Mourning
Twilight was re-reading one of Starswirl’s journals for the umpteenth time, when the light changed. She had spent the day out with her friends and all was well in the world. The evening meal had been one of Spike’s better experiments with stuffed eggplant and it was a calm winter night in Ponyville. So, there had been no warning at all, when the light from the full moon overhead changed to a sullen red.
“Twilight!” shouted Spike, a minute later as he charged into the room. “Do you see it? Do you see what’s happened to the moon?”
“I see it, Spike,” answered Twilight. “I just have no idea what it means.” The full, red moon sat in the sky, and as the pair looked out at it from their window, a series of shooting stars flashed into being. Seemingly emanating from the moon and descending toward Equestria.
“Twilight,” said Spike, after a few moments, “does it look to you like the moon is...”
“Crying,” finished Twilight. “Yes, it does. I have a bad feeling about this, Spike. Take a message for Princess Celestia.”
“Urp,” said Spike, as a belch of dragonfire ate whatever reply he was going to make. A scroll bearing Celestia’s seal materialized out of the dragonfire.
Dear Twilight,
Luna is in great distress of some sort. I have tried to talk to her but she will let no one into her chambers. When the moon changed, I threatened to break down the door. She still won’t let me in but she has said she will allow you to enter. Please come to the castle, immediately. I, we, need you.
Princess Celestia.
As Twilight finished reading the message she turned to Spike. “I have to teleport to Canterlot, right away,” she said to her assistant. “Keep an eye on things here and let anypony who comes by know where I’ve gone, and that I’m helping Celestia with the problem.”
“Teleport? Twilight, you hate long distance teleports,” said Spike.
“I know, Spike,” Twilight said. “But Celestia said, ‘immediately’, and considering the moon, I think she needs me that fast.”
“All right, Twilight,” said Spike. “If anything comes up I’ll send you a letter. Good luck.”
“Thanks, Spike,” said Twilight. Then, the Princess of Friendship gathered her magic and her concentration, and made the long teleport to Canterlot Castle. A heartbeat later, Twilight Sparkle materialized at her destination, and found herself looking directly into the eyes of her mentor, Princess Celestia.
“Come with me, Twilight,” said Celestia, obviously not wanting to waste any time. “I will explain the situation as best I can." Celestia began to walk in the direction of where the private apartments in the castle were located. Twilight quickly caught up and began walking alongside her former teacher.
“Luna has been working on her long distance scrying recently,” said Celestia. “She was using the moon as a focus, when suddenly she let out a cry of anguish heard by the entire castle. By the time I got to her rooms she had already barricaded them.”
“Do we know why?” Twilight asked.
“No,” answered Celestia. “Then the moon changed, and I threatened to smash my way in. She said through the door that she would explain things only to you. She said you would understand.” A minute later the pair reached the door to the private rooms of the Princess of the Night.
“Any change?” Celestia asked a pair of Lunar Guards out front.
“No, Ma’am,” said one of the guards. “There’s an occasional burst of crying, but that all. Um, can you help her, Ma’am?”
“I will do my best,” said Celestia, then in a louder voice called out. “Luna! It’s me. I have Twilight with me.”
“Send her in, sister,” said Luna, from within the room. “Twilight, please come in.”
Twilight went to the door, opening it with surprising ease and she entered the darkened rooms of the Princess of the Night. The moment Twilight stepped past the threshold, however, the door slammed shut and Luna’s dark blue magic rebuilt itself in a rampart across the entrance. Twilight was sealed in the room, save a full assault by Celestia.
“Approach, dear Twilight, and be at ease,” said Luna, who lay on the floor in the middle of the room. The room was dimly lit by the blood red light from the moon and the golden glow of a single candle. As Twilight walked slowly near Luna, Twilight could see that the candle sat in a holder meant for seven. “Please Twilight, sit with me, and I shall explain the source of my great melancholy.”
“What’s wrong, Luna?” asked Twilight as she lay down in front of Luna. The alicorn’s face was soaked with shed tears, the candle in its holder sat between them.
