//------------------------------// // July 12th, 2559 (Part 2) // Story: Voidrunner // by The DM //------------------------------// Admiral Reynolds looked at the topographical map and sighed. Gryphons were currently storming the city of Canterlot and Ponyville. However, the momentum of the attacking force had just been halted by the orbital bombardment from battlegroup Zeus. Now it was time for the second phase of the assault. With a steady hand, the Admiral picked up the fleet-wide intercom and spoke. “All ships, this is the Admiral speaking. Moments ago, we lost the Tuscany and an unknown number of her crew. The gryphons here, see themselves as the apex predators of this world. They see themselves as untouchable. We are going to prove them wrong. All troops, suit up and prepare to drop! When the gryphons look to the sky and see our fiery judgement raining down upon them, they will raise their hands to the heavens, and they will know fear!” Although he couldn’t hear it, he was sure the troops were all cheering as they donned their gear. With a satisfied smile, the Admiral set the microphone back in it’s holster. “Roland, as soon as you get the all clear, send the pods and dropships,” Admiral Reynolds ordered. The AI nodded. “Aye sir, standing by for confirmation.” A few minutes passed before hundreds of slight popping sounds echoed through the Infinity as she released her drop pods in waves. Looking around at the rest of the fleet, Admiral Reynolds smiled as he watched thousands of drop pods eject from the bellies of every starship, followed by over two hundred Pelican dropships. Well over a hundred thousand ODSTs, SPARTANs were on their way toward the planet surface. “Sir, all pods are away,” Roland reported as the Admiral watched the last of the pods enter the atmosphere. “Copy that.” A sly grin crossed the Admiral’s face as he reached for the radio. “All ships, switch to an open channel and sound off.” “UNSC Infinity, on station.” “UNSC Trafalgar, on station.” “UNSC Gibraltar, standing by.” “UNSC Armageddon’s Edge, on station!” “UNSC Applebee, standing by.” “UNSC Pony Express, on station. “UNSC Iwo Jima, on station.” “UNSC Minotaur, on station.” “UNSC Leviathan, on station.” “UNSC Dawn Under Heaven, standing by.” “UNSC Grafton, on station!” “UNSC Bermuda, standing by.” “UNSC Paris, on station.” “UNSC Stalwart Dawn, on station.” “UNSC Bellerophon, on station.” “UNSC Hopeful, in orbit.” “All ships on station,” the Admiral confirmed before switching back to the secure channel. “Sir, all pods have landed. Ground forces are now engaging enemy elements across three fronts,” Roland announced with a nod. Admiral Reynolds turned and walked to the large display table showing a map of the area around Canterlot. “Begin descent to the planet’s surface. Alert the carriers to launch strike fighters after we clear the atmosphere.” “Aye sir, beginning descent.” ~~~ Silverlight was having an absolutely terrible day. First the gryphons had begun their siege of Canterlot, then the Tuscany went down in a ball of fire, and now Princess Luna was unconscious and injured. Though as he looked out at the valley floor his heart sank. Legions of gryphon soldiers were making their way quickly toward the base of the mountain and the town of Ponyville, while dozens of airships were surrounding and bombing the city with their massive deck guns. It seemed all was lost until three extremely loud bangs resonated overhead, followed by three massive explosions in the valley below. This same event happened two more times, followed by hundreds of lesser explosions as more objects continued to rain down from the sky. Silverlight stared slack jawed at the sheer destruction before him. In mere seconds, the once mighty gryphon army had been pulverized. The survivors in the valley were thrown into total chaos as the bombing finally subsided. With explosives no longer raining down from the sky, Silverlight turned his attention to the wounded and unconscious Princess. This, though, was interrupted by countless sonic booms overhead. Slowly, Silverlight shifted his gaze back toward the heavens, only to be met by thousands of streaks moving across the sky. He could have sworn that some of them were heading right for him. This fear was confirmed as dozens of the objects suddenly became larger and let out thunderous roars before slamming into the ground around him. As the dust settled, the pegasus Captain looked around as smaller booms echoed around him, followed by the dull sound of metal hitting the ground. Now, over twenty fully armed ODSTs and SPARTANs were standing in the gardens with him. “Captain Silverlight?” One of the SPARTANs asked. The pegasus shakily looked up at the massive human. He was clad in dark green armor and had a reflective golden visor, allowing the Captain to see his own reflection. “Y-yeah, and you are?” Silverlight replied, still stunned by what was happening around him. “Sierra 1-1-7. We’re here to help retake the city. Where do you need us?” the SPARTAN replied curtly. “Uh, cut around the castle and link up with our forces at the main gates. They could