//------------------------------//
// S1 E10: Swarm of the Century (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 5 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

It was a fine Spring day in Ponyville, the kind of day when flowers were in bloom and there was not a cloud in sight. The perfect day for a nature loving pony like Fluttershy to be out and about in the fields, picking flowers with the help of her animal friends. And as always, the pegasus sang a little song to herself as she leisurely skipped along. "La, la la, la la, la la, la la," She hummed, all the while animals were bringing a variety of different colored flowers to her. One squirrel presented a dandelion to Fluttershy, only for a gust of wind to blow it away. "Thank you little squirrel, but remember: these flowers are for Princess Celestia when she comes to town. Only the prettiest ones will do for her." Fluttershy spoke kindly, then went back to singing. True, Princess Celestia wouldn't be visiting for another day, but it never hurt to be prepared ahead of time.

Suddenly, a faint chirp like sound reached Fluttershy's ears, prompting the gentle mare to be startled just a little! "Gah! Who's there?!" She asked, for she had never heard this sort of sound before. The chirp came again, this time revealing itself as a small, blue colored, ball like creature, with two green eyes, and four tiny wings. Fluttershy had never seen this kind of creature before, but she was never one to miss out on making a new animal friend. "Hello, little guy. I've never seen anything like you before," She greeted in a soft tone. "What's your name? Mine's Fluttershy."

The creature didn't answer, it just started to cry, giving off a few faint sniffles. "What's wrong? Are you hungry?" Fluttershy asked, before she took out an apple, crushed it with one of her hooves, and offered it to the tiny creature. "Here you go, eat up." She encouraged.

The creature stopped sniffling, instead turning its attention to the tasty treat Fluttershy had offered it. It quickly devoured not the mashed up apple, but the entire bucket, leaving no trace of any apples! In fact, the only sound it made was a content belch. But Fluttershy didn't seem bothered by the creature's big appetite, she simply exclaimed with a gasp. "I guess you were hungry. You probably haven't had a bite to eat in a while."

The creature just flew towards Fluttershy, nestling into her mane as it purred softly, not unlike a kitten. Cooing, Fluttershy exclaimed! "Ooh, you're the cutest little thing ever! I can't wait to show you to all my friends." And Fluttershy set off, seemingly unaware of the now empty bucket of apples that rested nearby.



Fluttershy wasn't the only one preparing for Princess Celestia's visit to Ponyville, at the Golden Oak Library, Twilight was busy fussing over Spike, as he was cleaning the whole library from top to bottom. Hardly one to be patient in a time like this, Twilight grumbled. "Oh! Hurry up, Spike! This place isn't gonna clean itself you know."

Spike sighed, as he grumbled back. "Yeah, well it also didn't mess itself up. I don't see why I always have to be the one cleaning up this place, when half the time you're the one who gets it all dirty. And I'm still mad about you having that sleepover with Rarity and Applejack while I was away."

"For the last time, Spike, it wasn't intentional to leave you out," Twilight apologized. "And we can't worry about that now, we've got more important things to deal with. Princess Celestia will be here tomorrow, and I want this place spotless!"

"Funny, I thought this was just an unofficial quick and casual visit." Spike remarked.

Twilight only groaned louder! "Spike, we've been over this before! There's nothing casual about a visit from royalty. I want this place to be spic and span, and you've barely made a dent in the clutter."

"Well, maybe you should start reading those books at one a time," Spike suggested. "Or you know, not leave them laying about all the time. You know where they go, and you've got magic. After all the lectures you gave me about picking up after myself, you can't even follow your own advice?"

Twilight just sighed, she never liked arguing with Spike. But sometimes he could be very difficult. "Everything's got to be perfect, Spike," She replied. "We can discuss how to avoid the clutter once this visit has come and gone, but for now I need to make sure Princess Celestia's visit goes off without a hitch. If I can't do that if I'm spending all my time arguing with you about chores," With a groan, she then added. "Look, I need to go check on some other things around town. So why don't you use that time to put everything back to the best of your ability and dust the place off? Whatever you don't get done by the time I come back, I'll take care of for you. How's that sound?"

"Sure, whatever you say," Spike said with a shrug, then under his breath he faintly muttered. "Mom."

"What was that, Spike?" Twilight called, as she headed towards the door.

"Nothing, just get out of here. I can manage just fine without you breathing down my neck, thank you very much." Spike grumbled, and turned back to dusting.

