The Broken House

"Did you hear? The teacher's finally found herself a coltfriend."

"You owe me five bucks Rainbow, plus five for the extra bet."

"What bet?"

"The one about it being a stallion and not a mare, darling."

"It's about time, half the town's colts were going crazy about her. Who is it anyway? Big Mac?"

"It's the stallion that lives down in the abandoned house."

"T'aint much of an abandoned house if there's somebody livin' in it now is it?"

"I wonder if he's interested in any quills and or sofas for his estate?"

"He's going to be the new guardspony, Canterlot sent me the papers the other day!"

"Oh joy, now we get some snob with the Princess's commission to come down here and tells us folk exactly how to apply burning torches to Timberwolves. Thank the heavens!"

"Oh phoo, they can go ahead and try! Besides, maybe if the Mayor focuses less on the damn home guard and more on the power outages and clogged ditches, we can finally get something done in this town."

Princess Cadance, by the grace of the crown of the Principality of Equestria, The Spa Islands, Western Territories, and the Canterhorn, defender of Harmony,

MIDNIGHT LANCER

Is hereby appointed as an Officer of the Equestrian Armed Forces, with Seniority on the Day 18th of October 999 AL.

WE reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and Integrity do by these Presents Constitute and Appoint you to be an Officer in our Equestrian Armed Forces. You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge your Duty as such in the Rank of Lieutenant or in such other Rank as We may from time to time hereafter be pleased to promote or appoint you to, and you are in such manner and on such occasions as may be prescribed by us to exercise and well discipline both the Inferior Officers and Non-Commissioned Members serving under you and use your best endeavour to keep them in good Order and Discipline, and We do hereby Command them to Obey you as their Superior Officer, and you to observe and follow such Orders and Directions as from time to time you shall receive from Us, or any other your Superior Officer according to Law, in pursuance of the Trust hereby Reposed in you.

In Witness of the Governor-General of the Canterhorn Province, hath hereunto set her hoof and Seal at Our Palatial District in the City of Canterlot this 18th day of October in the Year of our Loaf 999 AL and in the 8th Year of Our Reign.

Signed and sealed, H.R.H. Princess Cadance

"Don't damage it, I have to get that framed. It's basically a doctorate for me!" Lancer leaned over to see over Cheerilee's shoulder, "I mean, a commission from the Princess herself? How in Tartarus did Captain Armor get that swung? Also, 'just to skip some extra bureaucracy'? I get cutting past red tape, but getting a Princess to seal a document like that is kinda extreme."

The two of them were at a table at the Cafe Hay, with Cheerilee sitting down at a booth seat while Lancer paced back and forth manically. The late afternoon sun shone through the windows, bathing the room in an orange glow that was only slightly offset by the yellow of the electric lights that had been turned on early. The cafe's business tapered off later in the day, as it was a mostly breakfast and lunch-oriented establishment, and the kitchen was only about thirty minutes away from closing. A few of the patrons sitting nearby, eating salads, dandelion sandwiches, and sipping on milkshakes, all stared on at the nervous stallion as a form of spectacle as he walked back and forth.

Cheerilee carefully put the luxuriant paper back down on the table, turning to look up at Lancer, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the-" he paused, before rapidly continuing, "Okay so usually when a downranker gets commissioned, you need to go through all of this training and a review board to make sure you're qualified to lead. Royalty can just waive this and just give the commission, as long as they get Princess Celestia's permission beforehoof. Usually they don't do this outside of extreme circumstances, cause it's a bit dangerous to put someone who might not know what they're doing in charge, but they literally did-" he froze, stopping in place, "Oh jeez! I don't know what I'm doing! Aw crap, wait why did I accept this promotion. I'm literally not qualified at all."

A Ponyvillian in the background raised an eyebrow, causing Cheerilee to wince, "Sheesh, Lancer, great show of confidence in front of the town you're meant to be protecting."

"Huh?" Lancer looked around, wide eyed, before hurrying over to his seat opposite Cheerilee, which was still plated with a now lukewarm hot chocolate and a cold half-eaten croissant.

Cheerilee gave a warm smile, "You said they sent you some reading material right? And you still have a good while before your vacation ends and you start your job, right?"

