A Blaze Of Glory

'Come on come on COME ON! I need to move faste-FUCKING MOVE YOU TWAT!' Whilst I may not have the speed of a flying pegasus', I must've appeared as a blur to many of the residents with how hard I was pushing myself. The concept that one of the fillies who I'd grown to like was in danger, or any other child for that matter, kept me running through the town and towards the burning school building, where I knew they'd be. Along the way, Twilight and Fluttershy had been trying to get my attention, crying out for me to slow down and to wait for them.

Of course, I did what came naturally to me and mentally told them to fuck off.

Within minutes, I'd arrived at the scene, the mares quickly coming to a stop next to me. Like myself, they were frozen at the sight before them. The school was almost halfway aflame, though this wouldn't last for much longer if the rate at which it seemed to be spreading was of any hint. A sudden calling of my name from besides me drew my attention away from the blazing inferno, and towards a galloping filly instead. A filly who I was very much relieved to see safe and sound. 'Oh thank fuck for that.'

"Alex! Oh, ya' gotta' help! Ya' just gotta'!" Applebloom cries, tears streaming from her eyes. Kneeling down, I wrap my arms around the distressed filly, I rub her back in a comforting manner, like one would a child. Feeling the filly's shaking subside ever so slightly, I bring her to eye level.

"The hell happened in there, kid?" I demand, looking over her shoulder for any sign of the rest of the CMC, who I was hoping were anywhere but in the school. Seeing no sign of the pair, I began to fear the worst. 'Please don't tell me they're still in that fuckfest.'

"W-W-We wa-were tryin' t-to get our C-c-cutie marks in ch-chemistry, w-when all of a sudden, Scootaloo d-dropped somethin', and...and then the who-whole room was...was on fire!" She explains, struggling not to burst into tears once more. That explained how the fire had started then. Looking around, I could see Twilight and the rest of the girls coming my way, though both Rarity and Rainbow seemed to be looking around for something. Or, more precisely, someponies.

And I had a very good idea as to who they would be.

"Alex? Applebloom? Have you seen my sister?" Rarity asks, looking between the two of us for an answer.

"Or Scoots? Is she alright?" Rainbow also asks. Looking back down to the filly in my arms, I could only watch as she merely pointed a hoof in the opposite direction of the girls. Following her hoof, all of our eyes widened at just what it was she was pointing to. 'Of course they are. Of fucking course they are. Just my shit luck.'

Almost immediately, the girls began to move. Both Rainbow and Rarity began running towards the school, whilst I allowed Applebloom to jump out of my arms, who was quickly wrapped up into a hug by Flutter, who wrapped her wings around the still sobbing filly in a comforting embrace. Turning around, I was just in time to see Applejack tackle Rainbow to the floor, whilst Twilight used her magic to immobilise Rarity. No matter how hard they thrashed and screamed, they weren't going anywhere. I couldn't blame any of them for what they were doing. Rainbow and Rarity both certainly had reasons for wanting to run head first into that inferno, but of course, it was suicide mission, and the girls knew that.

Unfortunately for me, suicide missions were probably my speciality. With the girls occupied, I calmly began heading towards the school, ignoring the shouts coming from the crowd of ponies. A few moments later, and I could easily begin to distinguish some of the voices.

"What is he doing!?" 'Being a stupid fucking cunt, that's what.'
"Gosh darnit, get back here, Alex!" 'Fuck off, Texas.'
"Oh he's so brave and handsome!" 'Was that Twilight?'
"Somepony help us!" 'SWEETIE!'

Abandoning my walk, I sprint forwards towards the entrance. Just as I'm about to grip the handle, my mind flashes back tow one of the fire drills I used to get in Primary School. Reciting some of the lessons in my head, I cautiously move the back of my hand towards the door knock, testing it for heat. Happy that the handle wasn't as hot as I was expecting, seeing as how there was no scorch marks on my hand to be seen, I grip the handle and twist it. And again. And again. 'Son of a bitch is fucking locked!'

Angered at how this door was standing between me and the fillies, I tug harder and harder on the door, before resorting to kicking it instead. Halfway through this, Twilight had somehow managed to calm Rarity down to the point where she wouldn't decide to charge to her fiery demise, and was no standing only a few metres away from me.

"Alex! Get back here! It's not safe!" She pleads, the fire getting hotter and hotter as we spoke.

"There's...Kids...In...Here!" I argue, refusing to leave even one of them to their fates. Especially as I'd grown to like them a lot more than I probably knew.

"Let the other ponies deal with it! The Weather Team is forming a rain cloud to douse the fire as we speak!" Twilight claims, hoping that this would convince me to come away from the dangerous situation I was about to throw myself in. Seeing as how the fire was spreading quicker and quicker by the second, I doubted that they'd accomplish this before the fillies inside had burnt to a crisp.

"They...Won't fucking...Make it...In time!"

"Alex! Alex please! Look! The door is jammed! There's no way in!" I could literally hear the desperation in her voice, but that alone wouldn't be able to dissuade me from what I was about to do.

"THEN I'LL MAKE A FUCKING WAY IN!" I roar, charging the door and throwing my entire weight at it. With how much damage I'd done to it already, the door shattered into splinters, and I made my way inside, Twilight's shouting dying down over the sounds of the roaring fire and the creaking remains of the front door. 'Now where are the hell are those girls?'

