After Night Star helped to comfort a homesick Peach Fizz, Seashell and Glory, the rest of the group continued to sleep peacefully, aware that they were now heading for the moon, and they could be landing there at any time.
And unfortunately, the Vision One mission control team were still unaware that the group was on the shuttle, and continued on with their mission as scheduled as they got closer and closer to the moon's surface. “We are nearing lunar orbit, sir,” Slats said, keeping progress on his computer, and after a few moments, Pi gave another set of orders. “Let's get ready to initiate landing procedure.”
Astro immediately put on her glasses at this. “Switch from autopilot to remote, Astro, please,” Slats requested, and Astro immediately did as told. “I am now in control of the ship and am prepared to land.”
“Surface of the moon,” Pi said hopefully, “here we come.”
XXXXXXXX
Back onboard the shuttle, a loud rumbling sound caused everyone who was sleeping to wake up with a jolt. “What was that?!” Misty wondered with wide eyes. “I don’t know… but I think we need to find out,” Zipp hummed in thought. “B-Dawg, deactivate the night shade!”
B-Dawg nodded and pressed his paw on the button, and the night shade deactivated, revealing a huge gray… object in front of them. Immediately thinking he knew what it was, B-Dawg let out a scream. “The Death Star!”
“B-Dawg, it’s the moon,” Buddha reminded his brother. “It looks a lot bigger up here than when we used to howl at it from home.”
“Aw, goodness!” Budderball said, his mouth immediately watering. “All the blue cheese a fella can eat!”
“We are heading for it, and fast,” Spudnick told the others. “Buckle up, guys.”
“Way ahead of you!” Night Star said as she reactivated the restraints. That’s when B-Dawg saw another control button, and pressed it. Suddenly he became in control of the ship, using the glasses he was wearing. “Whoa! Weird!”
XXXXXXXX
Back on Earth, Astro suddenly felt control of the ship leave her, much to her shock. “Wait, this is unbelievable. I've lost control of the ship!”
“Talk to me,” Pi said sternly as Astro tried to figure out what had happened. “I don't know. Somehow,” she said, “the onboard vectra system has overridden the remote pilot!”
XXXXXXXX
Back onboard the shuttle, without realizing what he was doing, B-Dawg suddenly made the ship begin to spiral around and around in circles as they sped toward the moon at top speed. “B-Dawg!” Rosebud shouted. “What are you doing?!”
“AHHHHHH!!!” the ponies screamed at the top of their lungs. “Stop the spinning!” Mudbud wailed.
XXXXXXXX
“A thousand feet,” Slats said, keeping progress on the ship as it spun out of control, “and gaining speed, sir!”
XXXXXXXX
The ponies and their friends continued to scream, unsure of what to do.
XXXXXXXX
“If we don’t get control soon,” Pi spoke up in fear, “and adjust our course, the Vision One's a goner!”
XXXXXXXX
“Who turned on the spin cycle?!!” Sunny and Budderball shrieked at once, trying to keep themselves from puking.
XXXXXXXX
“Slats!” Pi barked. “Time!”
“57 seconds till impact!”
XXXXXXXX
“WHOAAAAAAAAA!!!!! We’re going in circles!!!” B-Dawg wailed before taking off his set of glasses. “Someone!!! DO SOMETHING!!!”
That's when Spudnick knew that this was his time to step up. He transferred control of the shuttle to his set of glasses and took over, trying to balance the ship out and get it to stop spinning.
And after a moment... he was finally successful. “There we go.”
“Yeah, I could've done that,” B-Dawg said, trying to sound cool. “Just need a little practice, that's all.”
“That was horrifying!” Hitch panted. “Good job, Spudnick,” Rosebud praised with a smile. “Oh, thanks, Rosebud,” Spudnick smiled back. “But I'm turning it over to the experts.”
“Good idea,” Zipp nodded before glaring over at B-Dawg. “Better do it before SOMEONE gets us all killed.”
B-Dawg could only chuckle nervously at this as Spudnick took off his glasses and reverted control back to Astro on Earth.
XXXXXXXX
Needless to say, Astro was beyond surprised when she suddenly had control of the shuttle back, but she was not complaining. “Whoa! Whoa! Yes, I have control back!”
“How?” Pi questioned out of surprise. “I have no idea, sir,” Astro responded as she shook her head. “I'm just going with it.”
This got Pi to start thinking… was there something going on up there that they didn’t know about? “Something very strange is happening up there…” he muttered before clearing his head and turning back to the team. “Okay, initiate lunar landing procedure.”
XXXXXXXX
Soon after the group began to compose themselves after that wild ride, Izzy looked out of the window to discover that they were getting closer to the moon’s surface. “Hey, everypony! Look! I think we’re gonna land!”
“Think about it!” Sunny said in excitement. “We could be the first dogs and ponies to actually set foot on the moon! We’re about to make history!”
“Then I think we better brace ourselves for landing,” Night Star said, looking down out of the window like Izzy was, “cause we’re about 500 feet from lunar landing!”
XXXXXXXX
From mission control, everyone could see the shuttle getting lower and lower, closer to the moon's surface.
From 400 feet...
...to 200 feet...
