Fireflies

Dear Princess Celestia,
Today we learned that you should always count on your friends no matter how big or scary your problems can seem. Never lose hope or give up, and your friends will help you out in the end. Also, you should never carry a lit torch into a mysterious cave, no matter what any book might say.
Sincerely,
The Cutie Mark Crusaders
P.S. Twilight says that it wasn’t our fault and that the damage to Ponyville won’t cost too much to repair.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I suspect that you are quite worried about the letter on friendship you received. First, I would like to ensure you that everypony is just fine and that there is nothing to worry about. However, I do feel like you deserve an explanation of the events of the past few days. It all started five nights ago when a group of three young fillies, calling themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, attempted to earn their cutie marks by exploring a newly discovered cave on the edge of the Everfree forest. The three had snuck out of their homes and met at Sweet Apple Acres before proceeding into the forest…

“I’m not so sure about this…” Sweetie Belle said, her magical grip on her candle wavering. The shaking caused shadows to leap and dance across the white unicorn and her two friends.
“Oh, come on Sweetie Belle, this was your idea in the first place.” Scootaloo replied, waving her hoof dismissively.
“Well I didn’t think that we’d have to be out here at night. Don’t you remember what happened when we ran into that cockatrice? What happens if we run into it again? We’d be turned into stone!”
This time it was Apple Bloom’s turn to respond, “Ah, don’t be silly, Sweetie Belle, you know Fluttershy got rid of that. Besides, we’re on the path to Zecora’s cottage. The spells Twilight put on it make sure any dangerous creatures stay far away.”
“And of course we’re not going that far into the forest. If something goes wrong, we can just gallop out of here. How much farther is it to this cave, anyway?” Scootaloo said impatiently.
“It shouldn’t be too much farther,” the unicorn filly replied, “Rarity doesn’t like to go too deep into the forest on her own.”
Applebloom turned to Sweetie Belle, “How did she find this cave anyway? Rarity doesn’t exactly strike me as the cave exporin’ type.”
“Well, do you remember that incident with the poison joke a couple of month ago?” Sweetie Belle began, “On the way back from Zecora’s house she sensed something special about a rock with her magic. She went back yesterday with some chisels and tools and cracked the rock open. She told me that she didn’t find any gems and that the only thing there was an opening to ‘some dirty old cave’.”
“So,” said Scootaloo, plopping down on the path, “we’re looking for a cave entrance near some large chunks of rock”
“Yep,” said Sweetie Belle, looking at Scootaloo curiously.
“Like that one?” Scootaloo asked, pointing her hoof off to the side of the path.
“We made it,” cried Sweetie Belle, “Cutie Mark Crusader cave explores are go!”

Five minutes later, the crusaders were deep inside the cave and Sweetie Belle’s candle had been replaced with a blazing torch.
“Bleh!” Scootaloo cried out in disgust, “that’s the fourth spider web I’ve walked into in the last minute. Why do I have to be the one who walks in front?”
“Because you said that you wanted to be the first one into the cave.” replied Sweetie Belle, “at least you don’t have to carry this torch. Do you know how to many times I’m going to have to wash my mane to get the smell of smoke out of it? What was wrong with my candles?”
“You can’t explore a cave with candles!” cried Scootaloo incredulously, “Did you even read those Daring Doo books I gave you? You need to have torches to explore a cave!”
“That was just a story,” Sweetie Belle grumbled, “I bet it didn’t say anything about spider webs. Besides, I thought you were trying to prank me, I mean since when does Scootaloo, of all ponies, read books! I mean reading is so…uncool.”
“What do you mean ‘uncool’”, Scootaloo cried, “Rainbow Dash reads books and she’s the coolest pony in all of Equestria.”
Before she could protest any further, she was interrupted by Apple Bloom, who had frozen in her tracks and was looking around nervously. “Girls, I think I heard something…I don’t think that we should keep going.”
“It was probably just an echo or rocks falling.” Sweetie Belle said, waving her hoof dismissively.
“Yeah, and if we go back now there’s no way we’ll earn our cave explorer cutie marks!” added Scootaloo.
“Okay, if y’all are sure” sighed Apple Bloom, “but let’s be careful…and no more arguin’!”
