While Spring Break was the most anticipated thing due to it being a full week of "freedom" from school, it wasn't the only thing starting up in Animalia.
One new thing that was going on was Miss Fabina's "Plastic Recycling" Program. While Barb didn't really have anyone from her old employer who could apply, Ami on Heiya Island had actually something for her. Apparently the girls that were being sent to her were something known as "gyaru" in Japan. After getting a good look at the photos included in their files, Miss Fabina was wincing in sympathy. Dark brown, very dark brown, skin, hair nearly bleached white, tramp stamps, and white makeup around their eyes made them look a little like reverse colored pandas. Fortunately, they had already undergone implant removal that was part of the program, but Miss Fabina was still upset about how there would be people who would destroy so much of a girl's old identity.
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Speaking of Ami and Japan, Heiya Island was getting ready for a "shared" holiday. While the Cherry Blossom Festival wasn't well understood by outsiders, it was still a lot of fun to learn about as well as to participate, especially for those who weren't from Japan. Nate decided to spend Spring Break with Shuixing, and it was coincidence that enabled him to spend time with Shuixing during the Cherry Blossom Festival without missing too much college time.
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Another new thing that was going on was Mercy's "Criminal Trash" Recycling Program. She had gotten a better look at the list of "participants", willing or not, as well as what the program entailed. While most of them would be doing what would amount to community service while being supervised by vulture and/or condor Animalians (with some amusing reactions to being followed), the only one who would be facing Animalia's "four punishment" system would be Rosie's ex-husband since before his capture, he had beat up the girl he had been staying with bad enough to warrant a five-year prison sentence if this alternative hadn't been available.
The only other odd one in the program had been the 600+ pound drug kingpin. Normally being a drug kingpin was considered too serious to be included in the program, but the health problems his extreme obesity had been causing had forced him into being a drug kingpin to pay the bills, so to speak. Already, though, he was being "attacked" on social media as the "Breaking Bed Kingpin" (a reference to Breaking Bad), but the decision to include him in the "Criminal Trash Program" was a little unorthodox.
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The final newest thing wasn't new per se, but it was still surprising nonetheless. Sylvia, from the Seven-on-Four night, had taken up with the now 'Mane Seven' (as it was known on the Animalia Website), which would eventually bump it up to 'Mane Eight' when they were visited by a PR-MD agent.
"So you're still waiting on available stallions?" asked the agent.
"We've got two so far." answered Sylvia.
"Well we just got a donation that reminded us of some others that are still available." replied the Agent.
"What?!" gasped Sylvia, while the others listened in intently.
"We just got a donation from Japan, via Heiya Island, of some older Japanese warhorses (intended for Japanese historical action movies and/or documentaries). That reminded us of the stallions that were uplifted after Animalia's Renaissance Fair." clarified the agent. At that, almost every mare there were feeling pretty silly about not paying attention to those, but Sylvia was able to help find out more about them.
"Where are they now?" she asked.
"After their uplifting," answered the agent, "they formed a surprisingly effective forge business, specializing in warfare-grade weapons and armor from popular movies, tv shows, and video games. Their business is called The Iron Stallion, and their symbol is a male horse Animalian in medieval plate armor, carrying a shield in one hand and a flail in the other. Their address is on the website, if you're interested."
"Okay," said Sylvia, still feeling as silly as everyone who was listening in. "but how many stallions are being donated by Heiya Island?"
"Around four or five." finished the agent, leaving as quickly as he could without running to get away from the epicenter of an enormous f-bomb. Fortunately the only real casualties were a few nearby car alarms going off, though from the f-bomb was unclear.