Lifting Aphrodite carefully to her hooves and looping one of her arms around my neck, we began in tandem out of the office, carrying with us the medical pack, just in case. We moved steadily yet hastily through the shadowed corridor, toward the fading light of day beyond the door as the sun dipped below the west horizon.
My ears stood up to distant shattering glass behind us, a noise that startled the sergeant major pressed tight to my side. She trembled, not due to fear, but because of her gradually-weakening form. The bleeding did stop, however, she remained without much energy to even keep herself upright throughout the short and frankly somewhat harrowing trek from her office to the building's exit, where, as we'd come to find out, swarmed with what appeared to be armed Marines, sailors, and military police.
Upon emerging through a glass door, a Marine and a sailor—both respectively donning the altered uniforms of officers, as suggested by the black-and-white 'MP' sleeve on their left shoulders—rushed over. There, I exchanged Aphrodite into their hooves, where they brought her over to a vacant cot in the grass of the courtyard, surrounded by many more in tidy rows, with many more ponies occupying them and being treated for what appeared to be a variety of injuries. The scene was not unfamiliar in the slightest.
As soon as they laid the sergeant major down, and a medic hurried to examine her wound, the sailor officer immediately turned to me upon spotting patches of blood across my chest and hooves and cantered back as I came to a halt halfway between the setup and the building. "Sir, do you require medical attention?"
I blinked, looking down to examine myself briefly, just to make sure I hadn't received any injuries myself for what ever reason. I shook my head, responding with, "Her blood, not mine," and gesturing to Aphrodite, surrounded by not one, but three medics now.
Nodding, the sailor then proceeded to ask, "Did you see anything in there?"
Look me in the eye and say that again, slowly. "No, sir. Just what is going on? I know about the blackout, but..."
"The base is on lockdown until further notice. Active assailant with a knife is running rampant across the area. Six are dead, many more wounded," he answered, tone cool and collected.
I perked at that. Shit, I thought. "How did someone sneak past the gate and start stabbing ponies unnoticed?"
"The perpetrator is rumored to be a Marine, sir, and has had base access for some time now. I am afraid we cannot confirm anything at this point, other than he or she seems to be utilizing the windowless buildings for cover and attacks anypony it sees."
The sailor briefly looked around him, then back to make direct eye contact. "There are still some missing in a few of these offices, particularly the one you just came out of. Possibly hiding."
That raised a bit of bewilderment out of me. "Why hasn't anypony else gone in to find them?"
"It is not that simple, not without electricity nor everypony in the same place, therefore, no teams to search the buildings."
My lips curled into a shallow frown. I glanced back over my shoulder, directly at the door that led into total blackness. While doing so, I said, "Do you have a flashlight?"
"What?"
I snapped my head back, eyeballing the sailor. "Do you have a flashlight on you?"
His head cocked just slightly, but he nodded, plucking it from his belt and handing it over. "Wouldn't you rather reenter with the others?"
"Wouldn't hurt," I said, briefly flicking on the light and squinting as its blinding shine directed into my eyes, making me wince before turning it back off. "But I am not waiting if there are others still inside, possibly with a murderer strolling about. Somepony has to do it."
The sailor narrowed his eyes slightly, nodding again a moment later. "On any normal occasion would I stop you from acting as such."
"Good stallion." I returned the nod. "Take care of the sergeant major until I am out."
That was the last thing I said before venturing back into the building, regretting my newly-made decision every step of the way.
***
It was not until halfway down the corridor when I finally pressed the button on the flashlight to turn it on, shining a white circular beam many tens of feet ahead. This was certainly one of the stronger lights I have seen or used, seeing how much brighter the hall became leading up to a wall, where it came to an off-center intersection.
Coming to a stop at the end of the corridor, I glanced around either corner, reflecting the beam off of two emergency exits. Neither of the signs above them illuminated in red like usual, a sign of no generator electricity flowing into the building which, in all reality, would have the entire place up and running again.
