Twilight looked out of the window. The outside was almost dark, as stormy clouds filled the sky. She sighed and continued to sort the books in her library. There wasn’t much to do anyway. Sometimes the windows were vibrating because of the harsh wind outside. There was a storm brewing, and Twilight only wondered why it did not start to rain now.
“Ancient unicorn history …” She mumbled to herself, as she put the book in the right place on the shelves.
She just wanted to continue with the next book, as Spike came downstairs. She didn’t notice him at first, as she was busy with sorting in the books. Sometimes she wished that Rainbow would do fewer stunts. It wasn’t the first time that she crashed into the library to knock the books from the shelves. But the last time, she had assistance from Applejack, this time she managed to do that all on herself. But she wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if she wouldn’t do some stunts from time to time – and to be fair, some of them ARE impressing.
“Hey Twilight, do you need much longer down here?” Spike asked, what made Twilight to lose her concentration.
As the book fell down on the ground, the unicorn sighed and looked over to her assistant.
“Yes. Yes I think this will take a lot more time.” She answered.
“Can I help you with sorting all those books?”
“I think not.” Twilight said and shook her head.
Spike didn’t answer, but stood there for a while and watched his friend sorting in some books, but then he grew bored. He pointed back up the stairs.
“Well, if you do need help, I’m sleeping upstairs. You know, it is getting late.”
He didn’t receive an answer from Twilight, who continued her work. As she looked at the remaining pile of books, she thought that this would probably also take the next day. Or, if she hurried up, she could do it until tomorrow morning. She decided to try it, even though she knew that she would be sleeping through the next day anyway if she did this. But the work would be done.
But she didn’t know what was supposed to happen that day. A few hours after Spike left, a incredibly loud thunder rolled over the land, almost shattering the library’s windows and causing some of the books Twilight sorted in till now to fall from the shelves again. But in that moment she didn’t care about it, instead she went to the window and looked out.
Far in the distance, an orange glow was hanging over the Everfree Forest. Twilight knew what this meant. The enormous thunder that rolled a few seconds ago must have been caused by a lightning striking down somewhere in the forest. The days were dry the past time and it was explainable that a lightning would set the dry wood of the forest on fire.
She didn’t waste a single thought about the storm as she rushed out of the library into the cold and harsh wind. She also didn’t want to rely on the clouds to start raining. With these harsh winds, no pegasus would be able to fly up to the clouds to kick start the rain. And the farm of the apple family was close to the Everfree Forest, and the fire could probably spread to it. And Twilight wouldn’t let that happen to her friend.
As she sprinted through the town, she was joined by Rainbow Dash, who came along on the ground way, since the wind wouldn’t allow her to fly. It would probably throw her to the ground and knocking her out.
“Hey Rainbow, did you hear the thunder?” Twilight asked as she was sure that her friend could hear her.
“Are you kidding me? I’m living in a cloud; did you think I wouldn’t notice anything about this storm?” The pegasus asked back. “It won’t blow the house away, but it was hard enough for me to get down to the ground.”
Twilight didn’t answer as they sprinted through the town into the direction of the orchard of the apple family. The wind was rushing through their manes as they left Ponyville behind. When they left the cover of the houses to their sides, they faced the full strength of the wind as it almost blew them off their hooves. But they kept going towards the farm.
If there was something they could do, it was to help Applejack and her family members to protect the farm, as the forest fire, would probably spring over to the farms apple trees and burn them down. As they were on the half way to the farm, another lightning struck down to the ground, but this time it was not followed by a orange glow on the darkened sky. It seems like it was not being followed by another fire.
As Twilight and Rainbow reached the farm, the whole apple family was already on the hooves. Even Granny Smith and Applebloom where running around and helping to take preparations. It seems like they came to the same conclusion than Twilight and Rainbow. As they walked in, Applejack came straight towards them.
“Ah got no time for talk now.” She said with a hectic look on her face.
“Yeah, I know. Because of the lightning, fire and that kind of stuff, I bet. We’re here to help.” Rainbow answered, while Twilight nodded.
“Nah, there is no need for that. Ain’t the first time of a forest fire around the farm. Pegasus ponies have slept before.” As Applejack said that, she looked at Rainbow. “Ain’t the first time, I say.”
“Hey, don’t blame me for it! It’s not like I’m the only pegasus in the weather patrol!” Rainbow furiously answered.
“Girls, don’t argue right now. How can we help you and your family, Applejack?”
The cowgirl thought a while and then she pointed over to Big Mac, who was winding up water out of the farms well to fill large buckets with it.
“Rainbow, help mah brother wi’ the well.” She said, then turning her head over to Twilight. “Twi, you will have to use your magic to lift the full buckets on this cart. If it does not rain we will have to bring the rain ourselves!”
