"Everypony RUN!" A very upset Lyra burst through the doors screaming. Noteworthy and Cloudchaser were sitting at the slightly worn couch, in front of which sat a small wooden coffee table, the ponies set up for commuting and just to be cozy. Cloudchaser was just starting a conversation about the time Flitter learned to fly when Lyra entered the refurbished house that was intended for the Fire Department. "An Ursa Major is attacking the town!"
"Lyra, calm down," consoled Cloudchaser. "Now tell me, how long has it been and where is it attacking?" Lyra sat down next to them, her chest pumping air in and out faster than she could handle. She would've passed out if it weren't for them.
"Okay. It was almost two minutes ago when the first siting of it was, but it just recently starting attacking. It was down near Sugarcube Corner, if memory serves right."
"Alright," said Noteworthy flatly. "We have to rally up the team."
"The suits are in the closet, and the transmitters should be on the counter near the fridge." Amy barged into the Fire Department raging to go. Flitter was the last to enter as she was groggy and had just woke up. "Remember, the transmitters are magic, but very fragile. If one of them even clips another pony's clothes it will stop working,, so hide it inside your suits. Minuette and I have tried to make them as fireproof as possible, and we got wing sockets that extend to your wings' lengths, alright twins?"
"Got it," they replied in unison. Flitter was a little less upbeat, but agitated all the more. If there was anything they needed, it was her radar skills. She now knew this town inside and out, and if anything went wrong she was there for backup.
Minuette and Noteworthy were the first ones ready for action. "Where to, Amy?" Minuette questioned. She put effort and a scruff tone in her voice, to make her sound at ease, but she was practically bouncing off the inside of her neon green reflective suit.
"You two head to the fire right up on Town Square. Noteworthy, you're gonna need the Water Wagon." Amy waved a salute and they headed out.
"Flitter can you fly up real quick and see if there is anything else worth mentioning?" Amy and the twins were ready to go.
After a quick look across the town from forty feet in the air, she came back down with news. "Well, there seems to be two houses that have collapsed. One is near Sugarcube Corner, like Lyra said, and the the other is on the intersection of Breezy and the road to Everfree Forest."
"Thank you Flits," Cloudchaser said earnestly. "And remember," she said trying to console her, as Flitter did get when Cloudchaser went off without her, "if anything happens, your Twin-Sense will tell you. You can help me if something does." She backed away and reassuringly added, "But we both know that won't happen." Flitter then took the skies as Amy and Coudchaser ran to the aid of whatever pony needed their help.
-o-O-o-
Amethyst Star arrived at the house within a minute. The house was surprisingly close to HQ, which was placed almost in the center of town. The house's roof was collapsed in on itself, like a bomb shell landed on it and then rolled off. It wasn't completely in ruins, but something told her that it was almost hopeless for anypony to be alive under the amounts of ruble. Don't think like that! she chastised herself. There's always a chance of somepony staying alive. Always a chance...
She made her way through a hole a little smaller than her stature, but she squeezed through, even with the immense amount of gear on. "This is Amy," she spoke into her transmitter. "I have entered the house on Breezy. No sign of life yet, but the house wasn't totally destroyed." She walked into what seemed to be the kitchen area. Nothing still. She had to go through every piece of debris to make sure nopony was dead.
Meanwhile, Flitter was up above, like the radar she was. She heard Amy's transmission, which brought her back to that area where she was searching. The house seemed so familiar to her, yet it was just another in a sea of houses. She forgot about it when she heard Cloudchaser's message. The voice was fuzzy, but it was clear she was disturbed. "There is blood everywhere, and I can only fear the worst has happened. I must admit, I would feel really bad if it was one of the ponies we knew."
Flitter's mind drifted away to her friends. Everypony in Ponyville were familiar with some of them, but some of her friends got much less attention... Oh no.. Flitter just thought of the memories she had at the house Amy was in. The laughs, the screams, the snores, and yet they all snapped before her. It was like Celestia was playing with Flitter. She knew that house. Cloudchaser knew it, too.
Her friends. They were in danger.
She shifted her wings. She aimed her body at the house Amy was in. There were tears coming out of her closed eyes. She shook her head, imagining the worst.
"RUMBLE! He's in danger, we have to save him!" Her voice was broken up by chronic gulping down the lump in her throat.
