A Monster Looming Over Usby Brass PolishChapters1 Overgrown2 Footprints3 Respect Your Elders4 Respect Your Minors1 OvergrownThe long-term consequences of Fluttershy’s proposal to give the vampire fruit bats a section of forest in Sweet Apple Acres were mounting dramatically. For many moons since the sanctuary was set up, Applejack and Big Macintosh would wander its perimeter collecting the seeds the bats spit out. The two of them never went in because they never felt comfortable around the creatures. Apple Bloom on the other hoof went straight in every time it was her turn to collect spit-backs… albeit against orders. She had fared much better from that unpleasant day she was foalnapped by Crosspatch and Lazybug than Applejack gave her credit for, and she was comparably less disturbed by the vampire fruit bats, as they had been a lot of help to her. No one found out that she was going straight into vampire fruit bat territory to collect seeds, even though she always brought back more than her sister and brother could together. Granny Smith attributed this to how short and near to the ground Apple Bloom was. In her most recent trips into the sanctuary, she began to notice that despite the larger amount of seeds she collect, she barely even made a dent in the amount of spit-backs littering the ground. By now, hundreds of new trees had grown, and there was barely enough space for even little Apple Bloom to walk. It was looking more and more like the Everfree Forest every week. No two trees were the same size, nor the same degree of healthy. A lot of the trees that had been there long before this area had been given to the bats were deprived of nutrients, and not producing leaves, and their bark was falling off. And some of the younger trees weren’t getting enough sunlight because of the larger trees’ leaves and branches casting shadows over them around the clock. Apple Bloom knew something had to be done, but she also knew that if she brought this up, she’d get busted for venturing into the vampire fruit bat zone against orders. “I’ve been thinking,” she said to Applejack. “There’s hardly any seeds around the vampire fruit bat’s area.” “You do okay,” observed Applejack. “I know,” Apple Bloom said slyly, “but maybe you and Big Mac can get more seeds if you wentinto the zone.” “Don’t talk crazy,” groaned Applejack. “Them bats’ll never leave us alone if we’re scrounging around their territory.” “They don’t--” Apple Bloom almost said that they don’t bother her as much as they used to when she first started collecting seeds from within the forest because of all the extra trees producing more apples for them to occupy themselves with. She’d had a hard time concealing the various bites and scratches she’d sustained, and she was not going to let Applejack find out what she’d been doing if she could help it. “Uh, I mean… they didn’t bother Crosspatch and Lazybug when they held me hostage in there,” she said quickly. Applejack squirmed. It gave her no pleasure hearing her little sister talk so casually about getting foalnapped by two ponies they now count as friends. “Maybe we could hire them to go in and collect seeds,” suggested Apple Bloom. “Hey! I like that idea,” grinned Applejack. “They’ll be perfect for the job.” So Applejack spoke to Crosspatch, who agreed to come to Sweet Apple Acres the following morning. After Apple Bloom had gone to school, Applejack waited around the vampire bat zone. When Crosspatch arrived, Applejack was surprised to see Lazybug was with her. “Shouldn’t you be in school right now?” she asked. “He insisted on coming along,” said Crosspatch. “The point is to collect as many seeds as possible, right?” asked Lazybug. Applejack nodded. “Well the more ponies you have, the more seeds you’ll get. Right?” “I guess,” said Applejack. “I didn’t need any school to tell me that,” smirked Lazybug, picking up a bucket and taking off into the vampire fruit bat zone. “I’m a bit worried,” confided Crosspatch. “Do you think Twilight’ll be cross if Lazybug’s not at school with Nyx?” “She can lose her cool,” said Applejack, “but if it’s only for one day, everything should be fine. I won’t mention anything to Twilight.” “Thanks,” said Crosspatch. “Well, I better get going. If he gets more seeds than me, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Hours later, Crosspatch wasn’t hearing the end of it. “What have you been doing?” demanded Lazybug. “You’ve not got one seed in your bucket.” “There were so many nests on the ground, full of tiny-winy little bats,” pined Crosspatch. “The trees in here are so old and weak, they can’t support the nests the bats make. I couldn’t leave them lying on the ground to get trodden on.” “What’s gonna step on them in here?” asked Lazybug. “This is their territory. No other animals live or come in here.” “We step on them while we’re collecting seeds in here,” insisted Crosspatch. “While we’re collecting seeds?” Lazybug cast another pitiful look at Crosspatch’s empty bucket. “I’m sure I can do the job properly once I’ve scooping up all the baby bats that fell from the trees,” said Crosspatch, casting misty eyes on a family of bats on a branch. “You’d think the parents would try and pick their young’uns up, but they don’t seem to think they’re in any danger on the ground.” “If you’re gonna insist on spending your whole time in here picking bats off the ground instead of what you were hired to do,” frowned Lazybug, “I’m gonna insist on taking 100% of the pay.” “It’s not easy, you know. This forest is way overgrown,” Crosspatch looked around at the trees and bushes of varying age and health. “And did you get a look at Applejack’s red gala field?” “What about it?” asked Lazybug. “Those are the only kind of apples they got in here. Red gala seeds are the only ones they find in vampire fruit bat territory. They could get more variety if they planted different seeds in here.” “Plant more seeds?! Look around. There’s virtually no more room,” observed Lazybug in an irritated manner. “That’s why we’re here, Crosspatch. To pick seeds off the ground.” “But we can’t possibly get them all,” said Crosspatch. “I probably could,” muttered Lazybug. “You’ve been no help at all.” “My point is if the Apples don’t plant more seeds, the bats will. And this forest will be completely impenetrable. If more seeds are planted, they might as well be something other than red gala,” insisted Crosspatch. When she got home from school, Apple Bloom was pleased to find that her plan had worked perfectly. Applejack told her that they would be giving the vampire fruit bat zone a comprehensive clean-up. Old trees would either be pruned or chopped down, sick trees would be disposed of, and seeds of various types of apple would be planted in their places. Apple Bloom was glad that this plan came about without anyone suspecting she’d been venturing into vampire bat territory, but she was worried that she might have inadvertently caused friction between Crosspatch and Lazybug. Crosspatch had collected fewer seeds than Lazybug, but still took half the pay. And now they were arguing about whether or not Lazybug should skip more classes. “If you leave it to just her, you won’t get many seeds,” Lazybug insisted. “The two of us can get you more.” “Frankly, I don’t think you need more red gala seeds,” said Crosspatch. “Like I said, you’re red gala field’s the biggest one in Sweet Apple Acres.” “I got an idea,” said Applejack. “Lazybug won’t have to miss too much school if somepony can get the bats to leave me and Big Mac alone. Fluttershy’d be perfect for that.” “But Applejack,” Apple Bloom piped in, “Fluttershy said she doesn’t understand vampire fruit bats as well as any other animal.” “She’s still our best bet,” insisted Applejack. “We don’t know anypony else who even comes close to communicating with animals. All these two get do is get ‘em to buzz off.” “Great. So I can help Crosspatch collect seeds until Fluttershy gets through to the bats and gets them off your backs,” smiled Lazybug. “But what about his ponyguard duties?” asked Crosspatch. “He’s meant to be watching over Nyx in school. Who knows? There could be one or two ponies in Equestria who still think Nyx got off too lightly for causing a two-week-long night.” So Applejack, Crosspatch, and Lazybug paid Twilight Sparkle a visit to get her view. “It sounds reasonable,” said Twilight. “If Lazybug has work to do, he should be allowed to help out. And Nyx is getting better at defensive magic. And she’s got plenty of friends by now to watch over her.” The more Twilight spoke, the more Lazybug smiled and the more Crosspatch frowned. Starlight Glimmer piped in. “You and me could speed up the process whenever we’re not practising magic. Getting rid of old trees, cleaning up the overgrowth, and chopping it up…” “Great idea. We’ll let you know when we have an opening, alright?” Twilight asked Applejack. “Sounds dandy, you two,” smiled Applejack. “Alright. Now if we can get Fluttershy on board, everything’ll be set.” Nyx wasn’t worried at all when Twilight told her Lazybug wouldn’t be in school for a while; though she was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t see much of her best friend. And there was no need to worry about any attempt to ambush Nyx going unnoticed, as today, Cheerilee had an in-class assignment to be carried out in pairs. The school ponies were to construct kites. Nyx was glad to be paired with Apple Bloom, but Apple Bloom seemed put out about something. “So Twilight let you come here without Lazybug?” asked Apple Bloom. “Yeah. She said I should be perfectly safe,” Nyx nodded. “She says I’ve gotten much better at the protective spells I’ve been practising, and my magic’s a lot stronger by now.” “I wish my sister had as much confidence in me as your mom has in you,” frowned Apple Bloom. “She told me to stay outta of her bat zone clean-up. I’m better at dealing with those bats then she is. I’m the one who got them to stop the Zap-O-Lantern.” “Lazybug told me you couldn’t get them to go back to their own territory after they’d sucked all the juice out of that monster,” said Nyx tentatively. “They started eating all the apples in the cellar and completely ignored you when you told them to go back home.” “I still got them to follow me to the cellar in the first place,” insisted Apple Bloom. “Maybe the only thing you said that they understood was there was a giant apple for them to eat,” suggested Nyx. Apple Bloom looked around, half-hoping there was a student without a partner. She saw that the only pony who had no one to pair up with was Tender Taps, but he was already writing down notes from a text book while the rest of the class were still rifling through them. It wasn’t a surprise to Apple Bloom; the assignment was about the Rain Dance. Back at home, the operation to overhaul the vampire fruit bat’s section of Sweet Apple Acres had begun. Applejack and Big Mac were taking it in turns to collect twigs and fallen branches, in between other duties in the orchard. Any reservations either of them had about venturing into vampire bat territory didn’t last long because the only bats they saw whenever they went in were merely observing them from distant tree branches. “Ya think Fluttershy’s gettin through to ‘em?” Applejack asked Big Mac during one changeover. Big Mac glanced over Applejack’s shoulder. “Nnnnope.” Applejack turned to see Fluttershy staggering towards them sporting a few scratches. “I reckon she’s just a distraction to ‘em,” finished Big Mac. “I think I’m gonna take a break now,” Fluttershy said. “Not goin’ well?” asked Applejack. “Better than I expected,” said Fluttershy in an upbeat manner. “I still can’t quite understand what they say, and they still don’t quite get what I tell them, but all those games of charades we’ve been playing are helping things along.” “You’re playin charades with the bats?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I tried to mime a gopher by pretending to burrow down into a bush, and I got stuck,” chuckled Fluttershy. “That got them to laugh at least… I think.” Big Mac knew he was right about Fluttershy being a distraction to the bats when he was circled by them upon entering their territory. But it didn’t take long for Crosspatch and Lazybug to get them off his back. “Our spritzing bottle’s running dry,” Lazybug said once the last one had backed off. “Don’t take too long, okay Big Mac?” “Yyyyep,” nodded Big Mac. “Or you could take your time and the two of us can just do a Rain Dance,” chuckled Crosspatch. Big Mac chuckled as well, but Lazybug just tilted his head. “Rain dance? What’s that?” “It’s what an ancient tribe of earth ponies used to do before negotiating with the pegasi to control the weather over their plantations,” said Crosspatch. “Didn’t you learn about that in school?” Lazybug shook his head. “I can’t think why you wouldn’t want to stay in school,” frowned Crosspatch. “Back before we got eaten by the Zap-O-Lantern, Ponyville didn’t exist, and there wasn’t a school for miles. Now we’ve got a schoolhouse within walking distance and a top notch teacher with it.” “Yyyyep,” nodded Big Mac. “Well I didn’t need school to learn about the Rain Dance, did I?” smirked Lazybug. “And how did you know about the Rain Dance? You never went to no school.” “I found out about it when Twilight and me were looking for ways to keep us hydrated while we’re asleep at night,” explained Crosspatch. “Looks like you can learn about stuff they teach you in school anywhere,” suggested Lazybug. “I suppose,” Crosspatch faltered. “But you did learn useful stuff there, didn’t you? Like the unseasonable snowfalls in Clopley Hill. That’s how we realized why our mum wandered into town wearing a hat, scarf, and boots.” To that, Lazybug had no counterargument. Author's Note Partially inspired by Tale of the Brave. 