"…and that's when I found you floating out in space," Tom said as he finished the tale of how he and Eddie got into space. He was currently upside-down in relation to Luna, who put her hoof to her chin.
"You humans are very strange," she said. "You send these rockets to the Moon with your people on it, yet you also make a way for them to return if they want? Isn't that a bit lenient for your most despised criminals?"
"Criminals?" It was Tom's turn to look confused. "Oh no, they're regarded as heroes! We put our criminals in jails such as Alcatraz, Rikers Island, and Sing Sing. We usually execute our worst criminals."
"That sounds absolutely barbaric!" Luna said with shock. "I mean, I attempted to usurp the throne from my sister, but I was simply sent to the moon for a thousand years! I wasn't executed!"
"A thousand years? Could you really live for that long?"
"Well, I was about three hundred twenty-seven years old when I was banished, plus the seven hundred forty-nine years it's been since I was banished, so I guess that would make me…" Luna zoned out for a moment as she did the math before saying, "One thousand and seventy-six years old. How old are you and Eddie?"
"Uh, I'm thirty-eight, and Eddie is forty-two. We're babies compared to you."
"You guys talking about me?" Eddie said as he floated into the room.
"Morning, Eddie," Tom said. "Or, at least, it's morning according to our clock. Luna and I were discussing ages. Do you want to know how old she is?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"One thousand and seventy-six."
"You know," Eddie said, "I'd normally be surprised by this, but Luna also shouldn't technically exist by our scientific laws."
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
"Well, first off," Tom explained, "you can survive in space without the need for air. Second, you can use magic – which, by the way, we haven't seen yet, only heard about – which doesn't exist here, and finally, you're a pony that can talk."
"Well," Luna said, turning her nose up, "you're just as weird to me as I am to you! So HA!"
"I'm pretty sure we can deal with that," Eddie said as he floated over to a cabinet. "Anyone want any strawberries?"
This caused Luna's ears to perk up. "Did you say something about strawberries?"
"Sure did," Eddie replied.
"I love strawberries!" Luna shouted as she frantically tried to swim over to Eddie. "Can I have some?"
"Woah, calm down," Eddie said as he chuckled. "We've gotta make this food last, Luna. Only one strawberry a day for us."
Luna's smile turned into a frown at the thought of not being able to eat so many strawberries at a time. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by a strawberry booping her on the nose. She gave an excited gasp and gleefully chomped down on the strawberry. "This tastes… different," she noted.
"That's because they're freeze-dried," Tom explained. "Keeps all the nutrients in."
"That sounds strange," Luna said, "having to freeze then dry your food. Do you humans do this often?"
"Oh, no," Tom said. "We only freeze-dry food for space and commercial use, and even then, NASA won't let us take on certain kinds of freeze-dried food."
"Such a shame," Eddie commented. "I'm already starting to miss my mom's homemade pizzas."
"So, Luna," Tom said, changing the subject, "what was that about 'usurping the throne'? You mentioned something about that earlier."
"Oh," Luna said, shrinking. "I, um… I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, why not?" Eddie asked.
"Uh…"
"C'mon, Luna," Tom pushed, "tell us."
"Well… okay, I guess…" Luna floated herself away from the astronauts. "I-I don't want you to get mad at me or kick me out, though."
"Alright, Luna," Tom promised. "We won't."
"The reason why I got sent to the moon," Luna said, her body and voice shaking, "i-is because, uh… I tried to… k-kill my sister…"
The astronauts' eyes went wide. She tried to kill someone? Luna, the fun-loving pony, attempted to murder someone?
"Tom," Eddie asked without taking his eyes off of Luna, "can I talk with you for a bit in the cockpit? Alone?"
"Sure, Eddie," Tom replied. "Luna, we'll be right back, Eddie just needs to tell me something."
"O-Okay…" Luna stuttered as the two floated over to the cockpit and shut the door behind them before talking.
"Tom, I don't feel safe keeping her on board," Eddie said, worried. "Who's to say she won't try to kill us in our sleep?"
"Eddie, we promised we wouldn't kick her out. I'm not going back on that."
"Yeah, but I don't want to die, Tom."
"She's not going to hurt us."
"How do you know, Tom? Hm?"
Tom grew silent. There was no sure way to know that she wouldn't grow violent, but there wasn't anything he could do without breaking his promise.
"That's right, Tom, you don't," Eddie said. "She's a danger to us, and as much as I hate it, she's gotta go."
"But—"
"Look, Tom." Eddie grabbed Tom by the shoulders. "I know you've been having fun with her on board, but she's a threat. Be glad that Ground Control isn't listening, because they'd have us kill her. Understand?"
Tom nodded sadly. "I understand."
"Alright, Tom. Glad you understand." Eddie patted Tom on his shoulders and said, "Now, let's go back and break it to her softly, okay?" Tom only nodded in response.
When they opened the door, however, they immediately noticed a distinct lack of Luna in the room. "Luna?" Tom called out. "Where'd you go?" There was no response.
"Maybe she ran off," Eddie suggested.
"That's not good," Tom said. "We can't let her run off into space like that!"
"I know, Tom, but she also can't come back in here! She's dangerous!"
"Eddie," Tom pleaded as he started floating around the cabin, "I can't just abandon her! We can't let her run away on bad terms. Now, where's the experimental suit?"
Eddie sighed. "Alright, Tom, you win. It's over by the airlock."
"Thanks, Eddie," Tom said as he floated to where the airlock was located
"You be safe out there!" Eddie said.
"I will!"
As Tom let the air rush out of the room, he found Luna a few meters in front of him facing away, sitting on a non-existent floor. Tom pushed himself off of the floor of the airlock to where Luna sat. As he approached the alicorn, her horn lit up with a light blue aura, and her voice echoed throughout Tom's helmet.
