Rolling along at a good clip, Holly thought about her meeting with Bronco Wisewithers, and his son, Palomino Polo. The meeting, which was pleasant, had a few unpleasant undertones. Holly supposed that on some level she was aware of the fact that she had been taken advantage of, but being shown that she had been taken advantage of was a whole nother issue.
It seemed that Holly had been wise to leave. At least she had been allowed to leave. Bronco Wisewithers had spoken to her about skaters being forced to skate long past their prime through shady dealings. Bronco, at least, seemed on the level. His contracts were simple, plain word affairs, no legalese, no fine print, what you see is what you get, sign and get a hearty hoof bump.
Holly of course, had signed. She had nothing to lose, and the situation seemed win win for her. A sizeable payment up front, some new skates, smaller payments every month for as long as her poster graced the sporting goods store. A potential for extra payments and contract expansion if Bronco wanted billboards.
The new skates would be delivered to her home once the contract cleared.
With a snort, Holly awoke and contemplated the complete and utter destruction of her alarm clock. She had dug it out of her trunk for a reason, and that reason was foggy and hard to remember at the moment. Not yet awake, Holly’s brain began to recall various details of the previous day.
She needed to show up at the firehouse for testing. She had to flop around to get out of the sagging bed. After much grunting, kicking, and fighting, she stood on the floor of her bedroom, her eyes closed, almost asleep on her hooves. It was still dark outside.
At least the house wasn’t cold. The bedroom was quite warm. She had kicked off the extra blankets at some point in the night and she had flipped over the pillows several times to keep the cool sides up.
In a daze, Holly shuffled through her house and began to get ready. She still needed breakfast, and planned to head over to Mallory Moo’s Automat. She bumped into walls, smacked into doors, not at all accustomed to the layout of the house yet.
District #1 Firehouse was well lit and gave off a hazy glow in the freezing fog that left everything glazed with ice. The airship that had been docked there was gone, perhaps it was docked someplace else, Holly didn’t know.
Wrapped in her heavy overcoat, Holly shivered and made her way to the door. She pushed it open, felt a blast of heat that almost knocked her from her hooves, and then made her way inside.
The inside of the firehouse smelled like breakfast, old smoke, and sweaty stallions. Holly sniffed, quite taken with the smell.
“You Holly?”
Turning her head, Holly found herself eye to eye with a small drake. He was a short, lithe sort, had a serpentine body, bright orange eyes, and was covered in shimmering electric blue scales with yellow spines.
Holly nodded.
“Heya Holly. My name is Fizz Fizz. Toots and the Knocker will be with you in a bit.” The drake smiled, revealing multiple rows of razor sharp ridges that passed for teeth.
“Fizz Fizz?” The corner’s of Holly’s mouth turned upwards, causing little wrinkles to appear in the corners of her eyes.
“I’m a steamer, not a firebreather. When I huff, and I puff, and I blow the fire out, it makes a fizzy sound, okay? The naming committee are a bunch of brain dead fire jockeys, not speech professors.” The drake’s tail swished from side to side and his bright eyes studied Holly.
“I’ve never seen a dragon up close,” Holly said.
Flattered, Fizz Fizz pulled himself up to his full height. “Not all dragons are large and terrifying. Some of us are small, magnificent specimens, and we have to make a living just like everypony else.” He waggled his brow ridges. “I am uniquely suited for this job. I can’t be burned.”
“Must be nice.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Fizz Fizz puffed out his scrawny body and his frills protruded.
“Hey, you crazy lizard, get up here!”
Fizz Fizz grinned at Holly. “I gotta go. Just… stay right here and Toots and Knocker will be with you in just a few minutes.”
Spotting a chair, Holly settled in to wait while the drake slithered off up the pole, vanishing from view.
When Knock Knock came into view, Holly felt bad for him. He looked tired, weary, and he smelled of smoke. His pelt was sooty and smudged. His eyes, reddened by irritants, looked heavy and tired. A moment later, Toot Toot came into view, still damp, but clean.
“Long night?” Holly asked.
“Yeah,” Knock Knock replied.
“Don’t you ever go home?” Holly asked.
“Knock Knock and I… we’re lifers. We live here in the firehouse and we’re always on call.” Toot Toot brushed his damp mane out of his face. “We’re a special kind of stupid.”
“Oh, wow, that’s dedication.” Holly looked up at the two ponies.
“Naw, we just can’t afford rent in this city.” Knock Knock flashed Holly an exhausted grin. “Come on, let’s get going. We’re off to district two training substation. I think you’re going to do well in the physical tests. Let’s see what you can do, Holly.”
The mare popped out of her chair, landed on her hooves, and then bounced in place, excited. “This is gonna be great.”
“How do you think she’ll do?” Toot Toot looked at Knock Knock, his face serious.
“She knows what needs to be done… let’s see what she does.” Knock Knock watched through the safety window as Holly studied the door.
The average Manehatten apartment door was a fortress of locks, and this one was no different. Several deadbolts were installed, and a bracing bar went from the middle of the door down into a little hole in the floor. The bracing bar, thick, and made of brass, made it almost impossible to push the door open from the outside. There was also a chain lock with a heavy brass chain.
“Think she’ll get the door open?” Toot Toot asked in a nervous voice.
“Toots, nopony gets the door open on their first try. She’ll probably bust herself up real good slamming into the door. She might break the doorframe a bit and she might loosen it from the hinges. She just might do more damage to it than any other pony I’ve known.” Knock Knock glanced at his companion.
