Chapter 10: Swarm of the Century (S1:E10)
My Little Pony: Nine Elements
Written by Brandon Nell and Blake Hawkins
Additional suggestions by Rachel Ravens
Chapter 10: Swarm of the Century
It had been three days since Twilight, Spike, and their friends befriended Zecora. In that time, the other ponies got used to seeing her around and (with some lectures from Spike) welcomed her as an equal. Since nopony hid from her anymore, Zecora would visit Ponyville more often.
During that time, Princess Celestia had written to Mayor Mare, saying that she would come to visit Ponyville after the third day. On said day, Fluttershy was picking flowers for a flower arrangement. As she collected them, she sang a little song to herself.
“La la la la la la la la,” she sang softly. 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.
As Fluttershy went to pick another flower close by a basket full of apples, she heard a light chirping noise. This caught her by surprise and she hid behind the basket.
"That's an unusual bird sound," she said to herself. “Who’s there?” 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. Though, there was something vaguely familiar about it. "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 unusual creature didn’t answer, however. Instead, it sniffled a bit and gave a faint whimper. “Oh, are you hungry?” Fluttershy asked. She found an apple and smashed it with her hoof. "There you go. Just in case chewing hurts your teeth."
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 little creature let out a content chirp and nuzzled into Fluttershy's mane. "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.
Meanwhile, at the Golden Oak Library, Twilight was busy fussing over Spike, as he was cleaning the whole library from top to bottom. Of course, she was helping, too, by levitating the various items onto shelves and tables. Hardly one to be patient in a time like this, Twilight grumbled. "Oh! Hurry up, Spike! This place isn't going to clean itself, you know."
Spike was in a grumpy mood since he was helping clean up a mess he didn’t make. “It also didn’t mess itself up.”
"I know, I know," muttered Twilight as she continued to clean up.
Spike put some books away before saying, “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. It’s not fair! 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. "You were in therapy at the time and the weather wasn’t ideal for relying on the regular mail system. 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.
“Spike,” Twilight said after a light groan. “When it comes to large social gatherings like this, 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 these books one at a time,” Spike grumpily suggested. “Or at least not leave them lying around everywhere. You know where they go and have magic to put them there without needing a ladder. After all those lectures you gave me about picking up after myself, you can't even follow your own advice?"
Twilight just sighed. She never liked to argue with Spike, but, there were times when he was difficult. “I’m sorry, Spike, but, everything has got to be perfect. We can discuss how to avoid the clutter once the visit is over, but, for now, we need to make sure this visit goes on without a hitch. That can’t get done if we’re just going to stand around and argue.” Then, in a kinder voice, she said. “While I’m in town getting supplies, would you mind putting everything into place as best you can? Whatever you don’t finish up, I can finish up when I get back for you. I’ll even treat you to a few emeralds for the work you did do. How does that sound?”
Spike perked up. “Emeralds?!” he asked with his tail wagging. “You can count on me, Twi!” He then began picking up the books more eagerly.
“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight said. “I’ll see you in a while.” She then opened the door with her magic. I better make good on that promise, she thought to herself. If Spike’s this cranky now, it’ll be even worse if he’s left hungry.
Twilight felt much better once she was outside and, catching a whiff of that lovely summer 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, she met up with two earth pony mares who were responsible for the welcome banner. Their names were Berry Punch and Golden Harvest. Twilight looked at the banner. It read, “Welcome Princess Celest.” Twilight wasn’t thrilled about this. “Berry Punch, have you been hitting the bottle again?”
“Uh… no…" she trailed. “Maybe…”
"We missed the last two letters of Princess Celestia's name because we ran out of room on the banner," sighed Golden Harvest.
“The problem isn’t that the banner was too small,” Twilight said. “You wrote the letters too big. Take it down and start over.” Then, she left without another word.
As Twilight continued, she came across a different earth pony named Bon Bon. She was watering a patch of nearby flowers with a watering can.
“Excellent work, Bon Bon,” Twilight encouraged. “I had my doubts when a candy maker like you was put in charge of watering the flowers, but, you surprise me with your competence.”
Bon Bon gave a grateful nod and continued with her work. Twilight then continued to Sugarcube Corner.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie, hello, Mr. and Mrs Cake," greeted Twilight. “How’s preparations for the banquet coming?”
“Um, well,” Mrs. Cake said nervously. “The preparations would be better if not for…”
She then pointed to the banquet treats being partially eaten. The culprit was revealed to be Pinkie herself.
