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1:40 PM
Fallen Angel leaned back in his seat in the lobby of the hospital, closing his eyes as he wished terrible memories away. Crimson Moon, the mare he'd helped to save, was in surgery for her injuries, and he was waiting to hear any updates the doctor had for him. The crew he'd come with had already left to head back to the site, but Angel had elected to stay behind. Once he had heard that his sister was coming to the hospital to reunite with him, it was an easy decision to make.
Angel leaned forward again and put his head between his front hooves. He couldn't believe that everything that had happened so far that day, had only occurred in the span of 5 hours. His day wasn't even half over, but it felt like years had passed. A million thoughts swirled around his head in just seconds. How was he going to get back to their hotel? Should he go back home early? And if so, when?
Luckily for him, he didn't have to think for long. Angel looked up to see his sister, Shining Star, gallop hurriedly through the automatic doors of the hospital. Angel stood from his chair, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Star turned and met his gaze, smiling as she recognized her brother. For the first time in what felt like days, the two met each other with open hooves, and hugged the tightest they ever had, thankful to see each other unscathed.
"Boy, am I glad to see you," Angel said as he pulled away. "Where's the little filly?"
"You mean Silver Spirit?" Star asked.
"If that's what her name was, sure," Angel replied.
"Well, just by coincidence, I ran into the officer you met at the tower in the police station I took her to," Star told him. "She's watching Silver now; I raced here as soon as I heard you were here."
"Thank Celestia," Angel responded. "I'm glad to hear she's okay. I thought for sure she'd gone back in the tower."
"Guess not," Star answered, taking the seat next to Angel's as he sat back down. "How did you get here?"
"I came with a rescue crew," Angel replied. "Believe it or not, I actually saved somepony's life out there."
"Really?" Star exclaimed with a hint of doubt.
"Yeah!" Angel responded, "She was underneath one of the fire carriages. Apparently she got hit by a bar while rolling under."
"Ouch!" Star yelled. "I hope she's okay."
"She should be," Angel reassured her. "She's in surgery now, but it shouldn't be anything more than a broken bone or two."
"That's good..." Star trailed off. She wanted to say something to Angel, but didn't know how to bring it up. Last time they talked about it, she'd ended up punching him in the jaw and leaving him at the tower. But she needed to say what was on her mind.
"Hey Angel," she began. "I've been thinking about our argument, ever since it happened. I think I was wrong, to yell at you. You were truly doing the right thing. I just wasn't keeping my emotions together."
"No, it's okay," Angel replied. "I've been thinking too. I was wrong to not think about you first."
"But that's the thing," Star pointed out. "You shouldn't have been. I was only angry at you because I was scared you were going to hurt yourself."
Tears started to well up in her eyes, and a noticeable choke formed in her voice. "The truth is, I'm terrified of even imagining my life without you in it. Ever since Mom & Dad died, you've been the only one that really took care of me. The thought of not having you there when I'm having a bad day, or helping me through the worst of times, makes me feel like the world is closing in on me. I'm scared of losing our friendship, and the thought of leaving for college is enough to make me wish that these days could repeat over and over. I mean, not this one of course," she added with a chuckle, trying to make light out of a depressing subject.
Angel reached out and hugged his sister, who was now beginning to cry. "Star, I promise you that no matter what happens, and no matter how far apart we get, I will always be there when you need me. I'm scared of leaving you, too, because just the thought of you being happy is enough to keep me going as well. I will always do everything I can to make sure that your smile never goes away."
For a few moments, the world seemed to fade around the pair as they consoled each other in the lobby of the hospital. As strange as it was, this was the most memorable moment of today; not the attacks that had changed Equestrian history forever, but the moment the two had finally figured out exactly how much their sibling meant to each other.
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2:14 PM
Firestorm didn't know how much time had passed since Silver Spirit's father had picked her up from the station. He had been extremely thankful to Firestorm for her help, as well as all of the other staff, and Firestorm had learned that Silver's mother had made it out of the site with a broken back leg, but was mostly unscathed otherwise. Now, Firestorm was waiting for her callsign to be called in the role call that had been going since the collapse. So many thoughts had been swirling around her head, and she felt that once the role call was over, all the pressure of the day would be gone.
"71-Uniform", the dispatcher called out. Next would be Firestorm.
"71-Uniform, 10-4," came the reply from an officer Firestorm didn't yet know.
"72-Uniform."
"72-Uniform, 10-4," Firestorm responded, her voice quivering with emotion as she spoke.
"73-Uniform," went the next call, signifying that the dispatcher had heard her. Firestorm sat back in her chair, breathing the longest sigh of relief yet. She felt a lot better, letting her whole department know that she was okay.
"73-Uniform."
Firestorm's heart ached as she heard the dispatcher repeat a callsign. Role call only gave 3 chances, and it was assumed that the officer was in distress if they didn't reply. In a disaster like this, however, she just assumed the officer was dead on the first repeat. There was no chance of finding anyone alive in the rubble, besides those on the stairwell that had miraculously held for about 10 floors. The one she, Third Alarm, Shiny Cloud, and many others had been in. But Firestorm had been the only one to make it out before the collapse, a decision she greatly regretted.
"73-Uniform."
Wait. Shiny Cloud wasn't with Firestorm. He'd been on the outside rescue missions further up. Firestorm's heart began to pound as she realized she didn't know whether her partner was okay.
"74-Uniform."
Firestorm tried to calm herself down. It was going to be a while before the role call would end, and she could get in touch with him. For some reason, though, she was blanking on her callsigns. Luckily, she had them on her, in case she ever forgot.
"74-Uniform, 10-4."
Firestorm pulled her pocketbook out of her uniform's pocket. On the inside cover, she'd written down her key callsigns that she would contact most commonly throughout the day. Dispatch was HQ, Shiny Cloud was 73-Uniform, the chief was 1-Adam, ---
Shiny Cloud was 73-Uniform.
"75-Uniform."
No... He wasn't... He couldn't be...
"75-Uniform, 10-4."
There was some sort of mistake. Firestorm had written down the callsign wrong. His radio was broken. Something. Anything!
"76-Uniform.
Tears started to slowly fall down Firestorm's face as her vision tunneled into a thousand-yard stare. She brought a hoof up to her mouth as her face went expressionless. She couldn't focus on anything. She couldn't even recognize the figure walking through the door across the room.
"Firestorm, Thank Celestia!" Blaze called. Her husband, a member of the widely-praised Wonderbolts military aerial acrobatics team, had finally arrived in Manehattan from Cloudsdale.
Firestorm snapped back to reality when she heard her name. She glanced up and saw the familiar face of her lover. But she could only focus on the thought that stood out in her head, one she never thought she'd ever have to face in a million years. The hardest part of being an officer.
Firestorm ran to Blaze and buried her face in his chest, hugging him the tightest she ever had as she finally let her emotions out. She started to sob inconsolably, the tears from her eyes leaving a stain on the navy blue dress uniform her husband wore. Blaze tried vainly to soothe his grief-stricken wife. Once she was calmed down a bit, she'd be able to tell her husband in words why she was so upset: her partner wasn't going to come back, like her husband had. In fact, she was never going to see him again.
Shiny Cloud, her partner & best friend, the stallion who had welcomed her with open hooves to the Manehattan Police Department, was gone.