The next day, Midnight started making towards Sugarcube Corner when he came upon Twilight and Rarity, both wearing saddlebags that looked full and squirming, and he had a pretty good idea of what was in them as Rarity commented to Twilight, “I see we’re having the same problem.”

“Ditto!”

They looked and saw Rainbow Dash flying to escape some parasprites that just wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Has anypony seen Pinkie Pie?” Midnight asked.

“Ugh, that pony was harping nonsense about harmonicas and banjos,” Rarity huffed, “can’t she see this problem is serious?”

Midnight couldn’t take it anymore, he had to say something!
“But Pinkie-”

“But nothing, Midnight!” Twilight spoke up, “The princess is gonna be here soon. Now, Fluttershy knows everything about animals. I’m sure she can tell us how to prevent their multiplying!”

Seeing the girls gallop off, Midnight sighed woefully and reluctantly followed.
Forgive me, Pinkie…!

They arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage quick enough but right before Twilight could even knock, the door burst open in a swarm of parasprites! As they flittered past the three unicorns, Rarity whimpered, “Or not!”

Rainbow Dash joined them at Fluttershy’s door and they watched as was going to and fro in her home, trying to control the little pests, Twilight beseeching, “Do something, Fluttershy, can’t you control them?”

“I’ve tried everything I know!” Fluttershy declined helplessly, barely dodging a Parasprite as it carried a cooking pot.
“I’ve tried begging, I’ve tried pleading, and beseeching, and asking politely-”

She gasped and tried to stop some parasprites as they got into more of her things.

Midnight cringed, unsure of what to do when he saw Twilight’s worrying face that appeared to be staring into nothing. He knew her well enough she was already imagining some worst-case scenario.
“Twilight!” he clopped his hooves together in front of her face, “Come on, snap out of it!”

Shaking it off, Twilight worried as she looked around and saw more of the pests flitting about around Fluttershy’s yard.
“If we can’t get them under control before the princess arrives, it’ll be a total disaster!”

“Ew!” Rarity backed from a parasprite multiplying, “If you ask me it’s already a total disaster!”

“If you think they’re bad now, wait till they start eating!” Midnight warned as he tried to shoo some away from landing on his horn.

“Here’s all them apples ya wanted, Fluttershy!”
“Eeyup!”

They all looked and saw Applejack and Big Mac had arrived, the red stallion pulling a wagon of apples while the orange mare commented, “But why in thunder-ation do y’need so ma-”

Her unfinished question was answered as a buzz of parasprites ate the apples in seconds flat, cores an’ all, Big Mac yelling, “HEY!”

Midnight face-hooved as he thought, Me and my big mouth

“What do we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ve got it!” Twilight pointed at AJ and Mac, saying, “Nopony can herd like Applejack and Big Mac!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed, “We can herd them back into the forest!”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Midnight looked to the farmers asking, “What do you two think?”

“We’ll wrassle `em up,” Applejack agreed, “but we’ll need everypony’s help! Rainbow can ya get Thunderlane?”

“Will do!” Rainbow saluted and streaked off.

“Twilight, you and Rarity wait over there,” Applejack instructed, Big Mac adding, “AJ, Midnight, an’ Ah will herd th’ varmints straight at ya like a funnel.”

“Ponyville Weather Team co-captains reporting for duty!”

They looked to see Rainbow and Thunderlane had just shown up.
“Rainbow, Thundy, y’all and Fluttershy stay on top o’ them,” Applejack ordered, “Don’t let `em fly away!”

“Aye-aye!”

The three pegasi flew up, Jack n’ Mac rearing up as they yelled, “Yee-haw!”

They got to it, Applejack herding one swarm towards the one Big Mac was pursuing. Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, and Fluttershy did a good job keeping the pests from flying away and forcing them to fly lower. Before long, the parasprites had all been herded together, forming a close-knit ball of them.
“All right, y’all!” Applejack called, “Head `em up and move `em out!”

The eight ponies started rolling the ball of parasprites towards Everfree, keeping it tight as Applejack calling, “Look out, Rarity! That one’s fixin’ t’ get away!”

“Keep a lid on `em, Thunder!” Big Mac called, Thunderlane pushing a straggler back into formation.

“Hold on, everypony!” encouraged Applejack, “We’re almost there!”

But as they ran, Midnight noticed, “Pinkie?!”

“Midnight, where have you been?!” Pinkie asked him, sounding incredulous. “We don’t have much time!”

“Tell me something I don’t know, the princess could arrive any moment!”

“Well, that’s why I need you to drop what you’re doing and get those instruments I asked of you! Did you get the maracas?”

