Fables From Equestria

by Shingo

Grasping Something Big

Every citizen of Equestria had their head to the skies. All of them were focused on something quickly climbing the atmosphere. Smoke could be seen coming from the object as it propelled itself forward. Some could see a spark leaving the trail of smoke. Others could see a metallic object with fire spitting out of the end of it. Whatever they saw, they all looked to it with hope, admiration, and awe. In a research facility in Canterlot, dozens of ponies were sitting at monitors. At the center of the room was a large monitor with the object in it. Many of them wore headsets and talking into them. Looking over it all was a purple unicorn. She had a pair of glasses on her face and, like the others, was wearing a headset. Various voices around the room spoke of the object.

“Output is at 70%,” a male earth pony said.

“Vital systems on the subject are stable,” a female pegasus said. The purple unicorn nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Once the output reaches 85%, tell her to use the afterburner.” The unicorn tapped the desk she was at.

“Awfully nervous aren’t you?” a voice said beside her. She turned to see a pubescent dragon beside her. He wore a white lab coat and had a pair of metallic balls in his hand. He offered them to her. “Here, these should calm you down.” The balls were enveloped in a purple glow.

“I think I have a legitimate reason to be nervous, Spike,” she said. The balls began rotating clockwise in her magical grip. “This is the very first time something like this has been attempted. If anything goes wrong, all those years of research will go to waste.”

“Waste for today,” Spike said. “But not for tomorrow. We have to do all we can today to live for tomorrow. If you make a mistake now, you learn from it to see the next dawn.” Twilight chuckled.

“You’ve been spending too much time around Zecora,” she said. “I think she’s rubbing off on you.”

“Even if she is, I don’t mind,” he replied. “You don’t have a reason to be nervous. She’s been trained by the best, and since that’s you, you can rest easy. Besides, it’s not like she…”

“Output has reached 85%!” the pegasus interrupted. The metallic balls were crushed to dust in Twilight’s magical grip. She lifted her hoof to the right side of the headset.

“Activate the afterburner,” she said. On the other side of the headset, a muffled response was heard. All of the ponies in the research facility looked at the monitors. For a brief moment, the object stopped spewing smoke. Time seemed to slow down for every creature in the room. “Come on, work.” Bright white flames came from the end of the object as well as more smoke. It propelled itself even further and at a faster rate.

“Launch the probe!” Twilight ordered. One of the ponies pressed a button. The large monitor split vertically. The right half of it was black, while the other part showed the moving object. The flames coming from it were slowing down. Eventually, the object dwindled to nothingness. “Turn it on. I want to see everything.” The screen was enveloped in black. Typing sounds could be heard in the room as well as muttering. The screen turned on showing the object floating above a blue background.

“Exodus One, can you hear me,” the earth pony said. He was answered by static. “I repeat, Exodus One, can you hear me?” Again, static was heard. The sound of static echoed in the room. Twilight bit her lower lip.

“Please,” she said. “Please be okay.” The earth pony frantically typed at his terminal.

“Exodus One, please respond,” he said. The static cut to a female giggle.

“I have a name,” the disembodied voice said. The image in the monitor split in half. Half of the screen was occupied a pony in a special suit. On the front part of the body was technology and tubes feeding the suit. The head was covered in a helmet with a glass dome in the front of it. Inside the dome was a pink pony with bright blue eyes. She had a smile on her face. “And I don’t think Exodus One can talk. But if he could, I think he’d be happy to tell you something.” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“And what would that be, Pinkie?” she asked. The smile on the pink pony’s face widened.

“He’d tell you that launch was successful,” she said. “And that we’ve successfully taken the first steps to kissing the stars.” All around the country, ponies were cheering. Many of them were cheering because their race had accomplished the impossible. Others were cheering because they knew that somepony important to them was still alive. And some were cheering for the sake of cheering. The ponies in the research facility were happily cheering due to their successful mission. It was in Twilight’s nature to give a congratulatory speech for their achievement, but something told her that it wasn’t appropriate right now. She wiped a tear from her eye as the moment had finally sunk in her mind: she had successfully sent a pony off the planet.

Comments

[Thorlol]

Twilight, what have you done? Releasing Pinkie Pie on the rest of the galaxy?

[BenRG]

Pinkie flying Equestria's answer to Vostok-1? Well, who else would you choose? Who else would be brave and stupid enough but still also be wise enough to explain what it meant to whoever asked?