Two months after meteor…

Hollow Shades, west of Manehatten Ruins…

The young unicorn pony lit the final candle on the chandelier with the floating matchstick. “Is that enough light, Father?” she asked the stallion sitting at the table beside her.

“Yes, thank you, dear.” Beard brushing against the table, the older unicorn stallion lifted his quill with magic and held it over the open book. “Please let Sidereal know we’re ready for her.”

With a nod, the young pony hurried to the door of the library and poked her head out. After a moment she stepped back to allow a dark furred batpony entrance. Sidereal, having done a similar interview yesterday night, sat opposite the older unicorn at the table.

He offered her refreshments, and like yesterday she requested only water.

“Now then,” the bearded unicorn tapped his pen gently on the blank page before him, “we were at the day of the meteor when we ended yesterday.” Sidereal nodded silently, taking a small sip of her drink. “Please, like before, tell me everything you experienced as it happened.”

Sidereal took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I was asleep when it happened. I knew Bright felt as if something was going to happen, but I thought he was being paranoid like usual. Even with all the signs I believed nothing was going to happen…”

“We, the A.T.D, were all gathered on our floor of the royal guard compound.” Steady closed his eyes a moment before continuing. “Bright had set up several monitors along the windows showing the event in Canterlot. There were three different news casters.”

“Steady,” said the unicorn across from him, “you don’t have to be so… formal.”

“Right, sorry,” Steady shook his head gently. “It was, um, crowded. Everypony was bunching up trying to get a better view of a screen. What Bright had said to us the previous day had us all wired. So when it happened… ” His hoof came up and rubbed the back of his neck. “He wasn’t even prepared for it. We saw Princess Celestia die from three different angles at once…”

Quick Fix covered her face with her hooves. “I didn’t know… none of us knew… ” A tear ran down her cheek. “I just wanted things to change… ”

“No one is blaming you for what happened,” the bearded unicorn said softly.

“I know, I… ” She sucked in a ragged breath and nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, it’s still hard to think about it… ”

“Did you know she had died right away?”

Steady shook his head at the older stallion’s question. “No pony really knew what was happening at first. There was this huge explosion… all three screens turned white. Two of the broadcasters just went silent. Everything seemed to go quiet for a moment.

“And then one of them just said it… ‘The princess is dead’.”

Licking his lips, Steady glanced down at the table. “Saying something like that is treason.” He closed his eyes and corrected himself. “Was treason. Now I suppose it’s just history.”

“I was woken up a few hours after.” The batpony closed her eyes. “Not because Princess Celestia had died, but because they were blaming Princess Luna.”

“They? The Red Queen’s army, you mean?”

“Yes. They used Princess Luna as a scapegoat. They said she killed her own sister!” Sidereal leaned forward. “It’s not true! The princess would never do something like that!”

“I understand, Sidereal,” the stallion assured her. “Please, continue.”

With a sigh, the batpony began again. “The star watcher’s compound was in complete disarray. We had pegasi and griffons banging on the doors. No pony knew the truth, everyone was just reacting. It was chaos.”

“That’s what he wanted: chaos, confusion.” Quick Fix rubbed her eyes.

“The leader of the red cloaks you mean? Arc?”

The pony nodded. “Not just him. The princess dying was like a switch for some ponies. It was like the city lost its mind.”

“You were a red cloak, weren’t you?” the stallion across from her questioned gently.

“I… my mother was very sick many years ago. Princess Celestia visited the city and I tried to speak with her, tried to get her to help in any way she could.” Quick Fix started to tear up again. “Her guards wouldn’t let me anywhere near her. Not even when I looked her right in the eyes…”

“I don’t think she deserved to die,” Steady stated flatly. “A lot of things were said about her, and she wasn’t perfect by any means, but she was a good ruler.”

“Tell me, what were your orders after you heard the princess had died?”

