June 1, 2017

"Let it be known that you have all just begun your journey into the fire service," a mare with a thick American Western accent said as a group of ponies and even a few zebras, all dressed in formal uniforms and lined up in a fire station's apparatus bays. "Firefighter 1 is just the beginnin'. When I took it in 2011, I was only 16 years old*." The blonde orange-colored mare was wearing a formal uniform herself. "I was still in High School, and many times I would go right from school to the training tower, and my school uniform would be dirty as ever afterwards. Now, look at me." She then presented herself to the whole class. "I'm an apprentice instructor with the county, and I'm still learnin' the trade. You never stop learnin', ever, because the minute you do is the minute you leave the fire service. Hell, that goes for EMS too." She then cleared her throat. "For those of you who have proven yourselves, congratulations. I can't wait to see y'all on the fireground."

The entire class then clapped their hooves in celebration. The mare smiled as an older colt, in the same uniform as Applejack, approached her and said, "You did good, AJ."

"Thanks, Mac," Applejack replied as her brother patted her on the back with his hoof. "Now all we gotta do is get Apple Bloom through Firefighter 1 when she's ready."

June 2, 2017, around 8:00 P.M.

"Alright," said an older colt in the meeting room of Friendship No. 2 as he shuffled papers during the company meeting. "Next order of business... The Friendship Volunteer Fire Company #2 would like to congratulate Firefighters Caramel and Honey Song for completing Firefighter 1. Effective immediately, they are both active interior firefighters with the company and will be allowed to enter IDLH atmospheres with a pack on."

Caramel, a young earth colt two years younger than Applejack, and Honey Song, a 17-year-old green-yellow pegasus mare and high school student, then stood up from their chairs as the fire company clapped for them, including Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big McIntosh. They both had been sworn in back in November of 2016 and would get off of probation in November of 2017.

The Chief of Friendship, a white blue-haired earth colt named Marble Mark, then walked up to both of them and presented to them plaques and a 400-bit ($50) gift card that could be used anywhere before shaking their hoof. He then said to the company, "I am very proud of both of these firefighters, especially Honey Song. There were doubts about whether or not she could finish Firefighter 1 at first, but she really overcame them, and I must say, I trust that she would have my back in a fire." Honey Song, now getting emotional, hugged Marble in response.

"Thank you," she said to Chief Marble as they split. He nodded and smiled.

Then, Applejack, listening to her pager, said, "Hold up, everypony, we're gonna get a call!" Everyone went dead quiet.

Then, the tones for the Everfree Fire Department rang out from a radio in the apparatus bay as well as Applejack's pager, followed by the tones for Friendship, which set off everyone's pagers, followed by the tones for Harmony and the tones for County Sheriff Medic 2. As everyone shuffled out of the meeting hall and into the apparatus bay, the siren on top of Friendship's station roared to life.

"Ponyville County Fire Control for Everfree Fire, Friendship for a Tanker and an Ambulance, Harmony for the R.I.T. team, and Medic Zone 2, respond to a reported structure fire at 277 Everfree Road, cross street are Loudon Road and the Everfree Forest National Park line. Caller is inside the house, reporting multiple animals trapped as well as herself by heavy smoke. Repeating, respond to a reported structure fire at 277 Everfree Road, cross street are Loudon Road and the Everfree Forest National Park line. Caller is inside the house, reporting multiple animals trapped as well as herself by heavy smoke. Time is 20:04."

Apple Bloom ran to the radio room in the firehouse and radioed, "Fire Control, Friendship base acknowledgin' the call." She would be staying at the station as a junior firefighter.

Applejack and Big Mac, a Sergeant in the company, quickly put their gear on, slipping their lower hooves into their bunker pants and then pulling the straps up to their shoulders as they stood on their hind legs. Once they put the rest of their gear on, they ran to Friendship's tanker, Engine-Tanker 2-12, a 2015 Pierce pumper-tanker imported from the human world* that carried a 2000 gallon per minute pump and a 4000 gallon water tank with 8 seats, including 5 with air packs. Half of Friendship's district, mostly the rural areas outside the village, had no hydrants, and almost all of Everfree's district had no hydrants either.

