Forged in Fire, Tempered by Time

"Right, I’m assuming you have a plan?” Rainbow queried as they made their way through the weather centre. “How do you fight a magic storm anyway?”

Several of the other weather pegasi had tried to volunteer to accompany Dash and Twilight, but the unicorn had turned them all down, explaining that it was going to be hard enough protecting just herself and Dash. If she managed to diffuse the free magic, the weather ponies would then need to take over to deal with what would no doubt still be a powerful, but mundane, storm. They needed to be well rested for that.

“Well,” Twilight began uncertainly. “I won’t be fighting the storm per se; I’ll be focusing on the free magic that’s powering it. Before I can do anything though, I need to get a better read on it. I’ve got some base information regarding the specific type of magic from the sample I pulled out of Midnight, but I need more data before I can formulate a plan.”

“Let’s get you some more data then!” Rainbow enthused. “...How do we do that exactly?”

“I need to cast a few detection and diagnostic spells. Ideally I need to be closer to get more accurate readings,” Twilight explained.

“Do we really need to get closer to that thing?” Rainbow sounded apprehensive.

“Yes, but hopefully not within lightning range. With it already moving towards us, the edge of town nearest the Everfree Forest should put us close enough.” Twilight explained.

Rainbow Dash nodded her understanding, and looked visibly relieved. Rainbow Dash did not want to end up like Midnight, and she certainly didn’t want Twilight to end up like Midnight. The two ponies pushed out into the storm, bracing themselves against the viscous wind and stinging rain. Twilight would have liked to warn the rest of the town to stay indoors, but she didn’t think they could afford the time. Besides, no pony in their right mind was going to come out in this storm anyway.

The two sodden ponies arrived at the edge of town. Twilight had refrained from using magic to protect them from the rain in an attempt to preserve her power for combating the storm. If her suspicions were correct, she would need every drop of magic she had to beat the thing off.

“This should do,” she said to Rainbow Dash, having to shout above the wind to make herself heard.

This close, the storm seemed even more threatening; the danger was that much more imminent. The storm was very obviously creeping closing, the dark clouds bubbling angrily towards them. Every few seconds they would illuminate with internal lightning, the wave of thunder rolling out a few seconds afterwards. Rainbow swore she could see subtle faces forming and melting away in the patterns of the clouds. Each one wore a hideous grin.

Twilight closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Before she could cast a single spell however, a frighteningly large blast of lightning arced down and struck the top of a huge oak tree. The top half of the tree shattered like glass, the shards of flaming wood exploding out in every direction. The bottom half of the three was split neatly in half and burst into flames. Twilight jumped so much she fell over. Dash, with a powerful and instinctual thrust of her wings, shot several metres backwards along the ground. To say she looked startled would be an understatement. Twilight quickly picked herself up and set about casting the spells before she could be interrupted again. The glow around her horn intensified before giving forth what looked like a large dragonfly composed entirely of her lavender magic. It zipped playfully around her head for a few seconds before darting off towards the storm. It moved at such a speed that had it not left a purple trail behind it, it would have been almost impossible to follow.

Rainbow, having recovered from her shock, leaned in and yelled to Twilight, “I’ve never seen you cast a spell like that before; usually it’s just all glowey.”

“Well, I thought it might be dangerous to interact with the storm directly, so I sent a probe instead. It’s more complicated but much safer for the user. There’s no chance of feedback or any other side effects,” Twilight explained.

“How long will it take?”

“It should only take about a minute to gather all the data I need,” Twilight responded. “That’s assuming of course, that it doesn’t just get torn asunder by the free magic,” Twilight added with a nonchalance that Rainbow felt the statement did not deserve. That sounded like a very bad thing.

Despite Twilights apparent indifference to the plight of her magical probe, she became increasingly restless the longer they stood waiting for its return. The pair stood, staring intently at the approaching violent storm, looking for any sign of the probes purple contrail. The predicted minute passed without any sign of the magically summoned insect: Twilight started pacing. She would have felt its destruction she was sure of it, she hoped that the storm was merely providing difficult working conditions for her probe thus slowing its progress.

“There!” Rainbow cried, pointing with a hoof as she yelled.

“Where? I don’t see...” Twilight frantically scanned the area of sky Rainbow was indicating. “...I see it!” she cried after a few seconds. She could just make out the purple trail as the probe zipped towards them. “Good eyes, Dash.”

The translucent dragonfly quickly returned, heading straight for Twilight. It repeated its circuit of Twilight’s head before diving forward and embracing her horn. The probe sunk into the horn and Twilight’s eyes glazed over as she examined the data it had delivered. She stood, slack jawed, deep in thought for so long that Rainbow started to worry.

