//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: New Home And A New Life 
// Story: Metal Bat: Equestrian Adventures 
// by The reluctant fan 
//------------------------------//

"So lemme get this straight. Ya'll are from another world, and ya didn't used to be ponies. Not only that, but in your world, monster attacks are a common occurrence. So much so that an entire organization of superheroes needed ta be formed to stop em."

Zenko scratched the back of her head with a hoof. Badd still didn't know how she got used to her new body so quickly. He was still having trouble with walking.

"Yeah. I know it sounds pretty hard to believe, but it's the truth!"

Applejack gave a small chuckle. "Ah don't know what's stranger, that story ya'll just told me, or that ah believe ya."

Badd's bat slipped out of his mouth in shock. "Really? Just like that? Yer not even gonna dig for more details or nothin?"

"Nah, no point. If ya'll were gonna lie about where ya were from, you'd probably come up with somethin a little more believable than that."

"...Fair."

Applejack gave a smirk. "Now ah've gotta say, it'll be durn interestin to have a bona fide superhero livin on the farm mister Badd."

Badd snorted. "Quit it with the mister stuff, I'm only 17. And I'm not a superhero, It's not like I got any powers or nothin."

Zenko rolled her eyes. "Seriously bro? You're way faster, stronger, and tougher than an average person, and you can recover from broken bones and major blood loss just by resting a couple of days. Not to mention your 'Fighting Spirit'."

At this point, Applejack was staring at the siblings, mouth agape. "Say what now?! When yer sister said ya were a hero, ah expected maybe some super strength, but super healing too? And what's this 'Fighting Spirit she's goin on about?"

"Ah, that. It's not anything complicated. If I get into a tough fight, my fighting spirit kicks in and helps me get strong enough to take out whatever monster I'm fighting."

"So in other words, my big bro's superpower is being really stubborn."

Badd groaned. "C'mon Zenko, cut me some slack!"

"What kind of sibling would I be if I didn't tease you?"

Applejack shook herself out of her stupor and smirked. "Heh, well even if that is true, he's still a nice pony, so ah shouldn't treat him any differently." She coughed to get the sibling's attention. "Alright ya'll, that's enough bickering fer now. We're almost back to tha farmhouse. Let's get goin so ah can get ya set up and introduce ya to mah family!"

"Yeah, uh, are we gonna have to tell em where we're from too? Cuz something tells me not everyone is gonna be as quick to believe us as you were."

"Nah, don't worry 'bout them none. Ah'll just tell em that ah found ya'll runnin from a pack a timberwolves and that ya'll need a place to stay. Granny Smith and Big Mac won't press none. Little Applebloom might, but she's young enough that she'll believe anything without questionin' it much."

"Well, that's a relief. We'll still have to spill the beans eventually if we're gonna be livin with ya, but hopefully we can wait until we've gotten to know each other a little."

"Mah thoughts exactly sugarcube. Now let's get a move on!"

"Please don't call me 'sugarcube'."



"Howdy Granny, ah'm back!"

The elderly pony who was napping in a rocking chair jolted awake with a snort. "Wahzat?! Oh, howdy Applejack! done already? Say who're those two ponies ya got with ya? Ah haven't seen em around before."

"Ah was actually just about to bring that up. Ya see Granny, these two came barrelin outta the Everfree with a pack o timberwolves chasin em. They said they ain't got nowhere to go, so ah was wondering if'n we could house em for a bit."

Granny Smith got up from her chair and walked over to Badd. The hero turned pony gave her a weird look as she circled him, her eyes tracing over his body.

"Uh, everything alright miss?"

"Handsome young stallion, nice strong build, ah like ya sonny! You an' yer sister can stay wit' us, all ah ask is ya help out with tha farm from time to time."

"Uh, thanks? I was kinda planning on trying to help out anyway. Gotta keep up my exercise and all."

"Well then we got no issue! Now ah know Applebloom will be thrilled to bits to have another young filly to play with! Ah don't believe ah caught yer name dear."

"My name is Zenko! The big oaf over there is by big bro Badd!"

Granny Smith gave a small chuckle as Badd huffed in indignation. "We'll it's nice to make yer acquaintance. We'll get ya'll set up in the spare bedroom as soon as Big Mac and Applebloom get home."

"They're your siblings right AJ? what're they like?"

Applejack smiled. "He's warming up quicker than ah thought he would if he's already givin me a nickname." "Well, Big Mac ain't much of a speaker. he's real nice, just quiet. Applebloom on the other hoof is a rowdy little thing. She's always gettin inta some sort of trouble. Don't get me wrong, she's the sweetest little filly you'll ever meet, she can just be a bit of a hooffull."

"Eh, as long as she doesn't go trying to mess around with my bat, she'll be easy enough to deal with."

Granny Smith raised an eyebrow at that. "Speaking of that, why're ya carrying that thing 'round with ya anyway sonny?"

"Self defense. Don't really go anywhere without it."

"...Well, suit yerself. I'll warn ya though. Some ponies in town might find ya a little threatinin if ya go trottin around town with it."

"Really? Well, fair enough I guess. Don't really have a reason to bring it out in public anymore anyway."

Granny cast Badd a confused look at that, but didn't question it further.