"Gee, somedragon sure woke up on the wrong side of the basket this morning." Twilight thought to herself, opening the front door with her magic.





Twilight felt much better once she was outside, and catching a whiff of that lovely Spring air, it was truly a beautiful day. It seemed like the kind of day in which nothing could go wrong. And so far, it seemed like the rest of the preparations for Princess Celestia's visit were coming along nicely.

After crossing a bridge, Twilight came across Berry Punch and Golden Harvest, who had been entrusted with displaying the banner for Celestia's royal carriage. However, when the banner was put up and unfolded, it read only: "Welcome Princess Celest". Twilight, needless to say, was anything but impressed. "Hey, what happened to the rest of her name?" She inquired.

"We... couldn't fit it all in." Golden Harvest confessed, trying not to look ashamed.

Twilight shook her head. "Look, you can't just hang a banner that says 'Welcome Princess Celest'. So take it down and try again, okay?" And she left without saying another word, while Berry and Golden exchanged looks of exhaustion and frustration.

Next, Twilight passed by a mare by the name of Bon-Bon, who was watering some flowers. "Ah, that looks perfect. Keep up the good work." She encouraged, and then headed to Sugarcube Corner.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were hard at work, making all sorts of confections, as Twilight announced her arrival with the jingling of the bell above the door. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. How's the banquet coming?" She asked, cheerfully.

Nervously, Mrs. Cake looked at Twilight and answered. "Uh...it would be coming a little better if..."

But there was no need for Mrs. Cake to say more, for at that very moment Pinkie Pie appeared, munching on the cakes and smearing frosting all over her face. "Mmm." She said to herself, before she noticed the frosting and slurped it all up. All the while, she wore a plastic crown.

"Pinkie! What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing?" Twilight complained, rushing over to her friend as she scolded. "Don't you know that those sweets are supposed to be for the princess at tomorrow's banquet?"

"I know," Pinkie hastily answered. "That's why I'm tasting them. Giving them something of a taste taste, you know. Somepony needs to make sure that everything is tasty enough to touch the royal tongue, and I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess. Besides, what if somepony tried to poison the princess?"

"What are you talking about? Nopony would do something like that." Twilight protested.

"You can never be sure of that, which is why you need a pony like me to be the taste tester," Pinkie replied, and quickly added. "See, nothing's happened to me, so these treats are safe for the princess."

Just then, Fluttershy came sliding in, as she greeted. "Twilight, Pinkie, you won't believe..." But as she slid she took notice of Twilight and Pinkie's faces, and hastily apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, am I interrupting something? Is this maybe a bad time?"

"No, not at all," Pinkie quickly replied, having taken off her crown. "Come on in and make yourself at home," She then wrapped her tongue around a cake, and swallowed it whole not unlike the way a snake would devour its prey. "What's going on, Fluttershy?" She asked, after slurping down the cake (much to Twilight's disapproving look).

"You won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest while I was picking flowers," Fluttershy explained with a happy smile, and turned to her mane as she instructed. "Come on out, little guy. It's okay. No one's going to hurt you."

There came a series of purrs and chirps, before three similar looking, ball shaped creatures appeared. One was blue, another was red, and a third was yellow. Fluttershy seemed to be surprised by this. "Three?" She asked with a gasp, and then to the blue one she asked. "Did you invite friends without asking me?"

"What are those? They don't look like anything I've ever seen or read about before." Twilight asked Fluttershy.

"I'm not sure. And I'm also not sure where these other two came from, I only found the blue one." Fluttershy answered, sounding rather surprised at the existence of three creatures instead of one.

But before Twilight, Fluttershy, or anypony else could say anything, Pinkie made a gag face and remarked. "Ugh! A parasprite? Are you kidding? Fluttershy, how can you bring those things here?"

"A para-what?" Twilight asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Of course you haven't, you've never met a parasprite before," Pinkie commented, sounding rather unhappy. "Trust me, they're nothing but trouble. They may look cute and innocent, but you take your eyes off them for even a second and they'll multiple out of control! Now I gotta go find a trombone."

"A trombone?" Fluttershy asked Pinkie. "You're not making a lick of sense."

But Twilight was filled with curiosity, and so she approached Pinkie and said to her. "You seem to know something about these creatures. Do you mind telling me why?"

"Well, it's a bit of a long story, and it involves going all the way back to my childhood," Pinkie answered. "You really wanna know, because it's not pretty."

