//------------------------------// // Ch.18 - Dances With Buffalo // Story: The Witching Hour // by Chaotic Ink //------------------------------// The land of Equestria, bathed in the light of the setting sun, blew past the windows as the train rattled on southward. From the bottom bunk of one of the beds in one of the sleeper cars, two eyes with slitted pupils watched the land become slowly enveloped in darkness. “How does a train engine break down less than an hour after we leave? Aren’t they supposed to inspect it after each stop? Bunch of idiots,” the eyes’ owner complained. From the top bunk, Sapphire Breeze stuck her head over the side to see the kirin bellow her. “Well, at least the engineer stallions are making pretty good time right now. Not to mention we’ve got more stallions that volunteered to help so they’ll be able to take turns and keep the train moving.” “At least Squeaks is having a good time staying over at Derpy’s instead of being stuck on this train,” Midnight said, shifting herself to speak with the pegasus better. Since she was no longer grounded, Squeaks was staying with her friends at Derpy’s for the weekend. The wall-eyed pegasus had promised that they weren’t going anywhere out of town or that they were going anywhere in-town without an adult. She also told Midnight that if they couldn’t make it back before Sunday night, she would make sure Squeaks got to school the next morning. Finally getting into a comfortable position, Midnight looked up to continue their conversation, then began snickering. Sapphire’s mane, ponytail and all, were hanging down past her head as the pegasus bent over to talk with her. It was rather funny looking. “What?” “Nothing; you just look funny like that.” Sapphire looked at her reflection in the window, then started snickering as well. “I bet you would look just as funny hanging upside down like this.” Before Midnight could answer, the door at the rear of the car slammed open. “Can you believe it!? Applejack had the caboose reserved for the tree, and she talking to like it’s her baby!” Rarity fumed as she walked over and climbed up to the top bunk opposite Sapphire. “It would have been just fine in the baggage car! Now how am I going to get my beauty sleep!?” “Come on Rarity, you know those trees matter to Applejack almost as much as her family does. She just wants to make sure it gets there safe and sound,” Twilight told her, trying to calm her friend down. The white unicorn grumbled something that sounded like “…likes trees more than ponies…” as she began applying her herbal night mask. A few minutes later AJ came in and went to her bunk next to Midnight’s. “Bloomberg’s all tucked away for the night, safe and sound.” More grumbling from above, but this time there was some from below her as well. “Can you guys please keep it down? I’ve spent all day making snacks for this trip, as well as packing and helping to move the tree. I’m pooped!” Spike stuck his head out from under the blankets and gave them all an irritated look. “Speaking of the snacks, some of the popcorn kernels didn’t get popped.” Rainbow Dash said, turning her bowl towards him so he could see the remaining kernels without accidently pouring them out. “…fine.” Spike shot out a bit of fire at the bowl, roasting the rest of the kernels, which proceeded to pop and hit some of them, especially Rainbow. “Now goodnight!” He retreated under the covers. “Um… maybe we should all go to sleep, too. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.” Twilight said. There was a resounding “awww” of disappointment, but Twilight turned off the lights regardless. In her bunk, Midnight draped her wings over herself, having already made the bunk into a nest similar to the one she had at home by having taken the extra pillows and blankets from unoccupied bunks. Sapphire pulled herself back up and soon the squeaks and creaks from her bunk stopped, indicating she’d found a comfortable position. As she tried to fall asleep, Midnight heard Rainbow and Pinkie whispering to each other. At least they seemed to be whispering; the kirin was sure the whole car could hear their conversation, especially after Twilight and Fluttershy joined in. Just as she was about to snap at them, somepony else beat her to it. “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Spike yelled, marching out of bed and out the back door towards the rear of the train. “Well that was kinda huffy.” Twilight noted. “You would be too if you were trying to sleep.” Midnight grumbled at them. Rarity, it seemed, had enough as well. “Will you all be QUIET!?” she screamed, her herbal mask and cucumber eye covers looking a lot more scary than funny in the glare of the flashlight they were using. Twilight and the rest ducked back into their bunks and immediately tried to make it seem like they were all asleep. Midnight just snorted in the unicorn’s direction before covering her head with her wings again. ----------------------------- Normally, Midnight woke either by alarm clock or on her own. This was the first time she woke up because her bed shook. Hard. Bolting up after the jolt, her wings whipping open, she looked around groggily for the source of the disturbance. Another jolt slammed her against her window, while above Sapphire yelped as one of her legs slipped over the side of her bunk. “What in tarnation is going on out there!?” AJ yelled from the aisle floor. “It’s a herd of buffalo!” Twilight called out. They all immediately joined her on her side of the train. There was indeed a herd of buffalo running alongside them. There were enough of them running to kick up a large dust cloud behind them as they ran. “They’re getting awful close to the train.” Twilight said, a hint of worry in her voice. It was a worry that Midnight shared. She