Lightning Bugs

by Zoom Star

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Spike, Adventure
Length: 3195

Story entry for February Write-Off

When Ponyville is struck with a sudden case of bad weather, the 6 ponies we know and love must take up the task once again in saving Equestria from the looming menace tha has caused it.

Published 2012-03-06 18:23:25 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-13 06:50:12 UTC

Chapter 1

It was a stormy day, the clouds becoming worse and worse. Lightning strikes occured frequently, and thunder continued to blast its noisy claps all across Equestria. The pegasi were flying about, trying their best to control the ragin storm, but to no avail. Many a pony were being sent to the hospital with broken wings or from shock from the lightning strikes.

Princess Celestia was unable to get to rest, not just because of the thunderous storm waking her up every 5 minutes, but due to the fact she was trying to figure out what had caused this outbreak of weather dilemmas. It had all started a few weeks ago, when the first gray cloud emerged amongst the beautiful white clouds.

The sun lit up the dazzling blue sky, the light refracting off the white clouds and warming the peaceful village of Ponyville. Twilight was peacefully enjoying the sunny day with a book in front of her, Spike nearby playing around in the water. Occasionally another pony would stroll past and say hi to her, interrupting her from her book. She didn't mind in the slightest.

She looked up into the sky. A peaceful blue, dotted with large puffy clouds. Just then, a wizzing cyan blur flew past her peripheral vision. She jolted up, looking around for what had caused this. Across from where she was looking she noticed a familiar cyan pony bouncing from cloud to cloud, a worried look on her face.

Twilight put her book into her saddle-bag, put her bag on her back and turned to the lake where Spike was playing. The sun's light created a sparkling effect on the beautiful calm water. Well, relatively calm, if it weren't for the small purple dragon with green spikes bouncing about in the water splashing it in every direction.

"Spike!" called Twilight. Spike stopped thrashing and turned to face her, a depressed look on his face. The only reason Twilight would stop him was if they were leaving. "Dry yourself off and follow me. I need to speak to Rainbow Dash" she said. Spike nodded, then left the water. He shook vigorously, sending water droplets everywhere. He then began to walk beside Twilight as they headed back into the town.

The rest of the town was fairly busy, most people having left to enjoy the beautiful weather with beach trips. The fountain was having the same effect as the lake from the sun's rays, sparkly water flowing constantly. Surrounding the fountain were various stalls selling an assortment of fruit and vegetable goods.

Rainbow Dash was hovering in front of one of the stall owners, a distraught look on her face as she barraged her with questions. Twilight just caught the end of the conversation. "No, Dash, I haven't seen a single gray cloud today" said the stall owner. Rainbow drifted down to the ground, her wings drooping down before huddling back into her body.

"Hey Rainbow Dash! What's up?" asked Twilight, approaching the sad cyan pony. Recognising the voice, Rainbow looked up with relief spreading across her face. "Twilight! Finally someone who can give me some answers!" she shouted, rushing over. She smiled as she slowed to halt in front of Twilight, ready to ask her question.

"Have you seen a gray cloud anywhere? I was told a gray cloud had emerged and was told to get rid of it" she said, a concerned look on her face. Twilight look at her confused, Twilight looked up into the sky. "Dash, the weather is beautiful! I haven't seen any gray clouds at all" she reassured her. Dash became her depressed self again.

Twilight was about to try and consol her, when she saw something in the corner of her eye. No, it couldn't be. She jolted her head into the air. Rainbow Dash noticed her look up quickly and followed her amazed face, tracking where her gaze had been aimed at. They both looked at the sight before them with amazed looks.

A single gray cloud, seemingly harmless had drifted into a crowd of white clouds. Before their eyes, all of the white clouds turned gray, and all of the gray clouds began pouring down rain on the unsuspecting ponies below. Screams began filing the air, as stall owners jolted into action packing up their stalls. The other ponies simply ran home as fast as they could.
Before long, the town square was deserted.

