Viewpoint by Brooksburg
Source: Gargoyles | Rating: T | Posted: 11-3-2011
The Eyrie Building, New York City, New York
7:11 pm
As I woke up and cast off my stone skin I realized that a crowd was gathered in the castle courtyard. Elisa was there, along with Matt, Xanatos and many other friends of ours.
We turned and glided towards them; Goliath asking them what had happened before his feet touched the ground.
Elisa embraced him tightly, crying as though she were a waterfall. We noticed further that many of them were also crying and if they weren't, they were hanging their heads, or wearing a grim expression.
None one of them answered for a few minutes until Sharon, a panther-like mutate, cleared her throat, "The city's been attacked."
"What happened?" I asked, repeating Goliath's question with a touch a dread, but nothing prepared me for the answer.
"The World Trade Center was hit by two commercial airliners early this morning," said Sara Jasper in a numb voice. "Another one hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a fourth plane went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We don't know how many people are dead. Maybe two thousand, maybe more, but the planes that hit the towers demolished them completely. They're gone."
An unnerving silence passed over all of us. Then Angela burst into tears with Broadway trying to comfort her. Lexington, Hudson and Bronx raced inside obviously going to catch what was being reported on the news.
Sata and I looked toward each other for a moment before rushing back up to the battlements with our children in tow. As I looked at where the Twin Towers should have been, I saw two pillars of smoke rising from that area. "Jalapeña," I said as I squeezed my wife's hand and sighed. "Let's go down to the entertainment room."
"Dad, shouldn't we be helping them?" said Graeme.
"That all depends on what Goliath thinks, Graeme-kun," I responded.
"But, Dad…"
I cut him off, becoming a little impatient, "What do you expect me to do, Graeme? Provide more body bags?" Both of my kids eyes' were shimmering with unshed tears and I bowed my head, suddenly filled with shame at my outburst. I then knelt down on level with them and touched their shoulders.
"I'm sorry, kids, but… this news caught me more than a little off guard. We're supposed to be protecting the city. I thought after the trouble we faced with the Unseelie Court, it would end. Maybe not forever, but it would've wound down considerably for a while. Now this happened… and we were asleep. If there is anything we can do about it, we will, but right now I think the best thing we can do is gather as much information as possible." I turned my full attention to my son and gave him a strong hug. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, Graeme."
He did his best to dry his eyes and said with a weak grin, "That's okay, Dad."
By this time, most of the crowd had dissipated. No doubt having the same idea as I was: gathering information. We walked back to the courtyard. Talon, Maggie, Sharon and Claw remained waiting there for us.
"What happened in the Labyrinth?" I asked.
Talon looked down, swallowed, and said in a hollow tone, "We thought at first it was an earthquake. A few of the walls were dislodged by the impact, but nothing too serious. I ran over to see if there was anything on the news… and got what was probably the second biggest shock of my life. It was at about 8:45 this morning
I patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Come on, we'd better join the others."
The whole castle seemed silent as the rest of us converged into the entertainment room. Upon arriving, I noticed everyone sported a pale face. Goliath and Hudson blanched visibly as we watched the second plane hit the East Tower, while Angela resumed crying. Lexington and Broadway didn't show any reaction beyond, if it was possible, becoming even more pale. All of a sudden, my knees felt weak and I stumbled against the doorway. I heard my family speaking to me concernedly, but it barely registered as echoes of the Wyvern massacre whispered in my head. But this was worse than Wyvern. Oh so much worse.
I shut my eyes against the image of the tower, but in my mind it continued to resonate.
Three hours later, the majority of the people remaining in the building had calmed down as best they could. Elisa's parents had gone home at 8:30, as had Matt and Sara. The mutates were still there, having left Delilah and Malibu in charge of the Labyrinth. From what we could see from the news reports, it was a suspected terrorist attack. 'Worlds collide again,' I thought to myself angrily. I had just gone through viewing the towers' collapse and was now standing by my roost alone, digging my talons into the masonry in frustration and horror. Horror because, in addition to seeing footage of the collapse of the towers, I had seen people jumping out from them. As though the news could not get any more grim, Elisa revealed that Officer Morgan, a friend of the clan in the NYPD as well as someone who fought with us against the Unseelie Court, had been in the East Tower when it collapsed. There were no signs he was still alive.
"Beloved?" said a voice behind me. It was Sata.
I didn't turn around. My eyes were fixed on where the World Trade Center had once stood. 'Just where are the people who won't go home to their families tonight, because of you, whoever you are who planned this? You bastard,' I thought, my frustration increasing rather than decreasing. The stone block I held in my grip had almost become gravel.
"My love, are you…"
"No, I'm not all right, Sata. We should have done something," I said, finally turning my head her way.
"There was nothing we could have done, Brooklyn-san, we were asleep," said Sata, but I could see it was frustrating her just as much
I sighed, stretched my wings, and jumped onto the parapet. "Where are you going?" asked Sata, worry in her voice.
