Fluttershy squeezed in between the orange and purple mares, trying to get a look at what they say.
Her eyes shot wide. “There’s… so many.”
Applejack barely managed to grab the yellow pegasus’ tail in her teeth before she bolted away.
“Whoa’ there, Fluttershy,” she said in between gritted teeth, “We’re definitely gunna need your help on this one.”
“There are so many of them. What are we supposed to do?” Fluttershy squeaked.
Applejack had no answer.
After a moment, the farmpony tapped Twilight. “Uh, just what are we gunna do now, sugarcube?”
The unicorn was silent. She was still looking down across the open clearing in front of her. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of the near-identical red insects squirmed around each other in the wide area. The ground was blackened to a crisp, and several small fires burned within the creatures’ midst. The red bugs scurried in and out of the blazes, apparently no worse for their exposure to the fire. So many things were moving; she was having trouble keeping track of all of them.
Fluttershy trotted up next to her and said weakly, “Uh… Twilight.”
“Quiet, Fluttershy. I’m trying to think.”
“Twilight…”
“Not now. Just give me a minute.”
“Twilightitsimportant.”
Applejack nudged the purple mare beside her. “Sugarcube, you might wanna listen to her. I think your missin’ somethin’.”
Twilight looked hastily back at the yellow pony. “What is it?”
“There’s a pegasus down there, on the left,” Fluttershy answered. “She looks hurt.”
Applejack pointed a hoof in the pony’s direction. Twilight followed it to a small patch of unburnt grass on the edge of the clearing. A yellow pegasus with a red mane lay on her side within it, one of her wings bent awkwardly under her side.
“Forget about the bugs,” Applejack said. “We’ve gotta get to her. She might know what’s goin’ on.”
Before Twilight could answer, Fluttershy had already galloped past her and into the throng of bugs. The purple mare watched as the pegasus dodged and left over the bugs and around the small fires. Within moments, she was at the side of the injured mare.
Fluttershy tapped the unconscious red-maned pegasus with a forehoof. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
The pony stirred a little, and groaned. Her eyes shot open. “Who–? What–? Agh. What happened? Who are you?”
“My name’s Fluttershy,” said Fluttershy.
The injured mare twisted off of her side and tried to lay level.
She winced in pain. “My wing.”
“I don’t know what happened,” continued Fluttershy. “My friends and I just got here. Do you need help? Can you stand? We need to get you out of here.”
“I… I think so,” she said, pushing herself to her hooves.
Her injured wing flopped limply at her side as she steadied herself. “I’m not flying anywhere, though.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Don’t worry. My friends aren’t too far away. Follow me.”
After a moment, the kind mare added, “Oh, what’s your name?”
“Flicker,” the pegasus with the red mane answered.
Twilight and Applejack waited as Fluttershy and the other yellow mare trotted around the outside edge of the clearing. They were moving slowly, but soon, the pair was within speaking distance.
Applejack cantered up to the new pony and said, “Howdy, my name’s Applejack. Now would ya mind tellin’ us all what’s goin’ on here? We’re in a mite bit of a hurry.”
Fluttershy patted the pony on the shoulder. “Go ahead. You can tell them.”
The red-manned pegasus looked back at the swarm of red insects. “They’re my family. I’ve watched after them for years. I’ve kept them here, in the forest, ever since I found the colony. They’re amazing creatures. I watched as they’ve grown from a small group to what you see now. I’ve searched the forest for more; this is the last of their kind.”
Fluttershy, looking at Applejack, pleaded, “Please don’t kill them. They’re really, really special.”
The orange farmpony glanced around the pegasi in front of her and watched the scurrying red creatures for a moment.
“Than what are we gunna do? I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas, Twi.”
The purple unicorn shook her head. After a moment, she asked, “Just what were you doing that caused you to crash? And, uh, what is your name?”
“I’m Flicker,” Flicker answered. “I was trying to corral them. They used to just live in around here, but I think they’re trying to start a new colony now or something. There’s just so many… It all got out of control. I shouldn’t‘ve let them grow so large.”
Fluttershy reached a foreleg around the sobbing mare. “There, there. We’ll work something out. I promise.”
“Uh, girls,” Applejack said slowly, “I think we better start runin’.”
“Huh?” “What?”
The farmpony pointed a hoof in the direction of the opposite side of the clearing. “A couple of the trees are on fire. It’s getting bigger. Fast.”
Fluttershy and Flicker spun around. “Oh no.”
“We’ve got to get you back to Ponyville, Flicker,” Twilight yelled over the increasing roar of the fire.
“No,” the mare said. “I’ve got to stay here; I can fix this.”
The mares were shouting now as the fire started closing in.
“Don’t be silly! This fire will kill you. We can get back to Ponyville and then figure out what we’ve got to do.”
Twilight took a step backwards. Her hoof slipped as she stepped on something soft. She looked down. Several bugs were scuttling about around the ponies’ hooves. More were coming.
“We’ve gotta get outa here now!” Applejack yelled as she started galloping back in the direction of Ponyville. Fluttershy was right behind her, flapping her wings to run faster.
“Come on!” Twilight yelled again as she pulled Flicker ahead of her. “It’s okay. We’ll work this out. I promise.”
Flicker, still crying, nodded and bolted after Fluttershy. Twilight took up the rear of the retreating ponies, using her magic to slow the fire directly behind them.