“Ergh, Pinkie the problem at hoof is a little bigger than maracas! You can find the instruments I got in my room at the farm but right now, I’m busy!”

“Well I hope you also got that tuba, follow me!”

Midnight ignored her and kept in formation but Pinkie scuttled back, running backwards as she said, “I said, ‘follow me’!”

“Pinkie Pie!”

They looked up see Thunderlane giving Pinkie a look.
“You are so random!”

Groaning, Pinkie scuttled off, saying, “And you’re all so stubborn!”

“Never mind her, everypony!” Applejack said, “Focus an’ keep it up!”

Finally, they rolled the ball of pests straight into the Everfree Forest.
“Alright!” Rainbow cheered, Thunderlane saying, “Hoof-bump!”

“We did it!” Twilight cheered, “Great work, Applejack, you too Big Mac!”

“Couldn’t’a done it without y’all,” Applejack beamed, Big Mac saying, “Eeyup!”

“Don’t pat yourselves on the back just yet,” Midnight reminded them, “We still have to clean the mess they made before the princess arrives!”

“Now, we gotta work extra hard to make up for lost time,” Twilight said as they arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage.

The butter-yellow pegasus opened her door, only for a bluer of parasprites to rush past her, leaving a freak tailwind as they zoomed off.
“Where did they come from?!” Twilight cried.

“Well… I may have kept just one,” Fluttershy chuckled nervously.

While the girls gave her the stink-eye, the boys complained, “Fluttershy…!”

“I couldn’t help myself,” Fluttershy whined as she looked at the one she kept. “They’re just so… cute!”

“I don’t care how cute they are,” Midnight snapped, “they’re nothing but trouble and it just means we have to start all over again!”

“We don’t have time for that!” Twilight worried. “Rounding them up over and over will take too long!”

“This looks like a job for…” Thunderlane paused for dramatic effect, Rainbow getting the idea as they slapped on their goggles.
“The Weather Patrol!”

The co-captains took flight to get an aerial view of the problem.
“Time t’ take out the adorable trash…!” Rainbow geared up, Thunderlane suggesting, “Let’s say we take `em for a little spin!”

Rainbow smirked and they let out battle-cries as they zoomed down, flying round n’ around, before they locked hooves and span, creating a twister that easily sucked in the little pests. With well-practiced coordination, their twister sucked in the ones that tried to buzz away while the others took cover.
“Go Rainbow, go Thunder!” Twilight cheered, Applejack adding, “Looks like our problems are solved!”

“They will be with these cymbals!”

They looked to see Pinkie approaching with the aforementioned instruments dangling around her neck. Midnight gasped and ran towards her, yelling, “Pinkie, no…!”

But it was too late. The cymbals were sucked off Pinkie’s person just before Midnight could reach her while Pinkie complained, “Give those back!”

The cymbals became instant flight-hazards for the two weather ponies, who lost concentration of their twister and broke apart as they dodged the discs that came very close to taking their heads off.
“We... can’t... hold it!” cried Thunderlane, Rainbow adding, “She’s breaking up!”

“I’ve got it!” Midnight cast a spell he’d learned from Twilight, shouting, “Get out of there!”

Listening, the two Pegasus ponies got out of the twister just in time to avoid being encompassed in an orb of magic. From outside, they could see the twister trying to escape but slowly die out, the parasprites became visible and were all extremely dizzy.
“Quick thinking, Midnight!” Twilight complimented.

“Thanks,” Midnight said, his eyes focused on the orb full of pests. “But I won’t be able to maintain this spell for long, this is only a temporary relief.”

“We’ve got to get rid of them,” Twilight admonished, “Can’t you carry the orb away from Ponyville?”

“That won’t work,” Midnight winced as he felt the orb struggle against the squirming swarm inside.
“This is one of the more complicated spells you taught me. If it was night, I probably could carry them away but right now, it’s taking all my concentration to maintain the spell!”

“Ergh, Pinkie, what have you done?!” Twilight complained to the pink pony.

“I’ve lost a brand-new pair of cymbals, that’s what I’ve done!” she complained

“Will you forget about your silly instruments for one second?” Twilight admonished. “You're ruining our efforts to save Ponyville.”

“Me?! Ruin?” Pinkie looked shocked at such an accusation. “I'm not the ruiner, I'm the ruin-ee! Or is it ruiness? Ruinette?”

“Oh no!”

They looked and saw Midnight sweating bullets.
“They’re… multiplying in there! I can’t… keep-” he groaned, Thunderlane yelling, “Hang in there, brony!”

“I… can’t…!” Midnight gasped and they all felt their spirits sink as the orb popped like a bubble and the parasprites flittered straight to Ponyville.

