Chapter 183: Bats!
A couple of weeks went by after and everything was quiet, a bit too quiet for Spyro's liking after being sent into a comic book world and he did enjoy it, but after that, his entire mind was racing with ideas and plans for future projects. He was getting up and out of bed early, noticing that APplejack wasn't in bed, but thought it was her needing to use the bathroom due to morning sickness, so he got out of the bed day and got ready as he was currently working on something out of inspiration from the comic, infact, he was inspired by the Power Pony Tech and some of the inventions he had, he asked Spike if he had any other comics like it and he brought over everything he had, looking through them and getting to work on some designs that he believed might work out, trashing others that showed that wouldn't work and redesigning it, and working on chemical compounds to try and make everything work. As he was leaving the house, it was just about sunrise when he noticed that Applejack was outside, her body low to the ground as if she were ready to start running in the Olypmic Triathlon and as the sun rose, she cheered as if something amazing happened.
"Yeehaw, it's Apple Bucking Day!" Applejack shouted.
"AJ?" Spyro asked, walking up to her. "What are you doing up so early? I didn't find you in bed when I woke up."
"Oh, sorry hun." Applejack said, walking up and kissing him. "Ah was so excited for today. It's Apple Bucking day." She then turned and trotted into the field, which Spyro followed close behind to make sure nothing happened to her as she went into the field. "Just look at those apples. Ripe and juicy. Ready for bucking!"
She then spun around and kicked one of the trees, expecting apples to start falling while Spyro shook his head at her, walking up to her as she started to dance around.
"AJ, you need to take a step back." Spyro said. "I know you're excited for harvesting the apples, but given you're current condition, maybe you should..." A moment later, an apple hit him in the face, making him wipe it off when he noticed the apple's skin, it was discolored and brown instead of bright red or green, looking around and finding a lot of the apples from the tree were like that. "What the heck? They're rotten? But how?"
"Oh no." Applejack said, looking up. "They're back!"
Spyro was confused about what she meant, looking up and seeing a bunch of very big bats flying out of the tree, but they weren't shaped like fruit like the ones that were usually in the orchard, looking like regular bats, but larger.
"Ok, those are some very big bats." Spyro said. "Those don't look like the regular fruit bats that are usually in the orchard."
"That's because they're Vampire Fruit Bats!" Applejack exclaimed. "They suck the juice out of fruits and destroy the fruits all together!"
They all looked up to the tree the bats were in and they flew into another tree, grabbing a big and juicy apple before sinking it's fangs into the apple and sucking it dry, the fruit shriveling up as it dropped it.
"Hey, cut that out!" Spyro shouted, flying up to try and scare them away. "Those trees don't belong to you! Get out of here!" However, the bats didn't listen and sucked another apple dry, tossing it down before spitting a bunch of seeds at him, which made him flinch a bit before flying down to Applejack and shaking any seeds that stuck to him off. "Them buggers thought I was a Spittoon!"
"1We need to get the others here now!" Applejack said, running off as Spyro followed close behind.
"Everyone?" Spyro asked. "Why not just Fluttershy? She might be able to convince them to leave."
"Spyro, them vermin are far more dangerous than any other critter that has threatened the Apple Orchard before." Applejack replied. "Granny told me that one year before Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Ah were even born, they gobbled down an entire section fo the Orchard, almost destroying the entire farm. After they were done, there weren't a lot of apples left, so they had to ration them to everypony in all of Ponyville."
"Orthae Shu." Spyro said, looking back to the bats. "They really did that?"
"They sure did!" Applejack replied. "That's why we need to get everypony here to chance them off. Fluttershy is too nice and won't do much in chasin' them away other than ask them to leave, but these apple suckers need to go and askin' won't do much of anythin'!"
"I wouldn't say Fluttershy won't do anything to help." Spyro said. "She's got a good heart and I know that her expertise in animals may be more helpful than you might think."
"Look, just help me get everypony to the farm and we'll come up with a plan with gettin' rid of them, alright?" Applejack asked.
Applejack ran faster to get to the farm house sooner, Spyro looking back at the trees that the Vampire Fruit bats were in and at how quickly they were drinking the juices from the fruits, realizing that they were running out of time and ran faster to get to the barn. Once there, Applejack started to ring the bell to let everyone know to gather at the farm while Spyro dashed after Rainbown Dash, who was busy moving some clouds when she saw him, knowing something was up and following him to the farm where everyone else was gathered.
"AJ, what's going on?" Twilight asked. "What happened?"
"Ah'll tell ya what's happenin'!" Applejack said. "We got outselves a Sweet Apple Acre emergency here! The orchard is bein' invaded by Vampie Fruit Bats!"
"Wait, I thought the fruit bats usually stay in the west orchard?" Twilight asked.
"These aren't the regular fruit bats Twilight." Applejack said. "They're Vampire Fruit bats. They'll gobble up entire orchards of apples and leave barely anythin' left for us. And I'll be darn if they think Ah'll let them near by blue ribbon apple!"
She then removed a white cloth from something large near the barn, revealing a massive apple attached to a tree that was bending to a point where it was about to snap, everyone looking at it in awe while Spyro's jaw just dropped at how large it was, completely taken by surprise at the sheer size and how he never noticed it before.
