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The Prince of Ponyville

by Kavonde

Chapter 19: The Teacher Gets Educated

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"... The easiest way to remember all of this is a little word game my own teacher taught me when I was your age: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Salty. Could somepony tell me what that means?"

An orange hoof shot up. "That your Aunt Salty's kind of clumsy?"

Cheerilee smiled and shook her head. "No, Scootaloo. It's just a way of remembering the order of operations. The 'P' stands for 'parentheses,' the 'E' stands for 'exponents... ' Can anypony guess what the 'M' stands for?"

"Multiply?" ventured Sweetie Belle.

"Very good, Sweetie! What about the 'D?'"

Apple Bloom nearly jumped out of her seat. "Divide!"

"Right!"

"An' the 'A' standth for 'addition!'"

"That's right, Twist! And the 'S,' anypony? Yes, Diamond Tiara?"

"Why do you have that hammer on your desk?"

Cheerilee blinked and looked down. Her desk, as usual, was organized chaos; her "In" and "Out" boxes were stuffed with worksheets and quizzes and book reports and colorful crayon drawings; the surface was littered with lesson plans she'd hastily scribbled out whenever she could find the spare time. Her little coffee cup of pencils was running dry, and she kept forgetting to buy new ones. And, yes, a heavy, dented old warhammer was laying lengthwise behind her little name placard.

"Yeah," said Apple Bloom, agreeing with Diamond Tiara for probably the first time in her life. "Are we gonna get attacked?"

Cheerilee forced on her most reassuring smile. "No, dears. I've just got to run to afternoon training after school today."

"Why do you have to join the militia?" asked Scootaloo. "You're a teacher! You're important!"

"It's every pony's duty... " She stopped, shot a pointed look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and corrected herself. "It's every adult pony's duty to defend Ponyville if it comes under attack."

Apple Bloom struck a hoof on her desk. "So we are gettin' attacked!"

"No, dear, we're not. But Princess Celestia asked us to be ready just in case we were, and... "

"But Rarity keeps going into the forest to get more silkvine!" Sweetie Belle protested. "And she's been spending all her time making uniforms!"

"Well, like I said, she wants to be ready in case something happens. But nothing will."

"She's talking about capturing one of those things and keeping it at Fluttershy's!"

Cheerilee's smile faltered. "I'll... talk to her about that."

Sweetie Belle crossed her hooves and huffed. "Yeah, good luck."

"... Anyway, my little ponies, the Order of Operations is one of the most important things you can... Yes, Snips?"

"A-are we gonna get drafted?"

"I... what?"

The pudgy little unicorn looked at his classmates for support. "Well, it's just, Captain Cloud Kicker was talking about how pegasi used to make regular ponies serve in the army sometimes, and when they were desperate, sometimes they'd even take foals."

Cheerilee sighed and covered her face with a hoof. "That did sometimes happen, Snips... "

Quiet, panicked murmurs rose among the students.

"... But Princess Celestia outlawed the practice thousands of years ago, and besides, foal soldiers really just fetched water and bandages and so on. They never had to fight."

A tall, gangly orange unicorn raised his hoof. "Um, but what if all the adult soldiers were hurt?"

"Then... I... That never, ever happened, Snails."

"Not even once?"

Twist's hoof shot up. "What about the Foalth' Cruthade?"

That caught Apple Bloom's attention. "Huh? Foal's' Crusade?"

"Well, hundredth of yearth ago, a group of colth and fillieth went to retake-"

"My little ponies," Cheerile cut in, an edge to her voice. "Let's get back on topic, please. The Order of Operations... "

"My dad says we're totally going to get attacked," came Diamond Tiara's voice, authoritative and just loud enough for everypony to hear. "He's stockpiling food, lumber, and nails. He says he's going to make another fortune once the fighting starts."

Cheerilee turned to face her student. "Is he."

Tiara stared at her teacher, gears whirring in her head. "Uh. I wasn't supposed to tell anypony that. Please don't tell Daddy I told you."

"I imagine Macintosh and I will have more than enough to say to your father without mentioning your slip of the tongue, young lady." She locked eyes with her student for another few seconds, then shook her head and turned away. "Look. I understand that everypony is nervous, maybe even a little scared. Ponyville has had more than its fair share of disasters, but we've never organized a militia. But the fact that we are... that's a good thing! It means we've had plenty of time to prepare. We don't have a swarm of parasprites eating half the town, or an Ursa Minor rampaging through the streets... " She noticed Snips and Snails had the good sense to sink into their seats. "... Or a draconequus making our houses float upside-down. We know that there might be something bad coming, but if it does, we're ready for it.

