//------------------------------//
// Bat for Lashes 
// Story: Future Progressive: The Speedfics and Drabbles of Present Perfect 
// by PresentPerfect 
//------------------------------//

Bat for Lashes
by Present Perfect

"Tell me ya didn't pack yer eyelash curler again." The cart jostled and groaned as Applejack pulled it down the rocky hillside.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Rarity quickly added, "But don't take that as a sign of frivolity, dear.  It was merely one of the few things I decided were absolutely necessary for this trip.  I am attempting to 'rough it', after all."

"Yeah, well, I still don't think we're gonna have any kind of eyelash-curlin' emergency out here in Tanglewood Canyon." Applejack grunted.  "Not to mention you still got three times what I do, by the feel of it."

Rarity sniffed.  "That is entirely a matter of opinion."

Tanglewood Canyon was known for three things: the striated rocks painting the walls like a sunset; the rapids of the Tanglewood River that flowed between them; and the sudden, unexpected downpours during rainy season.  Fortunately, it also had plenty of caves for those unlucky enough to be caught in one.  Unfortunately, the closest one to them when the rain hit smelled just awful.

"It's like a herd of buffalo forgot to flush!" Applejack groused, stoking the meager fire as she shivered beneath one of Rarity's hoof-woven blankets.

"Please, Applejack." Rarity wrinkled her nose.  "We are both cold and soaking wet.  This is no time for crudeness."

"Yeah, well, it stinks." She tossed another twig on the fire, sneezed, and huddled down into the blanket.

Then her ears perked up.

"You hear somethin'?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." Rarity cocked her head to the side.  "A light susurrus, all around.  Do you think perhaps the rain might be letting up?"

A quick glance at the cave mouth proved that to be wishful thinking.

Applejack tilted her head up and gasped.  The roof of the cave was dark, and rather bumpy, everywhere except right where the column of smoke from their fire met the light rock.  Everywhere else was moving.

"Rare, I think we done picked the wrong cave."

Rarity screamed.  It was echoed by hundreds of shrieks as leathery wings opened to reveal large eyeballs in place of bodies.  They swarmed down, screeching, buffeting with wings and tearing with tiny claws.

"Ahh, they're in my eyes!" Rarity shrilled.  "My eyes!"

Except, as she opened her eyes, they weren't.  After a few terrifying seconds, all the creatures had abandoned her in favor of Applejack.

"They're tearin' out my eyelashes!" Applejack shouted, bucking blindly.  "Rarity, do somethin', it stings!"

For a moment, Rarity was dumbstruck.  Then she had a single, desperate realization.  Adrenaline surged through her as she dove for her saddlebags.  The eyelash curler emerged and she wielded it like a mace, knocking the eyeball bats off her friend.

"Applejack, hold very still and keep your eyes closed.  This will require but a moment!"

Two hisses of steam and the deed was done.  The flurry of wings faded.  Applejack cracked one eye open and blinked.

"How do you feel?" Rarity asked, smiling.

"Uhh... Well, this feels kinda funny." Applejack rubbed at her eyes, then thought better of it.  "Ain't so bad, I guess." With a grin, she looked upward to where the bats had resettled.  They rippled like dark water.  "By golly, Rarity, you done saved me!"

She tackled Rarity in a huge hug.

"So help me, I'll never poke fun at yer fancy ways again!"

Rarity snickered.  "Far be it from me to rub it in, but I think you might have a teensy bit crow to eat."

"I do indeed." Applejack let out a sigh.  "Let it be said, there is such a thing as an eyelash-curlin' emergency."

She turned toward the cave entrance and started. "Hey, the rain's lettin' up!  We can keep movin' afore sundown!"

"Are you sure you don't want me to finish your makeover?" Rarity held up an entire makeup kit's worth of doodads and goop.  "Just a little mascara would make your lashes pop!"

Applejack glared at her.  "Don't push your luck."

As they left the cave, their supplies back in the wagon and the sun setting beneath the clearing clouds, Rarity cast a glance backward and hummed.

"Applejack..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think perhaps those creatures mightn't have inspired the phrase 'batted an eye'?"

Applejack was silent for a moment, then started to laugh.

"I reckon maybe so."