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By the Light of the Silvery Moon2,099 words
Gloria Noctis2,118 words
Light in the Darkness2,091 words
The Truth Revealed2,004 words
Lullaby for a Princess2,152 words

The Truth Revealed

A few days passed by since the arrival of the two strangers, and life continued to proceed as normal at the court of Canterlot. The Knights of Canterlot continued their security duties, in addition to dance routines and chorus scenes with foot work im- pecc- able. There was also much singing, and feasting too, although the diet did not solely consist of ham and jam and spam... a lot.

Naturally, the two new arrivals from another world had attracted much interest. One morning, as the sun shot violently into the sky as it always did, Buzz rose from his slumber in the guest room, and got himself showered and dressed in preparation for breakfast. Once this task was accomplished, he stepped outside to greet his guards. Celestia, it seemed, took the security of all at the castle very seriously, and the Storm King's invasion had led to a massive increase in the security budget.

"Good morning," he said, cordially, to the pair.

"Good morning, sir," said the first, trying to stand up under the weight of his helmet. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you," he said. "May we head downstairs? I want to make the best use of the day."

"As you command," the other guard said, having a noticably easier time staying stood up. "Let's go!"

The trio proceeded down the staircase, and Buzz noticed that the two guards posted to watch Neil's room were already gone. He must already be downstairs, he reasoned, and they descended the staircase, which went down and round and round and down for what seemed like an eternity. Once they reached the bottom after an age of walking (although he was used to walking for long distances with heavy loads thanks to his training), they saw a gaggle of reporters suddenly appear from nowhere, dressed in badly cut suits and equally crooked ties, completed with dodgy fedora hats. The moment that Celestia appeared from another corridor, surrounded by more security, the reporters seemingly went wild. Their cameras began wildly flashing, taking twenty pictures a second from the speed at which the flash bulbs were going off. They also began to ask and shout questions.

"Is it true that visitors from another dimension are here?" asked one.

"Are there other worlds beyond Mount Aris and our own?" asked another.

"Is it true that you and Luna plan to retire at the end of the year and let Twilight Sparkle take over?" asked the third.

"Is it true there was a confrontation between Crystal Empire and Luna Guard forces a few days ago?" asked the fourth to speak.

"Is there cake?" asked a fifth, a short, fat man with the roundest stomach Buzz had ever seen.

Several guards marched over to disperse the reporters, but Celestia raised her hand. "HALT!" she called, her voice, though at nowhere near the deafening volume it could produce, still full of authority. "I shall answer their questions."

The guards nodded, and stepped back, though to the sides of the Princess of the Sun.

"First, I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. Second, there is indeed lands beyond the Rocky Seas and Ice Oceans, but we are yet to explore that far and map those lands. Third, whom is spreading that rumour again? The last transfer of power from Laurelore to myself was chaotic enough. In these troubled times, stability is needed for the people, and a change in power would not facilitate such stability, irrespective of Twilight Sparkle's achievements or not. Fourth, I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. Finally, there is indeed cake, but if you reporters continue to act like children there shall be none for you."

That seemed to satisfy the reporters, and they went away, satisfied with their answers. Buzz stepped over with his security detail to Celestia. "Do you get that often?" he asked. A few days earlier, Celestia had insisted on speaking with him on first name terms, which made life a lot easier than needing to repeat her title over and over again.

"Indeed," Celestia sighed. "The reporters all seem to think I am the more photogenic of me and my sister, which is not a positive sign. If Luna were to learn they thought this, it would hurt her self confidence." She paused. "Updating her grasp of the Equestrian language was hard enough."

Moments later, the door opened, and Luna stood on the other side. "Are you going to come in, Tia?"

"I had to get rid of some reporters first," Celestia replied. "The rumour that we plan on retiring has reared its ugly head again, and it's the last thing I want to deal with at the moment."

"Now would be a good time to harness the power of the faculty lot," Luna replied.

"Aunt Luna, what is this 'faculty lot'?" Cadence asked, currently seated at the table.

"I shall explain later," Luna replied. "Right now we need to prepare for the Grand Galloping Gala, possibly the most boring night of the year. I hope my suggestions for music have been accepted."

Stepping back to let Celestia in, the guards shut the doors behind the incoming entourage, and the other set of guards now stood outside the door to ensure that nobody got inside whilst the royals and their guests were dining. Buzz took his seat and saw the Neil was already conversing with Cadence over something or other. That woman was so different to the other two. She was somehow so much more bubbly and energetic than Luna or Celestia. Anyways, the meal soon started, considerable piles of pancakes and other things, such as salmon (who eats salmon for breakfast?).

"I hereby concur," Luna said, suddenly speaking up, "that tonight shall be a night of fun and celebration. I have proposed that a band play for our entertainment, playing the most up to date and lively of tunes."

"I'm not sure you understand what the word 'concur' means, Aunt Luna," Cadence said.

"It matters not!" Luna replied, suddenly full of joy. "Trumpets!"

Night came, and the Grand Galloping Gala was underway, with many people important and not so important in the ball room dancing and making small talk with one another. The music was certainly helping to liven up the atmosphere a great deal over previous Grand Galloping Galas, and Neil had certainly been the centre of attention for many of the nobles of Canterlot (although he found their manner somewhat insufferable, although a chap called Fancy Pants had been a nice change from the usual mixture of gaudy entitlement on parade that night). As the music seemed to be subsiding, he chose to excuse himself. Taking a glass of punch with him (and avoiding a girl with brown hair whose mouth was full of sprouts), he walked outside and stood outside (as you'd expect of a person who had walked outside). He looked up at the moon, hanging beautifully in the sky and illuminating the city.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" asked a voice. Neil looked back to see Luna, in all her finery and regalia, walking towards him with a smile. "I have always found the night to be my favourite time of the day."

