Where there's smoke

by ClawHeart

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Zecora, Romance
Length: 6415

Fire threatens the Everfree Forest, forcing unlikely heroes to step forward to save the day.

It was supposed to be a normal day in Ponyville, except that a small glitch with the weather machine in Cloudsdale turned it dark and menacing. Nothing that couldn't be handled, but mistake after mistake turns a minor inconvenience into a major catastrophe. Will the Forest be saved? And more importantly, will everypony survive?

Published 2012-03-06 18:23:25 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-20 23:30:47 UTC

Chapter 1

It was a bright and sunny summer day, perfect for taking a nice trot outdoors or enjoying a picnic with loved ones. At least that's what it was scheduled to be; a malfunction in the cloud-making machine in Cloudsdale's weather factory had changed that plan. The machine had been shut down for emergency repairs, but not before the sky had been covered in dark and menacing thunderheads. The plans of almost every pony in Ponyville were threatened by this unfortunate glitch.

And that was the reason weather pegasi were streaking through the roiling masses, doing their best to break them up into smaller, more managable pieces. Once that was done, they could be moved out past the town's borders and drained of their rain and dangerous lightning. The only problem was that those little clouds shot away fast, looking to cause as much mischief as they could before they were corralled.

Or it would have been a problem if Rainbow Dash hadn't been on the case. No mere cloud was going to outfly her! And while she couldn't be everywhere, the other members of her team were more than capable enough to take care of the stragglers. Well, almost all of them, Rainbow reminded herself with a groan, seeing yet another scud scoot past her. "Careful, Derpy!" she called for what felt like the tenth time that morning.

A grey-coloured wall-eyed pegasus spun around in mid-air at hearing her name, wondering what had caused her good friend Rainbow Dash to call out for her. Maybe she was going to congratulate her on a job well done! But no, the blue-hued pegasus was annoyed with her again, pointing at an escaping troublemaker that had somehow slipped by. That was disappointing; she was trying so hard to not mess this up. It's not like she messed up on purpose, but somehow it just kept happening to her. Well, it wasn't going to happen today!

"Don't you worry Rainbow Dash!" she said, giving a sharp salute. "I'm on it!" Derpy charged at the cloud, but was having a hard time catching up to it. The dumb thing always changed direction the moment she was about to lay her hooves on it, and it was random which way it went. But she was nothing if not persistent! As Rainbow would say, that cloud was going down!

The cloud led her on a real chase, one that disrupted almost every other pegasus in the skies. But none of that mattered to Derpy. All she cared about was proving to Rainbow that she was capable of handling this job! And then she had her chance; the cloud stopped suddenly, as if coming up against an invisible barrier in the air that kept it in place. Derpy dove for it, wrapping her forelegs around it and squeezing it hard.

Electricity arced over her body as the cloud discharged its lightning, but Derpy refused to let go until it was completely empty. Her coat was singed and she'd lost maybe a half an inch from her blonde mane and tail, but at least the cloud was all white and fluffy now. At least it didn't hurt that badly; being a pegasus offered her some protection from the effects of weather after all. "Off you go!" she said cheerily, giving it a pat upward where it would be taken by the winds somewhere far away.

Only when it was out of sight did she manage to take stock of where she was. Had she really chased that thing right up to the borders of the Everfree Forest? That would explain why it had stopped like it had; some strange enchantment in the forest wouldn't allow much in the way of pony-induced weather to float into its space. Rumour had it that the forest had some magical way of taking care of itself!

"Wow, that didn't take you too long, now did it?" Rainbow said, her tone so obviously sarcastic that it made Derpy's ears and tail droop. "Come on Derpy," she said with a sigh, not wanting to admit that seeing the other pony like that actually bothered her to some extent. "We've still got a lot of work to do."

Derpy nodded and started to fly after Rainbow Dash, but one of her eyes caught something a little odd. She flew down lower for a closer look, focusing both of her eyes on what she thought she was seeing. It took a little effort, and sometimes gave her a headache, but when she did she could see things really clearly. Like that little distortion in the air right in front of her, so slight as to be nearly invisible. But what could be causing it? Just a little lower and she would--

"Come on Derpy Hooves!" Rainbow called from above her. "We still got a lot of work to do so we don't have time for this! Try to focus on the important stuff!"

