//------------------------------// // Over A Barrel // Story: Dissidia Final Fantasy Friendship is Magic // by Final Fantasy BRN //------------------------------// Over a Barrel Kain readeied his lance for battle. "I’ll hold them here while you destroy the portal!" Kain shouted. "If you don’t hurry, we’ll fail at even that!" Yuna felt concerned for him it was two on one. "But…are you sure?" "I can hold my own." Kain assured. "When I’ve finished with them, I’ll follow behind." "See ya on the other side." Lightning smiled. "Come on let’s go!" Exdeath laughed as the other Warriors of Cosmos ran forward towards the gateway to the Rift. When Golbez and Exdeath tried to chase them, Kain leaped up and landed between the Warriors of Cosmos and Chaos, cutting them off. Exdeath scoffed at Kain. "What do you aim to accomplish now, alone? Your petty attempts at struggling are far too late." Kain wasn’t fazed by the fact that the Warrior’s of Cosmos already lost. "I’m well aware of that." "Then prepare yourself." Exdeath threatened. Then he turned to his ally. "Golbez. Do not tell me you’re here to aid this fool." "Hmph." Golbez scoffed. "How long do you intend to watch with your arms folded?" Kain asked. "That would be either until the manikins are depleted-or until you breath your last." Exdeath said in a chilling tone. "Let us see you flounder about." Exdeath didn’t bother taking a stance as Kain raised his lance. Exdeath snapped his fingers to make manikins appear but none showed up. Exdeath was shocked. "I shall do more than that!" Kain snapped. Golbez just stood silent. Kain paused for a moment when he noticed something else about the manikins. The manikins were slowing down. "This may be my chance!" He said silently. He was eager to dispatch the enemy who was mocking him earlier. "What happened?" Exdeath said in a worried tone. "Only a warrior of Chaos has control over…" Exdeath realized that the hunch of the other Warrior’s of Chaos was correct. Golbez halted more manikins from being summoned to their location. He turned to Golbez and roared. "Golbez you traitor!" "Save your accusations." The dragoon approaches. Golbez warned as he vanished. Face your end Exdeath! Kain lashed. He jumped up high and landed hard impaling Exdeath. The evil tree roared in pain. Exdeath quickly regained himself and made his blade slash Kain across the chest as the dragoon was standing back up. Kain grunted as he clutched his wound. Since they were both greatly hurt, and since Exdeath was staggering slightly Kain was going to take advantage of the situation. "Cross the Heavens!" Kain shouted. Kain held his lance out as he spun around in the air. Once he hit Exdeath, he slammed his lance to the ground hard greatly damaging Exdeath mortally wounding him. Kain rose from the fight and jumped away from Exdeath. He seethed as the pain began to take its toll on him. "Fight until you are bloodied and battered. The manikins will not be stopped." Exdeath hissed as he began to fade away. He held his strength to continue speaking. "If you go onward know you shall not return alive. You shall die knowing how powerless you are." Exdeath turned into dark flux and vanished. He would not return until the battle restarts again. Kain turned and began to march forward so he could rejoin the others. Just then Golbez reappeared behind Kain. "Kain…" he called, halting the Dragoon. Kain smiled. "Heh. Surely you do not mean to stop me… not now, with the end so near." "I believe…I owe you my thanks." Golbez smiled back. "I had begun to abandon hope. I had thought the cycle endless, and Cecil, beyond saving." Kain scoffed. "Our work is not yet finished. If we fail, it was all for nothing." "Should you go on, your undoing is assured." Golbez felt like he had to remind him of a harsh reality of his choice. "You are certain you do not wish to see the next battle?" Kain thought for a moment then came up with a final answer. "Not all roads have a future waiting at their end. But this is mine." Golbez paused and accepted the answer. "Then far be it from me to stop you from walking it to the end." Kain smiled at Golbez mentioning ‘The End.’ "There will be an end to this. A true end I promise you that." Then Kain continued forward. "I hope my friend will enjoy the time he will be spending with his new friends. Or maybe, his new family."He thought wishing Warrior well. Two days later in Equestria the team all got on the Train to visit the town of Appaloosa. Warrior had to help Applejack and Rainbow Dash load up an apple tree that Applejack named Bloomberg. Warrior was crept out by Applejack’s bizarre behavior. She’s been tending to the tree by reading it stories and giving it baby talk. She was acting like an overprotective mother. Applejack reserved the entire caboose of the train all for the tree. Warrior was greatly amazed by how the train was moving, some of the trains in Equestria move by traditional means of burning a non polluting fuel. But this train’s engine was being pulled by six muscular looking stallions. They were moving very quickly and they didn’t look tired at all. Warrior was sitting in the passenger car with the others while Applejack was reading a bedtime story to Bloomberg. "This is ridiculous! That tree’s get’s a whole car to itself!" Rarity cried. "I’m going to give Applejack a piece of my mind! She stormed to the back of the caboose to confront Applejack." "I take it she isn’t too keen on all of us sharing this suite?" Warrior asked. Rainbow