“In my scrying I ran across a people so great and a tragedy so sad,” said Luna, “that I had no choice but to mourn with them. For their fallen, who died in the pursuit of knowledge.” Twilight looked on in understanding. The death of any pony was a tragedy, but the death of a pony trying to increase the boundaries of what ponies knew, was doubly so.
“Tell me, Princess,” said Twilight. “What happened?”
“Imagine a race of ponies,” began Luna. “A world, of nothing but Earth ponies. No magic, no flight. But they have birds, they have a moon. Calling to them, beckoning them, to the skies.” Twilight nodded.
“I was able to scry through their moon,” said Luna. “I saw their history. From their earliest days, their greatest dream, their greatest desire. Has been to fly. From the first days of their writing I found their words, ‘Ad Astra.’ ‘To the stars’ it means. Think of it Twilight, no magic, no flight, yet they dreamed of it. No ruler like myself or my sister, no one to guide them across the endless centuries. Just the dream. Year after year, generation after generation, century after century. One step after another, learning how things worked, learning materials, learning new ways to think, learning new ways to be. And always, that driving dream. ‘Ad Astra.’”
“How long did this go on?” asked Twilight in wonderment at the determination of such a group of ponies.
“It took them roughly seventeen hundred years to invent a balloon that wouldn’t crash back to the ground,” said Luna, who then continued. “But a balloon wasn’t enough. A balloon won’t cut through the air like a bird. A balloon won’t fly to the moon. So, they pushed on, and as they pushed, ponies died. Their balloons burst and fell, or they caught fire, or any of a dozen things. They died, their friends and companions mourned, and then they pressed on. Eventually, they learned how to make wings that could hold them in the air and learned how to glide. More of them died, but it only drove those that followed all the harder. For the moon, my moon, called to them.”
“It wasn’t your moon, Luna,” interrupted Twilight. “It was their moon, not Equestria’s moon.”
“I am the Princess of the Night, the Lunar Alicorn,” said Luna. “In that sense, all moons that look down on intelligent ponies are mine. May I continue the story?”
“Sorry, Princess,” said Twilight. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” said Luna, gravely. “So, they pushed onwards. They learned to power their wings and cut through the air. They flew like birds, and they rejoiced, for part of the dream had been fulfilled. But the moon still called to them and they strove to answer that call. Over the centuries, disagreements had divided them into different nations. Two of the greatest of those nations became rivals to answer the call first. One of those nations had a much loved leader. In a speech he told his fellow ponies ‘we will go to the moon and do these other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.’ But a little over a year later, that leader lay dead. Foully slain by an assassin, from behind.”
“No!” cried out Twilight. “Was there a war? Did they fight their rival?”
“No,” said Luna. “But it was a near thing. Instead, the nation of that leader took his words as a rallying cry. They made his dream, their own, and as a single people they focused all their power and wealth and knowledge onto that single goal. And they did it. They forged wings of fire and steel, of hopes and dreams, and they did it. They reached the moon.”
Twilight was now openly weeping herself. That such a race of ponies, so disadvantaged, had fought and struggled for so long, and had finally reached their goal. She wept with joy for their triumph, after so many years and so many sacrifices.
“But why are you so sad, Luna?” asked Twilight, blinking away her tears. “They made it, after all they did and sacrificed, after all those years. Why are you sad?”
“I mourn over something that happened years later,” answered Luna. “After those ponies succeeded in their dream, there was great rejoicing. But then they relaxed, they kept learning but with the dream done, they stopped trying as hard. Then, they decided that wanted to have a place, between their world and the moon, where they could live and learn how to go to the stars. They realized that such would not take one journey, as they had to the moon, but many. So, to that end, their thinkers forged again the wings of fire and steel, only into something like an apple cart, that could make many journeys, up and down. And journey they did, until the journey began to be a commonplace thing. But they forgot something.”
“What did they forget?” asked Twilight, in a hushed tone.
“They forgot that that while fire can warm,’ said Luna, as five more candles came into being in the candle holder. “It can also burn. Which is what happened. One day, as they rose on those wings of fire and steel, the fire, it went wild. It destroyed their wings and those ponies; oh Twilight, those brave, brave ponies. They fell and broke like eggs, so far below. Those seven brave ponies who challenged the frontiers for their people. They fell, on this day, years ago. That is why I mourn today. That is why tonight, in their honour, the moon cries.”
