"Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash snorts as she opens her eyes, being forced out of her peaceful rest. She blinks sleep out of her eyes and her hearing becomes clear as she comes back into reality at full force. She shakes her head and sits up, becoming aware of the sounds of sirens echoing through the facility. In her doorway stands Applejack, dressed from head to hoof in Burning Rescue's firefighting uniform. The red and yellow jacket hangs loosely over her sturdy figure. Her expression showcases her annoyance with the pegasus mare, who still lay in bed before her.

"You best be gettin' your flank out of bed now!" Applejack yelled over the sirens echoing throughout the station. "We've got work to do!"

"What's going on?" Rainbow didn't hesitate to fly herself out of bed and dash to her locker. She flung it open and grabbed her own jacket off the hook.

"What do you think?" Applejack said with a brief eyeroll. "The sisters' castle is on fire, again."

"Again?" Rainbow Dash was baffled. That was the third time in one week the castle had been attacked. By the second time, ponies were already giving up hope of it being repaired. It would soon fall into ruin just as the ancient Canterlot castles had.

"Yes, again," Applejack sighed, scratching through her mane with her hoof. "Ah'm not sure why those daggon firestarters keep goin' for em, but Ah ain't the only pony who's sick of puttin' out their fires."

Rainbow Dash finished equipping herself while Applejack was talking. She left her jacket unbuttoned, showcasing the black sash strapped over her torso. It was stocked full of ammo for the ice pistol that was tucked into the belt around her waist. She brushed herself down, clearing out what little wrinkles she could before she flew out the door over Applejack's head. She didn't think to respond to the mare's complaints, but Applejack didn't want to continue talking either. The two raced to the firetruck at the front of the station.

"There you two are!" Pinkie called from the top. She was poking out from a skylight in the back room of the truck. "We've been waiting for you! Dashie were you sleeping in again?"

"Let's talk about that later?" Rainbow tried to hide her embarrassment as she flew into the skylight, and landed soundly inside. "We've got business to attend to, Pinkie!"

"Righty-o!" Pinkie laughed as she pulled herself inside, and closed the skylight. The room became dark, the only light coming from the computer attached to the wall. Every so often it would flash from blue to red, showcasing the severity of the situation. In the red lights making the room bright, Rainbow Dash caught sight of Fluttershy sitting in the corner. Her tail was neatly curled around her body, and she was tying the side of her mane into a tight bun at the back of her head.

"Hey Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash greeted the yellow pegasus as she took a seat next to her.

"H-hi," The mare said, finally pulling her hairtie tight when she got it just right. "You took a l-long time to come out... you weren't sleeping through the sirens, w-were you?"

"Maybe..." Rainbow laughed awkwardly, her cheeks flaring up with blush. "I guess I'm just a really heavy sleeper. How long have they been going off?"

"Not long," Fluttershy hummed as she pulled a tablet off the wall. Her face brightened as the screen lit up in a bright white. "Y-you were lucky Applejack thought to come get you when it went off. W-we might've left you behind i-if you didn't wake up."

"Yeah we would've!" Pinkie said. The sound of her hooves clicking the computer's buttons, and her voice, were almost drowned out by the overhead siren. "I told Applejack that either you need to learn how to be a light sleeper, or we start leaving you behind when we go out! Really, Dashie, this is serious business and you're always half asleep!"

"I am not!" Rainbow scoffed. "I can do your work and more in 10 seconds flat!"

"D-don't get too confident, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said. Rainbow turned to her just in time to watch her load a clip full of ammo into her gun, and cock it. "A-apparently this fire is bigger than a few days ago."

"Bigger, you say?" Rainbow raised a brow, and adjusted herself in her seat. She pressed her hooves into the floor as the truck ran over a bump in the road. She heard the breaks screech, assuming that they had just turned a corner and were on the final path to their destination.

"Yepper doodles!" Pinkie sounded, leaning back in her creaking chair and staring at the screen in front of her. "I'm surprise nopony has called Freeze Force yet. This might be the biggest fire we've ever dealt with!"

"You don't suppose those 'Firecrackers' are behind this, do you?" Rainbow said, bringing a hoof to her chin and trying to think. The Firecrackers were a group of Burnish that reportedly lived outside of the city. Every so often, they would burst into town and wreak havoc in full armor. No pony has seen their real appearance, not even through their visors. Some ponies would go missing every now and again, and most had just gotten accustomed to the fact that the ponies they knew had become Burnish.