Dash giggled. "Nope, when we usually go on trips by train she prefers to reserve a whole room to herself." "But since Applejack reserved the whole caboose for Bloomberg she has to share with us!" Pinkie Pie laughed. "I must admit it is rather odd for Applejack to be so attentive to a tree." Warrior admitted. "I guess you just need to understand how she feels about this." Twilight said, Warrior understood what Twilight meant and nodded in agreement. "Hey Warrior." Fluttershy called. "Yes?" "Something strange has been bothering me lately." "That is?" "Well how long has it been since you were in a fight? That struck Warrior’s mind hard, he was shocked at himself for not noticing this himself sooner." "You’re right. It’s been at least a couple weeks. I haven’t seen a single trace of a manikin." "Maybe Chaos knows he can’t mess with us!" Rainbow Dash said boastfully. "I doubt it." Warrior said rolling his eyes. Warrior continued to think about how he didn’t catch the strange absence of the manikins. "I can’t believe I didn’t catch this sooner. Maybe I’m enjoying my time here….a little too much. I can’t get distracted like that again." At the World of Darkness Golbez was walking back to the Edge of Discord to see wait on the sidelines while the rest of the conflict played out. Ultimecia appeared right in front of him. "Keeping yourself busy, I see." "What do you want?" Golbez sighed. "You seem awfully interested in Cosmos’s little pawns." Ultimecia said giving the warlock an innocent smile. "I thought perhaps you might be planning something devilish, and come to join in on the fun. Or maybe you finally got into the mood of joining us in burning Equestria to the ground." "You were mistaken." Golbez said slightly coldly. "With the manikins on our side, our victory is no longer left to chance. There is no further need for strategy." Ultimecia smiled. "Yes, I suppose you are right. The manikins are truly merciless. Even should they best an opponent, they do not allow him to slink from the battlefield to lick his wounds. Unless someone is there to tell them otherwise, manikins fight until the last spark of life has been extinguished from their foe." Her smile grew bigger. The heroes of harmony will receive the gift of eternal death and no longer be subject to these pitiless resurrections. "Would they be denied their final rest, and thrust into battle time and time again? No, this is a kindness." She tilted her head to the side. "As for Equestria, it appears to be a peaceful world, we shall give the residents the peace of an eternal rest. After all, that purple unicorn whishes to expand her knowledge? Perhaps we should teach her that the world isn’t as peaceful as it first appears, as well as the harsh realities of life itself. We would be doing them a kindness as well." Golbez sighed as paused for a bit. "That’s if the war cannot be stopped." Ultimecia leaned inward with her interest peaked. "Are you implying there might be an end to this struggle? Golbez turned away and walked away from the witch. "I imply nothing. There is no end in sight." "In the mean time I’m going to be taking a vacation, and I will enjoy myself." Golbez stopped as he thought about what she could be planning. Later that on the night on the train, it was time for the team to turn in for the night. The ponies, and Spike all crawled into beds. Applejack was sleeping in the caboose with Bloomberg. Rarity was grumbling in her bed for she was upset that all the side conversations that were going on were keeping her awake. In fact Rarity wasn’t the only one that was bothered by the conversations. Spike groaned bitterly. "Do you guys mind? I was up early fire-roasting those snacks you're all eating, and I'm pooped!" Earlier her use his fire breath to pop some popcorn for the ponies to snack on. "Each one had their own bag of it." "Uh, speaking of, some of these popcorn kernels didn't get popped." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Okay, fine..." Spike groaned, he inhaled hard and exhaled hard and completely incinerated Rainbow Dash’s popcorn. Only one kernel popped. "Good night!" Spike threw the sheets over himself and dozed off. "Uhh... maybe it's time we all got a little shut-eye. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Twilight suggested. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy groaned in disappointment. Just then Warrior stepped through the front door of the car with most of the ties that held his armor in place loosened. He walked over to his bed and removed his helmet and started taking pieces of his armor off. The ponies took notice of this and stared at him as he removed his armlets. His bare, muscle toned arms were revealed as he set them down in a neat fashion on the floor under the bed. He placed his helmet right next to the bed and undid the knots that held his plate armor and grabbed it and took it off and also placed it under the bed. He wore a white hempen robe underneath his armor, just like he told Scootaloo. His sword and shield were already sitting next to the bed. The center of his robe had an open slit down the center, revealing some of his muscular body. Warrior turned and noticed that all the ponies, except Rarity were staring at him. He was a little disturbed at all the eyes that were fixed on him. "What?" He asked. "It’s nothing." Fluttershy said looking away. "It’s just we’ve never seen you like this before." Rainbow Dash added. "Yeah, it so weird to see you not all