"I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to assist with the rescue effort. Those people need as much help as they can get. Besides, Sata, I'm tired of sitting and waiting around here twiddling my thumbs," I said, becoming impatient again. "Tell Goliath and the rest of the clan I'll be back in a few hours."
"She will not have to," said Goliath, coming up the stairs. He seemed to have regained his composure. "If you feel the need to go, then you may proceed, but I do not want you going alone. The airports have been shut down across the country, so be careful. People may be wary of anything with wings."
I bit my tongue against a retort, but in the end I agreed and stepped off the parapet. "All right. Sata, you're with me. Tell Elisa, Lex, Talon and Sharon they're coming. I also want Bronx and Nudnik. If there still are any survivors trapped in the ruins, they may be able to sniff them out."
"Good, you must tell the others of your plan… I think I shall leave you in charge of this," said Goliath.
I opened my mouth to protest against that, but Goliath was already walking downstairs.
I glanced at Sata again, and then embraced her closely as though she might dissolve. I was so glad she was with me at that moment.
Very reluctantly, I parted from the embrace and said, "Time to gather the herd," and we went downstairs ourselves. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it for encouragement as we went. I did the same.
Once I relayed my idea to the rest of the crowd, it quickly became chaotic. Everyone decided to volunteer, even David and Fox. I watched and was filled with exasperation as they jostled each other with reasons to go.
"Derek, you shouldn't go! What will happen if they see you?"
"I've been standing idle long enough."
"Can't I come?"
"You? Ha! You couldn't even find your way out of the castle!"
"Graeme, I'm warning you…"
"Maybe I should…"
"Stuff it, Xanatos."
"Watch it, fat boy!"
Needless to say, I was starting to admire the fact that Claw couldn't talk. Only he, Goliath and Sata wisely stayed out of the erupting argument, which showed no slowing down and became progressively more and more heated after five minutes.
Thirty more seconds had passed before I snapped out, "ENOUGH!"
Unfortunately it didn't have the desired effect I was expecting. They all turned towards me.
"Brooklyn, you know I'm just as capable a leader…"
"We've never had to deal with a rescue operation this size!"
"What if we get injured ourselves trying to help them?"
"Brooklyn, you know David and I are willing to help."
"Oh, right. You were such a big help the night the Unseelie attacked."
"Listen, buster…"
"Are you calling me weak?"
"Derek, please…"
"Why do any of you have to go?"
"Lad, shut yuir trap!"
Another memory suddenly leaped forward. I heard Demona's voice saying, "They can't share their own homes without fighting, and you think they will share this world with us… they hold each others' lives completely without worth, do you really think they will accept us with open arms?"
'Not if they see us like this,' I thought.
I chose to let my anger get the better of me.
"SHUT UP!" I roared, my eyes flaring white.
"I'm wondering just what started this argument," I snarled, looking at each of them in turn. No one replied. "ANSWER ME! NOW!" They all flinched.
"We have no time to be squabbling like housewives, goddamn it! In case none of you have noticed, our city, as well as the country, has just been attacked."
Lex opened his mouth, but I shook my head at him. He closed it again.
"I don't want an apology from any of you, because that's not going to help anyone who may still be trapped in there. Are we clear on that?"
The group nodded.
"Good. Now if someone can offer a solution to getting there, I'm all ears. Gliding is going to be restricted until further notice. That goes for the Labyrinth Clan as well. If we risk that there's a strong possibility the police, and possibly some civilians, may shoot us down on sight."
Xanatos cleared his throat.
"What is it?" I asked him wearily.
"Well, I happen to have about three recreation vehicles down in the parking garage that we could use. Ordinarily I have no need for them, but considering the situation…" he fell silent.
"Okay," I said, quickly thinking back to the plan I had relayed Goliath. "I'll only be taking a small team. Sata, Lexington, Talon, Maggie, Sharon and Broadway are with me. Elisa, you'd better go and make way for us. As for the rest of you, stay here and field our communications. Everyone who's with me, pick up any shovels or any sort digging equipment and lanterns you can find around here. Better bring Bronx and Nudnik too. Let's move!"
"Owen, take Alex to bed," Xanatos said to his majordomo.
"Of course, sir." Owen left with Alex in the direction of Alex's bedroom.
"I'll call Matt and tell him and Sara we're on our way," said Elisa, taking out her cell phone.
Across the room, I saw Goliath nod his approval in my direction with his arms crossed. I returned the nod with a strained smile, and then left for the nearest storage shed.
I thought to myself, 'Forty-five years of being a leader, and I'm still not used to it,' I quickly shook it out of my head and asked the group at large, "Does anyone know how to drive this thing?"
"It can't be all that different from riding a motorcycle," Lex said sarcastically.
"Lex, that is enough," I snarled at him. "The last thing I need is another cynical comment from you. Got it?" My eyes once again produced a white sheen. Lex nodded nervously. "Good. I'm going to be driving. Talon, help me navigate."
