Two hours after the Young Six arrived in Canterlot, Twilight was about to start laying out plans, when she was interrupted by a loud ROAR coming from outside. Running to the window, everyone saw the starship screaming down from the sky. As the strange vessel flew through the air, a bright flash lit up the throne room and an explosion broke the silence. The flash was so bright that everyone had to shut their eyes and blink for a moment. Once the light had cleared, Flurry pulled out her binoculars and looked out through the falling snow. In the warm glow from the sunset, she saw that the ship's engines were no longer attached to the front portion.

"We will need to split up. The ship's aft has broken off of the front.", she said after putting her binoculars away.

Just then, the radio started giving off a staticky noise. It sounded as if the ship's crew was trying to call for help. Everyone rushed over and Yona hit the "Talk" button on the microphone.

"This is Yona the yak. Please identify yourself.", she said calmly.

Initially, the response was hard to make out through the static, but a filter cleared up the transmission.

"This is Walker Johnson. I'm Captain of the Inkstar. Our aft section is gone, and we're on emergency power. We're in terrible danger, and there are children on-board. Requesting assistance.", said a male voice.

"How many of you are on-board?", asked Yona.

The signal died out before she could get a response. Then another signal came in. This one was slightly stronger, but mostly sounded like loud cries, screams, and hushes. Through the noise, Yona managed to pick up a female voice.

"This is Rosa Octavio. We've been separated from our parents. My twin sister Michelle and I are the oldest ones here. The rest are all babies, five of which are newborns.", said the voice.

"I hear you, Rosa. We are preparing for rescue. Sit tight and keep as calm as you can.", said Yona.

Rosa's signal died halfway through her response, but Twilight heard her start to say "Acknowledged".

"Ocellus, it's time for your new skills as a pediatrician to get their first field test.", said Flurry.

"I agree. I was certified just last month.", replied Ocellus.

As the Young Six began determining who would go where, their tablet computers beeped to indicate that a message had come in. Upon reading the message, they saw it was the Inkstar's manifest.

**

1. Walker Johnson

2. Becka Johnson

3. Jacob Johnson, Age: 5

4. Erica Johnson, Age: 3 months

5. DJ Octavio

6. Rosa Octavio, Age 13

7. Michelle Octavio, Age 13

8. Aaron Grady

9. Athena Grady

10. Andrew Grady

11. Lizzie Grady, Age: 4

12. Angelo Grady, Age: 1

13. Atari Grady, Age: 3 months

14. Callie Cuttlefish

15. Marie Cuttlefish

16. Sally Cuttlefish

17. Jerome Cuttlefish

18. Iris Cuttlefish

19. Michael Cuttlefish

20. Mike Dreemurr

21. Taylor Dreemurr, Age: 2

22. Tamaki Dreemurr, Age: 2 days

23. Takara Dreemurr, Age: 2 days

24. Marx Scales

25. Sally Scale

26. Goldie Scale, Age: 2

27. Shine Scale, Age: 3 months

**

After a few minutes, it was decided that Ocellus would go with Gallus and Silverstream to rescue the children from the aft section, which had come to rest in a shallow gulley between two of the Crystal Mountains. Sandbar, Smolder, and Yona would go to the front section, which had skidded to a halt in a snowbank on the east side of Mount Everhoof. Both crash sites were just outside the Crystal Empire; so they opted to try out a brand new plane, which was bright red and designed for transporting injured citizens. Flurry would be piloting this medical plane back to Canterlot, and Twilight would bring them in. They boarded two extreme condition rescue crafts and took off into the twilight sky.

Author's Note

The names with an age next to them are the children.