The Day Everything Changed

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12:25 PM

Crimson Moon couldn't tell how long she'd been under the fire carriage. All she knew was that she couldn't get out. Not only did debris block her way out on all sides, but her right side hurt badly. She'd been hit by what she thought was a metal bar, but could've been anything. From what she could tell, her right foreleg was broken, and her back leg probably hadn't fared any better. She wanted to scream out, but something was holding her back. Maybe it was the shock. Maybe it was something else. She couldn't tell anymore.

Crimson tried to roll onto her back, as she was currently on her left side. As she did, however, her right side tensed up, and she cried out, clutching her foreleg. Tears finally started to fall from her eyes as she set herself down. This was the worst pain she'd ever been in, and that included passing up the time she broke her back leg when she was hit by a carriage as a foal in Baltimare. She turned her head to look at her camera next to her right side, still rolling and pointed towards her. She knew what she was filming was now part of Equestrian history. She wondered, however, if her footage, let alone herself, would make it out.

Suddenly, she heard a voice call out, "Hello!"

Crimson stopped whimpering, keeping herself silent. She wanted to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Can anypony hear me?!?" the voice called again.

Crimson lit up with happiness. A rescuer!

She sat up with all the strength she could, trying not to bang her head on the underside of the carriage, and screamed, "HELP!"

She waited a moment, hoping they'd heard her. However, no response came.

"HELP ME!" she yelled again. She was still met with silence. Crimson started losing hope, but the voice called out again, "We're coming!"

Crimson sat back, tears starting to fall again as she breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to be saved! Soon, she heard hoofsteps from her left side, and saw a pair of silhouettes form through the dust cloud. She watched them as they came closer, hoping they could tell where she was.

Suddenly, the beam of a flashlight shined towards her, and one of the silhouettes knelt down. Crimson met the brown eyes of a silver-colored stallion, a surgical mask over his face. He turned away, and took the mask off, yelling out, "Hey! We've got one injured over here!"

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Fallen Angel had made it back to the scene of the collapse. He now wore a mask over his face, courtesy of a passing EMT. They had tried to warn him against going back, but his mind was set. There were ponies trapped that he needed to save, and he was going to do anything he could to get to them. He passed the barricade and entered the disaster zone. The cloud of dust hung over the area like an early morning fog. Visibility was almost down to zero, and Angel needed to rub his eyes constantly to get the dust out of them.

He passed the line of emergency vehicles, which had surprisingly grown since the collapse. He thought about the officer that he had helped, and how he'd helped get the filly she'd given him to safety. He prayed to Celestia in his mind that she was okay. If she'd gone back inside, she was probably dead. And that was something he just didn't want to believe.

Angel found a group of fireponies in a circle, going over rescue and recovery plans. He decided that he should get in on it, and trotted up to them.

"Now, Maverick!" the chief called out, pointing to a golden-colored stallion in front of him, "I need you to take half of these guys and get to the west side. We had a lot of guys in Stairwell B that radioed back, so we need to get to them ASAP!"

"Yes, sir!" Maverick replied, and he turned to the others in the group, about 5 of which went with him.

"Now, the rest of you are with me!" the chief told the rest, and he turned around, meeting Angel's gaze as he did.

"Who the hell are you?" the chief asked him, a little bit startled by Angel.

"I'm here to help!" Angel told him. "Anything you need me to do, I'll do it!"

"Okay, well how about this: Get your ass outta here!" the chief replied harshly, pointing back. "It's too dangerous for civilians to be here!"

Angel almost exploded on him, but kept his anger in check. He wanted to save lives, not get criminal charges.

"Sir," he responded calmly, "with all due respect, I'm not going to do that. You need all the help you can get out here, especially with a lot of your crew needing help themselves. Please let me stay!"

"One second," the fire chief told Angel, turning to one of his men, who was trying to get his attention. The two whispered to each other for a while, making Angel uneasy. He knew the fire chief didn't want him here, and was particularly rude in making his opinion clear. However, his colleague could've been having second thoughts.

Finally, the chief turned back to Angel. "Tell ya what," he told Angel. "Stonewing here wants me to let you help, but I can't let you into the site without safety equipment. We don't want you getting hurt, so he's gonna take you to get geared up."

Angel nodded and said, "Thank you, sir!" This was his chance to save a life!

Stonewing guided Angel back to a large police trailer, carrying loads of safety equipment on board. Stonewing climbed up onto it and pulled down a hard hat, safety vest, and flashlight, handing them to Angel.

"I'll take you over to the southern side of the site," Stonewing told Angel as he put his gear on. "It's a long walk, but easier to access."

