Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic

by nightelf37

Chapter 21: Over a Barrel

Author's Note:

"Aren't we going a bit too far in this?"

Did you forget what I said back in Chapter 6?

"Oh, right."

Disclaimer: I own only the following: Chronicle, Mystic Shield, Timerity, Blue Diary, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper. Happy Nightmare Night!

"But we aren't even in Season 2 yet!"

It's Halloween where I'm from, so there. There are some other things I also want to talk about, but they belong to the bottom, and I can only choose the top side for placing these notes. Check my FanFiction.Net version.

Chapter 21: Over a Barrel
On one fine sunset…

A train rumbled along a stretch of railroad tracks running through a sun-baked desert. For some reason, it was being pulled along by a team of four earth pony stallions, all wearing striped engineer’s caps and red bandanas around their necks. This sort of…fuel source puzzled Chronicle as he walked down the hallways spanning the many cars in the train.

He was making his way to the one where he and the rest of his friends were resting in, which was the sleeping car closest to the caboose. By his friends, that meant his charge Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Mystic Shield had refused to come when he invited him as he and his first four students were quite busy at the dojo. After the events concerning the "smoking dragon in the mountain", more ponies have enrolled and he's got his hooves full teaching them, correcting their mistakes, encouraging the doubtful ones, the pressures a typical martial arts teacher would have to endure.

Just before he reached that particular car, he encountered six particular Ponyvillians and greeted them accordingly.

"Berry Punch! Shoeshine! Carrot Top! Bon Bon! Lyra! Cherry Berry!"

The first was an earth pony with a light plum coat, mulberry-colored hair, violet eyes, and a grape-and-strawberry cutie mark. The last one was also an earth pony, but with grayish indigo eyes, brilliant gold hair styled like Lightning Bolt's, a hot pink coat, and a pair of cherries as a cutie mark. He could also see that Heartstrings was 'putting on' a pair of contact lenses that made her eyes look magenta like Rainbow Dash. The four of them had taken two pairs of bunk-style berths opposite each other's. Cherry's was at the top one to the left with Carrot's right below. Lyra's was at the other side, with Bon Bon's on top.

"Hey, Chronicle!", they all greeted as he then passed them by, but not before noticing a bonnet on Lyra's bed.

As he made it to where his friends were bunking in, he saw them doing miscellaneous stuff. To his right, his charge was reading a book. At the top bunk there, Fluttershy was resting peacefully. At the bunk opposite hers, Rainbow Dash was as well. Directly to his right, there were party-related stuff scattered; Pinkie Pie was supposed to be there. He made his way to the next pair of bunks, where Spike was snacking on some popcorn to his left. The bunk above his was properly made, and there was a slight hint of perfume, presumably from Rarity. Chronicle's own bunk was on the right at the top, with the bottom one reserved for Applejack.

As he then looked ahead to the next car, he saw Rarity making her way to the caboose. He then remembered that Applejack was there, making sure their cargo was safe. Just as he was about to follow Rarity, Pinkie suddenly popped out of the bed next to him, with no prior hint of her being there.

"Hey, Chronicle!", she said. "Remember to keep your promise."

The stallion sighed, "I will." as he continued on his way. Sometime before their train trip, Pinkie Pie had managed to figure out Chronicle's secret. That he had put something on them while they were unconscious after they purged Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna. He had no idea how she found out, but she told him to (promise to) confide it with the others as soon as he can. For some reason, the prospect of breaking a promise with her didn't sound really appealing.

His thoughts were cut off as he heard Rarity yell, "Applejack!" Catching sight of her ahead, he joined her as she continued. "Applejack! Were you reading a bedtime story to—" Chronicle then looked at the end of the caboose to see— "—an apple tree?" tucked into a bed under an apple-patterned blanket. Applejack was staring at the two unicorns as they approached her, also seeing a story book on the floor next to the bed.

"Heh…uh…well, you know, bein’ replanted in a whole new place is very upsettin’ for a tree.", the earth pony explained, then fluffed its leaves. "And Bloomberg here is one of my favorites."

"No fair, Applejack!", the white unicorn complained "You’ve got a luxurious private sleeper car for a tree, while I am crowded and cramped in the same car with all the other ponies!" She then got in close to Applejack, whining. "How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep?"

"But Bloomberg’s the whole reason we’re makin’ this trip. He needs his rest so we can give him as a gift to my relatives in Appleloosa."

"Hmph! You talk about it as if it’s your baby or something."

Applejack was needled at this. "Who you callin’ a baby? Bloomberg’s no baby!" In a flurry of hoofsteps, she turned to the bed and snuggled with the dense foliage, speaking in a manner hypocritical to her previous statement; baby talk. "Don’t wet wittle Wawity make you all saddy-waddy. Bloomberg’s a big and strong apple tree. Yes he is. A-coochie-coochie-coo-coo-coo."

Chronicle turned to look at Rarity, who looked like she wanted to throw Applejack from the train. "It’s wittle Rarity who’s all saddy-waddy." Rarity then headed for the door with a frustrated grunt, while Applejack paid no mind whatever.

Just before she left, Chronicle called out to her, "Rarity, could you please call the others in here? I have something important to tell all of you. And bring in Spike as well. He needs to know this too." The fashionista nodded before going through the door.

C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

A few minutes later, everypony else (and Spike) was gathered near Bloomberg. As they watched their stallion friend close the curtains, then secured the way out, making sure no one would intervene. After dispatching a magical clone to keep watch, he then gathered everybody in a circle.

"This better be worth it.", Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

"Don't worry, it will.", Chronicle replied. "And may I request that nobody—"

"Nopony.", Pinkie corrected.

The stallion silently gestured to Spike, who was not a pony. "—nobody interrupt my explanation. Questions will come after." He then 'procured' something gray and metallic from "hammerspace". It had the dimensions of a doormat but was slimmer, and seemed to have a button too small for a hoof to press. The stallion pushed it with the tip of his hoof and one side "came to life", eliciting cries of surprise and astonishment from the others. This side was what Chronicle called a "monitor", which was currently showing lots of small "icons", some of which his friends recognized as their cutie marks, a symbol reminiscent of his, and a green flame.

"I work for a small organization in Canterlot—the name of which I am not not permitted to divulge to just anyone—that employs bodyguards such as myself.", he explained. "We are quite diligent in our job, but we aren't the type who look intimidating or cold. We also have measures to watch our charges even if they don't want to be guarded." He then 'rotated' the "device" so that everyone can see. "This thing here is one of them, although it's a prototype. By prototype, it means it's not completely tested if it works effectively. We call it Surveillance."

Chronicle then used the tip of his hoof to tap four of the symbols and smaller "rectangles" popped out from the screen. "What you see right now is what my 'cameras' are seeing. They are made to be invisible to the unaided eye and undetectable by any conventional methods, including magic. Not even splashing liquid or hurling something at its position will reveal it." Although I wouldn't put it past Celestia to be able to detect them should she set her mind into it.