2 FootprintsApple Bloom returned to Sweet Apple Acres when Applejack was leaving the bat zone for the fourth time that day. “Nyx wanted me to give you a message,” she said. “Twilight and Starlight can come over tomorrow to clear away some of the rotten wood.” “Dandy,” said Applejack, whipping some sweat off her face. “Oh. Get this. I got this idea to make extra money. We can sell this here old wood as kindling.” Apple Bloom groaned loudly. “I was just gonna say that!” She stomped away towards the CMC clubhouse. “No need to get all huffy,” frowned Applejack. “So what if we both had the same good idea?” “I thought I’d be able to help out in some way that doesn’t make you wanna shove me away,” Apple Bloom blurted out. Applejack let the basket of twigs she’d been carrying fall off her back. “Look, Apple Bloom,” she said firmly. “You know dang well I don’t shove you away.” “So I can help you and Big Mac clean up that mess?” asked Apple Bloom. “No, but that’s not shoving you away,” Applejack said quickly. “I just think we’ve got enough ponies working on this. Me, Big Mac, Crosspatch, and now Twilight and Starlight are…” “You left me out!” came Lazybug’s voice. “And I’m still getting more seeds than her!” Lazybug stormed out of the zone and walked away towards the clubhouse; Apple Bloom followed him. Crosspatch left the zone carrying a half-empty bucket of seeds and sporting a sock on her hoof. “It’s not my fault,” she insisted. “How was I supposed to resist that sock puppet theater Fluttershy put on for the young’uns?” “If it’s too small, she’s too soft with it,” Lazybug sulked as he and Apple Bloom entered the CMC clubhouse. “If it’s too big, she’s scared lifeless of it. I don’t even get why. We both have our protective zap apple tree magic, so no creature can hurt us. But she’s still trying to find excuses to send me off to school. If she finds anything bigger than a bat in those old trees, all she’ll end up doing is refilling her spritzing bottle.” “If I didn’t know better, I’d say big sisters just like pushing their smaller siblings around,” groaned Apple Bloom. “So you do know better?” asked Lazybug. “Great. Then you can tell me why they do it.” “Uh…” “You don’t know better, do you?” “I DO! I mean I know Applejack doesn’t think I’m useless,” said Apple Bloom. “She can’t. She admitted she was wrong when she tried to stop me reaching out to Zecora. She’s awful impressed with me, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle for having a griffon member of the Crusaders.” “Maybe she just doesn’t want you doing her work,” suggested Lazybug. “Nah, that can’t be it,” insisted Apple Bloom. “I’ve done my share of applebucking. I think she just doesn’t want me near those bats. Probably because of that whole chimera thing.” “Oh, that makes sense. I mean, how did you never think to bring some ricotta with you?” “I didn’t know there was a chimera in that marsh!” barked Apple Bloom. “And that was different. That thing was huge. Those bats are way smaller. I wish I could tell her I’ve been going in their territory the whole time.” “Don’t talk daft,” sneered Lazybug. “You don’t wanna give her a reason to give you some kinda punishment just because she can.” Twilight and Starlight made short work of the larger and more cumbersome tree trunks and brambles the next day. Unfortunately, they made a lot of noise, which hindered Fluttershy in her attempts to become friendly with the vampire fruit bats. “I think they were asking me for an explanation for all the disturbance,” she told them. “But I don’t think I was able to communicate it to them.” “Why is it only vampire fruit bats you can’t understand?” asked Starlight. “I don’t know,” sighed Fluttershy. “But at least some of them understand me when I want to play a game with them.” Twilight looked at the colourful shreds of paper stuck to Fluttershy’s hooves. “What were you doing with them today?” she asked. “Arts and crafts,” smiled Fluttershy. “I was making paper flowers.” “What did they make?” “I never found out. They quit after the noise got too annoying for them,” sighed Fluttershy. “Sorry,” said Twilight. “This was poor timing.” “It’s alright. But I’m still not keeping the bats away from Applejack and Big Mac as well as Crosspatch and Lazybug are,” said Fluttershy. At the moment, Crosspatch and Lazybug weren’t doing a good job of keeping the vampire bats away from Applejack and Big Macintosh, because neither Applejack nor Big Macintosh had gone into the vampire bat zone yet that day. “You better go look for them,” Crosspatch said to Lazybug. “Good idea. Then you might get a full bucket of seeds for a change,” said Lazybug before taking off. “I’ll be getting more seeds for the rest of the job,” Crosspatch said under her breath. “Because you are going back to school tomorrow, you child.” Minutes later, Crosspatch found there’d been no need to send Lazybug to find the farmers. Applejack turned up looking exhausted. “We’re a bit behind in our regular applebuckin’ jobs,” she told Crosspatch. “And that’s not the only problem. I had to fight with Apple Bloom to get her to go to school today.” “Oh, you too, eh?” asked Crosspatch. “She thinks I’m puttin’ her down by not letting her work in here,” Applejack went on. “I dunno what her big deal is… I know she’s been coming in here collecting seeds behind my back.” “Just fancy,” sniffed Crosspatch. “I’ll be glad when this job’s over. Maybe if…” “Wait! What’s that?” Applejack pointed to the ground. The two mares looked at a large imprint in the soil. “Whoa!” cried Crosspatch. “It looks like a bat’s footprint.” “But it’s huge!” exclaimed Applejack. “No way there’s a bat that big in here.” Crosspatch looked around. “I dunno. There’re plenty of hiding places in this forest.” “Well since we’re cleanin’ up in here, we’ll do away with any space big enough to hide a huge vampire fruit bat,” said Applejack. Crosspatch gulped. It wasn’t long before Applejack’s confidence trickled away. She was still uncomfortable being anywhere near the vampire fruit bats, and even though it was slightly less cluttered now, it looked and felt like the Everfree Forest to her. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem, as by now, Applejack and her friends had worked out the paths of least resistance to Zecora’s hut and the Castle of the Two Sisters, and hadn’t been ambushed by any monsters for ages. But nothing was familiar in this wild jungle that sat in her own backyard. She kept telling herself that there couldn’t be a vampire fruit bat big enough to leave a footprint that size. This ended when a possibility occurred to her. “Maybe the bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern got huge,” she breathed. She spent several minutes both contemplating this possibility and trying to tell herself it wasn’t possible. It was late when she realised she hadn’t gotten much work done. She took off quickly to return to the golden delicious orchard, and found Big Mac on the way. He wasn’t moving a mussel. “Big Mac?” The big red stallion jumped. “Sorry,” said Applejack. “Is anything the matter?” “Yyyyep,” Big Mac pointed to the ground, indicating a large bat foot shaped indent there. “Oh, yeah. Me and Crosspatch were just talking about that,” said Applejack. “We…” She realised they weren’t in the same spot she and Crosspatch were when they saw their footprint. “Uh,” she went on, chuckling half-heartedly, “it kinda looks like there are big ol’ bats in this mess, don’t it?” “Yyyyep,” agreed Big Mac, making no effort to appear jovial. Applejack’s pace getting back to the golden delicious field was helped by the realization she was late and the desire to get the flying feather away from the vampire bat zone. Her spirits were lifted when she found Apple Bloom was doing her work for her. “Oh. Thanks, Apple Bloom. I sure don’t mind y’all doing this here kinda work,” she said. “I guess that’s something at least,” said Apple Bloom, rolling her eyes. Applejack was about to retort when she noticed Lazybug was applebucking in the field as well. “Ain’t y’all supposed to be pickin’ up seeds?” she asked. “I wanted to see how Crosspatch got on without me,” said Lazybug. “Looks like we’re gonna find out how she did,” Apple Bloom said, pointing towards the bat zone. Applejack and Lazybug turned to see Fluttershy flying quickly towards them, followed by Big Macintosh and Crosspatch. “There might be a giant bat in that forest!” said Fluttershy in an agitated manner. Applejack gulped. “Ya… ya think?” “Big Mac and Crosspatch say you three all saw big bat foot-shaped footprints,” said Fluttershy. Applejack, Big Mac, and Crosspatch all nodded. “And an hour ago, I finally understood something the vampire fruit bats said to me,” Fluttershy went on. “They said something about a giant bat.” “Are you sure?” asked Lazybug. “Yes. Giant bat sounds exactly the same in vampire fruit bat language as it does in ordinary fruit bat language,” insisted Fluttershy. “I’ve told Twilight and Starlight this, and they’re patrolling in the bat zone right now.” “Oh, good. They’ll find it,” said Apple Bloom. “Or them,” put in Lazybug. “There might be several of them. We should go in there too, Crosspatch.” “Uh…” “Don’t worry. You can stick by me,” sneered Lazybug. “Um…” “Oh, come on! There’s no need for you to be scared of anything bigger than you,” insisted Lazybug. “Easy for you to say,” scoffed Crosspatch. “You haven’t met Discord.” Fluttershy tittered. “We both have the protective zap apple tree magic in us from the Zap-O-Lantern,” continued Lazybug in a huff, “so we’ve got nothing to…” “The Zap-O-Lantern!” exclaimed Crosspatch. “The bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern musta gotten huge!” Now Applejack quite understood how Apple Bloom felt about being beaten to saying something she was thinking. “Well, maybe,” said Lazybug. “So…” “That means our zap apple tree protection won’t work against them!” Crosspatch said excitedly. “They’ll have it too! And that means Twilight’s and Starlight’s magic won’t be any use against them either!” “Y’all are getting’ awful excited there, Crosspatch,” said Applejack with a raised eyebrow. “Course she is,” groaned Lazybug. “She’s a total yellow-belly.” Fluttershy and Apple Bloom looked affronted. “You know what I mean,” Lazybug rolled his eyes. “Have Twilight or Starlight ever used their magic on either of ya?” asked Applejack. “Not me,” Lazybug shook his head. “And Crosspatch, if you’re about to say yes, we’ll ask Twilight and Starlight to see if you’re lying.” “I’m not making excuses, Lazybug,” snarled Crosspatch. “No, neither of them have ever used any kind of magic on me either.” “Fine. We’ll wait until they come back, and then we’ll see what happens when they use magic on us,” smirked Lazybug. “Alright, but whatever the results are,” said Crosspatch firmly, “you’re still going back to school tomorrow.” “Why?!” “I’m not having you miss more than two days of school a week,” insisted Crosspatch. “Anyway, you didn’t do much today.” “Don’t give me that!” snapped Lazybug. “You never came back after I sent you to see where Applejack and Big Mac were.” “I bet I still got more seeds than you today,” Lazybug grumbled. “And I was keeping busy.” “That’s true. He was,” Apple Bloom nodded. “He’s been helping me do Applejack’s golden delicious-bucking.” “Uh, Apple Bloom, you can go now,” Applejack said quickly. “I’ll take it from here.” Apple Bloom rushed off in a huff, looking back for a moment to see her big sister swiftly place some empty buckets beneath one of the few golden delicious trees that she and Lazybug hadn’t yet harvested. Once she was away from the group and out of earshot of Crosspatch and Lazybug’s argument, she turned towards vampire fruit bat territory. “Thinks she can make everypony forget me telling them she hardly did anything all day by send me away, does she?” she grumbled “Well if I have to go anywhere, it’s gonna be to the vampire bat zone.” She came upon the fence around the bat’s territory, beside which sat a pile of logs that Twilight and Starlight had collected during the day. She ran into the zone and quickly spotted Twilight and Starlight. “Apple Bloom, it might not be safe for you to be running around in here on your own,” said Twilight. “Yeah, yeah, Applejack and Crosspatch told me their dumb guess,” moaned Apple Bloom. “I guess it doesn’t sound a bit dumb,” agreed Starlight, “but it couldn’t hurt to make sure, could it?” “You’ll never guess what Crosspatch said,” grinned Apple Bloom. “She thinks your magic won’t be able to repel a giant bat.” “Why not?” asked Twilight. “She says… well, she hopes that the bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern turned giant, and that they have the same protective magic as her and Lazybug,” chuckled Apple Bloom. “Huh. Does that mean we’ll get thrown backwards if we try attacking them?” asked Starlight. “I doubt it,” said Apple Bloom. “Crosspatch is just scared.” “I thought she would be,” said Twilight. “That abominable snowmare seemed to spook her pretty badly. Still, it would be a good idea to find out for sure. Let’s go see what effect our magic has on Crosspatch.” Lazybug, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Fluttershy watched with anticipation as Twilight and Starlight pointed their horns at Crosspatch, who was looking quite calm compared to how she came across earlier. “Not like that!” barked Lazybug as Crosspatch was lifted off the ground by the combined magic of Twilight and Starlight. “You gotta attack her!” “Yeah! They only repel attackers,” added Apple Bloom. “Their defensive magic’s not gonna happen if you just pick them up!” Applejack would have liked to send Apple Bloom off, but by now, she knew she’d never get rid of her that easily. “You okay with this, Crosspatch?” asked Starlight as she and Twilight set Crosspatch back on the ground. “I’m not worried about me,” said Crosspatch. “I’m more concerned about you two.” “We’ll be fine,” said Twilight, looking over her should to double-check that she and Starlight had plenty of space behind them. Everypony watched as Twilight’s and Starlight’s horns lit up. Next second, two beams shot towards Crosspatch and hit her right in the face. In a flash, Crosspatch’s eyes glowed all the colours of the rainbow. The beams of the two stunning spells seemed to pause in midair, and identical streaks of lightning snaked along them towards their casters. There was a huge bang, and Twilight and Starlight were both catapulted backwards several yards. “Alright, alright, so their stunning spells’ll get thrown right back at them if they attack Crosspatch and Lazybug,” muttered Apple Bloom as Applejack and Big Mac helped Twilight and Starlight up. “But we still don’t know if that’s what those giant vampire fruit bats have.” “If there are even any giant bats,” added Lazybug. Twilight gave herself a little shake. “We’ll be alright. But I think we better wait a few minutes before we go back into the bat zone.” Starlight nodded in agreement. “And if we do see one, I’ll fire a stunning spell at it. If it backfires, you teleport us out of the zone.” “Alright,” said Twilight. “And then we better stay out of there, or it might leave the zone. And then who knows what it’ll do?” “My whole orchard’ll go dry!” cried Applejack. “And it might attack more ponies,” added Apple Bloom. “Oh, yeah. That too,” said Applejack quickly. “Well, I think we’re done here,” said Crosspatch. “Our water bottles are going dry. We better head home and refill them. Come on, Lazybug.” Lazybug shrugged and followed his big sister out of the orchard. “He took that well,” said Applejack. “I thought he’d fight her hoof and nail to stick around here and look for a giant pest.” Crosspatch was surprised as well. “So you’re not gonna grouse about me dragging you away from work and send you back to school tomorrow?” she asked when they got home. “I’m tired,” said Lazybug. “I can’t keep arguing with you. I better get to sleep before school tomorrow.” “I better not catch you sneaking out in the night to go bat hunting,” warned Crosspatch. “Oh, I promise,” said Lazybug, “I won’t be leaving my room all night.” And he opened his bedroom door with a grin on his face. “Then why are you giving me that look?” inquired Crosspatch. “Because you still found an excuse to not go after that giant bat yourself even though you saw its footprints on the ground,” smirked Lazybug. “I never thought you’d be alright with leaving all those baby bats in their nests on the ground to get trampled.” He shut his bedroom door, and chuckled to himself when he heard Crosspatch stampeding away down the hall. Twilight and Starlight