For the next few minutes the three fillies descended deeper into the cave, listening for any sound that might indicate danger. They walked past countless feet of featureless cave wall and Sweetie Belle’s torch had burned down almost halfway before the cave suddenly ended in a small, circular room. It was small enough to be completely lit by the torch except for the ceiling, which was hidden in darkness.
“What! Is this is?!” cried Sweetie Belle “Dumb cave!”
Suddenly there was another rustle, clearly audible this time. The Crusaders drew together peering upwards searching for the source of the noise.
“There it was again!” cried Sweetie Belle, “I told you I heard something!”
“I-I-I think we should get out of hear.” Stuttered Scootaloo.
The rustling noise came again, louder this time. The three young fillies didn’t try to search for the source and instead turned and fled from the cave.
“Where’s the torch?” cried Apple Bloom “I can’t see a thing!”
“I dropped it back in the cave, when we started running.” Responded Sweetie Belle, still running flat out.
“How are we supposed to find our way out of this cave now!” shouted Apple Bloom, her voice tinged with worry and desperation.
“There!” cried Scootaloo, pointing her hoof towards a slightly lighter patch of darkness.
The three fillies raced out of the cave and kept on going until they were out of the Everfree forest and back in between the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres.
Back in the cave Sweetie Belle’s torch gave a tiny sputter and went out, plunging the cave into darkness except for the dim glow from a tiny ember floating towards the ceiling. The glow reached the ceiling high above the cave floor and began to spread until the entire cavern was lit in a wavering golden light. The once quiet rustling had grown into a roar. Then with a blinding flash, the presence left the in the chamber was gone, leaving nothing but darkness, silence, and a small pile of ash where the torch had been.

Knock, knock, knock.
Twilight Sparkled groaned and rolled out of bed. “Spike, can you get that?”
Silence was the only answer to her question.
Duh, he’s with Princess Celestia visiting the queen of the dragons.
Knock, knock, knock. The noise came again disrupting her thoughts.
“Argh! I’m coming!” she screamed and scrambled down the stairs. She yanked open the front door and shouted, “WHAT!”
“Eep..” Fluttershy fell backwards onto the ground. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll come back later…”
Seeing that it was Fluttershy at the door, Twilight’s look immediately softened. “Sorry about that Fluttershy,”she said, helping the mare back onto her feet. “I was up late reading a new book…again. So what is it you needed? A new book on animals? I got in a brand new copy of Equestrian Anatomicals (with illustrated appendices) last week. Or did you want something more personal? The newest book in that *ahem* series you like came in recently. What was it called again? Something rhyming…Plenty of…nope…Mares with…uh-uh…oh I remember! Lots of-“
“Twilight, stop!” Fluttershy cried, “um, if you don’t mind…I didn’t come for a book. I actually needed your advice.” She stepped into the library and pulled out a small glass jar with holes punched through the lid. “I found this on the edge of the Everfree forest this morning. I think it might be hurt or something.”
Twilight grabbed the jar with her magic and carried it over to a nearby table. She did a double take “Fluttershy, did you bring me a parasprite!? You know how dangerous these are!”
Fluttershy cowered again, “I-I don’t think that it’s a parasprite, it wasn’t interested in any of the food I tried to give it.”
Twilight looked back at the jar to study the creature in greater detail. The thing in the jar did indeed look like a parasprite. It had the same round body, large eyes, and membranous wings. However, unlike the brightly colored parasprites, this thing had a clear, translucent body, almost see-through.
“I call them light-sprites.” Fluttershy continued.
“Why do you call them that?” Twilight asked not looking up at the jar. “They don’t seem very ‘light’”.
Instead of answering, Fluttershy walked over to the main windows, grabbed the curtains, and pulled them across blocking out most of the light entering the room.
“What are you do-“ Twilight had another double take. “It-It’s glowing!” she cried.
The clear body of the so called ‘light-sprite’ was glowing with a dim orange light.
“Oh-my,” Fluttershy whimpered, “It’s so much dimmer than it was this morning. I don’t think it likes being in the jar. Here little fellow, let me open that for you.”
Before Twilight could even say anything, Fluttershy had grabbed the lid of the jar and twisted it off. The ‘light-sprite’ fluttered up out of the jar and settled down on a piece of parchment on Twilight’s desk. The ‘light-sprite’, along with the piece of paper, promptly burst into flames.