"Get a hold of yourself Flitter!" Amy shouted into the transmitter. At that moment, she walked into a first story bedroom that was half collapsed. In there she saw what Flitter was mentioning. A light gray coated colt, no older than nine, was lying in the room, unconscious. There was blood dribbling down his torso from a wound where the wood had splintered him. Above him was a large wooden beam on the verge of breaking. It was the support the house was resting on.
At that moment, Flitter came flying in and knocked the beam over. Amy had to move swiftly or both herself and the child would be flattened. She leapt towards the child, a solid thirty feet away from her. There was a puddle of water lying on the hardwood floor, and she used that to her advantage. Using a slide tackle technique, she slid across the room at a breakneck speed.
Like a motorboat, there was a wake behind her. Not only of water, but falling supporters and shingles. In front of her, the child zoomed into reach. Rapidly running out of time, she swooped in for the child, the crashing house catching up with her. She ran out of water. Soon the suit tore and scrapes covered her hind legs.
Using all the arcane energy she had stored in the transmitter, she threw up a magical force-field. The crushing weight of the house caused her to exert too much strength. She staggered, but got back up before anything drastic occurred. The use of the transmitter's energy made it send a distress call to the others, but she didn't regret that.
Rushing to find an exit, the child started moving in her arms, slowly waking as the burden on her mental capacity increased. There was a window to her right, a part of the house that was still standing. Crashing through the first story window, she landed on the lawn without making a sound. The only thing she could see while running away from the spot - to get to the hospital - was rubble.
There wasn't even a trace of Flitter.
-o-O-o-
Minuette raced up to the only house with enough heat radiating from it so that she could feel it from behind her suit. It was hard to conserve the air from the thirty minute tank she hoisted upon her back, but Amethyst Star had trained Minuette and the rest of the crew to the point where this task was simple. Her magic carried alongside her a metal tube, one that was supposed to last under the harshest of circumstances, even fire itself. This would be important, as she didn't feel like wasting her magic on lifting so much water at once.
Noteworthy was waiting, but it couldn't have been for long. The hookup to the "Water Wagon" was not undone. He was admiring the fire, and as she arrived, he relaxed slightly. Behind him, he kicked a few chinks in the set upwards. It unchained him from the luggage and walked up to Minuette. "Why do you need that thing?" He pointed his snout towards the metal tube.
Minuette rolled her eyes, but explained. "I'm using it as a hose of sorts." She raised the tube, which reflected the fire's color, and positioned it just above the wagon. "I'll start trying to get the fire to die down, you go inside." Noteworthy let out a sigh, but soon motivated himself enough to travel inside.
After about two minutes, the fire was barely slowing down. It might have even been accelerating in its aspiration to consume the building into a pile of ashes and dust. Minuette was obviously frustrated, but she kept her cool. Half the water was gone, and Noteworthy had been complaining the whole time. He had finally given in by saying, "There is just no way 'round this damn flame. Every turn I make, there it is again."
"If you really can't move around let me help." She dashed inside, bringing her metal tube and some water. Behind her neon green clothes were clusters of bystanders, even at two in the morning. Soon enough, she was by Noteworthy's side, spraying any area of the house that was blocking their paths.
They got to the second story faster than expected, and were soon tracking their way to the corners of the house.
They searched in one room, only to find that its remnants were broken areas of flooring and a couch against the wall. The next room was the master bedroom, which was still staying suspended for the most part. They searched the room, but couldn't find anypony. The flooring was solid, so it didn't amount massive time to get in and out. At the end of the narrow hallway, there was another bedroom. The floorboards were much less sturdy, but this was the last part of the house.
A distress call rang from their transmitters, but they ignored it after finding a pony that was hacking out coughs and smog like an energy plant's towers. Noteworthy sprung into action. It was only a few steps away. The wooden planks cracked. They crumbled and collapsed.
Noteworthy fell.
He hit the floor hard, and couldn't get up without injuring himself any further. Minuette was in total shock. The only thing that snapped her out of this confusion was the pony on the other side of the seemingly gaping hole. If Minuette didn't move quickly, the bed would go down, taking its passenger with it.
She couldn't just leave Noteworthy there to die! He would surely burn up in the fire. But if Minuette didn't save the pony, she wouldn't be doing her job. She swiveled her head as if it were in permanent motion. Her thoughts were broke by a shout coming from the mare on the bed. The floor boards creaked underneath her as she lie in despair. She thought the end was coming. Minuette thought otherwise.
