A young purple and green dragon was sitting on the beach, hands on his chin, looking thoroughly depressed as he gazed out at the sunset-illuminated ocean. Only a couple of days earlier, Spike had been forced to return his beloved pet phoenix, Peewee, to his parents. All because of an unfortunate incident with Owlicious. That, and the mess from caring for him, what with his molting setting fire to the Golden Oaks Library’s books, Twilight’s scrolls, and her favorite quill, was really quite unbelievable.
How does Fluttershy do it? thought the young dragon. The animal caretaker’s home was a zoo, and yet Fluttershy always seemed to be able to take care of every last one of her animal friends.
Finally heaving a sigh and getting up, Spike got ready to head back to Ponyville. Out of the corner of his eye, Spike saw a very battered dinghy wash up on shore. Spike turned to look at it for a fraction of a second, before he shrugged and turned away again, only to freeze in his tracks when he heard a weak, starved noise come from it.
“Jiggly…”
Spike turned on his heel and ran to the dinghy. “Are you oka-” he started to say before he got a good look at what was inside.
It was a small pink creature of some kind. It had ears not dissimilar to that of a pony and stubby little arms and feet. Its large teal eyes were half-open, and it looked pale, starving, and weak. Lying next to it was a microphone of some kind.
“Jiggly…” said the creature in a tone that clearly said Help me… please…
Spike was frozen for a moment. Was this thing poisonous to the touch? Would it bite? Was it some variant of a parasprite that would destroy either the town or its food supply? The creature’s eyes were beginning to bore directly into Spike’s soul.
Finally giving in to the pressure, Spike grabbed the creature and the microphone and ran back to Ponyville.
…
Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn with a navy blue mane and tail, both of which had a magenta stripe in it that matched the star-shaped Cutie Mark on her flank, was just finishing up a letter to her mentor in magic, Princess Celestia.
”’-your’s faithfully, Twilight Sparkle,’” Twilight said to herself while using her magic to hold the scroll and ink bottle in place while also using it to write with her quill. No sooner had Twilight finished the letter than Spike came running into the room. “Ah, Spike, perfect timing, I need you to-” Twilight started to say before noticing what was in cradled in Spike’s arms. “What is that thing?” she asked her number-one assistant.
“I have no idea, I found it in this old dinghy that washed up on the shore of the beach,” explained Spike. “This was lying next to it,” he added as he showed his surrogate sister the microphone.
Twilight used her magic to take the creature out of Spike’s hands and began to examine it. Apart from the fact that it looked like it was about ready to croak from starvation, it was actually kind of cute. Acting quickly, Twilight darted over to the fridge and grabbed various things from it to try to tempt the creature. After several failed attempts, the creature finally began to eat the blueberries that Twilight offered it like they were going out of season, followed swiftly by every other berry that Twilight owned.
“Jiggly!” the creature said in thanks, a broad smile on its face.
“Can you understand me?” Twilight asked the creature.
“Jiggly!” said the creature, nodding as it spoke.
“Perfect, I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name and where do you come from?”
“Jigglypuff! Jiggly, Jiggly, Jiggly!” said Jigglypuff.
“... I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. What’s your name?”
“Jigglypuff!” said Jigglypuff, sounding just a pinch irritated. “Jig-aly-puff!”
“Uh, Twilight, I think this thing’s name is Jigglypuff… and I think that’s all it can say,” said Spike.
“Jigglypuff!” said Jigglypuff, smiling and nodding once again.
“Hmm…” said Twilight thoughtfully. “Maybe we should go get Fluttershy and see if she can understand this creature.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Spike.
“Jiggly!” said Jigglypuff.
And with that, the trio set off to find the animal caretaker.
…
In the middle of a meadow near a river called Daisy Stream, a butter yellow pegasus mare with a soft pink mane and tail was having a picnic with some of her animal friends. Among said friends was a great big grizzly bear, an ill-tempered, bossy, and all around asshole of a white bunny, a few birds, an otter, and a gopher.
“Angel, you really should eat more of your carrots, don’t you think?” Fluttershy asked the bunny,who had two-and-a-half carrots in front of him, and who simply blew a raspberry at his owner while the other animals simply rolled their eyes, being far too used to this at this point.
“Just one more?” begged Fluttershy, to which Angel crossed his tiny little arms with an expression that clearly said NO.
“Just finish off that half of one?”
Angel’s expression remained unchanged at this offer.
“How about a-”
Before Fluttershy could finish speaking, somepony called out her name.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!”