“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed. “What in the wide world of Equestria are you thinking?!”
“I’m thinking that these treats should be tasted to be sure they’re worthy of the royal tongue,” Pinkie said innocently.
“At the rate you’re ‘tasting,’ they won’t touch the royal tongue at all!” Twilight scolded.
“Well,” Mrs. Cake said. “Carrot and I better get to baking again.”
“Honestly, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Why do the Cakes entrust a selfish mare like you with anything?”
At that comment, Pinkie stopped herself from biting into a red velvet cake. “Ex-CUSE me?!” Pinkie said, her normal cheery voice gone. “You call taste-testing the treats to make sure they’re not poisoned selfish?!”
“What are you talking about, Pinkie?” Twilight asked. “Who would try poisoning the princess? For that matter, who would be stupid enough to think that would even work? She’s over 1,000 years old and she’s still in her prime. Plus, her sister spent 1,000 years on the moon with no food, water, or air and she’s still alive and well! Okay, she’s a bit weakened due to her Nightmare Moon transformation and purification 1,000 years later, so, ‘well’ might be pushing it, but, that’s besides the point!”
Pinkie was about to answer Twilight’s question, but, she stopped to really think about that. “That’s actually a good point,” the party mare conceded. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”
“It’s okay, dearie,” Mrs. Cake comforted. “Maybe you should stay outside while we try to replace everything you took a bite of.” Pinkie looked around and had a hard time spotting a treat she didn’t take a bite of.
“Tss… yeah…” Pinkie admitted with a wince. “Guess I overdid it.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said. “And, I’m sorry if I went a bit overboard, too. I just really want this visit to go well.”
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?"
“We were actually heading outside right now so the Cakes can fix my mess,” Pinkie said. “You can tell us outside.”
So, the three friends met up outside of Sugarcube Corner.
“What did you want to tell us, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. “Did you want to have another tea party with Spike?” Ever since the encounter with Razer, Fluttershy had been inviting Spike over for tea parties to bond with him.
“Maybe after the visit,” Fluttershy said. “But, I wanted to show you something I came across that I’ve never seen before. It’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.” She 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?” Twilight asked. “I’ve never seen anything like them before!”
"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.
“I’ve seen those before,” Pinkie said. “They’re parasprites and they’re nothing but trouble.”
“Para-what?” Twilight asked.
“And,” Fluttershy asked. “What do you mean by trouble?”
“Take your eyes off them for even a second,” Pinkie said. “And they’ll eat every edible thing in sight and multiply by barfing. Now, I need to find a trombone.”
“A trombone?” Twilight asked. “Why do you need a trombone?”
"Well, it's a bit of a long story and it involves going all the way back to my fillyhood," Pinkie answered. "You really want to know? Because it's not pretty."
“If these parasprites are troublesome,” Twilight said. “Then, we should know how to get rid of them, even if the reason why might not be a pleasant one. Besides, I need to look for an emerald for Spike anyway.”
"I'd like to hear the story, too, Pinkie, if you don't mind that is," Fluttershy encouraged.
“Well,” Pinkie said. “I may not like telling it, but, you guys deserve to know, so here we go. Fluttershy might already know this, but, I wasn’t born in Ponyville. Instead, I was born and grew up on a rock farm in the town of Ponypalooza.”
“That sounds more like an event than a location,” Twilight said. “Wait, a rock farm?! As in one of those farms where ponies collect rocks and add chemicals and water so that rocks will grow? Some potentially into geodes?”
“The very same,” Pinkie answered. “Though, full disclosure, Ponypalooza is one of several names the town had. It was also called Rockville and Western Equestria at some points in time. They keep changing it for whatever reason.”
“Still, I never thought a pony like you would’ve grown up in a place like that,” Twilight said.
“I told Spike that my family mined rocks on the day you two came here,” Pinkie said. “Remember? You poured hot sauce in your drinking cup?”
“Oh,” Twilight said before sheepishly wincing. “I wasn’t really listening there. I kind of tuned you out.”
