All his life, he’d had one goal. Dealing, negotiating, manipulating, while defying the advice of his family, his friends and his business partners, he built the company that built the first atomic Moon rocket, and thus began Humanity’s future in the stars. But his one great dream—to go to the Moon himself—was always denied him, right up until the very end… At which point, he found himself in a peculiar situation.
He was the Man Who Sold the Moon. What price will the Moon put on him?
Based on the short story Requiem, and also The Man Who Sold The Moon, both by Robert A. Heinlein. Reading Requiem first is recommended but not necessary. (If you have an e-reader or an e-reader program and an Amazon account, you can get a free sample which includes the short story.)
Rated “T” for a bloody lip.
The cover art is an edited screen shot from the movie Destination Moon. Credit to datNaro for demEyes.
Thanks to Estee, Humanoid, and book_burner for their cogent suggestions.
Younger SF fans should perhaps note that the Heinlein stories on which this story is based (part of his Future History universe) are genuine Old School, Golden Age SF, written when the lunar landings were a distant dream and NASA wasn't even NASA yet. The stories present an alternate history of the development of space travel in which private industry, rather than government agencies, took the initiative. Analogues to D. D. Harriman today might include Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites, Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk of SpaceX, though I don't want to imply that these worthies built their companies using any of Harriman's shady business tactics.
Keep up the great work.
Scribetor, tu scisne linguam latinam, vere?
More please!
I can think of few settings and people more appropriate for a crossover with Nightmare Moon. I definitely look forward to seeing where you go wit hthis. Also, I love "biting the sod with the stalk" as a pony proverb. And the idea of Luna banishing a maddened Celestia long ago, if true, is a fascinating idea. Could it perhaps be some kind of symbolic day/night cycle?
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Thank you! I will try.
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I regret to say that I do not. (I do know enough of etymology to have parsed your question without using a translator.)
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Gaudeo!
Possum ut te auxillam cum lingua.
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6187434
I had intended this story as a one-shot. I have one short omake chapter to post tomorrow, which is why I had it marked as incomplete. I should correct that so as not to mislead.
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Thanks for noticing the proverb; i was proud of it.
LOL
A pleasure to read. It's a shame that this isn't getting the attention that Riverdream did; I'd think folks would have better appreciation for the classics.
At any rate, added to the Sci-Fi Ponies group.
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Thank you! Should you spot any mistakes I've made, please let me know.
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I am pleased to have amused you.
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I'm just not a popular sort of writer. That's okay; I'm worth every penny that you paid to read the story.
Thank you again for Getting It.
you should make this a story and continue it
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I wish I could. I certainly have ideas on how to extend it, but I don't have the time to do so.
Good story! A very interesting interpretation of "Night Eternal," too. I do hope that Mr. Harriman won't get forgotten or shoved aside in Nightmare Moon's return; it's not clear just how much of these plans are her lies... except she really was willing to go to all this effort to get him, and she really was willing to leave him behind (great character moment for him too!). So she's not totally corrupted. Which promises there'll be some place for him...
It's usually expensive and impractical, but it looks awesome! And once in a while it can be very useful... as long as it's pointed at someone else.
(Why, yes, I do think Nightmare Moon's and Mike's theories on government are going to collide! And the sparks will be visible all the way down on Equestria.)
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Thanks! In my conception of the sequel to this story (which I am not likely to ever have time to write), she does have several specific reasons for rescuing him, and she does mean to put him to work. She is not lying to him, but there’s a lot that she is deliberately not telling him.
Mike would not be in the hypothetical sequel; that is an omake chapter.
This is beautiful.
Like others are saying, Harriman is perhaps the finest and most suitable character in all of fiction for a crossover with Luna/Nightmare Moon. And you delivered this with subtlety and nuance. I admit I was expecting him to turn her down, and die, but seeing him turn her down then change her mind...well, perhaps it was a compromise being made to see that character we loved so much not die this time around, but it was conducted plausibly and with truth to the source.
And, as you say, given the premise of Number of the Beast, I suppose it follows that Equestria is canon to Heinlein's works. He just never got around to writing about it. :)
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Thank you for the kind words!
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I'm so glad to see someone do a crossover between really classic SF and MLP:FIM.
I love that D.D. was able to be a hardball negotiator while dying and with his life sustained by the alien/demon with whom he was negotiating. You got the character down perfect, and also why this is someone who not merely Princess Luna, but Nightmare Moon, would respect.
For a different take on Luna and the Moon, try my "A Meeting by Moonlight."
So, a quick disclaimer: I never read a word of Heinlein, but if the spirit of his work in any way resembles that which is present in this short, I may go ahead and give his stuff a read in the near future.
I think I really relate to Harriman's dream of reaching the Moon. Though in my case, I aim higher. Much higher. Also, I don't have the resources or will to do anything remotely resembling what he did. So I think I'll stick to exploring the galaxy in video games like Elite: Dangerous for the time being.
Nightmare Moon is really well done, too. Much more nuanced portrayal than the cartoon villain we saw in the show. I have little doubt that this is a common feature of stories featuring Nightmare Moon as a major character – we've got a lot of talented authors on this site – but I don't often read such stories, as they seemingly seldom appear on my radar. So to see it in a story that does get my attention is very nice.