The Morning After
"We lost twenty-seven Guards in the riot," Sergeant Razzaroo reported. "Twenty-five of the bodies have been found, the other two remain missing. About eighteen Unmarked died, five of them to wounds from non-Guard individuals, and thirteen others have been taken into custody. Civilian casualties are still coming in, though at the moment there are only five confirmed deaths, thankfully."
"How many missing?" the woman she was reporting to growled.
Razzaroo swallowed. "At least four, ma'am, quite possibly more. Again, reports are still coming in. It's looking like the riot was largely confined to the square, though, aside from the incident at the station impounding lot."
"And because of that incident," the woman growled again. "if we want to chase them, we have to go on foot. They planned this."
"It's looking that way, ma'am," Razzaroo nodded. "Their withdrawal was too orderly for it to be otherwise."
"Keeping a reserve so that they have a fresh rearguard as they left," the woman grumbled. "taking as many of their wounded with them as they could so we have fewer suspects to question, leaving their vehicles by the lake so they wouldn't be confiscated on entry." She barked a laugh. "Clever."
"Yes, ma'am," Razzaroo nodded again. Then, hesitantly, she said, "If I may, ma'am, one of those missing, Miss Rarity Belle?"
The woman's fists clenched. Razzaroo paused, then continued, "She saved my life, ma'am, used her magic to hold off the Unmarked until I managed to get back to my feet. She... she saved the rest of our squad, too, with that last trick of her's. I... it was an honor to serve with her, ma'am."
"She's not dead," the woman hissed. "You hear me? She's. Not. Dead. Missing is not dead."
"I know, ma'am," Razzaroo tried to soothe her. "I'm just saying... I understand why you were friends with her."
"Am," the woman sharply corrected her. "I am still friends with her, because she's not dead. Any leads on whoever killed Adagio?"
"No, ma'am," Razzaroo sighed. "Most of us are still stumped by what killed her. That stone thing's like nothing we've ever seen before. We have no idea where it came from, who used it, or how they made it. We barely know how it works. The only lead forensics has been able to give us is that it was probably thrown from a high point, though there's no lack of those here."
"Hm," the woman grumbled. "How long until we can start pursuing Starlight?"
"At least three days," Razzaroo swallowed. "We need to secure the city, make sure none of the Unmarked stayed behind. Captain Armor wants us to try to track down whoever killed Ms. Dazzle, too, but he'll probably be willing to call the search off if it goes cold. And," her voice faltered. "there's going to be a memorial service, for the-for the missing and fallen."
A heavy silence fell. After a moment, "When?" slashed through it. "As soon as the city's secured," meekly answered it.
The woman's knuckles were almost bone-white. "Keep me updated," was ground out of her teeth, quickly followed by a brusque, "Dismissed." Razzaroo saluted and prepared to obey (and escape the volcano waiting to erupt), but she was stopped on the doorstep by a call from the seething woman. Hesitantly, Razzaroo turned to look at her, and asked, "Yes, ma'am? Did you-did you need me for anything else?"
No reply came for several moments, moments that dragged on almost as long as the riot, until the woman, her voice grudgingly cheerful, said, "Congratulations on your knighthood."
"Thank you, ma'am," Razzaroo puffed out her chest. "I'll try my best to do it honor."
"You can do that by finding the girl who helped you earn it," the woman replied, what little cheer she'd forced into her voice quickly leaving it. "Dismissed."
With a nod, Razzaroo obeyed. Once she was out in the hall, she paused, waiting a moment by the door.
Within seconds, a bestial roar and the groan of a desk tilting over greeted her ears.
Spearhead had come by early in the morning and ushered her and Radiance out of the lab. Protestors in the square, he'd said. They said they were peaceful, but Captain Armor wasn't taking any chances. He had her and Radiance brought to a bunker, a stronghold beneath the palace where the princess and her councilors waited, the senators hunkering in the Senate itself.
While Rarity had faced the storm in the square, she'd paced in the sanctuary, unable to do anything more than listen to what faint sounds echoed down to the chamber and wait for Shining to give them the all-clear.
Eventually he did, after the Unmarked withdrew, and the news he brought back was better than they'd expected; though they'd broken the line early on, the Unmarked had largely kept to the square, and stout resistance on the part of the Guards had prevented them from swarming the Senate. The twenty-five dead had not given their lives in vain; the interference they'd played in the Unmarked's assembling had saved far more than twenty-five.