didn’t need to be a wiz in physics to know that if enough of them hit the train at the same time, they could easily derail them. Then one of the buffalo slammed into their car, sending them all sprawling around the car again. Another buffalo, another slam, another redecorating of the car’s interior. Midnight hauled herself up and started making for one of the car doors. “Where are you going?” Sapphire asked. “If they want to start something, I’m going to finish it. Anypony with me?” “Count me in!” Rainbow said, getting up and zooming after her. “Hey, now they’re doing tricks!” Pinkie called out as she got back near the windows. ----------------------------- Midnight was starting to regret her decision to head out and confront the buffalo. On the one hoof, she couldn’t just sit there and hope everything would be alright. On the other, she wasn’t used to this kind of flying. She didn’t have the latent magic that pegasi did, which meant she flew like bird of prey did: riding thermals and not flapping too much. She’d only dived at the buffalo twice, but each time she would immediately fall behind the herd and the train and would have to fly extra hard to catch back up with them. Now she was just trying to keep up and figure out how to help. Rainbow, of course, was zooming all around with apparent ease, startling the buffalo enough to keep them from ramming the train again or hopping on top of one another like they’d already tried to do several times already. As they started trying it again, Rainbow dived down on them once more, only this time something streaked out of the dust cloud they were kicking up and slammed into her, knocking her away. Once Rainbow was out of their way, a smaller buffalo hopped onto the others, then jumped onto the train roof. Still trying to figure out what to do without falling behind, Midnight watched as the other two flyers recovered from the impact. Then she saw Rainbow tear after the small buffalo on the roof, with the other flyer, which looked like another pegasus, in pursuit. As she watched, a plan came to her and she folded her right wing in, dropping and turning in a wide arc. If she was calculating properly, the loss in altitude would give her enough speed to overcome the turn and she would zoom past Rainbow and into the pegasus’ pursuer, allowing Rainbow to catch the buffalo. The plan went perfectly; for the most part. While the loss in altitude did translate into enough speed to overcome the train at the end of the turn, Midnight had pulled over a bit too sharply, and was now heading for an intercept course with Rainbow rather than her pursuer. Without thinking, Midnight twisted onto her back, sailing over the pegasus and barely missing her by a wing length. This had the unexpected consequence of putting her briefly back on course and slamming into the flyer she had been aiming for. The two tumbled away from the train and landed hard on the ground. By the time they had both stopped rolling, they had disentangled themselves from each other and laid sprawled out on the ground. The pegasus was the first to recover, jumping to her hooves and taking off as they saw the now detached caboose being pushed back down the track in the opposite direction by the buffalo herd. Midnight, almost glad to give her tired wings a break, was slower to get up and take off after them. By the time the kirin had gotten back to the tracks, both the buffalo and the train were gone. All she found was Rainbow knocked out at the bottom of a sign post. A few hard pokes brought the pegasus around. “Ow… my head. Wha… what happened? Where’s the train and the buffalo!? When I get my hooves on those two, I’ll-!” “Rainbow, all they got was the caboose, and that only had the tree in it,” Midnight said, trying to calm the pegasus down. “Spike was in the caboose, too! I saw him! We have to go rescue him!” With that, Rainbow took off after the buffalo herd. “Oh, come ON!” Midnight yelled, forcing her aching wings to haul her into the sky once more. ----------------------------- Back on the train, the others were trying to figure out what to do. “We have to go after ‘m!” AJ said. Sapphire agreed. “We can’t just jump off the train! Think of how dirty our manes and coats will get from rolling around on the ground after we jump off!” Rarity said. “I want to save Spikey-whikey as much as the rest of you, but I will not have myself looking like I rolled around in dirt doing so!” “Um… has anypony seen where Pinkie went?” Fluttershy asked. “Everypony calm down! Once we arrive at Appleloosa we’ll gather some supplies and start looking for them!” Twilight said, trying to stop anymore arguing. “That could be hours from now! Who knows what could happen to them all by then?!” AJ shot back. As soon as she said it the train slowed down, put on its breaks, and came to a stop. “Now arriving at Appleloosa!” a conductor called out. “Y’all saw it out the window, didn’t ya?” AJ deadpanned at Twilight. The purple unicorn blushed, then they all proceeded to get their stuff and run off the train. They didn’t get very far as a yellow earth pony dressed in western clothes jumped in front of them. “Welcome to AAAPPLELOOOOSA!” The stallion called out, rearing up and kicking his front legs. AJ sighed in relief. “Braeburn; thank Celestia! Girls, this is my cousin Braeburn, the one we came to see.” “Nice to meet you all!” Braeburn said, a huge smile on his face. “I was going to complain to the train company about how y’all are late getting here, but I can see your engine broke down.” He motioned to four stallions at the front of the train greedily guzzling down water being given to them. “No matter, though, we can still do a tour of the town!” “Braeburn, we don’t have-!” Applejack tried to tell him, but the stallion was already galloping into