had now recovered, and re-entered vampire fruit bat territory. “If we do find a giant bat,” said Starlight, “will they cancel the clean-up project?” “They might have to,” replied Twilight, as the dim evening light began to fade under the overgrown branches of the unkempt apple trees. “A giant bat would most likely prefer living in here now that there are so many places to hide. If we all cleaned up enough of it, it’ll either keep attacking us, or probably fly away and cause some serious damage.” She and Starlight lit their horns so they could see better. “Did you hear that?” asked Starlight, stopping. “Yeah,” nodded Twilight. “It came from over there.” They looked, and gasped as a large, wide, dark shape revealed itself to them. There was no mistaking those long thin wings. It was a giant bat. Quickly, Twilight shot a stunning spell at it. The spell froze, and a great flashing of many colours exploded from the eyes of the figure before them. Sparks crackled sharply along the stream of light, and Twilight was blasted backwards off her hooves. She bumped into a tree and crumpled in a heap on top of the upturned roots. Starlight promptly ran to her, and cast her teleportation spell to get them out of the forest. “I said I would be the one to cast the stunning spell!” she snapped at Twilight once they were out of harm’s way. Author's Note When I was conceiving this story, I imagined Granny Smith would be in it. But blow me, I couldn't find a role for her to play. 3 Respect Your EldersApplejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Fluttershy crowed around them. “Gosh! That didn’t take long!” cried Applejack. “Nnnnope,” agreed Big Mac. “You’ve only been gone two minutes.” “I hoped I’d misunderstood those bats,” said Fluttershy, “but I must’ve heard them right. They really did try to warn me about giant bats.” Twilight was taking longer to recover from the backfire than last time. “It won’t be safe to keep going with this clean-up project,” she panted. “Nnnnope,” nodded Big Mac. “I did always think it’d be best to leave well enough alone.” “Why won’t it be safe?” asked Apple Bloom. Everypony looked at her. “All we have to do is not attack the giant bat, and everything’ll be fine,” finished Apple Bloom. “It ain’t that simple, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack. “It might leave us alone if we leave it alone, but we’d still be fiddling with his home.” “Yyyyep,” said Big Mac. “It’d get sick of watching us and losing places to keep out of sight. If it leaves, our fields don’t stand a chance.” “Wow. If you’d been this talkative when I first met you,” said Starlight, “I wouldn’t have had to put that chatter spell on you.” Big Mac and Applejack grimaced. Crosspatch arrived. “Twilight? What happened?” “She tripped and fell,” said Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom!” snapped Applejack. Apple Bloom ignored her. “What’re you doing back here so soon?” “I was worried about all those bats nests I found on the ground in there,” said Crosspatch. “Well, actually, Lazybug reminded me about them.” “I wouldn’t worry,” said Fluttershy. “Surely even a giant vampire fruit bat would be careful not to tread on babies.” “Oh. I guess so,” nodded Crosspatch. “Are you sure?” asked Apple Bloom. “How careful can a giant bat be?” Twilight picked herself up. “It is best to leave the sanctuary alone, Apple Bloom.” “That’s right,” said Applejack. “None of us are going back in there from here on. That includes you, Apple Bloom. Yes, I know.” “You knew!” “Yes, I knew. I knew you’re made of tougher stuff than me. I admit it. But not enough to be safe around a giant bat,” said Applejack firmly. “If I find out you’ve been going in there for any reason from now on, you’re in trouble.” “Oh, fine!” snapped Apple Bloom. “Now you don’t have to feel bad at collecting seeds compared to me!” And she stormed off. Applejack sighed. “I better go after her and make sure she doesn’t try to spend the night in the treehouse. Don’t want her gettin’ foalnapped again.” Crosspatch shuffled her hooves as Applejack ran after her little sister. Apple Bloom hadn’t spent the night in the clubhouse, but was very displeased under the barn roof. She barely said a word to anypony until she was on her way to school with Lazybug. “She admitted right in front of everypony that she knows I’m tougher than her,” she grumbled. “She just doesn’t want me hanging around that giant bat when she’s too scared to.” “What about that chimera?” asked Lazybug. “I still got the pie cart past it!” snapped Apple Bloom. “Besides, I didn’t know how to fight a chimera, but I know how to deal with a giant bat. Leave it alone. And she knows it too. She’s just a fraidy-cat.” Lazybug said nothing. “You don’t seem as mad as I thought you’d be,” observed Apple Bloom. “I thought you’d skip school and keep on working in the bat zone.” “I’m not too fussed,” said Lazybug calmly. “You told me Cheerilee has a group assignment for the class today, right?” “Yeah. So?” “I’m gonna tell Cheerilee that I can only come back today, and I’ll have to go back to Sweet Apple Acres for the rest of the week,” said Lazybug. “And that you’ve agreed to partner up with me for this kite project so I can get credit.” “Ah. And tomorrow and Friday, you’re gonna sneak into the bat zone?” asked Apple Bloom with a grin. “I’ll keep popping in and out of class until that vampire fruit bat sanctuary is as clean as my water bottle,” smirked Lazybug. “And you can help. Whenever you have applebucking chores, and you’re not bucking red gala trees, you can put the bruised apples outside the bat zone’s fence instead of chucking them into the pig troughs.” “Yes!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “Then I can collect the seeds later and you’ll be able to plant something other than red gala trees in there! Great idea, Lazybug!” They stopped talking abruptly as they approached the schoolhouse. Foals were already in the playground waiting for the bell to ring. Petunia arrived at the same time as Apple Bloom and Lazybug. “You’ll never guess what I dug up yesterday!” she shouted excitedly. Everypony stopped what they were doing and gathered around Petunia. Whenever Petunia told them she’d found something in the ground, they always got hyped. “It was a fossilized thestril wing!” “You’re kidding!” exclaimed Silver Spoon. “It was! I’ve read about them, and those bones definitely came from a thestril!” “Wow! That’s gotta be the coolest thing you’ve ever dug up!” grinned Gilt Eyes. “Yeah. But I still liked that gold doubloon I found two months ago,” Petunia smiled, remembering. “Didn’t you poke your eye when you dug that up?” asked Twist. “Yeah, but my mom had an eye patch for me,” said Petunia. “I thought it was kinda weird, though. She said she had that in case someone needed one.” Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle said nothing. “I mean,” Petunia went on, “Pinkie Pie’s got eye patches stashed all over Ponyville for emergencies like that. My mom didn’t really need to have one.” As planned, Lazybug told Cheerilee that he’d be absent again after today for bat zone clean-up detail, and Cheerilee agreed to give him credit for partnering up with one of his classmates for the upcoming kite constructing project. But after she assigned this project and told everypony to partner up, Apple Bloom was surprised to see Lazybug go straight to Petunia. “How about we make a kite that looks like a thestril?” he suggested. Petunia jumped at the idea, and they had begun drawing up plans before Apple Bloom had even found a partner. Diamond Tiara approached her. “Silver Spoon wants to partner up with Gilt Eyes,” she said. “Can we make a kite?” “Uh, sure,” shrugged Apple Bloom. She and Lazybug had discussed making their kite to resemble a griffon, but now that Lazybug seemed to have changed his mind, Apple Bloom suggested she and Diamond make a griffon kite.” “Oh, like Gabby?” asked Diamond Tiara brightly. “Yeah,” nodded Apple Bloom. “I didn’t know you knew Gabby.” “She came to me a while ago asking me about you, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle,” said Diamond. “And I told her how you three saved me from becoming somepony I hated.” Apple Bloom smiled as she and her partner began drawing up plans for their griffon kite. “Why’d you ask Petunia to be your partner?” Apple Bloom asked Lazybug privately during recess. “I didn’t think she’d be too mad about doing most of the work if we were making a kite that looked like the thestril,” said Lazybug. “And you and DT are making a griffon?” “Yeah.” “Hm. Good,” grinned Lazybug. “Cause I’ve got a little backup plan, in case our sisters catch us.” Apple Bloom managed to contain her excitement as Lazybug quietly explained his backup plan to her. She almost hoped they would get caught going behind Applejack’s and Crosspatch’s backs. They agreed to carry out their plan the next day, and after school that day, they worked with their respective partners on their kites. In the morning, Crosspatch had work to do in the lake, so Lazybug had no trouble faking heading off to school before turning towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was leaving with a market delivery when Lazybug arrived. He stayed out of sight until she was gone, and then he entered the orchard. He spotted Big Mac ploughing a field, snuck around, and had a clear path to the vampire fruit bat zone. In he went with an empty bucket. He wasn’t collecting seeds this time though. He was going to clear a patch for some non-red gala trees to grow. He knew it would be a long job, but he also knew he had all day. He found an area of the sanctuary that had mostly young, tiny, weak trees. It was unlikely any bats would give him trouble for deforesting this area, so he began yanking the trees out of the ground. Soon, he had a pile of thin logs sitting by a large red gala tree, and he noticed his water spritzing bottle was running empty. So he left the sanctuary and snuck to the well to refill it. Unfortunately, when he returned, he couldn’t remember where he’d found the path of tiny trees. And he’d left the bucket behind. He didn’t end up finding it, but he did find another patch of weak trees. This one was larger than the other, but there were overhanging branches over it with bat nests in the limbs. There would be more resistance from vampire fruit bats, but it didn’t matter to Lazybug. It took him longer than the first time, but towards the end of school bell rang, he had another pile of uprooted tiny trees sitting beside a red gala tree. The bats were not happy to have their nests prodded by the tiny trees he was pulling out of the ground, but he never failed to repel them. Eventually, there were none in sight. Now without the bucket, he had nothing to collect the roots still poking up out of the bat foot-shaped holes the uprooted trees had made, so he decided to start a pile of those as we— “Wait a minute!” Lazybug goggled at the holes the tiny trees used to stand in. “That’s what’s been making those holes that look like giant bat footprints,” he chuckled. “Those little trees we’ve been pulling up. It’s just their roots. But then what attacked Twilight and Starlight?” He started to leave when he remembered how he lost his way last time. He thought he ought to leave some sort of path. “Hm…” he said, looking at the pile of tiny uprooted trees. “Are there enough of those to make a path out?” It took him a long time, as we wasn’t able to carry all of the logs, but eventually, he had a path of them leading to the clearing he just made. It didn’t quite reach the fence, so when he stepped out of the zone, he made sure to make note of the fallen branch leaning against a post. He turned to meet Apple Bloom in the golden delicious field. “Alright, Lazybug,” said Crosspatch through gritted teeth. “If you’re gonna insist on working on this project, you’re gonna get tutoring in the evenings.” Lazybug’s jaw dropped at the sight of Crosspatch, Cheerilee, Fluttershy, and Applejack standing outside of the vampire bat zone waiting for him. Apple Bloom was also standing there. “I swear I didn’t tell them,” she said quickly. “Who did?” demanded Lazybug. “It was me, Lazybug,” said Fluttershy, looking somewhat apologetic. “How did you know?” asked Lazybug. “The vampire bats told me somepony was disturbing their nests.” “What?! You don’t understand the vampire bats,” objected Lazybug. “I understand them better now that I’ve read this,” smiled Fluttershy. She showed them a book she had tucked under her wing. “I borrowed this from George, a friend of mine from the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures,” she explained. “It’s a phrasebook.” “For vampire fruit bats?” Lazybug’s jaw dropped again. “He wrote it himself,” grinned Fluttershy. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? He actually studied the language of vampire fruit bats, and a lot of other animals. So now I know I misunderstood what the bats meant when they were telling me about a giant bat. They were talking about me.” “You?” “They didn’t take kindly to me because they thought I was aping their lifestyle when Twilight’s spell accidentally mutated me,” she explained. “They weren’t talking about an actual giant bat. They told me they’ve never seen any such creature.” “But what about the one Twilight and Starlight found?” asked Lazybug. “That was me,” said Crosspatch. It was high time Lazybug sprayed himself with water, but he was so surprised by Crosspatch’s confession that he didn’t feel dehydrated at all. “I kept the Zap-O-Lantern’s skin as a souvenir, in a box. I grabbed it as I left the house after dropping you off, using that guilt trip you used on me as an excuse to run off. Then I cut it into a bat shape, snuck in, put it on, and jumped out at Twilight and Starlight.” She pointed to a grey heap next to Applejack. Lazybug could make out a crude cut that looked like a pointy wing tip. “Yeah. I admit it. I was scared to keep working in there if there was a giant bat lurking,” said Crosspatch. “So now that we know there’s no danger and the project’s starting again, I’m taking the job for free.” Applejack nodded. “And like I said earlier,” Crosspatch went on, “if you really want to work on this project all day, Cheerilee here is gonna tutor you on what you missed in school. Starting now.” Lazybug looked with a grimace at the loaded book bag Cheerilee had with her. “How much did you teach today, Miss Cheerilee?” he asked. “Today’s subject was different categories of recyclable materials,” said Cheerilee. “But as punishment for lying to me about being allowed to skip class, I’m also assigning you an essay on what you missed on Monday and Tuesday.” Lazybug groaned. “Alright, Crosspatch. You win. I’ll never skip class again.” “Well, you’ll have to if I need you,” said Crosspatch. “But…” Apple Bloom snapped. “Make up your mind!” “Watch it, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack sternly. “Or I might change my mind about letting you work on this project.” “I don’t want to anymore,” grunted Apple Bloom. “This is just funny. Me and Lazybug got more work done that anypony else. I wanna see how good you do without us.” She laughed derisively. “You put it like that,” Applejack seethed, “I’m ordering you to help us clean up the bat zone.” Apple Bloom stopped laughing and gave Applejack a look of disgust. “You don’t want my help. You think I’m useless.” “Don’t you go puttin’ words in my mouth, young mare,” warned Applejack. “Just for that, you’re on fertilizer duty for the rest of the clean-up.” “No.” “Yes, you are!” “You can’t punish me just because you’re older than me!” shouted Apple Bloom. “You have no right! None of you do!” She rounded on Crosspatch and Cheerilee. “You think we’re just dumb kids that need to be whipped into shape! Well me and Lazybug are smarter and better workers than the three of you put together! And you hate us for that!” “I told you not to put words in my mouth! Go…!” Applejack faltered. “See that?! You know if you give me a punishment, you’ll just prove me right!” sneered Apple Bloom. “And you don’t want me, you’re little sister, to be right.” “I don’t care if you’re right or wrong. I’m not putting up with that bad attitude of yours, Apple Bloom! You put one more hoof wrong, and I’ll tear your clubhouse apart!” Author's Note Cheerilee just kinda got dropkicked into this story, I realise. 