• Published 21st Feb 2014
  • 1,945 Views, 54 Comments

Inferno - DemonBrightSpirit



A devastating blaze sweeps through Ponyville, leaving desolation in its wake. Now the citizens of Ponyville are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and find a way to move forward.

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Up in Smoke

Inferno


Chapter 03

Up in Smoke


Out in her fields, Applejack watched as Celestia raised the sun up over the horizon. Usually, this would be a joyous occasion. It was the official start of the work day. But today she shouldn't have been able to watch the sun rise. Her crops were scheduled to get rain first thing this morning! Above her, the morning sky awoke, free and clear of any clouds at all.

"Dangit, Rainbow Dash! Did yah oversleep again!" Applejack shouted at the sky.

Cursing her luck, she reared up onto the trunk of a nearby tree. Examining a low branch, she assessed just how much they needed to be watered. Days without water parched them, but the yield could certainly be salvaged if they got rain in the next day or two. "Dash, yer gonna get it," she muttered as she tried to rearrange her schedule in her head.

Applejack scanned the skies again. She'd half-hoped to see a rainbow she could take her frustrations out on. Instead, the sky just grew bluer as the sun crept higher. Turning her gaze towards Ponyville, she could see a grey haze through the orchard trees. Her rain was still waiting for the weather teams to mobilize it!

Giving a frustrated grunt, she headed off. A few minutes later and Applejack ran into Big Mac at the barn. The big, red stallion was hauling an empty cart out of the barn. "Hey, Big Mac," Applejack greeted. "I'm gonna go an' tend to some of the animals."

"No rain," Big Mac said, looking up at the clear sky.

"I swear, RD can be so irresponsible sometimes. I'll bet yah she's still in bed," Applejack fumed.

"Nope."

Applejack turned to find Big Mac's gaze fixed on the sky. Following it, she found a rainbow trail zipping towards them. Before Dash even had a chance to land, Applejack started laying into her, "This is the last straw! The rain's supposed to be clearin' up by now an' you ain't even gotten it started yet! Why, I got half a mind to—"

The shouting came to a dead stop as Rainbow crashed into the ground a few feet from the Apples. "Dash!" Applejack shouted as she rushed to the pegasus's side. "Are yah okay!?"

"Sorry, Applejack," Dash said, getting to her hooves and shaking the bad landing off.

"Are yah hurt!? Yah look awful! An' yah smell like a bonfire," Applejack replied. "What happened?"

Rainbow Dash swayed a bit as she looked between Applejack and Big Mac. "You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Casting a glance over her shoulder, all Rainbow saw was trees blocking out half the sky. There were no signs of smoke and just a few clouds. Looking back, Dash ran a hoof through her mane. "I just—Applejack, there was a huge fire last night. It was… I've never seen anything like it."

Applejack's eyes widened as she glanced to see Big Mac wearing an identical expression. "H-how bad is it? Did anypony get hurt?" she pressed.

Rainbow grimaced. "It's… I just talked to Twilight. She said—" she swallowed, trying in vain to remove the lump from her throat "—she said that half of Ponyville was...it-it's just, gone."

Applejack stared at Dash a moment before snapping to her senses and turning to Big Mac. "Apple Bloom left to get to school a few minutes ago!"

Instantly, Big Mac unhitched himself from the cart. "On it!" he said, galloping off.

"I hope nopony got hurt," Applejack said, turning back to Rainbow Dash. The pain in the pegasus's eyes was all the answer she needed. She reached up and pulled off her hat, pressing it to her chest. "H-how many?"

Rainbow shook her head. "A f-few dozen. That's all we know right now. There are still a few fires we're trying to get out and we have tons of stuff to search and…" Dash trailed off, hanging her head.

"What about our friends? Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie..."

"Twilight and I have been fighting the fires. I got Pinkie to safety and Fluttershy's at the hospital helping out," Dash explained. "Everypony's okay, e-except for Rarity. She—I saw her at the hospital. She's really hurt."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

Dash shook her head. "I-I really don't know, Applejack."

Applejack's eyes shifted back forth a moment before she put her hat back on. "Right. I'll be right there," she announced, bolting towards Ponyville.

Rainbow struggled to catch up to Applejack. "Whoa! What're you doing?" she urged, flying alongside Applejack.

Applejack didn't even glance over at her. "Yah said it yerself that Rarity's in trouble! I'm gonna go do...do somethin'!" Dash swung out in front of her, forcing her to stop. "What the hay, Dash!?"

"Look, I know how you feel," Rainbow insisted, staring Applejack down. "I really do, but there isn't anything you can do. They won't even let you in the hospital."

"What do yah mean 'won't me in?'"

Dash shook her head. "They're so overcrowded they won't let anypony in unless they're directly related."

