A Changecid

It had been going so well! He managed to find the buffalo camp, infiltrate it, and then rouse the buffalos enough for them to ‘fight back’. He swore he could see red in the chieftain's eyes when he told of what the ponies did to him, allll the horrible things they didn’t actually do to him. He was disguised as another buffalo of course, no doubt that mountain of a buffalo would just crush him if he ever learned what he truly was.

The buffalos started small, robbing a few trains, and taking a few trees down. But it escalated, fast. Thanks to him of course. He encouraged the buffalos even further with each act they committed which invigorated them more, then he went to ponies as White Raven and gave them information on buffalos while painting them in bad light.

Doing small acts of sabotage on each side fueled their paranoia and anger more. After some time, the ponies and buffalos started blaming acts of misfortune on each other, even the acts he didn’t commit were blamed on the other party.

A tree’s apples were rotten? The buffalos poisoned it! The campfire was unable to be lit? The pegasi were blowing winds from the clouds! The farming tools were stolen? It must have been the buffalo…that one was actually him. But that didn’t stop the ponies from blaming the buffalos.

All that had culminated into this moment alone, he was watching from a safe distance as the two races prepared to face each other. There were two lines one made of buffalos, ready to charge down the hill and into the town, and one line made of ponies standing behind their makeshift barricades, ready to halt the buffalos.

With a smile that went from one side to the other, Eruidum waited for it to start, watching from the roof of the saloon, where this all started. A couple of ponies showed up earlier which caused a bit of a hiccup in his plans, but everything went smoothly after the pink one messed it all up by performing so badly that she had convinced both sides not to share.

His grin turned into a frown when he spotted the leader of the six running to the middle of the field, placing herself between the two sides. What was she doing now? Bah, it didn’t matter, there was no ending this. So he sat back and watched as Twilight started to speak.

‘’Please! We do not have to fight! There must be a way for us to solve this without violence!’’ Twilight pleaded to both sides.

‘’There is only one way pony! Remove the fields and we’ll have peace!’’ said Chief Thunderhooves with his deep voice. ‘’I’m giving you until! If the trees are not gone by that time, you’ll have shown how much you value peace.’’

Twilight’s words did no effect to quell the fire that was raging, so she went back to her friends shaking her head in disappointment and sadness.

Oof, the chief was set on doing this. Maybe he fired him up a little too much…eh, it’s more fun this way. Why did he have to give them so long though? He was burning up under this accursed sun, couldn’t he have given them 5 minutes? To seek shelter from this unforgiving heat he took cover behind the signboard of the saloon, its shade bringing great comfort and he could still see the clock from here so he waited. Ah, he should have gotten one of those big hats that the ponies were wearing.

When noon approached, he eagerly looked toward the buffalos expecting the battle to begin but the buffalos didn’t move at all. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the chief, who looked disheartened all of a sudden, wait, this is not how it’s supposed to be!

‘’Yes! He’s not gonna do it!’’ He heard some of the ponies bellow him heave out a collective sigh of relief.

No, no, no! He worked for his food and he would get it! What could he do, what would make the chief regain his spirit? He wracked his brain for any possible way he could come up with, and then he spotted the pink pony from before, still in her performance outfit.

His mandibles clicked a few times in excitement as realization hit him in the face like a frying pan, like the ones the pink one would use.

He cleared his throat with a cough and adjusted his voice.

Twilight just wanted to accompany her friend on her trip to Appleloosa, what she didn’t want to be was being stuck in the middle of a conflict with the ponies and the buffalos! She and her friends tried so hard to find a way for both parties to reach an agreement but every time it seemed like they were making some kind of progress, a problem would occur elsewhere almost as if somepony was actively sabotaging them.

And now it had all broken down after Pinkie’s fiasco of an act. Twilight tried one last time to appeal to both the ponies and the buffalos but the buffalos were adamant on their stance, and the ponies were so afraid that they just couldn’t be reasoned with.

But then she saw the face of the chief after the bell had tolled, that face was not the face of someone who really wanted to fight, and Twilight genuinely believed that it was going to be over.

Her tense body relaxed and sighed, happy that it was all going to be okay.

Then she heard it, a repeating, consistent clicking.

‘’You gotta shaaare! You gotta caaare! It’s the right thing to dooo!’’ The voice of Pinkie’s voice broke the tense air.