I resumed around one corner, then once more to the left, where the hall continued on for quite a distance. One thing about these military offices, they were constructed to become lost too easily. Though, with usually only one or two halls stretching the length of the building, one would eventually come across an exit that wouldn't set off an alarm as a result.
My hoofsteps on tile, drowned out the pulse of a heavy heartbeat pounding in my ears, were the only noise to be heard while strolling through the hall. Flashing the light in one hoof between walls on either side of me led to discovering most of the doors to individual offices to have been opened, likely left behind when most vacated the building. Even in an emergency, that can very well lead to an offense of regulations due to security concerns.
Though, upon closer examination, I found quite a few of these doors to have dents or their locks completely ripped from sockets, as if caused by brute force. I even stopped to take a peek inside, honing in on a knob completely intact to the lock, and even small parts of the door itself that lay on the floor, far across the room where it likely landed after being kicked in. What got my adrenaline going was realizing what these doors were made of.
They weren't your average wooden doors with basic key locks. No, they were similar to those from a hotel, but with actual keyholes replacing card scanning slots. These were heavy duty mechanisms designed specifically to prevent forced entry in the event of a shooting situation with bulletproof doors made of a lighter yet sturdy steel plating to shield those inside.
It raised questions as to who—or what—might have caused this. No normal pony could, that is for damn sure. A unicorn, perhaps, but that would require disabling a safeguard spell prevalent around base that counteracted excessive and hazardous magic use. Some places, like the Equestria Games, used such, except stronger and on a larger scale to where no magic whatsoever could be used within the stadium. Many wide open spaces shared this technology that continued with or without power. So, that led me back to square one. Who could have done this?
I froze dead in my tracks, ears standing straight on my skull to the echoing click of a door closing as gently and quietly as can be. It came across a glass walkway connecting a three-story building to this one further ahead. Faint light combated the dark in that little corridor, providing me a spot to breathe before crossing over into the next building.
Pushing through twin steel doors, I once more came to a halt as my eyes fell upon white glow shining across the floor part of the lower wall opposite in a narrow rectangular shape, emanating through the window of a door leading into... something. It was the only unnatural light around, so that room at least had some type of power. Perhaps that is where the unaccounted for ponies were.
With caution I moved closer, silencing my steps to an extent while crossing another hallway intersection and two doors down between myself and the light source. Only briefly did I freeze when the light flickered a couple of times, signaling likely a lack of energy, a strange surge, or a faulty bulb.
I brought myself against the wall stealthily, inches from the door's frame, having turned off the flashlight but keeping it within a tightened hold, just in case. My arm stretched across the length of the door to the handle, taking the tip of it with my hoof and turning downward, ear swiveling to the gentle click of the latch sliding free of the slot and carefully pushing inward.
As soon as a sizable beam shone between the frame and the door's edge, I threw myself into the doorway, swinging the door wide open. Only a moment's notice I had to duck as a shot fired off, the bullet whisking the space where my head had just been and embedding into the wall across the corridor.
"What the fuck?! Same side!" I blurted out, standing back up with a glare.
One pony snatched the pistol from the other's hooves, tossing him a look as well, before turning to me. "That's some good news. They ain't forgotten us yet," said the torino stallion. "Who sent you?"
"Myself," I answered rather frankly, entering the room, the stallion cocking his head. "Is anypony hurt?"
No one responded as the five of them made space as I looped around a counter. I lowered my gaze, throat tightening as I saw it. A pool of red surrounded the motionless body of a unicorn Marine, coat a couple shades darker than my own. Blood still oozed through substantial slashes across his chest and neck, likely where he had bled out within minutes, or even seconds.
My stomach twisted into many knots, words trapped beneath the blockage in my own throat. Some of the ponies around the corpse had blood stained on their hooves and splattered disgustingly on their clothes. Number seven, I mouthed, unnoticeable to the five.
"Was he like that when you found him, or...?"