“She’s gonna get the door open,” Toot Toot insisted.
“Toots, you’re brain damaged from all that smoke and fire killer foam.” Knock Knock shook his head.
“Boss, you ain’t been hit by that mare. If she got in a fight with the subway, she’d win.” Toot Toot watched as Holly rapped on the door with her hoof. He could see the look of disappointment upon her face when she discovered that it was solid wood.
“There she goes… she’s getting distance from the door… she’s gonna plow into it. Toots, get the first aid kit ready, this is gonna be a bloody mess—wait, what is she doing?”
The two stallions watched as Holly approached the tool wrack. She rose up on her hind hooves, well balanced, and pulled a Halligan bar down from its hooks. She had it gripped in her front fetlocks. She hefted it, testing it for balance, held it in one fetlock for a moment, tossed it up into the air, flipped it, caught it, and then gripped it with both fetlocks once more.
“She’s a scary broad,” Toot Toot said in a breathless whisper. “That’s a long steel handled Halligan bar… that’s what, fifteen pounds? Did you see her toss it?”
“I saw, Toots, I saw, now shut up.” Knock Knock gave the pegasus beside him a shove to silence him. He said nothing about the fact that Toot Toot was wrong, the long steel handled Halligan bar was a hair over twenty pounds. He watched, almost holding his breath as Holly stomped forwards, balanced on her hind hooves. She was a big mare but she moved like a ballerina.
With a terrifying roar, Holly rammed the Halligan bar into the side of the door where the hinges were located. The stabbing end sank in between the wood of the doorframe and the wooden door, going deep.
“She went for the hinges!”
“Shut up, Toots!”
The two stallions watched as Holly pushed forwards on the bar, getting it to wiggle, and then she jammed it in even deeper. She braced one hind hoof against the wooden doorframe, the other hind hoof was flat on the ground, and she hooked both front fetlocks around the handle. Baring her teeth, Holly jerked her body backwards.
There was a screech of metal and wood. The bar moved a few inches. Every muscle on Holly’s body bulged beneath her plush cushioning. The mare closed her eyes. She heaved backwards, her body began to glisten with sweat, and her nostrils flared as she began sucking in air.
“Boss, that door ain’t gonna make it,” Toot Toot said in a scared voice.
The bar jerked back another inch as Holly tossed all of her weight backwards. There was the sound of wood shattering and fatigued metal groaned. Holly slammed her body forwards into the bar, and then jerked backwards again. Twisting metal screamed and squealed as the top hinge of the door shattered, sending shrapnel flying.
Sweat ran off of Holly’s body like rivers and pooled upon the cement floor. The broad muscles in her back quivered, and corded muscles in her neck rippled like writhing serpents. Ninety two seconds had passed. Tossing her head around, Holly gave another fearsome yank on the Halligan bar. There were more sounds of metal dying. The middle hinge warped and bowed.
Screaming, Holly yanked the Halligan bar free from its wedged in position, whirled it around, lifted it up over her head, and came down on the top of the door with an overhead chop. The door shuddered and the top half of the middle hinge sheared off.
Holly reared back, took a step back, raised the bar high over her head, and then tossed herself forward, bringing the Halligan down in another overhead chop. The middle hinge disintegrated, shattering into tiny fragments. The door was now held together by the bottom hinge, the deadbolts, and the bracing bar. The top half of the door was askew, hanging away from the door frame.
The Halligan bar fell to the floor with a metallic clatter. Holly dropped down to all fours, turned around, looked over her shoulder, and then with a blood chilling scream, she bucked the door with her hind hooves. The first kick did nothing, but the second kick caused the door to topple. It fell away from the doorframe with the sounds of metal being ripped apart.
“I told you so!” Toot Toot shouted.
“Shut up, Toots!”
“Sorry I took so long… I guess I would have burned up or something,” Holly said as she wiped sweat from her face. “I can try and do better next time, I promise.”
“Holly, there won’t be a next time.” Knock Knock shook his head. Holly started to protest, but he cut her off. “That door wasn’t meant to be opened. At least, not on your first try. Or your second. But you went for the hinges just like a seasoned pro. I don’t know how you knew how to do that, but you’re a smart mare, Holly Heartwood.” He saw Holly look confused for a moment, and a smile graced her face.
“There were only three door hinges on the left side, but a whole bunch of deadbolts and locks on the right side. It seemed weaker,” Holly said, explaining her reasoning.
“Most rookies run up and kick the door, or slam their body into it.” Knock Knock, who had a sheepish grin, looked Holly in the eye. “To be honest, I thought you’d do the same.”
“I thought about it, but then I saw the tools. I figured I’d have the tools with me if I was on the job. So I thought I’d have myself a go at the door with that big prybar—”
“The Halligan bar.” Toot Toot flew into the room, his wings flapping as he halted and remained in a hover. “I brought you some water.” He held out a plastic tumbler filled with water and ice to Holly, and smiled when she took it.
“So, what is the next test?” Holly asked after she had a drink.
“Holly, you were supposed to spend all morning trying to get the door open… to be honest, I’m not sure what to do with you right now. You’ll need a physical… and I don’t see you failing that.” Knock Knock watched as Holly drank more water.
“Of course, you know, this means you’re hired. There’ll be more training, but you’ll be paid for that. I kinda wanna see what you can do in a crisis,” Toot Toot said as he watched Holly empty her glass.
Knock Knock glanced at the pegasus and then turned his eyes upon the earth pony mare. “Holly, I do believe that you’ve found your calling in life.”