"Holy cow AJ." Spyro said. "Where the heck have you been hiding that sucker? And what fertilizer have you been using to make that thing so huge?"
"That mah love is a secret." Applejack replied. "This here is the apple we're goin' top be entering into the Appaloosa state fair produce competition. You know how much TLC it took to get an apple to get this size? And Ah'm not about to have some darn, flea infested vamp ruin it!"
"I should hope not Applejack darling." Rarity said, looking into the apple and seeing her reflection. "I must say, when you go big, you truly go big."
"Oh Applejack, I'm sure if we let them know how special that particular apple is to you, they'll surely leave it alone." Fluttershy said.
"Ah highly doubt that." Applejack said, unconvinced that her friend can do that. "If ya wanna try and convince them to leave, be mah guest."
Fluttershy ended up smiling a huge smile, everyone going to the infested area of the orchard where the Vampire Fruit Bats were at and everyone saw that many of the trees looked like the leaves had changed colors and the ground itself as littered in shriveled up apples and mush, everyone being careful where they stepped as they didn't know if stepping in the mush was safe or not as they didn't know what kind of bacteria the bats may have. They waited for Fluttershy to finish talking with the bats, which from where Spyro stood, he saw that the bats were spitting seeds at Fluttershy, forcing her to run away and to the others who were waiting for her.
"Well, what'd they say?" Applejack asked.
"Well... I'm not sure." Fluttershy replied. "I've never heard their dialect before, so it's going to take time for me to understand them as this is the first time I ever met a Vampire Fruit bat before."
"And while ya'll are tryin' to learn how to communicate with then, this varmint and all his friends are going to go after my prized apple!" Applejack exclaimed, glarring at the bats. "And while they're eatin' mah prized apple, they're going to devour every other apple in the orchard! These critters are nothing but monsters and pests!"
"Monsters!?" Fluttershy asked, clearly shocked by her friends comment. "Applejack, that's just too harsh. They're not monsters."
"Oh, but they are." Applejack said.
A moment later, a musical number started and with it, the bats started to take off into the air as the entire area got creepy.
[Applejack]
Those vampire bats will give you a fright,
Eating apples both day and night!
They rest for a minute, maybe three,
Then they're eatin' every apple in your apple tree!
She indicated up to the tree as a few of them started to heat at the apples, drinking the juices and spitting them out and spitting the seeds out.
They don't care about nada, not zilch, no, nothin',
'Cept bringin' about an orchard's destruction!
[Fluttershy]
Now wait just a minute, there's another side to this.
Fluttershy flew up as everyting got bright and cheery again, everyone watching the pegasus fly to the rest of her friends.
And if I did not defend them, then I would be remiss.
These bats are mamas and papas too,
They care for their young just like we ponies do.
[Spyro]
Flutershy's right in this case,
Apples and trees we can always replace.
These bats are only doing what they do,
Trying to survive and thrive just like me and you.
[Applejack]
Oh, give me a break, you're both bein' too kind,
These creatures have a one-track mind!
The orchard is not their restaurant,
But do they ever think what others may want?
No! They don't! And that is just a fact,
These bats, they simply don't know how to act!
[Fluttershy]
That's where I have to disagree,
They're loyal to their family,
Spreading seeds both far and wide...
[Applejack]
You see one comin', you'd better run and hide!
They're big and ugly and mean as sin!
Will ya look at the state my trees are in?
[Fluttershy]
They help your trees, they'll grow stronger faster...
[Applejack]
They've turned my life to a total disaster!
[Spyro]
That is where I have to disagree as well,
For there is a benefit that I think is rather swell.
They all watched as Spyro flew over head and flew ti a pile of manure, which everyone but Fluttershy recoiled as he stood next to it.
The guano of the bat is quiet nutritious,
It helps the trees to grow as they find it quite delicious!
They help to sread the apple seed,
As payment for the apples on what they feed,
I believe these bats are exactly what this farm will need.
[Rarity]
Well, I for one don't have a doubt,
These vermin must be stamped right out! ([Spyro] Wait what?)
[Rainbow Dash]
I second that, they've got to go,
These bats, they've got to hit the road! ([Spyro] Now hold on there!)
[Applejack]
It comes down to just one simple fact,
They've crossed the line, it's time to fight them back!
[All except Fluttershy and Spyro]
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Everyone of their friends started to circle around them, spooking and horrifying Fluttershy while Spyro looked more disappointed in his friends for allowing their fears to get the best of them.
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
[Applejack]
Yes, it comes down to just one simple fact
They've crossed the line, it's time that we attack!
The song ended and everyone besides Spyro and Fluttershy were convinced that they had to hget ride of the bats rather than find a way to work with them and benefit from their help, Rarity walking over to them and helping Fluttershy up, who was huddled into a ball.
"I'm sorry darling." Rarity said, helping her up. "But Applejack has made a very valid argument. These Vampire Fruit Bats are just down right disgusting and dreadful."
"But..." SPyro began to say, which everyone looked to Applejack as she walked by.
"Come on everypony!" She said. "Let's get to roundin' these fruit bats up."
[Pinkie Pie]
Fruit Bat Round up!
Fruit Bat Round up!
