//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: M.F.D. // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Like an excited foal, Holly bounced around in place as she got to get a good look at the airship. Standing on the roof, she could see the craft tethered to its mooring. There was a gangplank connecting the ship to the roof. It was large, but not very large. A number of ponies were working on the ship, inspecting hoses, and making certain that everything was shipshape. “So you use these to fight fires? Why not just clouds and stuff?” Holly turned around and looked at Knock Knock, her eyes wide with wonder. “You can’t get enough water out of a cloud for a really big fire. For a tiny little house fire, you might get enough water out of a cloud, but tell me Holly, do you see any rainclouds waiting around to put out fires?” Toot Toot waited for the connection to be made in Holly’s mind. She was a smart mare, and he knew that she’d get it. Holly, standing upon the roof, looked around the city, examining the skyline. There weren’t that many clouds today. What few clouds there were were fluffy looking grey clouds. A pegasus would have to go a long way to find a raincloud. She looked at the airship. “Oh… this makes sense. So you fly these ships over to one of the lakes outside of town, fill up the water reservoir, and keep them ready to fight fire.” “Yes.” Toot Toot nodded. “All those hoses and stuff… we can pull up alongside a skyscraper, toss hoses in through the windows, and get to the fires directly.” Studying the ship, Holly could see large brass nozzles beneath it, the nozzles where water was sucked up into the ship. The deck was wide and there were yellow stripes on it telling ponies where to stand. Holly guessed that rescued ponies could be brought aboard the ship and be saved from the flames. Holly could now understand why so many pegasi were fire fighters. They were well suited to the airborne tactics being used. Holly wasn’t certain how she could get from an airship to the top of a skyscraper, but she knew that a way would be found. “The airships are a huge expense. We don’t have enough of them. We’ve begged for money, pleaded with those who make the budgets, but they’d rather watch the city burn than spend a bit of money. Crying shame, really,” Knock Knock said, his voice bitter. He lifted his head high, his mustache quivering as he chewed on his lip for a moment. “You’ll find out soon enough… there’s no point in ruining the job for you during your first week.” “I don’t think anything could ruin this for me… this seems like the most wonderful thing in the world.” Holly gazed at the airship, feeling a powerful sense of romance. Holly, a mare that liked fighting, began to understand the appeal of this life. There were airships, hoses with big brass nozzles, giant pry bars, fire axes, and a relentless beast that threatened to devour the whole city, always lurking, always waiting, always ready to strike when least expected. It all seemed so very simple. Fire was the major heel, and the fire fighters were the big face. But there was also little heels to go along with the spectacle, like those who managed the city budgets. The burning buildings were the arenas. The skyscrapers were the A-shows. It was all a show like any other, travelling from place to place, the faces had to put a stop to the big heel, otherwise, everything would be ruined. “It’s all so kayfabe,” Holly said as the wind whipped her mane around. “What?” Toot Toot asked, looking confused. “Never mind… it all makes perfect sense. I don’t know if I could explain it. But everything in life makes perfect sense right now,” Holly replied. “If you say so.” Toot Toot eyed the mare for a long moment and then looked at the unicorn beside him. “Knock Knock, we should get her suited up. Start getting her used to it.” “Yeah Holly, let’s get you geared up.” Knock Knock watched as Holly took one last glance at the airship, her expression one of adoration. He had seen that same face a thousand times in his life, but had never gotten over the emotional impact. There were two racks sitting close to one another. One rack held leggings; a flying pegasus could just drop into those, but Holly, being an earth pony, would have to leap into them. After leaping into the protective leggings, two straps went over the back to secure the leggings into place. There was a pedal on the floor that acted as a quick release, freeing the pony now wearing the leggings from the rack. The second rack held the top half of the protective suit. A pony would stand beneath it and it would drop down. Magical snaps would seek each other out and the top half would secure itself to the leggings. It was a practical system born of necessity and seemed functional enough. After the protective suit, other gear awaited. Oxygen tanks and a respirator mask. Two tanks, both of which went under the belly. Holly wasn’t sure about the under the belly thing, but then realised that if she had to carry a pony upon her back, the tanks would be in the way. There was a water tank as well, with a feed line that connected to the respirator and a little tube that went into the corner of the mouth. All of this formed one unit. The tanks were all bracketed together and it seemed easy enough to put on. You slipped the body harness over your upper half and then cinched the straps. The mask slipped over your face. The helmet went over your mask and your head. And then stuff was clipped to your body harness, like a married Halligan bar and fire axe set. “Wait,” Holly said, shaking her head, “How does a pegasus fly wearing this gear?” “In general, they don’t.” Toot Toot looked Holly in the eye. “If there were big open slits for the wings to slip through, the