Multiple times she woke up in the night. The deepness of sleep evaded her and she found herself opening her eyes to see the wooden ceiling above her, or the colorful tresses of her sleeping companions. She had to lay more on Twilight’s side due to Fluttershy’s habit of flicking her wings in her sleep and tickling her side. And occasionally Twilight would mutter arcanic knowledge that was gibberish to Jelly.
But each time she managed to shift her position and slipped back into sleep. However, now a throbbing sound was keeping her from sleeping. It was consistent and seemed to drill into her head. She opened her eyes when the movement near her followed. Twilight was rising from bed, her eyes blinking sleepily as she walked to the stairs leading down.
“What’s wrong?” Jelly focused her eyes on the clock. It was 1:05 AM. The other ponies were slowly awakening from the banging themselves.
“Somepony is banging on the door.”
“This late?”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Twilight reached the door and barely turned the latch before it was swung open.
A panic stallion with deep red coat and yellow mane stood at the door. “Miss Sparkle. We got a situation.”
The strain in his tone, frightened Jelly and the other ponies likely heard it as well as they all listened intently.
“What’s wrong, Cinnamon Sugar?”
“Smokey was found wondering the street with a monster of a concussion. He’s bleeding from the head and he keeps talking about Mites taking his foal. We sent some ponies to his place to see what happened and the window to his colt’s nursery is broken and they couldn’t find him anywhere.” Cinnamon’s hooves tapped the doorstep in his anxiety. “We think what happened was that Smokey heard the glass breaking and went up to see what was happening. There was a wire across the top of the stairs so we can guess that when he ran down stairs he tripped and fell down the stairs. It’s by Celestia and Luna’s Grace that he didn’t break his neck.”
“What about his son? They couldn’t find him anywhere?” Twilight eyes were widening as she spoke.
“No, he’s missing.”
Information and memories caved in around her. The zebra ambassador’s daughter and Sweet Hearts . . . now Ember.
On the second level, Jelly whispered to Rarity, “Wasn’t it a wire across the top of the doorstep that sent me to the hospital?”
“Why yes . . .it was.” Understanding dawned in Rarity’s eyes. “ . . . mites. Oh no.”
“Mites?”
Before Jelly could inquire further, Rainbow Dash cried out from the window, “Those featherbrains! I can’t believe this! First Snow is tomorrow night! Not today!”
The ponies turned and looked out the window. Twilight Sparkle glanced around Cinammon Sugar who too was looking skyward. White fluffs of ice dwindled downward collecting on the earth and clinging to the window. Jelly leaned forward, her nose nearly touching the glass. This was the first time she had seen snow for herself due to the colony she grown up on had a climate too warm for any icy weather.
Pinkie Pie shrieked with delight. “Snow cones! I gotta run home and get caramel and chocolate sauce!”
“Pinkie Pie, dear, I think we have bigger things to worry about than wintery treats.” Rarity gently admonished the excited pink Earth Pony.
“Yeah! They’re ruining Winter Welcome.”
“It’s not us!” A new voice called from the doorway. The ponies turned and saw a pale blue pegasus mare with a pink mane standing beside Cinnamon Sugar. “We didn’t do it! I was sent to find all the pegasi that are off duty so we can corral this thing. Have ya seen Derpy?”
“Derpy? No, why?” Rainbow spread her wings and glided down to the first level next to Twilight Sparkle.
“I can’t find her at home.” The pegasus mare held a worried look. “And I’ve been by there twice.”
“Maybe she’s lost. This is Derpy we’re talkin’ about.” Rainbow rolled inclined her head as if in memory of Derpy’s mishaps.
“I don’t think even Derpy would get lost finding her way home.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight spoke up, her eyes flashing with purpose. “Go ahead and help get the snow under control and then come back. I got the feeling that we are going to need you tonight.” Twilight turned to Spike who had just now waddled from his bed dragging a blanket and one small hand rubbing at his tired eyes.
