Episode 36: The Hooffields and McColts
Episode 36:
The Hooffield and McColts
"Hooray! I love Furry Friends Book Club!" Fluttershy happily stated as she opened the first page.
“Me too.” Ono who happened to introduce her to said book from the very beginning along with the many books since she put forth this little book club of hers. "Especially getting to teach your friends of our next topic. Now, let's discuss the theme of nature as it applies to Hoofcliff's love."
But just Fluttershy was about to say her own thoughts about the subject, she suddenly noticed strange flashes of light coming from inside the cottage, followed by a ringing sound.
"Did somebody leave a light on?" She asked. She felt Angel tap her shoulder before pointing at her cutie mark, which was glowing and ringing.
"Oh, it's me." Fluttershy said before getting back to her book…before suddenly what was really happening. "Oh! It's me!"
Her Cutie Mark was glowing, which means...The Cutie Map was summoning her and she wasn’t the only one.
“Me too!” Ono stated upon seeing that his marks were glowing too. Upon seeing them glow, the egret was all giddy with glee as he flew around happily. “Ha! Ha! Woo hoo! The day is finally here!”
The emblem of their marks suddenly emerged from Fluttershy’s flank and Ono’s wings and flew around the room before it flew out the window. Both Fluttershy and Ono were quick to follow after them with the latter heading out first in his pursuit of the marks. But just before Fluttershy left by flying out the window alongside Ono she briefly turned to face her book club gathering.
"We'll continue this discussion when I get back!" She said quickly to them before leaving the animals to discuss other topics about the book who all couldn’t wait for their return already.
Fluttershy and Ono followed the floating mark of three pink butterflies along with the sharp eyed bird, bypassing various ponies, Pride Landers, stands, along with many bystanders, trying their very hardest to avoid and evade contact with each and every one of them. While Ono had his eyes able to help him fly high enough to avoid everyone, Flutteshy however stumbled into a little trouble.
"Oops, sorry about that. Coming through. Sorry, I'm being summoned!"
Some time later, the mark made it’s way to the, which phased right through the door. Fluttershy and Ono landed right in front of the main entrance. But before they could knock or even reach the handle the doors themselves, Twilight came to excitably greet them while slamming them open.
"You're here!" Twilight took Fluttershy by the shoulders before magically teleporting them both inside. She then realized something else before teleporting back over to the main entrance as she realized she accidentally slammed the door in Ono’s face.
“Whoopsie! Sorry about that!” She smiled nervously before peeling the poor egret off of the cracked wall before teleporting him back inside and got to work healing him once they regrouped with Fluttershy.
Once he was now healing up, Twilight continued going on about her ongoing excitement. "Isn't this exciting?!" Twilight spun around, revealing to both Ono and Fluttershy her glowing and ringing cutie mark.
"Oh! You were called, too!"
“Nice!” Ono quickly high-fived the alicorn and cheered sharing the same enthusiasm that they’re finally being called together for a mission.
"Me too!" Kion’s voice said to them before teleporting himself to appear right in front of them, all while showing his glowing marks on his arms with a confident smirk.
"Oh, thank goodness. I feel so much better going with a friend. Or two. Or three" Fluttershy happily expressed.
"We were about to come and get you, but we then we got a little distracted." Twilight explained as she opened up the doors that led to the throne room, and Fluttershy was left in awe.
"Oh."
“That’s what I said too.” Kion said to Fluttershy before turning to Ono. “How about you, Ono? This practically everything you could ever hope for?”
“Yes!” He wasted no time in rushing over to analyze everything inside the room which was filled with stacks of books (neatly organized of course), each one on top of the other, along with several charts on the wall.
“So...what is all of this?” Fluttershy asked as she observed of what’s gotten everyone's attention.
“Research. Information on everything we’ll need for our trip.” Kion answered. “Which Twilight will be more than happy to explain on the way.”
Twilight turned back as she teleported right over to them. “Indeed I will!” She said with eager glee. “Something that me and Kion wasted no time in doing once the map called us.” She then moved to show every Testing out potential friendship problems." she teleported herself back, this time levitating a large book. "Diversifying my solution portfolio."
"Ever since the map called us?" Fluttershy asked in surprise, "But that happened five minutes ago."
"I know!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly, "But I wanna be one hundred percent prepared! I mean, I know we're the Princesses of Friendship and all, but we never know what kind of problem we'll run into. How will we know the right way to solve a specific friendship problem?"
"Only one way to find out.” Kion replied as he made his way over to the Cutie Map where their destination as shown where their marks currently are now.
Fluttershy was now starting to get excited just at the thought of being able to help somebody somewhere. "Oh, I'm so lucky I'm being sent with you. Speaking of which, where are we going?"
“The Smokey Mountains!” Kion answered just when Fluttershy moved to join him.
"Oh, I've never been there before."
"None of us have either. There isn't much information on them. All we could find was this." Kion explained as he pulled out the lone book they came across during their research. "The Smokey Mountains harbor is said to be the most beautiful valley in all of Equestria between its two majestic mountain peaks.“
Fluttershy took a look at the image of the book and found the shown scenery to be just as Kion described it, two mountain peeks mirroring the other, each shrouded in trees and divided by a single small lake. Upon fully processing it, Fluttershy was now in awe by it’s beauty.
"That's gorgeous. And where there's nature, there's a ton of animal friends!"
Twilight hugged the book tightly. "I can't wait to get started! I'm a little nervous since that's all we could find. I usually like to be a bit more prepared."
"You seem pretty prepared to me." Fluttershy returned while turning her eyes back to all the books they had read in order to find the limited information. She then spotted four sets of bags, one with a butterfly image, one with a star, one with a fierce lion, and one with a sharp eyed bird, each and every one of them representing their cutie marks. "Are those for us?"