I took my place behind the wheel, pausing for a moment before I decided to speak. "I hope you can all understand that I'm not trying to dictate anyone here. I just wasn't prepared to deal with this."
"None of us were, Brooklyn," said Sharon.
I looked at her a moment, but stayed silent. I turned frontwards again, let out a deep breath and started the ignition, heading out of the garage.
Now that I was on ground level, it was even more disconcerting. The city seemed to have died with the towers. What few people there were on the streets appeared to be very distraught, and paid little attention to the gargoyles and mutates exiting from the Eyrie Building's parking garage.
"Which way, Talon?"
"Left on 6th Avenue, then another left on 57th, and another left on 7th Avenue. Don't worry though, it's all on the same block."
"Thanks. Do I have to turn anywhere once I'm on 7th?" I asked, having just left 6th Avenue behind.
"Nope. All you have to do is go straight ahead. If you need anymore help, feel free to ask. I'm going to talk with Maggie for a minute," said Talon as he left his seat. I just nodded absently, thinking to myself how simpler it was living in Scotland when I was a hatchling, the Magus and the Phoenix Gate having been no more than the barest whisper in my ears. I was interrupted from my drifting period by a tap on my shoulder.
"You can go anytime, you know. The light's still green," said Sharon, smiling at me.
We were still on 57th. There came the sound of a few light (as well as half-hearted) chuckles from behind me, but I ignored them. "Oops," I said, somewhat embarrassed, and refocused my attention to driving.
Embarrassment wasn't the greatest of feelings to be having at that moment, but it came as a real relief when compared to what I have been feeling the last few hours. And seeing Sharon smile… hell, seeing anybody smile, did much to stamp my frustration underfoot.
I chuckled a bit at my brief mistake before turning onto 7th Avenue.
"Feeling better?" Sharon asked, having taken Talon's vacated seat.
"Yeah, yeah, a lot better. Thanks, Sharon, for making a complete fool out of me," I said with a grin.
"Anytime," said Sharon, grinning herself.
Five minutes later, the laughter and grins had died down. We were beginning to see the buildings ahead coated in dust from the impact. A police barrier stood on the block and I put the brakes on the RV. A police officer slowly made his way towards us.
"Okay, I need to see your license and regis…" The thirty-something policeman trailed off as he got a good look at the driver. Namely, me.
"Ernie? Ernie Pastorek?" Talon asked from behind.
'Ernie' shook himself and narrowed his eyes. "Who's that?"
"It's Derek Maza. We got partnered a few times during our training flights, remember?" said Talon, unwilling to show himself.
"Maza! Where the hell have you been hiding the last six years? And what are you doing with the… gargoyles, anyway?" asked the cop, still staring at me.
"Long story, Ernie," said Talon with a sigh.
I took that moment to intervene by opening the driver's side door and slowly coming out with my hands in front of me. "Uh, hi there. My name's Brooklyn," I said, trying to be as genial as possible. I paused, then turned my head back towards the door, "Derek, come on out. I think appearances are going to be the least of our troubles at this point."
Talon slowly shuffled outside. "Hey, Ernie. It's been a long time," he said.
Ernie simply stared at the mutate, not saying a word.
When I felt the silence had gone on long enough, I once again intervened. "Hey, Ernie, are you still with us?" I asked him, snapping my talons under his nose.
It broke him out of his daze. He stared at me a moment longer, then turned his attention back to Talon. "Jeez, Maza, what happened to you?" asked Ernie.
"Dr. Frankenstein found me," said Talon, perfectly deadpan.
"But that's not why we're here," I said, cutting in again. "We wanted to see if there's anything we can do to assist with the rescue effort."
Ernie's eyes went wide. "Are you crazy? I could lose my badge if I allow you within that area!"
"Do you really think that matters right now? Over two thousand people have died today! There may still be people dying while you're having us wait here!" I said grimly, getting frustrated for probably the millionth time that night.
I expected him to look frightened or angry or both, but instead he sighed like a defeated man and took out his radio. "Captain Jennings? This is Unit 27 over on 7th Ave. Over."
"Damn it, Pastorek, what is it?" said the voice, sounding extremely irritable over the garble of the walkie-talkie. I threw a quick withering glance at it before he spoke again. "I've got my hands full trying to coordinate the dig through Tower 1 with a dozen other precincts breathing down my neck, so whatever you have to say, spit it out already!"
"There are some gargoyles here demanding that they be let through to help with the effort," said Ernie. "I'm having a hard time trying to dissuade them."
As he said that, I rolled my eyes in further exasperation. I suddenly felt as though I'd be running in circles with the police the whole night. But my exasperation was replaced with surprise a few minutes later when I heard the captain's response.
"Do it! We got the go ahead from the 23rd Precinct. Now let them in, and don't bother me about this again. Out," said Jennings with an audible click, signifying to the rest of us that he had just turned off his radio.
We merely stared at each other a few moments before Ernie shrugged his shoulders and waved us through, allowing my team to proceed. I nodded to Talon, and then he and I clambered back into the RV. I started the engine, and we made our way further down the street.