The unicorn let out a soft laugh. “Right after? None. Bright disappeared as soon as the words came out of the speakers. Everypony in the department just stood around staring at the screens. Canterlot appeared out of control. Two of the camera feeds went dead, leaving the one that kept saying the princess had died.” Steady enveloped the cup of water in front of him with magic and lifted it towards him. “They were controlling the whole thing, I’m sure of it.”

“The red cloaks?”

Steady nodded and drank. “It was hours before real orders came down, and by then they were obvious from just looking out the window: quell Lower Manehatten.”

Sidereal pointed to an area on the map laid out on the table. “West Village, the Financial District, and the Royal Guard District all started rioting at the same time. They must have planned it.” She sat back in her seat.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because Bright had told me beforehand that they thought their headquarters was somewhere in the Upper East Side. They started the riots on the other side of the city to test the royal guard’s response.” Sidereal stared daggers at the map. “If Bright hadn’t been such a mule about his secrets... ”

“We suppressed the rioters as best we could. It wasn’t as large as we first thought so our response was somewhat… overblown. There were guards swarming the streets.” Steady took another drink from his glass. “Thinking back on it, Bright might have had the response prepared.”

“It sounds like he knew a lot about what was happening.”

“He did and he didn’t,” Steady responded quickly. “He knew something was going to happen but not what happened to the princesses. His preparation saved a lot of lives, except his.”

“He died soon after the meteor fell?”

“No, not till the end.” His hooves rubbed together. “He went down with the city. I don’t think he wanted to live in a world without the princess.”

“I see.” Quill writing quickly, the stallion said, “And what happened after the riots were suppressed?”

“Right. Like I was saying before, the riots stopped within an hour of our response. But that was just Lower Manehatten. Upper Manehatten was a different story… ”

“I’m loath to say this, but if it hadn’t been for the griffon clan and the pegasus mob all of Upper Manehatten would have crumbled.” Sidereal grit her teeth. “They forced everyone back into their homes and then disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

The batpony shook her head. “That’s the only way I can describe it. One moment they were there, swarming the clouds, and the next they were gone. I think it was part of their tactics for making sure no one started anything again. Fear of their return.” Sidereal’s wing twitched absently.

“And then?”

“And then… nothing. Bright had the transceivers knocked out so we couldn’t get any more information from Canterlot. I think he was scared of what they were saying… ”

“As soon as the reports came in that Princess Luna was the one responsible, Bright had us shut down the networks. The city was calm for a day.”

“A day?” The quill scratched at the quickly filling pages.

Steady licked his lips. “Just a day. Even when it was clear he was shook up, Bright kept us going. We were searching for the red cloak’s hideout when a house exploded in the Upper East Side. It was all anypony needed to start rioting again, but this time it wasn’t just the west side of the city… ”

“The next part is just what I’ve heard, so I’m not sure if you want to quote me on it.”

“That’s fine, Sidereal. It’s all what I’ve heard from you, regardless.”

“Yeah, alright.” The flames on the candles flickered as the librarian’s assistant opened a door. “No pony really knows what caused the explosion. The royal guards thought it was the red cloaks. The red cloaks thought it was the griffon clan. The griffon clan thought it was the pegasus mob. The pegsaus mob thought it was the star watchers. The star watchers thought it was the royal guard. And just like that,” Sidereal clopped her hooves together, “the city erupted.”

“Was that when Bright ordered Upper Manehatten sunk?”

“No, no, he wasn’t that impulsive. That was after we realized the red cloak’s true goal, the next day. But that’s still ahead.”

“Right, forgive me. Please, continue.”

“It’s alright. So, as I was saying, everyone blamed someone else for the explosion. The griffon clan started wiping the pegasus mob from Upper Manehatten. I had rallied the star watchers by then and was on my way to stop them when I was attacked and captured by a griffon.”

“The current Clan Mother: Gilda?”

