For a while after that night, an uneasy quiet fell over Ponyville. Dusk wanted nothing further to do with me, and he forbade Barb from seeing me either. I tried to visit the castle several times, only to have Dusk give me the whole "GET THE F@#K DOWN CAT YUMA NUMA REMIX" all over again!

Barb also didn't want to risk Dusk's wrath, so she had no choice but to comply........and find a way to skirt around Dusk's orders. He took her phone, as well as shutting off the internet for her laptop and PC, but Dusk's friends still had her back. Since they were still allowed at the castle, they would slip notes to and from Barb. They also tried to reason with Dusk.

"Don't you think that you're being rather unreasonable with this Darling?" Rarity asked him one afternoon. "I mean, Barb IS an adult now, not a kid anymore. Why can't you let her make her own decisions?"

"Because she's not ready to do that yet Rarity. I HAVE let her make her own decisions, and then she goes and does what she did Friday night!"

"And I don't get it Sugarcube. You said that Mick is your best friend, just as he's said that he's your best friend. That means that you two hang out a LOT, and that also means that you know him inside and out, just as he knows you inside and out. And if that's the case, then you KNOW that he's a good guy, and wouldn't take advantage of Barb! If he did that, why don't you trust him?"

Dusk sighed. "I DO trust him Applejack, but yet........it's hard to explain."

"You want to be happy, but yet you can only see the bad in him? Even though you're not sure that it even IS bad?"

"Yeah, that's the gist of it Fluttershy. I KNOW that Mick is a good guy, and he IS my best friend, but yet.......him and Barb together........it's just......."

"You're jealous that he has a girlfriend, and you don't?" Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.

He glared at her. "W-what?! N-no! I'm not jealous......I'm just....."

"Just protective of Barb, and you want to protect her, even though you know that she's all grown up, and will soon be moving on in the world?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's the rest of it Pinkie. I WANT to let Barb go, but yet, she's been under my care for so long.........I raised her from when she was an infant! I've ALWAYS been there for her, and now, after all of that, I just.......it's SO hard to let her go!"

The 5 girls all hugged Dusk. They could at least somewhat sympathize with him, especially Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, since they had 3 sisters who were almost to that same age.

Dusk hugged them all back. "I'm glad that I have friends like you girls. I'll need a LOT of time to think about this, but maybe I will be able to let go by the end of it, and welcome Mick back to the castle. And look at it this way, it was only that one time that he and Barb had sex, right? I don't think that anything else is going to come from it. At least, NOT until I let them start dating again that is!"

In the aftermath of this, Dusk did give Barb her internet back, but he still kept her phone. Everything was getting back to normal, at least, until the day it hit the fan once again.

A few weeks after that Friday night, Barb got sick. She was throwing up, though both she and Dusk thought that it was something that she ate. She was feeling better a few days later, only to get sick again. She was fine by the next day, and now Barb was getting worried. What was wrong with her?

She didn't want to go to the hospital if she didn't have to, so she fired up her PC, and began to do some online research. She Googled her symptoms, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. What caused puking, feeling like you have to puke, having to pee a lot, and some stomach cramps? Barb was able to narrow down her search pretty quickly, and when she found what she thought the cause was, she froze.

"No.....it can't be that......can it?" She wasn't sure, but she knew that she had to find out.

"Hey Duskie?"

"Yeah Barb?"

"I'm going to run to the store down the street. Do you need anything?"

"Eh, we do need some more milk. Can you grab some?"

"Yeah, sure. Back in a jiff!" Barb then left for the corner store.

When she arrived, she grabbed the milk, as well as a few other things on her shopping list, before heading over to the pharmaceutical section. Once there, she went to the aisle for "Family Planning", and she picked up a box of pregnancy tests. After paying for everything, she put the box of pregnancy tests in the pocket of her light jacket, before taking the groceries back to the castle.

When she arrived, she took her jacket off, put everything away, said hi to Dusk again, and then went back upstairs. She then went to the bathroom, and after going inside, she locked the door, and went over to the toilet. She then pulled down her shorts and panties, sat on the toilet, grabbed the box of testers, pulled out 1 of them, and read the instructions, before holding it under herself, and peeing on it. She then set it aside, pulled out 3 more, and peed on them too. She then set them aside as well, finished doing her business, and then she waited the few minutes required for the testers to work.

Once the few minutes was up, she grabbed the first tester, and looked at it. She then put it back, and grabbed the 2nd one, then the 3rd, and then the 4th. She then picked up all 4 of them, and held them in her hands. All of them said the same thing. She also used the last 2 in the box just to be sure, and they said the same thing as the other 4.

Barb put a hand over her mouth. "Oh f@#k, Dusk is gonna KILL ME!!!!!"

Barb had no idea what to do. It was early afternoon, and I was no doubt on duty at the Ponyville Firehouse No.1. Dusk's other 5 friends were busy, and she was scared.

Suddenly though, Barb heard a knock on the door. "Barb? Are you ok in there? You've been in there for over an hour now!"

"Yeah.......yeah, I'm fine Dusk." She then stuffed the 6 testers into her shorts pockets, quietly ripped up both the box and the instructions, and flushed them down the toilet, before pulling up her panties and shorts, washing her hands, and leaving the bathroom.

