"The sea is merciless, respecter of none. It will swallow you whole, its icy grip dragging you beneath its churning waves, damning you and all you care about to a mindless, chaotic despair, and the singular need to survive.
When you scream to the heavens for a miracle, your lungs choking on the icy brine, it is their light that you will see. They are the guardian angels of the lost souls amongst the drift. They are the Coast Guard."
It was certainly a worthwhile ideal, but for Jason and his helicopter crew, living up to it was no easy challenge. With human technology and ponies' magic, their lives are constantly on the line for the sake of others, the weight of their credo, semper paratus, looming over them.
P.S. The story takes place approximately one hundred years after the Earth and Equestria made first contact.
The story inspired by "The Guardian" 2006 movie. I suggest you watch it.
And just for the records, I don't work in the Coast Guard, so if by chance there are some mistakes in the story don't hesitate to let me know.
I dedicate this story to all the Coast Guard members around the world.
Proofreading by JBL
Definitely a good opening with a high-octane setting that establishes the world and the characters.
Also, one mistake:
- Ship names are italicized.
7850357
Correction made, thanks for the notice :)
Hm, I like what you've done so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this to see where you go with it.
7850357 That's strange. It's italicized in the doc, so I don't know if it disappeared when carried across to this site.
In the words of the members of the old United States Lifesaving Service (forerunner of the USCG) 'The regulations say we have to go out. They don't say we have to come back.'
7853054
Good point. Made some changes in the dialog. I believe it sounds better now. Thanks.
Awesome chapter, just the fact that it's inspired by The Guardian (one of my favourite movies, with Top Gun on the top of the list) is good enough for me, and I'm looking forward for more.
The whole chapter shares a lot with one part of the movie (not a complaint, as I said before I loved the chapter) Also... Who the heck sails around carrying a big heavy safe on a yatch?
Keep the good work up, this story goes straight from my "read later" to my "fav" and "tracking" bookshelves
this is great keep it up
7860900
Thanks man, glad to know that despite reader's low frequency someone actually appreciates my work
And you're into Top Gun too I see. Kudos to your great taste :]
That was fantastic. You really nailed everything all the way around and knew exactly when and how to wrap things up to make an excellent short story.
7862972
Glad you enjoyed it
This was good. The idea worked well and the characters were engaging.
7864950
I aimed to please
So far so good. Although I believe a rescue swimmer (as would all the rest of a chopper crew) would be carrying a HEED (Helicopter Emergency Egress Device) bottle as part of his normal gear. The HEED gives someone in a sinking or rolled aircraft 2-5 minutes of 'spare air' to allow them to free themselves and get to the surface.
7865630
Yes, I believe it's also worth mentioning. Thank you. I also have a question, are you a Coast Guardian, or perhaps a topic enthusiast?
7866485
I'm not a Coast Guardsman, but I have an interest in Great Lakes shipwrecks so I've picked up a bit of background here and there. I'm also a bit of a military history enthusiast with a leaning towards weapons and gear.
7867526
I see, well your knowledge certainly is helpful. Have fun reading the rest of the story :)
Wait what it ended already?
Aw man I wish we could have more... 
Great chapter, ending and story. Although I don't think we will have a longer sequel, are similar stories off the list? Not only Coast Guardian ponies and humans, but also in other branches ( cough one pony and one human flying a F-14 cough )or emergency services jobs set in the same universe?
Again, really good story, I really enjoyed it
7875333
Thanks a lot. And to tell you the truth I haven't really decided yet what my next story will be about. Got an idea or two, but I'm not sure how those will work out in the end. Guess time will tell
7877520 Well, at least you actually write! I start a lot of stories in G Docs that become nothing but drafts. But this story provided me with some inspiration and I might actually take up serious writing. I liked how well ponies and humans worked togheter in difficult situations and I might try to write about it. Who knows.
7877628
Good luck to you my friend. Serious writing is not perhaps an easy task, but with passion and patience everything is possible.
7896462 question, can we see lion hearts cutie mark?
7900388
Nuh, I'll just leave it to your imagination
excellent, was referred to this story by Handyman of Bad Mondays. Definitely equivalent or higher quality writing stuff! thumbs up and favorited!
