A thunderous crack echoed through the Sweet Apple Acres, making Applejack flinch. She turned around to inspect the perfectly hoof-shaped crater she had bucked left in the tree bark. Sap weeped from the wound slowly but steadily. It would survive damage that shallow, but this would certainly weaken the tree, and Applejack’s composure.

Applejack had a lot on her mind these last two months. It was awfully distracting having two friends vanish weeks apart, and it was more distracting that Fluttershy had eaten them alive and then left them as poo for the rest of them to deal with. Applejack had heard from applebloom secondhand how much of an ordeal it was to clean up Rarity and Pinkie Pie had made quite a mess too, even if it was a more… abstract one. Fluttershy was awfully waddly lately, and it was getting difficult for Applejack to resist her honest nature when it came up in conversation.

There was a second crack as the wooden tub exploded from the steadily increasing pressure Applejack had been applying to it with her forehooves. She didn’t flinch this time. She did snicker though, and silently scolded herself for letting her frustrations get the better of her. Fluttershy obviously hadn’t meant any harm by being cursed to periodically turn into a spawn of the night who had an insatiable lust for the innocent. All the same, it was still really contributing to Applejack’s stress level, and she was running out of productive ways to deal with that. Applejack had a hard enough time controlling her strength without the extra tension ratcheting her muscles.

It was bad enough when Rarity met her somewhat unfortunate ending, but she had faced it with grace according to everypony left to say so. It was a bit frustrating to have Fluttershy digest one friend, but accidents happen and forgiveness is an important part of maintaining a friendship. But with Pinkie, Fluttershy had crossed a bit of a line in Applejack’s mind.

Fluttershy had seemed plenty apologetic after accidentally sleep-eating Rarity as a sun-forsaken atrocity, which was understandable since Fluttershy was apologetic about most things she did. But to do it again afterwards seemed the beginning of a pattern. It all made Applejack just a little suspicious that maybe Fluttershy had been a tiny bit dishonest when she said it wouldn’t happen again. If this was going to become a pattern Applejack would need to have a firm talk with her before things got anymore out of hoof.

Applejack snorted and kicked away a slightly-bent hoop from the imploded tub before she got back to work, she was losing daylight and had let her frustrations get the better of her for more than enough for one day. She took one more moment to be grateful she’d come to this field to work alone. At least Apple Bloom wouldn’t learn any bad habits from her sister while she worked out these frustrations, and she didn’t have Big Mac here to scold her for breaking things in a tantrum. Applejack knew better than to let her temper get the better of her.

***

The last golden rays of sunlight set over the fields of Sweet Apple Acres hours later, with Applejack watching the sun and moon trade places in her seclusion. The barrels and tubs she had filled over the course of her work day hadn’t been organized, and she hadn’t covered as much as she wanted too, but she’d worked through a good deal of her frustrations. Being upset took a good deal of energy, and Applejack had always found that her work was a good way to drain that energy from her.

Fluttershy was always the self-conscious type, so Applejack was grateful to have been able to work herself through her frustrations without making her friend uncomfortable. Applejack was never good at hiding her feelings so when it came to such sensitive matters as Fluttershy’s newest bat episodes, privacy was a must. Big Mac probably would have understood, but Apple Bloom was a bit too impressionable for Applejack to risk an outburst around her.

Somepony needed to watch their sister today anyway, and Big Mac had the patience that Applejack was lacking right now. Every day with her it had been questions about ponies eating ponies, if Applejack had ever done it, why Sweetie Belle got to live by herself now; there were days where Applejack was more annoyed by the sudden interest this gave Apple Bloom than by how two of her friends were gone.

Mostly gone anyway, some of those stains are very deep and only Rarity would have known how to remove herself from the silk. According to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle had complained about the smell for weeks. This had apparently put a real damper on her excitement over getting to move all her stuff into the bigger bedroom.

Fluttershy was responsible enough to adopt Gummy after the Pinkie incident so the Cakes wouldn’t have to care for an exotic pet in their confectionery, which was appreciated. It was hard to tell how Gummy felt about the whole situation, but having him around was like a bit of Pinkie had stayed with them, and off of Fluttershy. According to Fluttershy he spent most of his day ineffectually gnawing on her and others. Applejack was pretty sure everypony was too polite to say that Gummy was too dumb to notice anything that changed at all, but that everypony had thought it.

Applejack landed on her face roughly after a brief moment of tumbling down a slope in an involuntary cartwheel. She’d let it get far too dark to walk home as distracted as she is, and a root had taken her out mercilessly. If Pinkie Pie had seen this she’d have had a joke prepared about Apples not falling far from the trees.

