//------------------------------// // Fire in The Sky // Story: The Bug in The Cave // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Thorax was late today.  Twilight stood by the entrance to her cave, squinting into the distance for any sign of the drone — one hoof raised to shelter her eyes from the piercing light of the sun. It was late evening now. Within the hour, the sun would dip beneath the horizon and leave Twilight in the dark of night. “Where is he…?” she whispered quietly to herself. This wasn’t normal for Thorax. Now, admittedly, she hadn’t known him long enough to know a whole lot about what constituted as ‘normal’ for him. But every other time he had shown up had been either in the mornings or middle of the day. And he had given her his word that he would be turning up today. Had she misremembered what he had said? No, that didn’t seem right. It wasn’t like Twilight to forget things like that. Hay, she’d even started scratching a rudimentary calendar into the cave wall with a loose stone just so she could keep track of what day it was and what she had to do on each. She was starting to become worried when, finally, the drone appeared in the distance, flying as fast as his insect-like wings could carry him. He caught sight of her and waved as he approached. “Hey!” he called out to her, his voice muffled by the distance. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and returned the wave. “There you are!” Thorax touched down a few yards away from her, stumbling as he went. He looked like he had just run a marathon.  “Not technically accurate, but close enough,” Twilight decided internally before cantering out to meet him. “What took you so long? I was starting to get worried!” Thorax took in another deep breath, offering her a sheepish smile. “Eheh, yeah, sorry. There were some last-minute changes to the schedule, and I got a night patrol,” he explained, glancing anxiously back over his shoulder. “Apparently, the Queen wanted patrols inside the hive increased for a while, so Pharynx had to shuffle everyone around.” Twilight frowned. “An increase in patrols inside? Did something happen?” Thorax was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “N-no, I don’t think so. If it did, I dunno about it. Nobody ever tells me anything in that place,” he replied. Twilight’s frown deepened. Something seemed off about the way he had said that… Before she could question it, Thorax perked up and turned to smile warmly at her. “Anyway! Here I am!” Twilight hesitated before dismissing her previous concern and returning the smile. “So you are! Come on, let’s head back inside. I think I have some leftovers from your last visit still lying around somewhere...” Thorax cantered up and fell into step by her side, a skeptical look on his face. “Er, really? I seem to recall you scarfing it all down within a few minutes of getting your hooves on it. Unless…” he paused to tap a hoof against his chin. “Wait, can ponies regurgitate food like birds can?” Twilight belted out a short laugh and shook her head. “Wha- HA! What?! No! No, we can’t do that! Birds usually only do that to feed their young, and ponies have a different way of doing that!” Thorax tilted his head for a moment. “...Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Kind of a weird leap in logic to throw up to stop being hungry.” Twilight laughed again, lifting a hoof to cover her face in amused exasperation. “So, Twilight?” “Yeah?” Thorax shifted on his haunches, watching Twilight curiously as she continued to work on her calendar. The sun had set a little while ago, forcing them to rely on the glow of the campfire for light. “I’ve been meaning to ask you if you knew about the colorful magic lights I saw exploding out here a while ago.” Twilight paused in her work and turned to face Thorax directly. “Oh, that? Yeah, those were me,” she admitted with a small smile. “What was it?” Thorax asked, tilting his head in that way he always did when he was curious. It was an endearing little physical quirk, one which made Twilight feel increasingly fond of the bug every time he did it. “Well, it’s a spell I was taught by my teacher, Princess Celestia,” she went on to explain, lighting up her horn for an example. She shot off a miniature version of the spell, creating a pearl of lavender light about the size of a small marble in the center of the chamber. A second later, it exploded outwards into several smaller pearls that caught the light of the fire and reflected it around brilliantly. Thorax nodded, his eyes widening. Twilight noticed how the fading sparkles of light were reflected in those pale blue orbs. “It’s pretty… but, uh, what is it for?” he eventually asked, turning to face her when the lights were gone. Twilight settled down on her haunches to give her hooves a rest. “Well, it’s kind of like a magic version