June 3, 2017. Around 1:00 P.M.

Ambulance 2-41 backed into the station after coming back from the hospital. On board were Applejack, Big Mac, and Sunstream as the driver. It was the second call of the day, the first also being a medical call at 8:04 A.M. On average, Friendship would get about 2 medicals per day and 1 fire call per day for a total of about 21 calls per week for an average of around 1100 calls per year, making them the second busiest department in the county, with the busiest being Harmony No. 1 at 1350 calls per year.

As 1st Assistant Chief Shadow Mist*, a dark purple unicorn with a taupe mane, entered the station from the open apparatus bay, he said, "That's call number 507 for the year, fellas." He had 16 years in the fire company, while Marble Mark had 26.

"I swear to God," Applejack said to Big Mac as they got off the ambulance, their bunker gear smelly from trash in the patient's house. "Ponies need to start cleaning up after themselves. I am just about God damn done with hoarder houses."

"Tell me about it," he replied as he carried his gear to the decontamination room of the firehouse. He then turned to Chief Shadow, "Chief, me and my sister are gonna clean our gear."

"Alright. I'll go grab 2 spare sets for you to use until it's done." The chief then walked into the equipment room of the firehouse, a small room containing a bunch of spare coats, helmets, pairs of pants, hoods, boots, SCBA masks, and more. Interior firefighters had to clean their gear at least once every 3 months, and exterior firefighters had to clean their gear at least once every 6 months. Hoods and SCBA masks had to be cleaned at least once every month for interior firefighters and at least once every two months for exterior firefighters.

As Applejack and Big Mac disassembled their gear, they talked to each other about the fire yesterday. "Is Fluttershy doin' any better?"

"Twilight says she's still unconscious," Applejack replied as she took the inner liner of her coat out. "The doctors say that she only had minor burns, thank God, but she took a lot of smoke in. Discord was out in Canterlot at the time of the fire. He's pretty worried about her."

"No kiddin'," Big Mac replied. "It's so sad, what happened to 'er..."

June 5, 2017

The annual Ponyville County Festival took place starting today at the Ponyville County Airport, located to the extreme north of the county in the Northern Ponyville Fire District. Every fire department and EMS agency in the county sent a truck up to the festival with a crew and showed off their equipment and skills to the county residents. They also would recruit at the county festival. Due to this, a countywide mutual aid plan was enacted during the 5 days the festival lasted that added extra agencies to the run cards of certain incidents.

Friendship sent Engine-Tanker 2-12 with a crew of 8, 5 interior, and Ambulance 2-41 with a crew of 4, 1 interior, plus a chief to the festival. Because it was the beginning of the Summer Vacation in the Equestrian School Year, Apple Bloom also went aboard the ambulance. For the day, Friendship would run medical first response on their brush truck while either the South Ponyville Volunteer Ambulance Corps or Harmony No. 1 covered them with their ambulances.

Apple Bloom, wearing her bunker pants and boots, sat on the bumper of the engine, talking to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "Boy, is it hot out today..." She then wiped the sweat off of her forehead with her front right hoof. "So, you two wanna join Harmony, right?"

"Yup," Sweetie Belle replied, holding an application. "We've seen you do this, and we want to see what it's like."

Scootaloo then pointed up to the sky. "Hey, look! The Wonderbolts are doing aerobatics!" The Wonderbolts decided to join in on the festival this year, bringing in their planes as well. Half of their routine would involve flying under their own power with their wings, and then the other half would involve flying in their venerable F-4 Phantom IIs, an airframe that had seen service in Equestria since it had been imported from the U.S. in 1962 and had even been license-built in the country. Of course, among them was Rainbow Dash.

As she flew in formation to the landing area, she looked down and recognized Applejack among the faces in the crowd. She smiled as she touched down and the Wonderbolts ended the first half of their epic display, much to the crowd's applause. Soarin then went up to her and said, "Flight Lieutenant Dash, you're flying with me."

"Yes, sir," Rainbow Dash replied. The team would then run to their planes and scramble as part of the next segment of their display. Once Rainbow Dash and Soarin ran to their plane on the tarmac nearby, they quickly donned their flight suits as the ground crew readied the plane. Rainbow Dash, trying to put Fluttershy in the back of her mind, said to Soarin as she zipped up her flight suit, "We're gonna split off from the formation as part of the maneuvers, right?" She had forgotten.

"You forgot already? Are you okay?" Soarin looked worried as he began to climb aboard the F-4.

Rainbow Dash then shook her head and said, "No, I'm fine. Just making sure, sir." She, too, then climbed aboard, sitting in the back. As she did her pre-flight checklist quickly as part of the show scramble, she continued to think about Fluttershy.

About 25 minutes later, Applejack watched the Wonderbolts as they flew across the sky. Big Mac said to her as they watched, "Rainbow Dash is on one of the planes, right?"

