14 December 1008
There had been a disturbance near the harbour, or so she had been informed.
Then there had been an explosion.
Now Nightmare was standing before the rubble, having already doused the fires that had sprung up and rescued those who had been trapped under the debris from the destroyed buildings.
‘’Corporal,’’ she called out to the nearest Night Guard, who was keeping a respectful distance from her, ‘’ensure that the wounded get the best possible care as soon as possible. Contact my own doctor, if you must. Are there any other places that have been attacked like this?’’
‘’I will make sure of it, ma’am,’’ the Night Guard responded with a salute. ‘’And I do not think that anywhere else has been attacked, but I am not certain.’’
‘’Thank you. Dismissed.’’
Nightmare turned her attention back to the remnants of a warehouse. Whilst it was located in a fairly public part of the harbour, there was nothing about the warehouse that made it stick out from the dozens of other warehouses in the harbour. No reason for the attackers, whoever they were, to target this particular one. She’d already asked if that was the case.
Maybe there is something here that we do not know about.
If there had been, it would be near-impossible to discover now. The explosion had been as destructive as it had been powerful; any evidence left had most likely been erased by it. Of course they would still look for any clues, but it was a fool’s hope.
‘’Your Majesty!’’
She turned around to see another Night Guard galloping towards her. ‘’There’s shooters on Bridleway!’’
‘’Any bombs?’’
‘’Not yet, ma’am, but-’’
‘’Very well then,’’ Nightmare growled. ‘’We shall see how these upstarts act when faced with their Empress.’’ She focused for a moment, calling her magic to her command and the image of Bridleway into her mind, and then the world flashed and she and her guards stood on the street.
Ponies were shouting and screaming, cars and bodies were everywhere, and gunshots pierced through the cacophony of sounds that the aforementioned created. Nightmare took in the situation in the blink of an eye, shield already springing forth from her horn; policeponies and some of her Guard had already engaged the attackers, who appeared to be on the south end of the street, taking up positions behind trucks and cars that looked to have been deliberately placed in a defensive formation.
‘’Make sure the civilians get out,’’ Nightmare instructed her guards. ‘’Keep them safe. I shall deal with this rabble.’’
‘’Ma’am, due respect-’’
‘’Do as I instruct!’’ she snapped, and her soldiers - loyal to the end - obeyed, scattering into the crowds, taking command of the panicking citizens. Nightmare strode through the crowds, Ponies scattering out of her way, while drawing on more and more of her power. The results were gradual, but noticeable; the shadows on the walls lengthened, despite it being early in the afternoon, and the clouds began to darken and slowly move to block out the Sun.
By the time she was halfway to the impromptu fortress these despicable rebels had set up, she looked twice her size to anyone else looking at her. Nightmare knew this, and did not care.
She stopped, and took a breath.
‘’Cease this foolishness at once!’’ she thundered, magic enhancing the effect of the Royal Canterlot Voice so that it carried across all of Bridleway and its adjacent streets, cutting through gunfire, screams and stampeding hooves.
She leapt into the air in a single, graceful move, wings spread wide. ‘’Surrender thyselves, and We might consider sparing thine unworthy lives.’’
The only reply she got, after a few seconds of silence, was bullets which bounced off her shield.
‘’So be it.’’
Shadows slipped out of her wings, and then she dove onto the vehicle fortress, more like a storm than a mare. She tore through the rebels and their measly defence, ignoring their puny attempts at harming her with their guns and weak spells, smashing them into the street, their own comrades or vehicles and even buildings. Some would die, she did not care, as long as some survived. She had seen the bodies on the street, stallions and mares and colts and fillies- innocents shot dead by these despicable accursed terrorists-
When her fury subsided, she was standing in the middle of a wrecked street with the bodies of the terrorists around her; some moved, some did not. A distance away were her Guards and the police, and behind them was a crowd of civilians, all staring at her with fear and reverence in their eyes.
Then someone began to cheer. She did not see who it was, it was impossible to know in this crowd, but the cheer was taken up easily by the crowd, and soon everyone in the street, even her Guards, were cheering. Cheering for her.
That’s not fear in their eyes. That’s gratitude.
Nightmare forced herself to smile. At least she would get something good out of this disaster.
Perhaps a speech.
She spread her wings again, ignoring the stains of blood on them, and leapt up into the sky. ‘’Citizens of Manehattan!’’ She did not use the Royal Canterlot Voice again, but it was similar enough that it mattered little. ‘’Your proud city, the capital of my Empire, has been attacked by these vile terrorists! I know not for what they claim to fight, what cause they would use to justify these evil acts, but I know this: theirs is no righteous cause! There is no good, no justice and no harmony in attacks such as these, cruelly and unexpectedly enacted upon you! Know that I shall do my utmost best to ensure those guilty for this crime are rightfully punished, and that whichever goals or cause they fight for is exterminated down to its deepest roots!’’
