It was early in the morning at Sweet Apple Acres, the sun had not yet risen over the land. Yet Applejack was perched on a hill overlooking the apple trees in the orchard. They all looked to be full of apples ready for harvesting at a moment's notice. All that remained was the official signal, which would be the rising of the sun.
"Any minute now." The stetson wearing earth pony thought to herself. Her sap green eyes remained focused on the horizon, waiting for the sun to come up.
At last, with a crow of the rooster, the sun rose high into the sky! Sunlight crept over the land, eliminating all the shadows. Day had come.
"Yee-haw!" Applejack loudly cheered, announcing to all who could hear! "It's officially applebuckin' day!" Compared to the applebucking season of a few years ago, this one promised to be far less eventful. The farm mare had specifically taken care to get her whole family onboard with it, and made sure she had no other outstanding committments that could interfere.
With a smile on her face, Applejack lesiurely strolled through the orchard grounds, looking left and right at the apple trees and the apples upon them. "This is perfect!" She said aloud! "The bumper crop we've been waitin' for for years!" And she was excited at what those prospects would mean for her family.
Of course, the apples needed to be harvested first. And Applejack was so eager to get started that she didn't want to wait for the rest of her family to join her. "No time like the present!" She thought to herself. She trotted up to one of the apple trees and without a second's hesitation, she gave a swift kick to the trunk!
But to the surprise of the earth pony, the apples fell straight to the ground with a splat. "What?!" She questioned, and looked up into the tree. Now that she looked more closely, it seemed like the apples were all dried up and void of life. But how could that be?
Then, the sound of chittering and the flapping of wings filled the air. A look of horror flashed in Applejack's eyes! She knew those sounds could mean only one thing! "Oh no! They're back!" She gasped, and ran out of the orchard as fast as her legs could carry her! The bumper crop was in danger of being taken away.
Applejack knew she was going to need all the help she could get to protect her family's crops from these invaders. But she couldn't have known where this pursuit would lead, what it would do to one of her friends, who would end up taking a rather unusual approach to trying to solve the problem.
Applejack immediately raced back towards the barn, making as much noise as she possibly could in the hopes of waking up her family! This was a situation that necessitated every Apple family member to do their part! "Everypony, wake up!" She shouted at the top of her lungs! "It's a Sweet Apple Acres emergency! I need all hooves on deck, now!"
It wasn't long before Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom were wide awake. They all came trotting out, ready to help however possible.
"What's the big deal?" Apple Bloom questioned as she rubbed a sleepy eye. "What's got you all wound up, Applejack? You're not usually like this."
The farm mare was nervously pacing back and forth. "Sorry, Apple Bloom, but I can't be calm at a time like this," Then she looked to Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. "It's just as we feared. The vampire fruit bats are back! They've already invaded, and they're destroyin' our harvest as we speak!" She stomped a hoof down! "We've got to get rid of them while there's still a harvest left to save!"
Apple Bloom blinked in confusion. "But I thought the fruit bats never left the western orchard?"
Granny Smith could only shake her head from side to side. "Vampire fruit bats, Apple Bloom," She corrected. "They ain't like normal fruit bats. No, these vampire fruit bats are vicious! They suck all the juice right out of the apples, leavin' em as dried up husks that are no use to anypony. They're nothin' but trouble," Then she bit a hoof as she recalled. "I remember what happened the last time Sweet Apple Acres was invaded by 'em. It wasn't pretty."
"W-what happened?" Apple Bloom nervously asked even though part of her didn't want to find out.
Granny Smith brought a hoof up to her chin, recalling as best she could. "Well, it was a long time ago. My memory's a bit fuzzy. But I do know that it wasn't long after my folks and I settled here," She shut her eyes, remembering events long since passed. "We had a really good crop goin' for us and we were all set to harvest, then the vampire fruit bats came. Oh, to say we weren't prepared for what they'd do is an understatement! They dried up every last apple we'd spent all summer growin'. Luckily, we were able to chase 'em away and plant a quick relief crop to get us through the winter. But even then, we just barely got by."
"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" Big Macintosh nervously questioned. "Even if we chase 'em off, what's to stop 'em from comin' back? How are we supposed to get rid of 'em if we don't even know what they're like?"