"I can imagine," Neil replied. "I needed some air, that's all. That, and some people were getting a bit too annoying."

Luna's face changed to one of sympathy. "I understand. Many of the nobles expect the world given to them on a plate, and constantly gave me grief when I returned." She then stopped. "But I never had a chance to ask you about your planned mission that ultimately did not end. What happened?"

Neil took a seat on a bench, and Luna sat next to him. "Well, we had been travelling to the moon for several days. We were preparing for orbital insertion for the landing. Michael Collins had just taken up position in the Apollo Service Module, and Buzz and I were in the Lander..."

July 20th, 1969. In Lunar orbit, 1743 hours.

Armstrong switched on the radio, all launch preparations complete. "Apollo control, this is Eagle. We are ready to commence separation for landing, over."

Roger Eagle. You are cleared to separate and burn, out."

Armstrong reached for the docking controls. "Columbia, this is Eagle. Initiating separation in 3, 2, 1. GO!"

Seconds later, a blast of smoke shot from the docking assembly between the Lunar Ascent and Command Modules. The Eagle began to turn and fall away towards the surface of the moon.

"The Eagle has Wings!"

Collins looked out of the porthole window of Columbia to see the Eagle falling away towards the moon. "Eagle, you are good to go, over. All systems go."

"Roger that, Columbia. Houston taking over for Powered Descent."

Suddenly, glancing out of the window at the moon, Armstrong saw the Moon start to suddenly and violently glow. "What in the-"

Seconds later, the Eagle began to shake violently. The computer began blaring sirens.

"1202 alarm."

"1201 and 1202 alarms, copy," Armstrong replied. "Are you getting this, over?"

"Eagle, please specify, over."

"Houston, the moon is glowing. Flashing quite fast, and suddenly. I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"We see the problem, over. Mission Control is currently running a bypass ov-"

Suddenly, the radio cut out, and a giant white hole opened up in front of them. The Eagle was powerless to resist, and was sucked in, falling through a vast kaleidascope of rainbow colours.

"Are you seeing this?" Buzz asked. "I'm not just dreaming, right?"

"I'm seeing it too," Neil replied.

Moments after having entered, the Eagle emerged from the hole, seemingly over a city. The craft lurched, and began to fall like a stone.

"Commence preparations for powered descent," Armstrong ordered, as the Eagle narrowly avoided clipping a tower. "Disable flight computer. I'll land the Eagle manually."

"Roger that, disabling flight computer. She's in your hands."

Armstrong took the controls, the craft seconds from crashing. He put the engines to full power. The fuel guages dropped rapidly as the Eagle slowed down, before slowing to a complete stop and landing on the ground. The fuel tank was empty. But they had landed safely.

Buzz glanced out of the window to suddenly see a group outside. "It looks like there's a welcome party."

"Indeed," Armstrong replied. "Suit up; I'll go down first."

Present day.

Luna looked stunned. It was then she realised what was going on. "This is my fault!"

"Huh?" Neil asked. "Did you just say-"

"This was all caused that night!" Luna exclaimed. "That night when I transformed into Luna! The moon glowed repeatedly as Luna's magic is tied to the moon itself. And I fully intend to ask her, when I find her, precisely what she intended by all this!"

Neil looked confused. "If you're not Luna, then who are you?"

"I was but a man called Jimmy Hook," Luna replied. "I have a tendancy for ending up in these scrapes, and was observing the moon one night when I became whom you see before you. Then Celestia arrived and took me back to Equestria. I heard somebody say something when I stepped through the portal, but now I know what it was!"

"And it was?"

"Jimmy gets to be his favourite princess for a few weeks whilst I get a holiday. Luna must be where I am originally from! But I can fix this!"

"How?"

"By using my magic to generate enough power to send you both back in time to the corect point. It will mean, of course, that you won't remember these occurances, but history will be put back on the correct course." Luna focused on the moon, which moved into position above them. Drawing as much energy as she could, the moon suddenly flashed the brightest it had ever been before, and the light grew so bright it was blinding. Neil and Buzz vanished, as did the damaged Eagle.

But Luna suddenly found herself falling. Falling into an infinite void that stretched before her.

Author's Note:

Just goes to show that actions have consequences...

The Apollo portion is based on the original style of the radio transmissions, but the dialogue is not exactly the same as in the original transcripts for dramatic purposes.

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blue cookie

blue cookie #1 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

So this also teleport him too?

The Blue EM2

The Blue EM2 #2 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

10116389
Damned moon power.

The Blue EM2

The Blue EM2 #3 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

10116723
It may not end as you expect...

The Blue EM2

The Blue EM2 #4 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

10116835
Or mayeb it will?

The Blue EM2

The Blue EM2 #5 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

10116940
Truen

JimmyHook19

JimmyHook19 #6 · Mar 5th, 2020 · · ·

Third, whom is spreading that rumour again? The last transfer of power from Laurelore to myself was chaotic enough. In these troubled times, stability is needed for the people, and a change in power would not facilitate such stability, irrespective of Twilight Sparkle's achievements or not.

Man, if Canon!Celestia acted more reasonable, that would make things a whole lot easier and make it so that the writers never used Lauren's original vision.