“Anyway,” Pinkie continued. “I lived there with my mom and dad, Cloudy Quartz and Igneous Rock Pie. And there are also my sisters, from oldest to youngest, Limestone, Maud, and Marble, but, those are mostly nicknames. I’m the second youngest of them. There was also Granny Pie and Nana Pinkie who would visit sometimes. On one such day, Limestone brought home a very unusual creature.” And here is how the rest of Pinkie's story unfolded:
At the Pie Rock Farm, everypony was gathered at the dining room table. Everypony, that is, except one. This was a fact that did not escape the amber eyes of the Pie family patriarch, Igneous Rock Pie. He fidgeted with his black stetson hat, something he usually did when he was trying to keep his anger under control. "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,” Cloudy said calmly. “There is no need for concern. I am certain Limestone would not keep us waiting for no reason. She might be in the washroom washing up before supper.”
“Well, she sure is taking her time,” Marble said in a barely audible whisper.
“Should I go and fetch her?” Maud asked in a monotone voice.
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?
“Limeamina Dolly Pie, where hast thou been?” Igneous Pie asked, glaring at his eldest daughter.
“Sorry I’m late, father,” she replied. “But, I found something quite unusual.” 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,” Pinkie squeaked. “Looks like your little friend has other little friends!” She was fascinated by the brightly colored creatures that stood out amidst the dull grays and browns of the rock farm.
“Limestone,” Cloudy scolded. “What have we told you about bringing in unwanted pets into the house? You know what your father has said about pets.”
“But, they look so cute,” cooed Marble. “Please let us have one each.”
"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. There will be no debating it afterwards."
“We promise we’ll take care of the little guys,” Limestone pleaded. “We'll feed them, walk them, clean up after them, and give them baths. They’ll be so well-behaved, you’ll hardly notice them.”
Igneous was about to say “no,” but, before the words left his mouth, he thought back to when he was a colt and asked his parents if he could have a pet, which they declined. He didn’t want his daughters to feel the same disappointment he did, so, he reluctantly said, "Limestone, Maud, Pinkie, Marble, you may keep these... whatever they are called. Each of you may take one and claim it as your own."
The four fillies cheered (though, Maud and Marble were still at low volume) and they each took one of the little creatures.
“Come on!” smiled Pinkie. “Let’s have a celebration in our rooms!”
“Just a minute, young ladies,” Igneous declared. “Let it be known 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 no more matters are to be addressed, let us enjoy our meal,” Igneous said. 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 the Pie family, with its new additions, went to bed. However, during the night, an unexpected noise caught Pinkie’s attention. In her half-asleep state, she thought it was her stomach digesting the meal and ignored it. However, as the noise persisted, she began to realize that it was the sound of buzzing. She opened her eyes and turned on the lights in her bedroom to see that the entire room was swarming with Parasprites. "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 did not care. They continued to press against Pinkie’s bedroom door trying to force it open. "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-toned voice asked. It was Maud, Pinkie’s older 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. “Never mind, I think I got it.”
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 were in Pinkie and Maud’s rooms. All around them, the creatures were devouring every food item in their paths, leaving Limestone and Marble in a state of near panic.
“How did so many of these creatures get here?!” cried Limestone. “We only had one each last night.”
Pinkie caught sight of a blue Parasprite finishing up eating a piece of food. After it swallowed the food, it looked like it was about to upchuck. It coughed up a small brown blob. The blob hovered in midair and it transformed into another Parasprite. “Uh-oh,” she said.
“What’s all the commotion about,” asked an aged feminine voice. “It isn’t wise for young ponies to be up and about so late at night.” 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’s another story), except they were a ghostly white in color. And her eyes were a faded blue in color.
“Oh, great!” Limestone exclaimed, temporarily forgetting her worries. “Now we woke up Granny Pie! Now we have to hear one of her crazy old breezie’s tales.”
“Hey!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I like Granny Pie’s old breezie’s tales!” Pinkie was always so close to Granny Pie. Especially ever since the old mare had taught Pinkie how to laugh away her fear of the darkness.
“We didn’t mean to wake you, Granny,” Marble hastily apologized. “It’s just that Ed got hungry in the middle of the night and I thought I’d get up to feed him. Things got crazy so fast.”
"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 on Granny Pie’s nose. She got a good look and her eyes filled with horror. “Creature of so little size! Is that a parasprite before my eyes?!”
"A para-what?!" All four Pie siblings exclaimed at once.
Looking at the parasprite, Granny Pie was silent, which was highly unusual for the normally eccentric paternal grandmother. She finally said. “Tales of crops and harvests consumed, if these creatures are here tonight, they won’t leave us any time soon! Unless…”
“Unless what?!” Limestone demanded. “Out with it, Granny Pie! How do we stop these things from eating us out of house and home?!”