Applejack furiously stomped a hoof down! "I don't know! And I don't care how we do it, but we're not lettin' them ruin our harvest! Heck, there's one apple in particular I'll be darned if they think they can just sink their fangs into it!" She trotted off, pulling off a sheet to reveal a giant, lush, red apple. "My blue ribbon winnin' apple. With it, I'm sure to win first place at the Appleloosa County Fair's produce competition next week. Think of what that money could do for us," Then she snorted. "But it'll all be for nothin' if those darn vampire bats get a hold of it. Knowin' them, they'll shrivel it up like a raisin if they get half a chance."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Apple Bloom eagerly exclaimed! "All we gotta do is chase those bats away, right? If it took 'em until now to show up, we just have to drive them out of the orchard. Then we can harvest all the apples before they come back, right?"
"Eeyup." Big Macintosh firmly nodded, lending his approval to the idea.
"Guess between Big Mac and I, we can both get enough apples bucked to make enough for us to survive the winter," Applejack seemed to agree while adjusting her stetson. "It's time we taught those bats a lesson! No one messes with Sweet Apple Acres and gets away with it!"
Granny Smith then hollered! "Enough chit chat, whippersnappers! We've got a bumper crop to save!" And the entire Apple Family raced off into the orchard as fast as they could, hoping to drive the bats away long enough for the untouched apples to be harvested.
The four earth ponies tried everything they could think of to get rid of the bats. They made lots of loud noises, made scary faces, threw things at the bats, even tried blowing smoke at them. But nothing worked, the vampire fruit bats and their vicious, juice sucking fangs wouldn't go away. All the while, more and more apples began to be sucked dry. At the rate things were going, there soon wouldn't be any crop at all left to harvest.
Wearily, Applejack called her family together outside the orchard so they could regroup and rethink their strategy. "This ain't goin' great, y'all." She frowned, wiping the sweat from her brows.
"I'm sorry," Granny Smith apologized. "I forgot all about how we drove them away last time they came around. It's been so long, and I never expected us to have to deal with 'em again."
Apple Bloom then said in between pauses to catch her breath. "If only there was a way to make those bats understand why we need our apples. If only there was some way we could make 'em see our point of view and get 'em to listen to us."
Upon hearing those words, Big Macintosh got an idea. "Wait, that's it! Why didn't we think of her before?!" He exclaimed.
"What are you talkin' abou..." Applejack began, before the realization slowly dawned on her. "Of course! Fluttershy! She's just what we need! Anypony who can make Discord behave is exactly the kind of pony who can get those darned bats to back off and leave us alone!"
"But how are we supposed to get in touch with her?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Her cottage is all the way on the other side of town."
The farm mare adjusted her trusty stetson. "Then there's no time to lose! I'll go and get her!" Turning to her family, she ordered. "The rest of you do whatever it takes to keep those bats from suckin' any more apples dry! We'll save our crop if it's the last thing we do!" And then she was off again, racing to Fluttershy's cottage in the hopes the animal loving pegasus would be able to tame the vampire fruit bats in time.
Applejack was nearly out of breath by the time she reached Fluttershy's cottage. Nevertheless, she was able to explain her dilemma fairy well.
Fluttershy, though briefly startled at the mention of "vampire" fruit bats, plucked up courage and agreed to help as best she could. And she was soon led back to Sweet Apple Acres as she could already tell how urgent the situation was. It wasn't like Applejack to be in a hurry, not unless it was something that couldn't wait.
It wasn't long before the two friends were approaching Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack hopeful that Fluttershy would come through. "You've got to try, Fluttershy!" The farm mare pleaded with her pegasus friend. "Whatever it takes, you gotta get through to those bats and make them go away!"
Fluttershy gulped and swallowed hard. "I'll try my best, Applejack. But I'd never heard of vampire fruit bats before." Still, she hesitantly trotted towards them. When she drew close, she looked up into a tree where the bats were currently resting after having depleted the tree of all its apples. To her surprise, they didn't look vicious or mean. Despite their darker fur colors, they seemed... friendly enough.
Applejack nudged the animal loving pegasus forward. "Go on! Tell 'em off! Use that stare of yours if you have to."
The pegasus mare with a beautiful yellow coat locked eyes with the vampire fruit bats and cleared her throat. Their attention immediately turned to her. "Oh, excuse me, vampire fruit bats," She was trying to be polite despite the circumstances. "Listen, I don't know if you realize this, but you and your bat friends are eating the inhabitants of this farm out of house and home. They'd appreciate it very much if you would go away and leave their apples alone. You've already done enough damage, there's no need to make it worse."
