Apple Crisp and Sweetie Belle hopped across the stage of Earthshine Amphitheatre. Their hooves clopped against the wooden floor on every jump. Sweetie Belle looked up. Above her hung the catwalks and rigging, all made out of wood, and all with thin supports made possible by the lower gravity. Thin enough to burn quickly, Sweetie noted.
The pair arrived at one of the closed doors backstage.
"Wait," Apple Crisp said. "Do you hear that?"
Sweetie Belle cocked her head and flicked an ear. At the edge of her hearing, the unicorn could hear a faint, steady hissing. "It sounds like..." Sweetie Belle started, then the hissing intensified, becoming clearly audible. "Is it coming from the dome?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter; we have to get Spot Light and get out of here."
"If he survives this I'm going to kill him," Apple Crisp muttered before turning and bucking the door in. Smoke billowed out of the doorway. The two fillies ducked under the cloud of soot. "Come on, we have to get to him," Apple Crisp ordered.
The pair slowly walked through the smoke, holding their heads as low as they could. The gravity slowed their progress, as their hooves had too little friction on the smooth floor to walk at a normal pace.
Apple Crisp's hind hoof slipped out from under her and she fell onto her rump. Sweetie Belle propped her head under Apple Crisp and pushed her back to her hooves.
"Thanks," Apple Crisp said. "But we're taking too long here. We've got to find him."
"It was..." Sweetie Belle peered through the smoke. "...this way."
She led Apple Crisp to a door and pulled it open. On the other side was the rear hallway. Short flames covered the ceiling and ran down the supports. The hissing was louder than ever, mixing with the crackling and the popping of the fire. The last remnants of the setting sun shone brilliantly through the large windows. Every costume, prop, and spare piece of refuse in the hallway was aflame.
"Spot Light!" Apple Crisp called. "Where are you?!"
From down the hallway, a voice answered, "Apple Crisp? Is that you? I need help!"
The fillies hurried down the hall to a fallen rafter. The flaming wooden beam blocked the path between Apple Crisp and Spot Light, who had made his way to the other side of it.
"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Crisp turned to her. "Unicorn!" she barked. "Magic! Move it!"
Sweetie Belle concentrated on her horn, sweating from the heat and squinting away from the flames. Her magic felt strange. Different. She grunted in frustration as the beam refused to move. Her friend was trapped, and she couldn't rescue him.
---
Twilight Sparkle leapt through the streets, frantically making her way to the dome containing the theatre. In the distance, fire licked at the pressure dome. A tiny jet of what looked like steam sprayed into space where the fire hit it. As Twilight approached the tunnel leading to the dome, the jet swelled into a larger stream of escaping air.
Twilight came to the hatch, which was closed. Around it stood several lunar employees and the performance troupe. Three were missing.
"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle, where are you?" Twilight scanned the crowd, then moved to the pony at the hatch. "You have to let me in!"
The worker looked back at Twilight. "Sorry, ma'am, but there's no entry into the theatre dome until the fire is extinguished. We can't open the hatch until the air leak is repaired. It isn't safe."
"Please, my daughter is in there! I have to help her!" Twilight looked into her eyes.
"Ma'am, calm down. Princess Luna is personally seeing to the leak. As soon as it is safe to enter, we'll get your child out."
Twilight hopped in place, eyes on the escaping air. "Oh Princess, please hurry up!"
---
Sweetie Belle ignored her ears popping, concentrating on the flaming beam laying across the hallway. "Something's wrong! I can't..."
Green flickers accompanied the orange flames. The beam lurched into the air, then swung directly towards the fillies. Apple Crisp and Sweetie Belle ducked under it. The magic released, and the beam crashed to the ground behind them. As the wood split apart, the flames exploded outwards, singing the ponies' tails.
"We're not going out that way," Apple Crisp noted.
Spot Light moved to their sides. "The other ways out are completely blocked, too. What are we going to do?"
Sweetie Belle frantically looked around, then her eyes settled on the view outside. "See if you can break a window!"