"Scheisse," I muttered softly. The shock when first seeing the horror of the news reports had filtered in my brain quite thoroughly, but now… now that I was actually at the site of the attack, my shock, and no doubt the shock of the others with me, seemed to increase tenfold.
The place was filled with doctors, cops, construction workers, firemen. Many anonymous civilians stood at the edge of the barricades, gazing at the wreckage, some in blank shock, some in tears. It was only by slim chance that I saw a familiar trench coat-clad man walking towards the remains of the second building.
"Hey, Matt!" I shouted out the window of the RV…
I decided to stop writing. Because, in truth, we of the Manhattan Clan had done nothing. The entire setting as well as our actions alluding to it is falsified grotesquely.
It happened like this: I broke out of stone sleep with the clan, gathered my family and started planning for the night until Lex said, "Hey, what's that?"
We saw two pillars of smoke southwest, rising skyward.
"Another massacre, and one a thousand, maybe ten thousand, times worse than Wyvern." David Xanatos looked weary, red-eyed and bleak. It gave me a violent chill.
Silence descended.
"What has happened? And where is Elisa?" Goliath asked.
Xanatos just pointed in the direction of the smoke. "You'd better come inside. I think…" He faltered, making the rest of us looked at each other alarmingly. "I think the news can explain it better than I can."
So we came. We saw, we froze, we wept.
Goliath, upon seeing the footage of the towers and the subsequent emergency response, ordered the clan to stay indoors until dawn.
I said nothing against his judgment, for I myself was too numb to react. I suppose, cliché as it is, that what I wrote is my version of what should have happened. Whether it came from my own protective instinct or just plain ol' cabin fever, I had to do something…
But I spent the remainder of the night and early morning concealed in the library, gazing out the window and waiting for the sun.
The End
When Planes are Deadly by Pre-Animation Man
Source: My Little Pony | Rating: K+ | Posted: 9-12-2020
Hello, everybody! As you are aware, this is the 19th years of the September 11th attacks. So I am going to be making two tributes to the innocent victims of the tragedy, this being one of them. I do hope that this is up to snuff in terms of honoring the victims and remembering that fateful day, and God bless America, always.
THINGS TO NOTE:
That Twilight and the gang takes place in New York City made me feel it was thus fitting to write a tribute to the 9/11 victims that involved that movie.
I own none of the characters. They all belong to Hasbro.
When Planes Are Deadly…
Quite a bit had been going on both in terms of Rarity and his famliy. How so, you ask? For one thing, Diamond Tiara and all his kids had been fortunate enough to win the lottery and make it so they had enough money to at last leave the boat they lived in and find themselves a good, even if not opulent, NYC apartment to live in. They took to it like a bird to the air. Even better, it was in a building right next to the house Rarity lived in, so it was not at all hard for Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Tixie to visit their old friends and vice versa, which happened quite a bit from both ends. Obviously, both sides were only too happy about it. Diamond Tiara and his kids had all gotten a pardon for their past thefts, due to everyone in New York acknowledging it was the only option they had, plus they'd helped take out the evil crime boss Sykes, and thus deserved at least that, though some accepted that they were off the hook with more reluctance than others.
Additionally, just two weeks after all of this began, there was some kind of time warp of which was made by a special eclipse one night, and they were all teleported into exactly the own home each family lived in, except it was in the year 2001. On September 10th, to be precise. The funny thing was that none of them were any older at all despite being teleported forward in time, but they soon learned what accounted for that, as well as where and when they were, along with all that was so now that had not been so back in 1988, plus what had gotten them here and how it was permanent. Still, they quickly accepted it, and felt they had a very nice, bright future to look forward to. In fact, once they'd thanked everyone for how they'd filled them in on the lot of stuff they needed to learn and understand about this new time and millennium they were in, they'd all go to their respective homes, feeling that their lives had taken a turn for the better and that all the future held would be heavenly.
But alas, this would not be so. In fact, the precise opposite was to be the case, as they'd find out in the harshest and gravest of ways the next morning. What initially seemed like heaven would turn to hell, but none were aware or prepared for it. Especially since, at first, the day was a very beautiful one indeed, as evidenced by what they saw after waking up at 7 AM(they all did it at the same time by chance and coincidence)and deciding to, as a celebration of their new time in addition to their new life which had so many similarities to their old one to go with the new parts and how none were any older(right down to how Twilight was still a kitten like he'd been prior to the time warp), go to a nice IHOP restaurant for breakfast. And boy, did they enjoy their lavish breakfast there, each one being given their own dishes, even the pets! This was the life, and all of everything seemed to be looking up.