"SWEETIE BELLE! SCOOTALOO! ANSWER ME!" I call out into the smoke filled corridors, hoping that any answer I received would be heard above the roars of the flames. I'd been shouting and searching the rooms for about two minutes now, and already I was feeling the effects that the smoke had on me. With my height, crawling around was one of my best options for not inhaling too much of the smoke. But doing this would slow me down, and with how much the building was creaking, I doubted that time was on my side. So here I was, running around a slowly collapsing school building in search of two fillies who may or may not already be dead.

"Alex! In here!" A voice cried, much to my relief. They were alive, and this made me all the more determined to keep them that way. Spotting a closed door, I run up to it and, repeating the same process of back-hand-to-handle, throw the door open, revealing a familiar classroom. 'They've gotta be in here. Surely they're in here, right?' A cough coming from the other side of the room confirmed this, and I ran over to the duo.

"Girls! Are you alri-" I'm interrupted by a loud creaking coming from above us. Instinctively, I grab both Sweetie and Scootaloo and jump backwards, landing on my back. A moment later, and the spot we were just in was replaced by the remains of some of the ceiling. Knowing that spending another second in this rapidly deteriorating building could end up with the whole structure coming down on us, I turn and run. We'd only just made it out of the room when the rest of the ceiling collapsed, the room quickly becoming alight. "I'm getting us out of here." I wheeze, now struggling to breathe. I didn't have much time. I probably had a minute or two at most before I either passed out from smoke inhalation, or I was buried beneath rubble. Honestly, neither appealed to me.

Coming into the main corridor of the building, we found ourselves staring at the remains of the front entrance, where freedom was tantalisingly close. Unfortunately, the smoke had proven itself too much for me, and I fell to my knees, dropping the fillies in my arms. Immediately, the pair began pulling at me, trying their hardest to drag me towards the door. Unsurprisingly, they weren't getting far.

"Come on! Alex! We gotta go!" Sweetie Belle cries, frantically tugging at my sleeve, Scootaloo doing the same. Gasping for what oxygen remained, I drag myself to my feet, determined that I wouldn't die here. 'Come on...Come on...I'm so close...It's right there...' Waiting for us outside were the rest of the town, including the girls and a number of paramedics alongside them. Upon seeing me and the girls approaching, the crowd began to cheer, and I could see a number of muzzles light up in both relief and happiness at seeing us alive and well. We were so close, and the entrance was only a few steps away.

This would be where my luck ran out.

All I could hear was a loud snap from above me, and the sudden screams of terror from a number of ponies. I already knew what was happening. 'And I was so fucking close...' Looking at the fillies beside me, I realised that they appeared paralysed, frozen in terror at what they were seeing. In my state, there was no way I could grab them and run. So I did the next best thing.

"I'll see you all in Hell." Picking the pair up one last time, I use what strength I had left to throw them both outside and towards the girls; to safety. Knowing that they were now safe, I smile, and close my eyes. The CMC, Twilight, the girls and the rest of Ponyville's residents could only watch in mute horror, as the front of the school began to collapse, taking Equestria's first and only human along with it.

Propping myself up against the wall, I couldn't help but let out a grim chuckle at the situation I found myself in. Miraculously, I wasn't yet dead. Not yet, anyway, but I was positive that I soon would be. I could still hear a fire somewhere, and what remained of the school that hadn't yet collapsed was most likely on the verge of doing so. The still intact ceiling especially. How that had yet to fall was beyond me, but I could question that later. 'Why can't I feel my legs...?'

"Well shit, Alex...You..hah...you really fucked it this time...ahh...shit, that doesn't look good." Staring down at my legs, I quickly realised just why it was that my legs weren't responding. Whilst I was lucky enough to not be buried under rubble, my legs weren't as fortunate, and had found themselves crushed under a part of the entrance. I was now pinned, and most likely doomed to die from asphyxiation, burning, or being crushed by rubble. Hell, seeing as how my luck's decided to just drop exponentially within the past few minutes, probably all of the above. 'Just our luck, Alex ol' boy.'

Deciding to twist the knife a bit more, fate decided to hasten my demise. Taking a look to my right, I could see fire, and it was edging closer and closer towards me by the second. "Yea...go fuck yourself." I mutter, flipping the fiery inferno of. Knowing that I didn't have long left, I sigh in resignation, leaning my head against the wall, chuckling grimly at what appeared to be the end of the line.

"Not really how I saw myself going out, to be honest...I was hoping it'd be a little more...actually, fuck it... I saved the lives of some kids...they probably think I'm a hero... I'll be remembered as that handsome heroic bastard... better than dying in bed, right?... They'd best building a fucking statue, else I'm gonna be pissed... wonder how they'll all take this... the kids'll probably blame themselves... poor little bastards... and Twilight? Heh... so much for that dinner date of ours... shame... real fuckin' shame..." The fire was getting closer and closer now, and I was beginning to feel the heat on my arms. 'Hold your horses, Satan... I'll be with you in a sec...'

"Hey God?... I don't know if you're real or not... so I don't know... if you can even hear this... this ain't a plea for help... or forgiveness... or any of that religious shit... I just want to let you know something... something you probably already know..." Looking upwards, I smile, and give one final defiant middle finger to the sky.

"You're such a fucking cunt..." As if He himself took offence to this statement, what remained of the ceiling began to crack. 'It'll be quicker than the fire, at least.' Smiling grimly at my imminent death, I spread my arms, accepting my fate. "I... am... Alexander...Ian... Greyson... take your best fuckin' shot you twat!."

And with that, the ceiling fell, and I knew no more.

Author's Notes:

OH I'M SUCH A SAVAGE FUCK WITH THESE CLIFFHANGERS! LEAVE ME THOSE ANGRY COMMENTS! DO IT! YOUR TEARS ONLY NOURISH ME!