Applejack and Big Mac boarded the back of the rig, with Caramel and Honey Song also boarding the back, with the 5th firefighter being a Lieutenant. The Captain of the company, a zebra named Annan, sat up front while the driver, an older firefighter named Sunstream who could no longer enter buildings but still drove and operated pumps, sat in the driver's seat. Annan said to Caramel and Honey Song in the back as he turned around, "You guys ready for your first fire?" Two exterior firefighters, one a probie and the other an older firefighter, sat in the flip down seats.

"You bet," Caramel replied as he excitedly got his air pack on in his seat.

Then, as Applejack did the same, she had a stunning realization. "Wait, a minute... Holy shit..." After she secured her air pack and the tanker sped away from the firehouse at blazing fast speed, its lights flashing and its sirens blaring, she turned to Big Mac and said, "Mac, this is Fluttershy's house."

Annan called over the radio, "Fire Control, ETA 2-12 is en route with a crew of 8, 5 interior."

Big Mac replied to her, "It is? How do you know?!" Now they were both worried.

"I recognize the address now," Applejack replied as she buried her face in her hooves. "Oh God... We're gonna get her out, we're gonna get her out, we're gonna get her out..." Big Mac then patted her on the back before they both took their helmets off to put their masks on.

Everfree's chief, Car 3-01, was then heard over the radios saying, "Car 3-01 to Fire Control, I'm pulling up right now, I got heavy smoke coming from a 2 1/2 story residential on the first and second floor. Redispatch Everfree, redispatch Friendship for a second engine, redispatch Harmony for their ambulance, and tone out Northside to standby in their station."

"Received, working fire declared at 20:08."

Everfree's engine, a 1986 Mack CF with Ward79 bodywork with a 1000 GPM pump and a 500 gallon water tank that was formerly used by the FDNY, radioed, "Engine 3-11's en route, crew of 6, 4 interior!"

At 8:22 P.M., Engine-Tanker 2-12 and Ambulance 2-41 arrived. By now, Northern Ponyville and Medan Village were also on standby, Northside had sent their ambulance to the scene as well, and a second medic unit was en route. Applejack and Big Mac immediately jumped off the truck. Annan approached them and said to them, "Go in and assist the search team with rescuing the occupant now!" (UNITS ON SCENE/RESPONDING TO SCENE: Engine 3-11 with 6(4), Tanker 3-61 with 2(2), Brush 3-51 with 4(1), Breaker 3-52 with 4(1), Engine-Tanker 2-12 with 8(5), Ambulance 2-41 with 4(2), Engine-Squirt 2-11 with 8(5), Truck 1-21 with 6(6), Ambulance 1-41 with 4(1), Ambulance 6-41 with 4(4), Medic 2, Medic 1, Car 3-01, Car 3-02, Car 2-01, Car 1-01, Car 6-01.)

Applejack replied, "Got it, Cap!" She and Big Mac then hooked their air regulators to their masks and ran up to Fluttershy's house. As they entered her front room, the smoke drastically reduced their vision.

Then, an Everfree firefighter yelled from the stairs, "We got her! We got her!" Applejack and Big Mac immediately ran over to where they heard the voices and up the stairs.

Applejack said to the three Everfree firefighters holding Applejack, "Me and my brother will get her out! What's the condition of the fire?!"

"It's all in the kitchen area and it spread upstairs and into the basement," replied the Everfree firefighter. "We knocked it down good, but it's beginning to spread again since we had to focus more on search and rescue."

Big Mac and Applejack then grabbed Fluttershy off of their hooves and ran back downstairs. When they hit the floor, they felt the heat inside beginning to rise, forcing them to drop down to the floor and drag an unconscious Fluttershy out through the oppressive heat and thick darkening smoke.

When they reached the outside front yard, they stood back up and tiredly handed Fluttershy over to two other Friendship firefighters pulling a stretcher before taking their masks and helmets off. Applejack then helped pull the stretcher to Ambulance 2-41 as she stared at Fluttershy with deep concern.