"I tried one," Spot Light said. "Nothing heavy enough to throw through it."
Sweetie took a deep breath before coughing it out. She lowered her head, breathing in again. Her horn flared green. The strange magic fought her, but Sweetie grit her teeth, determined to survive. Sparks sputtered around her horn.
She groaned from the strain, then yelled as loud as she could. A green bolt shot from her horn, smashing through the window. It impacted the dome just beyond. The glowing grid rippled from the impact as Sweetie Belle's magic bolt sailed out over the lunar landscape.
In an instant, a powerful wind swept through the room and out the window, threatening to pull the foals off of their hooves and through the hole Sweetie Belle had put in the dome.
---
As Twilight watched, a small green bolt popped through the dome. Ripples from the impact spread across the dome's entire surface. An immense cloud of vapor shot out from near the theatre.
"Sweetie Belle! No!"
Twilight frantically turned to the hatch worker. "You have to let me in! Now! There's no time!"
The mare raised a hoof. "Ma'am, like I said, the air leak—"
"Is going to kill my daughter!" Twilight took a step forward.
"Ma'am, calm down. Everything is going to be all right."
"No! It isn't!"
Twilight grabbed the worker and slammed her upright against the hatch door. Twilight's horn glowed with unfocused maternal rage, pointed at the worker's throat.
"I am High Magician Twilight Sparkle, and you are going to open this hatch right this instant!"
"M-Madam Magician... even if I wanted to... it can't be opened against the pressure difference... and somepony would have to close the other hatch in the tunnel before we can safely open the valves."
Twilight dropped the lunar worker, who landed on her side. "Why is that even allowed to happen! What happened to the moon being perfectly safe?! How can that..." She pointed at the damaged dome, venting its contents. "...be safe?"
The worker just groaned.
Twilight propped herself up against the inside of her dome, looking out across the landscape at the theatre.
"Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle, please make it!"
---
The foals screamed. The blowing air fanned the flames towards them, forcing them closer to the gaping hole in the dome.
"What do we do? What do we do?!" Sweetie Belle shouted over the howling wind.
"I don't know!" Apple Crisp shouted back.
A dark figure moved against the stars outside. Princess Luna, lit by the fire, hovered in the vacuum just above the air leak. Her horn lit up and the hole in the dome squeezed smaller, but not entirely closed. The Princess's mouth moved as if she were shouting, but no sound reached Sweetie's ears. Luna gritted her teeth under the strain of magically holding multiple air leaks back. She waved her forelegs, motioning to the foals.
"I think she wants us to jump out," Apple Crisp said.
"Sounds good to me!" Sweetie Belle lept out of the window, followed by her friends.
Outside, they tumbled to the ground in front of the edge of the dome.
Sweetie Belle looked at Princess Luna. "Thank you, Princess!"
Luna frantically motioned the fillies away.
"Oh yeah!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "Let's get out of here!"
---
Sweetie Belle jumped across the field in front of the theatre, her friends trailing behind her. She stumbled, then fell to the grass, gasping. Her legs felt too weak to stand on. In fact, her whole body felt as weak as it had all those years ago.
"I can't..." she gasped out. "I think... my heart... it's giving out on me again."
She felt Apple Crisp's head behind her rump. "If it's your heart," the earth pony said, "then it's mine, too." She took a few deep breaths. "We're almost to the hatch. We'll be all right when we get to it."
With Apple Crisp's help, Sweetie Belle pushed herself to her hooves. Spot Light held out his foreleg, helping to steady her. Wheezing in the thinning air, the three pulled themselves to the airlock.
"Get that..." Sweetie Belle gasped. "...hatch shut."
The foals grasped whatever handles and protrusions they could find. Bracing their hooves against the threshold, they slowly swung the heavy door shut. Apple Crisp rotated the large handle to secure the hatch, sealing the airlock.
Finally, the three fell to the ground, gasping for air. "Now... what?" Sweetie Belle asked, splayed out on the floor.
