The Everfree forest was completely dark. A kind of dark Larry had never before experienced in his life. He knew darkness from his time in the box he came from, but not like this. This was an uncontrolled darkness, and Larry was pretty sure he didn't like it.
Jeff had flown down to the ground a few times for breaks, but he seemed more than happy to fly through the night. Jeff knew darkness, and he also knew his way around the forest. Larry was glad of that. At least one of them knew what they were doing.
"Stop here!" Larry said as he noticed a small indention in the hillside below. If he was right, he might have found a cave, which would be another awesome stroke of luck, considering Larry was fairly uninterested in the idea of spending the entire night flying around a strange, dark forest, unprotected from lots of dangerous things. A cave would be a most excellent place to sleep.
As they got closer to the ground, Larry saw that his suspicions were correct. He had actually managed to find a cave. After reaching the ground, Larry paused for a moment to consider the fact that he was probably the first light bulb to ever go inside this cave. With a smile and a look towards Jeff, Larry walked into the cave, while saying,"One small step for light bulb, one giant leap for light bulb kind." There was something strangely significant about those words, but Larry couldn't quite remember why.
When they were both inside the cave, Larry began to notice how much bigger it was than it had seemed. The cave was massive, taking up most of the inside of the hill. Larry had definitely found a good place to spend the night. Maybe he could even stay there and use the cave as some sort of secret lair. That would be a first too. The secret lair of ultimate, wonderful light bulb-ness.
It felt so awkward to Larry, not being able to light up the area around him. He had been a light source his entire life, and now that he wasn't... it was like a massive part of him was missing. He would have to figure out a way to make light again at some point. He didn't feel right, not being able to perform his sole function.
The cave was strangely lit. Not bright by any means, but there were a few strange flickers of light coming from something. Larry didn't mind. This way he and Jeff could thoroughly examine the cave. They'd figure out what was making the lights later, but until then, they were quite useful to have around.
Larry walked back to a far corner and began to move a few leaves into a bed pattern. If he'd be sleeping here, he certainly didn't want to wake up covered in rock scratches. He'd seen what a few scratches could do to a bulb, and Larry very much did not want that for himself.
Jeff was staying surprisingly still, his eyes glancing around the cave in some sort of silent curiosity. Other than that, he didn't move at all. Larry was fairly surprised Jeff hadn't flown away by this point. It wasn't like he had any reason to stay with Larry. If anything, it was surprising that he hadn't flown back to his home to reunite with his jerky purple unicorn owner, but he hadn't. Maybe Jeff actually liked Larry. Larry certainly liked Jeff.
In a single, sudden movement, Jeff flew upwards to the top of the cave and made one of his calls. When he didn't stop making the noises, Larry paused his work to look up at him, thinking he might need some company and was lonely. Owls need constant attention, after all. What Larry saw would have made him wet his pants if he had been wearing any pants and had anything to wet them with. There was not a single dragon, but two. At least Larry knew where the lights were coming from now. That was one good thing.
For another time that day, Larry realized how totally, completely screwed he was. The dragons were both massive in size, and from what Larry knew of biology, they were both female. That was not a good thing. Not at all. Larry's mind flew through his options. This time, there were none. No where to go. The dragons saw him, and were advancing on him. There was no way in light bulb hell Jeff was going to save his neck this time. So Larry remembered the thing he'd done the last time he'd been in grave danger. He had prayed.
"Oh dear Mr. Edison, if you can hear me, sir... please save Jeff and I. I've gotten so far, and... and I don't want to die, Mr. Edison. Please help me," Larry said as the dragons came faster towards him. He knew his life was over. There was no way out of this one at all. "Please, oh great bulb creator!"
And then, something strange happened. Strange even for a talking, walking light bulb living in a land of magical ponies. One of the rocks moved. It wasn't a big rock, but it was big enough, about the size of the dragon's heads. And it was flying through the air, straight towards both dragons and Larry. Larry took the moment he had to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the flying boulder, and it missed him by a few feet. The dragons, though, did not manage to avoid the rock at all, and they were both knocked over from the force. They didn't seem too wounded, so Larry ran as fast as he could, and at the entrance of the cave, he saw Jeff, and the boulder that had rolled to the side after hitting the dragons. Larry kept running.
He ran through the entrance of the cave and out into the forest as fast as his little legs would carry him. He was once again, safe. At least for the moment. Larry shouted for joy when he saw Jeff again, and ran over to make sure he was fine. That's when he noticed the other one who was with them. The boulder was rolling along beside them at the same pace they were walking. A very strange boulder, indeed. Larry smiled towards the rock. "I don't know what the heck you are, Sir Boulder, but thank you. Thank you so much for saving our lives."
There was a flash of light as the boulder grew taller and thinner, and lost his rocky look entirely. Larry watched as pieces of rock flew off the boulder and were replaced with a much softer looking substance. When the body had finished changing, the one who had been a boulder looked down at Larry and Jeff, and chuckled. "My name is Tom," he said. "But, if you really want to, you can call me Mr. Edison."
Larry fell backwards into a pile of leaves and lost consciousness. Meeting a god can do that to a light bulb. Jeff flew up onto Mr. Edison's shoulder.
***
Twilight was worried. Spike hadn't returned from getting her friends, and it had been hours. Twilight knew she hadn't really been the nicest to Spike the last time they spoke, but given the situation she had assumed he would understand. Twilight was learning yet another lesson from this: never assume. Never.
Maybe she could get Spike to write a letter to the princess when he finally did come back. Until then, she would keep researching light bulbs. Besides, Spike would be fine by himself for a while. He wasn't a baby dragon anymore.