Cheerilee might have been in a hurry as she exited the building, but she didn’t fail to notice that the residents of Ponyville had started to act a little strange. Or rather, stranger. Not only weren’t they interested in the scene she’d just caused, but they had all turned to face the same direction and begun to walk slowly, as if in a trance.
Pausing for just a moment to take stock of the situation, Cheerilee quickly realized which direction they were all heading: towards the water plant. They shambled down the street at a snail’s pace, ignoring the world around them in favour of some unknown single-minded goal. Even the prevalent lovesickness that had been Cheerilee’s whole reason for coming to town had apparently been forgotten.
She wasn’t sure exactly what was compelling the ponies to drop what they were doing and head to the water plant, but Cheerilee knew for a fact that it couldn’t mean anything good. The water plant meant that it was part of the Changelings’ plot somehow, and that meant bad, bad things for everypony involved.
The street was too crowded for driving, but the water plant wasn’t very far away. Cheerilee hopped to the roof of her car and from there to the top of the nearby building. Her forceful leap had probably left some prominent, hoof-shaped dents on the expensive car, but that was certainly not important now.
On the rooftop, Cheerilee took off sprinting, clearing the street in a long jump and continuing on. There was no traffic up here and nopony to see her. Apparently whatever mind control was affecting the town wasn’t complex enough to have the pegasi use their wings. Everypony simply shuffled incessantly forward like a horde of zombified penguins.
Cheerilee shook her head. This was no time for terrible similes.
She cleared the last roof and hit the ground, still running. The fence surrounding the water plant was right in front of her, and she had left the mob of stupefied ponies a good distance behind. There was still time to prevent them from ever reaching the plant.
A horn honked suddenly from somewhere off to Cheerilee’s right. She cast a glance that way without slowing her sprint in the slightest to see Big Macintosh arriving in his truck from down a side street. She glanced at him in surprise, but didn’t stop her charge towards the chain link fence.
Mac reached the gate slightly ahead of Cheerilee in his truck, and was just climbing out of the cab as she skidded to a stop next to him.
“Mac! What are you doing here?!” She demanded of him, not even a little out of breath from her extended sprint.
He shot her an incredulous look. “Well I figured you might get into a little trouble going to investigate all alone, so I followed you.”
“I can handle myself! I’m trained for this sort of— wait,” she cut off abruptly, blinking several times before continuing. “If you were following me since I left the farm, how did you just now arrive?”
Mac snorted. “Just ‘cause you drive like a madmare is all. Some ponies like to obey the rules of the road and drive at a safe and reasonable pace, thank you very much.”
Cheerilee groaned. “Yeah, that might be a little bit of a problem if we weren’t both superpowered!”
“Hey, just ‘cause the rules don’t quite apply to us ain’t no reason not to follow them.”
“I think that this situation more than warrants—” Cheerilee was cut off as the sound of hundreds of approaching hooves suddenly reached her ears. She looked back down the road to see that the horde was on the final stretch towards the water plant.
“Oh, right,” Cheerilee muttered. She turned back to Mac and said, “We need to stop them from getting inside the plant.” She paused to kick open the gate, easy enough considering the lock had already been smashed to bits. “Bring your truck inside the fence, but be careful not to damage it any more than it already is.”
“Oh, so now you want me to drive carefully!” Mac remarked jokingly as he climbed back into the cab and lit the ignition.
“For Luna’s sake, Mac! Time and place!” Cheerilee shouted as she rushed inside the fenced off area. She pushed the gate closed just as Mac’s truck was inside, before grabbing the two sides of the broken lock in her dextrous forehooves and twisting them together in an improvised knot of metal. For good measure, Mac backed his heavy pickup against the gate and put it in park. Since the gate opened in, the multi-ton truck would serve better than any average lock anyway.
Mac got out of his truck once more and went to stand next to Cheerilee just as the encroaching mob reached the gate. They pushed and pressed their bodies against the gate and fence, but to no avail. The entrance stood firmly closed and Mac’s truck didn’t shift an inch, eliciting a smirk of satisfaction from the stallion.
They observed the fruitless efforts of the townsponies for a few moments, before Mac turned to Cheerilee and said, “So, why’s everypony in town suddenly a zombie?”
Cheerilee rubbed a forehoof against her forehead. “Don’t say that word.”
Mac blinked. “What word?”
“The… ‘Z’ word. Don’t say it.”
“Well, why not?” Mac asked innocently.
