It had been a month since the Apple Bucking Day fiasco, and the orchard was mostly back to normal. It had been cleaned up, new trees planted, and the vampire bats were long gone. The apple crop would suffer a bit this year, but it was a loss they could recover from.
Yet, there was still something odd going on. She’d taken to inspecting the orchard every morning since the vampire bats had come, and some mornings she had noticed trees entirely stripped of their apples. There was no mess either, like the thief wanted to cover their tracks. That wasn’t the oddest part, though. Whenever apples disappeared, she found a bag of bits on her doorstep.
Now, a thief she could understand. But a thief who paid for what they took? That just seemed to be missing the point. It just didn’t make any sense. And Applejack was determined to make sense of it.
She’d tried to keep a lookout for whoever it was leaving the bits, but they were far too quick, and all she had managed to glimpse was a shadow darting past before taking off into the night sky. The silhouette had almost looked like a bat, but it was too indistinct to tell for sure.
Applejack set down her bait in the middle of the yard outside the barn. A bushel of some of the ripest, juiciest apples she had. She retreated to the barn as day turned to night, a torch in her mouth. She left the barn doors open just enough for her to see into the yard, and waited.
Before long, she heard a hissing noise. Her heart began to race. Was this the thief? She stared through the crack in the doors. Her whole body tensed. Time seemed to slow down as she waited. It felt like an eternity. But eventually she saw a shadow swoop down.
Her movement was instantaneous, and she burst out of the barn with a triumphant “Aha!”, switching the torch on and pointing it at the figure, who hissed and reared back, covering itself with its wings. Its yellow, leathery bat wings. And that pink mane, though disheveled and wild, was instantly recognizable. Applejack felt her heart sink in her chest.
“Fluttershy?” she asked. “I-is that you?”
The creature unfurled its wings, and Applejack’s worst fears were confirmed. Fluttershy reached out for an apple, then stopped, and looked at Applejack, ashamed. But she was salivating, and every so often she would turn back to the apples before stopping herself.
“Fluttershy?” Applejack repeated. “Are you the one who’s been takin’ my apples?”
“Apples…” Fluttershy said, her voice a long, drawn-out hiss. She looked at Applejack again and spoke in her normal voice, “I’m sorry, Applejack, but I must have apples. Oh, I really am sorry to cause you such worry, but…” She turned to look at the apples again, and she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, a look of bliss on her face.
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy turned back to Applejack, cowed. “I’m so sorry, but I’ve been leaving some bits for them. Um, it’s not like I just took them without paying, or anything. I just need apples…”
“Right. Ya need apples, I get that. But why are ya a bat again? Twilight should have fixed that.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe something went wrong?” She sighed. “Since then, if I don’t get apples, I turn into… this.” She covered herself with her bat wings again. “Oh, Applejack, I’m a monster! But if I get apples, then it’ll go away for a while, I’ll be myself again. I won’t go wild. I must have apples.”
Applejack cautiously trotted up to Fluttershy and put a hoof around her. “Fluttershy, you’re not a monster. You’re my friend. If you wanted apples, you coulda just come to our stall. Ya know any of the Apples would be honored to help ya.”
“Oh, you don’t understand. You see, if I came to your stall, with all its apples… Its ripe, juicy apples…”
“Snap outta it, will ya?”
“Um, right. Sorry. Well, if I went to your stall, I wouldn’t be able to help myself. All those apples. I’d, um, transform there and then, and you’d have nothing left. Everypony would know I’m a monster. I’m sorry, but this is the best way.”
“All the more reason to get help. Come on, I know it’s late, but we’ll head to Twilight’s and she can sort this whole mess out. Properly, this time.”
Fluttershy backed away, unfurling her wings. “Oh, no. No, no,” she said, her eyes wide. “Twilight’s magic got me into this, and what if it makes me worse? Um, I’m sure she tried her hardest, but the only fix for me is—”
“Apples,” Applejack interrupted. “Boy, you sure got a one-track mind. But we need to fix this, Fluttershy. Please? If not Twilight, maybe we could head to Zecora’s. She’s got so many potions, she’s bound to have somethin’ for what ails ya. Or we could ask the princesses. Heck, we’ve saved ‘em enough times they owe us one. Princess Luna’s got a thing for bats, maybe she could help out?”
“Oh, um, I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Ya need to get this fixed, and I want to help ya. So would Twilight. Why, she’d study day and night to find a solution that sticks.”
“Well… it’s just that, um, when I transform into this, I feel so much stronger, and faster. It’s wonderful! And the apples taste so good…”
“Fluttershy, I known you a fair long time now, and it’s rare that you care about bein’ strong, or fast. You’re a gentle soul.” She shook her head. “Tell me true, ya call yerself a monster, but do ya like being a bat? Do ya really want Twilight or anypony else to fix ya?”
Fluttershy was silent.
Applejack paced around Fluttershy, trying desperately to think of a solution. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of Fluttershy’s cutie mark. Three pink bats. Realization hit her.
“Are ya aware that your cutie mark has changed?”
“I, um, saw it in a mirror once, yes.” The vampire was still hungrily looking at the apples.
“Well, think back. Remember when Twilight scrambled up all our cutie marks? We didn’t even know who we were anymore. Your cutie mark has changed, Fluttershy, you’re not who you’re meant to be anymore. Ya don’t really want to be a bat, it’s just the magic makin’ ya think that.” She stamped her hoof. “We’re goin’ to Twilight’s. No ifs, no buts. Come on.”
“No!”
“Yes! If you won’t come, I’ll have to tell Twilight anyway!”
Fluttershy seemed to shiver for a moment, closing her eyes. “No, you won’t,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, Applejack, I don’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice.” Her eyes opened suddenly and her stare pierced Applejack.
The earth pony found herself unable to move, the stare was that powerful. She couldn’t even speak. As she looked back at Fluttershy, mesmerized, she imagined herself being swallowed by her blood-red eyes.
“Now, you will not tell anypony about this.” She looked once more at the apples, and drooled. “And you will give me all the apples I need.”
“I will not tell anypony. I will give you all the apples you need,” said Applejack tonelessly. She pushed the bushel of apples over to Fluttershy with a hoof, and the vampire began to feast, draining every last apple. When she was done, she began to transform back. Soon she was a normal pegasus again. And she was mortified.
She looked at the mesmerized Applejack. “Oh, no!” she breathed. “Applejack, wake up! Ignore what I told you! I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”
Applejack shook her head as if waking. “Uh… what? What happened?”
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t control myself! I, um, used the stare on you. Told you not to tell anypony else…”
Applejack looked at the floor. “That wasn’t really you, Fluttershy. I know you’d never do somethin’ like that. But do ya see what’s happenin’ to ya? Why ya need help?”
Fluttershy’s look of shame was almost unbearable. She was crying now. “You’re right, aren’t you? I really do need help. I’m sorry, Applejack. Can you forgive me?”
“I forgive ya, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy wiped some of the tears away. “Thank you,” she said, as Applejack hugged her. “Let’s go to Twilight’s. I don’t think I want to be a vampire anymore…”
Applejack smiled, and the two ponies headed off into the night.