Wildcard flew out of the burning apartment with a shivering mare under each arm. Outside, the citizens of Rust pointed at the spectacle, gasping at the griffon's smokey exit.
“Oh blessed Verlaxion!” One of the mares stammered. “Thank you! You're our hero!”
The other stroked his beak with glazed eyes. “Our handsome... griffon hero.”
Wildcard merely stared at them.
“Dubya-Cee!” Bard's pained voice warbled from deep inside the burning building. “Get yer feathery butt back in here and help us!”
Taking a breath, Wildcard instantly dropped the two mares and flew about.
“Aaaaaaaiee!” Both ponies fell into the harbor below. Sp-Splash! A canoe full of ponies paddled up, helping them and the other two reach the nearest docks.
Fwoooosh! By the time Wildcard returned, Rainbow Dash had pulled the old mare to safety.
“Get on this side of the room!” Bard wheezed to the young foals.
The fillies and colts obeyed, shivering.
“It's clear!” Rainbow's voice cracked.
“Nnngh!” Bard slunk back. Crash! The chunk of ceiling he was holding up collapsed in front of them.
“Thank you...” The old mare shuddered, eyes tearing. “Thank you all—”
“Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, pointing towards a smoldering corridor two spaces down. Several distressed voices whimpered from a wall away. “Over there! Do you hear them?”
“There are more deep inside!” Rainbow stammered, galloping through the ash and smoke. She dodged a falling chunk of debris and shouted over her shoulder. “Get those ponies out of here! Quick!”
Wildcard was already shouldering the old mare and flying out the patio entrance. Bard squatted low, sweeping up every gasping foal in his strong forelimbs. “Hang on, lil' fellers and fellerettes. This here's the rescue ride on the Uncle Bard express!”
“You're not my Uncle!” A filly stuck her tongue out.
“Well, I sure as Hell ain't yer aunt. Dubya-Cee!” Bard flapped his wings and carried the children out. “Right behind ya!”
In the meantime, Rainbow threaded her way out into the apartment hallway. She coughed and wheezed, waving a hoof in front of her muzzle. The smoke was thick and choking. Ultimately, the mare rubbed a hoof over her pendant, shining a ruby spotlight through the haze. She caught sight of a squirming set of limbs at the far end of the hallway. Hopping over a pile of burning debris, she reached a spot where three ponies lay side by side, their muzzles twisted in pain. One was bleeding heavily from his hind quarters.
“Don't worry!” Rainbow grunted. “We're gonna get you out!”
“I... I-I can't feel my leg...” the stallion whimpered.
“Living in a place like Rust, I'm surprised you could even feel your stomach!” Rainbow brushed aside several clumps of debris and slid the first of the three ponies out of the burning room and into the hallway. “Don't you guys worry one bit! Let's just tackle the 'surviving a burning building' part and then worry about the rest later!”
“Th-there are foals next door,” one mare wheezed. She gulped. “Mares and an old lady—”
“Chillax! We already got her out!” Rainbow managed a soot-stained smile. “And now it's time to save your fuzzy butts!”
The floor groaned. At first, Rainbow thought it was the structure giving away. She looked back, however, and saw Bard galloping up.
“Yeesh! One of them tykes shoulda been wearing a diaper still!” Bard grabbed the two nearest ponies. “Hey, good find!”
“This third one's hurt bad!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Probably best that we pull him out toge—”
“Rainbow!” Rarity pointed up. “The wall's giving way!”
“Look out!” Twilight shrieked.
“Oh Verlaxion!” the stallion hollered as Rainbow Dash squatted low to shield him.
“Rrrrrgh—!” POWWW! Bard punched the falling debris above them with his hoof, showering the far end of the corridor with burning splinters and plaster. “Damn fire! Get a job!”
Thwissssh! Wildcard streaked in. Catching his breath, he gestured with a metal talon.
“Yes... I know! Good job!” Bard helped Rainbow in dragging the injured stallion out. “Now's not a good time for chatter!” He smacked the griffon with his tail. “Help me with this dude! Hey Fruit Snacks! Ya think you can haul the others out?”
Rainbow was already heaving the ponies up to their hooves. “The name's Rainbow! Rainbow Dash!”