"But, what about letting the bats have part of the orchard?" Fluttershy suggested, which Applejack and eveyrone else looked to her. "As Spyro said, bat guano is good for the trees and they can spread the apple seeds so new apple trees ccan grow."
"Are you serious!?" Applejack shouted.
"She's right AJ." Spyro said, walking between them. "Sacrificing part of the orchard can yield long term benefits for the farm."
"You both have lost your pest lovin' minds!" Applejack said.
"They're only hear because they need food." Fluttershy said. "If we give them part of the orchard and build them a sanctuary, they can have their own apples to enjoy and they can spread the guano and produce jucier apples."
"Fluttershy's got something here." Spyro said. "There is a section of the orchard we never get to before winter comes and the apples there shrivel up and rot anyway. Makes sense to give it to them."
"Look, Ah know ya'll mean well and all, but we don't have time to build this sanctuary." Applejack replied. "The more time we take discussin' this and tryin' to build this sanctuary, it's more of mah apples that get eaten. And the less apples there are, then the less cider we'll have come cider season."
"Wait, if we let them continue to devour the apples, then that means there won't be any cider!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"There won't be a single drop if this happens." Applejack replied.
"No Cider!?" Rainbow Dash shouted, jumping into the air. "Come everypony, we need to round up these flying gremlins before they destroy the entire orchard!"
"M-maybe Grany Smith and the rest of the apples should get a vote?" Fluttershy asked.
"That would be a good idea, but unfortunately they're not here." Spyro replied. "They're in Appaloosa right now, so it's just me and AJ." He then looked over to Applejack, who was getting ready to go and round the bats up and probably throw them out. "Besides, we both know how stubborn Applejack can be. Wish there was another way we can get these bats to not eat the entire orchard."
"Wait, maybe there is!" Twilight said. Her horn started to glow and she teleported away from the orchard, leaving everyone alone in the fields as they waited for their friend to return, but while they waited, the bats continued to drink the juices from the trees, only stopping for a few minutes to rest as Twilight returned with a book. "Alright everypony, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I found a spell that should stop the Vampire Fruit Bats from drinking the juices from the apples."
"And the bad news?" Spyro asked.
"Well, we would need their full, undivided attention." Twilight said.
"Well, that's going to be a problem." Spyro said. "I doubt those bats are just going to sit in the tree and let you cast the spell to force them to stop drinking the apple's juices. Besides, such a spell could have serious consequences on the ecosystem and the natural order."
"Since when did you become an expert of nature?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I studied wildlife in school." Spyro replied. "If you disrupt the ecosystem and the natural order, then it will have dire consequences. Such as killing all the wolves for example. Without them, there's no population control for the deer, which they eat all the plants and the entire forest and the grasslands die out because of the deer overpopulating the area, completely destroying the food web and the ecosystem all together."
They all looked at him in confusion, not fully understanding what he meant, but they just shook it off, deciding to worry about it later.
"Well, ignoring that, how the heck are we going to get their attention long enough to allow Twilight to cast the spell?"
"Well, that's where Fluttershy comes in." Twilight replied, everyone looking at their friend.
"Wait, me?" Fluttershy asked.
"Fluttershy, we need you to use your stare on the bats long enough to allow me to cast the spell."
"Ok, I'm stopping you guys right there." Spyro said. "Look, I understand you want to save the apples and all, but having Fluttershy use her stare and you casting the spell, that's just cruel and not to mention a completely bad idea. It goes against her moral code."
"Moral shmoral!" Rainbow Dash said, zipping to him on her knees and looking depressed. "Think of the cider."
"You're addicted to cider like a smoker's addicted to nicotine." Spyro said.
"Spyro, she's used the stare many times before." Applejack said. "Why should now be any different?"
"Gosh, it's something I don't use lightly." Fluttershy replied. "I promised never to use my stare unless the circumstances are dire or life threatening."
"The circumstances we're facin' now is plenty dire." Applejack said.
"Yeah, very dire!" Rainbow Dash said, falling to her knees again. "The cider."
"Ok, thats it." Spyro said. "I'm checking you into rehab for cider addiction."
"I'm sorry, but I dn't feel comfortable with taking away the thing that makes a Vampire Fruit Bat a Vampire Fruit Bat." Fluttershy said. "It just feels really, really wrong."
"But if we don't do it, then there won't be any apples left for all the ponies in Ponyville." Twilight pointed out. "Isn't that wrong as well?"
Fluttershy looked at her friends, who all looked at her with desperation, praying that she agrees to help them with their plan, which she took in a deep rbeath and looked at her friends, knowing it went against everything she stood for, but knew they had a point.
"Ok, I'll do it." Fluttershy said.
"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash said, flying up. "Come on everypony, first round of Cider is on me!"
"Hold on Rainbow Dash." Applejack said. "First we need to round up these rats with wings first. And Ah think Ah know just the way to gather them all up at once."