Applejack rolled over just in time to witness the full, pale, splendour of the moon being overtaken by a darting shade. She heard the sound only after she saw the motion, leaves disturbed just enough to stand out against the natural ambient winds. If it was anyone but Applejack, they probably wouldn’t have known the orchard well enough to even pick up something had changed. To Applejack’s ears, however, the whine of burdened wood was obvious, and betraying.

Applejack crossed her forehooves and began pouting, preemptively. “I had better be concussed,” Applejack barked at the void around her, “Or I’m going to be real mad. You hear me?”

A painfully long few seconds passed before Applejack was satisfied with the nothing around her. She snorted as she collected herself from the grass, then shook the fallen leaves out of her mane and tail. So far she hadn’t been tackled or consumed by any nonspecific nightbeast so maybe she really was just concussed. She started home again and stumbled as the ground seemed to ripple under her, and Applejack remembered that concussions are bad. She sat down to wait for the world to settle back into place.

When Applejack was confident that her brain wasn’t violently wobbling inside her skull anymore, she attempted to set off for home again. Applejack failed in her task.

Seconds past while Applejack tried to work out what was happening now before she felt it. Hairs were being pulled as she tried to walk forward, because something had pinned her tail down. It was hard to tell in the light, but it seemed to be some sort of stygian mass of black that had pinned her tail to the grass without a whisper. It blinked, and Applejack noticed it had eyes that were as the ocean in depth and coldness. Then it hissed.

“Gosh darn it Fluttershy get out of here,” Applejack yelled, a bit harsher than she really intended to. “If you’d startled me anymore I was liable to buck you so hard you’d turn inside out!”

Applejack ripped her tail out from under her friend’s hooves, taking a chunk of grass up with it as she whipped herself around. Flutterbat slipped, her chin hitting the grass. She took a moment to get back into her dramatic imposing position. Two months of mental rehearsal crashed to the front of Applejack’s mind. The dam broke, and she spoke her mind in a way she never expected to.

“I thought you said this wouldn’t happen again after Rarity, huh?” Applejack nearly shouted. “This is a fair bit beyond a white lie you know, you apologized and all for Rarity, but Pinkie after that? And now you’re here huh? What am I supposed to think about you?”

Flutterbat pounced. Applejack held out a forehoof and Flutterbat’s nose bounced off, producing a solid thump and a soft whine, and Flutterbat fell on her butt and brought both of her hooves up to her nose, a tear welling in each eye. If Flutterbat had any strong feelings about this, they didn’t show on her face.

“Cuz it sure don’t seem kind what you’re up to right now, Shy!” Applejack continued, unphased. If Flutterbat understood she was being scolded she didn’t seem to mind. Her red eye blinked the water away, and she hissed again. Flutterbat hunched down and arched her back into a deep stance.

Applejack stamped her hoof, and Flutterbat craned her head back at the sharp boom of Applejack’s frustrations. Applejack watched carefully as those red eyes focused on hers for the first time. They broke eye contact once when Flutterbat turned to her side evasively, then looked back with her ears pinned back.

Applejack wanted to say something more, but her feelings tangled together into a knot she couldn’t find words to express. Even with all her brooding, she had totally failed to sort out her feelings well enough to even know how to be honest about them, even to herself. She was mad, annoyed and frustrated, but making Futtershy feel unsafe was nauseating.

Applejack’s ears fell in turn. Seeing her friend cowed like this brought back memories of better days between them where Fluttershy was a bashful creature. They’d gone to deal with a dragon once, and Applejack wasn’t the one who solved that problem, Fluttershy was. Fluttershy could scold a creature for being out of line and then reassure it afterwards to avoid hurt feelings.

Applejack was, for the first time, aware that Fluttershy wasn’t here to deal with this monster.

“Just… get out of here will you?” Applejack wasn’t sure if she was really asking a question or not. But she was sure that she was at her limit for today, and she was willing to pretend this didn’t happen.

Applejack turned around and left flutterbat watching from behind in silence. Applejack wouldn’t say a thing to anyone about this encounter. Losing her temper this badly with a friend had shocked her. Applejack knew she was unhappy but she had never imagined she’d resort to intimidating Fluttershy like that. It was clear that Applejack wouldn’t be finding closure tonight.

Applejack sighed deeply into the night, because as soon as she’d turned her back on her, Flutterbat immediately bit down into one of her cutie marks. Applejack glared at her. Flutterbat avoided eye contact for a while but as she looked back, Applejack narrowed her gaze. Then Flutterbat gnawed down on her butt cautiously.

“Dang it Shy can you not make this a thing? That stings and I’m tired.” Applejack pleaded, but just slightly. Fluttershy blinked, but her jaws stayed clamped. Applejack shivered as she felt long, wet laps from a forked tongue slide over her rump.