“Yep!” Twilight nodded while donning her saddlebag. “I've prepared our things. Snacks, books, blankets, books."
"You said "books" twice."
"There are a lot of books." Twilight said before handing Fluttershy her saddlebag while Kion did the same for Ono.
For the both of them, it happened to be even heavier than they expected. At moments like these they wished they had the super strength their alicorn friends have.
But one thing’s for sure on Ono’s mind, he in fact is ready for whatever the friendship problem they’re facing is, and he has his best friends by his side for the job so they can solve it together. And if he has to do some heavy lifting, then so be it.
Thankfully for both Fluttershy and Ono, they had their hot air balloon ride which allowed them time to relax as they fly their way on over to their destination. Twilight while making the proper adjustments to their ride was now unable to contain her excitement.
"What do ya think our friendship problem's gonna be?" She asked the others who joined her once they all made sure they had everything they need for their journey.
"I don't know." Fluttershy said with a sigh once she was finally able to toss her saddlebag inside the hot air balloon basket. "But I'm sure we'll figure it out."
“And surely we’ll know once we see what’s going there after we get there.” Kion added while staying very optimistic of the whole mission going forward while hopping into the basket after Fluttershy.
“Affirmative.” Ono agreed too as he tossed his bag into the basket last.
With everyone all together, Twilight moved to adjust the ropes so their hot air balloon ride can fly up and on over to the Smokey Mountains.
During the ride over, Twilight and Ono were both trading thoughts on what their upcoming friendship mission.
"Do you think it'll be a problem about lying?" Twilight asked.
“I don't know." Ono replied. “It could be a problem about theft.”
“Within or out of the mountains?”
“I don’t know. We'll find out when we get there."
"You're right."
In the meantime, Kion just took the opportunity to rest up while Fluttershy just sat back and watched as both Twilight and Ono traded ideas of a potential friendship problem together.
"Ooh! Could it be about when two friends just randomly decide to do something together, but they forget to invite the third friend, and the third friend feels left out?"
“Much like what happened the other day with us and Discord?”
“Yes, just like that!”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“Fluttershy…” Kion asked with his eyes closed with a single paw raised up expecting something to be placed on it.
“Oh! Right!” She said upon taking an extra few seconds to realize that he is not fully asleep nor sleep talking before moving to hand him a pair of earmuffs so he can continue sleeping undisturbed. “Sweet dreams.”
"Thank you."
Thankfully by the time Kion got his rest, they had all arrived at their destination. Said area was surrounded by pine trees with plenty of cover with nothing but a magical lock to ensure that their ride stays put and isn’t stolen.
Even after hours, both Twilight and Ono were still going at it with their ongoing excitement while looking at the map so they can accurately pinpoint the route they would need to take in order to get to the mountains.
"Or where one friend tells another friend's secret after they asked them not to?" Twilight asked.
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Ono replied feeling it’s nothing unfamiliar. “Along with getting pursued by Pinkie Pie whenever someone breaks a Pinkie Promise.”
Fluttershy exhaled when she placed her heavy saddlebag on her back. "We'll know very, very soon. Since we're almost there."
“Speaking of which, how far are we from our destination?” Kion asked as he moved to get a look at their map.
“Not too far.” Twilight replied just when Ono flew up ahead to use his keen sight to spot out the Smokey Mountains.
“It’s straight ahead from where we stand.”
“Great!” Kion smiled. “Let’s go.”
The four fliers all took to the skies on their own, with Twilight and Kion both reading the map to make sure they were going in the right direction. They then heard Fluttershy and Ono groaning, already getting tired of the heavy luggage.
"Here. Lemme get that." Twilight levitated the backpack off of Fluttershy
At the same time Kion moved to do the same for Ono. “And let me do the same for you too, Ono.”
Both Ono and Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"Thank you."
“At least now, I can fly ahead and help lead the way.”
"Sorry I've been a little skiddly-bopty-boo.” Twilight apologized to everyone. “I just can't believe this is finally happening!"
“Uh-oh! Get down!” Kion shouted as he suddenly heard something coming from behind and instinctively pulled both girls by the wings, forcing them downwards to avoid something that was aiming directly at them. “Ono! Duck!”
“Duck?” Ono looked but was unable to do the same time when a pumpkin managed to crash into him. “Hapana!” He screamed just before he got hit.
The other three fliers looked around and had saw that they had reached the Smokey Mountains, and just as the book said there were two mountain tops mirroring the others, but it didn't look anything like it was depicted on the cover. One hill still had fresh looking crops and trees, but not a forest. The second hilltop didn't have any trees, had dying brown colored grass and tree stumps all around it with the wood they used from those trees to construct the compound-styled fort house at the very top of the hill.
"Whoa!" the three maneuvered yet another pumpkin which came from the hilltop with the simple farm house on the hilltop with the growing garden around it.
"What in the Pride Lands?" Kion asked in confusion upon seeing this.
"It's nothing like the book said it would be!" Fluttershy said, horrified at what they flew themselves into.
“No kidding!” Kion commented in agreement before flying down to check up on Ono.
Twilight's ears lowered already anxious at seeing the problems first hoof. "Oh, boy. I'm feeling very unprepared. Where do we even start?"
Upon hearing another firing sound, the two ponies both ducked to avoid getting hit by yet another pumpkin.
"Maybe by figuring out where the flying pumpkins are coming from?" Kion suggested as he carried Ono in his paws while floating up to join them.
“Affirmative.” Ono replied with his eyes still spinning from the impact.
The three flew down towards the first hilltop, doing their best not to get hit again by the pumpkins.
