The Infestation
The day started off like any normal Saturday.
The family would wake up early and help make breakfast. After that, we cleaned up and got ready to do the day’s chores. Applejack and Big Mac worked the fields, while Granny and I cleaned up the house.
I was in the kitchen scrubbing out the oven. It was overdue for a good cleaning, since it was pretty cruddy in there. Getting the burnt gunk off the trays was simple; a good rinse and that’s all there was to it. But getting all the nooks and crannies in the oven was hard. It didn’t help that I didn’t have claws or a horn to make it any easier, either.
Not exactly the most fun chore, but at least I was inside where it was nice and warm.
“Apple Bloom!” Granny called out from the other side of the house. “Have ya seen the feather duster?”
“Are ya holdin’ it in yer hoof, Granny?” I called back. Granny was pretty old, old enough to start forgetting simple things, like where she left her bit bag or what she was supposed to do next. I worried about her sometimes.
“Don’t be sassy with me, young’n!”
My eyes rolled. Just checking, Granny. “Alright, ah’ll look for it!”
I shimmied out of the oven and looked around the kitchen for the feather duster. As I looked, I walked by the window seat. The sunny rays pouring in from the window felt good on me. It was a relief from the chill of winter. I stood there for a few moments, enjoying the warmth. That’s when I thought I heard a buzzing sound. I stayed quiet and listened for it again, but it wasn’t there anymore. Must’ve been hearing things.
Soon, I found what I was looking for. I had checked the cabinet where we kept the cleaning supplies and there it was, nestled snuggly with the bucket and mop. Thankfully, they were dry, otherwise Granny would’ve been dusting the house with a waterlogged duster.
No, seriously, she would do it. Like I said, old age had made her a kind of forgetful.
Before grabbing, I yelled out to Granny. “Found it!”
Granny came creaking along around the corner. “Thank ya, Apple Bloom.” She gently ruffled my mane. “Yer always a big help around the house.”
I smiled at the compliment. ‘“Thanks, Granny.” It felt good to be appreciated. I didn’t do as much as my siblings, mostly because I was too young to work the fields. At least I did something to keep Sweet Apple Acres running.
Someday, though, I’d be able to handle more responsibility.
Granny had left to dust the den, leaving me alone in the kitchen again. I walked back over to the oven, passing by the window seat as I did. That’s when I heard the buzzing again. It was almost too quiet to hear, but this time it was there for real. I stopped and turned to the window seat. Was it coming from there? I put my ear up against the wood.
Sure enough, the weird buzzing was coming from inside.
I stepped back and tilted my head in curiosity. What was making that sound? It couldn't have been Scootaloo under the house, even though it sounded a lot like her wings when they buzzed. Besides, nothing could have gotten under there; the house’s crawl space was locked up tight. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I had gone in there in one of our crusading attempts. We were Cutie Mark Crusader Pest Control (yay).
It didn’t work out so well.
The buzzing could have been made by a draft. The house was almost as old as Granny, so it was bound to have a few gaps in the wood. Leaves and stuff could have been blown in by the wind and caught in the woodwork, causing the weird buzzing.
That wasn’t as much of a problem as the mold that could be in there, though. Water could come through the gaps, get trapped inside the wood, and mold could start growing. We’ve had those kind of problems in the past, so this wasn’t much of a surprise.
Still wasn’t something to ignore, though. Last time we had mold, we were having headaches and puking fits for a week.
I’d let the rest of the family know about it later. Right then, I had to finish cleaning the house.
“Apple Bloom!” Granny called again. “Have ya seen the broom and dust pan?”
“Ah’m on it, Granny!”
It was past dark by the time we ate dinner. It was nice, eating at the table as a family. We got to talk about our day, come up with new ideas to make selling or harvesting apples better, that sort of thing. It was a blessing. Some of the foals at school didn’t get to do that. Like Diamond Tiara; being a busy business pony, her dad was never around a lot. That left only her butler Randolph or her maid Consuela to take care of her. It almost made me feel sorry for Diamond Tiara.
Almost.
