"Hurry up you two! This place isn't going to clean itself!" Early in the morning and Twilight was already yelling.
"It also didn't mess itself up." Spike tried to retort and all Ash could do was sigh knowing full well how futile his actions were.
"I'm injured you know. Also Why all the fuss though? Celes said this'll be 'Just a visit.' you know? Casual Stuff."
"That's just it Ash! There's nothing 'Casual' about a visit from royalty—" she was stopped when Ash spoke up.
"Excuse me, Not all Royalty visits are like this. I prefer casual stuff." Twilight was unable to speak up remembering that this pony in front of her was also from a royalty lineage and decided to change the topic.
"Either way I want this place to be spotless , and you talking barely made a dent in the clutter!"
"I'm a royalty too you know." He playfully pouted and turned away and this got her.
"You're my apprentice so you have to do what I say for today." Twilight was sure she was making excuses now but she did it anyways to save face.
"Alright, Alright." Ash however knew he won this battle of words and smugly smirked.
"Just one Affirmation is needed!"
"This would be an awful lot easier if you two would stop flirting and getting in the way of cleaning." Spike had enough of the drama and decided to step up.
"We ARE NOT…" Twilight almost yelled out but she was able to stop herself and said calmly "we are not flirting, but that's a good call Spike. You clean, and we'll see how everyone else's preparations are coming along."
"Good Luck buddy." Ash gave him a sincere look before heading out. Rather someone else than him right now, being injured and all.
"Wait! I can't… Ughh.." Spike couldn't do anything to fight back and decided to do what was assigned to him.
*Scene Break*
"Looks perfect to me" Ash confirmed.
"What are you talking about?! Start looking at the spelling." she reprimanded him for giving out wrong information but Ash just sighed and said.
"Look, lighten up a bit. I call her Celes all the time you know! What's a missing one or two letters right?"
"Do you want her to think the village is informal?! Take it down and do it again." she then went on her way after giving out her orders.
"Sorry guys I tried." The others were okay with it though and he then soon followed Twilight.
"Hello Mr. And Mrs. Cake, how's the banquet going?"
"Uh, well you see we've got a tiny little problem here... see?" she was going to explain about a problem but said problem snatched a confection from her hoof and ate it in one bite.
"Pinkie! What are you doing?! Those sweets are supposed to be for the princess!"
"well Twilight , somepony needs to make sure that everything is tasty enough for the royal tongue!" Ash wasnt able to stop himself and bit off a part of the cake "Ash don't add more to the problem! "
"Sorry I couldn't help myself." he smiled apologetically at her and stuck his tongue out in a cutesy manner.
"really, why are you doing this?"
"I, Pinkie Pie declare these treats fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess!" She said as she held up a piece of cake on her hoof getting ready to eat it when Ash swooped in and ate said piece "hey!" She retorted but all Ash said was.
"it's fit for a prince too!" As he was chewing when he suddenly got pounced by Pinkie who was telling him "I saved the best for last! Why did you eat it?!" And Ash retorted by saying "Early bird! Early Bird!"
"Birds have nothing to do with this!" Pinkie being Pinkie didn't know what he meant or just didn't care and kept on wrestling Ash to submission until Fluttershy came in telling them about her 'good news'.
"Look what I found near the edge of Everfree forest!" And then suddenly three parasprites came out of her mane-
'three?' Fluttershy wondered how there could be three but kept it to herself as the three went near her.
"I'll take one of your hooves if you don't mind. Besides it might stop Spike from bugging me all the time when I'm studying." Twilight was more than happy to take one from her for its cuteness and as a companion to Spike.
"What's a parasprite doing here?" Ash showed concern remembering Zecora's warning about the little bug.
"Ugh! A parasprite? Blech!" Pinkie however showed complete disgust to the bug.
"You two know what this is?" Twilight asked but then Pinkie suddenly excused herself saying.
"I need to find a trombone." And the three were left alone with confused stares as to what the musical instrument was about but decided she was just being Pinkie.
With everything ready on this part, they decided to visit Rarity and her dressmaking to see how she's doing.
"Stand still Rainbow Dash."
"Ugh I can't! I need to fly! This is too boooooring for me." Rainbow Dash tried to reason with her but Rarity reprimanded her and said.
"Do you want to look nice for the princess Or not?"
"Hmph." She grumbled but in the end she obeyed the order and sat down quietly.
"Looks like she's got the reins nice and tight on you huh Rainbow Dash?" Ash taunted with his smirk.
" Ha. Ha. very funny Ash, Just wait til I get that smug grin off your face."
"Try it." He only laughed at her harder for her efforts.
"Okay Enough bickering you two, We still have lots of things to do after all." And as soon as Twilight said that, three Parasprites went out of her mane.
