“So, does everyone understand what the plan is?” Douny asked, looking over the map of the area. Like Little Strongheart said, Appleloosa is no more than 2 miles away from where they are now. If all went well they could make it before high noon. Everyone nodded and went off doing last-minute checks on what they needed to bring, which was mostly just water, food, and tents, in case things took more than a day to resolve.
“You doing alright there Douny?” Spike asked, looking up at the human. As much as Douny was trying to hide his nervousness, the little dragon seemed to be able to see straight through his mask.
“I’ll be fine, I just need to make sure everything goes off smoothly, and things will be fine.” Douny stated, more so for his own benefit than anyone else's. This didn’t go unnoticed by the little dragon however as Spike sat down and tried to comfort Douny as best he could.
“If you say so, though, I think you should open up to someone. It can’t be healthy to bottle your feelings up.” Spike added as he looked at the man with a worried look. This action didn’t win the little dragon any favor with Douny however as the human scowled at the small dragon.
“Noted, but if you want my suggestion you should mind your business. My burdens are not your own, drop it.” Douny deadpanned at the drake, causing Spike to shrink at the human's words.
“Move on now, I’ve got enough to worry about, and I don’t need a nosy dragon being another one.” Douny finished, waving Spike away from him. This worked and Spike went away with his head down.
Little Strongheart was watching from the sidelines of their conversation. She wasn't exactly surprised to see that the human reacted the way he did, though she wished he would have been more open to the idea of venting whatever happened to him out. Though she knew she couldn’t force him to talk about it as much as she wished he would. But the situation would have to be brought up later. Right now she had to check her own supplies to make sure she had everything she needed.
After everyone had their supplies squared away, they all met up around the valley that served as an exit and entrance to the camp, with Douny leading the group alongside Thunderhooves, Strongheart, and the 2 ponies that appeared in the camp last night.
“So where does your kind come from anyway? I’ve never seen anything like you before.” Rainbow Dash asked, looking up at the man that doubled her height. Rainbow would have to admit that she was a tad nervous when near him, mostly due to the size disparity. She imagined he would easily be able to take her in a fight. Though she wasn’t exactly sure how true that would be.
“I’m from a planet called Earth. It’s very far away from here.” Douny explained, with a bit of dryness in his tone as he looked forward towards where they were headed.
“You honestly expect me to believe that? Buck, for all we know you're some kind of spy from some far away land.” Rainbow Dash pressed, not believing a word that the human said. He may be trying to act nice and peaceful but that had to be just an act.
“Quit it, we already have enough to worry about without you both arguing the whole way to Appleloosa, so please just be at the very least civil.” Strongheart pleaded, she was starting to get a headache from Rainbow’s constant bickering with the human, and it was getting on her last nerves.
They both nodded in agreement though Rainbow was a bit more reluctant to stop her questioning. But she knew she wouldn’t get any more answers today. Now that she thought about it, he didn’t look all that tough or threatening. Not to mention how he was probably badly wounded if the bandage around his exposed chest was anything to go by.
Douny however seemed to not care very much. If the pony wanted to question his motives that was her right. He didn’t much blame her either, he would probably be acting the same way if he were in her shoes.
Strongheart however didn’t really believe things were over between them quite yet. But she didn’t want to waste time on them right now, nor did she want to waste the energy needed to do so. As long as they were quiet for the rest of the walk she would be happy.
They kept walking for what seemed like an hour, the sun was as they predicted up in the middle of the sky by the time they got there. The small town was within sight. If Douny had to give an estimate it was roughly 500 to 600 meters away now. It was also at this time when most of the buffalos in the group started to set up tents for when the night came. Douny thought that was a good idea and found a place as well as put his tent up. After about 20 to 30 minutes of putting their tents up they finally were done and rallied up by the tribe Chief, and alongside him were the human and Strongheart as they planned this speech out.
“Today is a day of peace and understanding. Today we plan to make peace with the ponies of Appleloosa and hopefully find a compromise to the situation we find ourselves in.” Chief Thunderhooves spoke looking at the group that came with them. “Thanks to our new friend Douny O’Whelan we have a chance to bring peace amongst our kinds once more,” Thunderhooves said, waving his right hoof over to Douny, giving him his queue to speak, which Douny followed, nodding towards the Chief as a form of thank you.
“I have only been here for a few days, but I know how these conflicts go. It is the reason I proposed this plan last night. My kind is no strangers to conflict, we have gone to war over the stupidest of reasons. But I will not stand by and see another one happen if I feel as if I can stop it.” Douny spoke, with a look of determination in his eyes. He then pointed to the crowd to help punctuate his final point. “I do this not just for you but the generations after, a hope for a brighter tomorrow!” Douny finished, raising his fist into the air.
The crowd of buffalo seemed to be ecstatic about the speech the human gave, raising the morale of the entire group. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to be excited at hearing the speech. Now with their morale up, the job of speaking to the leadership of this town could begin.