armory." Pinkie Pie giggled. "Well, even the cunning knight needs to sleep as well." Warrior explained. "But I’m still a guard so I will only be resting for half the night." "Ok goodnight Warrior!" Twilight called. "Pleasant dreams!" Pinkie Pie called. "You as well." Warrior said as he climbed into the bed and closed his eyes. Twilight turned the knob on a lantern and the flame inside went out as well as all the lightning. The only thing that was in the air was the sound of Spike’s snoring. However, even thought the lights were out the ponies still weren’t asleep. "Psst! Pinkie Pie, you asleep yet?" Rainbow Dash whispered. "No, are you asleep yet?" Pinkie Pie Whispered. "If I was sleeping, how could I have asked you if you were asleep?" Rainbow Dash responded holding a lit candle in Pinkie Pie’s direction. "Oh yeah hehehehehe." Pinkie Pie giggled softly. "When we get to Appleloosa, you think we'll have to carry that heavy tree all the way from the train to the orchard? Like how we did just to get it onto the train?" "What tree? You mean Bloomberg?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "No, Fluttershy." She said sarcastically. "Fluttershy's not a tree, silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "What's going on?" Twilight asked joining in on the conversation. "Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy's a tree!" Pinkie Pie explained. "Rainbow Dash started to get frustrated. I do not think she's a tree! I was just–" "Did you say she was a tree?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow. "No. Well.. Yes. But not exactly–" "Ya know she's not a tree, right?" Twilight asked. "She's not a tree, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie added. Fluttershy then joined the conversation. "I'd like to be a tree..." Spike stood up for the talking kept him awake. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" He stormed out of the car and went to the caboose, slamming the door behind him. Twilight noticed Warrior sleeping and she got an idea. She used her unicorn magic to manipulate the candle as she walked over to him. "What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Warrior always has a blank face on, maybe if I see how he sleeps it can be a window to how he really feels." "I don’t think that’s a good idea Twilight." Fluttershy warned. "No need to worry we’re just gonna see how he sleeps." Twilight assured. She walked over to Warrior’s bed and the others were moving behind her. Rarity was still in her bed. When they were close enough to hear Warrior’s light breathing they slowed their walk to a tiptoe. Twilight moved the candle closer to her face as the group got close enough to see Warrior’s face. They peered downward to see this 'window' Twilight mentioned. It was kind of depressing Warrior slept perfectly still with his arms crossed on his body. He kind of resembled a dead body at a funeral. "That’s kind of creepy." Rainbow Dash whispered. "Looking at how he was laying." "You think that’s how we look when we sleep?" Pinkie Pie wondered. "I don’t think so." Rainbow Dash replied. "Maybe it’s a human thing." "Ok we’ve seen it, let’s go back to sleep." Fluttershy suggested. "No wait!" Twilight said. "Look at his face!" The team leaned in as they noticed something about Warrior’s expression. His face looked very worried and frightened. "Oh my." Fluttershy said in a sad tone. "He looks so sad." "You think this means something?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight. "Most likely, I just hope that he’ll tell us if something really is bothering him." Twilight hoped. "Come on let’s go back to sleep we got a big morning ahead of us." Rainbow Dash said. The others we back to their beds and Twilight just sat in front of Warrior and stared at his face with a sad look. The next morning the train was only a short distance away from Appaloosa. The landscape was a desert wasteland. Applejack still hasn’t moved from the caboose. Then all of a sudden the ground all around them started thundering. The rest of the ponies were still asleep, Warrior was already awake with all of his armor back on. The thundering woke everyone up. They all got up and rushed over to a window to see what was happening. "A buffalo stampede!" Twilight said surprised. A stampede of buffalo were stampeding next to the train, they were sporting headdresses made with cloths and feathers, which indicated that this was a tribe of some sort. "This defiantly is a sight I’m glad to see." Warrior admitted, the rest of the ponies were staring in awe. "I just love their accessories!" Rarity cooed. Twilight noticed something dangerous. "They're getting awfully close to the train." The buffalo herd moved closer and closer to the train and they rammed their heads into the car and even the stallions pulling the train. The impact caused the group was thrown off their legs and fell down. The stallions pulling the train sped up some of them pushed back at the buffalos to help keep the train safe. The group regained their balance and moved towards the window. "Oooh, looky! Now they're doing TRICKS! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" One buffalo leaped onto another buffalo, which surprised Warrior as to how they could do that. Then a much younger buffalo which appeared to be female leaped onto the other buffalo. "Now do a back-flip!" The little buffalo just leaped off of the bigger buffalo and landed on the roof of the car. "... Or... Just jump?" Rainbow Dash caught on to what was really happening. "Hmm.. Something tells me this isn't a circus act." Rainbow Dash flew outside and tried to catch the little buffalo. Just then Applejack entered the car. "What’s goin’ on here?" She asked she was shaken by the ruckus, and the impact of the buffalo striking the train car. "We’re under attack." Warrior explained as he drew his sword. "What!?" Applejack cried. "Stay with the others, you’ll be safe." Warrior assured as he raced towards the back since that’s where the buffalo was heading. He made it out the door from the other side of the caboose and the little buffalo dropped down from above and landed in front of the door. "Halt!" Warrior ordered. The buffalo turned to see Warrior pointing his sword at her. She gasped in fear. "State your business!" Warrior ordered. The buffalo acted quickly and detached the cars my removing the hook with her mouth. Warrior grimaced at how she managed to pull a fast one on him. The buffalo whistled and the rest of the herd fell back and moved towards the detached caboose and moved it backwards along the tracks. The rest of the ponies caught up to Warrior and watched as the buffalo heard took the train car away. Applejack gasped. "They've got Bloomberg!" Spike could be seen in a window of the caboose he noticed he was being taken by the buffalo and screamed. "Heeeelp!" "And Spike!" Twilight cried. "Those fiends!" Warrior cried, he leaped off the car and chased after the buffalo herd. "Go get em Warrior!" Applejack cheered. Twilight sighed exasperatedly. Rarity took notice of Twilight’s annoyed expression. "Twilight, what is it?" "So quick to draw his sword, he always has to play the hero." Twilight sighed. "Hate to point the obivious Twi, but he is a hero." Applejack explained. Warrior noticed Rainbow Dash lying in the sand in front of a railroad sign he went to check on her. "Rainbow Dash are you alright?" She slowly rose from the sand. "I’m fine." Then Spike screamed from the caboose again. "Heeeelp!" "They’ve taken Spike." Warrior explained. "Dragon-napping Spike. I'll show her!" Rainbow Dash had a spike of pain in her head. "Ow..." "Are you referring to the little one in the heard?" Warrior asked. "She pulled a fast one on me and I ended up face first in this sign." Rainbow Dash explained. The train’s whistle blew and they noticed the rest of the train had disappeared. "Looks like we’re on our own." Rainbow Dash said. "I’m going to save Spike, go to Appaloosa with the others." Warrior ordered. "No way! I’m going with you!" Rainbow Dash objected. "It’ll be dangerous! I can’t allow it!" Warrior argued. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Why do you do that?" "What?" Warrior asked surprised to hear Rainbow Dash accusing him of something. "You’re over protective of us. I for one can handle those buffalo! I need you to give me a chance!" Rainbow dash shouted giving him a very sincere look. Warrior sighed. "You did the same thing when you refused to let us help you when The Emperor invaded Canterlot. I know you only want to protect us, but we’re not babies!" Warrior sighed again. "Please understand you guys are my new mission, I made a promise to Princess Celestia, Cosmos, each of you….and even myself to protect everyone in this world, even the world itself." I would never forgive myself in anyone of you got hurt." Rainbow Dash took on a look of pity as Warrior looked away from her. Rainbow Dash moved around and looked at Warrior’s face. "It’s okay we love having you with us! But understand we’re heroes just like you! We saved Equestria before we all met. We can handle anything." She went over to Warrior’s side and lowered herself. "So climb on and we’ll save Spike together!" Warrior sighed and climbed onto Rainbow Dash’s back. She rose up and soared after the buffalo herd. They fallowed the tracks until they came across the caboose which had been abandoned. Warrior climbed off of Rainbow Dash and went inside the caboose and searched for Spike. But unfortunately both him and Bloomberg were missing. Warrior gumbled bitterly he ran outside and found Rainbow Dash staring at the sand. "They’re gone. We lost them!" "No look!" Rainbow Dash pointed to tracks in the sand. Rainbow Dash inspected the prints. "They’re fresh so they must not be far from here." "Maybe they set up camp nearby." Warrior suggested. "Good eyes Rainbow Dash." "Glad you decided to let me go after all huh?" Warrior hesitated for a moment. "Yes, and I suppose…………….. I could use an ally to help me in this mission, and I couldn’t have picked a better one than you." Rainbow Dash blushed and scratched her leg. They then marched along the tracks on foot. They came to a rock formation and stared at the tracks as they became bigger and bigger, which showed that they were getting closer to the herd. They both moved closer and closer to the herd and as they moved they snuck around and hid behind rocks. "Ooh, I can't wait to get my hooves on that little buffalo... Hnnh... Ow!" Unfortunatly the spike in her head still hasn’t completely gone away. Nobody tricks Rainbow Dash and gets away with it. She lowered herself to the ground and began to crawl to the next rock. When she was met with a unexpected pink pony. "Boo!" Pinkie Pie called, she surprised Rainbow Dash and she jumped up high and fell on her back. "Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash cried. "How did you find us!?" Warrior shouted. "Ah, ya caught me! Looks like I tricked Rainbow Dash and didn't get away with it either! You're good. I got off the train not soon after we made it to Appaloosa. I spotted your prints in the sand and fallowed you." Rainbow Dash pushed her hoof to her mouth and silenced her. "Shhshh! What do you think you're doing?! You gotta get out of here!" Rainbow Dash said quietly. "I do?" Pinkie Pie said, not worried at all. "You don’t know what lies ahead. Return to Appaloosa and wait for me and Rainbow Dash to return." Warrior ordered. "You're gonna blow our cover." Rainbow Dash warned. "I am?" Pinkie Pie asked, still not worried. "Yes!" Warrior said with his head throbbing. "We’re trying to save Spike!" Rainbow Dash added. "Oh my gosh! So am I!