Anon-Close Encounters of the Moth Kind

>"AAAAIEEEEE"
>That sounded like Rarity
>You should probably go investigate
>Trotting through the town, you notice that most ponies seem to be hiding
>Just like when Zecora showed up
>Moving a bit faster now, you’re almost bowled over when Rarity comes running in the opposite direction
>”Oh, Twilight! Twilight, it’s horrible! There’s these awful monsters swarming my Boutique!”
>You try to calm her down, but she’s in full panic mode
>It’s no use, so you leave her to sob dramatically and head for her store
>There couldn’t be actual monsters, could they?
>Surely there’d be a lot more screaming
>Well, time to see for yourself
>Carousel Boutique lies in front of you, in all its gaudy magnificence
>There’s nothing wrong with the building
>Great, are they invisible monsters now?
>As you get closer to the Boutique, something seems off
>Patches of the wall look like they’re made of fur
>That’s not right
>Maybe giant balls of fur got glued to the walls?
>Maybe—
>HOLY CELESTIA IT MOVED
>You freeze, hoping that whatever it is didn’t notice you
>Hours pass
>In your mind
>It doesn’t move again
>Perhaps you should get closer
>You ignore all the screeching alarms in your head and slowly inch forwards
>The fuzz resolves into a more distinct form
>It almost looks like a pony
>Granted, one that was dipped into a vat of glue and coated in fur, then stuck to the wall
>You’re within touching distance now
>Should you go for it?
>Of course
>For science
>You reach out a shaking hoof
>Sweat is raining off your face
>Your hoof slowly sinks into the creature
>It’s so soft, like a cloud
>For a moment, nothing happens
>Then it squeaks, and moves away from your hoof
>You jump back and fall on your rear
>It moves again, and you can see a face
>An alien face, but one eerily similar to that of an everyday pony
>You shiver involuntarily
>You try to maintain eye contact without shaking too much
“H-hello?”
>You stutter out
>Hopefully it understood you
>Hopefully noise wouldn’t make it attack you
>Hopefully—
>It turned back around, ignoring you
“Um, what are you?”
>You ask
>It doesn’t respond
“Uh, sorry, I meant who are you?”
>Still no response
>You stand there, trying to think of what to do next
“You’re, uh, disturbing my friend. And her business. And the whole town.”
>Still nothing
“Please, it would be very helpful if you could respond.”
>It occurred to you that it might not understand you
>Right then, time to turn to the old fallback
>Magic
>Revving up the ol’ horn, you prepare to cast a translation spell
>You’re distracted by a sudden outburst of squeaking
>Every single one of those creatures was squeaking for dear life, moving about in a panic
>It made the Boutique look like it was infested with maggots
>Giant, furry maggots
>You let the magic fade, and the creatures gradually settle down again
>Great
>Time to sit down and think
><
>”There, Applejack! Can’t you see them?”
>You turn around to see Applejack, with Rarity hiding behind her
>”Howdy there, Twilight!”
>”Do something, Applejack! I need to continue working!”
“Do you know what those creatures are, Applejack?”
>She narrows her eyes at the nearest ball of fluff
>”Hoo boy. Looks like you’ve got an infestation of Moth ponies, Rares.”
>Rarity faints onto a couch that definitely wasn’t there before
“They’re not dangerous, though? They haven’t done much since I got here.”
>”Nah, they mostly sleep during the day. They’ll head off when night falls.”
>”Can’t you remove them now~?”
>Rarity whines, having recovered from her “faint”
>”Sorry Rares, not a good idea.”
>”Ooh, why? Do they get angry and suck out your insides using their proboscis?”
>And there’s Pinkie
>”You don’t always have to pop out of nowhere, Pinkie. And no, they won’t suck out your insides, where’d you get that ridiculous idea?”
>Applejack responds, the first to recover from Pinkie’s appearance
>Pinkie just hops in place, a silly smile plastered on her face
“What do they do then, Applejack?”
>You ask, curiosity bubbling over
>”They cry at you.”
>Even Pinkie freezes, mid bounce
>Before you can say anything, Applejack cuts you off
>”Yep. We had several show up on our deck for a day awhile back. Big Mac decided to remove one of them by picking her up and putting her somewhere else, and she just started bawling like there was no tomorrow. Granny nearly took his tail off when she came out to investigate, heh.”
“That’s—”
>”So sad! She must have been terrified!”
>You look at Pinkie, surprised that she’s making sense for once
>Rarity’s still trying to hide behind Applejack, who’s trying to leave
>”See you girls later. Rarity, please let go. I’m not gonna say it twice.”
>Applejack manages to extricate herself from Rarity’s grip and starts walking off
>Pinkie starts muttering something about a night party and lasers and disappears as well
>There’s just a quivering Rarity left
>You turn around to look at the Moth ponies
>Sunset should be in about four hours, if your internal clock is correct
>It should be enough time to go back to the library and create a checklist for tonight
>You start heading home
>”But what am I to do?”
>You hear Rarity say
“You heard Applejack, they’re harmless. Just go inside and forget about them.”
>Rarity turns back towards her Boutique
>”B-but they clash with the drapes!”
>end<