town. They all took a quick look at each other before chasing after him. “Over here is the town clock!” He called out as they ran past a clock tower. “And here’s the Salt Lick, our local watering hole!” They dodged as a pony was thrown out of the cantina. “Over there is Sheriff Silver Star’s office!” They ran past what looked like a jail house. “Braeburn!” AJ called out after him. “Over here is where we have all our dances, mild and wild both!” They ran past an open area with a bunch of ponies dancing. “Over yonder is the carriage station!” He nodded towards it. “Still don’t know why they have it so far from the train station.” “Braeburn!” AJ called out again. “And finally, our pride and joy!” He stopped just as he made it out of town, finally allowing the rest of them a break. Looking past him, they all saw that they were on the edge of a high incline at the bottom of which stretched an impressive apple orchard. “We put a lot of time and care into this orchard, and we should start harvesting soon, which is good ‘cause we need that stuff to live off of!” “BRAEBURN!” Applejack yelled. “Yes cuz?” “You’ve got a great town, and a beautiful orchard, but we’ve got a HUGE problem!” “There was a buffalo stampede!” Twilight said. “And they dragon-napped Spike!” Rarity said. “Two of our friends went after them!” Sapphire said. “And we can’t find Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy said. At the word ‘buffalo’, Braeburn developed an eye-twitch. “Did y’all say ‘buffalo’?” He sighed and turned back to the grove of trees. “Those buffalo came by one day and told us to tear up all these trees for no reason. We need these apples to feed ourselves and our families, and now some buffalo are telling us to just get rid of them. ‘Taint fair and ‘taint right.” AJ sidled up next to her cousin. “Ah can see y’all got troubles of yer own, but is there anyway ya can help us out to find our friends?” Braeburn smiled slightly. “What kinda Apple would I be if I couldn’t help my kin? Follow me back to my place so you c’n get your stuff put away and rest a spell while I get some supplies from town.” ----------------------------- Back out in the desert, Rainbow and Midnight continued to track the buffalo. They were on the ground now as Midnight’s wings were now far too tired to continue. In fact, they drooped noticeably as she followed behind Rainbow, who was dashing from rock to rock in a poor attempt to hide. It was poor because there was no pony in sight to hide from. “Seriously Rainbow, there is no pony or buffalo out here; quit hiding and let’s move it already!” Midnight groaned. She could really go for some water. “No way! For all we know, they could be stalking us just like we’re stalking them! We need to have the element of surprise!” “SURPRISE!” “GAH!” Rainbow tumbled backwards as something pink and loud exploded into her face. “Pinkie Pie!?” “Hiya Dashie! Hiya Middy! I came out here to keep you guys company!” the pink mare said. “Do not call me ‘Middy’,” Midnight growled. “Pinkie, are you nuts!? You got to get out of here!” “I do?” “Rainbow thinks you’re going to ‘blow our cover’,” Midnight said with a roll of her eyes. “I am?” “Yes, she is!” Rainbow looked over at Midnight. “I’m telling you, they’re out here watching us! It was already bad enough with you walking around like we were taking a stroll through the park, but now with Pinkie here they’re sure to see-!” Within moments they were surrounded by angry looking buffalo. “-us.” She shot an angry look at Midnight before getting into a defensive stance. The kirin also took a defensive stance, fangs and tail bared and fire at the tip of her tongue. To be honest, the buffalo didn’t scare her so much; compared to the hydra, they would be a cake walk in her wyvern form. What she was worried about was her two charges. While Rainbow could easily fly away, it was obvious she wanted to stand and fight. There was a chance Pinkie could actually do some good, but Midnight couldn’t be sure of it. Then there was the fact that just one buffalo could shake a train car with a hit. If they could do that, Faust only knew what kind of damage they could do to a pony. Just as it looked like they were about to charge, a voice near the back of the buffalo rang out. “STOP!” Startled, they parted to let the speaker through. “Dash, Pinkie, Midnight; sup?” Spike asked strolling out from between the buffalo like it was no big deal. “I know these guys; they’re cool.” He told the buffalo. “Uh, Spike? What’s going on?” Midnight asked. “Oh, right. How about we head back to camp and talk? It ain’t exactly comfortable out here.” ----------------------------- The buffalo camp was a simple collection of modest temporary dwellings set up in an open area. As their group made its way through the camp, they were all aware of the many pairs of eyes following them. On occasion they would connect with a friendly face, but most of the time they were met only with cold stares. Eventually they came to a fire pit on the far side of where they entered, settling down only after Spike did. “All they wanted was the tree, but since I was sleeping with Bloomberg, they got me, too. Fortunately, they totally respect dragons, so they feel awful about taking me. As a way to make up for it, they’ve been treating me like an honored guest. I haven’t had this much turquoise since… well, ever!” Spike grabbed another clawful of the stones and stuffed them all in his mouth. As he had been telling them about what happened after the buffalo took the caboose, several of them had come over with bowls of what Midnight and the rest could only assume were supposed to be food, since Spike had been given a bowl full of gemstones. What they had received looked and tasted like wet paste made from various plants. Rainbow refused to