While everyone headed out to start gathering up the bats, Twilight started to read over the book to study the spell and how to use it while Fluttershy prepared herself mentally to use the stare while Spyro watched from the side lines, lookingto his friends and seeing that Applejack had strapped some apples to Pinkie's head, which she started to bounce into the section of the orchard where the bats were at, chasing after her to get the apples that were on her head. Rarity however was wearing a hazard suit, carrying her net to try and catch herself a bat, but instead of getting the bat, an apple fell on her helmet, which the bat immediately jumped on her helmet and started to lick the apple uice off, much to Rarity's horror as she screamed and tried to run, many miore bats going after her as she fled. Rainbow Dash however, she took the direct route and snatched the bats from the trees, much to their surprise as she zipped around and gathered as many as she could.
Meanwhile, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack were gathering baskets and buckets of apples and putting them in an empty tree, pinkie dumping the apples on ehr head to allow the bats to drink their juice as Rarity screamed while running by, the bats moving to the fruits in the tree while Rainbow Dash got many of them in a tornado, putting them in the tree.
"Good work everypony!" Applejack said, addressing everyone. "That looks like the last of them! Now all that's left is for Fluttershy to do her stare."
"Um, you sure I really need to do it?" Fluttershy ask, which everyone, but Spyro nodded their head, making her fly up to the bats as they ate. "I'm really, really sorry about this little guys. I really don't want to do this to any of you. I hope you can forgive me."
She closed her eyes and psyched herself up to do her stare, opening her eyes to which the vampire bats all hissed at her, but then their eyes widened in confusion, all of them starring at Fluttershy as she used her stare.
"Alright, we got their attention." Applejakc said, looking to Twilight. "Twilight, go ahead with the spell."
Twilight nodded her head and the aura around her horn reappeared, charging up her magic before it started to surround the Vampire Fruit Bats, all of them still captivated by Fluttershy's stare as she starred at them, but as she stared, the bright hot pink aura masked her eyes, which a red tint appeared on her usually greenish blue eyes, only going unnoticed due to Twilight's magic. As Twilight was finishing up, she released her magic, the aura disappearing from around the bats while Fluttershy was still using her stare, sweat appearing on her brow while the tint of red was still oner her eyes, focused on the bats and not on anything else around her.
"Fluttershy, you can stop starring now." Twilight said. "I'm finished."
Fluttershy then blinked her eyes, the tint disappearing as she flew down next to her friends, who were all starring at the bats.
"Did it work?" Spike asked.
"Only one way to find out." Spyro said.
He picked up one of the untouched apples and flew up, presenting it to one of the bats, which it sniffed it before turning away and flying off, everyone but Fluttershy and Spyro cheering that the plan had worked.
"Yeehaw everypony, the orchard is saved!" Applejack shouted.
"Yeah, but something tells me that this probably isn't the end of it." Spyro said, looking back to the bats.
"Ah, don't be a downer Spyro!" Rainbow Dash said. "We'll be drinking cider all winter long!"
"Yeah, definitely getting you into a seminar to get you out of your addiction." Spyro said.
"Ah want to thank you all for helping out." Applejack said, looking at the fields around. "Unfortunately, today was a bust for buckin' apples. But Ah could use a hoof in sweeping up all these apple cores."
"Well, since today isn't a good day for apple bucking, I'll help." Spyro said. "Besides, it's already midday, so any plans on working on my projects will have to wait."
"We'll help as well." Twilight said. "It's the least we can do."
Everyone was walking away from the trees that had been infested by the bats, but as they were walking, Fluttershy caught wiff of something sweet and delicious, looking behind her to see a big red and very juicy looking apple, starring at it for a long time as her mouth started to salavate, her eyes changing color as she looked at it.
"Fluttershy?" Spyro asked. The yellow pegasi looked back at him, snapping out of her trance as her eyes returned to normal, seeing Spyro givng her a curious look. "You ok?"
"Oh, er, yeah, I'm fine." Fluttershy replied.
She walked past Spyro, who was starring at her as she walked away, worried about her as he looked back at the apple before looking at her, the world pausing around him as he looked to the reader.
"You don't need to be a Jedi to know that something's wrong here." Spyro said. "Might need ot keep a close eye on Fluttershy. Something tells me that this is far from over."
The next day, Applejack was up early again, waiting for the sun to rise again over the hill to get started on bucking the apples while Spyro was walking up next to her, seeing how excited she was to be bucking apples again while Spyro just smiled at her.
"Attempt two?" Spyro asked.
"Ya'll said it." Applejack said, looking to him as she straightened up. "This time, Ah'm gonna get some progress done and buck them apples since those Vampire Fruit Bats won't be devouring them." She then looked back to the field, seeing that the sun was about to rise over the hill and got ready again. "Alright, Apple Bucking day, take two."
The sun rose up again and Applejack cheered with glee, running out into the field while Spyro walked close behind, both of them walking into the field and to the closest tree, Applejack kicking it, but as soon as the apples fell, they ended up turning to mush, surprising them both as Applejack looked horrified while Spyro was curious.
"It... it didn't work." Applejack said.
"Curious." Spyro said, looking at the apple. "Maybe the spells only temporary and needs to be reapplied every day."
"Ah don't care if it's temporary or not!" Applejack shouted. "Them vermin need to go, now!"
"Wait, hold on AJ." Spyro said, looking around for the bats. He spotted them on top of some of the apple trees, but they weren't eating the apples, much to their surprise, so he flew up and showed a big and juicy apple to one of them, but the bat just turned it's head, smacking the apple out of his hoof, which confused him as he flew down to Applejack. "It looks like the bats aren't eating the apples. But they seem... confused."
