//------------------------------// // Hope // Story: Houston, We're Coming Home // by EpicBG //------------------------------// “What do you mean ’I quit’? Do you have any idea how much we need you, Mister Armstrong?” The suited man swings around in his chair with determination burning in his eyes. “I’m sorry sir, but I must resign from my position.” Neil unknots his tie to prove the point. “I can’t juggle two jobs, and I feel education is my true calling in life. I am certain you’ll find a suitable replacement.” Without another word, Neil turns heel and walks out of the door, feeling a slight pang of guilt nagging at him for quitting such an important job so abruptly. “Wait! I can give you a raise!” “No, thank you, sir.” Neil walks out of the building while the suited gentlemen was practically begging him to stay, but Neil would have none of it. The leather seat of his car squeaks underneath him as he takes a second to reach into the glove compartment for his two-and-a-half pound cell phone. Neil dials in a number, then pounds in a special code. No more than thirty seconds later, he had resigned from NASA. He sits in his seats, lost in thought about his new life, so to speak. Something clicks against the asphalt outside, making Neil lift his head up from the steering wheel. “Luna?” He reaches over to his door and unrolls the window. “What are you doing here?” Neil opens the door of his car and sees Luna looking at him with something not unlike sorrow lining her aqua eyes. “I wanted to apologize for what you just did. If I hadn’t coaxed you into accepting this, you wouldn’t have – “ “How did you…? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Luna, it’s okay. I just want to forget about it, alright? I know teaching will be easier than that.” His thumb points backwards towards the large building behind him. “You know, there’s another reason why I just quit.” The smile across his lips confuses Luna as her brow creases. “The university of Cincinnati has an aerospace department. They have the technology I need to –“ “You didn’t!” “I did.” Luna propels herself into the air and nearly tackles Neil to the ground. “But wait - why did you just call NASA?” “If they get news that either, one: I find Equestria, an alien planet, or two: you disappear, there will be a huge shitstorm within the media. We need to keep this on the down-low, okay?” “Thank you, Neil. Maybe you Humans aren’t that bad after all.” ----- After opting to present a report on various aspects of Apollo instead of a thesis on the simulation of hypersonic flight, Neil sealed his position as University Professor of Aerospace Engineering, and was the only professor to go to the moon – a rather unique title. Many sleepless nights spent away from home and in the lab, making excuses to his superiors, and examining the heavens above had finally paid off after four long years. Neil had found a small handful planets that he believed could be Equestria, at least from what Luna had described it as looking like. Today would be the day that he snuck her in to show her and confirm whether or not it truly was Luna’s rightful home. “I really want to thank you for doing all of this, Neil.” “Luna, I wanna tell you something - I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine. If I can help anybody in any way, think nothing of it. Now then, first things first: how are we going to sneak you in? Could you do something with your magic, perhaps?” “I know just the spell.” Luna’s horn glows in its ever-present azure color before a bright flash sparks out from the tip. When he opens his eyes, he sees that Luna has shrunk down to the size of a small doll at barely over three inches tall. “Neat.” Luna unfurls her tiny wings and slowly flies into the pocket protector in Neil’s shirt, poking her hooves over of the edge. While cautiously looking around for anybody walking around campus, Neil slowly begins making his way towards the aerospace department of campus. The light posts illuminate his way to the large brick building, while trying his best not to attract any form of attention. His palm wraps around the cold metal bar as a large fuzzy arm pushes him backwards. “Oh, hello Mister Armstrong. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” A large bear-like monstrosity says. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class, sir.” The bearcat suit wearing man walks away towards the football field, leaving the two ex-moon dwellers somewhat confused. Thanks to the obstructive head, he couldn’t have seen Luna even if he had tried. Luna and Neil both sigh in relief as they enter the university. The long halls seem to blend into each other for Luna, however to Neil, who had memorized the confusing halls, it was simple to find the aerospace department. After confirming that the wing was void of people, Neil nodded down to Luna and she flew out of his pocket and returned to her normal size in another bright flash. A short walk to the giant telescope in the center of the room, and a quick adjustment of a few knobs later, and Neil guides Luna over to the glass eyepiece. “What exactly am I looking at?” Luna tentatively asks while swatting her ethereal mane away from the eyepiece. “It’s all blurry.” “Twist that knob.” Neil points out one of the small, plastic knobs on the side of the telescope. Luna’s breathing goes silent as her hoof slides down the knob, the sound of her heart beating wildly and the blood pounding in her temples masking out the sound of Neil’s guiding words. “No, that’s not –“ “Let’s try the next one. There’s still a few more possibilities.” Neil adjusts the telescope, correctly repositioning it to face the next planet. “No, that is definitely not Equestria.” “How about… that one?” “By the Gods…” The soles of Neil’s shoes dug firmly into the tiled floor as he steeled himself for the inevitable glomping. Luna turns from the telescope and throws herself at Neil as he brings his arms up to swing her around. Her hooves clop against the tile floor as she finally lets go of her tight grip. “That’s amazing to hear, I can’t believe it! I had found many other possibilities, but… I’m just glad I found it after all this time,” Neil looks down to Luna’s beaming smile and sighs, “However there’s still the matter of actually getting you home. There is no way that we can construct a space ship, or something like that. Once again, there must be something you can do with your magic, there’s nothing else that I can think of.” “I can easily teleport short distances. Anything longer than a mile takes a lot of concentration. One time, many moons ago, I had managed to teleport thirty miles, and then another thirty back home. I wasn’t even tired when I got back – it was as if the dark night had empowered my magic. Perhaps I could draw power from something, I don’t know what though. Any ideas?” “The stars, or maybe the Moon? Mike told me what you did, when you made those stars a few years ago. I’ve never heard of anybody having magic, so maybe the way your magic works here takes less of a strain on you? I don’t know, no person has magic; it just doesn’t exist in Humans, or any animals on Earth for the matter. Like you had said, the night empowered your magic. It might be worth a shot to do some research on what exactly can strengthen your magic.” Luna’s hoof scrapes against the tiled floor as she thinks about the possibilities. “Perhaps, but It mustn’t be a normal night. Something more powerful, genuine.” “The winter solstice is the longest night of the year: December twenty-first. There are also these rare occurrences, which we call the Supermoon. It’s when the Moon appears to be much larger in the sky than normal. Other than those two, I can’t think about anything else that may be able to bolster your teleportation.” “When is the next Supermoon?” “As luck would have it, exactly one week. That gives us ample time to prepare.” “Hey, Neil?” “Yeah?” “Thank you.” ----- A/N: If there are any errors you've noticed whilst reading, or you just want to remark on something, feel free to comment below - I appreciate any and all criticism so long as it is serious. This was started well over two months ago, and with recent encouragement, I decided to iron it out post it as is and stop worrying. I go back to school tomorrow, August 29th, so it may be a while (yet again) before I can sit down and type out what's in my head. I have all Honors classes (except English, but I am trying to get into the Honors level too), so I expect a much heavier workload. ~ Ben