Minuette unhooked the gas tank, which was still half filled with air, and hefted it over the hole with her magic. She did the same with her metal tube. She jumped across the crevice, landing with a hard THUMP near the bed. She grabbed the innocent mare moments before everything crumbled underneath her. She jumped onto the two pieces of metal, floating her self down to the ground, the floor above her breaking away. She grabbed Noteworthy by the neck, heading full throttle to the door. Her lungs felt the smoke like a knife to her abs, and soon she was dazed. She stumbled outside, letting go of the two ponies she held.
Minuette blacked out.
Cloudchaser was speeding to where Flitter was last seen by Amethyst Star, but she passed by the building on fire. She saw Noteworthy and another mare heading towards the hospital, but Minuette was passed out on the dirt in the Town Square. Cloudchaser knew something was wrong, but had Flitter been the one to send out the distress call?
Cloudchaser went over and shook her fallen comrade. Minuette woke with a start, bolting upright. However, she drifted back down slowly, choking out black tufts of smoke. "Oh no," Cloudchaser mumbled, fearing the worst, "what happened in there?"
Minuette was almost out of smoke, so she said quickly, "Fire not going out. Mare in trouble. Noteworthy fell. I got them and-" she coughed "-got out of there." She had another fit before rising up to see just what she was dealing with. "We have to douse that fire!" She got to her hooves steadily, but was shaking from a lack of adrenaline and energy.
She thought of what might be able to get a lot of water to one place quickly. She thought of the time all the pegasi in Canterlot sent water up to Cloudsdale... "CC, go down to the river and fly in a circle as quick as your wings can take you."
Perplexed, but not finding a better solution, she agreed and did so. A funnel started to form, picking up the river's streaming water. Like a tornado, it slowly lifted the water towards the house a few yards away. Soon, with Minuette's added effort of aiming the water through her metal tube, they doused the fire.
They did a quick run through of the place, but couldn't find anypony else. In vain and frantic panicking, Cloudchaser asked Minuette quickly, "Have you seen Flitter?"
What came through the transmitter wasn't just a distress call. It was clear, loud, and abrupt, but Cloudchaser was on her way. Flitter had been able to shout three simple words before she cut out.
"S.O.S.! Trapped! Rubble..."
-o-O-o-
Flitter new that she wouldn't last for long. She had somehow reached the cellar, and she had no light to guide her. In the pitch black, she was starting to question her sanity. She thought she heard her sister up above, but couldn't find a trapdoor nor steps leading to the place. Her wing was injured, so she couldn't tell how high up the ceiling was. Her legs were trembling, and she was scared out of her wits.
She tried calling for help through the transmitter, but she feared it was broken due to her actions before the house collapsed. No matter how much she hollered, nothing came back. Even her Twin-Sense wasn't showing any signs, so she hoped Cloudchaser was alright. She leaned against a concrete wall.
It was hopeless. There was no way of her to fly around, and she wondered if she was even in a cellar of the correct house. It felt like Celestia decided she was of no use and shoved her down to hell.
This was pretty much torture. She didn't have anypony to talk to. She couldn't see anything: no windows, cracks, or even seams of a door. If she was even alive, it didn't matter to her anymore.
A beep rang through her ears. She was running out of air. If there was any air left in the cellar, it wouldn't last for jack. Everything was lost.
No, she couldn't just give up like that. She banged on the walls, she searched for any openings, and she went through all of the cellar rooms.
The formation of a wooden stair ran under Flitter's hoof. Scurrying with glee, she started up the steps quick as a rabbit.
When her hoof hit thin air, she fluttered her wings. They cramped with pain, and soon the rest of her body was full of a powerful shocking sensation. She lain there, prepared to die. She cried herself to sleep.
Cloudchaser searched through the rubble frantically. Her Twin-Sense stung like crazy, and she kept hearing Flitter's voice. When she was done with every square-inch of building, she fell to the ground in pain.
Her Twin-Sense struck her with the same pain that Flitter had experienced, just a shock filling her body. She was there, in the eyes of Flitter. She felt the stone concrete. She saw the black emptiness in front of her. Tears came out of her eyes.
Then she came back to herself. Cloudchaser had found a cellar door, and knew exactly where it was. She rushed over to the center of the debris, brushing of the unvarnished wooden trapdoor. She opened, and as soon as she saw, she looked away.