She looked to her left, and saw Dusk dusting a few pictures close by. He looked at her as she went by. "Are you sure that you're ok Barb? I thought that I heard you yell as I was walking up the stairs."

Barb nodded, wincing internally. "Yeah......I'm.....I'm fine Dusk."

He looked over at her. "You don't sound fine. And with you being sick lately, I'm getting worried about you. Are you sure that you're ok?"

"Don't kill Mick!" Barb suddenly blurted. She then slammed her hands over her mouth.

Dusk shot her a confused look. "Huh? Why would I do that?" He turned back to his dusting. "He hasn't been around here in...........wait. Why would you say that all of a sudden?" He then looked at her again. This time he also noticed something sticking out of her pockets. "Barb, what's in your pockets?"

Barb didn't say anything. Dusk could see that she was also breaking out into a cold sweat. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but in one fast motion, he reached Barb, grabbed at what was in her right pocket, and pulled it, or rather, them, out. Barb let him do it, and made no moves to stop him. Dusk then realized that what he was holding were 3 pregnancy tests. He looked at them closer, and to his shock and horror, all 3 of them were showing 2 black lines! He looked back up at Barb, but was unable to form any words.

Barb then sighed, before reaching into her other pocket, and pulling out 3 more testers. All 3 of them also had 2 black lines. Once she found her voice again, Barb only had one thing to say. "Yeah, I'm pregnant Dusk. Do you STILL think that it was a good idea to switch out my birth control with M&M's?"

When Dusk realized that Barb was pregnant, and that it probably WAS his fault, (at least partially, it DOES take 2 to tango after all!) he screamed! He screamed out in that same Banshee-scream that he did on the same night that he caught us having sex, though instead of attacking Barb, he threw down his feather duster, as well as the first 3 testers, and ran in the opposite direction. He rounded a corner, and Barb suddenly heard the sounds of things smashing and crashing about.

"WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GET PREGNANT?!?!?! WHY?!?!?!" He screamed.

Barb looked behind her at her own room. It was still fully intact, as Dusk had run away from it. She then looked back at Dusk, as he was smashing and crashing elsewhere.

"What in the.......what??? Why is he......???" Barb had no idea why he was smashing and tearing the whole castle apart, but then she looked down at the 3 tests that she was holding. She then blushed a bit.

"Wow......I still can't believe it. I'm.......I'm........I'M GONNA BE A MOMMY!!!! I'M GONNA HAVE A BABY!!!!!!" She then thought of something else. "And.......I'll have to tell Mick about this too. Hopefully he'll understand. I mean, I'm pretty sure that he will. He did say in that one note to me that if I did get pregnant, he'd make sure that we got married so that our child would be in wedlock, and he'd raise our child as my husband. I can't WAIT to tell him when he gets off work tonight!"

Barb then began to make plans to tell me, completely unaware that she was going to get to tell me a LOT sooner than that night!

Almost an hour later, at now 3pm, Dusk was STILL going on his smash and crash rampage! Yes, it DID sound a lot worse that it really was, and not too much was really being broken, but Dusk was making a HUGE mess; one that would have to be cleaned up later. Unknown to Dusk though, at one point in his rampage, he threw a heavy dictionary, and it knocked up a ceiling tile, and that in turn hit a metal pipe in that ceiling on the ground floor on the West side of the castle. Said pipe was a small fuel pipe, used to bring fuel to the furnace in the castle's basement. The furnace was turned off, but there was still fuel in the pipe. And now, because of the hit from the ceiling tile caused by the dictionary hit, the pipe started to leak a little bit.

Meanwhile, 2 levels up from the ground floor, Dusk was FINALLY starting to wear out. He'd successfully rampaged throughout almost his ENTIRE castle, creating quite a mess. After grabbing some water, he looked over the mess that he'd created.

"Celestia.....DAMMIT!!!" He put a hand over his face. "NOW I'm gonna have to clean all of this up!" He started to pick up a number of fallen objects, and put them back onto the shelf that they came from. "Crap, this is REALLY gonna take a while! F@#K!!!! First Barb sneaks Mick into the castle, THEN he knocks her up, and then I freak out and tear my ENTIRE castle apart, and NOW I HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE MESS!!! F@#KING DAMMIT!!!! Well, at least the damage is contained. It's not the worst ever, and it CAN’T get any worse than this!"

Wrong thing to say Dusk. You NEVER say that it can't get any worse, because it always will! 2 levels below, that pipe was still dripping fuel, however, it was also dripping fuel onto a series of electrical lines below. The wires were protected by their insulation, but there were a few places where the insulation was cracked, exposing the wires. If the fuel hit these cracks, it would ignite, and then there'd REALLY be a problem!

At about 4pm, when Dusk had maybe gotten about 55% of his mess cleaned up, it happened. The leaking fuel hit those cracks in the exposed wires, and the liquid hitting them caused the wires to start to spark. Soon, those sparks were enough to ignite the small puddle of fuel that was pooling underneath them, and soon the fire began to lap at the insulation inside of the ceiling. The fire was getting bigger by the second, and soon it reached the fuel pipe that the dripping was coming from. However, just before the fire hit the fuel, the ceiling where the fire was collapsed, sending burning fuel, insulation, and ceiling tiles down into the room below, which was one of several libraries in the castle. Meanwhile, the ceiling above continued to burn, as did the carpet, furniture, books, and other papers below that the fire hit. Adding to this problem was the fact that Dusk had torn this library apart in his rampage. There was combustible material everywhere, and the fire was already starting to consume it!