Upon arriving the first thing they encountered was an elderly and plump pony with bushy and curly light gray hair, brownish orange coat, bushy eyebrows, blue eyes ,a light blue country farm shirt with a dark blue vest to match her eye color, matching color shirt , an orange pumpkin cutie mark, and a pair of buck tee sticking out from her upper lip. It was pretty clear given that she is the one giving the orders to the ponies in charge of the cannons, that she is the ringleader of the farm on their side of the hill.
"Ready… Aim... Fire!" Upon her command, the male ponies all shot the pumpkins all the way towards the second hilltop, aimed directly at the wooden compound.
While seeing the pumpkin fly into the compound on the opposite hill, Twilight moved to politely intervene with a kind greeting.
"Um, hi. Hello. Excuse us, but what are you doing?"
"We're pumpkinin' our neighbors!" She answered while pointing at the opposing house on the hill.
The boys and girls shared skeptical looks before Fluttershy spoke. "Yes, but, um, why are you... "pumpkining" your neighbors?"
“Is it Halloween already?” Ono asked with his mind still not in sorts due to the impact from one of the pumpkins he took a hit from.
“No whatever that is…” She replied rather confused at the term he used before focusing her attention back to the others. “We’re pumpkining our neighbors.”
“Okay…” Kion looked on skeptical and confused as he tilted his head to the side. “...any reason why you’re pumpkining your neighbors?”
"Well, because the McColts are just plain rotten! Hey, wait a tick.” She suddenly turned her head back to the four in an interrogative manner. “Who are you four! You're not spies for the McColts, are ya?" She questioned with a stern and inquiring eye leaned towards them as she leaned in forward to inspect them more closely, which only made them feel uncomfortable.
“No.” Kion shook his head while raising a paw to get her to back off. “If we were we’d at least put more effort into that.”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. This is Kion, the Prince of Friendship. And we're here to solve your friendship problem."
"I'm Fluttershy, and... um... I'm here, too."
“And I’m Ono. The Lion Guard’s Keenest of Sight.”
“Ma Hooffield…” She shook the prince and the princess’s paw and hoof with a pleasant yet brief smile. “Pleased to meet ya, but you're wastin' your time. We don't have a friendship problem. We have... a McColt problem."
"And there's absolutely no friendship there." One of the ponies standing beside her added.
“Uh-huh.” Ono looked on with a disbelieving look. “That’s assuring. Any idea why?”
“Oh, they done so many things. Why, just today, they shot pebbles at our farmhouse an' wrecked it. See, we're not very good at buildin', so all it took was a little pebble. But still!"
“I see.”
Fluttershy's ears perked up when she heard some squeaking nearby. She spun around and saw one of the Hooffields place another pumpkin into their rock catapult, while unaware of the mice living inside of it.
"Oh, no!" Thinking fast, Fluttershy swapped the pumpkin with an empty one in order to rescue them.
Twilight then levitated her solution portfolio and read several pages looking for a specific one that’ll help clue them in of how to properly approach this. After reading the page she was looking for she spoke up with a confident smile. “I know what to do! We're gonna talk with these McColts and hear their side of the story. Once we have all the facts, we can put an end to this using reason and rationale."
“Good plan.” Fluttershy complimented before speaking softly to the mice she just rescued. “That's why she's the princess."
"In the meantime, could you please call off the pumpkining?" Kion asked of them politely.
Mamaw really never really liked the idea of giving the McColts an easy time, but considering both he and Twilight are royalty and he did ask nicely.
"Oh, alright."
"Thanks." Kion smiled with great appreciation for her being reasonable for the time being. “Come on.” He said to the others before taking flight on over there.
Upon arriving at the gates leading towards the compound-like house, Kion knocked on the door and awaited for somepony to answer his call.
"State your business!" Came from a pony from atop of the fence.
A McColt, one with messy light blue hair, gray eyes, indigo colored coat and a bit of scruff on his chin. Beside him was a mare, similar in appearance and facial features, from the hair to the chin, while wearing a pink bandana over her head and had purple eyes.
"Don't even bother." She said to him. "They're probably spies for the Hooffields."
Her male companion took a good look at the girls and boys down bellow them, particularly their leader’s wings and colorful appearances. "Hey, wait! You two are alicorns! I thought just the three princesses are alicorns."
"Technically, I'm half alicorn." Kion called out from below, "But yes still there are now five alicorns, us included."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Kion. We're The Prince and Princess of Friendship."
"And I'm Fluttershy."
“And I’m Ono. The Lion Guard’s Keenest of Sight alongside the Guard’s Fiercest and Kindest of the bunch.”
“We have a new princess along with a prince that’s half lion?” The male McColt asked in surprise. "When did that happen?"
"I'm guessin' when them magical glowing lights in the sky appeared and they got themselves wings on their backs." The mare clarified.
"Oh, yeah. A-A-And how did the Hooffields come by a prince and princess spy?"
"We are not spies!" Kion stated firmly. "Why does everybody assume we're spies?" She asked her friends just as the two front wooden gates unlocked and opened, revealing a sanctuary inside, entirely made out of wood just like the outside walls.
“Because we don’t get a lot of visitors.” Another McColt told them as he appeared before them.
A fit, muscular, and middle aged pony with a bushy black beard, unibrow, and mustache, emerged from the entrance, wearing a really tall hat that contrasted with his short stature and blue old and worn overalls.
"I'm Big Daddy McColt, but folks just call me Big Daddy. You caught us at a weird time. We're in the middle of a giant feud with our... Terrible neighbors!"
