As Twilight and Starlight wandered deeper into the forest, they speculated on what they might find. Thinking it may just be a large crater, or something similar. Twilight, for her part was grateful Spike was in Canterlot visiting her family.

"We may need to fly Starlight. We'll never get to the end of the forest at this rate." Twilight suggested, spreading her wings. Starlights horn lit up, encompassing her in the same light blue glow as her horn. Both took to the skies, and began to fly straight to the ever rising smoke column.

"Twi! Wait up!" came a familiar raspy voice, followed by several pegasi. "Hope ya don't mind. The Wonderbolts wanted to tag along."

"It's fine Rainbow. It's their job" Twilight said, everypony falling into a V flying pattern next to the princess. As they flew closer to the rising smoke, they began to notice chucks of earth that look like they were tossed into the forest. The occasional tree was on fire, and the closer they got, the more the fires they found.

"What in Celestia's name is that!? "Starlight whispered in awe, pointing at what appeared to be wreckage sticking out of the earth. Looking closer, the saw a figure hobble out, carrying a smaller figure, before collapsing

***===========***

*Reboot*

*Damage to visor detected*

*Left ear damaged*

*Left leg damaged. Find replacement*

*Finding replacements... Parts located*

*Major Concussion sustained. Visit Med-bay ASAP*

*Ribs Cracked and Broken, Respiratory damage sustained*

*Left kidney damaged. Removal required*

*Reboot complete*

I awoke with a start, noticing the left side of my visor was cracked. Nothing that can't be repaired... Then the warning messages flashed again. Damage here and there, I noticed it was getting harder to breathe. Never expected to come out of this alive. Starting a quick scan, I searched for any other survivors. Only 1... a rookie. 753. He was just barely hanging on. Kit was fresh out of basic training. This was his first mission. Unstrapping myself, I hop over to him and unlatch him. Currently unconscious, he was dead weight, but I needed to get him out.

Sure I tried to start a failed rebellion against our masters, but... you ever have a fight with your own morals? This was the first time I've ever felt it... I wanted to free my people... Bio-engineered or not. I just never thought I'd have to kill them to work my way up... until today I was VERY careful about my attacks. Very picky about my targets but this... This kt didn't deserve this. He didn't know any better.

Pulling him to the door, I pull on the red emergency release latch. My vision began to spin... Whoa, I'm on the ceiling.... Quickly focusing, I pulled the Rookie Coyote out of the wreckage... and that was as far as I got before collapsing into unconsciousness again. A red exclamation point inside a triangle appeared, flashing on the front of my visor as I passed out.

*Error*

*Reboot required*

*Damage Sustained*

*Reboot cannot be complete until damage is repaired*

***===========***

"Princess... there appears to be..." Spitfire started, watching the scene of two bipedal creatures hobbling out of the wreckage.

"I don't believe it... Lets go see if they need anything!" Twilight called out. "We should probably get them to a doctor!" She barked as she dove down to the wreck. Landing next to the two forms, she could clearly now see that they were... part machine? "How is this possible?" Twilight asked herself.

"Twi, we gonna gawk or get them somewhere safe? We don't know if there's anything volatile in there that could still explode." Starlight said with a hint of urgency, lifting the smaller of the two beings.

"Why are those symbols flashing on their masks?" Soarin' asked nopony in particular.

"Wonderbolts, salvage what you can, search for any survivors!" Rainbow yelled out as Twilight placed the larger of the two beings on her back. "Twi, I'm goin' inside to see what I can find."

"Good Rainbow. Get on it, but don't stay too long. We don't know when or if this thing might blow." Twilight ordered.

As the Wonderbolts split into two teams, one searching inside, the other out, Twilight and Starlight teleported to the Ponyville hospital with the two strange beings. Quickly, but clumsily trotting in, Twilight called out "We need a doctor here!"
The receptionist quickly bolted from the break room, only to stop just past the door.

"Princess... This is a hospital. For ponies and other creatures. Pets go to the Vet." She said irritably. Starlight was visibly seething.

"Listen new girl!" Starlight barked in annoyance. "You see these two creatures!? They're clearly wearing armor! Buck, we just pulled them out of the wreckage of an airship!" Starlight growled as red smoke emerged from her horn.

"Calm down please." A dark brown stallion with a stethoscope around his neck appeared in the reception hall. "We'll take them to the ER. Please place them on the gurneys." Twilight and Starlight both placed the apparent aliens on the designated gurneys and let the doctor Take them in his magic. "And Olive, Be nicer to patients. Just because you got called in doesn't mean you get to act like a witch. We'll talk about this more later."