"Please, Tom," she said between sniffles, "leave me alone. I heard what you guys were saying."
"Luna, c'mon," he pleaded before Luna cut him off.
"You guys think of me as a murderer!" she yelled, turning around to show blobs of tears floating in the vacuum. "You two wanted to be rid of me! You were going to break your promise!"
"Luna, we were worried!" Tom explained. "I don't know how it works in your land, but on Earth, people die every day because someone killed them! It's a natural response for us to be scared!"
"Scared ponies do drastic things, and I'm sure that applies to you humans as well!" Luna said. "I was scared then, Tom Harlow! I was scared that nopony liked me or my nights! I was scared that I would be friendless! I turned into a shadow of my former self and didn't have any control over what was going on!"
Tom was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Eddie didn't want her back in the shuttle, and if Tom did bring her back, he was afraid that Eddie might take drastic measures to get her out. On the other hand, Tom didn't want Luna to lose her only friends and be doomed to loneliness forever.
Sighing, Tom said, "Luna, can you stop doing… well, whatever it is you're doing so I can ask Eddie something?" Luna nodded, and a light blue aura around Tom's helmet that he hadn't noticed before dissipated. Tom then called Eddie on his radio, hoping he would pick up.
"What is it, Tom?" he asked.
"Eddie, I can assure you that she won't hurt us," Tom replied.
"Look, Tom, I've told you a million times, she can't co—"
"She won't hurt us unless she's afraid," Tom said, cutting Eddie off. "I talked with her about what happened, she said she was scared about being alone. The only way she'll try to hurt us is if we drive her out."
Eddie sighed over the mic. "I dunno, Tom, I'm not sure it's a chance I want to take."
"Eddie, do you know how many chances we've taken so far?" Tom asked. "Let me list them for you. First, we took a chance simply by entering the academy so we could be astronauts. We could've simply been stopped at the exam, but we weren't. Next, we took a chance every time we did training. We could've failed at any time, but we didn't. After that, we took a chance riding a giant, explosive rocket into space. We could've died at any time, but we didn't. Lastly, we took a chance when we took Luna in. She could've done anything to us the past few days, but she didn't. We have taken so many chances in our lives, yet you don't want to chance on a lasting friendship?"
There was a long silence over the radio before Eddie replied, "I guess I've got a few apologies to make, then. Bring her in, she can stay with us."
"Thanks, Eddie," Tom said as he turned back to Luna and gave a thumbs up.
Her horn lit up again, and she quietly asked, "What happened?"
"We're taking you back, Luna," Tom said as he started to fly back to the airlock.
When the two got back inside, they found Eddie waiting for them at the airlock. When Luna floated out, he said, "Luna, I'm sorry I, uh, assuming… that."
Luna smiled weakly and said, "Thank you, Eddie Rains. It means… a lot."
"Now," Tom said as he took his helmet off, "who's up for a game of Gravball?"
"Not right now," Eddie said, "I'm gonna try to reconnect with Ground Control." Luna's eyes dialated when he mentioned Ground Control. "Oh, no," the astronaut said when he noticed her fear, "I'm not going to rat on you. In fact, I don't think I'm going to tell them about you."
"Why not?" Tom asked.
"How nicely do you think the U.S. Government is going to treat an extraterrestrial life form?" Eddie explained. "Not very nice at all. Wouldn't be that good of a person, let alone friend, if I gave her to people I knew would hurt her."
"That's fair," Tom replied. "Now, you wanna play a game of Gravball with me, Luna?"
"Definitely!" she said, her smile finally reappearing on her face.
"Alright, folks," Announcer Tom said as he held the paper ball, "it's the final serve of the game! The score is tied four to four, and anything can happen! Who will win? Who will lose? Who will sing the blues? We'll soon find out as Harlow makes his serve!" He lightly tossed it up into the air and hit it towards Luna's side of the cabin. She pushed herself off the floor and smacked it back at Tom, sending it flying. Tom reached out for the ball and tipped it just enough to stop it from going in the goal, then bounced it off of the wall of the shuttle to try and disorient Luna.
It didn't work, however, as she intercepted the ball and hit it at a low angle, sending it past Tom's flailing hands, in between his legs, and into the goal.
"I am the champion! Luna shouted with glee.
"You saw it here tonight, folks!" Announcer Tom shouted. "The Princess of the Night has gained an impressive five-game winning streak, almost unheard of in the Gravball Championship! Can she be stopped?"
"It doesn't look like it, Kevin!" came Announcer Eddie from behind, floating in from the cockpit.
"So, what's up?" Tom asked. "Get anything?"
"Nope," Eddie replied. "Although, I did manage to find a few radio stations. Not sure if it'll help us out."
"Really?" Tom asked with excitement. "I've been dying to hear some music!"
"Oh, we have music back in Equestria!" Luna said. "I can't wait to hear what kind of music you humans listen to!"
"Well, why don't you come with us and check it out?" Tom said. "I bet you're gonna like it."
"Okay!" Luna floated over to the cockpit, Eddie following her. However, Tom placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.
"Thanks for letting her back in, Eddie," he said in a quiet voice.
"'To err is human,'" Eddie quoted, "'to forgive, divine.' Her and I both had a reason to forgive the other today, Tom. I hope you can forgive me, too."
"I already have," Tom replied as the two floated into the cockpit, where Luna was already listening to the radio.
"This music is very different," she told the astronauts. "It seems very self-centered and immoral. However, it's also very catchy and hard to stop listening to." Eddie and Tom looked at the console to find that she had tuned in to a pop music station.
"This is not going to end well," Tom muttered.