...to 100 feet...
...all the way to 50 feet, just before...
...the shuttle's wheels finally made contact with the moon's surface. “Touchdown…” Astro finally spoke with awe and excitement laced in her tone, and as many crew members cheered, Pi couldn’t believe it for himself. “We’re on the moon!”
Inwardly, Dr. Finkle couldn’t believe what was happening. His plan to delay/cancel the shuttle’s mission totally failed!
No matter… he could always sabotage the return trip too… and that shuttle was NOT going to make it back to Earth on his watch.
XXXXXXXX
Back on the shuttle, the ponies, the Buddies, Night Star and Spudnick looked at the grey, rocky landscape out of the front window, and they could hardly believe that this was all real.
A dream that they never thought about was actually coming true!
Seashell was the first to speak, since the group had been so in awe, they lost their voices. “Wow…” she gasped lightly. “The moon!”
“Buddies, new pony friends,” Spudnick turned to the others. “Are you ready to go for the walk of your lives?”
“Good idea,” Budderball interrupted, “cause I've gotta take a wizzo something fierce.”
“Eww, Budderball!” Pipp groaned. “A little too TMI!”
“Well, all grossness aside,” said Night Star with a smile, “let’s suit up and head out there!”
XXXXXXXX
Shortly after they began to celebrate their success of landing on the moon, Slats noticed something strange going on with the shuttle and frowned in concern. “Wait a second. The system shows the airlock door is opening.”
That’s when the team gathered around, anxiously waiting to see what would happen next.
XXXXXXXX
Back on the moon, the Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, Spudnick and Night Star (all wearing helmets on their space suits to help them breathe) stepped out of the shuttle and down the ramp, with Sunny, Buddha, Night Star and Spudnick taking the lead and stopping at the end of the ramp. “Night Star? Spudnick?” Sunny spoke with a smile. “You go first.”
“Thanks, Sunny,” Night Star said with a grateful smile. That’s when she and Spudnick each placed a hoof/paw on the surface of the moon, allowing Buddha to smile. “One small step for dog and pony… one giant leap for dog and ponykind.”
And so, everyone on the shuttle slowly walked down the ramp and onto the surface of the moon, for what would seem like one of the most memorable experiences of their lives.
XXXXXXXX
Upon realizing that something was up (since the airlock door wasn’t supposed to open on its own), Astro checked the cameras surrounding the ship, and when she saw something on the camera system,s he was personally stunned. “Sir, you've gotta take a look at this.”
Astro turned the cameras just enough to see many different sized figures walking away from the shuttle, and Pi’s eyes widened in shock. “What…?”
“It's a... well, I think it's a... um…” Astro said as she tried to figure out what the figures were, but in the end, her mind went blank. “I have no idea, sir.”
“There's some sort of four-legged creatures surrounding the ship,” Bill Wolfson pointed out, studying the pictures. “And they’re of different sizes and colors… I-I think three of them have wings and four of them, at least, have horns!”
Upon studying the screen closer, Astro thought of something no one else had before. “Sir, I think we've discovered alien life forms!”
“Okay, uh, Chuck, zoom in on that, would ya?” Slats asked another member of the crew, who zoomed in on the feed as the figures had finished walking away from the shuttle.
XXXXXXXX
“I don’t think it’s cheese, but I don’t even care,” Budderball told his siblings and friends. “This is the first time in my life I haven't been hungry!”
“Gee… that’s pretty extreme,” Seashell whispered to Glory and Peach Fizz. “Thank you, everyone,” Night Star smiled gratefully, “for making dreams come true.”
“Hey, let’s go for that walk,” Hitch offered. “Good idea-- I wanna get a moon rock for Dad while we’re here!” Glory suggested, and the group proceeded to slowly walk across the moon’s surface.
XXXXXXXX
“If they are extraterrestrial beings,” said Pi after examining the footage, “why are they wearing Vision Enterprises spacesuits? Open up the communication line on their helmets.”
After this was done, the group could hear strange, yet… very familiar sounds coming through the communication systems.
Giggling… and barking.
After a few moments of silence, examining both the audio and video footage, Pi finally spoke up. “It appears we have ponies, and… canine stowaways?”
“Ah, so maybe Yuri wasn't so crazy after all,” Slats realized. “Those look like pretty ponies and… puppy puppies.”
“And they’re walking… on the moon,” Astro said, almost not believing it herself.
XXXXXXXX
Spudnick laughed in joy as he, Night Star and his new friends walked across the surface of the moon. “We’re walking on the moon!”
“Whoa…” Misty couldn’t believe it… and neither could Rosebud, who she and Pipp were walking beside. “Amazing!”
“Check it,” B-Dawg said, doing a little dance as he walked. “I’m doin’ the moonwalk.”
“Totally awesome…” Mudbud agreed, just as the lack of gravity began to effect their walk. “Whoa-ho-ho!” Budderball laughed. “This is so cool!”
Every so often, the group would lift a little off the ground before returning to the moon’s surface… they didn’t mind it in the slightest.
And while this magnificent memory was filling a void in their minds… the thought of how they were going to get home left it… at least temporarily.
All they could really do at this point… was really live in the moment.