//------------------------------//
// Day 300 
// Story: Horizon 
// by Nagmeister 
//------------------------------//

**9 DAYS LATER**

The morning was cold. Thick clouds covered the castle as cool winds blew in from the south. The wind howled through the dark skies outside the castle and small pellets of rain splattered against the window. The room was dark and silent as Jebediah slowly woke up in front of the window, and shuddered from the cold. He felt something warm and furry under his right arm, and turning to look he saw a purple mass. “Oh...” he silently said to himself. She had come to the room to watch the sunset with him every evening for the past week, but this was the first time she'd slept over. He carefully moved his arm, grabbed a flashlight, and silently stepped out of the room.
The hallway was dark and quiet. Jeb clicked his light on and made his way down to the courtyard. The thin, cold morning breeze was refreshing on his face and in his lungs as he took a deep breath and walked out to the lander. The tall gray behemoth stood next to a statue of some sort of abomination that looked like it was made out of a morbid child's fantasies. He arrived at the lander and pressed a button on the keypad. The door on the side swung open, revealing the internal hold. He put the flashlight inside and searched for a box. Eventually, he found it. It was lying under a pile of various food boxes, and was labeled “Misc. Items.” He opened it and verified that all the contents were still there before putting it on the ground next to the lander and closing the door. He then decided to take a small walk around the castle. This early, barely anybody was up, so he had the entire courtyard to himself. He said his hellos to the various guards he encountered patrolling as he made his way to the edge of the overhang.
At the rim of the castle, it's about a two kilometer drop. Jeb sat with his legs dangling over it, watching the sweeping landscape of forest, hills, and valleys below for the sunrise. Some colorful ponies flew around below over the forest. To his left, a small town appeared to be getting into gear for the morning. To his right, a landscape of rolling hills and valleys slowly gave way to vast swaths of farmland which slowly gave way to a snowy landscape. Straight ahead, the forest stretched on for miles before disappearing into a mountain range. He sat for a while, watching the world, before someone came up beside him. “Good morning, Jeb,” said a female voice.
“You're up early, Twilight,” he replied.
“I noticed when you'd left, so I stuck behind you. I saw you take that box out, but what's it for?”
“Today's a special day for us Kerbals; it's our three hundredth day since we left. Those are just some memories from the voyage out here and from home.”
The two of them sat there watching the sunrise. The air slowly warmed as the first rays of sunlight crested over the mountain, illuminating the white castle in all its glory. The landscape below also brightened, illuminating the trees, the valleys, the hills. Many shades of greens and browns covered the landscape, and the little village was also bright. “Well, it's been nice spending the night here, but I've gotta go,” said Twilight as she stood up. Jebediah just continued to stare at the beauty of the world below. Eventually, he also got up and started walking up to the lander. He walked through the courtyard and picked up the box before heading into the castle.
Inside the room, Bill was busy preparing some dehydrated pancakes as Hanald and Bob were busy waking up. “Morning, Jeb,” he said. Jeb put the box down on the table, and joined in the food preparation. After breakfast was prepared and everyone was awake, Jebediah went to the center of the room and gave a quick announcement.
“Gentlemen, it has now been three hundred days since we have departed our homeworld. Three hundred days since we first left our little sphere to go to the stars. Since our species' birth, we have reached for the stars. Now, they are finally within our grasp.
“We have endured many hardships, many trials, and many difficulties to get this far. But we are Kerbonauts. We were born for this. This is what we do; this is why we live. I know that each and every one of you would be willing to do almost anything to advance our cause, to put us closer to the stars. I can confidently say that we, as a group, have finally completed the first stage of that goal. We, together, are the first to touch the stars. We, together, have launched Kerbalkind into a new era. We, together, have become heroes of science and astronomy. We, together, are the kerbalnauts.”
Jeb slowly walked down towards the table and opened the box. Inside were pictures of friens and family, various items from home, and a special letter for each kerbal. The four of them sat down around the breakfast table, going through their items. The letters were the first; quite a few tears of both joy and sadness were shed upon their readings. Next came the photos. In true pilot fashion, the first thing Hanald did was put the pictures of his family on the dashboard of his spaceplane. Jebediah put them into his pack, while Bill and Bob both just stared at them. Finally were the gifts. Quite a few were baked goods and other things you would expect in a care package, carefully stored in a sterile environment as to not rot. There were also some childhood items, and Jebediah discovered his first pilot's license was inside. He remembered all the good times he had flying his first plane, a military surplus trainer. He remembered how he'd learned to fly it by ten and had mastered it by eleven.
Eventually, the box was empty. Jebediah picked it up and went to deposit it in the lander. On his way down, however, he accidentally dropped it. The empty metal container went down the spiral staircase like a bowling ball, not stopping for anything – or anyone – in its path. By the time Jeb caught up to it at the bottom, most of the stairs had been chipped, and quite a few expensive-looking ornaments dashed to pieces. Luckily, nobody had been in the stairs at the time, or it may have ended much worse. He quickly picked the box back up and hid it in the lander.

Celestia had been monitoring what her student and the kerbal had been doing together. It had started out as circumstance, what with her just talking about the sunset, but she could see all the signs. She wanted him. Celestia wasn't one to try break up potential relationships, no matter the circumstance, so she decided to make some preparations for movement of the Kerbs.

“What? They're moving here?” asked Twilight, surprised.
“Well, that's what the scroll says,” replied Spike.
The scroll bore the official royal logo, and Twilight knew that the princess wasn't lying. “But.. how? We need to get the library sorted, beds set up, everything!” Twilight frantically said. She calmed herself and started organizing the books into proper places as Spike dragged out the spare beds. The library quickly became neater, and the guest room was prepared for the new arrivals.

In the castle, Jebediah was busy frying some rehydrated eggs for lunch. Hanald was rereading his letter while Bill and Bob were talking about past experiences. There was a knock on the door, and Jeb went to answer it. He was surprised when he saw who was there. “Princess?” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I have decided that it would be best to move your housing to the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville. You will be placed under the care of Twilight Sparkle until you have a place to move to and are ready to move.”
“But, what about all our things here?”
“Take as much as you can, and the guards will bring the rest,” she said as she walked out.
Jebediah immediately went to tell his fellow kerbals the news, and almost immediately the packing started. They took the few boxes they had and started putting stuff in. The first and most important piece was the refrigerator; without it, their food would spoil extremely quickly. The next was the heater; while nights were survivable without it, it was far more comfortable to have it. The rest of the box space was devoted to bringing along as much food and as many various necessary items as possible. When they were ready to go, Jebediah opened the door and led the crew to the courtyard. They waited for a few minutes until a golden chariot drawn by two pegasi descended to carry them. They put the boxes onto the back, entered the seats, and departed.