"So, please. I, personally, don't think anything bad's going to happen here. And if it does, every adult in town is going to be prepared to deal with it. And if we need help, we can send a message to Princess Celestia, and she can be here in seconds. So let's stop worrying, and stop wasting valuable class time, and learn about the Order of Operations. Okay?"

The students murmured quiet agreement. Cheerilee smiled at them and, taking a deep breath, slid back into Teacher Mode. "Okay. So, the first step to solving any sort of equation is... "


Cheerilee fought to not lean on her desk for support as her students finally filed out of the classroom and into the warm, spring afternoon. She was exhausted. Dealing with her anxious students was hard enough, but knowing that she had another evening of muscle-straining, bone-wearying drills to get through made her want to hide under her desk until morning. She'd been doing pretty darn good with her hammer; why did she need to learn how to hold it straight out for minutes at a time?

She was staring vaguely at the floor, lost in her thoughts, when a pair of large and muscular stallions appeared at the door. She shook her head to clear it, grunted a bit as she hefted the hammer across one shoulder, and trotted over to join them. "I don't suppose I could get a pass this afternoon?"

Macintosh smiled at her sympathetically but shook his head. "Nope."

The dark green stallion beside him grinned. "Don't think that'd look too good, the Earth Pony Captain givin' his marefriend the day off while everypony else has to suffer."

"Well, not everypony has to actually be on her hooves all day."

Hacksaw laughed. "Hey, you've got that nice desk. You could sit behind it."

She shook her head. "That... disengages you from the students. It's okay to do it while they're taking a test, but otherwise, a teacher should always be active and moving."

"You never met my teacher back in Detrot. He never stood up if he could help it."

"And did you enjoy learning from him?"

"I enjoyed bein' able to cheat on every test, since he couldn't see my desk."

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. He laughed. Macintosh smiled at them both, then turned and lead the way.

The militia training grounds were actually a currently dormant field on the northern edge of Sweet Apple Acres. Rudimentary targets and combat dummies had been set up in clusters here and there, and on the clouds above. Wooden training weapons, mostly spears and clubs, lined various racks along the perimeter, and several piles of hoof-sized rocks had been arranged for unicorn telekinesis training.

Only a few other ponies were there yet, and they mostly stood in small groups of friends, chatting and griping about the upcoming practice. Ditzy Doo was fluttering about the pegasus training course above, trying (and failing) to get a jousting dummy to properly hold its lance.

"Ditzy!" Cheerilee shouted, waving a hoof. The skew-eyed pegasus turned and waved down to her friend, causing the lance to slip from the dummy's grip and plunge into the ground a foot in front of the teacher's face, where it stood, quivering.

Ditzy floated down after it, a sheepish grin on her face. "Um, sorry."

"It's... okay," Cheerilee said, eyeing the lance carefully. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm okay. I finished my rounds early today, and Sparkler picked Dinky up, so I thought I'd come here and set things up for training today. Gotta be a good lieutenant!"

Hacksaw cleared his throat. "Uh, no offense, lady, but how'd you end up the second-in-command pegasus?"

Ditzy's eyes widened. "Well, um... "

"Because I knew she'd be a damned good one."

The ponies looked up to find a lavender mare with a blonde mane hovering above them. She dropped lightly to the ground, wincing slightly at the impact and doing her best to cover it. "Ditzy knows Ponyville and the surrounding areas like nopony's business, and she's great at organizing. Besides, it's a basic rule of management. If you've gotta be a jerk boss, you need a nice assistant."

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "And why are you being a jerk boss, Cloud?"

Cloud Kicker shrugged. "Because Rainbow Dash isn't here and somepony's gotta get these chumps organized and ready to fight. So Ditzy's the sugar, I'm the spice."

"Got that right," Hacksaw muttered, rubbing his jaw.

"Aww, what's the matter? Does baby's boo-boo still hurt?"

The contractor laughed. "What happened to our truce?"

"Eh. Still in effect. I was making fun of ya to show affection. You're not a complete jerk."

"Thanks."

"No problem." She turned to Macintosh. "Hey, when Her Majesty, the Captain of the Glamorous and Ephemeral Unicorn Contingent shows up, we need to talk. I think my ponies are ready for some mixed-unit drills. How about yours?"

"Eeyup."

