Guitar Strings and Dragon Wings

Chapter 30

Jiggs' shoes kicked up dirt as he ran at top speed towards the sound of screaming. A whole line of buildings were consumed with emerald green flame. Ponies were rushing out, carrying every precious item they could manage. All pegasus ponies were flying off, possibly to go get rainclouds or something of the sort.

One purple pony stared at her home in horror, waiting for somepony else to come out. She began to panic and looked to other ponies for assistance.

"Please! Please help me! My son is in there!" she yelled.

Her home's front door was burst open and green flames continued to pour out into the sky. All the windows were completely blown away and smoke plumed high over the building.

Jiggs ran over to the frantic mare, seeing that everypony else was just going to ignore her.

"Who's inside?" Jiggs asked in a hurry. "I'm here to help."

She turned hurriedly to him with glossy fearful eyes. "M-my son! I couldn't find him so I came out here. But now I don't see him anywhere!"

Jiggs ran past her to the building, after hearing all the encouragement he needed. There was no time to waste. "I'll get em', don't worry!" he yelled.

The horrified mother watched as the human ran into the green inferno of her home. He was quickly engulfed by the blazing fire, but he didn't seem to notice. She surely thought he would die.

The popping and rattling sound of flames consuming wood filled Jiggs' ears instantly. The intense heat made him start to sweat profusely, however the fire itself didn't seem to burn his skin all that much. What he was most worried about was the lack of oxygen. The smoke rose to the ceiling of every room in the house and sapped it of every bit of clean air.

"It's…cough*… almost as bad as a smoker's lounge in here." Jiggs pushed through a wall of smoke and came to a kitchen like area. All the cabinets and areas of hardwood floor were taken over by the flame.

"Nothing in here." He noted.

Jiggs ran into the adjacent room, a living room. Sofas, pillows, carpeting; all were being possessed by the blaze. Still there was no pony to be found.

Jiggs continued to wade through the ocean of never-ending heat. Sweat beaded down his forehead and fell to the wood below, where it quickly evaporated.

Then he caught sight of something, a staircase that led down to a basement. If he had any chance of finding the colt, it would have to be there. He blasted through the wall of flames that occupied the room. There was smoke billowing from down below that rippled up towards the ceiling in waves. The fire had not yet migrated to the lowest floor, making it the perfect place for a scared pony to hide.

Deciding not to wait any longer, Jiggs dove down the stairs. His muscular arms threw clouds of smoke to the wayside as he braced for impact.

His shoes landed firmly on the unfinished basement's cement foundation with a great thud. He madly began searching around what seemed to be a handyman's workshop, but he couldn't see anything down here in the darkness.

Jiggs took a few steps and haphazardly collided with a table, spilling some tools onto the floor. The sound of the raging inferno approached from the staircase and the ceiling above him began to creak as it weakened. From his position he guessed that he was right under the living room.

"Hello?! Any one down here?!" he yelled.

"O-over here!" a small voice called out.

Jiggs turned to his right where the voice had come from. There were only some shapes that looked vaguely like cabinets and drawers.

"Where are you? I can barely see anything!" Jiggs replied.

One of the cabinets close to the floor opened slowly to reveal a set of terrified green eyes. Jiggs pushed a wall of smoke out of the way to get a slightly better view.

"Here I am!" the small colt choked out.

Jiggs hastily ran over to the cabinets and crouched down. He was forced to squint his eyes in the harsh cloudy air as he brought his face close to the colt's.

"I'm going to get you out of here." He said.

A green flaming plank of wood fell from the ceiling to the center of the unfinished basement. Startled, the colt withdrew inside the cabinet slightly.

"No! I'll… cough*… get hurt!" the little brown pony whimpered.

"You won't get hurt, I promise. Just come with me, please. The building is falling apart!"

Even more frightened than before, the colt shut himself in the cabinet almost entirely now. The inferno continued to approach loudly. Jiggs didn't want to force him to go, so maybe he would try some convincing.

He opened the cabinet marginally to allow eye contact with the colt.

"Hey…cough*… what's your name?" Jiggs asked.

"B-b-brawny." The colt stammered.

Jiggs reached out his hand. "Well Brawny, my name's Anthony. Now I need you to trust me because it's not safe down here. I'm not leaving till you come with me. Your mom is worried sick about you."

