Ad Astra Per Derpy Aspera

by SparklingTwilight

Chapter 13: Derpy Saves

Derpy Hooves had made the journey. She hadn't used the Device's supplemental oxygen conversion, preserving its contents for her rescuee. But, even though she was a high-altitude breather, she was hallucinating and barely able to keep herself straight on target.

Given her neurological affliction, flying straight wasn't always easy. And, she wasn't a military or stunt professional with extensive muscle-memory experience to rely on. But, she was a professional mailmare and, with a lot of hard work, she always got where she wanted, so she made adjustments, sent to her from Mission Control. And she kept her spirits up by responding, sending hope, and receiving it. She even communicated directly with Dinky, who Doctor Hooves had brought into Mission Control.

Derpy was only a day away from Lightning Dust. She badly feared she needed a whiff from the Device, but Lightning Dust might badly need the breath, too.

Derpy picked up the Hoarse code transmitter and looked at her reflection in her helmet, a hide no longer gray, but twinged blue. Her heart beat faster and she thought how funny that was. Her hide, turning dark, like space. Her helmet fogged up as she sweated, so she removed it, exulting in space's cool vacuum. And she keyed her question: "Do I need oxygen?"

---

Mission control debated.

"There's only enough for Lightning Dust," Mrs. Harshwhinny said.

"She's right," Roseluck said.

"If Derpy is asking, then she needs it," Doctor Hooves asserted.

"She's supposed to be a high-altitude breather," Moondancer said.

"Is there a Doctor?" Dinky asked.

"I'm a Doctor, Dear," Doctor Hooves bent down to comfort his stepdaughter.

"A medical doctor."

"Good idea!" Doctor Hooves blinked. "I cannot believe we did not conceive of that need before!"

"Send for one.... In the mean time, ask why she's asking," Princess Twilight Sparkle, ever the bureaucrat, said.

---

Eighteen minutes later: "So hrad," the Hoarse code typoed.

---

"Use it. Until you reach target," the response instructed.

Derpy Hooves, head lolling, reached for the device and switched it on. She sucked in some air, then she slumbered.

---

"If she had fallen asleep, she could have died." Mission Control's newest face, the Flight Surgeon, said.

"How can you conclude that from so little information?" Harshwhinny demanded.

"Her response was disoriented. Consistent with symptoms of asphyxiation."

"Thank you, Doctor Ivermectin," Twilight said.

The doctor nodded.

---

Derpy woke up and she struggled. The Device twisted on her face and she blinked. She ripped it off her mouth. And she frowned. She had speculated she'd be able to breathe without trouble. Her cutie mark showed bubbles, like the clear helmet she wore. But it hadn't been enough. Maybe she'd killed herself.

She lowered her eyes and figured that was just how it was going to have to be. A deliverymare always got through--despite obstacles. Rescuing Lightning Dust by delivering her the fuel, water, food... it was just another delivery. And a good pony made her deliveries.

---

Lightning Dust glimpsed Derpy through squinted eyes. She couldn't say anything with her parched throat, and it wouldn't be audible in space's vacuum anyway. But, she did what she could, which was grunt. Derpy smiled and joined hooves. They rotated and Derpy jerked Lightning Dust even farther away from Equestria. Derpy's speed was too great. They were both hurtling toward Marred.

Lightning Dust squeaked a warning that nopony could hear. Lightning Dust closed her eyes. Then she opened them and mouthed, even though Derpy probably couldn't see her mouth even if she could lip-read. 'They sent you. Not a Wonderbolt. Not Spitfire or Blaze or Vapor Trail, or whoever. You. Weren't you pregnant? You endangered somepony else for me? I can't turn you around.' Lightning Dust relaxed her grip on Derpy's hooves. Derpy frowned, and gripped tighter.

'Let me go..."

In a fugue, Lightning Dust remembered her dwindled fuel reserves. She moved to turn them on. She could reorient toward Equestria and then... But she frowned, realizing that even if she was properly oriented, she wouldn't return before she died of dehydration.

Derpy released one hoof and reached for her belt. She removed something and proffered it to Lightning Dust--a water canister. Lightning Dust fumbled, detached her own empty container and attached the refreshed one. Derpy accepted the trade, undid her helmet, and clipped it to her belt. They rotated more, dancing a desperate dance, staring into each other's eyes.

"Sorry," Lightning Dust mouthed, a feeling she rarely expressed.

"Sorry," Derpy mouthed back. "Wish I was sooner." She passed her Device to Lightning Dust.

"Yeah, you can breathe here," Lightning Dust sighed.

Finally, Derpy hoofed-off her backup fuel to Lightning Dust, who shrugged off her tank, then pushed it and its dregs to Derpy, who accepted it.

The last things Derpy provided were a few energy bars and a guileless smile.