Everyone had dissapeared, eager to escape the sudden change in weather. Rainbow Dash, breaking out of her astonished trance, jumped up into the sky, her wings outstretched, and began beating back the clouds. She kept up her pace, popping as many as she could. In 10 seconds, all of the gray clouds were gone.

Ponies began looking out into the town square, looking to see if the rain had stopped. As the fountain area filled with ponies again, the air was filled with cheering for the cyan pegasus hovering before them. Rainbow Dash seemed to lose herself. She bowed, saying things like "No need, anything for Ponyville" and began smiling brightly.

Just then, a loud pop emitted, and a large clump of gray clouds appeared, just where Rainbow had gotten rid of them. Except it had doubled in size. The rain began again, drenching Rainbow and every other pony in the town square. Rainbow began her onslaught again, but this time, each time she popped a cloud, two more replaced it.

Panic rose again, and before long the town square was deserted once more. Rainbow Dash was popping for ten minutes, before realising that the gray clouds were now covering all of Ponyville, and were expanding by themselves, collecting white clouds and making them rain clouds. She stopped popping, floating back down to Earth. She had been defeated.

Twilight and Dash were standing in the rain, when Twilight had an idea. She aimed her horn at the sky and cast a large spell with her horn. The gray clouds erupted into pink snowflakes. Twilight stood there amazed at what she had just accomplished. But her victory was short lived, when all the snowflakes flew back up and jumbled back together.

And as quick as they had gone, they came back, doubling in size again, now covering over Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree Forest. It was expanding fast now, and in an hour it would cover all of Equestria. Twilight and Dash, realising that it was raining, began running to the Library, Spike bouncing up and down on Twilight's back.

Rainbow Dash flung the door open, and ran into the deserted Library. Twilight followed her in, closing the door behind her. The rain was pelting against the Library, resonating a constant tapping sound throughout it. This drove the two ponies crazy, so Twilight cast a bit of magic, which removed the sound from outside. The two ponies fell to the floor, exhausted.

Then, the door burst open, the sound pouring in through the gap that had emerged in Twilight's magical sound wall. Standing there, drenched from the rain, was Applejack and Rarity. They both were shivering from being covered in water, and Rarity was already repairing her damp hair with a comb and towel. Applejack simply shook her hat dry and replaced it onto her hair.

"CLOSE THE DOOR!" shouted Rainbow Dash. Jumping back from the shock of being shouted at, the two ponies ran inside and slammed the door shut. The sounds of the rain dissapeared once again, and Applejack immediately began lighting a fire in the fireplace. When the fire was nice and warm, Applejack simply fell in front of it.

Rarity, seeing herself in the nearby mirror, screamed and ran upstairs, no doubt to fix herself up in the bathroom. Twilight, finally recovering from the exhaustion, joined Applejack by the fire, sitting down carefully in the closest armchair. The peace and quiet filled the room, as Twilight was too shocked to speak to the others.

The door once again burst open, a pink pony bouncing through it, closely followed by Fluttershy, her wings shaking uncontrollably as she closed the door. Pinkie seemed unphased by all of it. A large smile on her face, and her mane and tail still sprung up in a candy-floss manner. She looked from pony to pony, finally saying "Where's Rarity?".

Her question was answered by an anguished groan of dissapointment from upstairs. Rarity was obviously not having a good time trying to repair her mane and coat. Pinkie simply nodded and sprawled herself onto an armchair by the fire. Fluttershy, particularly drenched, practically shook so much that water droplets flew everywhere.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "What could... have started... this!" she said, puffing from being out of breath. Twilight immediately jumped off the chair. "I don't know but I intend to find out" she said, approaching the bookshelf, concentrating on the titles. She pulled a particularly large one of the shelf, labeled "The Enigmas of Equestria", and began looking through the pages.