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Chief Thunderhooves, Strongheart, Douny, and the 2 ponies walked into town. Almost immediately after they came into town a few more ponies walked up to them. One was orange with a blonde mane and a stetson, another was a purple unicorn with a lavender mane and a light purple stripe, and the final pony, which Douny figured was the towns speaker was a bright yellow with a 2 tone orange mane and a dark brown stetson with a high crown.
“Hello there, what can we do ya for?” The yellow stallion spoke up, looking at the small group with an unsure look on his face. There was a brief moment of silence until Thunderhooves broke the silence.
“We are here to negotiate peace, and hopefully make a compromise on the land you put your orchard on,” Thunderhooves answered, lifting his right hoof towards Douny. “This is my friend Douny, he shall be with us to help with the negotiations, as will Little Strongheart to keep things civil.” Thunderhooves then finished, giving off a hopeful smile.
This seemed to put everyone at ease, things were going great so far. If things kept up like this Douny was sure that today was going to go great. All he had to do was make sure that nothing bad happens, and make sure that the terms made were fair for both parties. Yeah, Douny was sure this was going to work. That was until the orange earth pony with the blonde mane spoke up.
“And why the hay should we speak with creatures that stole a train cart carrying one of our apple trees?” The orange mare asked, growing angrier at the thought of what they did. This got Douny to speak up.
“I’m not going to stand here and defend those actions, that was their bad, but I’m sure they are more than willing to pay for any damages and time wasted for that action,” Douny answered calmly, looking between both groups. This action slightly startled the other 3 ponies. Though the Chief and Strongheart nodded in agreement with Douny’s answer.
This got the orange pony to calm down, but Rainbow still found this to be unfair. Though one glance from Douny and Strongheart got her to remain silent about what she was going to say. This was a very fragile moment, if things didn’t go well on first contact, then things would start going south fast.
“Alright, right this way.” The yellow stallion replied leading both groups to a town hall/
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The 2 groups were sitting at a table in the town hall for what seemed like hours. Not much conversation was made, which wasn’t surprising there was still tension in the air and Douny imagined that they wouldn’t want to speak until negotiations started properly. This did make his plans a bit harder to execute, but he would just have to roll with the punches for now.
A half an hour later and the town sheriff and the yellow stallion came in and took a seat at the table.
“So I think now we can begin, though first I think we should handle the elephant in the room first.” The yellow stallion spoke up looking toward the human. “I don’t want ya to take this the wrong way but, what are you exactly?” The yellow stallion then asked with a look of confusion in his eyes. Douny took this in stride however and humard his question.
“I’m Douny, a human from the planet Earth, though where that is I don’t have a clue. I was brought here by accident.” Douny explained, getting a curious look from the purple unicorn on the opposite side of the table. “Though I do think that introductions are in order, what are your names?” He then asked looking towards the members of the other group.
“Ma names Braeburn, this here is my cousin Applejack, and her friends Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” The stallion now known to be Braeburn replied with a smile on his face. Pointing to the ponies in question as he listed them off. Douny followed his lead and did the same.
“This is Chief Thunderhooves, Little Strongheart, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.” Douny finished pointing to the members of his group. He had to admit that this icebreaker was just what they all needed to calm the nerves in the air. “So shall we begin?” Douny then asked to get the conversation back on track. Everyone nodded and prepared themselves for the negotiation.
Hours went by, the start of the negotiations seemed like nothing was going to be done about the situation. But as time went on the two groups started to better understand each other's situations. After a few more hours a solution was made. Appleloosa would make a wide enough path for the buffalo to stampede on, and give the buffalo a portion of the fruits harvested from the trees, and the buffalo would let the trees stay and the townspeople expand as needed to keep their town thriving.
“Hey, Douny was it?” Twilight asked, looking up to Douny sheepishly. This got the human's attention as he turned to face the purple unicorn.
“Yeah, what is it I thought that the negotiations were done?” Douny asked in reply, looking down at her as she spoke.
“I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come to Ponyville with me and my friends when we head out tomorrow?” Twilight asked, feeling a bit more confident now as she continued speaking with the man.
“I’d honestly like to, the desert isn’t really my style anymore. Though I don’t know where I would live there I don’t exactly have the funds to buy a place to stay.” Douny replied, rubbing the back of his head in thought. He really did want to come, but he also didn’t want to become homeless.
“You could stay with me, I do have some questions about your world and people, and you would get a place to stay there. It’s a win-win.” Twilight replied, getting a bit more excited as the conversation went along. Lucky for her the human didn’t seem to mind the exchange too much as he nodded in agreement.
“I guess that will be fine, let me just say goodbye to Thunderhooves and Strongheart,” Douny said, picking up his bag of things that he came to this world with, as he walked over to the 2 buffalo.
Things seem to be looking up for Douny. He had a place to stay now, consistent means of food and water, and he may even dare to say he is in a better state than when he was arriving here. The only downside he could really see was having to adapt to a new culture and social norms. But he was more than sure he could manage that.