Lightning Dust was set up. Derpy mimed to her whether Derpy could propel her forward. Lightning Dust nodded and Derpy arranged herself for the loop-around manoeuver she had explained to the ponynaut candidates. The manoeuver had been developed by her and Doctor Hooves, but never practiced, she'd admitted to her class. Lightning Dust had snippily put her down. Lightning Dust subsequently practiced the motion with Spitfire in the lower atmosphere, so she knew what she was doing. Yet here she was, trusting her hooves in the hooves of a non-professional pony.

They executed the manoeuver flawlessly. Lightning Dust orbited Derpy, who accelerated toward Marred.

Lightning Dust, now aligned to return to Equestria, wondered how Derpy was going to return. The procedure had been developed to be executed before the no-go point, when a sufficiently-equipped pony might use thrusters to adjust a trajectory to swing back around. Derpy had a half-full fuel tank. And she probably could manoeuver if she was confident. But she was continuing toward Marred, possibly planning to use its gravity for an assist back to Equestria. That wouldn't be absurd. It could even be more economical than trying to reposition herself by firing thrust and re-orienting. And if a pony wasn't a professional, there would be less room for error by continuing to Marred instead of careening into the void.

But even though she could reach Marred and turn around, and even though Derpy could breathe a lot better than Lightning Dust, she was going to start struggling eventually--her water reserves were finite.

---

On Equestria, Doctor Hooves was feverishly developing the backup rocket, and a couple of spares. He was also supervising the manufacture of additional supplemental oxygen canisters, but the minotaurs weren't shipping them and he had to rely on pony labor and contracts with the Princess' imprimatur--inferior manufacturers enriched by Equestria's need.

Once the griffons started their space program, it had become extremely difficult to acquire manufactured goods from the minotaurs, even with the backing of the Equestrian crown. So, Equestria only had one spare supplemental container, and several poorly-fashioned untested prototypes fabricated with inferior methods and materials.

Moondancer reported, "The mathematics doesn't add up. We cannot add enough fuel to meet halfway and successfully reposition. We'd strand another pony. And we need at least two oxygen canisters."

"You're saying we sacrifice her?"

"I'm saying whoever we send will be a new sacrifice."

"I should go," Twilight sighed.

"You're the Princess of Equestria--if you die--"

"I would live," Twilight said. "It just would take me a while to return."

"But the sun and the moon--"

Twilight sighed.

"You'd risk the lives of hundreds--perhaps thousands to save one pony!"

"I already risked lives to save my reputation. This whole program is vanity--marred by my need to outdo other creatures. Am I vain, Moondancer?"

"Of course not, Princess."

"Only a vain pony would ask that question to an employee," Twilight sighed. "I see you as a friend, though."

"I see myself as a well-credentialed expert."

"I see myself as a plothole," Twilight sighed. "Sorry, Moondancer."

"Eh," Moondancer shrugged. "It's not the first time you treated me like a nobody."

"I was thinking too philosophically. I should have called the rest of the Elements of Harmony for help. But they're so busy."

"That's why you have your monthly meetups--and the rest of us to assist."

"What if I was humble?" Twilight mused.

---

Doctor Hooves worked as hard as he could. Long hours. No sleep. Then, he ate a sandwich. And he became violently ill.

He was admitted to the hospital. His stomach was pumped. He was frothing at the mouth.

Twilight had already left on a quest. She didn't know about his struggles. A flame-sent message reached her later.

---

Twilight Sparkle flew to the land of the Griffonian Socialist Creatures Republic, and she landed in front of their governing council who were preparing to launch their own mission.

"Griffons of the Socialist Creatures Republic, and all others allied," she started. "It is I, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria!"

They booed. Spears raised and arrows were nocked.

"I come in peace to parley and to request a favor. Is it true you plan to have a rocket orbit our Moon and return?"

Silence greeted her.

"A pony of ours is going to die--without help."

"The one orbiting Marred?" a griffon spoke.

"Yes."

"You care little about your little ponies."

"I care a lot."

"You shot for a dangerous goal."

"I was wrong."

"How so?"

"We know you have extra air canisters."

"You're not getting any more from our suppliers."

"I'm proposing a trade. Our rockets can travel farther. You can have our schematics--"

The griffons laughed. "There's no glory in using pony technology."

"There is glory in saving a life!"

"The old and weak die."

"This stranded pony is very strong. She rescued another pony. She's brave and knew she could die. But she went anyway."

"She sacrificed," the speaker shrugged. "A big fool hero."

"We know you've been interested in pony technology," Twilight said.

"Our technology is much better. We could recover your pony easily. But we won't."

"How?"

"We will not tell you our secrets."

"Is there anything you want? Anything at all?"

The griffon council communicated in a cone of silence, obscured gray to also prevent lip-reading.

They opened the cone and told Twilight their demands, which were extensive. Ponies would let them enter unopposed to copy with their claws and cameras. Nothing would be given--they would take. Not just from the space program, but also from the Royal Canterlot Libraries.

And in return--the griffons would integrate treasures and rescue the pony. No details were given as to how. Twilight would need to trust them.