Silver Sparks clasped his hooves together as he glanced through the porthole at the vast lunar landscape right outside. The sun remained high in the lunar sky, illuminating the seemingly endless gray hills and craters. On the edge of the horizon, Equestria hung low like a large green-blue marble upon a large black canvas.
Activating his horn, Sparks munched on a stale breadstick and washed it down with a sip of tea brewed using herbs gathered by the lowest bidder. The dark gray stallion certainly didn't regret becoming an astronaut, but it was at times like these he missed Equestria and its many little amenities he once took for granted. The novelty of being on the moon had worn off a while ago, and he found himself thinking more and more about the little things, like how a mere inch of reinforced glass stood between him and a painful death right now. At least there's a crew rotation in two weeks, he thought, taking another sip of mediocre tea.
The halls of the lunar HAB were always filled with a gentle hum, a sound produced from the many lights and electronics that filled the walls, while every so often the air vents creaked and rattled as they kicked on and off. While Sparks sat contemplating the lunar surface, the whine of the HAB's intercom system cut through the background noise.
"All ponies report to the cafeteria, mission control's got a small job for us," the tinny voice of the HAB's captain echoed throughout the building before cutting out. Sparks raised an eyebrow, but remained seated, as he was already sitting in a corner for the cafeteria.
Over the next minute, Spark's crewmates filed into the same room. Mostly unicorns and pegasi, but a pair of earth ponies had been put on the crew roster to handle the botanical lab. The crew's fur colors represented the entire rainbow, but it was hard to tell underneath the identical blue jumpsuits everypony wore. Sparks eventually got up and joined them around the largest table in the center of the room, just as the captain walked through the door.
"At ease everypony," stated the captain, a light blue pegasus stallion named Azure Bluet.
"What's on tap for today cap?" asked another pegasus at Spark's side.
Bluet chewed his lip. "Well, there's been a bit of downtime lately, so mission control wants me to grab volunteers for a, uh, special mission."
"Volunteers? Special mission?" chuckled a mare on the other side of the table. "They're coming up with some creative ways to say 'mine more moon rocks.'"
"I wish it was that simple," Bluet sighed. "They want us to clean up the Excelsior 7 site."
The lighthearted atmosphere in the cafeteria vanished almost immediately. Nopony said anything, not that they needed to since their expressions said it all. Sparks felt his own face drop. Excelsior 7 wasn't spoken of often, but it had rooted itself in the collective conscience of all spacefarer's since. But that was the mission that—
"Err, cap?" the mare from earlier interjected. "Y-you're joking right? They're not actually asking us to—"
"I'm afraid so," Bluet replied mournfully. "And no, I don't like it either, but it's been six years, so it's long overdue. Mission control sent up a plaque on the last shipment. All we need now are a pair of volunteers. Show of hooves?"
A few ponies awkwardly shuffled, but nopony had the bravery to step forward. Sparks merely stared down at his hooves.
Bluet sighed. "I don't blame any of you, but if I don't get any volunteers I'm going to have you draw straws instead."
The crew remained hesitant, eyes darting between one another. Sparks gently shut his eyes and slow raised his hoof. "I...I'll go."
Sparks opened his eyes to see the captain looking at him mournfully. "Thank you Sparks. I still need one more!"
After a few more tense seconds, a pegasus mare with a two-tone burgundy mane raised her hoof. "I'll go too," she sighed.
Bluet turned to the orange mare with much the same expression he gave Sparks. "Thank you Shock Diamond. I want you and Sparks ready and the lunar rover packed up within the hour. Everypony else, dismissed."
As the rest of the crew breathed sighs of relief and mumbled amongst each other as they filed out of the room, it left only Sparks and Diamond who stared into each other's eyes with a mutual sense of dread. What are we getting ourselves into?
"That's one small step for pony," Stronghoof spoke into his headset as he slowly descended the ladder of his lunar lander. "...One giant leap for ponykind."