"I was going to go back and check on Spike, but he seems to be rather grumpy today for some reason," Twilight commented. "Besides, I have a feeling this could be a great learning experience for me. Any knowledge about parasprites would be helpful."

"I'd like to hear the story too, Pinkie, if you don't mind that is." Fluttershy encouraged.

"You really wanna know, huh?" Pinkie asked her friends, both of whom nodded. A sigh of reluctance escaped the pink party pony's lips. "Well, I was hoping you'd say no. But I guess if you want to know so badly, there's no point in not telling you. Like I said though, it's not pretty. Even today I still don't like talking about it."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell us if you're not comfortable with it," Fluttershy suggested to Pinkie. "I'm sure Twilight could find a book that would tell us what we need to know."

But Pinkie only shook her head. "No, you girls deserve to know. I won't let Ponyville meet the same fate as my old home," Her voice took on quite the serious tone, as she began with an unexpected revelation. "I wasn't born in Ponyville, in fact I didn't come here until after I got my cutie mark. I grew up on a rock farm in the town of Ponypalooza, just outside of Ponyville, along with my sisters. Their names were Limestone, Maud, and Marble, though those were just the nicknames I gave them."

"A rock farm?!" Twilight gasped, her eyes widening. "I can't imagine a pony like you growing up in a place like that."

"Well you'd better believe it," Pinkie replied, as she continued her narration. "I was the second youngest of my four sisters, and we often had to help our parents with the harvesting. Then, one day, Limestone brought home this strange creature we'd never seen before. And this is what happened next." And here is how the rest of Pinkie's story unfolded:





At the Pie Family rock farm, everypony was gathered around the dining room table, or rather everypony except one. A fact that did not escape the brilliant amber colored eyes of Igneous Rock Pie. He fidgeted with his black colored stenson hat, which he usually did whenever he was trying to keep his anger under control. It was obvious to everypony what he was not happy about. "Where is Limestone?" He inquired of his daughters seated at the table. "Truly, she is aware that it is not polite to keep one's family waiting at dinner, is she not?"

"Now Igneous, there's no need for concern," Cloudy Quartz advised, reaching a hoof out to calm her husband. "I am sure Limestone would not keep us waiting without a reason. Most likely she is in the washroom, washing her hooves."

"Well, she sure is taking her sweet time. Not that there's anything wrong with that." Marble answered, blinking and letting her mane cover her left eye (she tended to do this a lot).

"Should I go and fetch her?" Maud offered.

But there was no need for that, for at that very moment who should come trotting into the dining room but Limestone herself? And was it just the lighting, or did it seem like she was hiding something in that opalish gray mane of hers?

Igneous immediately glared at his eldest daughter, and he spoke in a tone of voice he seldom used for he very rarely showed his emotions openly. "Limeamina Dolly Pie, where hast thou been?!" He demanded. "Truly, thou hast good reason for keeping thy's family waiting?!"

Gulping, Limestone nodded and said in her scratchy voice. "Y-yes, Father. I... uh, found this little creature out in the fields and... it followed me back inside." She lightly brushed her mane, and out popped four ball shaped creatures with tiny wings, they were blue, pink, gray, and brown in color.

"Hey, looks like your little friend brought more friends!" Pinkie commented, fascinated by the brightly colored creatures that stood out amidst the dull grays and browns of the rock farm.

"Limestone, what have we said about bringing unwanted pets into the house?" Cloudy scolded. "You know what your father has said about pets."

Limestone tried her best not to be intimidated. "I don't know how the other three got here, I only took the blue one because it looked lonely," She confessed, and then she did something she rarely did, she dropped to one knee, parted her mane so that her eyes could be seen completely, and she looked into her father's amber eyes as she pleaded. "Please, can we keep them, Father? I promise I'll take care of them, I'll feed them, take them on walks, clean up after them, give them baths, and everything. I've always wanted a pet, and this is the perfect chance for me to learn how to care for them."

"Hey, how come you get to keep all four?!" Pinkie spoke up, looking at her big sister. "That pink one seems to really like me, I want to keep it!"

"I'm actually quite fond of the brown one. I would like to take care of it" Marble nodded.

"The gray one speaks to me, I should be allowed to keep it." Maud lightly commented.

"Now, children, it is not for you to decide," Cloudy cautioned. "Your father holds the final say, and if he says no then that means no."