of an emergency signal flare,” she said. Thorax’s blank look told her that he probably had no idea what that was, and so she tried again. “You see, I’m stranded out here, right? I was traveling with others, and up until you turned up, I was holding out hope — a foolish one, I admit — that the ponies I came here with were still around. I was using that spell to try and get the attention of either them or…” She paused, her lips curling up into a small, pleasant smile. She looked at Thorax, a whole new feeling of appreciation falling over her. “...Or anyone else who’d be willing to help me. And you saw it and came to help me, right?” Thorax nodded, smiling back at her. “Uh-huh. I saw it while I was on night watch in the hive. I didn’t know what it was at first, but I pretty quickly figured that it must have been coming from you. It was the same color as your magic, after all.” Twilight’s smile evolved into a full-on grin. “Then the spell worked! It did exactly what I wanted it to do!” she declared, thrusting a hoof up in the air for emphasis. It was a little late to feel the relief, but knowing that her silent prayers that night had been answered, even if a little late, was more than a little gratifying. And at this point, she would take whatever victories she could get. Thorax licked his lips and hummed in content, no doubt sucking up some of the happy emotions Twilight was emitting. She cringed somewhat, an involuntary response. Try as she might, she couldn’t shake a small feeling of unease whenever she thought about how changelings fed themselves. Especially when she had learned about how they could forcefully rip the energy out of a creature. A painful process, apparently, and one they tried to avoid resorting to unless they were desperate. After a few seconds, Thorax’s meal ended, and he beamed appreciatively at her. His smile didn’t last long, though, and he leaned forward in an almost conspiratorial manner. “Well, uh… I know you haven’t used it since we met, but… it might be a good idea for you to not use it at all while you’re out here,” he said quietly, his voice faintly lined with anxiety. Twilight’s smile, too, faded away. “Huh? How come?” “The hive,” Thorax replied simply, nodding towards the mouth of the cave. “Remember, most changelings aren’t exactly nice… not to me, and especially not to outsiders. You’re really lucky that I’m the one that met you. If it were any other, you probably would have been bagged up and hauled before the queen, and… A-and I don’t wanna imagine what she might have done to you.” Twilight swallowed heavily, glancing nervously towards the mouth of the cave herself. As gratifying as it was that she had gotten help, knowing now what she did about the changelings, she couldn’t deny Thorax’s point. She licked her suddenly dry lips and took a deep breath. “R-right… um… she wouldn’t have… executed me, would she?” she asked carefully. Thorax shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe. More likely, though, she would have just stuffed you in a cocoon and used your love to feed hatchlings in the nursery hive.” Twilight’s spine tingled with barely contained disgust. “H-h-hatchlings?” she asked, looking back to the drone. “And, uh… what are they like?” In a flash of green flames, Thorax disappeared. What stood in his place was a large, stumpy white grub covered in black spots. At the front, Thorax’s face looked back at her with large baby cheeks, and his fangs bared in an angry snarl. His forelegs poked out of the white chitin, as thin as twigs. The grub hissed at her, forked tongue lashing out to thrash wildly and aimlessly in the air. Twilight cringed back, her ears flattening against her skull. “Gah! Ew! Change back, change back!” she protested, covering her eyes. She heard another swirl of flames, followed by an apologetic chuckle. “Heh, sorry. I just thought it’d be easier to show you,” Thorax’s voice said softly. She felt his hoof on hers, pulling them away from her eyes so she could see him. He had turned back to normal and was smiling at her. Twilight pouted at him. “Maybe it was, but did you have to hiss at me like that?” she asked indignantly. Thorax shrugged. “Uh… no?” Twilight stood up and smacked him upside the head, her cheeks puffing up in an annoyed huff. “Ow! Hey!” Thorax protested, holding a hoof to his chin while giving Twilight a flabbergasted look.  