"He was a couple halls down, still kickin' when we dragged him in here, away from that... thing," grunted the country-accented, rust-coated pegasus. "By the time we set him down, he was gone."
"Did you happen to see who or what it was?" I glanced up from the body.
"Little ol' Quickhooves over here saw 'im, he said," the pegasus replied, motioning his head to the same pony who nearly popped my head off coming through the door.
I narrowed in on the younger-looking pony, initially scowling, but easing off a moment after. The private still trembled with fear. "H-he was big, bigger than a-all of us. Wasn't a-a unicorn, or a pegasus f-from what I s-saw. A-all black, with a bit of grey," he sputtered.
"So it was a pony?" I questioned. The young stallion nodded shakily.
"Just who are you precisely? Not a detective, that's for sure," queried the magenta earth pony to his right, the one who snatched his gun.
"Nopony special. I like to know things before making assumptions, and if all of what I have gathered serves me correct, then—"
Not one of us in that room jumped at the startling noise of glass shattering outside the door. What came to be more terrifying was realizing how close it was. No more than a few meters the other way. Could it have been the walkway? Maybe somepony broke through it?
Only one way to find out. Turning slowly, I made my way back to the door, twisting a dial to dim the lights in the room nearly to the point where they gave off no light at all. I stopped at the door and pulled down on the knob, cracking it just enough to stick my head out into the hall which, come to think of it now, wasn't the brightest idea of mine since venturing into an enemy-infested city with only a few others as backup.
Pulling my head back in, I glanced over my shoulder to the others, whispering just enough for them to hear. "Stay put, and don't make a sound."
They nodded without hesitation. Easy enough for them, I thought. None of them protested me leaving already, even after opening the door and exposing myself fully to the wide open hall. Damn it, why didn't I ask for that gun beforehand?
It seemed as if a cold breeze blew through the hall, which sent a nerve wracking chill running up my spine. I scanned in one direction, the hall which I came from to get here. Some reluctance kept me staring in that direction long enough to where I forced myself to snap my head opposite, and there, I felt my blood run cold and heart skip a beat... or two.
A single light-violet pupil, seemingly glowing in the distant shadows, stared right back. The exact same as the sergeant major had described. Not once did it blink, nor dart away, or disappear.
Gradually, I turned my whole body to face the eye. Sweat slicked my brow and beaded up on the back of my neck, down my collar. As if my stomach could not possibly grow tighter, it did.
Yet, I couldn't halt the name from leaving my maw.
"Arc."
My heart pounded in my ears, tuning out what little noise there was.
"Why are you doing this?"
A shock jolted my whole form when the eye vanished. My maw remained parted just, breathing steady yet short. A wave of fear swept across as the eye reappeared, closer than before and inches beyond the threshold of the room's faint light. He was right there.
The words just kept on rolling off my tongue. "I'm not sure if this is some sort of sick joke, which if it is, it is far from hilarious, Arc. Whether or not whatever this is, I trust you wouldn't harm me."
This time, he didn't move, continuously staring, as if waiting for me to finish. I was almost to terrified to, considering in my mind what may happen if I do.
I clenched my teeth in fear. "I know who you are, and you know who I am. I know you know me."
His eye blinked, only momentarily, still not moving. It was a sign of something. I wasn't sure what of, though.
"I know this isn't you. You aren't a cold-blooded killer away from the battlefield. Whatever this is, it needs to cease immediately. You are murdering innocent ponies—your brothers and sisters—and what for? What have they done to deserve this?"
I went silent as I scrambled for something else to say. Repeating myself surely would not make an impact, especially if the first time around did not. I began to nervously sweat some more after not coming up with something five seconds later.
His eye blinked a second time, and while his steps were quiet, they managed to be heard above the intense beat of a heart in my ears. My body locked up and muscles tensed as he approached, the dull light from a second door leading into the room only faintly reflecting off of a pair of night-black shades he wore. The only difference with them was the side above his left eye had cracked and chipped away, revealing his one eye. That explained that a bit.
