“Oh hello there, Fluttershy! What brings you here today?” Greeted Rarity, as the shy Pegasus entered her shop.
“Um, I don’t kn-“
“Where’s Applejack? It’s weird not seeing her with you…I hope everything’s fine!” Rarity continued without letting the Pegasus finish her sentence.
Fluttershy lowered her head, ”She’s um, going to Appleloosa..”
Rarity frowned, ”Now why is she there, dear?”
“Her family, um needed her to help fight a fire that’s near their trees…and I’m just worried,”
The white pony shook her head, ”Doesn’t surprise me, she’s one brave pony, I mean, Imagine how dirty she would get out there! Madness!”
“I-I’m just really worried…she said it’s the biggest fire they’ve ever had,”
“Oh Fluttershy, you have nothing to worry about, if any pony could extinguish a fire, I’d be Applejack. Maybe Rainbow Dash too, but both would get it done. I’m sure she isn’t alone!”
“I know, it’s just…” Her voice trailed into a squeak.
“Come on darling, I thought I was your best friend! you don’t have to hide anything from me!”
The Pegasus sighed for confidence ,”Well, ever since she told me she was going to go there, I’ve just felt…like something’s going to happen, and I’m not going to be there…I just…I don’t like it when she endangers herself like this, Because I can’t stop myself from worrying ,”
“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing! It’s not like she’s going to run into the fire screaming at it to stop! Or some nonsense like that, and I’m sure there are plenty of ponies there to assist her,”
“She said the same thing…I just-I don’t even know,” The Pegasus frowned ,”I feel like there’s something that is going to happen, and I can prevent it somehow…” She sighed, as she sat down on the floor ,”Maybe I’m just worrying too much,”
“Why didn’t you go with her then? Pegasi could help a lot when it comes to a fire,” Questioned Rarity, while simultaneously sewing a pattern in a scarf she was making.
“I could have, but I have my animals…she said she wouldn’t have let me go with her anyway, because I’d hurt myself,”
“Well that’s awfully mean of her,” The white pony said, whilst wrapping her newly made scarf around her neck.
“No, um, she’s right…she was just caring about me,” The Pegasus got a confused look on her face when she saw Rarity’s new scarf, ”Um, Rarity? Why Did you make a scarf when it’s still summer?”
“Preparations, Fluttershy, I’ve got to be ready for when winter does come! It’s not a crime to be prepared really early, and besides what pony would wait until she’s already freezing to make one?”
Fluttershy nodded, then digressed ,”I kind of want to go now…she’s been gone for a little over an hour and I already miss her…”
“That’s just so adorable, Fluttershy. Why don’t you take the next train, If you’re gone for a day, I’m sure your animals will be fine. I could go over and check on them if necessary, as long as I don’t have to touch any of them…”
Fluttershy’s face lit up, ”Could you really, Rarity?”
“Of course! Helping a friend means good karma, and I’m all for good karma! Sales have been a little slow lately” She responded, followed by an immediate hug from the Pegasus, nearly knocking her over.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just have to know she’s safe, you’re the best friend a pony could ask for,” The Pegasus squeaked with joy, “Are you sure it isn’t um, a problem?” Fluttershy relinquished her hug on the unicorn.
“No no no no, it’s completely manageable for me, and I’m sure Opalescence here would like to meet a new friend or two, huh?” Rarity motioned towards her cat, which just turned over in her bed made of fabric from Rarity’s collection.
“All you um, pretty much need to do is feed Angel, my bunny, his daily carrots, which can be at any time, I’ll just feed my birds and mice and chickens and snakes and everything else when I return!” The shy Pegasus said gleefully, “And Besides, I couldn’t even, um, imagine you trying to feed my chickens,”
Both ponies laughed at the idea. Fluttershy gave her another hug, ”Thank you so much Rarity. I’ll be back once the fire is out, I just…maybe…I’m sure she’s fine and I’m just worrying too much…but still, thank you Rarity,”
“You’re very welcome, Fluttershy. Now go on! Get on that next train! You’ll get their around morning time, I think. I doubt the next train arrives until something in the afternoon,”
“Ok!, Um, bye Rarity!” The Pegasus said with a thankful smile, as she exited her friends shop.
