Journey 1 / Chapter 11 The Swarm of the Century

On the edge of the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy, Mareep and their animal friends were out and about picking flowers for Celestia's visit. When they were about to have some of the apples Applejack and Electrike gave them. They both heard something from under a rock. Fluttershy hid behind Mareep, and Mareep removed the rock. That's when they both saw a blue small cute little bug with big green eyes and a big smile. Fluttershy walked up to the bug and said. "Hello, little guy. I've never seen anything like you before."

"Where did he come from?" Mareep said as the bug flew to an apple that fell out of the basket. It sniffed the apple and Fluttershy said to it. "Oh, are you hungry?" Fluttershy then crushed the apple and pushed it to the bug. The bug did eat the apple. It flew to the basket holding all the apples and ate all of them in a flash. They both gasped and Fluttershy said as the bug got closer to her. "I guess you were hungry."

"Yeah…?" Mareep said kind of worried about the bug. Fluttershy was blind by the bugs' cuteness that she didn't care that it took a nap in her mane. "You're the cutest thing ever! I can't wait to show you to my friends." Fluttershy said as she took the bug to town. In town everyone was getting ready for Celestia's visit. And Twilight was leading the event. As Twilight checked out everything, Beldum said to her. "You know I can't decide who has it worse. You, for freaking out about Celestia coming to have a nice unofficial, casual visit, or Spike, being forced to clean our home all by himself?"

"Me. Princess Celestia will be here tomorrow!"

"It's still just a casual visit."

"There's nothing casual about a visit from royalty! Everything has to be perfected. No time for fooling around!" Twilight said before she noticed the Pony and Pokemon that made a banner for Celestia was missing the "ia" at the end. "What happened to the rest of her name?" Twilight said and one of the female ponies said. "We couldn't fit it all in."

"You can't hang a banner that says "Welcome, Princess Celest." Take it down, and try again." Twilight said before running off to Sugar Cube Corner. Beldum followed her and once they reached there, they saw Mr and Mrs. Cake working hard. Twilight then said to them. "Hello, Mr and Mrs. Cake. How's the banquet coming?"

"Great. Thanks to Fantomu and his Pokemon help." Mrs. Cake said, pointing to Fantomu and his Pokemon blocking Pinkie Pie and Buneary from the sweets. "Pinkie! Buneary! What are you doing?! Those sweets are supposed to be for the Princess!"

"I-I know." Pinkie Pie said before Buneary said. "We just want to make sure they were tasty enough to touch the royal tongue."

"And I had to stop them." Fantomu said as he stopped them from eating a cake. A few seconds later, Fluttershy and Mareep walked in. "Guys, you won't believe! Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, am I interrupting?" Fluttershy said before Gible said. "No, you are not."

"What's going on, Fluttershy?" Twilight said and Fluttershy said. "You won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Come on out, little guy. It's okay." Fluttershy said as the bug came out with more just like it, but in different colors. Fluttershy and Mareep gasped and Twilight said walking over to them. "They're amazing. What are they?"

"I'm not sure. I'm also not sure where these other two came from."

"I'll take one of your hooves. I've never seen anything so… adorable! Besides, it'll be nice to have a companion for Spike so he won't bother me so much while I'm studying."

"Pinkie, do you want the other one?" Fluttershy said to Pinkie Pie and she said to them. "Ugh! A Parasprite?! Are you kidding!?" She then left them and Beldum said. "I wonder what that was about?"

"Don't know. And I am going to find out." Fantomu said as he left with his Pokemon. Twilight then took her bug with her and Beldum as they went to Rarity's shop to see the outfits Rarity was making for Celestia's visit. "I am not wearing that." Rainbow Dash said as she and Pidgey didn't want to try on a very old century dress. Neko then said to Rarity as he and his Pokemon partner, a male Espurr pushed the dress away. "I told you they wouldn't like it."

"Hey I want Rainbow Dash and Pidgey to look their best for Princess Celestia." Rarity said before Ralts pushed out some other dress. She then said to Rainbow Dash and "Then maybe you would like one of these?"

"Wow! Rarity, Ralts, those outfits are gorgeous!" Twilight said as she entered the shop. Rarity turned to Twilight and said with a little giggle. "Thank you, Twilight, but I can't take all of the credit. Ralts, Neko, and Espurr were a big help in making all of them."

"Hey Twilight what's that?" Rainbow Dash said as she noticed the bug along with two more bugs. Twilight looked at them and said. "The better question is, where did they come from?"

"Yeah. There was only one a few minutes ago." Beldum said before Rainbow Dash said. "I'll take one!"