Igneous wanted nothing more than to say no, and indeed he was going to as he opened his mouth to speak. But he took one look at the sad puppy dog eyes of his eldest daughter, and the looks of eagerness that he could pick on his other daughters, some of which were open about expressing them, and others who were keeping it hidden. "I always wanted a pet of my own when I was but a wee colt," He thought to himself. "But my parents never let me have one. Who am I to inflict that sort of disappointment on my daughters?" Reluctantly, he declared. "Limestone, Maud, Pinkie, Marble, you may keep these... whatever they are called. Each of you may take one and claim it as your own."

"Hooray!" The sisters all cheered (though some cheered louder than others).

"But know that you will be responsible for taking care of them, your mother and I will not be assisting you at all," Igneous quickly added. "I do hope you will understand that having a pet and caring for it is a very big responsibility. And that will include making sure these pets are house broken and properly trained. Are you sure the four of you are up for the task?" One by one, each of his daughters said yes, and then Limestone offered each of her younger sisters the colored creature they had expressed an interest in, keeping the blue one for herself.

"Now, if there are nomore matters that need to be discussed now, let us enjoy this meal." Igneous spoke up, clearing his throat. Limestone quickly made her way over to the table, and nothing more was said as the Pie family enjoyed a delicious supper of rock soup.





Day turned into night, and every Pie family member went to bed. However, just an hour after lights out, Pinkie was woken from her slumber in the most unexpected of ways, the sound of buzzing. And not just any buzzing, this buzzing was the kind of buzzing that was only heard when there was a good number of creatures.

Flicking on her bedroom light, Pinkie's mouth dropped wide open in shock at the sight that greeted her eyes! No longer was there just one, pink colored, ball like creature with wings, now there was an entire room full of them! And they came in every color of the rainbow! "Hey, what's the big idea?!" Pinkie complained. "You weren't supposed to invite friends, Mom and Dad won't let me keep all of you!"

But the creatures didn't care, they just buzzed around the room and pressed themselves up against the door, as if they were trying to force it down. "I'm sorry, but all of you have to leave. Mom and Dad don't like loud parties after dark. I only want Artie I, the pink colored one, to stay." Pinkie grumbled, as she got out of her bed, trotted to the bedroom door, and opened it. That was a mistake, the creatures zoomed right out the door and began to fill the hallway! "Hey, where are you going?! The back door's this way!" Pinkie shouted at the creatures, but they took no notice.

"You too, Pinkie?" A familiar flat sounding voice called, soon revealing itself to be none other than Maud, Pinkie's favorite sister.

"What do you mean 'you too'?" Pinkie asked Maud, suddenly stricken with worry. But before Maud could say anything, there came the sound of a frantic scream from the kitchen!

Pinkie and Maud rushed to the kitchen, surprised to see the light was already on. And what they saw, was enough to make even Maud's eyes widen (something that almost never happened):

There were Limestone and Marble, overwhelmed by a massive swarm of the very same creatures that had been in Pinkie's room! All around them, the creatures were devouring every item of food in their sights, leaving Marble and Limestone in a state of near panic!

"What be all this noise, grandchildren?" An old sounding, gravelly voice suddenly spoke up. "It is not wise for youngins to be up past their bed time." From the shadows, an elderly looking earth pony mare appeared. Her coat looked almost like Pinkie's, except it seemed to have lost its luster and was mostly a dull and faded shade. Her mane and tail were just like Pinkie's (or at least how they had been since Pinkie got her cutie mark, but that was another story), except they were a ghostly white in color. And her eyes were a faded blue in color.

"Oh great, now we've gone and woke up Granny Pie," Limestone grumbled, rolling her eyes as she momentarily forgot to be frightened. "Now we're going to hear another one of her crazy old mares tales."

"Hey, I like Granny Pie's stories!" Pinkie protested. She and her grandmother had always been close, especially ever since the old mare had taught Pinkie how to laugh away her fear of the darkness.

"W-we didn't mean to wake you, Granny Pie," Marble hastily apologized, even as she continued to cower at the sight unfolding all around her. "It's just... Ed here got hungry, so I thought I'd give it a little late night snack. But by the time I got to the kitchen, several Ed look alikes had appeared, and once they ate the food I offered them, they grew even more. And then Limestone showed up with her creatures, and everything just got crazy."

"Pinkie and I had the same problem, except ours apparently didn't want to wait until they were fed," Maud explained. "I saw how they grow. They spit out these tiny hairballs that grow into similar looking creatures with the only difference being their color. Granny Pie, you have to help us."