Twilight suddenly gasped, her eyes widening with fear.

“Ohdearohdearohdearohdear, that’s an awful lot of magic,” Twilight blurted, her voice almost breaking.

“You can stop it, right?” Rainbow asked, having to shout over the wind and thunder. The statement was half confident encouragement, half worried question.

“I don’t think so, not at its current strength,” Twilight said, pacing worriedly again. “As it is now, I think there’s a very real chance that it would overpower me. We need to weaken it before I directly confront it.”

“Well how the hay do we do that?!”

Before Twilight could answer, another bolt of lightning struck a tree. It had much the same effect as on the first tree to be struck. Then, abruptly, another dagger of light blasted a third tree. The concussion from the explosions as well as the deep rumble of the thunder rolled across them. They both felt the vibrations through their hooves.

“We have to get to the library! I think I have an idea!” Twilight shouted over the rumble of another lightning strike. She turned back towards the town, galloping hard for her home. Dash followed unquestioningly, the athletic pegasus rapidly caught up with the unicorn.

After a few minutes of hard running, the pair reached the library tree, barging through the door. Twilight was desperately gasping for breath while Dash was hardly phased; Twilight was extremely envious of the pegasus’ finely honed body in that instance. The lightning had grown more frequent as they made their journey. The storm seemed to be lashing out at anything that reached more than half a dozen metres off the ground.

“What’s this plan then, Twi?” Rainbow asked, in a normal voice now that they were out of the screaming wind.

“Lightning...drain power...rods,” she gasped out in between breaths.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the stricken mare, and waited for her to try again. Twilight took a few more steadying breaths then started afresh.

“The probe revealed that the storm is no longer gaining in strength, so it must be expending power to use the lightning.”

“So it’s getting weaker on its own?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, but not quickly enough. We need to accelerate the loss of power to limit the damage it can do. I plan to do that using a slightly modified version of the magical lightning rod that protects this library. I’ll enchant them to actively attract the lightning rather than just passively channel it,” she explained, moving deeper into the library.

“Good plan!” Dash exclaimed. “Where are we going to the get the lightning rods from though, do you have to make them? Do you have time to do that?”

“I actually have a few spare ones in the basement. The mayor asked me to put one on the town hall, Applejack wanted one for the hay barn, and a few of the more nervous ponies sometimes borrow one from me when a big storm is scheduled. Because I get asked about them so much, I made a batch of them,” she explained.

“Well, that saves some time.”

“Yes it does. I just need to modify the enchantments on them. Once they have been altered, we need to strategically place them around Ponyville so they gather up as much lightning as possible.”

“I’m guessing the best places would be ones that are high up,” Rainbow suggested.

Twilight looked slightly surprised at the completely correct guess from Dash. Dash in turn looked somewhat offended.

“Duh, hello,” Rainbow said in a rather aggravated voice, pointing to herself with a hoof. “Expert weather mare here. I may not know all the numbers, but I know how lightning behaves.”

“Oh right, yes I forgot that, sorry,” Twilight said rather sheepishly. “While I go and make the necessary modifications to the lightning rods, you can mark out the best places for them. There is a very detailed map of Ponyville in one of the books in the cartography section which is right...over...there.” Twilight trailed off as she pointed in the direction of the cartography section. She found herself pointing directly at the bookcase Rainbow had knocked over that morning, the contents of which was piled on a nearby table. In no particular order.

“I’m going to have to search through all of those aren’t I?” Rainbow asked resignedly.

A crack of lightning sounded outside; it had sounded uncomfortably close.

“Yes, so you’d better get going!” Twilight urged, already rushing towards the basement stairs.

Some ten minutes later, Twilight came back up from the basement, a stack of lightning rods following close behind, wreathed in the purple glow of her magic. As she came out onto the library floor, she saw Dash hunched over a table. Several large books were open in front of her and a large scroll of parchment was pinned flat as well, a weight at each corner. She held a quill in her mouth and was furiously scribbling, occasionally glancing at one of the books for reference. The previously neat pile of books had been knocked onto the floor to make room for her operation. Normally, Twilight would be livid at the mistreatment of the texts, but given the circumstances, she could forgive the neglect.

"Are you ready Rainbow? Have you found good spots?"

Rainbow spit the quill out, and glanced at the hastily drawn map and notes.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied sounding a bit unsure. "I depends how well those things will attract the lightning."

"I'm not sure on the exact range but it should be a fair distance. I was rushing so I didn't have time to be precise," Twilight explained. "I've got six though, plus the ones already set up in the town."

