//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Trixie’s Rescues and the Queen of the Field Mice // Story: My Little Wizard of Oz // by BlueBioWolf //------------------------------// "We cannot be far from the road of yellow brick, now," remarked Bartleby as he stood beside the girl and dragon. "For we have come nearly as far as the river carried us away." “I’m going back for Sunset,” Trixie said. She then went to Sunset, sneezing all the while. Nick was about to reply when he heard a low growl and, turning his head (which worked beautifully on hinges), he saw a strange beast come bounding over the grass toward them. It was, indeed, a great yellow wildcat and the woodman thought it must be chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its head and its mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth while its red eyes glowed like balls of fire. As it came nearer, Nick saw that running before the beast was a little gray field mouse and, although he had no heart, he knew it was wrong for the wildcat to try to kill such a pretty, harmless creature. “Not today,” Nick said. So, he raised his axe and as the wildcat ran by, he gave it a quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body and it rolled over at his feet in two pieces. “Goodness gracious!” exclaimed Bartleby. The field mouse, now that it was freed from its enemy, stopped short and, coming slowly up to Nick, it said in a squeaky little voice: "Oh, thank you! Thank you ever so much for saving my life." “It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t,” Nick said politely. "Don't speak of it, I beg of you. I have no heart, you know, so, I am careful to help all those who may need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse." "Only a mouse!" cried the little animal, indignantly. "Why, I am a Queen--the Queen of all the Field Mice!" “The queen?” Nick said. “Why, I must apologize.” Trixie arrived with Sunset as Nick took a bow. “Now, I just have to get–” she started before seeing the decapitated wildcat. “SWEET CELESTIA, WHAT’S THAT?!” “The head and body of a wildcat, of course,” the Queen of Field Mice said. “WHAT THE BUCK HAPPENED?!” Trixie said. “I saw the wildcat was about to eat the Field Mice Queen,” Nick explained. “But, I didn’t want her to be eaten, so I used my axe to lop off the beast’s head.” “GET RID OF THE BODY!” Trixie said. “NO ONE WANTS TO SEE A DEAD ANIMAL!!!” Nick, careful of the Field Mice Queen, moved the body of the wildcat away and out of sight. He was just about to do the same for the head when Spike woke up. “Ooh, my head,” Spike said, slightly dizzily. When he regained the use of his senses, he saw Nick picking up the wildcat’s severed head. The sight caused him to faint. “Anyway,” Bartleby said. “We’ve never met a queen before now.” “Us from Equestria have,” Trixie said. “Our experiences weren’t favorable.” “So,” Nick said, after he discarded the wildcat’s severed head. “What is it like to be the queen of Field Mice?” "You have done a great deed as well as a brave one in saving my life," stated the Queen. At that moment, several mice were seen running up as fast as their little legs could carry them, and when they saw their Queen they exclaimed: "Oh, your Majesty, we thought you would be killed! How did you manage to escape the great wildcat?" They all bowed so low to the little Queen that they almost stood upon their heads. “This valiant hero killed him to rescue me,” the Queen explained, introducing them to Nick the Tin Woodman. “So, hereafter you must all serve him and obey his slightest wish.” Trixie set Sunset down and went for Starlight, sneezing all the while. "We will!" cried all the mice in a shrill chorus. And then they scampered in all directions, for Toto had awakened from his sleep and seeing all these mice around him he gave one bark of delight and jumped right into the middle of the group. Toto had always loved to chase mice when he lived in Kansas and he saw no harm in it. But, Nick caught the dog in his arms and held him tight, while he called to the mice, "Come back! Come back! Toto shall not hurt you." The field mice heard Nick’s words and they stopped. At this, the Queen of the Mice stuck her head out from underneath a clump of grass and asked in a timid voice, "Are you sure he will not bite us?" “I will not let him,” Nick said. “So, do not be afraid.” The field mice cautiously walked closer to Nick. One by one, the mice came creeping back and Toto did not bark again, although he tried to get out of the woodman's arms and would have bitten him had he not known very well he was made of tin. Finally, one of the biggest mice spoke. "Is there anything we can do," it asked. "To repay you for saving the life of our Queen?" "Nothing that I know of," answered Nick when he saw Trixie return with Starlight on her back. “What is she doing?” one of the mice asked, pointing to Trixie. “She’s trying to rescue her pony friends,” Nick explained. Then, he remembered. “Oh, yes, you can save our friend, Raw the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed." "A lion!" cried the little Queen. "Why, he would eat us all up." "Oh, no," declared Bartleby. "This lion is a coward." “Yes,” Nick said. “He is afraid of other animals.” "He says so himself," added Bartleby. "And he would never hurt anyone who is our friend. If you will help us to save him, I promise that he shall treat you all with kindness." "Very well," said the Queen. "We trust you. But, what shall we do?" Sunset began to stir as Trixie placed Starlight down. “Oh, no,” she gasped. “I fell asleep in the poppies!” “I’m getting the others,” Trixie said. “Hold on,” Sunset said. “One