"Yup," Applejack replied. "I saw her as she came down from the manual flight section, and I think she saw me, too."

In the F-4, as Soarin and Rainbow Dash peeled away from the formation, the last to do so, Soarin said to her, "Are you worried about Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash sighed and replied to him, "Yes, Soarin, I am. I'm... I'm still paying attention, but I can't seem to shake her off my mind."

Suddenly, they both felt a thump in the plane as they heard the engine shut down. Soarin yelled, "Agh, fuck! A bird strike!"

Rainbow Dash attempted to steer the plane for a few seconds as she said, "Oh my God! Soarin, do we need to-?"

Soarin then yelled, "Eject! Eject! Eject!" Rainbow Dash immediately reached her hooves above her head and pulled down a tarp over her face with two levers, triggering both of their ejection seats. Immediately, the canopy was blown off by explosive bolts as Rainbow Dash felt a hard kick to her rear from the seat's explosive shell and rockets. She also felt her oxygen tube slash across her face as it became detached from the plane's oxygen system as she flew into the air, the wind blowing across her as she detached from her seat and her parachute began to deploy.

As she floated to the ground, she saw Soarin also float to the ground. However, when he hit the ground, he just simply collapsed without standing up. As soon as Rainbow Dash hit the ground, she detached herself from her parachute and ran to Soarin, fearing the worst. She yelled, "Soarin! Soarin! Oh my God, no!" She ignored the gash on her left cheek from the oxygen tube as she ripped her mask and helmet off.

As for the plane, it stalled and ended up slamming into an aircraft hangar on the site, destroying several other aircraft inside and creating a massive explosion. As Applejack stared at the explosion in shock, she could feel the heat from the blast hit her as all the firefighters from the other departments around her began donning their gear and getting on their trucks to go fight the fire. "Holy shit... No way..." She then came to her senses and began donning her gear before climbing aboard Engine-Tanker 2-12.

Back with Soarin, Rainbow Dash ran up to him and found him unconscious on the ground with a head wound. She shook him with her hoof and yelled, "Soarin, wake up! Please!" That's when she realized he wasn't breathing either. "Oh my god!" As she unzipped his flight suit and began to do chest compressions, she realized why he had been badly hurt: There was a large bruise on his forehead, and next to it was a bleeding gash. He had been hit by something as he ejected.

An ambulance from Northside No. 3 drove up to them alongside a county medic fly car. A firefighter immediately stepped out of the ambulance and asked, "What happened to him?!"

Rainbow Dash, now crying, said back, "He... He has a huge bruise on his forehead and a big gash! He's not breathing! Somepony help him!"

The county medic then ripped Rainbow Dash away as he yelled, "Ma'am, you're bleeding from your face! We need you to stop! We'll take care of this!"

Rainbow Dash fell back, too weak to resist, as she continued to cry her eyes out. As 2 firefighters and the county medic restarted CPR on Soarin, another firefighter began evaluating Rainbow Dash and applied a bandage to her face.

At the destroyed hangar, the airport fire department had sent 2 of its crash trucks and its structural engine to fight the fire. As Engine-Tanker 2-12 pulled up, Applejack stepped out, fully masked up, and pulled a 2 1/2-inch attack line with Big Mac and another firefighter.

Chief Rhodes told Big Mac, "Sergeant, I need you three to enter the hangar from the right side door and begin spraying down from there!"

Big Mac replied, "Got it!" The three then marched over to the front right side entrance to the hangar, which had been almost bisected by the crash. Applejack manned the front of the hand line. When they reached the door, Applejack turned around and kicked it down with her hind legs before dodging out of the way to avoid any backdraft, which ultimately did not happen due to the fire self-ventilating through the hole left by the crash. She then picked the hose back up, turned back around, and radioed, "2-12, charge the 2 1/2 line!"

The pump operator radioed back, "10-4, here comes your water!" Once the line was filled, Applejack opened up the nozzle and began spraying down through the door. Once they had been spraying for about 10 seconds, the three of them began to slowly enter the hangar, making a foothold at the doorway and staying put. As they continued, the 2 crash trucks opened up with master streams from their turrets, and an engine from Northern Ponyville opened up with its deck gun as Northside's ladder truck began to raise its ladder in the air to spray down into the hangar.

June 6, 2017

Fluttershy was now awake, having woken up during the middle of the night last night. Discord had come in during the day to check on her and inform her of the going-ons of Ponyville. "So, yeah, Rainbow Dash is pretty torn up about it."

"I bet," Fluttershy replied. "This hasn't been a good week for her or any of us. I lost my house and... And half of my animals... And now that crash happened." Fluttershy was still hurt about the deaths of many of the animals she cared for in the fire.

"Oh, tell me about it," Discord replied. "This has been a crazy past couple of days for us all. Twilight gave me a place to stay at her castle, so that's good. She's even offering to help build us a new house."