Back up inside the ceiling, the fire reached the pipe again, and the heat from it caused the pipe to buckle, and that little crack that was causing the dripping got a LOT bigger! Now the fuel was leaking out steadily, which was fueling a now growing inferno in the room below. Once the fuel in the pipe caught fire, there came a HUGE explosion in that room, and the fire quickly began to spread. Dusk and Barb didn't know it yet, but they were about to be REALLY thankful that they lived a mere 4 blocks away from Ponyville Firehouse No.1!

Meanwhile, upstairs in her room, Barb was reading a comic book. The clock read 4:04pm, and she could hear the sounds of Dusk cleaning up his mess below her in the castle somewhere. Suddenly though, Barb began to smell something.

"Huh? What's that smell? It smells like smoke." She got up from her bed, and walked out into the hall. The smoke smell was getting stronger, and soon, she could hear several of the castle's smoke alarms going off. "Ok, now something is DEFINITELY wrong here!"

She wondered where Dusk was, but then she saw smoke coming out of the air vent in the baseboard at the end of the hallway! "What the......?!" She walked closer to the air vent, and then she smelled a VERY strong burning smell. It was also getting VERY hot from the hot air coming from the vent. There was only one thing that that could mean!

"Oh shit! FIRE!!!!" She then ran to the intercom panel close to her room. "DUSK?!?!?! DUSK!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!"

A few moments later, a reply came. "What is it Barb? What's wrong?"

"'WHAT'S WRONG'?!?!?! FIRE!!!! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!!! THERE'S A FIRE IN THE CASTLE!!!!"

"WHAT?!?! A FIRE?!?! WHERE?!?!?!"

"I don't know! There's smoke coming out of the air vent in the baseboard at the end of the hallway where my room is, and there's a LOT of heat coming from it too!"

"Get downstairs now! I'm calling the Fire Department!"

"Where are you?!"

"On my way upstairs now! I'm setting off the manual fire alarm!" Dusk then reached a panel, and after opening it with a key that he always carried with him, he grabbed a larger key inside the panel, inserted it into its keyhole inside, and turned it. The manual fire alarm was now activated, which was sending an alert directly to both Ponyville Firehouse No.1, and Ponyville Firehouse No.2. (Ponyville only had 2 fire brigades). He then ran upstairs.

On his way up though, He reached the ground floor again, only to have his way blocked by fire! The fire was coming from the library on the ground floor, and it was rapidly spreading out from it! In a matter of minutes, that whole hallway would be engulfed in flames!

"F@#K!!!! SHIT!!!!" Dusk then ran back down a level, ran through a hallway to the stairwell on the other side, and after getting to the ground floor again, he tried to grab the doorknob, only to find that it was too hot to touch!

"OH NO!!!" Then, after taking the stairs to the second floor, he emerged close to an intercom panel.

"BARB!!!!! Are you downstairs?!"

"Yeah! Where are you?! The smoke's getting thick!"

"Barb, listen to me very carefully. I'm trapped up on the second floor! The fire started in the library on the ground floor, and it's RAPIDLY spreading up to the second floor! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!!!"

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?!?!?!"

"I'll be fine! The Fire Department should be on their way now! I've alerted them with the manual alarm! Go! NOW!!!! Get out of here!"

"I'll come back with the whole Fire Department Dusk! Just get to somewhere safe!"

"I will Barb! NOW GO!!!!"

He then left the panel, and after grabbing some bath towels, he wet them with water, and ran with them to a spare bedroom on the 3rd floor. He then closed the door, placed them over the crack at the bottom, and then got over to the window. He then opened it a bit, and he could see the smoke rising from the first and second floors below him, but it soon got so thick that he had to close the window again.

"Oh Celestia! Now I'm REALLY wishing that I didn't talk so much trash about Mick! My best friend is a FIREFIGHTER for Celestia's sake, and now I REALLY need his help!" He then saw Barb running away from the castle. "Thank Celestia you made it out Barb! Now let's just hope that I'M that lucky!"

Dusk then began to hear sirens off in the distance, meaning that help was on its way. He then looked off towards Firehouse No.1. "PLEASE Mick! PLEASE hurry up! I DO NOT want to die today!"

Meanwhile, down below him, Barb was running as fast as she could to Firehouse No.1. She knew what Dusk had said about the manual fire alarm, but she'd already tried to call for help with the castle’s landline phone just in case the manual alarm failed, but the line was dead. She still didn't have her cellphone, so all she could do was run for Firehouse No.1, and alert us there just in case the alarm had failed. Barb was barefoot, and her clothes smelled like smoke, but she didn't care. She HAD to get help!

"I HAVE to get there! I HAVE TO!!!!!" She kept running as fast as she possibly could.

A while before this, at maybe 4pm, I was sitting on a folding chair just inside of the garage bay of Firehouse No.1, eating a sandwich. The doors were open so as to let in a breeze, as it was a bit hot outside that day. It had been a REALLY boring day for us, and we were hoping for something to happen.