“There is only one way to be safe,” Granny Pie said. “One way that we can be rid of these invaders. Quickly, there’s no time to waste. We must gather every musical instrument we can!”
The Pie sisters couldn’t believe what they just heard.
“Well, let’s not just stand there!” Granny Pie exclaimed. “Go now, everypony!”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Limestone shouted. “Our livelihood is at stake and your main concern is musical instruments?!”
“I don’t understand it, either,” Maud said. “I don’t see how these are going to help get the Parasprites away.”
Marble was reluctant to say what she wanted to, but, did so regardless. “How do we even know if they're 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?!"
Granny Pie wore a deadpan expression. “You’re seriously going to listen to my rock-headed son’s advice over mine?” She asked. “His old fashioned ways are why we’re still eating rocks to survive even though we can’t digest them!”
Pinkie, being closest to Granny Pie, felt inclined to agree. “She kind of has a point,” she said. “Besides, mom and dad seemed as clueless about what the Parasprites were as the rest of us since dad said, ‘whatever these are called’ instead of parasprites.”
“Celestia bucking dammit,” Limestone muttered under her breath before shouting. “Fine, you win, Granny Pie! Let’s see how well this doesn’t work.”
So, the four sisters and Granny Pie set off at once, looking and picking up every musical instrument they could find.
They managed to gather a trombone, a concertina, a harmonica, a drum, cymbals, and even a sousaphone. Limestone aggressively piled the ones he found. By that point, the parasprites ate all the food and began moving onto the floor, walls, and furniture.
“Very good, my little ponies,” Granny Pie said. “You’ve done me proud.”
“What’s next, Granny Pie?” Pinkie asked, keen to help her grandmother. The old mare began piling the instruments onto her body.
“We’re doomed,” Limestone said pessimistically. “No way she can play all those at once.”
But, Granny Pie gave a knowing smile. In her years of living, she picked up a few trade secrets. “Never underestimate the elderly, Limey.”
Limestone grumbled to herself as Granny Pie finished putting the instruments together. Granny then took a deep breath and she started to play a jaunty polka on the sousaphone part of the mishmash. As this happened, other instruments started to perk up and play in the song. Limestone’s jaw dropped when she saw that not only was Granny Pie playing all the instruments at once, but, the parasprites stopped eating as soon as they heard the music. They enjoyed the music and they even bopped in alternating lines to the beat. Soon, it was a parasprite parade led by a pony with a proficiency for playing many instruments.
Granny Pie led the parasprites out of the house as Igneous and Cloudy Quartz came down the stairs, woken from their slumber by both Limestone’s shouting and the instruments being played.
“What is all of this commotion?” Igneous asked, a yawn escaping from his throat. “It is far too early to start work.” He instantly woke up upon seeing the state of the kitchen and the several parasprites still being led out of the house. “What in Celestia’s name happened here?!”
“Uh,” Pinkie said sheepishly. “Let’s just say that those new pets of ours didn't really work out,” she then looked at the still shocked Limestone. “Also, I think Limey’s broken.”
“Hmm,” Igneous said to himself. “Perhaps this should teach her an important lesson about bringing in strange pets. I did warn you. And mayhaps her cleaning the kitchen will help this lesson stick.”
“I don’t think she’ll be able to right now,” Maud said. “She’s in shock.”
Cloudy gently laid Limestone onto her back and elevated her hind hooves with a rolled dish towel. “A little rest will do her good.”
“Mm-hmm,” Marble said with a nod.
Granny Pie didn’t return until sunrise. When she returned, all but one of her family were there to congratulate her.
“That was amazing, Granny Pie!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.
“Indeed, ma,” Igneous said, holding his hat over his chest. “How did you know that would work?”
“You always listened to your pa over me,” Granny Pie said flatly. “Look how well that’s going. We have to eat rocks to survive. We’re not dragons. Our stomachs aren’t meant to digest rocks. That’s why our—”
“Alright, alright, I see your point,” Igneous interrupted, not liking where his mother’s scolding was going.
“Anyway,” Granny Pie said. “The point is, I know my fair share of things. And, you know, it’s not too late to make some changes around here.” As if to illustrate her point, the sails of the farm windmill fell off.
“Ma,” Igneous said humbly. “I’m willing to try new things and listen to your advice.”
