Unexpected Visitors to Equestria

Flurry Heart opted for Smolder to go with her as a second set of hands to rescue Lizzie, Angelo, and Atari. Their capsule had touched down in a remote area 2 miles northwest of the Crystal Empire. After giving a radio to Andrew and Marie, Smolder brought the kids' changing supplies onto the rescue craft and joined Flurry in the cockpit. They took off and flew into the late evening sky towards the capsule. Upon reaching the Frozen North, the view outside the craft was whited out. There was a heavy snowstorm raging outside and they had flown straight into the heart of it. Thankfully, the capsule's signal did not disappear from radar.

Upon seeing the capsule's safety light on the ground, Flurry touched down thirty feet away. She and Smolder put on their winter coats, scarves, hats, snowshoes, and goggles before opening the loading ramp and rushing to the capsule to open the hatch. Flurry knocked three times on the hatch to alert the kids that help had arrived. Five seconds later, they heard three knocks from inside the capsule. This meant at least one of the kids had heard them.

Flurry peered through the hatch's window and saw that Lizzie was the one who had knocked back. She was completely lucid, she had her winter coat on to keep warm, and she was wearing an orange oxygen mask over her mouth and nose in order to breathe. What pleased Flurry was that Lizzie had tears of immeasurable joy in her eyes since she and her siblings were being rescued. Knowing the wind outside was too loud for Lizzie to hear over, Flurry typed out a note on her tablet computer and held it up for Lizzie to read.

"I need you to move away from the window so I can get a look at Angelo and Atari."

Lizzie nodded, sat back down in her seat, and put her seatbelt back on. When Flurry saw Angelo and Atari, she became worried even though the two were wearing oxygen masks just like Lizzie was. Angelo didn't look too swift. He was pale and he was hardly moving. Atari was flailing her arms and her legs, and she seemed to be squalling, or crying loudly, as if she was either scared or in pain. Thankfully, the safety straps kept her from falling on the capsule's floor and hurting herself. Flurry shouted to Smolder over the howling wind that they needed to put the capsule on the rescue craft's cargo sled in order to reel it in. Smolder nodded and ran back to the rescue craft to get the sled. Once Smolder had hooked up the sled and brought it to the capsule, Flurry used her magic to set the capsule in place. After securing the capsule with cargo straps, she started the winch to pull the capsule up the ramp.

Once the capsule was pulled on-board the rescue craft and the ramp was closed, Flurry started assessing the kids from outside after she and Smolder had taken off their winter clothes. Lizzie appeared to be the same, and she seemed excited to finally climb out of the cramped capsule. Angelo remained motionless, even though Smolder flashed a light at him four times. Atari had her eyes shut, so she didn't know what was going on. She continued to squall and flail her arms and legs. After depressurizing the capsule, Flurry radioed Andrew and Marie to update them on their progress.

"Andrew, Marie, this is Flurry Heart. We have your children's capsule on-board our craft. We are about to pull them out.", she said.

"That's great to hear. Are they alert?", asked Marie.

"Lizzie is fully lucid, and she seems eager to finally get out. Angelo is pale and he's not responding to Smolder flashing a light at him. Atari is alert as well, but she won't stop squalling. We will see what's going on once we get them out. I am going to put you on VOX so you can hear us better.", replied Flurry.

Andrew and Marie became worried after hearing Flurry tell them Angelo didn't look too swift. Regardless of this, they acknowledged what Flurry said and prepared to hear the reports on their kids. Smolder had tried twice to unlock the hatch, but the latch handle was frozen and wouldn't turn without the risk of breaking. Smolder came to realize that she would need to cut the hatch open. As she was getting a laser ready to cut the hatch free, Lizzie got up and held up her hands as if she was trying to warn Smolder about something. Since Atari was squalling so loudly, Smolder wasn't sure if Lizzie would hear her speaking. To compensate, she pulled out her notepad and wrote a question with a pencil.

"What's wrong?"

"Flurry, this is Marie. What's going on? We hear how loudly Atari is squalling.", said Marie.

"I'm not sure. Smolder is trying to find out by asking Lizzie questions with a notepad and pencil.", Flurry replied.

Lizzie took in a gulp of air and lowered her oxygen mask. She pointed to Atari and pinched her nose. Then she put her oxygen mask back on.

Smolder erased the first question and wrote another one to ask what Lizzie meant.

"Does she have a nosebleed?"

Lizzie shook her head as if saying no.

Suddenly, Smolder remembered what Andrew and Marie had said about Atari. She was only two months old. This made Smolder weary as she wrote the next question.