fire could get through it too. This is the ground fighter suit. Not many sign up for this duty.” “The sky fighter suit lacks significant protection. It is meant more for a pegasus to come in through the window with a hose and get to work, or to stay outside the building and shoot inwards with a hose. They need their wings. Feathers are flammable, so most pegasi stay far, far away from the fire.” Knock Knock looked at the suit, looked at Holly, and then looked at Toot Toot. “I wear the ground fighter suit. Toots here has worn it on a number of occasions. He was in a real bad scrape a while back and the fire burned his face pretty good. Truth is Holly, we need more ponies to wear suits like this one. It takes a crazy amount of courage to commit yourself to going into the flames.” “So how do I get into this? Just… jump in?” Holly asked. “More or less. Sometimes, the top half is tricky, the magical snaps lose some of their magic over time and don’t always meet up right. This can be a real problem sometimes,” Toot Toot replied. “So I get to wear this suit… and I get to be a big damn hero?” Holly turned and looked at the two stallions. Knock Knock chuckled and his mustache crinkled as he smiled. “Most ponies call this the suicide suit. It comes with a slightly higher pay scale, yet nopony wants to wear it. But yes, if you wear this suit, it comes with the opportunity to be a big damn hero.” “I’m sold.” Holly gave the suit hanging in the rack a final studying, trying to see how everything fit together, trying to make certain her body would fit, and getting herself worked up for her attempt. Leaping, Holly prepared herself to land in the leggings. Something didn’t go quite as planned though. Hung up, Holly wiggled, trying to get free. Her front legs had hit the back of the suit and then she wasn’t quite sure what had happened next, but she had failed. Wiggling free, she tried again. This time, she wasn’t quite lined up with the leggings. Her front and rear left legs went down into the right legs of the suit, leaving her half in and half out. Groaning, embarrassed, Holly kicked her way free, lost her balance, and fell to the floor, hitting the metal rack on her way down. “I think I see a problem,” Toot Toot said. “Holly is the epitome of grace.” “Keep it up Toots, I’ll tell Holly to knock you down again.” Knock Knock took a step back to give Holly plenty of room. “Holly, keep trying. We’ve plenty of time. You’ll get the hang of this, not everything can go perfect on the first try.” Getting to her hooves, Holly gritted her teeth. She backed up from the rack, trying to figure out the best place to leap from, the angle of her leap, the positioning of her legs, and then she looked over at Knock Knock and Toot Toot. “So pegasi fly into the suits, just dropping in, how do unicorns get into them?” “Oh, I teleport inside. It uses a bit of magical energy but it keeps me from falling on my mustache over and over.” Knock Knock reached up and smoothed his mustache. “I’m not exactly handsome, but I have a magnificent mustache. Don’t want to see the little fella get hurt.” Well, that is no help at all, Holly thought to herself. She eyed the rack once more, lept, and shouted, “Earth pony way!” A moment later, Holly clattered to the floor, almost knocking the rack over. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her rising temper, shook her head, and then began to get back up on her hooves. “I completely overshot it,” Holly grumbled as she gave herself a shake. “Keep trying.” Knock Knock went over to a wooden bench and sat down. Several other pegasi were now watching, standing around the doorway. None of them were laughing and all of them kept glancing at Toot Toot. Looking at them, Holly got the feeling that Toot Toot was just as much in charge as Knock Knock, even if Toots didn’t have the title of captain. “Cannonball!” Holly cried as she launched herself again. Her attempt ended in spectacular disaster. Her front hooves caught on the edge of the suit, flipped her over, and she landed inside of the leggings on her back, with all four legs sticking up into the air. “I think she’s stuck, boss,” one of the pegasi said. Wiggling, Holly tried to get free and discovered she couldn’t, much to her chagrin. She groaned, feeling embarrassed, and then worked up her courage so she could say, “Help me.” Several pegasi flew over, grabbed Holly by her legs, and then grunting, all four of them hefted Holly free. They flipped her over in the air, and then then set her down upon her hooves. “Thank you, gentleponies, for getting me back on my pegs,” Holly said with a smile. She lifted a hoof and gave the pegasi a little wave, never once thinking about the fact that it took four burly pegasi to lift her and set her free. “Howzabouts we lift her up and drop her into the suit for the first time, so she can get a feel for it?” one of the pegasi asked as he reached back and rubbed his spine with one of his front hooves. “That sounds like a good idea, if Holly is okay with it,” Toot Toot said. “I’m game.” Holly stood ready. She stood wide legged, head held high, a smile upon her face. “Be careful gents, I’m ticklish and I tend to kick when I get tickled.” Hearing this, Toot Toot began to back up, getting away from what he suspected was the danger zone. He didn’t want no part of this and wondered how much damage kicked pegasi might do to the brick walls. “Toots, I’m scared Toots… why you backin’ away like that?” one of the pegasi asked. “Toots ain’t skeered of nothin’, but he’s worried about something right now.” A dark brown pegasi shook his head. “I don’t get paid enough for this kinda stress. Come on, let’s get to work.” “Come on fellas, I’m harmless. Give me a lift,” Holly said in a teasing voice.