“Because it’s ridiculous! They’re not even undead!” Cheerilee exclaimed. “Trust me, I know a thing or two about the subject!”
Unfortunately, the horde of ponies at the fence chose that exact moment to begin voicing their frustration. Loud moans and hissing echoed across the pavement like something out of a horror movie. Mac didn’t even need to say anything, simply raising an eyebrow at Cheerilee.
Cheerilee raised a single forehoof to point at Mac. “They’re not. Don’t look at me like that.” Her forehoof wavered slightly as a particularly loud growl emitted from the gathered horde.
“Watch,” Cheerilee said, and marched over to the gate. Mac observed in barely contained amusement as Cheerilee stuck her forehoof through one of the links in the fence, exposing it to the crowd. “See? Not zombies. Now will you please stop— Ow! What the hay?!” One of the townsponies had attempted to bite her foreleg. Fortunately, pony teeth were not very sharp, and the action failed to break Cheerilee’s skin. Still, her pride had no such protection.
Big Mac had collapsed to his haunches, lost in an uncontrollable laughing fit as Cheerilee stomped back over to him, grumbling curses under her breath the whole way.
She glanced over her hoof one last time as she reached mac, confirming her lack of injury before saying, “Still not zombies though. Trust me.”
Mac managed to quiet his laughter enough to reply, “All right then, Miss Expert, what’s got everypony acting like… this? Did’ja find out who’s behind the love poison, at least?”
Cheerilee nodded. “I found a group of Changelings.” Mac sobered up slightly at that, and Cheerilee continued, “It makes sense. Fill everypony up with so much love, and you’ve got a feast fit for a queen.”
“All right,” Mac said. “And the zombies?”
“Not zombies,” Cheerilee retorted. “And I think it’s part of the Changelings’ plan. When they were spiking the water, they must have mixed in some sort of Changeling… mind… serum…” She trailed off, her eyes crossing slightly. “Okay, that sounded a lot less silly in my head.”
“Wait,” Mac muttered. “That works. First they fill everypony up with love, then they mind-control ‘em all to one fenced in location at the same time.” He shook his head in disgust. “It’s a regular pony smorgasbord.”
“Yeah!” Cheerilee exclaimed. They had figured it out, and even managed to keep everypony safely out of the plant, free to run away when the Changelings attacked. The day was saved.
Moments later, however, Cheerilee’s satisfied smile faded from her face. “Wait, so we locked them all out to keep them safe from the trap, right?”
Mac nodded. “Eeyup.”
“...Then that means that we’re locked in the trap, doesn’t it?”
There was a long pause, before a much quieter, “Eeyup.”
“Well, well, well, what have we here?” A new, rather gravelly voice made itself known from somewhere above and behind the two ponies. They both turned around in unison as a cacophonous buzzing joined the background noise.
What they found was a veritable sea of Changeling drones and warriors. Countless pairs of glowing blue eyes stared back at them from innumerable shiney black carapaces. Their insectoid winds held them aloft in a massive cloud of death, dwarfing the entirety of the water plant beneath them. At the very front of the army was a Changeling nearly twice as tall as any of the others. She had long, slender legs covered in black-as-night chiten that was riddled with holes. Unlike a regular Changeling, she possessed a long, flowing mane that resembled perforated seaweed more than anything. Her horn was nearly as long as an alicorn’s, but it was sharp as a sword and jagged. Her eyes were not the featureless, multi-faceted blue of the other Changelings, instead possessing slitted, predatory pupils of a luminescent green. The rest of her face wore a smug expression, her mouth curved in a self-assured smile that displayed long and deadly fangs, and the look in her eyes made one thing quite clear: she had already won. It had been decided, checked and mated. The rest was just busy work.
“Ponyfeathers,” Cheerilee muttered, cracking her neck and stretching out her limbs. “This is really gonna hurt.”
Mac glanced at her nervously. “Are we seriously going to fight an entire army of Changelings?”
Cheerilee appreciated how he said we. She nodded in response. Mac smiled at her. “I’d kiss ya for luck, but, well… Changelings.”
Cheerilee nodded in understanding. She wanted to do more, to tell Mac how she felt and how much he meant to her. But it was easy to disregard that and blame it on being in the presence of love-sucking fiends.
They both readied their stances, and prepared to meet the Changeling rush, only for the queen to hold up her hoof suddenly. The army remained motionless as the Changeling leader landed on the grass before Mac and Cheerilee, leaning over them and pressing her height advantage.
