//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: My Little Yamato // by Gideon020 //------------------------------//         Rainbow Dash sat alone in the small semi-circular domed observation room at the back of the bridge tower that overlooked the missile stack. Her tail was draped over the back of the soft lounge that ran around the curved wall, absently swishing back and forth. She had excused herself from the bridge soon after they had cleared the atmosphere and had been told of this small room by one of the XO’s on her way out. The climb out of the atmosphere had been eventful to say the least but now Dash was treating herself to a truly beautiful sight. The receding blue marble of Equus hung in the darkened void of space. Its beautiful spectrum of blue, green and white gave it an aura of pure peacefulness and radiance. She was so enthralled by the sight that when Applejack entered the room behind her she very nearly jumped out of her feathers. “Give a mare some warning before you go sneaking up on them like that!” “Heya R.D,” Applejack said slowly. “You alright?” “Yeah I’ve jus’ been thinkin,” she trailed off as she hopped up onto the lounge. “About?” “Why are we here? This I mean,” The apple farmer said gesturing around the room. “Celestia asked us to come and help ou-” “Thats not what I mean.” Applejack quickly cut her off. “What ah mean is that; Why would Celestia: The ruler of an entire nation simply pack up and decided to launch a spaceship that she’s known about for years?” “She needed the Elements to start the Wave Motion Engine. I thought you of all ponies would have been paying attention,” Rainbow replied, bopping Applejack on the head as she finished. “We’ve had the Elements for nearly three years now, what made her suddenly decide to do this now?” “Well-uh.” “And another thing; What does she need a Tactical Officer for? Who are we gonna fight? Equestria hasn’t gone to war since the Minotaurs attacked, and that was decades ago.” “You’re getting awfully worked up about this,” Rainbow stated. “Ah just can’t help but feel that the princess isn’t telling us everything,” “How can you be sure?” Dash questioned. The element of honesty simply gave the pegasus an Are-you-serious look. “Ah. Right.” “It just doesn’t sit well with me that she kept the Yamato a secret for so long and now. Just the way she talks I can tell she’s hiding something.” “Whatever it is,”- Dash said putting her hoof over Applejacks shoulder -”We’ll find out together.” * * * A mere few hours later, the Yamato was already within the lunar orbit thanks to the hugely powerful thrusters. Final preparations were underway as the altimetre dropped, the powerful movement thrusters along the ship’s keel working hard to stop the massive ship from slamming into the satellite’s dusty surface. The insane force being ejected from the thrusters on the Yamato’s belly easily shot huge plumes of ancient lunar dust high into the dark sky as the massive craft made its slow descent to the relatively flat landing area. Eventually the Yamato’s slow downward creep ended with a slight judder as the giant rested, balancing perfectly atop the suspended third bridge that hung from the middle of the Yamato’s belly. “All crew are to change into their atmospheric survival suits. there will be one in each dormitory locker. We’re going sight-seeing,” the captain said cheerfully into her microphone. “That goes for all of you, too,” Celestia gestured to the XO’s including Rainbow who had returned to the bridge during the landing. The ponies of the bridge crew looked at one another excitedly before exploding into the elevator at the room’s rear, eager to go explore. “I think thats the most emotion they’ve shown yet,” Dash chided. “Be nice Rainbow, you're going to be seeing a lot of them.” Dash simply gave a snort as they made their way to the exit until a huge feathery wing impeded her progress. The impatient pegasus simply looked up irritatedly at the owner of said wing. “There’s no air on the Moon so I’m afraid you won’t be able to fly,” Celestia said softly causing Dash to deflate a bit. “But it is one sixth of Equus’s gravity. I’m sure that you can find some use for that.” It took a few moments for the words to sink in but soon a sly smile crossed the dare devil mare’s face. “I’m sure I can.” * * * With a loud hiss and the loud clunks of several hidden locks disengaging, the two huge deck ramps at the rear of the Yamato’s suspended third bridge crept open. Light flooded through the widening crack, illuminating those who stood behind eager to disembark. Once the decks had locked into position and the all clear was given, the ponies at the head of the mass began their descent, all of them filled with trepidation and excitement. One particularly excited young unicorn colt immediately shot past the others and with a great leap, he launched himself off of the ramp into the soil. “That was one giant leap!” he exclaimed giddily. As Rainbow Dash met the end of the safety of the Yamato she tentatively met the alien soil. Her hoof sunk beneath the soil and with a small squeal she quickly ripped it back out. Ponies quickly brushed past her eager to play in the dirt that they had all seen but never once touched. Not wanting to seem like a coward, Rainbow quickly joined them. Now that all four hooves were making contact on a different cosmic body the weight of her situation finally became apparent. ‘I just travelled through space on an ancient alien spaceship and now I’m standing on the moon! The actual moon! I can’t believe Luna lived her for a thousand years!’ The pegasus mare squealed within her suit, grateful that nopony could hear or see her. “Amazing isn’t it?” A voice crackled through an interior speaker into her ear. “Ah! wha- Apollo!” Dash yelped not expecting to hear another's voice right beside her head. “Hey you're lucky you’re gonna go down in the books as the first element bearer to walk on the moon. Me? Well, nopony gives a rat’s about the eleventh pony that set foot there.” Apollo said gesturing to the ten other ponies that had disembarked prior to the both. * * * Within the hour the three-hundred or so ponies aboard had emptied the Yamato and we’re now frolicing on the previously alien surface. Each pony had a varying suit attached to them, their colors differentiating depending on what section they happened to be from. The helmets were fairly uniform, they all possessed a spike on the forehead for a horn even if the pony wearing happened to lack one. The helmet made use of the extra space by attaching a large spotlight to the left of the small spire. The non-pegasi crew seemed to be occupying most of their time by seeing who could jump the highest in the lowered gravity. The pegasi seemed more interested in finding out why their wings wouldn’t work and greeting the soil with their helmets. Finally Celestia herself exited the Yamato wearing naught but a single oxygen mask and basic radio. Her Alicorn heritage allowing her to survive in the hostile conditions. Unfortunately she had not inherited the ability to breathe without oxygen as her sister had. Celestia had no idea why Luna could go without air for so long but she suspected in had a lot to do with her insanely large lung capacity that came from many years of using the Royal Canterlot voice. As she watched her country's finest play around like foals in the new environment her heart warmed. Seeing such braved faced souls who had all wholeheartedly agreed to join her on this ridiculous quest having fun, simply brought a smile to her ancient muzzle, even if it was hidden by an oxygen mask. That was until she noticed that a rather large group had crowded around a familiar rainbow pegasus underneath the Yamato’s bow. “Fillies and gentlecolts I welcome you all to the first ever; Yamato leap!” Rainbow Dash cried through the open channel comms. “I, Rainbow Dash, will become the first pony ever to jump up and over a spaceship’s deck...  Without wings!” An applause sounded throughout the surrounding ponies, muffled slightly by the suits. “Don’t any of you worry; I’m a professional,” she smirked confidently. “Don’t try this at home... Not that you could,” she quickly added. With that the gathered ponies stepped back a few paces to give the mare room. Dash looked up at the colossal vessel above her. Now that it was out of its stony prison it seemed even larger than it had first appeared. The anti-fouling red paint that only went halfway up the side seemed to stretch for miles overhead and for a single moment, Dash felt doubt creep into her stomach. That sliver of doubt however was soon crushed by the huge amounts of overconfidence Dash had for herself. With an almighty kick the small pegasus launched herself upward created a dust cloud where she had stood. The massive hull quickly zipped past. The anchor coming slightly too close for comfort until eventually, her light frame cleared the railings atop the hull and sailed over the forward deck in a elegant arching pattern. The miniscule gravity soon retook its hold on her and she gently began the return journey to the surface. Unbeknownst to her, or anypony else. one of the huge cannon batteries suddenly moved the smallest fraction, its sights locking on and following the rainbow mare’s path. After a less than rapid descent Dash stuck the landing on the other side of the Yamato and was quickly met with a huge applause. “Thank you, thank you. You're quite welcome,” she boasted, reveling in the attention. Just as Celestia was about to chastise her for the recklessness of the stunt, and congratulate her on pulling it off so perfectly. Twilight immediately invaded. “Princ- Captain! Theres something you should see!” *  * * The scholarly unicorn soon lead a small team consisting of herself, Celestia, Rainbow and Apollo to a large crater. Its location was odd in that the Yamato was visible from it, but remained hidden from the Yamato’s location. “I