"But... this don't make any sense." Applejack said. "If the bats didn't drink the juices, then what did?"
"That's a really good question." Spyro replied, looking down to see an apple core and picked it up. "But I'm going to get to the bottom of this. You go gather the others, I'll see what I can find out." Applejack nodded her head and ran off to get their friends and let them know what had happened while Spyro took the core and went back to his garage, putting the core into an anti-gravity container and putting it on a scanner. "AIVA, I need you to scan this core and give me everything you can about what may have caused it to shrivel up."
"Certainly sir, one moment." AIVA replied. The computer then went through and provided a lot of information until it suddenly stopped, Spyro looking over the data as his AI unit reappeared. "Sir, there seems to be an irregularity." She then disappeared and showed the apple before it was shriveled up, looking at it. "It appears the juices in the core was drained from the furuit, causing it to shrivel and rot."
"It matches the way the Vampire Fruit Bats devour them." Spyro said. "But... wait a second, show me the bite mark." The bite mark the appeared on the apple, Spyro flying up and looking at it. "Shrink the apple down to it's regular size witht he bite mark on it." She did as instructed, shrinking the apple down while he got a ruler out, measuring the length between the bite marks and getting surprised by what he saw. "Ten millimeters!? But... that's impossible. A vampire bat's fangs are only one, maybe two millimeters apart at most."
"Sir, it is physically impossible for a bat to have fangs this far apart." AIVA said.
"I agree AIVA." Spyro said. "This means we're either dealing with juice drinking Dracula, or we're dealing with a really, really big bat. And I don't like either of those options.
A moment later, his friends all came to his garage, looking up to see him holding the digital apple and tossing it away, bursting into data as he landed on the ground.
"Well, what did ya find hun?" Applejack asked.
"Well, from what I found, we're either dealing with a really, really big bat or an actual vampire that only drinks apple juice." Spyro answered, confusing them. "I measured the length of the bite mark from puncture to puncture and bite measures to be about ten millimeters."
"Ten millimeters!?" Applejack asked.
"But, that's impossible." Twilight said. "There is no animal I know of that makes a mark that long. Fluttershy, what about you? Have you head of any other creature that can do this that makes a mark that large?"
"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of something like that." Fluttershy replied.
"Then we only have one other option." Twilight said. "We're going to need to catch whoever is doing this in the act."
"And pray tell how you plan to do that darling?" Rarity asked.
"We're going to stakeout the orchard." Twilight replied.
Later that night, after everyone had gotten everything they needed for the stakeout, they all went to the orchard and approached, everyone ready to catch whoever it was that was eating the apples.
"It's the witching hour." Rainbow Dash said, trying to make light of the situation.
"Rainbow, cut it out." APplejack said as they entered the orchard. "This is serious. If we don't catch whoever is doing this, there won't be any apples and no cider."
"Maybe we should just go home and call it a night." Fluttershy said, looking to one of the apples. "Besides, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm... really... hungry."
She had her eye one one of the apples, which glowed in the moonlight and caused her to salavate, Spyro noticing this and becoming concerned, the worl pausing as he looked at the reader.
"Ok, now I know something's off." Spyro said. "Fluttershy is acting way too strange and the way she said that, combined with how she's looking at that apple, I'm starting to think there's something wrong with her."
The world resumed as they continued to walk as a group, going deeper and deeper into the orchard as they went.
"Alright everypony, stick together." Applejack said. "Does everypony have their signals?" Twilight and Rarity casted a spell that illuminated a light into the sky, the clouds being the perfect surface to show their light and theirt mark to let them know where they were while Pinkie had her flashlight, somehow her hair holding the light as she pointed it up to show it worked. "Now remember Pinkie, only use the signal if ya see soemthin' weird or suspicious."
"I got it." Pinkie said, shining the light in Applejacks eyes and causing her to stumble a bit. "Something suspicious." She looked around, trying to find something that would be classified as suspcious when she spotted Fluttershy sniffing an apple, shining her light on her and getting her attention. "Whatcha doing!?"
She spooked Fluttershy, who tried to just play it off and alk away as if nothing happened, not answering her friends question as they reached a fork in the road.
"Alright everypony, split up." Applejack said. "We'll each take a row of the orchard. Whoever or whatever is destroying mah apples has got to be in here somewhere."
They all split up into individual rows of the orchard, everyone walking down the rows with Spyro sticking close to Applejack to keep her safe while the others walked the rows of the orchard, Fluttershy looking around as she felt a little scared.
"Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this." Fluttershy said, being close to Applejack and Spyro at the time. "A really bad feeling about this."
"Ah know yer scared Fluttershy, but we need to do this if we're goin' to save the orchard." Applejack said.
They continued to walk the rows of the orchard, looking for anything that would be considered suspicious when Fluttershy looked up, looking to an apple that was hanging in a nearby tree as she started to salavate uncontrollably.
"Oh my." Fluttershy said. "That apple... it looks... so... juicy." Her eyes suddenly turned red, looking at the apple as her coat changes to a darker shade of yellow and grew fangs as she eyed it hungrily. "And sweet."
