Equestria Copes

Spike sat at the corner once again, waiting for something to happen. Occasionally, he would glance over his shoulder at the starving mare, and after her first half-hour, she was evaluated to be as good at sweeping as anypony else, and was hired, even given an employee discount on her first purchase, a pomegranate that she ate on her break. She was better off now than she had been this morning, with at least a little bit of food in her stomach.

He turned his eyes back to the intersection, wrapping his claws even tighter around his knees. More than anything, it was the anticipation that was killing him. He knew it was going to happen, but not knowing what or when was absolute agony.

The ringing of a bell and the wail of an alarm starting up drew his attention. Up the street, a fire brigade wagon was just pulling out of their garage and moving his way. In the opposite direction, he noted that there was a thin pillar of mostly wispy grey smoke rising into the air, but it was starting to turn darker.

They probably had it, right? After all, they were the fire brigade. They were supposed to be able to save ponies from burning buildings, and also, to save other buildings from ones that were on fire. Sometimes, they even saved the building itself, if the damage was minimal enough.

Still, as they slowed down to turn the corner, Spike hopped on. He was a dragon, making him immune to fire, he was appointed as a guardian, so he should be trying to save lives, and he was already dead, so having a building collapse on him would be fine, right? What was wrong with going to help out? If they didn't need him, he could always just come back. Maybe this was the disaster he was supposed to stop.

He arrived at the fire and the wagon stopped. Several ponies jumped off the wagon and started hooking up their equipment. Spike, knowing he was safe, or at least believing he was safe, charged right into the building. He needed to know who all was in there, and he had to help them vacate.

The first floor and basement were clear. Nopony was down there. If anypony had been, they were able to pull themselves out.

The first one who couldn't was a mare on the second floor. A decorative sculpture in the hallway had fallen over and was blocking the door. Spike could hear her bashing against the door, grunting and whimpering as the door refused to budge.

Spike was incapable of moving the sculpture on his own, but that wasn't going to stop him. He would think of something.

His second thought, after moving the piece, was to break it in half. Perhaps it would be easier to move if it were smaller? Luckily, his breath was still capable of flame, and the building was already on fire, so who would know? He concentrated his fire on the section of stone in front of the door until it started to turn red, and then it exploded.

The next time the mare hit the door, it opened. She rushed back into her room, grabbed the foal that was with her, and galloped out of the building. As soon as Spike saw that they were clear, he moved on.

The next mare was an elderly one a few doors down in the main hall. She was collapsed on the floor, having passed out from inhaling too much smoke. There wasn't a lot Spike could do but use his wings to generate wind and clear the hallway. As he did, two members of the fire brigade made it to the top of the first flight of stairs, and, feeling the gust, looked down the hallway. They immediately rushed over to pick her up and pull her out, so Spike could trust that she was in safe hooves.

Up to the third and final floor. As soon as Spike was up there, he could hear a stallion calling for help, so that was where he went. Behind a locked door, a closed window and no other exits, this stallion had been stuck under a roof beam. He had some nasty burns already, but the fire was creeping closer.

Spike ran over and grabbed the beam, lifting with all of his might. It was a heavy beam, though. It was meant to hold up the roof. Spike didn't know if he could lift it on his own.

Then came the wispy glow around his arms and legs again. He could see it forming, and he could feel the beam becoming easier and easier to lift as the glow went brighter and brighter.

Finally, the beam was up high enough for the stallion to pull his leg out. Definitely broken. But he pulled himself across the room, unlocked the door, burning his hoof with the hot metal key in the process, and started crawling toward the stairwell.

The stairs looked about ready to collapse, and since Spike couldn't carry him out the window, the only thing he could think to do was situate himself under the stairs and make sure they didn't fall while the stallion half-tumbled down them. As they reached that floor, the fire crew had returned, checking for more ponies. The stallion called out to them, and they carried him out.

There was nopony else in the building. Spike checked everywhere, including the roof above and the sewers below. Even the adjacent buildings were evacuated. Everypony seemed safe.

Well, alive, at any rate. As the wisps around Spike's arms and legs dissipated away once again, he stopped in to check on the ponies he'd helped. The mother and her child were okay, the mother having light bruising from striking the door as hard and often as she had. The elderly mare was breathing through an oxygen mask, and the stallion was being loaded up on an ambulance to be transported to the hospital.

Seeing them all on the path to recovery, Spike felt a swell of pride, and then a sting of frustration. If this was the place where he was supposed to save somepony, why did he have to stand at an intersection four blocks away? Why wasn't he made to stand here, where he could be on the scene right away?

"Because this wasn't the problem," he groaned again, spreading his wings and flying back to his post.