"As you can see, what you're seeing right now in the four 'screens' is what the cameras I've set on Pinkie Pie, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, and myself. I can also hear what's around them too." His friends looked closer to the screen, then saw that—judging by the glimpses of their manes—his words were true. The three that were "surveyed" drew back, and three screens displayed accordingly. Pinkie Pie then turned her head to a random direction—and her face was now looking at the invisible camera on her.

"Now, I know what you're all thinking, girls, Spike.", Chronicle quickly spoke up on seeing the nervous faces on Fluttershy and Rarity, ignoring Pinkie who was making faces. "This thing here has a lot of perverse potential. After all, with this, I'm effectively spying on you in every hour of every minute of every day. However, I will confide to you a flaw in this system of mine here."

"For some reason, my 'cameras' don't return what they see to my 'screen' at certain times. Although of course, you wouldn't take my word for it." Chronicle 'closed' the 'screen' focused on him and then tapped another symbol. This time, the new 'screen' showed up, but there was nothing but gray random dots. There was also a strange noise that sounded…"white", according to Pinkie.

"I understand that things will not be the same between us even after I just come clean with this. This conversation wasn't even supposed to happen as the Surveillance is classified. The only reason I told you all of this is because Pinkie Pie somehow found out." Chronicle then let out a deep sigh, not wanting to look at anyone in the room, and looking real guilty and sorry.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

In Chronicle's dreams…

In his dark expanse, Chronicle was visited by not just Blue Diary, but Timerity as well. Blue was looking very cross with his siblings, at Chronicle for revealing the Surveillance to his friends (even though some of the confession was made up), and at Timerity for incidentally doing the same thing.

"I can't believe you two.", groaned Blue as he put a hoof to his face. "It hasn't been that long and you already had to confide part of your secret?"

"Hey, it can't be helped that one of my friends happens to have Toon traits.", Timerity countered.

"Toon traits?", Chronicle echoed. "Please remind me of the meaning."

Timerity groaned before explaining. "Toon traits are attributes we classify to an individual that has an uncanny ability to defy the laws of physics if what they do can be seen as funny to anyone seeing "recorded sightings" of the event, like the ones we make to be sent to "client worlds". Also, they are capable of sensing the "fourth wall", ranging from mere glancing at it to outright breaking it."

"Oh. I believe one of my friends has those traits as well."

"Really? What a coincidence!"

"Guess I'm lucky none of mine are.", sighed Blue. "But what am I going to do with you two? You're in for some serious penalties once we get back home."

"Yeah, I guess.", sighed Timerity.

"Okay, is there any form of good news you guys got?", Blue asked.

"Well, there's—" All of a sudden, Chronicle seemed to freeze in place and fade out of sight for a moment.

C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD

Back in the waking world, Equestria Prime…

It was nighttime, and everypony should have been asleep. However, four of Chronicle's friends were awake conversing in low voices. But it wasn't low enough for one of them. Namely, Spike cried out.

"Oh, for Pete’s sake!" He then grabbed his pillow, jumped out of his berth, and made his way out of the sleeping car, making his way to the caboose. Before he left, the girls heard him say, "Man, I wish I could sleep as deep as Chronicle."

Unbeknownst to him, said stallion stirred for a moment in his bunk opposite to Rarity's before going back to sleep.

C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

Back in dreamland…

After a while, Chronicle finally stopped fading and was moving again, much to his siblings' relief. However, he didn't continue from where he was cut off as he felt what had happened to him as well and was caught by surprise.

"What was that?", Blue Diary asked.

"I think he was nearly awoken.", Timerity guessed.

"Okay." The sole pegasus then turned to Chronicle. "Now where were you again?"

"Well, last "letter to Princess Celestia", we went up a mountain to—"

"Send off a sleeping dragon, where your cowardly pegasus friend stood up for all of you when things got bad?", Timerity guessed.

"That's right!", Chronicle replied in surprise, then gave a smile as his face relaxed in a dreamy manner, "It was one of the best moments of my life."

"Too bad my Fluttershy is more of a introvert than yours.", Blue muttered.

Just then, what had happened to Chronicle just a minute ago began to happen to Timerity as well. This time, instead of eventually fading back in, she was completely gone; she was now awake back in Solaris Equestria.

"…Okay.", Chronicle said. "At first, I was a bit unnerved that her world is just like mine, except you swap everybody's gender, even though that should technically be impossible. It almost feels like the events in my world affect what happens in hers. I even thought that we were going to lose our differences."

"Now what kind of worrying is that?", Blue asked. "The denizens of her world are just alternate gender-swapped selves of the ones in yours. And Timerity's not you as a girl. You know that."

"Well, when I got hit by poison joke, I did take in her appearance. Did she take mine?"

Blue shook his head. "Nope. Her body did get large, though. In the likeness of Applejack's older sibling. That is in our worlds. In hers, it became like Applejack's."

"Man, it's confusing to have a gender-neutral name."

"Tell me about it. Well, now that your Surveillance is revealed, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, I did offer to use it in case any of us get lost, and also to call for the others just in case. However, you do know it's prone to losing connection whenever you need it most, right?"

"Yeah. Life would be very easy otherwise."

C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD

The next morning…

A rumbling in the train caused Rainbow Dash, who was asleep in her berth, to be thrown to the floor, waking up the other ponies in the sleeping car—except for Chronicle, who hasn't so much as stirred. For some reason, Applejack decided not to sleep with the rest of them, nor was she tending to Bloomberg. The five who have awoken gathered at the window for a look. They made a collective gasp as they saw a herd of buffalo charging alongside the train; some of them have Indian-style feathers tucked behind their ears.

Twilight cried out, "A buffalo stampede!"

The others began to murmur to one another. "I just love their accessories.", Rarity commented.

Twilight, however, seemed to be worried. "They’re getting awfully close to the train."

A few seconds later, the buffalo tackled some of the sleeping cars (and the lead stallion of the four-horsepower pulling team), sending the five mares off the floor and walls. Chronicle still didn't so much as stir from his slumber. That is until his friends landed on him all at once, jolting him awake and making him create a barrier around himself by reflex and expand it to push his friends off of him. However, Rarity got squeezed into a corner before he dismissed the barrier.

"What's going on?!", he asked before Rainbow Dash fell on him, having been pushed to the ceiling by his barrier. "Oww!"

"There's a hard of buffalo stampeding next to the train.", Twilight explained.

Buffalo? Here?, he thought as he got Rainbow off of him and made his way to the window and took a good look at them. Hmm…Indians… His eyes then widened. If this is what I think it is…

His thoughts were cut off by Pinkie leaping next to him, the others gathering behind them. "Ooh, looky!", "Now they’re doing tricks!"

From what they could see, one buffalo jumped onto the back of another, then, what looked like a female calf, marked by a feathered headband and a lighter brown tuft of hair above it, raced up to the small 'tower'. A couple of agile leaps then put her on top of the double-decker rushers and at the level of the train cars’ roofs.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!", Pinkie said. "Now do a backflip!" Instead of doing that, the calf just jumped onto the nearest roof. Inside, the ponies were startled by an impact above their heads—she has landed on their car. "Or just jump?"