A smile formed on his face as the cheers of mission control clearly echoed in his headset. At the same time he reached the end of the ladder and hopped down, feeling his hooves gently connect with the soft lunar sand. Mission temporarily forgotten, he tried walking, then jumping around, equal parts ecstatic and terrified as he struggled to keep his balance in such low gravity.
"Easy there cowboy, don't go flipping yourself over before we've even done anything!" Buzzed Apple's voice echoed in his ear.
"We're on the moon, Buzzed! Let me have my fun first," Stronghoof chuckled, only to gasp as a hoof slipped and he slowly tumbled forward and planted his helmet in the dirt several seconds later. An undignified groan left his lips while his unicorn companion laughed. "The cameras didn't catch that, did they?"
"I have a feeling the public will find it endearing," replied the mare at the head of ground control, who did a bad job of hiding the amusement in her voice. Stronghoof simply grumbled.
With the help of Buzzed, Stronghoof carefully picked himself out of the lunar dune and stood up, brushing the dust from his snow white suit. The pair carefully trudged a few paces away from the lander, then Buzzed removed a long metal container from his back and set it on the ground.
Buzzed lit his horn and removed a metal pole from the container which he planted firmly in the lunar soil. With the twist of a knob, part of the pole flipped out, and the Equestrian flag unfurled; white stars on a light blue background, while the two sisters circled their respective celestial objects. Buzzed and Stronghoof slowly stepped back, admiring their work.
"Ain't that just a beautiful sight, Canterlot?" Buzzed commented.
"I'm pretty sure all of Equestria is enjoying the view Excelsior," the mare chuckled. She let them sit and stare for a while longer before speaking up again. "Alright, let's get down to business. You two have a lot of samples and pictures to take!"
A lunar rover sat parked in the middle of a cramped garage, barely big enough for Silver Sparks and Shock Diamond to move around in. The lead lining of the walls protected the glorified dune buggy's electronics from background radiation, while it was hooked up to a charging port in the wall to keep it charged until it could be rolled out of the garage and let the solar panels kick in.
The two ponies, dressed in bulky spacesuits covered in white, fireproof fabric, said nothing to each other until the garage door had been rolled up and the rover driven out onto the lunar surface. Sealed crates and tools lay scattered between floodlights, while the ground was marked with spiderwebs of tire tracks from hundreds of rover excursions before them. A mesh metal basket was attached to the rear of the rover which the two began loading with equipment.
"Pair of shovels?" Diamond rattled off.
Sparks lit his horn and a moment later two shovels landed in the basket. "Check."
"Pickaxe?"
Said pickaxe was placed on top of the shovels. "Check."
"Work lights?"
Sparks glanced up at the sun hanging overhead, then dropped two pairs of hoofheld work lights next to the tools. "Not sure why we need those, but check."
Diamond shrugged. "Protocol. Uhh, spare oxygen tanks?"
Two white canisters took up what little space was left. "Check."
Diamond produced a small metal box from one of her saddlebags and nestled it firmly in with their equipment. "That should be everything," she said, closing the cargo basket and latching it shut. Wordlessly the two took their places on the rover, Diamond driving while Sparks sat in the passenger seat and held on tightly as the rover accelerated.
The moon was dotted with innumerable craters of vastly differing sizes. Luna's Landing base was not situated inside one, but rested very close to the edge of a particularly massive one that needed to be driven around to get to their goal. Sparks passed the time by peering over the edge at an open-pit mine nestled at the bottom of the crater's steep slope. Previously he hated being sent down to mine for ice or raw iron. Now he couldn't wait to.
As Luna's Landing shrunk in the distance behind them and the rover began driving over undisturbed moon dust, Sparks pressed a button on his helmet and gently closed his eyes to the sound of tinny guitar music.
The minutes flew by as Buzzed and Stronghoof went about their business. Planting the Equestrian flag had been the highlight; what remained now was lots and lots of collecting dust and soil samples, taking pictures and videos, and taking scientific readings with everything from thermometers to seismographs.
