The Distant Princess

by GMBlackjack

XLI - Final Launch

Ignoring the existence of magical conveniences that are able to reject gravity, it takes a lot of energy to break the gravity well of a planet and get into space. And that’s for temporary visits; setting something in orbit takes exponentially more energy. Don’t get me started on the requirements for leaving the planet’s pull entirely. Then there’s the sun’s gravity well…

Basically, every degree of freedom desired in space requires another massive burst of energy. This is why it’s so frustrating when rocket scientists spend eons crafting complex machines only to discover that there’s a magic bubble wand that can ignore gravity sold at virtually every planet in the connected galaxy.

Of course, the infuriated steam does not have to come at the discovery of the nonsensical orbal juice, it could just come from realizing that you weren’t the first one up there. Dozens of satellites are still in orbit, as well as numerous pieces of junk and debris. It really is a testament to the Earth’s nature that their orbits haven’t degraded or fallen.

The International Space Station’s still up there, you know. Impossible as it is, it hasn’t fallen. Not that anybody knows it exists, and even if they did, what exactly would they find of use up there?

~~~

“Bonnie!” Twilight and Marceline screamed at the same time.

Lapis burst into action, trying to control the various pieces of gum that had flown everywhere, but they had very little water content. All she could do was scoop it all up with the rest of her water diluting it. “I… I’m trying, I…”

“Get it over here!” Twilight called, pointing at the soup of pink that was inside Bonnibel’s armor. “We need a way to cool her down!”

“There’s ice in the city!” Finn shouted. “Just inside the gates!”

“On it!” Lapis took off.

Marceline tried to touch the armor, but it burned her fingers. “Bonnie, you had to go and be stupid…”

“We’re not done!” Twilight shouted. “She has vast stores of magic and r-regenerative properties and…”

“Ice” Lapis shouted, dumping an entire vendor’s cart worth of ice over the steaming armor. The temperature of the metal quickly dropped, though it turned the ice into a bunch of slush. The gum within started to solidify… but there was no face.

“Bonnie…” Twilight said, placing a hoof on the armor now that it wasn’t boiling hot. “Earlier… you touched me with magic you didn’t know you had. Y-y—” She choked on her words, coughing up some phlegm in the process. Forcing it back down, she made no efforts to keep her tears from falling onto the armor. “You saved us. You won! You’ve been the force behind all of this and you are a great friend and…” She forced her breathing to slow, feeling the small spark of magic left in her horn spread to her eyes. “You’re fine.”

Rainbow walked up to Twilight, putting a wing around her. A soft red and purple light came from the two of them, touching Bonnibel. It restored her shape, pushed all gum back where it should be, face reformed… but no breath.

But there was a spark, not within the harmony, but within Bonnibel herself. Twilight nudged it with her magic, prompting the spark to flare up. She saw roses…

That, Twilight thought. That’s hers. I just need t—

She barely had to think it and the magic flared, coming from Bonnibel’s core and engulfing her entire body. Her chest rose and fell as soft white sparkles moved up and down her body. With the second breath, she opened her eyes.

“Bonnie…?” Marceline asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Bonnie blinked. “Did someone shoot me?”

“Peepers,” Twilight answered, taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. “But that doesn’t matter right now, you’re fine!”

“How?” Bonnibel coughed. “...Harmony magic?”

“I… I touched a spark of magic within you. The harmony let me use it, but the healing… that was all you. I just released it.”

Bonnibel frowned. “Right… Twilight, I think I’ll be taking you up on that offer to learn magic, later.”

“Yes. Later.” Marceline insisted. “You’re going to rest right now, Bonnie.”

“I won’t have any problem with that. But first…” She tried to sit up, but realized she was stuck under half frozen slush. “Uh… help?”

Lapis broke the ice and released her, helping her stand up with some watery supports. Nodding her thanks, Bonnibel weakly turned to Jack. “Samurai Jack.”

“Princess Bubblegum.”

“Do not run away again,” Bonnibel said. “You need to be protected, now more than ever.”

“Aku will destroy you if you shelter me.”

“And if you are not sheltered, in a week he will have won.” She let out a deep breath. “The Equestrians have a powerful artifact called the Elements of Harmony. I believe they are the reason he does not attack them directly. If you are within their care, he will not dare to approach you.”

“I could not a—”

“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic,” Twilight announced. “And with the power vested in me as Princess and Element, I hereby decree that Jack is under the official protection of the Equestrian Crown. If he will not come willingly into protective custody I will force him.”