4 Respect Your MinorsFluttershy wished she hadn’t told everypony what the vampire fruit bats had said to her. She was sure she’d caused severe damage to several relationships and families. She watched aghast as Apple Bloom took off spluttering with rage. Lazybug and Cheerilee were leaving as well; Applejack offered them the dining room to work in. “I gotta go give George his book back,” Fluttershy said, turning away. “Fluttershy,” said Applejack, “you didn’t do anything wrong.” “I made Apple Bloom and Lazybug hate you two,” croaked Fluttershy. “I didn’t want to say it in front of them, but I agree with them. You’re being too hard on them. Lazybug only wants to show everyone that he doesn’t live up to his name. And Apple Bloom doesn’t like being held back. But now it’s too late to tell them we all know this. They’ll turn into complete rebels. They’ll never take you seriously again.” “Yeah, this is definitely a mess,” agreed Crosspatch. “Something’s gotta be done.” “Any ideas?” asked Applejack. Crosspatch and Fluttershy shook their heads. “I’m gonna go return George’s book,” said Fluttershy, taking off. “Well, I think we should let them work on this project on their own,” said Applejack. “Why?” asked Crosspatch. “We’ll be giving them what they want, and they’ll be working hard to prove that they’re better than us,” explained Applejack. “They’ll be determined to get the whole thing done, so they’ll be won’t enjoy a moment of all that back-breaking labour after a few days of working.” Crosspatch nodded. “I see. So we’d be giving them what they want, and punishing them at the same time.” “Without them knowing it’s a punishment,” added Applejack. “But Apple Bloom doesn’t want to work on this project now,” said Crosspatch. “Oh, right,” frowned Applejack. “Well… Lazybug definitely will. Maybe Apple Bloom’ll change her mind when she finds out he’s being allowed to keep working without having to get tutoring.” They agreed to put their siblings in the picture in the morning after they’d settled down a bit. In addition to working on the bat sanctuary clean-up project for free, Crosspatch had offered to de-spider the entirety of Twilight’s Castle to make up for baiting her stunning spell and sending her flying backwards. But Lazybug wasn’t satisfied with Crosspatch’s efforts to make amends for her deception. He quite agreed with Apple Bloom that the adults were exceeding their authority, and was determined to carry out his backup plan. Such was his determination that he spent hours working on the make-up homework Cheerilee had given him. It was very early in the morning when he wrote the last paragraph of his essay on the Rain Dance, and when he finally looked up from his papers, he saw Cheerilee was fast asleep. He quietly left the dining room, returned with a blanket to put on Cheerilee, and left again to sneak upstairs to Apple Bloom’s bedroom. All was quiet, there was nopony about, but Lazybug was sure with every little sound his hooves made, he would wake somepony up. He reached Apple Bloom’s door and pushed it open. “Have you been awake all night?” he asked quietly. Apple Bloom, bags under her bloodshot eyes, nodded glumly. “I feel terrible.” Lazybug considered. “Yeah. Me too.” He joined Apple Bloom on her bed. “Crosspatch is right. School’s not bad for me. I’ve made lots of friends there… including Miss Cheerilee. And I have learned a lot. I’d kinda like to do the Rain Dance. It’d save me the trouble of carrying a water bottle around all the time.” “I don’t really want to work all the time either,” said Apple Bloom. “I am the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I’ve got other things to do besides farm chores. I can’t hate Applejack for wanting to take charge. She’s the backbone of Sweet Apple Acres… and I love her. I don’t wanna go with our backup plan. It’ll just get us into more trouble.” “And we can’t go into the sanctuary anymore because the bats’ll tell Fluttershy,” said Lazybug. “Besides, I don’t want Crosspatch to hate me anymore. She may be a coward, but she’s just as hard a worker as me.” “I don’t want Applejack to hate me, either,” nodded Apple Bloom. “Yeah. Let’s just leave our kites in the clubhouse for now. We’ll take them to class tomorrow when it’s light.” They heard a door slam downstairs. “Cheerilee must’ve woken up and left,” said Lazybug. “I hope she likes me essays.” “I should apologise to her tomorrow,” said Apple Bloom. “I wasn’t really mad at her. She’s our teacher. She’s supposed to give us hard work.” “And it’s worth it,” agreed Lazybug. “Like I said, I…” He shivered a bit. “Is there a draft in here?” he asked. Apple Bloom looked at her window. It was closed. “Why would there be a draft in here?” she wondered with a little chill down her spine. “It is kinda windy tonight,” said Lazybug. “It would’ve been a perfect night to use our backup plan.” Apple Bloom eyed him sternly. “I know, I know. The plan’s off,” sighed Lazybug. “It’s gonna be a really awkward breakfast.” “Yeah, but at least all three of them will be there. Then we can get it over with,” said Apple Bloom. “Crosspatch did stay over, right?” “Yeah. She came in after work, walked right by me and Cheerilee, and went upstairs,” said Lazybug. “Good,” said Apple Bloom. “Then we can tell them all that we know they’re not heartless and domineering to us just because we’re foals.” “Yeah. They’ll be glad to hear we know they have our best interests at heart on the whole,” nodded Lazybug. They heard a door slam downstairs again. “What’s going on down there?” wondered Apple Bloom. They left the room to have a look. “Hey. Applejack’s door’s open,” said Apple Bloom as she and Lazybug walked down the hall to the stairs. She looked inside Applejack’s room. “She’s not there,” she said. “Did she leave?” asked Lazybug. “Why would she do that at this time of night?” They went down the stairs into the dining room. “Oh!” cried Cheerilee. “You’re still here.” “You took the words right outta my mouth, Miss Cheerilee,” said Lazybug. “Is something wrong?” asked Apple Bloom. “That door slammed and woke me up just a minute ago,” said Cheerilee. “And it woke Applejack and Crosspatch up too. Applejack said your bedroom door was open, and we all thought you’d snuck out of the barn.” Apple Bloom was about to ask why they would do that, but she reminded herself that they did have a prank planned. “I probably should’ve shut your door when I went to your room,” groaned Lazybug. “We better go after them. There’s no reason they should be out in that wind fussing about us.” He and Apple Bloom expected Cheerilee to hold them back, but she didn’t. All three of them left the barn and ventured out into the wind. “They’ll have gone to the vampire fruit bat zone,” said Apple Bloom. “Yes, I thought maybe you’d gone there too,” admitted Cheerilee. “I’m sorry, you two.” “I’m sorry, too,” said Apple Bloom. “Me too,” said Lazybug. Their spirits lifted, the trio put on some speed towards the bat sanctuary, running against the wind. I hope the boxes I put on the kite strings are enough to keep them from blowing out of the clubhouse, thought Apple Bloom. “I can’t imagine what those two are up to,” groaned Applejack as Crosspatch swatted a bat away from them. “Are they really trying to work in here at this hour?” “I don’t care what it is they’re doing,” muttered Crosspatch. “I just can’t stand all this underhoovedness from my little brother.” Applejack snorted. “You’re one to talk.” “Come on, Applejack! I’m working for you for free now, and I’m cleaning all the spiders outta the castle. Is that not enough?!” “All I’m sayin’ is Lazybug probably doesn’t like your underhoovedness any more than you like his,” said Applejack. Crosspatch sighed. “I want to be a good influence, but I can’t help being scared of… of…” Crosspatch froze. “It just hit ya we’re in the vampire fruit bat zone at night, didn’t it?” asked Applejack with a frown. “I know. I don’t like it either. But…” Applejack saw that Crosspatch was looking at the ground. She glanced down and shuddered. The clearing they had walked into was covered in what looked like dozens of large bat footprints. “I completely forgot about those,” gasped Applejack. “If that giant bat Twilight tried to fight off was you, what’s been making these footprints?” “Those?” Crosspatch was pointing towards the reddening sky with a trembling hoof. Applejack looked up in horror at the two dark winged figures soaring through the air above the treetops. “It’s the giant bats!” she screamed. “Applejack! Crosspatch! It’s okay!” Apple Bloom called as she and Lazybug ran up to their screaming sisters. “It’s just our kites for class!” Applejack and Crosspatch calmed down and looked up at the flying figures again. They realised their wings weren’t moving.” “Mine’s the thestril and hers is a griffon,” explained Lazybug. “They’ve blown out of the clubhouse.” Right at that moment, the thestril kite’s string snagged on a tree branch, and stayed where it was, bobbing up and down in the wind. Applejack and Crosspatch sighed with relief. “Well, now that that’s all cleared up,” said Applejack, looking angry, “do you wanna tell us what you’re doing in here?” “We came looking for you two,” answered Apple Bloom. “We never left the barn until you two did.” “Oh, really?” Applejack made no effort to hide the scepticism in her voice. “Cheerilee,” said Lazybug, “tell them…” He looked back to find Cheerilee wasn’t there. “Where’s Cheerilee?” he asked. “Did we lose her?” wondered Apple Bloom. “She was with us when we went after you two, Applejack. She told us you all thought we’d snuck outta the barn.” “Lazybug, Apple Bloom,” said Crosspatch, “how many bat-looking kites did you make?” “Just the two,” said Lazybug. “Why?” Crosspatch pointed to the reddening sky with the same trembling hoof as before. “There’s another one.” A dark winged figure soared through the air above the treetops. It was no kite. This figure was beating its wings. “The giant bat!” Applejack, Crosspatch, Apple Bloom, and Lazybug all ran out of the clearing and hid under some overhanging branches out of sight. “How?!” cried Apple Bloom. “How can there really be a giant bat in here?” “What else could have made all those footprints?” asked Crosspatch. “Oh! I forgot to tell you,” said Lazybug. “Those aren’t footprints. Those are spots where all those tiny apple trees used to be. I found that out yesterday when I was clearing away a buncha little trees. Their roots kinda look like bat feet when they come outta the ground.” Applejack gave her head a shake. “That can’t have been a giant bat we saw.” “But it was moving, Applejack,” shuddered Crosspatch. “You saw its wings beating, didn’t you?” A scream filled the forest. “It’s Cheerilee!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, taking off in the direction the scream came from, Lazybug, Applejack, and Crosspatch following on. They found themselves in the other area Lazybug had cleaned yesterday. There was Cheerilee running around in a panic. “Bat footprints everywhere!” she yelled. “Giant bats everywhere!” “Calm down, Cheerilee!” Applejack ran up to her and tried to hold her still. “Two just flew over me!” “No, no! Those were just our kites,” said Apple Bloom. “For that group assignment for class. Remember?” “There’s one right there!” shouted Cheerilee, pointing up. There was the dark creature, its wings beating against the wind. “And one in that tree!” Cheerilee cried. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Crosspatch, and Lazybug all gasped when they saw another large dark figure with long thin wings. As soon as they saw it, it flew out of the tree and soared towards them. So did the first creature. The ponies all huddled together, unable to do anything other than shut their eyes in horror before the two monsters pounced on them. A crunching noise compelled them all to open their eyes. “What in scones name is this?” barked an unfamiliar voice. “This ain’t a real giant bat.” The ponies got a good, up-close look at the creature standing before them. He was standing on something that resembled a broken piñata. “He’s a griffin!” exclaimed Applejack. He turned to face the huddled ponies, is beak, feathers, down, and snow leopard’s tail clearly visible now. “Why are griffins always coming into Sweet Apple Acres?” groaned Apple Bloom, standing up. “Hi, ponies,” said the griffin, looking a little puzzled. “Um, did Fluttershy not tell you about me? I’m George. I leant her my vampire fruit bat phrasebook.” “You’re George?!” exclaimed Applejack. “Huh. She never said you were a griffon.” “You’re a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures?” asked Crosspatch. “I’m the first member they’ve had from Griffonstone,” grinned George. “Well what are you doing here?” asked Applejack. “Well Fluttershy gave me my book back, but I saw when I got up this morning that the bookmark was missing from it,” said George. “I want to find it before I head back home.” “What’s that you’re standing on?” asked Cheerilee. “I dunno,” George looked down at his talons. “It kinda looks like Fluttershy, but made of apple cores. And with longer wings.” “No way,” Crosspatch piped up. “Did the bats make that? Fluttershy said she was doing arts and crafts with them a few days ago.” “Oh. Now it makes sense,” said George. “She told me after I gave her my book that they told her they were mad at her when she turned into a bat pony one time, because they thought she was mocking them. They must’ve tried to tell her this earlier with this sculpture.” “So what made all those prints?” asked Cheerilee. “Appearently it’s all the little trees we’ve uprooted,” said Crosspatch. “Lazybug just told us.” Everypony was relieved to know for sure that there were no giant vampire fruit bats about. “Well, I’ll never find my bookmark in this mess,” groaned George, looking around at the wild forest. “Great. I’ll have to buy another one.” He took off without another word. “Thanks for trying to save us!” called Applejack. George didn’t reply as he flew away across the sunlit sky. Author's Note I decided not to go the route Top Bolt did. You can draw your own conclusions.