Once breakfast was done and Diamond Tiara had paid the bill, though, what was previously like heaven on Earth would become hell on Earth. See, by the time they'd finished breakfast, it was 8: 44 AM. And once the bill was paid and they'd left IHOP, having thoroughly enjoyed the good meals they'd picked and ordered, it had just turned from 8: 45 AM to 8: 46 AM. As they were on their way back to their respective homes, chatting along the way with much joy and cheer, a plane shaped shadow flew over them. They noticed, a bit confused, and when they looked up, it was Twilight who was the first to notice something amiss when they saw it had, in fact, been none other than a plane which flew over them. Twilight asked: "Uh, guys? Don't you think that airplane is flying kind of low?" "Yeah!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "Planes never get flown at this level!" "And wait! It's going in the direction of the North Tower!" Mash Buttons cried out. "What?" asked Diamond Tiara. "But that's impossible!" "But Mash Buttons's right!" Rarity cried. "Look! It's not stopping, either!" "And from what I see, it's actually GAINING speed!" Rainbow Dash observed, confused and surprised.
Just after she said this, the plane in question hit the North Tower, and the giant explosion which resulted caused the group to gasp in shock and fright, with Sliver Spoon going: "Whoa, is it just me, or did that plane just HIT the North Tower?" Scootaloo barked: "It's not just you! It did!" "Oh, my God!" cried out Twilight. "Dear God, what's going on?" barked Mash Buttons. "Either a horrible accident has occurred, or this city is under attack!" Tixie spoke. "Guys, look! I think WTC 1 is on fire! Smoke's coming out!" cried out Sweetie Belle. "We have to do something, guys!" Rarity let out. "Of course we do! But we must hurry!" Diamond Tiara told her and everyone else. They attempted to try and get through the understandably panicked and fleeing crowd of New York City, but it proved most difficult for them, especially since they might have learned all they had to, but they weren't used to this big a crowd, given they were now living in a time 13 years past their original time. In fact, due to trying to get to the North Tower through such a huge amount of people desperately in addition to fearfully running for their lives and also making sure none of them lost sight of any of them all at the same time, as they had no choice, since they could not afford to be separated from the group in a time like this and didn't want to crash into anyone, it was 9: 03 AM when they had finally reached the North Tower.
"Finally, we're here!" Diamond Tiara gasped. "My God, do we have to hurry!" Mash Buttons pointed out. "Yeah, we don't know whether anyone has died yet or not, and we have to save as many as we can!" Tixie cried out. "So let's move it!" Sweetie Belle shouted, but just then, the bunch of them saw a second plane, which promptly crashed into the South Tower. "Oh, no!" Rainbow Dash cried out in terror. "Another one! And it just hit WTC 2!" "Dammit, there can be no question now!" Sweetie Belle let out. "This was no accident, chance happenstance or coincidence!" "Oh, no!" Scootaloo put in, and Mash Buttons let loose: "This was definitely planned, and this city is unquestionably under attack!" "Okay, we've got to save whoever we can in each tower," Tixie let out, "so how are we going to split up?" Diamond Tiara replied: "Rarity, Twilight, Mash Buttons and Sweetie Belle, you four are with me. We help who we can in the North Tower. Tixie, you take Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Sliver Spoon with you to the South Tower to salvage as many as possible at the same time we do exactly that in the North Tower. And we must do it with haste, for every second counts!"
Tixie nodded and did a hand gesture to make Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Sliver Spoon and Scootaloo all follow him. They did so, while Diamond Tiara made the same gesture, prompting Mash Buttons, Sweetie Belle, Twilight and Rarity to follow him. When the four ran at the same time he did, each group of five entered the tower which they'd been chosen to help the people in. We will be looking at the South Tower first, followed by the North Tower, despite how the North Tower was hit first.
So, in the South Tower, Tixie, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Sliver Spoon were all doing all they could to find anyone who was alive and needed a way out before being killed. I find it very needless indeed to say that it took them quite a bit of time, even splitting up to cover as much ground as possible, to find everyone who was still alive and lead them out of the South Tower before it collapsed completely, especially with all the fires, destroyed structural areas and horrid damage and choking smoke everywhere. Not to mention the tower's height. Thankfully, in the end, they were able to make it so that everyone who was still alive and not above where Flight 175 had smashed into the South Tower followed the lot of them, obviously rejoined after seeing to it that their splitting up would not make them become lost, since they couldn't afford that for obvious reasons, all the way down to the bottom of the tower and out through the doors. Both Tixie and the four kids he'd brought with him, as well as all of the people they'd been able to find and either lead out to the exit or save by leading non-injured ones to injured and/or trapped ones(so that the non-injured and non-trapped people could help the injured ones and/or free the trapped ones and see to their survival as well, of course), were out of the South Tower and still running by the time the doors to it they ran out of were able to close, or even begin to close, for that matter.
The thing is, though, that by the time both Tixie and his four kids and everyone who had been saved, whether they were running while holding injured survivors or just running, had all finally gotten out of the South Tower and were still running to get as far away from it as was possible, it was 9: 58 AM. Fifty-five gripping, pulse-pounding, heart stopping minutes had most definitely passed, though to those inside of the tower previously, it felt like an eternity, and just a minute later, when Tixie, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Sliver Spoon, along with all of the ones they had seen to the survival and escape of, be they running or running and carrying the hurt but alive, a gigantic noise was heard. Although everyone who was still running kept doing so, they could tell all too easily what the noise in question was, and what it meant. Sure enough, when they'd all finally gotten a safe enough distance to stop, rest and look back while catching their breath, they saw the bottom half of the South Tower literally go down in flames and disappear in utter smoke, just as the top half had already done at this time.