“Come on!” Big Mac yelled as he led the charge, Pinkie behind them complaining, “Hey! I'm trying to tell you all that the ruining is on the other hoof. If you just slow down and listen to me!”

The friends all gaped in horror as they saw the parasprites were eating every morsel of food in sight! They ate the sweets outside Sugarcube Corner, an outdoor garden they were everywhere! All the hard work everypony had gone through to prepare for Princess Celestia’s arrival was already ruined.
“At this rate, they’ll eat all of Ponyville out of house and home!” Thunderlane worried, Big Mac agreeing, “Eeyup!”

Applejack gasped as she saw her cart in danger.
“Mah apples!”

“Think, think… I’ve got it!” Twilight announced, “I’ll cast a spell to stop them from eating all the food!”

“Uh, Twilight, maybe that’s not the solution!” Midnight knew where this was going.

“They’ll lose their appetite for any kind of food, what could go wrong?” she scoffed and didn’t wait for a third opinion as she cast the spell.

The spell originated from her horn in purple rings that slowly increased in radius, passing through every parasprite in town. The effect was instantaneous, every one of the little bugs suddenly stopped in confusion.

“Look, tambourines!” yelled the voice of Pinkie behind them but they paid her no mind. “If you could all just- EERRGH!”

Twilight looked at a parasprite as it sniffed at an apple in a basket before turning it nose up at it. She sighed in relief, only to gasp in shock as the parasprite ate the basket instead!

Looking around, they saw the parasprites were now eating objects and the buildings around them. One chomped on a sign, another ate the top of a lamppost, a swarm was munching off the roof of a house.

A wagon was reduced to its wheels and the apples it was carrying.
“It worked,” Thunderlane deadpanned, “they’re not eating the food anymore!”

“Ugh, can’t we get a break?!” Twilight groaned.

“Oh no… If they get inside my store-” Rarity gasped. “Everypony for herself!”

She ran off, Big Mac gasping, “Mah farm!”

And he ran off to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Ugh, Thunder, you and the girls try and contain the situation!” Midnight instructed, “Twilight, let’s get to the library, maybe there’s a spell we can use in one of the books!”

“Right!” everypony broke and took off in different directions.

Entering the library, Twilight and Midnight heard, “HELP!”

They looked and saw Spike hiding under a laundry basket, the place crawling with parasprites that were getting into the books. Twilight gasped as Midnight realized, “They’re eating the words?! How do you eat words out of a book?!”

And yet there was a parasprite nearby slurping up words like spaghetti.

“I’m gonna go see Zecora, try and… do something!” Twilight groaned as she grabbed one of the pests and ran off.

Groaning, Midnight levitated a broom and started whapping the little pains in everypony’s flanks.
“Get out, get out! Shoo-shoo!”

*CHOMP*

He looked to see the end of the broom had been bitten off. He threw it away, yelling, “OH COME ON!!!”

“Midnight!”

Twinken?!

Midnight looked outside and gasped to see Twinken running from a swarm of parasprites, looking scared. At once, Midnight felt a fury most familiar as he ran outside.

He saw Twinken trying to shoo the little pests away from himself, but they kept ganging up on him, licking their lips at the sight of the little colt’s school-bags.
“Twinken, lose the bags!”

“But I need these for school!”

“Just trust me, throw them into the air!”

Whining but listening, Twinken took off the bags and threw them as hard as he could straight up, the parasprites instantly going for them. In that moment, furious that these little monsters had dared to terrify his little brother, Midnight growled, seeing red, as he unleashed an energy bolt from his horn, and the parasprites squealed in fright as they were reduced to charred little bits.

Midnight panted, feeling the after-effect of such a spell, as he felt somepony jump on him, wrapping their arms around his neck.
“Big brother!” Twinken sobbed.

Hearing the little colt so upset, Midnight’s mind cleared and he held Twinken close, whispering, “Shh, it’s okay, I’m here…”

But in a dark corner of his mind, Midnight realized he’d just cast a spell that killed those parasprites that had chased Twinken, that he’d done it out of anger. An anger he had never felt before. And it scared him.

But before he could consider it more, he noticed something in the air. Squinting his eyes, he gasped.
Oh no, the princess is coming!

“Twinken, go hide in the library with Spike!” he instructed, and Twinken did as he was told.

Midnight ran to town square and took in the chaos unfolding. It was a disaster, the parasprites were eating everything, the welcoming committee they’d all prepared for the princess was totally ruined!

“Okay! Here’s the plan!”

“Yipe!” Midnight jumped to see Twilight, her mane looking ruffled and a weird look in her eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, you distract them,” she instructed calmly yet her eyes said otherwise.

Rainbow screamed as she flew past while being pursued by another swarm.

