//------------------------------// // The True Wonderbirds Among Us // Story: The Wonderbirds... are... UP! // by Lets Do This //------------------------------// They returned to the lander, shut the door, and repressurized. When they removed their helmets, Rainbow noticed an odd, gunpowdery odor... and realized it was from the Moon dust still clinging to their suits. Huh, she thought. The Moon actually smells like something. Never would've figured that. She made a mental note to add it to the log, and then she and Pinkie strapped in at the controls. "Crew!" Rainbow called. "Report readiness for ascent!" Pinkie checked that Gummy was snug in his pocket on her suit again. "Ready, Dashie!" "Annnnd... GOODNIGHT, MOON!" Rainbow hauled down on the throttle. The ascent module's rockets fired, kicking them in the rear and sending them soaring back into the darkness of space. Shortly thereafter, they redocked with the command module. "Hey gals, welcome back!" Spike said, pulling open the connecting hatch for them. "Hiya, Spike!" Pinkie darted past him, caught the edge of her seat with a forehoof, and gracefully flipped over onto it... upside-down. "Whee! I'm gonna miss weightlessness! It's like a trampoline that never quits!" "I'll just be happy to get my hooves on the ground again," Rarity groused. "After all this time floating about up here..." "Hey, yeah..." Rainbow said, as she and Spike transferred the containers of Lunar rock and dust to the CM. "What have you two been up to, all this time?" She elbowed Spike. "All alone up here together?" Spike and Rarity both stared at Rainbow, then at each other. Then Spike blushed, and Rarity sniffed delicately. "I'll have you know, Rainbow Dash," she said archly, "Spikey was a perfect gentleman the entire time!" "Oh, yeah... I'll just bet he was!" Rainbow doubled over, laughing so hard that she flipped in midair, and only narrowly avoided braining herself on the edge of her seat. Then, shamefaced, she and Spike had to hustle in order to get the ship battened down, the hatch sealed and the LEM jettisoned, and the burn fired within their exit window, putting them on course back home. For most of the rest of the day they peered up through the windows at the steadily approaching blue-green sphere. Rainbow caught up on mission log entries, Spike tended the instruments, Pinkie worked through her return-flight experiment checklist, and Rarity busied herself with her notebook, jotting down sketches for an entire new line of Moon-inspired evening wear. They hit atmosphere early, at the near edge of their impact window. They waited tensely, squashed in their seats by the deceleration, as flames licked threateningly about the windows, and thunderous roaring and banging sounded all around them. They splashed down on the dot, in the middle of Horseshoe Bay, in the salmon-hued light of early dawn. And as the hired tenders closed on their position, a glorious, blinding glare flooded through the capsule windows... for Princess Celestia was finally, finally able to raise her Sun once more. When Rainbow yanked the release lever that threw open the hatch, allowing them to exit and be collected by the rescue team, she paused just for a moment to look up at the sky, at the pale white disc of the Moon. Once again, it was a flat, astral signature in the blue dome of the daytime sky, no more corporeal than a reflection in a bucket of water. And then it sank steadily, as Luna tucked it carefully away below the horizon, where it belonged during the day. Rainbow sighed. She knew she was never going to see it quite the same way, ever again. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They returned to Canterlot, to the Royal Palace, and a hero's welcome. It wasn't quite like the Throne Room scene at the end of Wonderbirds IV: The Last Hope Of Equestria, which Birdies generally agreed on as the series' high mark for uplifting pride and stirring grandeur. It was better. The Audience Hall of Canterlot was packed, with nobles and common ponies alike. The guards stood at full attention, saluting. And Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight Sparkle stood on the throne platform, waiting with regal pride. Accompanied by the stirring notes of Equestria, My Home, being played by the Palace's official orchestra and chorus, the crew of the Pegasus marched down the red carpet together, then assembled before the ramp leading up to the platform, and stood waiting. And then Celestia did something she very rarely did. She led her fellow Princesses down the