use some help holding off the gryphons,” the Captain stammered, still awestruck as more troop pods continued to rain down around the city and surrounding countryside. The large SPARTAN only nodded at the troops behind him before quickly making his way around the edge of the castle.The pegasus quickly turned his attention back to the wounded Princess before him. As he delicately began checking over her wounds, the ground began to shake and a dull roar filled the air. Looking back to the sky, Silverlight’s jaw nearly hit the ground once again. Sixteen massive UNSC warships gracefully descended from the heavens, most coming to a stop over the city. Many of the ships were over a kilometer long, with the largest being nearly six kilometers in length. What really caught Silverlight’s attention was one of the relatively smaller frigates continue flying forward at a nearby airship. He wanted to shout out for the human ship to pull up to avoid the impending collision, but remained silent as the scene continued to unfold. The frigate, with the name Grafton clearly painted on her side, simply plowed through the closest airship before speeding off toward Ponyville with another ship named Armageddon’s Edge. Silverlight once again turned his attention back to Luna as he began to search for anything to at least bandage her wounds. Though his attempts were soon interrupted as three Pelicans touched down among the empty drop pods. As soon as their landing gear hit the ground, marines began pouring from the aircraft, casting long shadows on Silverlight as they charged past him. However, a single shadow refused to move from his view. Looking up, he was met by a tall human, wearing a uniform very similar to that of Daniel’s. This one, however, had more ornate decorations and insignias. Even the man wearing it seemed to command more authority and respect. In addition to a single pistol on his hip, he was flanked on either side by two marines, all with assault rifles drawn. “Captain Silverlight?” the older man asked. The guard Captain could only nod as he failed to form a cohesive sentence. “My name is Admiral Nathan Reynolds of the UNSC Seventh Fleet. I’m here to solve your gryphon problem,” the human said with a grin. Silverlight continued to stare at the human slack jawed, unable to think of anything to say. The Admiral chuckled and looked down at Luna. His expression hardened as soon as he noticed the nature of her wounds. “Get her to the Infinity, now,” Admiral Reynolds ordered. The four marines wasted no time in grabbing a stretcher from the Pelican, carefully slipping it under the Princess. The Admiral then turned back to Silverlight and quickly inspected him. “You should go with them and get your shoulders check out. My boys will have this place mopped up in no time at all.” Silverlight wanted to protest, but something kept the guard Captain from voicing any kind of objection. He merely nodded and limped into the back of the Pelican, taking a seat across from where Luna was strapped in. Without warning, the aircraft gave a slight jolt as it lifted off the ground and made the quick flight up to the Infinity. ~~~ The occupants inside the lifeboats were violently shaken as the orbital bombing began. While they weren’t in the direct line of fire, the resulting pressure waves were strong enough to shake their small crafts. Inside lifeboat number one, Cadance was clutching the Crystal Heart as she kept her eyes squeezed shut. Shining Armor, on the other hand, was clutching his stomach in a vain attempt to keep his breakfast down. The violent shaking continued for a few minutes until a single alarm began rapidly beeping. “What does that mean? Are we gonna crash!?” one of the ponies cried out. “Well, kinda. It means we’re about to land. Hang on to something. This part is usually the most dangerous, especially if the airbrakes don’t deploy,” Dior calmly from the pilot’s seat of the lifeboat. Sitting in the co-pilot seat next to her, Spotlight gulped as he made sure his helmet was secured before wrapping his forehooves tightly across the front of his harness. As the seconds wore on, a new alarm began to sound. This time a much lower tone that blared every second. “And what does that one mean?” the same pony asked with worry. Dior looked at the blinking orange light and sighed. “The airbrakes are about to deploy. Hang on to something, this part usually hurts.” Every pony and human leaned their heads back and grabbed onto the front of their restraints. Seconds later the entire craft jolted violently as the airbrakes opened, pitching the lifeboat into a semi-controlled dive. Cadance let out a slight shriek at the sudden shift in orientation while Shining Armor simply vomited. After what felt like an eternity, the lifeboats hit the ground with bone breaking force. A number of the humans and ponies cried out as lifeboat skidded across the ground before coming to a stop upside down. “Oh fuck me! Who puked!? It’s all over me!” one of the humans shouted from the rear of the lifeboat.  “Sorry, couldn’t hold it,” Shining replied weakly. Dior ignored the two as she undid her restraints, using her a free hand to gracefully flip over before helping Spotlight out of his own seat. The pair then carefully began helping the others escape from their inverted positions. It took only a few minutes to get everyone unfastened and back on their feet, or hooves. The Commander then proceeded to pull out a long green hard case from underneath one of the benches. Opening it revealed ten handguns and twenty clips. Each human, as well as agent Spotlight, picked up a firearm and the respective number of magazines. The SPARTAN gave one final nod to the crew before opening the rear hatch of the lifeboat. Sunlight instantly filled the dimly lit cabin, blinding most of the occupants. This blindness soon gave way to a full scale battle raging on the outskirts of Ponyville. Drop pods and Pelicans covered the area near the base of the mountain as UNSC troops engaged the approaching gryphon force, though Ponyville was still very much exposed. Just over the river, in the heart of town, Princess Twilight and her friends were trying to direct as many ponies as possible away from the fast approaching gryphon army. Though many of the ponies required little to no convincing. Even fewer ponies noticed the four lifeboats land at the edge of town. Dior quickly motioned for the other crash survivors to follow her as she moved into the small town of Ponyville. Normally the SPARTAN would stand her ground and fight off the charging army. However, her primary objective was to keep the Crystal Heart safe. With that in mind, she and the rest of the survivors followed the fleeing ponies south into Whitetail Woods. Twilight, still trying to usher along other ponies with her friends, failed to notice the gryphons closing in on her from the north, west, and east. As the young Princess looked around for any remaining ponies, a loud screech resonated from overhead. Twilight looked up just in time to see three gryphons drop large nets over her and her friends. The young alicorn quickly discovered that the net on her was heavily weighted and had hooks on the ends, allowing them to dig into the ground as she struggled. While the six ponies tried to free themselves from the net, dozens of gryphons quickly filled the town square. A few gryphons quickly charged forward to drive large stakes into the ends of the nets as Twilight and her friends fought to pull off them off. “It’s over my dear, you and your friends have lost,” one of the gryphons said smugly. Twilight looked around in a panic. Sure enough, gryphons were surrounding her on every side, even a few were hovering over her. Though one thing caught her eye in the distance. “I still have a few tricks left.” Twilight quickly summoned every ounce of magic she had and looked to her friends. It would take everything she had to pull something like this off. Mentally focusing on her friends, she shot one last glance at her intended target: Infinity. With a deep breath and a smirk, Twilight and her five friends disappeared in a flash of light, leaving only six empty nets in the middle of town. ~~~ David Glisnow was contently going about his work aboard the Infinity. His job was a simple one, transporting small loads around the ship. At the moment, he was humming an intense guitar solo from a very catchy song while tapping on the steering wheel of his Warthog. His cargo of small arms ammunition and grenades securely strapped into the cargo bed of his vehicle. Without warning, a bright flash of light appeared in the middle of his path. Without hesitating, the human threw the wheel of his vehicle to the left, causing the entire Warthog to slide hard to the left. This sudden change in direction also caused the entire vehicle to flip, rolling sideways as he scraped along the wall before coming to a stop upside down. From his inverted position, the man noticed something very peculiar in the middle of the road. Six brightly color ponies all looking around in confusion, two of which promptly collapsed. One looked dead tired, while the other just looked dead. Carefully unbuckling his harness, David gently lowered himself from the crashed vehicle before grabbing both his radio and his handgun. “This is Petty Officer Glisnow, I have an overturned Warthog on motorway D-133 as well as six unknown alien contacts,” the human announced into his radio as he tightened the grip on his handgun. “Copy that, Petty Officer. Security and recovery are on their way,” Roland replied. Slowly, the four other ponies got to their hooves and began to look around. Noticing the confused looking human with the gun, Rainbow took it upon herself to initiate contact. With a wave of her hoof, Rainbow beckoned the human over. The human stayed next to his overturned vehicle, ignoring the pony’s gesture. “Dude, it’s okay. I’m not gonna hit you or anything,” Rainbow announced as she rolled her eyes. David looked at the pony with a confused expression as he made sure the safety on his gun was off. “Uhh, hello? You gonna say something?” The pegasus said in a more annoyed tone. Once again, the human looked at her like she was speaking a different