"DIAMOND TIARA!!" Silver Spoon shrieked. No! This wasn't happening! This could not be happening!! Neighbors were starting to step out of their houses, all gathering to stare at the flickering spectacle before them. Sweetie Belle was wildly prancing in place, a look of absolute horror wrapped around her pretty muzzle.

"Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo?!" She squealed. There were no answers. A fire like this was bigger than any challenges the group had come ever come across. Nervously, Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom for some sort of plan, but she too, was engrossed in the roaring flame that greedily engulfed the house.

"DIAMOND TIARA!!" Silver Spoon screamed again. Suddenly, things were happening faster than Apple Bloom could react. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement- the movement of Silver Spoon racing frantically towards the house. No! NO!!

"Silver Spoon! Wait!" Sweetie Belle squealed, but it was to late. Silver couldn't go through the front door, like Diamond had, but the back door- that was still unlocked from earlier!

The smoke wasn't just obscuring the view, it stung relentlessly at Diamond's eyes as she tried to navigate blindly through her own house. Usually it was a like a giant maze. Now it was like a giant maze that was on fire. Heavy smoke hung across the main foyer, billowing out in thick clumps from the kitchen. Flames licked at the walls and the various furniture scattered around the house, and Diamond Tiara found herself both terrified and confused. Where was she supposed to go? How was she supposed to find her mom in all of this mess? She frowned, and tried to take a cleansing breath of the house's choking air. Bad idea. The little filly broke down into a coughing fit, and the tears in her eyes from the burning heat didn't help matters at all. She was starting to feel sick; light headed from the thick clouds inside of her house.

"M-Mom...." Diamond sobbed and coughed. This was bad. This was looking very bad. She wasn't thinking when she threw herself into the house. All she knew was that this was her fault, and if she didn't do something mother was gonna die because of her! No! She wouldn't let the happen! She could do this! This was her house after all, she knew it better than anypony! First thing's first: find mother. Still coughing, Diamond made her way towards the living room, where she last saw her mom. Luckily the fire hadn't quite progressed to that room, and it was mostly clear of flames. But Spoiled wasn't in there. Something that drove a new wedge of fear into Diamond's heart.

Where then? Where would she be? What if she had already gotten out? No. No then she would have seen Spoiled as the group approached the hous- Something tackled Diamond from behind, sending her crashing to the floor with a yelp.

"Stay down!" Silver Spoon snapped, as Diamond struggled to free herself from her friend's grasp, kicking and flailing at her sudden surprising assailant. "It's ME! Diamond! We've gotta get outta here!" Silver Spoon barked.

"NO! No, mother needs me! She's in here somewhere! I can't let her die! I can't!!" Diamond sobbed, trying to pull herself to her hooves, but Silver Spoon was relentless, holding her down, while sparks of flame started to flutter down around them. The roof was going to go, soon.

"Stay down! Smoke raises up! Crawl on your tummy!" Silver Spoon screamed across the raging fire. To her ultimate horror, Diamond Tiara took her advice- and started to climb the stairs, instead of heading for the exit. She was obsessed with finding her mother, but the longer they remained the more dangerous that would become. Spoiled wasn't in the kitchen when Silver Spoon had passed through. She didn't know quite how, but she was sure the fire started in there. Maybe the half chopped up carrots, vomit, and wildly smoking stove was a clue. Spoiled might have come into the kitchen to finish making herself food, threw up, went to clean up and forgot all about the stove in her state. She might be in a bathroom somewhere. How many bathrooms did this place have?!

"Diamond! Wait! Don't go upstairs, there's no way out!" Silver Spoon whimpered and even with the blinding smoke, Silver could tell Diamond was already gone.