Suddenly, one of the creatures landed right on Granny Pie's nose. The elderly mare took one look at the creature, and her eyes filled with horror and dread! "Oh, monster of so little size. Is this a parasprite I see before my eyes?!" She exclaimed.

"A para-what?!" All four Pie siblings exclaimed at once.

Looking at the "parasprite", Granny Pie was silent for but a moment before she declared out loud: "Tales of crops and harvests consumed. If these creatures are here tonight, they will not leave us anytime soon! Unless..."

"Unless what?!" Limestone demanded. "Come on, Granny Pie, out with it! How do we rid ourselves of these creatures before they eat us out of house and home?"

"There is only one way we can be safe, one way we can rid ourselves of these invaders," Granny Pie somberly explained. "Quickly, there's no time to waste! We must gather up all the musical instruments we can find!"

But the Pie sisters all looked at their grandmother as if she had just lost her mind. Surely, they had misheard.

"Well, let's not stand around here, talking about it!" Granny Pie urged. "All of you search the house for any musical instruments, it doesn't matter what they are or well you can play them! These parasprites will only continue to multiple if we don't take action, NOW!"

"Granny Pie, have you lost your mind?!" Limestone snapped, looking at the elderly earth pony mare. "Our very livelihood is at stake, and all you can think of is musical instruments?! We have more important things to worry about than who's the most musically talented!"

"I fail to see how collecting musical instruments will stop these 'parasprites' if that's what they are called," Maud added. "We just need to not feed them again. They must have another weakness, maybe they're like rocks and don't like water?"

Marble was a little more reluctant to say what she wanted to say, but she somehow managed to force out. "I just don't see how something as crazy as that will help us. How do we even know if they are actually parasprites?"

"Come on, girls!" Limestone encouraged, turning her back on Granny Pie. "We'll solve this problem on our own! Mom and Pop will surely know what to do, they ALWAYS have the answers! Am I right?!"

"Mm-hmm." Marble quickly agreed.

"Yes. If Granny Pie knows of these parasprites, then Mom and Dad will know as much as she does if not more." Maud concluded.

But Pinkie didn't join in, not right away at least. She didn't think her grandmother was crazy, even if she wondered why she thought musical instruments were needed to stop these so called parasprites. Was she really going to turn her back on the mare who understood her the most? The mare responsible for her positive outlook on life?

"Hey, Pinkie, what are you doing just standing there?!" Limestone demanded. "We're going to get some real answers!"

"But what if Granny Pie's right?" Pinkie asked against her better judgement. "What if she knows something Mom and Dad don't? It can't hurt to at least try it her way, right?"

Limestone's response was to growl at Pinkie and roll her eyes. "You honestly think our grandmother is right when she thinks musical instruments will stop these creatures?! Face it, Pinkie, she's even crazier than you, and not in a good way! You wanna spend all your time listening to her crazy nonsense, be my guest! As for me, Maud, and Marble, we're going to get real answers and real solutions!" And she stormed off in a huff, Maud and Marble reluctantly followed. Soon, only Pinkie and Granny Pie remained in the kitchen, which was continuing to fill up with parasprites. Many of them had stopped eating food, and were moving on to other things, like floor boards, furniture, and even walls!





Granny Pie didn't appear to be bothered at all by what had just transpired before her ears. The mare simply smiled at Pinkie and reassured her. "Do not worry, Pinkamina, in time your sisters will see for themselves who is right," Her faded blue eyes took on a look of seriousness, as she then added. "Now come on, we've got to start rounding up as many musical instruments as we can! Those parasprites will not stop until they've eaten everything they possibly can! A parasprite's appetite knows no bounds!"

"Yes Granny Pie, right away ma'am!" Pinkie saluted, and zipped away in a pink blur of motion! She zoomed all over the house, checking from top to bottom for musical instruments big and small alike! It didn't matter if it was a tuba, a drum, a harmonic, an accordion, or even just a flute, she scooped it up and took off to find another instrument!

But even as she was collecting the instruments, a part of Pinkie couldn't help but wonder. "What if big sister Limey is right? What if Granny Pie's methods don't work?"

After what seemed like several minutes (but probably had only been half that time due to how fast Pinkie was moving), Pinkie and Granny Pie met up, putting their combined collection of musical instruments on the floor near the kitchen. The swarm of parasprites was only growing by the second, and they showed no signs of stopping anytime soon!

