"Hi, Pinkie Pie!" greeted Catbug.
"Hi, Catbug! I'm so glad you remembered me!" Pinkie beamed. To make the rest of the conversation go more smoothly, she dismounted the ceiling with a triple, duel-axis spin flip, landing directly in front of him.
Suddenly, the crusaders were all holding signs. Applebloom's had a '10', Sweetie Belle's had an '9', and Scootaloo's had a picture of Rainbow Dash's head following two less-than symbols. Neither of them noticed.
"The party's just about to get pumping!" she continued, leaning her head down right in front of his face. "It was gonna be a surprise but it looked like you were taking a while and I was just soooo excited to get to know you better and show you to all the ponies and make you cupcakes and play games and- "
Catbug cut her off with a paw to the muzzle, grinning. "Then let's go party already!"
Pinkie giggled. "Love the enthusiasm! Hop on, I'll have us at Sugarcube Corner in a jiffy!"
He obliged, and one wing-assisted leap later he was nestled comfortably inside her curly mane.
As Pinkie Pie sped off out the door and into the distance, a joyful 'wheee' was heard, progressively lowering in volume.
The crusaders collectively shrugged, and trotted off after them.
* * *
Catbug couldn't help but gasp as the pair arrived at a pastry-shaped building. The sounds of numerous talking ponies could be heard from inside, along with some familiar-sounding music. The smell of sugar-laden confections wafted out the windows, causing him to begin salivating.
Pinkie slammed the doors open, causing the partygoers to stop what they were doing. "Hay, everypony! Catbug's here! Please welcome him to Ponyville with lots of laughs and smiles, ok?"
This announcement was met with cheers all around. Many ponies trotted up to say their hellos to the guest of honor. Catbug took it all in stride, hovering into the air while sending replies and waves to those that did.
Among the crowd were four ponies that he recognized. He flew up to them. "What have you all been doing?"
"Twilight was just talking about egghead stuff with Fluttershy," informed Rainbow Dash, the only other being in the bakery currently flying.
"It's not 'egghead stuff'!" whined Twilight. "It's a groundbreaking discussion regarding extra-equestrian biology!"
Fluttershy nodded almost imperceptibly. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Umm... Catbug? Would it be ok if you could let Twilight run some tests on you later?" asked Fluttershy, shifting away. "It's important to her, but if you aren't up for it then that's ok..."
"Sure! Why not?"
She was about to provide an answer to that question, but was cut off by Rarity, who abruptly moved in front of her to place something onto Catbug. She held up a mirror, showing slight nervousness.
Catbug stared at his reflection. Upon his head was a classy-looking, yellow and blue bowler hat, complete with ear holes. D'awws were uttered all around in response to the display of adorableness.
"It's awesome! Thanks!" he proclaimed.
Rarity perked up. "I'm ever so glad you like it, darling, but no thanks are necessary. Just knowing that my work brought a smile to your face is enough for me."
"But that's my job!" exclaimed Pinkie.
After a brief pause spent registering the information, the mares all burst into a fit of chuckles, soon joined by Catbug.
It was only when the sound died down slightly did Catbug notice the orange mare in the cowboy hat who had stopped laughing. "Anyhow, Ah reckon it's 'bout time Ah introduced myself. Name's Applejack!" she said, extending a hoof.
Catbug dropped down to shake it. "It's nice to actually meet you, Applejack!"
"Thanks, sugarcube. So, how--"
But alas, it was not to be. Catbug had noticed something shiny on the other end of the room, and buzzed off over the ponies at the buffet tables to find out what it was. He was at a party, so it had to be fun, right?
As Applejack groaned, Rainbow Dash covered her mouth with her hooves, clearly to cover up the sly grin on her face. Pinkie just pronked on after him, oblivious and excited.
Soon, Catbug arrived at a mesmerizing display. A white unicorn wearing violet goggles was playing the techno music that reverberated throughout the place with a large machine. She was banging her head, hooves raised. Giggling, he imitated the motions as he listened.
"Aren't her wubs the just the best?" asked Pinkie. "But still," she continued, interrupting herself, "they would be even better with cupcakes!"
Turning to Pinkie, Catbug saw that she had procured a large tray of multicolored cupcakes. It was somehow being held aloft by the curl in her mane, directly above her huge grin.
He eagerly grabbed one, and shoved his face into the frosting almost immediately. As he nom-ed on it, Pinkie deftly pushed back his hat before it got hit by the gobs of food being thrown about. She'd ruined one too many articles of clothing herself that way.
Catbug licked his lips once he was finished. "Yum!"
"Yay! I'm so happy that you're happy!" she said. Then, turning her head 450 degrees, she asked "you want one Vinyl?"
You could hardly tell through the goggles, but her eyes narrowed.