"If they are, I-I hope we don't run into them," Fluttershy mumbled, as if she were talking to herself. Rainbow picked up on what she had said, but wasn't sure if she had reason to respond.

The truck came to a jolting halt. Through the walls of the truck, Rainbow heard Applejack's voice urging them out. Her voice became more distanced as she walked away, yelling evacuation orders at the ponies gathered in the streets. Fluttershy slipped her gun into the slot on her back, and pulled the goggles on her head down over her eyes. She adjusted her jacket and the black fire-proof armor underneath before she flew to the ceiling and opened the skylight so she could fly out. Immediately, the smell of fire and smoke made Rainbow cough and shield her eyes. Pinkie pulled down her own goggles, and the black gas mask around her neck was brought up to cover her mouth and nose. She looked back at Rainbow and motioned up to the skylight, a signal for her to leave.

Rainbow held her breath as she flew outside. She had to blink a few times to adjust her eyes to the bright daylight shining down on the glass buildings surrounding her, and the blazing flames emerging from the castle-like structure they had parked nearby. The sounds of terrified voices and angry demands filled the air around her, and made her heart flutter with anxiety.

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called out to her, bringing her out of her daze. Applejack pulled her own set of goggles down over her eyes when Rainbow looked down at her. "Get yer' mech! We have to go inside!"

"Are any ponies trapped?" Rainbow called over the shouting around her as she shielded her eyes with her goggles.

"Pinkie can tell ya that," Applejack said as she ran to the side of the truck, pushing against it with all her might to pull open the door. Rainbow flew down by her to help her open the door.

"A few are trapped on the 30th floor," Pinkie finally answered when the door was open. "If you guys are quick, you can stop the flames before they reach them!"

Pinkie kicked two large metal crates beside her and looked back at the ponies outside. Rainbow knew that when they pressed a button on the outside of the crates, they would transform into the mechs they needed in order to get inside and make their rescue mission all the easier. She stepped inside with Applejack, and dragged the two crates outside. Rainbow briefly paused while Applejack began setting up her mech.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked, finally taking notice of the other mare's absence. She had left out of the skylight earlier without bringing her own mechsuit. What did she think she was doing?

"She already flew up, Ah'm thinkin'," Applejack said uncertainly. She looked up at the building, hoping to catch sight of the pegasus flying around somewhere. "She's stupid if she thinks she's gonna be fine without a suit on."

"She should be bringing her ship!" Rainbow snorted. She slammed her hoof down on the button on the outside of her crate, and stood back as the sounds of machinery filled the air. The pony mech emerged before her, sharp edges and fire resistant metal white and blue against the bright sun. It was near blinding at this hour, but she managed to get used to it very quickly. She forced open the panels on the back of the suit, and slid herself comfortably inside. The metal molded to her figure and shut the panels behind her. She hated how uncomfortable her wings were, buried underneath all this metal. Quickly, the discomfort passed as the machine sprouted its own wings, and allowed her to slip hers into them as if they were gloves. Glass slid out of the mech's helmet to shield her face from the elements, and she could easily hear the machinery around her clicking with life.

"30th floor?" Rainbow said as she turned to Applejack, happy to see her shielded with her own suit. The only visible difference in their mechs was their colours; where Rainbow had blue, Applejack had red. She looked at Rainbow through her glass visor with the most serious of expressions.

"We can fly up," Applejack said. Her mech sprouted a similar style of wings that Rainbow's had. Rainbow was surprised; Applejack couldn't control those! She's no pegasus so how could she-?!

Rainbow's thoughts were instantly drowned out as Applejack took flight in her suit. It was as though she had wings all along. Rainbow didn't have time to ponder how it worked or why she added the attachments, she flapped her wings and followed after the other pony as they ascended the building. Rainbow squinted, allowing the machinery to give her a proper visual of the scene. As Pinkie said, Rainbow could make out the shapes of ponies trapped inside the building and surrounded by Burnish flames. The flames weren't so bad here, but further up in the building they were much, much worse.

"Applejack!" Rainbow called out to the mare. "I'm going up to deal with the flames, you focus on rescue!"

"What?!" Applejack turned her head in disbelief at Rainbow's suggestion. She couldn't object, because Rainbow was already flying past her and heading for the roof.

"Pinkie?" Rainbow hit the side of her helmet, forcing it to make a connection to Pinkie's computer within the firetruck. This would be the only way they could communicate from this distance.

"How's it going?" Pinkie's voice echoed in her ear, and her figure appeared on Rainbow's visor as if it were a screen.

