@Millennial Dan  
This wasn’t part of my argument, but if you want to bring it up, okay then. Neither does Fluttershy.
 
Applejack does, however, have secondhand knowledge. She learned from somebody who has actually experienced the direct effects of these creatures firsthand, and who didn’t say anything about “trees growing back stronger”. Where’d Fluttershy learn about them, again? We’re not told, but we are told she has no direct experience with them. And when she’s singing about them, their appearance is more radically removed from the neutral reality than when Applejack is; she sees them as cherubic, fluffy pets as opposed to lean, angular creatures built for independent survival.
 
By Occam’s Razor, I believe I can safely conclude that of what Fluttershy says about the bats, we can believe roughly jack.

@Grandfather Mushroom  
I’ve been wondering that since Lesson Zero.

@Background Pony Number 17  
Doesn’t really make it right.

@Turnways_Flip  
Applejack doesn’t know squat about vampire fruit bats firsthand.

@Background Pony #B701  
Wrong. If the bats would have improved the health of the trees, it should have been Applejack who would have known that, not Fluttershy, because growing the strongest and healthiest trees is both Applejack’s job and something about which she is passionate.
 
The fact that Applejack did not immediately consider this tells me that Fluttershy was making things up wholesale.

@Star Cavalcade  
And that’s why Applejack is not the Element of Loyalty.

@Background Pony Number 17  
Then why not use the spell to change the ponies addictions to apples? So that maybe if Sweet Apple Acres was to end up in ruins (like it’s threatened to every second episode), the rest of Ponyville could survive.
 
Maybe they’d drink Carrot Juice instead of Cider and Carrot Top would be the top farmer in Ponyville?

@professor_of_hoers  
I think a better episode would have been them trying to get the bats off of the orchard, then AJ seeing them and how hungry they are and seeing a different side to the bats. Then going with Fluttershy’s solution.
 
Instead they kind of messed the plot too much with Flutterbat.

@Star Cavalcade  
@Grandfather Mushroom  
Ponies play God with nature like we change clothes. In a world where winter has to be changed to spring manually, messing with animals’ basic instincts isn’t that big of a stretch.

@sargesprinkles
 
And more importantly, how will they react when they find out that the thing they were there preparing for was sacrificed to trap Flutterbat?

Pardon me for asking, but how does this end up in the Bronybait tag?

@sargesprinkles  
Because she apparently learned her lesson last time.  
What I’m more curious about is why Twilight’s spell isn’t acceptable to use on Rainbow Dash to cure her cider addiction.

@sargesprinkles
 
I think it was because they needed to get away for a while. Granny Smith also has a secret lover there, she’s gonna gum him good.

@sargesprinkles  
My guess is they thought they would only be gone a few days, she’ll be fine, right?

Truly I believe we are ignoring the real issue here: why did the rest of the apples leave their neurotic family member alone during the very time of the time when she last went nuts?

@sargesprinkles
 
Because:
 
A: we didn’t know for sure that’s what happened. That’s an assumption.
 
B: Because we take the time and effort to try to be compassionate if we can.
 
Again, it’s the writers the wrote the episode and as such it’s a narrative rather than a real event. They could have written it as “Poor dumb ass fluttershy tries to save them but they destroy the farm.”
 
or
 
“Aj tries to get rid of them or makes things worse.”
 
Instead, what we got was “Twilight proves, once again, that she kind of makes everything worse with her magic.”
 
I’m actually (again!) not stating that Aj was in the wrong here or unreasonable. Just that the assumption that because Fluttershy happened to be right, as it was written, is not some kind of fucking condemnation of pest control.

That didn’t answer the question “what do you do when the vermin return”  
See, Ive had mouse problems, too  
My solution: my cats got them. My carpet looked like Hellraiser.  
Mine you I will save the mice if I can ( mostly to save the carpet)

@Background Pony #153C
 
Humans serve a special place in nature (or, I guess, in this case ponies) in that they have the ability of understanding, judgement, and of course, they have the technology and ability to do greater harm.
 
We are as animals when it’s convenient to say “well, so what, animals do it!” and we’re above that when we want make the argument that we are afforded special rights and that we are no mere beasts.
 
It can not go both ways. If we have the power and even, if some argue, the right to do what we will then we also have the responsibility to countenance sacrifice and the impetus to maintain balance. There’s is rarely an excuse outside of laziness or excess.

@professor_of_hoers  
Not terribly unlike the rest of nature.

@professor_of_hoers  
I really like that view.

@sargesprinkles
 
I find this a deplorable way of thinking. Not cautious defense of one’s farm. That’s sensible. But the idea that “THREAT MUST BE ELIMINATED. FORGET ALL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPORTANCE. FORGET THEY ARE LIVING BEINGS. EXTERMINATE.
 
I guess I am fluttershy because I vowed not to kill live creatures if it could ever be avoided and I actually spend quite a lot of time and money when we had rats/mice on some farmland relocating them rather than killing them.
 
This idea that it’s somehow NOT laudable to do everything you can to create a feasible way to let other live and let live, even if it’s a sacrifice to yourself, is pretty disgusting. People can be so very myopic and cruel.
 
Still, that doesn’t mean that I think AJ was in the wrong here necessarily. I mean, it turned out she was wrong but her motivation and reasoning wasn’t terrible. She had a crop she wanted to protect and that’s not unreasonable.
 
However, this idea that somehow cruelty or expedience is always the best way because it’s the easiest way is a pretty disgusting trait in humanity, I think.
 
Of course, most people only think in terms of themselves and their well being or ease. If nature ever encroaches them in any way it’s to be destroyed or driven back.
 
We humans love nature when it benefits us but think nothing of exploiting or destroying it when it presents us with even the mildest of inconveniences.

Let’s talk about the real issue here:
 
Why is Twilight’s go to solution, for so many problems, is to brainwash someone or something into submission?
 
That girl’s starting to worry me.

did anyone ask Fluttershy what the bats are gonna do after they eat all the apples in the trees they got put in?  
My money is on moving on to other trees  
Oh what is AJ supposed to do afer the bats eat all the apples? Wait for those apple seeds they spit out to grow back, (which won’t work cuz that’s not how it works)?  
And what’s to stop the bats from doing it again? Its not like they can be reasoned with.  
BTW, now they’re spiting in just one place.  
I’ll bet Fluttershy would let rats eat her home because she feels sorry for them.

@A Sad Pony  
Yeah, I remember the huge backlash against Swarm of the Century when they did just that…  
Oh wait, that never actually happened. But you don’t have to worry about forgetting about that episode considering that Merriweather seemed to have forgotten about it entirely when crafting this one…

@Spaghetti Lord  
I think I can at least agree with the immediate threat part.
 
And, in any case, my pessimistic viewpoint leads me to default that the show really just puts forth whatever moral it tries to convey over any sort of detail or implication.
 
It’s happened before. It’s just what this show does.