“Hah!” Bard grinned as Wildcard hoisted the bleeding pony over his shoulder. “No shit?”
“For real.”
“That's too easy! That's like if my parents named me 'Hat Feller!'”
“Will you just get him out of here?!?” Rainbow spat, hobbling out with the two ponies in tow.
“Whew!” Bard glanced at Wildcard. “Now I know where she got the 'Dash' part.”
The six stumbled out of the smoldering corridor. Rainbow Dash reached the hole in the patio and patted the two ponies' shoulders. “The water's a small leap away! You think you two can make it?”
“Absolutely!” One pony coughed and nodded, looking at the canoing citizens motioning for them below. “Thanks a million!”
“Anytime!” And Rainbow bucked them both in the flank.
“Whoah—!” The two plunged safely into the drink below.
A crumbling noise filled Rainbow's ears.
She spun around with a gasp.
Bard and Wildcard galloped out of the corridor, chased by a charcoal plume of smoke. They dove forward, gripping the injured stallion protectively. Within seconds, the wall collapsed behind them. They coughed, gathered their breaths, and stood up on shuffling limbs.
“Good! Get him out of here!” Rainbow darted past the group, shielding herself from a splash of sparks as another ceiling beam collapsed beside her. “Is that all of them?! That can't be all of them!”
“You're right, Rainbow!” Twilight pointed at the far wall. “There's one more unicorn at least. Somewhere in that direction.”
“Rarity?!”
“I sense another chamber,” Rarity said. “The part of it facing the center of the building has collapsed. If anypony's inside, they'd have to be holed up in the portion closest to us, darling!”
“Mrmmmm...” Rainbow chewed hard on her bottom lip, eyeing the billowing flames between her and her destination. “I kinda sorta want to come out of this without becoming barbecue.”
“Without becoming what?”
Rainbow face-hoofed. “For crying out—Where were you in Ledomare?!”
Th-Thump! Bard landed on heavy hooves behind her. “That dude's getting medical attention! What are we still doin' in here?”
“There's at least one more pony left!” Rainbow hollered, pointing at the far wall beyond the flames. “In there! The room beyond the wall!”
“Huh?!” Bard tilted the brow of his hat up, squinting. “How in the Hell do ya know that?!”
“Just trust me!” Rainbow snarled. “We have to get to them, but there's too much fire in the way!”
“Hold on a tick...” Bard fished through his satchel.
Rainbow turned, frowning. “Now's not the time for a guitar solo!”
“Oh ye of little grit!” Bard smirked, pulling out a round capsule.
“A frost grenade!” Twilight stammered.
“Brace yer fannies!” Bard tossed the thing straight into the flames, immediately stretching a curved wing forward.
FL-FLASSSH! The flames extinquished in a flash of frosted mana. Rainbow immediately galloped forward, almost slipping once or twice on the fresh sheet of melting ice. She reached a crack in the wall, only to see bright orange plumes fountaining through. Leaning her head close enough, she could hear anguished shrieks.
“Oh Celestia...” Twilight hugged herself, eyes tearing. “We're too late!”
“Like Tartarus, we are.” Rainbow tugged and pulled on the fissure. “Rrrnnngh... mfnnnghhh!”
“Won't budge?” Bard exhaled, galloping up behind her.
“Can't... get it... to move...”
Wildcard was suddenly there. Rainbow jolted, jumping back as the griffon took a close examination of the fractured wall, his black lenses reflecting every square inch. He turned towards Bard, nodding his feathery head.
Bard nodded back.
Wildcard raised his metal talons, flexing each digit. Then, with a mute grunt, he shoved the prosthetic hard into the fissure. Ch-Chunkkk! The wall cracked further as each claw dug in with a vice grip.
Bard grabbed Wildcard from behind, steeling his rear hooves to the ground. “A one... and a two... and a THREE!”
Wildcard pulled heavily with his metal limb. Bard threw his weight in as both mercenaries pried at the wall.
“Rrrrrg—grkkkt!” Bard snarled.
The griffon's beak clattered. Sparks shot out from the joints in his limb, and yet—
Crkkk... kkkk! The slit in the wall became a hole, and then finally broke into a wide gash. CRACKK! Part of the ceiling collapsed, only for Wildcard to slap his metal palm against it. Bard shoved his body in, adding his shoulders to the griffon's effort. Between them, there was enough space for two ponies to fit through.