language. Then it hit her, she was speaking a different language. Knowing that talking to the human was a lost cause, she turned her attention to the rest of her friends. Both Twilight and Fluttershy were lying unconscious on the metal deck. Applejack and Rarity were both checking on their fallen friends, while Pinkie Pie was busily taking in every detail of the motorway. The only thing she could determine was that this area was used by wheeled vehicles, much like the one that was overturned . After a few minutes, the sounds of engines began to resound from further up the motorway. Sure enough, five more vehicles that looked exactly like the overturned one showed up. Though all were driven by humans wearing what looked like very heavy body armor. All five vehicles came to a quick halt as nearly a dozen soldiers dismounted from the vehicles. One human, wearing only a uniform was the first to step forward. Rainbow looked up from her friends to glance at the new humans. “My name is Thomas Lasky, Captain of the Infinity. Mind telling me who you are and why you are on my ship?” A relatively young human said as he slowly made his way forward, flanked by two SPARTANs. “Oh, uh, I’m Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet ya. I’m pretty sure my friend Twilight here teleported us onboard. ” the rainbow maned pegasus motioned to the unconscious purple alicorn. Laskey raised an eyebrow as he looked behind Rainbow . Sure enough, two ponies were lying motionless on the deck. There was something about the purple pony that stood out to the Captain. Curiously, Laskey pulled out his datapad and quickly shifted through some pictures. His eyes widened as he looked back to the six ponies. “Sergeant Major, get both of those ponies to medical,” the Captain ordered. Two marines and SPARTANs quickly moved forward with a pair of stretchers. Both Rarity and Applejack took a few steps back as the humans gently lifted the two ponies and carried them to one of the vehicles. Without waiting for orders, the four humans climbed into the Warthog and quickly sped off, heading deeper into the massive starship. “Miss Dash, would you and your friends please come with me? You’re not in trouble, I simply want to ask you a few questions about what’s happening on the ground,” Captain Laskey asked as he motioned to the remaining Warthogs. “I guess so,” Dash said as she looked back at her friends. They all seemed nervous and hesitant to even move. Laskey nodded before motioning to one of the Warthogs. Rainbow did her best to stick close to her three friends as they boarded the Warthog, climbing into the open bed of the vehicle. Laskey proceeded to take the passenger’s seat, while a SPARTAN climbed into the driver’s seat. ~~~ Pain. It was the first thing Twilight felt as she finally regained consciousness. Her head felt like somepony had used her skull as a trampoline. As she tried to open her eyes, another throb of pain racked her mind again as she was blinded by overhead lights. She groaned as she clenched her eyes shut, trying to block as much of the light as possible. The sound of a door opening brought Twilight from her pain fueled tranced. The rhythmic sound of bootsteps filled the room as a single individual walked in. “Princess Sparkle, I’m Corpsman Sievers. How are you feeling?” A female human asked. Twilight only offered a groan before speaking. “My head is throbbing like crazy. Could you turn down the lights?” “Of course, ma’am,” the corpsman replied. “Better?” Twilight slowly opened her eyes, letting out a sigh of relief at the darkened room. “Much. Thank you.” “You were brought in here with the symptoms and signs of a major stroke. Thankfully, we’ve determined that you haven’t suffered any neural damage,” the medical officer replied. “It wasn’t an actual stroke. Severe magical exhaustion often manifests with the symptoms of a stroke,” the young alicorn groaned as she rubbed the base of her horn with a hoof. “I see,” the corpsman said as she jotted down notes. “Is this only possible for unicorns and alicorns to be affected by?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, only magic users can be affected by magical exhaustion.” “Alright. I ask because we have a pegasus in the room next door. We can’t find anything wrong with her,” Corpsman Siever replied. “Yellow pegasus?” Siever nodded. “That’s Fluttershy. She’ll just need to sleep it off. She’s easily startled.” “Corpsman! I need your help in here!” A voice shouted from the main room. Without missing a beat, Siever turned and jogged into the other room. Two more ponies had been brought in. The unicorn looked like he was going to puke, while the alicorn was doing her best to comfort him. “My name is Corpsman Aneston and this is Corpsman Siever. Can you tell me where it hurts?” Aneston asked as Siever brought a trashcan to the pained unicorn. “My neck, shoulders, and barrel. We were in a crash,” the alicorn replied. Corpsman Aneston carefully began to check her over for more severe injuries. Luckily her only injuries were bruises where the restraints had held her. Shining, on the other hand, was busy