Quest for the Golden Apple Tree
The sun was barely beginning to peak over the horizon. As it did, it began to illuminate the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack smiling at the sight of the light of the sun moving closer to her hooves.
And as it touched them, she let out a cheer, "YEEHAW!" She got up and galloped the first tree, her voice now signing, "Ah'm gonna buck me some apples, a'll buck every apple in sight! Ah'm gonna buck me some apples, and everything's gonna be-" She came to a stop as she felt her hoof squish onto something, making her look down, "Alright?"
She picked up the object she had touched, now seeing to be an discarded apple. The fruit had a single bite taken out of it, but the rest of the fruit completely untouched. Raising an eyebrow at this, she glanced back up and went wide-eyed at the sight of an entire field of apples...all with one large bite taken out of each.
The mare tipped her hat down, growling, "Scrumpers..."
Meanwhile, at Twilight's castle...
"Thanks for letting us stay here," a certain royal knight guest said as Twilight put their breakfast down.
"No problem Heather," Twilight replied, "You and First are always welcome here whenever you need."
"You still have our gratitude," First responded before taking a cup of coffee, "And if there is anything you wish from us in return, do not hesitate to ask."
"I doubt there's anything really," Flash added as he bit into a pancake, only to turn to his girlfriend as she stared at Heather, "Twilight?"
"Well...there is something I was wondering about that Heather might be able to help with."
"Oh?," the royal knight replied as she took a bite of toast. "What's troubling you? I'm always happy to help princess."
"Well, I need help with this." Twilight's horn glowed at this, a flower pot filled with soil appearing a second later along with a bag of flower seeds. "It's about my earth pony magic. I've always been skilled with unicorn magic, and it's safe to say I'm proficient with my pegasus magic." She did a quick glare at Flash, making sure he didn't comment before glancing back at Heather, "But I haven't attempted to use my earth pony magic."
"Isn't that just being really strong?" Flash asked, Heather shaking her head before she grabbed a seed and plopped it into the soil.
"It's not just that." She covered the seed and rubbed the soil, "It also involves stimulating plant grow." She pulled her hoof away, the others raising eyebrows as a small sprout instantly appeared in the soil.
"Cool," Flash whispered as Twilight took another seed and placed it into the pot.
"So, what do I do?" She asked. "I've read something about the redirection of energy, but I don't really understand it."
Heather let out a hum, "In a way. Earth ponies can gather up the energy of nature, one that's given off by trees and rocks. We then store it within us the way unicorns store magic before using it to enhance our physical strength and even direct it into new plants. That's what lets us grow them."
"Interesting." Twilight responded as she summoned a notepad, "So, how do I direct this energy?"
"It's...hard to explain. It's really something earth ponies can do instinctively. I guess-"
"SPRINGER!" a sudden voice yelled, all four turning to the voice's owner, only to see Applejack, "They're ya'll are. Ya'll seen Springer?"
"He's...out on patrol," Flash slowly replied, "What's this about?"
"I need him to track a thief down." The ponies all exchanged glances, quickly eating their food while Flash contacted Springer through his aura.
Two hours later...
The mane seven, defenders, knights, twins and the Apple family were now at the farm. Springer crouched down and picked up one of the bitten apples, giving it a sniff while closing his eyes. "Anything?" Applejack asked as Springer's ear dangles flared up, only for the jakhowl to sigh as he opened his eyes.
"Nothing."
"What do yah mean, nothing?!" Applejack barked back, "Ya'll know everypony's aura! How can yah not pick up the thief's aura?"
"It's one I've never felt before," Springer replied, "And the spiritual imprint's degraded, so I can't pick up a trace of it."
"Think its him?" Flash added with crossed hooves, "We know he's stolen from the farm before."
"No." Springer responded while shaking his head. "If was that fox, there wouldn't be a trace of its aura. Whatever this is, it has aura...but I can't feel anything else."
"Augh!" Applejack yelped, "Well that's just great!"
"What's the problem?" Heart asked with a shrug, "So somepony took a few apples and bit into them."
"Them apples are our livelihood," Granny Smith barked as she, Mac and Apple Bloom began to pile the apples up. "Every one stolen is the time and care we took to make 'em perfect completely thrown down the drain."
"We've had scrumpers before," Applejack added, "But they usually only take one or two apples. Not an entire field's worth." She growled at the pile of bitten apples, "It's bad enough that they stole our apples, but to only take one bite out of each of them...it's just insulting!"
First Aid rubbed his chin at the sight, kneeling down beside Springer, "You really can not pick up anything?"
"Nothing," Springer replied as Grand walked past them, staring at the trees.
"Well, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I think we might be looking for a pegasus. Or something that has wings." The others turned to Grand as he pointed at the trees, "From looking at the terrain, I don't see any hoof prints that don't belong to us. That gives me the idea the thief flew in." He picked up an apple and showed the bite marks. "These markings indicate the thief had teeth, meaning not a bird or griffon."
"Makes sense," Flash commented before glancing at Springer, "And if they're just flying in and biting, not much aura is gonna be left behind, is it?"
"Probably not." the jakhowl responded, "So, what do we do now?"
"Simple," Applejack chimed in.
"You're gonna say a stake-out, aren't you?" Iron huffed as Applejack nodded. "Great..." He turned to his girlfriend, "You're not feeling particularly batty, are you?" Fluttershy gave him a glare back, "Just asking."
And as Fluttershy was about to reply, Twilight spoke up, "Applejack's right. If they did it once without having any problems, they'll likely try again. But this time, we'll be ready."
That night...
With the sun setting, Applejack and her friends were all hiding in the orchard. She, Heather and First were behind a tree, while others were scattered out around the area. Springer's ability to connect the minds of several ponies was coming in handy right now, allowing them all to talk to one another without needing to make noise.
"Alright everypony," the farmer whispered, "Be ready for anything or anypony. We can't let it git away."
"We won't," Twilight replied as she, Flash and Spike were currently under an invisibility spell.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking out for?" Fluttershy asked in a half-terrified voice, she, Iron and Rainbow being on the other side of the orchard.
"Anything," Granny Smith responded, "If there's any movement, we check it out."
"And take it down!" Apple Bloom's voice called out.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelped, "Why aren't you in bed?"
"I can't sleep knowing there's something out here destroying our farm."
Applejack let out a hiss, only to sigh, "Fine. But stay close to Big Mac. Ah'm guessing yer near him, right?"
"Eeeyup," her brother replied, Applejack nodding back before focusing on the one connecting them all, "Yah feel anything Springer?"
"Not yet," Springer responded, the jakhowl now sitting on the roof of the barn with Rarity and Lightning, the jakhowl in a meditative position. "The only auras I can sense are the ones I know. Nothing new yet."
"Well keep us posted," Flash commented.
"Can I ask a probably stupid question?" Wild asked as he, Pinkie and Grand were hiding in a covered pit they had dug. "If we actually manage to catch this thing, what the heck are we supposed to do?"
"That depends on what it is," Grand replied, "If it's some kind of animal, we'll relocate it far away."
"And if it's not an animal?" Pinkie asked, "What if-"
"I've got something!" Springer interrupted, "Seventh orchard!"
"That's us!" Grand whispered as they slowly lifted out of the pit as the others began to move to them. "Keep your eyes peeled."
"But I left my peeler at home," Pinkie joked, Grand rolling his eyes before jerking his head, his ears going up at a sudden noise.
"Over there!" Wild hissed, pointing at a tree, "Wait...it's gone."
"It's over there!" Pinkie yelped, "Er...nope. Vanished."
Grand then put his hoof over both their mouths, "Don't talk. Just listen. That's our best chance to locate it." The two nodded, the knight removing his hoof as they all just stared at the orchard. They listened intensely at this, only to hear a certain noise.
It was the sound of flapping. Not the gentle flapping of a feathered wing, but the floppy sound of leather on the wind. Like a flag, fluttering in the breeze. They followed the sound for several seconds, only to look up and see a shadow circling the area above them. And when it flew into the light of the moon, they saw the creature was pony shaped. But its wings looked more like that of a dragon...or a bat.
"A thestral," Grand whispered.