With his form now visible, I proceeded to take a couple of steps backward—two too many if you ask me. I recoiled backwards without further moving my hooves, as if they had been glued down. He only came closer, a sliver of shiny surface from that of a stainless-steel combat knife visible in a small pocket built just for it above one of his gloves, between the handle and the sheathe. In my throat, I swallowed a lump, only for a larger one to take its place.
Except, he didn't attack. He simply strolled by my side, his cold and frightening gaze unwavering as he did. But, he stopped, looping back around from the other side, circling me like a hungry shark and a shipwreck survivor.
"Quit with the killing, Arc. Let me go, let all of these ponies go. This is far from right."
He stopped no more than a few feet directly in front of me, closer than where he previously stood. Our eyes locked. In his, I could see... well, I couldn't be sure what exactly I saw. What ever it was, did not look all that appealing. It wasn't normal, I knew that much. The blood lust of a killer on an unrelenting spree with no intention of stopping now, no, not because of me. So, why hasn't he killed me yet?
I went silent again, at a loss for words. I swallowed again, breaths shallow through my nostrils and body quivering all over. For as much as I should have been able to fend off fear, now certainly was not one of those times.
Like before, however, Arc walked past without a word, making it a few feet behind me prior to these words spilling out.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
He froze, head snapping sideways back toward me. I tensed, cursing mentally at myself. This was it, I thought.
With one hoof, he withdrew the blade from its holster and whipped around, tossing it in my direction. The knife, with its swirling force, hooked into the left of my uniform collar and yanked me a few feet back, before the blade dug into the wall between doors with me hanging with my back against it, hooves inches above the floor. My eyes shot wide open with utter shock, and for the few moments after, no physical reaction came out of me other than a terrified look and my jaw partially dropped.
No more than a centimeter from the skin of my neck did the knife slice through the wall, having impaled my clothes instead, thankfully, but still leaving me helpless as I grasped the handle and began relentlessly tugging in an attempt to fall free, only to come to no result. The blade locked itself in the concrete good. My only other mode of escape would be to unbutton the jacket and slip out, and while that did come to mind, the immense hesitation so as to avoid possibly angering Arc further took over.
He didn't go for the knife, nor really me for that matter, and continued the other way—this was my chance. As fast as my hooves could move, one by one, the buttons of my jacket came undone and I dropped to the floor, hooves slipping free of the sleeves. I hit the tile with a thump and a grunt, grabbing his attention again.
Gasping, my heart racing and adrenaline kicking off now, I scrambled to regain my hoofing, but could not due to the polished tile and merely how quickly my hooves had moved that they simply could not gain traction. Without much else I could do, wings having snapped shut to my sides, I began crawling away, dragging my limp legs behind as I rolled over onto my back, pressed upright, kicking out of a panic.
Ripping the knife from the wall, dropping little bits across the floor beneath it along with my jacket, Arc began coming closer, raising his hoof and the bloodied blade in its grasp. He matched his pace with that of my frantic crawling, before I stopped, giving up at last.
"A-Arc, come on, man. You know me, I'm Star! Don't deny it! I'm Shadow's friend, too!"
He paused, blinking once down at me. My chest heaved with breath after breath, eyes wide with fear.
His hoof suddenly thrust downward, the knife along with it. I immediately threw up both hooves to shield myself, head turning to the side. From out of nowhere bellowed an agonizing cry. It wouldn't come to me as being a scream of my own for a few minutes. It sounded unlike any noise I have made in the past. I almost expected the pain of his knife digging deep through my hooves, or missing entirely and going right for my throat or chest. But, that pain never occurred.
Blinking my eyes open, I snapped to my left, freezing as my muzzle came within an inch of his knife, half impaled through the tile beside my head. Looking straight up, I saw the stallion wincing to the brightness of the flashlight that I'd evidently switched on in the panic and showered him with a blinding beam that forced him off of his hinds' and backwards, losing balance.