But it was Rarity that had really turned the tide. The distraction her magic had provided allowed the Guards to regroup, a majority of the Unmarked turning their focus on the magic-user and away from the more conventional threat of the Guards. "She saved the kingdom," Shining had said.
But not, it seemed, herself.
"Silver Blaze," Sunset sniffled. "Setting Star. Uncle Lightburst. Rar-" She smacked herself. No. She had to remember what she'd told Razzaroo; Rarity wasn't dead. She didn't know how, but she knew that she was still alive, somehow. Maybe it was her magic, maybe it was their friendship, whatever the method might have been, she knew that Rarity wasn't dead, as surely as she knew that her parents were. And whatever it took, wherever she was, Sunset would find her, even if she had to tear Tartarus apart brick by brick to do so.
She looked down at the toppled desk. Pointless. A useless waste of energy, energy she should have spent finding Rarity. Grunting in effort, she righted it, then went to work putting her things back in order.
A knock came at her door. "Come in," she called.
Shining obeyed, still in his full armor, helmet slung under one arm. "Miss Shimmer," he nodded to her.
"Captain Armor," she nodded back. "What brings you here? Any new leads?"
He shook his head, a response she'd expected, and replied, "No. Forensics is still checking out the murder weapon for Miss Dazzle, and none of the missing have been found."
"She's not dead," Sunset snapped. "You hear me? Rarity's not dead. I know she isn't. Until you show me a body, she's not dead."
"With all due respect, ma'am, your friend isn't the only person missing," Shining replied. "Sir Doseydotes only managed to rescue one of the Majesty sisters, and there are plenty of others who you don't know that still need to be accounted for; Honeydew Hum, Amberlocks, Fade Away... I understand your concern for your friend, but there are others who deserve consideration, too."
"I know," she sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm just sick and tired of everyone acting like she's dead." She tapped her geode. "I know she's not. I don't know how, but I know it. Anyway," she sighed. "what brings you here? Or is this just a checkup from a concerned colleague?"
"This is a warning from a friend," he replied, voice softening. "one who's been in the same situation you have. You want to do everything you can to find out where your friend and the other missing people have gone. I'm guessing you want to do the same regarding stopping the Unmarked?"
Frowning, Sunset nodded.
Shining nodded back, then said, "In that case, what you need to do is simple; restrain yourself and stay here. Your mission needs you more than your friend does."
"What?!" Sunset laughed in dismay. "That doesn't make any sense! How is me doing nothing going to help?"
"You won't be doing nothing," Shining reassured her. "You'll be doing what you need to, staying on track with your mission. The Guard will stay on track with its mission, serving and protecting Homestria, in this case by tracking down those lost after the riot and punishing those responsible. We'll do our mission, but we need you to do your's, too."
Gently, he cupped her stunned face. "I know it's hard to stay back like this," he said. "Back in the Square, there was nothing I wanted more than to jump in and help my brothers and sisters in arms. Eventually I did, but only when I saw that I could step away from watching and ordering people around. I only let myself leave my mission as commander and coordinator once I saw that it was safe for me to do so. That's one of the most important lessons the Guard drilled into us; the mission comes first." He bowed his head. "I had a friend at the Academy, Jazz Matazz, great guy. We could always count on him to cheer us up or make us laugh, kinda like that pink friend of your's. One day, though, we were on a training mission in Baltimare, me, Jazz, and a few others. Most of us were on edge, even Jazz, though he barely showed it; a gang from Griffonstone was trying to set up shop in the area, and the rumors about what they did to Guards... They made some of the veterans scared. So, of course, we ran into them.
"We were providing the mayor with an escort while she was going for a walk when ten of them jumped out of an alley. Our sergeant drew his staff and ordered us to take the mayor to safety, and for some reason we thought that running back the way we'd come would be a bad idea. We took her with us, me, Jazz, and the other two, down an alley, hoping to circle around back to the station. Most of the gangsters followed us, though, at least half of them, and it was a fighting retreat. If that alley hadn't been so narrow, forcing them to come one at a time, we would've died. Green as we were, it was still a close thing; I can't remember how many times my armor saved me from a knife, or let me shrug off a knuckleduster.
