violence and friendship ch1
Chapter 1: spaaaaaaace!
It was an exciting day in ponyville. A pony had built himself a rocket to visit the moon without magic. The fields next to ponyville were perfect for the launch. There was a big celebration in honor of the new achievement. Ponies from all over Equestria had come to see this astounding achievement. Even princess Celestia and Princess Luna had visited to see the astropony achieve this great feat. Amidst the crowd Twilight sparkle was searching for somepony.
"Who are ya looking for twilight?" Applejack asked her.
"Oh, hey Applejack. I was looking for Pinkie Pie." she said. Applejack looked confused
"Pinkie Pie? It can't be that hard to find her. Why I bet she's the center of the party as usual."
Twilight looked worried "That's just it. She's nowhere to be seen."
"Strange, usually she's everywhere at once." Applejack responded
"Let's try and find Rainbow Dash. Maybe Pinkie's hanging around her."
"Great idea!" Twilight agreed.
"I think she's trying to impress the wonderbolts. They're having a practice race near carrousel boutique."
On their way there, Applejack was becoming a bit interested in why the rocket was so popular.
"Why's this rocket so impressive? I mean, we got Pegasus ponies, and they fly all the time. Heck, we all know princess Luna was imprisoned in the moon."
"I know" said Twilight "But the pony going is an earth pony, and even the wonderbolts can't fly to space. Besides, Princess Luna imprisoned using the elements of harmony in a magical spell. The pony going is doing this without powerful magic or wings."
As they walked past all the celebrating they looked not only for Pinkie, but also for activities they might want to do after they were done looking for her. Many entertainers and sales ponies had come to ponyville. The town was crowded like never before.
"Weren't you selling apple pies?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah but its Big Mac's turn to watch the stand. Besides, the entire family is here to help out too."
As they approached the boutique, they saw a rainbow and fire line flash across the sky. Dash had convinced spitfire to race her. The race was attracting quite a crowd for their friendly match. As Dash soared past some roofs she thought to herself "Now this is what I call hanging out."
The race would end at the boutique where the other wonder bolts were waiting.
"I don't see Pinkie anywhere," Applejack started,
"But I think Rainbow Dash will know where she is, seeing as she's probably flown all over ponyville by now."
While they waited for Rainbow Dash to finish the race, they visited Rarity who had just closed her shop. Twilight looked confused
"Rarity, aren't you going to take dress orders from ponies? I'm sure there are quite a few interested in your designs."
Rarity smiled and said "Oh but I have. There were a lot of ponies here this morning. With the orders I have now, I'll be busy for months. But enough about the boutique, what brings you here?"
Twilight told Rarity about pinkie's surprising absence.
Rarity thought for a second, and asked, "Have you tried sugarcube corner?"
"Yes" Twilight responded "and Mr. and Mrs. Cake haven't seen her since she ran out this morning."
Rarity obtained a dumbfounded look on her face. "It isn't like pinkie to run off during a celebration."
"That's why we're concerned."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire had just finished their race.
"A tie"
"A tie, are you kidding me? I know I can beat you!" yelled dash, eagerly flying back to the starting line to start another race "Second try?"
"Hold on now, we raced all across Ponyville, and beyond, and I'm completely exhausted. I can tell that you aren't exactly in the condition for another race either. Why don't we take a break?" Spitfire suggested. "We can race some other time, let's settle down and enjoy this event." With that, she turned and walked away, her figure slowly disappearing in the distance.
Applejack popped up behind Dash and said "You know she's right. You're breathing harder than Winona after a hard day's work."
"Oh yeah? Well…I still could've beaten her" Dash replied, annoyed.
Twilight jumped in "We know you could, but while you were flying, did you spot Pinkie anywhere?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a second and said "I think I saw her at Fluttershy's home."
"What is she doing there? Fluttershy's place is the only quiet place left in town. There's no party there." Twilight told them.
"Beats me." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's see if she's still there. If not, then we can ask Fluttershy." she said as she flew off, now curious as to what Pinkie Pie could be up to.
As applejack and Twilight followed, Rarity joined them, saying "I'd like to know what that pink ball of spazz is up to as well."
________________________________________________________________________
At Fluttershy's home, Fluttershy and Spike were helping the animals relax.
"Thank you again for helping, but wouldn't you like to enjoy the party?" Fluttershy asked him.