“Luna, you said there were seven ponies,” said Twilight, as Luna nodded in response. “But you only have six candles.”
“That is why I am here,” said an unknown voice from the shadows.
“Who?” asked Twilight. Even as Cherilee struck a match and lit a candle, illuminating her face.
“Luna brought me here earlier,” said Cherilee as she placed her candle in the holder, “because the seventh pony was a teacher. She brought me here, so I could honour a fellow teacher. And you missed something, Princess.”
“What did I miss?” Princess Luna asked.
“I saw the saying those ponies made in their early days, when you showed me their history, and you missed part of it,” said the teacher. “The phrase isn’t ‘Ad Astra.’ The phrase is ‘Per Ardua, Ad Astra.’ The full meaning, my Princess, is, ‘Through struggle, to the stars.’ “
“Thank you, Cheerilee,” said Luna. “for teaching me that. And that Twilight, is why you are with me. Cheerilee for the teacher, you for the wise ponies and myself for the dream that they still strive towards. Per Ardua, Ad Astra.” And sitting, the three ponies watched through the night, and contemplated what, from dreams may come.
I saw the Challenger explode on live television. I was visiting my parents and had gotten up early to watch the launch, as I did as often as I could. I remember running to my mother's room and telling her. I remember her holding me as we cried and watched the endless replays and commentaries.
I am now far into that part of my life where there are more days behind then there are ahead. If there is anything I would ask of any of you who come behind me, it is this. Don't let the dream of space die with my generation. Get us to the stars. Earth is the cradle of humanity. But no cradle lasts forever.
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Starts playing "Spirit in the Sky"
Wow Penalt. That hit hard, and I...
I was born long after the Challenger, but just reading about it is just filled with sadness.
You did good here, with Luna's story of humanity. That author's note, though...I'm genuinely worried that I might not live to see us really going through the stars, and I'm in my 20s.
Regardless, wonderful job Penalt.
7904383 It has to be a generational thing. There is a saying, that stretches back as far as the 12th century that, in various forms, goes:
The dream has to be passed from one generation to the next. And thank you for the kind words about the story. Once again, this came to me, in a rush, on my farm of dreams.
There is not much to say...But I will share some of the things I listen to when I am down.
We are in the Generations between 2 eras...We can not explore the planet and the stars are out of our reach...But that should not Despair us It should Motivate Us To make sure that the Next ones will have the opportunity that we had not and that they will follow the human instinct to explore and learn
I was born rather after roughly two decades the Challenger incident, and I didn't realize this. Wow... I mean... I love space... eheh...
I was in school on that dreadful day. Was it french class? Math class? Either of those were in the portable. Must have been math, because I remember my blonde bully who nearly gouged my eye out in a fight (two against one) had come late and said that she saw the shuttle explode. I heard her tell the teacher, but no one else did.
The principal came over the loudspeaker when the period was over, and told the school. Told us to go to our TAPS (homeroom) and to go quietly to the gym for an assembly. My TAPS was in the gym, so my group had to help set up.
Then, for the rest of the day, we watched news reports about it. Over and over and over again.
I still snarl whenever I see the explosion used as filler for "something in sky explodes here." Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future were the first to use that, that I can remember. I stopped watching that show then. I've seen it about four other times....
People died, if not during the explosion, then during the sudden stop. There's conspiracy theories galore that an astronaut survived, more about when, or where, they actually died...
Doesn't matter... 7 people tried to fly, and like Icarus, they burnt their wings on the sun...
Both Apollo 1 and the Challenger explosion happened around the same time in the month, and both John Glenn and Gene Cernan died recently. :(
I really needed this.
Here is a video that I watch anytime I want to not feel sad. I would highly recommend watching the rest of this guys videos.
Here are some more good watches.
And finally, some KSP, because it's awesome.
And if all that wasn't enough...
Per Ardua, Ad Astra
nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/297755main_GPN-2001-000009_full.jpg
Don't forget Columbia, it happened in this timeframe, as well. And Apollo 13, with what could have been...