“Yes… ”

“I didn’t know what else to do, so I followed them when they came for me.” Quick Fix fidgeted. “Everypony was dressed in red and torches hovered over us.”

“What did Arc want from you?”

The unicorn pony looked up from the table. “He said we were going to push the royal guards into the sea.”

“The royal guard compound isn’t something you can just throw ponies at to break it,” Steady said proudly. “As soon as they heard a mob was coming, the compound buttoned up. That many unicorns maintaining a shield meant nothing was getting in or out.”

“And where were you?”

“Outside the shield, unfortunately. Me, Ray, and Amaranthine were still searching for the red cloak’s hideout. We were certain we would be found and lynched when some star watchers found us. They helped us find and secure the hideout.”

“Where was it?”

“The northern border of Trottingham where it met the Upper East Side.” Steady pointed it out on the map with a hoof. “We holed up there till the morning. We also found out what the red cloaks wanted: the city. The Red Queen’s army was marching from Canterlot to Manehatten to occupy the city as the new center of Equestria.”

“The center? That wouldn’t make much sense… ” The librarian started shuffling his maps on the table until one of Equestria was on top.

“A new center,” Steady circled an area on the map with his hoof, “for a new Equestria.” The cities on the west coast of the continent were outside Steady’s circle, which didn’t even reach Canterlot. “The area they drew didn’t include anything outside this.”

“Can you give a guess on why, knowing what you know?”

Steady shrugged. “I can’t imagine the destruction caused by the meteor’s explosion. Maybe it took the entire western half. Maybe the Red Queen made a deal with a third party. I’m not sure, though I’m certain I’ll find out.”

“Of course.” The librarian turned the page of his book. “Back to that day, if you would.”

“Alright.” Steady took a moment. “We learned about their plan and a lot about Arc, and we knew we had to get this information to Bright as fast as we could. I used a teleportation spell to get everypony with me to my apartment in West Village. From there it took some doing but we eventually made it into the compound.”

“And that’s when Bright decided to sink Upper Manehatten?”

Steady took a deep breath. “Yes. The plan was to initiate the emergency evacuation teleporters and get everypony off the island before sinking Upper Manehatten into Lower Manehatten, destroying both. However… ”

Quick Fix watched the librarian’s daughter light new candles around the room while he caught up with his writing. He motioned for her to continue.

“I woke up in an abandoned apartment. It was around noon I think. There was a lot of shouting outside so I got up and looked.” She looked confused. “It was just… us. Red cloaks everywhere. Everypony else had vanished.”

“They abandoned the riot?”

“No, not that. I heard they were teleported away. Arc was furious.” Quick Fix shook. “He yelled at us all to retreat… ”

“… which is exactly what Bright wanted them to do.” The light of the candles reflected in Steady’s eyes. “We had rigged the teleporters to ignore anyone wearing red. Though, it left some ponies in the city who weren’t red cloaks so Bright sent out some guards to find them. Everypony else spread out through the city to designated positions under Upper Manehatten.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No. The A.T.D. was tasked with finding and stopping Arc and any red cloaks that were helping him.”

“While the city fell?” The librarian stopped writing a moment to look shocked.

Steady smiled feebly. “It was part of the job.”

“I was knocked out to ensure I wouldn’t escape. When I woke up I was inside The Star’s Reach casino.” Sidereal looked distant. “Myself and a few other batponies were being presented to then Clan Mother by Gilda. She was using us to get close to the clan. That’s when the city started to crumble around us.”

“Can you describe it in more detail? I’ve never heard of such an event before.”

Sidereal unconsciously brought up her hooves. “Blue fireballs shooting up towards the sky everywhere. The flames didn’t hurt any living creatures, but they started consuming lighter clouds. Ponies and griffons fell through holes that appeared under them, fire washing over them.” She ran her hooves through her mane. “It was a fucking nightmare. I thought I was still dreaming; that I had to be dreaming. I couldn’t imagine anything like this ever happening in reality.”