“Fluttershy, I swear, you know I could huck you like a sack of potatoes from here to your cottage don’t you?" Applejack shook and bounced her butt while her tail flicked into Flutterbat’s face like she was a particularly persistent and tubby fly. And in turn Flutterbat held on as if she was an especially large and jiggly leech. There was a loud pop as Flutterbat detached herself. Applejack got to take one step before Fluttershy nipped into apple number two on her flank.

“Alright then, fine, I guess you’re coming home with me tonight.” Applejack said with stony determination. She took a step forward, if she could plow a field, she could drag a fat bat through some trees.

Putting one hoof in front of the other, Applejack dragged her burden forward, sliding Fluttershy on her rump through the grass with her back hooves in the air. A few meters later Flutterbat gave up on sitting up and opted to be dragged bonelessly through the field. A few more meters still of Flutterbat’s belly rutting the grass, Applejack decided she was tired of being so stoic. She’d dragged logs more cooperative than this.

“You’re...lucky we’re friends...you know that?” Applejack panted, before allowing her legs to go out from under her, leaving her splayed in the grass as she tried to get her breath back.

Flutterbat dragged herself back up to loom over Applejack the way Pinkie Pie used to stalk a slice of cake, or the candy apples that Sweet Apple Acres and Sugar Cube Corner used to produce jointly every fall. Applejack had figured that wouldn’t be happening this year, what with Pinkie Pie having been repurposed. Flutterbat let her pillowy weight hang against Applejack’s rump, and Applejack scoffed. She couldn’t believe that her and Pinkie might be collaborating on something fatty after all.

Applejack smiled for the first time today, and she kind of hated it. She could hear as clear as day the giggling Pinkie Pie would do at the irony of the situation. Applejack wasn’t ready to not be upset about how her night had gone so far but even the idea of Pinkie Pie’s laughter was curative whether Applejack wanted it to be or not.

“Shy, why would you even start with that?” Applejack complained as Flutterbat gathered the blond tail in her hooves before wrapping her tongue around it and pulling it into her mouth.

Applejack folded her forehooves defiantly as Flutterbat swallowed her tail and tried unsuccessfully to lift Applejack’s butt up to her mouth. After letting her struggle to her own satisfaction, Applejack planted her rear hooves on the grass to give her friend some extremely undeserved assistance. Pinkie Pie probably would probably make a crack about her being a sour Apple.

As Flutterbat worked very hard to swallow her, Applejack’s thoughts wandered to Rarity again. As fussy as she was, it was hard to believe that she went so quietly into that damp goodnight, but according to Sweetie Belle it had barely been a disturbance. Maybe it was only natural to the element of generosity to not complain about what she was giving up when it came down to it.

Rarity and Fluttershy spent an awful lot of time together before one had eaten the other. At first Applejack felt like that made the news all the more shocking, but now it seemed perhaps somewhat expected. Rarity certainly had lived up to her element, but more than that, she did so gently and probably with an infuriating amount of composure because that’s how a proper lady should or something equally prissy.

As Flutterbat forced Applejack’s back legs flat against herself to swallow her entirely dense and muscular rear, Applejack started to understand that maybe she was less upset with Fluttershy for being a bit mean when she turns into an infernal fell-beast, and more upset with herself now for a different kind of dishonesty. Obviously Fluttershy didn’t have any control over herself like this, but was it really her friend’s fault that Applejack had expected her to?

Everyone had seen the signs, especially the big ones like eating ponies. The main three left of their friend group had talked about it amongst themselves privately, as had every other pony in town with every other pony, and everyone seemed to have agreed on something without Applejack. That Fluttershy was trying her best and everyone else should be understanding. Which seemed obvious enough, but what kind of excuse was that for turning into a stalking devourer?

Now that Applejack was halfway into Flutterbat she was starting to understand their position on things, but she wasn’t liking it. She knew she was stubborn at times but it seemed like a much more black and white issue on who the victim in that exchange was before tonight. Even like this Fluttershy just wasn’t any kind of real threat or match to Applejack and she probably wasn’t to Pinkie or Rarity either. Fluttershy scolded a dragon very bravely once, but Rarity spinning back kicked a manticore for being rude to her in a forest once and made it reel. Rainbow Dash swears that Pinkie Pie had caught up to her on hoof once as well. There was only one way either of them ended up part of a flutter-shank.

Applejack remembered things were happening to her when she heard a pathetic gag. She turned to see that Flutterbat had managed barely up to her haunch on her own. Applejack’s back hooves were soundly pinned against her, and also wet, but if she left Fluttershy to do this all on her own she’d probably just black out like that one time at hearth’s warming eve.