Her concentration broken, Derpy's eyes returned to their usual positions and she lost track of whatever she'd been looking at. Oh well, if Rainbow thought is wasn't important that meant it wasn't. "Coming Rainbow!" she said, flying off after her. Neither Derpy nor Rainbow noticed that behind them that little distortion had grown and thickened into a thin column of dark grey smoke that coiled lazily up toward the sky from where a stray lightning bolt had struck a patch of dry, dead wood laying on the floor of the forest.

The pegasi had the sky cleared up before afternoon, letting most of the ponies below get in a lot of their planned activities for the day. That included Rarity, the fashionista of Ponyville, who had decided to travel through the Everfree Forest to visit with Zecora. For the past week or two she'd felt that her inspiration was running a little...dry. Despite what her Spikey told her, she felt like she was just creating the same thing over and over. So, with some luck, she might get the zebra to talk about some of the fashions of her homeland as a way to spark some new inspiration in her.

She was about halfway to Zecora's hut when an oddly acrid smell passed through her nostrils, making her snout scrunch up in dismay. What an awful awful smell that was! Fortunately it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving nothing but the warm forest air to tickle her nose. Oh what a relief that was! It must have been a figment of her imagination and nothing more!

But as she continued down the path, she couldn't help but think that the scent bore a disturbing resemblance to the smell of the bonfire at Sweet Apple Acres during one of Pinkie Pie's random parties. But that was ridiculous of course. Fire in the Everfree Forest? Absurd! If only she had looked behind her as she broke into a light trot, maybe she would have seen a few flickers of red and orange peeking through the trees.

A few hours later, as Celestia began to guide the sun down toward the horizon, Rarity was on her way back to Ponyville with a spring in her step. That visit with Zecora had been even more fruitful than she'd thought. Oh the ideas spinning around in her head defied even her expectations of fabulosity! She had to hurry is she was going to sketch everything out before the sun rose tomorrow morning.

But more importantly than that, she'd discovered a deeper friendship with the striped mare. Zecora had intended for some time now to take advantage of the herbal remedies she'd been providing to Aloe and Lotus for their spa treatments, but had never had the time to. Rarity, having indulged of those treatments herself on occasion, thought that to be a tragedy in immediate need of repair. So she'd extended an invitation to Zecora to join her on her next spa day, an invitation which was gladly accepted.

And that day might come soon, what with the sweat that Rarity was working up. But that was odd; the evening was cooler than the heat of the day and she hadn't been sweating like that on her way to Zecora. So why was she--?

A loud cracking was her only warning before a branch crashed down on the path in front of her, blocking the way and making her jump back with a frightened squeal. Such a thing was enough to send Rarity's blood pumping through her veins, but a second look made it all freeze in her veins. Fire. The branch was on fire. An anxious look around confirmed her worst fear: it wasn't just the branch on fire, it was the entire forest!

"No," she whispered, backing up step by step, the flames reflected in her wide sapphire eyes. This was a trick....another illusion but of her eyes this time. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real! Another crack of splintering wood broke what little courage she had, sending her galloping back down the path, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Zecora! Zecora!"

Pulled from her cooking by the frantic yells, Zecora stuck her head out of the window of her hut, surprised to see the white-coated mare charging toward her. "Rarity, what is with all this racket? This surely isn't the place you are meant to be at!"

"Zecora, fire!" Rarity cried, skidding to a stop heedless of the damage it was doing to her perfectly manicured hooves. The zebra's eyes snapped toward the forest at Rarity's words. Even though she couldn't see the fire itself, the flocks of birds taking to the air ahead of an ominous orange glow that had nothing to do with the setting sun convinced her. "We're trapped!" Rarity continued, starting to hyperventilate.

"Come with me, of this forest I know many ways out," Zecora said, forcing her way through her hut's wall. "They will bring us safely to Ponyville, but the path is quite roundabout." She had to remain calm if they were going to get out of this safely. She spared a glance for the items she had brought here from her home, but only a glance. They were things, they could be replaced. Lives could not. "Let us go Rarity, and stay close to me. The road that begins there should keep us safe from flaming debris." Rarity looked ready to bolt down the path, but Zecora stopped her with a hoof on her tail. "Slow and steady is the way we must go! Galloping too fast leads us to dangers unknown."