"Is she stinky?"

Sweat beaded on Lizzie's face as she nodded her head to say yes. Smolder shuddered nervously and then set her macro-binoculars in a scanning mode for tracing odors to their point of origin. When she focused her gaze on Atari, her eyes widened and she gritted her teeth. The camera showed bright yellow around Atari, and *DANGER* flashed up. This was not good. Atari needed her diaper changed at once.

"FLURRY, MASK UP!", she yelled as she put away her binoculars after turning them off.

"SMOLDER, NOT SO LOUD!", shrieked Flurry as her ears began ringing.

"What's happening?", asked Andrew.

"Atari has inked badly. She needs her diaper changed as soon as we get her out.", said Smolder as she and Flurry put on gas masks.

Smolder proceeded to cut open the hatch and then Lizzie jumped out in one fell swoop. Lizzie began coughing after taking her oxygen mask off, but she soon started breathing normally and buckled herself in a child's seat without help. After Flurry extracted Angelo to assess his condition; Smolder put on rubber gloves, climbed into the capsule, and scooped Atari up carefully. Then she got out and hurried to the craft's medical bay in order to change her diaper. Even though the change was going smoothly, Atari was continuing to cry loudly.

Realizing the possibility that Atari was in pain, Smolder took a quick look between Atari's legs with a flashlight before strapping the fresh diaper on, which revealed nasty redness in Atari's skin. Gasping, Smolder realized Atari had diaper rash, a common and very painful skin irritation for babies. She informed Marie and Andrew of what happened, and they were shaken up.

"Oh dear, that's not good.", said Marie worriedly.

"I have a special cream with which to stop the irritation quickly. However, the treatment will not be instantaneous. You will need to apply the cream during the next three changes.", said Smolder.

Andrew understood what Smolder meant and told her to go ahead. As Smolder applied the rash cream, Atari gently stopped crying and went to sleep so Smolder could finish changing her. Then, Flurry informed them on how Angelo was doing.

"Angelo's temperature is 83 degrees. He has moderate hypothermia. That explains the state he was in when Smolder tried to rouse him.", Flurry said as she wrapped Angelo in a heated blanket before strapping him in a child's seat next to Lizzie.

"We're on our way back.", said Smolder.

"See you back here.", said Andrew.

After Smolder turned off the radio, she gave Atari her pacifier and wrapped her snugly in a blanket. As she prepared to lay Atari down, Lizzie got up and walked over to her.

"Let me hold her. I could sing to her if she wakes up.", she said.

"Sure thing.", said Smolder gladly as Lizzie walked back to her seat.

After Lizzie had fastened her seatbelt, Smolder handed Atari to her. Lizzie cradled her baby sister lovingly in her arms for the ride to Canterlot. Two thirds of the way there, Angelo started to come around. His vision slid in and out of focus, but he soon got a clear look at Lizzie after blinking several times.

"Sis?", he asked.

"Angie, you're awake.", said Lizzie in a loud whisper.

Flurry happened to hear Lizzie and came to check on her. When she saw Angelo was awake, she gave him a warm cup of milk to help his temperature come back up. Three minutes later, his temperature was back to normal, and Flurry helped him put his coat on. They arrived in Canterlot ten minutes later. Lizzie followed Flurry off the craft while carrying Atari in her arms and Angelo rode on Flurry's back. After they had gone inside the castle to reunite with Andrew and Marie, Smolder took the craft to be refueled and restocked.

"We're so glad you're alright.", said Andrew as Lizzie handed Atari to Marie.

"So am I, Daddy.", said Lizzie as she and Angelo gave him a hug and a kiss.

"Lizzie, how did you know that Atari needed to be changed?", asked Twilight.

Lizzie's reply was very startling.

"Her loud cries were what woke me up. When I went to calm her down, I caught a whiff and realized what happened. I tried singing to her and playing peekaboo in order to distract her, but it didn't work. I dropped the oxygen masks in order to avoid the bad smell. Angelo was already awake when I was roused, but he was pale and motionless like your friends saw him. I was about to wrap my coat around him and cuddle up to help him stay warm when Flurry knocked on the hatch.", she explained.

"What a brave and loving sister you are.", said Twilight in amazement.

"Indeed, Cupcake.", said Andrew.

Lizzie thanked Twilight for her compliment before Andrew and Marie led her to their guest room for the night. Two minutes later, Silverstream, Gallus, and Ocellus boarded a rescue helicopter and flew south to rescue Walker, Becka, and Jacob in the Celestial Sea.