She went through the pages, and found nothing in clouds, or gray. But when she landed on 'rain', it had an image of a particularly nasty looking cloud. It was the same gray colour as the clouds now raining terror on Ponyville. She read through the page, and gasped. This was the cause of the clouds, she thought. She needed to inform the princess.

"Spike!" she shouted, the purple dragon jolting awake from being summoned. "Yes Twilight?" he said, attentive as ever. "Take a note to the princess!" she said, lifting up a quill and paper with her magic and pasing it to him. He nodded, and took down everything she had said. He read over what he had written before he blew flames into it, throwing the ashes to the winds.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I trust you realise the dilemma that is occurring in Ponyville at the present time, given that it is beginning to spread across Equestria. I am sending this message to you, because I have found what has caused this phenomenon to occur.

After a worthwhile read of the book "The Enigmas of Equestria" I have found out that the gray clouds that have now overpopulated the beautiful sky, interrupting your sun's light, has been caused by a group of dangerous creatures that have emerged in Equestria. It is a rare breed known as Lignotus Betalia or 'lightning beetle'.

According to the book, whenever they arrive in a certain land, they send out a single gray cloud. This cloud is treated as a virus, infecting normal clouds and transforming them into replicas of itself. These gray clouds continue to expand, spreading ill-weather such as heavy downpour, lightning and thunder wherever they go.

However, the book did not mention anyway to stop the lightning beetles, other than the fact that removing the infestation will get rid of all the gray clouds that appeared because of the beetles. I have also realised that removing the clouds will only make them double in quantity. I hope you can figure out a way to stop this looming menace Princess.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"

Princess Celestia looked over the note in front of her, looking out the window occasionally to check if the clouds had dissapeared yet. Her hopes were once again drenched, as the clouds continued to expand, covering most of Equestria, including Canterlot. As she finished her students letter, she placed it down onto the table, and began trying all the spells she could think of, but to no avail. The clouds continued to ravage the land with ill-weather.

She began searching through her books, looking for anything that could defeat the beetles that were causing this turmoil. She searched through every book on foreign pests, peculiar beetles, and even looked through "The Enigmas of Equestria" just as Twilight had done. After many attempts, she finally admitted defeat.

She began pacing and pacing, trying to retrieve something, anything from her memory banks. She had to find something soon or her entire kingdom would be covered in darkness and danger of the gray clouds. But, alas, her mind simply pushed her pleads away, as if her brain had given up on her. She had to do something, but what!

Then it came to her. Lightning beetles prefered dark areas, and they prefered areas secluded from human contact. She remembered reading that somewhere, but she couldn't recall the title. The only place in Equestria where the beetles could be, is the Everfree Forest. Yes, that made sense, seeing as the ill-weather started in Ponyville, which is on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

Celestia than had an excellent idea. She thought it through, and continued to pace until she was sure that her plan would succeed. This dilemma was ruining the harmony of Equestria, so what could bring back harmony? Of course! Celestia lifted her quill and began writing the letter, than, she sent it on its way.

"Dear Twilight,
I have read over all of my books, and thought long and hard about the problem before us. And finally, after much stressful work, I have devised a plan. I seem to remember you kept the Elements of Harmony with you after the Discord incident? If so, I wish for you to use them on the Lightning Beetle Queen. This will remove all other beetles, and fix the problem.

I have reason to believe they have taken up residence in the Everfree forest. I wish for you and your friends to help me once again, and take the Elements of Harmony ino the Everfree Forest. Confront the Queen, and, once she has been defeated, the gray clouds will dissapear, and Equestia will once again return to harmony.

Your dearest teacher,
Princess Celestia"

Twilight smiled at the letter in front of her. "Of course!" she shouted with relief. "Why didn't I think of that?" The others looked at her confused, all looking at her with quizzical looks. She explained as best as she could, as Rarity came back down the stairs, her hair and coat back in order.