"A bat pony?" Pinkie asked before gulping. "Maybe Iron was right about Flutterbat."
"I don't think this one has anything to do with Fluttershy," Grand replied as they watched the thestral fly down onto a branch of a tree. It grabbed one of the fruits, pulling it off before beginning to bite into it. "Either way, it's definitely the cause of Applejack's problem."
"So let's stop it!" Wild exclaimed as he leapt out the hole, Pinkie behind him.
"Wait a minute!" Grand yelled, but it was too late.
"Take this!" Pinkie pulled a cupcake out of her hair and tossed it at the thestral, the bat turning to Pinkie's outcry before leaping from the branch to dodge the baked good. But as it did this, Wild's puppets suddenly appeared in front of the bat.
"Take him down!" He roared as the puppets tried to tackle the thestral, only to miss as the bat flew above them. Wild then fired a magic beam at it next, but the bat dodged again, "Blast it!"
"Figures...here goes nothing," Grand sighed before slamming his hammer into the ground, several rocks coming up from the dirt before he sent them flying with a swing of his hammer, "Grand Impact!" The rocks shot up at the thestral, hitting the bat as the pony let out a cry of pain, only to flap away, "Shoot! Its getting out of my range!"
"But not mine!" They then heard, making them turn to see Flash flying in, "Bat pony, huh?" He smirked before illuminating his sword, causing the thestral to cry out from the light.
"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow yelled as she flew up behind the bat.
The thestral glared at the Wonderbolt, turning to fly another direction before Twilight teleported in front of it. This was followed by Fluttershy as she flew up to block its last direction out. And as they stared the pony down, they saw that the thestral was a stallion, its body being a combo of brown and light blue. its body was mainly brown with blue stripes across its body while its neck and lower legs were completely blue. Its mane and tail were blue with brown tips and its brown ears had blue tips. The wing-bones were also blue while the membrane was brown. As for the thestral's cutie mark, it was a golden apple.
"We don't want to hurt you," the animal caretaker whispered, "Just come down quietly."
And as she said this, Twilight created a magic barrier above them, all four flying down as the alicorn brought the barrier down with them, pushing it to the ground. At the same time, Applejack and the others arrived on the scene as the farmer glared at the bat, "So, this is the varmint that's been stealing mah apples." The thestral turned to hiss at her, Apple Bloom screaming and jumping behind Big Mac. But as it did this, it suddenly leapt and tackled Fluttershy to the ground, making her cry out as it jumped over her and tried to fly away. "Don't let it git away!"
Twilight was quick to create another barrier in the direction it was heading, the bat pony stopping it its tracks. "RAH!" It turned to see Iron running up with Springer while Grand and Lightning was now coming up from the other side.
"Don't let it bite you!" Flash yelled as they got closer.
But before they could even respond, the creature opened his mouth...and let out a mighty wail.
"BYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It's scream roared, the sound unbearably loud and high-pitched, causing everypony to freeze on the spot and cover their ears.
"WHAT IN TARNATION?!" Applejack cried out the sonic scream, Twilight unable to keep the barrier up. At the same time, the apples in the surrounding trees suddenly exploded into apple sauce, all the ruined fruits falling into the dirt like a pile of muck. "NO!" She yelped as the thestral stopped the attack.
And as everypony was now reeling from the sonic scream, the bat pony began to escape. But as they tried to fly away, Heather's weapon suddenly swung out, grabbing its tail. The knight did a quick, full earth pony powered yank, slinging the bat to the ground. As it crashed with a thud, the sound of its landing didn't even hit the ponies' ears around them, all still unable to hear from the sonic scream.
Despite this, Iron, Flash and Springer leapt to dog pile on it, pinning it to the ground with a single tackle. Twilight then teleported in front of the bat, her horn glowing as she saw it begin to breath in. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" She screeched before firing a spell that hit its throat. And when the thestral tried to scream, not a sound could be heard. "PERFECT."
The bat pony kept opening its mouth after this, nothing happening as it kept doing this.
"WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT NOW?" Rainbow asked while rubbing her ears.
"WE HAVE TO PUT IT SOMEPLACE WHERE IT CAN'T CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS!" Grand yelled, "THEN MAYBE SEE A DOCTOR TO FIGURE OUT HOW LONG OUR HEARING WILL BE OFF!"
"BUT HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MOVE IT?" Lightning asked as the thestral continued to struggle, "IT'LL FLY AWAY ANY CHANCE IT GETS!"
"NO PROBLEM!" Applejack leapt in front of the thestral before raising her hoof.
"APPLEJACK!" Twilight yelled, "WAIT-"
POW!
Several hours later...
Pain. That was all the thestral could feel as it began to wake up. It's mouth slowly moved as its eyes fluttered open, blinking as it looked up at a stone ceiling.
"I think he's waking up!" It tried to glance at the voice, his vision still blurry. And as it became more clear, the thestral saw the ponies from before, along with a set of metal bars separating them. The thestral was in the Ponyville jail, complete with an absolutely splitting headache. It pushed itself up at this, now seeing First walking up to the bars.
"Careful," First replied, "You had a concussion, but you should be fine for now."
The thestral growled at him, looking away before now seeing he was in the cell. It then took a deep breath, trying to scream....only to find he was still silent. "Nice try," Twilight responded as she trotted up next, "But unless you promise to not scream, you're not getting your voice back."
Hissing back at her, Flash then stepped up to the cage. "Can you understand me?" He asked, getting a nod in return. "And can you actually talk? Not just scream and hisses?" Another nod. "Alright. Twilight's gonna give you back your voice, but if you scream again, she'll take it away and we'll leave you in here a few days until you decide to be more civil, understand?" There was one final nod.
This was all Twilight needed, the princess using her magic to and hitting the bat pony's throat with it. They heard him cough and grunt, everypony preparing to cover their ears. But as this happened, the pony shook his head...and spoke, "Let...me...go." His voice sounded surprisingly young, making a few blink as they saw him glare at the princess.
"Not happening," Flash responded, "At least not until we get some answers."
"And until yah pay for all them apples yah stole!" Applejack almost yelled as she slammed her face right into the bars, "Ya'll made a big mistake messin' with our farm!" Her family nodded in agreement.
"What are you talking about?" The bat pony asked as he got up and walked up to the bars, "Pay? What the heck does that mean? If those were your apples, why weren't you protecting them? They were just asking to get taken."
"They were on mah land!" Applejack barked back, "Ya'll were the one who trespassed. Bad enough you stole mah apples, but yah didn't even have the common decency to finish them!"
"Not my fault you can't grow good apples. None of them were right." This made Applejack's face turn red, rage building as her hooves slid down the metal bars separating them. "I mean, you couldn't even get the color right."
"Color?" Twilight asked.
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow added, "Applejack's apples are the right color."
"No they're not," the thestral replied before pointing at his cutie mark, "They're supposed to be this color." The group all stared at the image of the golden apple, confusion and intrigue now on their faces as he continued, "I don't know what you're so mad about. I was hungry and I needed to eat. If you didn't want your apples taken, you should look after them better."
The Apples all growled, Heather taking this moment to step up to the cage. "Listen, I don't know how things work where you're from, but around here, stealing isn't something that's considered acceptable."
He gave her a deadpan glare back, "I call it survival of the fittest. I'm not gonna apologize for something I had to do, not that it did me any good. Not one of those apples were what I needed."
"Needed?" Twilight asked. "What do you need?"
"One of these!" He pointed back to his cutie mark, "I need one of these! I was hoping that the color was the only thing different about those apples, but they're not! I need one of these!"
"Why?" Applejack replied, "What the heck do you need a golden apple for?"
"I didn't even know apples of that color existed," Heart added from the back of the group, Soul and the young jakhowls nodding.
"Golden apples do exist," Twilight responded, "But they're magical trees, and very rare."
"Yes," Grand nodded. "There's only one golden apple tree I know of, and its the one in Princess Celestia's garden."
This caused the bat pony's eyes to go wide, making him turn to the earth pony, "Where is it?! You've gotta take me there! I need one of those apples!"
