//------------------------------//
// Moonage 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"How did you find me so quickly, anyway?" Twilight asked to Pinkie while walking back towards her brother. She looked aside at the crater her fall had left. It looked far too small. "And how did you slow me down?"
"Spitfire," Pinkie replied, "and Celestia. Well, no, Celestia and Spitfire. Well-" She cut herself off, and started back from the beginning. "Celestia helped with finding you, she was looking up waiting for you to fall as soon as the sky cleared. Spitfire and her squad got here just a short bit after, and as soon as you were spotted they whipped up a whirlwind to slow you down."
"Spitfire made it?" Twilight asked, genuinely delighted at the news. "I'll have to thank her for that later," she added after Pinkie had nodded in response. None of that answered how she'd survived atmospheric reentry, but she would look into that later. Maybe the residual magic she'd channeled had temporarily left her body in a non physical state, or something like that.
They approached Shining, flanked by Cadence and by Paper Letters too a little farther back. Spitfire, as it happened, landed there at that moment too. Twilight got closer, and Pinkie stayed behind. Spitfire saw her approaching, and gave a salute. "Glad to see you're all right, Ma'am."
Twilight nodded at that, then took on a slightly more formal posture. "And I am glad you could make it here to assist." Then she turned to her brother. "What's the situation, then?"
"No casualties," he said, sounding like he didn't believe his own words. He looked over the list held in his magic one more time, then very subtly shook his head. "Every single soldier and pony we knew of is accounted for, even those who were not a part of any larger group before the sky cleared. Spitfire here just finished helping us double check." He looked at Twilight with incredulous relief. "Everypony lived."
Twilight felt herself swelling with joy too, but slightly, not necessarily marred, perhaps oddly tainted by the seeming absurdity of it all. She'd heard about how things had happened, and to think not a single pony had been fatally wounded in that mayhem seemed almost too good to be true.
Perhaps noticing the surprise on her face, Cadence stepped in as well. "Most of the ponies who were on their own or in smaller groups," she began, speaking quietly so only her husband and his sister could hear, "reported seeing something like a light, guiding them through the storm. Some said it felt welcoming, or friendly." Shining nodded to confirm that, his expression a little more serious.
Twilight nodded as well, pulling back. "Understood. I will look into it." She turned to Spitfire, who had respectfully stepped back to avoid hearing anything said in supposed privacy. "Is the unicorn who helped you get here nearby?" she asked.
"Negative, Ma'am," Spitfire replied, standing at attention again. "He stayed behind at the castle. Should I have him called?"
"That won't be necessary," Twilight said. She gave a nod, and dismissed the pegasus. It made sense. The unicorn was no soldier, and not knowing the battle was over it made perfect sense for him to stay away from the field. She would talk to him later, when she found time.