"Me too! Oh, they're perfect!" Rarity said as they both took one of the bugs. The Pokemon all moved away from their partners and Beldum said to them. "Ok, I'm not the only one who has a bad feeling about those bugs, right?"

"Yeah, but who knows what those bugs are." Pidgey said as Pinkie Pie rushed into the shop and said. "Does anypony know where I can find an Accordion?!" The Pokemon looked at her, before Fantomu appeared with an accordion. He then said to Pinkie Pie. "Pinky Pie, I found an accordion."

"Good, now we need a harmonica. Maybe Applejack has one we could lend us." Pinkie Pie said as they left and the Pokemon were more confused now. The following night, in Twilight house. Twilight was admiring the sparking clean house, but was still worried about the banquet. Beldum noticed this, and said to her. "Hey, everything is ready. There is no need to worry. Now let's get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

"You're probably right. What's there to worry about?" Twilight said, looking at a sleeping Spike and bug, before going to bed herself. When she woke up, she saw that her house was full of bugs. She jumped out of her bed and said to the still sleeping Spike and Beldum. "Spike! Beldum! Wake up! What happened?!"

"What do you… Oh." Beldum said as they both woke up and saw the swarm. Spike then said to Twilight. "Aah! What's going on?"

"That's my question. Where did they come from?" Twilight said before Beldum said. "I don't know. Spike, do you have any idea on how this happened?"

"All I know is that the little guy got hungry in the night, so I gave him a snack, but I have no idea where these others came from." Spike said as they all were awake and starting to make a mess. Spike then got up and said. "Oh, no! They're messing up all my hard work!"

"The Princess will be here in a few hours!" Twilight said as they tried to get the bugs under control. But it wasn't working and they were not the only ones having trouble. Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity homes were full of these bugs. And all three of them were finishing round them up, they all ran to Fluttershy house, while the Pokemon cleaned up the mess. And they had a little conversation with Pinkie Pie, who asked if they had a specific instrument. Everyone ignored her and ran to Fluttershy house. The first two were Rarity and Twilight, and Rarity said to Twilight. "I see we're having the same problem."

"Ditto!" Rainbow Dash said as she arrived. Twilight then said to them. "Fluttershy knows everything about animals. I'm sure she can tell us how to stop them from multiplying." And then they all went to Fluttershy house, but the moment Twilight opened the door. A swarm way bigger than the ones at their homes. "Or not." Twilight said before they all went inside and saw Fluttershy trying to talk to the bugs and Mareep hiding under a chair. Twilight then said to Fluttershy. "Do something, Fluttershy! Can't you control them?"

"I've tried everything I know. I've tried begging and pleading and beseeching and asking politely and—" Fluttershy said, but Twilight zoned out and thought that if they couldn't get rid of this grown swarm before Celestia arrived. Then they would attack and then take Celestia away. Twilight then got out of her head and said to the others. "If we can't get them under control before the Princess arrives, it'll be a total disaster!"

"If you ask me, it's already a total disaster." Rarity said as she saw one of them multiplying. Just then, Applejack appeared, with Electrike and a cart full of apples. Applejack then said to Fluttershy. "Here's all those Apples you wanted, Fluttershy, but I still can't figure why you need so many." Then some of the bugs ate all of the apples in a few seconds. "Never mind." Applejack said as she let go of the cart. "What do we do?" Mareep said and Twilight got an idea. Twilight then said to everyone. "I got it! Nopony can herd like Applejack."

"Yeah! We can drive them back into the forest!" Rainbow Dash said and they all looked at Applejack. Applejack sighed, then said. "I'll rassle them up, but I'll need everypony's help to do it. Twilight, you and Rarity wait over there. I'll herd the little critters straight at you, like a funnel. Rainbow Dash, you and Fluttershy stay on top of them. Don't let them fly away. Mareep, you are with me and Electrike. Now let's do this. Yee-haw!" After Applejack said that they all started to chortle the bugs. After a few minutes they were able to put all of the bugs into one big ball pile. "All righty, y'all. Here goes nothing!" Applejack said as they started to make their way to the forest. On the way, Applejack kept an eye on everything and told the others if one was trying to leave. "Hold on, Girls! We're almost there!" Applejack said and then Twilight noticed Pinkie Pie and Buneary running next to her. Twilight then said to them. "Pinkie? Buneary?"

"Twilight, we don't have much time!" Pinkie Pie said before Twilight said. "You're telling me! The princess could arrive at any moment!"

"Exactly! That's why I need you gals to drop what you're doing and help us find some maracas!" Buneary said before Twilight said. "Maracas? Pinkie, Buneary, we've got much bigger problems than missing maracas."