“What’d I miss?” He yawned wide, showing off his small sharp fangs. Jelly decided then and there that he was an adorable baby dragon.
“Spike, write a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her a foal has gone missing and we think it might be small creatures called Mites that took him.” Twilight cantered to the tall book shelves as she spoke.
“I thought you said there was no such thing as Mites?” Spike dropped the blanket and was trotted to a nearby wooden desk.
“I know, but I’ve been wrong before. This is the third foal to go missing in less than a week. It can’t be a coincidence!” Twilight was glancing along the shelves.
“Twilight, what do you want us to do?” Rarity inquired. “I’d hate for us to stand around doing nothing.”
“We should check on Smokey.” Jelly heard herself speak up. As the ponies turned to look at her, she regretted it, but she pushed forward, “He might have seen something.”
“Good idea, Jelly. You and Rarity do that. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can help me research them. Rainbow Dash, if you get a chance, go to Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack. I want all of us to be ready for whatever may happen.”
“W-what are you going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy bent her head over the edge of the second floor to see what Twilight was doing.
“What I do best? Study.” Twilight levitated several books from the shelves and lay them open on the floor around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bits of snow touched her face as she and Rarity trotted to the hospital. Cinnamon Sugar led the way. Jelly was able to see his cutie mark was of sticks of cinnamon which bobbed as he trotted. As they approached the hospital, Jelly realized that it had been a different world for her since she left this place yesterday. She had been happy then, now she was worried and her heart still felt pangs from Victory’s rejection.
No. She shoved that aside. This was important. This was something she had to focus on. Not her disappointment or her hurt feelings.
They heard the commotion just as they approached the hospital doors.
“Sir! Sir! You can’t leave yet. You have a concussion . . .”
“Let go! I have to go find him! They took him!”
“I understand, but I promise you that ponies are looking for him right now.”
“Please, sit down.”
“No!”
There was a crash. Rarity pushed the door open with her magic and they saw a wheelchair roll across the floor and smash into the far wall. Smokey was standing in a circle of nurses and the unicorn doctor with his legs braced on the floor. A ribbon of blood clung to his face and had rolled down his neck and shoulder. Behind him, a security guard pony galloping from the hall with a baton clutched between his teeth.
This was going to get ugly fast.
“Smokey!” Jelly cantered forward past Rarity and Cinnamon Sugar.
The stallion saw her and confusion rolled through his face. “J-Jelly?”
“Yes, it’s me. I heard what happened and I’m going to help. But you have got to calm down and tell us what you saw.” Jelly drew close, but stayed out of reach.
Smokey drew a harsh breath and released it in a low whistle. “Jelly, the Mites took him . . .”
“That’s what I was told, but I want you to tell me what you saw.” The security guard had paused, but he was watching poised, ready to jump in if necessary.
“I woke up. I heard glass breaking in Ember’s room. I went to see. I was scared for him.”
“Right, breaking glass in a foal’s room is never a good thing.” She had to keep him talking. If he was talking, he wasn’t attacking the hospital staff. “When you went upstairs, what was wrong?”
“I . . .I saw one standing on the edge of his crib.” The panic returned and he was glancing around as if he may see one in the lobby. “It looked at me and stuck its tongue at me. They were carrying Ember out the window. I tried to grab him, taking away from them, but they were . . .they were so fast. I was going to go after them, but I fell . . .”
Then he did something that stunned her. He started crying. He bodily collapsed on the floor sobbing, his body rocking from the force of his coughs. The nurses moved forward, one collecting the abused wheelchair while two others helped him to his hooves and coaxed him to sit down. When he was reclining back in the wheel chair, Jelly moved forward and touched his hoof with both of hers. It was such a human gesture, that it felt surreal to her.
“We’ll do everything we can to get him back for you, but you have to let the staff do their part and help you.” Jelly offered him what she hoped was a comforting smile.