“And that’s how me and my family learned to listen to Granny Pie’s advice even if it doesn’t immediately make sense,” Pinkie said back in the present day. By that point, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity joined in to listen. Applejack’s eyes were shining.
“AJ,” said the skeptical Rainbow. “How much of that story is a total load?”
After a short time, Applejack’s eyes stopped shining and she blinked. “None o’ it,” she answered plainly. “Story’s all true. Ah have the Mystic Eyes o’ Truth n’ it still sounds crazy ta me.”
“Well,” Rarity said. “If your Mystic Eyes of Truth say the story is true, then we must believe it. It might not make sense, but, we must understand where Pinkie’s coming from.”
Pinkie noticed something missing from Fluttershy. “Fluttershy,” Pinkie said sternly. “What did I say about taking your eyes off parasprites?”
“Oh!” Fluttershy exclaimed looking back at her wing. “Sorry, it’s a bit hard to listen to somepony tell a story and focus on something else at the same time.”
Pinkie groaned in exasperation. "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 grown and eaten all the food they can find! Now, where am I going to find a harmonica?" And with that, she was gone in a pink blur of motion.
“I don’t know about you girls,” Twilight said suddenly. “But, I’m going to help Pinkie find musical instruments.”
“Nuts to that!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I’ll just make a tornado to suck them all up at once.”
“And what’ll you do after that?” Twilight asked. “Furthermore, what do you plan to do if Pinkie comes by with instruments like cymbals?”
Rainbow was about to answer, but, she stopped once she started to think about it. “Hmm,” she said. “Good question.” Suddenly, Fluttershy remembered something.
“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy said. “I vaguely remember skimming through a book with information on parasprites at the Golden Oak Library back when we were under the effects of the Poison Joak.”
“And you’re only telling us this now?!” Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy meekly replied, “I didn’t get a good look at the page and, given the circumstances, I didn’t think learning about a new creature would help us back then anyway.”
“Oh!” Twilight said. “Good call, Fluttershy! After I grab an emerald for Spike, I’ll go and read through the book. Thank you.”
“An emerald for Spike?” Rarity asked. She then fetched one out of her saddle bag. “Here, darling. I just so happen to have a spare one right here.”
“Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight said. “I promised Spike that I’d give him emeralds as a reward for cleaning up the library while I left to check on the preparations.”
“Wait just a minute here,” Rainbow said. “You left Spike, who’s ten pony years old, alone to clean up the whole library?”
“Yeah, so?” Twilight asked.
“We’ve all known Spike for a while,” Rainbow said. “And in that time, we’ve seen that he goes into a small panic when he makes a mess before he immediately goes to pick it up. Plus, a lot of the times we go into the library, we see him cleaning up a big mess of books. Speaking as somepony who habitually makes big messes, I know that Spike’s not capable of making messes that big.”
“I agree,” Rarity said. “Why, just yesterday, when he was helping me out in the boutique, he disrupted my organized chaos. I was upset, but, now, I can see that he was conditioned to clean up messes he didn’t make and that’s hardly fair.”
“It ain’t just hardly fair,” Applejack put in. “It’s ‘bout as far from fair as ya can get.”
Twilight heard all that her friends were saying and suddenly a look of guilt washed over her face.
“Oh, wow…” Twilight said sadly. “You’re right. I shouldn’t put Spike through any of that. I’ve got to go.”
And with that, Twilight ran back to the Golden Oak Library. But, before she even got there, the sound of parade music filled the air. Sounds like Pinkie found all the instruments she needed. Sure enough, Pinkie was playing all the instruments and leading several parasprites behind her as her friends could only watch as Pinkie’s eccentric methods worked. I’ll have to thank her once I finish talking with Spike, Twilight thought to herself. She then made her way back to the library.
At the library, Spike had finally reshelved the last book. He was in a much better mood now. “Phew,” he sighed in relief. “Everything’s cleaned up.”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said, tears welling in her eyes.
“I cleaned up the entire library, Twilight,” Spike said. He then turned to see the tears in Twilight’s eyes and became concerned. “What’s wrong, Twilight?”
“I’m a terrible friend,” Twilight said. “I left you to clean up something I should have taken responsibility for. You should be learning how to be a kid, but, instead I’m raising you to be a servant!” She hugged him tight. “Everything you’ve done for me over the years and I barely reward you for it. I don’t blame you for hating me.”
Spike was thunderstruck. “Twilight, I couldn’t hate you if I tried!”
