Report From Rescue Company 1

by BRBrony9

The Address

'The final reckoning will be some time in coming, but the facts are there in black and white. Ponies are dead, and ponies are hurting. Families have been torn apart by the most brazen and dastardly terror attack in Equestrian history. We are expecting official casualty figures later today. The New Lunar Republic separatist group has claimed responsibility, and already law enforcement agencies have swooped into action. Reportedly some two dozen suspected members of the group have been rounded up for questioning by the Royal Guard and the Manehattan Police Department.'

Rosebush sat in front of the tv once more, except that she wasn't in her apartment. This time, she was in a hospital room, where Dawn lay in bed. She had visited him the previous evening when the doctors had given permission, then gone home and slept before returning the following morning.

'There are further questions being asked this morning about how the NLR were able to acquire or create a nerve agent. Chemical weapons are closely guarded by the Equestrian military and their foreign counterparts, and the high security laboratories where they are created, and the bases where they are stored, are well protected against external intrusion. No such facility in Equestria, New Zebrica or the Griffon Kingdom have reported any security breaches in the last two years, according to government reports, fueling speculation that the New Lunar Republic may have been able to create their own gas in secret. There have been renewed calls from disarmament and other pressure groups for the Equestrian military to give up all of its weapons of mass destruction, not just chemical, but biological, nuclear and magical as well. This worrying development comes at a time when the terror group has clearly stepped up its efforts to spread division and fear across Equestria. The last terror attack to be positively linked to the radical group was a shooting at a Vanhoover mall some ten months ago that killed five and wounded eight. Many commentators have asked questions as to why the group has been so quiet over the last year, and it seems that, sadly, many of those questions were answered last night in the most tragic of ways. For WMTN News, I'm Camera Obscura.'

'Come on babe, turn that off, will ya?' Dawn implored from his bed. 'Haven't we heard enough doom and gloom for one day?'

'I just want to see the address,' Rosebush replied. 'It's meant to be starting now.' She looked at the clock; it was 10AM on the dot, but instead of the news headlines, the scene instead cut to the throne room of Canterlot Palace, where Princess Celestia stood resplendent in her royal regalia, her iridescent mane and tail flowing with their usual ethereal undulating motion. She was flanked to her left by Commander Shining Armour of the Royal Guard, and to her right by her sister, Luna.

'My loyal subjects,' she began, drawing Dawn's attention despite his reluctance to listen to the news, making him sit up in bed as if he were standing to attention. 'Last night, the nation and the city of Manehattan saw a new kind of tragedy, and a new kind of threat to our society and our very way of life. Terrorists struck at the very beating heart of our largest city, where millions of creatures live and work and play. It is my sad duty to report to you the current casualty figures as a result of this heinous assault on your freedoms. At the present time, there are eighty two confirmed dead, thirty six in critical condition, and another five hundred and fifty eight injuries. These figures include not just ponies. A total of three Griffons, one Yak, and five Zebras are among those who passed away, and my government and I have been in contact with the Griffon Kingdom, Yakyakistan, and New Zebrica to express our condolences.'

'Oh dear, foreigners too...' Rosebush sighed. 'Oh, it's just awful...'

'The New Lunar Republic terror group has claimed this horrific act,' Celestia continued. 'Once again, I condemn this group, their views, their actions, and their members in the strongest possible terms. These are not citizens of Equestria any longer. They are not ponies any more. They have mutated into something alien, something abhorrent, something diametrically opposed to our nation's values, to everything we stand for, for everything our soldiers and sailors and airponies have fought long and hard to secure. The bravery of our military is matched only by the bravery of our first responders. Fireponies, police officers and paramedics raced to the scene last night with their only intent being to save innocent lives that others would so cruelly take from us. I want to pay particular tribute to the three fireponies and two transit police officers who have been hospitalized as a result of this terrible crime. Your courage and generosity of spirit are what has made Equestria into the country it is today, and I thank you. I thank all of those who ran into danger while others were fleeing from it.'

'Oh, she mentioned you!' Rosebush smiled, turning to her fiancee. 'Well, not by name, but...'

'That's because the department haven't released our names yet,' Dawn replied with the prosaic reason, though he couldn't help but smile at getting any kind of direct recognition from his sovereign. 'We're just three anonymous fireponies, and that's probably for the best. Do you really want reporters showing up at our apartment all the time?'

'The New Lunar Republic has long been a proscribed organisation,' Celestia continued on the screen. 'Membership has been banned and the group has been placed on the register of known terrorist threats. Today, I am taking things one step further. It is the only way that we can combat such an insidious threat. These enemies walk among us. They look like us. Just like the Changelings, to the pony in the street, it is impossible to know who around them may be a terrorist until they enact their despicable plans. Therefore, as of noon today, I am empowering the Royal Guard, the military, and all municipal, regional and national law enforcement agencies to stop and search any individual, regardless of age, race, gender or species, should they consider it to be in the public interest, or should they receive any indication of suspicious behaviour, or if that individual fits the profile of a known or suspected member of the New Lunar Republic. Furthermore, I am increasing the punishment for acts of terror and membership of this group. From noon today, any citizen of Equestria found to be a member of the New Lunar Republic will be sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. Any citizen found to have committed, to have aided and abetted in the commission of, or to have planned to commit an act of terror, will be sentenced in the harshest possible way.'

'Oh, she's going to banish them to Tartarus...good...' Rosebush spat in disgust. But Celestia had other plans.

'Any citizen found to have committed any of those crimes, will be sentenced to death.'

Both Rosebush and Dawn blinked and looked at each other. 'Can...can she do that?' Rosebush asked.