emptying his stomach contents into the trashcan. “Alright, Misses...” “Cadance,” the alicorn replied. “Cadance!?” Twilight exclaimed from her room. Candance’s head spun around as she looked to the source of the voice. “Twilight!” The pink alicorn turned away from the humans and trotted into Twilight’s room, embracing the young pony. “I was so worried about you.” Twilight happily nuzzled Cadance. “So was I. Luna told me that Captain Ryan was being sent to get you and Shining. All I could do was wait until the two of you got back. Do you know where he is? I kinda want to thank him for saving my brother and the best foalsitter ever.” Cadance hesitated and her expression dropped. “Twilight, he... I don’t think he made it.” Twilight’s eyes went wide as her breathing quickened. “But... how?” “The gryphons destroyed the ship. He and Commander Zerom stayed behind to make sure we could escape. I’m not even sure how many made it off the ship.” Cadance replied with a shaky voice, images of the crashing ship replaying in her mind. The sound of Shining Armor vomiting caused both mares to look at the stallion. He was laying on a cot while Corpsman Siever held his mane back with one hand and held a trashcan with another. “What happened to Shining?” Twilight asked with concern. Cadance chuckled slightly. “He got a bit airsick. I’d say he would make a terrible pegasus.” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at the joke, even if it was at her brother’s expense. A knock on the wall brought both alicorns back to reality. “Captain Laskey.” Cadance greeted with a nod. “Hello, Princesses. I see you’re both doing well,” the Captain replied. “Yes we are, I also want to thank you for everything you have done for us,” Cadance said with a grateful nod. “Though, I do have one question. Do you know where Princess Luna is?” Twilight asked with a hint of worry. Captain Laskey nodded. “She was transported to the UNSC Hopeful for medical treatment about half an hour ago. Last I heard, she was still unconscious.” “But she’s okay?” Cadance asked. “You would need to ask the medical staff for a full report, but yes, she’s fine,” Laskey replied. ~~~ Varen watched in silent horror as over a dozen massive warships descended from the clouds. Thousands of streaks of light filled the air before slamming into the ground. All around him his generals were running around the command tent, sending orders to their troops in Canterlot and Ponyville. If he could take control of the Elements of Harmony and the last Equestrian Princess, then there would be nothing to stop him.   That was when he heard it over the radio. Everyone in the tent froze as the names of sixteen human warships were listed off over an open channel. After that, the sky opened up. He was only minutes away from seizing control of the castle when the warships emerged. He watched as the airships around the city moved to intercept the new threats, only to hear his radio spring to life once more. “Choo choo motherfuckers!” Someone shouted as one of the smaller ships simply plowed through an airship. To the king’s horror, more streaks of light impacted the ground less than a kilometer away from his tent. Even worse was when the streaks of light turned out to be black pods, each with a human soldier inside. The king’s troops never had a chance to react as the humans opened fire, killing anyone who tried to fight back. Varen finally turned away from the fighting only to turn directly into a group of SPARTANs. The human quickly punched the king, throwing him to the floor with a bloody and cracked beak. The entire tent was quickly ripped apart as human soldiers filled the area. The generals caught in the sudden ambush were quickly subdued and dragged away. Two SPARTANs kept the gryphon king pinned to the ground as another human walked up next to the king. “Hello Varen. I’m glad I finally get to meet you,” the human said with a grin. The king struggled to look up at the human. “Do I know you?” “No. But I know you. My name is Admiral Nathan Reynolds, and you have made the terrible mistake of gaining my undivided attention,” Reynolds replied as he squatted down next to the king. “I have nothing to say to you,” the king sneered. The Admiral shrugged. “That’s fine. I just wanted to personally be there when we took you into custody. I was kinda hoping you would have put up a fight, but I guess this works too. If it makes you feel any better, your troops have been surrendering by the thousands. Seems they have lost the will to fight.” The king continued to struggle under the crushing weight of both SPARTANs, with little success. “If you’re curious, you will be taken to a UNSC holding facility where an ONI agent will come have a nice little chat with you. Then, you will either be put up on trial for war crimes in Equestria, Ecotonia, or on Earth. Lucky you,” Reynolds said as he stood up. “Take him to the Infinity.” The SPARTANs nodded as they hefted the king up and dragged him to a waiting Pelican. As the king was flown to the Infinity, Reynolds boarded a second Pelican. “Pilot, take us to the Tuscany,” the Admiral ordered