//------------------------------// // To The Moon // Story: TO THE MOOOONNNNNNAAAAA // by Thunder Colt //------------------------------// Princess Celestia sighed, letting her eyes close. Today had been brutally boring. So far, no one had come to the castle for an audience, there were no special events for her to attend, and she had run out of ideas for messing with her pupil, Twilight. She sighed again, wishing she had used her ticket trick later. Celestia laughed as she remembered how Twilights friends had fought over the ticket. Celestia was about to give up and retire to her private quarters when one of the guards walked in. “The Wonderbolts are requesting an audience, my lady!” he said, his gruff voice carrying across the large chamber. A smile touched Celestia’s lips. Maybe today wouldn’t be so boring after all. “Let them in,” said Celestia to the guard. He nodded and a few seconds later the six Wonderbolts walked in. They all bowed, and then one Celestia recognized as Spitfire stood up. “Princess Celestia,” she said, walking up to the throne, “it is an honor.” Celestia just smiled at Spitfire, wishing she would just get to the point. “We have traveled across Equestria to ask a favor from you,” she continued. “And what would this favor be,” asked Celestia, staring down at the Pegasus. “We would like to ask for a loan from you,” stated Spitfire. She backed up to stand with the other Wonderbolts. “We are planning to open a school for gifted fliers, but we need money to build it. We were hoping you would be generous enough to provide that loan.” Celestia stared at the Wonderbolts, knowing quite well she would never give a loan to these ponies. Finally she asked, “You love flying don’t you, Wonderbolts?” The Wonderbolts cast confused glances at each other, then nodded. “There is nothing else we would rather do,” piped up one of the Wonderbolts, a young colt with a bright yellow mane. “So,” she said slowly, pulling a bullhorn out of a bag near her throne, “you are…beeyetches who like to fly.” The Wonderbolts sat in stunned silence, not knowing what to say. “Well we do like flying…” said one pony in a small voice. “No no no,” laughed Celestia, “listen to me. You are BEEYECHES who like to FLY! BEEYECHES who like to FLY!” At this point tears were rolling down Celestia’s face and the Wonderbolts had no idea what was going on. Spitfire stepped forwards to say something, but Celestia held up her hoof, silencing her. “Well I know where you can do a lot of flying,” she said, pressing a button on her throne. Suddenly, the floor opened up and the Wonderbolts fell into a giant cannon. Spitfire managed to grab onto the edge of the floor and haul herself out, but the rest of her friends were trapped inside. “Cauz there is plenty of room to fly…ON THE MOOOOOOOOOONNNNNN!!!” screamed Celestia, her voice dripping with madness. She pressed another button on her throne, and the cannon exploded, rocketing the Wonderbolts towards the heavens. Spitfire stared in horror as she watched her friends disappear into the sky. Then she turned and looked at Celestia. “Run,” said Celestia, grinning evilly. Spitfire obeyed, turning around and shooting out the door at an incredible speed. Celestia sat back and smiled…today hadn’t been so bad after all… \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Luna sat on the moon with a brown colt, playing tic tac toe. She smiled as she put an x in the top right corner, making a neat 3 in a row. “Hah! I win again!” she exclaimed, leaping to her feat. “What’s the score now?” “I believe it is 547 to 543, in my favor,” replied a dark brown colt with a smile. “I’m still beating you.” “But I’m catching up!” said Luna happily. The colt was about to say something, but was interrupted by a crashing noise, followed by groaning and cursing. They looked over and saw 5 ponies that they recognized as the Wonderbolts lying in a tangled mess not far from them. They quickly got up and trotted over to the Wonderbolts, helping to untangle them and get them on their feet. “Well what do ya know,” said Luna. “Sis has the nerve to send the Wonderbolts to the moon. We really need to get rid of that cannon.” The Wonderbolts looked around in confusion, still in shock. “Well,” continued Luna, “we’re probably going to be here for a while, so lets introduce ourselves. I am Luna, and this is Boxer.” The brown colt smiled and waved. “We were sent here a few days ago. There was another pony, though I never caught his name. He went wandering off and never came