They could then hear racing hoofbeats moving away from the group—and right for the caboose. "Hmm.", Rainbow wondered. "Something tells me this isn’t a circus act."

"You're right.", agreed Chronicle as the two of them took off. "I think this is a train robbery. Classic."

"They're gonna steal the train?", Pinkie asked as Chronicle stopped, leaving Rainbow to continue on out of an open window.

"If they were, I would have said 'train theft'." His horn then glowed as he cast a spell. "I mean, does one steal a bank in a bank robbery? No, they steal money in the bank."

Meanwhile, on the train roof, a magical clone of Chronicle manifested itself. The clone turned around to see the buffalo calf charging from car to car, barely breaking stride at the gaps. He made his way after her, a fair distance away. Ahead, he could see Rainbow plant herself in the calf's way, saying something that he couldn't catch. However, the pegasus then jumped up to dodge after it was apparent that the calf was not stopping.

As Chronicle got close, he said Rainbow fly after the calf, with the two of them neck and neck. This time, he was able to hear what they were saying now that he was close enough.

"Wow. You’re pretty quick for someone so…bulky. No offense.", his friend said before zipping ahead and planting herself a few cars ahead. "I just want to know—" The calf interrupted her by swerving around her. "—hey!" This time with a rather shorter temper, Rainbow put herself in the calf’s path again. All the while, Chronicle was getting closer. "I’m talking to you!"

And the calf answered by launching herself to an impossible height, doing a couple of midair somersaults, then came down behind Rainbow to continue her sprint.

"Whoa!"

While Chronicle did have the opportunity to shoot the calf down with a magic shot, hurling someone off a train wasn't something he was aiming for. However, this jump then prompted him that she's not stopping. With that, he cast a spell on his legs and quickly began to close the distance, charging up a magic shot, then shooting it.

"I’ve got you now, you—", the young speedster said before racing past the calf, who dived into the gap—also evading Chronicle's "shuriken"—, and collided into a railroad crossbuck sign and sliding down the signpost to the sand with a groan.

As for Chronicle, he stopped just at the next-to-last car, seeing the buffalo calf glancing briefly down the track before ducking in behind the caboose.

"Hey!", he called at the calf, flaring his horn for a spell. "If this is what I think it is, you better not do it!"

He was ignored as the calf yanked out the peg securing the coupling, allowing the caboose to roll free as the buffalo then jumped up to the roof. She raised a hoof, about to somehow give a whistle when Chronicle came down on her with his "magic horn blade" drawn.

The calf jumped back as the stallion landed on the train, then followed up with another slash, which was dodged. His "blade" was 'set' to "bludgeon", so he wasn't going to hurt her much. After evading a few more attacks, the calf went on the offensive and Chronicle the evasive and they began alternating from there.

Just then, the real Chronicle emerged from the door of the now-last car, lasso covered in his aura and held in his teeth. He was learning a bit of lasso use from Applejack, but he wasn't experienced enough yet (his previous use on it with Gilda being beginner's luck). He 'moved' the 'tying' end of the lasso to the caboose's coupling, secured it in place, then 'tied' his end to the one of the car he is on. He then 'reinforced' the rope with magic as it obviously wouldn't hold the cars on its own.

Back on top of the caboose, his clone and the buffalo calf were still facing off against one another, neither having dealt a blow to the other. And then something gave; Chronicle's clone made a misstep and had to balance himself for a second. This second gave the buffalo calf time to strike him, dissipating him into white twinkling lights.

She was shocked at this for a second, almost thinking she…well, but then she saw the real Chronicle, who briefly lost concentration from taking in the knowledge his clone had before his automatic dismissal. These few seconds caused the rope he was 'keeping together' to snap and break apart.

Now that nopony was impeding her task, the buffalo calf whistled. At that, the rest of the buffalo herd began to peel away from their assault on the train and reversed direction to push the caboose backwards. And there was nothing Chronicle could to to stop them now.

He could only watch in scorn and defeat as his friends gathered at the door, Applejack joining them with a shocked gasp.

"They’ve got Bloomberg!", the farmpony cried out.

Then they could then see Spike plastering himself against the caboose window, his cries for help muffled by the glass. "And Spike!", Twilight added.

"Dammit!", Chronicle cursed as he got up and slammed a hoof to the wall, angry at himself. "I should have been up there. I should've gone up there myself. If I had been, I could've held out longer against that buffalo calf. I can't let myself be useless."

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, then turned around to see Twilight. "Chronicle, you're far from useless. You never have been."

"I know, but still…"

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—??—C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—??

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chronicle and company on the exit of the last car, wearing expressions of distress. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—??—C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—??

Later…

Just as the train was nearing its destination, Chronicle was asking his charge something. "I got a quick question for you. If the train's pulled by earth ponies, why does it even have a locomotive? I mean, it obviously isn't burning wood or coal." Is there even coal here in Equestria?

"Coal? What's that?"

Guess there isn't. "Never mind." He then looked outside. "Looks like we're here."

From what he could see as the train slowed, they were in a Wild West-style town. The train stopped at a railroad depot, which had apple-decorated signs on the walls and above the door. This must be Appleloosa. As everypony began to depart, Chronicle and his friends did so too. Just as they scrambled out onto the platform, they stopped short.

Directly in front of them, and grinning into their faces, was a light yellow-brown earth pony stallion whose mane and tail showed two darker shades of this same color. His eyes were bright yellow-green, and he wore a brown cowboy hat and vest. His cutie mark depicted a large red apple.

"Hey there.", the stallion greeted, his friendly voice carrying a "Western" twang. "Welcome to Appleloosa!" Chronicle noted that when this guy said “Appleloosa,” he reared up with a neigh and held out the first syllable.

"Braeburn, listen.", said Applejack. "We—"

"Cousin Applejack, mind your manners. You have yet to introduce me to your compadres. Shame on you!"

"Braeburn, listen. Somethin’ terrible’s happened."

"Terrible is right. Your train is a full seven minutes late. That’s seven minutes less for you to delight in the pleasures and wonders of Appleloosa!"

I wonder if I should cut in? Chronicle decided to take a look at the street, which was now filled with earth ponies going about their business. There would be nothing but those as he would discover later. For some reason, he could also see Apple Fritter, even though he last saw her in Ponyville Park a few days ago. Maybe she took an earlier train. Back on the platform, Braeburn bulldozed him and his friends away and down to ground level.

"Boggles the mind we settler ponies built all this in just the past year, don’t it?", said Braeburn as the blue unicorn stallion noticed a tumbleweed bounce by. "And as you can see, we have all of the finest comforts." Braeburn turned their attention to a stagecoach being pulled along a street. "Like horse-drawn carriages. "

The puller, a brown stallion with black hair and a white stetson stopped in his tracks and turned to the window. "Okay, you pull now."

A second pony—a blue stallion with messy hair of a darker shade, hazel eyes, and two musical notes as a cutie mark (which he would see later)—popped out and complained, "Aw, we just switched!"