"Good. I was thinking, y'know, we could do something where you earth ponies launch us upwards... "

Cheerilee stepped away as Cloud Kicker and her coltfriend began discussing tactics. She'd declined Macintosh's offer to be his second-in-command--really, she had enough responsibility in her life--and didn't feel like she'd have much to contribute to their discussion. Hacksaw, having served a few years in the Royal Guard, was a much better choice of lieutenant anyway. Although Ditzy had been rather insistent that her doctor friend would have been a good pick, too.

Speaking of, the gray pegasus cast a considering look at the fallen lance, then at the dummy up above, and wisely decided to leave them and follow her friend instead. "So, Cheeri, how's everything going?"

The teacher turned to her friend and managed a tired smile. "I'm hanging in there, Ditzy, but between school and the drills... "

She nodded sympathetically. "Tell me about it. A couple days ago, I had to fly a package all the way to Canterlot, and then get back in time for practice."

"Ouch. How are the girls handling it?"

"Well, Sparkler's been really helpful about taking care of Dinky, but... " She sighed. "You've probably seen her more than either of us have, lately."

Cheerilee frowned and nodded. "She's been... really quiet the last few days. Hardly a peep out of her."

Ditzy shook her head. "I really wish... I dunno, I probably shouldn't, but... I wish something would happen already. So everypony could stop being so anxious and nervous all the time and just relax. It's just... building up, you know?"

"Yeah. Even the foals are feeling it. I spent half my day trying to reassure them that nopony's going to hurt them."

"Well... how do you know?"

Cheerilee looked up. "Huh?"

Ditzy chewed her lip nervously, one eye swiveling a bit further askew than normal. "I mean... I know we're ready this time, but... you know, even if we were ready for Tyranny's army, we probably couldn't have kept them all out of Ponyville. Ponies still would have gotten hurt, or... or worse."

"I know, Ditzy, but... "

"I know, you don't want us to be scared, and I know, I'm a lieutenant, I'm not supposed to be scared, but... and maybe this is dumb, you know, 'ha ha, there goes Derpy Hooves, gettin' scared about things,' but... where are our heroes? Most of them left, and, and we don't know what happened to them. And, sure, we've still got Rarity and Fluttershy, but what if things get really bad and we need the Elements? What if we need Twilight Sparkle to cast some big spell to fix everything? What if we need, I don't know, like, Applejack to save us from a stampede or something?"

Cheerilee put a hoof on her friend's shoulder; the pegasus' good eye rose to meet hers. "Ditzy, we're going to be okay. We don't always need 'heroes' to save us. You know, Ponyville was around for a long time before the Elements of Harmony came back. And it was up to good, brave, regular ponies to protect it."

"O-okay," Ditzy said, swallowing. "I just... I want my girls to be safe, Cheeri."

"Ditzy, I promise you. I will die before anything happens to my foals."

The pegasus nodded and pulled her friend into a quick, tight hug. "Thanks."

Both ponies stiffened as another pair of hooves, these mint green, wrapped themselves around both of them. Cheerilee pulled back enough to see the intruder's face. "Lyra?"

"What?" the unicorn asked. "You girls are hugging, I claim group hug privileges. We're all friends here."

Cheerilee and Ditzy looked at eachother, shrugged, and shifted to include Lyra in the hug. "Happy now?" the teacher asked.

"Very," agreed Lyra cheerfully. "How's it going, Ditzy? Ready to bust some heads?"

"Not really," the pegasus said quietly. "I mean, I want to hurry up and get it over with, but... "

"I hear you. How about you, 'Lee?"

"I'm still not convinced anything is going to actually happen."

"It's Ponyville. And we've got almost a month without any major disasters. Something's going to happen."

"Sure, but I'm hoping for more 'terrible fashion show' and less 'rampaging baby dragon.'"

Lyra laughed and pulled away, finally breaking the hug. "You might get your wish. Rarity's finished designing everypony's uniforms. She's bringing them with her to training."

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "So... you unicorns are going to be busy trying on clothes instead of running drills?"

"I wish I was a unicorn," Ditzy said sadly.

"Hey, don't underestimate Her Esteemed Captainness. Maybe you ponies haven't noticed, but we've gotten pretty darn good at combat telekinesis."

"You can throw rocks, Lyra," Cheerilee noted dryly. "We can throw rocks. We pick them up and throw them."

"Sure, but we can throw them further, and with more accuracy. So nyegh."

"And what happens if the bad guys close in on you?"

"Well, that's what we have you earth ponies and pegasi for."

"And what happens if they get past us?"