1 OvergrownThe long-term consequences of Fluttershy’s proposal to give the vampire fruit bats a section of forest in Sweet Apple Acres were mounting dramatically. For many moons since the sanctuary was set up, Applejack and Big Macintosh would wander its perimeter collecting the seeds the bats spit out. The two of them never went in because they never felt comfortable around the creatures. Apple Bloom on the other hoof went straight in every time it was her turn to collect spit-backs… albeit against orders. She had fared much better from that unpleasant day she was foalnapped by Crosspatch and Lazybug than Applejack gave her credit for, and she was comparably less disturbed by the vampire fruit bats, as they had been a lot of help to her. No one found out that she was going straight into vampire fruit bat territory to collect seeds, even though she always brought back more than her sister and brother could together. Granny Smith attributed this to how short and near to the ground Apple Bloom was. In her most recent trips into the sanctuary, she began to notice that despite the larger amount of seeds she collect, she barely even made a dent in the amount of spit-backs littering the ground. By now, hundreds of new trees had grown, and there was barely enough space for even little Apple Bloom to walk. It was looking more and more like the Everfree Forest every week. No two trees were the same size, nor the same degree of healthy. A lot of the trees that had been there long before this area had been given to the bats were deprived of nutrients, and not producing leaves, and their bark was falling off. And some of the younger trees weren’t getting enough sunlight because of the larger trees’ leaves and branches casting shadows over them around the clock. Apple Bloom knew something had to be done, but she also knew that if she brought this up, she’d get busted for venturing into the vampire fruit bat zone against orders. “I’ve been thinking,” she said to Applejack. “There’s hardly any seeds around the vampire fruit bat’s area.” “You do okay,” observed Applejack. “I know,” Apple Bloom said slyly, “but maybe you and Big Mac can get more seeds if you wentinto the zone.” “Don’t talk crazy,” groaned Applejack. “Them bats’ll never leave us alone if we’re scrounging around their territory.” “They don’t--” Apple Bloom almost said that they don’t bother her as much as they used to when she first started collecting seeds from within the forest because of all the extra trees producing more apples for them to occupy themselves with. She’d had a hard time concealing the various bites and scratches she’d sustained, and she was not going to let Applejack find out what she’d been doing if she could help it. “Uh, I mean… they didn’t bother Crosspatch and Lazybug when they held me hostage in there,” she said quickly. Applejack squirmed. It gave her no pleasure hearing her little sister talk so casually about getting foalnapped by two ponies they now count as friends. “Maybe we could hire them to go in and collect seeds,” suggested Apple Bloom. “Hey! I like that idea,” grinned Applejack. “They’ll be perfect for the job.” So Applejack spoke to Crosspatch, who agreed to come to Sweet Apple Acres the following morning. After Apple Bloom had gone to school, Applejack waited around the vampire bat zone. When Crosspatch arrived, Applejack was surprised to see Lazybug was with her. “Shouldn’t you be in school right now?” she asked. “He insisted on coming along,” said Crosspatch. “The point is to collect as many seeds as possible, right?” asked Lazybug. Applejack nodded. “Well the more ponies you have, the more seeds you’ll get. Right?” “I guess,” said Applejack. “I didn’t need any school to tell me that,” smirked Lazybug, picking up a bucket and taking off into the vampire fruit bat zone. “I’m a bit worried,” confided Crosspatch. “Do you think Twilight’ll be cross if Lazybug’s not at school with Nyx?” “She can lose her cool,” said Applejack, “but if it’s only for one day, everything should be fine. I won’t mention anything to Twilight.” “Thanks,” said Crosspatch. “Well, I better get going. If he gets more seeds than me, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Hours later, Crosspatch wasn’t hearing the end of it. “What have you been doing?” demanded Lazybug. “You’ve not got one seed in your bucket.” “There were so many nests on the ground, full of tiny-winy little bats,” pined Crosspatch. “The trees in here are so old and weak, they can’t support the nests the bats make. I couldn’t leave them lying on the ground to get trodden on.” “What’s gonna step on them in here?” asked Lazybug. “This is their territory. No other animals live or come in here.” “We step on them while we’re collecting seeds in here,” insisted Crosspatch. “While we’re collecting seeds?” Lazybug cast another pitiful look at Crosspatch’s empty bucket. “I’m sure I can do the job properly once I’ve scooping up all the baby bats that fell from the trees,” said Crosspatch, casting misty eyes on a family of bats on a branch. “You’d think the parents would try and pick their young’uns up, but they don’t seem to think they’re in any danger on the ground.” “If you’re gonna insist on spending your whole time in here picking bats off the ground instead of what you were hired to do,” frowned Lazybug, “I’m gonna insist on taking 100% of the pay.” “It’s not easy, you know. This forest is way overgrown,” Crosspatch looked around at the trees and bushes of varying age and health. “And did you get a look at Applejack’s red gala field?” “What about it?” asked Lazybug. “Those are the only kind of apples they got in here. Red gala seeds are the only ones they find in vampire fruit bat territory. They could get more variety if they planted different seeds in here.” “Plant more seeds?! Look around. There’s virtually no more room,” observed Lazybug in an irritated manner. “That’s why we’re here, Crosspatch. To pick seeds off the ground.” “But we can’t possibly get them all,” said Crosspatch. “I probably could,” muttered Lazybug. “You’ve been no help at all.” “My point is if the Apples don’t plant more seeds, the bats will. And this forest will be completely impenetrable. If more seeds are planted, they might as well be something other than red gala,” insisted Crosspatch. When she got home from school, Apple Bloom was pleased to find that her plan had worked perfectly. Applejack told her that they would be giving the vampire fruit bat zone a comprehensive clean-up. Old trees would either be pruned or chopped down, sick trees would be disposed of, and seeds of various types of apple would be planted in their places. Apple Bloom was glad that this plan came about without anyone suspecting she’d been venturing into vampire bat territory, but she was worried that she might have inadvertently caused friction between Crosspatch and Lazybug. Crosspatch had collected fewer seeds than Lazybug, but still took half the pay. And now they were arguing about whether or not Lazybug should skip more classes. “If you leave it to just her, you won’t get many seeds,” Lazybug insisted. “The two of us can get you more.” “Frankly, I don’t think you need more red gala seeds,” said Crosspatch. “Like I said, you’re red gala field’s the biggest one in Sweet Apple Acres.” “I got an idea,” said Applejack. “Lazybug won’t have to miss too much school if somepony can get the bats to leave me and Big Mac alone. Fluttershy’d be perfect for that.” “But Applejack,” Apple Bloom piped in, “Fluttershy said she doesn’t understand vampire fruit bats as well as any other animal.” “She’s still our best bet,” insisted Applejack. “We don’t know anypony else who even comes close to communicating with animals. All these two get do is get ‘em to buzz off.” “Great. So I can help Crosspatch collect seeds until Fluttershy gets through to the bats and gets them off your backs,” smiled Lazybug. “But what about his ponyguard duties?” asked Crosspatch. “He’s meant to be watching over Nyx in school. Who knows? There could be one or two ponies in Equestria who still think Nyx got off too lightly for causing a two-week-long night.” So Applejack, Crosspatch, and Lazybug paid Twilight Sparkle a visit to get her view. “It sounds reasonable,” said Twilight. “If Lazybug has work to do, he should be allowed to help out. And Nyx is getting better at defensive magic. And she’s got plenty of friends by now to watch over her.” The more Twilight spoke, the more Lazybug smiled and the more Crosspatch frowned. Starlight Glimmer piped in. “You and me could speed up the process whenever we’re not practising magic. Getting rid of old trees, cleaning up the overgrowth, and chopping it up…” “Great idea. We’ll let you know when we have an opening, alright?” Twilight asked Applejack. “Sounds dandy, you two,” smiled Applejack. “Alright. Now if we can get Fluttershy on board, everything’ll be set.” Nyx wasn’t worried at all when Twilight told her Lazybug wouldn’t be in school for a while; though she was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t see much of her best friend. And there was no need to worry about any attempt to ambush Nyx going unnoticed, as today, Cheerilee had an in-class assignment to be carried out in pairs. The school ponies were to construct kites. Nyx was glad to be paired with Apple Bloom, but Apple Bloom seemed put out about something. “So Twilight let you come here without Lazybug?” asked Apple Bloom. “Yeah. She said I should be perfectly safe,” Nyx nodded. “She says I’ve gotten much better at the protective spells I’ve been practising, and my magic’s a lot stronger by now.” “I wish my sister had as much confidence in me as your mom has in you,” frowned Apple Bloom. “She told me to stay outta of her bat zone clean-up. I’m better at dealing with those bats then she is. I’m the one who got them to stop the Zap-O-Lantern.” “Lazybug told me you couldn’t get them to go back to their own territory after they’d sucked all the juice out of that monster,” said Nyx tentatively. “They started eating all the apples in the cellar and completely ignored you when you told them to go back home.” “I still got them to follow me to the cellar in the first place,” insisted Apple Bloom. “Maybe the only thing you said that they understood was there was a giant apple for them to eat,” suggested Nyx. Apple Bloom looked around, half-hoping there was a student without a partner. She saw that the only pony who had no one to pair up with was Tender Taps, but he was already writing down notes from a text book while the rest of the class were still rifling through them. It wasn’t a surprise to Apple Bloom; the assignment was about the Rain Dance. Back at home, the operation to overhaul the vampire fruit bat’s section of Sweet Apple Acres had begun. Applejack and Big Mac were taking it in turns to collect twigs and fallen branches, in between other duties in the orchard. Any reservations either of them had about venturing into vampire bat territory didn’t last long because the only bats they saw whenever they went in were merely observing them from distant tree branches. “Ya think Fluttershy’s gettin through to ‘em?” Applejack asked Big Mac during one changeover. Big Mac glanced over Applejack’s shoulder. “Nnnnope.” Applejack turned to see Fluttershy staggering towards them sporting a few scratches. “I reckon she’s just a distraction to ‘em,” finished Big Mac. “I think I’m gonna take a break now,” Fluttershy said. “Not goin’ well?” asked Applejack. “Better than I expected,” said Fluttershy in an upbeat manner. “I still can’t quite understand what they say, and they still don’t quite get what I tell them, but all those games of charades we’ve been playing are helping things along.” “You’re playin charades with the bats?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I tried to mime a gopher by pretending to burrow down into a bush, and I got stuck,” chuckled Fluttershy. “That got them to laugh at least… I think.” Big Mac knew he was right about Fluttershy being a distraction to the bats when he was circled by them upon entering their territory. But it didn’t take long for Crosspatch and Lazybug to get them off his back. “Our spritzing bottle’s running dry,” Lazybug said once the last one had backed off. “Don’t take too long, okay Big Mac?” “Yyyyep,” nodded Big Mac. “Or you could take your time and the two of us can just do a Rain Dance,” chuckled Crosspatch. Big Mac chuckled as well, but Lazybug just tilted his head. “Rain dance? What’s that?” “It’s what an ancient tribe of earth ponies used to do before negotiating with the pegasi to control the weather over their plantations,” said Crosspatch. “Didn’t you learn about that in school?” Lazybug shook his head. “I can’t think why you wouldn’t want to stay in school,” frowned Crosspatch. “Back before we got eaten by the Zap-O-Lantern, Ponyville didn’t exist, and there wasn’t a school for miles. Now we’ve got a schoolhouse within walking distance and a top notch teacher with it.” “Yyyyep,” nodded Big Mac. “Well I didn’t need school to learn about the Rain Dance, did I?” smirked Lazybug. “And how did you know about the Rain Dance? You never went to no school.” “I found out about it when Twilight and me were looking for ways to keep us hydrated while we’re asleep at night,” explained Crosspatch. “Looks like you can learn about stuff they teach you in school anywhere,” suggested Lazybug. “I suppose,” Crosspatch faltered. “But you did learn useful stuff there, didn’t you? Like the unseasonable snowfalls in Clopley Hill. That’s how we realized why our mum wandered into town wearing a hat, scarf, and boots.” To that, Lazybug had no counterargument. Author's Note Partially inspired by Tale of the Brave.