Weird…, Chronicle thought as this stallion stepped out to switch places. He would soon come to know this particular blue stallion as Noteworthy, who would someday move to Ponyville.

Braeburn then led the tour to another part of the street and pointed. "And those there are horse-drawn, horse-drawn carriages."

The tourists looked and saw three ponies who are sketching the passing stagecoach with pencils in their mouths. That is, a drawing done by a horse, depicting a carriage pulled by another one. Chronicle smacked himself in the face with a hoof at the sight. One of the sketchers was a Ponyvillian stallion he couldn't recall by name and the other two were Berry Punch and Shoeshine.

"Listen, Braeburn, I—", Applejack tried to cut in before they were all bulldozed again, this time to a building whose sign showed a salt shaker.

"And here’s our local waterin’ hole, the Salt Block!", Braeburn continued as a pony was flung out through the batwing doors.

"That’s enough salt for you!", someone called from inside, presumably the bartender.

The grizzled old stallion got up to his hind legs, losing his hat, and stumbled back and forth. "Can’t I at least get a glass of water?", the customer asked woozily before keeling over.

A properly dressed bartender stallion (complete with monocle, vest, mustache, and salt shaker cutie mark) was then seen at the doors, who soon backed up into the place to resume his job. Chronicle did another 'facehoof' before they were all shoved by Braeburn in front of what is apparently the sheriff’s office, where the law pony lounged against a post.

A khaki stallion, brown mane/tail, black mustache, red bandana around neck, blue eyes, dark gray hat, silver star both as his cutie mark and pinned to his blue vest. "Over there’s the office of Sheriff Silverstar.", Braeburn introduced before pushing his tourists again, stopping to let them see ponies dancing merrily in a clearing.

"And here’s where we have our Wild West dances." Chronicle could recognize the same blue stallion from the horse-drawn carriage, Golden Harvest, Shoeshine, Daisy, and two Ponyvillian stallions whose names eluded his mind before being pushed again to another group shown dancing sedately. "And here’s where we have our Mild West dances." Among these, he could see Apple Fritter among the five ponies. Ain't it a bit strange to see familiar Ponyville faces in Appleloosa? Looks like we aren't the only ones who decided to take a trip here.

"But, Braeburn, we—", Applejack tried to cut in again before they were all plowed onto a ridge.

"And here’s the most wonderful sight in all of Appleloosa!", their tour guide said again, showing them acres upon acres of apple trees, all loaded with fruit. "Our apple orchard."

Applejack was getting impatient. "Braeburn!"

As usual, Braeburn wasn't listening. "First harvest should be any day now."

Chronicle decided he had enough of this 'pretty boy blabbermouth' and 'took out' his paddle. While this tour was nice, interrupting such vital news was something he won't tolerate, especially given the last time, which involved a dragon.

"Braebu—"

"Good thing, too."

He was ready to smack this stallion, the paddle near the back of his head.

"Brae—"

"’Cause we need that grub to live on."

Chronicle 'brought' his paddle down on Braeburn's head, just as Applejack yelled her cousin's name, knocking him out of his blabbering.

The earth pony stallion shook his head for a while before replying, "Uh…yes, cuz?"

"You have a very nice town and all, but we have a huge problem. Some of our friends are missin’!", Applejack started.

"A stampede of buffalo!", Fluttershy continued.

"They took Spike!" Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash went after them!" Twilight.

"And we can’t find Pinkie Pie!" Fluttershy again.

And my Surveillance can't find them. Chronicle, but mentally. Why oh why is it not working on them now?

"And we had an apple tree with us for your orchard, but they took that too!", finished Applejack.

This sequence of bad news threw her cousin for such a loop that one eye shrunk to a point while the other dilated beyond all measure. It took him a moment to get his vision sorted out. "Did you say 'buffalo'?" The five ponies around him nodded and he sighed heavily, turning away. "Them buffalo! They want us settler ponies to take every single tree you see here off this land. They sure as hay don’t want any new ones added in."

"But why?", asked Fluttershy.

"Beats me. We put a lot of hard work into this land so we could feed our town, our families, our foals. And now they’re sayin’ all these trees have to go? ’Tain’t fair."

As they all looked over the trees in concern, Chronicle pondered to himself. I wonder what these buffalo are like? If they're like who I think they're like, I'm sure we can come to a compromise. I hope my clone is having better luck.

C—TS—A—R—F—B—C—TS—A—R—F—B

Elsewhere…

In a stretch of desert land, nowhere near Appleloosa, a magical clone of Chronicle's was walking out in the open, 'holding up' a feather from Rainbow Dash's wing. He had used a spell to pinpoint its owner's location, but it took a lot of magic energy to use and it only lasts for a few seconds. The effects were lasting longer though with each use. Still, he had to save some for defense. Being a magical clone meant he was very fragile; one hit and he was a goner.

Just then, he saw a very familiar face popping out from the scatter of boulders. Bingo. Hiding behind a nearby boulder, he watched his friend duck away and tiptoe to another boulder. After another furtive look, she dove to an even closer one and came up again.

Chronicle (the clone) made his way closer, hiding behind boulders as well, when he noticed Pinkie Pie sneaking around as well. Oh, there she is. He then saw her come nose to nose with Rainbow, surprising the latter as she cried out and fell on her back.

He could hear rumbling in the distance as his two friends talked, Pinkie's voice being the louder one. He looked ahead to see a herd of buffalo headed in their direction. Luckily, none have come up in the direction he came from. He considered giving some sort of warning, but that would give away his position as well, leaving him to watch as the buffalo soon surrounded his two friends.

After a few seconds, the bovine behemoths seemed to begin to move in. Immediately, Chronicle decided to rush in as well, but then he heard a familiar voice cry out, "STOP!" To his surprise, they did so and as the stallion slowed, he saw the buffalo back off to either side, creating a dust-choked aisle in which a silhouette became visible. As he (as well as Pinkie and Rainbow from the 'other side') stared dumbfounded, the haze cleared to reveal Spike quite unharmed and very much at ease.

"Dash, Pinkie! ’Sup?", he called. So far, nobody noticed Chronicle. "Hey, no worries, I know those guys." He then addressed one of the buffalo. "They’re cool."

"If you say so, Spike.", the buffalo replied in a "surfer-dude" accent, hoof/fist-bumping him. "Catch you later, bro." He and his buddies then stampeded away, leaving a properly bewildered pegasus and earth pony in their wake. Once the buffalo were gone, the two and Spike then noticed the unicorn watching what happened.

"Chronicle!", Pinkie cried out as she jumped straight for him in a pounce, which he successfully strafed.

"Watch it!", the blue stallion cried out. "This ain't the real me here!"

"You're his magical clone?", Rainbow asked.

"Yes."

"Remind us again how to tell you from the real you."

"Only a keen eye can see that I'm slightly translucent."

"Yup!", agreed Pinkie as she came up from behind him. "I can see a bit of the area through him, although it's rather faint."

"Else, you'll have to take my word for it.", Chronicle continued as if she hadn't interrupted him.

"Come on, guys!", said Spike as he began to walk off. "I'll take you to meet the buffalo."

