Just after Janice had sent off the letter to Maestro, she looked back to her friends. “Well, hopefully he replies soon. Never thought that a wendigo would pop up here, certainly not this soon.”
Melia quirked her head at that remark. “Wait, did you somehow know that one would eventually come to Equestria?”
Janice shook her head. “No, but it made sense that one might eventually. After all, most legends do come from a modicum of truth. At least, that’s how Maestro explained it to me.”
Roseluck sighed. “Regardless, we have to deal with it now before any more trouble comes of it. If the wendigos fully rise up again, it could tear Equestria apart!”
Concerta nodded her head grimly. “We have to prevent that at any cost. These things are dangerous, and they can’t be allowed to return.” She turned towards Janice as Maestro’s reply letter appeared in front of them. “Well? What does it say?”
Janice opened the scroll, and her friends heard Maestro’s voice speak from the scroll.
“Janice. I have received your letter asking about how to get rid of wendigos. It is quite simple, actually. They might feed off of negative thoughts and help them grow, but the key to defeating them is to emulate what the founders of Equestria did so long ago; that being unleashing the power of Friendship throughout the area. Little more can be done though, seeing as this is only a temporary solution. I will continue to delve into the mysteries of this question, should this situation arise again. Keep well, Janice. Until we see each other once more.”
Janice rolled up the scroll, and looked to her friends. “Alright, girls. Time to work some magic!”
Zecora and the others nodded, and they went off to round up all of the people in town. It took some doing, seeing as some of them were still shaking off the effects of the wendigo’s power. But eventually, all but the former secretary had been gathered in one place. Janice looked across the crowd, and held aloft the jar. “I have captured the wendigo responsible for causing mischief in town today. In order to drive it out from amongst us, we must band together, and fully put aside our petty grievances. Are all of you with me?”
As she looked across the crowd, she saw that many of them were discussing amongst themselves what to do. Though, one did step forward first to speak, that being Rarity. “Well, if you are serious, it wouldn’t bode well for us to ignore your call to action. So I say, I am for it. I strongly implore you all to put a little faith in Janice here- after all, she has helped us before.”
Some among the crowd started to nod their heads in agreement. But then Ardent Valor came from the crowd, and a stir arose. She glanced at Cloudkicker, then Rarity, then all amongst the crowd that supported this movement. She shook her head and scoffed. “You lot are fools. She’s using this as a bargaining chip to gain further favor! She doesn’t have our best interests at heart! She’s part dragon, a thing of filth! We should not listen to her, not now or ever!”
While a portion of the crowd did agree with her, the majority had decided to support Janice. It was then that Janice looked straight at Ardent, and gave her a piercing look of disappointment and hurt. “Miss Valor, look at what you are doing! Don't you see how wrong this is?" She shook her head. “You were there! You felt its power first-hoof! How can you say that I’m out for personal gain, when I helped you despite how I know you feel about me and other hybrids! Bringing contention will only make the wendigo stronger, perhaps even release it! Don’t you think that we should band together to nip this problem in the bud now?”
Ardent backed away slowly as the few that had agreed with her walked away to join the majority, saying things such as: “Why would she lie to us?” “How can we trust her now?” “I’m disappointed that she doesn't feel the spirit of the founders flowing through Janice as she speaks.”
Ardent shook her head. “I only want to protect you from her! Ponies that are not purely one tribe are only trouble! The founders never intended for us to mingle like this with creatures such as her!”
It was then that Mayor Scrolls came out of the crowd, and looked upon Ardent with disgust. Ardent shied away from the Mayor’s gaze as she spoke. “Pack your things, and get out of our town. You are no longer welcome here, until you can put aside your petty biases. Now leave.”
Ardent took one last look across the crowd, seeing them all look at her in much the same way. She sighed, and chuckled slightly. “Fine. I’ll be off then. But don’t come crying to me when it turns out that I’m right.”
She left to pack her things. Mayor Scrolls turned back towards Janice as Ardent departed. “Now, let us all join hooves and claws, everypony.” They all formed a large circle as Janice levitated the jar to the middle. She took a deep breath, and counsciled the townsfolk. “Focus on your positive thoughts about all of those around you. Feel the camaraderie grow. Now, channel it, like mana. Focus it into a spell.” They followed her instructions, those without horns channeling through others, and those with horns lighting them brightly as they could without blinding. Janice nodded, and they cast the magic forward, drowning the wendigo completely as it withered away. A cheer went out, and the townsponies chattered with those that they had misjudged before, to get to know them better. Janice smiled.
Cold Heart scowled. They had destroyed the wendigo. He sighed, shaking his head as he turned his attention to Ardent. “Now. Time to change up the game…”