A loud thunk answered her question. Air rushed in, a small cloud of dust blowing out of the vents surrounding the hatch leading to the rest of the colony. Sweetie Belle's ears popped again in the rising pressure.
The air pressure equalized and the hatch swung open. In the next instant, Sweetie Belle was in her mother's embrace.
"Sweetie Belle! Oh Sweetie Belle, I was so worried about you! I thought I was going to lose you!" Tears ran down Twilight's face. She squeezed her daughter tight, kissing her forehead.
"It's all right, Mom. I'm all right. It was pretty scary, but I'm all right, now." She hugged her mother back.
Nearby, Apple Crisp and Spot Light watched the fire die down in the thinning atmosphere. The dome slowly sagged as it deflated.
"There go the props," she said.
"Yeah." He didn't take his eyes off of what was left of the theatre.
"And the costumes."
"Yeah."
"So much for our big break. I wonder if Earthshine will ever let us come back." She turned to Spot Light. "All right, be honest. Did you make me rescue you just to bring us together romantically?"
Spot Light spun towards Apple Crisp. "What?"
"Come on, I'm a director; I know how this works." She waved her hoof. "Two ponies in a life-and-death situation end up falling in love with each other. It happens every time. It's in the script and everything."
"Um... I really was trapped in there."
"You still did it wrong, you dope."
"What do you mean?"
"The handsome, dashing young stallion is supposed to rescue the mare he pines for, not the other way around." She sighed dejectedly. "We'll have to reset and take it from the top."
"Um... I'd rather—"
Spot Light was interrupted by a pair of lips pressing against his. He relaxed, closed his eyes, and enjoyed their mutual first kiss.
After an all-too-short moment, the two separated. Spot Light shifted his weight. "So, uh... I guess I should buy you dinner or something."
Apple Crisp put her hoof to her chin. "Hmmm... I guess I could live with that, if it's from you."
"I could cover replacement props and costumes, too."
"I suppose I don't really have a choice, there."
"And a bigger practice studio? Please? The old one smells like something died under the floorboards."
Apple Crisp wrapped her forelegs around his neck, and her dark blue eyes gazed lovingly into his green ones.
"Don't push your luck."
Wait... How much time has passed between this chapter and the first one?
Yay! Nobody died! Learning experiences all around!
2137234 I think it was around two years.
Edit: Okay, apparently it's been about 5 years.
Twilight Sparkle in full-on Mama Bear RAGE!
I like, although since Magical Mystery Cure aired, it's getting harder for me to see Twilight as just a unicorn now.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
I'll be honest. I couldn't really gather enough detail when they were escaping the fire to understand that all three ponies were out of there. I seriously thought that whoever the colt was, was still trapped and likely dead the whole time.
But other than that it was good. Kinda like Twi's reaction but...Yea I expect someone to talk to her about that you know? She did threaten somepony's life. (i think)
2137234 around 5 years time
2137249 more like 5
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/26735447.jpg
2137234
Since the prologue? 355 years. Unless you mean since they got there, in which case this is the 5 year mark.
"Princess Celestia, the moon is on fire."
"Medammit, can't my sister do ANYTHING without needing to copy me."
loved it! awesome way to get them together. too bad twilight couldn't do anything...
keep up the great work
Wow Sweetie's heart sure took a strain there but survived. Good engineering it must have.
Twilight nearly went completely kick ass
Luna got to be awesome
Uhm... on the moon... where there are no trees... where a fire could kill everyone if not contained immediately... they make buildings out of wood which have no fire suppression system.
Are all of Luna's supporters (and the Princess herself) completely retarded?
Sorry, this entire thing feels totally unbelievable.
Update? WOOP!!!
A really nice, short-ish chapter. Good work, and I also loved the moment "You should save me not other way around", it was hilarious considering what just happened.
Nice way to end the moon saga on a positive note of romance... for now.
Still, maybe Twilight could learn Princess Luna's side of how her friends lives were doing after she left them in the past ?