He kissed her. It was different than kissing a human man. The smell and taste was different, but the heat from being kissed was all the same. Like a drop of red dye in water, it spread and flowed through her spreading warmth along her skin. When he broke away, she was sitting on her haunches flushed and embarrassed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“He’s a nice pony, you know.” Rarity brought it up on the way back to the hospital.
After the kiss, the nurses carted Smokey away and the doctor assured Jelly that he was in good hooves. As if she was the worried wife or girlfriend.
Great, now her reputation in Ponyville was shot.
“I’m sure he is. He’s been very kind to me since I arrived and his son is adorable . . .” Jelly felt as if she was on trial for not sharing the same feelings for Smokey.
“But he’s not your type.” Rarity glanced away to generously hide her disappointment.
He’s not human. Jelly didn’t voice this aloud. Instead, she said, “No. I feel bad that I should like him back, but I don’t. But don’t let that make you think that I don’t want to help. I do.”
“Oh, I’m not saying that at all,” Rarity assured her. “I’m in this too and so is everypony. Nopony would want anything to happen to a foal.”
“What exactly are mites? They sound like little boogeymen.”
“Boogeymen?”
“You know, um, they like to scare chil-foals?”
“Oh! Boogeyponies!” Understanding dawned on her. “Yes, but they pull such dreadful pranks. They were the ones responsible for your falling down the steps. Last time they came around they ruined my fall collection. But it’s strange.”
It wasn’t already strange for little monsters to pull pranks as it was? “What?”
“Well, the pranks are dreadful enough, but they never been . . .harmful to anypony,” Rarity explained. “They never stole foals before and the most harm they’d do is put a tack on a chair.”
“Really? Then why the change?”
“That is what I’m hoping Twilight Sparkle can find out.” Rarity shivered as a snowflake touched her back. “Let’s hurry and get out of this weather.”
“I don’t mind it. It’s pretty light and I kinda like it.” Jelly did something she had only read in books. She held out her tongue and caught a snowflake with it.
“I don’t trust any weather not provided by pegasi.” Rarity gave the sky a dubious glance. “I know you enjoy the snow because you’re from the north, but we should hurry anyway.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight Sparkle pored over the books, flipping through page after page of stories, legends, and personal pony accounts of close encounters. But the stories all meshed together. She couldn’t determine which was fact or myth. And what would help them.
It was slow going. The images of the scarier legends frightened Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie kept giggling at the records of fairy curses and pranks. What she was able to determine was that the stories did collaborate that mites were small and pranksters who plagued earth pony farmers for years. Cutting loose hitches in the middle of plowing, tossing ants in beds, and even painting rude or erotic images on barns was just the tip of the iceberg of their antics. There was nothing about stealing foals. Why? Where did they make their home? And what did they look like?
“Sycamore tree . . .”
Twilight looked up from the tome spread before her. Applejack was standing at the doorway panting, her sides heaving as she gulped for air. When she was able to speak, “Ah got here as quick lightnin’ when Ah heard. Ah talked to Granny Smith and she told me a story of what ‘appened t’ her when she was muh age.”
“What? Granny Smith knows where the mites live?” Twilight stared incredulous. “Why didn’t she ever say anything?”
“She says that she plum forgot until tonight.” Applejack walked inside, her hat askew on her head from her hard gallop. “It ‘appened years and years ago right after the Apple Family settled here. She had a new dress that she washed and put out to dry, and then she saw some mites take off with it. Dresses were hard to come around back then before there was a Ponyville with shops and stores, so she took off after it. She followed ‘em into the Everfree Forest. She can’t recall how far she followed ‘em, but she says they dragged the dress to a huge sycamore and woulda took the durn thing with ‘em into a burrow, but the skirt caught on a root and Granny was able to grab it from ‘em ‘fore they got it loose.”
“Did she see them?”
“She says all that she could make out was they were blue, but she couldn’t tell anythin’ more ‘n that cuz they were so fast.”
“That’s okay. At least we know where they are. When the others come back we’ll try to find that tree.” From the look that cross Applejack’s face, Twilight tilted her head, “What?”
