It all started so simply. The schoolhouse was cold and the outside blizzard chilled everypony's bones. The icy snow battered against the window and caused the panes to rattle. The children were shivering and couldn't study. Sweetie Belle tried desperately to gain a little warmth by pulling her magic to her horn and sparking it weakly. Scootaloo beat her undergrown wings furiously against her back to try and warm herself. Apple Bloom didn't have these privileges, so she just bit her jaw down hard and tried to study. Even Cheerilee was finding it hard to teach. She, like Apple Bloom, was an earth pony, so she had no way of keeping warm. Eventually, it became too much.
"Scootaloo, please put some coal in the stove," said the teacher.
"Yes ma'am" agreed Scootaloo happily. She trotted up to the little black stove and poured the coal inside. She took a little match and struck it swiftly on the box. She carefully threw it in among the coal and swung the guard shut. At least she thought she had. In truth, she had forgotten to latch it, but nopony noticed. She returned to her desk, which was cold to the touch, and began to thaw out among the other foals. As the day went on, the young ponies became more productive in the heat of the little black heater.
"Miss, can I use the bathroom?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Certainly," answered Miss Cheerilee.
~*~
Something caught the attention of Archer's eye. A little spark in the corner. She turned her head just in time to see a large lump of flaming coal be spat out of the swinging guard. Before she could even say a word, the flames caught hold of the wooden floor.
"Everypony out!" screamed Cheerilee as the inferno swept to the ceiling. Foals ran everywhere, screaming, getting stuck as they all ran to get out of the door at once. Just as Snails, the last foal inside, escaped the burning building, a firey beam fell and blocked off the door. The raging inferno's orange flames licked the sky as the building began to cave in and the smoke began to rise. Cheerilee gathered everyone around for a head count.
"One... Two.... Three, four, five..... Six, seven, eight.... Nine...." she counted. The panic began to rise in her voice as she came to the stomach-churning realisation,
"Only nine? Where is Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom's eyes filled with horror, as did Scootaloo's. She began to shake and ran toward the collapsing schoolhouse, determined to save her friend.
"No, Apple Bloom!" yelled Cheerilee. But it was too late. The little yellow filly put all her farm training to good use as she kicked down the blocked school door, and galloped inside. Scootaloo followed suit, using her wings to propel herself forwards.
~*~
The room was thick with smoke and the walls were charred and black. Furniture was eaten away by the flickering flames. Parts of the ceiling looked as though they could cave in at any moment and the bathroom door was blocked from where the ceiling had caved in. The wreckage burned uncontrollably and the two blackened fillies felt disheartened, knowing that their frien had probably been killed if the bathroom had caved in. They turned to leave before the smoke got to them. Suddenly, their ears pricked up at a pitiful squeak from behind the wreckage.
"Help... *cough*.... Help..." They knew this was the cry of what remained of Sweetie Belle. Slight scratching could be heard as she scraped the door weakly with her hooves.
"We're here!" called her best friends in unison as they raced towards the blocked door. Most of her strength gone, Bloom kicked weakly at the blockage. Scootaloo, having anticipated problems like this, grabbed her blackened scooter from the back wall, then, using her last ounce of strength, she flew forwards, crashing into the door and knocking the wreckage inwards. There, staring then in the face, was what remained of their friend. Her left back leg was bent painfully and most of her mane was burnt off. Her horn was slightly cracked and her face was black with soot. It only took Bloom and Scoots a few moments to realised that they looked just as bad. They took their broken friend by the hooves and attempted to haul her out. Sweetie only collapsed and after a few seconds, the two rescuers collapsed too. Their lungs were full of smoke, they would never make it to the door. The right wall collapsed, and the door, their only escape, was gone. Only a ray of sunshine, peering into the otherwise dark room, reminded them of the world outside. Softly weeping, Sweetie began to weakly sing.
"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, *cough* on a quest to find out who we are *cough*," the others softly began to join in, their eyes watering, but smiles all around, "and we will never stop the journey, not until we have our cutie marks...." The last note was sickeningly soft, as each of them succumbed to the smothering smoke around them.
Fluttershy to the rescue!
Fluttershy fed her various animals, singing silently to herself. Angel Bunny was the one who alerted her to the towering smoke cloud above. He thudded his foot down very suddenly and pointed to the sky. Fluttershy was immediately scared, as usual. The smoke was close by, she knew. Hearing screams, she thought she should investigate the scene. She took to the skies, just in time to see the right hoof wall Ponyville Elementary collapse as the building went up in flames. She heard another piercing shriek fill the air. It was her own. She flew as fast as she could to the building as it crumbled. She drew in the scene before her. Cheerilee and several of the older colts were scrabbling at the crushed door, trying to get in. Fluttershy knew she was right to assume the worst.
~*~
She landed outside the school gates and galloped quickly towards the burning building.
"Cheerilee, what happened?" asked a horrified Fluttershy.
"Sweetie Belle was lost inside, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom ran in to save her and the wall collapsed. They are all trapped inside," explained Cheerilee. Fluttershy's eyes grew wide with horror. With a sudden burst of strength, she kicked a hole into the crumbling wall of the flaming schoolhouse. The yellow pegasus clamped her wings to her sides, put her head down, sucked in a breath of fresh air and dashed into the smouldering fire. The first thing she saw was just plain darkness. Smoke was drifting heavily through the air, making her eyes sting and water. She put a hoof over her snout to avoid breathing it in and continued. There were small fires everywhere, chairs on the floor and a charred smouldering stove with the guard hanging open. The next thing she saw was three black ponylike figures lying on the ground. Then she saw a spot of orange, a splash of white and a dash of yellow. It was the three ponies, covered in ash! Knowing that taking them out one at a time would lose precious time, Fluttershy held Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle under her wings and picked Apple Bloom up by her tail. Scoots and Sweetie were both still slightly conscious, if a little woozy. Apple Bloom had collapsed and was unable to walk. Under the balance of her wings, she walked the two dizzy fillies outside. No sooner had Cheerilee thanked her and the fire department arrived, Fluttershy blacked out. Only able to hear slightly, she heard the shouts of concerned fireponies.
"They've inhaled a lot of smoke, get them to an ambulance!"
"The white one's lost part of her horn!"
"The little pegasus has a broken leg!"
"Get the yellow pegasus to the hospital too, she's collapsed!"
Fluttershy felt an oxygen mask being slipped over her face and a familiar southern accented voice whisper in her ear,
"Ya did good, Sugercube."