As I was sitting there, I was talking to Caramel, who was another volunteer fireman.

"So, have you seen Barb anymore recently?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "No, unfortunately not. I've heard from her a few times, but Ol' Banshee Duskie won't let me anywhere NEAR the castle!"

Caramel laughed a bit. "Gosh, that sounds pretty bad! Do you think that he'll ever let up?"

I stood up a from my chair to stretch a bit. I then adjusted the suspenders on my black fire pants with attached steel-toed rubber boots, (I always wore these at all times while on duty out of force of habit) and then I sighed.

"I don't know Caramel. However........" I never got a chance to finish that thought. Before I could, I heard an alarm go off upstairs. It was coming from the dispatch office up there, which meant that either a call was coming in, or a manual alarm had been triggered somewhere.

"What's going on?"

I was worried. "I don't know, but we'd better go see!" We both then ran upstairs.

Once we were up there, Chief Embers met us, as well as a few others. "Boys, we might have a fire!"

"What? A fire? Where?" Caramel asked.

"The manual alarm was just triggered over at Friendship Castle. We've tried to contact anyone over there, but we haven't received any replies."

I froze when I heard that. The manual alarm had just been triggered at Friendship Castle? That meant that Dusk and Barb could be in trouble! No scratch that, they probably WERE in trouble!

I looked at Chief Embers. "Sound the alarm Sir?"

"Yes! Sound the alarm Edwards!"

Right!" I then slammed down the button for the main alarm bell, which rang throughout the entire firehouse. There were 8 of us on duty, as well as Chief Embers. He then got on the intercom.

"Boys, we've got a possible fire over at Friendship Castle! The manual alarm was just triggered, which means that we've got to move now!"

That was all it took. With that order, Caramel and I, as well as a few others who were upstairs at the time, ran over to the fire pole there on the second floor, and slid down to the garage bay just below. We all then pulled on the rest of our gear, and got Gusher and Tallboy ready to go.

However, just as I was pulling on my black fire jacket and black fire helmet with the number "4" on it, (simply meaning that I was the 4th fireman at the firehouse out of 9) I suddenly heard a loud commotion coming from just outside of the firehouse.

"MICK!!!! MICK!?!?!?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!"

I turned at the noise, and there running towards me was Barb! Her clothes were a bit sooty, as was her face, and she was barefoot, sweating, panting hard, and to my horror, smelling like smoke!

"Barb?! Barb, what happened?!"

She ran into my arms and hugged me. "Oh Stud! Thank CELESTIA I got here!"

"What's going on?!"

She looked up at me with panic in her eyes. "FIRE!!! THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON!!!! THE CASTLE'S ON FIRE!!!!"

"What happened?!"

"I don't know! All Dusk said was that the fire started in the library on the ground floor! He said that it was spreading fast to the second floor! He triggered the manual alarm, but I came running down here just in case the alarm failed! The phones didn't work, so I had no choice!"

"We got the alarm loud and clear Barb, but you did the right thing by coming down here! And where's Dusk now?"

"He's still trapped inside of the castle! He's trapped up on the 3rd floor!"

"WHAT?!?!?!"

Before I could say anything else though, Chief Embers came sliding down the fire-pole. "Boys! This fire is a big one, which means that they're calling us, AND the boys over at No.2! It's serious business! We have to go now!"

"RIGHT!!!!" We all then ran for the trucks. Since I was the closest to Gusher, I reached the driver's seat first, and pulling Barb behind me, I pulled her into the cab too, shut the doors, turned the key, and started the truck. 4 others got onto the truck too, while the other 4, including Chief Embers, got on Tallboy next to us. I then realized that someone was missing.

I looked towards the alcove close to Chief Ember's office. "CHIEF!!!! COME ON!!!! WE NEED YOU NOW, WE'VE GOT A FIRE!!!!!"

There came some barking, and then a big male Dalmatian came running out of the alcove, before running over to Gusher, and jumping into the back.

"Is Chief on?" Embers asked.

"Yeah, he's on!" I yelled back.

"THEN LET'S GO!!!! LIVES ARE ON THE LINE!!!!"

"ON IT SIR!!!!"

After turning on the lights and sirens, with those on Tallboy doing the exact same thing behind us, Gusher pulled out first, and then we raced away from the firehouse towards the fire. "Hang in there Dusk", I thought. "Help is on the way!" We then raced on down the street.

As I was driving, there was one thought on my mind, and that was get to Friendship Castle, save Dusk, get the fire put out!

I then turned to Barb. "Talk to me Barb, tell me everything that you know about this!"

She looked at me with worry. "I don't know too much Stud. One minute everything's fine, and then just a little bit past 4pm, I started smelling smoke. I heard several of the castle's smoke alarms going off, so I left my room to see what was going on. I then saw smoke coming from the air vent built into the baseboard at the end of the hallway, and hot air was coming from it too. I alerted Dusk via intercom, and then he triggered the manual alarm. I then ran downstairs, and he tried to join me, but was trapped behind the flames. He then told me to get out, and I promised that I'd bring the whole Fire Department when I came back! I then ran the 4 blocks to get to the Firehouse, and that's where I found you. Oh, and Dusk said that the fire started in the library on the ground floor. This is just a guess, but I think that it was a combination of an electrical fire, as well as fire from a leaking fuel pipe in the ceiling. That's the only way that I can think of for how the fire spread as fast as it did."