Despite the monotony, the novelty of being on the moon meant it hardly mattered. Adjusting to the low gravity meant lots of amusing trips and falls, and just as much excited bouncing across the plain. Once everything had been accounted for, mission control allowed the two a few minutes to simply enjoy themselves, culminating in Buzzed poorly attempting a backflip while Stronghoof filmed.
Eventually the two were finally ordered back inside the lunar lander to prepare for departure. The two ponies climbed up into the cramped space, and took their seats among blocky boxes of wires and electronics, with a vast array of buttons and switches overhead. The pair began pressing and flicking them in a rapid manner that would seem almost random to an outsider, but was crucial in ensuring they got home safely.
"Canterlot, this is Excelsior, we are go for departure in T minus one minute," Buzzed droned.
"Canterlot to Excelsior, copy Excelsior."
"Hey Malt, how's the weather up there?" Stronghoof wondered aloud.
High above the moon, the mission's almost forgotten third member, Malt Chocolate, sat orbiting in a veritable tin can. "Zero percent chance of anything, Excelsior," she replied, "perfect for flying, can't wait to have you two back up here!"
"Oh I can definitely wait," Stronghoof joked, eliciting a few laughs from the other members of the crew. As he finished a few final checks, he sat back and waited for the engine's countdown to finish.
"T minus thirty seconds," Buzzed remarked.
A silence descended on their headsets. All the calculations and preparations had been finished, all that remained was to wait.
"Fifteen..."
"Ten."
"Five"
"Four.
"Three."
"Two."
A deep breath.
"One."
...
A faint clunk rumbled the vessel as the stages separated, but they remained immobile. With hearts thumping madly, neither of the two astronauts dared to breathe as they waited to see if something would happen.
After a painfully long silence, it became clear something was amiss. "Err, Canterlot? Shouldn't we have ignited by now?" Stronghoof asked warily.
"Affirmative Excelsior, stand by while we diagnose."
"We did everything right, didn't we?" Buzzed asked, worry creeping its way into his voice.
"I...I thought so," Stronghoof replied, running his hoof through the rows and columns of instruments on the consoles. The pair double and triple checked every possible switch and reading and determined they hadn't messed up.
"Excelsior, I'm not sure how to tell you this," the mare began hesitantly, "but...it looks like your fuel igniter failed to start."
"Wh-what?"
Stronghoof's eyes grew wide. "Um, we can get out and fix that though, right?"
A gulp. "It was designed to be as simple as possible. There's nothing to fix, it simply...doesn't work. I'm s-sorry but..." the mare's voice trailed off, unable to continue as she choked on her words.
"You mean..." Stronghoof slowly turned to his companion. "We're...stranded here?"
An hour had passed. Luna's Landing and the crater had long since disappeared under the horizon. Still the rover continued onward, treading new ground and leaving a lone pair of tire tracks in the middle of the vast empty landscape.
"Hey Sparks?" Sparks jumped slightly in his suit as Diamond's voice cut through the silence for the first time since they had departed. "Who was the third pony on Excelsior 7?"
"Um," Sparks paused a moment to think and parse the question that had just been posed. "I think it was Malt Chocolate? Why do you ask?"
Diamond sniffed. "I was always kinda curious, but never bothered to look it up. Everypony knows Stronghoof and Apple, but few remember the third pony on that mission. I can't imagine what it must've been like..."
"I only heard that she left the space program and then withdrew from public life."
"Mmm," Diamond mumbled, falling silent. Only the gentle hum and rumble of the rover vibrating through their suits provided any sound. Eventually she spoke up again. "Well, looks like we'll be coming up on the site soon. Should be visible any moment."
At long last, Sparks finally noticed it. In the distance something glinted, the sun reflecting off a faint piece of metal. From their perspective, the Excelsior 7 site was partially hidden behind a small hill, allowing only a small portion of the lander to remain visible on their approach. His jaw tightened ever so slightly and he glanced over at Diamond, though the bulky helmet made it hard to see her expression.