back.” The Wonderbolts introduced themselves as Sparx, Thunder Colt, Lightning Fury, Arrow, and Soarin. “So,” asked Thundercolt, “what’s there to do around here? It seems kinda…empty.” “Yeah, there isn’t much to do up here,” said Luna. “Last time I was up here, I was alone. Do you know how boring that is? One-thousand years of solitude. Sleeping, talking to yourself, dancing, and anything else you can think of. At least now I have somepony to talk to.” “What about flying?” asked Sparx. “We can still do that, cant we?” Luna shook her head. “The atmosphere here is much different then that in Equestria. It doesn’t allow magic of any kind, or flying.” “What’s there to eat?” asked Soarin. “I’m starving!” “There are some moonberry bushes over there,” she said. “Moonberries?” asked Soarin. “What are they?” “Little black berries that taste like whatever you want to eat,” said Luna. “Take as many as you want, they’re everywhere.” Soarin dashed off in the direction Luna indicated, eager to try these new things. Luna sat down in the circle of ponies, staring at her new visitors. “So, what do you want to do?” she asked. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Rainbow dash groaned and pulled her pillow over her ears. She could tell that the sun hadn’t even risen yet, but she could hear someone pounding on her door. When another five minutes had passed and the knocking hadn’t stopped she pulled herself out of bed and dragged herself to the door. “Pinkie Pie!” she yelled. “I swear, if your dragging me out of bed this early for one of your parties…” She flung open the door, and was shocked to find herself face to face with Spitfire from the Wonderbolts. Rainbowdash’s jaw opened and she found herself at a loss for words. Spitfire was on her doorstep! “Rainbow Dash, isn’t it?” she asked. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just sprinted across Equestria. Rainbow could only nod. “May I come in?” Rainbow stepped aside and let Spitfire enter. “What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked, finally getting her voice back. “The Princess shot the other Wonderbolts to the moon,” said Spitfire simply, sitting down on a couch. “What?” asked Rainbowdash with a quizzical look. “You have got to be pulling my hoof. Why would Celestia shoot the Wonderbolts to the moon?” “I have no idea. We went to see if she would give a loan to us to help build a flying school. She went bezerk and shot all the other wonderbolts out of a cannon to the moon. I was the only one to escape.” “So what do you want me to do?” asked Rainbow, sitting down across from Spitfire. “I don’t know,” said Spitfire. “I came to you because you seemed like a sensible pony. I didn’t know what else to do.” Rainbow tapped her head, thinking as hard as she could. “Twilight!” she suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. “She’s a real egghead, lets see what she can do!” Rainbow flew out the door, followed closely by Spitfire. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ The group was sitting in a circle, when suddenly a metallic cry pierced the air. “SSSSSSPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEE!” Everypony looked around, and they caught sight of two metallic spheres floating a little ways from them. One of them had a bright yellow eye in the middle of its head, and the other had a blue one. Once Luna caught sight of them, a broad grin spread across her face. “Hi guys!” she shouted, running over to them. “Luna!” shouted the blue eyed sphere with a strong Australian accent. “SSSSSSPPPPPPPAAAAAAACCCCCCEEEEEEEE!” shouted the yellow eyed one. “How have you been Wheatley?” asked Luna. “Oh not bad,” replied the blue eyed sphere. “Been having to listen to HIM talk all the time. Driving me crazy. I think he is slowing down though, been saying he wants to go home recently.” “Bored of space, wanna go home,” confirmed the other sphere. “Who are they?” asked Boxer, trotting up with all the other ponies. “Just some old friends of mine,” said Luna. “This here is Wheatley, and this is…I don’t know, did we ever get his name?” asked Luna, looking at Wheatley. “I don’t know, but I think his name might be George. I’ve heard him mutter it a few times in his sleep.” “Space,” replied George. “They came from a planet called Earth, which takes a few hundred years to get to by flying in that direction,” said Luna, pointing at a cluster of stars. “Earth?” asked Sparx. “I’ve never heard of it.” “Apparently it is covered in strange, hairless creatures called humans that walk on their hind legs.” “Ugh,” said Wheatley, disgust dripping from his voice. “I hated those smelly, dirty humans.” “I see,” said Lightning Fury, staring at the orbs with curiosity. “I thought you said that you were alone on the moon for a thousand years.” “I was,” said Luna, “they came with only two months before my release. I was sitting, staring up at Equestria, when I heard George yelling about space and whatnot. I followed his voice and found them floating around. They were my only friends here.” She smiled fondly at the two orbs. “YYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!” shouted George. Luna turned to the other ponies. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves.” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “So you’re telling me,” said Twilight, “that Princess Celestia, the ruler of our land, trapped the Wonderbolts in a cannon, and shot them to the moon.” The three ponies sat in Twilight’s tree, illuminated by a few candles. Twilight had already been awake, studying, when Rainbow Dash came knocking on her door. “Exactly!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “We need your help to get them back.” Twilight looked between the two ponies, then burst out laughing. She continued laughing until she saw the Rainbow was being completely serious. “You’ve got to be pulling my hoof,” said Twilight. Both Rainbow and Spitfire shook their heads. “Even if Celestia did send them to the moon, there is no way to get them back. No pony has ever been to the moon and back, except for Luna.” “DID SOMEPONY SAY MOON?” exclaimed Pinkie Pie jumping through the door, closely followed by Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. “Where did you guys come from?” asked Rainbow. “I saw you and Spitfire flying towards Twilights house, so I though there must be a party! And what kind of party would it be without me? DUH! But it also wouldn’t be a party without all my other friends, so I went and got everypony else! So…when does the party start?” “We’re not having a party,” said Spitfire, “Celestia shot my friends to the moon in a cannon.” The four ponies stood in a shocked silence. “What in tarnation are you talking about?” asked Applejack, breaking the silence. So Rainbow explained again what happened to the Wonderbolts, and how they were trying to figure out a way to get them back. “Oh that’s easy!” said Pinkie, jumping around the room. “All we have to do is fly to the moon and bring them back!” “Darling how are we going to do that?” asked Rarity. “Well DUH! Follow me!” shouted Pinke, jumping out the door. Knowing they didn’t have a choice, the other ponies followed Pinkie as she lead them through Ponyville, past Sweet Apple Acres, and deep into the forest on the other side. Finally, they came into a clearing. What they saw made all the ponies drop their jaws in astonishment. “See!” said Pinkie. “Don’t you love it?” Right behind Pinkie was a giant rocket ship. “And I know how to drive it!” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Luna looked up at Equestria. She could tell something was wrong. “Hey guys, look at this!” she called. “There’s something happening!” Everypony and robot gathered around her and looked up at Equestria. Right in the middle of it was what looked like an explosion. “What do you think it is?” asked Sparx. “I have no idea,” said Luna, entranced by the spectacle. “Well,” said Wheatley, “it looks like a rocket.” Everypony looked at him like he was crazy. “What?” he asked. “Never heard of a rocket ship before? \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “Are ya sure ya know what you’re doin?” shouted Applejack over the sound of the engines. “Well of course silly filly!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “I am the one who made it!” The seven ponies had climbed aboard Pinkie’s ship and strapped themselves into the seats. Fluttershy had fainted before they had even left the ground, so they all had to help carry her and strap her in place. Pinkie took the controls with Twilight at the co-pilot seat. Pinkie quickly ran her through the controls and then pushed the launch button. Although Applejack didn’t seem to mind the movement of the rocket, Rarity and Twilight felt sick from the moment they left the ground. Rarity’s face turned a sickly shade of green, and Twilight shoved her face into a paper bag. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were the only ones who seemed to be enjoying the ride. They both had their hooves in the air and were yelling and laughing as their manes flew behind them. The rocket began to shake violently, then they were in space. All the ponies unstrapped themselves from their seats and floated around the cabin, enjoying the feeling of no gravity. Only Pinkie Pie remained in her seat, steering the ship towards the moon. Fluttershy woke up, looked out a window, then fainted again. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ The group of ponies and robots looked as the ship approached the moon. It was bright pink with ribbons and balloons along the side of it. It landed in a small crater, and a side hatch opened. Luna was astonished as the six ponies she had met in Ponyville hopped out, as well as the sixth member of the Wonderbolts. She yelled in excitement and ran towards the ship, closely followed by the other ponies. The other Wonderbolts dashed ahead and tackled Spitfire, laughing as they embraced their missing member. “Luna, what are you doing here? And who are they?” asked Twilight, gesturing at Wheatley and George. “Celestia sent me, again,” said Luna. “I was asking if I could ever control the moon again and…boom, here I am. These are my friends, Wheetley and George.” “Hello,” said Wheatley. “SSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAACCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE!” shouted George. “What are you doing here, and where did you get the ship?” asked Luna. “We’re here to rescue the Wonderbolts,” piped up Pinkie. “The ship is mine.” Luna stared in confusion at Pinkie as the six ponies began to explore. Twilight took samples of the soil and rocks, Rarity admired the view of Equestria, Applejack studied the moonberries, Rainbow Dash talked with the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy wandered aimlessly around, and Pinkie Pie danced and sang. “Pinkie, how long till we get to go home?” said Luna, interrupting Pinkie in the middle of a song about moon rocks. “About four hours! Why do you ask?” A worried expression crept over Luna’s face. “Are you sure you can’t get it ready any faster?” “No can do! The engines need four hours to cool down!” “Fine,” said Luna, obviously annoyed. “If that’s the case, everyone needs to follow me.” “Why?” asked Rainbow. “I don’t mind sitting out here for four hours. We can wait.” “Because if you stay out here for one more hour, you will be dead before morning.” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Luna lead the ponies to a large house made out of large, square stones. It had holes in the wall that served as windows. Luna cast a fearful glace at the sky as darkness began to shroud of the moon. “Quick, get in, we don’t have much time!” urged Luna. “Much time till what?” asked Twilight. “I’ll explain once we’re inside, just go!” The other ponies quickly filed inside, and Luna shut the door behind them. “Now will ya tell us what in tarnation is going on?” asked Applejack anxiously. “You don’t want to be outside at night,” said Luna, the fear evident in her voice. “Horrible creatures rise out of the ground. The first night I was on the moon, I didn’t build a shelter, and they nearly killed me. As long as they cant see you, your safe.” “You mean like those?” asked Pinkie, looking out one of the windows. Luna looked at what Pinkie was pointing at, and nodded silently. A horrible creature, covered in green scales, was crawling around outside. “You can’t let your fears get the best of you silly!” said Pinkie. “My Mom always told me to laugh and all my fears would be gone. Look!” Pinkie leaned out the window and began to laugh at the monster below. It looked up at her and began to hiss. A second later it exploded, sending Pinkie across the room. She hit the wall and slid down it. Everypony raced to her, but she stood up, mumbling about how the creature was such a meany and creepy creep creepers. “That’s enough!” shouted Boxer, stomping his foot. “I am sick an tired of this place. I don’t know about you, but I am going to the ship!” “Wait,” asked Twilight. “Why didn’t we just stay at the ship in the first place?” “Because,” said Luna, “because…I’m not quite sure. That was stupid. But that’s beside the point! You can’t go the ship. You’ll never make it!” “We’ll see about that,” said Boxer, charging out the door. Everyone crowded the window and watched him go. Suddenly, an arrow flew out of nowhere and hit Boxer in the side. He tried to stand, but another green creature raced towards him and exploded, sending him flying. He lay limply on the ground until a group of skeletons dragged his body away. Fluttershy sat in the corner and began to cry. Rarity walked over and tried to sooth her, while every other pony sat in silence. Even Pinkie Pie had nothing to say. Finally Rainbow Dash spoke up. “What kind of sick, twisted place is this anyways?” Luna gave Rainbow a blank stare. “I had to live here for a thousand years. Now do you understand why I came back as Nighmare Moon? You live here, by yourself, for a thousand years. See how long it is till you lose your sanity.” Everypony sat in silence thinking about living for a thousand year on the moon. “Space,” mumbled George. “George is right, we should get some rest,” muttered Luna. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ In the morning, the ponies walked back to the ship, making sure to make a large detour around the dark stain where Boxer once was. The ship was waiting for them right where they left it, which was no surprise. They all climbed in and the hatch closed. Once they were all strapped in, Pinkie fired up the engines and they were on their way. The return trip was much easier, and even Fluttershy managed to stay awake. As they were entering the atmosphere, the ship’s radio crackled and a pony’s voice came out of the station. “Unidentified ship, give us your access codes, over.” “Access codes?” asked Twilight. “What access codes.” Pinkie shrugged and continued to fly the ship. The radio crackled again and the voice said, “this is your last chance, give us the access codes or we will shoot you down!” When Pinkie remained silent, the voice said, “You’ve been warned, we will now use deadly force.” The voice clicked off and something began to glow on the horizon. “Uh oh,” said Pinkie. “That’s not good at all.” Suddenly, she went from mild worry to pure horror. “NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! I’VE GOT TWITCHIE TAIL! TWITCHIE TAIL!” “Twitchy tail?” asked Thunder Colt. “What does that mean?” “Whenever Pinkie here gets the twitchy tail, it means something is goin to fall from the sky,” said Applejack. She gulped. “And I think this time it may be us.” Pinkie jerked the stick, and the ship rolled out of the way of two oncoming missiles. She dove and spun through the sky, till even the Wonderbolts were beginning to get sick. As she tried to dodge one missile, another hit the engines. With an explosion, they began to fall. Every pony began to scream, and Twiligh threw up. “We’re all going to die!” shouted Wheatley. “I MISS SSSPPPAAACCCEEE!!” shouted George Pinkie jerked hard on the throttle, aiming for a lake. They just skimmed the trees surrounding the lake, then slammed into the water. Pinkie Pie unstrapped herself and jumped up, opening the back hatch. Three ponies, including Fluttershy, were unconscious and the rest were dazed. “Come on!” shouted Pinkie, “we don’t have much time! Run!” The other ponies unstrapped themselves and hurried out the door. The Wonderbolts grabbed the unconscious ponies and Luna grabbed Wheatley and George. They ran into the forest, just as two more missiles roared overhead and struck the ship, sending pieces of it everywhere. “Oh! Come on!” shouted Pinkie. “Do you know how long that took to make? FOREVER!” The ponies continued to run and were surprised to find themselves in Sweet Apple Acres. They walked into the barn and lay the unconscious ponies in the hay. “So what now?” asked Luna. “I cannot go back to Canterlot, and neither can the Wonderbolts. We’ll have to hide from Celestia for a while. Can you help?” “I know there are a few houses that you can stay at for a while in Ponyville,” said Twilight. “Yeah! And while you’re here, maybe you could show me some of your moves! Or I could show you some of mine,” said Rainbow, a grinning at the prospect of spending time with the Wonderbolts. “Sounds good to me,” said Soarin, “as long as we stay off that dreaded moon.” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ And so the Wonderbolts and Luna stayed in Ponyville for three years. At first, they thought that word would get out to Celestia, but, somehow, they managed to keep their whereabouts hidden. When Celestia did find out, she seemed to forget about sending them to the moon in the first place, and let them continue their every day lives. The Wonderbolts, with Rainbow Dash’s help, raised enough money to build a flight school. Luna, with the help of George and Wheatly, became a famous astronomer and scientist. The others went back to their main lives. And that’s how Equestria was made!