"Yeah..." Lancer nodded. He'd been sent military manuals from Canterlot, with a note from Captain Armor about reading them very well as a poor substitute for actual officer training, "Actually, about that vacation, it sorta is ending early because I'm taking up work here. I sorta asked for it, because I'm not gonna lie I've sorta been bored just sitting around and waiting for them to finish the house."

"Well that's fair," Cheerilee nodded understandingly, before reaching out to put a forehoof over his, "Listen, if you're really stressed about the new position, I really don't think you should be. The most you'll be doing is locking up criminals until the marshalls arrive and fending off the occasional Timberwolf or Manticore."

"Those are scary monsters," Lancer rebutted, knitting his brows.

"Not to Ponyvillians," Cheerilee tittered, removing her hoof from his and pushing his commission document back towards him, "I'm sure if us helpless farmfolk can figure it out, you can too."

"That's really confidence-filling," Lancer slouched slightly.

"Hey. It cannot be that hard of a job. Nothing ever happens in Ponyville, and you're getting paid what?"

"Forty thousand bits a year, cause it's not like this is a combat position," Lancer mumbled.

"Which is like... what? Fifteen bits an hour?" Cheerilee's eyes wandered as she did the math in her head.

"Fourteen," Lancer corrected.

"Still four bits above the minimum wage," she shrugged, "I get paid around the same, and there's probably not a lot of work involved."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm probably all worked up over nothing," Lancer smiled, before reaching down and finally taking a sip of his hot chocolate. Fortunately, it was still palatable despite the cooling.

Reaching down for a bite of her own fruit salad, Cheerilee chewed before asking, "Hey, Lancer, are you going to be coming to the Running of the Leaves?"

"The huh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Running of the Leaves?" Cheerilee tilted her head, "Really? Have you never heard of it?"

He blinked.

Slumping slightly, she explained, "You know, where everypony across Equestria goes into the woods and participates in a race? So the leaves can fall from the trees in preparation for winter?"

"Oh," He scrunched up his muzzle, "Is uh, that why they put all those steam thumpers on the roads during autumn?"

"Seriously!?" Cheerilee blurted, "That is like, an extremely key part of seasonal management! Don't they teach season management to Pegasi!?"

Cringing back slightly, Lancer grinned sheepishly, "I, uh, flunked those classes."

Wilting, Cheerilee placed her forehooves to her temples, "Preserve me..." she whispered.

"Hey!! There's a reason I went into the Guard rather than college..." he reached back to rub the back of his head, "I'm not dumb!"

With a deep breath, she sighed, "Grades aren't always a measure of a pony's intelligence, Cheerilee, it's okay..." looking back up, she gave a forced grin, "Would you like me to refresh you on the Running of the Leaves, Midnight Lancer?"

His grin turned sly, "Yes, Miss Cheerilee."

She reached over the table to jab his shoulder, causing him to reach up and nurse the spot with a slight hiss of pain, "The Running of the Leaves is a marathon every province holds in their local forests, or the forests of other towns if their populations can't handle it. Cities like Manehatten use steam thumpers to convince their trees to shed, and this practice has spread to some other locales that can afford to use the machines. There are some forests exempted from this, including the Everfree as well as Evergreen forests, of course. Ponyville manages the White Tail Woods over to the west. There's a small festival, some travelling entertainment, free food, and all the marathon participators get a small cash bonus from the government. Also there's medals for winning and a little prize."

Nodding along, paying attention to a teacher for once in his life, he asked a simple question, "Will you be going?"

"Of course."

"Then so will I."

At the end of a long, dirt road leading away from town and into the woods rested a humble fairground cut into a circle in the trees. A few permanent cabins rested around in the clearing, along with several temporary structures filling the empty gaps. Market stalls, a few games for the foals, and an eating competition were being held to the sounds of a country band playing from the stage. A hot air balloon floated in the sky, moored to the ground near one of the cabins, with a long waiting line and a sign advertising rides for the flightless. Almost the entire population of Ponyville, excluding seemingly the elders and very young, walked to and fro in the grounds.

"The older schoolfoals sometimes have camping trips out to here. It's a pretty safe place, Whitetail is remarkable calm for being a neighbor to the Everfree," Cheerilee commented, walking into the fairground along with Lancer.

"I used to have camp when I was little. Although it was 'cloud camping' in Manehatten. Mostly stuff about trying to prevent Pegasi from losing their heritage in an earth city, only seen this kinda stuff in horror movies," Lancer said, eyes on one of the passing stalls as they whipped up cotton candy for the foals.

