//------------------------------//
// World's Strongest Sister 
// Story: Just Us Big Sisters 
// by GrassAndClouds2 
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Raindrops tensed as she watched the clouds of bees flying over the sunny field. The swarm on her left was buzzing loudly and roiling about itself as the bees within it jockeyed for position, with the occasional bee tumbling away from the others and scurrying back into the cluster. The smaller mob of bees on her right was quieter and more orderly, with its members flying in neat formations and brandishing stingers at the ready. But although one was an unruly mob and the other was comprised of disciplined warriors, it was clear that both were ready to fight. The only things that separated them were a flower patch of moderate proportions, Lily Vale (the trembling mare who owned the field), and Raindrops herself.

And Snails, of course.

The colt stood directly in the center of the field with two bees hovering just below his furrowed brow. He occasionally nodded or made noises of agreement as both bees buzzed and flitted around, and at one point he raised a hoof to pet them when they seemed to be getting excited. Raindrops's heart leapt when one of the bees suddenly surged upwards, but rather than sting her little brother, it did a graceful loop in the air before settling back down. The other bee looked at it and buzzed something which resulted in Snails grinning. "Alright, Miss Vale!" he called. "I found out the problem!"

"You did?" Lily beamed and wiped her sweaty forehead with a leg. "Then why are my bees fighting?"

"The bees in your western hive say the other bees have better flowers to pollinate--the purple ones with the really tasty pollen are all on the east side--but the bees in your eastern hive say the other bees have a better home." Snails gestured at the two beehives, one of which was obviously newer and sleeker than the other. "So they're mad at each other."

Lily put a hoof to her mouth. "I had no idea bees were so particular." Raindrops snorted--she had learned from Snails how particular bugs were, down to ants having preferences as to what kinds of sandwich bread they most enjoyed nibbling out of the hooves of innocent ponies--but the farmer didn't seem to notice. "What can I do?"

"The ones on the east want a new home," said Snails. "And the ones on the west want equal access to the really good flowers."

"I could switch the hives every few days so they have each other's flowers," offered Lily. "If I do that , will they stop arguing and pollinate my flowers again?"

Snails thought for a moment, then huddled close with the bee leaders. It only took a few more seconds before the bees buzzed back to their clouds, which began to disperse. "Yep!" said Snails. "They will! They--"

Then one of the bees, a huge bug, with gleaming yellow and jet-black stripes, broke free from the cloud on the left. It argued with its leader before buzzing straight towards Snails with its stinger extended. Snails yelped, "Hey, stop!" but the bee didn't listen. Raindrops lunged forwards, but Snails was too far ahead of her and she knew she wouldn't make it in time--

Then Snails' mane parted and a large black beetle jumped out of it. As the bee neared, the beetle reared back on its hind legs and then kicked forwards. One of its feet slammed into the bee and sent it spiraling away to crash into a flower, scattering pollen everywhere.

Snails grinned. "It's okay!" he yelled to Raindrops, who stopped short of her little brother. "Levi's with me! He'll keep me safe from any meanie bees." He turned to glare at the fallen bee, who flew away, abashed, and then looked at Lily. "He's a Hercule beetle; they're the strongest bugs in Equestria. Princess Luna gave him to me!"

Lily nodded, then paused. "Levi?" she whispered to Raindrops. 

"Short for Leviathan," murmured Raindrops with a smile. "Cheerilee used the word in class and it kind of stuck." 

Snails had turned back to the other bees in the meantime. "Anyways, the rest of you agree with Lily, right?"

The bees buzzed in unison, and Snails quickly bobbed his head up and down. "It's settled!" he announced.

"Thank you!" Lily trotted forwards, hugged Snails--who tolerated this with only a slight scrunching of his face--and pressed several bits into his hoof. "I don't know what I would have done without you. I can't very well grow flowers when all my bees are fighting each other."

"Don't worry about it!" said Snails as Levi climbed up to the tip of his horn and perched there like he had his very own chariot. "Happy to help!"

When Lily had hugged Snails once more and then left with her bees, Raindrops trotted up to her little brother and ruffled his mane. "Knew you could help her," she said. "Good job, squirt."

"Squirt?" Snails tried to frown at Raindrops, but he burst into giggles a few moments later. "I'm not a squirt!"

Raindrops grinned and then began to walk out of the field with him. "She's the fourth farmer you've helped since we got back from Canterlot, isn't she?" The weathermare playfully shoved Snails. "And you were worried you didn't have a good special talent."

"I guess I was wrong." Snails was almost skipping as he scampered down the path, and Raindrops found herself hurrying to keep up. "I've got an awesome talent! I can make sure all the bugs in town are happy!"

"And also that all the farmers are happy because the bugs are helping them," added Raindrops.

"That too." Snails turned back to Raindrops with a huge smile on his face. "Hey, if I'm so good at talking to bugs, can I do that part-time thing in Canterlot? I bet I'd do a real good job!"

Raindrops' smile caught. "Uh..."

Two weeks prior, Raindrops, Cheerilee, Carrot Top, and Snails had been in Canterlot when a group of vigilantes had attacked several individuals in town. Equestria's Minister of War, Archduke Fisher, had declared martial law in the mistaken belief that the vigilantes were involved with the forces of the Tyrant Sun, resulting in the castle being sealed off, all routes out of the city shut down, and the entirety of the city's police and Guard forces being redirected to hunt for the cult. With no way to escape the city and nopony else to turn to, Raindrops had been forced to leave Snails in the underground garden of their old enemy Duke Greengrass while she, Cheerilee, and a hapless noble pony named Baron Max chased down and stopped the vigilantes from killing anyone. Raindrops hadn't liked it, mostly because she didn't trust Greengrass as far as she could throw him, but it had been the only way to protect Snails from the increasingly unhinged vigilantes.