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Rainbow Dash and Warrior were really getting peeved. "And the more of us there are out here, the more chances of us getting..." Then all of a sudden the trio was surrounded by a large herd of buffalo. "Caught. Run, Pinkie, me and Warrior will hold 'em off. Save yourself!" Warrior pushed himself between the buffalo and the ponies he gave them a heated stare as he placed his hand on the handle of his sword. The buffalo’s put returned the heated stare and dug at the ground which warned Warrior that they were getting ready to charge. "You have no idea who you face. Back down and no harm will come to you!" Warrior warned. "Stop!" Spike cried. Pinkie Pie, Warrior, and Rainbow Dash were surprised to hear Spike. Several buffalo moved aside and revealed Spike completely unharmed and appeared to not being held against his will. "Dash, Pinkie, Warrior 'sup? Hey, no worries I know those guys. They're cool." "If you say so, Spike. Catch ya later, bro." One of the buffalo and Spike bumped hoof and claw, then the herd all moved away. "You see there appears to be a BIG misunderstanding." Spike led them into the camp, the trip took them until nightfall. The three rested and caught their breaths. Warrior sipped water out of a bowl that the tribe offered him. They all sat around a fire. "Seems they took me by mistake. And they feel awful about it too, poor guys. Fortunately, they totally respect dragons, so they treat me like an honored guest." He snapped his fingers and the buffalo brought Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Warrior a bowl of steaming wet grass. Rainbow Dash and Warrior looked at it in disgust, but Rainbow Dash pushed the bowl away. "Still don't like ponies much, though... But you're with me, so it's cool." "I’m not a pony." Warrior said as he sipped the water. Rainbow Dash wasn’t convinced. "Huh.. Well, I still don't trust them. I say we turn tail and bail while we still–" She got up to leave but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie eating the food she was given so sloppily. Warrior shook his head at the pony’s poor manners. "Before we finish eating? Are you loco in the coco?!" She shouted. Then the same small buffalo from before approached with a bowl full of green gems. "Can I please have more of that mushy stuff, whatever it was?" The small buffalo smiled. "Certainly. And, Mr. Spike, you like gemstones, yes?" She passed the bowl of gems to the dragon. "Turquoise!" Spike cheered, he took the bowl and downed all the gems in one big gulp. Warrior introduced the little buffalo. "This here is Little Strongheart, and these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the Warrior of Light." She walked over to Warrior and bowed her head. "Forgive me.' Little Strongheart begged. "I didn’t mean to take the dragon I was only meant to get the tree. Please don’t hurt me!" Warrior sighed. "No, forgive me. Perhaps I was too quick to decide that I had to use my blade." Rainbow Dash recognized the small buffalo and gave her an angry look. "YOU!" "You!" Little Strongheart replied. "That's it! We are outta here!" Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie Pie’s tail and pulled her away as Warrior stood up and began to walk with her. Little Strongheart went around and cut them off. "Wait! Please accept my apologies for what happened on the train. We didn't mean for anyone to be hurt." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right." "Perhaps we should hear her out." Warrior suggested. Rainbow Dash disagreed and tried to leave the other direction but Little Strongheart ran around and cut her off again. "We only wanted the tree. The settler ponies have overtaken the land and have planted an orchard all over it! Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds." "Huh?" Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash said in unison. Warrior just raised an eyebrow. "I think it's time they met Chief Thunderhooves." Spike suggested. Little Strongheart turned and led them to a very large buffalo, most likely the biggest buffalo in the whole heard. He wore a large headdress made of feathers. They gathered around a large fire and several other buffalo surrounded the fire but left the guest in the center. "Hmmh." His voiced had a unique deepness to it which was fitting for a chief. " We have a long and winding stampeding trail that we have run upon for many generations. My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and–" Warrior sighed exasperatedly, for it seemed that this speech was only going to be about the chief’s ancestry. Little Strongheart moved toward the chief and nudged him with her hoof. "I think they get the idea, Chief." "Hmph. It is a sacred tradition to run the path every year. But this