The Day Everything Changed

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11:45 AM
Crimson Moon slowly got up from the pavement, tears flowing down her face as the golden-gray cloud of dust moved closer. The Brass Head of the Crystaller Building had just fallen to the ground, and Celestia knew what had been hit below. As a throng of ponies fled from the area around her, she calmly turned around, and started to gallop away, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She knew she could cry; everypony else had at some point. But for reasons she didn't quite know, she was trying, and failing, to hold it back.

Crimson turned down Park Street and ran to the Maneway entrance. She knew fairly well that service had already been suspended, but it would make for great cover from the dust cloud. She nearly tripped on the stairs leading down into the tunnel, but managed to make it down in one piece. Strangely enough, not only was nopony else down here, nopony had followed her, either. The station was deserted, as if she were in an apocalypse. The only things inside to greet her were the littered chip bags, plastic wrappers, and other garbage that normally lay around.

Crimson picked up a newspaper laying on a bench next to the tracks. On the cover read, Tuesday, October 1, 1010 AB: Famed Chef Summer Sky Dead From Heart Attack At 76. Crimson held the date up to her camera, somehow still rolling; October 1 was a day that she, as well as the entire country of Equestria, would never forget.

After a few moments, Crimson gathered up enough strength to finally climb back out to the real world. The street outside now looked the same as the Maneway station; nopony around for Crimson to encounter. She turned the corner and went back to her spot in the park, covering her face to keep from breathing in the dust. To her surprise, the building was still standing; it was only the Brass Head that had fallen. However, the fires still burned as strong as before, and Crimson knew the tower could come down at any moment. And yet, something inside her told her to go towards the danger, not away.

Crimson started to gallop towards the burning building. It wasn't long before she found herself back at the cafe where she'd seen the 2nd blast go off. It seemed that this place was the central point of her day. From there, she could see just how bad the damage on the ground was. The building across the street from the Crystaller Building had a gigantic hole down the middle where part of the Brass Head had come crashing down. Underneath was a parked fire carriage; if you could call it that. It looked like it had taken a direct hit from either the Head, or a nuclear bomb. It was crushed at the front, and the rear wheels were stuck in the air, as if it were kneeling down.

Crimson found herself still wanting to go into the emergency zone. She knew the dangers of it; if that building came down, she only had a few seconds to find somewhere to "shelter", and even then, it wouldn't be foolproof. If she didn't find a spot in her immediate vicinity, she'd be dead in seconds. Meanwhile, she could get the last shots of the burning building from its base; she was sure that, collapse or otherwise, this building wasn't going to be here for much longer.

Eventually, her curiosity won over, and she took the first step past the barricade....

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11:51 AM

Shining Star, for the who-knows-how-many-th time today, had her head buried in Fallen Angel's shoulder, sobbing inconsolably. She knew that at least somepony was dead from the Brass Head coming down, let alone how many were hurt. She also knew that one thing still remained on her brother's mind; he still wanted to go back and help. He no longer cared about the dangers of going in; as long as he made a difference in the efforts, he could sleep happily tonight.

Luckily for the both of them, and for pretty much all of Manehattan, the tower was still standing. At the same time, however, the fires were still burning, possibly even stronger than before. If the Brass Head had come down, there was a strong chance that the building could collapse as well. And even worse, nobody knew if, or when it would.

Angel let Star away from him, and she sat down on the ground, covering her face with her hooves. Her mind was clouded with bad thoughts; how many ponies were dead, how many were probably hurt, flashbacks to her previous encounter. However, the one thing she didn't know, was if this day could get any worse. And with things going as bad as they were now, it probably would.

Star sat up and uncovered her face to find that her brother was no longer sitting in front of her. Star hoped to Celestia that he'd gone to get a drink, but there was only one way to find out.

"Excuse me," she asked a mare beside her, "do you know where my brother went? Greyish-silver, with black mane and tail?"

"He went up the street that way," the mare replied, pointing towards the tower. Star looked up, and confirmed her worst fears as she saw Angel at least a block away, galloping past the firefighters around him. He was once again going back to the tower!

Star thanked the mare as she took off like a shot down the street, trying to catch up with her brother. She was officially convinced that he'd gone insane, and that he needed to have some sense talked into him. Sometimes, when one thing stuck in his mind, that was all he'd want to do. Today, it seemed to be "help in any way you can," and giving out the water didn't seem to cut it for him.

By the time Star caught up to him, they were at the original barricade to the emergency zone.

"ANGEL!" She screamed, making him turn around in fright. "What in Celestia's name do you think you're doing?"

"Figuring out how I can help out," Angel replied.

"So you just leave me alone on a bench in the middle of a huge city we don't live in, wondering where the hell you are? That's not how this works Angel!"

"If I had told you where I was going," Angel started, "you would've made a huge fuss about it, and I'd probably still be back there arguing with you like I am now!"

"You're not even supposed to be this close in the first place!" Star was getting furious. "I don't care what you're trying to do, knock some sense into that tiny little brain of yours and come back to where we were! Now!"

"Star, stop acting like you're my mother. You know I'm trying to help, not kill myself, right?"

"Oh, please," Star scoffed, "if I didn't know any better I'd say you're just trying to make a name for yourself! Remember that you have your sister with you!"

"And she can leave whenever she wants to!" Angel yelled at her.

"Angel!" Star screamed back. "Why can't you see that you're being so stupid right now?"

"Oh, SHUT UP, STAR!" Angel snapped. "All I'm trying to do is help one pony out today, and you're out here whining at me like I forced you into this! You know you don't have to stick with me your whole life, right? You can go wherever you want in this city! Hell, I'd be happy for you to do that, as long as you're not by my side acting like a complete BITCH all day!"

