Flickering Flames

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."