I was awoken the next day by a face-full of the magic paste. I made an attempt to shake it loose from my eyes, but it stuck to my face. A cloth was rubbed across is shortly after I stopped shaking, and with my eyes clear, I looked up to see who threw the concoction in my face.
Standing over me was Chief Thunderhooves. Beside him was another cow buffalo, a bowl in her hoof and a scowl on her face.
"We move now, changing pony," he spat at me, "and you not use honeyed words on my daughter again!"
I flinched back as much as the poles holding me to the ground would let me. Apparently, the little cow that visited me last night was the chief's daughter.
Very roughly, the poles and rope holding me down were removed, and I was quickly rolled onto my back, the holes in my hooves once again home to the wooden poles meant to carry me.
"We move, buffalo!" the chief called out, and as one, the herd set forth for Appleloosa once again.
I had made my best effort last night, but it was no good. I blew my one chance to get free, so now I would become a prisoner in Equestria. The only question in my mind was would the ponies get rid of me, or would the hive send a changeling there to do it themselves?
My thoughts were interrupted as the chief stopped dead in his tracks. The herd followed suit, looking to their leader for an answer as to why the had ceased moving.
"Be on guard, buffalo," the chief warned. "The ground trembles beneath us, but not because of our hooves."
Instantly, the buffalo went on guard, looking this way and that. The two buffalo carrying me did the same, but would shoot a glare back at me as though to blame me for the predicament.
Electing to do as the Ancient Pona would, I looked around in an effort to see if there was an attacker nearby. I doubted it was changelings; they would've swarmed the buffalo herd by now.
Perhaps a wolf pack?
No, that made even less sense. The chief even said that the ground shook from something besides themselves. Wolf packs, even large ones, didn't make that much vibration through dirt.
Before I could theorize any further, the ground around the buffalo exploded open. The buffalo turned this way and that to see what was going on. Once I saw the ground open up, I narrowed my list down to one threat I knew existed in the area - tatezlwurms.
However, it turned out I was wrong. Emerging from the holes were diamond dogs, the large bipedal canines that lived underground and valued gemstones more than nearly anything. There must've been several dozen in all, and the had surrounded the buffalo completely.
Looking ahead, I saw the chief squaring up with one of the diamond dogs. This dog resembled a bull dog, and atop his head was a crown full of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, and diamonds. Interestingly enough, there were a few empty spots where it looked like more gems could be added.
"Chief Thunderhooves!" the dog called out. "We have come to claim your sacred gems for our own!"
"We will not surrender them!" the chief spat back. "Those gems belong to my people, and I will not allow you to steal them from us!"
"You will not surrender the blue stone? Then perhaps we take the earth out from under you?"
"You cannot take the earth any more than the ponies can take the sky! The world is for us all, but you wish to hoard much of it for yourselves!"
Their argument went on, but I lost interest in their words. Still, I did want to know why the diamond dogs were harassing this herd of buffalo. I tried getting the attention of one of my captors.
"What's going on?" I asked.
The buffalo turned and glared at me. "Silence, changing pony. We will not fall for tricks or honeyed words."
I looked down at the ground dejectedly. That's when I noticed a set of small hooves approach me. Turning, I saw the chief's daughter again.
"It's the diamond dogs again," she told me in a voice almost as low as a whisper. "They want our sacred gems."
"What do you mean sacred gems?"
"There is a place, far from here, where we can find rocks of a most unusual color. They have both a green like the grass, but also a blue like the sky, all mixed together. The dogs look on them almost the same way they do the diamonds that give them their name."
Now this exchange made sense. The diamond dogs were after turquoise and the buffalo knew where to find it, but the buffalo weren't giving up the location because they viewed the gemstone as being a sacred rock that must be protected.
"Enough of this!" the diamond dog leader declared. "If you won't give up the location of your sacred stones, then we will simply take the sacred stones you have with you. Dogs, ATTACK!!!"
The buffalo tensed, looking at the diamond dogs surrounding them, but not one of them moved. Instead, the ground began shaking again, and a moment later, diamond dogs erupted from the soil all around the buffalo. Once on the surface, they began attacking, tackling the buffalo to the ground.
A pair of diamond dogs shot up and knocked the buffalo transporting me to the ground, sending me flying off towards a group of calfs and older cows.
My head hit the dirt hard and I had my mind jostled for a few moments, but when I was able to think straight again, I noticed that, during my flight and impact with the ground, one of the poles through my legs had been broken over a rock, split into two pieces. The second pole was mostly intact, but had suffered enough impact that at least one good kick or stomp would break it the rest of the way.
I looked at the buffalo around me and noticed one in particular: Chief Thunderhooves' daughter. She had been somewhat sympathetic to me last night, even if still heeding her father's advice. I was taking a gamble, but a gamble was all that I had to take.
"I can help!" I called out to her.
The buffalo turned to scowl at me, but she looked at me with surprise.
"Please, break the pole so I can be free. I can help."
Before she could answer, another buffalo stepped forward.
"Cease with the honey words changing pony!" they told me before turning back to the diamond dogs attacking them.
By this point, nearly every buffalo was tangled with a diamond dog. The only ones who weren't were the calfs and older cows watching them; I suppose they felt that was dishonorable to attack them or something.