Pinkie was going to reach out a hoof and try to play the instruments, but Granny Pie stopped her from doing so. "You've done a good job, child. These instruments will be more than enough to drive out the parasprites."

"But, how are you gonna do that? How can you possibly play all those instruments at the same time?" Pinkie asked her grandmother, as she watched the elderly mare grab the instruments and hastily place them near or over herself. "Even I think this is crazy."

"Just watch me, granddaughter," Granny Pie said with a wink. "This will work." And she started to play a melody, as she moved her mouth from the harmonica to the tuba, while the drums banged about loudly, and several other instruments seemed to start playing all on their own.

Pinkie waited and watched patiently, but nothing seemed to happen, even as Granny Pie kept on playing and the music grew only louder. If Igneous and Cloudy weren't already awake thanks to Limestone, they would certainly be awake now. "It's not working! Limey was right after all, the Pie family rock farm is doomed!" She thought to herself, for she doubted that whatever knowledge her parents might have about parasprites would be enough to stop the swarm!

Yet, just when Pinkie was thoroughly convinced that her Granny Pie's method had failed, and the parasprites were going to devour the rock farm in its entirety, something unexpected happened! A blue colored parasprite started to bob its head up and down to the beat of the music! Slowly but surely, more parasprites joined in, all of them stopping whatever it was they were doing! Soon, a long line of parasprites were forming behind Granny Pie, as she just continued to play and marched along. The parasprites followed after her, completely entranced by the music, and she led them right out the kitchen door and far away from the family rock farm.

Granny Pie didn't come back until sunrise, tired but victorious. The entire Pie family was there to greet her, and she proudly told them. "The parasprites will never bother us again. I have sent them deep into the Everfree Forest, where they will do no harm to anypony!"

"Ma, we owe you a great debt of thanks," Igneous replied, taking off his stenson hat and bowing to Granny Pie. "You have saved the family rock farm from complete destruction."

"It is fortunate that you knew how to deal with the parasprites," Cloudy added. "Never in all my years have I ever heard of such creatures, or the damage they can do with their bottomless appetites."

"In my long years of living, I have seen many creatures that most ponies could only dream of," Granny Pie explained, and then shook her head. "Sadly, most ponies believe that said creatures are just myths, and parasprites are one of them. But now you all know that they are very real indeed, and quite dangerous if you let them into your house."





"And that is how I learned to listen whenever Granny Pie spoke. If not for her quick thinking, those parasprites would've made a meal out of the rock farm." Pinkie said, as she finished her story. By now, her friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, had all gathered to listen.

"I must say, that's quite the story, Pinkie." Rarity commented.

Rainbow Dash, however, was still skeptical. "So, let's say I believe you, Pinkie and that story actually happened as you described it. Are you sure it's really necessary to do the same thing here? I mean, look around you, you don't see a swarm of parasprites, do you?"

But Pinkie had turned her attention to Fluttershy, more specifically to her right wing. She was noticing something, or rather a lack of something. "Fluttershy, where are those little creatures you found near the Everfree Forest?" She asked with a serious eye.

"Whatever do you mean, Pinkie? They're right-" But when Fluttershy turned to look at her right wing, the three ball shaped creatures from earlier were nowhere to be seen! "Oh my! I'm so sorry, Pinkie! I was so entertained by your story, I forgot to keep an eye on my new friends!"

Pinkie just sighed. "It's alright, Fluttershy. But I'll have to be quick if I want to stop those parasprites from destroying Ponyville! I'm sure they've already grow and eaten all the food they can find! Now, where am I gonna find a harmonica?" And with that, she was gone in a pink blur of motion.

"Okay, I know being random is her thing and all, but this is just crazy!" Applejack exclaimed. "She honestly expects us to believe to that we can stop those 'parasprites' or whatever they are from destroyin' Ponyville, if we do what she claims her grandmother did once?!"

"It's not like we have a lot of other options at the moment," Rarity commented, before she suddenly gasped. "Oh no, my boutique! I can't let those creatures eat up my dresses, I'll go out of business!" And she too rushed away.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't see what the big deal is," Rainbow said to Twilight. "I can easily take out that adorable trash. Just say the word and I'll suck them up into a tornado."

"And what would you do then?" Twilight asked the cyan speedster.

Rainbow gulped, she hadn't expected to be put on the spot like that. "Uh... I don't know.... I'm sure I'll think of something when the time comes!" She hastily answered.