Nervously the soil-brown colt reached out his hoof. He wanted nothing more than to see his mom right now, and knew that he would have to be brave.

Jiggs gave his hoof a light shake. "Deal?"

"Deal." The colt replied hesitantly. He stepped out of the cabinet and wiped some black soot from his short blond mane.

The ceiling began to groan and creak even more under the intense pressure. The planks were being eaten away slowly by the blaze.

"Alright stay close to me!" ordered Jiggs. "Let's go!"

He rested a hand on Brawny's shoulder, making sure that he was close by should anything go wrong. They blindly walked through thick black smoke, guided only by the dim green light coming from the staircase.

"What are we…cough*… gonna do about the fire?!" the colt yelled.

"I have a plan!" Jiggs replied.

After wading through a wall of blackness they came to the staircase. The wooden ceiling of the basement started to bow inward. With most of the hardwood now turned to ash, the weight of the furniture it supported proved to be too much.

C-CRACK! CRASH!

A roughly ten foot in diameter circle of debris caved in and fell to the basement floor with a thunderous noise, where the two of them had stood just a few moments before.

"AHH!" Brawny yelled in a great panic. "We got to get out!"

Jiggs started to climb the steps and was faced with yet another wall of green fire.

"Working on it!" he yelled.

With the little colt following close behind, Jiggs took a wide stance and opened his arms. He flattened his palms and turned them inward, preparing for a colossal strike.

CLAP!

He focused all of his strength into bringing his hands together in front of him, directing every bit of kinetic energy at the flame. The force of the collision sent a pulse of air that slammed into the wall of green flame. The blaze receded slightly from the blast and Jiggs took his opening.

"Now's our chance, follow me!" he yelled.

Brawny complied with his demand and stayed right behind him.

The two came back to the living room which had a sizable hole missing in its floor. The inferno ate away at the corners of the circle, causing it to slowly expand. The blaze was now deafening and the air was even thicker with the black smog.

"Cough*… how are we going to get around?!" Brawny shouted.

Jiggs turned to him, thinking quietly. He was running out of options, but he wasn't about to give up now.

"I need you to trust me again!"

"Sure, whatever!" the colt replied.

Jiggs suddenly wrapped his arms around the colt's chest, leaving Brawny stunned.

"Hold on!" He ordered.

With a great leap, Jiggs heaved himself and Brawny over the great pit of flames below. They landed somewhat roughly when they reached the other side of the living room. Jiggs let go of Brawny and the little colt ran into the kitchen. He reeled in terror when he saw all of his kitchen cabinets and decorations ablaze.

Jiggs was starting to lose speed. The air and the heat was finally getting to him.

"C'mon, what are you waiting for?! We're almost there!" the colt yelled.

Jiggs continued to trudge on, weaving in and out of patches of flame. The smoke was starting to get into his lungs, making every breath more difficult than the last. His bad habits were now catching up with him. He was completely drenched in sweat.

CREAK!

The roof of the building was starting to falter, causing Jiggs to snap out of his haze.

"I'm coming Brawny… cough*" He lumbered through the kitchen until he found the colt trying to move something. It was a large piece of a wall that had fallen over.

"We got to move it! This is the way out!" Brawny frantically cried.

"I'll g-get it!" Jiggs stammered. He placed both hands under the weighty piece of drywall and carefully began to upright it. The drywall dug into the hardwood and left a hefty mark across its surface. Jiggs pushed it to the side and it fell through the floor, leaving another large hole.

"Almost there!" the colt shouted. Seeing that Jiggs was getting tired and couldn't focus, Brawny decided to guide him to the exit himself. He pulled on Jiggs' arm with a hoof and the human stayed close behind. They came out to the final hallway with the front door to the house in sight, but the entire door was being consumed by the emerald green blaze.

"Can you put out that flame?!"

"I'm sorry Brawny… but I can't do what I did last time! Cough*… you might just have to jump through it!

CRACK!

The ceiling above them gave way, and an enormous chunk of the roof bore down on them with its full weight.

In a great panic, Brawny curled up in a ball and prepared for the worst, but the worst never came. The fire kept blazing loudly all around and he slowly opened his eyes. He stared up in absolute shock at what he saw.

