Janice woke the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. She got herself a bit of breakfast, and headed out for a stroll. As she ventured through the town that morning, she waved at some passersby; some of which returned the wave hesitantly, while others chose to ignore her. She sighed internally, thanking her lucky stars that at least nobody was- She shook her head. No, even thinking that would probably jinx it. Gotta think ahead, Janice. She made a turn, and headed for Sugar Cube Corner. Once she went inside, she saw quite the scene. Ponies that she knew at least got along were bickering harshly. Some of her friends were there too, arguing with one another. It took her awhile to appraise herself fully to it, and when she had, she spoke up. "What is going on here?"
However, it seemed that everyone there was a bit too preoccupied with their petty feuds to notice. Snorting a bit, she barrelled through the crowd, grabbing the two friends of hers that were bickering: Melia and Cloudkicker. She glared at them, getting them to snap out of it, they looked around, and looked back at Janice. Melia chuckled in embarrassment. “Ehe. Um, I’m not certain what came over us.” She looked towards Cloudkicker. “What were we arguing about? I can’t seem to recall…”
Cloudkicker place a hoof to her chin, and tried to remember. “Umm… well, if we can’t recall, it must’ve been something stupid or trivial.” She looked around the shop, concerned. “So, how are we gonna snap the rest of them out of it? Doesn’t seem very simple…”
Janice considered the situation for a moment. How were they supposed to fix all this? She then recalled something Maestro had told her. “Wait a minute! A lot of these ponies are friends with somepony else here, so all we need to do is remind them of their friendships! Let’s do this thing!”
Nodding, they went over to another bickering set of friends, Lyra and Bon Bon. Cloudkicker tapped Lyra’s shoulder, and Melia tapped Bon Bon’s. The two turned away from one another, and focused on the pony that had taken their respective attention. Cloudkicker spoke to Lyra first. “Hey, what’s this all about? You and Bon Bon have been buds for ages! What’s got you at one another’s throats?”
Lyra huffed. “Bon Bon knows what she did! She just won’t admit it!”
Bon Bon growled lightly. “For the last time! It’s you who knows what you did! I did not do whatever it is that you are accusing me of!”
Melia responded to Bon Bon before Lyra could. “So, each of you is accusing the other of doing something that the other insists that they did not do. What exactly is it that you’re accusing the other of doing?”
Bon Bon was about to yell again, but blinked. “Uh…. what was it again?” She scratched the back of her head. “I can’t seem to recall.” She turned to Lyra. “Say, what was it you were accusing me of doing? You never told me.”
Lyra was about to object when she realized something. “You know, you’re right. I can’t seem to remember what it was. What’s up with that? You’d think that I’d remember what I was accusing my best friend of doing…”
Janice shook her head. “Not necessarily. Pops always said that if arguments about things one can’t recall were prevalent, that it was a sure sign that a starving wendigo had been in the area. I know most consider them a legend, but…”
Bon Bon’s eyes widened. “Well, if King Eclipse turned out to be real, who’s to say what else might be? So, we just break the rest of these ponies out of it, then?”
Janice nodded slightly. “It’s a start. Starving wendigoes can’t usually go very far. Once we’ve finished restoring friendships, we should follow the energy trail that one would leave behind. It’s quite distinct and easy to identify. Lyra, Bon Bon, will you help us get the rest back to their old selves?”
Both nodded, and Lyra huffed. “Nobody messes with the friendships of Ponyville! Let’s do this!”
The group spread out to reason with the rest of the patrons of the shop, and they made staggering progress. It wasn’t long before all of the patrons were back to their old selves. Pinkie came from behind the counter and pawed at the ground. “Pressuring ponies into being meanies is just not cool! Make sure to teach that no-good wendigo a lesson from all of us, okay?”
Janice nodded at the door, Melia and Cloudkicker in tow. “You got it. One wendigo whooping, coming right up!” The trio then exited the shop.
Cold Heart chuckled as he watched through the Gazing Orb. They really thought that they would track down his new pet? How ludicrous that was. Speaking of his pet though, he gazed over to it. It still looked rather starved, but that was to be expected at this venture. After all, the minor bickerings of one town was far from enough to satiate a wendigo. It still wasn’t quite enough, though. They’d fixed the conflicts in record time, which irked him. That didn’t really matter, though. He had time to test the limits of their friendship. He would tear them apart piece by piece, and leave them high and dry. He turned back to the Gazing Orb, and sighed. “Such naïvete you have, thinking that you can defeat me.” He shook his head. “Oh well. When I defeat you, you will see the error of your ways. It’s only a matter of time before the end. Just accept it. You’ve already lost, but you just don’t know it yet...” He turned his attention to the chess board, and smiled. “You’re all just pawns in my game…. You may have defeated one of my pieces, but trust me...” His smile became a manic grin. “That was just a minor setback.”