year, these... settler ponies, these..." The chief snorted in disgust. "Appleloosans!" The chief continued to snort in ager until Little Strongheart stopped him. "They planted apple trees all over it without asking our permission." Little Strongheart added. "Well that's not very nice. Right, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie asked. Rainbow Dash crossed her front legs and planted herself on the ground and pouted. "The ponies refused to move their trees, so we are stuck here, and it is not fair!" Little Strongheart added. Chief Thunderhooves moved over to Warrior and bowed. "If you really are the Warrior of Light, then know that word has reached our ears about your deeds. Then understand we beg you to help us." The rest of the tribe bowed to Warrior. "Will you help us?" Warrior sighed and put on an angry look. "Understand I am here to serve Cosmos, I saved Canterlot because it was the right thing to do. I may help you try to settle this dispute but I will not drive away the Appaloosans." The tribe rose up and gasped. The Appaloosans must have good reasons to have the trees there. Little Strongheart couldn’t accept that. "But-" "No!" Warrior countered. "See, Rainbow Dash?" Spike cried. "They had a good reason to–" But Rainbow Dash flew up and slammed on the ground and gave Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves a heated look. "I'll say they had a good reason! C'mon. We have some apple-pickin' Appleloosans to talk to!" The tribe smiled at Rainbow Dash and Warrior sighed. The next morning the group left the camp and went to meet the others at Appaloosa. They were coming around a canyon and soon they met Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack wearing bags on their sides. With them was a young stallion wearing a brown vest and a Stetson just like Applejack. "Hi, guys!" Pinkie Pie called. "Pinkie! We're so glad you're safe." Fluttershy cheered she leaped at Pinkie Pie and tackled her down with a hug. The group cheered in happiness at the return of their friends. The stallion looked at Warrior and smiled. He galloped up to him and stood on his back hooves and grabbed Warrior’s hand and shook it fast and hard. "You must be the Warrior of Light! Cousin Applejack’s told me everything about you. I’m Breaburn and let me be the first to welcome you to AAAAPALOOOOSA!" Twilight giggled. That was very similar to how she and Applejack first met. He let go of Warrior’s hand and he flexed it to relax it after being crushed between two hooves. "Pleasure." He said, as he rubbed his hand. "I can’t wait to show Equestria’s greatest hero all the great pleasures of AAAAPALOOOOSA!" "Breaburn now’s not the time for that." Applejack said calming her cousin down. "How did you escape from the buffalo?" Twilight asked. "Did Warrior fight them off?" "We didn't!" Pinkie Pie replied. "And Warrior didn’t have to fight anypony." Then Little Strongheart leaped out from behind a nearby rock. All the ponies gasped at her appearance. The little buffalo nervously traced circles in the ground with her hoof. "We promised the buffalo a chance to talk." Rainbow Dash explained. Applejack glared at Little Strongheart and approached her. "Oh, yeah? 'Bout what?" Rainbow Dash smiled and wrapped her fron leg around Little Strongheart’s neck in a presenting fashion. "We brought our new pal Little Strongheart here to explain to the Appleloosans why they should move the apple trees off buffalo land." Rainbow Dash pushed on her behind towards Breaburn and stopped when she was right in his face. The two smiled at each other. Breaburn was willing to hear her out. "That information would be quite help–" Applejack shoved Breaburn’s behind and the two were dead in each other’s faces. "That's weird. 'Cause my cousin Braeburn here wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay." Little Strongheart also wanted to hear Breaburn out. "That would be a useful thing to–" Rainbow Dash hovered above the Buffalo’s head and stared at Breaburn and answered for Little Strongheart. "The land is theirs! You planted the trees not knowing that. Honest mistake. Now, you just gotta move 'em, that's all." Breaburn didn’t know how to answer. "Well... heh..." Applejack shot in front of her cousin and argued with Rainbow Dash. "They busted their rumps here! An' now they're supposed ta bust their rumps again, just 'cause some buffalo won't stampede someplace else?" "Plant the trees somewhere else!" Rainbow Dash argued. "Where?!" Applejack countered. "It's the only flatland around these parts!" The two got in each other’s faces and started arguing harder. "The BUFFALO had it FIRST!" "The settler ponies need it to LIVE!" They broke out into a big argument. "Look!" Twilight cried breaking up the argument. Both the settlers and the buffalo have good reasons to use this land. There must be something we can do. "Hey! I've got an idea!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Get everyone together and meet me at the stage in Appaloosa in an hour!" She took Spike’s hand in her mouth and stormed off. Warrior knew exactly who to ask. He got down on his knees and began to pray. "What are you doing Warrior?" Fluttershy asked. "Seeking council." He answered. He stayed in that position for a while, then all of a sudden Cosmos flashed into the sand before him. "Cosmos!" Twilight cried. The other ponies and Warrior bowed before the goddess. Breaburn and Little Strongheart didn’t understand what was going on. 