The two started trotting down the debris-covered street. Fire and police carriages were strewn about left and right, some more damaged than others. One police carriage was completely destroyed, looking like something Angel would find in a junkyard. He silently hoped nopony was inside of it when it had been crushed by whatever hit it. He stopped for a moment to process what he was seeing. Just a few hours ago, a skyscraper had stood where he sat; now, it was a huge pile of twisted metal, dust, and concrete rubble. He had never seen anything like it in his life, and prayed that he would never see anything like it again.

After a moment, Angel started trotting up the street again, catching up to Stonewing.

"So what's your name, kid?" Stonewing asked him.

"Fallen Angel," he replied.

"Huh," Stonewing stated, half to himself. "Seems kinda fitting for today."

As they continued to walk, Stonewing remarked, "You're mighty brave for doing this, you know? I'm surprised anyone besides us would want to be within a mile of this place."

"Shh!" Angel suddenly whispered. He'd heard a voice. He just knew he'd heard one, coming from somewhere in front of them. However, Angel couldn't see anypony anywhere. The street looked deserted, as if the apocalypse had begun.

"Hello?" he called out. He was met with silence, other than the sound of a breeze blowing a few papers across the street.

"Probably heard a siren or something," Stonewing told Angel.

"No," Angel replied, "I know I heard a voice."

Angel turned back to where he heard the voice and called out, "Can anypony hear me?!?"

"I don't think anypony can't hear you," Stonewing joked to himself, which was met by a glare from Angel.

"Help!" a voice echoed.

Angel turned back, his eyes fixed on a fire carriage in the distance, surrounded by debris. The lights on top still circled away, as if it were responding to a call that would never come.

"Help me!" the voice echoed again, and Angel turned to Stonewing with a look of astonishment, pointing towards the fire carriage.

"Over there!" he exclaimed, before turning back and yelling, "We're coming!"

Angel ran towards the damaged carriage, being careful not to step on any debris littered about. He grabbed his flashlight from the pocket of his vest and turned it on, kneeling down to check under it. Sure enough, he was met by the sight of a crimson-red mare underneath, gingerly holding her right foreleg. Angel had found someone!

He turned back and took off his mask as Stonewing knelt down as well.

"Hey! We've got one injured over here!" Angel yelled out.

He watched as a group of fireponies coming out of the remnants of the tower all looked in his direction, before one started to sprint towards him, the others following suit.

Angel turned back to the mare as Stonewing asked, "Are you okay?"

The mare shook her head, crying, "My right side!"

Stonewing got up and galloped over to the other side of the carriage, clearing away debris next to it.

"Where exactly?" he questioned.

"Everywhere," the mare sobbed, "Something hit me while I was climbing under!"

"Alright," Stonewing replied. "Angel, I need you to stay with her, okay? I'm gonna grab a backboard!"

Stonewing stood back up and started to gallop back to the emergency vehicles. As he passed the group of other fireponies, he yelled to the chief, "Be careful with her! She got hit by debris. Her whole right side is injured!"

"Got it!" they yelled back. They knelt down next to Angel, asking the mare, "Can you tell me your name, miss?"

"Crimson," she replied, "Crimson Moon."

"Okay, Crimson, just sit tight," the chief told her, "We've got a lot of help on the way."

He turned to his crew and yelled, "Everypony get ready! We need to push this carriage onto its side so we can get her out!"

The whole crew, including Angel and Stonewing, once he came back with the backboard, took up positions on the side of the fire carriage, ready for the command.

"One... Two... Three... GO!" the chief yelled, and everyone began to push with all their might. The carriage only moved a tiny bit, it's right wheels picking up off the ground by about an inch. Behind Angel, he could hear yelling from whom he thought was the chief. However, as he looked up, he could see another firepony run to the carriage and take a position in front of him, followed by 2 others. There must have been 10 or 15 rescuers with Angel by now by his estimate. Finally, Angel heard the left wheels crack, the wood finally giving way, and the carriage crashed down onto its side.

The rescuers erupted into cheers, hoofbumping and embracing each other for a job well done, before Stonewing and the chief knelt down next to Crimson. Angel got to her other side, and with the help of a few other fireponies, helped get the backboard underneath her right side. Stonewing and the chief brought the straps of the board over Crimson, carefully moving her to make sure not to cause any discomfort. Angel helped the others strap them down, before Stonewing, the chief, and 2 other rescuers carefully lifted Crimson up.

Now came the easy part: finding a medical carriage to get her to a hospital. Almost every single one had shown up to the site, as nopony knew how many needed them. Angel pointed one out on the south side of the emergency zone, and the rescuers headed towards it. A pair of the strongest fireponies Angel had ever seen ran ahead and got themselves strapped in to pull it. Angel followed them, opening the doors to the back for the others. Angel and another firepony climbed in first, helping Stonewing and the chief lift Crimson up into the carriage. The other two helpers shoved the back end of the backboard in, then closed the doors. This, however, confused Angel greatly; he was still inside.