“Good!” Twilight then looked at Midnight, saying, “Midnight, we’re gonna need to build an exact copy of Ponyville right over there!”

Midnight knew at once Twilight was starting to lose it, and was looking for an escape route as the purple unicorn squealed, “We’ve got less than a minute!”

But a distant crash seemed to snap her out of it as she sulked, “Zecora was right – We’re doomed…”

“Well… We can always… rebuild!” Midnight tried to force a smile but the situation just deflated him. Then their ears perked at the sound of approaching music.

“Oh no, the princess’ procession is here!” Twilight worried as they looked to the end of the street.
“It’s all over…!”

“Wait a minute…!” Midnight looked carefully and gasped. “That’s no procession, that’s…!”

Twilight could see it too, and she wiped her eyes to be sure as she gaped at, “Pinkie Pie?!”

The pink party pony was wearing what looked to be a one-pony band, playing multiple instruments at once, an accordion, a banjo, a harmonica, a tuba, even some small cymbals strapped to her legs.
“Pinkie, we’re kind of in the middle of a crisis here!” Twilight screeched, Midnight saying, “Wait, Twilight! Look!”

She followed his hoof and gaped to see all the parasprites had stopped eating, their focus now on Pinkie. They started bobbing up and down, apparently to the rhythm of the music, as they slowly came down towards the pink pony. In no time at all, the parasprites were hopping up n’ down in single file as they followed Pinkie.

Midnight ran over, shouting, “Hey Pinkie, throw me some of those instruments!”

Without skipping a beat, Pinkie wordlessly threw the maracas and trumpet to Midnight, who caught them in his aura. Taking a deep breath and going with the flow, he started playing the trumpet and shaking the maracas at the same time, bringing up the rear of the parasprite line.

Everypony else was seeing it too, Twilight shrugging at them as they followed Pinkie, Midnight, and the pests out of town. Twilight gasped and said, “Look!”

Ahead on the road, Princess Celestia’s escort arrived as the ponies hurried up to meet her, bowing in respect.
“Twilight Sparkle, my prized pupil.”

“Hello, Princess,” Twilight was sweating a little as her teacher approached.

“So lovely to see you and your friends again,” Celestia said warmly, when the music caught everypony’s attention, and they noticed Pinkie march past them, leading the parasprites.

“So, how was the trip? Hit much traffic?” Twilight asked nervously.

“What is this?” Celestia asked when she felt something land on her wing and she noticed it was a parasprite. Giggling, she said, “These creatures are adorable!”

“Not that adorable,” Thunderlane muttered, Big Mac muttering, “Eeyup,” in agreement.

“I am terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit.”

“Parade?” Twilight echoed, when somepony said, “Exactly, a parade is the perfect way to honor the Princess of the Sun!”

She looked to her side and saw Midnight smiling in an innocent yet incriminating kind of way, and Twilight got the idea.

“Unfortunately, that visit is going to have to be postponed,” Celestia said with an apologetic look.
“It seems an emergency just came up in Fillydelphia, some kind of… infestation.”

“An... infestation?!” Twilight squeaked, the others wearing their own confused looks.

“Yes, a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures have invaded the poor town. I’m sorry, everypony, to have to put you all through so much trouble.”

“Trouble, what trouble?!” Twilight giggled nervously.

“Before I go, would you care to give me your latest report on the Magic of Friendship in person?”

“My… report?” Twilight wondered when she felt Midnight nudge her shoulder and not-so-subtly gesture towards Pinkie, who was still playing the instruments as she marched in place just outside of the Everfree forest, directing the parasprites in.

“Haven’t you learned anything about friendship?” Celestia asked.

Looking at Midnight, Twilight and him shared a private smile.
“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...”

They all started at the crashing of some cymbals, as Twilight added, “Even when they don’t always seem to make sense.”

“I’m so proud of you, Twilight Sparkle, and I’m impressed with your friends as well,” Celestia complimented them, “It sounds like you’re all learning so much from each other.”

“Thank you, princess,” Twilight said as they watched her leave on her pegasus-drawn chariot.

Watching her go, Midnight sulked, I wish I could’ve had a chance to talk with her.

Then he noticed the music had stopped and saw everypony talking with Pinkie Pie.

As he approached, he heard Twilight say, “You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia, and more importantly, you saved Ponyville.”

Looking towards town, he sighed and pointed out to everypony, “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”

They looked and all sighed at the work ahead of them as Pinkie played a 'Wah-wah-wah-wah' moment on a trombone.

I was originally gonna have Midnight ask Celestia for a quick word but it would've felt inappropriate for him to do so when she was just leaving, and in front of the others