C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP

Nighttime…

The four foreigners now found themselves sitting around a campfire, surrounded by buffalo and a clutch of tepees.

Yup., thought Chronicle. Definitely Indians.

"Seems they took me by mistake.", Spike explained. "They feel awful about it too, poor guys. Fortunately, they totally respect dragons—" He snapped his fingers and the three ponies were given a bowl of something brown, mushy, and unappetizing-looking. "—so they treat me like an honored guest." Rainbow sniffed, stuck out her tongue, and pushed it away. "Still don’t like ponies much, though, but you’re with me, so it’s cool."

Chronicle didn't eat the mush either, but for different reasons; being a clone, he did not need sustenance from food. As long as the real one (back in Appleloosa) kept himself well-fed, he'll be just fine.

"Huh. Well, I still don’t trust ’em.", Rainbow said as she stood up and readied herself to leave. "I say we turn tail and bail while we still—" She stopped upon realizing that Pinkie has buried her face in her own bowl and was gobbling the stuff down. She lifted her splattered face out as Rainbow regarded her incredulously.

"Before we finish eating? Are you loco in the coco?", asked Pinkie.

Chronicle then noticed the buffalo calf from the train robbery bring a bowl of something decidedly more solid over to Spike. He made himself discreet and turned away.

"Can I please have more of that mushy stuff, whatever it was?"

"Certainly!", replied the calf. "And Mr. Spike, you like gemstones, yes?"

"Turquoise!", the dragon said as he eagerly downed the bowlful in one gulp. "This here’s Little Strongheart." He introduced the calf, then the ponies "And these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Chronicle—"

Strongheart gasped upon seeing him. "Are you…"

"I'm a copy.", Chronicle answered as Pinkie waved at her. "Just like the one you dispatched back on the train. No hard feelings, though. We were just on different standpoints and perspectives, that's all."

Spike waited for a second before turning his hand on the pegasus, And that's Rainbow Dash."

The pegasus gave an annoyed huff over her shoulder, then started in surprise. "You!"

Strongheart was just as surprised. "You!"

"That’s it!" Rainbow started to trot away. "We are outta here!"

Pinkie could do nothing but tack a sheepish grin onto her newly clean face before Rainbow leaned back to get a mouthful of tail hairs and drag her off. Chronicle sighed as he turned to leave as well. However, the young buffalo intercepted them.

"Wait!", Strongheart pleaded. Rainbow let go of Pinkie. "Please accept my apologies for what happened on the train. We didn’t mean for anyone to be hurt."

"Yeah, right." Rainbow turned away, only to be cut off again by Strongheart.

"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?", the mares voiced their confusion.

"I think I have a hint.", mumbled the stallion.

Spike went up to Strongheart and said, "I think it’s time they met Chief Thunderhooves."

Strongheart gave a little start as Rainbow looked daggers across the way.

C—S—RD—PP—LS—C—S—RD—PP—LS—C—S—RD—PP—LS

Later…

The four visitors now stood by the fire, at the center of a ring of buffalo. Strongheart, across from them, was next to one clad in a large feathered headdress, who spoke in a deep and pompous voice. This was whom Chronicle presumed to be Chief Thunderhooves.

"We have a long and winding stampeding trail that we have run upon for many generations.", he said. "My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and—"

"Pardon me, chieftain, but I think we get the idea.", Chronicle interrupted as he raised a hoof, noticing some of the other buffalo beginning to doze off. "Basically, for as long as you can remember, your ancestors have stampeded on the trail."

"Hmph. It is a sacred tradition to run the path every year. But this year, these…" His voice now showed great contempt. "…settler ponies, these…" He began to snort steam. "…Appleloosans…" More steam chuffed out of the great black nostrils, but a touch from Strongheart calmed him somewhat.

"They planted apple trees all over it without asking our permission.", finished Strongheart.

Oh dear., groaned Chronicle. Settlers versus natives. I've heard of this conflict before…

"Well, that’s not very nice.", said Pinkie. "Right, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow turned away, crossed her forelegs, and sat on her haunches. "Hmph!"

"The ponies refuse to move their trees, so we are stuck here, and it is not fair!", finished Strongheart.

"See, Rainbow Dash?", said Spike. "They had a good reason to—" He was cut off by her abrupt vertical takeoff. A moment later, she made a perfect four-point landing to face the two buffalo. There were gasps from them and the herd.

"I’ll say they had a good reason!", she said as she stomped, then looped, hovering near the Chief. "Come on! We have some apple-picking Appleloosans to talk to!"

Pinkie, Spike, and the herd were shocked but happy to find that she has come around to their side this quickly. As for Chronicle… I hope we could come to a compromise. I don't want an all-out war to start. Little did he know that the real him had thought of the same thing earlier in the day back at Appleloosa.

C—S—RD—PP—LS—CT—C—S—RD—PP—LS—CT

The next day…

At a ridge overlooking Appleloosa, Twilight and co. (with the real Chronicle) and Braeburn were preparing for an out-of-town trip. All of them save for Chronicle had saddlebags on, and Applejack was adjusting Rarity’s with an energetic pull on the strap.

"Ow! Ooh! Gently, please!"

"Sorry, Rarity, but our friends are out there and we have to be ready for a long hike into buffalo territory if we’re gonna save ’em." Chronicle looked over to the sun-baked territory ahead as Applejack reared up. "Let’s go!"

All six galloped off, but got no more than a few hundred yards before coming across Pinkie, Rainbow, Spike, and Chronicle's clone. Twenty-four hooves screeched to a halt and five throats gasped.

"Hi, guys!", Pinkie greeted before Fluttershy tackled her.

"Pinkie! We’re so glad you’re safe!"

As Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity expressed similar sentiments, Chronicle went over to his copy, then dismissed him, rubbing his head afterward as his clone's memories seeped into his brain.

"How did you escape from the buffalo?", Twilight asked.

"We didn’t.", Pinkie answered. From a rock behind her, Strongheart leaped out from behind it and nervously pawed the ground as Twilight and co. gasped.

Rainbow explained, "We promised the buffalo a chance to talk."

"Oh, yeah? ’Bout what?", asked Applejack as the calf stood side by side with the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow threw foreleg over Strongheart’s shoulders. "We brought our new pal Little Strongheart here to explain to the Appleloosans why they should move the apple trees off buffalo land." As she finished, she pushed the young calf over for a face-to-face with Braeburn.

"That information will be quite help—" Braeburn began before being cut off by his cousin, who shoved him even closer.

"That’s weird, ’cause my cousin Braeburn here wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay."

"That would be a useful thing to—", Strongheart began before Rainbow cut her off.

"The land is theirs!" The pegasus then flew over. "You planted the trees not knowing that. Honest mistake. Now you just gotta move ’em, that’s all."

"Well, heh—" Braaeburn.

"They busted their rumps here!", Applejack countered. "And now they’re supposed to bust their rumps again just ’cause some buffalo won’t stampede someplace else?" By this point, she and Rainbow were in each other’s faces.

"Plant the trees somewhere else!"