"Agh, cut that shit out, Lance Corporal!" Arc grunted, shielding his eyes with a hoof. Evidently his shades weren't that useful after all.
My eyes widened and ears stood straight up, looking down at the stallion. I sat upright, still holding the flashlight beam aimed at him. Was that it? Was the flashlight all I needed?
"Arc?"
I flicked a switch on the light, dimming it just a tad. The lights from the room where the other Marines hid brightened as well, shining into the hall. Looking over to the door, I noticed a couple of them staring through the window with shock.
The second lieutenant lowered his hoof, shaking off his glasses and dropping them to the floor, where they landed with a crack. Bits more of the lenses chipped off upon impact. He blinked right down at them, visibly in his own shock.
I glanced over to his knife, still impaled within the tile with cracks sourcing around the impact site, refraining from handing it back in case this was all a trick.
"What have I—"
Both doors threw open, and those previously hiding in the room rushed out, pinning Arc to the floor. The magenta-coated stallion drew his pistol, pointing it to Arc's head but maintaining discipline with the trigger. "Stay the fuck down!" he ordered, with Arc complying, face down on the floor voluntarily.
More lights shone into the hall as a collection of military police officer response teams surrounded from either direction. One officer from the unit approaching from behind pulled me up to all fours. He asked if I had been hurt. I didn't think I was. Though, two times did Arc nearly end me with a single blow to the throat, of which some soon realized upon discovering his knife, and the new slit in my jacket that now rendered it out of regulation, meaning I could no longer wear it for work, even if I managed to have it stitched back up.
The officers cuffed Arc, bringing him up to his hooves. He did not resist, and for once throughout the ordeal, he followed orders to the word. He almost seemed like a completely different stallion, the one I knew.
***
Those days after the incident were far from easy. It was not until after 0500 the following morning when power restored to the base, and much of the city for that matter.
That night I stood along the balcony corridor of our dorm building, watching, shaken as night fell like a blanket over the city. Much of the skyline failed to glimmer with artificial light, including GenTech Tower's high-intensity beacon placed atop one of its spire antennas. Not even the moon shone down, as the sky blanketed with thick clouds. Any overcast night in Manehattan typically included the clouds tinting a dark orange or gold of the city's lights echoing off of them. Tonight, for the first time in my time here, that was not the case.
For the hours after sunset I stood leaned against the railing, overlooking what view there was of the base as showers fell, occasionally in sheets as well. It drenched the small designated zones for the injured, and strong gusts later prompted the transfer of victims indoors, specifically to the half-operating urgent care on base. Some—specifically those with more threatening wounds, Aphrodite included—were transported via ambulance carriage to a nearby medical center not affected by the blackout.
Every so often Nightpath would emerge from our dorm to check on me, and even at one point sneaked off-base to grab some hot beverages, namely coffee or hot chocolate, and some late dinner. He hadn't slept like he normally would throughout the afternoon going into evening. By this time he would be leaving to begin his shift. Not this evening. Although Arc Nobis had been apprehended, the base-wide lockdown did not officially lift until midnight, at least three and a half hours following his capture.
With a piping hot paper cup of coffee from a nearby cafe in one hoof, I nonchalantly sipped every few seconds. Regardless of caffeine, sleep was far from my mind at the moment, and the hundreds before and after. Perhaps it was one of those nights where I would escape drowsiness altogether. Between Night and I, the feelings were mutual. At one point he even emerged to keep me company while I sulked and tried to process everything at once.
It made me more thankful than ever to have him around.
By the end of that week, a trial had been established for Arc Nobis.
***
The Bronclyn Courthouse, otherwise nicknamed 'Manehattan's Justice Dome', filled with hundreds upon hundreds of ponies. The masses consisted primarily of Marines and sailors, among loved ones of those wounded or killed throughout the event.
