Inferno

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Chapter 02
Smoulder

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The impenetrable darkness was suffocating. Rarity's horn failed to illuminate anything no matter how hard she tried. The inside of her parent's home was completely alien without the aid of her eyes. She stumbled through the toxic smoke almost aimlessly. At the very least she knew which direction the stairs were from the front door.

By the time she stumbled onto the stairs, it already felt as though she were drowning. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't breathe through the smoke. Her lungs rejected the smoke, but the coughing just drew in more. She was lucky not to run into any fire thus far, but that didn't make the air any cooler or less caustic.

Halfway up the stairs, Rarity tried to call out after her family, but all that came out was a hoarse whisper accented by a serious coughing fit. The hot dry air burned her throat and, it was at that point, that she realized her coat was already drying. Pushing thoughts of how terrible she must've looked from her mind, she stumbled to the top of the stairs where she tripped over something small and soft.

She hit the ground hard. For a moment, she just lied there as she tried to figure out where to go in the inky, suffocating blackness. Tracing out her old home's layout in her mind, she told herself just to follow the left wall to find Sweetie Belle's room. As she started to get up, a moment of curiosity compelled her to look behind at what she had tripped over. Even with her horn aglow, all she could make out was a mass of grey. A pillow, maybe?

Putting it out of her mind, she kept a hoof on the wall until she came to the first door—Sweetie Belle's room. Her hoof reflexively recoiled the moment she touched the handle. It burned! Using her aura, she clumsily worked the handle. The instant the door swung open, a burst of orange light consumed her.

Rarity stumbled away from the burning light. Once she was far enough away, she looked back at Sweetie's room. It was completely consumed by flames. From her vantage point, she could barely make out Sweetie's bed and dresser—both being razed by fire. The far wall, the doorway, everything behind that door was ablaze. If Sweetie Belle was in there…

She tore her eyes away as she erupted into a coughing fit. Maybe Sweetie Belle ran to their parents' room? That had to be it. Not willing to accept any other train of thought, Rarity doubled back through the suffocating smog. She found the top of the stairs by again tripping over that soft thing. This time, she ended up entangled with it on the floor. As her eyes fluttered open, she saw nothing but grey, pink, and purple. "Swee…?" she managed to choke out before devolving into a coughing fit.

The little filly wasn't moving. Please be okay! her mind begged as she placed her head against Sweetie's chest. An agonizing second that seemed to last an eternity passed before she felt movement. Slowly and subtly, Sweetie Belle's chest expanded and retracted. Relieved that she was at least still breathing, Rarity nuzzled her sister's face. She didn't stir. A coughing fit reminded her just what must be wrong with Sweetie. She was drowning in the smoke.

I have to get her to fresh air! Getting up to her hooves, Rarity enveloped Sweetie Belle in her aura and started carrying her downstairs. She made it about halfway. One misstep and she tumbled down. Luckily, Sweetie Belle managed to fall right on top of her. Grabbing her little sister again in her aura, Rarity scrambled to hooves and tried to figure out where the door was. The smoke seemed even thicker than before—if that was even possible.

Rarity made several stumbling steps before a deafening noise threw her off of her hooves. The whole house seemed to shake and shudder. Rarity paid it little mind. She scrambled to figure out where she had dropped Sweetie Belle. Finding her just a few feet away, Rarity started towards her. She didn't make it far. Another crash sounded from above as part of the burning ceiling came down.

The burning debris came down on Rarity. She was knocked flat to the floor as a searing pain blinded her to everything else. A muted scream was all she could muster through the smoke as she flailed her front legs, trying to escape the flames. It was no use. She was pinned!

Daring to look back at what the inflicter of her agony, she found a flaming crossbeam across her hip. Seeing it actually made the pain in her back half worse. Tears formed in her eyes as she desperately tried to focus. She closed her eyes, sending tears down her cheeks as she tried to lift the beam with her magic. At first, she couldn't get any magic to build up in her horn through the pain. Redoubling her efforts, she managed to shift the weight just enough for her to pull herself free.

Once her back hooves were free, she lied there a moment waiting for the surge of pain to pass. After the worst of it passed, she tried to stand. Bad idea. Her hip felt like it was still simmering in the fire, but the moment she tried to put any weight on it a new, stronger agony stopped her dead. It was broken.

She wasn't going to be walking out, and the fire was already spreading. She used her front hooves to drag herself forward, each inch jarring her mangled leg and renewing her suffering. It seemed to take forever, but Rarity managed to crawl over to Sweetie Belle. Her sister wasn't the only thing she found. Sweetie Belle was on top of the front door! The exit was right next to her!

Rarity struggled to pick up Sweetie. Her flickering blue aura lifted the filly just high enough that her little hooves dragged across the ground. Rarity hovered her sister through the smoke until she couldn't see her anymore. There wasn't any wall, so Sweetie must've made it out of the house. At least, that's what Rarity told herself.

The exit and safety couldn't have been more than a few feet away. With her leg the way it was, it might as well have been a thousand miles for Rarity. She lowered her head as she closed her eyes. She let out a few weak coughs as she tried to ignore the pain in her hip. This was it. Rarity realized with a strange sense of calmness that she wasn't going to leave alive. Although she wasn't too afraid of her impending death, she couldn't help but to worry that she was going to found as a blackened, burned, and messy corpse.

As her breaths drew shallower and the flames lapped at her hooves and tail, a masculine voice sounded from beyond the smoke, "Hey! Is anypony in there!?"

Rarity tried to speak, but her lungs refused any more than the smallest of gasps. She couldn't even muster the strength to raise her head.

"Don't go in there!" a second voice warned. "It's too dangerous. Let's just get this filly to the hospital."

She might not have been able to speak or move, but Rarity still had one, fleeting chance of being discovered. Channeling all of her magic into her horn, it started to glow. It flickered briefly before extinguishing.

"Did you see that?"

"Focus, Turner! We need to get this filly to the hospital—now!"

Rarity tried to breathe life into her horn again. It didn't work. She didn't even have the energy to keep her eyes open. The voices faded into nothing as the smoke and ash smothered her consciousness.

"I know I saw it! A glimmer…"

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A/N: This is a really short chapter. Should I just tack it onto the end of chapter one?