A little farther away, Spyro and Applejack were walking together, looking around to try and find something, but Applejack looked at Spyro, seeing he was thinking about something, seeing how upset and worried he looked and knew soemthing was on his mind.
"Spyro, what's wrong?" Applejack asked. "What's on yer mind hun?"
"Well, it's Fluttershy." Spyro replied, bth of them stopping. "Doesn't she seem a little off to you?"
"She looks fine to me." Applejack replied. "But, what do you think is wrong with her?"
"Well, yesterday after she used her stare, I caught her starring at an apple, hungrily." Spyro replied.
"Nothin' unsuual there." Applejack said.
"Yes, but I could tell it wasn't the normal kind of stare." Spyro replied. "Trust me, I've lived in the Pride lands for a month to hone my survival skills and to learn more about wildlife. the stare she was giving that apple almost seemed predator like, even though it was just an apple."
"Ok, that's... unusual." Applejack replied.
"Not just that, but didn't you hear her say how hungry she was, combined with her uncontrollable salavation?" Spyro asked. "It was almost as if she was in a trance."
"Ok, that is a bit concernin'." Applejack replied. "Maybe we should-" They then heard soemthing like someone biting into an apple, looking around and spotting a shadow swiftly flying through the trees and starling them. "Did you see that?"
"See it, I heard it." Spyro replied. "Come on." They both ran after the shadowy figure, having lost it in the orchard a moment later and looking around to find them when Spyro looked down, finding a few dried up apple cores on the ground, so he knelt down, looking it over and seeing a drop of juice roll down the side, standing back up and looking to Applejack. "This was recent. We're on the right track." A moment later, a drop of juice fell from the sky, making him look up as Applejack followed his gave, seeing what appeared to be a giant pair of yellow bat wings, spooking them. "AJ, the signal."
Without wasting a moment, Applejack got her flashlight out and turned it on, sending the signal into the sky to let everyone know where they were and a moment later, Twilight came running, which she got hit with an apple core, looking up to see what they saw and a moment later, Pinkie appeared on the branch, hanging upside down as she shined her flashlight on the creature, which the coloration seemed familiar to Spyro as he also looked at the mane, seeing it was pink and suddenly got a queasy feeling in his stomach.
"Suspicious!" Pinkie screamed. "Wow, that is one really, really big bat!"
"Pinkie, that's not a bat." Spyro said, realizing what, or more precisely who it was.
A moment later, everyone else gathered around, looking up and the creature unfurled it's wings, revealing that, to their surprise, it was Fluttershy, who hissed at them before using her tongue to grab an apple and sucked it dry of it's juices, spitting out the core as the world paused.
"Seriously?" A voice said. The camera went downt o look at Spyro, who was looking at thge author in disapproval and in annoyance. "Sucked it dry? You know how many dirty jokes can be made with those few words Author? Why not change this story from T to K while you're at it?"
A moment later, the world resumed as everyone starred at Fluttershy, pinkie shining her light at the pony as she looked at her in confusion.
"Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked. "Is that you? Yoo-hoo, Fluttershy?
However, Fluttershy hissed at them, making Pinkie drop down and hit the ground hard as everyone looked up in horror.
"That's not Fluttershy!" Rarity said. "That's Flutter-Bat!"
"What is she doing up there!?" Twilight asked. "How did this happen!?"
"We'll know more when we get her to the garage." Spyro said, walking up as Fluttershy starred at him. "Fluttershy, little, uh, bat, could you please come down and come with us? We want to take you some place nice and quiet."
Fluttershy hissed at him, shooting her tongue out and got another apple, drinking the juices from it before spitting the core out as Rainbow Dash flew up to her.
"Fluttershy, it's me, Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Cut out the bat act and come on down!" However, Fluttershy hissed again and used her wings to smack her, sending her flying down to the ground before righting herself, flying to the others as they looked at her. "Uh, she'll come down when she's ready."
However, as she said that, Fluttershy swooped down, causing everyone to panic and get as low to the ground as possible, Spyro covering Applejack to keep her safe as Fluttershy got back into her branch, everyone looking to her as pinkie was digging for her life, Spyro rushing over to stop her.
"Pinkie, it's all good now." Spyro said. "Fluttershy's back in her branch."
"But that's what she want's you to think." Pinkie said. "She's probably biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike!"
"Pinkie Pie, bat's don't eat ponies." Applejack said. "Not even vampire bats."
"That's not entirely true." Spyro replied. "There are species of Vampire bat that drink the blood of ponies, livestock like cows and sheep, and some species of vampire bat that drink the blood of birds."
"SEE!?" Pinkie shouted, spooking Applejack and Spyro. "Spyro said it! There are Vampire Bats that eat ponies! And Vampire ponies probably eat other ponies! I'm not taking any chances!"
She then dove into the ground, sounding like a jackhammer as she dug into the earth, which she ended up digging up some bones and gems, confusing everyone how she was doing that.
"You just had to spit out some wild animal knowledge, didn't you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Old habits die hard." Spyro replied. "I had the habit of correcting others if they had some incorrect information. Kinda got a chuckle out of it from time to time when I corrected my mother on what time it was."
"But... how did this happen?" Rarity asked. "How did Fluttershy become a Vampire Bat pony?"