Applejack just stood there a moment, trying to take that bit of information in. It wasn't just her friends that were in trouble. All of Ponyville must have been suffering. Applejack took several deep breaths as she looked between Rainbow Dash and her farmhouse.

"If you want to help out, I'll talk to Twilight She'll know what you can do to really help," Rainbow offered. "She's dying to know you're okay, anyway."

Applejack nodded. "Tell...tell her the Apples're gonna do whatever we can to help." She looked around the orchard a moment. Cementing her decision with another nod, she turned back to Rainbow Dash. "I figure there's a lot of hungry ponies out there working hard to help everypony."

Dash nodded in turn. "That's a good idea. I'll still go talk to Twilight and see what she says."

Furrowing her brow, Applejack licked her lips. "Do me a favor, RD?" she asked. "On yer way back out, tell Big Mac we're havin' a family meetin'."

Dash nodded. "Okay." Spreading her wings, she took flight.

"An' let me know if anything happens with Rarity at all!" Applejack called after her. "An' take care of yerself! Yah look awful!" She watched Rainbow Dash zip out of sight before turning around and heading for the barn. Galloping inside, she quickly hauled several bushels of apples onto the cart Big Mac left. With the cart loaded down, she hitched herself to it and headed straight for the farmhouse.

"Granny?" Applejack called out as she entered the house with a basket of apples on each of her sides and one on her back.

The wrinkly mare poked her head out of the kitchen. "I was just washin' up the dishes," Granny Smith greeted. "What brings yah back so soon? I didn't go an' fall asleep an' miss half the day again, did I?"

"Naw, Granny," Applejack replied, heading into the kitchen. She set the apples down next to the counter. "Somethin's happened. I'll let yah know jus' as soon as Big Mac gets back. 'Til then, why don't yah give me a hoof? We're gonna be cookin' up a storm today."

Granny let Applejack's worrisome behavior roll right off her back, not showing a hint of worry or trepidation. Instead, she just gave her granddaughter a nice, warm smile. "I'll get the stove relit," she offered. "I'm assumin' we're gonna be needin' the sugar and flour from the pantry, too?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna go haul some more apples in. I'll let yah know as soon as Big Mac gets here."

The two mares hadn't even gotten anything on the stove before Big Mac came in with Apple Bloom in tow. As soon as Applejack and Granny entered the room, Apple Bloom was complaining, "Sis! What's goin' on? Big Mac came an' got me an' told me I had to come home, but he ain't said a word why."

"Right now, the grown-ups need to talk, Apple Bloom," Applejack insisted. "Go on up to yer room. I'll be up to talk to yah in a bit."

"What!? No way!" Apple Bloom indignantly refused. "Yah stop me from goin' to school an' then jus' tell me to go to my room? Why?"

"I said, 'go to yer room!'" Applejack snapped, her tone harsh enough to wipe the defiant look from Apple Bloom's face.

Apple Bloom tucked her ears back as she dragged herself towards the stairs, muttering "it ain't fair" under her breath.

The trio waited to hear the hoofsteps above them before speaking. Of course, Granny Smith had already been more than patient enough. "Now, who's gonna tell me what's goin' on?"

Applejack sighed as she pawed at the floor. Given Big Mac's reticent nature, it was going to have to be her. "I don't know all the details, but Rainbow Dash showed up this mornin' sayin' that we didn't our rain 'cause there was a big fire in Ponyville." Granny didn't reply, urging Applejack to continue. "Dash said that half of Ponyville went an' burned to the ground last night. Said that a lot of ponies got hurt, or worse. An' even still, half of 'em gotta be homeless now."

"How awful," Granny said.

"I can't stand by an' do nothin'. I don't think any of us can. It ain't the Apple way," Applejack asserted.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

"We should do whatever we can to help," Applejack insisted. "I was thinkin' we could cook a bunch of food an' haul it over. I'm sure a lot of the ponies there ain't got a proper bite to eat." Granny Smith and Big Mac both nodded in agreement. "Granny an' I can handle the cookin'," she went on. "Big Mac, I was thinkin' you could clear out the barn and set up cots. We could let some ponies stay there tonight if they can't find a proper bed."

"I'll get to it," Big Mac said, turning and heading out.

Granny put a shaky hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "Yah gone an' made all these decisions, puttin' off yer chores an' jus' givin' away our apples."

Applejack averted her gaze. "Yeah, Granny. B-but I can't just..."

Granny Smith wrapped her other forehoof around Applejack, hugging her. "I'm so proud of you, Applejack. Yah put what's really important first, even if yah don't consider anythin' else." The old mare stepped back, smiling at Applejack. "An Apple would never let their neighbors suffer, even that means sufferin' ourselves. You are yer mother's daughter."

"S-shucks, Granny," Applejack muttered, looking away and blushing.

