career if you found yourself a songwriter."

"What, you know where I could find one?" Melody challenges.

"Oo! I know I know!" Kandi excites.

Melody glances at her, to see her pointing at Feather.

"You?" Melody asks, raising an eye brow.

"Hm? Oh, me? Well, to be frank I wasn't quite suggesting myself, but-"

"So that's what this is about." Melody says, and squints her eyes. "You're trying to sell me your music!"

"Not sell." Feather corrects. "And I'm just putting it out there. I know you're quite popular, Melody, and I wouldn't want to see your career being wasted on what's already been done. That being said, I have yet to see what style of music you perform, and what type of reputation you have for yourself. What I'm saying is, I'm not even sure if I want to release my music to you just yet."

Melody's silent. "Well. I… haven't even read your lyrics yet."

"Then it stands as is." Feather points out.

"Then so it does." Melody responds.

A/N:

Hey, everypony. Quite a long chapter today, by the looks of it! Thanks for sticking through it; you're all awesome. I'm officially assigning double awesome points for anypony who leaves a review. Ready, set, GO!

-Feather