While Rainbow and Big Mac filled one bucket with water after another, Applejack soon decided they had enough water to extinguish the forest fire as Rainbow and Big Mac loaded eight of the large and heavy buckets on the cart, although the wind will make things difficult with the cart. But they were dedicated to their cause and they wouldn’t stop until they banned the threat the fire posed.
Rainbow didn’t even need a call to pull the cart, she thought about that as some kind of competition with Applejack as they placed themselves in front of the car to pull it. Even though it was only a slow movement in the beginning, the cart sped up by the second, while Big Mac stood back at the farm to help Granny Smith and Applebloom with further preparations and Twilight walked next to the cart to watch that not a single bucked got lost during the ride to the forest fire.
She still hoped that they could prevent further damage to the forest and especially the farm. The two athletic ponies followed a path from the back of the farm into the forest, while Twilight used her magic to keep some of the buckets in place. Soon the wood around them got even darker, they were on the path to the ancient castle of the royal sisters.
At least a forest fire wasn’t hard to spot, and Twilight had more concerns regarding the amount of water they took with them instead of finding the fire itself. All three of them flinched as another thunder rolled other the land, and the sky lightened up through the leaves of the trees. For a second, the entire forest was lightened up as if it was the brightest day.
“Ah hope that didn’t start another fire.” Applejack was the only one who commented to the lightning, while Rainbow just kept on pulling the cart. Twilight however was thinking about what was the cause of this event. It is highly unlikely that there was a storm without any pegasi involved. But everything seemed that this was the case, since even Rainbow said that she had problems to get down from her house to the ground, not to speak of flying to the farm.
And if Rainbow got problems to fly, it was practically impossible for an ordinary pegasus to fly under this conditions. The Wonderbolts maybe, she thought.
“Hey, Twilight! Watch out where you’re going!” Twilight stopped to walk for a moment, only to realize that she didn’t pay attention to where she was walking and almost hit a tree. She shook her head and corrected her course as she continued thinking. Something had to be the reason for it. But she couldn’t come to a logically reason for the event in time.
“Can you girls hear this?” Applejack asked, and Rainbow as well as Twilight listened into the darkness around them. An almost inaudible crackling noise could be heard, almost covered by the rustling of the leaves above them as the wind rushed through the tree tops.
“We must be close.” The unicorn answered and gave up thinking about the cause. She directed her thoughts more to the solution of their current problem – the forest fire. If they were too slow the fire would spread on a too large area for them to extinguish. If it was like this, Twilight would have to come up with a spell of some kind to make it rain.
At least they didn’t have to care about the wildlife. The natural instincts of the animals should drive them away from the smell of the smoke the fire emitted. It was the only good thing about the entire situation Twilight could think of.
The road soon vanished on the ground, as nopony walked on it for ages, but they kept going. Rainbow and Applejack sped up while Twilight kept the buckets in place with her magic. The group soon reached a hill in the forest. Over the top of the hill they could already see the orange glow shining and the fire cracking as it consumed the dry wood of the forest.
“We’re going to need more water.” Rainbow said as they looked upon a large area burning.
“Yep. More water.” Confirmed Applejack.
“We just need to cut off the fire from the trees around the fire that are not burning yet so it would prevent the fire from spreading any further than this.” Twilight mentioned. “Let’s get started or we will need more water.”
While Rainbow and Applejack lifted one of the large buckets from the cart together to not spill the water they had brought in it, Twilight used her magic to lift at least two buckets at once to extinguish some of the fires at the border of the flames. They could feel the heat of the flames on their skin, Rainbow and Applejack even more than Twilight since they had to go close to the fire to tilt the bucket until the water flowed out of it and into the fire.
The sizzling noise was all around as the water met the flames and put them out, but while the ponies poured bucket after bucket into the fire, it came back again and again. They would need rain. Twilight began to think of a spell she could probably use, she couldn’t remember the spell to make it rain. She just could not remember.
“Twi? Is everything alright?” Applejack asked as she noticed the panic look on the face of her friend.
“No, nothing is alright! I know that I somewhere read about a spell to make it rain, but I just cannot remember it!” She put one of her forehooves on her brow. “I just can’t remember it …”
“Well, we’re almost out of water!” What do we do now?” Rainbow came along and asked before she could look at her friend. Rainbow looked first at Twilight, then to Applejack. She gave her friend a sign that she needed her to pour the last bucket of water into the fire to at least buy a little time for Twilight to think.
As the fire sizzled and went out at the spot where they poured the water in, Applejack and Rainbow looked back to the unicorn, who was still trying to remember the spell. Rainbow then looked into the dark sky, where stormy clouds darkened the sun. She had a sudden idea, and she was bent on doing it.
“You know, Applejack, if somepony could kick-start those clouds to release the water on the fire it would be over pretty soon.” While she said that, she didn’t move her eyes from the sky.
“Yeah, you’re probably right … but who would … hey! What are you doing?” Applejack looked at her friend, who already spread her wings. “You can’t fly in this storm; the wind will bring you off-course!”