"We have to go back out there?" Rarity asked, an obvious fear in her voice. She simply squeaked at the thought of trying to repair her hair again. "Alright, there is only one town I'd ruin my man over. Ponyville!" she shouted. Twilight ran upstairs, coming back down with a small box. All the ponies stood up as she lifted the Elements of Harmony, placing them on each pony. Spike had fallen asleep again, so, deciding not to wake him, the 6 ponies left the Library, immediately being drenched by the rain.

Rarity let out a large scream, letting out her anger, then she stopped, ready to get rid of the terrible fashion-ruining weather. Determination and courage fueled the ponies as they ran as fast they could into the Everfree Forest, their necklaces jingling around their necks as they bounced from the running motion.

The ponies searched and searched, unable to find the beetles. They looked under every rock, in every tree, every nook and cranny was searched. They still did not know how big these beetle were, and they did not know what they looked like either. But, their questions were answered soon, when they came upon a large clearing.

The clearing was full of huge beetles, the size of an averaged size pony. They were a deep purple, with yellow lightning marks across their back. On their heads, they had yellow pincers, and giant horns that had a bright blue colour. Their feet left a trail of lightning as they walked, and in the middle of the clearing, 8 beetles were standing in a circle, their heads pointing into the sky. They had formed a connection with the gray clouds, large electricity jolts going from the beetle's pincers to the clouds.

In the middle of them, was an even bigger beetle. She was obviously the queen, seeing as she was as tall as Princess Celestia. She seemed to be drawing power from the clouds, getting bigger and bigger every second. They had to act now, or the Queen would become to big to defeat. The ponies walked up to the queen, determination in their eyes.

The 8 beetles surrounding the queen dispersed as the queen stepped forward to meet the ponies. Every time she stepped, a large rumble would go through the ground. The ponies felt the tremors, shaking up and down each time the queen moved forward. The only one who seemed to enjoy this was Pinkie, who simply let out a loud "Weeeeeeeeee!"
The queen stopped, ready for a battle. Twilight looked around at her friends. "Formation!" she shouted, as the ponies stepped back a few steps, readying their Elements. They began charging them up, energy pulsing from them as they pointed them at the overized queen beetle. It was all over now.

ZAP!

A large bolt of energy flew from the queen's pincers, hitting the necklace off of Applejack's neck. She fell to the ground, the Element of Harmony only metres away from her. Twilight ran over to her, as did the other. "Are you okay?" asked Twilight, extending her hoof for her. "Yeah, Ah'll be ok. The necklace deflected it" Applejack replied, pulling herself up with the help of Twilight. She put her necklace back on, and they returned into the formation.

Fluttershy had a mean look on her face. "No-one endangers my friends like that!" she screamed, and she readied her necklace much more fiercely than the others. WIth a blast of magical energy, the energy from the Elements came together into a single beam of light, that went straight at the Queen.

Hesitating, the queen sent a stream of blue energy at the beam, which collided with it, and the two beams held in place, pushing with the power backed by the sender. The power struggle sent immense bolts of white light everywhere. Eventually, the power of Harmony won over, and forced itself into the queen, which caused a collosal explosion.

After the smoke cleared, the ponies pulled themselves back up, looking around at what the battle's outcomes were. They did it! All of the beetles had gone, leaving nothing but a large clearing burnt to a crisp. The ponies cheered, happy as can be. They looked up into the sky, and smiled at the cloudless blue expanse, the sun's light shining on them.

The 6 ponies were met with a raucous applause from the throne room at Canterlot. Behind them stood a very happy Princess Celestia. As the cheers began to die down, Celestia spoke, her regal voice filling the entire room. "Once again, these 6 ponies have shown courage and determination, saving Equestria from the bad weather that we have had" she said, with many ponies nodding in a agreement.

"Hopefully, this will not happen again, or the real culprits will be the weather pegasi" she joked. As the room filled with cheers and laughter, Celestia gave a small wink to Rainbow Dash, who smiled reassuringly, nodding. Twilight sighed. Another day passed, another problem fixed for the rest of Equestria, she thought.