"You're not going anywhere," Iron barked back as he pointed at the pony, "At least not-"
"PLEASE!" He screamed, most reflexively putting their hooves to their ears as they thought he was about to sonic scream again.
But as he did this, Springer leaned over to Flash. "Something's wrong. I've been watching his aura and....he's scared."
"Scared?"
"Not just scared. Terrified."
Flash turned back to the pony, now seeing sweat starting to pour down his face, his form carrying itself less firmly then when he had first woke up. "You might be right." Flash whispered before leaning up to the bars, "Hey uh...are you okay? You look a little...queasy. And my friend says you're scared." The bat pony's breath slowly turned to a panting. "Just tell us what's wrong and maybe we can help."
"You can't help!" he cried back, "Not unless you get me one of those...one of those."
And as he said those words, the stallion slumped over, legs going out as suddenly fell to the floor. The group gasped, First turning to Flash, "Open the cell."
"Are yah crazy?" Apple Bloom asked as Flash grabbed the keys. "He's faking it!"
Applejack nodded. "If yah open that cell, he'll let out a scream and bolt before we can stop him."
"I cannot deny him medical attention if he needs it," First replied, both glaring at each other before Flash opened the door. The knight ran inside, leaning down as his horn scanned the pony...only to grimace, "He is not faking." First put his hoof on the bat's head, "He is burning up." A sigh came next as his horn shined, only to go wide-eyed, "He has been poisoned."
"Poisoned?" Twilight yelped, "How?"
"I do not know," First responded, "But I need to find a way to neutralize it, and fast. Please, I need help."
Twilight nodded as she helped move the bat pony onto the bed before he ordered everypony out, all but Heather leaving as he began to work.
Some time later...
The wait for recovery was a long one. Minutes had turned to an hour, which slowly turned to hours.
"Augh!" Rainbow yelled, "What's taking so long?!"
"He has to figure out what kind of poison is infecting him," Rarity responded, "That takes time."
Heart was about to say something, only to notice his sister looking into the cell through the window. "What are you doing?"
"Watching," Soul replied as she stared at First. He had set up a small chemistry set, now mixing several chemicals together. "Cool..." she whispered as he shook a vial in his magic, making it change color. "Wish I could be in there."
"Why?" Mira asked as she looked through the window, now seeing Heather draw some blood from the bat pony, "Gross."
Soul shook her head and patted Mira, "It's just blood. We all have it." She continued to watch as the two completed their medical tests, Heather and First moving on to creating some kind of serum that they quickly injected into the bat pony. After a few more minutes, his breathing became more stable and he stopped sweating. "Wow. They cured him." This caught everypony's attention as the two royal knights walked out of the jail cell.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Twilight asked.
"For now," First replied. "But if we can not find a way to fix him, he will succumb to the poison again."
"What do you mean?" Applejack responded, "Soul said yah cured him."
"This time," Heather sighed, "But there's something wrong with him."
First nodded in agreement, "I was able to cure him because I have seen this poison before. Back when Grand was bitten by the bat pony working for Doom."
"He was bitten by another thestral?" Grand gasped.
First shook his head, "No. That is what is wrong with him. He is poisoning himself." This made everypony lean back in surprise as he continued, "It is a birth defect I have read about. It is rare, but can occur. His own poison is being injected into his bloodstream. I have neutralized his poison for now, but it has already started building. By this time tomorrow, the levels will reach the point his body cannot handle it."
"But can't you just do what you did today?" Fluttershy asked next.
"The serum I gave him is very complicated to make, and even if I could make more easily, he would eventually grow immune to it."
"So...what are we supposed to do?"
"I've been thinking about that," Heather chimed in, "I've studied the legends of the golden apple, and several of them speak of their ability to cure any poison. No matter how deadly, a single apple can eradicate any toxin from the body of the one who ate it."
"Hold on," Applejack spoke up. "So yah saying the reason he was stealin' mah apples was because he was tryin' ta save himself."
"Most likely," Heather replied while nodding, "He either knew of their ability to cure poisons, or has already eaten a golden apple when he started feeling ill."
A groaning sound rang out next, making them turn to see the bat pony was waking up. "Only one way to find out," Flash commented as he walked inside just as the bat pony opened his eyes and sat up. "How you feeling?"
"Lousy..." the thestral moaned, "But I'll live." He stared down at his own body, "Somehow."
"You can thank First and Heather for that," Twilight responded, "They managed to cure you of the poison."
"Poison?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, getting several nods in return. "Is that what's been causing my pain?"
"Indeed. You have a genetic defect." First replied, sitting down as he began to explain the thestral's symptoms. But as he did this, the bat pony just blankly stared at the knight, every bit of science jargon going over his head before First finished, "And that is why you collapsed."
"Huh...okay." he responded before letting out a sigh, "I guess I should thank you."
"You can thank us by giving us some answers," Heather added with crossed hooves, "For starters, why did you think eating Applejack's apples would cure your poison?"
The bat pony shrugged at this, "It's worked before. Whenever I felt the pain or felt dizzy, I'd eat one of them and it would all go away....but it didn't work with her apples. I don't know why."
"That's simple. Its because those weren't magic apples," Twilight replied, "The apples you're thinking of are a rare breed of magic apples that can cure poisons. Normal apples don't have that same ability."
"Really?" the bat pony asked with raised eyebrows, only to let out a long sigh, "So that's it."
Seeing the thestral now completely calm, Grand spoke up, "Seems there's more going on here than we first though. What's your name son?"
The bat rolled his eyes. "What, are we family now?"
"Don't get snippy," Rainbow added.
The thestral groaned and got up off the bed. "Look, if you want an apology, then fine. I'm sorry I took your apples. Now, would you let me out of here?! I've got better things to do then sit around and play twenty questions."
"We just want to know more about you," Twilight responded, "Like where you apparently found a golden apple."
He shook his head, "Not a golden apple. A whole tree of golden apples."
"A whole tree?!" Heather gasped, "That's incredibly rare."
"It's in a cavern deep underground." He sighed, looking away, "It was my home,"
"Was? What happened?"
The bat pony let out another sigh as he sat back down on the bed. He glared back at them, only to see a group of expectant faces. Moaning, he leaned back and began to speak, "For as long as I could remember, I've lived in that cave. I woke up one day and I was there. I didn't know who I was, or where I came from."
"Amnesia?" Twilight chimed in.
"We seem to run into that a lot lately." Flash commented, only to feel Twilight's tail smack him.
As Flash said this, the bat pony shrugged. "I know I had to have lived a life before it. I mean, I can talk and understand words. That's not something you just know, right?" The others nodded. "Anyways..."
The pony opened his eyes, both slowly moving as he found himself staring at the underside of a tree. That was the first thing he remembered. Letting out a yawn, he saw that the wood was a light brown that seemed to illuminate the darkness of the cavern...and on its branches were the fabled golden apples, not that he knew they were fabled.
"The first thing I did when I woke up was eat." He flapped his wings, instinctively knowing how to fly as he landed on a branch and took a bite of the apple. "I might not remember eating any other food, but those apples were delicious. And when I was finished, I started wondering who I was."
The thestral hopped off the branches, blinking at the chamber around him, seeing several holes in the walls. "There were lots of tunnels that my home was connected too. But when I tried to investigate them-"
"AUGH!" He had been flying through a tunnel when his stomach suddenly started twisting in pain, a high fever and cold sweat coming next. Instincts kicking in, he pulled himself back to the chamber, going to the base of the tree. One of the apples had fallen to the ground, the pony picking it up and taking a bite. And as he did this, he felt the pain lessen with every bite until he found himself completely back to normal.
"That's when I realized the apples were what I needed in order to survive. Every time I went without them for a while, I suddenly felt myself getting worse and worse. I dare not leave the chamber in case I got lost and couldn't find my way back. So I stayed there, spending my days sleeping, eating and even talking to myself so I didn't forget how to talk. And as I got bigger, the time between when the pain started got longer and longer."
"Not surprising," First chimed in, "Thestrals gain a resistance and eventual immunity to poison as they get older. Eventually, you will no longer need to eat those golden apples."
"Really?!" He gasped, "How long?!"