"Well, we'll already have a pretty good head start on running away... "

Cheerilee laughed and shook her head. "How the hay were you ponies the dominant race?"

"Because we let the earth ponies and pegasi do our fighting while we ran away, 'Lee. Duh."

Ditzy caught her friends' attention and looked past them. "I think Rarity's here."

A procession marched up the road towards the training field: two wagons, burdened each with some unidentifiable, lumpy mass covered by fine, purple fabric, each pulled by a pair of local stallions. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane drifted beside the rear cart, nervously keeping one hoof on the top to stabilize it. At the head of the line strode a white unicorn with an indigo mane, its usually lustrous curls somewhat limp and stringy and her sapphire eyes a bit bloodshot and baggy. She beamed at the onlooking crowd with all the energy she could muster. "Sorry I'm late, darlings," she called. "Just had to finish one or two... dozen... more uniforms. I'm here! Here with the uniforms. Did I say that? I seem to be rambling. Does anypony have any coffee?"

Lyra's eyebrows rose as she stared at her captain. "Holy hay, she was only halfway done yesterday! Uh, I should go help her out. Later, Ditzy, 'Lee."

"See you, Lyra."

The mint green unicorn hustled over to meet Rarity, and the two exchanged a few words that ended with an expression of undying gratitude from Rarity. Lyra smiled back and turned to the assembled ponies. "Okay, listen up! First thing's first, we're gonna get everypony uniformed. Assuming that's okay with the other captains?"

Macintosh and Cloud Kicker looked at eachother, then nodded. "Eeyup."

"Alright, good. Unicorns, I'll be taking over drills for the day. Captain Rarity... "

She gestured towards the white unicorn, who had managed to lean against the front wagon and fall asleep standing up. A dainty little rivulet of drool hung from her lower lip.

"... has earned herself a little nap, I'd say."

Ponies began to cluster around the wagons, while Fluttershy began directing the cart haulers to unload and sort the uniforms. Cheerilee turned to Ditzy, and was surprised to see her friend frowning thoughtfully. "Ditzy?"

The pegasus blinked and looked up. "Hm? Sorry. Just... uniforms, Cheeri. That... kinda means it's official now, doesn't it?"

"Ditzy, it's Rarity. She saw a chance to do something both nice and fashion-related for the whole town. There's nothing more to it than that."

"Sure, you're right," she agreed unconvincingly. "Um, I'd better go help Cloud Kicker get things organized. Bye, Cheeri."

Cheerilee watched her friend flutter off and sighed. She wanted to tell herself that Ditzy was getting worked up over nothing. That whatever was coming wouldn't be that bad. That by being organized and prepared, the ponies of Ponyville could handle whatever storm might be brewing. And maybe she'd even be right.

But she'd been there, in the forest. She'd fought Chrysalis and her changelings barely a half hour's walk from her home. She'd heard Princess Celestia's warning, that whatever was happening might be big, perhaps even too big for her and Princess Luna to handle on their own.

Cheerilee was a fighter. She'd never have guessed that about herself until just a few months ago, when skeletal horrors burst into Zecora's home and tried to grab the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She'd smashed half a dozen of them with her bare hooves and anything she could get her teeth on, and they hadn't laid so much as a hoof on the girls until they'd brought her down. It was comforting to know that, in the face of danger, she was capable of protecting the ponies around her.

But what good was that going to do against something that could threaten Princess Celestia?

She let out a breath. Positive thoughts, Cheerilee, she told herself. Don't let it show. There's enough worry, enough anxiety. Put on your mask. It took as much effort as anything she'd ever done, but somehow, that bright, cheerful smile appeared on her face again, and she trotted towards the crowd. Let them see the mask, Cheerilee, and never the terrified pony behind it.


It took nearly a minute before she realized what the alarms meant.

Macintosh was already throwing his steel helmet and backplate on over his green-and-brown uniform, struggling to clasp them with his teeth. Cheerilee, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, moved to help him. He smiled appreciatively and helped her dress in turn.

Downstairs, Granny Smith was clattering around the kitchen and loudly and vehemently vowing to keep the intruders off her petunias. Apple Bloom watched her nervously, a stew pot on her head and a wooden ladle clutched between her forelegs. "Big Mac, Miss Cheerilee, what's goin' on?"

"We don't know yet, honey," Cheerilee said honestly. "Could be anything. Stay here and keep your grandmother safe, okay?"

"O-okay."