Twilight still couldn't believe it... The day started so well. Sitting in her office, to a giant explosion, now here she was, delivering a pair of alien species to a hospital...

***===========***

"So Rainbow... How many does that make? 30?" Fleetfoot asked as she dragged out another body.

"45 now..." She grunted. "Mind going to Canterlot and getting a chariot for all these?" Rainbow grunted. "Unless you feel like dragging them to Ponyville one at a time."

"Do it Fleet" Spitfire ordered. "Crash, we need to talk. Now." The captain said, gesturing away from the wreck. Rainbow followed obediently.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Rainbow asked.

"Rainbow, today you randomly assumed command right in front of me, and in front of a crown princess. I don't care how buddy buddy you are with the Royals. For that I'm giving you two weeks of KP. Understand?" Spitfire growled.

"Yes, Ma'am. I understand. It won't happen again." RD answered carefully with a salute.

"That being said, You took charge when I was completely dumbfounded and clueless as to what to do. That's why I'm not revoking your leave. You start KP next week. And I want reports on those two." The captain ordered. "Dismissed. Get back too it."

"Yes Ma'am!"

***=============***

"Captain! The drop ship just suffered catastrophic failure and has crash landed!" A blue uniformed Protogen said.

"How many survivors!?" The captain asked. "I want status reports as the develop!"

"Unknown at this moment ma'am."

"Damn it..." The captain said, slamming her fist into the armrest.

"Engineering to Bridge!" The intercomm barked.

"Go ahead engineering." Answered the captain.

"We seem to be missing a canister of Anti-matter ma'am!" Said the chief engineer.

"How long have they been disconnected!?" She asked in alarm.

"3 hours ma'am. We're searching everywhere in Engineering. It has to be down here somewhere."

"Either find it or we all die." she hissed with venom.

"Yes ma'am. Engineering out!" The comm beeped, and shut off.

"What the hell else can go wrong today?" The captain asked herself, putting a hand to her head in exasperation.

"Ma'am?" Another protogen crew member spoke up. This one in green.

"What now?" she groaned, rotating her chair to face the comms station.

"Our deep space transmitter... it's... it's malfunctioning ma'am. We can't contact anybody until its repaired." The nervous female protogen stated, avoiding eye contact.

"Was it sabotage?" The captain asked.

"No ma'am." She replied hastily. "Space debris impacted it."

"Then get a repair crew on it pronto." The captain growled.

"Yes ma'am." The comms protogen replied before turning around and getting back to work.

***=============***

Soarin wandered the crashed ship near aimlessly. He couldn't help, like most of the Wonderbolts, but wonder, what had happened? What is this? Who were they? Did they come in peace? Or to take over? Where did they come from? As he wandered, he found what appeared mangled metal on the floor. Careful as to where his hooves went, he entered what appeared to be the engine room. Inside he saw damage from what appeared to be an explosion, underneath a large cylinder holding a black, glowing, spherical object, levitating in the middle. It appeared to be about the size of a pony curled up in the fetal position. Looking below, he saw a bar of light going from red to green.

"Captain!" he called. "I think I found something!"

"Whatcha got Clipper?" Spitfire asked as she galloped into the room. "Whoa... Did they let Tirek loose in here or something?"

"That's not what bothers me ma'am." Soarin answered before pointing a hoof at the glowing black ball, and the bar of light beneath it. They both looked in curiosity, before the farthest green light blinked out.

"We need the princess to see this..." Spitfire said quietly. Soarin could only nod, dumbfounded. "I'm going to check on the bodies. See what Rapid Fire has to report."

"Yes Ma'am... Should I... s-stay here?" He asked nervously, receiving a nod. Spitfire walked back out, careful of the sharp pieces of metal laying around.

"What do you have to report Fire?" Spitire asked the white stallion, who seemed to be bent over a piece of mangled ship, wretching his stomach up. Poor guy just had a spicy lunch too.

"C-Captain... Excuse me." he said, spitting out the taste of spicy bile. "We count 48 of these strange creatures... they all seem to be dead... We tried to remove the armor from one of their legs... t-the whole leg came off ma'am. L-like a broken foals toy." he stammered, turning green again.

"If there's any sheets, cover them up..." Spitfire ordered, Rapid Fire nodded and dashed off. Looking up, She saw an entire platoon of Royal guard flying in with Princess Luna, all dragging large wagons. "About bucking time... Princess." Spitfire bowed.

