On most days, when the sun was shining brightly and there was a cool breeze blowing throughout the land, Sweet Apple Acres was a place one couldn't help but smile at. It was always green and lush, with its titular trees looking as succulent as anything. And wherever you went in that place, you'd probably find a member of the Apple family, doing what they did best; bucking trees and harvesting their fruits with a smile on their face. When they did that work that took up so much of their life, there was never a moment when they didn't feel some measure of pride or satisfaction, knowing that they were continuing a long tradition stretching back to the very founding of Ponyville. However, while standing in front of her home, Applejack looked anything but prideful or happy today. Instead, she simply looked down at the ground with a look of sheer disdain upon her face. For there, lying at her hooves, was not a sweet red apple, ready for eating, but rather an apple that looked about as shrivelled and unappealing as any fruit could possibly look. Needless to say, seeing one of her beloved fruits in this manner brought nothing but a frown to her face, as she looked up and towards the nearest collection of trees beside her home. Narrowing her eyes, she could almost see them. Tiny creatures flying from branch to branch, screeching even in the middle of the day like this.

Fury covered her face, and it was clear to anypony who saw her that she was right on the edge of simply charging forward and dealing with this problem at a moment's notice. However, she restrained herself, at least for the time being. Instead, she waited, and counted the moments as she looked away from her home and towards the outskirts of Ponyville proper. Some time passed with her staying like this, but eventually, her face lit up, for she now saw that Twilight and Fluttershy were charging down from town, running together through her orchards to meet up with her at her front gates. After arriving, the young alicorn looked to her friend with concern.

"You wanted to see us, Applejack?"

The orange mare nodded at that.

"Ah'll say! Just look!"

As requested, Twilight and Fluttershy looked down to the undesirable apple on the ground, leading to the latter seeming more than a little disgusted at the sight of it. However, Twilight narrowed her eyes a little, recognising it immediately before looking up top Applejack. One look at Twilight's face told the farm mare everything she needed to, and so she spoke up in a serious tone.

"So...ya do know what this is about?"

Twilight let out a sigh before nodding.

"Yeah...vampire fruit bats."

Twilight looked right at Applejack and knew, that there in her eyes, was a deep anger. And Twilight could not really blame her for feeling that way. After all, these creatures, the vampire fruit bats, had been just as much of a bother to her family as the timberwolves had been over the years, and when one looked down at the withered apple on the ground, it wasn't hard to see why. Seeing their livelihood reduced to such a state by creatures like these would make anypony seethe with rage at them, and that was just what Applejack did right now, charging up to one of the nearest apple trees and shouting up at the creatures up in the branches. Her words had little effect, apart from causing Fluttershy to turn away with a blush when she started using some more colourful terms in her ranting, but, in the end, she calmed down a little, before then walking back over to the other mares. Taking a deep breath, she looked right to Twilight, her expression softer than it had been before.

"Twi...did mah family solve this ere problem in yer time?"

The question led to a single nod from Twilight, prompting a response from Applejack soon afterwards.

"Good! Then let's get to it! We've got a lot of trees ta sort out and free from these ere vermin!"

Immediately, and as Twilight expected, Applejack's tone caused Fluttershy to look to her earth pony friend with some concern.

"Um...Applejack? What...what do you plan to do?"

Despite knowing exactly the kind of sensitive mare Fluttershy was, Applejack's anger at the bats continued in her as she gave a response to that question.

"Wadda ya think ah mean? We're gonna get rid of em! All of em!"

As one might expect, this caused Fluttershy to look utterly aghast at her friend, leading to her then looking over to Twilight. There was silence between the two mares for a while, but even so, Twilight knew exactly what was going through her friend's mind right now. After all, it wasn't so long ago that she herself had deigned to "get rid of" a creature that was deemed dangerous or problematic, and en masse at that. It was, needless to say, something that brought a pang of shame to Twilight, as she turned from her shy friend's gaze. She knew that treating another creature in a similar manner, even if it was just wholesale moving them away from the area, wouldn't fly with Fluttershy in the slightest, and so it was that the yellow mare began to voice her dissent of this plan.

"But...but we don't have to treat them that way, Applejack!"

Hearing that, Applejack frowned at her friend.

"Beg yer pardon, Flutters? Have y'all not seen what those...those vermin have done ta mah apples?!"

Although frequently meek and timid when faced with anger and aggression such as this, when it came to animals, Fluttershy often stood her ground, as she did at this very moment.

"I know. But...they may actually be of benefit to you in the long run, Applejack. The trees they feast from will grow new and stronger apples in future, so, if you, perhaps, leave a section of your orchards to them, then you'll learn that having them around might be good for you."

The earth pony mare looked to her friend as if she'd just gone insane, and Twilight watched her in silence. Applejack had, in all fairness, been raised up to believe that these creatures were a veritable plague of her lands and her family. To have somepony, even a friend, come out and say that having them around would in some way be a good thing was, naturally, going to be a tough sell. And, as predicted, the look on Applejack's face made it clear that she wasn't buying what Fluttershy was selling.

"Ugh! Look, Fluttershy! Ah get that y'all love yer animals an all...but there's no debate ere! This is mah orchard, and ah want them critters gone, ya hear?"