Still, please do keep up the good work upon such a great tale.
I WANT MOAR , at least it is updating though
2137364
Learning experience. They don't know how to survive on the moon other than "Air needs to be here somehow" They didn't think they needed to worry about fires or just didn't think about fire period.
2137364 Actually, it's more believable than you think. All over the world there are engineering failures and buildings that, if destroyed, could cause huge disasters, yet they exist today. (Just take a look at the Tropicana field, which could rain down superheated glass. Or take a look at the Citigroup Center, which could destroy ALL OF MANHATTAN if it collapses. No joke. )
Awww, that ending was cute.
Do I smell a sidestory?
2137531 Which validates my point that they're all clearly retarded.
You made Twilight useless. How dare you make Twilight useless.
where are the BANANAS?!
2137216 Gotta love 80's montage music.
2137238 Learning experiences benefit if you're not Calvin. I guess we're good, there.
2137256 When you work for Celestia, you can get away with threatening murder.
Only Sweetie Belle could make the moon catch fire. There's going to be some explaining done.
And now perhaps Twilight will find out why Luna prefers the moon, and why she left.
And there goes the usual CMC influenced disaster. If more those happened in 350 years it's a wonder Equestria is still intact
Twilight's a little out of practice, not having to save Equestria in over 5 years.
There's a thunder 'cross the land...
Chapter 11 - Spot Light's Money Fixes Everything
Smoke on the water? A fire in the sky?
Herp
I'll be honest, given Twi's track record with emotionally taxing situations, I was waiting for her to tear that airlock open. Glad she didn't, though. That would have been bad... Ya know, in an explosively decompressive way.
2137973
Well, violence is all shes got left! Its not like she could banish anyone to the moon anymore
*Tons of money to create a Lunar Base*
*An entire facility destroyed from a piece of paper*
Nice.
Am I the only one to notice the Somber Crystal Taint? Honestly COME ON
So you know, we wholly expect you to continue your genicide of the word count. You set expectations sir!
Hmnn.. If the moon is on fire, does that mean we get to see the sun freezing?
Schmoopy doopy woopy poopy sweetiekins cuddle wulldle wuvy head kissy pie cutie wooty fluffy wuffy honey bunny lovey dovey baby cakes.
There's your word count.
2140332
Only if Sweetie Belle tries to cook it.
I'd love to see them get back now that Twilight essentially is Sweetie's mother.
2144059 I think that only lasted for 9 months.
Alright! We got a new moon base with castles, parks, gift shops, and even a fancy theate-
aaaaaannd... its gone
Wow that was a better episode than the show (although the season finale isn't to hard to beat) keep writing this story rules
One thing I dislike from a physics perspective is when something is put in low pressure, say a liquid, the boiling point lowers. So say take a person, filled with blood, and put them in a room with the pressure lowering....their blood boils and all that is left is a nice red splatter. Would suck for the story though...
i was hoping to find out sweetie belle's magic became more powerful on the moon with the different magic currents...oh well
2146077 That may be true for uncontained fluids like water droplets in space, but our bodies are rather tightly contained systems. The pressure in our bodies WILL lower and the body will start to expand slightly and slowly against the vacuum, but you'll probably die of hypoxia long before you might even began to feel the expansion. What would probably happen is, air will rush out of the less tightly sealed areas, such as the lungs and your intestines through your mouth and anus respectively; then you will fall unconscious and die from the sudden lack of oxygen to draw from your lungs. No amount of disfigurement not unlike a piece of pasta slowly expanding in lukewarm water hours later is going to change anything.
Edit: I'll like to add that our bodies' (and a pony's body for that matter) internal pressure will remain largely the same for quite some time, so no sudden red splatters here.
Oh, Luna damn you, my blood ran cold when I read that.
I don't know any story that tears at my emotions quite like this one. I've actually been putting off reading these last two chapters for a week because I didn't feel like I had the strength to cope with them. This is one of the best stories and indeed best settings on Fimfiction, I simply adore it!