"Well met Captain Spitfire. My word... When Lieutenant Fleetfoot told me what happened I could not believe it; And now that I see it... I still don't believe it... a machine from the stars..." She said aghast. Looking down, her eyes widened. "Even a new race of beings..."

"Captain!" Soarin called out. "Another bar just went away ma'am!"

Spitfire and Luna both galloped inside to see what Soarin meant. Sure enough, under the cylinder, a second block of brighter green went away.

"They seem to disappear at 1 bar every half hour... At this rate... It's going to go away... in 12 hours." Soarin said, fear creeping into his voice.

"The big question is... What happens when it runs out?" Spitfire asked.

"Indeed" Luna replied. "Load up what we can. Bodies too."

***==========***

"What in the world are these things?" The head nurse asked with fright.

"I wish I knew nurse. Whatever this helmet it... it appears to be surgically implanted onto them... Same with the legs, arms and tail..." The doctor nervously replied. "Nurse... Do you know a glass repair spell?" he asked.

"Of course sir?" The nurse asked.

"Good. Do it on that... helmet... thing." The brown stallion ordered. She complied without hesitation, while Doctor Stable reset the strange beings ribs. Fortunately the chest plate was removable so Doctor Stable can carefully open up the creature's chest. Looking inside he examined the being. "Interesting. Definately biological, but there are traces of machine in here... Whatever they are, they have had all these mechanical bits are melded nearly perfectly into the nervous system..."

"Doctor! The helmet thing just lit up... its glowing" The nurse said in alarm.

"What?!" Doctor Stable shouted in shock. "How did they get off the anesthesia?!" He shouted, as the speaker on the front of the mask began to let out static, followed by noise. The cardiometer went from a steady rhythm, to wild and erratic.

"Ẇ̷̲̝̄͛̅̽h̸̻̒̽̈͌ǫ̴̱͙̆̂̈́̌͜ ̵̟̲͕̙̠͂ạ̸̙̦̒R̷̥͓͔̈́̏͂̎ę̴̛̰̲̜́͐͝ ̶̢͔̾̒́̚Y̵͙̰͒o̷̞̲͂͂̊̆Ū̵͕̖̗͎͝?̴̰͚̜̬͆͐!̵͓̅̍͑̀ ̷̙̼͍̱͌̒̈͋͝W̶̧͔̒͊͘h̶̞͍͙͍͗̌͛̂ë̷̬́̄͝ͅȓ̴̛͎̪̅e̵̢̲̥͓̼̿ ̷̛̝A̶͈̗̳̲͌M̴̲͚͕̂̌ͅ ̸̻͙̙̗̘̽̍̿I̷̮̤͍̣̓͑̿̉̚!̸̘̣̆͒͐̍?̷̟̪̦͍͉̆͠ ̸̡̼̠͂̉̾Ẃ̸̠̳̮̯͗̂̀̀ḣ̷̟̯͇͒͊͐͜Ą̵̝̻͍̻̀̋̄t̵͓̭̳̋̋ ̶̞̆̓ä̷̩̏̓R̴̗̭͔̹͐̔ê̴͖͉͕̫̟̏͠ ̶̨̻̭̩͑͒Y̶̲̟͋̒͜ǫ̴̹̺͆͑̀͗͗Ü̶͇̽ ̵͇̼̤͌͒͊D̴̝̈́ȍ̸̧̳̐I̷͕̿͆͘n̷͉̰̈́G̷̹̿ ̵̫̰̘̺̒̅̉T̶̻͓̈́͂͗ơ̶̤̫̒͊͑̄ ̵̞̔̍̏̏m̷̪̮̐̓E̸͓̲̺͕̊̂̈̕ͅ?̴̗̓̊̋͝ " Barked the creature.

"Nurse, hit it with more anesthesia." The doctor ordered. "Please calm down. I'm trying to help you"