The pony paused to gather herself. “I was dragged out of the casino by my subordinates.”

“And Gilda?”

Sidereal shook her head. “Before the fire balls started I heard her saying how she was getting revenge for someone named Signy, who died in the explosion from the day before. After that everything started happening so fast that I lost sight of her and the Clan Mother. I can only assume they fought while everything crumbled around them… ”

“Did Bright know that the teleporters wouldn’t save anyone in Upper Manehatten?”

Steady looked nervous. “I want to believe he didn’t, but I’m not sure.”

“Alright. So you went after Arc?”

“And the other red cloaks with him, yes. That’s when I found Quick Fix.” Steady sighed. “Ray and Amaranthine fought alongside me, but they fell while I was protecting my sister. I made sure Arc paid… ”

“I’ve never seen my brother so mad. He and Arc were using teleport and creation magic against each other and all I could do was watch.” Quick Fix closed her eyes. “I didn’t see how it ended. Steady just teleported next to me and said we were leaving... ”

“It was hard for me to abandon the city, even when I was watching it be destroyed right in front of me. The sunset in the background made it even more surreal.” The batpony put her head on her hoof. “Everything I had ever known was gone in an instant… ”

“We came across Sidereal and some batponies outside of the city.” Steady shuffled the empty cup around on the table. “We were all that was left: Me, Quick Fix, Sidereal, and three other star watchers. All the citizens we had teleported away were being rounded up by the Red Queen’s army. All we could do was slip away as quietly as we could… ”

“Still, we were found by the griffon clan as we were sneaking out. That’s when I saw Gilda holding the spear they use to signify the Clan Mother. The only reason we’re alive is because Steady convinced them that the red cloaks destroyed the city.” Sidereal shook her head gently. “We were lucky, that’s all.”

“And you made your way here, to Hollow Shades right after?”

“That was also blind luck,” Sidereal admitted. “What with the way you ponies hide yourselves.”

“For good reason, as you’ve seen yourself,” the librarian countered.

“True… we’re thankful that you took us in.”

Nodding, the older unicorn set down his quill. “I think that’s enough for tonight. Though I’m sure this old mind of mine will think up more questions for you by morning.”

Smiling, Sidereal stood. “It’s the least we can do to repay you for your kindness.”

Warm night air made her mane flow as Sidereal walked to her temporary home from the library. It had been unusually warm every night since the meteor and didn’t appear to be getting cooler any time soon. Did something happen to the seasons now that the princesses are gone?

It still hurt her to think about Princess Luna’s death. The news had been given to her after getting to Hollow Shades by Steady, who had witnessed it before the transceivers were turned off. Public execution in the middle of Canterlot…

“Sidereal!”

The batpony turned and saw Steady in the doorway of the small home he and his sister had been given. All the homes in the town were large trees converted for living. Sidereal walked over to him.

“Hey, how was it?” Steady asked softly. It was already late into the night.

Sidereal started to say it had been easy but stopped. Always lying to Bright, and always being lied to. “It… it’s hard, still, to think about it. To know what we know now and think about how things could have been different.”

Nodding, the unicorn looked at the ground. “It’s the same for me and Quick Fix. I keep wondering how many guards actually made it out, or how many ponies in red didn’t… ”

They shared a moment of silence, thoughts in the past.

“I want to know why this happened, Steady,” Sidereal said, breaking the silence. “I want to know why the Red Queen killed the princesses, and why so many had to die for it.”

Steady looked the batpony in the eyes. “Me too. But I wouldn’t mind knocking around the ‘Queen’ a little as well.” He stifled a yawn.

With a smile, Sidereal touched his shoulder gently with a hoof. “We can talk about it more tomorrow. Goodnight, Steady.”

“Yeah, goodnight.”

Sidereal could feel Steady’s eyes on her as she walked away. Even going through all of that he can still feel that way? She smiled again despite herself. At least he’s honest…