Fluttershy sighed. "She's really giving us a lot, huh?"

Then, Rainbow Dash walked in, wearing her formal military uniform and still having a bandage on her left cheek. "Fluttershy? Is it okay if I come here?"

"I don't mind," Fluttershy replied. "Come, sit down, Rainbow Dash." As she sat down, Fluttershy asked her, "How's Soarin?"

"He woke up," Rainbow Dash replied, still feeling down. "They got him out of cardiac arrest. Thankfully, he isn't paralyzed or anything, and his spine wasn't too badly fuc-... I mean, messed up. This was my first ejection and his first ejection. After three ejections, we're no longer allowed to fly combat aircraft and we're reassigned to either desk duty or non combat flight duty, basically any aircraft that doesn't have a hot seat. Spitfire has two ejections, by the way."

"Wow," Fluttershy replied, amazed. "I'm glad he's doing better."

"I am especially," Rainbow Dash said back. "Fluttershy, Discord, I need you two to promise to tell nobody of what I am going to tell you next."

Discord, recognizing Rainbow Dash's seriousness, replied, "We would never." Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"Good," Rainbow Dash replied before sighing. "Me and Soarin... Well... Me and Soarin have been dating on the down-low since the beginning of this year." She then became sad. "We're afraid to tell anyone because we don't want to get in trouble. Damn it..." She then buried her face in her front hooves. "I love him so much... It hurts to see him like this..."

Fluttershy replied, "What do you mean "trouble?""

"He's a Wing Commander, and I'm a Flight Lieutenant. He's only one rank below Spitfire, who's a Group Captain, and I'm the minimum rank needed to be a Wonderbolts within the IEAF. There is no explicit law in the military against us dating and fu-.... Ugh, I mean, having sex... Especially since we're both commissioned officers, but that doesn't stop overzealous commanders from finding other things to get us court-martialed." Rainbow Dash seemed angry when explaining this to Fluttershy and Discord. "It's so frustrating."

"I hope Spitfire isn't like that," Fluttershy replied. "When I did my two year draft stint with the Army Reserves Medical Corps, I managed to get lucky enough to get officers who weren't mean spirited like that."

"It's not Spitfire I'm worried about," Rainbow Dash replied as she laughed. "She met her husband in the Air Force, and he was two whole years younger than her. It's the people above Spitfire I'm more concerned about. Spitfire says that she almost got thrown out of the Air Force when the old Group Captain of the Wonderbolts before her found out. He was a great pilot and he knew his stuff in the field, but off the field he was a huge asshole, and I get that commanders need to be assholes sometimes, but this guy was an asshole all the time. It's a miracle she wasn't thrown out or thrown into a disciplinary barracks, which is a nice way in the military of saying prison."

Discord, amazed, replied, "Oh my... I would not want to work under him..."

Author's Note

NOTE 1: Current Officers of the Friendship Fire Company for 2017:

Chief: Marble Mark (26 years, 4 months) (Earth, M)

1st Assistant Chief: Shadow Mist (15 years, 10 months) (Unicorn, M)

2nd Assistant Chief: Mary Jane Rhodes (21 years, 1 month) (Equusian Bovine, F)

FIRE RANKS:

Captain: Annan Machel (14 years, 8 months) (Zebra, M)

1st Lieutenant: Apple Fritter (11 years, 10 months) (Earth, F)

2nd Lieutenant: Meadow Song (11 years, 5 months) (Earth, M)

3rd Lieutenant: Emerald Green (14 years, 0 months) (Earth, F)

Sergeants: Big McIntosh (11 years, 10 months) (Earth, M), Daisy Jo Ryder (27 years, 6 months) (Equusian Bovine, F) (PAST CHIEF), Joseph Hazel Blossom (5 years, 1 month) (Satyr, M), Brisk Vision (4 years, 7 months) (Pegasus, M)

RESCUE SQUAD RANKS:

Captain: Sunstream (55 years, 6 months) (Unicorn, M) (EMT-P)

Lieutenant: Chelmsford Wonder (51 years, 9 months) (Earth, M) (EMT-P)

Sergeants: Applejack (8 years, 1 month) (Earth, F) (EMT-I), Marilyn Rose (9 years, 8 months) (Equusian Bovine, F) (EMT-I)

FIRE POLICE RANKS:

Captain: Ellis Bitter (65 years, 8 months) (Earth, M) (PAST CHIEF)

Lieutenant: Styre Dean (54 years, 1 month) (Earth, M)

Sergeants: Atticus Rhodes (60 years, 5 months) (Equusian Bovine, M), Lucy Light (15 years, 2 months) (Unicorn, F)

NOTE 2: Friendship No. 2 started a junior firefighting program in 2005 for 14 to 17 year olds. Apple Fritter and Big Mac were part of the first group of juniors.