was exploring the geology when I came across these things,” Adorning the craters interior was an assortment of hundreds of different pieces of furniture, sculptures, toys and other various items. The vast assortment of trinkets varied in detail, the oldest ones seemed fairly basic and quite crumbly. Most likely as they had been made with the topsoil instead of the more densely packed dirt underneath. The more recent sculptures, (recent being fairly generous) fared far better against the harshness of space. Their bodies were more defined and expertly detailed, something only a lifetime of practice would be able to achieve. Within the small crater sat a modest cottage, made of the same composite as everything around it. The roof had since caved, and one of the walls had given out but it remained recognisable as a building. What stood out the most however was the huge black slab jutting from the craters centre. It was a perfect rectangular prism, all the faces had been expertly cut and trimmed. Etched into the very top the words ‘Years’ was carved in old equestria, followed by a staggering amount of tallies that trailed down the Monolith. “I-This... She never told me about these...” Celestia trailed off, running a hoof up the odd black stone. “I knew she was up here a long time but, to see it from this perspective,” Twilight gawked. “It’s like she was just trying to live a normal life,” Dash added. A long silence overcame the radio channel, nopony wishing to break the silence in fear of disrespecting the old owner. “I think it’s time we headed back, oxygen will run out soon,” Apollo finally spoke somberly. No words were said but slowly they all climbed the slope back toward the Yamato. It wasn’t until the three in front of her had crested the incline that she spared a glance back toward the small cottage. “I’m sorry.”  * * * After a somber trek back to the Yamato, the crew had been ordered to return to their posts, the numerous ponies dispersing to their respective areas inside the ship for takeoff. Nopony said a word within the bridge. Celestia had retired to her personal quarters at the very top of the tower, leaving Apollo to guide the launch. Without the obstructions of a mountain overhead, plus the aid of decreased gravity the Yamato easily lifted back into the sky. “Setting course for Equestria, primary thruster engage,” Twilight said somberly, the depressive atmosphere getting to her as well. The engine whined before turning into a rapid beeping for a few moments till the familiar gout of thrust shot from within it. A constant burn was employed to shift the ship back into Equus orbit, were the gravity well of the planet soon took over allowing the craft to effortlessly glide back home. The landing sequence was interrupted when the elevator delivered a familiar orange Earth pony to the bridge. “Ah wanna see her. Ah wanna see the princess!” Applejack demanded. “She’s in her quarters. No visitors,” Apollo replied sternly. “This is above you Apollo, Ah wanna speak with Celestia about her lies.” A quiet murmuring went up from the ponies that happened to be paying attention to the exchange, while others continued to keep the ship from becoming ash during re-entry. “Get her down ‘ere now! Come on down, Captain, I know you can hear me!” She shouted upwards to the ceiling. There was a brief pause before the elevator track on the back of the wall moved allowing one very irate alicorn to descend. “Applejack. Explain yourself,” Celestia spat. “Ah think you should tell us; all of us what your true intentions are!” The captain simply knitted her eyebrows in response. “Or then I might. I’ve been talkin’ with some other ponies down in storage, and they’ve been telling me that you’ve got big plans for this here ship!” Celestia visibly flinched at the verbal barrage, Her eyes however remained cold. “Ah can spot a liar a mile away, your highness,” Applejack said venomously. Twilight continued to watch on completely mortified that one of her friends would speak this way to not only their ruler, but also their captain and her mentor. “AJ, listen to yourself, you're saying that the ruler of Equestria is a bold faced lia-” “She’s right Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said softly, hanging her head in shame. “I wanted to tell you all but I was afraid that you wouldn’t agree to it, so I kept you in the dark until I saw fit to ask you.” “And what did you want to tell us?” Twilight asked, now curious. Celestia didn’t respond for a few moments until she look up her somber face gone. “Set course for the Manehatten shoreline,”she spoke, once more in her commanding tone. “Princess?” Twilight questioned. “If I’m going to explain myself I don’t want to have to repeat it.” Twilight hesitated for a moment, confused as to why she had not received an explanation, but one glance at the diamond-hard eyes of her mentor forced her response. “Aye Captain, readjust landing parameters and set course for Manehatten.”