eat any of it on the grounds it smelled weird and Midnight could only take a few bites before refusing the rest, saying it at least needed some salt. Pinkie, of course, had dived right in, licking her bowl clean. Eventually her face was covered in the stuff, especially after digging through Rainbow’s untouched bowl and what was left of Midnight’s. “Hey, Little Strongheart, Windrunner, could I get another bowl?” Spike asked to somepony behind them. Turning around, the group found themselves face-to-face with the small buffalo and pegasus they had encountered on the train. “YOU!” Rainbow shouted, immediately jumping back up into a fighting stance. Midnight got back up as well, but only to put herself between the two parties. “Rainbow, don’t you think it’s kind of a bad idea to start a fight inside their camp?” “Don’t you think it was a bad idea that they stole a train car, an apple tree, and Spike!?” Rainbow shot back. Almost immediately, Little Strongheart and Windrunner tried to put themselves between the other two. “Please, we didn’t mean to take mister Spike.” “Yes, all we wanted was the tree!” “But why would you want an apple tree when you already have that mushy stuff, whatever it was? Ooo, did you guys want to mix the two? I wonder how that would taste. What would you call it? Mushy Apple Stuff? Apple Mushy Stuff? How about Mushple Apuff?” Midnight plugged Pinkie’s mouth with a hoof. “She tends to get a bit excitable, but she does bring up a good point.” “I think it might be time they meet with Chief Thunderhooves.” Spike said as he waddled over. “If they know what’s going on they might be able to help.” Little Strongheart and Windrunner looked at each other then looked back at them and nodded and motioned them to follow. Pinkie bounced up alongside Little Strongheart, Midnight fell into step with Windrunner, and Spike and a moody-looking Rainbow brought up the rear. As they walked through camp, a number of other buffalo joined them. As they walked, Midnight could finally get a good look at the pegasus. Her coat and feathers were a dusty brown, almost the same color as the dust the buffalo had kicked up while they stampeded. Her mane and tail were a vibrant, fiery red, with her mane tied into two braids that went down both sides of her head. Her tail was covered at its base, with what looked like, a larger version of the green ties holding her braids. Black feathers adorned her head and tail, as well as freckles dotting her face under her green eyes. “Umm… can I ask you something?” Windrunner asked suddenly, startling the kirin. “Sure.” “Are you… are you part dragon? It’s just that you seem to have the wings and eyes and such.” “Actually, I’m half wyvern.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Midnight felt the air change around her. “Is that bad?” She asked, her wings shuffling uncomfortably. “No! Actually, that makes you more of an honored guest than mister Spike.” “We respect dragons but that’s because of their age and vast knowledge,” Little Strongheart said. “The wyverns live in groups like buffalo do, and are just as knowledgeable; even more so since they associate with other creatures. It’s said that the wyverns would help the buffalo if they were ever in need.” “Unfortunately, the tribe hasn’t encountered any wyverns for quite some time. You wouldn’t happen to know why, do you?” Windrunner asked. “No… I have no idea why.” Midnight began walking again, her hopes for a lead to finding the wyverns and possibly her father once again dashed. “How did you end up living with the buffalo?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood. “They found me out here when I was just a baby. I don’t know why I was abandoned, but they raised me as one of their own. They’re my family. I am a bit glad ponies came here, if only to explain why I have this.” She motioned to her cutie mark. “It shows what your special talent is! Are you really good at making tornados!?” Pinkie asked, hopping around her. “’Cause that would be so cool!” Even Rainbow was showing some interest in this. “I don’t know about tornados, but I kick up dust devils really easily. Maybe that’s it?” “You flew through that dust storm the buffalo kicked up pretty easily, so maybe you can control dust-filled wind easily?” Midnight offered. “Well, what does your cutie mark mean?” Windrunner asked, looking at the dragon on the kirin’s flanks. “That’s something we should wait for another time.” Midnight said, pointing up ahead towards a camp fire that was larger than the rest. A large bison with an equally large headdress was waiting for them on the other side of it. Chief Thunderhooves welcomed them to his camp fire with a bit more enthusiasm than they expected, although the presence of a dragon and a half-wyvern probably had something to do with it. The pleasantries didn’t last long as they all wanted to get to the topic at hoof. “To understand why we stole the tree, you must first understand what we have done on that ground, as well as other grounds like it. Our herd has a long and winding stampeding history on these lands. My father stampeded upon these grounds before me and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him…” As he continued to go down through the generations, several of the buffalo that had gathered with them began to doze off. “I think they get the idea chief.” Little Strongheart said, stopping him from going further. “O-Of course. But now, because of these ponies and their trees,” he snorted angrily, “we can no longer run upon the grounds our ancestors did for so many generations before us! It is an insult to us and our forefathers!” A loud chorus of agreement went up among the members of the tribe present. “What about trying to talk with the Appleloosans about all this?” Midnight asked. “Surely some