“Granny said to be careful. She said that they may be small, but they can tear ya up when they set their minds to it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour past, before everypony had gathered in the library. Rarity and Jelly returned to recount Smokey’s story and then Rainbow Dash barreled through the door, slinging ice and water from her mane and tail.
“It’s crazy! Just as when we think we got it under control, more snow clouds keep coming.”
Twilight felt dread touch her heart. “From the direction of the Everfree Forest?”
It took Rainbow a moment to think. “Yeah! They keep rolling in from there. And it’s getting worse! We can barely keep up even with my awesome speed!”
“And if it continues as it is?”
Rainbow settled on her hooves and concern touched her face. “It’ll be bad and not just for Ponyville.”
“We can’t wait.” Twilight turned to the others who were gathered around. “I would have liked to wait for Princess Celestia’s response, but with Ember missing and the snow, we need to act now, but it may be dangerous. I’d understand if somepony doesn’t want . . .”
“Now Twilight, ya know better than t’ ask. We all in it. We’re all in it from now till that little foal is home with his daddy.” Applejack stepped forward with a firm clop.
She was followed by a cheer from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash’s crow, and Rarity smile. Fluttershy glanced to the side and bowed her head nervously, “I . . . I could go and . . . maybe talk to the mites.”
Jelly felt her stomach fill with fear. She had received basic last year that she had long sense forgotten and her skills have become stale. A part of her told her to stay silent, to stay out of it, but she wanted to join. The green unicorn was deeply touched and impressed by their selflessness and willingness to step into danger to help. How could she do any less?
And she could do more.
“I’m willing to go too, but I think there is someone we should ask to come with us.” The prospect of approaching this person frightened her more than the dire mites. Jelly figured if she overcome this, then she might be ready to take on mites.
“Who?” Twilight asked.
“My mother.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*“Well, well, well, look at what the cat shit on the floor,”* was the greeting Jelly received when she opened the door to their room at the inn.
Victory, the unicorn pony, sat at the small table floating an empty bottle above her head. The unicorn leaned her cheek against a hoof and gave Jelly a tired smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Her smiles hardly ever reached her eyes. * “Ya know somethin’? For disobeying a commander’s order, its grounds for flogging. Me, I’m too busy to flog so the unruly officer has to settle for a bullet.” *
Great, my own mother is threatening to kill me for disobeying just after insulting me for the hundredth time. Jelly pushed forward, she made it this far, she had to go all the way. * “Um . . . Mo. . . Lataoner, we got a situation.” *
*”Oh? Situation for whom? I question your intelligence, but even you aren’t that dumb to go ranting about what we really are to the ponies.” Victory set the bottle on the table top and regarded Jelly with a baneful gaze.
* “The ponies. They think that some little nasty things called mites are stealing foals and causing it to snow.” * Jelly really wanted to turn around and leave, but her hooves were planted on the floor, ready to take on any verbal onslaught Victory could throw at her. * “It sounds strange to me, but I have reasons to believe that there is credit to their worries. Smokey was injured the same way I was and the pegasi are very concerned about the snow.” *
* “Well, look at you in your big girl panties! Reporting to me like you’re a soldier.” * Victory mockingly saluted her.
Jelly ignored it and continued, * “Twilight Sparkle and some others are going to go into the forest to confront them and hopefully get Ember back and stop whatever they are doing to cause this. I volunteered to go and I think that we could really use you.” *
The pale unicorn’s eyebrows rose up in twin arches in genuine surprise. She said nothing and Jelly dared to believe that she might have shocked Victory into silence. She took advantage and quickly said, * “None of the ponies have your skills and your knowledge of . . . of stuff like this.” * Maybe flattery may bend the iron rod up her ass.