“Eek!” screamed Twilight and Fluttershy in union. Twilight concentrated and her horn started glowing. The flaming ‘light-sprite’ and piece of paper were enclosed in a purple sphere of magic. About thirty seconds later the fire had burned itself out and Twilight set the ‘light-sprite’ along with the remains of the paper back onto the desk. She walked over and examined them before turning to face Fluttershy. “ Fluttershy, I-I think that it’s dead…” The ‘light-sprites’ delicate wings had been burned off and its once clear body was charred and blackened.
“Oh-no,” Fluttershy whined, her eyes tearing up. “Why did I have to bring it here?”
“Fluttershy, this isn’t your fault,” Twilight consoled the now sobbing pony, “It was old and would have died soon anyway. Besides, we have bigger problems to worry about.”
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy sniffled.
“I figured out what those things are. They’re-“
“-Fireflies” Twilight finished. “And as the Elements of Harmony it’s our duty to make sure that they don’t
“Fireflies!? Why that’s simply horrid!” responded Rarity. “I thought they were supposed to be extinct.”
“Ah hope you don’t mind me askin’ but what exactly are ‘fireflies’?” asked Applejack, “They certainly don’t sound so bad?”
“According to my books, fireflies are a distant relative of parasprites.” explained Twilight, “But instead of reproducing by eating, they reproduce by lighting fires. Each firefly will burst into flames near the end of its life. Depending on the size of the resulting fire, up to 30 more fireflies can be created at a time. Three-hundred and fifty years ago the fireflies first appeared. They caused massive fires which destroyed several major cities including Manehattan and Canterlot. They rampaged across Equestria until they were stopped by Princess Celestia, who used her powers to send them to the moon, where they couldn’t cause any harm. They were supposed to all have been destroyed, but obviously some of them must have survived.”
“And now they’re here in Ponyville?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Well we’ll kick their flanks right back to the moon.” She said striking a pose with both hooves raised in a fighting position.
“Well, with the information I’ve been able to gather I’ve discovered that the fireflies are still inside the Everfree forest.” Twilight explained, “The one Fluttershy discovered probably just left the Everfree to look for more easily burnable material.”
“Twi, ah you sayin’ that they can’t light the trees on fire?” Applejack asked grinning, “Then my apple farm is safe!”
“Yes, but only for the next few days.” Twilight explained, “The big storm two days ago let the trees let soak up a lot water. Right now they’re just to damp to light on fire-“
She was interrupted by a panicked shout from outside the library “Fire! Fire!”
The ponies rushed outside where they were greeted by a thick cloud of acrid, black smoke, which they traced back to Davenport’s Quills and Sofas. The stores namesake was sitting out front with his head in his hooves. There was a crowd of ponies gathered around the store watching the out of control fire, which threatened to spread to surrounding buildings.
Twilight sprang into action, “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, bring some clouds over the top of the shop and make some rain! Pinkie Pie, Applejack, organize a bucket brigade from the well. Rarity, help me pull some of the burning material out of the fire! Go!”
Twilight and her friends sprang into action. Within minutes the fire was reduced to embers which were being drowned by an extremely localized downpour. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, along with a small army of other Ponyville residents, had kept the fire from spreading to any surrounding buildings. Twilight and Rarity had even managed to save a few unburned sofas, although Davenport’s stock of quills was entirely lost. Davenport himself was being comforted by Fluttershy, and as Twilight walked over she could hear him sobbing, “Gone, all gone. One minute I’m writing a letter to my dear old mother, and the next thing I know my entire shops ablaze!” The stallion dissolved back into tears.
“Excuse me sir,” Twilight said, interrupting the stallions blubbering, “Did you happen to see any sort of flying insect before the fire? It would have looked a bit like a parasprite, but less…colorful.”
“Insects?” Davenport asked incredulously. “My entire shop, my one and only source of income, has just burned to the ground and you want to talk about insects?”
“Please sir, It’s very important” Twilight pleaded. ”It might have to do with why the fire in your shop started.”
“Oh, I know how the fire started.” Davenport replied, offhandedly. “I knocked over a candle I was using to melt some wax for a letter. It landed on a pile of quills and woosh!”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and called out to her friends, “It’s okay! This fire was just a coincidence. The fireflies haven’t reached Ponyville yet, we’re still safe.”