Cheerilee pinched him, causing him to hiss and take his eyes off the cotton candy, "No snacks until after the marathon, or else you'll get nauseous."

"Okay..." Lancer hung his head slightly, reaching up and adjusting a crossbelt that ran around his neck and looped through one of his forelegs. Inside was a plastic water bottle, unopened.

After a moment, Cheerilee asked, "You like horror movies?"

"I'm not huge on them, they tend to be predictable and cheesy," Lancer averted his eyes, "Besides, I uh... scare easily."

She raised an eyebrow, "I mean, I can get the last one, but predictable and cheesy? Somepony's never watched Human."

"What's that?"

"You've never heard of it?" her eyebrow rocketed higher, shocked, "Human? On Earth, nopony can hear you scream?"

"Earth? Like the place that the earth ponies wanted to find on Hearth's Warming?" Lancer scratched his chin.

"Yeah. The crew of a steam freighter find it and it's infested with monsters," Cheerilee grinned, "One of these days, I'm going to take you to the theater and we're gonna see it."

"Only if you watch Starship Mares at some point," Lancer counted as they finally reached a set of wooden barriers, walling off the fairgrounds from a small preparation area for marathon participants. Most of the adults of Ponyville were there, including some faces that Lancer recognized. After giving over their tickets to the Mayor and receiving their racing numbers (31 for Cheerilee and 32 for Lancer), they continued their conversation.

"Starship Mares? You're into science fiction?" Cheerilee asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Lancer nodded, "Starship Mares and LOAF-E are my favorite movies"

"LOAF-E is pretty good, yeah-" Cheerilee nodded, "Well Human does have quite a bit of science fic-"

"Hey, is somepony talking about Starship Mares? That stupid movie that makes the Wonderbolts look like drooling foals with lightning cannons?" said a slightly scratchy voice from Lancer's left.

In the middle of a stretch was a cyan pegasus pony with a remarkable rainbow mane, the apparent owner of the voice. Next to her was the more familiar face of Applejack, who immediately rolled her eyes at the pegasus's comment.

"Hoo colt, here we go again," Applejack groaned.

"I don't believe we've met?" Lancer said, unravelling a towel from his pack, "Also Starship Mares motivated me to join the guard, I dunno what you're talking about..."

"Dash, Rainbow Dash, Captain of the Ponyville Weather Team, at your service!" Rainbow said, breaking out of her stretch for a salute that would make Lancer's old drill sergeant cry, "And by that comment I take it you're that new guardspony?"

"Yeah," Lancer frowned, memories of all the unscheduled rainstorms he'd been subjected to since moving to Ponyville flooding back, "That's me..."

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash stepped forward and grabbed his foreleg from the ground, giving it a firm shake, "Good to see another pegasus in Ponyville! Sad to see you already got a job. We could've used another good pair of wings!"

"I can tell," Lancer gave as friendly of a smile as he could, "You and Applejack know each other?"

"Eeyup, since she moved here five years ago," Applejack said, tipping her hat in proper greetings as she approached Lancer and Cheerilee, "Still can't win against me in th' running of the leaves, though!"

Rainbow's face fell into a scowl, "Not this time, AJ, I'll beat'cha fair and square!"

Applejack chuckled, before looking over at Lancer, "Hey, Mr. Lancer- or ah, do y'all prefer I call ya by rank or somethin'?"

"Lancer is fine," he chuckled.

"Well Lancer, do ya want to engage in a lil' friendly competition?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow's eyes suddenly brightened, "Hey! Yeah! That sounds like a great idea!"

"Wanna race us to the finish line?" Applejack added.

He lit up, "Oh that sounds cool-!" he said, only pausing when a certain rose mare gave him an amused look. Stuttering for a moment and scratching his head, he amended, "If it's okay with Cheerilee. I did kinda come here to to participate with her, after all!"

Applejack's eyes moved towards the teacher in question.

"Eh. I don't care. I don't think either of us will be much for conversation after lap one, and I don't really savor the idea of just watching each other sweat for two hours," She shrugged, only for Lancer to put a hoof to his chin to muse the last part. He was rewarded with a swift jab to his side and a giggle from Rainbow Dash.