“So two little ponies think they can stop my conquest, do they?” Her voice was saccharine, but laced with a dangerous edge. “You think you can stop, I, Queen Maxilla? Well, you’re too late. You see, for weeks, I’ve already had several drones—”
“Hiding in town to do your dirty work,” Cheerilee guessed.
The queen paused, but went on. “I ordered them to hide among the populace! They’ve already—”
“Tainted the water supply with a love poison,” Cheerilee cut her off again.
Maxilla sputtered for a moment. “W-what?”
“Yeah,” Cheerilee stated simply. “We already figured out that part. A while ago, in fact.”
“Oh…” Maxilla mumbled deflating slightly. She quickly brightened up, however, striking a suitably ‘evil’ pose before declaring. “Ah, but you’ve made one fatal error! You failed to account for my master stroke, the ace in the hole of my genius strategy!” The queen cackled maniacally before continuing, “There was another ingredient in the poison! And now the simple little ponies of this town—”
“Are being mind-controlled by you, and ordered to this very plant at this very moment to be assimilated in one fell swoop.” Cheerilee met the queen’s eyes with a deadpan stare, before pointedly gesturing with a forehoof at the townsponies behind her, safely locked outside the fence and unable to assist.
“Wow,” the queen muttered. “How did I miss that?”
Cheerilee sighed. “Look, sweetie, I know you’re not the original Changeling queen. In fact, I was there when we killed her in Canterlot two centuries ago - one of your drones called me a bloodsucker, so you know who, and what, I am. I’ve seen a lot in my time and this whole supervillain thing is kind of tired and cliché. Now, why don’t you be good and leave town while you’ve still got all your appendages?”
Maxilla gritted her teeth in defiance. “No matter! We still have numbers!”
There were still hundreds of Changelings behind the queen, and all of them suddenly shared the same eager grin. Wow, Cheerilee thought. How did I miss that?
Changelings may not have been the toughest foe Cheerilee had faced, but they still thrived on numbers. Cheerilee could perhaps take a few dozen by herself, without any weapons, but their strength in numbers went up exponentially, and now she was facing hundreds. She was suddenly struck with the realization that this was a fight she couldn’t win.
The queen cackled and buzzed into the air, letting her army move forward. Cheerilee and Mac huddled closer together. “What are we gonna do?” he muttered.
“You keep them busy. Let me handle the queen.” Cheerilee spared a glance to look him in the eye, hanging onto his gaze perhaps a moment longer than was tactically wise. Every extra second with him was worth it, though.
There was a buzz in the air, and the Changelings were upon them.
The first few heads Cheerilee busted were easy, but the hivemind of the Changelings quickly led them to change their tactics. They drifted further from her reach, diving and dashing, providing too many targets for her to deal with at once. Their wings put them overhead, where even a superpowered earth pony couldn’t reach.
Cheerilee snarled, her fangs out and ready to taste blood. But there was something she needed to do first. While she may not have been carrying any weapons, that didn’t mean she had only her hooves to do battle with.
Rearing up, she slapped away another glancing Changeling attack and then sunk her teeth into her own forelegs, one after the other, bringing forth a gush of blood from each. Shaking out her limbs, Cheerilee ignored the pain and focused hard. She was very in tune with her body, over the years gaining control practically down to the cellular level. As she concentrated, the rivulets of blood flowing from her forelegs coalesced into long, tentacular whips that extended her reach and lethality.
There were a few tricks Cheerilee had picked up over the centuries, and rarely did this one fail to impress. The first Changeling to pause in surprise, however, was violently torn in half by the slashing, bloody edge.
Half a dozen more drones had fallen before the Changelings could adapt again. Their new tactics were more hesitant and created a bubble of space around Cheerilee. None of them wanted to get close to her. That made it easier to approach the queen.
As Cheerilee waded off through the blood and guts towards her target, Mac faced down the main force of the Changeling army. One drone got the bright idea to bring the stallion to the ground in order for the swarm to easily descend and finish him off. The Changeling sped towards Mac in a flying tackle, murderous intent shining in its glowing, blue eyes… only to impact Mac’s broad chest like a giant car windshield. The bug splatted uselessly against supernaturally strong muscle, and collapsed to the ground in a heap. Mac’s expression remained unchanged.
The sight caused the rest of the Changelings a brief moment of pause before the majority of them buzzed towards him with shrieking battle cries. Only then was the look on Mac’s face altered. He smirked.