"MOTHER?!" Diamond screamed, opening the door to the bar lounge on the second floor. This was the next logical place mother would be. But she wasn't there either. Mother kept so much alcohol around, no wonder this place lit up like a match. Where else, where else? The games room?! Diamond raced down the burning hall way towards a door on her left. A large room filled with darts and other games of idle amusement. But it did not contain Spoiled Rich. Ok, fine. Where else? The servants quarters? No, that didn't make any sense. It was getting hard to breathe. The room was starting to spin. She didn't care. She had to find mother! She'd go through all of the rooms if she had to! ALL OF THEM! She didn't care if the house burned down! She had to rescue her mother! She had to! This was her fault!

Driven by guilt, Diamond sprinted up and down the hall, kicking doors open and hoping against hope one of the rooms would contain her mother. Alas, she wasn't on the second floor. That made things slightly more challenging, but Diamond was determined to find her mother! Fire or no fire! That meant she needed to head to the third floor- so that's what she did, nimbly avoiding the various patches of heat and flame smoldering on the stairs.

"Diamond! Wait! Come back!!" Silver Spoon called from somewhere behind her, but the girl was impossible to see, completely obscured by the smoke that filled the house. Diamond didn't care. She wouldn't return until she found her mother! She forced herself up the stairs, pausing only when she got to the top. The smoke was impossibly thick here, and even crawling on her tummy left Diamond struggling to breathe.

"Mother...Mom...?!" Diamond called out, immediately bursting into another coughing fit. Where could she be?! Where was she? Something from the ceiling snapped, and came tumbling down. A large, gleaming chandelier, that threw itself to the floor with an explosion of glass and fire. Diamond gulped, and glanced behind her. More fire on the stair case. Her path out was slowly choking on flames. Now she was scared. Much more so than she was before and time was running out! Or, maybe it already had run out, and Diamond was just turning a blind eye to the fact that she would not live to see her next birthday party. 'She was in trouble. Real trouble,' her brain screamed at her, as if it wasn't emphasized enough. She wondered; Was this punishment? Was this what happened to little girls who talked back to their mothers?!

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Diamond sobbed, now blinding wading through the strangling smoke. She couldn't see and the fire roared in her ears. The smoke choked the air from her lungs, and the filly stumbled down the hall way towards her room. Her plan had unraveled entirely and now she was acting on blind panic. She was trying to get to somewhere familiar where she could think more clearly. She could figure something out if she could just make it to her room. Diamond wasn't entirely sure why suddenly her room seemed like such a great place to go. Like it were some magical force field from the fire. That didn't make any sense, but blind panic and being light headed from smoke inhalation might have had something to do with her current train of thought.

She tripped over something. Right before the door to her room. It was a body, breathing in shallow, wheezing gasps. Mother!!

"M, mom? Mom, I'm here, we- we're gonna get out of here, ok? W-We're gonna...we're gonna be fine. " Diamond sputtered, tears racing down her cheeks as she realized the grim truth of her situation. There was no way out. Spoiled Rich slurred something drunkenly, and tried to climb to her hooves and Diamond watched in horror as the larger mare rammed herself against Diamond's door, but to no effect. She collapsed on the spot.

"My...My baby's... in there...I locked her in her room...P-Please..." She coughed, struggling to stay conscious while she climbed to her hooves. She didn't recognize Diamond. The booze and all the smoke must have...

"N-No, mother! It's me! We have to get out of here!" Diamond sobbed quietly but mother was too drunk to walk, let alone navigate through a fire. They were trapped. "I-I'm sorry! Mom I'm sorry! I'm sorry I made you drink! I'm sorry I talked back to you! I-" Her voice cut off with another coughing fit, choking miserably on the smoke that filled the room. She tried to pull her mother with her- but the intoxicated mare was too heavy for a tiny filly to move on her own. For all of the 'earth pony strength' Diamond had heard about, she couldn't move her mother at all- so she settled for the next best thing...

"Diamond!" A voice shrieked from the raising smoke behind them. Silver Spoon. The filly crawled over quietly, and froze when she saw Diamond Tiara- who had nestled up under her mother's arms, as if the unconscious pony were giving her one last, final hug.