type of compromise or solution could come from it?” “We’ve tried,” Little Strongheart said. “Both myself and Windrunner have tried talking to the settler ponies, but both times we were ignored and told to leave the town. They have taken over the land and it is not fair!” “You see Rainbow?” Spike pleaded with the pegasus, “They had a good reason for-” In a flash Rainbow was up in the air looking down at all of them. “You’re darn right they had a good reason!” ‘Like flipping a light switch’ a chagrined Midnight thought. “I guarantee they’ll listen this time! Come on, we got some apple-picking Appleloosans to talk to!” A chorus of cheers went up among the buffalo, but Midnight stayed silent. If the settlers wouldn’t listen to those they were affecting, she highly doubted a pony with no stakes in the matter would sway them any better. ----------------------------- Sapphire, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Braeburn all stood on the outskirts of the town as they made their final preparations. It had taken Braeburn a bit longer than planned to get all the necessary equipment, but they were finally ready to head out and rescue their friends. “Gently, please!” Rarity whined as AJ pulled the straps on her saddle bags tight. “Rarity, we’re headin’ deep inta buffalo territory, and they ain’t been very kindly so far. We need to make sure that if sumin’ happens out there we won’t lose any of the supplies Braeburn’s worked hard ta get because of a loose strap. Now, are we all ready ta get going?” There was a series of affirmatives. “Then let’s get to it!” AJ immediately charged out into the desert, quickly followed by the rest of them, only to come to a screeching stop after the first outcrop. “Dash, Pinkie, Midnight, Spike? What they hay y’all doin’ out here?” Indeed, all four ponies and dragon they had set out to rescue were standing right outside of town, no worse for wear than if they went for a stroll. “How did you escape from the buffalo?” Fluttershy asked. “We didn’t.” Rainbow said, moving to the side a bit with the others to reveal Little Strongheart and Windrunner. “We promised the buffalo a chance to talk.” “Yeah, about what?” AJ said darkly. Sapphire walked up to Midnight as the earth pony and pegasus started arguing. “What’s going on? Why did they take Spike and the tree?” “What it basically boils down to is that the Appleloosans planted their orchard on land the buffalo use every year to stampede.” The kirin’s ears flicked as the other’s argument got ever louder. “Apparently the buffalo have been sending these two,” she motioned to Little Strongheart and Windrunner, “to try and explain the problem, but each time they get turned away. WILL YOU TWO STOP IT!?” Midnight rounded on Rainbow and AJ, finally tired of their loud bickering. “It has nothing to do with either one of you! How about you let the ponies and buffalo this affects talk it out!?” “Wait!” Pinkie yelled, stopping them all. “They’ve already tried talking, so maybe it’s time they tried something else!” “Pinkie,” Midnight did a slow face-hoof, “they haven’t talked properly yet. We need to try that first.” “Awww, but it’s such a good idea! Please?” Pinkie put on her best puppy dog face. “You’re going to keep doing that until I agree, aren’t you?” Midnight dead panned. Pinkie only kept up the look. “Fine, we’ll try it. It can’t make things worse can it?” “Great! I just need to borrow Spike for a few hours to work on it! Bring every pony and buffalo to the stage just outside of town!” “What stage?” Braeburn asked. ----------------------------- “That girl sure can work fast,” Braeburn said with a whistle as they stared at the stage that had been built in the few hours Pinkie said she needed. Midnight was more impressed that both the buffalo and townsponies had actually agreed to sit so close to one another. She’d lived in Ponyville long enough to learn its number one golden rule: do not question the Pinkie. They didn’t have to wait long for said pink pony’s idea as Spike wheeled a piano onto the stage and began playing. A clam appeared on stage, and it opened to reveal Pinkie Pie clad in a show girl outfit. Before any of them had the chance to give each other questioning looks, Pinkie began singing. Now, back during Winter Wrap Up, the town had sung a little tune, and Midnight figured it was only to help make the work seem to go faster. She hadn’t joined in, but she could appreciate a good song. To be fair, Pinkie could sing well and the lyrics she was singing were appropriate, but there was just something about it that made Midnight want to act like an ostrich and slam her head underground. It was just the worst thing to come out of the pink mare’s mouth, and by the looks of it every pony and buffalo were in agreement with her. Finally, the horror show of a noise ended, and Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silver Star turned to one another and began talking in low tones. After a minute or so they came apart. “It would seem Sheriff Silver Star and I have come to an agreement.” “We have.” All eyes were on the two leaders. “That was the worst song we’ve heard. Ever.” “Of all time.” The sheriff agreed. “As such, the time for talk is over. The buffalo give the Appleloosans until high noon tomorrow to remove the orchard from our stampeding grounds. If they are not gone by then, we’ll flatten it AND the whole town!” The chief exclaimed. “And we say bring your best! If you think we’d just turn tail and leave just ‘cause you say so, you’re DEAD wrong!” With that both sides left for their camps/homes, leaving the mane six, Spike, Braeburn, Midnight, and Sapphire alone at the stage. “My song wasn’t that bad, was it?” Pinkie asked. The rest of them mumbled incoherently. “Well, now what?” Twilight asked. “Um… panic?” Fluttershy