"I think this is our fault." Twilight said.
"How the heck is it our fault!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"How do ya figure it's our fault?" Applejack asked.
Twilight turned away from her friends, charging up the magic in her horn before casting a spell that created a projection of a futuristic screen, an outline of an alicorn appearing in the top left corner, an image of the vampire bats in the bottom center of the screen, and a yellow pegasus in the top right corner, Spyro looking to Twilight in amazement at what she did.
"Ok, you gotta teach me how to do that." Spyro said.
"Alright, this is me." Twilight said, pointing to the alicorn before moving to the bat and the pegasus. "In the middle, we have the Vampire Fruit Bats and to the right is Fluttershy, who used her stare to get their attention." A moment later, a red wave, symbolizing the stare went to the bats before going back at her. "The spell was suppose to go to the bats and make them stop eating the apples."
"But the spell must have backfired." Spyro said, continuing what Twilight was saying. "The spell must have transfered the bats personalities and behaviors onto Fluttershy, causing a temporary metamorphic transformation that turns her into a Vampire bat everytime she's craving."
"Can the spell be reversed?" Applejack asked as the screen disappeared.
"Yeah, we can reverse the spell, but it won't be easy." Twilight said as Pinkie jumped out of the ground all excited.
"What are we waiting for!?" Pinkie asked. "Let's save Fluttershy before that THING EATS US ALL!"
As she screamed that, Fluttershy ended up dive bombing them, hissing as she tried to bite them before getting into another tree, turning to them, but as Spyro looked up, he saw that she as in pain and her pony ears turned into bat ears, horrifying him.
"Oh no, her transformation is getting worse!" Spyro exclaimed.
"We need to hurry, before she becomes a bat permanently!" Twilight said.
"But how?" Applejack asked. "She'll attack us as soon as we get close. Oh, this is all mah fault. If Ah wasn;t so gung-ho about gettin' rid of them bats, mah friend would be like this now."
"Don't worry AJ, we'll get her back." Spyro said.
"Look out, she's coming back around!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
They all ducked as she dive bombed them again, spitting seeds at them as she tossed down another core, getting ready to attack again, but as she got close to Spyro, she stopped, hovering in the air for a moment as she sniffed him, her eyes widening as if she recognized him.
"Fluttershy?" Spyro asked.
"Well Ah'll be, she seems to know who you are." Applejack said.
"Looks like it." Spyro said. He reache dhis hoof up, being sure that he didn't come on as aggressive and trying to be as gentle as possible, which when he touched her face, she pressed her cheek into his hoof, landing on the ground and closing her eyes, feeling safe around him. "It's ok Fluttershy, you're ok. We're here to help." Fluttershy opened her eyes, taking off into the air for a moment and flying off somewhere else, everyone getting ready to go after her, but she came back, carrying an apple by the stem before placing it in front of Spyro. "For me?" He used his magic to lift it up, looking it over to see that it wasn't bitten before looking to Fluttershy. "Thanks Flutters."
He then took a bite out of the apple while Fluttershy smiled, closing her eyes as she sung some kind of song, which even though she was still a Vampire Bat, it sounded good, everyone looking at one another, wondering what was going on as they looked ot Spyro.
"Ok, now this is weird." Rainbow Dash said. "She was attacking us at first, but now she's singing and gave Spyro an apple?"
"Is that normal?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, it's quite normal Twilight." Spyro replied, eating the apple as he turned to them. "You see, some bats will present gifts or they'll sing for potential mates to see if they'll get their attention."
As he said it, his friends all looked at him in shock and surprise, which they all looked at one another in horror, looking back to Spyro as he was oblivious to what he had just said.
"Did you say, potential mates?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, potential mates." Spyro replied. "But it's usually the males that do such things. And sometimes female will do the sa-" He then froze, his brain appearing in his head as a cord with a plug went into a socket, his brain with the words 'Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea' appearing before he came back to the real world, looking to Fluttershy as she finished her song and looked at him, smiling with a lustful gaze as he suddenly understood what she was going to do. "Oh Karabast!"
Before Fluttershy could pounce on him, he jumped into the air, Fluttershy hissing as he took off into the air with the Vampiric pegasus chasing after him, yelling for help while everyone else stood there in shock.
"Oh, this is bad." Twilight said. "We need to hurry and fix this!"
"But how?" Rarity asked. "Her full attention is now on Spyro, who is currently flying for his life right now trying to not get caught by our friend."
"Oh, if only we had Fluttershy do the stare on Flutterbat." Pinkie said.
"That's it!" Twilight said. "If we can corner her, we can use mirrors to make her use the stare on herself!"
"But even if we could do that, I doubt Spyro will stand still long enough for you to do that." Rainbow Dash said, looking up and seeing him dodging the bat. "Something tells me he's more preoccupied with not getting caught. We need something else to get her attention."
"Well, Ah have one idea." Applejack said. "But... it's gonna require me to sacrafice mah prize winnin' apple."
"But Applejack darling, you have worked so hard on that apple to win the competition!" Rarity said.
"Nothin' is more important than mah friends." Applejack said, looking to them as Spyro turned to water to avoid being tackled. "Come on, we better hurry before this get's any worse."
