The trio worked together, trying to find the rouge wendigo. Though, it was a bit harder than expected because of the state of the town. Everywhere they looked, more and more ponies had been affected by the rogue wendigo than Janice had first realized. They soon found their other three other friends, and they were bickering. Zecora huffed out in rhyme. “Out of my way pony of the earth! I would really prefer if you give me a wide berth!”
Roseluck rolled her eyes heavily. “Excuse me, but it is you that is in my way! Or maybe if Concerta were not quite so rude…”
Concerta scoffed audibly as her wings buzzed in agitation. “Oh, please! I was here first, so the both of you just need to back off!”
As the argument started to get heated and was about to come to blows, Janice stepped in to break it up, grabbing Roseluck and Zecora with her claws and Concerta with her magic. She glared at the three of them in disappointment. "Snap out of it! This is not like you! Any of you!" She shook her head. “We are all friends here! Just take a step outside your heads and calm down!” She huffed as the three of them looked around and saw what was going on. They looked back to each other, all having guilty looks on their faces. Janice sighed as she set them down. “This is all the work of a wendigo. We need you to stick with us as we track it down!”
Zecora sighed deeply. “It was childish of us to argue so. But after this menace we need to go.”
Concerta nodded in agreement. “Quite. Now, where would a wendigo go after feeding? That is the trouble…”
Janice beckoned to her friends. “Come on. The arguments are a trail. Let us follow them.”
The girls followed her as they continued to reason with the ponies as they went. But then, they found themselves in an alley, and what they saw shocked them. Melia spoke out first at the sight. “Is that… the former secretary, Ardent Valor?”
The former secretary was up against the wall as a pony-like creature that seemed to be made of winter winds was cornering her. She looked beyond her assailant to see the girls. She growled. “What do you want, huh? Go away!” She winced. “Ah!”
They saw as black energy wisped from her form and into the creature. This was how wendigos fed. Janice grabbed the wendigo with magic, struggling to pull it off of Ardent. “We are here… *grunt* to help you, Ardent! Just try and keep… *huff* your thoughts positive! Wendigos… only can feed… on negativity!”
Ardent glared at them with suspicion in her eyes, but saw that the girls had all combined their efforts to try and pull away the creature. Why were they doing this? She had treated most of them like garbage! Weren’t they supposed to leave her to be consumed by this creature? She did not understand. As her thoughts went away from their negative tone, she saw that the creature started to wane in strength. Those girls… they really were helping her, after what she had done to them? Maybe… she had been a tad too hasty… she saw them subdue the wendigo, and Janice trapped it in some kind of magical jar that drew it in. She stood, and looked at each of them in turn. They smiled hopefully. Ardent cleared her throat. “Do not think this changes anything. I still do not approve of the freaks among you.” At Zecora’s glare though, she squirmed a bit, then sighed deeply. “Though, since you are the bearers of the Elements… I suppose that I should cut you a break. I will be going now. Farewell.”
Ardent left in a huff, squeezing past the girls with little trouble. Janice sighed. “Well, at least the wendigo will not cause us more trouble. Now, how to properly dispose of it…” Janice considered a few options before teleporting a paper and quill to her. She started to write a letter...
A talon banged against a table in frustration as Cold Heart gazed at the scene from afar. “So they have managed to capture my new pet already? That is quite irksome and unfortunate…” He turned his attention to the former secretary of the mayor, and grinned. “Though, I could use her… yes, given the right push… this will work out quite well…” He nodded to himself, and turned to face a wall. “These ponies think that they have me beat, but they have yet to see the full capabilities of my superior strategic might.”
He ran one of his talons across the wall, and a few cubbies made themselves visible. He searched through them for a brief moment before he pulled out a scroll from one of the wall cubbies, and unsheathed it. He smirked with sinister glee as he looked upon the familiar scroll. “Yes, just perfect. All will be going according to plan. Once I find all of the shards, I can reconstruct the artifact that will bring back the one who ruled so long ago…”
He turned back to the Gazing Orb and shifted its focus to see what Maestro was up to. He glared as he saw him helping King Eclipse adjust to modern times. “Such a troublemaker you are, Maestro. You refuse to see things my way, and that is what makes you so irksome.” But then he shook his head as he saw a letter from Janice appear in front of Maestro. “It does not matter, you can do as you will. In the end, all events will serve to further my grand ambition…” His grin returned, and grew upon his face as he turned off the gazing orb. “After all…” He glanced at the locket of Chessmaster as it hung from his wall, a small sicker escaping his beak. “I am quite accustomed to playing the long game…”