First shrugged at this, "According to when I scanned you, you seem to be about twenty years of age. So...maybe five years or so."
The bat pony sighed. "Great...just great."
"So what happened next?" Twilight asked.
"Well, it wasn't long before I found out I wasn't the only one who wanted the apples."
The pony was in his tree, munching on an apple when his ears picked up a sound.
"Apples! Apples! Apples!" Was echoing through the caves, making him turn to a chamber as he saw a trio of creatures walk up. They were Diamond Dogs, the three all slobbering and howling at the sight of the tree.
But before they could get one, the thestral flew down and hissed. "Leave!"
"Silly pony!" One growled, "You no match for us!" It then charged and body checked him, the thestral thrown to the side as the dog laughed, "See? Apples ours!"
"That was the first time it happened." The thestral growled as he picked himself up and took a deep breath, "I...said...LEAVE!!!" With that, his voice suddenly exploded out of his mouth, hitting the trio with his sonic scream. The sound wave sent them flying through the chamber, all three hitting a back wall.
And as his screech came to an end, the dogs slumped over before one yelled, "ME CAN'T HEAR NOTHING!"
"PONY BREAK EARS!" Another yelled.
"RUN!" The last cried before they all ran out of the chamber.
The thestral chuckled at this, only to put a hoof on his mouth, "Huh...how'd I do that?"
"I don't know how I did it, but I was able to."
"Interesting. I've never heard of thestrals being able to emit sonic blasts," Twilight commented as she turned to Grand. He shook his head, soon getting the same reply from everypony. "Hmm...is it something special?"
"Maybe its another genetic defect," First suggested, "Or a side effect of eating the apples for so long."
"Either way, that's how I managed to protect my home from invaders...mostly."
"I'm guessing something went wrong?" Flash asked, the bat pony nodding back.
"Yeah...you see-"
As the years passed, more creatures attempted to steal the golden apples from the thestral. Maulwurfs, tatzlwurms and many more, all subdued by the power of the super scream.
"I might not have known who I was, but I was alive and that's what mattered. But one day..."
The thestral was eating an apple in the tree, only for his ears to pick up the sound of movement. He jumped down, turning to the many holes in the chamber. But as he tried to follow the noise, he saw that the sound was going from one tunnel to the other....only to go right beneath him.
"Huh?" He looked down, now feeling vibrations under this hooves.
And before he could react, the ground suddenly exploded, knocking him flying back, "AUGH!" He cried before slamming into the wall, sliding down instantly. His eyes spun as he tried to get up, only to gasp when he now saw what had attacked him. It was four large serpent-like creatures, all of them slithering out of four spots around the tree. They were mainly green with purple skin around the eyes and purple spikes running down their back. The strangest part was their lower jaw, which split in two right down the middle.
The thestral picked itself up, taking a deep breath before unleashing his sonic scream. But when the sound waves struck the creature, they passed over it without causing any kind of harm. "What?!"
One of the creatures responded by opening its triple mouth, firing a long green tendril-like tongue that wrapped around him before he could escape. "Hey!" He yelped before being pulled, "Let go!" He struggled against the tongue, unable to escape before letting out another scream...but it did nothing. "I said...let GO!" He bit down on the creature's tongue, making it roar in pain before letting go.
And as he got back to his hooves, he saw the other three beasts now staring at him, the thestral realizing he couldn't win. Spotting several apples near him, he quickly grabbed them before zipping down the closest tunnel, dodging three tongues as he continued to fly through the darkness.
"And...that is." he sighed, "I flew as fast as I could, and eventually found a tunnel leading outside."
"Wow," Flash whispered before turning to Twilight. "What was it that attacked him?"
Twilight hummed while rubbing her chin in thought, "Sounds like a drakeladon. A cross bred species descended from tatzlwurms and hydras." She turned to the thestral, "It would explain why his sonic scream wouldn't hurt it. Drakeladons are completely deaf."
"So what happened after that?" Grand asked next.
"Nothing much. All I could do was try and find someplace else to live. I thought I'd find another tree in no time, and when I saw that large group of trees-"
"It's called an orchard," Applejack interrupted.
The thestral rolled his eyes at this, "Fine. When I saw the orchard, I thought I hit the jackpot. But when I took a bite out of one, it didn't make the pain go away. None of them did. I was forced to eat my last golden apple last night, which is why I came back. I needed to find one that could help me."
"Well yah won't find a golden apple here."
"What about that tree you told me about?" He asked, "I'll go there."
"Yeah," Spike turned to Twilight, "Why don't we send him to Canterlot? I'm sure princess Celestia won't mind."
Twilight shook her head before rubbing the back of her neck, looking embarrassed. "Yeah...about that. The golden apple tree...doesn't actually grow golden apples."
"Come again?"
"It's a spell," Twilight replied, "Princess Celestia cast it on the tree so that the apples would look golden, but they're not actually golden."
"So it's a trick?"
Twilight shook her head again. "She said it used to grow golden apples, but it stopped doing so about thirty years ago. That's why she has to use magic on it."
"Huh." Grand added, "I don't remember that happening. Must have happened when I was on a mission."
"That actually fits with the legends I read," Heather chimed in, "It's said that golden apple trees only produce golden apples for the first fifty years of their life. After that, it just becomes a normal tree. And the seeds of that tree only grow golden apple trees if the apple is a golden one. That's why they're so rare."
"So you're saying the only real golden apple is the one the drakeladon's now guarding?" Iron asked Twilight, the princess nodding back, "Ouch."
"Grrr...fine!" the bat pony exclaimed, "Then let me out of here! I don't care if that thing's deaf," he rattled the bars. "I'll find a way to beat it and get my tree back!"
"Oh, that's a great idea," Applejack deadpanned while rolling her eyes. "And while you're at it, send us a postcard from that thing's stomach."
The bat pony hissed at her, only for Twilight to raise a hoof between the two, "Listen, I know you want to get your tree back, but there's no way you're gonna be able to beat those monsters on your own."
"So what am I supposed to do?! I'll die without my tree!" He yelled, only to blink when he saw smiles appear on the entire group's lips, "What?"
"Simple. We'll help," Flash replied, making the thestral lean back with wide eyes.
"Why would you help me?" He asked. "Didn't I steal your precious apples? I figured you'd want me to be suffering."
"We might not be happy about that," Applejack responded while her family nodded. "But we'd never want somepony ta suffer."
Heather nodded in agreement, "We understand now that you only took the apples because you needed them."
"So now we will help you get what you really need," First finished before opening the cell.
"You...you're really gonna help me?" He asked, getting another nod from the group.
"It's what we do," Flash finished, "Helping those that need it."
The bat pony gave him a skeptical stare, only to nod, "Alright, thank you...I guess." He turned to the door, "Now let's go get my tree back." He walked up to open the door, but the second he stepped outside, he suddenly cried out in pain. "AUGH!" The others gasped, thinking the poison was acting up, only to see him stagger back in while his wings covered his eyes. "Too bright!"
They turned to see the sun high in the sky, Twilight commenting, "I guess living underground for so long would make you sensitive to light."
"On it." Flash chimed in as he put a hoof in Pinkie's mane, "Sunglasses?"
"Hmmm...check drawer 7-C."
"Alright." Flash began to shuffle his hoof, "Got it." He pulled a pair of glasses that had red lenses and little jewels all around the frames, "Uh..."
"Oops." Pinkie blushed as she took the glasses and stuffed them back into her mane. "Those are for um...special musical occasions. Here, let me try." She pulled out another pair of glasses, only to find it was a headset with a red square that fit over the left eye. "No...those are for finding power levels."
"Really? What's mine?"
Pinkie quickly put the device back into her hair, "Sorry Flash, I'm not allowed to tell you for...legal reasons."
"Fine..." Flash pouted before putting his hoof back into the mane, "Maybe its drawer 8?"
"No, that's the stuffed animal drawer."
The bat pony watched them banter, the thestral leaning over and whispering, "Is that normal?"
"Surprisingly, yes." Twilight deadpanned before turning to Rarity, "Can you help us instead?"
