Apple Bloom sat again with a semi circle of foals, fillies and colts as she continued her brother’s story.
Riki Tiki Tavi spent her days prowling the Ore family’s farm. The small critters that made that place her home had become her friends, and no other snake dared to slither upon the land. Word had gotten out that a moongoose roamed the farm and the critters that lived there were very thankful for Riki’s vigilance. They had sugar beets, and sweet berries always available for her, whenever she was hungry. A moongoose uses a lot of energy in her patrols, so she was always hungry, and always thankful that the critters of the farm took care of her in their own way.
What’s more, they were her eyes and ears. They told her when Miss Hiss was about. No one on the farm had been attacked in ages, but Riki knew that the snake would be getting heavy with eggs soon.
Snake eggs. Riki licked her long snout at the thought of fresh snake eggs. Those were a delicacy for moongooses, and something she had not had in a long while.
A blue crested robin landed on a small branch near where Riki laid, catching some afternoon sun on her soft belly.
“Riki!” Rock, the robin, screeched, “Miss Hiss got Squeakers! And his wife! And the babies!”
With a start, Riki was on her four paws and darted up to Rock just as his wife Robin landed. “It’s true!” She lamented. “We saw her swallow Squeakers at the far end of the farm. Oh, Squeakers! And Squeakie! All those cubs! The horror.”
Riki’s eyes narrowed. “That was the last straw. Miss Hiss is going to go away.”
“But what about the eggs, Riki?” Robin chirped and cried. “She was no longer egg heavy. She was fast. And hungry.”
Riki knew that laying eggs took a lot out of snakes. Squeakers and his family had been sacrificed by the snake in order to replenish her reserves. Riki also knew that a small meal of mice wouldn’t do for that snake.
“I have a plan. You have to trust me. Do you know where her lair is?”
“Yes,” Rock answered, confident. “Just outside of the fence line by the old oak tree. That way!” He rose up and pointed with his beak, flying off for a bit towards the old oak before turning back to glide and land beside his wife.
“What I need you to do, Rock, is to be a spotter for me. Robin, can you pretend you’ve broken your wing? A bird who can’t fly is an easy target for Miss Hiss.”
“What do you plan on doing?” Rock tilted his head even as his wife nodded in agreement.
“She’s gonna use me as bait to get Miss Hiss out in the open.”
“You’re my diversion, and I need her kept busy.” Riki’s teeth chattered as she explained her plan. “Make all the racket you can, and fly away when she gets too close. I am going to deal with her nest.”
“Do you really think that this foals need to be read a story about death and destruction?” The mare of one of the foals asked Big Mac while tapping her hoof on the table in front of him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, and opened his mouth to continue when his sister Apple Jack stepped up.
“Ma’am, no offence, but if we coddle the foals, they’ll never learn to jump on their own,” the orange coated, yellow maned filly spoke in careful tones. “If’n they never learn to trot on their own, they’ll never want to gallop.”
The mare snorted, turned and trotted away to another part of the library.
“That was very wise of you,” Twilight Sparkle spoke to her friend.
“Ain’t it the truth? If the foals don’t learn to trot on their own, they’ll never want to gallop. Granny Smith taught us that.”
“If’n you mind, Ah’d like to get back to mah story!” Apple Bloom’s voice cut through the conversation, and the three older ponies all blushed.
Riki heard the commotion the next morning and saw Rock, the robin, circling the sky, making a cacophony. “My wife! My wife! Robin has broken her wing!”
With Miss Hiss occupied, Riki took off to the old oak tree. She found it, and used her nose to guide her to the snake’s lair. She disappeared down into the dark hole, her tail twitching until it too was out of sight.
“My wing! My poor wing! That rotten pony used his slingshot and hit my wing! Oh, my babies!” Robin circled on the ground, hopping and dragging her left wing.
“What issss thisss?” Miss Hiss slithered into view, and Robin hopped back. “A bird with a broken wing? Delissssiousssss.” Her tongue flickered out of her mouth as she rose to strike.With a flash of feathers, Rock dived bombed for Miss Hiss’ head. He struck her right behind her eyes and took off for the sky again, as Robin bounced further away.