Rarity gulped nervously but followed along at the brisk pace that Zecora set, trying to draw strength from how calm her friend was remaining. Surely she must know what she was talking about, otherwise she wouldn't be so composed. Right now she had to trust in her and trust that the others would notice the fire and act to protect what remained of the forest. And trust in the fire not catching up to them before they could make it to safety.

But of all her friends that she hoped to react first, the pony she had least expected to was the one who did. On her own Fluttershy may not have noticed, busy as she was caring for the animals in her sanctuary. She'd been on edge most of the day, something at the edge of her senses warning her of approaching danger. But nothing had happened, so she tried to push away her worries and focus on her little friends.

But as the evening turned into night, the feeling only grew, making her more and more antsy. The smallest sounds were making her flinch, even the gentle snoring of a small squirrel with a broken tail. So when the alarm bell suddenly rang out, she almost jumped through the ceiling and into her bedroom on the second floor. She charged out of the house only to see a very familiar white rabbit ringing the bell wildly. "Oh Angel," she chided softly over the pounding of her heart. "You know that's only supposed to be used for emergencies. Now I enjoy a good joke as much as anypony but--!"

Angel Bunny jumped onto her back as she talked, grabbing hold of her head and pointing it at the Everfree Forest. He heard her take a soft gasp as she finally saw what made him sound the alarm. Hordes of animals, of every kind and size, were abandoning the forest as fast as their legs could carry them. If that wasn't enough proof of something being horribly wrong, the entire forest seemed to glow strangely, and they both knew that only one thing could be causing it.

"Fire," she murmured, her instincts making her back up from the danger. But a sharp pull of her mane by Angel brought her back to her senses. She had to warn the others, had to tell them about the approaching danger. "Fire!" she yelled, her fear lending her voice a power rarely seen in it. "Fire! Fire in the Everfree Forest!"

She flew through the town, unable to waste any energy on yelling as she was moving so fast. She was usually so careful about avoiding anypony, but tonight she was just shooting past everypony without a care for their well-being. She'd apologize to them later, but right now she had to get to the library, to Twilight. If anypony knew how to help, it was her.

But she never made it to the library, Twilight charging out to meet her near the fountain in the center of town with Spike clinging to her back, Applejack and Pinkie Pie close behind her. "Fluttershy!" she called, bringing the tender pegasus to a halt in front of her. "Where's the fire?"

The words were spoken in jest, but the pink-maned mare quickly pointed to a faint glow that could be seen over the roofs of some of the buildings in town. "Everfree Forest!" she gasped, trying to catch her breath. "It's horrible Twilight! Just horrible!"

"The forest's on fire?" Applejack asked, her voice quavering just a bit, her instinctive fear of fire making her a little twitchy. "Oh horseapples!"

Spike slowly slid off Twilight's back, his green eyes wide in a different kind of fear. "Rarity! She said she was going to visit Zecora today!" he remembered, dashing off through town as fast as his legs could carry him. "I gotta save her!"

"Get back here Spike!" Twilight yelled, trying to bring him back forcefully with her magic, but for the first time ever Spike managed to slip out of her grip, his desperation making him fight like never before. "Spike!"

"I'll be OK!" he called back, tapping his scales. "I'm a dragon, remember? Just focus on putting the fire out!"

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack said, reluctantly stopping Twilight from going after the dragon she considered her little brother. "Right now we got bigger apples to buck. We need you to coordinate everything, remember how well we did with the Winter Wrap-Up?" Twilight nodded slowly, but it was obvious that her heart wasn't in it. "Come on then; the faster we get it under control the safer he'll be."

Above them, lounging on a soft cloud as she woke up from her afternoon nap, Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. Fire? How did that happen? Surely they would've noticed something this morning, wouldn't they? How had it all changed in such a short amount of time? Ah what did it matter anyway? That fire needed to be put out and she was the best pony for the job!

"That's what I must've seen!" Derpy exclaimed from a nearby cloud where she'd been resting too, disrupting Rainbow's thoughts and her epically epic pose. "That cloud must've started a fire in the forest with its lightning! You remember, right Rainbow?"