"I'm going up to the roof," Rainbow explained. Her wings were already getting tired under the mech's weight. "Applejack is going to focus on rescuing the trapped ponies, I'm trying to tame the flames."

"Whaaat?" Pinkie leaned forward in her chair, eyes sparkling. "You're nuts! Your mech isn't strong enough to withstand those flames without proper precautions! Dashie, I know you wanna be a hero, but you're taking it a bit far!"

"That's the goal!" Rainbow laughed as she finally cleared the edge of the roof, and let the weight of the mech drag her down. She skidded to a full stop on the rooftop, and flapped her wings as hard as she could to send waves of wind through the air. Slowly but surely, the flapping of her wings was beginning to clear the smoke from the air, and it allowed her to see easily.

"Oooh, I see," Pinkie giggled while Rainbow made herself busy. "You're trying to get me to use that funky little machine of mine on you! You're a lucky mare because I already installed it without your permissiooon!~"

"I knew you would," Rainbow chuckled. She looked around the area once she could see, feeling the heat and the lack of energy getting to her. Sweat was rolling down her face as her wings tucked themselves against her back again and finally took a deserved rest. She glanced at Pinkie's figure on her visor as her face changed to panick, and she leaned forward in her chair. Her hooves clicked against the keyboard and concern drifted to her expression.

"Dashie, you might have a situation," Pinkie said. "We might need to use that little machine after all!"

"Why do you say that?" Rainbow asked, reaching into the underside of her mech and opening the panel below. She pulled free some of her ammo and her pistol, quickly shutting the panel again while she filled her gun.

"Look up, dum dum!" Pinkie said.

Rainbow finished filling the pistol, and lifted her head to see what Pinkie was talking about. She blinked in surprise at what she saw on the next level of the building, just ahead of her. A group of 5 ponies stood on the edge, their bodies clad with jet black armor. Flames sprouted from the places their manes and tails would be, and visors that looked like shark teeth shielded their faces. Every pony had a white horn extending from the center of their forehead, and the one at the very center of the bunch even had white crystal wings to go with.

"Rainbow!" Applejack's voice yelled in her ear, the orange mare's figure appearing on her visor as well. "What in the hay is goin' on up there?"

"I can tell ya!" Pinkie said, while Rainbow swallowed her anxiety. "I think Rainbow's come across the Firecrackers!"

"Firecrackers?" Applejack said. "Is that what y'all call em?"

"A stupid name," spoke one of the ponies, their voice muffled and strangely robotized behind their visor. One thing was for sure, Rainbow recognized that voice. "I would choose something nicer than that."

"We are Sparkle's Fire," said the pony at the direct center. They spread their wings and lifted their head, a silent order for the other ponies. Rainbow flinched as the horns and hooves of the ponies ignited with burnish flames.

"You can't possibly expect to fight them on your own!" Pinkie yelled, finally letting fear show in her voice for a change. "You'll get yourself killed!"

"We'll see," Rainbow chuckled, tapping the side of her helmet and allowing the connection to shut off so she could focus. "So! You ponies are the ones responsible for this fire, eh?"

The ponies didn't respond to her, they only seemed to stare in utter silence as she approached.

"Rainbow Dash," She said. "I want that to be a name that you firebugs remember! I'm going to put out your flames, and put you were you belong!"

"She's stupid," another pony said, turning to the center pony. "Should we humor her?"

The middle pony said nothing. They pulled their wings back against their torso, and let flames light around them. They softly hummed as they sat down amongst the flames. The flames stretched and formed black crystals, creating what appeared to be a throne around the pony. The pony adjusted themself, laying in the throne with their head resting on one arm of the chair, and their flaming tail draped gingerly over the other side.

All at once, the other ponies leapt forward. Their laughter filled the air as they moved to surround the blue pegasus with their flames. Rainbow flapped her wings hard, flinging herself from the center circle and sending out a wave of wind that fanned the flames. She pulled her gun between her hooves, firing blocks of ice down at the ponies. They each quickly dodged her bullets and let her come crashing back to her hooves on the ground again.

"I thought you were the fast one!" One of the ponies called out, yellow muzzle briefly glinting through the visor before they began to laugh at Rainbow's expense. "I expected better!"

"Don't get too cocky!" Rainbow laughed in turn, darting forward with a rainbow trail briefly following behind her mech.