Pinkie blinked. "Oopsies, my bad. Would you like a delicious, hoofmade cupcake, DJ PON-3?"
She smiled, lifting a green one off of the tray with her magic as she continued spinning records.
When Pinkie saw that her friend was satisfied, she twisted back only to find that Catbug had left again. However, her tapping right hoof and itchy ears told her that he could be found in the kitchen.
Pinkie zipped over there, only to find that Catbug was now watching Berry Punch play a game that she hadn't set up for the party. Berry bounced a white ball off of the counter. A group of rowdy stallions holding drinks shouted cheers as the ball splashed into a plastic cup and the mare consumed its contents. Catbug had joined them.
Her eyes narrowed as she reached over to yank him down in a protective hug. "Now what do we have here?" Pinkie asked the group menacingly. They all fell silent. "There are foals at this event, you guys! Shame on you! Break it up; my annual off-the-wall boozefest isn't until next week!"
Catbug looked upon Pinkie with confusion as Berry and the others hung their heads and trotted slowly away.
"It's ok!" reassured Pinkie as she nuzzled Catbug against her chest. "There are lost of other fun, foal-friendly games we can play, like pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, beanbag toss, or even Mare-io Party! Though, that last one tends to suck the magic right out of you."
"That first one sounds like fun," he stated.
"Splenderific!"
With that, the pair set off over to the front. Progress was slow, as multiple ponies elected to glomp Catbug as he passed by their hooves. He most certainly didn't mind the attention, it was his party after all, but some curious glances were shot his way when a certain accessorized pink filly elected to give him an impromptu belly rub.
When they did come to the poster of the tail-less pony on the inside wall, the Crusaders were already there. Pinkie smiled as she watched Applebloom spin Scootaloo around, paper tail held in her teeth. But when Scootaloo took some shaky steps forward and poked the tail directly into the image's eye, Pinkie heard sniffles.
However, it wasn't coming from the filly. Pinkie gasped. "Catbug? What's wrong?"
His nose was scrunched up, paws on his cheeks. "Wh... Why would you flatten and dis-remember a pony like that? That's not fun at all."
"What? Oh, nonononono, that's not a real pony, Catbug! It's just a picture, see?" she said, ripping the poster off the wall.
Catbug blinked, and his returning normal expression caused the mare to sigh in relief.
"Okie-dokey, so that's out. Let's go play something else then!"
Catbug shook his head.
Pinkie's body stiffened. "Huh? No games? Catbug, that just doesn't work! It's not a party without party games, and without them, you can't have the double-fun-stuffed Pinkie party experience!"
"But, there's plenty of ways to have fun without games!" he countered. "All you need is imagination! Watch."
Inspired, Catbug flew over to the snack table under Pinkie's intensely curious gaze. He picked out a lone banana, and then plucked a single, large leaf of lettuce out of the salad bowl.
When he returned, he sat on the floor in front of Pinkie and cleared his throat.
"Hi Beth. It's me, Chris, your friend!" he said while moving the banana up and down in his right hand.
"Hi, Chris," he continued in a more high-pitched voice, now moving the lettuce in his left.
"Just dropped by to get my courage and let you know that I love you," said banana Chris.
"Ok," replied lettuce Beth.
Dramatic pause. "Well?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Chris, I've known for a while. I'm actually in love with Impossibear."
"What? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Catbug screamed melodramatically as he peeled the banana.
A few ponies who had witnessed the impromptu performance stomped their hooves in applause as he stood up and bowed. One let out a hearty "YEAH!"
Pinkie took a deep breath as she realized the full implications of the glorious display she had just witnessed. Immediately, she prostrated herself before him, hooves outstretched. "Teach me your ways of abstract amusement, o wise and venerable master."
Catbug giggled. "Oh, it's easy, Pinkie! All you have to do is--"
However, Catbug paused. Suddenly, his pupils widened dramatically, covering his entire corneas. Raising his arms to his sides, he screamed again, this time in utter terror. There was a blinding flash of blue light, and when it had faded, there was neither eye nor ear of Catbug or his new hat.
With the sound of a record scratch, all was silent within Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie dropped to her knees, doing her best impression of the final line from Catbug's play.
As a veritable waterfall of tears cascaded down her face, Pinkie felt a hoof on her shoulder. Ceasing her sobs, she met eyes with Fluttershy, who wore a soft smile. Pinkie's other besties were huddled behind her.
"I know this is odd coming from me, but don't worry about Catbug. That's how he came here in the first place. It's really sad to see him go, but he should be back home with his family where he belongs," Fluttershy reassured.
"But what about all my experiments? Such an opportunity, wasted!" exclaimed Twilight.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "At least y'all got to talk to him."
*Insert studio audience laughter as camera fades to black*