“Now's yer chance, darlin'!” Bard wheezed. “Go on and be magical!”
Rainbow dove through without a second's hesitation. She nearly flew into a fountain of flames. Stifling a shriek, the mare stopped. As she hovered in place, she looked left and then right. At last, Rainbow saw four ponies clinging to a shattered dresser. The rest of the room's furniture burned brightly around them, and they had huddled in the last remaining patch of safe floor.
“I see them!” Rainbow spoke, immediately coughing from a gasp of smoke. “Four survivors!”
“Throw them out, dang it!” Bard's voice filtered through. “This hole won't last forever!”
“He's right!” Rarity exclaimed. “It's now or never!”
“My apologies in advanced, everypony.” Rainbow swept in and grabbed the burnt limbs of two ponies. “But the only way out of here is the fast way.” She then flew backwards, yanking them out of hiding. They yelped in pain—yet dangled after Rainbow as she darted back to the fissure. She shoved them through, then soared straight back, grabbing a unicorn and an earth pony.
Crkkk-crkkk! The wall to the nearby lavatory collapsed. A sliver of pulsating blue light broke through the plaster.
“Augh!” Twilight winced, clutching her horn. “It's right in front of us!”
“What is, darling?!” Rarity sputtered.
Rainbow squinted into the exposed bathroom. Her pupils dilated, reflecting a series of dangerously enchanted manashards.
“That's no heating unit!” Twilight snarled.
“Rrrrgh!” Rainbow hoisted the last two ponies and flew towards the hole in the wall. As soon as she made it through, Bard and Wildcard released their grip, causing the fissure to collapse behind them. Rainbow made no hesitation in shouting: “Go! Get out of here!”
“But!” Bard winced, grabbing one of the first two survivors off the floor. “They're so badly burnt—”
“Now! We have to get out now!” Rainbow hollered, hoisting her two ponies beneath her forelimbs.
Bard galloped after her. Wildcard picked up the last pony and took up the rear—
POWWWW!
—right as the apartment behind them exploded, sending a frothing fountain of manafire their way and melting every physical thing in the room.
Outside, the citizens of Rust felt the resonating thud of the last explosion. All eyes darted up to the apartment complexing, including those of the frenzied survivors still dripping with water.
Everyone gasped as the apartment vomited flame from every window. Then... two seconds later—
PHWOOOSH! Three figures propelled themselves out of the burning mess, trailing smoke and sparks. Rainbow Dash, Bard, and Wildcard landed on the nearest platform, collapsing in soot-stained heaps. They dropped the ponies they had been carrying, and the public onlookers rushed in amidst a throng of cheers, carrying the burn victims towards the arriving doctors and nurses.
Rarity and Twilight glanced all around at the jubilant expressions on the ponies' faces. They looked at one another, sharing a hapless grin.
Bard and Wildcard rolled over until they were facing each other from a few feet away. Catching their breaths, they extended their limbs forward, limply brofisting hoof-to-talon. Sprkkkt! Wildcard's metal limb shorted out and fell limp. He pouted through his beak.
Rainbow blinked at the two of them, then stared up at the smoldering remains of the apartment. Gulping, she ran a hoof over her mane, dusting off several still-burning embers.
Bard pulled his hat off, sat up, and fanned himself. With smoky eyes, he squinted across the platform and nodded at Rainbow. “So... hot enough for ya...?” He smiled wearily. “Heheh...”
Rainbow panted and panted. “No doubt... you're expecting... lots and lots... of bits for that...” She gulped. “...rescue job.”
“What?!” Bard's muzzle twisted into a frown. “Hell naw! Ponies in distress, darlin'! What do you mistake us for?” He slumped down on his back and waved limply at the sky. “Yeeeeha... go us... whweww...”
Rainbow looked at Rarity.
Rarity bit her lip, gazing off with folded ears.
Twilight cleared her throat and said, “Perhaps maybe... just maybe... talking things over wouldn't be such a bad idea.”
Rainbow gulped. “Talking later. For now...” Fwump! She collapsed on her backside. “...vomiting.”