"And then I tripped. My feet got confused, and I tripped. I was on the ground, and that meant I was as good as dead. One of them, a real nasty-looking piece of work, tried to finish the job, but Jazz jumped over me and blocked it with his staff before clocking their jaw with it. And then Jazz, my friend, my idiot friend, turns his back on them and asks me if I'm okay. I am, at least once I manage to get to my feet, but the knife that slips into his knee from behind means he isn't. He takes the knife out, and feeds one of the gangsters it, but the damage is done; he can barely walk, and he's bleeding, a lot, so blood loss is probably going to set in soon. We could try to tourniquet it, but the gangsters have almost cleared the corpse from out front, and they're not going to wait patiently while we bandage up his leg.
"I still try to save him, throw one of his arms around me like they do in the movies, but he takes it back off. 'I'm done for, Armor,' he says. 'Staying to help me will just add another corpse to the pile. Go, I'll hold'm off as long as I can.' I try to argue with him, tell him that I never leave a buddy behind, and he replies, 'Never leave a buddy behind, Armor, but never ever leave the mission behind. Go; I don't need you, but the mission does.' And I," he bowed his head. "I left him. He was right; the Guard always said, 'Never leave a buddy behind, but never ever leave the mission behind.' If it's a choice between a buddy and the mission, we're taught to choose the mission every time. Painful as it might sound, that's right; a friend is only one person, but a mission's many, and if worst comes to worst and you have to choose, everyone agrees that the right thing to do is choose and save the most you can. I made that choice, and got the mayor to safety. We got backup, went back to that alley, and... Jazz was dead, though they didn't manage to make off with his gear. The sergeant survived, somehow, though they lost an eye in the fight. They tried giving us medals... but I'm getting sidetracked," he shook his head. "The point is, there are times when you have to choose between giving everything for a friend and completing a mission, and most of the time the best choice, the right choice, is to stick with the mission."
"I won't just abandon Rarity like that," Sunset snapped, tearing up. "I'll make it so I don't have to choose; I'll save everyone."
"Can you?" Shining asked. "Is it possible for you to save everyone? You're just one person, Miss Shimmer, and history's shown, time and time again, that one person can't do everything."
"History is nothing to me," she snarled, slamming her fist on the table. "I don't let history write me, Captain Armor, I write it. I shape the world, not the other way around. You say that history dooms me to failure?" She pounded her desk again. "I say, 'I'm the master of doom.' It wants to decide my destiny?" She humorlessly chuckled. "It's welcome to try."
"This time will be different," Shining murmured. "History's shown how false those words often are, too."
Her horrifying smile transformed into a gruesome grimace. "Out," she ordered, her voice flat.
Shining bowed, and obeyed. He left, closing the door behind him, but waited for a moment as Razzaroo had.
An inarticulate scream of rage and grief followed him as he walked away.
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
Rarity Belle
Celestia Majesty
Honeydew Hum
Amberlocks
Fade Away
Darling Dahlia
If you have information regarding the location of these individuals, please contact the Royal Guard at 1-982-201-0***
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So it wasn’t a bullet?
Uncle Lightburst? Why is he called that?
He never said she was.
One of the principals are missing? How?
Kakashi would disagree.
10866458
Nope.
Because he's her uncle.
She thought he was about to, in her stressed state.
Judging by the use of the word "rescued," it looks like the Unmarked's doing.
Perhaps, but is Kakashi right? Is the life of a friend worth the lives of the many?
10866589
So it was actually a stone that someone threw?
Sunset has an uncle?
Yeah, but you would think that the principals would carry mace or a taser.
True, but it also depends on what the mission is.
10866613
Yes, but
doesn't sound like just any old stone.
In my headcanon, yes.
They might, but how effective would that be against a horde?
Yes, it does.
How far away were they in order to chuck that rock?
An uncle in the human world?
I’m not expecting it to work on an entire horde, but at least get three or four people.
10866837
Forensics is still figuring that out.
Back in Equestria.
That would still leave a good dozen or so free to attack them.
10867277
So the uncle is from equestria?
At least it would have gotten some people.
10867677
Yep.
Who would probably be borne away to safety by other Unmarked in the unusually organized retreat.
10867692
But, how did he get into the human world?
Yeah, I know that.
10867766
Sorry for being unclear, he didn't; he stayed in Equestria his whole life.
Sorry.
10867778
So why is he in the human world?
It would just be an act of defiance.
10868030
He isn't. Where did I say otherwise, if I may ask? It seems I have another thing I need to rewrite clearer.
