UNSC Paris-class Heavy Frigate Silver Lining; Aftermath
Twilight and her friends watched as the last of the polychromatic energy they threw at the ship dissipated. No Flood, nor hostile Covenant, had escaped the rending of the ship, the cascade of power, or the detonation of the reactor core. Almost every piece of the ship had been shot back into orbit. They heard cheering over their helmet comms.
"YEEEAAAAAH THEY DID IT!!!!"
"COVENANT FORCES ARE IN RETREAT!!!"
"WE DID IT WE WON!!!!!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT!? DID YOU SEE THAT!?"
"WHAT THEN, WHAT THEN MOTHERFUCKIN' COVIES!!!!"
"VICTORYYYYYYYYY!!!!"
"WE DID IT!!!" Fluttershy yelled out in joy, "WE WON!!!"
"AWWWWW YEAH!!!" Rainbow cheered.
Applejack was hootin' and hollerin' like the cowpony she was.
Pinkie was bouncing around screaming "YAY!" over and over again.
Rarity was laughing happily.
Victory felt soooooo good, and Twilight couldn't help joining in the cheering for a few minutes before a thought crossed her mind.
"Wait.... w-what about Gunnar....?"
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Silver Lining Bridge, twenty minutes later.
Twilight and her friends stood around a holodisplay in the bridge alongside side the Silver Lining's captain, a man named Jackson. Patchy was in a corner off towards the back of the bridge, watching curiously and happily. Celestia, R'tas, and Lasky were all smiling on the holodisplay, offering congratulations to the girls and the brave crew that flew them in at the risk of being plowed over by the significantly larger ship that used to be the Shadow of Remorse.
"That was some of the greatest courage and power I have ever seen in all my life," R'tas chuckled.
"Jackson, what do you recommend we do for these girls?" Lasky asked the younger captain.
"Give them freaking medals!" the man replied with a boisterous laugh.
"You should all be proud of your actions today my little ponies," Celestia said with a genuine expression of pride and joy on her face, "You've saved us all. Twilight, you and your friends performed admirably. I'm so proud of you my faithful student."
Twilight managed a large smile when she heard that.
A couple minutes of conversation later, they were interrupted by two more holograms: Thel Vadamee, and a helmetless Paul DeMarco. Paul looked solemn.
"Soldier, why the long face? We won!" Jackson chuckled.
"Not all of us...." Thel replied solemnly.
The smiles vanished. Twilight felt her heart drop again. Something was very wrong. What she heard next shattered her.
"We didn't all make it off the ship...." DeMarco tried to continue... but... he couldn't.
"Gunnar.... stayed behind...." Thel finished for him.
"He fell off the grid... and out of contact... soon as we cleared the hangar..." DeMarco started, his voice cracking. He explained what had happened, what Gunnar had said. Each detail from Tanar grabbing him, to the reluctant departure of Majestic, Thel, and the allied Sangheili that were with them.
When he was done explaining, there was a moment of silence and disbelief..... followed by tears.... Twilight broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. She wailed from the pain in her heart. Everyone and everypony else in the conversation felt sorrow overcome them. Celestia shed tears at seeing her metaphorical daughter in so much pain. Her friends tried to comfort her. Patchy hovered over from the corner he was hidden in and also tried to provide comfort. The creature let out a sad whistle.
"Excuse me a moment... m-my crew has picked something up," Lasky said reluctantly and solemnly before stepping away. He stopped a moment to take a look back at the crying mare and sighed sadly, the sight devastating him. He vanished as he went to talk to his crew about their discovery.
Twilight's tears soon ran dry and she just lay there on the ground, seeming hopeless and broken. Everyone stood or sat in silence.
"I'm.... so sorry Twi...." AJ tried to comfort her, voice cracking.
Patchy nuzzled the mare's cheek, trying to help her cheer up.... but there were some things.... Huragok just couldn't fix.
Suddenly Lasky reappeared, looking frantic. "YOU GUYS WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS!!!"
Celestia looked at him, gauging the man's sudden change in mood. "What do you mean?"
"My crew.... THEY PICKED UP GUNNAR'S IFF TRANSPONDER!"
Twilight's eyes shot open and she let out a small gasp. A glimmer of hope.
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En route to beacon coordinates.
Two Pelicans and Two Phantoms flew in a vee formation as they headed towards Gunnar's supposed location at the Equestrian southern coast. Twilight's mind was racing as she prayed Gunnar would be alive.
"Sure hope he's okay," AJ whispered to the other friends in the troop bay of their Pelican. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Patchy all nodded in agreement to that.
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Pod crash site.
Gunnar felt weak as he tried to crawl from the pod. He fell into the shallow water after crawling from the hatch, letting out a pained grunt as he landed. He looked around. He had gotten lucky. The pod had crash landed at an empty beach, heading towards the ocean. The only thing that kept him from landing in the water was the large rock formation jutting up from the shallow water. The pod had run directly into them and got wedged between a rock pillar, and the largest stone in the formation.