After we finished dinner and washed the dishes, I told Applejack and Big Mac about the weird buzzing in the window seat. Granny had gone to bed by then. Applejack knelt down and pressed her ear against the wood boards. After a moment, she pulled back, eyeing the window seat the same way she would at me when I wasn’t being entirely honest. “Yer right, Apple Bloom. There’s somethin’ in there. And it sure ain’t a draft.” She turned to Big Mac. “Ya hear it, too?”
Our big brother leaned down and did the same thing. He stood back up and nodded to Applejack. “Eeyup.”
“What is it?” I asked.
My sister adjusted her hat. “If it’s what Ah think it is, we’ve gotta nip it in the bud before it gets any worse.”
“And how are we gonna do that?”
“We’re gonna rip out the seat and git rid of them varmints.” Applejack turned to our big brother. “Big Mac, git a couple of crowbars and some facemasks. Apple Bloom, you and Ah’ll grab the bug spray and the fly swatters.”
While Big Mac went to the shed to get his crowbar, I went with Applejack to get what we needed from the supply closet. As I sat there as she got the stuff I couldn’t reach, I asked. “So, what kinda bugs are we up against?” The way she avoided my questioned earlier hinted at something bad.
“Wasps, Apple Bloom.”
“Wasps?”
Applejack hoofed me the bug spray. “Yep. Sometimes them varmints come a’flyin’ into the house through nooks and crannies, then build their nests inside the walls. We try to clear ‘em out as soon as we find one.” She paused. “If we don’t, we’re in a heap load of trouble.”
Huh. I never knew wasps could build their homes that way. I always thought they stuck to trees and that sort of thing. Well, as they say, the more you know.
“So, how are we gonna deal with ‘em? Just rip open the seat and spray the nest?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” She hoofed over the fly swatters next.
“Sounds simple.”
“So long as the nest ain’t too big, this should go without a hitch. If it is, well … we might be in a pickle.” Applejack sounded unsure of herself.
My head tilted to the side. “How bad do ya think it is?” Questions blazed through my mind. What would happen if the nest was a lot bigger than we thought? Would we have to tear out more than just the seat? Would we need to get Fluttershy involved? She was pretty good with insects as much as animals.
“Now, Apple Bloom, don’t ya worry about a thing. Yer big sis’ll be there to make sure yer safe and sound.” She ruffled my mane, putting on a smile.
Somehow, I didn’t find that reassuring. It was like the time Applejack tried watching over me after I screwed up my first day housesitting by myself (it was her fault, by the way, scaring me like that); always smiling when she felt like she needed to help me or protect me. And it looked like she was doing just that.
It was really annoying.
“Yer doin’ it again,” I deadpanned.
Applejack tilted her head. “Doin’ what?”
“Smiling like ya do when yer hoverin’ over me.”
She stuttered. “What? Er, um, no ah’m not.” Her eyes darted away and she bit her lip, like they always did she she was lying.
I facehoofed. She was a terrible liar. “Look, Applejack, if yer gonna let me help, the least ya could do is not treat me like a foal. If ah can take on a chimera, ah think ah can handle a few wasps.”
Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She sighed and hung her head in defeat. “Ya know what? Yer right. Ah’m sorry.” She gently gripped my shoulder and, after a breath, faced me. “Ah shouldn’t be treating ya like that anymore. Yer eleven now, and much more capable of takin’ care of yerself. But yer still mah little sister and ah just … ah just don’t want anythin’ happenin’ to ya is all.”
I laid a comforting hoof on her leg. She could be too much of a worrywort sometimes. “Ah understand ya wanna make sure ah’m safe, but … could ya please lay off the hoverin’? Just a little bit?”
She looked at me and smiled softly, copying my gesture, except on my back. “Sure. Ah can do that.”
“Promise?”
“As the Bearer of Honesty, Ah promise.”
“Thanks, Applejack.” We hugged, holding it for a few moments. It was nice, knowing that my older sister was there for me. Not just for protecting (when it was necessary), but for understanding that I was growing up, and I wouldn’t always need her to watch over me.
“Sure thing, Sugarcube.” She broke off the hug and ruffled my mane. “Now what ya say we git these over to the kitchen and lend yer big brother a hoof?”
That got me excited. I was going to help them clear out an infestation, and Applejack wasn’t going to hover. “Let’s git ‘r done!”
As we walked back to the kitchen with the supplies, Applejack grinned smugly. “And for the record, Ah saved ya from the chimera.”