A familiar voice called out from the back of the crowd, “Ponyville is far from safe you’ll soon see, when you hear my news from Everfree!”
“Zecora!” Twilight cried, pushing her way through the crowd. “Thank goodness you’re here. We need your help; Fluttershy found a firefly on the edge of the Everfree forest and it tried to burn down the library!”
Zecora’s face was serious as she began to speak, “That one firefly is the least of your worries, all of Ponyville will be lost if you don’t hurry. One of those fireflies came to my tree, and even now a fire blazes in the Everfree! In no short time it will spread and grow, where it will stop, I do not know.”
By now Twilight’s friends had joined her. Applejack was the first to speak, turning to Twilight. “I thought that you said that the trees were too wet to light on fire. What gives, sugarcube?”
Twilight looked frantic, “I forgot that the weather in the Everfree isn’t the same as the weather in Ponyville. Zecora, when was the last time it rained in the forest.
“There was a short drizzle one week ago, before that I do not know. I am not sure why, but the forest has been unusually dry.” Zecora replied.
Zecora’s information set Twilight into action. “Everypony, listen up!” she shouted into the crowd, “A forest fire has broken out in the Everfree forest and we need to put it out before it spreads to Ponyville! Grab every pony you can find and head over to Sweet Apple Acres. From there we’ll figure out what to do next.” Turning to Zecora she continued “Can you lead the way?”
Zecora and the Elements of Harmony, along with most of Ponyville headed out of the town towards Applejacks farm. As they raced down the trail Twilight flung out instructions to her friends. “Rainbow Dash you’re in charge of gathering clouds. Bring the biggest, dampest clouds as close to the Everfree as you can. Rarity, you and the rest of the unicorns are going to help me position the clouds over the fire. Applejack, you and the other earth ponies are going to make sure that the fire doesn’t spread. Knock down trees and clear brush to create a fire break. Pinkie Pie, organize a bucket line and keep the fire contained. Fluttershy, you’re going to have to get the animals out of the forest safely. If we all work together we can put out this fire and keep Ponyville safe!”
By now the crowd had reached the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, and the tang of smoke was clear in everypony’s nose. Looking up at the sky Twilight could trace the cloud of smoke into the Everfree forest. She called out to Rainbow Dash, “Dash, you and the other pegasi start gathering clouds and get them as near as you can to the source of the smoke. Rarity and I will be waiting.”
“Yes mam!” Rainbow Dash said, raising her hoof in a salute before rocketing into the air towards a nearby clump of clouds.
While Twilight and several unicorns cut off the path and skirted the edge of the forest, Applejack and a large group of earth ponies continued to head straight down the path into the forest towards the source of the smoke. Fluttershy took to the air over the Everfree forest to search out and rescue any creatures that needed help. Within a minute everypony was in position and the first clouds had started to reach the edge of the Everfree forest. Twilight’s horn blazed with a purple light as she reached out to grab the cloud with her magic. She gave it an experimental tug and grunted with surprise as it smoothly slid through the sky. “I thought that they’d be heavier. I mean they’re so big!”
“Clouds are mostly air, Twilight,” Rainbow called out from above. “I would have thought an egghead like you would have known that.”
“Rainbow aren’t you supposed to be doing something” Twilight asked in an irritated voice. “Like getting more clouds?”
“Oh right…” mumbled Rainbow Dash before zipping off back into the clouds.
Twilight turned her attention back to the clouds using her magic to jam them into position over top of the source of the smoke. Soon they were concentrated enough for a light drizzle to begin to fall, eventually growing into a steady downpour. Over the next several minutes, the unicorns jammed more and more clouds into position. Twilights concentration was broken by a hooftap on her shoulder. She turned to see Applejack standing at her side.
“Ya’ll can take a break now, sugarcube.” The orange mare said, “The fire is going to go out by itself now, you don’t need to add any more clouds.”
Twilight collapsed to the ground, exhausted. “Did you see any fireflies? Could you follow them to their nest?”
The orange mare grinned, “As soon as the rain started falling, those critters high-tailed it out of there.” Her smile disappeared as she continued, “We were busy tryin’ to keep the fire from getting’ out of control, so nopony saw where they went.”