Victory lowered her brows as she studied Jelly’s face. * “I have a question. You answer it and I’ll consider your request. When we first met the Apple Family on the road on that first day, you started calling me mother instead of saying I’m your aunt as we had originally planned. The reason why you changed the story was because you wanted to call me mother?” *
There was a long silence before a soft whisper rasp across the room. * “Yes.” *
*”And do you still want to call me mother?” *
Jelly parted her lips to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come. She didn’t know the answer that Victory would want.
Victory scoffed, * “Nevermind, don’t answer that. Tell me about the mites on the way down.” *
Jelly shared everything they learned about the mites on their way down. The snow had picked up, no longer coming in light, but in thicker tufts of white. The snow made her bat her eyes to keep them free of ice, but Victory walked smoothly, her hooves crunching the gathering crystals easily. “So this it?”
Her eyes moved over the six ponies that had patiently stood outside. Victory wasn’t pleased with what she saw, but she got more difficult missions done with less. “What’s the plan?”
“We . . . don’t really have one,” Twilight admitted and then endured the heavy weight of Victory’s disapproving glare. “We . . .we thought that maybe Fluttershy would . . .” Twilight had to break the gaze. This was worse than her magic school entrance exam. “ . . . Fluttershy would speak with them, maybe work out an understanding peacefully.”
“A peaceful understanding?” The words were very foreign to this pony. “We already have an understanding. These things have injured two ponies, and kidnapped a foal . . .”
“Mebbe three foals,” Applejack interjected.
“Three foals?” Victory replied incredulously, but then she recovered, “Kidnapped three foals. These things have already expressed a desire to do harm to us. We’re going to hurt them back.”
Already, Jelly was regretting bringing Victory into this by the looks of surprise and misgivings from the ponies saved for Rainbow Dash who was hovering above them. She cheered thrusting her hooves into the air as her wings flap downward thrusting her further into the air. “Woohoo! Yeah!”
“Jelly said that they live in a tree. Good, that makes it easier for us. Does anyone know where we can get some kerosene?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The kerosene was carried in skins tied with rope that lay across Victory’s back. She led their small herd up front, leading the way. Fortunately, the way wouldn’t take them anywhere near the ship’s territory, so that was one less concern for her to deal with.
Her other concern stayed near her side. Her daughter. Victory tried not to look at her, despite the stolen stares the yeoman gave her. Eventually, the truth of their blood would have to be dealt with, but tonight was not for it. Tonight, they had a different matter before them.
Victory didn’t like that the information she had of the enemy was so scant. Small blue things that are very fast and live in a big sycamore tree. And all this information is second hand that the ponies collected from second hand acct and from story books. Not hard evidence from reliable scouts, surveillance equipment, or the best of all, her own two eyes.
However, she intended to treat this as any mission. Go in with what she had and get the job done. Period.
But Goddamn, she didn’t have very much. What she had was her daughter (don’t really need to go into detail how useful that is), a brainiac who is used to calling shots, a fancy priss, a red neck, an eager hot head, a coward, and a crazy pink nut. At least she had the kerosene and matches.
But this could be a good learning experience. She could see how ponies acted under the heat of battle. Just another tidbit to fill out her next report.
Twilight walked on the other side her, her horn glowing lighting their way as was Victory’s horn. It was a simply unicorn trick that Victory mastered immediately upon viewing a demonstration by the lavender unicorn. And not surprisingly, Jelly couldn’t produce one flicker with her horn.
Rainbow Dash flittered above them, her wings snapping against the falling snow buffeting the ponies below her with cold air. The temperature had certainly dropped since they entered the forest. Usually, Victory would have found being blasted with cold air annoying, but she found that it kept her awake and invigorated. It was what? 3:00 in the morning?
The shy one walked on in silence, her eyes cast downward as if fearful that she may see something frightening. Why was she coming along if she was so afraid? Strength from friends? She wasn’t as annoying as the pink one that kept bouncing along like a kid on a sugar rush and what was with that foolish slapstick grin for?
The only one that was worth an iota of potential respect was the redneck one. She seemed tough with a good head on her shoulders. The orange mare had a rope at her side and her hate was set straight. And the one walking beside her wasn’t worth Victory’s spit. The fancy one kept treading lightly through the snow as if afraid to get her pretty little hooves wet.