“Shy it really is bad enough you’re doing this but I can’t believe you need my help to finish what you started!” Applejack chided Flutterbat with the most mild annoyance she’d managed tonight.

Flutterbat’s knees wobbled a moment before she collapsed. Even with the cushion of Flutterbat’s insides, Applejack could tell she fell hard; she couldn’t help wincing at how that must have felt in the poor bat’s throat when she heard the traumatic squelch. Then the wheezing started.

“Look just… relax. And I’ll do your work for you, you’re gonna hurt yourself or something I swear. Jeeze, have to hold your hoof even through the murder’n,” Applejack continued and she rooted her forehooves into the dirt, then shoved the ground away from herself.

Flutterbat was certainly a lot warmer than the night air but also very damp, with certain parts being quite sharp. It was probably fortunate that more than one critter before this had tried to swallow Applejack whole in the past or this would be new and weird for her.

It was almost the same technique she’d use to buck a tree but with one impromptu adjustment, there wasn’t anything behind her to stop her momentum. Flutterbat made a sound like a toad being stamped on as a third of Applejack shot down Flutterbat’s throat at once. Her blonde tail flicked freely in her stomach, it wouldn’t be long now before all of her joined it. So long as Flutterbat didn’t have some form of medical emergency first.

“You know this would be a mite bit easier if you’d just relax, it’s not like I’m that much bigger than the others.” Applejack said in response how tight that ring of muscles had gotten around her midsection.

Applejack felt that deep tunnel of moist massaging throat muscles switched directions in an instant. The loose, coaxing motions that had failed to swallow her had flipped to perfectly tight and frantic squeezing from Applejack’s bottom to her front, accompanied by Fluttershy making a sound not dissimilar from applesauce being sucked through a straw. Flutterbat’s eyes went from hyper-focused slits, to wide with such shock that they forgot to focus in one direction, as her wings and legs both flailed furiously and ineffectually.

“Oh no, you came all the way out here, I’m getting in there. Too late to back out now, partner. I can’t have the others thinking I did you wrong here.” Applejack explained firmly.

Then she launched herself again like she was trying to knock down a barn. Her bottom broke free from that ineffective, if vice-like, esophagus and slammed into the pit of her friend’s stomach like a cannonball, skidding Flutterbat backwards through the grass. With most of her figure inside her friend now Applejack was pleased with her progress so far. Her back hooves were a lot less cramped now that she could move them, even if she had to stand in a puddle.

Taking a breather, Applejack stopped and huffed while Flutterbat’s gurgling got squeakier and quieter. Her desperate flailing had even regressed to even twitching, which helped Applejack squeeze herself down farther without the extra jostling. It wouldn’t long now though before she’d reached her destination. Then the brim of her hat bumped against Flutterbat’s nose.

She hadn’t spared a thought about what to do with her favorite accessory, but having Fluttershy eat it was far out of the realms of what was worth considering. Leaving it out in the fields and just hoping it would be found and not ruined by the elements didn’t seem much more appealing. That seemed to just leave one option worth a try.

Flutterbay managed to squeak one more time with the volume of a mouse when she felt Applejack force the cowboy hat down on top of her head. Without a clear line of sight, Applejack just had to take a blind swing and hope it worked out but it didn’t fall off, so that would have to do since she needed to start pulling her forelegs into Flutterbat before she passed out. She wasn’t making noises anymore, but Applejack was pretty sure that was just because her lungs were empty.

“If you lose that or something I swear I’m going to haunt you or give you really bad heartburn or whatever it is I’ll be able to manage from in here,” Applejack stated very plainly as she fought to draw her legs in on herself to Fluttershy’s cheeks, leaving her looking like one of her chipmunks.

Without being able to reach the ground, Applejack was finding her options limited. She shuffled for a while, trying to figure out how one crawls backwards through a skin-tight extremely lubricated tunnel that was desperately trying to expel you. She couldn’t reach forward anymore to touch the ground, she’d have to find some leverage from the inside.

After some fumbling. She discovered she could brace her back hoofs now against her friend’s stomach. This would probably be a little bit uncomfortable for her, but it wasn’t like this wasn’t Flutterbat’s idea to begin with. Applejack took a deep breath from inside this terrible bat maw, and then pushed with the strength she could manage with just her back legs, which was most of her strength.

With a terribly loud and gloopy pop, like that time Applejack had accidentally stepped on Rarity’s bottle of hair gel, Applejack shot down Fluttershy’s throat and into her stomach. Her back smacked into the bottom of Fluttershy’s stomach, furiously jostling all of her organs and Applejack admitted to herself that she probably could have done that at least a little more gently. But it probably wasn’t worth crawling back out and starting over.