//------------------------------//
// Day 21: Ya Packed The Bug Spray? or How Applejack Met A Moth 
// Story: NaPoWriMo 2014: A Compilation of Pony Tales 
// by Fluttercheer 
//------------------------------//

	Bug spray was important. Especiallly when you went on a camping trip. On a camping trip, a pony could meet a lot of nasty midges and moths and this was something that could ruin the fun ponies had together quite a bit. But equipped with bug spray, all those insects could be kept away. It was a vital tool for every camping pony.
And it was particularly important for Applejack, because she didn't like moths. No, she even feared them. She remembered Apple Bloom on packing the bug spray when they packed their things for the camping trip to Winsome Falls and she had not forgot about it. But now the bug spray was empty. Their first three nights of their sister camping trip were already so filled with insects that they had to use the whole bottle. And of course, they only had one bottle with them. Worst of all, they would still need to spend one night out in the woods on their way back, before they would arrive in Ponyville again.
Applejack looked at the empty bottle in her hooves and sighed. Then she put it back into her camping saddle bags. At least they haven't met any moths on their first three nights. Midges were something Applejack could deal with. But not moths. Since she was a little filly, she was afraid of moths. But since there weren't any moths in the first three nights, it was most likely that no moths lived in this area anyway, so Applejack stopped worrying and catched up with her fellow campers. They were already far ahead, so she had to quicken her pace quite a bit to join them again.
Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were deepened into a discussion about the Wonderbolts and talked about it who of them was the best, as Applejack found out through the snippets of their conversation that she could hear as she had joined her group. As she had reached Apple Bloom again, who just gave her a knowing grin, Rarity looked confused at her. On her expression, Applejack could already guess what she was going to say now. She had to think of an excuse quickly. She was afraid of moths, but she did not want that other ponies knew it. Except in front of her family, she kept it a secret.
“What where you doing back there, Applejack? Why did you stay behind?”, the inevitable question came.
“Uhm, Ah..... Ah was just watchin' some birds there and then ah forgot the time”, Applejack lied.
It was not a good lie of course. But Rarity was leaving it at that. It was not important anyway and she was sure that Applejack would have her reasons.
Applejack looked down at Apple Bloom and ruffled through her little sister's mane. “Now, how did ya like ya first camping trip to Winsome Falls?”, she asked her.
“It was great!”, the little filly burst out in excitement. “Ah knew that the falls are big, because ya told me about it, but ah had never reckoned with it that they are that huge!”
Applejack smiled.
“And with all those scary stories Rainbow Dash told us at night it was even better!”, she continued excitedly, which caused her a disapproving look by Scootaloo, who had catched up with the other two sister pairs after she and Rainbow Dash were finished with their discussion.
Scootaloo was driving her scooter since they departured from the cave, where they spent their third night again after returning from the Winsome Falls. Rainbow Dash had told her that it was okay to be scared in their second night, but she still wanted to impress her new big sister and so she tried out every opportunity to do a stunt and to show her how cool she was, even without being able to fly.
Looking ahead, she saw another one of those opportunities. A tree in some meters distance was fallen. The trunk was broken quite a bit above the ground and the broken end was lying on top of the rest of the trunk, that was still anchored with it's roots in the ground. It builded a perfect, natural ramp. Scootaloo flapped her wings faster and raced up the tree trunk. At the end, she jumped off of it elegantly and landed on the other side. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who was still assigned with carrying Rarity's task, cheered and gave her an applaud with their hooves. Rainbow Dash was following her and gave her a gentle noogie after her successful stunt. “Cool stunt, squirt!”, she said. Scootaloo smiled over the compliment of her big sister. Then both her and Scootaloo noticed something.
Rainbow Dash turned around to the rest of the group and waved them over. “There's another cool thing here!”, she said as they reached her. They positioned themselves around Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash and followed Rainbow's hoof that was pointing at something between the trees. There, in some distance, some moths sat on the trees. Rainbow Dash guessed that they were about 20 inches big. They were not moving and just sat there completely still, but they were an impressive sight nonetheless. They watched the moths with fascination and especially Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle thought that they were really cool.
The only pony who could not admire them was Applejack. She already had a problem with small moths, but those big ones? They were an absolute no-go for her.
Now that she knew that moths did live in these woods, she was not so eager anymore to spend another night here. As the other campers had watched the moths long enough and continued their path, she decided to try to convince them to quicken their pace, so that they would arrive in Ponyville faster.
“Ah think we should hurry up a bit”, she began. “It's not that far anymore and if we're a little faster, then ahm sure we could reach Ponyville before it's gettin' dark!” Everypony except Apple Bloom turned round to her and gave her surprised glances.
And Scootaloo protested. “But our camping trip was not supposed to end today! We have planned to arrive in Ponyville tomorrow. I want to spend more time with Rainbow Dash!”