"What are those?" Dash and Rarity asked having gotten their curiosity piqued.
"The better question is where did they come from? I only had one a minute ago!" The two then soon applied to take one each but Ash thought otherwise.
'It's as if they seem to multiply... very peculiar' Ash thought but he didn't pay it much attention since Pinkie suddenly busted through asking everypony around for something.
"Does Anypony know where I can get an accordion?" She asked only for it to fall on deaf ears.
"Uhh Hello?! This is quite important! Aargh! Thanks a lot you guys!" but before she left Ash stopped her.
"Twilight, I'm going to accompany Pinkie for a while." He said and ran as fast away from there as he could with Pinkie in tow.
*Scene Break*
"So?" He asked.
"So what?" She asked back.
"Accordion?"
"Oh! That, well I need an accordion do you have one?" Ash shook his head no.
"drat, Where could I get one... hmmm." she sat on her thinking position until.
"Uhh if we're talking about music. I know some ponies who could help."
"That's GREAT! Let's go!" He soon got dragged by an energetic Pinkie to wherever.
*Scene Break*
A few moments after the Ash accompanied Pinkie, the unexplainable happened.
Hundreds and Thousand Parasprites has run amok the village and has multiplied beyond belief.
Each and every pony was trying their best to fend off and or get rid of the bugs but their efforts seems to be useless.
But enough about that. let's go back to our hero Ash.
"And? What do you want?" Octavia Went straight to 'Ferocious Mode' as Ash called it, towards Ash himself and it was successful in making Ash cringe.
"Well I need a Harmonica, Accordion, some drums, Maracas are good, A tuba as well! Oh and some Cymbals. yeah." Scratch, Octavia and Ash all stared at her in disbelief and then both Scratch and Octavia looked at Ash in question.
""ell I really don't know either, but if I had to guess it's for a parade or something right Pinkie?"
"Parade? No! it's for... wait now that I think about it... yeah I guess it's kind of a parade! Well do you have it?"
"Hmmm well we do those excluding the Harmonica but... what do we get for it?"
"Octavia!" Scratch tried to reprimand her but she stood firm.
"Okay how about this, I'll do everything you order me to for one day... One day only." Ash tried to bargain and Scratch basically lit up as red as a tomato before saying nothing... she couldn't respond.
"Deal. Having somepony to boss around might be fun." It was Octavia who said it. 'Add to the fact that this might be helpful in unveiling his true Nature to Scratch.'
"Good, Now that that's over let's get the instruments ready."
"WAIT!" Pinkie stopped them.
"We still need a Harmonica!"
"Will this do?" He took a leaf to his mouth and started playing it like he would a Harmonica. time stood still for a moment as the three ponies in front of him just kept watch at his 'Performance' and it lasted for about two minutes.
"That was Perfect! You got to teach that to me sometime, anyway with this we have everything."
As they were walking towards getting the instruments they were silently (exception of the ever talkative Pinkie) thinking of what Ash just showed.
*Scene Break*
As they got to Scratch's house they decided to get the needed instrument and once gathered Octavia answered the most crucial question of all.
"So... Who's going to play all these?" Pinkie was in the background raising her hoof energetically but one pony using all those instruments were just too unbelievable.
"Uhh… I can only play this make-shift Harmonica with my hoof like this."
"Then who's supposed to use these other ones?" Like before Pinkie raised her hands again only to be ignored.
"Well truth is, I think Pinkie plans to play all those other instrument by herself?" Ash wasn't sure after all, all those musical instruments can't be played by one pony, much less carried around in a parade.
"You must be joking." Octavia was having none of this "there is no way one pony can make all these instruments work while walking."
"Yeah Ash, that's kind of you know... impossible." Scratch agreed.
"Well the others are kind of busy in preparing for the Princess' arrival so we don't really have anyone else to help us with."
"Well, we could help?" She offered but Octavia thought otherwise as expected.
"Scratch! What are you talking about?!"
"Well they need more hooves and we don't have anything for the princess so this parade is like a win win situation isn't it."
"But... but... argh... alright you win..." she tried to deny but Scratch was right, they have not prepared anything for the princess' arrival so this was a win-win situation in their case.
"So there we have it Ash, we'll be glad to help."
"Okay so we'll see you later here after an hour, let's get our preparation ready." the two went on their way leaving Pinkie Pie and Ash alone. Ash searched for Pinkie and found her crouched in the grassy lands and thought
'She maybe annoyed at being ignored, I should talk to her' He thought as he decided to go near said pony but once he got there he called out.
"Pinkie? You alright?" and when she faced him he saw her mouth with a hanging leaf as she suddenly yelled.
