You knew this day was coming, but all things considered scrubbing what looked like paint off of him was a pretty sweet payback, considering how severely you wanted that oyster thing to never be mentioned again and the sheer quantity of rotten farm duties he could have forced you to do. You picked up the bucket and motioned for him to follow you inside.

“Mighty neighborly of ya,” he said, “I can not get this gunk off and believe me I tried.”

“So…” you said awkwardly, “Any particular reason you’re painted up to look like your sister?”

“Nothin’ out of the ordinary,” he said, speaking rather well in spite of the sponge he carried in his mouth, “Tyrant conquered Ponyville again, is all.”

“So they were into that sort of thing?”

He snorted with amusement. “Potentially… but not the reason.”

“Zany Twilight Scheme(tm) then?”

“Eeyup.”

“Damn,” you said, “That’s the second one this week I’ve missed.”

“You almost didn’t,” said Mac as he spat out the sponge, “You were slated to play ‘Adult Spike’, but the little guy did the sensible thing and went and hid. Good thing for ya too, probably. I mean you’re so bashful what with always wearing clothes and all, and Pinkie was not shy with that brush at all.”

“Yikes,” you said, not even wanting to envision how awkward that would have been as you cranked on the taps and began to fill the tub. “Still, it sounds like this was one of the ‘fun’ ones. Admit it.”

“Well…” he said in genuine contemplation, “it had nothin’ on the Living Umbrella Attack a couple months back, but all things considered it weren’t too bad.”