Big Daddy's loud scream echoed from across the distance between the two hills. Kion, Twilight and Fluttershy all had to cover their ears and literally felt the ground slightly shake due to his outburst while Ono ended up flying backwards and down the hill they just flew up to get here. For a short pony, he had a powerful voice that can match Kion’s Roar in terms of causing a nearby barn to literally fall apart.
“Ono?!” Kion exclaimed before rushing on over to retrieve him. “Are you okay?”
“Affirmative.”
Twilight rapidly shook her head to make sure she still has her hearing before speaking. "Well, actually, that's why we're here – to solve your problem with the Hooffields."
"So you're here to help us get rid of 'em." Big Daddy quickly concluded, receiving an immediate round of applauds, whopping and hollering from the rest of the McColt family clan.
"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Twilight corrected, trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but the McColts did not like the real meaning behind her words one bit.
"Well, if you ain't fer us, you're agin' us." Big Daddy narrowed his eyes at the two ponies menacingly.
Before Twilight could react in return, Kion quickly rushed over to get face to face with him. "Hold on! We are not on anybody's side. We're here to help you become friends again."
"Well, that's gon' be hard. I don't believe we've ever been friends with the Hooffields family!"
"But you could be!" Twilight counter replied. "They're just really upset you ruined their garden."
"Wait a hog-wogglin' minute! We only did that because the Hooffields pulled the pin out of our wagon wheel!"
Big Daddy pointed to the said wagon, which was indeed missing one wheel. It stood wobbling before falling and breaking to pieces. "A whole week's worth of food rollin' down the mountain." Big Daddy removed his large hat, placing it near his chest, "Us McColts are mighty fine builders, but we don't know the first thing about farming'. We have to travel a ways away to buy our food."
Big Daddy placed his hat back on and showed the two boys and two girls all of the squashed pumpkins that the Hoofifelds had thrown at the McColts. And judging from the huge pile standing before them it has been going on for a while now. A long time even.
"Now, we'll be stuck eatin' the pumpkins the Hans launched at us. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin paella, pumpkin pie, pumpkin frittatas... Actually, that all sounds pretty good. But it'll get old!"
“I’ll bet.” Ono remarked rather dully upon arriving back with the others alongside Kion. “And judging from the looks of things you all must have been fighting for years, I’ll bet.”
“Yes sir, we have.” Big Daddy firmly stated. “This has been going on as long as I can remember. From my father to my grandfather, to my great grandpappy and so on.”
Both Kion and Ono blinked in surprise upon hearing this. Apparently this has been going on long before any of them were born.
While Twilight pulled out her portfolio from her saddlebag in attempt to search for another answer while Kion looks over her shoulder, Fluttershy and Ono took sight of the McColts, gathering all of the squashed pumpkin remains the Hoofifelds had thrown at them. Placing them into bags, barrels and cauldrons to make the pumpkin soup like Big Daddy just said.
As sad as it was, Fluttershy spotted something even more saddening. A little squirrel with a very thin stomach eyeing hungrily at a single piece of pumpkin on the ground, almost in a hypnotic state and reached over to grab it, only to have the only bit of food be brushed aside by a broom.
Feeling sympathy for the starving critter, Fluttershy found another slice of pumpkin and happily gave it to her with a smile. The squirrel likewise thanked her with a squeak.
Twilight after searching through the pages found one piece of advice that could be of help. "Have you tried meeting at a neutral location, talking about your problems, and really listening to each other?"
Big Daddy gasped at the very idea. "What?! No! They'd sooner launch their dinners at us than listen to us."
"Well, they'll listen to me. I'm an impartial third party." Twilight proudly stated before moving to fly up.
But just when she moved to do so, Kion flew up and placed a paw on his friend's shoulder before making sure the McColts aren’t around to hear. “Are you sure about this Twilight? Because from the looks of things they have been going on for more than just a few weeks. In fact it’s been going on for at least a hundred years now.”
“True…” Twilight acknowledged with a nod. “...but at least it’ll help cool down the tension for a while at least getting them to least talk it out instead of continuing to throw food at each other.”
“I suppose that’s true too. Okay.” Kion relented upon seeing her point before letting her pursue her next neutral approach to the conflict at hoof.
Returning to the skies once more, Twilight flew upwards, stopping right in between the two opposing mountains. Her horn glowed brightly and a small little sparkle landed on her throat. Once she opened her voice, it was magically amplified to sound as if she were talking through a microphone.
"Attention, Hooffields and McColts! I'm not on anybody's side, but I can see you're both wasting time and resources on being mean to each other. But me and my friends are here to help, so until we can resolve whatever bad blood has come between you two let us cease this senseless fighting for the time being so we can all move on to a better future as true neighbors. Thank you for your cooperation!"
With a satisfied smile, Twilight landed before her three friends, with a pleased smile for a job well done in progress. "Now if we can just get both parties to talk this out along with getting to the root of this feud, maybe we can help them become friends again...”
…right before a tomato landed right on her flank. And before any of them knew she along with her friends and the McColts were all facing a rainstorm of tomatoes hurling right towards them
"Or not…"
“Duck and cover, everyone! And I don’t mean actual ducks!” Ono screamed before joining the others into running towards the nearby building to avoid getting further splattered by the produce flying towards them and the McColts.
Once safe inside, Twilight shook herself clean of the tomato splatter before pulling out her portfolio so she can rip out the page that had just recently used advice out and tossed it aside. "So much for potential friendship solution number twenty-eight."
“What gives?!” Ono irritably asked turning his anger towards the Hooffields they just asked not to repeatedly pelt with produce just minutes ago. “I thought we just told them to stop tossing vegetables towards them. I mean…” He hoists up a splattered tomato. “...this is a waste of lycopene.” Another tomato hits him right in the face. “Not to mention messy.” He added like he is literally going to burst into flames now.