'Howdy ma’am!" Breaburn said taking his hat off. "You must be a friend of Warrior! I gotta admit you sure are lovely!" Applejack whispered to him. "That’s the goddess of Harmony, show some respect!" "G-G-G-G-Goddess!?" Breaburn shouted, then he and Little Strongheart bowed. "It’s alright." Cosmos smiled. "You may rise. Now Warrior, you for called me?" "Indeed I have, it appears we have a problem.' He pointed to Little Strongheart. "A buffalo tribe is wishing the return of land they once owned." Then he pointed to Breaburn. "But these settlers need this land to sustain their orchard so they can live." "Please Cosmos, is there any wisdom you can offer us?" Twilight pleaded. Cosmos frowned and looked away. "They must see the delicate circle of balance between the two. What happens to one will affect the other." Cosmos closed her eyes and vanished. "That was a load of help!" Rainbow Dash shouted sarcastically. "Be calm." Warrior assured. "Sometimes you must look deeper than simply what was given to you." "Don’t you see?" Twilight said. "She means to find a way for the two folk to benefit each other." "Maybe Pinkie Pie has a plan." Applejack said. "I’ll go get the rest of the Buffalo and meet you at the stage." Little Strongheart said as she left. After a while both the settlers and the buffalo tribe sat down in front of a large stage and waited for what Pinkie Pie was about to do. Spike was sitting in front of a piano with a brown hat on. The group with Breaburn all stood in the front. Right next to them was Chief Thunderhooves and Silverstar. The sheriff of Appaloosa. He wore a blue denim vest and a black Stetson and a red scarf. He had a black mustache and black eyes. Spike started playing the piano the curtain rose and revealed a clamshell. The shell opened and revealed Pinkie Pie laying on a red pillow. She was wearing a black and purple dress with a purple plume in her hair, she looked like a showgirl. She began to sing as Spike picked up the pace on his piano. "We may be divided But of you all, I beg To remember we're all hoofed At the end of each leg" Some local mares from Appaloosa arrived and took Pinkie Pie off the clam pillow, guess there were several Appaloosans who felt the same way she did. "No matter what the issue Come from wherever you please All this fighting gets you nothing But hoof and mouth disease Arguing's not the way Hey, come out and play! It's a shiny, new day So, what do you say? You gotta share You gotta care It's the right thing to do You gotta share You gotta care And there'll always be a way through" Everyone gave each other odd looks, they weren’t understanding the song at all, in fact they were very crept out by it. She approached Sherriff Silverstar and Little Strongheart and shoved apples into their mouths. "Both our diets, I should mention Are completely vegetarian We all eat hay and oats Why be at each other's throat?" She got back up on stage and danced with other Appaloosans. "You gotta share You gotta care It's the right thing to do And there'll always be a way Thro-o-o-o-ugh!" The crowd was silent, no one applauded. That is except Spike, he was the only one applauding. "All right, Pinkie Pie! That was FANTASTIC! What a great song! Yeah, right on!" Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar nodded to each other. "It appears that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to... an agreement." Chief Thunderhooves announced. "We have." Sheriff Silverstar added. Everyone leaned inward intently. "That was the worst performance we've ever seen." Chief Thunderhooves announced. "Teh... Abso-tively!" Sheriff Silverstar laughed. Chief Thunderhooves stood tall as he made an announcement. "The time for action... Hmh...is upon us! Our stampede will start at high noon tomorrow." He got right into the Sherrif’s face and stared him down. "And if the orchard is still there, we'll flatten IT! AND the whole town!" All the ponies and Warrior gasped. "But chief!" Little Strongheart tried to intervene. The chief and the sheriff were pushing against each other’s faces. Sherriff Silverstar was just as stubborn. "An’ we Appleloosans say you better bring yer best, cause’ we’ll be ready and waitin’." "But, Sheriff…" Breaburn tried to say. But then everyone dispersed, only the team, and Breaburn remained. "Oh…That wasn’t the message of my song at all." Pinkie Pie groaned. They went back to Appaloosa and the citizens got prepared to defend themselves. They were locking down the buildings and reinforcing them and Warrior rolled his eyes when he noticed that the citizens were arming themselves with freshly baked apple pies. Applejack looked at the hysteria with concern. "I want my kin ta’ have what they need to live…but a storm’s a brewin’ here. And I don’t like the look of it." "We’ve got to talk some sense into them before somepony gets hurt." The team all broke away to talk to both the citizens and the tribe to convince them not to attack. Warrior knew he only had a small amount of time before the attack so he needed to find a way they both benefit each other and fast. The team all returned to him after about half an hour. "It’s not good." Twilight said. Nopony’s being reasonable. "They won’t listen!" "Come up with anything?