"Ah it's nothing, and besides with the crowd out there, I've been knocked around more than a beach ball. And unlike a beach ball I can feel pain." said spike as he tried to get some squirrels off his head. "Though it seems as if every animal from around ponyville is here too."
Immediately after he said that another 20 squirrels jumped on his head knocking him off balance.
Fluttershy helped Spike get the squirrels off him as she said "They came here because this is the only quiet place left."
"I know, and I feel the same way they do." Spike said, just as Twilight and the other ponies arrived.
"I see Spike is still trying to work with animals." said Twilight.
Fluttershy responded "Oh he's getting better at it. The animals seem to like him."
As Spike dizzily tried to get up, he was immediately pounced by a group of bunnies.
Twilight and the others snickered at this sight, before Twilight remembered the reason they we're here. She looked at Fluttershy and asked, "Was Pinkie Pie here a few minutes ago?"
"Why yes" Fluttershy responded "she was here asking for more party materials like confetti and balloons."
This confused Twilight "But everything has been settled already for this festival. There's no need for more party materials."
"This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about," said Dash "It's never enough party for her."
Spike jumped back up from under the many animals and stated "I'm pretty sure she'll pop out any moment. Let's just go enjoy the celebration again and I'm sure we'll find her eventually."
Twilight thought for a second, and finally said, "You're probably right, I'm worrying too much."
Applejack made a little jump and joyfully said "Then we can all go together! You're coming too, right Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy hesitated to respond but Spike cut in as he jumped on Twilights back, "Sure she will. It's not like we will be gone for long."
Fluttershy dug her hoof at the ground for a moment, and then whispered, "Ok."
_______________________________________________________________________
It was as if all of Equestria had come to ponyville. The streets were full of different colored ponies, most of them enjoying the festivities and waiting for the moment of the launch. Some ponies had come to set up small shops.
There were a few ponies going around giving flyers with info about the locations of several special performances, and about the rocket. Twilight intrigued by this new technology, so she got one and 'glued' her eyes to it. The note described some minor things like how the engines used crystals, and how they were powerful enough to get to the moon in seconds. Also noted was that Luna would hold the moon in its course, as the rocket was designed to fly in a straight line.
As the ponies walked past the many stands, they were amazed with the items they saw, some of which they had never seen before. They stopped to look at some very durable backpacks. Applejack decided to buy one, since it could be useful on Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity found a new set of high quality instruments for sewing. Applejack had agreed to carry everything they bought with her.
After looking around the stands they decided to try and talk to Princess Celestia. She was holding audiences in wait for the moment of launch. Twilight and her friends wanted to talk to Celestia, but the line was way too long to stand in.
"This reminds me a lot of the gala." Twilight said, disappointedly.
Rarity could tell Twilight was bummed out, and suggested that they look around and have some fun until the rocket launched. Twilight looked up and smiled in approval. "That sounds like a good idea. First though, I want to take a look at this rocket."
________________________________________________________________________
The giant spacecraft was well built, by several ponies. There was a Royal Guard at the door. Oddly, there was a small gift next to the guard. Rainbow Dash couldn't resist trying to get a response from one of these normally serious guards. "What's with the gift?" she asked, expecting the same silent act all the other guards gave her.
The guard was less experienced than the usual royal guards. He dropped his posture, and responded, "It's for the pony that's going to pilot the rocket. It's a gift from Princess Celestia."
Then he realized he failed to keep up his posture.
Rainbow Dash's face lit up like a candle. "Ha!! I knew somepony wouldn't be able to keep the statue act up."
"Yeah yeah, just don't go throwing the news around." The guard said, a bit annoyed at Rainbow.
When the guard saw twilight he straightened up a bit. "Miss Sparkle can you do me a favor?" he asked her.
"How can I help?"
"Well, your pink friend is in the rocket preparing a surprise for the astropony by request of Princess Celestia. She forgot to take this gift along but I can't leave my post."
"What's in this box anyway?" applejack asked.
The guard replied "Well it's a magical orb that will always point to Canterlot. She's pretty sure he won't need it but you can never be too safe. Can you bring it to your friend?"
Twilight nodded "Sure I will. I kind of want to see what the inside looks like. Mind if my friends come too?"
"As long as they don't touch anything." said the guard.
Though that got the other pony's thinking pinkie was more of a pony to do something like that.