Rarity's horn shined, summoning a box. "Here, this should help." She opened it up, showing a pair of black sunglasses. She put it over the bat pony's eyes, having him walk out of the building next, "Better?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Flash and Pinkie both frowned at this, their mood then shifting as the thestral asked a new question, "Say...where am I? What is this place called?"
"You're in a town called Ponyville."
"A town?"
"Its how most of the world works," Grand replied, "Ponies live together in communities and help one another out."
They began to walk through town, going by Bon-Bon's shop as Heather continued, "One pony focuses their efforts on mastering a certain field of skill, and other ponies go to them in order to make use of that skill. With everypony doing that, the world is able to move on and grow."
"Wow..." he whispered. "I've never heard of that."
Grand then turned to the others, "We'll need to decide who's going with him."
"Aren't we all going?" Heart asked.
"Well, you're definitely not," Flash instantly responded.
"What?! Why not?!"
"We're trying to save a tree...which is made of wood."
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense."
"And I doubt we'll all fit in the chamber," Grand added, "There may be strength in numbers, but too many in a confined space could hinder us."
"You got a point," Twilight finished before focusing on the knight in question. "And no offense, but I think it's best if you stay here. Your attacks require earth."
Grand nodded back, "I know. I could end up weakening the chamber around us with my abilities." He turned to Flash and Iron, "I'm staying behind, so you two should probably go. Since we need to keep our numbers small, having you two in your powered up states should make up for it."
They both nodded as Lightning spoke up, "Sorry, but I won't be able to help much either. Confined spaces are bad with electricity."
"Its cool. You two can watch over the town while we're gone."
"I'm going," Heather chimed in, "I can assess the tree's health once we get rid of the monsters."
"I will also accompany you," First added, "You may require healing or an energy boost."
"And I can teleport us out of there if anything goes wrong," Twilight finished, "I think that's enough-"
"Ah'm goin' too." The group turned to Applejack, the mare tilting her hat in response, "What? Ya'll really think I'd miss the chance to see a real golden apple tree up close?"
"Right...and I'm sure the thought of getting one of those apples for yourself hasn't crossed your mind." Flash chuckled as Applejack looked away.
As this happened, the thestral tilted his head at her, making her glare at him, "Hey, yah still owe us for taking those apples. One of yours is a small price ta pay for getting even and for me helping ya'h."
"One apple for a whole field of apples?" He asked.
"Ah'm thinkin' long term," she declared, "If ah take that apple's seeds and plant 'em, we'll one day have our own golden apple orchard."
The bat pony frowned at this, sighing, "Fine..." he mumbled with a wave of his wing, "One apple and then we're square."
"Deal." Applejack held out her hoof, the bat pony staring at it until Applejack took his and shook it. Once that was done, the group of seven headed back to Sweet Apple Acres before the thestral began to lead them out of the woods as he retraced his steps.
Soon enough, they left the farm and were outside the town's borders. They found themselves in the rocky area close to Ponyville, the canyon the defenders used for training two or three miles away.
"So how much further is it?" Twilight asked.
"Not far," he replied as he pointed to a cave entrance in the canyon, this one very thin and not one the defenders were familiar with. "The entrance is in there."
"Gyah!" They heard Heather suddenly cry, "I didn't think there'd be any bugs around here." They turned to her to see only one buzzing around her, no other insects around.
"Looks like you have got the only one," First added.
"Lucky me," she sighed before yelping, "Ow! It bit me!" She then tried to swat the bug, only for it fly away. First moved over to her next, now seeing a small spot with a trickle of blood dripping out.
"You should be fine."
"Still annoying." She grumbled as they continued into the cave. As they did this, the seven soon found themselves walking in a single file line, the insides of the cavern now having them squeeze through a small gap of rock.
"Ahh!" Iron grunted as he squeezed out of the wall last, "Couldn't of mentioned this earlier?!"
"Sorry," the thestral replied, "But here it is." They all walked up to him, now seeing a hole in the wall of the cave, big enough for them to get through. "This is where I came out of." With that, he jumped into the hole, sliding down into the darkness.
"Welp, here goes nothing." Flash climbed into the tunnel before letting gravity pull him down, the pegasus finding himself sliding down into the darkness as well. The passage was pretty smooth, allowing him to drift down it without any pain. It was also straight, only shifting to the left and right a few times before he felt himself fly out the end. "WOO-HOO!" He cheered before hitting the ground, rolling without issue. "That was fun."
Twilight and Applejack soon followed with Iron and Heather behind her. And once everypony was underground, the thestral removed his sunglasses while everypony else put on helmet lamps. They looked around as saw the tunnel they were in went in two different directions.
"Alright, which way to your tree?" They all watched as the bat pony's gaze shift left to right, only to look away, "You do know which way to go, right?"
"Well...not really." He said with a blush, the others sighing. "Hey, cut me some slack! I was scared and in a mad dash! I wasn't in the right mind to take notes."
"Great...so how do we find this thing?" Iron groaned as Twilight closed her eyes and crossed her hooves.
"Hmmm....we need to direct way through the caves....that's it!" She opened her eyes and clapped her hooves, "Sonar!"
"Come again?" Applejack asked before Twilight turned to the bat pony.
"Bats use soundwaves to see where they're going in dark caves. If you use your sonic scream, you'll be able to map the cave and locate the chamber."
"Really?" He asked, getting a nod from Twilight. "Alright. What do I do?"
"Just scream down the tunnel and listen." He tilted his head at this, only to move in front of Twilight while the others stayed behind him and covered their ears. He then let out a loud scream, not so loud to caused the cave to collapse, but loud enough that it travelled down the tunnel.
He then listened and the others watched as his ears flicker, his eyes soon going wide. "I found it!" Before anypony could say anything else, he spread his wings and began to take off, only for Applejack to grab his tail with her teeth.
"Hold yer horses!" Applejack told him. "Ah get wantin' yah tree back, but going rogue and attackin' ain't gonna do a thing."
"So what am I supposed to do?!" He yelled before getting yanked back down.
"Simple. Let us handle the drakeladon," Flash replied, "We've tackled big monsters before....with alarming regularity, to be honest."
"Yeah," Iron nodded, "We're kind of experts on it."
Twilight placed a hoof on the bat pony's shoulder. "I know you're used to doing things alone, but that won't be enough this time. Only together can we get your home back."
The bat pony sighed, nodding back, "Alright..." He then started to walk down a tunnel, "So how are we gonna take this thing down?"
"We'll split up," Flash responded, "Two ponies for each head."
"But there's only seven of us."
Flash shined a huge grin, "I count as two."
"Ego much?" Twilight laughed as Flash glared at her, the group quickly making their way through the darkness.
And as they continued their trek, the bat pony turned to Applejack, "Listen, I'm sorry about...you know."
"What?" Applejack asked in a coy tone.
"Your apples," he sighed, looking away, "I'm sorry I stole your apples. I was just...desperate, you know."
"Ah know. But that still doesn't make what yah did right. Mah family and I worked hard to make them apples as good as they were."
"Yeah...and I'm sorry for insulting them earlier. They...were good," he slowly said, "Even with only one bite I could tell they were delicious. But I guess I understand why you were so upset. You must have felt the same way I felt when I lost my tree."
"Ya'll didn't seem all to upset before."
"Well, what do you expect?!" he replied while looking back at her with a glare, "For as long as I can remember, all I ever had to care about was myself. If I didn't, I wouldn't have survived down here. Everything that wasn't me was a threat!"
"Sounds like a pretty lonely way ta live," Applejack responded as they took a turn in the tunnel, "Ah don't know what ah'd do if ah had to spend every day jumpin' at mah own shadow. Especially if ah was alone."
"Well it's not like I've got much of a choice," he sighed, "Once we get my tree back, I'll have to stay there."
"Not forever," Applejack pointed out. "Yah won't need the apples forever. When that happens, ya'll be free to do whatever yah want and go wherever yah want."
He shook his head at this, "Where would I go? I don't know anything about the outside world. How am I supposed to survive?" Applejack opened her mouth to respond, only to close it. She turned to her friends, seeing the same response would come from them. After all, he had no skills other than eating apples and letting out sonic screams. There was very little chance he could make any kind of life for himself without something else.