“Shut up.”
“Y’all ready?” asked Applejack, adjusting her facemask.
“Mhm.”
“Eeyup.”
Big Mac and Applejack were hunkered over the window seat, their crowbars wedged between the panel and the wall, ready to pry it open. I was behind them, holding one of the cans of bug spray in my hooves. I was ready to clear out these pests.
“Okay. Hold on to your butts.” Applejack and Big Mac grunted as they forced open the seat. The screeching sound of wood being forced apart sent goosebumps up my legs and back. My jaw clenched tight and my ears folded back. Good Goddess, that hurt my ears. It took a few thrusts to loosen the panel. Once it was loosened enough, they ditched the crowbars and lifted the panel up. That’s when we got one hay of a surprise.
On the underside of the panel was the biggest wasp nest I ever saw.
How big was it, you ask? Imagine Applejack laying flat on the window seat; the panel was as long and just a hoof wider than she was. The nest, a cluster of milky white honeycombs, covered half of the underside.
“Dayum,” Big Mac breathed.
“Uh … that’s only part of it, y’all.” Applejack said, pointing down into the empty space. “Look.”
That pushed me out of my trance. I stood up on my hind legs and peeked inside. Applejack wasn’t kidding; there was more to the nest. A lot more. More clusters of honeycombs were spread all over the inner planks, enough to cover about a third of the wood.
“How the hay did it get this big?” I asked.
Applejack scratched the back of her head. “If Ah had to guess, they’ve been building this nest up for years. Gotta hand it to them, they found a good spot to build it. Too bad we’ve gotta take it out, though.”
That’s when a buzzing noise rang through our ears. At first, it started barely audible, like only a couple of wasps were buzzing their wings. Then it grew louder and louder as more wasps joined in on the chorus.
I felt my chest tighten. Oh … buck.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack called out, shaking the cobwebs out of my head. “Git sprayin’, before they come out!”
“R-right!” I made to grab the can of spray, but I couldn’t get a grip on the darned thing. My hooves were shaking, still surprised at the size of the wasps’ nest. Come on, AB, I chided to myself, get a grip! I finally managed to grab the can and I got to spraying the pesticide all over the bench. Thankfully we were all wearing facemasks so we wouldn’t breathe any of it in; it was some high quality stuff. If we did, well, let’s just say Granny Smith won’t be the only one with breathing problems.
After having sprayed the living Tartarus out the nest, we all took a breath and held it.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
Four.
We let it out at five seconds, relieved once we saw no movement.
Applejack wiped her forehead. “Whew. Dodged that there bullet, huh?
I grinned proudly. “Sure did, big sis.” It was over. We won.
Or so I thought.
The buzzing came back, only this time louder and much more fierce. My heart skipped a beat at the sound. A few wasps came out from the nest, forming a group. The group steadily got larger and larger as more wasps joined them. Soon, it looked like a thundercloud had formed in our kitchen.
I gasped as the alarm bells in my head started ringing. That’s when my mouth decided to cooperate with my brain.
“Run, run away!” I yelled to everypony. We all turned and high-tailed it out of the kitchen, screaming like little fillies. Winona joined in on the fit of hysteria, barking up a storm and weaving in and between our legs as we ran in circles around the house like a carousel gone mad.
Granny came creaking down the stairs not long after shi-- crap hit the fan. Even when running and getting glimpses of her with every pass, I could tell she was not in a good mood. She said something, probably words a little filly like me shouldn’t use, but none of us could hear Granny over the loud buzzing.
On the next pass by the stairs, Applejack commanded Big Mac to grab Granny, to which he did with his usual “Eeyup”, setting her on his back. Granny wasn’t all that happy about getting grabbed and being carried like a deer. Until she saw the wasps.
“Great Gatsby!”
We managed to hightail it out the front door and make sure we were far away from the house as possible. Weaving through the trees, we made it to the clubhouse that served as the HQ for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
I grinned inside. It was the perfect place to hide until this thing blew over … if it blew over. I did spray half a can of pesticide on their nest, after all. But it didn’t matter; I doubted those bugs could get inside. Applejack fixed it up pretty good when she renovated it for the CMC to use.