“Ah think Ah see it.,” the red neck . . . Applejack trotted forward.
And certainly enough, there was a clearing up ahead and in the center was a tall leafless sycamore tree that stood like a human hand stretch out toward the sky. The ponies stopped at the edge and stared at the base of the tree.
About the base were thick roots that weaved through the earth and large burrows big enough for a foal to walk through. Hopping among the roots gathering small sticks were . . . little blue men.
Or they were shaped like men to Victory and Jelly’s eyes. They had the human features of two eyes, a prominate nose, mouth, arms and biped legs. But, they so damn ugly! The nose nearly took up the whole face with beady black eyes. They had gnarled hands and feet which were bare. They wore strips of clothing, fur, and bark and some even had rabbit or rat skulls on their heads.
They ponies stood (save for Rainbow who hovered) silently and simply stared, each of them never having seen such things before. The surreal moment was cut when Victory stepped forward and soundly cleared her throat. “Listen up!”
The mites stopped their wood gathering and all tiny ugly heads turned to her. The pale unicorn regarded them with eyes of fire, the look she saved for intimidating the enemy. This look had been reported to stop battles before they started and even force prisoners to give up sensitive information without anyone having to perform any interrogation techniques. “You have a foal that we have come to collect. You hand him over and any foals that you have your position and that will be the end of it. If you do not comply with my demands, I’m going to turn each and every one of you into blue paste with my own hooves.”
One thing that Victory and the other ponies quickly learned was that mites cannot be intimidated. The mites all gleefully grinned at her. It was the grin a child would have if a favorite playmate had arrived to play, but it was nasty as if that child has a sadistic habit of pulling wings off butterflies. Zip. In blue blurs they all disappeared into the tree via the burrows.
“You scared them.” Fluttershy galloped forward, concern in her eyes. “You shouldn't have said that. They just little mites after all.”
Victory looked at Fluttershy as if she sprouted a second head. “Those things aren’t afraid. But they will be. I promise.” The pale unicorn used magic to lift the kerosene skins from her back.
“Whoa!” Jelly cried out as she galloped forward. She wasn’t the only one. Applejack and Twilight were close behind her as they cried out their protests.
“You can’t do that! Ember and the other foals may be in there! You’ll burn them up!” Twilight sputtered in a near panic.
“It’s a bluff. It’s to show that we mean business. I just going to burn the outside of the tree. Nothing major.”
“Ya have enough oil there to burn down Ponyville and chunk of Equestria too!” Applejack stomped a hoof.
“I’m not going to use all of it! I know what I am doing, now shut up and stand back before . . .” Victory never got to finish her threat.
A long line with a sharp hook on the end snagged the rope that held the skins together. The line grew taut and then yank with such strength that the rope and kerosene skins were ripped from her magical hold. The ponies watched the line being pulled into a hole at the near top of the tree. After the skins disappeared, a blue head poked its head out gave them a very rude sign with its hand and blew a raspberry before disappearing back inside the tree.
The ponies again (and likely won’t be the last time) stunned into silence. Jelly lowered her eyes from the tree hole to Victory, “You’re going to blame us for that aren’t you?”
“You damn fucking right I am.” Victory hissed venomously. “They got the kerosene!”
“I’ll get it!” Rainbow Dash flew toward the hole. The hole was big enough for her to crawl into, but it would be a tight squeeze. Setting her hooves at the edge of the hole, she drew herself inward. It was pitch black and she wished she had a light to see.
Then there was light. An ugly leering face glowed from the light up a candle it held with two hands.
“Uh, hey there little guy . . .” Rainbow said suddenly feeling nervous.
The mite snickered and then a second one appeared in the light next to it. Under its arm, it held a kerosene skin with the cork gone.
“Oh Celestia . . .”