But the bats only turned their heads, clearly not interested in the slightest by what the pegasus pony had to say.
"How long is this gonna take?!" Apple Bloom impatiently called from afar as she, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith all watched from afar with mixs of hope and worry.
Fluttershy didn't reply, she just kept staring at the bats while trying to get them to notice her. "Come on," She pleaded. "I know you can hear me. Please, you must leave. If you don't, you're going to make my friend and her family here very upset. They might try to hurt you, and your family. I'm sure you can find somewhere safer to do whatever it is you need to do."
For a moment, there was a strange silence. Then, one of the bats gave off a reply. It hissed, and spat seeds at the ground in protest!
The animal loving pegasus gasped! She was taken aback by the defiance! "Mr. Vampire Bat, that wasn't nice! I'm trying to help you out. But you must help me." She sternly scolded it. Her plea seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Applejack was most surprised when she saw Fluttershy come trotting back from the tree a moment later. "Well? What'd they say?" She asked in a hopeful tone of voice.
Fluttershy could only look at the ground in shame, hanging her head in dismay. "I can't seem to get through to him and the others at all," She reluctantly looked up as she insisted. "But I'm sure I can understand them if I just had a little more time to get to know them."
The farm mare snorted and narrowed her eyes. "Time is somethin' my family and I don't have, Fluttershy! Do you know how much TLC went into not only growin' that prize winnin' apple, but also growin' all them other apples for this bumper crop?! The longer these bats hang around, the greater the chance of the entire applebuckin' season bein' ruined becomes," She then commented. "I didn't want it to have to come this. But if those bats won't leave, then there's only one thing to do! They must be exterminated!"
The animal loving pegasus gasped! "Applejack! How can you say such a thing?! They have families too for pony's sake!" She then pleaded. "Please, just give me more time. The bats can help you. If you give them a small part of the orchard, they'll make it more productive. Not only will the seeds they spit out grow into new trees, but their natural fertilizer will help all your trees to grow bigger and stronger. You'll have an even better bumper crop next year."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Give 'em a part of the orchard and they'll take the whole lot! Next year will be too late!" In a somewhat more sympathetic tone of voice she apologized. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I wish there were a better way. But my family and I have tried everythin' else. So if you can't help us, the least you can do is get out of our way!"
Fluttershy nervously tried to protest. "W-wait, what about everypony else?" Looking to the rest of the Apple family, she pleaded. "You all agree with me, right? There's no need to resort to such extreme measures just to get rid of the bats. You can drive them off peacefully if you just let them have one part of the orchard all to themselves."
Granny Smith shook her head in protest. "Sorry, Fluttershy, but Applejack's right. These vampire bats ain't goin' away, and we can't wait for your plan to work. Either the bats are goin' or we are goin', and we ain't goin' anywhere!"
Big Macintosh gave a firm "Eeyup", signaling his approval of his family's preferred method of handling their problem.
Even Apple Bloom found herself in agreement. "Applejack and Granny make good points, Fluttershy. I know you don't like it, but what other choice do we have?"
"Looks like you're outvoted, Fluttershy," Applejack declared as the rest of her family joined her at her side. "It's time for us to take back our orchard from those pests! Now step aside! We have to get rid of them while there's still an orchard left to save!"
A frantic Fluttershy didn't know what to do! She didn't want the vampire fruit bats to be exterminated, but she also didn't want Applejack and her family to lose their only source of income that could get them through the winter. "If only I could communicate with the bats better, make them listen to me," She thought to herself. And then, suddenly, an idea came to her. "Of course! That's it! If I want to understand those vampire fruits bats, I have to become one of them!" With her mind made up, she leaped in front of the Apple family before any of them could reach the orchard proper. "Wait!" She demanded as she blocked the way.
Applejack snorted and narrowed her eyes. "Fluttershy, I ain't gonna say it again! Get out of our way! This is goin' to happen whether you like it or not."
The pegasus mare only firmly replied with the most determined look flashing in her eyes. "Please, Applejack. You have to let me try this," She cleared her throat. "I'm going to become a bat. Or rather, a batpony. Once I do, I'll be able to properly communicate with the vampire fruit bats and get them to leave you and your family alone."
The farm mare rolled her eyes. "And how are you gonna do that, Fluttershy?"
Her expression did not change in the slightest as Fluttershy declared. "I'm glad you asked, because I already know the pony who can help me. Twilight."