"Well, we ain't looking to run each other until we pass out. So the race'll only be on the last leg of the run, from checkpoint three to four. We'll wait for each other at checkpoint three," Applejack explained, before pausing and eyeing both Rainbow and Lancer, "And neither of y'all use them wings. It's cheatin'."

"Okay," Lancer nodded, glad to have the first part of the marathon with Cheerilee anyway.

"Hey! I don't cheat!" Rainbow jumped into a hover, crossing her forelegs.

Reaching up and pulling Rainbow back to the ground, Applejack snarked, "And I don't lie neither. And ya do cheat."

Lancer hummed, looking out towards a signpost that sat at the border of the fenced in preparation area. It showed a map through the forest, along with all the checkpoints. Walking over and eying the scale on the bottom left, he estimated the distance, "Huh. I thought it'd be longer."

Cheerilee, following up behind him, frowned, "I dunno. It's pretty long. 20 kilometers can drag."

"Longer than a road march, sure, but I don't even need to carry any kit," He pointed out, "Heck. Isn't a marathon like 40 kilometers instead?"

"Yeah, but not everypony around here is a marathon runner," Cheerilee chuckled, "I'm not much for fitness either... Hey, since you're probably pretty used to this kind of stuff, wanna show me how to warm up?"

"Sure. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you found this easier than me..."

The ground shook with the pounding of at least a hundred or so pony hooves, all stepping to each other's beat to the point where with every hooffall one could feel the vibration come back up through their limb. Around the path, the trees quivered slightly, and as if by magic leaves fell in great droves, blowing in the wind travelling back up the trail towards the recently passed checkpoint 2.

Lancer, taking his towel and swiping at his forehead, looked around, "You know, I once saw a herd of buffalo doing something similar to this!"

Cheerilee knitted her brow, already breathing quite heavily and lagging behind the group enough that Lancer had to slow himself down to keep pace, asked, "You've seen a buffalo migration and never a Running of the Leaves?"

"Yeah, guess what I did and didn't see during training in the Mild West," Lancer chuckled,

"Right..." Cheerilee panted, before giving a jealous sideye towards Lancer, "How do you manage to struggle with yanking weeds but barely break a sweat now?"

"Military work's all about stamina. There's no point in being the strongest in the regiment if you can't keep your vigors for long enough to march a full day," Lancer shrugged as best he could mid-stride, even as their speed slowed more towards a walk than the trot they had initially set off at, "So yeah as long as you're strong enough to hold your kit and thrust a halberd through plate, they don't really try and buff you up any more... and I'm not exactly an overachiever."

"Don't insult yourself, it's not very attractive..." Cheerilee chuckled breathily, trying to call upon her earth heritage to try and not completely embarrass herself and push forward back towards the rest of the crowd.

"Yeesh! One month into 'going steady' and you're already telling me how to live my life. Next you're going to tell me to ditch pizza rolls and make salads, hehe-" Lancer's face suddenly changed, and for once he slowed down all the way to a canter, "...Heh..."

Cheerilee, half glad to slow down, half concerned at the sudden change of demeanour, slowed as well and turned her head, "You okay?"

"Yeah just..." Lancer reached up and dabbed at his forehead again, "...That's just what Starlit would've told me to do..."

Cheerilee scolded a deep, dark part of her mind that suggested she say 'you said it not me', and instead fell back along his side, "I'm sorry, Lancer."

"I'm okay, I'm okay I'm over it," Lancer quickly dismissed, running forward again, "What were we talking about?"

"I don't remember," she shrugged, before looking over and commenting, "You know you don't need to be okay, right?"

"Yeah well-" Lancer pursed his lips, looking away for a moment, before looking back and stating confidently, "I need to be okay during this. Breaking down crying during a marathon isn't very conducive towards respiratory stamina!" he grinned.

They made their way over one more crest, where the distant mid-afternoon sun shone briefly above the canopy of leaves. For a moment, Lancer took a moment to look back and observe that they had been successful in breaking up the canopy behind them, as the sun shone more clearly through the trees on the trail they left behind. The few leaves that clung to the branches of the trees would fall on their own given time and weather.

Up ahead was checkpoint 3, which gave Cheerilee a temporary burst of stamina as she picked up the pace slightly to pass the line along with the rest of the crowd, not to be seen lagging behind in front of the audience of non-participants, mostly the town's foals, watching from the sidelines. Lancer, for his part, kept pace with her, noticing Rainbow and Applejack sitting idly by the checkpoint's border posts waiting for him.