Rainbow's heart dropped down to her hooves. She knew that moment that Derpy was talking about just as she knew that if she hadn't stopped Derpy from investigating it then maybe they would've found the fire before it got so bad. She panicked...the strong and powerful Rainbow Dash panicked. "That was your cloud to catch Derpy!" she said, hardly believing the words coming out of her mouth, but unable to stop herself. "This is all your fault!"

It got so quiet that somepony could hear a pin hitting a cloud. Rainbow felt absolutely horrible for what she'd said, but her stubborn pride got the best of her and she wouldn't apologize, even when she saw the tears welling up in Derpy's eyes. "You just...stay here and stay out of the way!" she barked at her, flying toward Cloudsdale to round up as many pegasi as she could to help combat the flames.

Derpy Hooves' eyes squeezed shut as tears ran out of them, unable to even watch Rainbow as she dashed off. Her fault. It was all her fault. She didn't think it was, but if Rainbow said it was then for sure it was. Rainbow always knew better about these things.

Her eyes slowly opened up in horror as something occurred to her. Rarity and Zecora....they were in danger because of her. They could die because of her. She wiped the tears away from her eyes as she focused her gaze on the burning forest in the distance. This was her fault. That meant she had to be the pony to make this right. No matter what that meant.

Within the Everfree Forest, the two trapped mares were trotting swiftly down the path that Zecora had chosen. It took every ounce of restraint for Rarity not to break into a full gallop feeling the heat on her flanks increasing as the fire continued to close the gap between them. But the path itself was little used and uneven; she could easily break her neck by galloping down it blindly. But she knew that soon enough she would have to decide between that and being burned alive.

"It is not too much farther my friend," Zecora said, trying to reassure the skittish unicorn. "Very soon you and I shall be at the path's end." The heat itself not a bother to her opposed to the sounds the fire was making as it tore through the forest she had come to consider her home. But it seemed like that forest was aiding her escape; every step she took was sure-footed and propelled her closer to safety.

But there was something that neither one of them knew. The fire was tearing through the forest at different speeds, charging forward faster through the vegetation along the sides of the path then it was following along it behind them. With every second that passed, the danger was growing and they remained unaware of it.

In all things there is a tipping point, a moment where things barrel rapidly toward a conclusion without any hope of reversing course. For Rarity and Zecora, that moment was now. Near the path ahead of them stood an old oak tree that had stubbornly refused to fall despite the many seasons that had passed since it was a seedling. But it was dry, nearly dead, the sap running only sluggishly in its xylem and phloem. It was a perfect target for the fire to attack, ready to ignite at just the hint of a spark.

And when that spark hit, borne forward by the winds generated by the fire itself, it exploded into a giant burning torch, bringing both fleeing mares to a sudden stop in front of it. Rarity shrieked as the flames licked at her, flinging her head side to side to dislodge imaginary embers from her mane. Zecora tried to calm her, but it almost futile and taking up precious time. Then she heard what she had prayed this whole time not to hear. A low groan, followed by the distinctive sound of dry wood snapping, and a terrifying creak as the tree finally lost its fight, slowly tipping toward them in all its fiery glory.

Rarity was too terrified to move, seeing her death approaching. This was it, her last hurrah, and with so much left undone in her young life! So much left unsaid....

But it was not to be, not today. She was thrown aside as Zecora slammed bodily into her, taking her place and diving to the path below as the tree crashed down on her in a shower of bright cinders. "Zecora!" Rarity screamed, forcing herself up to her hooves and searching for any sign of her friend. "No....no this cannot be happening!" she cried, her voice quickly climbing into its upper register.

"Rarity!" a muffled voice called from beneath the tree.

"Zecora!" Rarity yelped happily, hurrying over and flopping down on the dirt, heedless of what it was doing to her pristine coat. "Zecora, are you ok?"

The zebra was indeed unharmed for the moment, though surrounded by flames and pinned down by skeletal branches that made Rarity shudder. "The heat from the flames rises upward and stays above me," she groaned, trying to get up but not strong enough to budge the heavy tree from where it lay. "But I do not wish to tempt my luck and would love to be free!"

"Hold on, I'll get you out," Rarity promised, her horn glowing blue as she called upon her magic to lift the tree. It shivered and shuddered, rocking back and forth slightly, but did not move. "Come on, come on!" she urged, pouring all her magic into her horn, willing it to rise. It appeared to be working, the entire tree encased in her blue magic as it floated an inch above the ground.