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I’m afraid not." Warrior sighed. "I fear that the two parties my only see the error of their ways until it’s too late." The group gasped. "Why would you say that?" Twilight asked. "Because….my people are very similar. Let’s hope you can do better than us." Twilight sighed and shook her head, this maybe one of the negative things Princess Celestia described about humans. "Come on!" Rainbow Dash said. "Let’s go to the camp and talk to the chief." Rainbow Dash, Warrior, and Spike left Appaloosa and returned to the camp. The trip took until nightfall. The team all noticed how all the warriors in the tribe were preparing for battle by practicing their ramming techniques. "Isn't there some way to stop this?" Spike asked Little Strongheart. "Unless the settlers remove those trees, I do not think so." Little Strongheart sighed. She pushed another bowl of gems to Spike, he just sighed and ate them. "I know you don't want to do this." Rainbow Dash said to the chief. "But they have taken our land. What would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?" Chief Thunderhooves asked concerned. "There must be another way!" Warrior said loudly. "I do not know of another way." Chief Thunderhooves said. "It's never too late to think of something." Rainbow Dash said. "At noon, it will be too late." Chief Thunderhooves said coldly as he placed warrior makeup on his cheeks. "Dear Cosmos help us!" Warrior sighed. The next day, noon came and the battle was beginning. The Tribe was on the ridge and Appaloosans were behind hurdles and trenches awaiting the stampede. The team was hiding in a warehouse, they were trying to come up with a plan to stop the fight. "Come on, THINK. Think, think, think, think, think, think, think!" Rainbow Dash said as she tapped her head with her hoof. Just then the clock tower began to chime, signaling that it was noon. The peeked out and saw Little Strongheart touching the chief’s cheek, he sighed as he began to rethink what he was doing. "He's not gonna do it!" The team gasped happily. Then Pinkie Pie redressed herself in her showgirl costume and began to sing her song again. Dead in the center of the field between the town and the tribe. "–whaddaya say? You got to share You got to care It's the right thing to do..." "PINKIE!" The group shouted. Chief Thunderhooves heard Pinkie Pie’s bad song and became angry. It was just the motivation he needed to charge towards the town. "CHAAARGE!" He cried and he led his tribe into battle. Luckily Pinkie Pie ran back and rejoined the other before she could get trampled. " Why did you sing that song again!?" Warrior shouted. "Thought everypony would give it a second chance." Pinkie Pie confessed. Sheriff Silverstar had all the citizens ready pies for throwing. "Ready... aim... fire!" The citizens threw their pies at the charging buffalo’s and when they smashed in their faces it caused them to crash and stop. Pies were flying everywhere like arrows. The buffalo tried their best to gore the ponies but they knew that they had one track minds, so they hid hard objects like anvils right behind them and lured the buffalos to ram their heads into them. Several buffalos rammed into the clock tower and collapsed it. Chief Thunderhooves noticed Sheriff Silverstar and charged right at him. The sheriff panicked for he had no more pies to throw. He took off his hat and held it over his heart as he began to fear the worst. Then a stray pie flew and smashed into the chief’s face. He inadvertently caused him to jump and land on the ground. All the ponies and buffalo gasped in fear and felt bad for the chief for he looked as if he might as well be dead. Warrior rolled his eyes for he knew that he’s seen so much worse on the battle field. Several pieces of pie and apple juices slid down the chief's face and landed on his tongue that was hanging out. He licked it up and his spirit was restored and he jumped up happily and licked up the rest of the pie on his face and ate it happily. "Yum! Hey, I've got a much better idea!" Chief Thunderhooves cheered. "We... will allow the apple orchard to stay in exchange for a share of its fruit, heh... Those... delicious apple pies!" In a few hours the buffalos and the Appaloosans were working together to harvest the apples from the trees happily. Warrior looked up to the sky and Twilight walked up to him. "Looks like Cosmos was right." Warrior said. "She sure was." Twilight smiled. They watched the huge trade line as buffalos went into the orchard and exited the other side and received an apple pie for their work. The tribe returned Bloomberg to Applejack and she finally got to plant it in the ground with the rest of the orchard. "Bloomberg, this is yer special day. Mama's so proud of you!" She said smiling as she stared at the tree. "I already wrote my letter to the princess about this." Twilight said to Warrior she used her unicorn powers to the letter to her front. "Want to see it?" Warrior nodded and she gave it to him. "Dear Princess Celestia, Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing. Even the worst of enemies can become friends. You need understanding and compromise. You've got to share. You've got to care." "Guess Pinkie Pie’s song inspired you some." Warrior suggested. "Guess it did." Twilight laughed. After spending another day in Appaloosa the gang got back on the train and began the long journy back to Ponyville. Over in Princess Celestia’s chambers in Canterlot Castle. She just got done reviewing the letter she heard a rush of air from behind and she turned around and gasped at what she saw. "You! What do you want!?" The figure hissed. "I’ve come. For You!" Celestia gapsed as the figure lunged for her. "AHHHHHHHH!"