Jiggs was holding up a massive beam that supported the roof, halting its progress just inches above them. He gritted his teeth, summoning all of his remaining strength to hold up the roof. He breathed in short concentrated bursts, never relaxing for even a single moment. At this point Jiggs was keeping the entire home from collapsing, and knew that he was Brawny's last line of defense.

The little colt just sat there, watching him struggle. He was completely dumbfounded that this human was willing to go to such great lengths for him.

"Well…grunt*…what are you waiting… for… Brawny? The exit's… grunt*… right there…cough*" Each word came out punctually and heavily.

"W-what about you?!" the colt replied.

Jiggs fell to one knee, and the entire house shifted around them as he did.

Brawny could plainly see that he was suffering, holding up the immense weight.

"I'll be… cough*… fine. Just go…grunt*…and… thanks for… cough*… being brave… kid."

Hesitantly, the little colt stood up and began to walk away. He was about to reach the fiery exit when he glanced back at Jiggs. The human, deciding not to waste his time in saying anything, just gave the colt an approving nod.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where do you think he went?" asked Applejack. She searched all throughout the streets with Twilight but everywhere there were only panicking ponies, running and screaming.

"I'm not sure, but I think he definitely wants to help." Replied Twilight.

"Well o'course he wants to help. The question is where?"

CRASH!

Just then, a building down the street began to collapse. The two friends heard a loud scream immediately afterwards and started to run in the direction of the chaos.

"What the hay was that?!" Appplejack yelled.

"I think we're about to find out!" exclaimed Twilight.

They ran past building after building, each one's damage getting progressively worse than the one before it. Then they say the purple mare and her nearly collapsed home. She was a complete emotional wreck, sobbing at the sight of the destruction.

Applejack slowed down and approached her. "What's goin' on here miss?" she asked.

The mare kept staring at the inferno that used to be her home.

"My son is in there!" she screamed.

"Oh no…" whispered Twilight.

"A human went… sniff*… in there to save him, but neither of them… have come out yet." The mare let her tears flow freely down her face.

There was some yelling that came from within the house. Someone was still alive in there.

The front of the building was entirely engulfed by the blaze, including the exit.

From outside the ponies heard one final groaning within the building, and then something black burst through the green flames.

The shrouded figure ran out into the street and briefly collapsed.

The ponies, in awe, approached the figure when Applejack noticed something.

"Hey, I recognize that hood." She said. "Yeah, that's the one Anthony was wearin'."

The black shrouded figure removed the protective item of clothing and revealed its true brown face. The mother of the group gasped and wrapped her forelegs around the small colt.

"BRAWNY! You're alright!" she squeaked with joy.

She started to sob into her son's shoulder. "I'm so…happy…Brawny."

He looked just as happy to see her as he limply fell into her embrace. "M-mom, the human… he saved me. But… he's still in the house." His voice was hoarse from inhaling so much smoke.

"Human?! He's still in there?!" cried Applejack.

The house bided its time for as long as possible, but crumbled more and more under the blazing inferno. Twilight and Applejack watched helplessly knowing that their friend was stuck in the debris somewhere.

The foundation under the building completely gave out and with one final collapse the structure toppled like a tower of playing cards.

The smoke rose ever higher over the pile of rubble and Applejack could feel her last bit of hope begin to fade away.

"ANTHONY!" cried Applejack.

She received no response, save for the sound of burning wood.

"It can't be…" mumbled Twilight.

"ANTHONY!" The orange pony called again. Still, there was nothing.

A single tear traced a line down Applejack's left cheek.

A few standing wooden beams turned to ash before their eyes and were whisked away in the breeze. There was no more movement in the pile of rubble.

Screams could be heard back down the street, snapping Twilight to her senses. She put a hoof calmly on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…Applejack, but we need to go now. There's still others we have to help."

"B-but what about—"

"We have to help the others, Applejack." Twilight cut her off.

Applejack looked at the raging blaze of the home and back to her friend. It took her a few moments to think and she was finding it extremely difficult leave her new friend behind.

"O-okay… Twilight. You win. Let's go—"

BOOM!

A pile of flaming rubble bursted upward, sending sparks crackling every which way. A silhouetted figure jumped through the blaze, consumed from head to toe in the green fire. Like a stray missile the figure dove straight for the ponies.