Rarity allowed herself a small smile for one tiny second, looking for any more energy she could put into it, wishing that she had the capacity that Twilight had. It would be enough. It had to be enough! She would accept no less from herself. But just as she had forced it up another two inches, she felt a subtle shift within the tree, something that felt like when a rock was about to split open and reveal the gems within to her gaze.

Her eyes widened and she hurriedly set the tree back in place, much to the confusion of Zecora. "The tree's rotten on the inside," she explained, wincing as she could see the tree beginning to strain as the fire steadily turned the wood into charcoal. "If I try to move it, it'll shatter and the fire...."

"Save yourself Rarity," Zecora said heavily, accepting of her fate. "This is what was--"

"Don't talk like that!" Rarity ordered, cutting her off before she could complete her rhyme. "I don't leave my friends behind. I just have to...put the fire out first." She turned around and started kicking at the path, sending dirt flying onto the tree to smother the flames. It was working, but slowly, much much to slowly.

Rarity could see the flames closing in around them, so she sped things up by using her magic to help fling the dirt, but it still wasn't going to be enough. She could no longer see any foliage around her that was not burning. But still she did not stop, still she did not give up. Even as the smoke started to fill her lungs, her only thought was to save Zecora.

A loud crack above her made her look up, just in time to see a fiery vine falling through the air. No pony to save her this time, no pony to risk their life for hers. For a moment, the searing orange of the falling flames turned into a comforting green and Rarity found that she felt....content.

Wait a minute...the flames were green, and they were reducing that vine into fine ash! It wasn't just in her mind. "Spike?!" she yelled incredulously, her eyes snapping over to the young purple dragon that had somehow appeared through the flames. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Spike coughed a bit from all the smoke, patting down a few embers that had hitched a ride on him as he'd run through the forest. His scales were singed and dirty, and he was missing a few of the green ones on his back, but he seemed otherwise in good health. "I'm here to save you m'lady," he said, putting his fist over his heart. "You keep working on freeing Zecora, I'll keep the fire away from you."

"Spikey," Rarity whispered, her eyes tearing and not just from the smoke. She wanted to hug him so badly to show how much she appreciated it. No, she wanted to kiss him! But this was neither the time nor the place, so with a blush she turned back to her work, attacking the tree holding Zecora in place with renewed vigor.

Spike took up a position beside Rarity, using his dragonflame to eradicate anything that got too close to them to keep her safe. But he was still a young dragon; he didn't have an inexhaustible supply of fire. All too soon he felt that unease in his stomach that he'd felt when Princess Celestia had sent all those reports back to Twilight during the Discord incident. It was beginning to hurt, but he pushed through the pain, just like he knew Rarity was doing with her magic. He would not let the love of his life down!

Finally the flames on the fallen tree were smothered, and Rarity sat down on her haunches in exhaustion with a victorious half-smile. But that was only half the job; she still had to move the tree. She reached out with what remained of her magic to try and lift the tree again. But while the free had consumed enough of the tree to lighten it, she was too spent to do anything about it. "Try rocking it back and forth!" she heard Spike suggest in a hoarse voice, and she drew strength from it.

Locking her magic on the thickest branch she gave it a push, moving the entire tree an inch or so. Then she pulled hard on it, rocking it backward two inches from its starting position. Another hard push moved it almost a half a foot. Pull. Push. Pull. Push. Each one moving the tree a bit more, a bit easier, until with a cry more suited to Applejack and the last of her magic the tree rolled off the path into the brush safely.

Zecora got to her hooves carefully, testing her body as she moved. Except for a few deep and bloody scratches, she was remarkably unharmed. "Thank you Spike and Rarity both for saving my life," she said shakily, stumbling toward her friends. "But I fear we are still trapped, the fire has grown much too rife."

"We did not come this far just to die now!" Rarity exclaimed, stomping her hooves in anger. "We have survived too much already; this fire will not take us!"

"Look out Rarity!" Spike cried, pushing her out of harm's way as a heavy branch, dislodged by her stomping, fell just where she had been sitting. But Spike wasn't so lucky, crying out in pain as the flames engulfed him.