'Of course she can, she's the Princess,' Dawn replied, though he still couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. The death penalty had been off the statue books ever since the royal sisters regained control of Equestria from Discord many centuries ago. The most heinous criminals and villains had historically been banished to the strange subterranean realm of Tartarus, only accessible by magic. Celestia continued speaking, explaining her decision.

'I have made this choice because of the simple fact that these terrorists do not simply wish to take control away from your appointed rulers. They do not wish to exert power over you. They wish to destroy you, to tear this nation apart from the inside, to foment terror and fear, to turn father against son, mother against daughter, brother against brother with their divisive rhetoric and sinister plans. And they have taken lives. Innocent lives. Fifteen foals are dead because of their actions last night. They attack indiscriminately and without remorse with the sole intention of dividing us and making us afraid, and worst of all, they are ponies. They are not from another nation, another dimension, another planet. They are not an ancient evil from past times. They were your friends, your co-workers, before they turned their backs on you, on their Princess, and on Equestria. That cannot be allowed to go unpunished, which is why I have taken this extraordinary decision today. I know that many of you will disagree with my choice, and that is your right. But know that I have taken this step to protect you from exactly the kind of thing that happened last night. Hopefully at least a few of these terrorists will think twice about carrying out their heinous crimes knowing that no prison cell awaits them, but only the chill of a traitor's grave.'

The news conference ended with Celestia and Luna turning away from the camera, followed by Shining Armour. 'And there you have it, fillies and gentlecolts. An extraordinary address to the nation from Princess Celestia there. Stay with us for the latest political analysis of her announcements...'

Rosebush turned back to Dawn. 'Well...that was...that was...not like her at all. Not normally.'

'Well, this isn't a normal time anymore,' Dawn pointed out sadly. 'Not after last night. That changed something...for all of us, I think. Including the Princess. That wasn't a takeover or an invasion, not like Discord or Sombra or Chrysalis. It was an attack against innocents, but it was also an attack against her.'

'What do you mean?' Rosebush questioned curiously.

'Well, think about it. What is the objective of the New Lunar Republic? They want to overthrow the Solar Regime, or whatever crap they spout,' Dawn replied. 'They want to replace Celestia with Luna because they think it was Celestia who usurped the power of the throne and banished her sister out of spite and a desire to rule alone. They don't believe the history books. They've decided to rewrite their own personal history of Equestria to support their world view. We had a briefing about them, just after I joined the department, actually. There was a fear that they would try something exactly like this, some kind of attack in the city. Either here or Canterlot were deemed to be the most likely targets according to Royal Guard intelligence. So they got the target right, but they couldn't stop the attack from actually happening...I guess they get a C-. Could do better.' He snorted ruefully, which led to him coughing a few times as well.

Rosebush frowned, both at the cough and at her fiancee's words. 'So why don't they just attack the Princess? Why not try to assassinate her?'

'They know that's not going to work,' Dawn replied. 'They can't kill the Princess. She's too powerful. They know they'd get their asses handed to them, or at best they'd be gunned down by the Royal Guard.'

'Couldn't they have released their gas in Canterlot?' Rosebush suggested. 'Would that have had an effect on her?' Dawn shrugged.

'I dunno, but don't they say that she's never been ill? Maybe it wouldn't do anything to her at all, maybe it would kill her. But assassinating the Princess isn't what the NLR want. They want to undermine Equestrian society so that we overthrow the Princess for them. They don't have the numbers or the firepower to carry out a coup, and even if they did they know that Celestia would be able to kill them all anyway. The only way they think they can win is to turn the country against her, and the only way they can do that is through a joint campaign of disinformation and terror. If she lacks public support then they hope that we will turn to Luna as the alternative. What they seem to fail to remember, or maybe they deliberately forget, is that Celestia and Luna are co-regents. They both rule together. Even if they did somehow get ponies to rise up against Celestia, there's no way Luna is going to stand idly by and let them get rid of her sister. She's not going to rule according to their laws and their wishes any more than Celestia would. But there's no reasoning with terrorists. They have their agenda and that's that, they're gonna stick to it no matter what, because they've convinced themselves that it's the right thing for them to do.'

'Well hopefully the Guard can round them all up and...do whatever Celestia decides,' Rosebush replied. 'All those poor foals and mares and stallions, it's awful. I can only imagine what it was like to see it for yourself.'

'I didn't really see much,' Dawn replied. 'The Lieutenant just shouted for us to back out. All I saw was one pony down on the platform. It's Blaze you wanna talk to if you want to know what it was like down there. He went in at the start, then he got pulled out to come to the hospital...then as you know, he went back to the scene again.'

'He's as brave as his brother...' Rosebush smiled. 'But not as handsome.' She got up from the chair she was sitting in and moved to kiss dawn on the forehead. 'I have to get going now, I'll be back tomorrow to take you home...and don't worry, I'll have some real food waiting for you. Not this cheap hospital crap.' She chuckled and gave him another kiss, on the lips this time. 'I love you.'

'I love you too...' Dawn replied, smiling. Being visited by his fiancee had given him a lot of his strength back, and he was sure he would just fine by tomorrow. He was looking forward to going home, and he was looking forward to getting back to work. He waved a hoof as Rosebush departed his room, before resting his head back on the pillows. Rest was what the doctor had prescribed, and he wanted to make sure he was strong enough to get back on shift with his brother and the rest of his crew. Striker and Coppertop were both also recovering well, and Dawn was sure they would be back to work soon. He closed his eyes, and was soon drifting off into a pleasant slumber.