The very first Changeling to get within range was met with a freight train of a right forehoof. The drone sailed backwards in several pieces, not slowing the charge of its comrades in the slightest. Then Mac moved with far more speed than any stallion his size had any right to, leaping aside of several diving bugs at once and seamlessly shifting into a rear hooved buck that punched straight through the chests of two adjacent Changelings. He shook their carcasses off in time to hop backwards out of range of another dive bomb. The would-be attacker hit the ground instead of Mac, dazing the Changeling for a moment. In that spare second of an opportunity, Mac quickly snatched it up by its head. A squeeze of his forehooves and a wet crunch, and the drone’s struggles ceased. Mac pivoted quickly and swung the bug’s corpse like a club, knocking an incoming Changeling out of the air and into the hard ground.
The Changelings were beginning to realize what a threat they were facing, and stopped mindlessly throwing themselves at the large stallion. While Mac was distracted by a group of drones flying towards him from the front, another Changeling quickly zipped in from behind and slashed at him. A sharp spike of pain went through him as the Changeling’s fangs drew a bloody line across one of his rear legs. Mac spun around like lightning before the Changeling could fly away and squashed it beneath both forehooves, leaving craters in the soil inches deep. The Changelings that had served as a distraction chose that moment to attack in earnest,but Mac quickly turned to face them. He tackled the one on his left, pinning it to the ground for a split second before headbutting its face into a bloody pulp. He then swerved right and finished off the last couple Changelings coming at him with a few strikes of his hooves.
As he wiped the green blood off his face, Mac noted that the army surrounding him didn’t look very much smaller than it had at the beginning. The cloud of bugs was circling him, preparing for another attack. None of them missed the blood dripping from Mac’s minor wound. They knew they could eventually wear him down, and Mac couldn’t help but realize it too. Only one thought was in his mind as he awaited the next strike: I hope Cheerilee is all right.
Nearby, Cheerilee was holding her own, but not easily. She ducked and weaved, fighting her way through drones as she charged Queen Maxilla. The little Changelings were only a nuisance, but they slowed her down enough that she couldn’t get an easy shot at their leader. It didn’t help that the queen was content to lob spells at her from a distance.
Even as an earth pony, Cheerilee knew a lot about magic, having been on the receiving end of it more times than she could count. She could brace for impact and shrug off some of the effects of the spells, but they were wearing her down. Worse still, she had to keep replacing the blood that whipped about her constantly, impaling and slashing the cannon-fodder drones. They may not have been very tough, but there were hundreds.
Every so often, one of them would get a lucky swipe in with their razor-sharp fangs and separate another one of Cheerilee’s blood whips from her. She had no time to gather up the spilled blood from each destroyed whip, as even a split-second pause in her ruthless attack would open her up to quick defeat. The only solution was to replace each severed weapon with blood from the wounds on her foreleg. Constantly drawing out more of her lifeblood was draining, but she had to keep going. There was only one way to end this.
Perseverance and relentless slaughter of nameless underlings paid off as Cheerilee finally opened a hole in the Changeling army and got her chance at the queen. Jumping forward with a predatory grin, she brought her bloody weapons to bear.
Her attack landed, wrapping both tentacles of blood around Maxilla’s neck. Cheerilee brought her closer, reeling in the Changeling like a struggling fish. She licked her lips as she slowly pulled the queen face to face with her destruction. It was only when her prey’s lips twitched in a small smile that Cheerilee realized how easily the queen had been subdued. Too easily.
Before Cheerilee could toss her away, the queen’s horn glowed suddenly with a vibrant green light, and a similarly colored wave of force blasted out in all directions. The shockwave threw up grass and dust, and completely vaporized the bindings holding the queen: Cheerilee’s only weapons. Cheerilee herself was sent flying due to her close proximity to the blast. She flipped several times through the air before slamming against one wall of the water plant building and sliding to the ground, leaving a smear of blood in her wake.
Maxilla allowed her no respite. “You honestly thought you could stop me?!” the frenzied queen shouted as she lifted Cheerilee in an aura of inescapable magic. She swung the hapless mare through the air like a toy, smashing a stack of heavy crates to splinters with Cheerilee’s body.
“I am a Changeling queen!” she roared as if validating herself, easily tossing Cheerilee against another wall. The mare hit the surface with a sickening crunch, leaving a distressingly large splatter of blood.