ramp, to stand on a level with the heroes of the day. As one the royals bowed their heads, warm smiles on all their faces. CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA, Celestia called out in full Royal Voice, as the Princesses raised their heads once more, IT IS OUR GREAT PRIDE TO BESTOW UPON EACH OF THESE VALIANT EXPLORERS OF DEEPEST SPACE, THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER OF MERIT, FOR THEIR DETERMINATION, COURAGE, AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FURTHERANCE OF SCIENCE. The Chief Steward approached with a velvet cushion, from which each of the four Princesses drew medals with their magic and bestowed them upon their recipients. RAINBOW DASH! Celestia intoned, COURAGEOUS AND STALWART COMMANDER OF THE PEGASUS, AND THE FIRST PONY TO WALK UPON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON! MADAME RARITY! Luna shouted, EXPERT DESIGNER, AND MAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE! PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! Cadance called. MISSION SPECIALIST AND ENGINEER... TOGETHER WITH HER EVER FAITHFUL COMPANION, GUMMY! she added, as Pinkie held up her pet to receive his own tiny medal. AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST... SPIKE, THE BRAVE AND HONORABLE! Twilight called out, smiling with barely contained pride as she settled the medal about his neck. STALWART CO-PILOT, AND EVER-FAITHFUL ASSISTANT TO EVERYCREATURE! WE DECREE A DAY OF CELEBRATION IN THEIR HONOR, Celestia concluded. LET THESE HEROES BE SHOWN EVERY DEGREE OF GRATITUDE AND GENEROSITY OF WHICH WE ARE CAPABLE, FOR BRAVING THE UNKNOWN, LIFTING OUR EYES TO THE STARS, AND REPRESENTING ALL THAT IS BEST AMONGST THE MANY SPECIES THAT SHARE THIS WORLD! HONOR THEM, FOR THEY ARE THE TRUE WONDERBIRDS AMONGST US! As the assembled crowd willingly cheered and stamped in adulation, Princess Celestia leaned her head closer to the five equuinauts. "And if there is anything you personally need or want," she said. "You have only to make it known to us, and it shall be provided, as token of our gratitude and pride." "Well..." Rainbow said, scratching her mane nervously. "There is one thing we really ought to do... just for old time's sake, while it still counts..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Ponyville Bijou's main theater was empty, save for three ponies, a dragon, and a toothless alligator, all seated together in the front row. By special request of the Princesses of Equestria, the Wonderbirds 50th Anniversary Movie Marathon was being given one final and private showing. And Rainbow found herself watching it with an uncomfortably critical eye. "Ya know, I always thought that spacewalk scene was a bit wonky. You can see the wires and everything. Sheesh! I used to like this stuff? Seriously?" "Shhhhh!" Pinkie Pie whispered. "Don't spoil the illusion!" Then she buried her snout messily in her fifth tub of buttered popcorn. "After all, Rainbow," Rarity added. "These movies are just fantasy... light entertainment..." Spike looked up at her. "That wasn't the way you sounded when that Applewood exec was talking with you about starring in that Wonderbirds remake they're planning." Rarity ahemmed uncomfortably. "Oh, well. It was all very flattering, Spikey, especially the way they want to re-work the characters to look like us. But when I saw the scripts, I didn't see much in it. It was all just spaceships and rayguns. It completely missed the point of the original movies and comics." Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, that's for sure!" "And like I said," Rarity went on, "the original movies were created as fantasy, mere entertainment, nothing more... and rightly so. It's what they were made for. It does them a disservice, really, taking them too seriously." "Yeah, right... fantasy... right." Rainbow shook her head. The other ponies weren't flyers. They just couldn't understand what it meant. To know that it could be real -- that it had been real! That they'd all actually been up there... ... having that merciless yardstick, to eternally measure one's dreams by. Rainbow exchanged a wordless glance with Spike, and the two of them nodded companionably to each other. Co-pilots understood these things, at least. And Rainbow kept thinking back to Luna's words, up on the Moon... Someday, they would return there... They had to... Because... The Wonderbirds... are... UP! The End My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro. No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.