2 FootprintsApple Bloom returned to Sweet Apple Acres when Applejack was leaving the bat zone for the fourth time that day. “Nyx wanted me to give you a message,” she said. “Twilight and Starlight can come over tomorrow to clear away some of the rotten wood.” “Dandy,” said Applejack, whipping some sweat off her face. “Oh. Get this. I got this idea to make extra money. We can sell this here old wood as kindling.” Apple Bloom groaned loudly. “I was just gonna say that!” She stomped away towards the CMC clubhouse. “No need to get all huffy,” frowned Applejack. “So what if we both had the same good idea?” “I thought I’d be able to help out in some way that doesn’t make you wanna shove me away,” Apple Bloom blurted out. Applejack let the basket of twigs she’d been carrying fall off her back. “Look, Apple Bloom,” she said firmly. “You know dang well I don’t shove you away.” “So I can help you and Big Mac clean up that mess?” asked Apple Bloom. “No, but that’s not shoving you away,” Applejack said quickly. “I just think we’ve got enough ponies working on this. Me, Big Mac, Crosspatch, and now Twilight and Starlight are…” “You left me out!” came Lazybug’s voice. “And I’m still getting more seeds than her!” Lazybug stormed out of the zone and walked away towards the clubhouse; Apple Bloom followed him. Crosspatch left the zone carrying a half-empty bucket of seeds and sporting a sock on her hoof. “It’s not my fault,” she insisted. “How was I supposed to resist that sock puppet theater Fluttershy put on for the young’uns?” “If it’s too small, she’s too soft with it,” Lazybug sulked as he and Apple Bloom entered the CMC clubhouse. “If it’s too big, she’s scared lifeless of it. I don’t even get why. We both have our protective zap apple tree magic, so no creature can hurt us. But she’s still trying to find excuses to send me off to school. If she finds anything bigger than a bat in those old trees, all she’ll end up doing is refilling her spritzing bottle.” “If I didn’t know better, I’d say big sisters just like pushing their smaller siblings around,” groaned Apple Bloom. “So you do know better?” asked Lazybug. “Great. Then you can tell me why they do it.” “Uh…” “You don’t know better, do you?” “I DO! I mean I know Applejack doesn’t think I’m useless,” said Apple Bloom. “She can’t. She admitted she was wrong when she tried to stop me reaching out to Zecora. She’s awful impressed with me, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle for having a griffon member of the Crusaders.” “Maybe she just doesn’t want you doing her work,” suggested Lazybug. “Nah, that can’t be it,” insisted Apple Bloom. “I’ve done my share of applebucking. I think she just doesn’t want me near those bats. Probably because of that whole chimera thing.” “Oh, that makes sense. I mean, how did you never think to bring some ricotta with you?” “I didn’t know there was a chimera in that marsh!” barked Apple Bloom. “And that was different. That thing was huge. Those bats are way smaller. I wish I could tell her I’ve been going in their territory the whole time.” “Don’t talk daft,” sneered Lazybug. “You don’t wanna give her a reason to give you some kinda punishment just because she can.” Twilight and Starlight made short work of the larger and more cumbersome tree trunks and brambles the next day. Unfortunately, they made a lot of noise, which hindered Fluttershy in her attempts to become friendly with the vampire fruit bats. “I think they were asking me for an explanation for all the disturbance,” she told them. “But I don’t think I was able to communicate it to them.” “Why is it only vampire fruit bats you can’t understand?” asked Starlight. “I don’t know,” sighed Fluttershy. “But at least some of them understand me when I want to play a game with them.” Twilight looked at the colourful shreds of paper stuck to Fluttershy’s hooves. “What were you doing with them today?” she asked. “Arts and crafts,” smiled Fluttershy. “I was making paper flowers.” “What did they make?” “I never found out. They quit after the noise got too annoying for them,” sighed Fluttershy. “Sorry,” said Twilight. “This was poor timing.” “It’s alright. But I’m still not keeping the bats away from Applejack and Big Mac as well as Crosspatch and Lazybug are,” said Fluttershy. At the moment, Crosspatch and Lazybug weren’t doing a good job of keeping the vampire bats away from Applejack and Big Macintosh, because neither Applejack nor Big Macintosh had gone into the vampire bat zone yet that day. “You better go look for them,” Crosspatch said to Lazybug. “Good idea. Then you might get a full bucket of seeds for a change,” said Lazybug before taking off. “I’ll be getting more seeds for the rest of the job,” Crosspatch said under her breath. “Because you are going back to school tomorrow, you child.” Minutes later, Crosspatch found there’d been no need to send Lazybug to find the farmers. Applejack turned up looking exhausted. “We’re a bit behind in our regular applebuckin’ jobs,” she told Crosspatch. “And that’s not the only problem. I had to fight with Apple Bloom to get her to go to school today.” “Oh, you too, eh?” asked Crosspatch. “She thinks I’m puttin’ her down by not letting her work in here,” Applejack went on. “I dunno what her big deal is… I know she’s been coming in here collecting seeds behind my back.” “Just fancy,” sniffed Crosspatch. “I’ll be glad when this job’s over. Maybe if…” “Wait! What’s that?” Applejack pointed to the ground. The two mares looked at a large imprint in the soil. “Whoa!” cried Crosspatch. “It looks like a bat’s footprint.” “But it’s huge!” exclaimed Applejack. “No way there’s a bat that big in here.” Crosspatch looked around. “I dunno. There’re plenty of hiding places in this forest.” “Well since we’re cleanin’ up in here, we’ll do away with any space big enough to hide a huge vampire fruit bat,” said Applejack. Crosspatch gulped. It wasn’t long before Applejack’s confidence trickled away. She was still uncomfortable being anywhere near the vampire fruit bats, and even though it was slightly less cluttered now, it looked and felt like the Everfree Forest to her. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem, as by now, Applejack and her friends had worked out the paths of least resistance to Zecora’s hut and the Castle of the Two Sisters, and hadn’t been ambushed by any monsters for ages. But nothing was familiar in this wild jungle that sat in her own backyard. She kept telling herself that there couldn’t be a vampire fruit bat big enough to leave a footprint that size. This ended when a possibility occurred to her. “Maybe the bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern got huge,” she breathed. She spent several minutes both contemplating this possibility and trying to tell herself it wasn’t possible. It was late when she realised she hadn’t gotten much work done. She took off quickly to return to the golden delicious orchard, and found Big Mac on the way. He wasn’t moving a mussel. “Big Mac?” The big red stallion jumped. “Sorry,” said Applejack. “Is anything the matter?” “Yyyyep,” Big Mac pointed to the ground, indicating a large bat foot shaped indent there. “Oh, yeah. Me and Crosspatch were just talking about that,” said Applejack. “We…” She realised they weren’t in the same spot she and Crosspatch were when they saw their footprint. “Uh,” she went on, chuckling half-heartedly, “it kinda looks like there are big ol’ bats in this mess, don’t it?” “Yyyyep,” agreed Big Mac, making no effort to appear jovial. Applejack’s pace getting back to the golden delicious field was helped by the realization she was late and the desire to get the flying feather away from the vampire bat zone. Her spirits were lifted when she found Apple Bloom was doing her work for her. “Oh. Thanks, Apple Bloom. I sure don’t mind y’all doing this here kinda work,” she said. “I guess that’s something at least,” said Apple Bloom, rolling her eyes. Applejack was about to retort when she noticed Lazybug was applebucking in the field as well. “Ain’t y’all supposed to be pickin’ up seeds?” she asked. “I wanted to see how Crosspatch got on without me,” said Lazybug. “Looks like we’re gonna find out how she did,” Apple Bloom said, pointing towards the bat zone. Applejack and Lazybug turned to see Fluttershy flying quickly towards them, followed by Big Macintosh and Crosspatch. “There might be a giant bat in that forest!” said Fluttershy in an agitated manner. Applejack gulped. “Ya… ya think?” “Big Mac and Crosspatch say you three all saw big bat foot-shaped footprints,” said Fluttershy. Applejack, Big Mac, and Crosspatch all nodded. “And an hour ago, I finally understood something the vampire fruit bats said to me,” Fluttershy went on. “They said something about a giant bat.” “Are you sure?” asked Lazybug. “Yes. Giant bat sounds exactly the same in vampire fruit bat language as it does in ordinary fruit bat language,” insisted Fluttershy. “I’ve told Twilight and Starlight this, and they’re patrolling in the bat zone right now.” “Oh, good. They’ll find it,” said Apple Bloom. “Or them,” put in Lazybug. “There might be several of them. We should go in there too, Crosspatch.” “Uh…” “Don’t worry. You can stick by me,” sneered Lazybug. “Um…” “Oh, come on! There’s no need for you to be scared of anything bigger than you,” insisted Lazybug. “Easy for you to say,” scoffed Crosspatch. “You haven’t met Discord.” Fluttershy tittered. “We both have the protective zap apple tree magic in us from the Zap-O-Lantern,” continued Lazybug in a huff, “so we’ve got nothing to…” “The Zap-O-Lantern!” exclaimed Crosspatch. “The bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern musta gotten huge!” Now Applejack quite understood how Apple Bloom felt about being beaten to saying something she was thinking. “Well, maybe,” said Lazybug. “So…” “That means our zap apple tree protection won’t work against them!” Crosspatch said excitedly. “They’ll have it too! And that means Twilight’s and Starlight’s magic won’t be any use against them either!” “Y’all are getting’ awful excited there, Crosspatch,” said Applejack with a raised eyebrow. “Course she is,” groaned Lazybug. “She’s a total yellow-belly.” Fluttershy and Apple Bloom looked affronted. “You know what I mean,” Lazybug rolled his eyes. “Have Twilight or Starlight ever used their magic on either of ya?” asked Applejack. “Not me,” Lazybug shook his head. “And Crosspatch, if you’re about to say yes, we’ll ask Twilight and Starlight to see if you’re lying.” “I’m not making excuses, Lazybug,” snarled Crosspatch. “No, neither of them have ever used any kind of magic on me either.” “Fine. We’ll wait until they come back, and then we’ll see what happens when they use magic on us,” smirked Lazybug. “Alright, but whatever the results are,” said Crosspatch firmly, “you’re still going back to school tomorrow.” “Why?!” “I’m not having you miss more than two days of school a week,” insisted Crosspatch. “Anyway, you didn’t do much today.” “Don’t give me that!” snapped Lazybug. “You never came back after I sent you to see where Applejack and Big Mac were.” “I bet I still got more seeds than you today,” Lazybug grumbled. “And I was keeping busy.” “That’s true. He was,” Apple Bloom nodded. “He’s been helping me do Applejack’s golden delicious-bucking.” “Uh, Apple Bloom, you can go now,” Applejack said quickly. “I’ll take it from here.” Apple Bloom rushed off in a huff, looking back for a moment to see her big sister swiftly place some empty buckets beneath one of the few golden delicious trees that she and Lazybug hadn’t yet harvested. Once she was away from the group and out of earshot of Crosspatch and Lazybug’s argument, she turned towards vampire fruit bat territory. “Thinks she can make everypony forget me telling them she hardly did anything all day by send me away, does she?” she grumbled “Well if I have to go anywhere, it’s gonna be to the vampire bat zone.” She came upon the fence around the bat’s territory, beside which sat a pile of logs that Twilight and Starlight had collected during the day. She ran into the zone and quickly spotted Twilight and Starlight. “Apple Bloom, it might not be safe for you to be running around in here on your own,” said Twilight. “Yeah, yeah, Applejack and Crosspatch told me their dumb guess,” moaned Apple Bloom. “I guess it doesn’t sound a bit dumb,” agreed Starlight, “but it couldn’t hurt to make sure, could it?” “You’ll never guess what Crosspatch said,” grinned Apple Bloom. “She thinks your magic won’t be able to repel a giant bat.” “Why not?” asked Twilight. “She says… well, she hopes that the bats that sucked all the juice outta the Zap-O-Lantern turned giant, and that they have the same protective magic as her and Lazybug,” chuckled Apple Bloom. “Huh. Does that mean we’ll get thrown backwards if we try attacking them?” asked Starlight. “I doubt it,” said Apple Bloom. “Crosspatch is just scared.” “I thought she would be,” said Twilight. “That abominable snowmare seemed to spook her pretty badly. Still, it would be a good idea to find out for sure. Let’s go see what effect our magic has on Crosspatch.” Lazybug, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Fluttershy watched with anticipation as Twilight and Starlight pointed their horns at Crosspatch, who was looking quite calm compared to how she came across earlier. “Not like that!” barked Lazybug as Crosspatch was lifted off the ground by the combined magic of Twilight and Starlight. “You gotta attack her!” “Yeah! They only repel attackers,” added Apple Bloom. “Their defensive magic’s not gonna happen if you just pick them up!” Applejack would have liked to send Apple Bloom off, but by now, she knew she’d never get rid of her that easily. “You okay with this, Crosspatch?” asked Starlight as she and Twilight set Crosspatch back on the ground. “I’m not worried about me,” said Crosspatch. “I’m more concerned about you two.” “We’ll be fine,” said Twilight, looking over her should to double-check that she and Starlight had plenty of space behind them. Everypony watched as Twilight’s and Starlight’s horns lit up. Next second, two beams shot towards Crosspatch and hit her right in the face. In a flash, Crosspatch’s eyes glowed all the colours of the rainbow. The beams of the two stunning spells seemed to pause in midair, and identical streaks of lightning snaked along them towards their casters. There was a huge bang, and Twilight and Starlight were both catapulted backwards several yards. “Alright, alright, so their stunning spells’ll get thrown right back at them if they attack Crosspatch and Lazybug,” muttered Apple Bloom as Applejack and Big Mac helped Twilight and Starlight up. “But we still don’t know if that’s what those giant vampire fruit bats have.” “If there are even any giant bats,” added Lazybug. Twilight gave herself a little shake. “We’ll be alright. But I think we better wait a few minutes before we go back into the bat zone.” Starlight nodded in agreement. “And if we do see one, I’ll fire a stunning spell at it. If it backfires, you teleport us out of the zone.” “Alright,” said Twilight. “And then we better stay out of there, or it might leave the zone. And then who knows what it’ll do?” “My whole orchard’ll go dry!” cried Applejack. “And it might attack more ponies,” added Apple Bloom. “Oh, yeah. That too,” said Applejack quickly. “Well, I think we’re done here,” said Crosspatch. “Our water bottles are going dry. We better head home and refill them. Come on, Lazybug.” Lazybug shrugged and followed his big sister out of the orchard. “He took that well,” said Applejack. “I thought he’d fight her hoof and nail to stick around here and look for a giant pest.” Crosspatch was surprised as well. “So you’re not gonna grouse about me dragging you away from work and send you back to school tomorrow?” she asked when they got home. “I’m tired,” said Lazybug. “I can’t keep arguing with you. I better get to sleep before school tomorrow.” “I better not catch you sneaking out in the night to go bat hunting,” warned Crosspatch. “Oh, I promise,” said Lazybug, “I won’t be leaving my room all night.” And he opened his bedroom door with a grin on his face. “Then why are you giving me that look?” inquired Crosspatch. “Because you still found an excuse to not go after that giant bat yourself even though you saw its footprints on the ground,” smirked Lazybug. “I never thought you’d be alright with leaving all those baby bats in their nests on the ground to get trampled.” He shut his bedroom door, and chuckled to himself when he heard Crosspatch stampeding away down the hall. Twilight and Starlight had now recovered, and re-entered vampire fruit bat territory. “If we do find a giant bat,” said Starlight, “will they cancel the clean-up project?” “They might have to,” replied Twilight, as the dim evening light began to fade under the overgrown branches of the unkempt apple trees. “A giant bat would most likely prefer living in here now that there are so many places to hide. If we all cleaned up enough of it, it’ll either keep attacking us, or probably fly away and cause some serious damage.” She and Starlight lit their horns so they could see better. “Did you hear that?” asked Starlight, stopping. “Yeah,” nodded Twilight. “It came from over there.” They looked, and gasped as a large, wide, dark shape revealed itself to them. There was no mistaking those long thin wings. It was a giant bat. Quickly, Twilight shot a stunning spell at it. The spell froze, and a great flashing of many colours exploded from the eyes of the figure before them. Sparks crackled sharply along the stream of light, and Twilight was blasted backwards off her hooves. She bumped into a tree and crumpled in a heap on top of the upturned roots. Starlight promptly ran to her, and cast her teleportation spell to get them out of the forest. “I said I would be the one to cast the stunning spell!” she snapped at Twilight once they were out of harm’s way. Author's Note When I was conceiving this story, I imagined Granny Smith would be in it. But blow me, I couldn't find a role for her to play.