offered. “We’re going to do what we can to stop them from fighting.” Midnight said. “But how are we going to do that?” Rainbow asked her. “They seem pretty set on it.” “We need to find a way for them to compromise. If we can figure out a way for the settlers to keep the trees but also allow the buffalo to stampede over their traditional grounds, we can stop it.” “And how do you propose we do this all in less than twenty-four hours when they have been trying for weeks?” Rarity asked. “Something has to happen, because at noon tomorrow it’ll be too late. Pinkie, Rainbow, Spike, you’re with me. We’re going back to the buffalo camp and see what we can do on that end.” “I’m coming with you,” Sapphire said, stepping forward. “Four heads are better than three, and we’ll still have five heads figuring things out on this end.” Midnight nodded. “Then the rest of you see what you can do here in town. If there’s any way the trees can be moved to satisfy both parties, we need to know about it.” “Right!” They all said, breaking up into their groups and heading towards their destinations. “Hey, Midnight?” Sapphire asked as they flew towards the buffalo camp, carrying Pinkie between Rainbow and Midnight and Spike on Rainbow’s back. “Why do you suddenly want to help them out? It’s not really like you.” “Well, for one it’s something we should do since we’re here. I doubt either side really wants to fight. Secondly, just consider it me giving myself a test.” Sapphire raised an eyebrow. “A test?” “Good leaders need to be able to resolve conflicts, whether it’s between those under them or between two different groups such as this.” She leaned over more so that Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike, who were currently in their own conversation, couldn’t eavesdrop. “After all that’s happened since Celestia made me a captain, I told her I didn’t think I was worthy of being one. She got me to give it one more shot, and I’m making this it. If we can’t get them to come to a peaceful agreement, then I’m quitting. That’s why I’m doing this.” They flew the rest of the way in silence. ----------------------------- The buffalo camp was alive with activity. Buffalo tested each other by head-butting, while others sharpened their horns and applied war paint. Buffalo getting ready for what amounted to a small-scale, all-out war was an impressive sight to the ponies, dragon, and kirin present. “Is there really nothing else you can do to avoid fighting like this?” Midnight asked the chief. “I don’t want to fight, Midnight Storm, but what course is left to me? They have taken our ancestral land and have refused to even listen to our side for even a minute. Am I supposed to just lie back and let them do whatever they please without consequence? What kind of chief will I be remembered as?” “What kind of chief will you be remembered as if you destroy a whole town full of ponies? I don’t think you’ll be fondly remembered for that either. It’s still not too late to stop this.” Rainbow pleaded. Chief Thunderhooves sighed. “At noon tomorrow, it will be.” The group fell into silence again. Ideas were slow to come and every one of them had been shot down. Nothing they came up with seemed to work out for both sides, and as the night wore on, hope to prevent the fighting dwindled. Spike’s stomach growl shook them from their thoughts. “Hehe… sorry.” “Maybe some food will help us think.” Windrunner said as she and Little Strongheart got up. They returned quickly with bowls of turquoise for Midnight and Spike and bowls of the plant paste for the rest of them. “What is this stuff?” Sapphire whispered, staring down at her bowl with about as much enthusiasm as Rainbow. “It’s basically plant paste,” Midnight said, entertained by the look on her friend’s face. “I’d suggest putting a bit of salt… on it… first…” “Midnight, are you alright?” Sapphire asked as the kirin trailed off, staring down at her bowl. Suddenly the kirin sprang up. “How do you guys make this stuff!?” Windrunner and Little Strongheart backed away slightly. “W-What do you mean?” “This stuff is edible and it’s made from plants! Plants have to grow somewhere! Where do you get the plants!?” “They grow all over the place; we just pick them!” “Midnight, what in Celestia’s name is going on?” Sapphire asked her. “The Appleloosans need the apples so they can eat something. What if, instead of relying solely on apples, they grew these plants, which can even grow on the outcroppings? You know, not on the only flat land in the area?” The silence that hung in the air when Midnight was finished was thick. All of their faces had looks of dawning comprehension and disbelief. “Can it…” the chief was the first one to find his voice, “… can it really be that simple?” “That’s like… Twilight level genius!” Rainbow said. “I wouldn’t go with genius, but, yes, I think it could actually be that simple. If they can grow and harvest enough of this stuff, they could even make their apples and apple products for sale, not just to eat. And, if that were the case, they should be open to the idea to take enough trees off your stampeding ground so you can run it again! It works out for both sides!” “Yes…” Chief Thunderhooves stood up, “…yes, it just might work! Midnight Storm, I believe I’m willing to come to the peace table once again with that idea in mind. But do you think the Appleloosans will be so ready to agree?” “It’s all we’ve got to go on right now. If the others can’t think of something on their end, then we’ll have to hope the town will.” ----------------------------- “This is hopeless!” Rarity whined. “Nopony in this town will help us!” Braeburn gave her a look. “And all we’re doing is standing here in the dirt looking at trees!” Applejack joined her cousin. “Taking another look at the orchard