Twilight’s and her friend's eyes widened and they almost jumped at Pinkie to stop singing. But they were all befuddled when realizing that Pinkie’s mouth wasn’t even moving. Pinkie looked just as confused as the rest of them.

Before Twilight could determine what was actually going on, she heard the mighty roar of the chief and the buffalos started charging towards the town kicking up a giant dust cloud as they did so.

Twilight heard the laughs of Pinkie, but it was not Pinkie and it couldn’t be Pinkie too because Rainbow and Applejack were physically covering her mouth. It was a twisted version of Pinkie’s joyous laugh, this one was still filled with enjoyment and fun but it felt wrong, when Pinkie laughed she laughed with ponies, this one sounded like it was laughing at them. The laugh was drowned out as the wave of buffalo approached the town, fast.

The settlers not having the courage to meet the buffalo charge scattered into the town, Twilight’s friends included, leaving only her. She saw a buffalo charging at her so using her magic she fired off a random spell in a panic.

He knew it would work, but he didn’t know it would work this well. He wasn’t complaining though. Maybe he should thank the pink one after this is over, it’s the least he could do after using her voice.

He would thank her if she was still alive.

The buffalos were now rampaging through the town in an unbridled stampede, a wave of destruction so devastating that it would put even the minotaurs to shame! The ponies didn’t bother to hold the makeshift barricades and quickly retreated into the town.

Ah, he saw the leader, Twilight, looking lost as a baby duckling as a buffalo charged at her. Well, that was it for her. A bright and colorful flash of light appeared where the mare was and she disappeared, the buffalo was blinded by the flash and continued charging, stumbling over a rock he hit head-first into an anvil hidden in some hay bales.

As he was trying to wrap his mind around what had happened to her, Eruidum heard a peculiar noise above him. He didn’t have the time to look up as Twilight fell on him and he was knocked down.

He quickly recovered and saw that Twilight was now lying on top of him. Where the hell did she come from? She’s been a real pain in the backside for him and now this? He’d rather not get physical with his food, but he’d have to now since he was not disguised, keeping it required constant energy. Maybe he should have kept it on though, since he was going to be filled up in just a minute.

Twilight shook her head and tried to gather herself “Ugh, I really need to work on that spell a lot more before I master- huh?’’ She felt something pushing from underneath her. ‘’Woah!’’ and she was flung to the other side of the roof.

She opened her eyes and was met with a white hoof to her face. ‘’Nighty night, Twilight!’’ was the last thing she heard in her friend’s voice.

There, now she was knocked out cold. His frown from the rude interruption slowly turned back into a smile as he continued watching the chaos below. Now he could eat his wonderfully crafted meal in peace.

The panic and terror of the ponies were sweet, ah, but with the spiciness of the buffalo’s anger…Mwah! Truly a unique combination. His antennae buzzed in joyful bliss in this magnificent sea of flavor. Apparently, it was now time dessert, for all the emotions had turned into a deep sorrow. What was going on?

He poked his head out from the rooftops and scanned. All the buffalos and the ponies had stopped fighting and some of them were even crying. He looked further and saw that the chief had fallen.

The smile on his face stretched even further and turned into an insidious grin, he could not physically smile further but mentally? It stretched on for continent- did he just move his mouth?

The ‘fallen’ chief, got up from the ground and licked his face clean in a second. ‘’Yum!’’ He exclaimed.

Is this a joke?

‘’Hey everybody! I got a better idea!’’ the chief said.

Eruidum wiped his eyes and blinked a few times to see if he was actually seeing what was happening. Nope, still there.

And then it reached him, that taste.

Love.

The ponies and the buffalos were now exhibiting not anger, not fear but love. They exhibited outsickening amounts of it as Thunderhooves told his plan to the ponies. He could see it, his plan crumbling bit by bit. How could it be? How can they forgive each other so quickly?!

‘’Aughhh, my head.’’

Oh great, she was waking up. Time to make his escape, he only got a smidgen of what he intended to get but it would suffice for a few days. He jumped down from the roof using his mandibles to hold onto the drainage pipe and used it to slide down to the ground, not caring what damage he caused. This was his little revenge, it was the small things that mattered. With the same swiftness, he quickly changed into the ‘White Raven’ persona and slipped out of the town.

He would wait for some time before boarding a train, he could not stand the ponies nor the buffalos right now. Even after making quite a distance from the town, he could still feel the lingering feelings of love, he just couldn’t shake it off, eugh.

