The stage was finally set, as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom waited inside the clubhouse for Sweetie Belle. This weekend, they were going to finally fix the unicorns fixation on mashing all the known insects she sees, and hopefully reroute her strange trance-like inhibitions towards the more ugly side of nature. It would either be now, or never, and they would run out of ladybugs if they failed.
They thankfully, didn't have to wait, for long; the unaware filly made her way up the door, giving an eccentrically loud knock to announce her arrival, before stepping inside the clubhouse, and shutting the door.
"Hey, girls!" Sweetie Belle said, smiling when she saw her friends in their bean bag chairs.
"Sweetie Belle," the two said in unison, before looking at each other. "Jinx!"
Apple Bloom finished her statement first. "--you owe me a cider!"
"Buck," Scootaloo said. "Forgot there was a tail on that."
Sweetie rolled her eyes, flopping in a chair nearby Apple Bloom. "So, what are the plans this weekend? Any meetings? New projects?"
Scootaloo shook her head. "Nope, at least for tonight, we're going to be discussing the bugs you have been crushing."
"And specifically," Apple Bloom added, "we're going to try teaching you not to squish certain ones."
Sweetie Belle went from a wide smile, to a straight face. She just glanced between the two fillies, as if waiting for a signal to see if they were joking or not.
"All bugs must die," she said, in a monotonous tone. "And besides, you girls said we would forget about that for this weekend.
"I mean, we never expressly said that," Apple Bloom said, smiling.
Scootaloo looked to her, tilting her head.
"Are you using that word right?" Scootaloo said, eyebrow raised.
"No, she's using right," Sweetie Belle said. "Though, 'explicitly' fits better there. But, again, let's not focus on that. I wanna have fun."
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Well, if you like crushing critters, this has the chance to be quite fun. Because Scootaloo and I have gathered a whole swarm of bugs for us to try and learn the differences in. We're, again, gonna teach you which ones can be smashed, and which ones shouldn't."
The unicorn sighed, rolling her eyes. "Ugh, fine; but, no promises that I will try."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Fine with me. I'll start, since I've got the ones I consider pretty. Pretty much none in this basket are to be smashed. If you pass a segment, Scootaloo will get some of her nasties out for you to smash as you wish."
Sweetie Belle just nods, watching as Apple Bloom walks over, and grabbing what she had thought was just a basket of goodies. She didn't think that bugs were exactly a treat. She kept her eyes focused as she was starting to hear the little bastards crawling around inside, creating a sickening chorus of clicking sounds as they walked over the wicker basket. She could not wait to start hearing the cracking of their weak exoskeletons under her hoof.
Scootaloo took a step to prevent Sweetie Belle from flying off her metaphorical rails, and stepped on the filly's tail, making her squeak.
"Ow, Scootaloo!" She said, staring back at the Pegasus. "What the hay?"
"It's just to keep you still while Apple Bloom gets things ready," Scootaloo answered.
Sweetie grumbled slightly, as Apple Bloom carefully coaxed out a few ladybugs, struggling to get them out while also trying to keep the Orchid Mantis from running out; she found the little stain was actually quite a fast dasher. But, within about thirty seconds, she finally managed to nudge the mantis back down as a few ladybugs were on her hoof. Sweetie Belle's previously straight faced stare was now expressionless, her eyes blank; focused on nothing but the beetles as she tried squirming from Scootaloo's hold on her tail.
Apple Bloom stopped a good foot from Sweetie Belle, staring into her eyes curiously.
"Huh," she said. "It's like she has absolutely no control over herself when she sees these things."
"No kidding?" Scootaloo said, struggling to keep the filly's silky tail under her hoof. "She's having almost no trouble trying to get away from me, right now."
They simply watched for a few seconds as she tried to move towards the little beetles on Apple Bloom's hoof, as the two fillies were lost in their own thoughts. Apple Bloom's eyes widened, as Scootaloo seemed to be catching on to the same idea, looking at her.
"Zecora?" Apple Bloom asked. "Tell me we have the same idea, here!"