"Come on! Come on, we have to go!" Silver spoon announced, taking a nervous glance back towards the hallway, where the flames kissed over the path she'd taken to reach Diamond and her mother. She frowned, and flat out screamed when the floor finally gave way. The hallway crumpled and collapsed under the weight of the inferno, leaving a giant gap from Diamond's room to the staircase down. Trapped. They were trapped on this horrible little strip of floor, separated from the stairs.

Silver stood there, ears wilting, eyes wide. It was impossible now. It was over. There was nothing left to do other than watch destiny come to claim them. Slowly, she lay down, next to Diamond and her mother, and gasped when Diamond pulled her into a hug; the two fillies now hiding under Spoiled's arms. It wouldn't be much defense against a fire, but it made Silver feel slightly better. She hugged Diamond back with her eyes closed and she sniffled.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't vote for you." Silver Spoon whispered quietly. She wasn't sure if Diamond could hear her or not, with the way the flames had began to close in on the little flooring they had left.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I....was kind.....of a jerk. I'm ...glad it all...worked out..." Diamond wheezed with smoke in her lungs. If the last thing she could do, was make up with Silver Spoon, Diamond decided that one small thing wouldn't make up for a life time of cruelty, but it was a start. It was worth something, at least to Silver Spoon, who sadly smiled in return.

"You're...my best...friend...S-silv-"

"THERE!" Apple Bloom cried out from the veil of smoke. Both fillies perked their ears as an aura of magic weaved its way to them. Numerous pieces of debris floated into the air, and pressed together to form a bridge. A small bridge, but...

"HURRY UP!! SWEETIE CAN'T DO THIS FOR LONG!" Scootaloo screamed from somewhere close by. Diamond opened an eye. True, she felt sluggish and sleepy, but now there was a bridge. She could see it, and Silver Spoon was already lifting one of mother's legs. Maybe it would be possible to two fillies to carry her! Quickly, Diamond called on every last bit of reserve strength she had, and tried to lift mother's left side up. Come on, come on, come on! This was it! It was now or never! Come on...

The mare budged. An inch or so, maybe, but it was enough. They could move her! Now with renewed vigor and hope, Diamond gave it her all, slowly carrying her mother across the makeshift bridge with Silver Spoon, where they met the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo had gotten a fire extinguisher from somewhere and was blasting at various flames with it, but the fire was coming in to fast and there wasn't enough of the extinguisher left to make too much more of a difference.

"Scootaloo! Look for a way out!" Apple Bloom hollered. Scootaloo was the most athletic one and easily the fastest out of all of them. If there was a way out of the building, Scootaloo would find it. She gave the extinguisher to Sweetie Belle and raced off, while Apple Bloom helped Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Three earth pony fillies moving a full grown mare was slightly better than two, and now Diamond could see real progress being made. They dragged her down the stairs to the second floor, where fire had started to creep back in, over the places Scootaloo had already sprayed.

"Just hang on ya'll, S-Scootaloo won't let us down!" Apple Bloom whimpered, looking around wildly, but the smoke was blinding, engulfing all of them.

"It's blocked!! The first floor is totally messed up! We can't get out!! You guys?! You guys I can't see!!" Scootaloo called out frantically from somewhere in the house.

"We're over here Scoots!" Apple Bloom called. Diamond gave a haggard cough and groaned. If she was hearing correctly, things were starting to go from bad to worse. She frowned. This wasn't right. She knew this house better than any pony. There was always a way in or out! Think, Diamond, think!! She reached over and nudged Silver Spoon.

"Rand...Ran...Randolf's room." The filly wheezed, trying to drag Spoiled towards the closest door on her right. The rest of the girls were panicking, and Sweetie Belle was screaming for help. Silver Spoon frowned. Randolf's room? She glanced at the door in front of them, and leaned back to kick it open. The room was more or less clear of smoke, and the window was gleaming brightly with fading sunlight outside. Wait-a-minute. The window! It looked out over the side of the house!! Panicked, Silver Spoon raced to the window, throwing it open and sticking her upper body out.