at a time will take too long.” “So,” Nick said. “With all of the mice holding their breath, they can all swarm around the lion and carry him out. The rest of us will help, too.” “But, there’s still six ponies asleep in the field,” Trixie said. “We’ll manage as well as we can,” Bartleby said. He then had an idea. “Are there many of these mice which call you Queen and are willing to obey you?" "Oh, yes; there are thousands," the Queen replied. "Then send for them all to come here as soon as possible,” Bartleby said. “And let each one bring a long piece of string." The Queen turned to the mice that attended her and told them to go at once and get all her people. As soon as they heard her orders they ran away in every direction as fast as possible. “Now,” Bartleby said to Nick. “You must go to those trees by the riverside and make a truck that will carry the others.” “Right away,” Nick said and he started to work at once. He soon made a truck out of the limbs of trees, from which he chopped away all the leaves and branches. He fastened it together with wooden pegs and made the four wheels out of short pieces of a big tree trunk. So fast and so well did he work that by the time the mice began to arrive, the truck was all ready for them. Chapter 9: The Queen of the Field Mice, Sunset said internally. The mice came from all directions and there were thousands of them: big mice and little mice and middle-sized mice and each one brought a piece of string in his mouth. It was about this time that Dorothy and Starlight woke from their long sleep and opened their eyes. “How long was I out?” Starlight asked as she stirred. “Less than an hour,” Trixie answered. Starlight saw all the mice. “What’s with all the mice?” she asked. Dorothy was greatly astonished to find herself lying upon the grass with thousands of mice standing around and looking at her timidly. “Nick saved their queen,” Trixie said. “I won’t go into detail, but, don’t ask if you see blood on his axe.” Starlight, seeing how uncomfortable Trixie was looking when explaining, decided not to press on any further. Bartleby turned to the queen and said, "Permit me to introduce to you her Majesty, the Queen." Starlight bowed politely before the Queen. Dorothy nodded gravely and the queen made a curtsy, after which, she became quite friendly with the little girl. Nick, Bartleby, and Trixie began to fasten the mice to the truck, using the strings they had brought. One end of a string was tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end to the truck. Of course the truck was a thousand times bigger than any of the mice who were to draw it, but, when all the mice had been harnessed, they were able to pull it quite easily. Even Bartleby, Nick, and Trixie could sit on it and were drawn swiftly by their queer little horses to the place where the others lay asleep. After a great deal of work (lessened by Trixie’s use of levitation magic), Raw, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow were loaded onto the truck. Then, the queen hurriedly gave her people the order to start, for she feared if the mice stayed among the poppies too long, they also would fall asleep. At first the little creatures, many though they were, could hardly stir the heavily loaded truck. “We’ll have to push from behind,” Bartleby suggested. He, Nick, and Trixie pushed the truck from behind, the unicorn sneezing repeatedly. Soon, they rolled the others out of the poppy bed to the green fields, where they could breathe the sweet, fresh air again, instead of the poisonous scent of the flowers. “Looks like we got out,” Rainbow said with a yawn as she and the other ponies woke up. Dorothy came to meet them and thanked the little mice warmly for saving her companions from death. She had grown so fond of the big lion and ponies, she was glad they had been rescued. Then, the mice were unharnessed from the truck and scampered away through the grass to their homes. The Queen of the Mice was the last to leave. "If ever you need us again," she said. "Come out into the field and call my name, Elizabeth, and we shall hear you and come to your assistance. Good-bye!" “Goodbye,” Nick said politely. This farewell was given by the others awake. Away Elizabeth ran while Dorothy held Toto tightly lest he should run after her and frighten her. Fluttershy then looked in Nick’s direction. “Uh, Nick?” she asked. “Why is there blood on your axe?” “You don’t want to know,” Trixie whispered to Fluttershy. At that moment, Spike began to stir. “I had this strange dream where Nick was picking up the severed head of a wildcat,” he said. “Oh~” Trixie said, trying to cover up the tracks. “That must have been a doozy.” She then whispered to Nick, “Clean that blood off your axe!” Nick nodded and he went to a private place to clean his axe. “I’ve been thinking,” Pinkie said. “About what?” Sunset asked. “Why didn’t you just teleport us past the poppies?” Pinkie asked. “There’s a reason,” Sunset said. “A teleportation spell requires the user to think of a place they’ve been at least once before and is limited to the world they’re in. Since those of us who can teleport don’t know the geography of Oz very well, teleportation won’t really help us because the places we can teleport too would basically be backtracking.” “On top of that,” Trixie added. “My magic may have improved slightly since Sunset and Starlight were helping me, but, my teleportation is still weak at best. If it was stronger, though, I wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway with how much I’ve been sneezing.” Bartleby brought fruits from a nearby tree for Dorothy and the Equestria residents to eat for dinner.