Fluttershy was soon at home with her animals, waiting until she could go to the train station. Every hour that passed she got a little bit more nervous, for her and Applejack’s sake. She wanted to help in some sort of way when she got there, so she could prove to Applejack that she could help after all. Despite her attempts not too, she took a nap, the time to leave came quicker than she had expected.
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“Applejack,” Big Macintosh said, as he stood over the sleeping pony ,”Wake up, we’re here,”
“W-what?” She turned over and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, realizing at some point she must have fallen asleep on the way there.
“Get up, it’s worse than ya think,”
“Huh?” Applejack lazily climbed out of her bed, onto the red carpet that lines the middle of cabin.
“Ya need to hurry Applejack, we can’t waste any time,”
The sense of urgency in Big Macintosh’s voice sent a chill down her spine, ”What’s going on Big Macintosh?”
They both were now in line to exit, Big Macintosh in front of his sister.
”Look,” He said, motioning towards the windows.
To Applejack’s dismay, through a window she saw the fire not 100 yards from the closest building in town, barely being contained by several ponies using hoses attached to the only fire hydrant in town. The shock soon wore off, and determination set in. She had a long night ahead of her, and was now prepared to fight the fires all night.
“Ya ready, Applejack?”
“Sure am,”
They exited into the warm night air, frantic ponies clustered around them. They gauged their situation as they looked at the fires in the distance; they needed to find Braeburn to find out what they were going to do to help. They stayed by the train with several others expecting Braeburn to look for them there. The smoke could be seen through the darkness above them blocking out everything but the light tint of the moon showing through. The air was filled with dirt and small debris left by whatever the fire has left in its path thus far.
Applejack caught sight of Braeburn first, ”There he is,” She mentioned to Big Mac. After they yelled for him for nearly a minute, he finally noticed the two standing by the train. Through the crowd of panicking ponies came the stallion towards them. The defeated expression on his face didn’t give much hope to the two.
“Howdy ya’ll…” Braeburn said unenthusiastically, noticeably missing his vest and hat.
“Where do ya need us, Braeburn?” Questioned Big Macintosh, while squinting through the dust in the wind.
“The fire goes down far, ALL the way from here to our orchards …the wind changed direction last night and the fire quickly started coming towards us here in Appleloosa,” He stopped to catch his breath, then continued, ”We were barely able to keep it from getting to our buildings, and we are still fighting it…the lack of Pegasi here doesn’t help either. You and Applejack can grab a hose from the fire hydrant if ya can see it…” He gestured in the general direction of where the fire hydrant was located, the view blocked by the haziness of the air and ponies running frantically about, ”We need everypony to work together, because Appleloosa won’t last much longer at these rates,”
“What part of the fire should we go to first?” The red stallion questioned, holding a hoof in front of his face to guard himself from a big gust of wind.
In the distance Applejack saw one of the fires collapse one of the few trees near the town, nearly hitting the pony that was trying to save it. The fire that caused it then encased it, spreading over the tree; several other stallions running over just to help the one pony already there. Applejack felt a dire sense of urgency; she wanted to get out there and help as soon as she could.
“Let’s go Applejack,” Big Macintosh said calmly, as Braeburn left to prepare other ponies in the midst of everything after arriving.
Walking as fast as they could through the crowds of ponies, Applejack only able to know where she was going by following Big Macintosh, who was considerably larger than the rest of the ponies there. An atmosphere of depression was felt through the whole town; every pony there in the midst of fighting the fire or saving what they could before they assumed the fire would hit the town. The only lights seen through the town were the lights from homes lucky enough to still have electricity, and the fire’s own bright flickering light.
When they found their way to the massive fire hydrant, the stallion stopped, and thought for a moment. When Applejack tried to reach for a hose, Big Macintosh stopped her with his hoof.
,”No,” He coughed, sighed, then continued, ”Applejack ya need to go back, this ain’t somethin’ a mare should be involved with, ya don’t know what yer gettin’ into,”
“I didn’t come here fer nothin’ Big Mac! Ah can handle this, Ah ain’t a normal mare ya know,” Responded Applejack defiantly.