"I CAN'T DO IT!! How did you do that thing with the leaf? with all those Beep, Boop, Beeeep sounds?!" she wasn't sad or sulking... she was just being herself, She was just being Pinkie and it made Ash laugh. It was fun and he didn't mind teaching her the way of using the leaf as an instrument so, he taught her.
"Alright first you got to..." And he spent an hour teaching her how to blow a leaf whistle while waiting for Scratch and Octavia.
On the way to meeting place Scratch and Octavia heard a buzzing sound that somehow sounded familiar and once they got their they saw where it was coming from.
"That's great Pinkie! Now you just need to practice it whenever you're bored, it'll be a great boredom reliever..."
"Hey guys We're ready with the preparations!" Scratch called out and as soon as they were ready they headed out towards Ponyville.
*Scene Break*
"Everyone we still have time before the princess Arrives! We need to get rid of these things before she gets here!" Twilight tried to tell the others but they soon heard music.
"OH NO! She's here!" the others also looked afraid at the sound and looked at the direction it was coming from and saw...
"Pinkie Pie? Ash? We're in a Crisis here! There is no time for your Shenanigans! What is going on here?!" The others were confused at to what the four ponies doing some kind of parade in a crisis but Ash seeing the Parasprite Swarm infestation he remembered that one time where the little bug was following him using music so he decided to just smile and wink at the confused ponies and continue the makeshift parade.
"What in tarnation are those ponies doing?!" Applejack was really confused and so were the others since their comments are almost the same.
"I can't believe Ash would waste time like this! Pinkie always does random things but why are you doing this?!" Ash just laughed at Twilight's question and continued on the parade.
This parade consisted of four ponies, Octavia was an Opera Fan and part of it as well so she was seen carrying a tuba twice her size without difficulty. Though in her own words, she'd rather be using a bass or a violin or a piano.
'He owes me big time for this' and Octavia was also thinking of the many things she could do to make Ash's life worst because of this incident.
Scratch the DJ Remix lover was using the maracas as it was the easiest intrument and truthfully speaking...
'This is fun! I should do sudden concerts sometimes! Maybe I can setup things with Pinkie for more stuff like this.' She was having a blast.
Ash who has a broken hoof is using his magic to hold up the leaf into his mouth to make it into a makeshift Harmonica.
'This is fun, and it'll help get rid of those Parasprite so this is a win-win situation and at least they're having fun as well' He looked around him seeing Scratch having fun and Octavia... Glaring at him, He gulped in reflex 'I forgot... Octavia's One day bossing me around... that day will not be fun' he decided to look at Pinkie who was doing her hardest to... Actually she was easily making music with all those instruments like it was nothing!
And speaking of Pinkie she was just having fun and want to get these 'pests' out of town, though it leaves a question in Ash's mind.
'How did Pinkie know of the Parasprites?' a thought that might or might never be answered.
"Look Girls! They're following them!" they saw the parasprites following the four of them while they head to everfree forest and soon they heard a crash.
"So Lovely to see you again, as well as your friends!" Celestia called out to them.
"O.. Oh Princess! Welcome how was the trip?" she was really high pitched at the time especially since one of the parasprite decided to look what the fuss was all about and landed in Celestia's hoof.
"Oh what is this? What an adorable Creature this is!" She giggled at it and let it go back to its kind but Rainbow Dash thought otherwise as she silently whispered to herself.
"They're not that adorable." she whispered to the others.
"I'm terribly honored that you and all the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit, And if I'm not mistaken two of those ponies were Ash and your friend Pinkie was it not?" Twilight couldn't say anything so she just nodded.
"Unfortunately, that visit is going to have to wait for another time. I'm afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently there's been some sort of infestation." She told her in an apologetic voice.
"An... infestation?" Twilight wondered what she meant by the word.
"Yes, a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures has invaded the poor town. I'm sorry Twilight, to have to put you all through so much trouble." she smiled knowingly about the bug from before.
"Trouble? What trouble?" was all Twilight could do to feign Ignorance.
"Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship in person?" She knows she may have one but if she'd share it or not is the question.
"My... report?"
"Haven't you learned anything about friendship?" she gave her a hint as to boost what feelings she has right now and it worked.
"Actually, I have. I've learned that sometimes the solution to your problems can come from where you least expect it. It's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' opinions and perspectives..." and suddenly two cymbals dropped in front of them and made them both giggle before she continued.
"Even when they don't always seem to make sense."
"I'm so proud of you, Twilight Sparkle, and I'm very impressed with your friends as well. It sounds like you're all learning so much from each other." She knew about her answer but she wanted to hear it herself from her own mouth.
But before she went away she suddenly remembered something and said to her "By the way please Thank Ash for me for this wonderful Idea, also please tell him to visit Luna sometimes, she's bored alone at the castle, that is all, hope to see you again soon." before she flew away.
As soon as no more Parasprite was in sight the four of the paraders went back.