The mite squeezed the kerosene which spewed oil that hit the candle’s flame. Fire sprayed at her face. It was only by Rainbow Dash’s quick reflexes that had her wings tear her from the hole in time to suffer only singing in her brilliant mane. The singed cyan pegasus leave a stream of smoke behind her as she landed on the ground. Fortunately, the snow broke her fall so she didn’t injure her wing yet again.
“Rainbow! What happened!?” Rarity was by her side grimacing when she saw the blacken colors at her bangs.
“Dirty little creeps tried to set me on fire . . .with our kerosene!”
“Bringing that kerosene was not a good idea, mom.” Jelly turned on her mother.
“Do you want to get slapped?” Victory snapped.
Before Jelly could either boldly reply or cowardly back away, a high commanding voice shouted, “Charge!”
The ponies lifted their faces to see dozens of mites emerge from the burrows. Each of them were wearing armor consisting of bark and tin with rabbit skulls and bottle caps for helmets. For weapons they held sharpen sticks as spears, axes were glass tied into twigs, and silver spoons were welded as war hammers. The mites arranged themselves into straight lines in a military column.
And something emerged from the middle burrow with a long body with multitude of legs that wagged in the air as it seeped from the tree. A centipede the size of a python carried a single rider, a mite wearing a gold bit of metal that had been beaten into the shape of a crown. It steered its mount with twine tied around the centipede’s leg and barked orders at it in a high strangled language.
The mite soldiers began to beat on their shields, pieces of cans. Some still had the Apple Family label on them. The soldiers maintained a steady beat that would have sounded intimidated if they were full size warriors beating on shields of metal and steel that would resound with teeth rattling clangs. On the cans, it was just clunk clunk clunk.
The clunking was getting on Victory’s nerves. And it resulted in one thing.
Victory charged. She spun around raising herself on her forehooves. Her hooves left shallow wet grooves in the snow, giving her more momentum for her buck. Her back hooves hit the Mite King off the top of the centipede’s head. He bodily flew through the air and hit the tree trunk with a resounding smack.
The clunking stopped as the mites looked around puzzled, certainly not prepared for the quick dispatchment of their leader so early in the battle. The Mite King who had slid down the trunk and landed in a heap at the base weakly raised his voice and shouted, “Plan B!”
“Plan B!” The shout went up as the mite soldiers clung to the new plan as a lifeline. They all turned around and fled into the holes, each file of the column going into its own hole. Even the centipede fled back into the burrow taking its master with it.
“This is getting out of hoof.” Twilight muttered.
Pinkie Pie was on the ground giggling in great peals. “They were using tin cans as shields!”
“Pinkie, that isn’t helping.” Rarity scolded.
“Somebody help!”
“Where did that come from?” Jelly cocked her head, trying to listen.
“Help!”
“Ah think its comin’ from the tree.” Applejack pointed. “It don’t sound like a foal ‘t me.”
Twilight Sparkle, in a move of bravery, galloped to the nearest burrow and shouted down the tunnel. “Who do you have down there!?”
A reply echoed back, “Your mother!” And this was followed by sharp giggles that trail along the tunnel.
Twilight pawed at the icy turf, “Don’t you bring my mother into this! You let whoever you have in there go!”
“Okay!” Not one second later, Derpy Whooves was flung from the whole and she bodily collided into Twilight, sending both the unicorn and the pegasus sprawling on the snow.
Twilight lay on her back with Derpy laying across her. The gray pegasus lifted her head and then hugged Twilight around the neck tight enough to choke her. “Thank you! Thank you! They had me trapped down there and they kept calling me the Muffin Queen and wanted me to make muffins, but all they would give me to bake with is sugar and mud. I kept trying to tell them I needed butter and milk too!”
“Derpy, what is that around your neck?” Rainbow had recovered enough to stand and was now pointing at Derpy with a worried look.
“Around my neck? I don’t see . . . “ Derpy’s left eye dropped downward to see the small bag at her neck that had a lit fuse. “Oh, I think it’s a candle.”