"You're right! Getting a tuba has to be our number-one goal! Follow us!" Pinkie Pie said as she and Buneary left, but not one of them followed them. Pinkie Pie and Buneary got a little mad, but had more things to do. Back with the others, they were able to send the bugs back to the forest and were returning to Fluttershy house. On the way, Twilight said to everyone. "Okay, now that our bug problem is gone. We have to work extra hard to make up for the lost time." They then reached Fluttershy house, but the moment Fluttershy opened the door. Another swarm of bugs exited her house, and the whole area was covered in bugs again. Twilight then said to Fluttershy. "Where did they come from?!"

"Well, I may have kept just one." Fluttershy said as one jumped on her back "Fluttershy!" Mareep yelled in frustration and the others were giving her a look of frustration. Fluttershy bowed her head and said. "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. They're just… so… cute."

"And they are making a giant mess!" Mareep said to her partner. Twilight looked at them and said. "We don't have time to keep rounding up these things! What do we do now?"

"We call in the weather patrol!" Rainbow Dash said before flying at flew speed creating a tornado. She then used the tornado to collect the bugs, and things were going ok, even if they all had to hold onto something. "Way to go, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said to Rainbow Dash before Applejack said to Twilight. "Looks like our problems are solved!"

"They will be with these cymbals!" Pinkie Pie said as she appeared with Buneary and cymbals around her neck. And about a few seconds later, the cymbals snapped off Pinkie Pie's neck and went inside Rainbow Dash's tornado. As Rainbow Dash was dodging the cymbals, she said to the others while she was losing control of the tornado. "I can't hold it! She's breaking up!" The tornado then shot out Rainbow Dash, and the bugs started to fly to Ponyville. Twilight then said to Pinkie Pie and Buneary as the others joined Twilight. "Pinkie Pie, Buneary! What have you two done?"

"We've lost a brand-new pair of cymbals! That's what we've done!"

"Will you two forget about your silly instruments for one second? You're ruining our efforts to save Ponyville!"

"Us?! Ruining?! We are not the ruiner! I'm the ruined!" Pinkie Pie said before Buneary said. "I don't think that's what you are trying to say, Pinkie."

"Come on, girls. There's no reasoning with those two. They are a few apples short of a bushel." Applejack said as they all ran into town. After they were all gone, Fantomu appeared, holding a big bag with his magic, and with Gible and Noibat. Pinkie Pie and Buneary looked at Fantomu and he said to them. "Pinkie Pie, Buneary, we got most of them."

"Let me see." Pinkie Pie said before taking the bag and looking inside. "Who put these cymbals in here?" Pinkie Pie said, grabbing another pair of cymbals from the bag. "It was me." Noibat said and then Pinkie Pie said giving Noibat a hug and giving the cymbals to Buneary. "Thank you, Noibat. Now all we need is a tuba."

"I hate to stop this hug, but we better hurry and find a tuba." Fantomu said before they all started to look for a tuba. Back in Ponyville, everyone saw the bugs land everywhere, and while the Pokemon didn't like it, the Ponies found them cute. Until the bugs started eating everything they could, and multiplied like crazy. The girl arrived shortly after and Fluttershy said as they watched the chaos of the swarm. "What do we do? They're eating all the food in town."

"My apples!" Applejack said as she and Electrike left for Applejack's farm. "We've got to do something." Twilight said before getting an idea. Twilight then said to the others. "I got it. I'll cast a spell to make them stop eating all the food!" Twilight then casted her spell. And while it did stop the bugs from eating food, they then started to eat everything that wasn't food, Ponies, or Pokemon. "Hey. It worked. They're not eating the food anymore." Rainbow Dash said, causing a thought to enter Rarity's mind. "On, no! If they get inside my store… Everypony for herself!" Rarity said before everyone left to deal with the bugs attacking their homes.

At Rarity's shop, Rarity saw Ralts, Neko, and Espurr doing their best to keep the bugs out, but some were able to get inside and eat pieces of her outfits. "My outfits!" Rarity yelled as before she started to scream.

At Applejack's farm, the Apple Family, plus Inu and Poochyena were ready for the bugs attack. "No woodland creature's gonna eat the Apple Family's crop!" Applejack said as the swarm appeared. "Brace yourselves, y'all! Here they come!" Applejack said as she got ready to fight. But what she didn't know was that these bugs were now under Twilight spell. So they didn't go after the crops, but instead they went after the farmhouse and ate it in a heartbeat. "Didn't see that one coming." Applejack said as everyone gasped and dropped their weapons.

While Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, plus their Pokemon were mostly running away from the bugs hovering around them. Twilight returned to her house and found Beldum mostly fighting the bugs, while Spike was hiding. And Twilight saw the bugs eating the word right off the pages. "Beldum, grab one and follow me!" Twilight said and Beldum grabbed one and followed Twilight, but they did leave a helpless Spike behind. Twilight then took them to see Zakora and Mismagius, who were doing balance exercises. When Twilight and Beldum quickly and loudly opened the door, it broke their exercise and Zakora said to them. "Have you gone mad?"

"Zakora, these little guys are devouring Ponyville, and the Princess is on her way! Can you help us, please?" Twilight said as Beldum showed them the bug. Zakora and Mismagius looked at the bug and Zakora said. "Oh, a monster of little size. Is that a Parasprite before my eyes?"

"I don't know! Is it?!" Twilight said before Mismagius said. "Yes, that is a Parasprite."

"And what is a Parasprite?" Beldum said before Zakora said. "Tales of crops and harvests consumed. If these creatures are in Ponyville…"

"You're doomed." Zakora and Mismagius said before Twilight quickly went back to town with Beldum following her. "Oh, no! Here she comes!" Twilight said, seeing Celestia coming. Twilight then finally snapped and said to everyone, who was panicking. "Okay, here's the plan. Rainbow Dash, Pidgey, you two distract them." Then Rainbow Dash and Pidgey then flew past her with a lot of Parasprites. "Good. Everyone else, we need to build an exact copy of Ponyville right over there. We've got less than a minute!"

"I'm sorry to say it's Twilight, but Zakora and Mismagius were right. We're doomed." Beldum said and Twilight knew Beldum was right. Then they heard horn music playing. Twilight thought it was the princess procession, but it was really Pinkie Pie playing ten instruments with Fantomu pulling a car with Pinkie Pie on it and the Pokemon, each holding a speaker. "Guys, we're in the middle of a crisis here. This is no time for your… nonsense?" Twilight said before noticing that all of the Parasprite weren't eating anything, but instead were starting to follow the music. Everyone watched and then followed Fantomu leading the Parasprite back to the forest. "Look!" Twilight said as she saw Celestia land ahead of them. They all ran ahead to meet Celestia. When they reached her, they bowed to her and Celestia said to them. "Twilight Sparkle, my prized pupil."

"Hello, Princess."

"So lovely to see you again, as well as your friends."

"Hey Celestia!" Fantomu said as he walked by with the Parasprite Parade. Twilight laughed and said to Celestia. "So, how was the trip? Hit much traffic?"

"What is this?" Celestia said before a Parasprite landed close to her before joining the others. Celestia laughed and then said. "These creatures are adorable."

"They're not that adorable." Rainbow Dash whispered, so Celestia didn't hear her. Celestia then said to them. "I'm terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit."

"Parade? Oh, yes! The parade!" Twilight said, playing along with the idea of what Pinkie Pie was doing. Celestia then said to them. "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."

"An… infestation?" Twilight said as she and the others think that they might have sent Parasprite to Fillydelphia during one of their failed attempts to get rid of the Parasprite. Celestia then said to them. "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."

"Trouble? What trouble?"

"Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship in person?"

"My… report?"

"Haven't you learned anything about friendship?" Celestia said and then Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie and the others as they stopped at the edge of the forest and were leading the Parasprite inside. Twilight then smiled and said to Celestia. "Actually, I have. I've learned that something 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." Then they heard the ctmbals crashing. "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." Celestia said before leaving. "Thank you, Princess." Twilight said before they all went over to Pinkie Pie and the others, who just finished taking care of all of the Parasprite. Pinkie Pie stopped the music and said to everyone. "Hey, what happened to the princess?"

"Emergency in Fillydelphia." Twilight said before Beldum said. "Some sort of infestation."

"Oh, no! Have they got Parasprites, too?" Buneary said before Pinkie Pie said. "Well, have tuba, will travel."

"I'm pretty sure Celestia could handle it." Fantomu said, letting go of the cart. "So which one of you knew about those critters from the start?"

"Pinkie Pie. She told me and then we started looking for all of the instruments she needed to get rid of them. By the way, it wouldn't have taken us very long if you guys helped us." Fantomu said before Pinkie Pie said. "Yeah, I did try to tell you."

"We know, Pinkie Pie, and we're sorry we didn't listen." Twilight said before they all apologized. Twilight then said to Pinkie Pie. "You're a great friend, even if we don't always understand you."

"Thanks, guys. You're all great friends, too, even when I don't understand me."

"You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia. And, more importantly, you saved Ponyville." Twilight said before they all returned to Ponyville, which was severely wrecked. "Or not." Twilight said before Pinkie Pie played a "Wah-wah-wah-wah" on a trombone.

And done. And sorry for the very, very long post. But I was finishing college and dealing with life matters. But I'm back and getting back to it. Goodbye and see you next time.