Gunnar rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. He smiled as he watched the clouds and the seagulls. He managed to unlatch his helmet and pull it off. He tossed the unwanted armor garment towards the sand and shallower water. He inhaled deeply, but cringed in pain when he found that hard.... he must have broken a rib or something. But, he didn't care. He won, and Tanar would never threaten the others again.
He saw blackness begin to enshroud his vision as fatigue took him. He could have sworn he heard the engines of Pelicans and Phantoms before he fell out of the consciousness.
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Twilight waited anxiously for the rear hatch to open as the Pelican touched down. What was only seconds before the hatch opened, felt like hours to her. But, when the hatch touched the ground, she darted out. Behind her, her friends stepped out of her Pelican. Celestia, Lasky, Palmer, and a medical team stepped out of the other. Buck's team, Majestic, Thel, and a few friendly elites hopped down from one Phantom, the ODSTs and Spec Ops Elites setting up a perimeter after landing. Then there was R'tas and a pair of friendly Honor Gaurd elites who hopped down from the last Phantom.
It didn't take long. Soon one of them found something.
"HEY! OVER HERE! I FOUND HIM!" Thorne called from the other side of a solid rock outcropping.
The leaders and friends all ran over, or hopped in Pinkie's case and hovered in Patchy's.
Twilight was the first to arrive at the scene in just a few seconds. Thorne was kneeling down next too a prone green stallion. His helmet was off a little ways north, and a Covenant escape pod lay broken and wedged between the rocks behind them.
"He's alive!" Thorne exclaimed.
Twilight was quick to get to Gunnar's side. Sure enough, he was still breathing, albeit in a labored way. He had a weak pulse but it was there. He could live through this after all.
"Hey, guess who's dead in this pod," Buck called down from the broken escape craft, as he had come to investigate too.
"Who?" several people and ponies asked simultaneously.
"Tanar R'aagamee," Buck answered with a grin.
Several of them looked at Gunnar in shock and bewilderment, others with respect and pride, all of them with relief. Patchy then floated up to them and looked over Gunnar. The creature let out a sorrowful whistle, saddened to see one of his newest friends in such a state, but got to work. Twilight was amazed at how quickly the creature could seal up Gunnar's wounds almost seamlessly.
"Engineers have some amazing attributes," Thorne chuckled when he saw Twilight's bewildered expression.
When Patchy was done a few minutes later, Gunnar's breathing had improved. His pulse was better too. He would be okay. The leader of the medical team laughed.
"Shown up by an Engineer again," he chuckled, causing the rest of his team to laugh too.
Celestia smiled before looking to R'tas, Thel, and Lasky. "Let's give them some room hmm?"
The other three leaders nodded in agreement and the four of them stepped away to have a conversation in the shade of one of the landed Pelicans.
"Hey, ah think he's wakin' up," Applejack whispered.
Sure enough, Gunnar's eyes slowly opened. He took a moment to let his vision focus then saw Twilight, Thorne, and Patchy above him. He smiled weakly, but warmly at them.
"H-hey guys..." he greeted.
"G-Gunnar...?" Twilight was breathless.
He smiled warmly at her. "Hey Twilight.... d-did ya miss me?" he chuckled a bit.
"You have no idea," Twilight let out a small laugh, a huge smile and tears of joy on her face.
Gunnar put a gentle hoof on her shoulder. In response, she held him up and hugged him tightly.
Thorne and Patchy looked at each other and gave their own individual versions of a grin, smiling about the exchange happening in front of them.
Gunnar hugged Twilight back for the longest time before looking at others. He smiled and chuckled. "Hey guys."
"Howdy Gunn," AJ chuckled.
"How ya doin' you stubborn soldier?" Hoya laughed.
"Told ya that pony was tough as nails!" Madsen exclaimed.
"You gave us quite a scare there dear Gunnar. Thank goodness you're okay," Rarity stated with a smile plastered on her face.
"You must be the most AWESOME stallion alive, you know that?" Rainbow exclaimed with a grin.
"Heh, thanks guys," Gunnar replied with a small blush and sheepish grin.
Thorne placed a hand on the soldier stallion's shoulder and smiled. "Glad to have you back buddy."
DeMarco stepped forward. He smiled at Gunnar and saluted him. "Welcome back Spartan."
The other Spartans gave him salutes of their own, even Palmer. Gunnery Sergeant Buck saluted too.
Gunnar smiled and gave him the best salute he could in his fatigued condition. "Thanks Paul."
"Hey! You know what this calls for!?" Pinkie exclaimed, "A PARTYYYYY!!!!"
Everyone in started laughing. Gunnar smiled and chuckled. It was a great time to be alive now, even if there was the slight stink of singed, dead elite coming from the nearby pod.