"Guys, I found Flitter!" She beckoned the other ponies in neon green to come over. Together they carried her and got her to the hospital. She wasn't breathing. Her suit was drenched in a puddle of blood.
-o-O-o-
Amy was out of her suit, and her head was in her hooves. She had been waiting for a solid five minutes, and she had told the rest of her team that the hospital was rendezvous. When the others arrived, she was in complete shock.
She was in the ER's waiting room, and bursting through the doors came two fireproof suits, one in the other's arms. Behind them were the others, who came in slowly. Noteworthy and Minuette quickly unzipped, for they were the ones behind what Amy presumed were CC Flitter, and walked up to her.
"What are they doing?" Amy asked, a little irritated. She sat down,and the other two followed.
"CC found Flitter injured in the basement, and she carried her here." Minuette saw the look of distraught that followed her explanation.
"I should've came back and helped," Amy thought out loud, reluctantly. "I know that Cloudchaser went back, I should have followed."
"Where did you see Cloudchaser?" Noteworthy asked.
"She was rushing back from the hospital, something about her Twin-Sense acting up." Amy looked at the twins as CC put Flitter on a stretcher. She could only imagined what was going on in Cloudchaser's head.
"That's when she must have found me unconscious," Minuette said, slightly taken aback.
That's when it hit her. "Oh, this whole thing could've been avoided if I just went back. I could've helped you two and CC would've gone back and saved Flitter before she hurt herself. Ugghh! I feel like such an idiot!"
Minuette knew it was of no use to try and calm her down, so she left Amy to herself. Cloudchaser had finally come over.
"Well," she started, wiping away the tears, "Flitter's gonna be alright, but she'll need a few stitches in her foreleg and a cast on her wing." She sniffled again and sat down before asking, "How is Rumble doing?"
"He's going through surgery at the moment," Amy said, dry as a desert. A hush fell over the room.
"Hey Noteworthy," Minuette asked, breaking the silence, "who was that mare we got out of the fire? Is she alright?"
"Actually, her name was Octavia, and she was fine after she got me to the hospital." Noteworthy showed them his cast, and then explained. "After the fall I took, I had only slightly sprained my ankle. I got a cast and came back just before you took off to find Flitter."
The doors opened before them, a bright light shining on the bed. A doctor had taken them to Rumble's room. What they saw was a perfectly healthy colt. They had performed surgery on his skin, but it was a deep and wide gash, almost down to the bone enamel. Fortunately, they closed it up before it became infected.
Everypony joined in the festivity, even Flitter on the crutch behind them. Then, Cloudchaser was filled with a bit of guilt. After they argued with the doctor about signing out Rumble for his mother, they walked out into the hallway.
"Cloudchaser, what happened when you went to the house?" questioned Flitter. Clouchaser took a shaky breath and then began.
"Well, when I first arrived the house was on its side, The only entrance was through a second story window. In the rooms of what should have been the second story, I found no pony.
"The first floor, however, was completely demolished except for a few rooms. I walked into the living room, and all I could see was blood scattered everywhere. It gave the room a haunted feeling, and what I saw next is sure to scar me.
"A stallion, older than us by some years, was put through the wall. All I could see were his head, coated red, and his brown eyes staring into my soul. I didn't know what do with the body, so I took it to the hospital." She began sobbing.
As Flitter and Minuette tried to comfort her, Noteworthy and Amethyst Star walked into the next room over. "Noteworthy, you have to bring the Water Wagon from now on." She elaborated, "You are the only pony strong enough to pull the weight when it is full. Your muscles are very sculpted."
"You really think so," Noteworthy said, flexing and showing off a bit. "Why don't you come over my place after this is over."
Amy gave a seductive nod, and walked into the next hallway where the other two were, showing off her "good side".
"Alright team, back to Headquarters."
-o-O-o-
Amy stood in front of the building, already done with the tidy work. Minuette and Noteworthy were still due for another three hours on shift, but she had to make sure everything was in tip-top shape before she left. She also had to have a little talk with somepony.
When Cloudchaser walked out, ready to go attend to Flitter, Amethyst Star stopped her. "CC," she said, trying to console her best as she could, "you did the right thing today. I am proud to have you a part of this team, and even though I know you'll be worried about your sister, I hope you'll stay."
Cloudchaser gave Amy a reassuring nod and said confidently, "I'm not leaving anytime soon." Then, with a flap of her wings, she was gone.