I relayed what Barb had just told me back to Chief Embers, and he got on the radio with the gas and electric company, and they quickly went about shutting off the electricity, as well as the flow of fuel to the castle.

However, Gusher then rounded the last corner before Friendship Castle, and when I saw what lay ahead, my heart literally almost stopped. Smoke was pouring out of the West side of the castle, flames were visible in certain areas, and people were already starting to gather to watch. The local constables from the Ponyville Police Department beat us to the scene by a scant 30 seconds or so, and were already hard at work on keeping people back, as well as setting up barricades.

"Everyone get back! Everyone stay back on the sidewalks!"

"I know that you've never seen a fire like this before, but if you don't stay back and let the firemen do their jobs, all of Ponyville could be next!"

We then finished driving the rest of the way down the street, and we pulled up close to the castle. We of Firehouse No.1 were the first ones on the scene, but we could hear the sirens from the boys over at Firehouse No.2, which meant that they were on their way.

Once he was out of Tallboy, Chief Embers grabbed a megaphone, and began to shout orders.

"Alright Boys, let's the search and rescue started! Get Gusher and Tallboy hooked up to the fire hydrants! We need Tallboy's ladder up in the air close to the 3rd floor! That's where Prince Dusk is! The rest of you get the hoses, attach them to Gusher and Tallboy, and let's get this fire put out! LET'S MOVE IT!!!!"

Meanwhile, I was getting out of Gusher, as I was one of the ones assigned to helping hook her up to the fire hydrant.

"Barb, you stay here! You'll be safe in here!"

"But what about Dusk?!"

"We'll get him! Don't worry!" I then left Gusher, grabbed a hose, attached one end to Gusher, ran it out to the nearest fire hydrant, grabbed a special wrench, and uncapped the hydrant. I then hooked the hose up to the hydrant, and once it was secure, I used another wrench to open the hydrant. Water then began to gush out of the hydrant, and through the hose into Gusher.

Barb meanwhile stayed put like I'd told her to. She did however grab a spare fire helmet, and put it on her head. She then looked up at the 3rd floor. "Please guys! PLEASE find Dusk!"

At this same time, the boys from Firehouse No.2 were arriving on the scene, and were also starting to set up their equipment. Water was now being sprayed onto the castle, both from our hoses, and from the water cannons on Gusher, Tallboy, and the 2 fire trucks from Firehouse No.2. Other firemen were putting on oxygen masks, and were making their way inside of the castle with more hoses to fight the fire from inside. We were all doing our jobs, but the question was, would we be able to save Dusk and his castle in time?

At this same time, reporters from the local news stations were also on the scene.

"This is Coffee Talk, reporting live for Channel 7 Action News! We're standing now live outside of Castle Friendship here in Ponyville, where you can see that the castle is clearly on fire! No word yet as to what caused the fire, but sources do indicate that Prince Dusk is still trapped inside of the castle somewhere!"

At this exact moment, shouting was heard from the castle.

"HELP!!!!!! HELP ME!!!! I'M TRAPPED UP HERE ON THE 3RD FLOOR!!!!"

Coffee Talk, her cameraman, and others turned to look, and sure enough, up on the 3rd floor, Dusk could clearly be seen at an open window, waving a purple shirt to attract the attention of the firemen below.

Chief Embers then looked over to the fireman in charge of Tallboy's ladder. "Bill! Get the ladder up to that window on the 3rd floor so that we can save Prince Dusk!"

"Yes Sir!" He then began to elevate the ladder.

Once it was up close, another fireman in full oxygen gear began to climb up to the window. Once he reached it, he reached out to Dusk, who VERY gratefully grabbed onto the fireman, and let him carry him back down the ladder to the ground below.

"They've got him! They've got Prince Dusk! As you just witnessed, a fireman from Firehouse No.1 just climbed up to that 3rd story window, and has just saved Prince Dusk! He's now carrying him down to the ground! I think that he's going to be ok!"

Once he was safely on the ground, Dusk was ushered over to the side of the fire truck where he was given some oxygen, as he'd inhaled a fair amount of smoke while he was still trapped. The fireman who had saved him then revealed himself to be Caramel.

"Thank Celestia you got to me in time Caramel! I honestly thought that I was going to die in that room!"

He nodded. "No need to thank me though Dusk, it's just my job."

"Where's Mick? Any idea?"

Caramel shook his head. No, sadly I don't. I know that he was one of the ones who went inside of the castle, but I don't know where he is right now."

"And Barb? Where is she?"

"She's sitting inside of Gusher. Did you know that she ran 4 blocks barefoot to reach the firehouse?"

Dusk looked shocked. "She did?! Why?!"

"Well, as she told Mick, she did it just in case the manual alarm failed. She tried to call it in, but the phones were dead. She then ran all of the way down the firehouse, and after getting the alarm, we all loaded up, and came tearing down here to save you, and save your castle."

"But Barb is safe though, right?"

Caramel pointed to Gusher. "Yeah, she's right over there."