Gradually the shape of the lander sharpened out as they approached. Sparks could start making out individual panels and arrays; as they crested the hill the landing gear, fuel tanks, and the rest of the site slipped into view. The Equestrian flag still stood proudly off to the side, untouched in its six years of being there.
Sparks noted that it looked exactly like the images in the papers he'd seen back then, if not for the addition of two white lumps.
Diamond's voice crackled in his headset. "Memoriam to Luna's Landing, we're here."
=====
A minute ago Luna had been experiencing one of the proudest days of her life. Now it had easily turned into one of her worst.
In mere seconds, the mission control room had become a flurry of activity. Ponies dashed to and fro, barking questions and instructions as the entirety of the command center scrambled to understand just what had happened to Excelsior 7...and if it could be savaged. From behind a glass pane overlooking everything, Luna and her sister were isolated enough to sit in abject horror at the events that had just transpired.
The only other pony up there with them was a cream colored stallion named Skywatch, who after a few seconds turned and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry princesses...but it doesn't look like there's a way to fix this."
"Are you sure?" Celestia pleaded. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
Skywatch pondered a moment. "Um, well, you sent your sister to the moon...couldn't you like, do that in reverse?"
Celestia sighed. "It doesn't work that way. It was meant to be a one way trip, that would only bring her back after a thousand years." Luna shut her eyes.
"Then I'm afraid we're out of options. Anything else we can try would take way too long."
"How long do they have anyway?" Luna tentatively asked.
Skywatch referred to a nearby screen for a moment. "Um, about an hour and a half. At that point they'll likely slip into a coma and then there's no telling how long until, well..."
Skywatch and Celestia merely looked at each other for a moment. The rest of the control room had fallen silent as realization began to fully set in. Luna simply closed her eyes and let a few tears slip out until she felt her sister approach. "Are you okay Luna?"
She merely shook her head.
"Neither am I, but we're going to need to handle this." Celestia sighed. Turning around she added, "Skywatch, please get their families in here and take care of the rest. I have a difficult speech to prepare for..."
High in the sky over the moon, Malt Chocolate sat orbiting in a tin can with far too much time on her hooves. Given her position of safety, mission control has mostly ignored her for the past hour. The last thing she'd heard before passing behind the far side of the moon was undeniable proof that her friends were going to die on the surface below. When her craft passed back around and signals resumed, she heard Stronghoof and Apple's families saying their goodbyes.
Finally mission control broke the silence, telling her in empty tones to prepare for the transfer burn back to Equestria, a task she dutifully performed. Strapped into her seat, with two more empty ones at her side, she waited for the indicated time to ignite the engines, praying she wouldn't meet a similar fate.
While Malt sat waiting, a tinny crackle echoed from a forgotten corner of the cockpit. She pivoted towards the source, listening as a weak, crackly, but unmistakable voice came through.
"—lt Chocolate? P-please pick...girl, we—"
Malt reached over and turned the frequency off.
Without a sound, a shovel was firmly planted into the lunar soil. Spark's magic faded as he let it rest upright, surveying the landing site and contemplating how he got here. Glancing to his side, Diamond held a similarly unreadable expression as she sat on her haunches and ignored the open basket of tools and supplies by her side.
Before the two was an unenviable sight; laying side by side in lunar dust, dressed in space suits that looked almost identical (if a bit older) to the ones worn by Sparks and Diamond, were the still bodies of Stronghoof and Buzzed Apple. Their helmets had both been removed, revealing faces contorted into expressions of horror and betrayal. Though they had been dead for six years, the vacuum of space had preserved them all too well. Were it not for their frost-covered faces, flecks of blood, and milky eyes, they would almost seem normal.
I would've preferred a skeleton, Sparks gulped.
"...Do you think they suffered?" Diamond finally broke the uneasy silence.