as he took a seat next to the forward bulkhead. The pilot nodded as the aircraft lifted off the ground. ~~~ Spitfire and Soarin flew as fast as they could toward the burning wreck of the Tuscany. As soon as the humans had cleared out the castle, the two had taken off toward the ship as fast as they could. The possibility of survivors was enough to motivate the two Wonderbolts to check out the ship. As the pair neared the burning wreck, they began to scope out possible entry points. A large gash in the upper hull offered them easy access to the inside of the ship. While dashing into a burning frigate was not something they expected to do, their training in search and rescue tactics would help keep them safe. Soarin looked to Spitfire for direction as she angled toward the hole. The Wonderbolt Captain only nodded as she flared her wings, braking before touching down just inside the ship. Soarin followed her lead and landed just behind her. The interior of the ship was filled with smoke and debris, though with a quick flap of their wings, the lingering smoke was pushed out the hole. “Where should we start?” Soarin asked as he looked around. “The bridge would be a good place to start,” Spitfire replied. The light blue pegasus looked down the only hallway that wasn’t obstructed by debris. “Looks like this is our only option. Any idea where the bridge might be?” “Yeah, did you see the massive panoramic window at the front of the ship?” Saorin nodded. “I would start there. So we gotta stay on the upper decks and go to the right.” “You got it boss,” Soarin replied as the pair walked down the hallway. After a few minutes of walking, and passing a few burned bodies, the pair arrived at a reinforced metal door. The emergency release handles provided something for the pair to push against. With some effort from both pegasi, the door slowly slid open. The inside of the bridge was almost completely destroyed. Monitors were shattered, chairs overturned, ceiling panels and wires hanging down. Then, all the way forward, two figures sat slumped over in two seats. Both ponies carefully made their way around the fallen debris, making sure to avoid any fallen wires. To their surprise, the massive windows had managed to stay in one piece, despite being cracked and bent. Slowly, Spitfire walked up next to one of the two figures. The human was held in his seat by a five point harness. The only indication that he was injured was his shattered helmet visor. Blood slowly trickled down the front of his armor from a large number of gashes across the left side of his face. The other human was in a very different state. His helmet had held, but his left arm had been amputated just below the elbow. A large piece of debris resting just next to what was left of his arm. Both ponies quickly checked the humans for any sign of life. It was difficult to determine anything with the amount of armor the two were wearing. Taking a risk, Spitfire undid the restraints holding the human to his seat. With a single fluid motion, the Wonderbolt Captain hefted the human onto her back. Soarin repeated the action with the second human before following Spitfire out of the wrecked ship. ~~~ Admiral Reynolds looked out the back of the Pelican as they circled the smoldering wreckage. Two other Pelicans followed just behind the Admiral’s aircraft, waiting to search the ship. Though something caught his eye. Emerging from a large hole in the upper hole were two equine figures, both seemed to have black figures on their backs. Reynolds pounded on the bulkhead to alert the pilot. “Set down on top of the ship.” “Aye, sir,” the pilot replied as he throttled the engines down. The other two aircraft followed the lead Pelican as it touched down on top of the Tuscany. Before the aircraft could come to a complete stop, Admiral Reynolds stepped off the ramp and walked toward where he had seen the two figures. Sure enough, two ponies emerged on top of the ship, both carrying a human on their backs. Spitfire and Soarin stopped only a few feet from the human, allowing him to get a good look at the pair. “Sir, Captain Spitfire of the Royal Equestrian Airforce. We found these two on the bridge. We’re not sure about their injuries, we think they’re barely alive,” Spitfire said as human medics carefully picked the two humans from their backs. “Well, Captain, allow me to thank you for your service. We’ll take these two from here,” Admiral Reynolds said as he watched medics load the two humans onto one of the Pelicans. “It was our pleasure, sir.” Soarin said as he began coughing. “You okay, son? Why don’t you two go with them. Get checked out by medical.” Soarin nodded. “Thank you, sir.” Admiral Reynolds sighed contently as he watched the two ponies climb into the back of the aircraft. He watched as search and rescue teams began moving into the ship, checking for any other survivors. He couldn’t quite place a finger on it, but he suspected that the only survivors had just flown away. With his work here done, he boarded his Pelican and took off toward the Infinity. There was still quite a bit a of work to do.