"Hey. Time for me to race them," Lancer said as they approached.

"Right, yeah, have fun. I'll see you at the finish line. Better not take off without me," Cheerilee joked, passing the checkpoint line as Lancer broke off and reaching down to uncap her water bottle.

Lancer, walking over to Rainbow and Applejack, gave a slightly awkward grin, "Hi! Been waiting for long?"

"Why so late? Trying to save your energy or something?" Rainbow growled slightly.

"Calm down, Rainbow. He was just keepin' pace with Miss Cheerilee," Applejack placated, "Sides. We've rested here long enough to make up for anythin' he might be saving up."

"So, from here to the finish line, eh?" Lancer asked.

"Eeyup. And no wings!"

Rainbow cackled, "Hah! Be glad there's no wings. You'd both get absolutely creamed! I bet they don't even do any flight training in Guard Academy!"

"I mean, they do..." Lancer frowned.

"Nothing like they have in the Wonderbolt Academy, anyway!" Rainbow brushed off, walking to the center of the checkpoint and pawing at the ground.

"Huh. Didn't know you went to Wonderbolt Academy," Lancer stated, blinking as he followed Applejack to the starting line as well.

"Well- I-" Rainbow puffed out her cheeks, "No I didn't, but I will someday!"

"Well uh, good luck with that..." Lancer chuckled, looking her up and down. A classic jock, all bark and no bite. He was pretty sure he knew about five exact clones of her back in high school.

"Alright. Three! Two! One!" Applejack counted off, before leaping off the starting line at the end of her count, Rainbow moving at the exact same second just to leave Lancer to stumble for a moment before he too took off after them.

Lancer immediately noticed Rainbow and Applejack sprinting ahead at full gallop, leaving behind a trail of dust that stung at his eyes slightly. Rolling them, he kept up at his brisk run, blinking a few times until he completely zoned out. Memories of what seemed to be millions of marches came back to him, usually following being awoken by a sergeant with a all too shrill whistle followed by hours of simply jogging down a path, heavily laden with plate and sword.

If there was anything he could do, it was mindlessly keep up the pace as he ran along, hooves steadily thundering beneath him. What he usually liked to do was to count something as he ran along, it kept the part of his mind that could be focusing on how tired he was becoming instead occupied with simple addition. It was a contest, usually to try and find how high he could count something before he lost count and had to start over again (his record was around 230). This time, he counted the pebbles that cropped up on the even ground between the deep hoofprints that covered the dusty trail.

One... two... three... four... five...

Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three...

Sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight...

Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred...

At some point he recognized that he had passed the main crowd along with Cheerilee. His throat was completely arid, and his lungs burned with every inhale and exhale. He figured out that the two others had completely failed to run up and keep pace with him, and that he was far ahead of the flock.

Finally, he rounded a corner and saw the finish line. The exact place they had started. A chequered banner with the words 'PONYVILLE RUNNING OF THE LEAVES' plastered across it hung across the road ahead. As soon as his hooves crossed the finish line, he skidded to a stop, finally allowing himself to zone back into the world. He wilted on the spot, taking deep, greedy gasps of air as he finally stopped moving, heart thundering in his ears.

Zipping around the corner behind him was Rainbow Dash, the second to cross the finish line and practically tumble into a prone position on the other side, looking on the verge of a stroke as she panted and blinked sweat out of her eyes. She was followed shortly by an extremely smug looking Applejack, whose straw-colored mane was disturbed beneath her sweat-soaked stetson.

"Looks like ya lost, again," Applejack said between pants, taking out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from her brow.

"No!" Rainbow immediately retorted, despite her lack of breath, "I didn't lose to you this time *pant*... I lost to *pant* Lancer!" she picked herself up, the side of her face smothered with dust from the ground, "You lost!"

"Sure, whatever makes ya feel better about yerself, Rainbow..." Applejack coughed, before wiping another wave of sweat from her brow and turning towards Lancer, "I guess we owe you some cider, eh?"

"Ah, nah, you're... too kind," Lancer wheezed out as he walked to the side of the track and leaned on the barrier, "I gotta go and eat with Cheers *pant* anyway..."

"We'll buy ya both a jug of cider, then," Applejack offered, giving Lancer a wink as she made her way for the exit, Rainbow groaning on the ground behind her.