I blame JBL for your story being so well written, anything he edits turns golden-er.
Not a bad story, once you get past the bigotry-baiting.
7864819 An excellent story; I'm only sad that I didn't read it sooner.
Aye, that was a fun read. Besides some informational problems, I enjoyed it. I'm actually in the Coast Guard, but I'm just a non-rate and I'm not even stationed aboard a ship that does SAR cases. And the rate that Jason would most likely be is AST1 or Aviation Survival Technician First Class. Meaning he's a Petty Officer First Class. And the pilots would be officers I believe. Night Shade might also be a an AST, but since this is the future and a future with ponies at that, the rates have probably changed a bit. Anyways, thanks again for the story.
8560473
Glad you liked it :) Thanks for the info, it's always nice to learn something new from more experienced source 😎
Dwaaaaaa lion heart is soo adorable it makes my heart melt
8564969
What is Lion Heart’s Cutie Mark?
8932333
Well, I wanted to keep the secret until the story follow-up, but since that's no longer possible I guess I can spill the beans.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/USCG_-_Rescue_Swimmer.jpg
8944876
That’s cool. Why is it no longer possible (follow up)?
8944982
Because judging how poorly this story has managed I doubt the continuation would make any better. I also seem to have lost my spark to write anymore, that's all.
8945086
Oh.
nice history, good job
I probably know less than you do about actual Coast Guard work, but this seems slightly off. The ship is currently afloat, it is sinking. This implies to me that it is losing buoyancy at a rather slow rate. My knowledge of physics suggests that once it goes below the waterline it will sink somewhat faster. If he keeps to the 8 minute limit (or even stretches it to 10) and assuming a 30 minute air-tank, the sinking shouldn't be a problem except in two cases:
1.) The extra time to swim back to the surface puts him over when the helicopter MUST return, and hypothermia (despite the fact I assume he is wearing a wet-suit), or something kills him before a secondary rescue can occur. I doubt drowning would be much of an issue since by dropping his weight-belt he would have a ridiculous amount of buoyancy (but might tend to make him float face down in such a case?), and even if a particularly nasty wave decides that he is going to be under water for a full minute, going to his regulator could counter that. It would require some presence of mind to stop swimming for the surface, insert his regulator, and turn on his tank (not sure if this step is necessary, or if the regulator automatically takes care of it?).
2.) He dives too fast and this causes some sort of problem. The Bends? Except that happens when going UP. Never-the-less I think there are maximum decent rates for divers. But this would require a pretty rapid loss of buoyancy by the ship, rather than the so-far slow decent it has had to this point.
TK to steady the ship? [Star Trek's Scotty]"I've got a lock. {Three/Two/One} being beamed up."[/Star Trek's Scotty]... that phrasing sounds wrong, but you get the idea...
Amending from my main comment on the last chapter: No tank? Or just the HEED mentioned in the other comments (didn't know about those)? I'd think that would be a TERRIBLE idea, if only because air keeps someone you are trying to pull out much calmer and it doesn't hurt to NOT have to use only a few minutes of air for that.
Well, that confirms one of my (mutually exclusive) guesses from last chapter.
Took me until this point to realize that either he made an error or you have a plot hole: If he wants to know Lion Heart's colors, he just needs to have the co-pilot or someone relay the question to the father./
So... if this is an TERRAN pet this seems the wrong call. If it is an EQUESTRIAN pet (or influenced by Equestrian magic?) it probably qualifies as a life equal to their own. In other words if it was some dumb rabbit, forget it (probably), better to have her alive to hate him. If it is a descendant of Angel Bunny who kicks her in the ankle and gives her dirty looks when she doesn't do her homework then he is justified in allowing delay.
Right... definitely no big tank on him... seems weird. I mean it would make maneuvering in the corridors harder, but firefighters manage... of course, they probably have wider hallways to work with... although a wetsuit is probably less bulky than the helmet and turn-out coat(?) of a fire-fighter.
There's always someone....always.
Honestly shocked this story hasn't received more attention, this was a damn good one.
Also damnit Razor Wing you were supposed to destroy the
SithRacists not become them!