“Goodness! I hear Twilight!” said Fluttershy. “Twilight! We’re over here!”
Hearing their friend’s call, Spike and Twilight ran up to her. Riding on Twilight’s back was what appeared to be a strange pink creature carrying what looked like a microphone.
After explaining the situation, Fluttershy invited Twilight, Spike, and Jigglypuff to join their picnic while they learned more of the creature. Munching on a small mountain of berries, Jigglypuff began to tell its story, while Fluttershy translated.
“She says her name is Jigglypuff, and that she’s from a faraway place called the Kanto Region,” explained Fluttershy.
“Kanto Region? Never heard of it. What’s the deal with the microphone?” asked Twilight.
Jigglypuff began to explain what the microphone was about.
“She says it all started when a boy named Flash Ketchup and his friends Kristi, Rock, and Pikachu found her one day when she had a sore throat. They’d heard about her talents in singing and wanted to hear her. So, they patched up her throat. But, when she began to sing, they all fell asleep on her. Ever since then, she’s been traveling the world, trying to find someone, anyone, who would listen to her entire song without falling asleep,” said Fluttershy.
Spike and Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the small creature. Then, Twilight got an idea.
“Jigglypuff, how would you like it if we put a concert together for you?” asked Twilight.
Jigglypuff beamed with happiness as it threw itself at Twilight, burying its face into her as it squealed its thanks.
“Yeah, and how would you like it if you came to live with me?” asked Spike.
Spike was knocked over when Jigglypuff pounced upon him too and began squealing its thanks.
“Perfect, it’s settled. I’ll go see the mayor and get everything set up. You two go bond,” said Twilight. “Thank you for your help Fluttershy.”
“What are friends for?” asked Fluttershy.
And with that, Fluttershy, Spike, Twilight, and Jigglypuff all went their separate ways for the day.
…
Later that evening, a very exhausted Spike and Jigglypuff returned home for the evening and crawled into bed.
“Well, today was fun, wasn’t it Jigglypuff?,” Spike asked his new pet.
“Jiggly!” squeed Jigglypuff.
“You nervous about your concert tomorrow?” Spike asked.
“Jiggly…” said Jigglypuff in a tone that seemed to suggest the affirmative.
“Well, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Well, good night,” said Spike as he closed his eyes.
The instant Jigglypuff closed her eyes, Spike felt like he got hit by a powerful baseball bat and was sent flying through the wall of the bedroom and landed hard on the ground a good fifty yards away.
Groaning as he pulled his sore body up off of the ground, Spike could barely fathom what had just happened.
HOLY GUACAMOLE, WHAT WAS THAT?! Spike thought as he made his way back to the library and back upstairs. He stared at Jigglypuff, who was sleeping like a rock, and apparently hadn’t noticed that she’d just sent her master flying through a solid wooden wall.
“I think I’m going to sleep on the floor tonight,” said Spike.
…
The following afternoon, a large stage had been erected for Jigglypuff’s concert. The star herself was backstage, getting make-up put on by Rarity, who was a unicorn mare with alabaster fur and a curly purple mane and tail.
“There we are, dear. You look smashing,” said Rarity, holding up a mirror with her magic for Jigglypuff to see. Jigglypuff smiled at her reflection. She looked years younger.
“Jiggly!” said Jigglypuff in thanks.
Twilight Sparkle came out from the other side of the curtain. “Looks like all of Ponyville showed up for your concert, Jigglypuff! You ready?” she asked.
“Jiggly!” said Jigglypuff with a nod.
“Okay, we’ll see you in the audience!” said Twilight as she and Rarity left.
Jigglypuff picked up her microphone and walked out to face the curtain. The curtain was pulled back and Jigglypuff walked out onto the stage. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Jigglypuff began to sing.
As soon as Jigglypuff hit that first note, the entire audience began to feel extermely sleepy.
“Pretty music…” said Diamond Tiara as her eyelids began to droop.
By the time Jigglypuff was finished singing, the whole crowd was sawing logs… much to Jigglypuff’s chagrin.
Literally swelling in anger at the crowd’s response to her song, Jigglypuff pulled on the top of her microphone, pulling it off completely and revealing a concealed black permanent marker underneath, which she then used to doodle on the faces of the entire crowd, albeit with some difficulty as her marker was starting to run out of ink after all these years. But, nonetheless, it got the job done. Reattaching the top of her microphone, Jigglypuff stormed off in anger into the Everfree Forest, never to be heard from again… although, for some strange reason, normally hostile creatures from the forest seemed to be much friendly towards ponies.
