Swarm of the Century

Swarm of the Century is the tenth episode of the first season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. In this episode, Princess Celestia is coming to visit, and everyone in Ponyville is making sure everything is perfect for her arrival, especially Twilight.

Episode summary
In a nearby field, Fluttershy was gathering flowers, finding the prettiest ones for Princess Celestia, who was planning to visit Ponyville. She then noticed a strange yet adorable creature from the Everfree Forest. While it had eaten a large basket of apples despite its small size, it didn't seem to deter Fluttershy from its sheer cuteness. She took the new creature with her to show off to her friends.

In Ponyville, everyone was also preparing for the royal pony's arrival, including Twilight Sparkle, who wanted everything to be perfect. Fluttershy showed Twilight and Pinkie Pie the creature she found. In fact, two more appeared along with it. In awe, Twilight decided to take one off her hands so Spike can have a companion to keep him busy. Pinkie, however, reacted in disgust, recognizing it as a "parasprite". She left, saying that she needed a trombone. Shaking off their confusion, the other ponies continued their work with their new friends, while showing the insects to the others who had taken one for themselves.

The next day, Twilight woke to see hundreds of parasprites in her home. While she and Spike had no idea where they came from compared to the one they had, they noticed the creatures making a mess, tossing away books and parchments. Rainbow Dash's set of the insects began annoyingly attaching to her. Rarity seemed to grow fond with her swarm, until she saw that they reproduced by coughing/sneezing/hawking out other bugs, to which the glamorous unicorn became disgusted with them. Even Fluttershy had trouble communicating with them (or in her case, begging, pleading, beseeching, etc). Twilight realized that this situation had become more than a simple nuisance, and if it was not handled soon, it could completely ruin Celestia's visit. Worst of all, the problem was multiplying by the second (literally)!

Meanwhile, Pinkie was gathering random musical instruments, including a harmonica, a banjo, and a pair of maracas. No one really knew why, so they assumed she was just "being Pinkie"..

The ponies called on Applejack for help, using her herding skills to round up the pests. They succeeded in driving them back to the Everfree Forest. Unfortunately, Fluttershy thought of keeping just one of the adorable parasprites in her house. That one insect burst into thousands, and the ponies were right back where they started. Rainbow Dash managed to gather the second swarm by creating a tornado, and it seemed like everything worked out... until Pinkie came back with a pair of cymbals. Dash dodged the cymbals that were drawn from her tornado, but the distraction broke the tornado and released the swarm onto Ponyville. They rushed to stop the infestation, ignoring Pinkie's attempt to explain why she was gathering the instruments in the first place.

They arrived too late, watching in horror as the parasprites began eating all of the food in the town. Twilight resorted to casting a spell to prevent them from eating the food, and it worked. But instead of making things better, they became much worse. The bugs soon began eating everything else: signposts, lamps, Rarity's ensembles, and even the words from Twilight's books. Twilight showed a parasprite to Zecora back in the Everfree Forest, hoping the zebra could find a solution. She easily recognized it, but not even she knew how to get rid of them.

"Tales of crops and harvests consumed. If these creatures are in Ponyville... You're doomed."

- Zecora

Twilight became overstressed from the crisis; Ponyville was in a state of chaos from the parasprite infestation, and the princess would arrive any second. Just as she came up with a highly irrational plan due to the stress (building an exact replica of Ponyville next to the real one in less than a minute), Pinkie Pie arrived as what seemed to be a one-pony band, with all of the instruments she gathered during the crisis. Before Twilight suspected this to be another one of her games, she discovered the swarm was attracted to the music and was following the "Pinkie-Pied-Piper" away from Ponyville.



The other ponies meet Princess Celestia near the town's outskirts, who saw the lined-up bugs as a parade. She informed her pupil that she needed to cancel her visit to deal with an infestation of some "incredibly bothersome creatures" in a place called "Fillydelphia". She asked Twilight if she would like to give an in-person report on friendship before she left. At first Twilight couldn't think of one after everything that had occurred, but after seeing what Pinkie was capable of, she learned that the best solutions can come from the least likeliest of places or people, and it was a good idea to listen to her friends' opinions and perspectives, even if they don't make any sense. Commenting on how impressed she was with Twilight and her friends, Celestia took off.

After apologizing to Pinkie for ignoring and underestimating her, the ponies returned to Ponyville.

Or at least, what was left of it...

Major events

 * Parasprites almost devastate Ponyville at the end of the episode.
 * Pinkie Pie is fully aware of their danger, and knows how to get rid of them, which she eventually does.

Quotes
Twilight Sparkle: You can't hang a banner that says "Welcome Princess Celest". Take it down and try again!

Pinkie Pie: I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess!

Pinkie Pie: UGH! A parasprite?! Are you kidding?!

Fluttershy: "UGH"?!

Twilight Sparkle: A "para-what?"

Fluttershy: How could you not like--?