"HIT THE DECK!" shouted Twilight.

Everypony obeyed and collided with the dirt road as the figure impacted next to them with an earth-crushing 'thump.'

The collision kicked up a plume of dirt, shrouding all of them in a brown haze.

"What was that?!" yelled Applejack.

"I-I don't know." Twilight responded.

The two watched the figure slowly stand up from the crater.

It lumbered toward them through a thick cloud of dirt, following the voices it just heard. Applejack and Twilight said nothing as the silhouette approached.

It stumbled through the edge of the haze and stopped, looking down upon the two ponies.

"Cough*…so… did I do good?" asked Jiggs.

His chest and shoulders were covered in red splotches, his pants were covered in black soot, and his hair was a messy and tangled black mess. However, none of this stopped Applejack.

The orange pony happily got up from the ground and wrapped her forelegs around his muscular frame in a tight hug. She delicately avoided any burnt spots on his exposed skin.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed.

Jiggs didn't object to her affections and gently placed a hand on her back. "Well yeah, I'm okay. I wasn't about to let a stupid fire kill me. Cough*"

Applejack's face got sooty as well from his hair gently brushing over it, but she didn't mind.

Twilight smiled at the two of them, quite relieved that he was still alive as well.

When the small cloud of dirt settled, the brown colt sitting close to his mother realized that his hero had just escaped. The mare let her son go over to him hesitantly and he gently tapped on Jiggs' back with one hoof.

"Hey gimme a second, Jersey." He told Applejack.

She reluctantly let go of him and he turned to face his little friend. He crouched on one knee to get eye level with him.

"I-I just wanted to say thanks… for saving me and all." He muttered.

Jiggs wiped away a patch of black sooty hair from his eyes. "No problem Brawny, and uh… thanks for trusting me. I was only trying to help." He added.

"You're welcome. I'm going to tell everyone in Ponyville what you did for me."

"Thanks man, I appreciate that."

"And don't forget this." Brawny held up the black hoodie Jiggs wore just a few minutes ago. He thought about taking it back, but thought this was a good opportunity to show his appreciation. Besides it would only slow him down anyway.

"You know what? You can keep that Brawny. Think of it as a trophy or something, for being brave today."

"A-are you sure?" the colt stammered.

Jiggs raised one cheek into a light smile. "Quite sure."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Another scream broke their attention.

"I'm sorry Anthony, but we have to go now." Twilight stated bluntly.

"Right, let's go!" he replied. "Take care of that Brawny, it's one of my favorites."

"Will do!" the little colt replied.

Jiggs patted Applejack's shoulder. "Let's go Jersey, we've got more ponies that need saving."

She gazed back at him through a glossy layer of tears. "Just don't run off without us this time."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He said smugly. "But do try to keep up."

Without another word between the three of them, they began heading for the terrible sound of more screaming.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Azure was rapidly approaching Cloudsdale at supersonic speed. He knew he would have to act fast and assemble as many pegasi as possible.

"There it is, the weather factory." He said to himself. "I hope I won't be too late."

He began his descent onto the city of clouds, passing by tall pillars and ancient looking buildings all composed chiefly of water vapor. Near the center of the city in the sky was a large industrial complex, and a machine of some kind churning out dark weather clouds filled with various types of precipitants. At the front of the white building was a pair of wide double doors which Azure focused on as he approached. His greatly decreased his speed by opening his wings, but he was still coming in hot. He impacted with the cloud layer as softly as possible and dug in his back legs to disperse his momentum.

With a great shove he threw open the wooden double doors. They slammed against the wall with enough force and sound to grab everyponys' attention.

All the workers standing around various machines and filled vats of water turned to face the grey pegasus who so rudely barged in.

A black pegasus wearing a hard hat and a white lab coat advanced on the newcomer.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, "These factory grounds are off limits to non-employees."

Azure hardened his expression and stood his ground.

"I am Brigadier General Azure Fury of the Equestrian Royal Air Force. By the order of Princess Celestia, I ask that you make a storm for me immediately! The city of Ponyville is burning to the ground!"

His demanding words drew only nervous glances from the workers who were shocked at the intensity of his voice.

They stared in complete silence until the black pegasus in the hardhat turned around.