“We did.” Twilight replied before remembering their exact words. “At least for pumpkining that we kindly asked of them for a while.”
“Then I guess we better make it clear that it applies to everything they can throw their way, period.” Kion said while shaking his fur clean of the tomatoes that landed on him.
“Along with figuring out why the Hooffields are launching tomatoes now.” Fluttershy added, which is also the best course of action right now.
“Agreed.” Ono also nodded before they all set back on towards the other hill along with trying to understand why they are all fighting over.
Back with the Hooffields hilltop, the family were tossing tomatoes into their rock catapults and they were all were not stopping not their tomato supply ran out which is going to last a while given the whole wagon loads of produce they have.
"One at a time, Greenhoof." Ma said to the pony with a red coat and mane trying to launch two in her teeth held slingshot. "If you smoosh them tomaters in the catapult, they won't break on the McColts."
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked once she, Fluttershy, Kion, and Ono landed in front her. "I asked you to stop fighting."
"Oh, is that what you were hollerin' about? We thought the McColts rubbed ya the wrong way. So we tomatoered them for ya. My mistake." Ma tossed aside one of the tomatoes she had ready for the McColts and called out to the rest of her family, "Stop the tomater catapults!"
Her family obeyed her command and for a moment all was silent. But that silence didn't last long due to the McColts sending something their direction after deciding to go on the offense and it was large. Hay bales which landed on top of every Hooffield on the moutain including the ponies, lion, and egret all together.
“Reload the tomatoer catapults! We're gonna paint their mountaintop red!" Ma declared with her anger towards the McColts further strengthen even further.
The four Lion and Pony Guard members all popped their heads out, but not without Ono looking pretty dazed once more. “What the hay was that? Hay?”
“Yep.” Kion said while working his magic to make sure he didn’t suffer any head and brain trauma from the hits he’s been taking in.
"Well, that plan didn't work. I was so sure it would." Twilight said with disappointment.
Fluttershy then spotted a poor tortuous trying to escape to safety, but his slow movements by nature weren't helping him, especially when the Hooffields didn't even take notice of it, who ended falling back on his back, helpless to get himself back up again. Fluttershy gasped and quickly helped the little creature back up.
"It was a good plan." She said while lifting up a bush for the tortuous to hide under. "We need to think of another one. And soon. This fight is really affecting the animals around here." She moved to place the tortoise back down on the ground so he can resume moving so slowly, before gently pushing him into his new hiding place.
“Okay. Since trying to talk and reason with them isn’t working, maybe we should try finding the root of the problem and work from there.” Kion suggested.
"That’s a good idea! Not to mention it’s number thirty one on my portfolio." Twilight happily agreed with the proposal. “Question is what exactly are fighting about.”
“I don’t know.” Kion replied before taking lead on approaching Ma once more. “But we’re going to find out.”
“Pardon us Ma…” Twilight spoke up to the pony who is now joining in on the catapulting of the tomatoes. “...but do you remember what started this whole feud in the first place?"
"They know what they did." She vehemently replied...
"They know what they did!" Big Daddy also answered in the same tone as the Hooffields leader.
But it didn’t really answer their question since it gives them nothing to go on about to help them out.
"I'm starting to think neither of you know what either of you have done." Twilight stated, now starting to feel annoyed and her patience wearing thin.
"Sure, we do. Them Hooffields did us a grave injustice some time ago for some reason."
“Like what?” Kion pressed of him who like Twilight is starting to get annoyed himself.
“A very grave injustice.”
"Hear, hear!" the entire McColt clan cheered in agreement.
“Well that sure is a very ‘specific’ reason.” Ono remarked sarcastically while Twilight tore off another piece of paper from her portfolio and crumpled it.
"Okay, backup plan to the backup plan. Maybe we can find some common ground that you can bond over. What do you do when you're not fighting?"
"That's easy. Gettin' ready to fight."
“Besides that!” Ono irritably responded as that was not the answer he was looking for.
"What do you hope to get out of fighting?" Fluttershy asked Ma, who assisted her relatives in shooting more of their crops, this time watermelons, at the McColts.
"The satisfaction of winnin'!"
"Of winning what?" Kion asked Big Daddy, while he hammered a nail into a piece of wood and Twilight took notes.
"The fight, of course! To prove our family is the best!"
"The best at what?" Fluttershy asked Ma, who was still launching fruits and vegetables at the McColts with her family.
"Winnin'! Haven't you been listenin'?!"
By this point, Twilight had an assortment of paper notes floating around her, surrounded by her magic, trying and taking in each and every new detail they could learn about both parties, but so far they still found nothing they can work with.
"So the only thing they have in common is that they both want to win a fight, and neither of them know what it's over. How can we end this feud if we don't know what it's about?" Twilight sunk down to the ground, dropping all of her research in the process burying her face into the dirt.
“Good question, Twilight.” Kion commented equally frustrated along with Twilight seeing that they are getting nowhere with this friendship problem so far.
Just then Fluttershy came up with another idea that could help resolve this. “Ooh! Maybe somepony just needs to say they're sorry.”
Hearing this lifted the alicorn princess’s spirits up. “That's a good idea. And friendship solution number forty-eight. But we can move it up.”
Sometime and some talking later, it would seem the Hooffields have finally come to their senses as their leader along with a few select ponies have carted on towards the McColts hill a very large frosted carrot cake to show how much they’re ready to apologize.
“I'm so glad you agreed to do this. This apology cake will go a long way to making amends between you two.” She commended before curiously asking while making their way up the hill leading up to the compound. “Which part of my argument changed your mind? The part where I said the benefits of friendship outweigh the cost of war, or the part where I said forgiveness is an investment in happiness?“
“Yeah, yeah. All of it.” She said not even looking at the princess in the eyes when she asked that.