Once he was able to, Dusk got up again, and walked over to Gusher. He had to be a bit careful, as there was a fireman using the water canon just behind the cab, but Barb was indeed sitting inside of Gusher, though Dusk could also see that she was wearing a "borrowed" fire helmet. She was watching the castle, where the fire now seemed to finally be under control.

"Barb? Are you ok?"

She turned to look at him, and her eyes widened in shock. "DUSKIE!!!! You're alive!" She then hopped out of the truck and hugged him.

Dusk hugged her back. "Yeah, I'm fine Barb. A little bit worse for wear, but overall, I think that I'll be ok."

"I watched when that fireman pulled you out of that window. I was SO glad that you were still ok!"

He sighed. "Yeah, me too Barb. Any ideas where Mick is?"

Barb looked at him. "Why? Do you want to thank your best friend for saving your castle?"

Dusk sighed. "Yeah, kinda. Where is he?"

Barb pointed to the castle. "He's in there somewhere. After hooking up Gusher to the fire hydrant to your left, he grabbed another hose, hooked it up to Gusher, and then he and his partner, (I'm not sure who it was, as he or she was wearing oxygen gear just like Mick was!) ran into the castle with it, as did a few other pairs. They're most likely still inside, fighting the blaze from in there."

Dusk sighed again. "Thank Celestia for Mick, and the rest of the boys at Firehouse No.1, and Firehouse No.2. As I've said all along, I'm SO THANKFUL that my best friend is a fireman!"

Barb cocked her head a bit. "Wait, as you've said all along? Are you sure that it's not, 'As I've said since my (ex) best friend just risked his life to save my castle when it was on fire, while one of his comrades saved my life'?"

Dusk shot her a look. "Hey, don't push it Barb!"

Barb then laughed, and then she and Dusk kept watching the castle, hoping to see me reemerge soon.

A little while before this, myself and 6 other guys went inside the castle to fight the fire from within.

"What's it look like in there Edwards?" Chief Embers asked.

"It's pretty bad Sir!" I told him. "There's smoke EVERYWHERE, so we can't see how far the fire's spread! We're getting water on it now though!"

"Well, according to Barbara, the fire started in the library on the ground floor, and rapidly spread to more of the ground floor, before reaching the second floor."

"Ok, roger that! I'm sending guys up to 2 to tackle the fire up there, and the rest of us are here on the ground floor, fighting the blaze here."

"Be careful Edwards."

"We will Sir! And what's the status on Prince Dusk?"

"We've located him in a bedroom on the 3rd floor, and Caramel is going up to retrieve him now."

"Thank God. Is he going to be ok?"

"Well, he was at the window screaming for help, so he's alive and kicking at least!"

"That's good. Probably should treat him for smoke inhalation."

"We'll do that once he's been evaluated. Keep me posted on any updates in there."

"We will Sir. We should hopefully have it under control soon."

"Roger that Edwards."

I then put down my radio, and grabbed my hose again.

Fighting the fires inside proved to be a bit more challenging than what we were anticipating. Due to there being so much debris on the ground floor, (thanks to Dusk's rampage, as I would later learn!) the fire had a LOT more fuel than it should have had. Luckily, thanks to our being able to get water on the fire, and a lot of it, we were able to quickly contain it, at least in that hallway that we were in.

"Geez! How the hell did this happen?!" One of the guys close to me asked.

"We're still not sure, but Chief Embers thinks that it was either an electrical fire, a leaking fuel pipe, or a combination of both. However, the reason that it spread so damn fast is because of all this debris everywhere! Dusk is EXTREMELY OCD! What the hell happened around here?!"

One of my buddies, Dave, looked over at me. "Why are you asking us? YOU'RE the one who hangs out here a lot!"

"Yeah, but like I just said, Dusk is EXTREMELY OCD, and NEVER has ANYTHING out of place if he can help it! It looks like a tornado came through this place, and I have no idea why!"

"Well, neither do I, but let's keep making sure that Prince Dusk will still have a castle when the sun goes down tonight!"

"Right!" We all then kept fighting the fires.

Soon, we were finally starting to get ahead of the raging inferno. The boys up on 2 also had the fire contained in 2 rooms at the end of a hallway, and we on the ground floor were FINALLY getting close to the library where the fire started in the first place.

"We're almost there Chief!" The boys up on 2 have the fire contained in 2 rooms, and we're almost to the library where the fire started!"

"That's great news Edwards! The Chief from No.2 has sent a few more guys in to check the basement, but it doesn't look like the fire has spread to down there."

"That's good news. And once we have this out, then we can call in the damage inspectors, not to mention the insurance specialists, and let them determine what this place is gonna cost to repair!"

The guys close to me laughed when they heard me say that. While it wasn't very nice, we often mocked insurance companies, as well as the people who had to deal with them when it came to filing a claim for damages relating to fire and water. All we had to worry about was putting out the fire, and saving as many lives, and as much of a building as possible; repairing it, as well as handling the insurance claims, was outside of our field.

"Not funny Edwards!" Chief Embers scolded me.

"Sorry Sir."

"What kind of insurance does Prince Dusk have?" Someone asked me.

"Well, I know that he has homeowner's insurance, fire insurance, water damage insurance, his book and relic collections are all insured, and he even has insurance against Alien abduction!"

When I said that, the other guys looked at me in shock. At least, I think that it was shock, or maybe it was laughter. It's hard to tell when we're all wearing full oxygen gear over our faces!