"Wooh! That was fun." Ash said as he was slowly coming to the group with a grin.
"We got to go Ash." Scratch told him and he nodded and said "I'll take the instruments back to you tomorrow thanks for the help!" He was still grinning since this was a new experience for him.
"Sure, it was fun see ya!" she waved back and the two of them turned to leave but Octavia yelled out "Don't forget about the Trade!" Ash shouted back "I KNOW!"
"Trade? What trade?" Twilight asked him but he felt something was wrong and decided to change the subject.
"I thought I saw the princess? Did she have somewhere to go?" And it was successful since Twilight remembered what Celestia asked for as a favor.
"Oh right, Princess Celestia says Thanks for the wonderful Idea whatever she means by that, and also she said you should visit Princess Luna sometimes since she was bored at the castle."
"Ohh, Might as well visit her this week then, anyways the sun is almost going down so time to go back home." he said but he was soon stopped by a lasso.
"Nice try Ash, but what did she mean by trade?" Applejack was the one who asked and caught him.
"Dang, I thought you forgot." He was smiling with a hint of regret.
"Now tell us or Ah won't let you go." she stood firm and so did the others.
"I can't. It's sort of a secret." he looked away indicating he was still hiding something.
"Okay, then why did you help Pinkie even though it could have been one of her randomness?" Rainbow Dash asked next.
"Well you all seemed really busy and she needed help, Whatever she wanted to do normally I'd help her." He 'tried' to shrug his front hooves, try because he's being held by the ropes.
"Why? especially when you were busy yourself?"
"Because I'm her friend. That's the only reason I need." he smiled, this time he was sincere and not hiding anything unlike that trade, it made Pinkie feel shy and she smiled while it made the other five think.
'He's right.' all five of them thought, while they were all busy they failed to notice their friend who would likely help them if they were in the same situation they looked at each other and nodded indicating they thought of the same thing when they suddenly faced Pinkie and said.
"We're sorry" and this made Pinkie give them the biggest hug she could to the others while saying "It's okay girls! Ash did help me get the instruments after all."
'Oh no... she reminded them... please please please don't tell them Pinkie!' He wished hard to himself when it came.
"Does it have something to do with the trade?" Pinkie nodded.
"He told them that as payment for letting us borrow the instruments he'll do whatever they want for one day only." She told them...
"Really now?" Twilight said and went to Ash "So... Doing anything for one day?"
"I had to do it! Octavia hates me for some reason! That was the only way I could borrow it."
"hmmm... Okay you're free to go." Applejack said as she let the ropes loosen and let him go.
'Huh? Just like that? Well... I guess that was unexpected... Then again. What was I so afraid of?' Ash couldn't help but wonder though.
"Thanks, I need to visit someone right now after all. See you girls Later." He waved goodbye and went on his way.
"By the way girls! He taught me how to make a leaf whistle!" Pinkie told the others.
"Right. He was doing that in the parade wasn't he? How unexpected of him, Okay Pinkie let's see what you can do." they decided to hangout with one another before deciding to go home.
*Scene Break*
"Hey Doc, How are you?" He called out to the pony while grinning.
"Oh hello Ash, Need another cast?" Apparently, the good old doc still likes to make fun of Ash and his predicament of often getting hurt one way or another.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny doc but no. Not this time since there wasn't really any damage, well except for your Clinic that is." He pointed out trying to fight back.
"Oh No worries Ash, all the money I get from casting you really helps me a lot. I get to fix my clinic and still have extra!" Ash was once again shutdown by the doc.
"Okay you win, I give up. Anyways good luck with the rebuilding, Got to go home now, see you later doc!" but before he went away Whooves told him.
"It's a nice change of pace to see you somewhere else other than in the patient's bed." as he chuckled softly.
"I said I give up doc! Geez." He pouted and went back to his tent.
As he got there he saw Lucario meditating outside the tent and he decided to sneak up on him to make him lose his concentration it was just not his day today.
"I know you're there Ash" He told him straight.
"Dang, well I didn't see you today. What have you been up to?"
"I paid a visit to this one you call 'Zecora' about the potion, she didn't freak out when she saw me, though she did ask if I understood her so I talked to her telepathically about the Antidote... it's getting worse right?"
"A little... but the Dragon armor's regeneration helps me a little you know... I just don't think it can stop the poison if it gets stronger." Lucario just nodded and they decided to rest up.
"How about you? what have you been up to?"
"Me and Pinkie made a temporary marching band." He smiled broadly and this made Lucario smile.
"Having friends is great right?"
"Definitely... especially if there's one spoilsport there like you." Lucario just grinned and shook his head and decided to go to sleep.
'Yeah... having friends really is great... See you tomorrow everyone, Good Night.' he told himself as he closed his eyes and slept.