7904803 Apollo 13 was 16 years before Challenger. Columbia 17 years after.
7904866 True. But they do serve as reminders of the dangers of space travel. It's not safe out there.
A great and truly moving, respectful tribute. May we always remember those who gave their lives in the name of furthering the cause of science and exploration.
7904911 Thank you. A lot of it was very hard to write because I was channeling my emotions from that time into my portrayal of Luna.
I remember that day too well, and have made it a point to never forget those seven names. That was a very moving tribute, Penalt. Thanks.
So much struggle and hatred today, We no longer look much into what's out there but more on what the others have here. We hunger for land, wealth, and privileges for our life here. But, where are the thirst for knowledge of what is out there? Why can't we settle things here and focus on what we can gain from the stars?
Maybe by then we wont destroy ourselves and our planet, maybe we can learn more of what is out there?
As a sci-fi fan, the dream of the stars is always with me. As humanity ever presses onward, may we never forget those who paved the path with their lifeblood. Heroes, all.
... Oddly... cathartic in a way.
The disaster happened before my time, though barely. I did learn about it in school and was even then awestruck and saddened by it, one of the few tragedies I even vaguely understood for being slow on comprehension and also for being so young.
7904378 Never much really liked that song, but it fits here.
They may be years apart, but the dates are VERY close together...
Apollo 1 fire: January 27, 1967.
Challenger Explosion: January 28, 1986
Columbia explosion: February 1, 2003.
Eight days in winter, three of which should NEVER be forgotten by any space program.
I was in Home Economics at the time when it happened. I remember one of the students in class saying terrorists blew the shuttle up which was rather absurd. I was in grade nine at the time. In grade ten I did a Science Fair project that explained the faulty O rings that caused the disaster.
I still get teary eyed thinking about that day.
What I feel sad about is that one of the engineers said they shouldn't launch but didn't press hard enough to stop it. He has lived with that guilt for years.
Corny as all fuck.
If Trump will try for re-election we MIGHT get to see people go to Mars with SpaceX
http://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-trump-making-plans-mars-mission/
BTW.
I once saw some nicely done space exploration's tribute video on YT (it was using some anime clips - Saturn like launches). Can't find it now. Anyone?
I must thank you for writing such an excellent story, whilst also thanking you for writing such moving one. I sincerely hope you write more just as moving as this.
7906178
What the hell is the matter with you
"seventeen hundred years"
From which arbitrary starting point? Because Luna has no reason to start counting from 1 AD.
Also, the phrase "per ardua ad astra" is barely more than a century old, despite its Latin words.
I admit, I was expecting a human apocalypse story and was surprised to get a Challenger memorial story.
Kudos. I found it tasteful and very respectful of the people who lost their lives then.
"Ad Astra Per Aspera." A rough road leads to the stars.
We must persevere, and push on, For the sake of those who have fallen. If we do not, then what is the point of their death?
7904407
"Standing on the shoulders of giants" is something Isaac Newton said as well along the way. The one thing I mourn the loss of the most is the ability to get stuff done. The hoover dam was built in the span of about 5 years. The Apollo space program went from nothing to landing on the moon in about the span of 10 years, in addition to developing and solidifying fundamental computer science that every modern computer today uses.
The space shuttle? smaller payload and couldn't even go past low earth orbit with a lot more energy expanded. This comes from the history of what the space program was built on, and the people involved, chief among them being Wernher Von Braun, and NASA's relationship with congress.
Because of the cold war, congress wanted to get to the moon as fast as possible, which was what the engineers wanted as well, so it happened. Very remarkably it happened, with probably the most technological advances in such a short amount of time as any other time span in history. When it came time to build the space shuttle, Von Braun and friends already had a space shuttle design in mind, with a lot of its components already pretty well planned out, but that is not what congress wanted. Come the building process of the space shuttle, congress micromanaged its design to the point that most of the senior engineers, including Von Braun, left NASA from not being able to design it correctly.