Scootaloo had a point here. They really hadn't planned to end their camping trip that early. And Applejack could not think of anything to give a proper reason for it why she wanted to end their trip earlier. So she tried it in a different way. “Uh, you're right, Scootaloo. But what about a night hike? That's somethin' that can be very excitin'!” She would be alright with everything as long as she didn't have to spend another night of sleep in the woods. That one of those moths was sitting down on her face while she was asleep was the worst thing she could imagine right now.
But Scootaloo did find little enthusiasm for that idea as well. She cowered herself behind the steering rod of her scooter a little, her eyes pointing to the ground. “I don't want to walk the whole night through these woods..... I'd rather stay in a tent together with Rainbow Dash. If we stay outside at night, what if the Headless Horse catches us?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes a little. “Squirt, I already explained you that there is no such thing as a headless horse. It's just a story. There are no creepy ghost ponies in these woods!” She ruffled her mane comfortingly.
“Yeah, but still.....” Scootaloo shuddered. The story and her dream about the Headless Horse were still all too well in her memory to let her having a desire to walk through a forest at night.
And Rainbow Dash did understand the filly. “I agree with Scootaloo. Even when the Headless Horse isn't here, we should not walk with her around in these woods in the dark after she just had these nightmares. I thought you would understand that.”
Applejack was out of ideas. The arguments against her suggestion were too good. If she continued to insist on it that they didn't sleep this night in the woods, she was at risk to reveal her fear of moths. She gave in. “Well, ah guess you're right, Rainbow Dash. It was just a suggestion anyway.”
As Rainbow Dash gave her a weird glance because she suddenly changed her opinion again so quickly, she increased her pace and proceeded forward, pretending that she couldn't wait for it to reach the first campsite. But this made Rainbow Dash even more suspicious. She went at Apple Bloom's side. “What's gotten into her?”, she asked Applejack's little sister.
Apple Bloom looked at her and lifted her hooves. “Ah don't know”, she lied, pretending to be clueless. Of course she knew everything why Applejack was suddenly so nervous and angsty, but Applejack asked to not tell any of the other ponies about her deepest fear and Dash seemed to buy it.
Two hours later, in which nothing particularly exciting happened except the occasional stunts by Scootaloo, they reached the campsite.
Everything was still as they left it almost three days before. The tree trunks they used to sit, the fireplace, even the holes in the ground where the tent pegs stuck were still visible. Scootaloo looked up and saw that it was already getting dark. Applejack noticed the same.
“Let's better build up the tents fast before it gets dark!”, she and Applejack were saying at the same time, everyone of them for different reasons. Scootaloo because she wanted to have something she could retreat into if something scary should happen and Applejack because she wanted to have something to retreat into in case one of those giant moths came to them, attracted by their fireplace. Scootaloo noticed Applejack's same reaction. She looked at her, then at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gave her a smirk and then snickered.
It had just become clear for Scootaloo what was wrong with Applejack. She knew fear all too well and she realized that Applejack's strange behavior had begun after they saw the moths on the trees and so she was drawing the right conclusions. Rainbow Dash seemed to have figured it out as well.
They built up their tents at the same spots where they had built them the last time. As the tents stood, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash went between the trees to collect some firewood. It was almost dark already and the sun was sending her last rays over the landscape before it sunk under the horizon as they had gathered enough. They returned to the fireplace and placed the branches there. Applejack proceeded to ignite the branches, while the other ponies sat down on the trunks. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took seat together on the same one. As Applejack had finished her work the fire blazed up, almost as high as a darting flame.
“Woah, that's a big fire!”, Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Let's hope it does not attract any of the big moths we saw. We're low on bug spray, after all”, she added teasingly and snickered again. Scootaloo put a hoof to her mouth, suppressing a loud laughter.
Applejack shot around at Rainbow Dash and gave her an angry look, but quickly regained her composure as she realized that this made just obvious what she feared. She trotted to her backpack and pulled out a bag of marshmallows. “So, who wants to roast some marshmallows?”, she said in a tempting voice. She hoped that this would distract everypony enough from what just happened so that they wouldn't find out about it how much afraid she was that what Rainbow Dash said could really happen. And to her luck, it worked.
She hoofed out the marshmallows and minutes later, they all sat in front of the fire, each of them holding a thin branch in their hooves, with a marshmallow sticked on top, that they slowly roasted over the bright shining fire. As they had eaten all the marshmallows, it was Rainbow Dash's time again. She was about to tell another scary story. Last night, she told them the second part of the story about the Headless Horse, using the advantage of the deep, dark cave once more, and today, it would be a new story. Applejack began to wonder how Rainbow Dash knew so many scary stories. She really was a stock of horror stories.
Rainbow Dash looked around in the faces of her fellow ponies, who all looked at her in excitement and with slight fear in their eyes. She reached out with her left hoof and pulled Scootaloo against her side, then she began with the story.