"No!" Rarity screamed, her horn exploding with blue light as an untapped reserve of magic that she didn't even know she had launched the branch far up into the night sky, a fiery beacon to anyone who was watching. Even though he was a dragon and resistant to fire, that did not mean he was fireproof. Especially his underbelly, which was seared and blackened from where the branch had landed on him. "Spike, speak to me," she plead, grabbing his face tenderly between her hooves and praying that he was all right.

His emerald eyes cracked open, focusing blearily on Rarity's beautiful face. "I told you I'd save you, m'lady," he gasped before the pain was too much and he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Help me put him on my back," Rarity said, her voice trembling with repressed emotions as Zecora stepped forward to help her. She couldn't deny it to herself any longer, she was madly in love with the little dragon that had so bravely risked his life for hers. She didn't know when it had begun, or how long she had been fighting it, but right now it didn't matter. "So much time wasted," she whispered ruefully. All she could hope for right now was that they could survive this long enough to share her revelation with him, and make it up to him. But to do that they had to get out. And with the path blocked, the odds of that were--

"Hey you guys!!"

"Derpy?!" Zecora exclaimed this time as the grey pegasus shot down from above, landing on the dirt and skidding slightly, her eyes rolling in their sockets from the impact.

"Boy, am I glad I found you," she said, shaking it off and pushing herself back up into the air. She'd been flying above the forest, using the updrafts from the flames to stay aloft with minimal effort, gliding along hoping for some sign. When she'd seen a fiery branch flung halfway to the moon, she'd just known that was what she was looking for. And she'd been right! "Come on, we have to get you all out of here."

"But Derpy my friend, as you can see the way is blocked," Zecora said, pointing down the path that was covered in flames. "It would seem that our only escape is unfortunately locked."

Derpy crossed her hooves, looking hard at the path. With her eyes focused, she could pick out just a thin path through the flames, much to thin for them to get through though. What would Rainbow do in a situation like this?

Heh, that was an easy answer. It was reckless and dangerous, but it might be the only thing that would work. "Follow me!" she said, wheeling around the small clearing a few times before shooting down the path at full speed. Her body cut through the air in front of her, pushing it out to the sides and taking the flames with them.

Rarity and Zecora didn't need to be told twice, galloping hard down the path that Derpy had cleared for them. They were both panting hard, the air not filling their lungs with enough oxygen for some reason. "Just a little more!" Rarity said, seeing the edge of the forest just in front of them with Derpy urging them onward. With one final leap, they both cleared the tree line, skidding down a small slope into a shallow river. "We made it!" she sobbed, throwing her arms aroud Zecora, who returned the hug gently, careful not to dislodge Spike.

"Woohoo!" Derpy yelled, throwing her hooves in the air. But before she could join in the group hug, a jet of flame shot out of the forest and swallowed her up, a backdraft formed from her forcing the fires aside with her flight. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to blast the pegasus out of the sky and into the river below.

Rarity and Zecora scrambled over to her, not even having the breath to cry out her name as the river extinguished the flames covering her body. She was clearly in bad shape, her grey coat charred so black that her bubbly cutie mark could no longer be seen through the damage, her wings so badly burned that they hardly looked like wings anymore, and her blonde mane and tail just....gone. "Please don't be dead," Rarity whispered, her tears falling unfettered down her face.

"Rarity?" Derpy whispered softly, her voice cracked from the immense pain she was suffering. "Do...do you think that Rainbow will finally be proud of me?"

"Oh Derpy," Rarity giggled out of relief. "Everypony will be so so proud of you."

"Good," Derpy said weakly, a soft smile gracing her lips. Her head lolled to the side as a shuddering breath left her lungs, her body falling limp.

For one interminable moment, Rarity thought that she had just witnessed the final breath of the most misunderstood pony she'd ever known. But then Derpy drew in a coughing breath, and then another, and she just knew that everything was going to be all right.

The Everfree Forest was lost. Despite the efforts of everypony in Ponyville, the fire was just too massive, too out of control. All they could do was save the town and its surrounding areas, including Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy's home, thanks in no small part to Twilight's organizing the cavalry. But by the time Celestia raised the sun the following morning, nothing of the Forest was left but blackened and twisted shapes that had once been trees.