Applejack staged coughed to get attention. "Well c'mon Granny. let's go get dinner ready while our new housemates look around."

"Hey, I could help out if you-oof!"

Zenko lowered her hoof from the top of Badd's skull. "Trust me bro. They REALLY don't need your 'help' with cooking."

"Fine, fine. Guess I'll go look around the house then."



Applejack really wasn't lying when she said her brother didn't talk much. When he walked into the house and saw Badd and Zenko, he just stared before Applejack explained what happened. Then he walked over and shook Badd's hoof, said 'Howdy.', and went to go help with dinner.

About five minutes after Mac showed up, a little yellow filly walked through the door. "Hey everypony, ah'm home!"

Applejack stuck her head out of the kitchen to greet her little sister. "Howdy Applebloom! How was school today?"

"Boring like usual. Is dinner ready yet, ah'm starvin!"

"It'll be ready in a bit. By the way, we got guests who're gonna be staying with us for a while. Why don't you go and say hi?"

"Really? First ah've heard about it. Well whatever, where are they?"

Applejack pointed a hoof into the next room over. "In there. Why don't ya go an greet em? Ah'm sure you'll get along great!"

"Well if ya say so."

Applebloom walked into the other room to find a red stallion and a pink pegasus filly trying to solve a puzzle.

"Wait, so if this piece doesn't go here then... what?"

The filly rolled her eyes and plucked the piece out of the stallion's hoof and planted it into it's place in the puzzle. "Seriously bro, how are you this bad at puzzles?"

"Uh, howdy?"

The two new ponies looked up from the table to see Applebloom staring at them. The pegasus perked up and trotted over to her, the stallion following behind.

"Hi! You're Applebloom right?"

"Yeah? How'd ya know mah, wait, that's a dumb question, mah sister told ya about me didn't she?"

"Heheh, yeah. Anyway, I'm Zenko, and that's my big bro Badd!"

Applebloom looked up at the red stallion. He was shorter than her big brother, but he looked just as strong, and they had nearly the same shaded coat.

"Well howdy! Mah sis said you're gonna be stayin here a while? That's great! It'll sure be interestin to have ya around! Hay, maybe we can be friends too!"

"That'd be great! It's been a long time since I've had a friend!"

Applebloom's smile  turned into a frown. "But why? Ya seem nice, why wouldn't anypony want to be yer friend?"

"Well, back at my old school, most of my classmates were too scared to hang out around me because of my big bro. And the few that did try only wanted to get close so they could get an autograph or something from him."

"Huh, but why would they be scared of him? Hay, why would they want an autograph? Are ya famous where yer from?"

Badd glared at Zenko for letting that slip and sighed. "Well, kind of. I wasn't an actor or a model or anything, god knows I'd turn something like that down. I was a hero."

"Whoa! Like a local hero? What did ya do?"

"Well, a little more than local. I am-Sigh, was, part of an organization of heroes that protected citizens from monster and other disasters. I was also one of the most well known ones due to my ranking, so all those little jerks at Zenko's school saw her as 'Metal Bat's sister', and not her for who she was." Badd took a breath. "Sorry, got a little carried away at the end there."

Applebloom stood there in silence with her eyes wide, trying to process what she just heard. An organization of heroes? Monster attacks? "Just where the hay are you two from?!"

The two flinched slightly. "That's where things get a little complicated."

One explanation that will probably become routine later: 

"Wow... So yer from another world, and there's a ton of scary monsters there? And yer sayin one of them brought you two here? Wait, what if that monster starts bringing other monsters here?!"

Badd scoffed. "Doubt that thing'll be doin anything when it's missing it's head."

Applebloom's eyes widened. "Y-you killed it?"

"Well yeah. What'd you expect me ta do, let it roam free so it could wreak havoc on the defenseless masses? Kid, yer lucky you don't have a monster problem here. They're ruthless killing machines that won't stop causing violence unless they're put down. It's ugly, but it's reality. Well, reality where we come from anyway."

Applebloom sighed. "Ah-ah guess that makes sense, it just don't sit right with me."

Badd sighed. "Hey, if it'll make you feel better, I promise I won't do anything like that while um here." "Unless I have to of course."

"That would, thank ya Badd. The worst you'll see in Equestria is the creatures in the Everfree forest, and even they're really just animals."

Zenko shivered a little. "Yeah, but still. Getting chased halfway through there by those timberwolves was NOT fun."

"Wait, ya'll were IN the Everfree? Any you escaped a pack of timberwolves?!"

Badd rolled his eyes. "We literally JUST told you what our world's like. Those things were more annoying than anything."

Applebloom giggled. "Oh right. Forgot ah'm dealing with a real superhero here. So, you're really able to beat up scary monsters with just a bat?"

"Well yeah. Not every hero has some super crazy power. I mean, even in the S-class, there's a couple heroes that just use their fists to fight."

"Well ah guess that's why your cutie mark is a bat then, using that thing must be yer special talent!"

Badd's smile dropped and his eye twitched as he looked back at what he thought was just a badass tattoo. "What did you just call that?"

"Yer cutie mark? Don't ya'll have em where you come from?"

Badd stood up and walked towards the door. "Excuse me a minute."

A moment later, Zenko and the entire apple family heard a scream of pure agony.