She tackled the pony in question, rolling in a ball with them for a short time. She lifted them in her hooves and flew into the air. The pony struggled before ice erupted from Rainbow's hooves. She kicked the pony down to the roof, encasing their entire form in ice. The ice shattered when they hit the concrete, and the yellow pony within was freed from her burnish armor. She gasped in shock as Rainbow shot blocks of ice from her pistol at her. Her hooves became encased in ice and stuck together. She furiously thrashed about, her cerulean mane becoming a frizzled mess against the concrete as she struggled. To finalize the event, two more blocks were fired, wrapping tight around the mare's neck and horn to prevent her from using her flames and escaping.

"Lemon Hearts!" One of the ponies shouted in shock as Rainbow landed on the ground again.

"That's one down!" Rainbow shouted out as she turned to the ponies again. "Who's next, eh?"

One of the ponies seemed to emit a growl as they lunged forth, flames exploding from their hooves and creating a wave that carried them to Rainbow's location. The other ponies followed along the wave, sprouting vine-like flames on either side of the wave that came at Rainbow from all directions. She raced to dodge the flames as they hit the ground, shattering through the concrete and creating holes where they had collided with it. Rainbow feared for the ponies inside, hoping that Applejack was able to get them out. By the look of things, this attack would make the ceiling begin to collapse, and that could spell danger for the ponies on the ground as well.

Rainbow was caught off guard by a flame smacking against her side. She cried out as she was launched into the taller edge of the building. Her armor cracked and glass shattered around her. She refused to let this moment stop her, as another tendril was heading straight for her when she fell to the ground again. She lifted her hooves, ice colliding with flames when they came close. The ice shattered when it encased the flames, effectively stopping that brief attack, but this wasn't the end yet. Rainbow pulled out her gun once more, firing blocks of ice towards the ponies as they ran towards her, but the blocks broke off of their armor as if they were nothing. She abandoned her gun for now, hiding it back within her armor. She chose to face the situation head on.

One of the ponies lunged at her, and she slid up underneath them. She rolled herself quickly onto her back, and kicked the pony with her back legs. They coughed as she hit them in the stomach. Ice surrounded them, stopping them in their tracks. Rainbow dodged out of the way as the two other ponies tried to tackle and pin her. She flapped her wings, grabbing the newly encased pony and pushing them against the concrete to shatter their armor. The white pony inside was freed, curly pink mane flapping in the wind. Fury filled her eyes as she looked up at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow ignored the sinking feeling this hatred-induced fury gave her, and shot ice from her hooves to capture this mare in the same way she had captured the other.

"Twinkleshine!" One of the remaining ponies called. "Dammit, how did you both get caught like this?! Even Freeze Force couldn't get you!"

"Focus on that later, Moon Dancer!" The other shouted. "We have to stop her before-"

The pony was silenced with a gasp as Rainbow Dash flew up and landed on top of her back, forcing ice from her hooves. Just as before, the pony's armor shattered underneath the ice and freed the pony within. The white mare skidded on her hooves, trying to run from the situation now that she was exposed. Her fancy purple hair trailed behind her, before she too tripped on her hooves when ice surrounded them, and she was forced to a halt against the concrete.

"Rarity!" The last pony, Moon Dancer, was distraught with the events unfolding. She looked at Rainbow, and even she could feel the anger in the last pony's eyes, though it was hidden under her visor. "You bitch, you'll pay for this! I'm not going to let you forget this, even if you catch me too!"

Rainbow said nothing, feeling the sweat dripping down her face even more than before. She flinched as flames burst from Moon Dancer's hooves and began filling the area like water. Tendrils lifted from the flames and hit the air around when Rainbow flew up to avoid them. Few of them hit against her legs as she ascended, making her flip in their air and nearly send her tumbling into them. She knew her suit couldn't withstand this kind of heat, so she forced herself to stay in the air even as she tumbled. She hissed as a larger flame hit her in the stomach, launching her into the sky. Moon Dancer herself shot into the air with her flames, and threw herself at Rainbow.

The last pony put all her weight onto the other mare, sending them cascading to the ground rapidly. Rainbow struggled against her, before Moon Dancer forced her down with her hooves, making Rainbow collide with the concrete. The weight of the impact made the ground shatter beneath her, and sent her into the second floor. Her back and wings were aching from the impact, and she was certain she broke something. Dust clouded the air around her, and her visor had cracked. She tapped the side of her helmet, trying to see if the connection still worked.

"Pinkie," She coughed, desperate for this new idea of hers to work. "Pinkie Pie! I need that upgrade, and now!"

Author's Note

I'm horrible at writing fighting sequences, can you tell? I hope you guys enjoyed this first part! I'm really excited myself to see where this story can go!