Media outlets from all across Equestria even showed up to cover the trial, setting up shop on the front steps leading up to the entrances, and inside on some private balconies designated specifically for the press to sit and observe, as well as spots for television cameras to be positioned. It gathered national attention. Possibly global, as well. Even Princess Luna herself was even on her way in from a trip cut short to the Crystal Empire.
Most of the witnesses showed up, myself included. Others remained home to watch it on television, or still were in the hospital after being cut vigorously. However, due to the circumstances of the incident, it had been predetermined that no defense shall be assigned to the first lieutenant's side.
The courtroom itself was circular, topped off with a magnificent dome of granite and stone art-deco design. Individual beams of sunlight shone in through narrow windows that stretched up the dome, and this itself kept the room decently lit without the need for lamps as in some other cities.
Around the room stretched polished wooden stands, sitting at about the same level as the judge's podium in dead center, which overlooked the lower benches, and the table which where the accused seated himself. In spite of it all, he donned his finest uniform without failing to proudly display a respectable rack across his left chest.
Yet, as ponies took their seats, any respect for the stallion had disappeared. No one saluted him even as he made his way into the building. On most occasions, neglecting to salute a superior officer would lead to a lecture of contempt and, quite possibly, demotion or discharge. Harsh punishment, but it made sense. Alas, by many it went dismissed.
Ten minutes before the trial was set to commence, a dark-grey pegasus, eyes of pure gold, and armor of night-blue with traces of purple and an emblem of Luna's moon on his breastplate entered through twin towering doors leading into the room.
"All rise for Princess Luna of Equestria!" he addressed, stepping off to the side as two more guards donning armor similar to his strolled down the aisle.
Every pony in the room—Arc included, and even the judge—rose and bowed in a wave as the lunar diarch made her way down the aisle, tailed by two more of her guards.
Unlike the city guards back in Canterlot, these ponies looked nothing alike. One stallion had a dark-cyan coat, another was pure white with a red mane and tail. Returning to the first guard, appearing to be a captain in rank, his mane and tail consisted of two tones of purple that blended almost impeccably with the grey of his coat. He specifically appeared familiar out of the bunch. Again, none of them donned similarities between one another.
"Thank you, everypony. Please, have a seat," Luna said as she too came to a rest in her own chair, a level beneath the judge's on the podium, with the grey pegasus standing behind her in careful watch, while the rest stood in a perfect square on each corner of the wooden construct.
The collective rustling of ponies big and small sitting down echoed throughout the hall. All eyes fixed on to the princess, the judge, and the accused.
"Before we begin, I must assure the jury that, in light of this tragedy, not everypony is required to sit throughout this hearing," the mare atop the judge's podium addressed. After a silence, only two ponies stood up and left. Both were among the crowds.
With a sigh, she began.
"Second Lieutenant Arc Nobis, Lunar Marine Corps, as according to Equestrian law, it is my obligation to say you are granted defense. However, in this case, your defendant has no power over the jury's decision."
"Your honor, do excuse my interruption," Luna spoke up. "We do have one question."
"By all means, your highness," the judge responded, granting the princess free reign for her query.
Clearing her throat, Princess Luna resumed. "If thine decision is fixed, what need is there for a judicial ruling over this stallion?"
"Your highness, although punishment is definite, it is still required of us by law—requirements implemented by your elder sister, Princess Celestia—to hold a trial in the event of last-minute verdict. Because there is simply too much evidence against the defendant to not be held against him, punishment, I am afraid, is inevitable," the judge explained.
Nodding in understanding, the alicorn of the night faced forth. "Understood, your honor. Carry on."
I looked down at the table where Arc sat, watching him observe the two mares sit above him. The judge continued, and eventually moved on to bringing the witnesses and victims down to speak their story of the incident. None truly went in the second lieutenant's favor. By each passing minute, I don't believe there wasn't a pony in the room who did not know ahead of time of what was coming for him.