A chorus of gasps rang out from the entire Apple family! "That's crazy talk!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as her eyes widened! "You actually want Twilight to turn ya into one of those.... those... pests?!"
"I know what I'm doing," Fluttershy firmly insisted. "I could never live with myself if I didn't do everything I possibly could to save those vampire fruit bats from extermination. I'm sure it will work. If you all just hold off on doing anything to the bats for a while, I know I can get Twilight to turn me into a batpony. It'll only be temporary. Once I've gotten the bats to listen to me, I'll have her change me back."
"And what if ya can't?" Granny Smith questioned. "What happens then?"
"That won't happen!" The pegasus pony protested as she stomped a hoof down. "Please! I have to do this! And I'm going to do regardless of what you all want to do." Then, with a swish of her tail, she trotted off to go find Twilight.
The Apple family was speechless. And Applejack was left to think to herself. "Those assertiveness lessons really have changed Fluttershy. She's so determined now that it's scary." Still, the farm mare decided she owed it to her friend to give her the benefit of the doubt.
When Fluttershy informed Twilight of what she wanted to do and why she wanted to do it, Twilight was naturally skeptical. "You sure that's a good idea, Fluttershy? It wasn't long ago that I couldn't even do age spells. And now you want me to turn you into something else?"
Fluttershy nodded while pacing back and forth on the ground floor of the Golden Oak Library. "I know you know your stuff when it comes to magic, Twilight. Your abilities have improved a lot since you became an alicorn. I've seen it for myself."
"Still, turning you into a batpony," Twilight gulped as she bit a hoof. "It's a very big risk. If I can't change you back, you could be stuck as a batpony forever!"
The animal loving pegasus dismissed the concern out of hoof. "I'm sure it won't happen, Twilight. I trust you. One way or another, you'll find a way to change me back even if I don't want to," Then she looked the young alicorn square in the eyes. "Please, Twilight. You're my only hope. If you can't help me..." Her lips began to quiver. "Then the vampire fruit bats will be exterminated, and it will be all my fault. I'll never be able to live with the guilt if that happens!"
Reluctantly, the young alicorn relented with a sigh. "Oh, alright. If you're really that determined to go through with this, I guess I can't stop you. But this is only until you've saved the bats, then you're turning back into a pony."
"Enough chit chat!" Fluttershy demanded. "I'm ready to be transformed, Twilight! So hurry up and do it! Applejack and her family don't have all day to wait!"
Twilight sighed anew and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. Part of her was still hesitant about doing this to a friend, to any of her friends. "Last chance to change your mind." She told Fluttershy.
The pegasus dismissed the chance without hesitation. "My mind's made up, Twilight! I'm ready when you are!"
The young alicorn lit up her horn, concentrating deeply as she pictured the transformation in her mind and pushed the still nagging concerns to the back. The reddish-violet glow of her horn soon began to surround Fluttershy, lifting the pegasus into the air. Soon, there was a bright flash of light! Twilight shut her eyes to block out the glare!
The light slowly dimmed, and Twilight saw that the transformation was a complete success. Fluttershy stood before the alicorn looking noticeably different: Her coat color had dimmed and darkened considerably, taking on the same shades as the vampire fruit bats. Her mane and tail also had lost some of their luster, looking much duller. Her wings had expanded slightly, looking much more like bats and less like a pegasus. Most noticeable of all, two large fangs were present across the mouth.
"How do you feel, Fluttershy?" Twilight reluctantly and hesitantly asked when the transformation was complete.
For a moment, Fluttershy was silent as she processed the changes to her body. In particular, it felt like her sense of smell had been made much stronger. Even from where she was, she could already detect the scent of apples wafting through the air. That told her that the crop at Sweet Apple Acres hadn't been completely ruined yet, though she suspected that would not be the case for long if she didn't hurry. So after quickly saying to Twilight "I'm just fine.", she was out the door of the library and taking to the air, flapping her new bat wings furiously!
Twilight nervoulsy watched her transformed friend fly away. All the while, she was thinking to herself. "I hope I'm not making a terrible mistake."
At Sweet Apple Acres, all members of the Apple family were shocked when they saw a vaguely familiar silhouette suddenly appear in the sky above them!
Applejack squinted, trying to get a good look at the figure as it rapidly descended towards the orchard! "Fluttershy?!" She said with a gasp!