“That’s no candle!” Rarity screamed. “Take it off her! Take it off!”
Jelly acted first. She reached forward, snagging the cord tied around Derpy’s neck and yanked with all her might. She ended up dragging the pegasus off Twilight from the effort, but the cord snapped and she was able to drop the sizzling fuse into the snow and stomp it out. “There, that should do it.”
However, Twilight was staring at Derpy’s back and was pointing with a quivering hoof. “G-guys!”
On each of the major feathers on Derpy’s wings, there were several little skin bags with sizzling fuses. The ponies panicked. Derpy was bodily shoved into a snow pile where more snow was flung onto her in haste to put out the fuses. From the corner of Applejack’s eye, she spied a single mite appear at the edge of a burrow with a small bow made of a paperclip and rubber band. It struck a match against a root and strung it on the bow. It took aim at one of the bags at Derpy wings.
“Tarnation!” Applejack screamed as the mite fired.
The matchstick arrow flew straight and true. It hit dead center of its target which burst opened. But instead of flames and the smell of burning fur and feathers, cold water splashed down Derpy’s back and splattered the mares.
“Ohhh! It’s cold!” Derpy whined and her eyes spun in her distress.
The wicked mite flipped them a rude sign and then jumped back into the hole. Then they heard sizzles . . . behind them.
Each pony turned around and saw at the end of their tail a skin that smelled of kerosene had a lit fuse. The fuse was steadily becoming short and shorter.
“BUCK!!!!!” Applejack screamed.
And the ponies obeyed the call. Jelly thrust her hooves behind her, missing several times before she managed to kick the skin from her tail. Applejack and Victory were able to kick theirs off quickly enough, while Twilight Sparkle used her magic to snuff the fuse at her tail. Pinkie Pie simply rolled about in the snow. Rainbow took off from the ground so far the wind that whipped along her body blew out the fuse. However, Fluttershy and Rarity weren’t so lucky.
When the fuse went off, it was lucky for Fluttershy her tail was so long. She was able to follow Pinkie Pie’s lead and roll in the snow, putting out the flames before they harmed her hindlegs. Rarity on the other hand ended up running across the snow as flames climbed her tail and singed her hind legs. She screamed as her elegantly styled tail was literally going up in smoke.
Twilight cast a spell which produced water from out the air that splashed over Rarity’s body, thoroughly drenching her, but putting out the flames as well. The white unicorn collapsed onto the snow and bemoaned her tail.
Victory saw the magic Twilight used and it inspired her. She stood with her legs apart, braced in the snow and it hardly took any concentration at all. She thought it and it happened. From the tip of her hard, a jet of orange flames sprayed. The inferno splayed over the tree, hot enough to melt the snow and encase the bark in flames. There were shouts of alarm from both the ponies outside in the snow and the mites inside the tree.
Jelly watched in horror as the tree crack as the flames heat burned it from within. “EMBER!!!!”
She galloped to the biggest burrow and screamed inside into the narrow tunnel. “EMBER!!! Come to me if you can hear me, baby! It’s me, Jelly! Please, you got to come out of there right now! Just come to my voice and I’ll get you out.”
Her hooves dug into the soft soil. She could go inside and get him out if she could only fit through the hole. Her heart felt elated when she saw something moving toward her. It wasn’t a mite, but it wasn’t Ember either.
Two hands, one an eagle’s talon and the other a lion’s paw reached out and grabbed her around the middle. She was lifted off the ground as a head emerged. It looked like a pony’s but it was wrong. The eyes were yellow with red irises and there was a single tooth at its mouth. Atop of the head were two horns, one a dear’s antler and the other a goat’s. And as it’s body emerged she was able to see that the creature was just a mismatch of different animals in a chaotic mess of an animal.
It held her as easily as one could hold a cat, it was so big. “What . . . what are you?”
“Discord is my name and Chaos is my game.” The thing beamed at her with a grin not too unlike the grins of the mites.
Below, the ponies stood in shocked silence again.