Miss Hiss screeched in anger, and lunged for a strike. Robin bounced up and took to the air, joining her husband. The two robins took off for the sky.
Miss Hiss snarled and flicked her tongue. With a snort, she turned around and slithered away, back towards the old oak.
The snake paused at the entrance of her lair. She flickered her tongue and darted into it, with a horrified look on her face. She resurfaced a moment later, and looked up the tree. “Moongoossse! How dare you! You killed my babiesssss!”
“Aye,” the moongoose replied, her teeth chattering, as she leaned on the last remaining egg. “I’m saving this one for my dinner tonight.”
“You dare!” Miss Hiss began to climb the tree, but the moongoose was far too fast. Riki grabbed the still leathery egg in her mouth, and bounced from branch to branch, hitting the ground running.
Riki could hear the raucous complaints from the snake behind her as she ran for an open area. She wanted an area where none of the other animals would be in danger, in order to deal with the snake.
“I am queen of thisss land! The animalssss live or die by my will!” Miss Hiss screeched. “Even the ponies!”
In a clearing, Riki finally turned to face the beast bearing down on her. “Not today,” her teeth chattered. “No more fear! Your death is near!”
“Isss it?” Miss Hiss hissed, rearing up. Riki rolled the egg behind her, her muscles tensed and her whiskers twitched.
“Never again!” Riki caterwauled and lept out of Miss Hiss’ death strike. Her jaws hit the ground hard, a fang breaking on a rock. Her venom dripped out and her anger rose higher. She screamed in agony as the moongoose found purchase on the snake’s back. With a hiss of warning, Riki jumped away from the snake in time to avoid another poisoned strike.
“You dare?” Miss Hiss screeched.“I dare. Your reign terror of this farm is at an end. You are meat to be wasted. Your children are all dead, all but one,” Riki taunted. She continued, with her teeth chattering, “and that one will be my dessert tonight!”
Miss Hiss reared up and tried another strike that Riki avoided by jumping straight up and landing on the snake’s head. The moongoose bit down on the back of the snake’s head, and held on even as Miss Hiss Thrashed. Riki dug in, and bit down harder.
“Get off! You fiend!” Miss Hiss ranted even as Riki was certain she had grabbed the right spot.
Several of the critters of the farm had come out to watch the battle royal and cheered Riki on as she kept her death grip. Miss Hiss thrashed and rolled into the long grasses, dragging Riki with her.
Leaves flew into the air. A small nest of buzzy buzzes took off buzzing. The critters were able to trace where the fight is by watching the long grasses move as the two combatants fought for life and death.
Then, the grass was still.
“Did Riki do it?” A colt in the front row bounced up and down.
“She had to!” A fillie blerted out, with others joining it.
“Settle down, foals. Ah can’t finish if yer jumping more than a pack of Mexicolt jumping beans,” Apple Bloom interjected. She eyed the foals, fillies and colts, and waited patiently until they all settled back on their haunches.
The sea of grass parted, and a paw came forward. Then a nose, and finally, a long, but exhausted, moongoose body slinked out of the grass. “It is done,” she said, and gathered up the last remaining egg. Disgusted at finding a hole in the egg, Riki tore it apart, letting the inner goo spill on the ground.
Exhausted, Riki collapsed on the ground. Surrounded by her friends, they stayed with her until a young colt came trotting up.
“Riki!” Rare Ore exclaimed happily, “where have you been? Mother has been calling us for supper.” With a gentle hoof, Rare Ore put Riki on his back, and happily trotted back to the farmhouse for his supper.
“Ah do declare, that was a most surpising thing I found today,” Coal Ore lifted his hat and smiled at his son. “I found a snake with it’s neck bit nearly clear through. Ah’m thinking that that moongoose of yours did away with our snake problem.”
“That… was AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash bounced up into the air, doing a barrel roll over the head of the foals there in the library.
“So, Big Mac, do you have any other stories in that brain of yours?”
“Eh-yup.”