3 Respect Your EldersApplejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Fluttershy crowed around them. “Gosh! That didn’t take long!” cried Applejack. “Nnnnope,” agreed Big Mac. “You’ve only been gone two minutes.” “I hoped I’d misunderstood those bats,” said Fluttershy, “but I must’ve heard them right. They really did try to warn me about giant bats.” Twilight was taking longer to recover from the backfire than last time. “It won’t be safe to keep going with this clean-up project,” she panted. “Nnnnope,” nodded Big Mac. “I did always think it’d be best to leave well enough alone.” “Why won’t it be safe?” asked Apple Bloom. Everypony looked at her. “All we have to do is not attack the giant bat, and everything’ll be fine,” finished Apple Bloom. “It ain’t that simple, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack. “It might leave us alone if we leave it alone, but we’d still be fiddling with his home.” “Yyyyep,” said Big Mac. “It’d get sick of watching us and losing places to keep out of sight. If it leaves, our fields don’t stand a chance.” “Wow. If you’d been this talkative when I first met you,” said Starlight, “I wouldn’t have had to put that chatter spell on you.” Big Mac and Applejack grimaced. Crosspatch arrived. “Twilight? What happened?” “She tripped and fell,” said Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom!” snapped Applejack. Apple Bloom ignored her. “What’re you doing back here so soon?” “I was worried about all those bats nests I found on the ground in there,” said Crosspatch. “Well, actually, Lazybug reminded me about them.” “I wouldn’t worry,” said Fluttershy. “Surely even a giant vampire fruit bat would be careful not to tread on babies.” “Oh. I guess so,” nodded Crosspatch. “Are you sure?” asked Apple Bloom. “How careful can a giant bat be?” Twilight picked herself up. “It is best to leave the sanctuary alone, Apple Bloom.” “That’s right,” said Applejack. “None of us are going back in there from here on. That includes you, Apple Bloom. Yes, I know.” “You knew!” “Yes, I knew. I knew you’re made of tougher stuff than me. I admit it. But not enough to be safe around a giant bat,” said Applejack firmly. “If I find out you’ve been going in there for any reason from now on, you’re in trouble.” “Oh, fine!” snapped Apple Bloom. “Now you don’t have to feel bad at collecting seeds compared to me!” And she stormed off. Applejack sighed. “I better go after her and make sure she doesn’t try to spend the night in the treehouse. Don’t want her gettin’ foalnapped again.” Crosspatch shuffled her hooves as Applejack ran after her little sister. Apple Bloom hadn’t spent the night in the clubhouse, but was very displeased under the barn roof. She barely said a word to anypony until she was on her way to school with Lazybug. “She admitted right in front of everypony that she knows I’m tougher than her,” she grumbled. “She just doesn’t want me hanging around that giant bat when she’s too scared to.” “What about that chimera?” asked Lazybug. “I still got the pie cart past it!” snapped Apple Bloom. “Besides, I didn’t know how to fight a chimera, but I know how to deal with a giant bat. Leave it alone. And she knows it too. She’s just a fraidy-cat.” Lazybug said nothing. “You don’t seem as mad as I thought you’d be,” observed Apple Bloom. “I thought you’d skip school and keep on working in the bat zone.” “I’m not too fussed,” said Lazybug calmly. “You told me Cheerilee has a group assignment for the class today, right?” “Yeah. So?” “I’m gonna tell Cheerilee that I can only come back today, and I’ll have to go back to Sweet Apple Acres for the rest of the week,” said Lazybug. “And that you’ve agreed to partner up with me for this kite project so I can get credit.” “Ah. And tomorrow and Friday, you’re gonna sneak into the bat zone?” asked Apple Bloom with a grin. “I’ll keep popping in and out of class until that vampire fruit bat sanctuary is as clean as my water bottle,” smirked Lazybug. “And you can help. Whenever you have applebucking chores, and you’re not bucking red gala trees, you can put the bruised apples outside the bat zone’s fence instead of chucking them into the pig troughs.” “Yes!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “Then I can collect the seeds later and you’ll be able to plant something other than red gala trees in there! Great idea, Lazybug!” They stopped talking abruptly as they approached the schoolhouse. Foals were already in the playground waiting for the bell to ring. Petunia arrived at the same time as Apple Bloom and Lazybug. “You’ll never guess what I dug up yesterday!” she shouted excitedly. Everypony stopped what they were doing and gathered around Petunia. Whenever Petunia told them she’d found something in the ground, they always got hyped. “It was a fossilized thestril wing!” “You’re kidding!” exclaimed Silver Spoon. “It was! I’ve read about them, and those bones definitely came from a thestril!” “Wow! That’s gotta be the coolest thing you’ve ever dug up!” grinned Gilt Eyes. “Yeah. But I still liked that gold doubloon I found two months ago,” Petunia smiled, remembering. “Didn’t you poke your eye when you dug that up?” asked Twist. “Yeah, but my mom had an eye patch for me,” said Petunia. “I thought it was kinda weird, though. She said she had that in case someone needed one.” Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle said nothing. “I mean,” Petunia went on, “Pinkie Pie’s got eye patches stashed all over Ponyville for emergencies like that. My mom didn’t really need to have one.” As planned, Lazybug told Cheerilee that he’d be absent again after today for bat zone clean-up detail, and Cheerilee agreed to give him credit for partnering up with one of his classmates for the upcoming kite constructing project. But after she assigned this project and told everypony to partner up, Apple Bloom was surprised to see Lazybug go straight to Petunia. “How about we make a kite that looks like a thestril?” he suggested. Petunia jumped at the idea, and they had begun drawing up plans before Apple Bloom had even found a partner. Diamond Tiara approached her. “Silver Spoon wants to partner up with Gilt Eyes,” she said. “Can we make a kite?” “Uh, sure,” shrugged Apple Bloom. She and Lazybug had discussed making their kite to resemble a griffon, but now that Lazybug seemed to have changed his mind, Apple Bloom suggested she and Diamond make a griffon kite.” “Oh, like Gabby?” asked Diamond Tiara brightly. “Yeah,” nodded Apple Bloom. “I didn’t know you knew Gabby.” “She came to me a while ago asking me about you, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle,” said Diamond. “And I told her how you three saved me from becoming somepony I hated.” Apple Bloom smiled as she and her partner began drawing up plans for their griffon kite. “Why’d you ask Petunia to be your partner?” Apple Bloom asked Lazybug privately during recess. “I didn’t think she’d be too mad about doing most of the work if we were making a kite that looked like the thestril,” said Lazybug. “And you and DT are making a griffon?” “Yeah.” “Hm. Good,” grinned Lazybug. “Cause I’ve got a little backup plan, in case our sisters catch us.” Apple Bloom managed to contain her excitement as Lazybug quietly explained his backup plan to her. She almost hoped they would get caught going behind Applejack’s and Crosspatch’s backs. They agreed to carry out their plan the next day, and after school that day, they worked with their respective partners on their kites. In the morning, Crosspatch had work to do in the lake, so Lazybug had no trouble faking heading off to school before turning towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was leaving with a market delivery when Lazybug arrived. He stayed out of sight until she was gone, and then he entered the orchard. He spotted Big Mac ploughing a field, snuck around, and had a clear path to the vampire fruit bat zone. In he went with an empty bucket. He wasn’t collecting seeds this time though. He was going to clear a patch for some non-red gala trees to grow. He knew it would be a long job, but he also knew he had all day. He found an area of the sanctuary that had mostly young, tiny, weak trees. It was unlikely any bats would give him trouble for deforesting this area, so he began yanking the trees out of the ground. Soon, he had a pile of thin logs sitting by a large red gala tree, and he noticed his water spritzing bottle was running empty. So he left the sanctuary and snuck to the well to refill it. Unfortunately, when he returned, he couldn’t remember where he’d found the path of tiny trees. And he’d left the bucket behind. He didn’t end up finding it, but he did find another patch of weak trees. This one was larger than the other, but there were overhanging branches over it with bat nests in the limbs. There would be more resistance from vampire fruit bats, but it didn’t matter to Lazybug. It took him longer than the first time, but towards the end of school bell rang, he had another pile of uprooted tiny trees sitting beside a red gala tree. The bats were not happy to have their nests prodded by the tiny trees he was pulling out of the ground, but he never failed to repel them. Eventually, there were none in sight. Now without the bucket, he had nothing to collect the roots still poking up out of the bat foot-shaped holes the uprooted trees had made, so he decided to start a pile of those as we— “Wait a minute!” Lazybug goggled at the holes the tiny trees used to stand in. “That’s what’s been making those holes that look like giant bat footprints,” he chuckled. “Those little trees we’ve been pulling up. It’s just their roots. But then what attacked Twilight and Starlight?” He started to leave when he remembered how he lost his way last time. He thought he ought to leave some sort of path. “Hm…” he said, looking at the pile of tiny uprooted trees. “Are there enough of those to make a path out?” It took him a long time, as we wasn’t able to carry all of the logs, but eventually, he had a path of them leading to the clearing he just made. It didn’t quite reach the fence, so when he stepped out of the zone, he made sure to make note of the fallen branch leaning against a post. He turned to meet Apple Bloom in the golden delicious field. “Alright, Lazybug,” said Crosspatch through gritted teeth. “If you’re gonna insist on working on this project, you’re gonna get tutoring in the evenings.” Lazybug’s jaw dropped at the sight of Crosspatch, Cheerilee, Fluttershy, and Applejack standing outside of the vampire bat zone waiting for him. Apple Bloom was also standing there. “I swear I didn’t tell them,” she said quickly. “Who did?” demanded Lazybug. “It was me, Lazybug,” said Fluttershy, looking somewhat apologetic. “How did you know?” asked Lazybug. “The vampire bats told me somepony was disturbing their nests.” “What?! You don’t understand the vampire bats,” objected Lazybug. “I understand them better now that I’ve read this,” smiled Fluttershy. She showed them a book she had tucked under her wing. “I borrowed this from George, a friend of mine from the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures,” she explained. “It’s a phrasebook.” “For vampire fruit bats?” Lazybug’s jaw dropped again. “He wrote it himself,” grinned Fluttershy. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? He actually studied the language of vampire fruit bats, and a lot of other animals. So now I know I misunderstood what the bats meant when they were telling me about a giant bat. They were talking about me.” “You?” “They didn’t take kindly to me because they thought I was aping their lifestyle when Twilight’s spell accidentally mutated me,” she explained. “They weren’t talking about an actual giant bat. They told me they’ve never seen any such creature.” “But what about the one Twilight and Starlight found?” asked Lazybug. “That was me,” said Crosspatch. It was high time Lazybug sprayed himself with water, but he was so surprised by Crosspatch’s confession that he didn’t feel dehydrated at all. “I kept the Zap-O-Lantern’s skin as a souvenir, in a box. I grabbed it as I left the house after dropping you off, using that guilt trip you used on me as an excuse to run off. Then I cut it into a bat shape, snuck in, put it on, and jumped out at Twilight and Starlight.” She pointed to a grey heap next to Applejack. Lazybug could make out a crude cut that looked like a pointy wing tip. “Yeah. I admit it. I was scared to keep working in there if there was a giant bat lurking,” said Crosspatch. “So now that we know there’s no danger and the project’s starting again, I’m taking the job for free.” Applejack nodded. “And like I said earlier,” Crosspatch went on, “if you really want to work on this project all day, Cheerilee here is gonna tutor you on what you missed in school. Starting now.” Lazybug looked with a grimace at the loaded book bag Cheerilee had with her. “How much did you teach today, Miss Cheerilee?” he asked. “Today’s subject was different categories of recyclable materials,” said Cheerilee. “But as punishment for lying to me about being allowed to skip class, I’m also assigning you an essay on what you missed on Monday and Tuesday.” Lazybug groaned. “Alright, Crosspatch. You win. I’ll never skip class again.” “Well, you’ll have to if I need you,” said Crosspatch. “But…” Apple Bloom snapped. “Make up your mind!” “Watch it, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack sternly. “Or I might change my mind about letting you work on this project.” “I don’t want to anymore,” grunted Apple Bloom. “This is just funny. Me and Lazybug got more work done that anypony else. I wanna see how good you do without us.” She laughed derisively. “You put it like that,” Applejack seethed, “I’m ordering you to help us clean up the bat zone.” Apple Bloom stopped laughing and gave Applejack a look of disgust. “You don’t want my help. You think I’m useless.” “Don’t you go puttin’ words in my mouth, young mare,” warned Applejack. “Just for that, you’re on fertilizer duty for the rest of the clean-up.” “No.” “Yes, you are!” “You can’t punish me just because you’re older than me!” shouted Apple Bloom. “You have no right! None of you do!” She rounded on Crosspatch and Cheerilee. “You think we’re just dumb kids that need to be whipped into shape! Well me and Lazybug are smarter and better workers than the three of you put together! And you hate us for that!” “I told you not to put words in my mouth! Go…!” Applejack faltered. “See that?! You know if you give me a punishment, you’ll just prove me right!” sneered Apple Bloom. “And you don’t want me, you’re little sister, to be right.” “I don’t care if you’re right or wrong. I’m not putting up with that bad attitude of yours, Apple Bloom! You put one more hoof wrong, and I’ll tear your clubhouse apart!” Author's Note Cheerilee just kinda got dropkicked into this story, I realise.