Sparks stared at her. "What kind of question is that? Of course they did!" he laughed nervously.
Diamond winced, and Sparks closed his mouth in regret. "No I mean..." she finally resumed, "It looks like they removed their helmets."
"I assume they did that so they wouldn't suffer more," Sparks replied quietly.
"I can't imagine..." Diamond said, her voice tightening to almost a whisper. The pegasus covered her visor and remained still for a while. Eventually a deep breath rang through their comm link, and she picked herself off the ground. Without a word, she picked up the other shovel and began digging. Sparks joined in shortly after.
With their backs towards the corpses, the two slowly worked to tear into the regolith. Each scoop added to an increasingly large pile, the dust shimmering in the sunlight as it slowly settled in the decreased gravity. Not a word was spoken between the two as the minutes dragged on and on, their respective holes slowly growing larger until they had achieved a large enough size.
Lighting his horn, Sparks gently began to levitate the body of Stronghoof, slowly gliding it over mere inches from the surface until it hovered over the hole. Sparks put the body down, letting it fit comfortably at the bottom. Dropping the helmet in after, Sparks repeated the process with Apple's corpse, then nodded to Diamond as they both picked up their shovels again.
"Well, I suppose that's it," Diamond softly said a few minutes later once both bodies were covered in a mound of lunar dust and soil.
Sparks clicked a button on his headset. "Luna's Landing, this is Memorium. We've completed our objective and will be heading back soon."
"Hang on, there's one more thing," Diamond interrupted, quickly trotting over to the lander. Producing the small metal box from earlier, she popped it open and carefully removed a marble plaque contained within. Gently she placed it at the foot of the two graves and stepped back.
Cocking an eyebrow, Sparks slowly stepped over and squinted at the text on the plaque. Realization slowly dawned on him as he realized it contained a quote he had heard years before...
Celestia ruffled her wings as she glanced over a small note held in her magic for the umpteenth time. It contained, primarily, a speech, hastily written out by one of her secretaries Blazing Sapphire; one that both of them hoped would never need to be read. With a pained sigh she rolled it up and set it aside, having already memorized it.
Stepping through a pair of large oak doors, Celestia emerged in front of a podium overlooking one of Canterlot castle's many courtyards. An excited murmur rose through the gathered crowd, as everypony from reporters to nobles to passerbys eagerly awaited the latest news of the Excelsior 7 mission.
Stepping up to the podium, Celestia cleared her throat and took a deep, long breath. Lighting her horn, she readied a voice amplification spell as she prepared to deliver some of the heaviest news she had received in years.
"Fate has ordained that the ponies who went to the moon to explore in peace, shall stay on the moon to rest in peace," Celestia began, pausing as shocked murmurs and gasps rose from the crowd before her. With another breath, she continued, "These brave ponies, Buzzed Apple and Stronghoof know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for Equestria in their sacrifice.
"These two ponies are laying down their lives in our most noble pursuit: the search for truth and understanding. They will be mourned by their friends and families; they will be mourned by Equestria; they will be mourned by all races from the Griffons, to the Zebras, to the Dragons, and all others in between; and they will be mourned by a world that dared send two of her children into the unknown.
"In ancient times, the three pony tribes could find commonality in looking to the stars and finding their heroes in the constellations. In modern times we do much of the same, but our heroes are living flesh and blood," Celestia faltered, her demeanor breaking as tears flowed from her eyes, yet she willed herself to finish off the last few lines.
"Others will follow, and I—we, will do everything we can to ensure their safe return. We will honor their sacrifice by following in their hoofsteps and finish the work they had started. As we do we must not forget that they were the first to bravely blaze our trail. Let every pony and creature that looks up in the moon in the nights to come know that there is a tiny corner of another world that shall forever be ours."
Sparks didn't know how long he had sat there reading those lines, until Diamond walked up and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "You okay?"
With a quiet sniff, Sparks blinked his damp eyes. "Yeah, I am now." He slowly stood up. "Come on, let's go home."