"Well… you heard him! Let's make a storm!" the supervisor shouted.

With a calamitous rumble of noise every worker turned each machine back up to full capacity. Power in the plant surged as high as it would go. Dark black clouds began to grow over the factory and coalesce into one giant body. Minutes passed by and the cumulonimbus cloud became heavily saturated with rain water.

"Excellent!" said Azure. "Now I Just have to find somepony to help me move it!"

In a terrible hurry he rushed back out the double wooden doors. Once outside he slowly ascended up to the morphing and growing black cloud. He observed its increasing strength, knowing there was no possible way he could move it by himself.

He adjusted his body to face Ponyville's plume of smoke in the distance and something caught his attention.

"What is that?" he asked himself.

A few dozen, no… almost a hundred pegasi were flying straight for him.

The wall of ponies slowed down and came to a halt just under the massive rain cloud and looked down at Azure. A red female pegasus lowered herself to eye-level with him.

Azure assumed she was the leader. "Where did you all come from?" he asked.

"We're all from Ponyville." She said. "We knew that this would this would be the best place to go for help. But it seems that you beat us here first."

Azure looked up at the building storm. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I didn't want to take this cloud to Ponyville all by myself."

"And you won't have to, because we're here to help. As citizens of Ponyville it's our job to look after each other."

The red mare gazed up at her fellow pegasi. "Am I right?!" she yelled.

The enormous group of pegasi above her began cheering with thunderous applause.

"Looks like I have a team." Azure said to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wallace wrapped a support beam inside his invisible energy. A building was starting to collapse in a crimson haze of hell fire. Ponies were running past him in droves, screaming for dear life.

"Wally," said Pinkie Pie, "We got everypony out, just let it go!"

"A-are you sure?!" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm positive!" she cried.

The headband's gem on his head flickered as he relinquished his hold on the building. The foundation began to crumble, sending red and orange sparks flying into the street. Wooden planks cracked under the pressure and the roof gave way, crushing the other floors beneath it. He sincerely hoped she was right, or else somepony might have just perished.

Nova ran up to him and gently touched his shoulder. "I need your help down this way!" he ordered.

"Sure let's go!" Wallace replied.

The three took off for another building that was down a few blocks.

The red raging fire continued to pelt the right sides of their faces. The heat was unbearably powerful.

"Huff*… there were a few more trapped… huff*… in a house down here." Said Nova. "But… Rarity told me she would try to help…huff*… in any way she could… until I got back."

"You couldn't… huff*… help them yourself?" Wallace asked.

"Well there were two… huff*… stuck in a safe room… but the fire's too strong. It'll take… huff*… all of us." Nova kept surging forward.

When they finally came upon the last building Wallace could see what he meant. There wasn't a single opening in the flames and the supports of the home probably wouldn't last much longer. They heard a faint scream and something fall down inside.

"Alright, follow me." Wallace ordered. He reached out a hand and conjured a ball of yellow energy which surrounded himself and Nova.

"Wait, Wally!" cried Pinkie.

He stopped and faced her concerned expression with a calm smoothness. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her blue eyes. "I'll be okay, Cupcake."

"O-okay… w-whatever you say Wally." She stammered nervously.

He let go of her and signaled Nova to stay close. The two of them burst through a partially broken window. His yellow aura encompassed them, protecting them from the heat. He struggled trying to maintain its shape but it held together for the time being.

"Let's go!" shouted Nova. The raging hellfire distorted their view as they stumbled down a hallway. It was terrifyingly loud as the house was being consumed by the flame. They peered in room after room, always finding nothing.

"Are you sure they're in here?!" Wallace yelled.

"Yes, they're in the back I think!" The blue unicorn replied.

"Alright! Let's keep going then!"

They walked through wall after wall of blood red flame. Each time Wallace's shield was being slowly broken down, bit by bit.

They finally reached a room at the back of the house which contained a large metallic door with a heavy, rotating, locking mechanism.

"Oh shit! That's what you meant by 'safe' room!" Wallace shouted.

"But where is Rarity?!" Nova asked.

Without hesitating, Wallace pulled on the massive metal door. Inside the safe room there was an older looking stallion unicorn with a dark brown coat and a silvery mane, and also what seemed to be his daughter. She was a little pink filly with a red flowing mane, and she stayed particularly close to him. Next to the both of them sat a terrified Rarity.