She paused for a moment, to let her words sink into the crowd. ‘’There was another attack just before this one, a bombing of a warehouse in the harbour. There too Ponies died, and for no good reason other than the will of these criminals. If these two events are connected, we shall discover this too. And now, I must thank those soldiers of my Guard and the beings of the Manehattan Police Department, for without their timely aid I would have arrived to a far greater carnage. Rest assured that all those who committed acts of valour today shall be justly bestowed with rewards.’’
Another pause, this one more to catch her breath. ‘’Now, please, I must ask that you make room for the doctors, firefighters and police to do their work. Too many have already died today, but there are those who may yet be saved if they receive aid in time. Go now, and may the Stars be with you.’’
Spontaneous clapping and cheering broke out as she finished her speech, and by the time she touched the ground again it had risen into a thunderous applause. This was what Celestia had never gotten, and what Luna had always dreamed of; and now Nightmare had it, and it felt perfect.
Her Guard formed up around her again, and she departed the scene soon after, just after the terrorists had been taken away to the prisons or the morgue; government work waited for no one, and her actions just now had likely only increased that workload. She really needed that damn secretary.
When she stepped into her chambers, however, there was a nervous-looking Night Guard waiting on her. ‘’Your Majesty, we have received ill news from Crystal City.’’
Nightmare’s heart stilled. ‘’Go on.’’
‘’Princess Flurry Heart has been foalnapped.’’
14 December 1008
‘’Princess Flurry Heart has been foalnapped.’’
That was the first thing Rainbow heard upon returning to the Crystal Palace. Her first response was to punch a wall and swear; her second response was to swear again and then ask how Rarity was.
As it turned out, Rarity was in the Palace’s medical wing, being checked over for any wounds. Apparently Twilight had flung her into a wall, or at least that was what it had looked like when the Night Guard had stormed into the room, moments too late to catch Twilight.
The mare was unconscious, but aside from that she was, by the doctors’ accounts, not wounded beyond some scrapes and bruises; nothing serious. Caepasia be praised, Rarity would wake up soon.
Rainbow turned away from the mare to see Lilac and Darkheart waiting in the doorway. Darkheart had a grim look on his face - Rainbow knew there had to be Guard casualties today - and Lilac looked extremely concerned and worried.
‘’We,’’ Rainbow said after a few seconds of silence, ‘’need to plan.’’
Lilac nodded. ‘’That we do. I’ve instructed Tight Ship to make sure the staff doesn’t talk, but there’s no way we can keep this quiet. Before the evening falls, people will know.’’
‘’My soldiers are combing through the city; the roads and railways are secured,’’ Darkheart continued.
‘’Casualties?’’
Darkheart and Lilac shared a glance, and then it was Darkheart who spoke. ‘’I’ve lost seven Night Guard, and I’m told a similar number of Crystal Guard and policeponies have died. As for civilians…’’ He hesitated. ‘’We haven’t cleared all the rubble yet, and there are still some in critical condition in the hospital, but at least thirty-four civilians have died today.’’
Rainbow let out a breath. ‘’Fuck.’’
‘’Almost a hundred are in hospitals around the city, with fifteen in critical condition last I checked,’’ Lilac picked up where Darkheart left off. ‘’Most of Princesses Plaza is destroyed, and the same goes for the parts of the Palace that Twilight Sparkle went through. It will take months to repair the damage.’’
‘’If those in critical condition don’t make it,’’ Rainbow said softly, more to herself than to the others, ‘’almost fifty Ponies will have died today.’’
And for what?
‘’What do we know about the attackers?’’
‘’We’ve captured no one,’’ Darkheart said with obvious distaste. ‘’They all either died or killed themselves when they realised they were about to be captured.’’
‘’Sundamnit.’’
‘’No identifying marks on their bodies either. We can guess that they are allies of Twilight, though how she got them - and how they got guns and explosives - I do not claim to know. We’re operating blindly.’’
Rainbow had to really, really resist the urge to bury her face in her hooves. ‘’I will hold a speech in a few hours,’’ she finally decided. ‘’Tell the populace what has happened, and assure them that we are doing their best.’’
‘’Is that wise?’’
‘’Perhaps not, but I’m pretty sure that with Rarity unconscious and Flurry gone, I’m the highest-ranking person left in the Empire.’’ And wasn’t that a thought. When the adrenaline of combat had fully worn off, she’d probably swear a whole lot more at that. ‘’So we need to sit together to make a speech, and we need to inform the Empress of what has just happened, and then we need to start finding ways to discover where Twilight took Flurry.’’
She could confront her emotions about that later. When others couldn’t see her.
‘’That sounds like a plan,’’ Lilac said, nodding along. ‘’I’ll make sure the speech is ready.’’
‘’And I’ll start the search,’’ Darkheart pitched in. ‘’After I’ve laid my soldiers to rest.’’
‘’Go.’’ Rainbow dismissed them both with a wave of her hoof, and then turned back to watch Rarity’s unconscious form, serene in her rest.
‘’Wake up soon, Rares,’’ she whispered, before pressing a soft kiss just under her horn. ‘’I can’t do this on my own. Don’t leave me hanging.’’
She received no response.