Pinkie Pie: UGH! Now I need to find a trombone...

Twilight Sparkle: ...A what?!

Rarity: I don't have time for some silly scavenger hunt! I've got a real problem...

Pinkie Pie: You've got a real problem all right, and a banjo is the only answer!

Fluttershy: I tried everything I know. I tried begging, and pleading, and beseeching, and asking politely, and...

Twilight Sparkle: If we can't get them under control before the Princess arrives, it'll be a total disaster!

Rarity: (Sees more parasprites multiplying) Ew! If you ask me, it's already a total disaster.

Rainbow Dash: Pinkie Pie, you are sooo random!

Pinkie Pie: And you are all so stubborn!

Twilight Sparkle: Where did they come from?!

Fluttershy: Well... I may have kept just one... I couldn't help myself. They're just... sooo cute.

Rainbow Dash: Time to take out the adorable trash!

Twilight Sparkle: Will you forget your silly instruments for one second?! You're ruining our efforts to save Ponyville!

Pinkie Pie: Me?! "Ruin"?!! I'm not the ruin-er! I'm the "ruin-ee"! Or is it the "ruin-ess"? "Ruin-ette"?

Applejack: Come on, girls. There's no reasonin' with that one. She's a few apples short of a bushel...

Rainbow Dash *sarcastic, seeing the result of Twilight's spell*: Hey. It worked. They're not eating the food anymore...

Rarity: Oh no. If they get inside my store... EVERY PONY FOR HERSELF!!!

Zecora: Oh, monster of so little size! Is that a parasprite before my eyes?!

Twilight Sparkle: I don't know! Is it?!

Zecora: Tales of crops and harvests consumed. If these creatures are in Ponyville...you're doomed.

Twilight Sparkle : OK. Here's the plan: Rainbow Dash, you distract them.

Rainbow Dash: YEEEEEEEEAAAAAA!!!

Twilight Sparkle: Good! Everyone else, we need to build an exact copy of Ponyville right over there. We got less than a minute! ...Zecora was right, we're doomed.

Princess Celestia: I'm afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently, there's been some sort of... infestation...

Twilight Sparkle: An... infestation?

Princess Celestia: Yes. A swarm of "incredibly bothersome creatures" has invaded the poor town.

Princess Celestia: 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...

Pinkie Pie: Hey! What happened to the princess?

Twilight Sparkle: Emergency in Fillydelphia...

Rainbow Dash: Some sort of... infestation.

Pinkie Pie: Oh no! Have they got parasprites too? Well... Have tuba, will travel!

Twilight Sparkle: I think the princess can handle it...

Applejack: So you knew what those critters were all along, huh Pinkie Pie?

Pinkie Pie: Well duh! Why do you think I was so frantic to get my hooves on all these instruments?

Twilight Sparkle: You're a great friend... Even if we don't always understand you.

Pinkie Pie: Thanks, guys. You're all great friends, too... Even when I don't understand me...

Twilight Sparkle : You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia and, more importantly, you saved Ponyville. ...Or not.

Gallery



 * Swarm of the Century image gallery

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a pun on the saying storm of the century, referencing a great disaster, natural or otherwise.
 * For a second straight episode Pinkie Pie is shown with an unusually large tongue sticking out of her mouth, this time with no bluish green spots; she was "testing" the treats for Celestia's visit.
 * Twilight's solution at the end of the episode (distracting the parasprites and building the mockup of the town in a short amount of time) could be a reference to the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles, which used a similar device for the climax.
 * This same plot was used in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "The Trouble with Scribbles", which was written by Lauren Faust.
 * The idea of the parasprites multiplying exponentially after eating and the title of the Foster's episode stems back to the tribbles of the Star Trek universe, in the episode The Trouble with Tribbles.
 * Pinkie Pie is a Pied Piper in this story.
 * When Pinkie Pie becomes a one man band, its a reference to Dick Van Dyke's character Bert in Mary Poppins.
 * The gala dresses can be seen hanging on a rack, a moment after Rarity returns to her store and screams "everypony for herself!" This means this episode must take place after episode 14, in which the dresses are made. They will later be seen in Fluttershy's closet during A Bird in the Hoof.
 * A background pony wears a green vest seen later in Winter Wrap Up as she attends to her about-to-be-destroyed garden.
 * When Twilight Sparkle interrupts her, Zecora is meditating by balancing on her head -- on the top of a bamboo pole.
 * Parasprites seem to form affections for specific ponies, staying close to them to the point of becoming annoyances from their presence alone.
 * Rainbow Dash's quote "I can't hold it. She's breaking up!" is a reference to The Six Million Dollar Man.
 * Pinkie goes in search of the following instruments: trombone, accordion, harmonica, banjo, maracas, tuba, cymbals, tambourines, recorder. The last of these is a spur-of-the-moment item that she grabs off a countertop in the Carousel Boutique, without mentioning it first.