But despite this, an answer came to her, "Ah know yer used to only carin' about yah-self, but hopefully one day yah can learn somethin' special. Sometimes when yah care about somepony else, yah don't care what happens ta yah-self."
The bat pony didn't reply to this, instead looking away as he began to think over her words. But before he could truly start, he yelled out, "We're almost there." They looked ahead of him, now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. "The chamber's right down there."
"Alright, I'll go in first and see how the situation is. I'll signal if anything's up." Flash chimed in as he flew up front, slowly going through the remainder of the chamber before going inside. Silence followed this, only for Flash to yell out, "Everypony! You might wanna come see this!"
The others raised an eyebrow before heading into the room, now finding Flash standing in the middle of the chamber. As they saw this, they also spotted the tree they had heard about, the six ponies in awe at the sight as the bat pony asked, "Where's the drake...thingy?"
"It's gone," Heather stated before noticing several golden apples on the tree. "It's possible its left to do something else."
"But it may return," First told the thestral before he could get excited. "I doubt it would just leave what it fought so hard to acquire."
"So what do we do?" Iron asked, "Wait for it to come back and set a trap for it?"
The others hummed for a moment, Twilight speaking up next, "Let's think about this. If we manage to drive it off or even destroy it, what's to stop something else coming and taking it as well?" She turned to the bat pony, "You might be able to beat somethings, but it's clear you're not invincible."
"So what am I supposed to do?" He responded.
Flash sighed and shook his head, "It's too bad we can't just pick the tree up and move it somewhere else."
As he said this, Heather gasped, "Of course! That's exactly what we should do!" The others turned to her, blinking at her sudden exclamation, "While the drakeladon's away, we'll dig up the tree and transport it someplace safe. Then we can just replant it and everything will be perfect."
"Wait...you want to move my tree?"
First nodded. "That way you will not have to defend it on your own. You would have others helping you."
Applejack smiled at this, "We can plant it at Sweet Apple Acres!" She turned to the thestral, "What do ya'h say? Ya'h wouldn't have to be alone any more."
Everypony turned to the bat pony, waiting for a reply, "Well-" He didn't get to finish as the ground suddenly began to shake, making him gasp. "Oh no...It's coming!"
Before anypony could say anything else, the ground beneath their hooves exploded. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" A loud roar echoed, its cause slithering out of the ground as the ponies now saw four snake like necks extend out of the holes they had made before beginning to coil around the tree trunk before noticing the intruders in its den.
"So much for that plan!" Flash yelled as he pulled out his Celestic Gear.
"We can still move the tree if we can make this thing retreat," Iron told him while doing the same.
"Royal Knights!" Heather pulled out her whip, "CHARGE!"
She, Flash and Iron charged as First pointed his crossbow at them. "Viribus Aid!" He fired a trio of red energy arrows, increasing the physical strength of the three. At the same time, the drakeladon's heads opened their mouths to launch out the multiple green tendril tongues at the group.
"Iron Hammer!" Iron swung his weapon as the head morphed into a hammer, smacking the tongue away.
"Flash Grinder!" Flash morphed into a wheel, grinding into the tendril, making it scream and pull it away.
"Bloom Coil!" Heather whipped her chain mace, grabbing the third tongue before pulling it, making the head scream as it was yanked into the ground. "Gotcha!"
Twilight and the thestral took to the air at this, wanting to stay away from the action as they heard Flash yell, "Flash Cutter!" The defender swung his blade, unleashing light waves that the drakeladon dodged...only to almost hit the tree.
"Hey! Watch it!" The thestral barked.
"Don't use any long range attacks!" Twilight added as Applejack charged, "We can't risk damaging the tree!"
"Yeehaw!" Applejack threw a lasso that wrapped around one of the beast's mouths, tying it shut. "Now ah gotcha!" But as she said that, the drakeladon pulled its head back, yanking her upward, "WHOA!" She yelped as it started wildly shaking its head, Applejack soon loosing her grip, "WHOA-NELLY!"
"APPLEJACK!" Twilight cried as Applejack slammed into the tree, knocking several apples loose.
"Ow..." She rubbed her head while picking herself up, only to hear a hissing. The mare slowly looked up, now seeing the head she had rangled glaring at her. "Oh boy..."
"No!" Twilight yelled as she tired to fly to her rescue, but another head got between them. As this happened, the knights all charged as well, but the other two heads knocked them away.
Applejack felt herself slowly moving backward, her back soon hitting the tree while the drakeladon opened its three-way mouth. But before it could get her, something suddenly landed on the back of its head and covered its eyes. "RUN!" The thestral yelled, doing his best to hold onto the beast's neck while his wings blinded it.
Applejack quickly grabbed her hat off the ground and ran away just as the thestral felt his grip slipping. "Hurry up and take this thing down!" He told the others.
"Time to power up!" Flash told Iron, both nodding as they raised their weapons. "ARMORIZE!" In a flash of light, the two where decked out in their armored forms, Flash's wings opening up and igniting, propelling him to the beast's neck before he slashed it. A cry of pain followed as the bat pony was able to leap away.
Iron galloped up to another, tackling it while Twilight fired a magic beam into the monster's eyes. While this happened, Heather found herself busy defending First as he checked Applejack, who luckily hadn't been injured by her fall into the tree. The drakeladon spat a tendril out, but Heather used her Bloom Lash to knock them away.
Another tendril shot out of another's mouth, managing to wrap itself around Flash's back leg, yanking him, "WHOA!" He yelped as the beast opened his mouth, intending to swallow him.
"FLASH!" Twilight cried as he was pulled into its mouth, only to stretch his legs as he pushed the jaw from closing, "Hold on!" The princess called out before her own leg was grabbed by another tendril, pulling her to another mouth, "Eep!" But before she could be swallowed alive, the thestral flew down and bit the tendril.
"RAAAH!" It roared in pain, letting Twilight go.
"Thanks!" She told him, only for the two to be attacked by another head. "There's no end to these things!" She screamed while firing another beam of magic.
At the same time, Flash continued to grunt as he tried to keep the mouth from snapping shut on him. He wanted to blast the creature's insides with his helmet horn, but he couldn't get a good angle. "Not...good." As he wished he had another way to hurt this thing, a new light caught his attention. "Huh?" He looked down and saw the light was coming from the gem on his chest armor. It was glowing brighter and brighter until- "WHOA!" He yelled as a beam of blue light shot out of it and flew down the drakeladon's throat.
"RAAAH!" It screeched, releasing the pressure on the Pegasus, allowing him to escape while smoke began to filter out of the mouth.
"What was that?!" Twilight asked as Flash stared at his chest gem.
"I have no idea." He replied, only for the other three heads to suddenly charge at him, forcing the defender to unleash a burst of magic from his helmet horn while Iron and Heather fired a barrage of metal spikes and razor leaves. They struck the heads, making them all cry out in pain. And as they staggered back, they soon found they had nowhere else to go in the chamber apart from where they had first come from. Straight down. The drakeladon heads then pulled themselves back into the ground, leaving the ponies to sigh in relief.
"Are they gone?" the bat pony whispered.
"Don't bet on it." Iron replied, only for the ground to explode again. "See?"
The four heads roared, their throats now filled with a pile of rocks. They soon spat the rubble at them, Twilight putting a forcefield up while Iron and Flash slashed the rocks away, Heather jumping in front of First and spinning her chain mace in every direction. As for Applejack and the thestral, they tried to get to Twilight's shield, but the onslaught was never-ending. The heads were taking it in turns spit rocks out of their mouths, when one mouth was empty, another would spit some while the other began to refill its mouth.
Applejack and the thestral then leapt into Twilight's shield, only to see her struggle against the boulder rain. Flash, Iron and Heather weren't doing much better, even with First giving them support.
The thestral watched this, his eyes darting between each pony as sweat began to go down his face. He saw they would soon be overwhelmed, Flash and Iron even crying out as they were hit by some of the rocks. They would all be hurt, just because they were trying to help him.