"Wait, he has insurance against Alien abduction?!"

"That's what he told me. He even showed me the paperwork because I didn't believe him!"

"And what does all of that insurance cost?"

I looked over at Dave. "You don't want to know, but I will tell you that some of the costs are paid for by our tax dollars."

"WHAT?!?! Our tax dollars are going towards Prince Dusk's Alien abduction insurance?!"

"No, he pays for that himself. The rest of the good folks of Ponyville only help with the fire and water insurance. He pays for the rest of it himself, including the insurance against Alien abduction!"

"Well, THAT'S nice to know!"

"We'd better get a tax write-off for that!"

I sighed. "Yeah, I hope so too. But that's not important right now. What IS important is taking care of this gosh-damn fire!"

"Yeah, we know!"

"Well then stop yammering, and keep blasting it!"

The others did groan a bit, but we all kept our hoses on the fire. We did have to keep switching out every now and again so that we could get a new oxygen tank, but we kept going. Eventually, we had the fire contained within the library, and less than 30 minutes later, it was all over. By almost 7:15pm, 3 hours and 15 minutes after the fire broke out, it was FINALLY over! The fire was out, and the castle was saved! Pretty smoky, not to mention the ground and second floors getting pretty badly burned out and waterlogged, but the castle was still standing, a lot of stuff was insured, and our job was done!

Back outside of the castle, the news reporters got word from Chief Embers that the fire was finally out.

"This just in. I've just gotten word from Chief Embers, the fire chief of Ponyville Firehouse No.1 that at long last, the fire in the castle is FINALLY out! Yes, you heard that right, the fire inside of Friendship Castle is finally out, and as you can see behind me, while the castle's West side is pretty blackened on the ground floor and second floor, the castle is still standing, and has been saved! Thanks to the brave efforts of the firemen of Firehouse No.1, and Firehouse No.2, no lives were lost today in this fire, and Friendship Castle has been saved! Yes, repairs will take some time, but I've also gotten word that the castle, as well as a lot of its contents, were insured against fire and water damage, so it may not be as bad as it seems! This is Coffee Talk, reporting for Channel 7 Action News!"

Around this same time, I and the rest of the guys began to emerge from the castle. We were still wearing our full oxygen gear, and we looked tired, exhausted, and just wanting the day to be over now that we'd tackled what turned out to be one of the largest single-building fires in Ponyville history.

I was walking back towards Gusher, as I wanted to reassure Barb that I was still ok, as well as give her an update on the situation. However, I didn't get any further than Gusher before I was accosted.

"Mr. Fireman, I'd LOVE to extend my hand, and thank you for what a FINE job you did today on saving my castle! Because of your contributions, Friendship Castle is still standing, and I'll still have a home to return to once the repairs are complete!"

I turned to who was talking to me. When I saw that it was Dusk, and that he obviously had no idea who I was, (due to me still wearing my oxygen gear) I decided to mess with him.

I then took my helmet off, followed by my mask, and then a heat-shield that protected my head and hair. I was really sweating, and my face was a bit dirty, but it was pretty clear who I was. I then looked at Dusk, and smirked. "Gee, thanks Dusk! And now that you realize that the guy you just thanked for saving your castle is your best friend Mick Edwards, do you STILL want to keep thanking me?"

When Dusk saw that it was me, his jaw hit the ground, and his eyes got wide as saucers! He kept opening his mouth like he was going to say something, but no sounds came out. He then gave me an angry face, and crossed his arms. "Well, what do you want me to say?"

"Well, a simple 'thank you for saving my castle!' would do for a start!"

Dusk sighed. "Yeah, well I AM grateful for that. You and the rest of the boys down at Firehouse No.1, as well as the guys at Firehouse No.2 did a very fine job today. You saved my life, and my castle. But wait a minute, what did you mean by 'it would do for a start'?"

I sighed. "I think that you know what I mean by that Dusk."

"No! Not gonna happen! Not after......"

"Mick!" Barb then leapt out of Gusher's front seat, and she landed in my arms. "You're ok!"

I hugged her back. "Yeah, I'm fine Barb! And we did it! We put the fire out, and saved Dusk, the castle, and the day!"

Barb smirked a bit. "Yes, yes you did Mick." She then leaned up and kissed me. I kissed her back.

"Barb!"

I looked over at him. "Dusk, don't do this to yourself. Just let us do this; I've MORE than earned it after all!"

"No you didn't! You......"

Barb cut him off. "Duskie, please just shut it!" She then turned to me. "Oh, and Mick?"

"Yeah Babe?"

"I just remembered that I have a surprise for you. I was going to tell you later on tonight, but then I forgot it because of the fire. I can tell you now though."

I looked at her curiously. "Um....what surprise?"

Barb blushed a bit. "Close your eyes, and give me your hand."

"Ok...." I did so, and I felt Barb take my hand, and then I felt something warm and fleshy.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now Babe."

I did so, and when I did, I saw that Barb had lifted up her shirt, and was holding my hand on her belly. "Um......Barb? What are you.....????"

Barb just shook her head. "Guys. So dense sometimes." She then looked up at me blushing. "Babe, I'm pregnant!"