The group then ran off to get Applejack's apple, Spyro flying for his life and dodging the fluterbat again and seeing them running away, shocked that they would leave him behind.
"HEY!" Spyro shouted, dodging Fluttershy again. "Where the heck you girls going!? I need your help!"
He looked to his left and turned back to water, Fluttershy diving through him as he returned to normal before flying off again to get some distance with Fluttershy close behind. Elsewhere in the farm, everyone was carrying the very large apple out to where they could ambush Fluttershy, setting it on the ground as everyone got into position while APplejack took out a knife to cut the apple.
"You sure you want to do this AJ?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"For mah friends." Applejack replied.
She then walked up to her apple and made a huge cut on it, much to her displeasure, and a moment later, the juices came out of the large, the sweet scent of the apple going out of the apple and into the air, filling the air with the sweet scent of the apple. Elsewhere, Flutterhsy had finally caught Spyro, wrestling him to the ground and trying to mate with him as he pushed back, keeping her at bay as he waited for him friends to come back.
"Fluttershy, please stop!" Spyro exclaimed, pushing her back. "I don't want to hurt you! I love you and all, but not like this!" Fluttershy kept on fighting to get him, starting to over power him when she caught the scent of the apple, her full attention to the smell as she looked in the directio n of the apple, smelling it before panting like a dog, salavating as she took off, Spyro watching as she flew away before laying back down, relieved as he started to laugh. "Thank the ancestors."
Fluttershy was flying towards the scent of the apple, hissing as she got ready to enjoy a meal, but before she could sink her fangs into the apple, Applejack kicked the apple away to reveal Spike was holding a mirror, the bat pony seeing her reflection and turning away, trying to flee, but Pinkie had another mirror, the bat pony seeing herself again before turning and flying away, but Rarity held up another mirror, the bat pony looking in and seeing her reflection, but as she starred, she saw Fluttershy in her regular pony form doing the stare on her, fully captivating her. While entranced, Twilight casted her spell, which tendrils of hot pink magic swilred around her, making her fangs retrace and her ears and wings return to normal, fully turning back to a regular pony as she levitated down after the light exploded into a flurry of white bats, setting down before rubbing her head.
"Oh, my head." Fluttershy said, opening her eyes and seeing her friends. "Where am I?"
They all cheered for the return of their friend as she got up, hugging her as they were glad she was back.
"Thank goodness ya'll are alright." Applejack said.
"Uh, what happened to me?" Fluttershy asked.
"You turned itno a vampire pony!" Pinkie said, having landed inbetween Applejack and Fluttershy.
"I turned into what!?" Fluttershy asked in horror. "Did I try to eat anypony!?"
"Thankfully no." Spyro said, walking up. "All you did was eat the apples."
"Spyro, you're ok." Twilight said, she and Applejack running up to him. "Did anything happen?"
"Thankfully no." Spyro replied. "Something else drew Fluttershy away from me before anything could happen." He then looked over to the apple and saw the massive gash in it, looking to Applejack as she looked at it in sadness. "AJ, I'm so sorry about your apple."
"Eh, there's always next year." Applejack replied, looking to him. "Ah'm really sorry Spyro. If Ah just listened to you and Fluttershy and took the time to build the sanctuary, none of this would have happened."
"Hey, it's ok AJ." Spyro said, hugging her. "We all make mistakes. Plus, I already took care of building the sanctuary."
"You did what now?" Applejack asked, looking up at him.
"It was easy." Spyro said. "All I did was put up a sign in front of the section of the orchard we never get to, reserving it for the bats."
"And with the help fo the bats, you'll have bigger apple trees that will produce jucier apples." Fluttershy added.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.
"Yep, it means more cider." Applejack replied.
Rainbow Dash flewinto the air, cheering happily, flying off into the sky while everyone watched her fly away. In the morning, everyone had gotten the bats to the orchard that was reserved for them, which took some convincing on Fluttershy's part, but they managed to convince them to go there before heading to Fluttershy's cottage to have a break, Spike writing in the journal about what they had learned and to add anything else in there.
"Alright, got the part about the spell, Fluttershy being turned into a Vampire pony, the sanctuary..." Spike said.
"And don't forget about the part where Ah came to realize that mah short-term solution came up as a little short sighted." Applejack added.
"And that you shouldn't pressure anypony into doing anything you don't believe is right." Fluttershy also added. "And that you shouldn't be afraid to say no, even to your closest friends."
They all nodded in agreement, everyone having learned a lesson from the events of the last couple of days.
"Now, how about we celebrate our friendship how much stronger it is with a nice, ripe, juicy apple?" Applejack suggested, presenting an apple to Fluttershy, spooking her.
"Stand back!" Pinkie shouted, making Applejack drop the apple while she was wearing vampire fangs. "I vant to suck it's juuuuuuice."
Pinkie then bit down on the apple, which the false teeth came out as she tried to pick it up, smiling with embarrassment as she squeaked, making everyone laugh, but as Spyro was laughing, he suddenly stopped, seeing that as Fluttershy was laughing, she still had sharp teeth from when she was a vampire pony, looking to the reader in surprise and feeling a shiver run down his spine.
"Oh shi-!" Spyro said, getting cut off as the chapter ended.