Fluttershy looked quite upset at her friend's words, which, thankfully, caused Applejack to soften up somewhat. In the silence that followed, the orange mare then turned to Twilight, and the latter had a good feeling as to what was coming next. Her instincts proved to be right soon afterwards, as her friend then spoke the question she knew was on her mind.

"Twilight...in yer time, these bats were dealt with?"

It took a few moments, but the lavender alicorn gave a nod, prompting Applejack to continue.

"In that case, would y'all be so kind as to tell Fluttershy ere that mah plan is the one we're goin with?"

Given what Twilight knew, she looked understandably uncomfortable with that question, and looked to both Applejack and Fluttershy in turn before speaking softly to the former.

"AJ...we did start by putting your plan into motion, but...in the end...it was Fluttershy's plan that we stuck with."

Instantly, both mares looked to her with shock, Fluttershy even more so, given how adamant her friend had been set against her ideas. The silence was, as one would expect under the circumstances, quite uncomfortable, but, in the end, Applejack spoke up, her voice more angered and frustrated than before.

"Wha...why in the name of all that's good n' holy in Equestria would ah ever let those...those winged rats live on mah farm?!"

Twilight looked at her friend carefully, thinking long and hard on how best to word her response, and during that time, she looked to Fluttershy, who seemed to be just as curious as Applejack was. In the end, Twilight let out a sigh before giving a silent gesture to Applejack, letting her know that she wanted to just walk off to the side for a moment before explaining things to her. Applejack seemed reluctant at first, but soon nodded before starting to walk off with her friend. Fluttershy started to follow them, but was then halted by a raised hoof from Twilight. Although initially startled by this, Fluttershy looked at the serious expression on the young alicorn's face, and knew, in her heart, that whatever Twilight had to say to Applejack, it wasn't something she was going to like having to hear. So, after giving a meek nod, she stayed where she was, and instead watched as both Twilight and Applejack walked off together, heading straight for the front porch of the latter's home. Once there, Twilight looked over her shoulder, making sure that Fluttershy was just far enough to be out of earshot, before looking to Applejack, whose face had a look of clear impatience about it. Letting out a sigh, Twilight began to explain things, keeping her voice as hushed as possible.

Fluttershy, given where she was, had no idea what words were passing between her two friends, and yet, the looks on their faces spoke volumes. Twilight's expression was one of concern, though for what, Fluttershy couldn't say. As for Applejack, after hearing about a minute or two of Twilight's explanation, she looked to her in the same manner as she'd looked to Fluttershy not so long ago; like she was a mad-mare. It reached a point where she put in a smile, like she thought Twilight was telling some joke. But, as Twilight carried on, with no smile on her face whatsoever, Applejack's own smile began to fade, for she knew that her friend was speaking the absolute truth to her. Fluttershy didn't know what that truth was, only that at one point, Applejack turned to look right at her, with an expression of both shock and worry, which, needless to say, Fluttershy didn't like in the slightest. After turning back to Twilight, Applejack continued to listen to her, and it was here that her friend raised a hoof, pointing not only to Applejack's chest, but also to her own, hanging her head in a clear display of shame. Applejack soon put on a similar look, and at long last, Fluttershy began to hear her friends' words, though it was only the tail-end of their conversation.

"Ya...ya mean...?" Applejack asked.

A nod followed from Twilight.

"Yes...both of us were at fault that day."

That was enough to make Fluttershy very concerned as to what had occurred in that other time. Clearly it had involved her in some way, and a part of her truly wanted to know what it was. And yet, seeing the looks on her friends' faces, that curiosity was soon stifled. After all, despite what Applejack so often professed, some truths might not be worth knowing. Instead, Fluttershy remained silent as, at long last, her friends began to make their way back to her, walking slower than before. When they finally arrived back at her, Applejack looked right at Fluttershy, much to the latter's concern. Then, before the yellow mare could react, Applejack moved forward, embracing her in a hug. Although taken aback by this, Fluttershy soon returned it, even though she had no idea why her friend was doing this. When they parted, Applejack let out a deep sigh, seeming reluctant about something, though when she spoke, Fluttershy began to understand why.

"Ah...ah'm gonna give the bats some of mah orchard. There a section down on the southern hills we don't farm as much as the rest. They can have that. Will ya…will ya help me set it up, Flutters?"

If Fluttershy had been taken aback by the hug, she was doubly so now, looking to Applejack as if she were a completely different person. But, after giving a quick look to Twilight, the shy mare began to nod.

"Um...sure. Yes, I can help you."

Applejack smiled at that, even though there was still some reluctance in her expression, though Fluttershy didn’t know what it was about. And then, without another word, she began to make her way off to that very hill, with Fluttershy watching her all the way. Eventually, she looked over to Twilight and, despite all the doubts and warnings her instincts were telling her, spoke the question she knew she had to ask.

"Twilight? What...what did you say to her?"

The young alicorn turned to her friend, with her expression still one of seriousness and shame, and spoke softly to her.

"Fluttershy...do you really want to know the answer to that?"

After careful consideration, the young pegasus shook her head a little.

"Erm...no. Maybe...maybe it's best if I don't know."