Chapter 5.

Later that night, you wake in a cold sweat. Something felt wrong. Looking at the clock on Berry’s mantle, you see that the pair of you had only been asleep for an hour or two. Her head shifts and she wakes too, looking into your eyes.

“Can you smell that?” she asks, after kissing you gently.

Feeling slightly groggy, you breathe in through your nose, the smell of burning oak faintly detectable on the air.

“It’s just oak, I imagine somepony’s just burning some old barrels. Probably that little restaurant bar on the other side of town.”

“Didn’t you say that your bar was built mostly using oak?”

You blink as the thought sinks in, before immediately leaping up and darting out of the door. Berry follows at full gallop and you can see a glow on the horizon. Panicking as you get closer, you see flames licking out of the upper windows of your pub, suddenly remembering the small oil-lamp you had left up there, but it had been turned off, hadn’t it? You realise that you don’t have the keys, and resign to letting it burn...

You see the window open, with a small blue scooter laid outside.

Bloody kids.

“Berry, there’s somepony in there. Get some help, I’m going in.”

Before she has chance to object, you buck the front door off of it’s hinges see to a ground floor filled with smoke. Taking a deep breath beforehand, you run into it, using your magic to hold your cap over your mouth.

You hear high whimpering, somehow, over the sound of the flames. Looking up, it gets slightly louder, and you run up the stair case, feeling the weakened wood construction creak under you weight. Bursting into your bedroom, you hear the whimpering coming from the direction of an old wardrobe that had been there when you first moved in. Using your magic to wrench it open, you grab the child by the scruff of her neck and move cautiously down the stairs, able to feel the heat through the wood.

Your four hooves left black smudges on the pavement as you push your way through the flames and out into the street. Staggering towards the crowd that had gathered, you could hear them all gasping at the tiny foal gripped by the scruff of her neck in your mouth, desperately panting for the fresh air now that she was out of the smokey insides of the building.

Glimpsing through the crowd of ponies, you’re sure you can see somepony who could be the mother of the purple maned pegasus, she was also a bright orange pegasus with a similarly styled purple mane - presumably the child’s father was the hourglass-marked brown earth pony trying to hold her back to stop her getting too close. You nod to him, and then to her, but receive nothing back. Wearily, the little pegasus looks at the pair too and gasps.

“...mom?”

Having lowered the child to the ground, you cough heavily, spluttering, and fall into the black velvet of unconsciousness...

***

Watching the fireponies put out the fire, you already begin to try and think of a way out of the situation. Thankfully the filly trapped inside whilst exploring hadn’t been hurt aside of a case of smoke inhalation; diagnosed by a doctor who had miraculously turned up as you staggered, smouldering out of the building. You cough once more, thick black mucous dragged up from your throat with a small amount of dull red blood, and spit it out onto the ground.

Berry had been clutching you since she had caught up after alerting the fire brigade and couldn’t believe that you were alive, her tears partially cleaning the soot and ashes out of your coat.

“Berry... I... I’m ruined.”

She squeezes you tighter than before, tears still pouring out of her eyes.

“It’s my fault, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come with me, I feel so stupid!”

“No, you saved my life. I was going to sleep there again tonight, in the attic, I wanted to see if I’d fixed the roof right. The cellar and my rooms in the attic are ruined, I’ve got no idea how the bar survived. If we’re going to make it through this and get the bits for repairs, we’ll need to source more booze, and sharpish. I’ve got a bunch of letters at my old lodgings with the names of ponies who could help. If anything, it’s pure luck that I’d forgotten about the place.”

Watching the last of the fire die out, you look around once more. The little pegasus had gone.

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