Let us consider for a moment, what if congress had not micromanaged its design, and sided with the engineers the entire time to this day.
and to lighten the mood a little, I present a comic I made when I first found ponies
pre12.deviantart.net/f209/th/pre/i/2012/192/f/c/rainbow_dash_and_werner_von_braun_by_tiwake-d56uipl.jpg
Godspeed, Apollo 1
Godspeed, Challenger.
And Godspeed, Columbia.
7906706 First, it is obscene to post that garbage on a story honoring those brave men and women's sacrifice. Secondly, that garbage is ridiculous, and infinitely more tenuously held together than Shia LeBouf's sanity.
For crap like that to be true, there would have to be literally tens of thousands of people involved, NONE of which ever "spilled the beans". The luddites who create crap like that would rather believe you're being lied to than understand what has been done and will be done. For them to so insult and mock the astronauts who died, is beyond rapproach.
And if the Earth was flat and there was no space travel, there would be no GPS, satellite TV, or any of that. UGH.
7906861 Unless... WE'RE LIVING ON A FLAT WORLD WRAPPED AROUND A COMPUTER ALGORITH IN THE MATRIX!!!
(And thus Alondro invented the next great Internet Conspiracy Theory)
Mentioning the many deaths of earlier aviation pioneers is appropriate but it weakens the main focus.
On the day of disaster, White House received many telegrams with condolences from all the nations in the world. USSR was first - their telegram arrived fifteen minutes before the launch.
___
Washington asks - "Why did the right booster explode?"
Moscow - "Why did the left one fail to explode?"
___
Yes, I have to agree with the comment above. Corny all the way to eleven. Not to mention that Luna has no reason to give any damn about some hairless monkeys out there trying out their space program.
7906438 Amen.
May God be with those who suffered, and still suffer, from this tragic event.
It was a shame to lose those men and women. I didn't see Challenger explode, but I did see Columbia go down. Poor guys.
7906861
7907060 You're darn right. I watched the Challenger explosion live on television. There are some things you do NOT troll about, and the sacrifice of men and women like that is one of them.
As a little foal I saw challengers of the stars explode and in the smoke seven souls sung out, "To the heavens we go, and our desire to reach across them so strong we not the strength to return."
As an a stallion, another challenger of the stars bearing name of my foalhood home, burns across the sky. Another herd of souls sung out from the clouds, "We to not the strength to return. We to unto the heavens travel in search of those before who's hooves trot forever more among the stars".
I fear my goddess that never again we shall feel thy skin with our hooves. Nor nuzzle one another with our will of fire. Not even thy imbrace my love can warm the vastness of space that rejects us so. As thou humble servant my time has passed to fly towards thy bosom. As passion I inspire upon the hearts of young foals, might one day forgiveness you grant my soul goddess as they trot upon thy breast.
Saw this happen in elementary school. Back when every NASA launch was telivised to school kids. It sticks with you.
I've always seen this written "Per Aspera Ad Astra", but 'ardua' also makes perfect sense. Thank you for writing this.
Damn. This was... Intense.
7906706
And I suppose Stanley Kubrick filmed the moon landing in a studio at Area 51 too, eh?
7906928
new2.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/10+10+animation+amp+quality+5+10+accuracy+_99c97546d17daf8daa48e6b46d6732a8.jpg
7907338
7907158 thewhole-listiclife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/323.jpg
Beautifully written.
I was close, so close. You almost made me cry, which few can say. Very well done, and a beautiful tribute. You know, the title of one of my favorite albums is 'Ad astra, per aspera'. And every since I found out exactly what that meant, it's been driving me forward. No matter the pain, the challenge, the difficulty: strive for nothing but the absolute limit.
Although I was alive when Challenger exploded, I was too young to remember it and probably didn't see it live, though I've certainly seen the footage. I was in college when Columbia broke up on reentry, but I didn't hear about it until about an hour after the fact. Even though the Space Shuttle program continued for another six years, it felt like something beyond those seven lives ended that day*.
My grandmother lived in Houston at the time and attended a church near Mission Control popular with NASA workers. She knew at least one of the astronauts who died on Columbia.
Thank you for this story. Requiescat In Pacem, all the brave souls who lost their lives pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and achievement.
* If I recall correctly, it was a Saturday. That's why we were all able to spend all day glued to CNN.