“Wait. Are you even listening to me?”
Before she could continue questioning her to correctly suspect her real motives for being convinced the pony at the watch tower called down on them once more.
“Who goes there?!”
“It's Ma Hooffield.”
“Hooffield alert! Arm the cannons!”
The two ponies by his side were quick to deploy them up until the matarich of the Hooffield clan added.
“With an apology cake!”
“Did you say "cake"? As in…” He slurped his lips at the sight of the giant dessert. “...cake? “
“Consider it a gesture of goodwill from us to you.”
While the McColt Guards all licked their lips and slurped at the sight at the Hooffields offering, Twilight correctly suspected of what was really going on as she slowly backed away with narrowed eyes along with Kion after sharing a knowing nod together.
“Get ready.” Twilight whispered to Fluttershy.
“Got it.”
“Ono?”
“Affirmative.”
Both Fluttershy and Ono moved to act as if nothing’s wrong while keeping their guard up while their leaders prepared to stop whatever foul play is going on here.
“I haven't had cake in ages.” The mare commented with her eyes unable to keep away from the tempting treat.
“Open the gates!” The stallion ordered of the guards who proceeded to do so while withdrawing their cannons.
After the gates opened Ma Hooffield carried the cake on inside the compound while Fluttershy and Ono walk by her side and helped her place it onto the table.
One of the McColts cried tears of joy at what had to be the nicest thing the Hooffields have ever done during her lifetime. “Oh, it's such a bee-utiful cake.”
“Think of this as more than just a cake. It's the first step in the long road to forgiveness.” Ono commented.
“Nothing says "let's be friends" like a cake that says, "Let's be friends!"” Fluttershy added before whispering to one of the McColts. “I wrote that in icing on the top.”
Just then the cake inside started to shake before the very carrot top flew away as three Hooffield ponies emerged from it.
“For glory!”
But before they could do anything about it, Twilight quickly whisked them up with their magic.
“Whoa!”
“McColts! Assume Delta Force formation!” Big Daddy declared before leading the charge against the Hooffields matriach who quickly retreated.
"Yah!”
While retreating back to her hill she called out to the ponies hiding behind the nearby trees.
“Ready... aim... fire!”
But just before the McColts could approach the Hooffields matriach, Kion was quick to whisk them away before the hiding Hooffields could open fire on the whole McColt clan with his magic. At the same time Twilight was quick to whisk the Hooffields away before they could get another attack in along with the others who were about to open fire on the McColts. With that the ongoing battle was halted at the very moment as both parties were hoisted in the air under both the prince and princess’s control.
“Enough!” Kion fiercely shouted. “All of you!”
“Ma Hooffield, you planted ponies in that cake?!” Twilight angrily scolded. “Yeah!” She proudly laughed before realizing what they had in mine. “Wait. Were you serious about apologizin'?” She still refused to budge from her stance. “Why in Equestria would we do that? We didn't do anythin' wrong!”
“What're you talkin' about?! You done so many things wrong!” Big Daddy retorted.
“Not as many as you!”
Both Ma Hooffield and Big Daddy McColt growled and would have gotten in each other’s faces if it weren’t for being under magical custody by the two alicorns.
“You’re both wrong!” Twilight firmly and angrily stated. “Not for only for whatever so called justifications you think this is all okay, but also for waging war against each other when you both don’t even have the slightest clue of what the hay this is all about. With nothing to be gained but much to be lost. But then again, since you’re all going to resume fighting until you kill yourselves for the next hundred years or so, what’s the point. If none of you care about the damage you are all doing to yourselves, why should I?!”
After releasing her magical grip on the Hooffields at the same time Kion released the McColts, the princess moved to storm off away from both parties who are both left stunned by what they were just told by her…
...only for a few seconds before they got back to arguing and fighting again.
Kion can look on in disgust at both families especially their leaders before following after her to make sure she is okay.
As the battle raged on both Ono and Fluttershy noticed and handful of poor critters caught in the crossfire before rushing over to rescue them before quickly regrouping with both the prince and princess.
“Twilight.” Fluttershy called out to her who was only in the mood to sadly rip out the pages containing the failed ideas of repairing their friendship before slumping to the ground in great distress and disappointment with what has happened so far. “We should probably get back there. I mean, if you need a break, that's fine, but I really can't do this without you.”
“Me neither.” Ono added in agreement before asking the more important question on his and Kion’s minds. “Twilight? Are you okay.”
“No.” She honestly answered. “In fact, I don't know if we can do this at all. Even if I make things right, they're just gonna fight again.”
"But Twilight…” Kion spoke up to assert otherwise. “...you’re the Princess of Friendship. From what I’ve heard and seen from the other’s friendship missions, the map has never been wrong when it comes to making the call on who is the most qualified for the job.”
“Yeah!” Ono agreed while chiming in while recalling their friends stories of their previous friendship adventures. “When it came to Griffonstone, Pinkie and Rainbow both had the best experience with griffons and with Gilda involved it so it made sense for them to be picked to go there. And it made sense for Bunga and Kyoga to go there with them because they had the best brave and cheerfulness to be by their side along with the wisdom to relate to Gilda’s insecurities to help give her the push she needs to reopen her friendship to them.”
“That’s right!” Kion nodded and then added. “In Manehattan, Coco would haven’t restoring spirit to the community if it weren’t for Fuli’s quick-thinking and Beshte’s optimistic outlook to help Rarity and Applejack focus on the smaller things rather than tackling the big tasks at hoof and paw.”
“When you put it that way...that’s true.” Twilight acknowledged though she still kept her eyes down to match her downcast expression.