"Ỳ̸̛͇̫̮̔o̴̩͈͋͆̾Ư̵̪͇̻̘͋̈́̇͑ ̸͚̙̝̬͝M̷̰̤̥͚͔̿͂͠u̶̪̔͑͆̓͜S̷̡̺͕̟͆͜T̴̺͙̔̆͌̌͜ ̶̦̗̯̓Û̸̢̢̥͔̾n̶̪͐͊͝d̴̢̤͍̩̱̋́̎̒͝ȩ̶̨̠̬̻̾r̶̘̓̑͂̈́S̶̛̭Ṱ̷͉̰̥̥͋A̸͎̠̲̫̿̈́̆̆͝ͅN̶̛̫͎̣̑̐͜͜D̵̖̫̙̄̄̈́͌̔!̵̳͎͆̍̚ ̶̫̗͊̋͜Î̷̘̹͍̻̳Ṅ̷̲͆̒̓ ̸̘͎̪͍͇̅͛̅͐1̶̨̮̤̔̓̇2̷͓͍̼͌̈́͋̈́͠ ̸̛̰̭͓̥̎̓ͅH̴̥̥͌͗ͅÓ̸͔̹̭͍̖̑̓̈́Ǔ̵͍̗̿͛̓R̸̦̚s̵̯͈̳̞̾̕ ̶̡͕̳̎̍Ṱ̸̇̾̇̚h̶͍͗ě̶̬̭͆̔̍R̴̦͓͇̻̓͊̑̐͘E̸̡͉̩͓̭͂ ̷̛̹̗͙̜̊͆̍W̶̱͒̆͘i̷͎͂l̵͓̣̯̟͑l̸͇̲̄̋͛̓̆ ̶̠̰̬̮̍͑̆̈B̶͔̮͚̦̃̈́̌̉͝ͅḛ̵̣̬̲̊̓̐͝͠ ̸̨͈͎̖̥́̀͑̈̀à̴̗̬͇͉͌̍̽͝ͅ ̷̠̩̃̐̓̍͝M̵̀́̀̇͌͜Ā̶̤̬̟s̶̹͉̒̾̕s̷͎̤̆͊̉͝s̵̢̖̜̓͂̈͝-̵̧̣̱̩͎̾̋i̸͇̗̘̅̎ṽ̶̮̪̞̍͆ḙ̵͉̑̂̂ ̸͙̆Ȅ̶͉̜͚͈̇́́̌x̷̼̩͚̮̀̀p̵̢̙̖̂̑̀̈͝l̶̗͕͖̣̍̅o̴̡͇̿̍͑̚S̴̖̞̗̼͛̊̚͝͝Ȉ̶ͅǪ̷̺͕͖̙̈́̆̚Ņ̷̡̼̈́̉́͛!̶͔̹̹̩̃̐̈́̉̍ ̸̧̻̞͂ͅ" The voice came out again.

"We don't understand you. I'm sorry." The nurse pleaded as she floated the needle into it biological right arm. The thrashing began to slow, before stopping altogether. The cardiometer fell back into a steady beat with his heart. "What's the damage to this being doctor? Do we even know it's gender?" She asked.

"I don't... ugh... fine. Can you look for me?" The doctor asked as he continued his work. The nurse tentatively adjusted her glasses as she walked down to where the genitalia should be. After a quick look around, she had her answer.

"It's a male. Definitely a male." She said with a blush.

"Good to know." Doctor Stable said. stitching the hole he made in the chest. "Now help me with his concussion."

***==========***

*Ribs set, 5 months required for full healing*

*Left Kidney removed*

*Concussion healing*

*Limbs still required*

*Anesthesia detected. Entering Sleep Mode*

*New Language detected. Setting Translator to learn new language in Sleep Mode*

*Left ear permanently damaged. 60%*

***=========***

Twilight couldn't help but pace in the lobby. Here she was with a new race of beings at her hooves, who fell from the skies, with knowledge beyond comprehension! Yet there was a chance they may not survive due to the extensive injuries.

"Twilight you need to calm down." Starlight reassured. "I'm sure they'll be alright... Whatever they are."

"I hope your right Starlight." Twilight responded distantly. "I hope Rainbow is okay at the wreck..."

The nurses came and went with patients, most with injuries from the explosion earlier that day. Twilight was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she never noticed the large alabaster mare walk in.

"Goodness Twilight. Last time I saw you like this was when you were letting dear Starlight 'graduate'." she said with a gentle chuckle.

"Princess!!!" Everypony in the waiting room said as they bowed as best they could.

"None of that please ponies. This visit is off the books." Princess Celestia said gently. "Now Twilight, what happened here? All of Canterlot heard the explosion." She said as a purple and green drake flew in, making a beeline for the smaller princess.

"All we know princess," Starlight interupted. "is what seemed like a meteor fell from the sky and crash landed on the eastern edge of the Everfree. Near the cliff sides." She explained. "When we got there, we found a smoldering wreckage of what looked like a starship. Right out of those bit store novels or comics. As we got closer, we saw a door open and two creatures hobbled out, we brought them straight here."

Twilight finally cut in. "We left Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts at the wreckage. We're waiting on word from the doctor on the two we brought in." She said, visibly relaxing. As she finally sat down, a nurse poked her head out.