Scootaloo nodded, tightening her grip on the filly's tail. "Well, yeah. But, we'd have to make it tomorrow, I doubt she's gonna be too receptive of us this late in the evening."
Apple Bloom nodded. "True, that forest is stupidly scary at night."
"Then it's settled," Scootaloo said. "We'll let ourselves indulge in these little bastards today, then visit Zecora's tomorrow."
Apple Bloom nodded, setting the ladybugs on the floor, before stepping back; Scootaloo let go of Sweetie Belle's tail, at which point the filly swiftly hopped onto the ladybugs, and a firm thud could be heard as her hoof collided with the floor. The first lady bug stood absolutely no chance, as they were seemingly very poor at being too evasive. Drowned out by the sound of hoof-on-wood, the ladybug's exosketelon let out a much softer crackling noise.
Sweetie Belle didn't stop to check if it was dead, before she turned her eyes to the other hoof-full of ladybugs, starting to stomp at them as if it was a game of "Whack-a-Mole". The echoes of her hooves hitting the floor, with faint sounds of crackling exoskeletons, and the stains of the ladybugs' blood on the wood followed every single stomp. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo just watched from the side.
"I feel like she'd take them all if we just let all the bugs out," Apple Bloom said.
"I know, right?" Scootaloo said. "I wanna have some fun with this, too. I brought so many little pill bugs! And even worms."
"Right," Apple Bloom said, rubbing her chin as they watched as Sweetie Belle finally came down from her trance, now that there was nothing but ladybug carcasses around her. "Well, I'll grab her tail, and you can get some bugs out to smash, then we'll switch when she calms down again."
Scootaloo nodded, as Apple Bloom pounced, holding the squeaking filly's tail firmly against the clubhouse floor, as Scootaloo moved to her plastic bag, and dumped the contents onto the floor. Scoops of pill bugs, and a few large worms spilled out, covering a small area of the floor. All little beetles curled up into balls, causing some to roll a short distance from their temporary landfill, while the worms wriggled about, pushing a few in different directions.
Sweetie Belle once more changed into her trance-like state, staring at the massive assortment of critters, as Scootaloo started surveying the collection. She started off small, moving over to the pill bugs that were starting to unroll themselves. Instead of simply slamming her hoof down, and drowning out the sounds, she took it slow. She would put enough pressure on the bug that it would struggle to roll back up.
Scootaloo would then press down slowly, causing the smaller bug to crush under her weight; unfortunately, the tiny pill bug seemed to emit the most unsatisfying crunch of the assortment, as it was almost inaudible.
"Aw, come on," she said, stomping another one much more firmly. "I spent thirty minutes for those little bastards, and they weren't worth the dirt they came out of!"
Apple Bloom shrugged. "Oh well, I have a ton of beetles and stuff in my basket; let's try the worms, next."
Scootaloo nodded, moving over to a few of the long wrigglers. Worms were a different thing to smash; they didn't have some strong exoskeleton. Instead, the joy from them was feeling their texture from a slow mashing, and how much the fatter ones would compress. The first one she went for appeared to be the biggest of the group, and she rolled it away. She smirks, starting straight in the center of it, starting to slowly press her hoof on it.
As she had hoped, it started to wiggle at the first contact she made, and continued even as her hoof slowly flattened it. Despite the tip of her hoof nearly severing it in half, the worm was still quite alive. Though, from what Cheerilee said, it doesn't actually make two worms, but it has enough little hearts to survive for a longer amount of time... Or something like that; she didn't really pay attention.
She smirked, going to the thicker band on the worm, and starting to mash down, again; to her surprise, there was a silent crunching noise. Though, she reasoned it was likely something popping inside the worm, as it was still wiggling quite wildly. She rolled her eyes at it, then looked to Sweetie Belle.
"Ah, buck it," she said, grinning. "Let her go; otherwise we won't do anything else.~"
Apple Bloom nodded, seeming to have the same idea, as Sweetie Belle bolted to the pile as soon as her tail was released.