Spike jumped off Twilights back. "If we can get this close, I want to take a closer look at those thrusters. I heard they were based off of my species."
Twilight giggled and said "They're based on adult dragons, silly."
Spike replied "I still want to see them up close, they sound awesome."
Spike ran towards the underpass built so the flames wouldn't destroy anything during the launch.
Twilight and her friends entered the rocket as the guard opened the steel door for them. He shut it behind them, just so people who weren't authorized to go in couldn't enter. When they reached the main chamber of the rocket they found Pinkie Pie on a stool trying to hang up a big banner above the front window that said in big words 'Come Home Safely'.
Fluttershy flew up to pinkie and asked her softly "Do you need any help with that?"
Pinkie pie responded "Nope. I can handle it Fluttershy."
After a small silence Pinkie realized her friends weren't supposed to be in the rocket and lost her balance, but of course Dash was already there to keep her from falling.
"Guys, you're not supposed to be in here." Pinkie told her friends sternly. Twilight explained that the guard asked them to bring the gift from Celestia.
"Oh silly me." said Pinkie cheerfully "How could I forget the most important part of this surprise?"
She took the present and placed it in a compartment under the control panel. Pinkie explained how the compartment would open when the astropony entered the main chamber.
___________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile outside Snips and Snails had snuck onto the main podium. "See, I told you I'd get us on stage." he proudly told his friend.
"Great job getting us here and all but, what exactly do we do now?" Snails asked. Snips hadn't really thought about why he wanted to be on stage in the first place, but they didn't have time to say anything before they had to hide under the stage from guards passing by. Snails used his horn to make some light under the dark stage. "Hey, check it out!" Snails exclaimed as he pointed to a strange device with only one button. "What do you think it is?" Snails asked. Snips stuck his chin up as if he was a genius and announced "Why, that's the launch button of course! Princess Celestia will press it when they launch the rocket." Snails, who was slow to understand even the simplest things, still looked a bit confused. Snips got a bit annoyed by the look on his face, and yelled "She'll press it like this!" he pressed the button. Snips then realized what he had just done. His pupils widened. "Oh crap." __________________________________________________________________
In the rocket Rarity was admiring that the floor was made out of pillows. "How royal these pillow floors are, though they would've looked better in red." "I don't think they're just for fashion or comfort Rarity." Twilight explained. just as she finished explaining the purpose to Rarity, the entire rocket started to shake and it was getting harder for the ponies to stand up. In a few minutes they were all pressed against the soft pillow floor.
After what seemed like hours the ponies could get back up, though they were floating instead of standing. "What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked nervously. Twilight looked out the window, and said in a panicked voice, "I fear we were accidentally launched." Rarity shared the feeling. "can't you turn this thing around?" Twilight sadly admitted to them, "I don't know how to, and even if I did know, I still don't know how to land it." Then she thought of Spike "I hope Spike's ok, he was under the rocket when it launched."
________________________________________________________
Back in Equestria spike was ok but a lot of pony's were panicking. "Being fireproof saved me again." Said spike, then he looked up to see the vanishing smoke trail of the rocket. Spike shouted out "Oh no! Where's Twilight and her friends?! Were they still inside when it launched?!" The guard who was guarding the main door was in quite a shock and a bit gray from the smoke. He shook his head, and looked into the exhaust pit where he saw spike trying to get out. He swiftly flew down and brought him out of the pit. Spike was still panicking "Twilight? Rainbow Dash? AJ? Rarity? Pinkie? Fluttershy? Did any of them get out before that thing went off?" the guard shook his head.
Spike rushed to Princess Celestia hoping she could get them back. After Spike brought her the news, Celestia looked up and used all her magic to try and find Twilight and her friends. She tried so hard, she was straining. Then she stopped, looked down and said "Unfortunately, they're too far away for me to find them."
"Already?" one of the ponies who worked on the rocket asked in shock. "I knew giving it 4 of those dragon like engines was too much. Why, if the moon was in its correct place they would've smashed into it."
Princess Celestia was having a hard time keeping her patience. Nothing this serious had ever happened before. She looked around, then said as calmly as she could, "It doesn't matter what would've happened, what matters is what did happen, and what needs to happen; finding a way to get them back safely." She looked up into the sky, and hoped somehow they would land somewhere safe.