The pair of armored ponies, Cheerilee's warhammer over her shoulder and Macontish's shiny new mace across his, galloped as quickly as they could manage in the midnight gloom towards the sound of the clanging alarm bells. Watchtowers had been set up at various points around town, with lookouts rotating in and out every few hours. The commotion seemed to be centered on the southernmost tower, and as lights went on throughout Ponyville, Cheerilee could see dozens of other ponies suiting up and taking to the streets.

"'Lee!" called a familiar voice, and the teacher turned to see Lyra, saddlebags full of throwing rocks across her back, struggling to catch up.

"Lyra! Any idea what's going on?"

"Not yet, but Graphite was on watch over there. Something big must be up if he's still hanging on the bell like that."

Macintosh's eyes widened. "Uh, eeyup."

Cheerilee gaped. Flames were rising from the base of the tower, quickly licking their way up the dry timbers they'd built the tower out of. At the top, they could just make out a dark gray or black unicorn stallion desperately clanging his brass bell as he watched the flames rise below him.

"It's an attack!" Lyra gasped. She turned to the growing crowd that raced behind them. "Unicorns, on me! Grab buckets of water, whoever's attacking has torches!"

Macintosh grunted as Lyra and her militiaponies veered away, and turned back to address the remainder. "Earth ponies!" he bellowed. "On me!"

Cheerilee nodded and fell back a step, keeping beside her coltfriend's shoulder. She reached back and clutched the hammer's handle in her teeth, taking some small comfort in the weapon's reassuring weight. Together, she and the dozen or so other earth ponies galloped the last few blocks towards the burning tower, and directly into a pack of monsters.

They were extremely tall, easily three times the height of a pony, and walked in two tiny little goat legs that seemed far too small to support their broad chests and trunk-like arms. Their heads were like a bull's, with long, sharp horns rising out of them at a variety of angles. It was hard to tell their coloration in the flickering light of torches and burning buildings, but they were all covered with dark, jagged markings of some strange, tribal design. There were a dozen of them, all carrying axes and swords almost as huge as they were.

"CHARGE!" Macintosh thundered.

The minotaurs were ready for the attack, though not for the big stallion's strength and momentum. The leader went down under his hooves with a crunch of breaking bones, and the next was sent spinning to the ground as Macintosh's mace smashed into its shoulder. One behind him raised its sword to strike, but Cheerilee was there, her warhammer striking the creature in the wrist. It dropped its blade with a howl of pain and fell back, clutching its useless hand.

The rest of the earth ponies had less luck. One minotaur brought the flat of his axe around in an upwards swing, striking a tan mare in the chest hard enough to crush ribs and launching her away. The pommel of another's sword knocked a blue pony senseless, and the blade drew a nasty gash along the side of the stallion behind him. Macintosh himself found himself stalemated against his third opponent, the largest minotaur of the group, who wielded a massive sword in each hand. Cheerilee tried to reach him, but was cut off by another beast intent on splitting her in two.

"Airheart, Medley, get him out of there!" shouted a voice from above. "Everypony else, HIT 'EM!"

The teacher's opponent suddenly disappeared as three pegasi plunged out of the sky, slamming him to the ground. Cloud Kicker and a few others hit the next one over with a three-pronged buck, hurling the beast through the air and knocking over two of its comrades along the way. One managed to step aside and came up with his axe ready to throw, but suddenly a gray, skew-eyed pegasus dropped out of the sky and landed on his head, hooves covering its face. The minotaur flailed at his attacker in confusion for a moment until another pegasus slammed into its stomach at top speed, launching it away as Ditzy fluttered back into the sky.

The tide had turned, and the minotaurs knew it. Helping their wounded to their hooves, the creatures began a fighting retreat, staying on the defensive as pegasi and earth ponies harried them.

"Don't flank 'em!" Cloud Kicker called. "Give them room to run!"

A few ponies looked questioningly up at the pegasus and her unintuitive advice, but most broke off and held their ground. The minotaurs, seeing their chance to escape, turned and beat hooves to the south as fast as they could go.

A cheer went up among the Ponyville militia. They'd won! They'd driven off the attackers! They'd send the monstrous creatures running, and the battle had lasted, what, less than a minute? Cheerilee couldn't contain the joyful, relieved laugh bubbling up in her chest, and more than a few other ponies joined her.

Finally, she was caught by a wild impulse to find her stallion and share her... enthusiasm. Wiping a tear from her eye, she turned, looking through the dimly-lit crowd for the unmistakable silhouette of Big Macintosh.

She didn't see him.

Fear gripped her. She turned back to the tower, still burning. A few ponies lay there, injured, moaning, barely moving.