Well. That definitely could've gone better. I can only imagine how the Guard was allocating everyone if they couldn't afford to reinforce the front line while Starlight was waiting for the crowd to build to critical mass.
I thought that might have been the identity of the captive. As for the one who put the rock in her throat, I doubt they're even human. Far better for every other species with an interest that humanity be divided and squabbling among themselves than united against an even greater threat. (Though Starlight is still a very great threat indeed.)
As for Rarity, I suspect I know where she is. Though I doubt she'll appreciate the local hospitality.
Sunset, meanwhile... the last time she had this much hubris, she had to flee her home universe. I can only hope she gets a sense of perspective sooner rather than later. Maybe if Shining brings in Twilight to knock some sense into her. Either Twilight. Possibly both at once if that's what it takes. And Adagio's final words are all too pertinent. Saving everyone would mean saving even Starlight. Can Sunset find it within herelf to do so, or has she already chosen to answer monstrosity with monstrosity?
But yes, this has definitely demonstrated the devastating power at Starlight's command. And I fear that even the horrors her people have inflicted won't be enough to turn some prospective supporters away from the cause. We'll see what happens from here.
10868597
Rattling off a list of the lost after such a climactic scene, especially a list that includes Rarity, implies that all of those losses were incurred in the riot.
10868628
The main problem was that the square wasn't the only place the Guard needed to be; just because Starlight was coming to town didn't mean that all burglars or muggers or what-have-you would stop, so Shiny needed to make sure the rest of the city was protected, hence the Guards Rarity saw on the streets. This is actually part of a point I ended up not having Shiny and Sunset talk about, namely how, due to the duty of care they possess towards others, they can't throw everything they have at Starlight; there are other potential threats and problems that they need to protect those under them from, too.
You're more right than you know with your guess at her killer's identity, as well as the main reason Starlight's arrival is so disastrous; every sign says that the apocalypse is coming, now is not a good time to have to deal with a fringe political cult. (Though she has more up her sleeves than that...)
I doubt she will, either.
Indeed. She needs to understand that she isn't the maker or breaker of worlds; she's just a girl, a skilled one and blessed with great gifts and friends but still just a girl. Hopefully someone, maybe Twilight like you said, can show her that, otherwise...
A vital question, one that we shall have to wait and see her answer to.
What horrors? Their treatment of Adagio? That was okay, she was an enemy of the people. The deaths at the riot? Those were the work of the agents of the elite, falsely ascribed to the Unmarked in an attempt to smear their name. They had no hand in the riot at all, actually; it was really staged by the elite and their agents disguised as the Unmarked!
While the last one is perhaps too fantastical to believe, the others are at least plausible, giving the Unmarked cover to continue to spread. Remember, in politics truth is relative, and reasonable doubt is as good as innocence to your supporters. As for where we go from here, the Unmarked seem set on continuing their spiral into unreason and cruelty. If deaths due to a riot aren't enough to stop them, what could be? What could bring them back to objective reality? We shall have to see.
Oh, gotcha. Sorry! If it helps, she listed the first three before, at the end of Ms. Shimmer Goes to Castellot.
10868597
If he’s not in the human world, then why did sunset mention him as one of the people that went missing?
10869245
She didn't, though I suppose it is a bit unclear; she wasn't listing the people who went missing, she was listing those she herself had lost. She referenced the first three before, in Ms. Shimmer Goes to Castellot:
Hope this clears it up a bit.
10869301
Ohh. So setting star and silver blaze are her parents, right?
I'm not going to revoke your story over this, but your short description isn't adequate - it doesnt' describe what happens in the story, and is actually skirting the line of acceptable use of copyrighted song lyrics.
For your own sake, it's better if your short description is simply an abridged version of your long description, something that tells readers what to expect about the story and entice them to click on it to read the full thing. This would have failed moderation if you'd submitted to mod queue, and it's definitely in your best interest to fix it as soon as possible.
10869407
Okay, thanks for letting me know.
10869355
Yep.
10869471
Ohh. Ok, you may wanna make things a little more clear so there’s no more misunderstandings.
I’m getting some major Shirou Emiya vibes here, and I’m not sure how to feel about it.
10871810
Neither am I, namely because I didn't know who that was until you mentioned it.
10873204
Survivor's guilt, hero complex, wants to save everyone, even the guys trying to kill him. I get wanting to save everyone, but sometimes that's just not a viable option, especially when the person you want to save would happily slit your throat.