Angel wanted to say a lot more, but stopped when he saw tears forming in his sister's eyes. He knew he'd crossed the line again. Ever since the day his parents died, he'd become more short-tempered. He was usually gentle around anypony, no matter what happened. But now, one wrong move or statement, and he was a ticking time bomb, waiting to erupt.

"Star," he started calmly, but he was quickly answered with a left hook to the jaw from Star. Without another word, she galloped away, leaving Angel alone, holding his face with one hoof.

He knew he'd messed up big time, but now his emotions were torn. He wanted to help at the scene, but at the same time, he wanted to find his sister, hug her tight, and tell her how sorry he was. But he knew that Star was definitely not in the mood for talking at the moment. The right thing to do, in his mind, was leave her alone for a little while.

Angel turned around and looked towards the base of the tower. It looked like an absolute war zone; the small buildings around it were either damaged or destroyed, as well as all of the emergency carriages on the street. One looked like it had been crushed by a wrecking ball, rear end sticking up in the air. Beside it, the crimson-colored unicorn from earlier was sat on the ground, filming the building.

Suddenly, a police officer came through the smashed hole in the glass of what should've been the door to the lobby, with a little filly clutching her back, right hoof bandaged up. Angel lit up with a smile. Here was his chance to help!

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11:59 AM

Firestorm had been galloping as fast as she could down the stairwell. It was taking a toll on her legs, but it was paying off, as she had already reached the fifth floor. The filly on her back was holding on for dear life, but at the same time, yelling "Whee!" as they zoomed down flight after flight of stairs. Firestorm couldn't help but stifle a laugh. This filly was adorable.

Lost in her thoughts, Firestorm zoned back in and saw the end of the staircase. She'd reached the lobby! Celestia knew how many floors up her fellow rescuers were, but at the moment, Firestorm was internally jumping for joy. She looked around, and saw the west wall, glass smashed to bits, as the way out.

"Almost there!" she told Silver Spirit, who only smiled in response. Firestorm climbed through what she thought was the door to the lobby, and found herself in a war zone. Golden-gray dust, presumably part of the Brass Head, covered every surface imaginable. A fire carriage, smashed to bits, was sticking up in the air. The building in front of it had been sliced in half down the middle by large pieces of debris.

Firestorm set the filly down, yelling, "That was fun, wasn't it?" The filly didn't respond, only picking up a dust-covered piece of paper from the ground and trying to read it. Firestorm figured she should let her partner know she was out and okay.

"72-Uniform to 73-Uniform!" she called into her radio.

"Go 72-Uniform!" came Shiny Cloud's reply.

"I've made it to the street," Firestorm reported. "I'm on the west side, just outside of the lobby."

"Copy that," Cloud responded, "On my way down!"

"10-4," said Firestorm.

"What does 10-4 mean?" Silver Spirit asked as Firestorm set her down.

Firestorm replied, "It's a code we use. It means I understand what he's saying."

"Oh," Silver said, half to herself. "What about 72-Uniform?"

"That's my callsign!" Firestorm told her. "That's how the other officers know who's calling, and who they're trying to talk to."

"Cool!" Silver yelled. "Would I get one if I become an officer?"

"Of course!" Firestorm said. "Every officer gets one."

"Awesome!" the filly yelled again. She obviously seemed very interested in Firestorm's job.

"Look out below!" came a familiar voice from above, and Firestorm looked up to see Shiny Cloud flying down from the tower. He landed carefully on the dust-covered street, then hugged his partner, thankful she was okay.

"Woah!" Silver yelled. "Who is he?"

"My name's Shiny Cloud," he told the filly, turning back to Firestorm. "Who's this little one?" he asked her.

"This is Silver Spirit," Firestorm told him. "I rescued her on 35. She seems very talkative about what I do."

Firestorm turned to Silver and said, "This is my partner. He's the guy I talked to on the radio just now."

"Can I try?" Silver asked Cloud, pointing to his walkie-talkie.

"Maybe on a different day, when everything's less busy," he told her softly, "but right now, we really need them."

Silver only groaned.

"I still need to make a few more rescues on 85," Cloud told her. "Care to join me after you take care of her?"

"Sure," Firestorm told him, "but I need to get her to the medical post. Have they moved it back?"

"Yeah," Cloud responded, 2 blocks north, in the bank building's lobby."

"Thanks, Cloud!" she yelled to him as he flew back up. She looked back down, and her gaze was met by the brown eyes of a silver earth pony.

"I can take her down, if you need to get back to work!" the stallion told her.

Firestorm was confused as to how he'd made it this close to the building, but didn't care to ask. She handed Silver over to him, and told him where the medical ward was. He only nodded in response, placing the filly on his back, who waved goodbye to Firestorm.

"Bye, officer!" She called out.

"Bye!" Firestorm called back. She wanted to get back to work, but she needed a drink first. She decided to head for the command post. However, she saw another pony, a crimson-colored mare, who was beside the crushed fire carriage, filming with her camera. This mare again? Firestorm thought.

"Hey!" Firestorm yelled to her. "You need to get out of here! It's not safe!"

The mare seemed to do what she was told, getting up from her spot and trotting south down the street. Firestorm watched her go for a moment, then turned away and headed for the command post.

As she turned the corner, Firestorm could see emergency carriages all around it, their red lights reflecting off the glass windows of the buildings around them. On the way up the street, however, Firestorm heard a low rumble, which quickly turned into a deafening roar. The buildings in front of her started to darken as a large shadow appeared over them. She turned back around, and gasped in horror, covering her mouth as she screamed.

The Crystaller Building, arguably the most loved building in all of Manehattan, was beginning to collapse.