"Where? It’s the only flat land around these parts!" The farmpony indicated a nearby area covered with rocks, cacti, and weeds.

"The buffalo had it first!"

"The settler ponies need it to live!"

Braeburn and Strongheart stood forgotten as these two launch into a shouting match, with an apprehensive Twilight averting her eyes until she has had enough.

"Look!", the unicorn said and her two friends shut up. "Both the settlers and the buffalo have good reasons to use this land." She then turned toward Fluttershy, Rarity, and Chronicle. "There must be something we can do."

"Well…", the unicorn stallion said as he thought of something, then turned to Strongheart. "How wide is the stampeding trail?"

"What are you getting to?", asked the calf before they were interrupted by Pinkie, who jumped and hung in midair.

"Hey! I’ve got an idea!", she said as she landed on the ground with a thud.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B

Later…

At a stage just outside Appleloosa, there was a crowd of settlers and buffalo gathered, all of them making nervous murmurings. At the front were Chronicle, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Braeburn, Silverstar, Strongheart, and Thunderhooves.

On stage was Spike wearing a bowler hat. He was also playing a piano. Moderate 4, D major. Chronicle was no music expert, so he had no idea how he keeps knowing the chords. Also, he noted that whenever he notes the chords of an upcoming song, it was a Pinkie Pie song. Well, the first song was an exception, and so were the ones during the ticket fiasco.

Just then, Pinkie Pie popped out from behind the stage's curtain, a long blue feather poking out from her mane. She turned to Spike, who flipped her a thumbs-up, then pulled her head back out of sight.

Now Playing: You Got to Share, You Got to Care

The curtain shortly opened to expose a large, closed oyster resting on the stage. When it creaked open, Pinkie was seen lying inside, dressed in what Chronicle would identify as a typical Wild West saloon girl dress.

We may be divided, but of you all I beg♪
To remember we’re all hoofed at the end of each leg♪

The crowd seemed a bit puzzled at this exhibition. The music paused as Pinkie was lifted to the stage by Apple Fritter and another similar-looking pony. Once Pinkie was down, the two of them zipped away. The music then resumed, in a much faster tempo this time as Pinkie hopped about.

No matter what the issue, come from wherever you please♪
She then zipped to a buffalo, pulling at his mouth.
All this fighting gets you nothing but hoof-in-mouth disease♪
She then let the lip snap back and returned to the stage, popping up from the piano.
Arguing’s not the way, hey, come out and play♪
She then returned to the stage.
It’s a shiny new day, so what do you say?♪

As she then began to dance, Chronicle noticed that Rainbow's wings were unfurled. For some reason, it reminded him of something…suggestive.
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
Chronicle noted that the crowd wasn't yet exactly warming up to her performance.
It’s the right thing to do♪
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
And there’ll always be a way through♪

She then popped up between Strongheart and Silverstar and shoved an apple into each one’s mouth.

Both our diets, I should mention, are completely vegetarian♪
Back on stage, four other ponies—two mares and two stallions—gathered behind her, one of them Apple Fritter, and another Ponyvillian whose name still eluded him.
We all eat hay and oats, why be at each other’s throat?♪
The four ponies formed a kick line with her.
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
It’s the right thing to do♪
And there’ll always be a way through♪

She held out the last note as the two stallions held her aloft on their front hooves, while the mares looked on.

End Song

There was a dead silence from the entire audience, broken only by Spike’s solitary clapping and the distant cry of an eagle. Chronicle wanted to make a slow clap, but the only applause he knew of that ponies do was to stomp on the ground. So that was what he did, although slowly. As he applauded, he turned to his charge, who covered her eyes with a foreleg out of embarrassment. He then turned back to the stage as Pinkie took a bow.

"All right, Pinkie Pie, that was fantastic!", cheered Spike. "What a great song! You’re right on!"

Chronicle stopped applauding and turned to Silverstar and the Chief, who look each other full in the eye for a moment, then nodded in unison.

"It appears that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to an agreement.", said the chief.

"We have.", agreed the sheriff. Braeburn, Strongheart, and Twilight and her friends leaned in expectantly toward the pair, from onstage and off.

"That was the worst performance we’ve ever seen." Pinkie and Spike were suddenly dejected.

"Absitively.", Silverstar added with a chuckle.

"The time for action…" A grunt. "…is upon us. Our stampede will start at high noon tomorrow." Thunderhooves then leaned into Silverstar’s face. "And if the orchard is still there, we’ll flatten it and the whole town!"

There was a gasp from the front row, and Strongheart decided to dart in, Chronicle joining in. "But, Chief!", she pleaded.

"Can't we come up with something both sides can agree on?", the unicorn stallion asked.

"And we Appleloosans say you’d better bring your best—" Silverstar then shoved the Chief back. "—’cause we’ll be ready and waitin’!"

"But, Sheriff!", Braeburn pleaded.

"Is violence really necessary?", asked Chronicle.

He received no answer as the two factions quickly cleared out, leaving only the Ponyville eight and the Appleloosa one. Pinkie and Spike, still on the stage, tried to figure out how things could have gone so far off the rails.

"Oh…that wasn’t the message of my song at all!", she said.

"A song alone won't bring two sides together, you know.", Chronicle said as he turned to face her. "The world isn't that idealistic for it to work."

"I didn't think you were against violence.", Rarity remarked. "Given that it's always an option for you."

"Well, as much as I like fighting, an all-out war still doesn't sit well with me. From what I see, they think violence is the only option left. For me, it's just a viable choice. And even then I start with just a little." He looked on to where the buffaloes ran off to. "I hate to say this, but things are gonna get hectic pret-ty soon."

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chief Thunderhooves on the left and Sheriff Silverstar on the right glaring at each other. The Ponyville eight at the center, with Little Strongheart at the left and Braeburn at the right looking at their respective leaders in worry. The show's logo is seen on the lower right.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

Afternoon…

Appleloosa was in full emergency mode. Windows were being closed and boarded up, ponies were getting off the street, apples and other supplies are being hauled away. Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Chronicle watched the commotion.

"I want my kin to have what they need to live," the farmpony began. "—but a storm’s a-brewin’ here, and I don’t like the look of it."

"We’ve just gotta talk some sense into them before somepony gets hurt!", Twilight said.

"I'm afraid given the situation, they're too busy to even pay attention." Chronicle was ignored as his charge, Fluttershy, and Rarity scattered. Twilight was the first to address a couple of the locals. Or to be exact, a local (Noteworthy) and a Ponyvilian siding with them (Cherry Berry).

"Listen. Maybe if you would just reconsider, we—" She was cut off with a hard glance as they then leaped in through the window behind them, pulling the shutters closed, followed by more. At another building, Fluttershy and Rarity were at another pony’s front door. This one was wordlessly pushing a cartload of apples inside.

"About the trees.", Rarity began. "Now if you could—" The immediate door slam startled her into a haunch-sitting position and left both Twilight and Applejack at a loss.