"I-I'm sorry!" she yelled. "I-I tried to help… but then I got so scared—"

"It doesn't matter now!" interrupted Nova. "We're getting out of here!"

The ceiling started to groan under stress. Wallace, taking this as a cue, wrapped his energy around the three newcomers and shielded them from the heat outside the giant safe.

"Is there any way you guys could lend me some energy?!" Asked Wallace.

Nova touched a hoof to his headband. "You should have all the power you need. You just have to figure out how to release more of it. Focus hard, and I'll guide you through it."

Wallace could feel his shield fading away by the second. He closed his eyes and concentrated. It was like his diadem was letting him access a well of power, but it would only let him take handfuls here and there as needed. He never had complete control over the well. He remembered something, however. The princess had told him the diadem was supposed to act like a valve, so in theory all he had to do was open the valve more.

"I just gotta open the valve a little more." He said to himself.

"That's right! Focus!" ordered Nova.

He clenched his teeth and began to think deeply about his current situation. It was only a matter of adding more power to his shield.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He searched within his mind for an opening to the well. The world around him seemed to fall into silence, and then… he caught a glimpse of it. A light at the end of a tunnel… he reached for it using his power. The blackness gave way to the light and he entered a quiet room within his head.

He felt completely naked and glanced down, realizing he was stripped of his clothing. The space around him felt damp and the air was thick and humid.

The circular chamber was composed entirely of grey stone. He looked all around him and saw no exit on any side. At the centermost point of the room was the well. Its insides surged with a bright yellow mass that acted similarly to water.

As he began to approach, he was suddenly struck down by a thunderous blow. His head took the full impact of the strike, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

"You may not touch the well." said a disembodied female voice.

"B-but, my friends… I have to save them." He muttered.

Wallace struggled to catch a glimpse of his attacker, but he could only make out the slight outline of a woman's frame.

"Your cause is noble… I will grant you a small piece of the well today." The woman said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wallace opened his eyes back in the flaming room. His shield still maintained its current hold around everyone, but it no longer felt like it was dissipating. In fact, it felt like his power was increasing. The yellow aura surrounding them became denser and the yellow color became brighter and more vivid.

"Excellent!" shouted Nova. "I knew you could do it!"

"Yeah, thanks for nothing. Now let's go, everyone follow me!" Wallace shouted.

He started to run back through the house, making sure all the ponies stayed encased in his yellow aura. They followed close to him, not wanting to get left behind in the fiery blaze. He panicked for a moment when he saw the door was blocked by a pile of flaming debris and he quickly turned a corner.

When they all arrived at the front of the building he knew that not everypony would be able to squeeze through the windows. The broken glass would be extremely dangerous and he could not guarantee their safety. Seeing only one way out, he encased his right hand in several more layers of energy and threw a devastating punch at the front wall. Flaming wood splintered off in every direction and sparks were sent flying about. Now they could all easily fit through and escape, but his solution did not come without consequence.

The structural damage he had just caused was significant enough to increase the speed of the building's collapse. The house was under more stress than ever.

Every pony that had been following rushed past him and started leaping through the hole. Wallace struggled to keep up the ceiling above them with his telekinetic strength, and it would prove to be just barely enough.

As he began to step through the flaming hole in the wall, he released his aura around the ponies simultaneously. Then, once he felt his power was almost completely sapped, he fell to his hands and knees exhaustedly.

He noticed a set of hooves wrap around his neck in a gentle embrace. He knew this feeling all too well as a Pinkie Pie hug.

"Oh Wally! You made it!" she cried happily. "I was so soooo worried about you."

"Yeah I'm alright, Cupcake." He grumbled. "Just a little well done is all."

"Well done? What's that?"

"Oh you know, like how you cook a steak."

"What's a steak?" she asked.

Wallace, realizing the hole he had just dug himself into, frantically made something up.

"Oh! Well… steak is a… um… a vegetable. Yeah that's it, a vegetable."

Real smooth. He thought sarcastically.

"Hmm… well we'll have to get some steak sometime when Ponyville isn't being burnt to the ground by dragons!" she shouted cheerfully.

"Yeah… whatever you say." He mumbled.

