Tending Flames

Chasing Haze felt on the verge of panic. All he could see was flames, the entire building utterly engulfed in an impossible conflagration burning so hot it turned the air blue. And all his gear was inside.

He dashed through the sky, one of many pegasi trying to control the flames. Chasing flew in tight circles, trying to squeeze some moisture out of the air to put into a cloud. He watched as each second brought the flames higher. He tried to use the training he had been given to establish the epicentre of the blaze.

The east end of the building that once made up Rosewood Cottage had completely collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in the tunnel-like building, allowing the fire to suck in vast amounts of air to feed it's growth. The west wing, especially the far end that comprised the kitchen, were only now beginning to catch. The turf roof, which had been built in the hope of repelling fire, was now holding in the heat from the burning wooden structure. Almost anything in that building would be charcoal by now.

Chasing gathered his cloud and flew it straight into the east wing, trying to get a more direct impact on the flames. The heat almost instantly evaporated the small dark tuft, leaving only a few dampened beams that quickly dried and burst into flame. Chasing flew up to a point and tried yet again to try and get a better latch on the situation. Pegasi were milling about in the sky, gathering any cloud, even mere wisps, and sending them all careening into the building at random angles. The moisture was just absorbed by the turf roof and evaporated again. They needed leadership. They needed a Fire Guard.

Chasing gulped. He wasn't in uniform, and wasn't very well known here yet, but he hoped that sheer logic would prevail here. He began shouting over the hubbub as ponies streamed out of Ponyville to assist. "Everypony, listen up! Gather clouds and aim them only at wooden structures! Try and save the building, stop the supports burning out!"

A few Pegasi nodded and immediately set to work. Chasing looked about, then shouted again, "Good! Good! Those of you not doing anything can go and rustle up some clouds over the reservoir, bring as much water as you can!" One or two dashed off to obey, but there were still dome hovering about. Chasing ignored them as he began flying in circles again. Another advantage of freak-wings, he thought to himself, was the ability to squeeze every last drop into a cloud. Another pegasus bumped her own cloud into Chasing's, doubling it's effective yield. He smiled gratefully and began pushing his cloud towards the east wing for a second attempt at taming the flames.

He heard a pony on the ground shout something about Derpy. "Where are Ditzy an DInky?!" Chasing tried to stay focused on the job. It was difficult, since his mind was screaming out the same question. He flew in, barreling around the cloud to squeeze it ever denser. He lined it up with the gaping cave-in, and pushed the cloud as fast he dared towards the inferno. The large cloud managed to dull the flames for a brief seconds, giving Chasing a view into the maw of Tartarus.

The long tunnel that had once made the inviting hall of Rosewood was replaced by arches of flames. Blankets on the floor instantly combusted from the sheer heat, burning away into nothingness in seconds. Bedframes exploded, sending splinters through the air, catching fire as they burst on impact with the blazing walls. But Chasing saw none of this. All he saw, in the minuscule moment before the flames reclaimed the air he had cleared, was a small blue light at the other end of the building, and the two huddled figures beneath it.

He wasn't meant to be here. But he was. He wasn't meant to be a hero, but that was his role now. Chasing's eyes hardened. even as his heart broke. He would probably die.

He spun about flew straight up, catching a pair of goggles from another pegasus before reaching the apex of his climb. He saw a flurry of clouds rapidly approaching. Wait! Maybe if those rain clouds got here quickly enough-

He heard a scream. He turned and dived, straight down at first, then leveled out, aiming into the throat of hell. With the goggles as his only protection, Chasing flew at terminal velocity through the collapsed wing of Rosewood. He used the draft created by the fire to pull him in even faster, knowing that speed was his only chance at reaching the other side, and maybe, safety.

Rainbow Dash stared in horror from her position marshaling the cloud bank as Chasing dove directly into the flame. She screamed and windmilled about the clouds, forming them into a horizontal vortex, pulling the mass along with her, in the hope of dousing the flames before...

Firestorm galloped through the crowd that had gathered, desperately searching the sky for the Fire Guard. There he was hovering like a lost feather in the sky...Then a scream cut through the air...It came from Rosewood...Wait..."What the fuck are you DOING?!" he shouted, as Chasing dropped into the heart of the fire, fast enough to leave a flaming contrail in the air. Firestorm realized what was happening. That scream. It had come from the west wing! Firestorm raced over, instantly settling on a plan of action. He only hoped he could get it right...

Pain. Blazing, ripping, eviscerating pain, lanced over every inch of bare flesh. Chasing was too far now to back out. Even when he folded his wings, his momentum sent arrowing through the length of the hall. Flames framed his vision, patterns and monsters leering out at him, carved for split seconds in smoke and fire. He saw the flickering light at the end of the tunnel of flames. rolled onto his side, throwing himself belly fist into the figures of Ditzy and her sister, just at Dinky's shield collapsed.

Chasing threw up his wings, using what was left of their area to block the heat from the two fillies as he unceremoniously kicked both of them up and through the kitchen window.

Chasing lay there, amidst the fire and heat and shattered glass, feeling the flames crawling hungrily towards him. He turned to watch his approaching death, weakly proud that he had not weakened in the moment when he was needed. As he felt his mind begin to slow, and see his vision fade, he heard the cooling hiss of rain. As time waned, Chasing Haze saw the roof tear apart, the flames ripped aside like veils of gauze, to allow in the life saving moisture, and the grey cloaked figure descending towards him like the Valkerie, the spiraling flames flanking the figure like wings of cold fire.