Finding a rock formation that gave him just enough shade to hide from the sun, he took refuge. Leaving the disguise, he patted the ground beneath him and laid his head on it, closing his eyes as he did. Best to conserve as much energy as he could right now.

The sun had bid the land farewell and let the moon take its place and nighttime struck. Yawning as he woke up, Eruidum stretched a little and left his trusty rocks and dirt to go back into town. The feelings should have subsided a little bit now.

Once he got close enough, he could feel it but hey, at least he wasn’t on the verge of puking out his guts. He quietly and discreetly as possible got to the station and went to the ticket booth.

‘’Excuse me? Can I have a ticket to…’’ He looked at the possible locations on the list. ‘’-Canterlot?’’

‘’Of course!’’ replied the ticket mare with a voice filled with cheeriness, eugh. ‘’Here you go!’’ she said and gave him a ticket.

‘’Um, how much is it?’’

‘’Oh don’t worry about it! We’re having a big celebration so all tickets are free for a time!’’

‘’I see…thank you.’’ he lightly bowed his head and turned around to board the train.

‘’You’re welcome! Come back and visit anytime!’’ she waved as he left. He would not be visiting this place in the future, that one he was sure of.

He looked at the beast of a machine with wondrous eyes before he got on. He had seen trains in the Griffon lands. But they were considerably simpler compared to this. Even his room was much, much, much better, it even had a bed! It had several beds, how luxurious.

He sat on the small couch near the window and looked outside. How had it come to this? Did he do something wrong? Or maybe he didn’t participate as much as he needed to succeed? But it was perfect! There was nothing wrong with it! He got them to hate each other in two weeks. Two, weeks!

His thoughts swirling in his mind made him drop his guard and he didn’t hear the sliding door and didn’t notice the group of six ponies and a little dragon get into the room.

‘’Oh oh oh! We have a roommate!’’ Pinkie said and jumped in front of him. ‘’Hiya roomie!’’ she smiled.

‘’Wha-?!’’ Eruidum said, raising his hooves to guard himself.

‘’What’s your name? My name’s Pinkie Pie, but my friends call me Pinkie, so you can call me Pinkie. What’s your favorite type of pie? Mine is totally apple pie after this day, actually, there are cupcake pies those ones are my favorite-’’ Pinkie said and said and continued saying, Eruidum couldn’t keep up with what was going on. Why was she here?! And cupcake pies?!?

He looked around for a way to escape his pink captor but was met with the faces of the six from earlier, awkwardly laughing along.

‘’I think he had enough dear,’’ said Rarity and dragged Pinkie away.

‘’I’m sorry we disturbed you Mr…’’ said Twilight, apologizing for her friend.

‘’White Raven.’’

‘’Yes, Mr. Raven. It looks like we will be staying in the cabin for the next few days. I hope we can get along.’’ said Twilight and gave him a small smile.

Was this the universe itself laughing and mocking him for his failure?

‘’Joy.’’ He gritted out through clenched teeth but still showed a friendly enough smile. ‘’Even though I’d love to meet you all, I must sleep now. Please do not disturb me,’’ said Eruidum and hopped on his bed.

‘’Alrighty! Let’s have pancakes tomorrow breakfast roomie!’’ said Pinkie.

He closed the curtain on the side of the bed and didn’t reply. He wasn’t going to sleep, he didn’t need it but even if he did, he would not dare close his eyes around these ponies now, especially around that Twilight character, she snuck up on him twice, not once but twice!

Their continuous laughter and chatter would not allow him to sleep anyhow.

‘’Ah, my head,’’ said Twilight, rubbing her now sore head.

‘’If I ever see the guy who did that to you Twilight, I’ll give him a butt-kicking so bad that he would need a second butt for me to kick again!’’ exclaimed Rainbow, while punching the air a few times. ''You said they had Pinkie's voice?'' said Rainbow and quickly turned to Pinkie throwing her a nasty look. ''You sure you didn't do it Pinkie?''

''Nope! Why would I hurt my friend? I'm angry at that pony too, but I wanna meet them, we could have two Pinkies! Oh maybe I have an evil twin?'' said Pinkie, now wondering if she had an evil twin that she was separated from at birth. All of her friends shuddered at the thought.

Eruidum could already tell this was going to be a fun trip. He was not going to thank Pinkie Pie in any possible way though.