Sure enough, the pegasus pony came swooping down before the Apples, revealing herself now to be a full fledged batpony. Every part of her body looked much more like a bat than a pegasus, and stood out in bold detail.
"Ya actually went through with it?!" Big Macintosh exclaimed in disbelief!
The newly formed batpony nodded. "Oh yes," Then she told the family. "Don't worry, I'll get those bats to listen to me now. Your crops will be saved. You're welcome." And after turning her back to them, she unfolded her wings and again took to the air.
Applejack, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh all watched with widened eyes as Fluttershy flew up to the tree where the vampire fruit bats were perched, all of them spitting seeds on the ground without a care.
When the bats saw Fluttershy in her new state of appearance, they all turned to look at her and stopped what they had been doing. It seemed the transformation had gotten their attention.
Rather than speak with words, however, Fluttershy spoke with a hiss. As she did so, her tongue slipped out and grabbed hold of an apple from a nearby tree. She sniffed at it for a moment, then swallowed it whole in front of the bats! She didn't even spit out the seeds afterwards.
"What is she doin'?!" Applejack exclaimed with disbelief!
Fortunately, any confusion was cleared up when Fluttershy hissed again. The bats all hissed in reply, and then followed her as she flew off again. They flew all the way through the orchard until coming to the western edge, at which point they stopped.
Fluttershy then instructed to the bats. "Now you all remember to stay here. Never leave this part of the orchard for anything. Do you understand?"
The vampire fruit bats appeared to understand as they all hissed, but nodded their heads to signify that they had gotten the message.
The pegasus turned batpony then flew back across the orchard, landing once again in front of the Apple family. With a graceful bow, she informed them. "The bats won't be giving you any trouble anymore. I told them they are to stay within the western orchard, and that they are not to disturb you while you're harvesting the rest of the crop. As long as they do that, you won't have any need to exterminate them."
Applejack happily cheered, tossing her stetson into the air! "Yeehaw! The harvest is saved!"
"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh cheerfully chimed in!
Granny Smith then added. "Nothin' left to do now except sweep up the cores and start fresh in the mornin'."
Apple Bloom then commented to Fluttershy. "You're gonna go change back now, right? You're kind of..." She shuddered. "Scary lookin' when you're a bat... er batpony."
Fluttershy giggled. "I know. I'd probably even scare myself if that was possible. But don't worry, I promise I'll be back to normal soon." Yet as she spoke, it was possible to notice that her snout seemed to be pressed to the air, as if she were still taking in the scent of fresh, juicy apples.
The next morning dawned much the same as the first at Sweet Apple Acres. But this time, Applejack was convinced that she had nothing to worry about. Fluttershy had taken care of the bat problem, the harvest would go on as planned. "Alright, let's try this again." She said to herself, as she waited for Celestia's sun to peak over the horizon. With the crow of a rooster, her wish was granted.
"Yee-haw! Time to go collect those sweet, juicy apples!" Applejack shouted, and raced into the orchard once more! Rather than kick one of the trees that the bats had already gotten to the previous day, Applejack kicked a tree that she knew the vampire fruit bats hadn't gotten to. She made sure she had picked a part of the orchard where the apples had not yet been sucked dry.
Or so she thought. Much to the earth pony's surprise and dismay, the apples from the tree she'd just kicked fell to the ground with a splat. They too were all dried up. "What in tarnation?!" She blinked. Then she growled as she realized what must've happened. "Oh, those sneaky bats! I should've known they wouldn't keep their word!"
Furiously, the farm mare quickly trotted across the orchard until reaching the western end. To her surprise, however, all the vampire fruit bats seemed to be accounted for. It looked as if they hadn't left the western orchard after all, even though she was certain that they must've at some point. "Just what do you think you're tryin' to pull?!" She told the bats as she narrowed her eyes and glared at them! "Do you want my family to exterminate ya all?! I thought Fluttershy got you to agree to stay in the western orchard and leave the rest of our apples alone."
The bats blinked in confusion, none of them seemed to understand why Applejack was so upset with them.
"Don't you play innocent with me!" Applejack snorted. "Who else could've possibly gone and sucked the juice out of all them other apples before this mornin'? You're the only creatures I know who can do that," But then something dawned on her. "Although, come to think of it, how come I didn't any seeds on the ground anywhere but here? What? Now you like the seeds too?"
The bats just chittered something in reply, something that the farm mare couldn't understand. However, something else began to gnaw at her. "Say, do y'all know where Fluttershy is? She went and turned herself back into a pony, right? Right?"