Twilight glared at him for a few more seconds before the facade broke, and she let out a few small giggles. She shook her head and patted him on the shoulder before strolling past him. “Sorry. Light smacks like that are kind of a thing my friends and I do sometimes. You should see how aggressive Applejack and Rainbow Dash can get with each other.” Thorax followed after her until they were both standing at the mouth of the cave. He gave her a sideways glance. “I mean, I get that. A lot of changelings are like that, too. I just…” he winced and pulled his hoof away. “I’m not as fond of it…” Twilight’s mirth faded away. Thorax had told her before that he wasn’t fond of violence at all, so even affectionate swats like that were probably unpleasant for him. She gave off a quiet sigh before nodding at him. “Right… sorry. I won’t do it again.” Thorax gave her a tiny, appreciative smile. The two fell into a companionable silence after that, looking out at the night sky and, more specifically, the moon. Twilight began to relax, thinking back on the last time she had looked at the distant celestial rock like this. Back then, she had been all alone out here, wishing that the mare in the moon would still be there just so somepony could look back at her. Now, though, she wasn’t alone. Thorax was here with her. “Uh…?” Twilight blinked when Thorax’s bewildered sound reached her ears. Curious, she turned to look and, with a startled squeak, realized she had been leaning against his side. She quickly pulled back. “Sorry, sorry!” she babbled, shaking her head. Thorax blinked at her. “...Huh? I was confused, not upset,” he pointed out. “What was that?” Twilight stared at him for a second before giving off a shaky laugh. “Eheh, nevermind. It’s just a thing ponies do sometimes. We like to show friends that we care through things like physical affection. You know, hugs, nuzzles, that kinda thing.” Thorax made a small ‘o’ of realization with his mouth. “Oooohhhh. I see,” he replied before looking up at something over Twilight’s head. “So… does this mean that I’m your friend?” Twilight, taken aback by the question, hesitated before giving a small nod of her head. “Yes, absolutely.” Thorax was quiet for several seconds before looking down, a timid, but no less pleased, look on his face. “Heh… y’know, all I ever wanted in the hive was a friend. Ever since the day I first hatched…” he mumbled quietly, not quite able to meet Twilight’s gaze. Twilight’s smile softened considerably. She reached out to pat Thorax on the back. “Well, you have one in me,” she said quietly. Thorax finally looked back up at her, his eyes shimmering delightfully. After a few seconds, though, his expression slowly darkened, and he looked off in the direction Twilight imagined the hive to be in. She followed his gaze, slowly starting to frown. “Are you worried that the hive might catch wind of me?” she asked in a whisper. “If I screw up at any time, then yeah, I am worried about that,” Thorax replied reluctantly. Twilight could feel him starting to tremble in his chitin under her hoof. “I’d be in trouble, and so would you… if one of us gets hurt or caught, then there’s nothing the other will be able to do to help. You don’t even know where the hive is, and if something happens to you away from the cave when I’m not here…” Twilight slid her hoof further until it was draped over his shoulders in a comforting manner. She put on a reassuring smile. “Hey, that’s an awful lot of what if’s,” she pointed out. “But they’re all important,” Thorax rebuked, turning to her directly. “I’m walking a very fine line by coming to see you like this. If I ever get caught, then…” Twilight’s expression shifted to a thoughtful frown as she gave the matter some thought. As much as she didn’t want to add even more concerns to her buffet of troubles, she couldn’t afford to ignore this one. Thorax had a point. They were in a very precarious situation right now, and they needed to tread lightly. More than that, if something happened to one of them, they needed some way of getting in touch to help one another out… An idea came to her, then, making her eyes light up. Barely containing an excited giggle, she clapped her hooves together before standing up. “I have an idea!” “Huh?” Thorax asked, jumping in surprise from her sudden rush of energy. “What?” Twilight helped him back to his hooves, grinning into his face. “I’ll teach you my signal flare spell! That way, if we’re ever in a bind and need each other, we can let each other know!” Thorax blinked in surprise. “Huh?! But, the hive-” “I know, we’d need to be very careful about when and how we used it,” Twilight cut him off with a more serious tone. “But it’s better than not having any means of reaching out to each other. Besides, I really want to know what it’s like to be a teacher for a change!” Thorax eyed her for a few seconds, contemplating her suggestion. Her enthusiasm must have been contagious or something — probably literally, given his empathic nature — from the grin that slowly spread on his face. “Okay, sure! Sounds like fun, considering how excited you are about the idea.” Twilight was not able to restrain her squee this time, prancing in place for a few seconds. “Eeeee! Alright, okay, so, ahem!” she cleared her throat and levitated a stray branch from one of the many dead