“It’s not how tough you are, It’s not just cuz yer my sister, It’s too dangerous for somepony so small to go into a fire this big,”
“That’s a bunch a hay and you know it!, Ah can handle myself out there,”
“We don’t have time to argue, Applejack,” Big Macintosh said with a sigh, ” If yer gonna go, stay near me, no exceptions,”
Applejack nodded, grabbed the last remaining hose for herself, and followed her older brother to the near-by fire. They climbed a slight hill, and over which was the line of scattered fires, spread ruthlessly by the constant gusts of wind. The intensity of the heat doubled as it the fire came more into sight, the hot wind knocking Applejack’s hat off and taking it high in the air without her even noticing. They approached the closest fire in regards to the town and started blasting the massive blaze from the bottom, the force of the water nearly knocking Applejack over. Next to a few other stallions, it seemed as if they were finally going to be able to extinguish a good portion of the fire from the start. All 4 ponies lined up next to each other, gripping the handle on the hoses with their mouths, an aiming with their hooves. It was three stallions and Applejack, all working together to at least make a dent on the fire, and ultimately prevent it from hitting the town just several hundred feet behind them. But the fire they were battling was only a part of dozens of scattered blazes all leading to the acres of trees that fed Appleoosian ponies and buffalo/bison alike. Everypony knew how dire the situation they were in was and that they couldn’t mess up. They worked into a rhythm, each playing a role in extinguishing the blaze in front of them.
1 hour passed quickly, the 4 ponies successfully extinguishing fires nearly a mile from the town. Applejack went full-force the whole way, constantly impressing the three stallions beside her. The smell of burnt wood discouraged them, still seeing a black plume from the main fire they were working towards. Each pony now covered in their own layer of dust and smoke with red eyes from the unrelenting contaminated wind. It was apparent to Big Macintosh that his sister turned out to be very valuable in this battle against the fire, she had proven her worth tremendously. They had no time to be happy about saving the town, because if the trees are devoured by the fire, it won’t be saved.
Another hour passed, the orchard now barely in site ahead of them. All four have managed to now have extinguished nearly every single scattered fire, the hoses now reaching their limits even with the extensions put on them. All 4 of them undeniably tired, Applejack especially, but not done with their work. And as they gazed upon the farm of apple trees before them, they knew that real fight was yet to come. The wind still pushed the main fire, while the Buffalo and ponies worked together to push back. So far, it was only at a stand-still. The fire had consumed about 6 trees thus-far, less than the 4 ponies expected, even though they knew if they didn’t get over there soon, that the number would climb rapidly.
“We need to hurry,” Big Mac yelled over the howling wind.
One of the other stallions spoke up ,”How ‘bout we split up? Me and Biscuit can knock out the rest of fires o’re here, you and Applejack go help down there, Ah’m sure they need it, they’ve been here all day”
The pony that spoke up was Big Apple, one of Applejack and Big Macintosh’s distant cousins. Not much smaller than Big Macintosh in comparison, but had the most experience with fires, being a fire fighter when he lived in Stalliongrad. When he spoke, everypony knew that he knew what he was talking about.
“Alright,” Responded Big Macintosh concisely, motioning for Applejack to follow him.
Through dead grass and shrubbery from fires that had previously been extinguished, they made their way down the hill to the exhausted ponies below, accompanied by Little Strongheart. Applejack immediately noticed how exhausted all of the ponies were, Little Strongheart seemed as if she was going to collapse. They all seemingly let a sigh of relief upon the sight of Big Macintosh and Applejack, the flickering light from the fire the only thing they could use to see them by.
Applejack looked up into the black night sky, gazing at the mile-high plume of even blacker smoke, which must have been building for hours now. She took a deep breath to collect herself. The earth pony knew she was tired, and now she was faced with the biggest fire yet.
Big Macintosh glanced at his sister beside him, ”Ya ok, Applejack? Ya look awfully tired”
Against her conscious she denied it ,”Ah’m fine, Big Mac,”