He turned to Stonewing and asked, "I'm not climbing out?"

"You're part of the rescue team, right?" Stonewing responded with a smile, playfully punching Angel's shoulder. Angel could only smile back as the carriage started to roll, headed to a hospital he didn't even know the name of. It may have been the first time he'd ever done this, but it sure felt like Angel had been doing this his whole life. He was starting to think that maybe this should be his career...

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12:50 PM
Firestorm had made it out of the subway tunnel and into the police station in Midtown. She was now sat in one of the chairs in the lobby, drinking a both well-needed and well-deserved glass of water. For the past 20 minutes, she'd seen dozens of ponies file through, trying to track down loved ones, or get in touch with them to let them know they were okay. Firestorm herself had tried to contact the Wonderbolts headquarters in Cloudsdale and get a message through to her husband Blaze, but she knew it would be hours before she got a response.

As she took one last sip of water from her bottle, she watched a teen-aged mare open the door to the station, an even younger filly beside her. It took a moment for Firestorm to process, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the younger filly was Silver Spirit, the one she'd rescued from the tower. As the mare got up to the front desk, Silver seemed to be curious of her new surroundings, looking around the room to see what she could. Her eyes then locked onto Firestorm, and she saw a smile break out on the filly's face.

Silver suddenly darted out from under the mare, who tried in vain to keep Silver next to her. Firestorm got up from her chair and knelt down as Silver ran to her, and the two wrapped each other in a tight hug. The mare pardoned herself from the front desk and trotted over to them.

"Silver?" she asked the filly. "Who is this?"

"She's my friend!" the filly replied cheerily. "She helped me get out!"

Firestorm offered the mare a handshake. "I'm Firestorm. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"You probably know my brother from somewhere," the mare responded. "He's been going in and out of the site nonstop today. I only helped him give out water."

"Now I remember!" Firestorm exclaimed. "Your brother handed me a water while I was working! Silverish, with darker mane and tail?"

"Yep, that's the one," the mare confirmed. "I'm his sister, Shining Star."

"Nice to meet you," Firestorm said back.

Star didn't respond, only looking away.

"Your brother's a hero, you know that?" Firestorm added.

Star turned to meet Firestorm's gaze. "I know he saved this little one," she responded, nodding to Silver. "But I wouldn't really consider him one..." Star trailed off, and Firestorm noticed a tear starting to form in her eye.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Not really," Star replied, taking the seat beside Firestorm. "We got into an argument before he went back in to get this one. I don't want to talk about it much, but let's just say insults and certain four-letter words were exchanged."

"Why is that?" Firestorm questioned.

"I don't know, to be honest with you," Star answered. "I thought that he was so focused on going back for more that he was forgetting about me. We were in the Canterlot attack a few years back, and I haven't been able to go anywhere without him. He's pretty much the only way I keep myself calm now. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. But now, we're both about to go to college, and I'm frightened to even think about living without him, as weird as that sounds."

"It doesn't sound weird at all," Firestorm told her. "I was the same way with my brother, Night Whisper. We were pretty much inseparable when we were younger, and when he joined the military, I was scared to death. But I soon realized that no matter what happens in life, at some point, we need to accept that we may end up not being able to hold the bonds that we've kept for so long. But that's perfectly okay. My brother and I still keep in touch, and I'm sure that you and your brother will, too."

"If he ever makes it out of there," Star muttered. "Last I saw of him, he was handing Silver to me and heading back to the building. I haven't heard anything from him since."

"Don't worry," Firestorm told her, reaching out to hold her hoof. "The worst of it is over, so I don't think he'll end up killing himself out there. The best you can do right now is hope for the best, as hard as it is to do."

"Shining Star?" the clerk at the desk called out.

"I'll be right back," Star told Firestorm. She turned to Silver Spirit and said to her, "I need you to stay right here, OK?"

Star trotted over to the front desk, wondering what she was about to hear.

"We just got a message back from Grand Garden Medical Center," the clerk started. "Your brother just checked in as a rescuer a few minutes ago. He was part of a team coming in with a patient."

Star rested her head on the counter, nearly crying out of relief. "How far is it from here?" she asked the clerk.

"About half a mile to the north," the clerk answered. "I can write an address down for you and send a message up."

"That's greatly appreciated, thank you!" Star told her. The clerk wrote down the address of the hospital on a notecard and gave it to Star, who in turn asked, "Have you heard anything about her mother?" nodding to Silver Spirit.

"Nothing yet," the clerk responded, "but I'll let you know as soon as we get any news."

"Thank you," Star told the clerk as she turned away. She galloped to Firestorm, asking, "Can you watch Silver for me? I just found out where my brother is!"

"Sure," Firestorm replied, and Star nodded in thanks, leaving through the door beside their chairs. She needed to find one of the public transit maps, and figure out how to get to Grand Garden Medical Center.