Seeing this had Fluttershy offer some words of comfort to help motivate her distraught friend. “And there’s also the fact that you are one of the most brilliant and experienced ponies capable of handling disputes like this. So if any pony can get stop two families from fighting each other it’s you.”
“But they’ve all brushed aside every idea I had planned and tried to use on them. Literally.”
Fluttershy tapped a hoof on her chin before continuing. “Well then you just got to keep on trying and if that doesn’t work then use the necessary magic needed to keep them separated.”
“But how are we going to resolve the constant fighting if we do force them to stop?”
“Then we’ll just need to put forward solid proof that this ongoing war of theirs is meaningless.”
And right on cue the furry critters Fluttershy came across emerged from the bushes. "Hey, little fellas. It’s okay you can come out." She kindly greeted with them who likewise liked her as their new friend. Suddenly, the group was startled when a loud rumbling to the point anyone in close proximity can hear it.
"What was that?" Twilight asked in surprise before seeing the critters all having growling guts with the squirrel and a ferret’s being the loudest who both can only rub their tummy’s with their paws.
Fluttershy looked on in sadden horror like it is worst thing that could ever happen to one of her friends. “Oh, you poor things! There isn't enough food here for you! "The critters all moved to hug her causing the Pegasus to shiver after feeling a chill ride right up through her body before holding them close for warmth. "Oh, brrr, and you're freezing! I'm gonna take you all home with me and get you all hot cocoas. How do you feel about book clubs?"
"I don't get it." Ono commented while looking around the depressing sight before his very sharp and keen eyes, "This was supposed to be the most beautiful valley in all of the Equestria. What happened?"
“Good question.” Twilight replied unsure herself before turning to the critters huddling with Fluttershy after getting a new idea in her head. “Would you by any chance know why the Hooffields and McColts are always fighting each other?”
One of the squirrels jumped onto Fluttershy's ear, chattering in its own language while the Pegasus listened attentively. "What's that? Oh! Uh-huh... Twilight! Kion! Ono! They know what happened here!"
“They do?”
“What happened?”
Both Ono and Kion hopefully asked.
But before Fluttershy could explain further, the group heard the ongoing commotion getting louder and louder meaning the fight was already getting more violent with every passing minute.
Ono quickly flew up to investigate and true to his worries, the fight was continuing to get worse now. “Hapana! The Hooffields and McColts are happening! They’re dragging it out until nothing’s left!”
“Hevi Kabisa!”
“We have to stop them!”
Both Kion and Fluttershy exclaimed in shock.
“I’m sure we’ll have that answer soon enough.” Twilight replied before she and Kion moved to lead everyone back to the battlefield.
“Let’s go!”
In between the two mountains both clans have taken the fight down to the ground deciding to meet face to face to put an end to this once and for all. Fists, rocks, vegetables, fruits, wood and all sorts of things went flying about as they were determined to duke out the grave injustice that no pony remembers. No matter what the cost of the very little life left in the forest is, they would not stop until their last breath. Seeing this spurred both Kion and Twilight to action when they arrived on the scene.
"Stop!”
“You have to listen to me!"
They shouted in a desperate attempt to make them listen to them, but they were all too fueled up in their own pride and anger to even pay heed to their words. The moment another cupcake and tomato hit them both in the face, both Twilight and Kion knew that trying to be reasonable has gone on long enough. Now it is time to put a stop to it all.
“Enough!”
"Everybody freeze!"
Their voices echoed across from across the entire valley and a powerful beam of magic emerged from their horn, expanding into a giant glowing spear before vanishing in the blink of an eye. Once the light had disappeared, both families found themselves frozen in place. Their bodies surrounded by two glowing magenta and red auras while their eyes kept on moving, as well as their facial expressions. Each one remained in their frozen position while Twilight and Kion slowly lowered down, taking in slow deep breaths.
“Okay, Fluttershy, Ono. Tell them.”
“And fast…” Kion grunted with visible strain and struggle unlike Twilight. “...it’s a lot hard to freeze an army of ponies than just a group of six.”
Both Fluttershy and Ono having had a spell placed on them to avoid being frozen alongside the Hooffields and McColts emerged from the bushes so they could explain the truth to them at full volume.
"Before you keep fighting, there is something you should know!" Fluttershy began with a squirrel on her shoulder and Ono flying by her side before beginning to tell them the story. “Grub Hooffield and Piles McColt. When they found the valley between the Smokey Mountains, they knew it was something special. So they made a promise to each other to protect and preserve the valley for all its adorable furry inhabitants. But they disagreed on how to go about it. Grub wanted to start by planting crops so that everypony would have something to eat. But Piles thought it would be better to start by building a shelter to protect them against the cold and wind. The two ponies were unable to come to an understanding, so Piles went ahead and built a shelter anyway, exactly where Grub was gonna start his farm! Grub was upset, so he tore down Piles' shelter so he could plant his crops!”
Then Ono took his turn in speaking. “They kept fighting back and forth, until it turned into a feud! The valley suffered from the constant destruction, until finally the Hooffields and McColts moved to separate mountains. Even then, the valley and all the animals in it continued to be caught in the crossfire. You see? By fighting, you're destroying the very thing that brought you here in the first place!”
Once the story came to an end, both families fell into stunned silence and finally took the time to look around them. Because of ancestor's stubborn pride the once beautiful valley was now destroyed and there was now little food and water. It has now become a barren wasteland just like the Pride Lands under Scar’s reign as King. All the animals looked so skinny they might starve to death. The trees were all gone and the grass was dry, crumpled and brown in color. This land was dying more and more with each passing year, and they were all so caught up in this petty feud that they were not aware of it.