The old stallion he had just saved walked over to him. Pinkie carefully released her embrace on Wallace to allow him to speak. He calmly stood up and brushed some soot out of his brown hair.

"I-I just wanted… to say thank you… human." The old stallion muttered nervously.

"No big deal, I just—"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he was cut off by another loud scream.

"Ugh… are you kidding me?!" he yelled. "Sorry I'll be right back!"

Wallace bolted for another flaming building across the block.

"Wait I'll go with you!" exclaimed Nova.

"There's no time!" he replied.

He'd probably just slow me down anyway.

His shoes kicked up more dirt behind him and he began to charge his shield again. Golden pieces of armor materialized around his legs, chest, arms, and head. Once the shield was completed piecing itself together, it vanished into nothing.

"What is this place, a party store?!"

He noticed that the windows of the building had burning party items sitting in them. There were different silly outfits for ponies, designs for balloons, assorted kinds of wrapping paper, and a flaming sign in the window that said 'Ain't no party like a Pony party!'

"Well… I guess it is a party store." He mumbled to himself.

Not wasting a second he blasted through the wide glass window and leaped over raining sparks and balls of fire that leapt out at him. He ran past shelves upon shelves of red flaming party items with no pony in sight.

"EEEEEEEEE!"

The scream was quite clear now. It emanated from behind a counter top.

"Hello?! Who's there?! I'm here to help you!" Wallace shouted through the inferno. He became acutely aware of a faint whistling noise.

What's that sound? He thought

"PLEASE HELP ME!" the voice cried out.

He slammed a shelf out of the way using his telekinetic power and approached the front counter. He peered over the counter and saw a shocked purple unicorn filly hiding underneath, desperately trying to catch her breath. The dense smoke in the room was getting to her.

Wallace hopped over the counter and kneeled down to talk to her. He reached out his hand and slowly began to envelop her body in his yellow aura. Once she had her face covered, she gasped and inhaled deeply several times.

The filly was obviously in pain so Wallace decided the only way he was getting her out was by his own power. He looked down and saw she had a large cut in her leg, which was trickling blood.

The whistling sound was louder now, but he decided to ignore it.

"W-who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Wallace and I'm here to save you." He gazed calmly into her golden eyes which alleviated her worries.

"M-my legs hurts…" she whined.

"I can fix that, but I need you to hold still." He gently put a hand on her head and ran it through her yellow mane comfortingly.

"O-okay…cough*…I won't budge."

Wallace rested his hand over her cut leg and let his energy seep into the folds. She leaned her head back and her eyes rolled up into her head as she felt something like pins and needles inside her leg.

"Hey, stay with me." Wallace ordered. "What's your name?"

The little filly weakly rose her head. "M-my name's Dinky."

"That's a nice name. How did you get in this place?" They maintained a relaxed eye-contact as they spoke.

"I was shopping with my mommy, and… we walked by this party store. She told me not to go in, but I… sorta snuck off and came here anyways."

"I don't think that was a very good idea." He smirked at her.

"No, probably not." She admitted.

He removed his hand from her leg, revealing a nicely healed straight mark where she was cut just moments ago. The little filly was dumbfounded at the sight.

"B-but how?! Thank you so much!" cried Dinky.

"Don't thank me yet. I still gotta get you outta here." He put one arm under the filly's back legs and the other around her chest and lifted her out from under the counter, holding her close to his body.

"Yes, please I just wanna see my mommy."

"Don't worry, you'll see her soon." He assured.

The whistling noise caught his attention again and he looked around frantically for the culprit. The flames were beginning to spread to everything around them, including the back counter.

"What is that noise?" Dinky asked.

"I'm not sure." He replied.

He held the filly even closer to her and continued to wrap his protective energy around them. He began to walk around the counter when the whistling finally reached its peak.

The countertop next to him was completely engulfed in the red flame, but he could make out the shape of the objects making the noise.

How could he have not noticed those cylinders before?

It should have been plainly obvious.

"Helium tanks." He muttered.

The whistling heightened in pitch.

He calmly transferred more of his energy to the protective shield of the small filly in his arms, not wanting to scare her even more.

"I'm coming home, Maria."

A single tear rolled down his sooty face, as hellfire suddenly erupted and consumed him.

BOOOOOOM!