"Sometimes when yah care about somepony else, yah don't care what happens ta yah-self." The words Applejack had told him earlier echoed in his mind. Despite everything he had done to upset, anger and even hurt them, they were still willing to go through all this...for him.
He turned to the drakeladon and then at the tree behind it. His only lifeline in this world. The closest thing he could call a friend...until now. The bat pony took one final look at the others, Flash, Iron and even Heather all getting buffeted. Twilight's shield was starting to flicker, allowing some of the rocks to get through. And when one hit Applejack, he heard her cry out, "Augh!"
His eyes shrunk at this. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he took a deep breath and leapt out of Twilight's shield.
"What are you doing?!" the alicorn screamed.
His reply was to unleash a massive sonic scream, one so loud that it shattered rocks before it got close to him or anypony else. Some of the rubble was blown backward, slamming into the drakeladon and the tree, while others were knocked into the ceiling, causing it to crack.
The ponies gasped at this as the bat pony continued to scream, the pony wanting to make sure these monster wouldn't hurt anypony ever again. He was so focused on this, he didn't notice parts of the roof beginning to fall and slam into the beasts. "Hey!" Applejack yelled, "Yah can stop now!" But he didn't hear her, causing the farm pony to run out of Twilight's shield and throw her hoof over his mouth.
This made him stop and turn to her, the two staring eye to eye before a rock on the roof fell right beside them. "We gotta get out of here!" They heard Flash exclaim before he ran to the tunnel they had arrived through, Twilight behind him with Iron, Heather and First following.
Applejack and the bat pony ran as fast as they could, the thestral taking one final look at the tree as the chamber collapsed and buried it. He ran through the tunnel, seconds before the opening collapsed. The seven ponies kept running, the earth shaking as the rubble began to seal the chamber away.
And as the shaking stopped, they turned to the now sealed room. The thestral walked up to the rock pile and fell to his knees. "It's gone," he whispered, tears appearing in his eyes, "I'm finished."
The others exchanged glances, frowning as Applejack walking up and placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Ah'm sorry."
"Why did you do that?" Iron asked next, the bat pony turning to him.
"I had too. If I didn't...you would all be..." He muttered out, "I...I didn't want to be the reason you were all hurt."
Iron looked away at this, the group knowing what he meant as he said this. He had done a brave and selfless thing today, even though it probably meant his own doom.
"Thank you," Applejack took off her hat. "And don't worry. We'll find a way ta help yah." She turned to the others, "Right?" They all nodded back, Applejack doing the same as she was about to put her hat back on, only for something to fall out of it. "What the hey?" She stared at what had hit the floor, making her eyes go wide, "Look."
The others turned to her as she picked it up, the bat pony's eyes going wide. "Is that..."
It was a golden apple. Fresh and undamaged.
Applejack looked between it and her hat, "How did..." She then remembered when she slammed into the tree, causing several apples to fall. "One must of landed in mah hat and ah didn't realize it."
"That's great, but one apple isn't gonna sustain him." Iron commented, only for Twilight and Heather to exchange a glance as they both smiled.
"Maybe it can," Twilight chuckled as she took the apple from Applejack, "Maybe it can."
Once they had escaped the tunnels, Twilight teleported them all to Sweet Apple Acres. After that, Flash was sent to gather rain clouds while Applejack led them to an area of the farm that currently didn't have any trees. The others soon arrived and saw Twilight, Heather, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith standing side by side while they watched from the sidelines.
Twilight took the golden apple in her magic and pulled it apart, revealing the seeds within. Taking out those five seeds, she floated them to the ground as First used his magic to dig five holes. She dropped the seeds in and quickly covered them up just as Flash arrived with a rain cloud. She nodded and he bounced of the cloud, causing it to release the water down on the area.
"You ready?" She asked the earth ponies, all of them nodding as they each held hooves. Once that was done, Twilight sparked her horn, her magic beginning to spread through them. And as they were completely enveloped, the light turned green. "Here goes."
Twilight fired the green magic, striking the ground where the seeds were planted. Everypony watched as the dirt absorbed the magic, the earth soon shaking. They gasped as something suddenly shot out of the ground, which were a quintet of plants. Those plants quickly grew larger until the stems slowly began to harden into bark, transforming them into trees. All five began to sprout leaves, golden apples soon appearing as they grew larger and larger.
And as they trees were completed, Twilight cut the magic. She and the four earth ponies fell to the floor, panting while everypony stared in wonder at the glowing apple trees. And none were more amazed by it than the thestral.
"I don't believe it," he whispered before his stomach started turning.
First chuckled as he put a hoof on his shoulder, "Are you not going to enjoy?" The bat pony turned to the Apples and saw them all nodding, the bat smiling back before flying up to the tree. He grabbed one of the apples and instantly took a bite, sighing in relief as he felt the pain go away.
"Looks like it's working," Flash commented as he helped Twilight up.
"That's good," the alicorn gasped, "But now there's something that needs to be addressed,"
She turned to the Apples and the older ones nodded, Apple Bloom raising an eyebrow at this, "What needs to be addressed?"
Granny turned to her. "Since they're on our land, them trees technically belong ta us. And if we were wantin' too, we could say he couldn't eat 'em."
"What?!" The thestral yelped, "You're-"
"Hold yer horses," Applejack interrupted, "We'll let yah have them. Exclusively, if yah want. But in return, ya'll gotta do somethin' far us."
"What?"
"Here's the deal. You can live here and eat the apples whenever you need them, but in exchange, yah gotta work here and help around the farm. And when yah no longer need them, we get to keep the apples."
"That's it?" He asked, getting a nod from the four.
"So what da yah say?" Applejack asked while holding out a hoof, "Wanna be part of the Apple family?"
He stared at her hoof, only to smile and shake it, "Sure, why not?"
The others all chuckled as they shook hooves, only for Applejack to then say, "That's great...but now we got another problem."
"What?"
"What dah heck do we call yah?"
The bat pony blinked at the question, only to continue to smile, "Actually, I've been thinking about that. There's a word you said down in the cave that I liked the sound of." He turned to all his new friends. "Call me...Rogue." The ponies all nodded, most liking the sound of that name. It was clear Sweet Apple Acres was entering a new phase of its existence, with many wondering how that change will shape it's future.
Two days later...
It was late in the night when Snips and Snails sneaked through the apple orchard, both having snuck out of their homes, looking for trouble. "Alright," Snips laughed, "You know the dare. Grab as many apples as you can."
"Okay..." Snails turned to one of the trees and sparked his horn. But as he tried to pull an apple off the tree, something moved in the shadows behind them. "What was that?" They turned around, only to see...nothing.
"Its nothing," Snips told him, "Keep going." Snails nodded and tried again, only for both to hear a whooshing sound. "Did you hear that?"
"I heard something, but it might not have been what you heard," Snails said before they both heard another whooshing sound along with a rush of wind.
"What was that?" He got his answer when his eyes caught two red eyes suddenly looking at through the trees. Sharp teeth showed themselves next as both colts' eyes shrunk at the sight.
"RAAAH!" He roared while spreading his wings, causing the colts to scream and bolt out of the orchard. And once they were gone, the figure laughed as he stepped into the moonlight. Rogue smirked before flying onto the tree, leaning against it and biting into a golden apple. Life was good.
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Well, this was fun.
(smile slowly fades as a realization sets it) 
Oh, shoot! THE SHIPPERS ARE COMING! 
Sweet Celestia! (dives into a bush)
Before anyone gets mad, I'm not against AJ getting shipped. I'm just wary of how overzealous shippers can get about pairing characters up. Not everyone is going to end up in a relationship, and that's fine. Relationship statuses don't determine happiness, and that's just as true for fiction as it is for real life.
Now that I'm done with that little soapbox, I was not expecting to meet a new character today. So, is he AJ's new brother now? Is he a live-in farmhand? Is he something else entirely? Are we going to be seeing more of him?
By the way, is the whole looking for random junk in Pinkie's mane going to be a regular thing in this series? Those jokes you threw in surrounding the scouter were hilarious, especially since you avoided making the overused yet still entertaining "OVER 9000!" reference.
interesting start...
