She Will Bring the Fire

“Spike!” Twilight shouted upstairs.
“Coming, Twi!” Spike raced toward her with silverware in hand.
“We’re behind schedule, Spike. Everypony will be here within the hour! Go set up.” Spike shot into the dining room, and quickly placed everything on the table. The clock struck six. Dinner was at seven, and Twilight had a lot to catch up on; she steamed with anxiety.
“The tomatoes for the salad need to be cut, and the quiche needs to go into the oven. Spike! Is the oven heated up?” Spike ran towards Twilight, screeching to a halt at her hooves.
“Yep. 350. Just like you asked.” He gave a proud grin, and saluted.
“We don’t have time for your games, Spike. Now go put this in the oven.” She shoved the quiche at Spike, and turned to look at the clock as he ran off.
“Oh dear… We need to hurry.”

There was a light knock at the door.
“Gah!” Twilight galloped over, and opened the door. Applejack greeted her with a wide grin, and a plate of apple tarts.
“Brought y’all some dessert. Hope A’hm not too early.” Applejack glanced over Twilight’s shoulder to see Spike working franticly in the kitchen.
“No problem, Applejack. We could use some extra help, if you wouldn’t mind.” Twilight smiled nervously.
“Well shoot. Of course Twiligh’ I’d be happy to.” Applejack smirked.
“Good good good.” Twilight’s eye twitched as she pulled her guest inside, and placed her at the counter. “Work on the tomatoes. I’ll put together the rest of the salad. Spike!”
“Yes Twilight?” His voice came from the dining room. Twilight trotted in and saw the table set, with small sandwiches stacked on a big plate in the center.
“Looks good, Spike. Check on the fruit, will ya?”
“The fruit…?” Spike gave a confused look as Twilight dashed back into the kitchen to find Applejack smashing the tomatoes with her hooves.
“No! Applejack, what are you doing?” She caught her with her hooves in the air.
“Ain’t this the way you want it?” Applejack gave a puzzled look, and set her hooves down.
“You’re supposed to cut the tomatoes. Not smash them into a pulp!” Twilight brought her hoof to her face, and sat down.
“Sorry, Twiligh’. Anything else I can do?” Applejack sat down beside her friend, and smiled eagerly.
“No… It’s fine. We can have a salad without tomatoes. No problem.” She was talking to herself. Applejack backed away with caution. Suddenly the oven timer went off. Twilight jumped to her hooves, and raced towards the beeping.
“Spike! Mitts please.” Her assistant rushed over and handed her the oven mitts. Twilight placed them on, reached into the heated furnace, and pulled out the pastry.
“Mmm.. Smells great, Twi.” Spike took a whiff of the air, and licked his lips. Twilight placed the quiche down, and galloped back over to Spike.
“How’s the fruit?” she asked in a panic. He gave a confused look.
“The fruit’s fine, Twi. It’s not going anywhere.” He chuckled. Twilight sighed, and raced over to the salad, and began tossing it.
“We only have a few more minutes!” She screeched in a blind panic. Spike seemed to have everything under control, but Twilight was too high strung at the moment to realize it. Her assistant sauntered over to the quiche and cut it up into seven slices. Making sure not to leave himself out of the delicious pastry Twilight was famous for. The spinach and cheese seemed to ooze out of the shell, as more delectable aromas filled the house.
Spike placed the rest of the food on the large round table, and walked back over to Twilight.
“Hey, Twi.”
“Now now, Spike!” Twilight shouted.
Applejack was watching the two from afar, admiring Spike’s handiwork in keeping calm. Spike took the salad from Twilight’s hooves, making sure it wasn’t too damaged by her frantic mixing. Twilight looked up at him with a shocked expression, but it quickly turned calm when she saw the table fully set.
“Oh, Spike. It looks wonderful!” The green and purple dragon blushed, and smiled.
“Thanks. I was wondering when you would calm down. And look. We have time to spare.” Spike pointed to the clock which read 6:55.
Soon, the clock soon struck seven, as the front door shook with a heavy knock. Spike answered it to see a bouncing Pinkie Pie with a plate of cupcakes, and a distraught Rainbow Dash with some incomprehensible dish.
“Come on in guys!” The two ponies made themselves at home, and started to chat with AJ and Twilight. A few minutes passed, and another knock was heard.
Spike hastily ran to it, and answered with a smile, only to be stunned by Rarity, who’s dress was covered in soot and ash.
“Woah! What happened to you?” He gave his crush a once-over.
“A cooking incident… I leave Sweetie Belle alone to take care of the Pommes duchesse for one measly minute, and she has the whole kitchen up in flames. No worries though. The ash should come out with a little soap.” Rarity grinned, and trotted inside. Time passed. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. The food was starting to get cold, and the group was getting worried about Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie piped up, her words running together.
“Where’s Flutters? I know she’s busy with her animal friends and stuff, but I mean come on! You can’t miss a dinner party like this. I wonder what’s keeping her back. Maybe it’s a dragon. She’s scared of those you know? Or-or one of those mean ol’ cockatriceseses…” Twilight planted a hoof to her face, and tried to drown out her hyperactive friend’s monologue of nonsense.
A loud rasping came from the front door.
“Must be Fluttershy. I’ll get it.” Twilight calmly trotted to the door. More knocking assonated from the wood.
“Coming!” Twilight shouted, and opened the door. Fluttershy barked at her friend.
“Twilight! There’s a fire in Whitetail!” Her voice was panicked, and full of fear. Her eyes darted back and forth in nervousness.
“A fire?” The purple unicorn looked at Fluttershy and gasped as she realized the shape she was in. Her soot stained mane, her ash covered fur, and the gash in her leg.
“Come in, come in.” Twilight rushed her friend inside.
“Oh, Twilight! It was awful. I-I was just on a walk, and I didn’t even smell the smoke… and then there was a huge fire! And the chipmunks…” Fluttershy cried softly into her hooves.
Twilight shouted.
“Rainbow! Go upstairs and get me my medical supplies. It’s in the cabinet beside my bed.”
“Gotcha!” Rainbow zipped upstairs and quickly returned with some gauze and a splint. Twilight began tending to Fluttershy’s wound, as her friends gathered around her.
“Now tell us what happened, Fluttershy.” Twilight looked into her eyes, and smiled. Fluttershy sighed deeply.
“I was taking a walk like usual, enjoying the nice summer day. Suddenly I came into a thick fog of smoke, and started coughing. I backed up to see what was going on, and saw a chipmunk running from his home. He told me… well showed me really, his family which was trapped inside a tree on fire. I rushed over to help them, but I could only save the babies.” A tear rolled from her eye. Rarity kneeled down, her soot covered dress catching Fluttershy’s attention.
“You did a very brave thing, darling. You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.” She smiled.