Lancer, after but a short moment of peace as he supported himself on the barrier, unwilling to let himself sit down until he was sure he could remain seated for a while, was soon beset upon by yet another mare. This time, it was the town's mayor, who walked along the opposite side of the barrier until she was within a conversational distance.

"Well! Mr. Lancer, congratulations on finishing first! Unfortunately we don't really have a prize," Mayor Mare gave a grimace, "When we used to have a first place prize, everypony tried to break up formation to race for first. That meant the stomping power went down and we couldn't get all the leaves off in one pass!" she chuckled, before adding, "I'm very sorry if you went through all that effort to try and come first!"

"No, no," Lancer waved off, "I was with..." he tiredly nodded towards Rainbow and Applejack, the former still lying motionless on the ground and the latter exiting out to the fairgrounds into the forelegs of a small yellow filly, "...Them."

"Oh, of course. Rainbow Dash's and Applejack's little feud. Been in it ever since Rainbow moved here!" Mayor Mare gave a tittering laugh.

Another groan from behind him finally elicited a chuckle from Lancer, and he gave a dry grin as he said, "So I've been told."

A few minutes later and both Cheerilee and Lancer were seated in the picnic area, drenched in sweat, and glad to finally be able to relax their limbs. Some of the nearby stands, operated by businesses from out of town, had had the genius idea of offering waiters to come around and bring food to the exhausted marathon runners, most of whom dreaded the idea of ever moving from their seats ever again.

"I'm jealous," Cheerilee grunted, licking her lips after finally recapping her water bottle, which had been full mere minutes ago.

"Stop chugging water so fast, you're gonna make yourself puke," Lancer pointed out, before finally adding, "..Also why?"

"Who's telling who how to live now?" Cheerilee jabbed, her joviality only slightly souring when she remembered how that joke had gone down for Lancer last time. Fortunately, the stallion didn't seem to mind, and she answered his question after a short pause, "Cause you get to fly home. I need to put this legs to work and walk all the way back myself."

"Can't you catch a cab or something?" Lancer raised an eyebrow, taking a non-ambitious sip of his own water bottle.

"You see any around here?" Cheerilee indicated around with her eyes.

Lancer looked around, frowning. There was indeed nothing around in the shape of a passenger carriage, "Huh. Seems like a missed business opportunity."

"Yeah, well, all of the adults who live in Ponyville were busy with the marathon, and it's too costly for the fairgrounds ponies, y'know?" Cheerilee said, before her attention was suddenly diverted towards a nearby pegasus, carrying a basket of sandwiches, carrot dogs, and hayburgers towards them.

Reaching into his cross-belt, Lancer pulled out his bit purse and paid the bill, before taking out a hayburger and digging in. Once again, Cheerilee was showered by flakes of hay, burger, and everything in between. With a slight smile and a side eye towards his wood-chipper like attitude towards the food, she took an egg sandwich and began to fill up herself.

"I'm glad you came out, Lancer," Cheerilee commented, "Ponyville's holidays are always such a great way to interact with the community."

"Mmhf- well," Lancer said around a full mouth, "They say the houshe shoulf be done by-" he swallowed, "Should be done by Nightmare Night. I've never really decorated my own place before, and my parent's apartment when I was a foal was on the third floor. So aside from putting stickers on the window and hanging cobweb paper clippings across the doors I've never really done big decorating."

"Oh! That is so exciting!" Cheerilee waggled her half-eaten sandwich at him, "First, we'll get you furniture, then we decorate for Nightmare Night! Oh! And we can go all out too! The landlord can't stop you like they do at my place!"

Lancer blinked, slightly intimidated at her enthusiasm, before nodding along, "Yeah uh... sounds fun," he said before yanking a pickle out of his hayburger and launching in for another bite. After a moment of thoughtful chewing, he suddenly realized, "Wait, we?"

Cheerilee blinked, "Oh, well- if you don't mind, of course. Most of the old furniture will need to be replaced, right? Me and Carrot Top can help you move it all in, and maybe help you shop if you want."

Lancer considered, for a moment, the prospect of refurnishing the house on his own. Images of pastel white everythings, bare walls, and bags of random possessions littering the floor because he couldn't figure out what a dresser was back at his city apartment came to mind. After a moment, he nodded slowly, "Yeah... that might be a good idea."