Twilight turned to Zecora. Who had retuned along with Applejack.
“We need to figure out how to get rid of the fireflies once and for all if we want to be safe. Do you have any ideas?”
“If you really want to win, you must find the creatures’ den.” The zebra replied. “Then a simple freezing spell, will stop those fireflies where they dwell. They can’t stand the low temperature, it will kill them, I am sure!”
Twilight nodded, understanding the zebra despite her odd method of communication. “But how are we supposed to find the den now? It would have to be extremely well hidden if it was missed by the princess the first time…”
Again Zecora spoke up “The fireflies sleep where it is warm and dry, far away from open sky. You are probably looking for a cave of some type, first uncovered sometime last night.”
“Last night, you say?” Applejack asked. “It might just be a coincidence, but Apple Bloom came back home late last night covered in mud and briars and smelling of smoke. She said that she had been playin’ with Swwetie Belle and Scootaloo, but knowing those three there might be something more going on.”
“Where are those three now?” asked Twilight, “I think that it’s time we had a talk with them…”

The Elements of Harmony, along with Zecora and the three young Cutie Mark Crusaders, stood outside the entrance to the cavern. After Scootaloo explained what had happened, Rarity had managed to lead the group directly to the cave. Inside, Twilight had found the fireflies clustered together, cold and wet. She almost didn’t have the heart to cast her spell-that is until one of the more active fireflies tried to light her mane on fire. Like Zecora said, Twilight easily ended the firefly threat with a simple freezing spell, albeit one several times more powerful than necessary. Once outside the cave, Twilight sealed the entrance with her magic, preventing anypony or anything from entering or exiting. Now it was time for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to explain their side of the story...
“We didn’t mean to cause any trouble!” Sweetie Belle cried out, on the verge of tears “We just wanted to earn our cave explorer cutie marks!”
“Yeah,” agreed Apple Bloom. “We didn’t know that there’d be a scary, fire-lighting thing in there!”
“What still comes as a surprise, is how you managed to wake the fireflies.” Spoke Zecora. “Only a flame can bring their sleep to an end, why you would have fire I cannot comprehend.”
This time Scootaloo spoke up, “Uh, that might be my fault. I read that Daring Do always used torches to explore caves and ruins, so I figured that that would be the best way to earn or cave explorer cutie marks. If anypony should be blamed its me.”
“No, don’t blame her.” Cried Sweetie Belle, “I’m the one who told them about the cave, it’s my fault.
“Don’t y’all dare blame them” spoke up Apple Bloom. “I’m the one who decided to explore the cave. Its my fault.”
“Well,” said Twilight. “Actually, its nopony’s fault. Those fireflies would have woken up eventually, and it was just chance that you three were the ones who came along. However, I think that this has taught you a valuable lesson-“
She was interrupted by Scootaloo, who was hopping up and down “Ooh, ooh! I know !Never explore a mysterious cave with a lit torch!”
“Not exactly,” Twilight explained, “I was thinking about a lesson in friendship.”
“Oh I know this one,” cried Sweetie Belle. “Never give up on your friends. They will always be there to help and support you.”
“Very good, Sweetie Belle! In fact, I think that you should write a letter to the princess telling her what you’ve learned. Spike, take a note please. Spike? Spike!” Twilight looked around for the little dragon. “Where is he?”
“Uh, Twilight?” Scootaloo spoke up, “Didn’t Spike go somewhere with the princess?”
Twilight froze, and grinned embarrassedly, “Right..lets head back to the library, I can help you write your letter there.”
With that the group split up, headed back towards Ponyville, which was safe for another day.

As you can see, everything turned out fine in the end. The fire damage in the Everfree forest was very small and Zecora has been staying with the Apples while her house is repaired. With help from Fluttershy, Davenport has completely restored his stock of quills and is back in business. I’m looking forward to hearing from you and Spike soon.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Deep inside a dark cave, shrouded in magic and mystery, tucked away between the trees of the Everfree forest, darkness and silence ruled as the fireflies slept. They had waited before, hundreds of years for just one spark, and they were prepared to wait again. One day, there wouldn’t be anypony to stop them, and they could spread themselves across the world. Until that day however, in the darkness, in silence, they slept and they waited.