Cheerilee groaned as the alarm clock next to her bed rang. Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to stretch, only to find that there was something big lying next to her. Slowly, she began to remember the previous night. Dustbin had his hooves wrapped around her, and a trickle of his drool was dribbling down her forehead. With a grunt, Cheerilee jabbed her hoof into the Stallion’s ribs.

“Get up,” Cheerilee snapped. The stallion next to her mumbled something unintelligible. She gave the lug a firm shove in his chest. “Get up!”

“Wuh…what?” Groggily, Dustbin’s eyes opened. Cheerilee’s green irises met the bloodshot orbs of the stallion on her bed. Once he realized where he was, he gave her a putrid grin. His hooves wrapped themselves a little tighter around the mare they were holding. “Morning, beautiful.”

Cheerilee forcefully shoved him off, causing him to roll off the bed with a grunt and a dull thud. “Get up. You’re going to hold your end of the bargain.”

“At three in the morning?” He brought a hoof to his head, rubbing slightly. “I feel like horseapples.”

“Before you came here you smelled like them. I don’t see the problem.”

Dustbin’s eyes snapped open. He inhaled deeply, followed by a series of sniffs, whipping his head left to right. “What’s that smell?”

Cheerilee, by now, had ditched her set of socks in favor of her mare do well costume. She made sure to pull the zipper on her mask before turning to face her guest. Moment of truth. “What smell?”

He began to pace the room, before sniffing the stick of incense she had lit the previous night, grimacing.

“What’s this? It’s blocking all of the other scents!”

“Incense. I thought it would set the mood. Unfortunately, you were too drunk off your flank on my good wine to appreciate it.” Cheerilee pointed a hoof towards the pile of bottles, the result of their ‘night together’. Dustbin narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between the bottles, the incense stick and the condom.

“You’re going to leave through the front door, and you will lead me to my target. I will tail you over the rooftops.” Cheerilee snapped in the rough rasping voice she reserved for Mare Do Well. The tramp’s eyes locked on her mask.

“What did we do last night?”

Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed behind her mask. “What you asked. Now get moving.”

“What if I don’t believe you?”

Cheerilee stood still for a moment, remaining silent. Dustbin’s glare was trained on the sockets of her mask. For a moment it waivered, his eyes shifting to the right, which was the moment Cheerilee used to pounce. She brought her hoof down on his muzzle, and pressed the sharp edges of her climber claw against his neck. “Then you won’t have time to scream.” It was a bluff. Cheerilee had no intention to kill anypony, but she hoped the tramp would be frightened enough of her and her reputation that he would back down. “I have given you what you wanted. Me. I was yours for a night. Now I want what you promised, or we’ll see if you can smell your way out of Tartaros. Got it?”

Dustbin trembled for a moment. For all his cheeky bravado earlier, the tramp was no hero. He nodded his consent. Cheerilee lifted her hooves and stepped away.

“Fine. I’ll take you. I just need to get away from this incense.”

Cheerilee nodded. “Don’t double cross me, Dustbin. Manehatten won’t mourn for you if you do.”

His reply came in the form of an undignified huff as the door closed behind him.

*****

Cheerilee grunted as she hoisted herself over the edge of a rooftop. She had miscalculated a jump and had ended up with her rear hooves dangling over the edge. She was forced to move fast, to make sure her guide wouldn’t slip from her sight. Despite the brief hitch, her ruse seemed to have paid off. Dustbin regained his scent only moments after he went out of the building, and immediately set off.

The stallion almost marched, his pace determined. He wasn’t making it easy for Cheerilee to keep up the pace. Fortunately, he still needed a moment now and again to sit down and make sure he was on the right track. It allowed Cheerilee to catch up, only to almost fall behind again as he chased the scent once more.

Cheerilee watched as Dustbin entered an alley. She jumped the rooftop and waited for him to emerge on the other side, only to find the tramp nowhere in sight. Her stomach twisted momentarily, frantically searching for a sign of her guide. She swore inwardly, only to find him again as he sat casually in the alley he initially ‘disappeared’ in. Feeling sheepish for a moment, she jumped down.

“Why are we stopping?,” she asked forcefully.

He gave her an amused smirk. “Because we’re here, sugar.” He pointed a hoof towards a building on the other end of the street. They were in the center of Manehatten, where the richer portion of ponies lived. Buildings were generally in better shape, roomier and more luxurious. The building that Dustbin pointed out, however, transcended all of those. Cheerilee recognized it as the most prestigious apartment complex in Manehatten. The woodwork was decorated with intricate flower patterns, the door was inlaid with colorful stained glass, and some of the balconies even sported their own Jacuzzi.

“Seems like somepony likes to live rich.” Cheerilee turned towards the tramp. “Thank you.”

The tramp guffawed in his annoying manner. “My pleasure.”

“She better be here, though,” she snapped in return, “I’ll find you if she’s not.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” He pointed somewhere across the street. A pierced mare with a strange, spastic gait emerged from the decorated apartment’s doors. “Better run. She looks in a hurry.”