might give us inspiration, or we might notice something about it we missed before that could help.” Twilight said, her eyes never leaving the grove as they scanned it. “A whole town’s on the line an’ all y’all can think about is the dirt?” AJ asked incredulously. “Just because there’s a crisis doesn’t mean I still can’t be clean and decent looking,” the unicorn shot back. “And speaking of decent looking, this orchard could do with a bit of it.” “Whatdaya mean?” Braeburn asked. “Well, it’s simple really; the trees are all so spread out and placed randomly, so how in Equestria were you going to add more trees? It’s like packing a suitcase; if you place everything in neatly, then it holds a lot more things than if you just throw it all in. I would go with a checkered pattern, if you ask me.” AJ huffed. “Rarity, Ah know y’all like to make everythin’ decent and pretty lookin’ but this is an orchard; decent an’ pretty lookin’ doesn’t work here.” “Actually, she may be onto something,” Twilight said, pulling out a piece of parchment and quill. “Fluttershy, can you fly up and mark the location of each tree?” “Okay.” Fluttershy took the items and flew up and over the orchard. “What are ya thinkin’, Twi?” “The gaps between the trees are all irregularly spaced; some are close together while others a distance apart. If the trees were planted in a set pattern, they could probably be condensed enough to allow the buffalo to run through without losing a single tree!” “Do y’all think that could work?” Braeburn asked, a ting of hope in his voice. “I’ll have to get the tree positions back from Fluttershy first, but I think it might just work. And I just thought of something else.” They all leaned in. “The buffalo said that this was one of their stampeding grounds, which means there must be more than one. If there isn’t enough space here even after the trees have been condensed, then maybe you can make a deal with the buffalo to place trees on their other grounds as well. The town gets to keep all the trees, and the buffalo can stampede all they want.” “Twi, has anypony told ya yur a genius?” ----------------------------- Sheriff Silver Star looked out over the town’s fortifications. Everything heavy enough to be used as fortifications was out and set up, with a few equipped with nasty surprises should the buffalo break through them. Piles of apple pies, fritters, and other baked goods were spread out to provide ponies with something to throw. Some of the town’s best rodeo ponies were hiding up in the buildings to jump down on any buffalo that got through and wear them out. If the buffalo wanted to flatten the town, they were going to have to earn every wood board they broke. He checked the clock tower again. Five minutes until noon. Turning away from the tower he surveyed the hills outside of the town. Various brown lumps began appearing on them. “Everypony get set; the buffalo are here!” he shouted, getting to his own position. As he grabbed a pie, a shadow flew by, and the sheriff looked up to see one of their largest tables from the fall back positions being flown out of the town. “Hey!” Midnight and Sapphire landed with the table midway between the town and the buffalo and took their seats at the head of it; the sides of the table facing both sides. Once they were set up the buffalo began making their way down the hillsides, not in a wild charge, but a calm walking pace. “What in tarnation in going on!?” Silver Star shouted. “We believe we’ve come up with a peaceful solution sheriff, and the buffalo are willing to meet with you half way one more time!” Midnight called back. “I doubt you want the rest of Equestria hearing how you were so quick to fight and not even try to talk things out peacefully! It might detour others from wanting to even visit here!” Midnight had chosen her words wisely, as the whole town began murmuring. The town was still growing, and many still had family and businesses that wanted to move there. Sheriff Silver Star huffed, but had to concede that she had a point. “What do you want?” “How about you meet with us out here? And bring some of those pies and fritters you all made; it’s almost lunch time! Oh, and some salt, too!” For a minute, no pony moved from their positions. Then, Braeburn walked out from the barricades with a stack of apple pies on his back. Soon others were following him out, each carrying something edible with them. Eventually even the sheriff came out, following the proprietor of the Salt Lick, who was bringing a couple of large saddle-bags worth of salt shakers with him. When he reached the table, he was presented with a bowl of green stuff. “What in tarnation is this?” “One of the possible solutions to the problem, sheriff. Just add some salt before you dig in; negotiations work better on full stomachs.” To emphasis her point, Midnight bit into a piece of turquoise that was in front of her. Silver Star added the salt, stirred a bit, then gingerly took a bite. It wasn’t as good as a fresh baked apple pie or fritter, but if he had to be honest the food before him wasn’t that bad. Looking up he saw Chief Thunderhooves digging into an apple pie with gusto. “These apple pies are delicious!” He exclaimed when he finally came up for air. “This… whatever it is, isn’t too bad either.” All around, ponies and buffalo had generally the same reaction. “But, how is this supposed to be the answer to our problem?” “Glad you asked sheriff, but let me ask you a question first: you need the apple trees first and foremost to feed yourselves; correct?” “Right.” “And apple trees require relatively flat ground to grow.” “Of course.” “Then what would you say if I told you that the food you’re eating right now was grown from plants that grew on outcroppings and others bits of ground that weren’t