4 Respect Your MinorsFluttershy wished she hadn’t told everypony what the vampire fruit bats had said to her. She was sure she’d caused severe damage to several relationships and families. She watched aghast as Apple Bloom took off spluttering with rage. Lazybug and Cheerilee were leaving as well; Applejack offered them the dining room to work in. “I gotta go give George his book back,” Fluttershy said, turning away. “Fluttershy,” said Applejack, “you didn’t do anything wrong.” “I made Apple Bloom and Lazybug hate you two,” croaked Fluttershy. “I didn’t want to say it in front of them, but I agree with them. You’re being too hard on them. Lazybug only wants to show everyone that he doesn’t live up to his name. And Apple Bloom doesn’t like being held back. But now it’s too late to tell them we all know this. They’ll turn into complete rebels. They’ll never take you seriously again.” “Yeah, this is definitely a mess,” agreed Crosspatch. “Something’s gotta be done.” “Any ideas?” asked Applejack. Crosspatch and Fluttershy shook their heads. “I’m gonna go return George’s book,” said Fluttershy, taking off. “Well, I think we should let them work on this project on their own,” said Applejack. “Why?” asked Crosspatch. “We’ll be giving them what they want, and they’ll be working hard to prove that they’re better than us,” explained Applejack. “They’ll be determined to get the whole thing done, so they’ll be won’t enjoy a moment of all that back-breaking labour after a few days of working.” Crosspatch nodded. “I see. So we’d be giving them what they want, and punishing them at the same time.” “Without them knowing it’s a punishment,” added Applejack. “But Apple Bloom doesn’t want to work on this project now,” said Crosspatch. “Oh, right,” frowned Applejack. “Well… Lazybug definitely will. Maybe Apple Bloom’ll change her mind when she finds out he’s being allowed to keep working without having to get tutoring.” They agreed to put their siblings in the picture in the morning after they’d settled down a bit. In addition to working on the bat sanctuary clean-up project for free, Crosspatch had offered to de-spider the entirety of Twilight’s Castle to make up for baiting her stunning spell and sending her flying backwards. But Lazybug wasn’t satisfied with Crosspatch’s efforts to make amends for her deception. He quite agreed with Apple Bloom that the adults were exceeding their authority, and was determined to carry out his backup plan. Such was his determination that he spent hours working on the make-up homework Cheerilee had given him. It was very early in the morning when he wrote the last paragraph of his essay on the Rain Dance, and when he finally looked up from his papers, he saw Cheerilee was fast asleep. He quietly left the dining room, returned with a blanket to put on Cheerilee, and left again to sneak upstairs to Apple Bloom’s bedroom. All was quiet, there was nopony about, but Lazybug was sure with every little sound his hooves made, he would wake somepony up. He reached Apple Bloom’s door and pushed it open. “Have you been awake all night?” he asked quietly. Apple Bloom, bags under her bloodshot eyes, nodded glumly. “I feel terrible.” Lazybug considered. “Yeah. Me too.” He joined Apple Bloom on her bed. “Crosspatch is right. School’s not bad for me. I’ve made lots of friends there… including Miss Cheerilee. And I have learned a lot. I’d kinda like to do the Rain Dance. It’d save me the trouble of carrying a water bottle around all the time.” “I don’t really want to work all the time either,” said Apple Bloom. “I am the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I’ve got other things to do besides farm chores. I can’t hate Applejack for wanting to take charge. She’s the backbone of Sweet Apple Acres… and I love her. I don’t wanna go with our backup plan. It’ll just get us into more trouble.” “And we can’t go into the sanctuary anymore because the bats’ll tell Fluttershy,” said Lazybug. “Besides, I don’t want Crosspatch to hate me anymore. She may be a coward, but she’s just as hard a worker as me.” “I don’t want Applejack to hate me, either,” nodded Apple Bloom. “Yeah. Let’s just leave our kites in the clubhouse for now. We’ll take them to class tomorrow when it’s light.” They heard a door slam downstairs. “Cheerilee must’ve woken up and left,” said Lazybug. “I hope she likes me essays.” “I should apologise to her tomorrow,” said Apple Bloom. “I wasn’t really mad at her. She’s our teacher. She’s supposed to give us hard work.” “And it’s worth it,” agreed Lazybug. “Like I said, I…” He shivered a bit. “Is there a draft in here?” he asked. Apple Bloom looked at her window. It was closed. “Why would there be a draft in here?” she wondered with a little chill down her spine. “It is kinda windy tonight,” said Lazybug. “It would’ve been a perfect night to use our backup plan.” Apple Bloom eyed him sternly. “I know, I know. The plan’s off,” sighed Lazybug. “It’s gonna be a really awkward breakfast.” “Yeah, but at least all three of them will be there. Then we can get it over with,” said Apple Bloom. “Crosspatch did stay over, right?” “Yeah. She came in after work, walked right by me and Cheerilee, and went upstairs,” said Lazybug. “Good,” said Apple Bloom. “Then we can tell them all that we know they’re not heartless and domineering to us just because we’re foals.” “Yeah. They’ll be glad to hear we know they have our best interests at heart on the whole,” nodded Lazybug. They heard a door slam downstairs again. “What’s going on down there?” wondered Apple Bloom. They left the room to have a look. “Hey. Applejack’s door’s open,” said Apple Bloom as she and Lazybug walked down the hall to the stairs. She looked inside Applejack’s room. “She’s not there,” she said. “Did she leave?” asked Lazybug. “Why would she do that at this time of night?” They went down the stairs into the dining room. “Oh!” cried Cheerilee. “You’re still here.” “You took the words right outta my mouth, Miss Cheerilee,” said Lazybug. “Is something wrong?” asked Apple Bloom. “That door slammed and woke me up just a minute ago,” said Cheerilee. “And it woke Applejack and Crosspatch up too. Applejack said your bedroom door was open, and we all thought you’d snuck out of the barn.” Apple Bloom was about to ask why they would do that, but she reminded herself that they did have a prank planned. “I probably should’ve shut your door when I went to your room,” groaned Lazybug. “We better go after them. There’s no reason they should be out in that wind fussing about us.” He and Apple Bloom expected Cheerilee to hold them back, but she didn’t. All three of them left the barn and ventured out into the wind. “They’ll have gone to the vampire fruit bat zone,” said Apple Bloom. “Yes, I thought maybe you’d gone there too,” admitted Cheerilee. “I’m sorry, you two.” “I’m sorry, too,” said Apple Bloom. “Me too,” said Lazybug. Their spirits lifted, the trio put on some speed towards the bat sanctuary, running against the wind. I hope the boxes I put on the kite strings are enough to keep them from blowing out of the clubhouse, thought Apple Bloom. “I can’t imagine what those two are up to,” groaned Applejack as Crosspatch swatted a bat away from them. “Are they really trying to work in here at this hour?” “I don’t care what it is they’re doing,” muttered Crosspatch. “I just can’t stand all this underhoovedness from my little brother.” Applejack snorted. “You’re one to talk.” “Come on, Applejack! I’m working for you for free now, and I’m cleaning all the spiders outta the castle. Is that not enough?!” “All I’m sayin’ is Lazybug probably doesn’t like your underhoovedness any more than you like his,” said Applejack. Crosspatch sighed. “I want to be a good influence, but I can’t help being scared of… of…” Crosspatch froze. “It just hit ya we’re in the vampire fruit bat zone at night, didn’t it?” asked Applejack with a frown. “I know. I don’t like it either. But…” Applejack saw that Crosspatch was looking at the ground. She glanced down and shuddered. The clearing they had walked into was covered in what looked like dozens of large bat footprints. “I completely forgot about those,” gasped Applejack. “If that giant bat Twilight tried to fight off was you, what’s been making these footprints?” “Those?” Crosspatch was pointing towards the reddening sky with a trembling hoof. Applejack looked up in horror at the two dark winged figures soaring through the air above the treetops. “It’s the giant bats!” she screamed. “Applejack! Crosspatch! It’s okay!” Apple Bloom called as she and Lazybug ran up to their screaming sisters. “It’s just our kites for class!” Applejack and Crosspatch calmed down and looked up at the flying figures again. They realised their wings weren’t moving.” “Mine’s the thestril and hers is a griffon,” explained Lazybug. “They’ve blown out of the clubhouse.” Right at that moment, the thestril kite’s string snagged on a tree branch, and stayed where it was, bobbing up and down in the wind. Applejack and Crosspatch sighed with relief. “Well, now that that’s all cleared up,” said Applejack, looking angry, “do you wanna tell us what you’re doing in here?” “We came looking for you two,” answered Apple Bloom. “We never left the barn until you two did.” “Oh, really?” Applejack made no effort to hide the scepticism in her voice. “Cheerilee,” said Lazybug, “tell them…” He looked back to find Cheerilee wasn’t there. “Where’s Cheerilee?” he asked. “Did we lose her?” wondered Apple Bloom. “She was with us when we went after you two, Applejack. She told us you all thought we’d snuck outta the barn.” “Lazybug, Apple Bloom,” said Crosspatch, “how many bat-looking kites did you make?” “Just the two,” said Lazybug. “Why?” Crosspatch pointed to the reddening sky with the same trembling hoof as before. “There’s another one.” A dark winged figure soared through the air above the treetops. It was no kite. This figure was beating its wings. “The giant bat!” Applejack, Crosspatch, Apple Bloom, and Lazybug all ran out of the clearing and hid under some overhanging branches out of sight. “How?!” cried Apple Bloom. “How can there really be a giant bat in here?” “What else could have made all those footprints?” asked Crosspatch. “Oh! I forgot to tell you,” said Lazybug. “Those aren’t footprints. Those are spots where all those tiny apple trees used to be. I found that out yesterday when I was clearing away a buncha little trees. Their roots kinda look like bat feet when they come outta the ground.” Applejack gave her head a shake. “That can’t have been a giant bat we saw.” “But it was moving, Applejack,” shuddered Crosspatch. “You saw its wings beating, didn’t you?” A scream filled the forest. “It’s Cheerilee!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, taking off in the direction the scream came from, Lazybug, Applejack, and Crosspatch following on. They found themselves in the other area Lazybug had cleaned yesterday. There was Cheerilee running around in a panic. “Bat footprints everywhere!” she yelled. “Giant bats everywhere!” “Calm down, Cheerilee!” Applejack ran up to her and tried to hold her still. “Two just flew over me!” “No, no! Those were just our kites,” said Apple Bloom. “For that group assignment for class. Remember?” “There’s one right there!” shouted Cheerilee, pointing up. There was the dark creature, its wings beating against the wind. “And one in that tree!” Cheerilee cried. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Crosspatch, and Lazybug all gasped when they saw another large dark figure with long thin wings. As soon as they saw it, it flew out of the tree and soared towards them. So did the first creature. The ponies all huddled together, unable to do anything other than shut their eyes in horror before the two monsters pounced on them. A crunching noise compelled them all to open their eyes. “What in scones name is this?” barked an unfamiliar voice. “This ain’t a real giant bat.” The ponies got a good, up-close look at the creature standing before them. He was standing on something that resembled a broken piñata. “He’s a griffin!” exclaimed Applejack. He turned to face the huddled ponies, is beak, feathers, down, and snow leopard’s tail clearly visible now. “Why are griffins always coming into Sweet Apple Acres?” groaned Apple Bloom, standing up. “Hi, ponies,” said the griffin, looking a little puzzled. “Um, did Fluttershy not tell you about me? I’m George. I leant her my vampire fruit bat phrasebook.” “You’re George?!” exclaimed Applejack. “Huh. She never said you were a griffon.” “You’re a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures?” asked Crosspatch. “I’m the first member they’ve had from Griffonstone,” grinned George. “Well what are you doing here?” asked Applejack. “Well Fluttershy gave me my book back, but I saw when I got up this morning that the bookmark was missing from it,” said George. “I want to find it before I head back home.” “What’s that you’re standing on?” asked Cheerilee. “I dunno,” George looked down at his talons. “It kinda looks like Fluttershy, but made of apple cores. And with longer wings.” “No way,” Crosspatch piped up. “Did the bats make that? Fluttershy said she was doing arts and crafts with them a few days ago.” “Oh. Now it makes sense,” said George. “She told me after I gave her my book that they told her they were mad at her when she turned into a bat pony one time, because they thought she was mocking them. They must’ve tried to tell her this earlier with this sculpture.” “So what made all those prints?” asked Cheerilee. “Appearently it’s all the little trees we’ve uprooted,” said Crosspatch. “Lazybug just told us.” Everypony was relieved to know for sure that there were no giant vampire fruit bats about. “Well, I’ll never find my bookmark in this mess,” groaned George, looking around at the wild forest. “Great. I’ll have to buy another one.” He took off without another word. “Thanks for trying to save us!” called Applejack. George didn’t reply as he flew away across the sunlit sky. Author's Note I decided not to go the route Top Bolt did. You can draw your own conclusions.