Suddenly, in the distance, the earth pony thought she heard a high-pitched shriek! And was it her imagination, or did the shriek sound a lot like Fluttershy's voice? A look of horror and dred flashed in the stetson wearing earth pony's sap green eyes! "No! It couldn't be!" Hoping beyond hope to be proven wrong, she raced to where she had heard the shriek come from.
Alas, when Applejack reached her destination, her worst fears were realized! Hanging upside down from a tree branch was none other than Fluttershy, looking even more like a batpony and even less like a pegasus than she had the day before. "Gah!" Applejack exclaimed as she jumped back in fright!
Fluttershy didn't reply with words, she just replied with a hiss as she stuck out her tongue. She clearly didn't appreciate being woken up during the day.
"This... this can't be happenin'!" Applejack stuttered in disbelief. "You were supposed to go to Twilight and get changed back to normal!"
Fluttershy only hissed further, refusing to move or change her position. It was as if she had no memory of being a pony at all, and fully believed herself to be a bat.
Frantically, the farm mare did the only thing she could think to do in this situation! She ran away! She didn't stop until she had run all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to the Golden Oak Library. There, she frantically pounded on the door! "Twilight! You gotta open up! It's an emergency!"
Twilight quickly ushered the farm mare inside and locked the door behind her. "What's wrong, Applejack?" She asked, even though deep down she knew what the problem likely was.
"It's Fluttershy!" Applejack frantically confirmed! "She's gone full bat! She ain't Fluttershy anymore, now she's Flutterbat! She's even worse than the vampire fruit bats. If we don't find some way to change her back soon, there won't be a crop to left save. And that's the least of my worries," She hung her head in shame. "Oh, this is all my fault. I was only tryin' to protect my crops and my family's way of livin'. I didn't know it would lead to this."
The young alicorn just replied. "You weren't wrong for what you wanted to do, Applejack. And neither was Fluttershy," She sighed. "But this is exactly why I was opposed to turning Fluttershy into a batpony in the first place. I was afraid something like this would happen, and it seems I was right."
"Well what are we supposed to do now?!" Applejack demanded of Twilight. "How are we supposed to stop her and change her back?! She's not gonna listen to us."
Twilight firmly responded. "We'll have to catch her somehow, probably while she's busy at night sucking all the juice out of your apples."
The farm mare groaned. "How we supposed to catch somethin' that moves so fast?" With a sigh, she lamented. "If only Fluttershy were still herself. We could probably make her do her stare on her batself."
"Yes, I've heard that it's powerful enough to make even a cockatrice stand down," The young alicorn commented in reply. Then, right then and there, an idea came to her! A lightbulb went off inside her head as she exclaimed! "Wait, that's it! That's how we'll get Fluttershy back!"
"Uh, I don't follow, sugarcube." Applejack commented as she rubbed a hoof across her forehead.
Twilight was quick to explain. "Your comment about Fluttershy's stare, it gave me an idea. If we can trick her into looking at herself somehow, we should be able to distract her long enough for me to turn her back into her old pegasus self. But there's no way the two of us will be able to do it alone. We'll have to trap her, somehow."
The stetson wearing earth pony replied. "Well, I'm sure my family will be willin' to help. But for our trap to work, we'll need bait," Then, something dawned on her. "Wait, there's my blue ribbon apple I was plannin' to enter in the Appleloosa County Fair the next week!"
"Applejack, you're going to give that up?!" Twilight gasped! "You told me how hard you worked on that!"
"There's always next year," Applejack reluctantly replied. "I don't like the idea of it, Twilight, but sometimes scarifices have to be made. All that matters is that our plan works and Fluttershy is saved."
Twilight slowly nodded her head. "Then I guess we agree. We'll do it tonight! Go home and tell your family to get ready."
That night, the Apple family and Twilight had all gathered around the huge, red apple Applejack had intended to enter in the Appleloosa County Fair. Applejack had a huge carving knife clutched firmly in her teeth, ready to make an incision in the apple once given the signal. As for the rest of the family, they were holding up large mirrors as best they were able.
The plan was soon put into motion. "Okay, let's get our friend back," Twilight instructed to Applejack, and then to the rest of the Apple family she shouted! "Action stations, everypony!"