"Princess?" she called, attracting both Twilight and Celestia's attention. "We're moving your patients to post op, and recovery." The nurse said. "You can all come visit now." Turning around, she guided the 3 ponies and one dragon to the recovery room in question.

Upon entering the room, The ponies watched the doctor take his notes, before administering an antibiotic to the IV drip. He turned, nodding in acknowledgement of the Princesses, and went back to work. On the recovery beds, hooked up to all manner of machines, were two canine like beings, still partially in armor and helmets. Both still unconscious.

"Why did you not remove their armor?" Princess Celestia asked curiously.

Setting down his clipboard, Doctor Stable turned to the ponies. "Because they're surgically attached. Literally. We found wires leading from the helmet to the optic nerves, and those led to the brain. Same with the legs, arms and tails. All can be removed." He explained darkly. "I don't know where you found these beings Princess Twilight, but... I won't lie. They frighten me. They're clearly mammalian, breathe the same air, eat the same food, et cetera. Both are also male; Whatever they are. The larger one woke up, I guess, mid surgery. Began babbling in some strange language that also sounded like static." Then he pointed to the larger of the two. "That one. His... face, I guess lit up and has been doing that ever since."

All the ponies walked over and saw, on the shiny black glass like surface, strange symbols were flashing. The same Triangle symbol, what looked like horizontal lighting bolts, and a clock.

"Huh... I wonder if he's trying to communicate like that." Spike pondered.

Chuckling, Doctor stable spoke up. "I doubt it. It's been flashing those same pictures since we put him back on the anesthesia."

"Though I wouldn't put it passed them to use pictographs until one of us learns the other's language" Added Celestia. "If they're smart enough to build a ship to travel between stars, Language must not be that big of a deal." A sudden mechanical coughing sound erupted from the smaller being.

***============***

*Reboot complete*

*Major Damage sustained. Internal Bleeding detected. Requires immediate medical attention*

*Pulminary Edema detected. Requires immediate draining*

*Urgent medical attention required*

*Cerebral edema Detected.*

*Heart palpitations detected*

Warning messages flashed in 753's HUD repeatedly as he suddenly felt it very hard to breath. As he coughed, fluid spewed out his mouth, splashing the inside of his helmet. He suddenly heard a beeping go from steady to rapid. he realised that was his own heart... He was in a medical ward! Last thing he remembered was the drop ship crash landing, then black. Now here he was, laying on a medical bed.

He listened as a strange voice began yelling gibberish, and his medical bed was pushed out and into a hallway. It was a brief transit between rooms as he now felt his sensors overloaded with light. He listened as the cardiometer became even more crazy in it's beeping, then to just one long beep. His visor flashed again.

*Cardiac Arrest. Shutting down in 3...*

* 2 *

* 1 *

*Shutting down*

***==========***

"No, no, NO!" Doctor Stable shouted. "Defib! NOW!"

Nurse Tenderheart Quickly pushed over the defibrillator as Doctor Stable got the creatures chest ready. "Charging!" she called.

Doctor Stable took the paddles in his magic, rubbing them together. "Three, Two, One, CLEAR!" he called, pressing the paddles to the sides of the creatures heart. An electric whine, followed by a soft 'Thump' was heart as the creature's chest shot up. Looking at the cardiometer, he called "Again!"

"Charging!" The nurse yelled.

Doctor stable repeated the process, only to be met with the same result. Again and again they tried, through 5 charges and 5 shocks; The poor being wouldn't resuscitate.

"Come on... Celestia damn it!" Doctor Stable barked.

Nurse Tenderheart put her hoof over Doctor Stable's withers, trying to reassure him, and comfort him.

"Time of death... 4:23 PM." Doctor Stable said solemnly, before covering the being in a white sheet. Nurse Tenderheart walked out of the room, a single tear dropping from her eye.

***========***

Princess Twilight, Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike all sat together, in the same recovery room; waiting patiently for word of the patient. As they sat, the nurse walked in. A sad look adorned her face.

"I'm sorry... we couldn't save him." She said quietly, before quietly exiting the room. The room became heavy, and silent. The only sound being the cardiometer, steadily beeping away.

"So... how many more are there?" Spike asked. He may have been young, but he understood what death was.

"This may just be the last one Spike." Starlight answered quietly.

Author's Note

Don't expect regular updates. I'll update when I can. I'm honestly flying by the seat of my pants right now so bear with me. Revisions may be done later. I was honestly surprised when I saw how long this chapter became.