"That's what I was afraid of," Twilight commented, then she got an idea! "Maybe the library has information about 'parasprites' and how they can be stopped! The rest of you try to lure the parasprites away from anywhere where there's food!"

"You got a better idea, Twilight?" Applejack asked with concern.

"Of course. We need to build an exact copy of Ponyville right over there!" Twilight joked, pointing a hoof across the street. "Look, Rarity was right, we don't have a lot of other options. Pinkie might be onto something, or she might not be. Let her try her own thing, it can't do any harm. If I can find a better solution, I'll let you all know!"

But there was no need for anypony to do anything, for at that very moment there came the distant sound of music. "That's strange," Twilight commented. "Princess Celestia's not supposed to be here til tomorrow, and Spike would've told me if she was going to show up early." In the back of her mind though she couldn't help but wonder. "What if she's making a surprise early visit?! Oh no, I'm not prepared! And neither is Ponyville!"

The music grew louder, and the source of it soon revealed itself to be none other than Pinkie Pie herself! And lined up behind her for what seemed like miles, were the parasprites, which were all completely entranced by Pinkie's melody. She strolled straight through town, playing her music and leading the parasprites along. She didn't stop, until she had trotted right out of town and toward the edge of the Everfree Forest. She kept on playing, until the last of the parasprites had retreated back into the tall pines and mysterious shrubbery, with not a trace of any of them left behind. "Well, my work here is done." Pinkie said to herself, all the while everypony looked on in surprise, unable to say anything.





"Spike? Spike?" Twilight called, rushing back into the Golden Oak Library.

"What is it, Twilight?" Spike asked, sounding a bit less grumpy now that the library was clean.

"No time to explain, I need that book on rare and unusual creatures. You know, the one where I learned about Ursa Minors and Majors?" Twilight questioned, as she rushed to the shelves.

"Twilight, wait!" Spike called, jumping in front of her. "I just got done reshelfing everything and making sure all books are in their proper order. I'll get it for you, I don't want another mess to clean up."

Twilight clammed up, realizing her mistake. "I really need to remember I'm not the only one who calls this library home," She thought, as she waited for Spike to retrieve the appropriate book. "Come to think of it, Spike's done an awful lot for me over the years, and I've barely done anything to reward him for it. I need to start working on that."

"Here it is!" Spike called out, tossing a book with a spine the same color as the night sky to Twilight.

"Thanks, Spike. And good job on the cleaning," Twilight said sincerely. "Remind me to ask Princess Celestia where I can find some good gems when she comes to town tomorrow."

"Will do, I've been really craving those things lately." Spike said, licking his lips as he walked off somewhere.

Twilight opened the book with her magic and scrolled through the pages, until at last she came across the one on parasprites. Sure enough, it depicted an ink image similar to the creatures that had terrorized Ponyville earlier. She read on for a bit, picking up mostly the same information she'd learned from Pinkie's story. But as she neared the end, she read something that made her gasp, and caused her to momentarily lose her focus! Her magic faded, and the book fell to the ground with a loud thud! For the passage had read as follows: "There is no known way by which a parasprite may be stopped once it begins to multiple. If one is spotted, do not attempt to feed it or take it with you. They are considered dangerous due to their unlimited appetite." "That means only Pinkie Pie had any knowledge about how to stop those things," She realized. "If we hadn't listened to her, Ponyville would've been destroyed for sure!"

Then, realizing what this meant and what she had to do, Twilight trotted over to a nearby desk and took out a quill and some ink. She unfolded a scroll, and dipped the quill into the ink, as she proceeded to write a letter which read as follows: 

Dear Princess Celestia,

Recently, I learned a very important lesson from my good friend, Pinkie Pie. She told me and my other friends about the time when her family's farm became infested with parasprites, and her grandmother was the only one who knew the trick to driving them away.

Hearing Pinkie's story, and seeing her use it to stop a similar infestation in Ponyville, it's caused to me learn that sometimes the solution to your friends problems can come from where you least expect it. So it's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' opinions and perspectives, even if they don't always seem to make sense. Sometimes, the most unconventional option, could be the solution you've been looking for.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight smiled, as she examined the letter for any mistakes. There weren't any, the report was perfect and ready for Princess Celestia's viewing eyes. Now all that remained, was to get Spike to send it, and survey the damage the parasprites might have caused. Hopefully, it was nothing that couldn't be fixed up by tomorrow. Because how in the world would she explain Ponyville's run down appearance to Celestia?