"HEY!! OVER HERE!! HELP!!" She shrieked. Some pony came racing around the side of the house, dressed in thick rubber and a helmet. Fire ponies!!

"GUYS! THE FIRE PONIES ARE HERE!!" Silver Spoon screamed. Fire had begun to creep into the room, lapping at the door, and eating at the floor. Diamond Tiara collapsed onto the carpet. Her lungs ached, and she felt sleepy. There was smoke everywhere, and it was so hard to breathe. She mewed quietly when she found herself leaning against Apple Bloom's shoulders, and the farm pony half walked, half dragged Diamond to the window.

"Almost ready?!" She barked. Silver Spoon, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had positioned Spoiled right against the window's frame, the drunken mare having managed to get to her hooves but lacking the where-with-all to jump to safety.

"Ready!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo chimed. Placing Diamond on the floor for a second, Apple Bloom raced forward, and shoved Mrs. Rich as hard as she could out the open window. Even with the rescue net down below, and the Fire Ponies scrambling to help Mrs. Rich, Apple Bloom had to admit that was incredibly satisfying. One by one, the fillies threw themselves out of the window, with Apple Bloom jumping out last.

Most of the neighborhood had gathered around to stare in shock at the raging fire and swallowed up the Rich's house. As Apple Bloom climbed off the safety net, she was rushed off to a carriage nearby with medical supplies. She sighed. Great. If Applejack got wind of this, she wouldn't be allowed outside without a helmet for at least a month. Ugh. To her right, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Silver Spoon were giggling nervously. Sure, they could laugh about it now, but Apple Bloom was worried about Diamond Tiara, who was laying motionless on a stretcher next to the carriage.

"She gon' be okay, right?" Apple Bloom squeaked. A large stallion with long, brown hair, and a chocolate coat smiled warmly at Apple Bloom and nodded his head.

"She's gonna be just fine, little miss. It's mostly smoke inhalation, and exhaustion. The other one had some second-degree burns, but I think both of them will make a full recovery. Still trying to find the source of the blaze, though." He frowned. Diamond coughed up a small blueish puff of smoke and shook her head.

"I....was playing...with matches.....I know better....M-my bad." Diamond rasped, choking out her voice as loud as she could. The stallion turned to glare at her with disgusted snarl.

"Don't you have any idea how dangerous that is?! You could have seriously hurt your mother! You need to think before you act, young filly!" He growled, stomping off to check on the other girls. Apple Bloom frowned, and made her way to the side of the stretcher.

"Why would ya'll-" Applebloom asked, but Diamond giggled quietly. A choked, hacking giggle- but a giggle none the less.

"C-can't charge for neglect...if it...was just...an accident..." She hissed. "Mom...won't...get in trouble...this way..." She pointed out, with the largest smile on her face, as if she were extremely proud of herself. Slowly it dawned on Apple Bloom this was a much more complicated problem than she realized. Diamond's unconditional love for her mother was not a hurdle Apple Bloom had expected would need clearing. Could she really tell the guards, and the other ponies this was happening? Diamond was right, social services would split the family up. If something ever cropped up to split up the apples, Apple Bloom knew she'd be devastated. Could she really do that to another pony?"

Apple Bloom smiled sadly, and nodded her head. "I-If ya'll sure...I won't say nothin' if you won't." Apple Bloom stammered quietly. Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, but held out a shakey hoof for a hoof-bump. Apple Bloom smiled softly, and tapped her hoof against Diamond's.

"You'll...come visit...me in the...hospital?" Diamond asked warily. Apple Bloom nodded her head.

"Of course we will!" Apple Bloomed beamed happily. Diamond smiled again, and lay back on the stretcher with a quiet sigh.

"Thanks for being my friend, Apple Bloom." Cooed Diamond Tiara and rested her hooves on her tummy. Consciousness drifting lazily away, the last thing she saw, when she glanced to her left, was her mother. She was smiling at Diamond, and her eyes were soaked with tears.

Author's Notes:

Incoming Epilogue!

(I did my best to edit this one by myself)