The dogs ignored me, and I decided to try and help myself. I was able to roll over onto my hooves where I shook the broken pole from my legs. Doing my best to move with the other pole still in place, I tried to find something I could break the pole and free myself completely.
Before I could get far, I was tackled to the ground, rolling a bit before coming to a stop. I looked up and saw a diamond dog looking at me like a predator who just caught some poor creature that it intended to be its meal.
"HA! They caught a changeling!" the dog called out as it reached for a rope on its hip. "Equestria will pay quite a bounty to us for turning one of them in!"
My magic was still suppressed, so I was limited to what flailing I could do with two legs. The dog began tying the rope into bindings to hold me in place, preparing to take me prisoner to Equestria.
Before it could finish, the diamond dog was kicked violently by a buffalo, so much that it went flying for a few feet before impacting hard into the ground. I looked up to see the chief's daughter over top of me, looking at me sternly.
"You say you can help buffalo?"
I felt fear coursing through me from her gaze, but I gave a nod in response.
"Trust is important to buffalo. If I give you trust and you break it, I will find you and make you pay for breaking trust. You understand?"
Again, I nodded.
"I free you, you help buffalo with diamond dogs."
"Yes," I answered.
"I guess that will have to be good enough."
The heifer turned around and raised a back hoof high. I turned my head, hoping that she wouldn't have a change of heart and just stomp me out there and then.
CRACK!
I felt her kick shatter the pole in my other legs. I kick the now broken pole free from my limbs, and enjoy the return of my mobility.
"I keep my half of deal," she reminded me. "Now you keep yours, changing pony!"
I looked at her and gave her a nod. I rose back up onto my hooves and looked at what was happening around me. The buffalo and diamond dogs were still tussling, but I could already see that the element of surprise the diamond dogs had at the beginning had nearly ensured victory for them.
Well, after seeing that, I thought the buffalo should have their own element of surprise.
I buzzed my wings to carry me up above the fight and start to transform, but my magic blinked out and I gently hovered back to the ground.
"It's no use," I told the chief's daughter apologetically. "That paste still has my magic suppressed. I can help, but only if I can use my magic."
The heifer looked at me for a moment before she picked up a nearby jug and dumped its contents onto me.
At first, I thought she was suppressing my magic again, but I suddenly felt my magic returning.
"I show you more trust, changing pony," she told me,"so you hold up bargain. You help buffalo now!"
"Right," I respond as I rise up again, focusing my magic on a transformation.
I felt the familiar wash of magic over me, and suddenly, the sky is filled with my new form.
Large black scales, green fins, massive membranous wings, and a mouth full of sharp teeth that could only belong to a predator.
I had become a dragon.
Letting out a roar, I swoop down over the diamond dogs. I pass over the group and let out a roar at them, causing many to stumble backwards in fear.
"DOGS! RETREAT!" the leader cried out, and the other dogs complied, quickly burrowing back into the ground and leaving the buffalo alone.
Once I was sure the dogs won't come back, I changed back to my original form and land in front of the buffalo.
The chief looked at me sternly for a moment and began to speak, but was stopped by his daughter.
"Strongheart?," he said in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"I..."
She faltered for a moment, but quickly resolved herself.
"Changing pony helped buffalo against diamond dogs. I don't think it's right that we try to take changing pony as prisoner anymore."
The chief's shock quickly turned to anger.
"Changing pony's flank was on line just as much as buffalo. He fight to save own neck!"
"No!" she protested with a hoof stomp. "Changing pony kept word and help buffalo. He prove himself not to be an enemy of the buffalo."
"Little Strongheart," the buffalo chief began with a seething voice. "Changing ponies attack our people since before even great-grandfather buffalo born. They steal our hearts and capture our people, then they wear their skin and make us think they are one of us. They hurt many buffalo, and hurt many ponies too. Ponies are new allies to buffalo, and we show great distrust by not giving them one they call criminal."
Little Strongheart still stood her ground, but I could already tell her confidence was waning.
"I made deal with changing pony."
The chief again looked at her in shock before becoming even angrier than before. "You WHAT!?"
"I freed changing pony and he helped buffalo," she explained. "He kept his word to me."
The chief was still quite upset at the news, but he began to calm down as he heard his daughter's admission.
"You show disrespect to elders and me by not heeding my words," he scolded her, "but, just as with Appleloosa ponies, you stand strong on what you think is right, and it help buffalo in the end."
The chief turned his attention to me.
"You help buffalo with diamond dogs? You made and kept deal with Little Strongheart?"
I stood up straight and gave a firm nod.
The chief nodded his head and hummed, closing his eyes in thought. After a few moments, he whispered something to Little Strongheart, who became excited and rushed off somewhere into the herd.
"Changing pony, you have shown that you can at least keep your word to the buffalo."
Little Strongheart returned with a necklace in her mouth. It had feathers and beads on it, as well as a few of the turquoise gemstones the diamond dogs had been after.
"This is gift to you for helping buffalo," he explained as Strongheart put it on me. "You are recognized as ally of buffalo. We will honor you by not turning you over to ponies. May the great spirits go with you, and may you continue keeping your promises."
"I intended to, Chief Thunderhooves," I told him, then turned to his daughter, "and thank you, Little Strongheart, for believing me when none of the other buffalo would."
She smiled at me and nodded. I nodded in return, then I buzzed my wings and took off for Equestria...
...and then set back down and disguised as Prickly Pear before I got too close.