Maxilla heaved several gulping breaths, calming slightly, though her voice still came out as an enraged shout. “As a queen, my power is second only to the great alicorns, and after feeding off of this entire town, even they won’t be able to stop me!” The queen ripped several lengths of rebar from the wall Cheerilee had just impacted, shoving her down with magic and holding her body still.
The queen’s next statement came out quiet, eerily calm. “You,” she muttered as the rebar spun menacingly behind her. “You never really stood a chance.”
“Good thing she ain’t alone,” rumbled an ominous voice. Cheerilee lifted her head weakly, blinking blood out of her eyes to see Mac standing behind the queen.
Maxilla turned her head, looking at Mac. Dozens of dead Changelings lay behind him and their blood was smeared on his coat. Her eyes narrowed. “And who are you?”
“That’s my special somepony you’ve got there,” Mac said. If anything, his voice pitched even deeper and more menacing.
The queen’s lips spread in a smile. “Well isn’t that just lovely.”
Maxilla’s voice was sickeningly sweet as she went on. “As much as I’d love to feast on your love for each other, I’m afraid she’s too dangerous to let live,” she gestured to the still-pinned Cheerilee before turning back to Mac and the pile of dead Changelings behind him. “And, quite frankly, you seem rather annoying. Kill him,” she ordered the remaining drones.
Mac lowered his head. He shifted slightly, as if setting a stance. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Cheerilee and started to change.
She watched, wide-eyed, as Mac’s muzzle stretched and grew more pointed, filling with sharp teeth. His ears sharpened to a triangular shape and the rest of his body turned more angular and lithe. Clawed paws formed in place of hooves and his coat roughened and lengthened into shaggy fur. On top of that, he gained a couple of inches in height and the muscles beneath his skin practically popped with definition.
It was one of the more disturbing things Cheerilee had ever seen, and yet it filled her with a sudden rush of hope. The Changelings, on the other hoof, felt quite a bit differently.
“W-What!?” Maxilla sputtered, nearly dropping Cheerilee in her shock. As Mac lifted his head to glare at the queen with predatory green eyes filled with lethal intent, she shouted, “I said kill him! Kill him, kill him, kill him!”
The queen’s hysteric commands spurred the Changeling army into action, bringing the full might of hundreds of drones down on Mac in a buzzing swarm. The pony-turned wolf howled as he leapt into the fray with a hideous, toothy grin. He tore through Changelings with glee-filled ease, biting them clean in half or just shredding them with his claws. Still, he soon became lost to Cheerilee’s sight in the cloud of blood and writhing drones.
Maxilla spun, grabbing up Cheerilee again with her magic. Her intent was clear, to either use her captive as a bargaining chip or as a shield.
Cheerilee struggled to get free, but in seconds Mac was loose of the swarm, killing several drones and scattering the rest with swipes of his paws and whips of his tail. He skidded to a halt in front of Maxilla, facing her down, his jaws dripping green Changeling blood.
The Changeling queen looked almost impressed, the devious smile on her face treading dangerously close to eagerness. However, in her close proximity to the bug Cheerilee caught a glimpse of the fear masked by her bravado. Maxilla tossed Cheerilee aside dismissively and piled several heavy crates on top of the mare. In her weakened state, Cheerilee had no hope of throwing the crates off herself, and was reduced to a helpless spectator as Maxilla turned to square off with Macintosh.
“Impressive, dog,” she sneered condescendingly. “Unfortunately for you, playtime is over. I’m going to have to put you down.” With that, the queen stood to her full height, twice as tall as an average pony. She spread her insectoid wings, and set her hooves firmly in a fighting stance, her horn crackling and sparking with immense magical power. All in all, it made for an imposing figure.
Mac, too, poised for a fight. His mouthful of sharp teeth snarled and his claws dug into the earth, rooting him to the spot. Whatever else he might have been, earth ponies still drew their power from the soil, and Ponyville was Mac’s home. More importantly than any connection to nature, however, was what - who - he was fighting for.
They faced off, staring each other down. And then it was on. Mac’s paws tore chunks of dirt up and he launched himself at the Changeling queen. She lowered her head and her horn flashed with magic, catching Mac just as he reached her. His considerable momentum carried them both past the point of impact and to the ground in a snarling tumble across the blood-stained ground.