Rainbow snickered. “She’s gotcha, Jack.”

Jack sighed, shaking his head—but smiling softly. “As you wish.”

“I… I want to help him too,” Starlight said, slinking up to Jack. “To… make up for it.”

“You have more than made up for your actions by fighting the true fight,” Jack said, placing a hand on her.

“Still… I was going down a bad place. You made me realize something that they,” she gestured at Rainbow and Twilight, “never could.”

Twilight gasped. “Starlight, do you—”

“Cutie marks are still an evil abomination that destroys the rights of ponies,” Starlight huffed. “But… no, I don’t want to make you suffer anymore.” She laughed nervously. “Do you know what Aku offered me for doing his dirty work? A portal to the past, where I could ruin the six of your lives on that day with the Rainboom.”

“I am not sure he would have let you,” Jack said.

“I was desperate and angry.” She glanced at Rainbow. “Still am. But you know what, if I ruined all your lives you wouldn’t have been here to deal with all of this insanity and… I’m just not a fan of the domino effect on that one.”

Twilight extended a hoof to Starlight. “I understand. And I hope we can be friends. I would love to hear about why you think cutie marks are evil.”

Starlight refused the hoof. “...Maybe later.”

Twilight failed in her attempts to not look hurt. “O-okay.”

“Right, day’s been saved!” Finn clapped his hands. “Now let’s get everyone inside, to the hospital, and sleep. We’ll figure out what to do with everything in the morning, right Peebles?”

Bonnibel nodded weakly, taking a deep breath to formulate her response. “Yes, yes. And any Watchdogs who are still around are welcome to sleep in the royal guest hall.” She glanced at Twilight. “We don’t need more fighting.”

Twilight nodded in appreciation. “Let’s all get some sleep.”

It was at this point that Hater’s skull dug itself out of the ground, gnashing angrily. “I didn’t lose! I’m still fighting! I’m ready to face it! The Greatest in the Galaxy wi—”

“That’s it!” Lapis shouted, pulling Hater’s skull and body out of the ground and smashing the two together, creating a Hater that was missing an arm. “I am so sick of you and your dumb angry punching complex!”

“Put me down and I’ll punch you into next week!”

Lapis grinned. “Oh, I’ll put you down. You’re from space, right? You’ve been trying to fix your ship to get back there?”

“Yes! Duh!” Hater rolled his eyes. “What part of this don’t you understand?”

“Just confirming a hunch.” Lapis took all the water she could from the surrounding area, drying up most of the mud in the process. She stuck Hater in the middle of it… and twisted her arms.

The entire volume of water erupted in a water spout that kept going and going for miles into the air until none of them could see the top anymore. A solid minute later, Lapis clapped her hands, and the water spout burst. Rain began to descend on the Candy Capital.

“Did… did you just launch him into orbit?” Bonnibel asked.

“Yep.” Lapis put her hands proudly on her hips. “He won’t be coming back down.”

“I… I knew Lapis Gems could leave the gravity well but I’d never thought…” Bonnibel put a hand to her head. “Okay, I’ll ask about later. My head…”

“I’m going to do an encore.” Lapis rubbed her hands together. “Where’s that Peepers guy?”

“Oh, him?” Jake said. “He ran off the moment he shot the Princess.”

“...And you didn’t stop him!?”

“Nobody seemed to care.”

“More pressing things were happening at the time!”

“So that’s why I didn’t do anything.”

“AUGH!” Lapis pulled her hair. “I… just can’t… even…”

“Go get some sleep,” Bonnibel suggested.

“Gems don’t need sleep!”

“But you can.”

“F-fine.” Lapis crossed her arms. “Sleep’s okay, I guess.”

“Woohoo, slumber party!” Pinkie called.

Rainbow facehooved. “Uuuugh…”

“No party, just rest,” Jack insisted.

“Fine,” Pinkie said, pouting.

“Oh, uh, the ex-King might need a new bed,” Finn said. “I crashed through his mushroom when Aku threw me.”

“W-what!?” the previously silent ex-King shouted. “No… no… no! My one possession! My wish! Noooooooo!” He shouted to the heavens his pure, emotionally potent rage.

And nobody cared.

Comments

[Josiador]

Ooh, Jack in Equestria, eh? I'm excited to see where this goes.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Glob bleep it, Jake.

At least Hater's time in orbit will give him a chance to think about things. He obviously won't use it, but he'll have the chance. Peepers may be a larger issue down the line, but for now, Aku is the elephant in the room. Or whatever other form he's going with. For now, time for our heroes to rest and recover.

[hamster wizard]

Everyone lived happily ever after.

“Did… did you just launch him into orbit?” Bonnibel asked.

...and nothing of value was lost.

[Justalad 45]

u Know,all things considered,they were really lucky that Hater was not TRULLY pissed at the moment,the things he can do and the power he have while pissed or motivated......Yikes.