"Now, I'm gonna get to cookin'," Granny said, turned back towards the kitchen. "You have a little sister that needs a good talkin' to."

Applejack sighed as she looked at the stairs. Apple Bloom had every right to know what was going on, but actually telling her was not going to be a pleasant task. "Ponyfeathers," she muttered, heading for the stairs.

Lingering outside of Apple Bloom's room, Applejack mustered her courage as she tried to run lines of what to say through her head. Finally certain of the rehearsed dialogue, she knocked on the door and let herself in. "Apple Bloom?"

The filly was on her bed. At the sound of her name, she looked up, giving Applejack an apologetic look. "What did I do this time?" she asked.

Applejack frowned, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yah ain't done a thing wrong, sugarcube. Don't you worry about that."

"So, why'd Big Mac come and get me? Why'd yah yell at me an' tell me to come here?"

Applejack hung her head a bit. "I, uh, I'm sorry about bein' short with yah, Apple Bloom. It weren't nothin' you did."

Apple Bloom tilted her head a bit. "If I didn't do nothin', then why did yah yell at me?"

"I was—I am upset," Applejack admitted, moving over and sitting on the bed next to Apple Bloom. She sighed as she tried to remember the lines she'd rehearsed in her head. She had forgotten every single one.

Apple Bloom couldn't remember the last time she saw her sister look so uncertain. "Is...everythin' okay?"

Applejack shook her head. "No, it ain't," she blatantly told her sister. "You see, there was… Last night, a fire started in Ponyville."

"A fire?"

Applejack nodded, getting up and heading for the window. "Look," she said gazing out towards Ponyville, but all she could see was a grey-black haze that blended into the sky. Is it still burning? she wondered as she waited for Apple Bloom to approach. As Apple Bloom set her forehooves on the sill and looked out, Applejack removed her hat. "It spread all over," she explained. "Rainbow Dash said that-that fires spread over half of Ponyville. You didn't go to school today 'cause it just ain't safe for yah to go into town. We don't even know if the school is still there."

Apple Bloom just stared slack-jawed at the grey blob off in the distance. "Y-you mean the whole school is gone?"

"It might be," Applejack replied, putting her hat back on and turning away. "I haven't been to Ponyville yet. I'll get there later today."

"I-I don't... What's everypony gonna do if the school's gone?" Apple Bloom asked, following after her sister.

"It ain't just the school, sugarcube. Houses, shops, maybe even the library and city hall…" Applejack trailed off, sighing. "All up in smoke."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "H-How can something like that happen? Why wouldn't Twilight stop it!? She's a princess!"

Applejack rubbed her neck. "Hey, I know better'n most how amazin' Twilight is, but, somethin' like that—I'm sure she did everything she could to stop the fire."

"Is everypony okay?" Apple Bloom asked, looking up at her sister.

Applejack sat down, draping a hoof over Apple Bloom's withers. "N-no, Apple Bloom. A lot of ponies got hurt in the fire."

"Are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo okay!?"

Applejack's eyes widened as her maw fell open. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking this far ahead. "I-I wish I knew, Apple Bloom, but I ain't got a clue. I didn't think to ask Dash when she was here, sorry."

"Well, find out!" Apple Bloom insisted.

"I'm gonna head into Ponyville this afternoon. I'll be sure to ask around then," Applejack offered.

"What!?" Apple Bloom incredulously asked, jumping away from her sister to stare her down. "It's barely past dawn! I can't wait that long! What if they're hurt!? What if they need me!?"

"I know how you feel, Apple Bloom," Applejack said, keeping her voice calm and steady. "Rarity's hurt an' I know my other friends ain't exactly takin' this whole mess well, but there just ain't a lot I can do to help them. We have to trust that the ponies there in Ponyville will take care of them."

"That ain't good enough!" Apple Bloom snapped. "I need to see them! I need to know they're okay!"

Applejack frowned. "Too bad," she curtly said rising to feet and meeting Apple Bloom's glare with one of her own. "Yer not to leave this farm until I know it's safe!"

"That's not fair!"

"No, it ain't," Applejack replied heading for the door, "but yer still not goin' anywhere. I ain't gonna have yah gettin' hurt like everypony else!"

"I can take care of myself!" Apple Bloom shouted after her sister as she pulled the door shut.

Applejack sighed to herself as she stood on the other side of Apple Bloom's door. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she marched down the stairs. As much as she wanted to actually go to Ponyville and see it with her own eyes, the best thing she could do for everypony would be for her to fix up a feast. She'd get to go to town soon enough.

Maybe Rainbow Dash'll show back up. Surely she knows how Apple Bloom's friends're doin', she thought as she entered the kitchen. She plastered on a smile for Granny Smith. "Let's get cookin'! I'm sure Ponyville's starvin'!"