One of them was Macintosh.

She ran to him. Even in the unsteady light of the fire, she could see the dark pools of blood around him. He'd been... it was hard to tell. The minotaur with the twin swords had clearly gotten the best of him. Blood marked his coat in several spots, and spotted the edges of his mouth as he breathed, shallow and wheezing.

"Oh, Celestia, Mac... "

More ponies turned from their celebration to regard the wounded. The cheering faded. Ponies moved towards their comrades, checking wounds, doing what they could to treat their injuries. She saw the plump little nurse from the hospital, her brown-and-green uniform stained here and there, making her way over to Macintosh in what seemed like slow motion.

"Cheeri... " the stallion gasped. "T's...t'sokay... 'm alright... "

"Mac, shh, don't talk."

"Not... not that bad. Not... s'bad as it looks."

"Mac... "

His eyes met hers, and he managed a weak smile. "Cheeri... like it better... when ya call me 'Mac.'"

She blinked away tears. "Y... you waited until now to tell me that?!"

"Didn't... wanna hurtcher feelings... "

Cheerilee laughed and leaned down, kissing her coltfriend on the forehead. "I love you, you weirdo."

"Love you, too," he rumbled softly. His eyes closed, and his head fell gently back against the ground, his chest moving shallowly "Gonna... gonna lie down awhile now, Cheeri... "

He fell quiet. His breath fell to a quiet, ragged gasp. The nurse arrived and knelt down beside him, giving his wounds a quick once-over, then nodded. "We need to get him to the hospital immediately, dear. Help me."

Cheerilee nodded and, with the assistance of a few other ponies, hoisted the big stallion onto a nearby cart beside a few other of the wounded. She watched numbly as a pair of orderlies set off as quickly as they could, the portly little nurse trotting beside them, keeping an eye on her patients. She let them get a slight head start, then fell into pace behind them.

"I-is he okay?" asked Ditzy, fluttering down beside her friend.

"I... I think he will be."

She nodded. "Do you want me to go with?"

"It's okay, Ditzy. I've... I've taken enough ponies I care about to the hospital lately. I know the drill."

"Cheeri... "

She waved a hoof. "It's okay, Ditzy. Go be with Dinky and Sparkler. They'll need their mom."

"O-okay. But if you need to talk... "

"I'll see you later, Ditzy."


Cheerilee sat in her usual seat.

Outside the waiting room, the sun was rising. She hadn't slept. Hadn't really felt tired. Hadn't really felt anything.

Hacksaw was speaking to her. He was saying something vaguely important-sounding about the militia. She hadn't been listening to a word of it. She didn't particularly care anymore.

Was this her life, now? Watching her friends get hurt? Sitting in a waiting room while the world drifted past outside, hoping every time a doctor walked by that they'd have something hopeful to say, some news about the pony she'd brought here?

Celestia. Why was she always the one bringing them here?

"Cheerilee."

She blinked and looked up. Hacksaw was staring at her, waiting for some sort of answer. "Come again?"

"Cheerilee, I understand if you can't do it, but... that was just a scouting party. A probe. They were testing our defenses. They're going to be back, soon, and there's gonna be a hay of a lot more of them. We need the militia as ready as we can make it."

"Okay," she agreed distantly.

"So... will you do it?"

"Do what?"

"I need you as my lieutenant, Cheerilee. Folks around here know you and trust you. More importantly, you're a darn good fighter. I can't think of anypony better."

She blinked. What? He wanted her to... to go back out there? To leave Macintosh here, and go back out, and fight those things again? This stallion was crazy!

Except... She looked out the waiting room's windows. The first rays of the morning's light made Ponyville look sleepy, warm, even dream-like. It danced through the boughs of Golden Oaks Library, and played through the archways of city hall, and made the roofs of of all the small, bright houses and shops glow. Inside those buildings, ponies were asleep, or just waking up. They'd be going about their lives as best they could, despite the disruptions, despite the cloud of fear that would be hanging over them. And their children would be going to school, only to find a note tacked on the door that class was canceled, perhaps indefinitely.

And... they'd hurt Mac. She didn't know how bad. She didn't know if he'd live. And if they weren't stopped, they'd do it again, and it would be somepony else sitting here, terrified and anxious that their loved ones might be lost to them forever.

If she could protect them, she would.

"I'll do it," she said, turning to Hacksaw with determination in her eyes. "What do you need?"

Next Chapter: The Prince Gets a New Attitude Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 14 Minutes
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