It was easily the most nightmarish thing they had ever seen. They were stilled, scared and stiffened by it. All of everyone started to shed tears, even the usually cocky and stuck up(though now nicer than she once was)Rainbow Dash, the easily excitable, easily angered Sweetie Belle and the less than intelligent Sliver Spoon. Even the surviving people present who would generally rarely, if ever, shed even a single tear. It was impossible to tell whose tears fell into whose, as they became a puddle in a short amount of time. They all knew that not a single one of the people who had been in the area of the tower above where Flight 175 had struck had survived, and that they were gone as permanently as the tower itself was once the collapsing stopped. Even more so, in fact, since it still had smoke, debris and charred rubble remaining. We take a pause from this to see how the likes of Diamond Tiara, Twilight, Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Mash Buttons were faring in the North Tower, which means we rewind back a bit, since both groups went into each tower at the same time, though I will be sure to lead what you see next into what you just saw in the present.
Anyway, as Twilight, Mash Buttons, Diamond Tiara, Sweetie Belle and Rarity made their way into the North Tower, all were doing all they could to help anyone they could. Things happened in a very similar way to how they did with the group in the South Tower. Diamond Tiara had it so he and his group would split up to cover as much ground as they could, though in a way so none would get lost, as that was an utterly unaffordable risk at a time such as this one, and they searched long and hard in every last nook and cranny that they possibly could. That is, barring the region of the North Tower above where Flight 11 had plowed into it, since there was no way to reach there and going into what was, quite literally, the line of fire where the plane had hit was certainly not an option at all. As it was, it took them a long while, even with how people below where the jet had hit were all highly eagerly trying to escape and get out of the building while they were still alive, and for very good reason, but they were able to find anyone who needed help, be they trapped, injured or anything else, and also help lead those who were trying to run out as soon as possible to where the stairs that led to the bottom floor and the front doors were.
Additionally, they made sure to see to it the uninjured ones and free ones helped out with getting all of the injured ones out, along with freeing all of the trapped ones, some of which they helped with as well, of course, and they would also make sure that all five of them were grouped together once more. When this was all over and it was clear that it was high time to get the hell out of the North Tower, and hastily so, Diamond Tiara, Twilight, Sweetie Belle, Mash Buttons and Rarity led the people who were able to run, be they carrying someone in need of it due to injuries or not, right on down the aforementioned stairway, and despite how their hearts were all pounding with fear, they knew all too well not to shove, push or anything of the sort. It would only make things all the worse. And by the time they all go to the bottom of the North Tower and the doors on its first floor, no one's nerves could take too much more of this. Still, they were able to deal with the pressuring feeling of terror and vulnerability just long enough so that all of them ran out the doors and exited the North Tower, bar none.
When once they had run far away enough from the North Tower to feel even remotely safer than they had before, however, the amount of time it had taken Twilight, Sweetie Belle, Mash Buttons, Diamond Tiara and Rarity to find all of those people and help them, combined with the time it took for the ones who could move to help the injured and/or trapped ones and the time it took for all of them to exit the building and get where they were all amounted to the fact it was 10 AM. So as soon as they had reached where Rainbow Dash, Tixie, Sweetie Belle, Sliver Spoon and Scootaloo were, along with all of the people they had helped rescue, they would immediately see the tears in their eyes. "What in the world?" exclaimed a completely confused Rarity. "Guys, what's going on?" asked Twilight to them, to which Rainbow Dash replied: "Look… behind you…" between chokes, gasps, weeps and sobs. Twilight, Rarity, Diamond Tiara, Mash Buttons and Sweetie Belle turned around to look in the opposite direction, and no sooner had they done so than were they shocked beyond description.
Almost instantly after they saw how the South Tower had clearly fallen and turned to nothing but a pile of ash, rubble, debris and smoke, they all began to shed tears. "Dear God…" let out Mash Buttons. "No…" gasped Sweetie Belle. "This isn't real…" Twilight wept. "This can't be real…" a soft cry from Diamond Tiara consisted of. "This isn't… this can't be… happening…" Rarity sobbed in a soft but clearly sad and tearful way. "All those innocent people up there…" Indeed, she was all too painfully correct to note that the fact that the South Tower having collapsed meant that all of the people above where Flight 175 had slammed into it, beyond their help or anyone else's, were all now dead. There were no survivors, and they had all been killed. So much innocent life lost. It tore at everyone seeing such a ghastly, horrid, unspeakable sight from the inside out-emotionally and mentally, that is. The fact that the people they'd saved from the North Tower also saw how the South Tower was now gone, and so was everyone above where Flight 175 had hit it, meant all of those innocents in question had indeed been destroyed. Needlessly. Cruelly. Unfairly. And of course those people shed tears like Twilight, Rarity, Diamond Tiara, Mash Buttons and Sweetie Belle were doing.