Indeed, the moment she was clear of the building she started to run. Several other ponies followed her example. Cheerilee pushed herself to gallop as fast as she could in pursuit, only to be forced to a halt as a thunderous explosion came from inside the apartment, knocking out most of the upper floors and igniting fires in the lower ones.

Cheerilee instinctively threw her hooves in front of her face to protect herself from the intensity of the blast. She needed a moment to snap out of her wide eyed, open mouthed horror at witnessing the inferno, getting into an even faster gallop to make up for lost time, chasing after the pierced mare with renewed vigor.

From behind her, she heard wailing and crying coming from the burning building, causing her to pause for a moment. She could hear individual cries of terror, screams of panic from ponies that began to gather on the streets to watch and point at inhabitants that appeared to be stuck on the remaining few higher floors. She turned her head towards the pierced mare again, only to see her turn a corner and disappear from sight. She swore inwardly, turning towards the building. Using her climbing claws, she made her way to the top of an adjacent building, from which she was able to jump to one of the upper floors, into the mass of flames.

Smoke was everywhere. Though her mask made breathing and seeing easier, the thick black clouds that were erupting from the searing flames stung her eyes and lungs nonetheless. She knew she hadn’t much time. Cheerilee stood in a wide hallway. There was a row of doors on each side. The ceiling was decorated with expensive, ornate lamps. She ducked out of the way just as one of said lamps came crashing down. Through the smoke, Cheerilee could make out a group of ponies. They were huddled together, crying and shouting in panic. They sat in front of a large pile of rubble that, apparently, blocked the stairwell. Cheerilee cursed inwardly as she looked around, before turning to the group.

“Calm down!,” she shouted, “I’ll get you out of here! Just stay together!” Her reassurances had little effect. Most ponies simply continued to wail, where others simply stared at her with a horrified expression. At least none of them were expressing their panic by running around like headless chickens. Thank Celestia for small favors, at least.

She noticed that not every door in the hallway had been opened yet. She began to kick them all down, one by one, swiftly scanning the rooms for survivors. She found a few ponies, shocked by the events. Pulling them to their hooves, she dragged them towards the rest of the group. A loud cracking sound behind her reminded her of her urgency. Part of the hallway had already collapsed, and it wasn’t going to be long before the flames would consume everything. Panic began to creep into her mind as she looked towards a possible exit. When her eyes fell on the staircase, she had an idea.

Cheerilee entered the apartment next to the stairs, braced herself and started to buck the wall that stood between the room and the stairwell with all the force her rear legs could muster. Within seconds, the wall began to give, and with a loud crack and a cloud of dust their exit was created.

“This way!,” she screamed at the group of ponies at the top of her lungs. Cheerilee jumped through the hole, ready to catch the ponies that followed. What in reality took mere seconds, took ages in Cheerilee’s mind. All around them the building was starting to come down. More rubble was starting to rain down on the rest of the stairwell, which would make their trip to safety even more difficult.

Finally, all of the ponies had passed through the hole and were making their way down. As they came to the second floor, Cheerilee noticed the stairs and fire exit were unblocked. She figured the inhabitants on this level had already gotten out, until she noticed a lone figure trapped under a pile of burning rubble.

“Everypony! To the exit! Move, move, move!” she pointed the group towards the exit, and safety, while making her way over to the trapped pony. Using her climbing claws she got a hold of the flaming wooden beams and pulled them away. There was a burning patch of fur, which she quickly extinguished with her hoof. Taking the pony—an earth pony mare, she noticed—on her back, she made her way out of the building.

Outside, a large crowd had gathered. The fire department had arrived, and were readying their water hoses. Medics were providing care for the inhabitants. When she was sure that she was within a safe distance, she carefully lowered the mare from her back to the ground. She was wheezing heavily, but at least she was breathing. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered, revealing two amethyst orbs. Then, the mare proceeded to cough her lungs out.

Cheerilee turned her head towards the medical ponies nearby. “This one needs an oxygen mask!,” she yelled before turning back to the mare, running a hoof through her mane. “Easy. You’re safe, you’re going to be fine.”

The mare swallowed, and tried to speak. Her voice was hoarse, tainted by the smoke, but Cheerilee could make out the words. “My cello. Please, my cello. Is it-.” She was interrupted by another fit of coughs. Cheerilee was about to open her mouth again, but was shoved aside by medical ponies that put an oxygen mask over the mare’s muzzle and lifted her onto a stretcher to carry her to a medical carriage.

Cheerilee coughed to clear her lungs before looking around. Most of the ponies that belonged to the fire brigade, medical staff or guard corps outright ignored her. However, most of the other ponies were outright staring at her. Some with fear, some with confusion, and to her surprise some with a smile. She smiled back, momentarily ignorant of the fact that her mask hid the expression. She had failed in what she set out to do, again. The pierced mare had gotten away. Yet for a moment, she didn’t care about that. Ponies were smiling. Smiling at her.

Cheerilee realized that it was time to go home, and she turned back to the building for a last look. Her face paled. Behind the windows she spotted movement. There was still somepony in there.

I forgot to check those rooms! She turned her head towards the fire brigade. All of them were going about their business to get the fire out, but there was no indication that they had noticed what she had. It would take too long to warn the fireponies for them to mount a rescue, so there was only one solution. Cheerilee sprinted back towards the building.