When I realized that Barb was pregnant, my face went dead white, and I legit fainted! Luckily, there was nothing behind me, so I landed on the street next to Gusher.

However, Coffee Talk, who happened to be nearby with one of her cameramen, just so happened to overhear my entire conversation with Dusk, and the part where Barb butted in, and showed me her surprise. Yes, I had just fainted on live TV!

"Whoa! Well, you just heard and saw it live folks! Apparently one of the firemen here today is the boyfriend of Prince Dusk's assistant Barbara, and she just revealed to him that she's pregnant, and then her boyfriend just fainted!" Coffee Talk then walked over to Barb and Dusk.

"He's ok, right?"

"I hope so, come on Babe, wake up!" Barb was trying to revive me.

"Who is he?" Coffee asked Dusk.

"Michael 'Mick' Edwards. He's one of the ones who came over from America."

"Oh. And have you known him long?"

"Yes, I have. He was my best friend......at least until.......eh......an incident that I don't want to talk about on live TV!"

At this moment, I jerked to life again. "Gah! Ok, I'm up again!"

"And I'm still pregnant Stud!" Barb giggled.

"And why is there a news reporter here? Did I seriously just faint on live TV?"

"I'm Coffee Talk, from Channel 7 Action News, and yes, yes you did!"

I put a hand over my face. "Great." I then looked over at Dusk. "Hey Dusk, now that Barb's pregnant, can I marry her?"

"NO!!!"

"You'd rather her be a single mom?"

"I don't want you near her! Look at what you already did!"

I gave him a "Really Bruh?" face. "Dusk, I literally just asked you if I could marry her so that she won't be a single mom, and that our child will grow up with both parents. That's called taking responsibility for your actions. I thought that you were all about that!"

Dusk then looked to his left, and he saw the faces of the crowd of people who were still gathered on the sidewalk, including his 5 friends. He also saw Coffee Talk and her cameraman, and knew that they were still live on the air. He then looked back at Barb and I, and saw that Barb was hugging me after I'd gotten up, and was giving Dusk her most potent weapon; her sad puppy-dog eyes!

"PLEASE Duskie? PLEASE let me marry Mick?"

Dusk finally relented. "OK FINE!!!! You can marry Mick!"

"YAY!!! Thanks Duskie!" Barb then jumped into my arms and kissed me again.

"Thanks Dusk! You're the best! We're still best friends, right?"

Dusk rolled his eyes. "You're welcome Mick. And yes, we're still best friends. I owe it all to you, as well as the rest of the firemen for saving the day today."

The crowds all cheered for us as Barb and I kissed, as did my fellow firemen once they realized what was going on.

Coffee then turned back to the camera. "Well, you saw it live here folks! It looks like Barb and Mick will be getting married here before too long, and she already has a bun in the oven! Mick and Prince Dusk are now best friends again, and it looks like things will be getting back to normal here in Ponyville very soon. This is Coffee Talk, reporting live for Channel 7 Action News, out!"

Over the course of the next few months, the repairs for Dusk's castle began. A lot of the interior on the West side on the ground and second floors had to be stripped and gutted, and then wholly rebuilt. Dusk was sad to lose so many good books, but he fortunately had copies of them, and most of the collections were insured. Thankfully, both Dusk and Barb's rooms, as well as the throne room, main library, kitchen, and everything above the second floor, as well as the basement, and other portions of the second and ground floors were almost wholly untouched by the fire, and could still be lived in.

Barb of course was soon hard at work on gathering items that she and I were going to need for raising our baby. She wanted to start building a nursery, but Dusk told her to wait on that, as he had something special planned for that.

"Just wait until after the wedding Barb. Once I've given you and Mick your wedding present, THEN you can start putting together your nursery!"

Barb was curious as to what Dusk was planning, but he didn't tell her anything.

"I'm just wondering if we're going to have a girl or a boy. What are you hoping for Dusk? A niece or a nephew?"

Dusk sighed. "I don't know. I'd be fine with either."

"Ok. Well, I'll be sure to tell you in a few months when I go in to learn what we're having!"

Dusk nodded. "Ok, and in the meantime, I'll also keep helping you plan for the wedding."

Barb hugged Dusk, he hugged her back, and the 2 of them kept talking. Barb was wondering what she and I were going to be having, and Dusk was wondering the same thing. He was also wondering it she and I were going to love the wedding present that he was going to be giving us.

"Well, I guess that we'll find out in 2 months if they like their present or not, and around that same time, they should also find out if they're having a boy or a girl!" Dusk then got back to work on what he'd been doing.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 2. Man, things got pretty bad fast, didn't they? First Dusk's still mad at Mick, then Barb finds out that she's pregnant, Dusk goes on a rampage, his rampage sparks a HUGE fire, and then Mick and the rest of the firemen have to race to Friendship Castle to put it out! After the fire's out, Barb tells Mick that she's pregnant, causing Mick to faint on live TV! Then he and Dusk argue for a while, before Dusk FINALLY relents, and agrees to let him marry Barb. So while they may have started out bad, they certainly did get better!

And what's going to happen next? When will Barb and Mick get married? What's the wedding present that Dusk is going to give them? What gender will their baby be, or are they having more than one? And more importantly, how will this story end? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!

In the meantime, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in the Epilogue!

ScarFox out for now!