flat?” Loud murmuring went up among the ponies at this revelation. It wasn’t lost on anypony what was being implied. “I’d say that’s quite something. But, that still doesn’t answer about what’s going to be done about the trees.” “Well, you wouldn’t need so many trees. And, any apples you have from a harvest that doesn’t go to feed yourselves can be sold, which will help bring income into the town, which you could then use to flatten other area around town, places that aren’t used by the buffalo, and plant trees there.” “And what exactly are you supposed to do with the ‘extra’ trees right now?” “I can answer that!” A voice called out from the town. They all turned to see Twilight and the rest running towards the table. “I’m sorry I took so long, but I wasn’t sure if there were any other patterns that were more effective!” Reaching the table, Twilight placed a piece of parchment on it, careful not to get food bits on it. “This is how your orchard is set up now. Please note how the trees are planted in a haphazard way.” Indeed, the X’s that marked tree locations were placed all over the place without any disenable pattern. “From my calculations, the trees really only cover about thirty-three percent of land you’re using. If you were to re-arrange the trees like this,” she laid another piece of parchment down on top of the first, “you would free up a considerable area of the land you’re using, allowing you to both keep the trees you currently have and allow the buffalo to stampede freely.” The pattern the X’s showed on the second parchment was similar to the checkerboard design Rarity had initially suggested, but Twilight had brought them a bit closer together, and had arranged the trees on either side of the land, leaving a large empty swath through the center. “As you can see,” Midnight picked up, “there is a way you can both keep the trees and give the buffalo enough of the land back so they can continue to stampede through it.” “Whatdaya say, sheriff?” Braeburn asked hopefully. All eyes turned toward him. “I say,” there was a pause; “I think we got ourselves a deal." Cheers went up throughout the crowd. Chief Thunderhooves looked towards Midnight and her friends. “Thank you, all of you, for this.” “Just doing what we can chief.” Midnight said with a smile. ----------------------------- Midnight and the rest watched from the top of the rise as the re-planting of the trees moved along at a steady pace. Both ponies and buffalo worked to move them to the designated spots on Twilight’s map. Out in the areas around the orchard, buffalo showed ponies which plants to collect and how to make them into the mush. It was an impressive sight of cooperation. Hearing the sounds of somepony coming up behind them, they turned to see Chief Thunderhooves, Little Strongheart, and Windrunner coming up to them. “We just want to thank you again for all that you’ve done before you leave.” Little Strongheart said with a bow of her head. “Indeed. Without your help I doubt that this all would have ended as such; we are indebted to you all.” “We’re just doin’ what we thought was rahght, Chief.” AJ said, removing her hat in a sign of respect. “Besides, it was Midnight who really pushed us to find an answer.” Rainbow said. “I just thought that there had to be a better way to settle all this.” Midnight said with a shrug. “Well, we wanted to show you our gratitude for helping us, and we think we have an idea.” Windrunner said, stepping forward and bowing towards Midnight. “It would be an honor for myself and the tribe if I could accompany you on your travels and assist in any way possible.” Midnight recoiled back slightly. “Excuse me?” “The tribe owes you a great debt for what you’ve done, and I’ve always wanted to see what ponies were like, since I’ve lived in the tribe all my life.” She smiled at the chief and Little Strongheart, “I’ll miss them all, but this is something I want and have to do. Please, say you accept.” All eyes fell on the kirin, who fidgeted nervously. “Well… I don’t… I mean…” she looked around nervously a bit more before her face changed to one of calm resolution. “If that is what you want to do… then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you tag along.” Windrunner’s face brightened. “Thank you! I just would like to say goodbye to the tribe before I leave.” “Of course,” Midnight turned to Sapphire, “we’ll need to talk about living arrangements for her.” “R-Right,” the pegasus said, a look of confusion plain on her face. As Windrunner left to say goodbye, Midnight led Sapphire up to a small cloudbank, allowing the others to go get the rest of their things. “What was all that about? I was sure you’d refuse her offer.” “Normally I would, however I think I could actually use her help.” Midnight said with a thoughtful expression. “With what?” “While they were attacking the train, Windrunner was actually keeping up with Rainbow. Barely, but she was. And she’s just as loyal. Top that off with her special talent along with some fighting skills I bet she has, and I think I could use her.” “But for what though?” Sapphire pressed. “What did I say this was a test for?” Midnight asked her, a ghost of a smile playing about her. “To see if you thought you could still be a captain of the guard.” “And what is a captain of a guard without soldiers to lead?” The smile was definitely there now. Comprehension dawned on Sapphire’s face. “You mean…?” “I believe Windrunner has just volunteered to be the first recruit of the Bearer Guard.” Midnight said, looking down towards the pegasus in question. “Of course Celestia will have to approve first and I want to train with her a bit myself to see how good she is.” “It’ll also get Shining Armor off your back.” Sapphire said with a laugh. “It’s the little bonuses in life that matter.”