To her surprise and relief, Greengrass hadn't hurt Snails and had even helped Twilight Sparkle and Carrot Top to keep him safe from a squad of mobsters that Raindrops had antagonized earlier in the day. Furthermore, once the crisis was over, Greengrass had offered Snails a weekend job working with the bugs in his garden. This was of course something Snails really wanted, and also something Raindrops didn't like because she really did not want to deal with Greengrass anymore. In total, the offer did little other than annoy her immensely... which, she thought, was probably why he had made it.

"I'll think about it," she told Snails again as they walked towards the next set of fields. The apple trees of Sweet Apples Acres stretched before them, and Raindrops helped Snails climb over the fence so they could cut through the orchard in order to get to Applejack's main barn. "But the farms in town are just as good, and you won't need to travel all the way to Canterlot every other weekend to--"

"Nuh-uh! His garden had some of the awesomest bugs everywhere! All these really cool ones I've only seen in books!" Snails looked at Raindrops with bright eyes. "And he said he might even get a couple other helpers, but I could be in charge 'cause I know so much already! Nopony's ever put me in charge of anything before, so..." He trailed off. "Unless you think he might be mean to me?"

"He wouldn't dare hurt you," said Raindrops at once. "Nopony would. You've got the world's strongest sister. If anypony tried to harm one little hair in your mane, I'd knock them silly." She lightly punched a tree, rustling its leaves. "You don't need to worry."

Snails hugged Raindrops tightly. "Then why can't I go?" he asked. "I promise I'll do a great job and make you really proud and--"

"I'm already proud of you," said Raindrops. She knelt and he quickly clambered onto her back, the Hercules beetle rearing up on his horn as he did so. "You're the best little brother in the world. You've got a great special talent, and you're kind and friendly and loving, and..." 

She trailed off while thinking up more compliments, and Snails cut in with a sly voice. "Well, if I'm that awesome... I can take the job, right? I mean, an awesome pony like me needs an awesome job!" And when Raindrops glanced back she saw that her little brother was beaming.

The weathermare sighed to herself. "Let's talk about it after the party, okay?" An idea for changing the subject occurred to her, and she smiled. "Speaking of which, I need you to remember something when we get there."

"What?"

"When we get to the party, remember--just because you've got the coolest ride of all your friends, that doesn't mean you should brag too much." Raindrops chuckled. "Even though nopony's going to show up there on a mare as cool as me, don't rub it in their faces. Okay?"

Snails laughed. "Okay!" he said as they approached the barn.

Everything had already been set up for Apple Bloom's birthday party. Party games had been set up inside the barn and long tables of refreshments were lined up along the outer walls. A dozen foals had already arrived and were running around in the nearby field. Applejack herself stood by the barn door and waved to Raindrops and Snails. "Afternoon!" she called. "Make yourself at home, Snails. An' you too, Raindrops--if you want an apple-cinnamon donut, some apple cider, or a big 'ol slice of apple pie, feel free to help yourself!"

"Thanks!" Raindrops trotted closer to Applejack as Snails craned his neck around to look at everything. "Don't mind if I do. Your apple donuts are pretty tasty."

"Aw, shucks." Applejack smiled and turned to Snails. "An' how're you doin', Snails? Havin' a good day?"

Snails nodded vigorously. "Yup!" he said. "I helped Lily's bees get along again! And I had really good honey oats for breakfast. And I've got the coolest ride here!" He paused. "Uh, I mean..."

Raindrops blushed, wishing she hadn't put the idea into Snails' head, but Applejack just laughed. "That is a pretty cool ride," she agreed, stepping forwards as if scrutinizing Raindrops. "Might even be one of the best here. Although, since Apple Bloom's gonna be poppin' in on Big Mac's back, I..."

Someone yelled from past the gate. Applejack and Raindrops turned to see a fast-moving cloud of dust approaching, with the sounds of heavy footsteps--almost as loud as thunder--bursting out from inside it. Raindrops yelped and was just able to jump out of the way with Applejack before the newcomer leapt over the front gate and slammed into the ground hard enough to knock both of them over. Raindrops coughed and pushed herself up, then gaped.

The pony in front of her was the largest mortal pony Raindrops had ever seen, surpassing even the titanic Goliath--the largest of the Canterlot vigilantes--for sheer volume. This pony's coat, bulging as if struggling to enclose all of her muscles, was a dark purple with red undertones, and her blue mane was only a few shades lighter. Her cutie mark, a shield with a horn emblem on its front, was a bright pink that looked almost garish on her bulky flank. She wore a sword at her side, a large one sheathed in a black-and-silver scabbard, and her long horn tapered to an exceedingly sharp point. This, Raindrops thought, was a pony built for war.

"We are here," the pony said in a thick Rushian accent. She turned towards her back. "In time for party, like I say." Her mouth twisted upwards in an approximation of a smile. "You happy?"

Raindrops belatedly noted three foals lashed with rope to the newcomer's back. Two, Apple Bloom and Firelock, were dangling as if stunned. When the new pony's horn glowed and the rope untied itself, both half-jumped, half-tumbled off, and Apple Bloom stumbled towards Applejack. "AJ? Can ya get the farm to stop spinnin', please?" she murmured.

The third seemed to be paralyzed with joy. "That was AWESOME!" screamed Scootaloo at last, fluttering down and running in circles around the new pony. "Can I go again? Please please please? Pleeease?" Her voice was somehow even more energetic than usual, and her wings beat rapidly as if she could barely control herself.  "That was the coolest ride ever! Ever!"

Snails looked at Raindrops, who weakly smiled. "Okay," she said. "Maybe you came on the second best ride here."