C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Minutes later…

Appleloosans (or simply anypony who wasn't Twilight Sparkle or a friend of hers) were quickly gathering apples. Chronicle could see Noteworthy and Cherry bucking one tree to reap its fruits. Elsewhere, apples were picked up in teeth, hustled back and forth, and nipped down by the topmost mare in a column of three.

Chronicle could see Berry Punch at the bottom of this column as he and his friends watched the frenzied activity with trepidation. Twilight rushed to one.

"If we could just sit down and talk, we could—" She was cut off by an angry snarl from whom she was trying to talk to as the cart he was loading was hauled away. His charge's dismayed gasp gave way to a resolute glare.

"Why won’t anybody be rational and reasonable?!", she screamed as she reared up.

"You know, I sometimes ask myself the same thing every day.", Chronicle commented. "Or was that something else…"

C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

As the five from Ponyville (to be exact, Twilight and co. as other Ponyvillians were here as well) made their way back to Appleloosa, Chronicle noted the settlers' (and allies') actions.

Nail were being hammered into boards, branches were being sawed, teams of ponies were pulling a log down to rest on support trestles, forming a barricade, more windows are being boarded up, and Braeburn was watching impassively as the last gap in a frame was filled in. He noted that these barricades had nails pointed outward, presumably toward any charging buffalo. The last thought gave him the shudders.

Applejack and company made their way to try and address Silverstar. "Sheriff, if we could only—" she was ignored as he moved out to guide fully loaded carts of apples and flour across the hardpan street. The five of them then decided to peek into one of the buildings.

While the mares looked in worry, the stallion could only stare in confusion. Dough was being rolled flat, apples were being sectioned… an apple pie production operation was in top gear. Two ponies were assembling the pies, while two others tended to the oven; shelves and carts were filled with the steaming desserts.

"Apple pies?", he asked. "I thought they were preparing for a battle, not a sale."

"They are preparin' for battle.", Applejack told him. "These pies can pack a punch when thrown. Also, it's what's in the pies that's can be dangerous."

"You mean aside from the apples?"

"Uh-huh." She then went over to whisper in his ear and a few seconds later his eyes shrunk in horror.

"You're right! That is terrible!"

"It ain't too horrible, though."

C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Later…

At the town square, everypony was gathered around a flagpole in the town square, where Silverstar and Braeburn watched a red flag being raised and Twilight et al. looked on nervously. When the standard reached the top of the pole, the wind unfurled it to expose an apple tree emblazoned across it; hats were tossed skyward and the crowd’s cheers floated up.

C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Twilight and co. were feeling dejected later that night as they slept at Braeburn's place. They were all gathered together at the bed where Chronicle lay. He was awake, and using his Surveillance to check on Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike.

Through the cameras on them, they could see stolid buffaloes charging for each other and banging heads. Another pair was at a grindstone, one of them sharpening his horns against the wheel, the other pumping the foot pedal to keep it turning.

"Uh oh.", muttered Chronicle. "Looks like they're out for bl—"

"Don't say it!", Rarity whispered, glancing at Fluttershy.

Everypony then looked back at the screens, where some buffaloes were applying war paint. The camera on Spike turned to face him and Little Strongheart as they watched the preparations.

"Isn’t there some way to stop this?", Spike asked.

"Unless the settlers remove those trees, I do not think so." She then galloped off, but returned almost immediately with a bowl of turquoise chunks that Spike accepted with a deflated little sigh. As the dragon started to munch, Chronicle shifted the 'screens' so that the one on Rainbow was now prominent. She was sitting with Chief Thunderhooves at a campfire.

"I know you don’t want to do this.", the pegasus said.

"But they have taken our land. What would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?"

"I don’t know. But it’s never too late to think of something."

The chief just put war paint on his face. "At noon, it will be too late."

Chronicle then turned off his "monitor" and gave a sigh. "Looks like there's nothing left we could do. 'Cept hold out for a miracle."

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

The next day…

High noon was approaching as Appleloosa was prepared for a siege. Log barricades have been placed to block the major entry points. Galloping hooves made themselves known as the Chief and Strongheart arrived on the ridge, followed by the entire buffalo herd.

Down below, ponies big and small have taken their positions on the front lines, and Braeburn nervously eyed the town’s clock tower as the minute hand advanced—it was now 11:59.

A cart stacked with fresh apple pies was pulled past a building jammed with frightened onlookers and over to Silverstar.

Twilight and company were gathered on some of the tracks, watching as the battle was about to begin. Rainbow sat on her rump and began to tap her forehead. "Come on, think! Think, think, think, think, think, think, think!"

The clock’s bell sounded off, drawing everybody's attention, and the minute hand snapped ahead to high noon. After the twelve strikes thrummed dully in the still, silent air, Chronicle turned to his charge.

"Twilight, stick with me and help me with the barrier spell. Keep your horn ready. I don't want us to use up too much magic, so Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, I need you two to hover in the air and warn us of any incoming attacks. Rarity, try and learn this spell. It can save your life. I may also need to borrow your magic in case of an emergency. Pinkie Pie—wait, where is she?"

Sure enough, Pinkie was nowhere in sight. The same went for Applejack. He presumed the latter was somewhere in the battle as well; After all, this was her cousin's home, and members of her family were here.

Chronicle then turned to the Chief in the distance, looking real ready for a fight. He then noticed Strongheart reach in to touch his cheek. He sighed heavily at the sight of her pleading eyes (he presumed), then stared ahead with a sudden uncertainty in his own. This prompting a little gasp from Rainbow and a smile from the entire group.

"He’s not gonna do it!", the pegasus said and they all sighed in relief.

But a moment later, all of their eyes bugged out at the sound of Pinkie’s singing. She was in her saloon-girl costume from yesterday. With no stage handy, she was doing her song-and-dance on a patch of the arid land.

Chronicle somehow knew this wasn't good as he turned to his charge and yelled, "Twilight, Rarity! I leave the defending to you!" Before anypony could protest, he 'took out' a lasso from "hammerspace" and started galloping towards Pinkie. As he did, he could see the Chief in the distance reacting very, very badly and started to growl.

"CHAAAAAARRRRRRGE!!", he bellowed as the entire herd poured over the ridge, and the performing pink pony had time for one terrified deer-in-the-headlights stare before the buffalo plow into her. As she got bounced from one massive back to another, yelling all the while, a lasso loop flew towards her and wrapped itself around her body. She was then pulled away to a safe corner, and she turned to see Chronicle having used it.

"Nice job breaking it, Pinkie Pie!", he yelled, following it by slapping her in the face with his hoof. As the two of them then made their way back to their friends with a barrier around themselves, he could see the ponies at the barricade break for cover. They were wise in doing that as the logs and trestles were smashed to kindling under the herd’s sheer tonnage. And the flagpole was next to go.

"Ready!", Silverstar yelled to the ponies behind him, all of them having picked up pies. "Aim!" Chronicle and Pinkie was retreating to their position. "FIRE!!"

Just as the unicorn stallion bypassed them, the pies went airborne with the speed and efficiency of a surface-to-surface missile, and that was saying something. Pinkie got split up from Chronicle in the middle of the fight, and he watched as one buffalo after another take a hit to the face and go sprawling to the dust.