While they were lucky to have suddenly stopped moving in a place which was out of the way of the fleeing crowd of New York City, they quickly snapped out of it when they all heard a very audible broadcast which could be heard throughout this part of the city, and the reporter who was giving the report in question said: "This disaster is going from bad to worse, I am very sorry to say. Prior to the collapse of WTC 2, which occurred at 9: 59 AM, another plane, the one called Flight 77, to be exact, was flown straight into the Pentagon. It happened at 9: 37 AM, and I regret to inform you that 125 people in that building were killed, as were the 64 innocents in the plane which had been hijacked by terrorists, as was the case with the two that hit the twin towers here in New York City. And quite a few people in the Pentagon who survived were still injured badly. This is an increasingly grave, dark and terrible day by the second, and it is almost as if all hell has been let loose here on Earth."
"Oh, no! The Pentagon, too?!" cried Rarity. "You mean that place in Arlington County, Virginia?" asked Sliver Spoon. "Of course!" Rarity gasped. "Dear lord, it's been attacked too!" let out Mash Buttons. "Please, God!" Diamond Tiara shouted to the sky as he and the others cried further, and for good and understandable reason. "Tell me that this is just the worst nightmare ever concocted! Please tell me this is not really happening!" "This can't be true…" Twilight sobbed. "I… I can't believe that this is really happening…" "Neither can anyone here, child…" Mash Buttons told him. "None of us want it to be anything but a nightmare or a hideous, unreal illusion, but it's undeniably reality. I wish, so very badly, that I could say differently… but I cannot… none of us can…" She felt floods of tears come out of her eyes and flow down both sides of her face, and so did her friends and the people around them who they'd saved from the twin towers on the spot. And things only got even worse for all of them when they heard another reporter say the following.
"Oh, my God! Another plane has crashed, though this one did not reach its target, but all of the innocent bystanders inside have been killed! I've just been informed that Flight 93, which was meant for either the White House or the Capitol, has been made to crash close to Shanksville in Pennsylvania, at 10: 03 AM, four minutes after the South Tower tragically collapsed, taking all of the ones above where the plane hit with it! The passengers inside the plane were more keen on what was going on than the ones in the previous three, as they lived long enough to hear what was going on via the plane's radio and tried to tackle the terrorist pilot hijacker, who knew he'd not be able to reach his target, and thus crashed his plane where it was above the ground of at the time he was tackled by the brave, heroic and selfless passengers, which happened to be the borough of Shanksville. They all, unfortunately, died as soon as the plane smashed into the ground. But their gallant efforts and noble intentions will be neither forgotten nor in vain, as had the plane reached its target, many more innocent people would have lost their lives, as well."
While they knew it was good that they'd stopped Flight 93 from reaching its target, the fact all those innocent people inside who made sure it wouldn't still lost their lives made it so that Diamond Tiara, Rarity, Tixie, Twilight, Sliver Spoon, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash and Mash Buttons were all quite promptly moved to further tears nevertheless. After all, it may not have resulted in as big a loss of innocent life as it could have, but it certainly resulted in a loss of innocent life, to go with the other losses of innocent life which had already occurred. For exactly these same reasons, all of the people they'd saved and who'd heard this were also crying more, well aware of the tiny bit of silver lining here in this still EXTREMELY dark, black cloud of tragedy, but equally aware of how the ones who'd stopped the plane from hitting its Washington D.C. target still were claimed by death. By the time that the tears of agony, sadness, rage, shock and mourning for the dead and lost innocent humans was in any way paused, it was because of how a suddenly noticed addition to this horror of a day snapped the crying ones out of it.
To be more exact, it was 10: 28 AM now. And at this exact moment, the ones who were crying for the loss of life suddenly heard a gigantic rumble of a noise which alerted them on the spot, and made it so, despite their tears still coming down, they weren't crying anymore, at least for a moment, and in fact, were startled to hear this noise. While all hoped to God that it wasn't what they thought it was, said hope was to no avail. For no sooner had they all turned around to face the other way and see what that noise was and where it was coming from than did they, to their utter shock and complete aghast horror, see that the North Tower was collapsing, just as the South Tower had beforehand. Everyone's eyes opened quite widely and they were stilled as they saw the unspeakable, unthinkable and terrible beyond words sight that would forever scar them and anyone else who saw it. Granted, those who didn't see it but knew of it would be scarred as well, but not to the extent that the ones who saw it like these ones did would.
As the top of the North Tower fell and the fall of that tower continued beyond where Flight 11 had struck it, everyone watching knew both that everyone still in that tower was now dead and there was nothing they or anyone else could have done about it before, nor could do about it now. And their shock wore off just enough so their heartbreak, tears and very sorrowful mourning for the dead came back, and they were silent safe for the new small noises made from their crying. The rage boiled back inside all of them, too, and they wished there was a way they could have prevented this while making sure none of the vile monsters who had arranged this act of pure evil succeeded in their terrorist hijacking schemes. The tortured internal feelings all were going through only increased as the amount of the North Tower left decreased, and when all that was once the North Tower was gone, their anger, sadness, terror and shock reached a brand new level, if that was possible by this point.