Concerning Heather's description of Earth Pony magic to Twilight... it's great that Twilight's Earth Pony powers is being significantly better addressed then the show... but it feels... off, Heather has had a lot of interactions with Unicorns, but her describing it to Twilight should be more like explaining the difference between blue and green to someone that just gained sight, it should sound bizarre to Twilight with the only solaces that Heather can offer is that she'll get it if she keeps looking...I don't know it just feels off... it's not bad, it's actually great, but the word choice sounds to me that this session is Heather's fourth or fifth session with Twilight on the subject, when this is set up to be the first... maybe I am over thinking it
I'm likely over thinking
For the finding of Roque, I love the use of his shirk to escape, not unlike how dolphins use certain sonar to incapacitate sharks, my one grip with that, they shouldn't have actually heard it, but definitely felt it... I'm in school (again) to be a nuclear engineer so physics is something I really have to know and the frequency that enables sonar is one that the ears can't translate into 'sound' but your ear drums will certainly feel it...
Sorry AJ.
I love the fact that Springer is able to point out that Rogueis more akin to a terrified creature, when one is frightened, you shouldn't be surprised on how they will try to defend themselves... Gonna be honest I have expected Rogue to extend his wings and try to flush color in them, it would make him appear bigger than he actually is... His venom actually pensioning him is an interesting twist.
I can see why most of those that went to help Rogue would go, Applejack's reasoning feels... off
In fact the whole realationship until the deal at the end feels off,
I know for a fact Applejack is at her best when she's the even keel of the group, but she comes off as too forgiving,
as for Rogue, I can understand why there are so many heel-face turns in this universe, but his turn comes off as... well... rush
Had it been, let's say, Twilight made the suggestion that Applejack get to take let's say a dozen of the apples as compensation for the apples that Rogue bit into and Applejack was part of the group because 1) she's the apple tree expert and 2) to make sure she gets the apples she's due and Rogueis effectively handcuffed to her until everything is done... maybe some more back and forth between them, like Rogue asking her why she accepted as they are in the tunnel...
I get it's a long chapter as is, but this part felt that it needed, for lack of a better phrase, a little more time in the oven. It's not bad, it's more likely than not better than what I have inferred it to be, it just feels jarring that they would become so camming so quickly, there should be a little more time to address and then let out the bad blood (Pun unapologetically intended Rogue's venom is seeping into his blood stream) But it is fitting that Rogue sacrificed his tree for Applejack's life
I do have a couple of other... well they are really just nitpiks, 1) I can understand why Rogue doesn't know the word 'sonar' but given where he lived, I find it hard to believe that he doesn't that he could shrike and find his way around, he grew up in the dark and is nocturnal... that being said, I have to concede he had not traveled that far from the tree until recently...so there is the counter arugement that I have to grant that he never needed to developed it.
2)
him shirking would make sense than roaring... but I get roaring would be more imposing will have to grant that point
All in all, a great start, and stuck the landing, a couple of hiccups here and there along the way... but it was...
... the word choice for the offer comes off as a little to soon for this point in Rogue's relationships with anypony and him smiling as he accepts it feels... a little off... but it's still sweet
Still a good chapter, despite all of my misgivings
10536040
So do we call this Applue or Rojack?
Do I smell the ship-tease? After all these years, Applejack might finally found her man in a form of a.... bat pony.
I know some people may not shipping Applejack with a character but I’m interested of their potential relationship, is it going to be Tarzan and Jane-type relationship with Rogue being her Tarzan or what?
Look like we will see more of him in the future!
Here's highlights
i.pinimg.com/originals/75/12/da/7512da1553b911491c6cd9cb513889ef.jpg
Geez, Applejack, your man is... interesting. Also, HARRY POTTER REFERENCE!!!!!!
So Rogue is 20 years old, he's a young buck!
Yeah, we are saving his tree! Not burning his tree down, Heart!
Bloody Hell! Even though you two just met, JUST KISS ALREADY!!!!
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!
Look like Rogue's job is to guarding the apples.
You know, I would like to see Rogue encountering the infamous Flim and Flam and what does he think of them causing troubles for Applejack.
Great chapter! I didn't expect this one went from Bats 2.0 to Applejack finding her man episode! I didn't see that coming.
EDIT: Normally, I don't get involved with the ships stuff cause I don't want to cause a ship War. (Looking at you, Voltron)
But I sometimes don't mind the ships as long it's not incest or abusive one.....
Nice chapter.
Well nice to see AJ getting her special somepony and its a he
Wow, that was another great chapter. I was really surprised by the bat pony's sudden appearance, and the reveal he was looking for golden apples since he was dying from his own poison.
I really liked his story and how he ended up quickly bonding with everyone else and taking an interest in their community. I wonder if we will eventually learn more about his past from before he lost his memory?
It kinda looks like there is a lot of ship tease going on between him and Applejack too. If their interactions with each other weren't enough, like looking into each other's eyes during the fight, I think what really sells it is him naming himself "Rogue" due to it being what Applejack called him at one point.
I'm really interested in this new character. He opens up new possibilities for both Applejack and the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres.
This was different, but in a good way! Also for those that were wondering if AJ would get a marefriend or not, I could be wrong but......here you go!!!
Also I couldn't help but think of Tremors when that Drakeladon was described, still my fave light thriller movie! 
I really like this Rogue character, I can tell that things will be more exiting at Sweet Apple Acres from now on if that last part with Snips & Snails is any indication!
Digging around the dirt I come across.....The Highlights! :
Don't poke the bear Flash!
Don't make Flutters use The Stare on you Iron!
lol liking this guy already!
Hmmmmm my spy-DNA-stealing bug senses are tingling.
Looks like AJ won the big prize, in more ways than one!
Welcome the the madness that it's Ponyville Rogue, hope you like your stay!
Another cool chapter, and possibly spreading some seeds for future installments, we'll see!
Wait a minute
Is that...
it must be...
Rogue is a Transformers refence... nice to have a few more call outs to other Hasbro works... so there's more than meets the eyes with Rogue
I regret nothing, but I will see myself out.
I thought Foxhelm was blocked
Looks like the sexy Applejack finally has a handsome stallion for a love interest!
Well shoot. I was holding out hope for an AJ Rockhoof ship. Got to say, its getting hard to keep all these OCs straight. We've got at least 4 OCs as Flash's friends, 3 of them are the girl's boyfriends. Springer, two... baby Springers... cubs? All these other knights that make regular apereances, extra changelings, two new kids, one an alicorn, and now we've got this guy. And we haven't even gotten to the Pillars, Tempest, the kid 6, or Starlight becoming a major player yet. Just some advice, might want to find a stopping point with the character list.
Also something that really has me head scratching here. So you say Rogue has a genetic issue that makes him allergic to his own poison. But then you say that all bat ponies are, they just build up an immunity over time. So which is it? Do all bat ponies have to consume something to keep their poison at bay until they grow immune? Or is it just Rogue?
10540239 Rogue disorder causes his venom to be self injecting. It's a rare disorder any venom wielding animal can develop. Any venom he produces is absorbed into his bloodstream so he's poisoning himself. But bat ponies develop immunity to said venom later in life. So when he's older, Rogue will continue to poison himself but his eventual immunity will stop it from effecting him.
10540272
That's still pretty confusing. The disorder I understand, but if other thestrals don't have that disorder, why do they need to build up an immunity at all? Plus at 25 years? That seams a little old for creaturs with natural venom bites.
10540281 Many animals naturally build up that kind of resistance, but it's not something done in two or three years. Even humans take roughly ten years to build up a resistance to certain poisons and that when taking small doses of it regularly. Ever see Princess Bride?
10540287
But we don't naturally produce those toxins or venom. That's why its confusing. Because again, if what Rogue has is a disorder, why do all thestrals need to build an immunity to their own venom? Rattlesnake babies are immune to their own venom at birth.
hey Banshee are you aware that your Flash Sentry stories has a tv tropes page?
10544035
He knows. All of his stories have a link to the tv tropes page in the description.
Been rereading the Flash series, and love them. I loved this chapter - probably because I really like the Bat Ponies. Rogue is defiantly one of my favorite characters of yours.