trees that surrounded the cave and using it to start drawing diagrams into the sand. “So, what you’re going to want to do is channel magic energy onto the very tip of your horn and form it into a sort of hollowed sphere. Inside that sphere, you’d then use Fireburst’s formulae to create a dense concentration of smaller pockets of magic, focusing on making them as luminous as possible. I tend to use Starswirl’s starlight cantrip for each one. Once you’re satisfied that you have enough, you then put a small hole in the side of the outer shell of the spell to destabilize it. This will make it shrink down and down, applying pressure to all of your little lights until, finally, the shell breaks and the sparks erupt out like a firework, creating the lights you saw before. Simple!” Thorax stared blankly down at the sand in front of the cave. “...Uh?” he babbled uselessly. Twilight pouted. “What? What is it? This is simple magic theory, here. It’s not that hard, is it?” Thorax pointed at Twilight’s illustrations in the sand. “Is that… is that supposed to be math?” ‘Yeah. why?” “When did they start putting letters with it?” Twilight groaned. This was gonna be a long training session, wasn’t it? To Twilight’s surprise, Thorax was a remarkably quick study. Over the course of the next hour or two, she walked him through the various different processes that made up the spell. The hollow shell, the individual sparks, and putting them together. The math had been a little trickier to explain, but he was attentive and caught on to at least the basics of algebra and the other needed calculations fairly quickly. He couldn’t do them in his head quite like she could, so she did most of the rapid calculations for him to speed things along. He could practice his mental maths skills in his own time. Right now, they were trying to make pretty explosions. At around the three-hour mark, Twilight was beginning to feel confident that Thorax knew enough to give the spell a proper try. She looked over their latest set of writings in the sand, giving his own calculations one last look before nodding in satisfaction. “Okay! I think we’re ready to give this a proper try! What do you say, Thorax?” He glanced up at the moon, grimacing. “Yeah… but I gotta go, soon. I do need to report back in at the hive,” he said slowly. Twilight frowned, then nodded. “Alright… well, okay, come on and stand next to me,” she instructed, the two of them standing side by side. Twilight lit up her horn with magic before giving Thorax a sideways look. “I’ll be casting the spell alongside you to help guide you along, alright?” Thorax nodded, igniting his own horn in turn. “Right.” “Okay, so, first the shell…” The light on Twilight’s horn flared, and a sphere of magic formed on the very tip. Next to her, Thorax did much the same, the intense shade of green on his horn mixing oddly with the gentle purple of her own. “Then the sparks… add the hole…” Step by step, Twilight walked Thorax through it, the light on their horns growing brighter and brighter with every passing step. Twilight took in a long, deep breath. This was it, the moment of truth. “Okay… aim up, and release.” In unison, she and Thorax tilted their horns to point up at the sky. With a pulse of energy, they fired off their spells. Twilight watched as the two spheres of light flew up around thirty feet before coming to a hover and starting to dwindle.  “Did it work?” Thorax asked, squinting up to try and see the spheres. Before Twilight could assure him that this was supposed to happen, the sky overhead erupted with green and lavender light. Thorax’s eyes widened, and he audibly gasped at the sight. Repressing the urge to smirk, Twilight turned to look at him. Her own lavender light reflected off of him far more than his own, painting him in shades of purple she was very unused to seeing. When he turned to look at her in turn, the glow shifted back to his own signature green. His eyes lit up with joy, his lips curling up into an enormous, ecstatic grin. “I did it!” he practically squealed before, much to her surprise, he lunged forward and wrapped her up in a big, grateful hug. “Woah! Eheh, kinda clingy?” Twilight joked, lightly returning the hug. “Nobody’s ever taught me anything like that before,” Thorax replied quietly, making Twilight’s joking tone fade away. The drone leaned back to look her in the eyes, and she saw the gratitude in them. “Not even my brother was ever that patient with me… I don’t know what to say, just…” Twilight smiled softly at him. Without a word, she cut off any further words by pulling him back into the hug, trying to ignore the odd sensation of his smooth chitin on her fur. He was quick to return the embrace in full. Neither of them said anything after that, simply sharing in their small victory as the shared light of their spell faded away overhead.