“Y-you couldn’t?” Twilight asked, wiping tears from her eyes. “Even after the way I treated you?”
Spike looked the unicorn straight in the eyes. “You’re the reason I hatched in the first place,” he said. “Even if you sometimes give me the short end of the stick, I put up with it because you brought me into the world. I owe you my life. I don’t remember any of my parents. Your family is the closest I’ll ever get to having my own. It’s thanks to you that I have the skills I do and that I lasted as long as I did. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think I’d make it to ten pony years old.”
Twilight heard all that Spike had said. Her tears of pain had changed to tears of joy.
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said. “I appreciate having you in my life. And I want to put in an effort to show you more often that I do care.” She then held the emerald Rarity gave her to him. “Starting with fulfilling this promise. This one emerald represents my promise to work on my treatment of you. Once you eat it, my words will symbolically be close to your heart forever.”
Spike looks at the emerald with amazement and a tear of joy welled in his right eye. “Thanks, Twilight.” He then stuffed the emerald into his mouth and swallowed it whole, not chewing even once.
“As much as I hate to ruin this tender moment,” Rarity’s voice called out. Twilight and Spike turned to see that their friends and Pinkie entered. “Could we possibly see the book with an entry on Parasprites?”
“Oh!” Twilight said aloud. “That was the other thing I came back here to get.”
“Hold on there, Twilight,” Spike said as he was free from the embrace. “I just cleaned up your mess. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to keep it that way for at least five minutes.”
“Alright, Spike.” Twilight said with a smile. “Fluttershy, do you remember any other pages you skimmed through?”
“Well, I think I saw an entry on Ursa Majors and Minors in it,” the yellow pegasus admitted.
“So, the book you’re looking for is Unusual Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Spike said. He then looked for said book. “Ah, here it is. Right under ‘u’.”
“But, you’re facing away from–” Pinkie began before being interrupted.
“The letter u, Pinkie,” Spike clarified.
“Oh~” Pinkie said. “That makes more sense.”
Spike pulled the book out and handed it to the mares. They thanked him.
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. The other mares (sans Pinkie) looked at the passage, which read as follows: "There is no known way by which a parasprite may be stopped once it begins to multiply. If one is spotted, do not attempt to feed it or take it with you. They are considered dangerous due to their unlimited appetite." They all gasped.
“That means Pinkie was the only one of us who had any knowledge on the parasprites,” Twilight said. “If we hadn’t listened to her, Ponyville would’ve been destroyed for sure!”
“Oh, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. “We can’t thank you enough for helping us!”
“And we’re sorry for doubting you,” Rarity said.
“Uh, somepony want to fill me in on what’s going on here?” Spike asked.
“Can do, Spike,” Pinkie said.
“While you’re being brought up to date with what happened,” Twilight said. “I’ll draft a friendship report to Princess Celestia.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” Spike said. “Okay, Pinkie. Fill me in on the details please.”
As Pinkie began her story, Twilight began writing her report.
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 me to 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. “Spike, could you send this, please?”
“You got it, Twilight.” Spike said. He then sends it with his magic dragon fire.
“Thanks,” Twilight said. “Now, we better make sure the Parasprites didn’t do too much damage.”
So, after Pinkie explained the details to Spike, the friends gathered outside to see how Ponyville was after the Parasprites’ swarm. They also made it a point to fix any damage they found in preparation for the princess.
End of chapter.
Stats
Page generated in 0.074 seconds
Total duration
1,103 users online
1,695,259 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
11473769
How so?
11473773
Yep.
11473775
Well, there's the obvious fact that they can not only talk, but, have a functioning society and intricate culture.
11473779
Alright, obviously that, but the show writers went well out of their way into incorporate real equine behaviors.
11473811
In the first season. From season 2-onwards, ponies had more human-like behaviors.
Definitely liked the work you did on this latest episode. Once more, the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are pretty well done. In addition to the good use of a very similar flashback to SB12's version (definitely averted Poor Communication Kills at any rate), I also appreciate how much Twilight realized her behavior was excessive, especially concerning Spike, whom she acknowledged that she wasn't treating anywhere near as well as she should have been. The chat between Twilight and Spike at the end was actually my favorite part in fact.
Definitely looking forward to more of this.
11473820
Thanks.
Awesome, glad they listened this time and prevented the parasprites from doing the kind of harm they did in the episode. And it's good Twilight's starting to realize she's raising Spike to be a servant rather than a kid.
11473829
Yeah. Though, the habit dies hard.