As they loaded her in the back of the ambulance, a sheriff medic jumped aboard carrying a medical bag. He said, "How bad is she?"

"She was unconscious when we got her," Applejack replied. "Looks like she took a lotta smoke into her lungs." She then turned away and shook her head in disbelief as the ambulance's back doors closed and it began to drive away to the hospital.

Then, Big Mac motioned one of his hooves to call Applejack over. "We're gonna go in again! We only were in the building for like 3 minutes last time!"

Applejack ran back over and put her mask and regulator back on alongside Big Mac before saying, "I hope she's okay."

"She will be," he replied. "Let's focus on the task at hand." He then pointed at a hand line near the front door. "The Everfree guys left that line for us."

Applejack then grabbed the nozzle end and Big Mac got behind her as they went in, the smoke now so thick that they could not even see their hooves in front of their face. Applejack sprayed the ceiling above her with short bursts, a technique called penciling that helped reduce the risk of flashover. They then pushed forward, down to their hind legs' knees due to the heat.

As they approached the kitchen, they were met with a wall of flame. Big Mac said, "Hit it!" Applejack complied and began attacking the fire, darkening it down but producing even thicker smoke.

Applejack thought to herself in her mind, "I don't even care about the house at this point, I just wanna know if Fluttershy will make it! She was in the house for a long time and breathed a lotta smoke in." At this point, the fire served only as a distraction from her thoughts about Fluttershy.

At 10:55 P.M., Applejack arrived at the hospital after Marble Mark had dropped her off. Her face dirty and her gear blackened with soot, she asked a nurse sitting in the front smoking a cigarette that she recognized, "Redheart, can you spray me down with a garden hose or somethin'? I don't wanna track soot and dirt through the hospital."

"Oh, hey, Applejack," Redheart replied. "I would have been at that fire on Harmony's truck, but I had to do some overtime." She was also a volunteer with Harmony No. 1. She then grabbed a garden hose from outside and turned it on before spraying Applejack down, including her face, for a few seconds. "That should get the worst of it off."

"Thanks," Applejack replied as she walked in, carrying her helmet on her back.

In Fluttershy's room, the rest of the Mane 6 plus Spike all sat quietly, fearing for Fluttershy's life, as Applejack walked in. Twilight looked at her and said, "You're a little late."

Applejack sighed and sat down in a seat. "Her house is gone. It began collapsing, so they pulled everypony out and had to go to an exterior attack with master streams. Half of her animals are gone, too."

Rainbow Dash, horrified, replied, "Gone? They're... Dead?"

"I'm afraid so," Applejack then buried her face in her hooves again. "I've never seen so many bodies, sapient or otherwise, before." She then sighed as tears began to fall from her eyes. "I don't know why this is affectin' me so much. They're just animals, damn it. I've literally seen dead kids with their heads cut off at accidents, and this is the thing that's affectin' me the most?! Why...?"

Twilight then got up and hugged Applejack as she broke down into a crying fit. "There, there... I... I'm sure Fluttershy will be fine, okay?"

Rarity said to Pinkie Pie, "She must have been referring to that bad accident last year with the family of 6 all getting killed by the drunk driver on M-22*."

"Oh yeah," Pinkie Pie replied, her hair down due to her sadness. "That messed up Applejack for a few days afterwards, didn't it?" Rarity then nodded.

Applejack then looked at Fluttershy and said to her, "Please, make it. For the love of God, make it."

Author's Note

Note 1: The Mane 6, with the exception of Fluttershy, are all 22-23 years old. Fluttershy is 23-24. The events of MLP, up to Season 6, all occurred starting in 2014. Big Mcintosh is 27-28, and Apple Bloom is 13-14.

Note 2: Equus and Earth are connected by various air-sea portals, allowing for trade and travel. The EQG universe is NOT regular Earth.

Note 3: M-22 is an Imperial Equestrian Motorways highway that runs in the rural southern part of Friendship's district.