She moved over to look at the map Rainbow had drawn. It was rough and obviously hastily done, but showed the required detail. There were several big crosses to indicate the possible sites for the lightning rods, each on labelled with a height.

“Nice work Rainbow,” Twilight complimented. “This is perfect. There are already rods here, here, and here,” Twilight lifted the quill as she spoke and marked the sites of the already in place rods; one on the library, one on the town hall, and one on the weather centre. She briefly scanned the map again before circling the six spots they would place their modified rods.

“And I think these spots will give us the best distribution. We'll place the ones closest to the storm first. I'll also have to modify the already placed rods with the new enchantment. I've already done the library, so let's get moving!”

Just as they were about to exit the library, Twilight stopped suddenly.

"Wait, I have an idea that should protect us from the lightning. Hold still."

Her horn lit as she concentrated and Rainbow was encompassed in a purple glow for a few seconds. When it subsided, the hair of her coat stood on end and her mane was even wilder than usual.

"Whoa, that feels weird Twi. What did you do?" Dash asked, waving a hoof through her gently swaying mane.

“I gave you a shield that should repel or redirect the lightning. Hopefully, that should protect you from the worst,” she said with a smile. “Hang on I've got to do it to myself now."

The same purple glow shone around Twilight for a few seconds, and then her hair all started to stand on end as well. Rainbow stifled a giggle at the ridiculous sight.

"Ha, you look silly."

Twilight smirked at her friend, before continuing with her explanation.

“If we stay close together the effect will be stronger as the shields merge.”

"Right, right, basically stay together. Remember we're in a hurry, so no time for a lecture!" Rainbow reprimanded.

Wasting no more time the pair pushed back out into the storm, heading for their first objective; a hill on the edge of town. The wind and rain worsened as they travelled, slowing their progress as they fought against its unrelenting pressure. The lightning from the storm was striking out at increasingly regular intervals now, with no less violent results. Barely had a rumble of thunder died away before it was replaced with another. The storms leading edge was almost at Ponyville now. They were running out of time.

Once atop the hill, Twilight raised the first lightning rod and drove it into the soil of the hill. She then seized the guide ropes and held them in place while Dash hammered the pegs home with her hooves. Twilight would have done it, but she needed to save her energy to confront the storm. She had already cast a lot of magic today and she feared if she used it frivolously now, she might not be able to best the free magic later, weakened or not. Once satisfied that it was in place the pair moved to the next position.

***

With a flutter of wings, Dash gracefully jumped from windowsill, to ledge, then to the roof of the three story building that she had earmarked as the position for the third rod. She stayed as close to the building as possible and went no higher than was necessary, not wanting to tempt down any lightning. Twilight was confident her defence would work, but she didn't want to put it to the test. The collateral damage from a redirected lightning strike could still prove devastating. Once Rainbow reached the top, Twilight hefted up the rod and Rainbow set about securing it in position.

She finished just in time to see the storm come into contact with the first rod they placed on the hill. Lightning immediately and repeatedly started to arc down to the enchanted metal, the constant roar of thunder boomed across the town. The lightning struck nowhere else around the rod for a radius of nearly fifty metres, or so Twilight estimated from where she stood.

"It looks like its working!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I think it's moving faster now Twilight. We better get our flanks moving if we're going to get the rest of these up," Rainbow called down from the roof.

They swiftly moved on to their next objective. On their way to the fourth site, Sugar Cube Corner, Twilight stopped to alter the enchantment on the lightning rod installed on the town hall. It only took a minute or so, but it was time they didn't have. The storm was now noticeably over Ponyville and repeatedly striking the first three lightning rods.

"Twilight, the storm is gaining on us," Rainbow said with a hint of panic, as she looked over her shoulder.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Twilight replied, a note of fear starting to creep into her voice.

"No we're not!" Rainbow retorted, skidding to a halt. "Gimme one of those rods, I'll do Sugar Cube Corner, you go alter the weather centre and set up the fifth. Then we'll meet up and do the final spot."

“No Dash, if we split up-“

“Yes, yes the shields will be weaker, but we are running out of time!”

As if in agreement with Rainbow Dash’s assessment of the situation, a bolt of lightning struck down at them. At the last second, the lighting seemed to glance off something just above their heads as the shield did it's job, striking the cobbled street mere metres away. The stones exploded, sending shards of rock - sharp as razors - out in all directions.

“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow screamed.

Before Twilight could react, Rainbow Dash flung herself at her knocking them to the ground and shielding Twilight from the speeding projectiles. Twilight heard a cry of pain and felt hot blood splash across her.