And he wonders why he is a dog in the eqg universe.
11473846
Well, he has some dog-like qualities as a dragon. Loyalty, playfulness, and protectiveness are prime examples.
11473852
Not to mention it would be a lot less questions about her treating a dog like her son (most of the more loving pet owners DO treat their animals like their children, after all). I mean, as a human, Spike would be roughly the same age as the Crusaders' counterparts, so human Spike treating Twilight like his mother when she was just a couple years older than him might stir up a few too many questions with answers that would be much too dark for an Everyone-rated series) .
Though, to be fair, it's a reasonably popular fan theory that the portal turns ALL dragons into dogs in the Human World - NOT just Spike (because at least that would make it look slightly less like he was being singled out).
11473924
I actually have an idea were Twilight, in a fit of protective emotions, tells the human counterparts of Snips and Snails to release her son, which confuses Human!Snails while Human!Snips thinks she just said it to confuse them.
11473924
And that is the reason I see Spike and Twilight as adoptive brother and sister instead of the son and mother thing.
Very good chapter of this universe! Glad that they listened to Pinkie Pie in this universe!
Glad that it's the Pie family who learned the hard way of what those little pests can do in a flashback that would teach everybody else in this universe on what happens when one doesn't listen. Nice to have Granny Pie in this story as well.
Also, I thought Maud Pie was the oldest of the Pie sisters before Limestone.
Glad that Twilight's realized that she's treating Spike more like a servant than a kid and will learn to treat him like the latter instead of the former.
11473967
The mother son thing makes sense when you consider the fact that she hatched him in the first place.
11473972
I legit thought Maud was the oldest, too, but, the wiki said otherwise.
11473975
That maybe true but Season 9 confirmed that Twilight and Shining Armor see him as their younger brother which also means that Night Light and Twilight Velvet see Spike as their son.
11474034
I’m still sticking to the mother son relationship between them.
I like the idea of Pinkie telling her friends about the Parasprites, before getting the instruments she needed.
And the moment with Twilight and Spike at the end was sweet.
11476110
Thanks.
Excited for more.
11477311
The next chapter should wrap up today.
Glad you went this route puting the kabosh on the swarm before it even started thanks to Pinkie's story (even if Limestone blew a fuse
)
Alao YES thanks for calling Twilight out on her messy book behaviour while leaving Spike to clean her mess, about time someone did that!
11477440
I wasn’t the first.
11477358
Looking forward to it coming out
11477692
It comes out Monday.
11477714
How many episodes from Season 1 will be removed/replaced due to differences in this universe?
11480450
Not sure yet.
The scene between Twilight and Spike was nice.
In general, your plots and adjustments make more sense than the show's, but for some reason, your depictions of the characters is much...rougher around the edges? They're quick to judge each other and don't hesitate to call each other hurtful and insulting names (even Fluttershy!). It's more like they want to taunt each other's flaws and quirks rather than embracing those quirks as a part of being a good friend. The premise to your episodes is good, as are most of the changes, but the characters don't exude the friendliness that helped make our ponies from the show so likeable.
11482464
To be fair, this is the first season. They’re still developing.
11473928
That would make my, 'd'aww' meter explode.
Twice.
STORM: What happened to Octavio and Pizza?
11595666
BRANDON: They're not canon here.
11595695
STORM: May I ask why?
11595715
Pizza was just an April Fools joke from the show's Facebook page in 2017 and Octavio is from Pony Life which is a different continuity.
Interesting way of reframing the episode as a flashback to Pinkie's family. Pretty nice seeing the Pie family's earlier introduction.
Little weird Marble actually speaks considering she's too shy to say things beyond mumbling. Does this imply she used to be more talkative in the past before something happened or is she just more comfortable talking around her family than those outside it (kinda like Big Mac)?
So, who do you imagine voices Granny Pie?
11612637
Maybe Andrea Libman.
Wasn't expecting this chapter/episode to turn into a flashback episode and give us our first proper introduction to Pinkie's family early. Nor was I expecting Granny Pie to make an actual appearance! So those were all nice little surprises.
Also like how Twilight get called out for and has a realization about how she's treating Spike, her adopted son/brother, more like a personal servant than a child in her care. That was always a major issue I had with the actual show that was never really addressed. And I like how despite it, the chapter ended on a sweet little reconciliation between the two.
Though I'm curious now, what other characters from further on into the original series may turn up early.