Ponyville Hospital was full of injured ponies, mostly from smoke inhalation, but there were a few more serious injuries. None so serious as the pegasus given a private room to recover. Derpy's injuries were extensive, but fortunately superficial. It would be a painful recovery, aided by both medicine and magic, but in a few months any scars she bore from her ordeal would be hidden by a healthy coat. The same could not be said for her wings though. By their nature, wings were strong but delicate, and Derpy's had been damaged well beyond repair. She would still have them, but she would never fly again.

Upon hearing this, and what Derpy had asked Rarity, Rainbow broke down in sobs like she had never had before. But she wouldn't allow anyone to console her, not after what she had done. She confessed everything to her friends and to the Princesses, who had both come to survey the damage and see if anything could be done to renew the Forest. She expected to be clapped in irons, thrown into the Canterlot dungeons never to be seen again. But though the princesses were stern with her, they and her friends had decided not to imprison her for her actions, no matter how disappointed in her they were. Rainbow was, however, ordered to assist in Derpy Hooves' rehabilitation as well as anyone else who had been injured by the fire, as well as to oversee the replanting of the Everfree Forest, a charge Rainbow swore her life to.

When Derpy awoke that night, she was a little disoriented, not really sure where she was or why she was covered in bandages. Until the pain hit. That brought everything back to her as it forced a pained moan from her lips, her body tensing and only making things worse. "Easy Derpy," a familiar voice soothed her as a cool liquid was injected into her bloodstream, numbing the pain away.

She opened one eye, her vision blurry but able to discern a familiar rainbow-maned pony hovering above her. "Hey Rainbow," she rasped, wincing at the pain in her throat. "Is...is everypony all right?"

"Everypony is just fine Derpy," Rainbow assured her, her voice hitching in her throat. Even though she was in terrible agony, her first thought was for everypony else. Just how badly had she misjudged Derpy? "Oh Celestia!" she sobbed, hunching down by Derpy's bedside. "It's my fault, it's all my fault. Can you ever forgive me?" she asked, burying her face in the bedsheets.

She was so tired, but Derpy still reached out to lay a calming hoof on Rainbow's head, making her look up. "Of course I forgive you," she whispered. "That's what friends do, right?"

"Friends...." Rainbow got up and carefully hugged Derpy, crying into her shoulder. Derpy held her as best she could, rubbing her back until she got it all out. "Hey, what say when you get out of here we hang out together? You pick the place."

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash," a masculine voice said from the doorway, "but I think I have first dibs on her time."

Rainbow watched in disbelief as Dr. Whooves walked into the room, a bouquet of daisies in his teeth, which he set down on the bedside table. "Whoa," she murmured with a slight blush as Derpy and Dr. Whooves shared a tender kiss. "Umm....yeah right," she said nervously.

Twilight watched from the door as the three ponies shared a laugh, smiling at the scene. It looked like Rainbow had learned a valuable lesson today about not judging a pony's capabilities by their appearances or even their actions. You never knew what a pony was capable of until they were in a situation that they needed to show it.

That would make a great letter to the princess! She trotted gently down the hall to the only other private room in the hospital, one that was occupied by her assistant. No...by her brother. She was so proud of him, more than she had ever been in the past, even of her own accomplishments. "Hey Spike!" she called softly as she opened the door, not wanting to disturb him if he were asleep. "Do you think you could--?"

He wasn't asleep all right, but that might be because Rarity's lips were planted firmly on his, the generous mare's forelegs wrapped tenderly around him. "Wait...what?" Twilight gasped, the sound making them break apart.

"Oh Twilight dear, thank goodness you're here!" Rarity cooed, an attractive blush dusting her cheeks. "We wanted you to be the first to know. Spike and I are a couple now! I know he's a bit young for me, and a dragon, but this whole thing has taught me something very important. Sometimes when you're looking for the gentlestallion of your dreams, he turns out to be a gentledragon. One that I am very very much in love with."

"I love you too Rarity," Spike hiccoughed, his heart feeling like it would explode from all the love he felt. Never...never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined this. Rarity loved him. She loved him! And from the kiss they had shared, he knew that this was a love that would last. Looking into her eyes, he wasn't even aware of his sister closing the door softly, giving the new lovebirds their privacy to share another heartfelt kiss.

Just like the Everfree Forest itself would be when it was renewed, sometimes the most beautiful of things could come from even the most terrible of destructions.