Once again, she found herself facing smoke and flames. The fact that the fire was being doused didn’t help with her visibility. The wet wood created a barrier of smoke that made navigation nearly impossible. She called out at the top of her lungs.

“Hello?! Anyone here?! Where are you!”

“Help me!,” a voice sobbed. It came from the door she was standing next to. Without hesitation she applied a generous helping of her hind hooves to the wood, nearly reducing the door to splinters as it crashed open.

Within the apartment, there was a mare sobbing in the corner. Her exit had been blocked by a rather sizable hole in the floor. Though the jump would be manageable for her own trained legs, it was nigh impossible for an average pony. Cheerilee took a running jump and latched her climber claws to the wall, next to the sobbing mare. It was a risky plan. Considering the ease with which she was able to knock the walls down earlier, she doubted their solidity. However, it was the best she could come up with on such a short term.

“Alright, jump for my hoof!,” Cheerilee shouted.

The mare sobbed. “I’m scared!”

Cheerilee groaned inwardly. She didn’t have time for a gentle approach, yet she needed one right now. She stretched out her left foreleg while hanging onto the wall with her right. “I’m scared too! It’s not exactly peachy from where I’m hanging, but if you can’t find the courage we’re going to die in here!” Cheerilee winced at her own words. She realized that the mention of death might actually counter the effect of her words. Surprisingly however, the mare wiped her eyes with a fetlock and nodded.

“A-alright.” She crouched down, and with surprising strength leapt forward, the mare’s front hooves grabbing a hold of Cheerilee’s outstretched leg.

“Good jump!,” Cheerilee said. From the timid smile she received she figured it actually bolstered her confidence. “I’m going to swing you to the other side now. On three, I want you to let go. Got it?”

The other mare nodded. Cheerilee began swinging her leg, and started her count.

“One. Two. Three!” With a groan and an extra surge of strength behind her swing, the mare landed, albeit clumsily, on the other side of the chasm. Cheerilee herself used her hind legs to push herself from the wall and landed next to the mare to help her on her feet.

“This way!,” Cheerilee shouted before making her way out of the apartment. Once entering the hall she noticed that another part of the building had collapsed, blocking the fire exit. She couldn’t stop herself from cursing. Running out of options, she took a gamble and made for the other direction. There was a window at the end of the hallway that led to a small alley. More importantly, on the other side there was some wood she could latch on to. Without much ceremony, Cheerilee opened the window and jammed it to make sure it stayed that way.

“Come here!,” Cheerilee shouted to the mare. “Get on my back!” With some effort, the mare got on. She wrapped her hooves around Cheerilee’s withers, squeezing just a little too tight for comfort. “Hold on tight!” With a grunt of effort, Cheerilee leaped through the window, airborne for mere moments before her climber claws met the wood with a loud thud. She winced in pain, unused to the weight of two ponies hanging from her front legs. Looking up, Cheerilee noticed that the flames were threatening to spread to the other building.

Climbing down, she made her way towards a window, kicking it in and dropping herself and the mare on her back inside. They were met with the stares of two stallions, entangled in each other’s hooves. A small tendril of spittle connected their muzzles, making it no mystery what kind of activities they were taking part in. Cheerilee felt her cheeks heat up, before remembering what they were doing.

“The building is going to catch on fire, get out of here you dolts!,” she yelled. The couple let out startled yelps before hurriedly making their way outside. In the hallway, Cheerilee pressed her hoof on the fire alarm, causing a siren to wail through the building’s corridors.

“This way!” Cheerilee yelled to the mare that was still, to her relief, on her heels. She galloped through corridors, and down stairways, until finally faced with a door that led outside. Pushing through, they found themselves in yet another alley. Cheerilee sighed in relief.

“You saved me,” a timid voice spoke from behind Cheerilee. She turned around.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied.

“N-no. I…Thank you. Thank you so much. I just-.” Her sentence was interrupted by a series of coughs. Only now did Cheerilee get a good look at the mare she rescued. Though she was covered in grime and soot, she could still make out the pink of her coat. Her mane was a combination of purple and white, now very frazzled. A tremble went through Cheerilee’s body. On the mare’s flank was a picture of a blue tiara.

“Um, are you alright?” the mare asked, blue eyes looking at Cheerilee with a confused expression.

“What’s your name?,” Cheerilee asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

“M-my name? Why do you need my-.”

“Just tell me!” Cheerilee snapped.

“It’s Diamond Tiara, but-.” Once again, she was unable to finish her sentence, only this time it was due to a solid kick in the head that knocked her out cold. Cheerilee stared at the mare now lying unconscious on the alley floor. Without hesitation, she picked up Diamond Tiara and headed home.

Author's Note

I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit uncertain about this chapter. Since I'm writing this without an editor, I'll be forever grateful if you could point out any mistakes if you find them.

Also, keep an eye out for a story that I wrote for Cloud Kicker month. Though it's finished, I'm hoping to find a prereader or two for that one before I upload it. In any case, it should be out and about quite soon.