“Goooood morning, Daisy Jo!”

“Gooooood  morning to you too, Mooriella! Allow me to introduce you our little friend here, what was your name again, darling?” the cow said ,letting the young buffalo move forward.

“Little Strongheart. A pleasure to meet you, kind Mooriella,” she said, bowing.

“Oh what a darling! Is she a relative of ours?”

“I don't know...are you, dear?” Daisy asked.

“Probably, our family is pretty big and stretches for generations,” Little Strongheart said, a little emabrassed. “Maybe we are distant cousin?

Both cows laughed at this and hugged the little calf.

“Oh what a dear! Little Strongheart here came to visit Applejack and her friends!” Daisy Jo explained to her friend.

“Oh what a dear! Aren´t the Apples the best? They gave us a roof to sleep and treat us like royalty. That Big MacIntosh is such a  gentlecolt, “ Mooriela said, blushing.

“Oh Mooreila, don´t speak like that next to a guest! But he´s a treat!”

Both cows laughed again and Strongheart smiled, they were a bit absent-minded but she found them to be very likeable and kind.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” another cow said, approaching them on a hurry.

“What happened, dear?” Daisy asked.

“It+ s those pesky vampire fruit bats! They´re at it again, all loose on the west orchard!”

Quickly, they all hurried to said orchard, finding it flooded with the vicious flying mammals, who devoured every apple on sight.

“Those nasty creatures again!” Daisy Jo lamented,

“But Applejack told me the story about them. She said they got their own orchard and learned to behave,” Strongheart said. “Why is this happening then?”

“Well, it is possible that the suppression spell Twilight Sparkle used on them eventually wore off and it caused a pressure on their neuro-cortex, building up an insatiable hunger for apples, overcompensating for the period they refused to eat them,” Mooriela said, making Strongheart blink in plain confusion. “Oh those nasty creatures!”

“What should we do,” Daisy?” the other cows gathered asked.

“I...don´t know. The Apples are out of town, gathering seeds for the next season. There were supposed to come here in just a few hours but these creatures could destroy it in less time than that!”

“We must protect the orchard!” Strongheart said but she soon saw all the cows looked terrified. “What´s wrong?”

“But...we´re cows! We´re not agile or strong or...well, smart like the ponies! We can't handle this!” Mooreila said.

Strongheart was really offended by that comment and jumped over a fence to make a point. “And who told you that? We, the buffaloes, are nothing like the ponies! We´re bigger, sturdier and heavier than them but there´s one thign we have in common...we have hearts! And our hearts are as big as anypony´s! That´s why we´re friends because our hearts are the same size and your hearts are that size too! You´re cows, proud cows of Sweet Apple Acres and now your land needs you!”

That speech was all the cows needed to gather their spirits. Following Daisy Jo´s instructions and the plan Mooriella concocted, the cows gather all the bats in one place, using their cowbells to scare them into one single tree. Then Strongheart rolled a barrel of cider and kicked the tree, causing all the scared bats to feel down. The creatures were at first annoyed but soon they found the liquid so refreshing they started to swing around, floaters and snorkels included.

“That would keep them busy until Twilight Sparkle returns to keep them on control,” Strongheart said and was then lifted by the excited cows.

“Hooooooray for our...umh distant cousin, Little Strongheart!”

Little Strongheart laughed, sure, the cows were a bit easily distracted and she was sure they weren´t related, but their hearts were really that big, as big as hers.