Big Mac went up the ladder first, hauling up Granny. I went in next, Applejack coming up behind me with Winona on her back. Once inside, I turned on the thinking lamp and made sure everything was locked tight before checking up on Granny. She was passed out, probably from being spooked. I wouldn’t blame her; those wasps were pretty scary.
“Will she be okay?” I asked, worried. I heard stories about ponies who’d been scared to death and, well, we’d all be devastated if that happened to Granny.
Applejack discarded her facemask and drew me in close to her, smiling assuredly. “Ah’m sure she’ll be right as rain in a few hours. Them wasps sure gave her a hayuva scare.”
She paused to take a look at Granny. “What about you? Are ya alright, Sugarcube?” she asked, referring to me.
Bic Mac and I took our masks off, too. “Y-yeah. Ah’m fine. It’s just … what just happened?”
“Ah think we just had a property dispute.” Then she deadpanned. “With wasps.”
It got quiet after that. We could still hear the buzzing outside, but it died down. Still, I didn’t think anypony had the guts to go out there just yet. And Granny was passed out, probably for a while. Which left one option.
“So ... gonna wait it out?”
“You should have let me know you had an infestation.” Fluttershy scolded. Or, at least, as much as she could when her voice was so calm and quiet. “Wasps are naturally aggressive when they feel their home is threatened, and in … invading their territory, they had every right to defend themselves.”
“Defend themselves?” Applejack questioned, failing miserably to hold back her tone. She was not liking the way her friend was taking the wasps’ side. “Defend themselves?! For corn’s sake, Fluttershy, they chased us out of our house!”
Fluttershy flinched at my sister’s harshness, but she held her ground. “If you hadn’t taken matters into your own hooves and let me know beforehoof, it may have not come to that.” She may have been timid and easily spooked by simple things, but Fluttershy knew when to be assertive. Like the time she won that staring contest with the cockatrice. I’ll never forget the look on its face when Fluttershy threatened to tell it off on it’s mama.
But Applejack did have a point. As much as it was their home, the wasps came in after us. It was our house, and they scared us out of it. It wasn’t right. Then again, Fluttershy had been a big help in getting them out. Like she said, if she had intervened earlier, we wouldn’t have gotten into this mess.
As they argued, I looked at the house. Big Mac and some of the ponies from town were milling about. They were busy clearing out the nests left behind and making repairs. Caramel and Noteworthy were helping my big brother load the rotted wood onto the wagon, while Thunderlane and Snowflake hauled in fresh planks to replace them.
And that wasn’t all. Carrot Top and Sweetcream Scoops brought food over from their places to feed everypony. And with word of free food spreading through town, more came in to join in and lend a hoof.
I smiled to myself. As crazy as it was, I was kind of happy we went through this. Granny always said that tough times brought a family together. Now, not everypony in Ponyville was related by blood or marriage, but being a small town, we were a close enough knit group to call everyone family. We were there for one another, always ready to lend a hoof to a friend in need.
What I saw then was truth enough to that.
“Hey, Apple Bloom!” a familiar scratchy voiced called out.
I turned to see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle coming up the hill. I waved to them. “Hey, gals!”
Sweetie got to me first, looking at me worriedly. “We heard about your house. Is everypony alright? Did anypony suffer anaphylactic shock?”
“Anapha-what?” Scoots and I asked.
“Meaning did anypony get stung and have a nasty reaction, like a swollen throat and breathing problems?” Sweetie clarified.
Oh. “No, we’re all good. Nopony got stung or anythin’, thank Celestia.”
“Good,” said Scoots, trying to look cool about it, “‘cause, you know, we were kinda concerned you got hurt or something. Which obviously you weren’t.” She shook her head before going on excitedly. “Anyway, I just got some manga from my brother up in the Crystal Empire, and I think we can find some cool new crusading ideas from them. You wanna check ‘em out?”
After the night I had, I felt like I deserved a day of crusading with my best friends, getting another step closer to discovering our cutie marks, and just having a rip-roaring good time. Nothing made me happier.
“Count me in!”
Author's Note
Got inspired to write this after a similar, tamer incident happened in my house. I kid you not, the wasps' nest took up half the space under the window. You can find the photos in my blog post here.
Many thanks to Web of Hope and Jake the Ginger for taking the time to look this sucker over.