Bolts of green magic flew scorchingly close past Mac’s face and a few of them even connected. He never gave any indication of feeling the attack, however, forcing himself past Maxilla’s defenses. She rolled, trying to get away, to fly, but his grip never slacked. Jaws snatching at anything he could reach, Mac got ahold of one of the gossamer wings that tried desperately to lift the Changeling. He tore it from her body easier than ripping a sheet of paper.
Maxilla shrieked and tried to block Mac, throwing up a hoof to stop his teeth and gouging at his belly with her back legs. He bore the attack without flinching and clamped his maw down on her leg, the exoskeleton collapsing in his grip.
With a jerk of his head, Mac’s teeth cut her leg to a stump. Maxilla screamed, trying desperately to swing her sharp horn for one last ditch effort, but Mac buried her under a flurry of claws and savage bites.
In mere seconds, Maxilla’s futile cries died out completely. The sounds of crunching and snapping reached Cheerilee’s ear for a little longer, almost making her wince in sympathy until she reminded herself just how close to death she’d been at the queen’s hooves moments before.
Mac got up, green blood and guts slowly running down his body. For one brief second, his eyes flashed with uncertainty, teetering on the edge of bloodlust as he gazed over his fresh kill, but he glanced at Cheerilee and brought himself out of it quickly.
Taking a step away from the remains of the Changeling queen, Mac took a moment to compose himself, his body shifting back and losing its lupine features. He spared one last glance at the grisly remains and muttered with a shake of his head, “All bark, no bite.”
He walked over to Cheerilee, moving the debris off and helping her up. She wobbled a little, but was able to stand. Any drones that survived the battle had already left the area with their tails between their legs. Around the compound, the townsponies who had been affected by the Changeling mind control were slowly snapping out of it.
Cheerilee and Mac stood there together. She wiped a bit of enemy blood off his face and murmured, “This is not what I pictured for a first date.”
Mac chuckled, in turn wiping some of Cheerilee’s own blood off of herself. “The places I bring you ain’t nice enough?”
“Oh, the location is fine. Just a little… overcrowded.”
“Well, maybe we can go someplace a little more private next time.” Mac leaned in, ever so slowly closing the gap between them—
“What in the name of all things holy is going on!?”
Mac and Cheerilee both turned at the shout, suddenly remembering the townsponies just outside the chain link fence of the plant. Their gazes shifted from the ponies to the mutilated Changeling corpses splattered all over the area, and back again. Several citizens had apparently already lost their lunch at the horrific battlefield before them. The rest were looking on in an unpleasant mixture of terror confusion, and nausea.
“Right,” Cheerilee said simply, “them.”
“Eeyup.”
“Guess we should, uh, help them out, or something.”
“Eeyup.”
“Okay, let’s do it!” Cheerilee’s bold proclamation would have been more inspiring if she hadn’t wobbled forward for a few steps and fallen flat on her face.
Mac worriedly helped her to her hooves, supporting her with his shoulder as she stood. “You gonna be all right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cheerilee muttered, looking only slightly woozy. “I just need a bit of a drink, but that can wait.”
Mac continued supporting her as they made their way together towards the crowd of ponies at the gate. “If you say so.”
Upon reaching the gate, it took several minutes to convince everypony to return to their homes and await the arrival of a crown representative to help with anything they might need. The peeved expressions on a few ponies’ faces seemed to indicate that they would likely be asking a lot from the Princesses by way of compensation, but that was outside of Cheerilee’s purview. She was just glad when the last couple ponies finally pulled themselves together and quietly returned home.
“So what now?” Mac asked.
“Well, there’s a special clean up crew that gets called in. You wouldn’t think that’d be a full time job in Equestria, but it really is. They’ll take care of the bodies, clean everything up, even get rid of the smell. Then all the witnesses need to be talked to—”
Mac held up a hoof, smiling amusedly. “I meant… y’know.” He pointed between himself and Cheerilee.
“Oh…” Suddenly, all thoughts of standard operating procedure seemed vastly unimportant to Cheerilee. She knew her part in what was to come, in regards to the mission. She would talk to the clean up crew, make her after action report to the princess, and even assist in talking to the townsponies if necessary. She’d done it before, but for the first time she had something else to look forward to.
“You know what?” Cheerilee smiled, the blood-soaked mane framing her face providing an odd juxtaposition with her bright expression. “I think they’ll be fine without us.”
She glanced at the position of the sun, indicating at least a few hours left in the day, and pulled Mac closer to nuzzle. “We’ve got Hearts and Hooves Day to celebrate.”