In the confusion, while Chronicle wondered how accurate or lucky the throwers were, he noticed Carrot Top leap out of a second-story window, land on a buffalo who was chasing Berry Punch, Heartstrings, and an Appleloosan stallion, and ride him like a bucking bronco.

Three other pairs of adversaries—one of them Apple Fritter—squared off for a little bare-hoof boxing. A rooftop brigade launched its own offensive, taking down two buffaloes. At ground level, Cherry Berry, who stood behind a wall of hay bales threw a pie, then gasped as a buffalo charged at her position. The hit sent both her and several bales flying. At the other end of the wall, another herd member thundered in but knocked himself silly on impact. These bales tumbled away to reveal the hidden anvil he has just slammed into, and the two mares who set it up—one of them Apple Bumpkin—traded a high-five.

As Chronicle continued to look for another safe area, having lost his way in the battle, he saw one buffalo get a pie plastered across his eyes. However, unlike the others, he hasn't gone down. Unable to see where he was going, he veered off to one side and rammed the ground floor of the building that housed the clock tower. Cracks raced up the walls, leading to the whole spire sliding loose from the roof. He could see Bon Bon with a top hat among those who bailed out from their apple-pie emplacement moments before the lumber and clockwork obliterated it.

Once the dust cleared, he could see Chief Thunderhooves leap to a gap in the wreckage and let off a steaming snort, facing the train station, where staggered hay bales have been set up—and where his friends were standing by. Sheriff Silverstar was there too, popping up from behind one, throwing a pie, and ducking. Bales were placed on both sides of the tracks, creating trouble for the buffalo trying to navigate the area.

This did not stop the Chief from hurling himself ahead at full speed. Instantly, Chronicle was on his way to Silverstar as well, a barrier formed around himself to protect from charging buffaloes and thrown pies, although he still had to swerve for the former. While the barrier would protect him from buffaloes, he could still get pushed around just keeping his shield up.

As he made his way closer, he could see Silverstar duck down, and not come up with another pie. It could only mean one thing; the sheriff has run out of ammunition. Peeking up over the bale, he let off a panicked cry as the huge buffalo leader barreled straight through the fusillade toward him.

Silverstar removed his hat and held it over his heart, closing his eyes in preparation for the inevitable. But Chronicle wasn't about to let it happen as he enhanced his running speed. Regardless of sides in a war, he can't let a fatal casualty occur while he can help it. Judging by the Chief's speed, they were gonna make it to Silverstar at around the same time, him being the faster one. That would mean he would be "taking the bullet" for the sheriff, and Chronicle wasn't sure how much damage he would take from the attack.

The question was never answered since just as the Chief leapt toward the poised sheriff, a pie sailed straight over Chronicle's head and right for Thunderhooves.

"NOOOOOO!!", he heard the Chief cry out before face and crust met at the exact same point in space. The velocity of the pie changed the buffalo's trajectory as he tumbled to the dirt in front of Silverstar’s bale and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. Chronicle had already reached the point where he would've shielded Silverstar, so the change in direction resulted in him evading the Chief's fall.

Chronicle turned around to see Thunderhooves lying senseless on his belly, ringed by Silverstar, his friends, and a number of pony and buffalo spectators. Other herd members raced up and stared in total shock at the downfall of their leader, whose tongue hung out of his mouth at full length as crust and filling dribbled down his face.

One buffalo began to sob and put a foreleg across Carrot's shoulders, who removed her hat and bowed her head. Even Spike couldn't hold his emotions in check as he burst into tears and grabbed a properly puzzled Twilight for support. Chronicle shared his charge's feelings; the Appleloosans and their allies were taking down buffaloes without batting an eyelash, but when the Chief went down, everypony stopped and had guilt trips, even though he most likely wasn't dead. Why only now?

Just then, he noticed a juicy crumb slide from the Chief’s horn and land on his tongue…and he pulled it in and shut his mouth. He and his friends stared in puzzlement. Two seconds later, he stood up, alive and well, and slurped as much of the mess off his face as he can while shaking himself clean.

"Yum!", he said as Chronicle and his friends smiled. "Hey! I’ve got a much better idea!"

C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

Hours later…

At the orchard, Chronicle watched as a stand of apple trees were being cut down, making a broad path through the grove. He turned to see Applejack, who made a loud whistle. Seven seconds later, he saw Rainbow leading the buffalo herd along the newly cleared avenue. Steam wafted along it toward them. He looked back at what Chief Thunderhooves had declared.

"We will allow the apple orchard to stay in exchange for a share of its fruit, those delicious apple pies!"

He continued watching, as saw that as each buffalo passed by, ponies passed the pies and tossed them of each buffalo’s head as they ran by. Spike, watching them along with him, hoisted a fresh bowl of turquoise.

"I’d rather eat turquoise any day of the week.", he said.

As the dragon did so, Chronicle couldn't help but think that this was what would've been his suggestion; for the settlers to carve a path on their orchard for the buffaloes. The settlers would still be able to gather apples, and the buffaloes would still be able to stampede. In the end, it was all good.

He then walked toward Applejack, who was looking over at Bloomberg in the distance and had Rainbow Dash standing next to her.

"Bloomberg, this is your special day.", the farmpony said. "Mama’s so proud of you."

Not far away stood the Chief, Strongheart, Sheriff Silverstar, and Braeburn. The two pairs bowed to each other, and the big and little buffalo charged off to join the orderly stampede. Strongheart peeled off to wave to Applejack and Rainbow as his charge joined him to watch them go off together.

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“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.”

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"Hey! That’s what I said!", Pinkie said out of nowhere, now out of her saloon girl outfit, as she held back something not visible to anybody.

She was then suddenly pulled back to the ground…by Chronicle, who looked rather irritated. "Pinkie Pie. I need to have a word with you.", he said.

"Sure.", she replied in a cheery tone.

"While I still don't know how you do those things, my organization has a term for your kind, where you somehow violate the rules of physics, like staying in mid-air for a couple of seconds, or making a hole shaped like you down to the hair, things like that."

"You do?"

"Yes. And do you know what the fourth wall is?"

"Uh-huh.", she answered, still cheery.

"Well, I got one thing to ask of you." Chronicle them pulled Pinkie closer and gave her a harsh glare, not knowing if it would even work, given she didn't cringe from one by Gilda, and the griffin seemed to be better at it that him. "Do not break it. I will know if you do."

"So you're not just a bodyguard, huh? You're also—"

Chronicle backed away a bit to put a hoof to her mouth. "Whatever it is you know about me and my organization, keep it to yourself. And out of our clients'."

"You mean the watc—"

"Yes."

"And the rea—"

"Yes!"

"And the auth—"

The bodyguard then went ballistic. "Especially him!!" For some reason, this one managed to scare her as she stopped talking. "Do we have a deal?" Pinkie nodded nervously and Chronicle calmed down and gave a sincere smile. "Good. And to make sure, I'm gonna have to have you promise it in one of your signature promises. Okay?"

"Okay."