This time, Scootaloo was not as nearly as scared as in the first two nights. Not only was Rainbow Dash at her side now, she also went through the story with her earlier today, as it was still bright outside, and they discussed every detail of it. Scootaloo knew the story Rainbow Dash was telling now already and this took away a good amount of her fear. Another good amount vanished because Rainbow Dash was holding her now. Her fear was shrunken to a small glimmer, like the glow of the remnants of a campfire.
Rainbow Dash had now reached the horrific climax of the story. “And as they entered the cabin again, they saw it. There, in the middle of the room–“ Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was interrupted as a loud clicking sounded through the forest.
She stopped and looked around, angry about it that she had to stop at the best part. “What's that?”, she asked. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle began to clatter with their teeth and inched closer to their sisters. Scootaloo also began to shudder now. The clicking became louder and louder, at a rapid speed. They could hear that it came from the other side of the campfire. But they couldn't see anything. It was too dark in the forest.
Suddenly, a big moth emerged from the darkness between the trees. It looked exactly like the ones they saw in the afternoon between the trees after Scootaloo did her stunt. As Applejack saw it, she jumped up from her seat. Rainbow Dash snickered again over seeing that her unintended prediction became true.
But strangely, the moth was not aiming for the fire. Instead of fluttering around the fire in fascination, she directly aimed for Applejack, sat down on her face, where she folded in her wings, and stayed there. And this drove Applejack over the edge. She did not care about her facade anymore now.
“Get it OFF!”, she screamed and stumbled back, almost tripping over the trunk behind her.
Now Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it anymore. Both of them broke out in wild laughter.
“That ain't funny! Get this thing off of me! Ah hate moths!” Applejack flailed around in panic, yanking her head and trying to shake the moth off.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood up from their trunks and trotted over to Applejack. They reached up with their hooves and touched her wings carefully. “Wow, she's really soft!”, Sweetie Belle squeaked.
“Yeah, it's almost as fuzzy as a cat!”, Apple Bloom exclaimed surprised.
“Ah don't care how fuzzy it is! Just take it off mah face finally!”, Applejack demanded again.
“Don't worry, sis, ahm sure it just wants to play!”, Apple Bloom tried to calm her down.
“But ah don't wanna play with it! Ya know how much those things scare me, Apple Bloom!” She wriggled around nervously.
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her mouth and giggled. Then she reached up again and carefully removed the moth from Applejack's face. “Ahm sorry, but Applejack doesn't really like moths. Ya can sit with me instead!”, she said to the fuzzy insect.
Apple Bloom sat down besides Applejack again, placing the moth in her lap, where she gently stroke her wings. The moth clicked quietly. It gave Apple Bloom the impression of a purring cat.
Her big sister grimaced. “Ah rather sit elsewhere now.” She got up and switched their seats with Sweetie Belle, which was something the little filly was alright with. She sat down on Applejack's former place and began to pet the moth again.
“I can understand you, Applejack”, Rarity said affirmative as Applejack took seat at her side. “These moths are just icky!” She shook her head in disgust.
“That ain't the same”, Applejack answered taut while raising an eyebrow. “Ya think of all insects as 'icky'.”
The moth looked over to Applejack, with a happy and curious expression on her face. At least as far as one could tell that with a moth. A cold shudder went down Applejack's back. “Make sure it stays where it is, Apple Bloom!”
“I would have never thought that you would be afraid of moths, Applejack!”, Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face, as she finally got out of her laughing fit.
Applejack gave her a disapproving, angry glance. “Ya better hope that ah never find out what makes ya afraid, Rainbow Dash!”, she said to Rainbow Dash, threat in her voice.
“Hah, I'm afraid of nothing!”, the boastful pegasus replied, causing a giggle from Scootaloo.
In this night, the moth stayed with them. Because Apple Bloom insisted on it to take it in their tent for the night, Applejack switched places with Sweetie Belle again. She rather slept in the palace-like tent of the sometimes annoying fashionista, then sharing a tent with a moth. Sweetie Belle did not protest, of course, as this meant she could spent even more time with the soft-haired bug. She and Apple Bloom put their sleeping bags close to each other, with the moth in between them. They cuddled up to it and in this position, they fell asleep, enjoying the warm hair of the winged insect in this night.
At the next morning, however, they were disappointed. The moth was gone suddenly.
First they thought that it had left them at night to search for Applejack, but when they looked into Rarity's tent, it wasn't there, much to Applejack's relief. The little fillies hung their head and were sad, but Applejack was just happy about it that it was gone. The experience from last night was already more than her nerves could handle in regards to moths.
The ponies had a short breakfast and then they took down their tents, packed their things and broke up. On the rest of their way back to Ponyville, Applejack was glancing nervously over her shoulder all the time, afraid the moth would return. But it didn't.
As they had finally reached Sweet Apple Acres again, Applejack silently sweared that she would never go on a trip like that with just one bottle of bug spray. She never wanted to see that moth again, but if she did, she wanted to be at least prepared for it.
Little did she know that her encounter with the fluffy creature should only be one of many.....