Ono then spoke up again as he and Fluttershy lowered down, with all of the animals of the family surrounding her. "So it's time you both put your differences aside and come together!”
“If not for yourselves, then for the sake of these cute and cuddly guys!"
As Fluttershy hugged the critters, Ma and Big Daddy started to see the error of their ways.
"Aw, shucks, we never meant to hurt you little critters. Or you kids." Big Daddy said sadly first in regret.
For the first time ever, Maw agreed with him. "Yeah, we're sorry!"
The critters all chattered in response to the clan leaders apology to which Ono happily translated for them. “They say you accept your apology. And yes, I like Fluttershy can speak critter.”
After a few seconds of heartfelt silence Big Daddy spoke up
"Uh, prince, princess? You can unfreeze us now."
“Sure thing.” Twilight canceled the spell with ease. But then she noticed a certain red colored aura was still going on and keeping them in place for another minute. “Kion...”
"Oh, right!" Kion opened his eyes and realized that his spell was still going on before he canceled his magic too. Once that happened, both clan unfroze, lowering their weapons and started shaking hoofs, hugging and patting one another on the back, ready to leave the past behind them for good.
Mama and Big Daddy once unfrozen moved to speak heart to heart for the first time in ages with the latter taking his tall hat off as he humbly apologized.
"Ma, we promise we won't fight you no more."
"Us too, except we promise not to fight you. I suppose it doesn't matter who's right. We're both wrong."
"That's one thing we can agree on."
To seal their newfound friendship, both leaders spit on their hoofs and shook on it. The gesture, regardless of what it meant, made the Lion and Pony Guard quad cringe in disgust. Never the less, the two clans were united and their c;an members all celebrated and cheered while tossing aside their weapons. From this day forward there will be no more fighting, with full focus on working together to restore and flourish the one remarkable beautiful land to it’s former glory.
Twilight magically teleported herself to the two clan leaders with a smile of great pride. "This is wonderful! I am so proud of you two!"
"Aw, thanks, princess." Ma said in gratitude, "Though I would just like to point out that I was the, uh, first to admit I .as wrong." She smiled smugly at Big Daddy, reigniting his competitive side once more.
"That may be, but I promised not to fight first. That counts for more!"
"Oh, yeah?!"
Just before they would go at it again, the creatures all started to chatter angrily at them, followed by some very disapproving glares from Ono, Fluttershy, Kion, Twilight, and the rest of their families.
“Don’t even think about it.” Ono sternly warned.
Ma then wisely dropped it entirely. "Oh, all right. We don't have to speak animal to know what y'all are sayin'. Truce?"
"Truce." Big Daddy said with an honest and sincere smile.
In the following days, things have greatly improved for both the Hooffields and McColts. By working together like they promised they helped each other create stronger and even better houses than the ones they had before, and perfect shelters for the animals that lived there. Gardens were made, new crops were planted, the trees started to show signs of growing back, flowers were blooming and even the construction of a new fountain made made, with pure fresh clean water along with the water in the river stream. The fountain itself even had two statues, in honor of the two men who founded this place, both shaking hands. Grub’s statue was actually a bush, cut out in his likeness, while Piles statue was made out of cement as a reminder that regardless of what they were good at, only when they worked together did they create something beautiful.
"Woo-hoo!" Big Daddy cheered at the sight of the new fountain, "Ain't that a pretty sight?"
“Sure is!” Ma said in agreement. “The McColts are gonna help us rebuild our homes! Good ones this time. "
“And the Hooffields are gonna help us grow some crops!” Ma added.
“Not pumpkins.” The stallion quickly interjhected.
"Sure is!" Ma then turned to the quad of heroes who helped them see the errors of their ways. "Thanks for teachin' us that friendship is so much better than winnin' a silly argument."
“Our pleasure.” Kion said with a proud smile.
“As leaders of the Lion and Pony Guard it’s what we do best.” Twilight happily added.
“And as the Keenest of Sight and the Kindest of the Bunch it’s our job to help maintain balance in Equestria as much as the Pride Lands.” Ono equally happy added.
“Truer words have never been spoken.” Fluttershy then said before the clan leaders went off to begin their new lives as friendly neighbors leading a glorious home that both Simba and Mufusa would proud of seeing if they were here.
As the stallions and mares waved goodbye to their new friends they then felt a sudden tingle on their arms and flanks courtesy of their ringing and glowing cutie marks and Marks of the Guard. Which means that their work was completed and that they have succeeded in their mission.
Fluttershy cheered first. "Yay! I told you we'd figure it out."
"We did, and we didn't need my friendship portfolio to do it." Twilight said right before zapping the thing to who knows where. "We just needed each other. And I needed some much needed encouragement to keep trying until we succeeded."
“With flying colors.” Ono added with a wink.
“You said it.” Kion nodded.
"So, what do you think will happen next?" Twilight asked once the hug ended and she levitated their respected saddlebag. "We've all been called by the map now."
Thankfully both Kion and Twilight were the ones that took full control of both Ono and Fluttershy’s bags respectively before leading the way back to their hot air ballon ride so they can fly on back home.
“I'm sure we'll find out when we get home." Fluttershy said while following after the prince and princess.
"What if it summons all of us to another place? Or another pony we weren't expecting? What if it wants us to solve other kinds of problems, like quantum physics, or why the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"
“All of the above are all good questions.” Ono commented as he flew side by side with her so he can gossip with her about it some more.
All Kion could do was roll his eyes with a smile and Fluttershy giggled.
“Some things never change do they?”
“Nope. But I wouldn’t ask for anything different because for all we know this is the Twilight we know and love.”
“It sure is.”
“Yep.”
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Wasn’t it Coco?
Princesses? Isn’t Kion a prince?
11738001
Fixed.