In fact, they were speechless at how scared, sad and shocked they were, as well as how furious and vengeful they were feeling. In terms of the latter feelings, some more than others, but in terms of the former feelings, all of everyone equally. They did, however, snap out of it once again, and this time for a much longer period, when they were hearing calls for help needed with getting anyone who was trapped but alive out of the rubble or any other part of the horrific mess of destruction made, as well as how some doing their job were having much difficulty but fully wanted to move it along faster. So they all, whether they were feline, canine or human, put all of their emotions aside and went over to do all they possibly could to help, which those who they were helping, worker and innocent in need alike, appreciated highly.
Much later on, when it was nighttime, here were the facts to be noted. Although Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Mash Buttons, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Tixie, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Sliver Spoon had indeed done all that they possibly could and everything in their power to help with as many things as possible, as had everyone they'd saved from the Twin Towers who weren't injured, the problem was that in spite of how their efforts were certainly not fruitless and helped save quite a few lives, and even though the same went for the other heroes doing their jobs and doing all they could to help those in need(like firemen, the FBI, police, etc), there was still a great deal of death. And undeniably so. No one present wanted it to be true, but it could not be ignored, denied or in any way looked at anything that even RESEMBLED a different way. And when those who did all they could, be they human, cat or dog, finally came to the point where they could do no more, they would yet again cry for the dead innocents who had been so cruelly ripped from the land of the living by terrorists who were, when all was said and done, abominations and monsters who wore the skin and flesh of human beings.
And while those terrorists were most certainly in hell, given that they'd taken their own lives in the process of taking all those others, this changed not that so much had been changed for the worse, scarred and destroyed about not only innocent life, but also all of America, New York City or otherwise. So for the innocent life lost and the tragedy that struck America both in terms of its psyche and in terms of its being a happy, safe land(and on a day which started out so brightly and beautifully, no less), as well as all of what this terrible happenstance meant and, of course, would mean in the near future, those who had previously helped now wept. Wept for all of the dead who did nothing but ride in planes they didn't know were going to be hijacked and work in buildings they didn't know were going to be attacked by those planes. As well as those who would now be scarred, saddened and changed for the worse by their loss thanks to all of the death, pain, suffering, shock, horror and injury.
There was no question that this was a traumatic and worthy of being from hell event, and in a way, it was indeed from hell. Mash Buttons cried hard into Sweetie Belle's chest, with Sweetie Belle, who was also crying, holding her to his chest with one of his front paws and comforting her. Twilight was held by a crying Rarity as he cried into her chest, Rarity comforting him as it happened. Sweetie Belle at the same time cried into Rainbow Dash's chest, with Rainbow Dash holding him to her with one of her front paws and doing all she could to comfort him as she cried, too. Even as the two had their share of differences, this was far too important, serious and horrid to let any such things get in the way of their grief, sadness and fear, as well as their attempts to cope with each other's help. Some things surpass stuff like quibbles, differences, arguments, disagreements, rivalries, dislikes and hostilities. And this was easily one of those things.
Additionally, Diamond Tiara and Tixie would hang their heads as they silently stood still and cried, and much the same went for Scootaloo and Sliver Spoon. In the latter's case, he may not have been too bright, in contrast to his name, but even he understood and knew enough to know just how serious and severe, not to mention tragic, terrifying, terrible and wrong this was, despite otherwise being dense most of the time. Though they hadn't the time or the energy to focus on it enough to see if it was real, the ten of them suddenly felt something on them that felt quite a bit like the shining beams of the moon and in a form that represented the souls of the dead innocent people and the touch of God, all of whom were looking down from heaven upon them and all of the other brave heroes, along with all of the other hosts of heaven and souls in heaven, likely as a way to signify that they had done all they could and deserved commendation for their bravery and selflessness, especially given the risks they took. Additionally, it was to indicate that Osama Bin Laden and all the other still living Al Qaeda monsters, who of course had arranged, planned and organized all of what had happened on this fateful, frightful day, would not get away with it, and, one way or the other, they were going to pay for their monstrous crimes. Whenever it would happen, whatever it took, whoever did it, their unforgivable sins of pure, irredeemable, vile and unrepentant evil would not go unpunished at all. Even if they tried to run from their fate, they'd not be able to outrun the hands of time and karma, nor elude the wrath of God or the punishment of hell that was now inevitable for all of them. Especially their selfish, heartless and completely hellbound leader, the aforementioned Osama Bin Laden.
This would come as a comfort later on, but right now, nothing could comfort them or anyone else. All they could do now was cry. By the time that Diamond Tiara, Tixie, Rarity, Twilight and the six kids went back to their apartment home, it would be the early morning.
THE END