A very reluctant Applejack approached her prize winning apple. Despite knowing it had to be done to have any hope of attracting Fluttershy (or Flutterbat as Applejack had called her), she was still very hesitant to bring the carving knife towards said apple. Depsite the hesitation, however, she made the incision. Soon, the smell of juice began to seep out from the apple and waft through the air.
Far off in the distance, Flutterbat was already flying through the orchard in search of more apples to suck the juice out of. Suddenly, the familiar scent of apple juice reached her nostrils. She sniffed the air, and hissed when she managed to trace the source. She quickly flew towards the giant apple, unaware that it was a trap.
Twilight stood at the ready when she heard the audible hiss from Flutterbat! "It's working!" She called in a hushed whisper. "Get ready!"
Flutterbat soon swooped in, ready to sink her fangs into the huge apple and suck out every last bit of juice from it!
Reacting quickly and with trained precision, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith all stepped forward and held up mirrors. Every direction Flutterbat might have turned to look, she found herself staring at her own reflection. She hissed in fright, but didn't know which way to turn or which way to go.
With Flutterbat momentarily distracted and disoriented, Twilight enveloped Flutterbat in her magic and slowly but surely turned her back into Fluttershy. The magic started with the ears that returned to pony ears. Then it worked its way up to the wings which were turned back into pegasus wings. Finally, the sharp fangs were turned back into regular pony teeth. All the while, Fluttershy's coat, mane, and tail grew brighter in color and shade.
At last, the reverse was complete. Fluttershy was back to her old pony self. And it seemed she had no recollection of what she had been doing up to this point, for she looked all around the orchard and blinked, her eyes reflecting a look of confusion and bafflement. "W-what happened? Where... am I?"
Applejack rushed up and hugged the pegasus tightly! "Oh, thank Celestia you're okay!"
"What do you mean? What happened?" Fluttershy blinked as her confusion deepened. "I... I remember that I was going to go see Twilight yesterday. Then... something inside of me felt off. There were... so many juicy apples. But everything after that is a blur."
"You mean, you don't remember?" Applejack questioned her friend.
"Remember what?" The pegasus pony remarked, sounding completely baffled.
Apple Bloom came trotting forward, explaining. "You turned yourself into a batpony, remember? You were doin' it to get the bats to stay in the western most part of the orchard. But it worked too well, you actually became a bat."
"What?! I did?!" Fluttershy gasped! "I didn't try to bite anypony or anything, did I?"
Apple Bloom shook her head from side to side. "Nope. You just tried to suck all the juice out of our apples. Lucky for us that Applejack found out. She made this plan so we could turn ya back to normal before you ruined what was left of our bumper crop."
Twilight simply blushed. "It seems my spell worked a little too well on you, Fluttershy. I guess I'm even stronger now than we might have thought."
"Oh, it's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy apologized. "You tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen. All I wanted was to protect the bats, even when it meant taking extreme measures. And I ended up making the problem worse as a result."
"Well, I was probably jumpin' the gun on the whole 'extermination' thing," Applejack confessed. "I just got so mad and so frustrated with those bats when it seemed like there was nothin' my family or I could do to make 'em stop. I didn't want to consider that maybe your plan could work. I didn't want to consider that maybe there was a way to work with the bats, rather than work against them."
"You were just doing what you thought was best," The animal loving pegasus insisted. "I guess we never stopped to think about the other's point of view," She whimpered a bit. "And it nearly drove a wedge between us."
Granny Smith just commented. "Well, it all worked out, more or less. Ya got through to those bats, and Applejack says they stayed in the western orchard like ya wanted them to. There should still be enough apples left untouched for us to harvest them and make a good enough livin' until cider season. And next year at this time, I reckon we'll have an even better crop."
"So, if we agree to let the bats have a part of the orchard as their sanctuary," The stetson wearing earth pony proposed to Fluttershy. "Do ya promise you won't go doin' drastic things like turnin' yourself into a batpony again?"
Fluttershy happily nodded. "Yes, of course, Applejack."
And Twilight then pointed out. "You know, girls. I think you've both learned a lesson worth writing down in our journal. Compromise can be very important in any friendship. It's always good to stop and listen to the other side before you do something you might regret."
Applejack and Fluttershy looked across to each other, and then nodded in approval of Twilight's sentiment.
Unknown to everypony, however, the spell hadn't completely taken away everything that had made Fluttershy a bat. Secretly, a small fang was still visible if one looked closely. And it would eventually end up becoming quite a problem. But that wouldn't be for a very long time still to come.