“Are you sure? Did you fly at such conditions before? And by the way, you’re talking to the best flyer in all of Equestria here!” The pegasus put a hoof on her chest. “If somepony can do this, it would be me!”
“I can’t let you fly up there … you would only hurt yourself! What would Twi over there say to this?” Applejack intended to stop Rainbow from flying up there, but she was too slow, Rainbow already took off. “See ya later!” She yelled down, as Applejack and Twilight could only watch how her winged friend was flying into the storm. And they were only more concerned about what could happen as once more a thunder rolled over the land and the sky lightened up. Twilight just hoped the best.
While Applejack and Twilight could not do more than watch and worry about their friend, Rainbow tried to reach the stormy clouds. It was hard enough to fly down to the ground under these conditions, but it was even harder to fly into the other direction. The wind almost threw her down again, and for a moment she thought that she bite off more than she could chew at that moment, but she threw that thought away again.
She just had to make it. You didn’t have to be an egghead like Twilight to know that it would affect everypony back in Ponyville when they would let the Everfree Forest burn down. And Rainbow wouldn’t let Ponyville hanging. The higher she flew, the stronger was the wind, and for a short moment she thought, that she wouldn’t make it, but she did reach the clouds.
It was kind of a hellish combination: The ice-cold wind and the burning heat emitted from the flames below. This combination of heat and frost wasn’t making it easier. Rainbow gave her best to hold the course against the wind, and she made it up to the clouds. Now she just had to maintain her position as she kicked against the cloud as if it would be just a single cloud hanging on the sky over Ponyville.
A rumbling went through the clouds, at some spots the pegasus could even see small charges of electricity unload, creating some a few lightning bolts flashing through the night. But there was still no rain. The fire was still burning. Rainbow wanted to take a closer look at the clouds and lost her balance while doing so.
And just in this moment, the next blow of the wind had to come and throwing her completely out of her balance. She fell down in a spiraling movement, but around the half of the way down she caught herself again and flew up again, into the direction of the clouds.
“Do you think this will end well?” Applejack said to Twilight as they watched the pegasus as she lost control over the flight.
“Well, at one point she IS right: Rainbow is the best flyer in Equestria, probably better than the Wonderbolts. And if somepony could do it, then it would be her.” The unicorn looked her friend in the eyes. “Trust her. If she falls, I still could catch her with my magic. Don’t worry.” With those words, she looked at the sky again. She really hoped that she wouldn’t have to catch her friend, and while Applejack was focused at the events in the sky, Twilight sunk her head and began to cast a certain spell. A spell she just remembered.
Meanwhile, Rainbow reached the clouds again. She kicked it again, and this time it was more than a rumbling what came out of the clouds. It began to rain. The pegasus looked down and could her the sizzling noise even up there. The fire slowly went out, there would be a large field of fertile ash left, and the cycle of life would continue again.
The Everfree Forest didn’t need much care from anypony, it mostly cared for itself. So it will heal in time and new plants will be growing on what is left from the former plants. And while the wind was blowing, it would carry the ash all over the forest, benefitting any plant around there.
Rainbow didn’t wait to fly to the ground again. It was not at easy at all and she sometimes thought that she wouldn’t make it, but in the end she had success. What she didn’t know at the moment was that it was Twilights spell that finally triggered the rain.
“See? I told you I can do it!” She said to her friends as she landed again. “There was nothing to worry about!” While Twilight didn’t want to ruin the moment of triumph for her friend, she kept quiet about that she remembered how to cast the spell. Applejack, however, threw a skeptical look at her friend.
“Did you ever think about the risk?” She asked Rainbow. “Did you ever think about what could have happened?” She felt dumbfounded as Rainbow started to laugh, and shrugged. “Well, we still have to bring back the cart to the farm. Let’s get going.”
As they left, Twilight threw a look back at the field of ash behind them. A misty fog rose from it and covered the entire scene in a thick, white mist.
“Twi, will you come? We’re ready to go!” Applejack yelled from the cart after a while. The unicorn turned away from the scenery and followed her friends as they were trotting back to the farm.
When they came back, the first thing they saw was Granny Smith behind a pile of sandbags and a helmet on her head.
“Is the fire extinguished?” She asked, and Applejack answered with a nodding of her head. “Yes, it is over again … Thanks to Rainbow and Twi here.”
They left the cart in front of the barn and Twilight wanted to go back to the library to continue her work with the books, but Applejack didn’t let her go that easily.
“You’re not going home now. You’re staying here for tonight.” She said. “You helped me and mah family to stop the fire, so you’ll be part of the celebration that it is over.” The pony smiled at her friends. “And part of the cleanup.” She added with a smirk.
The other two ponies gladly accepted the invitation, especially Rainbow. She didn’t want to fly back up to her house again if she went home. And the books could wait. They went into the house of the apple family, and everpony was happy that it didn’t get out of hand and they’re all well. And, of course that the farm was saved and a devastating fire was prevented.
