Word spread quickly about the Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and their new friends being sent to space on accident, including the Buddies' kids, who were worried sick, not only about their dogs, but about their friends as well.
As Pi and the rest of the mission control team were doing everything in their power to bring the space crew home safe and sound, Dr. Finkle was changing the flight path in order to ensure that this trip was one-way, stranding our heroes in space forever!
Now, let's get back to the story in order to figure out what happens next.
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“Oh, I’m so excited!” Seashell squealed excitedly. “We’re finally going home!”
“Being in space has been really fun,” said Peach Fizz, “but I can’t wait to see all our new friends back on Earth and I can’t wait to tell Mama about all this when we get back to Equestria!”
“Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too much longer,” Zipp told the fillies with a smile. “We should be back to Earth within the next day or so.”
“Yeah, just as long as nopony sabotaged the ship,” said Izzy, “sending us into a situation so dangerous that nopony would have expected it.”
This caused the others to look at Izzy in surprise, causing the purple unicorn to shrug casually. “Just a thought.”
Suddenly, an alarm went off through the shuttle, causing Rosebud to gasp in panic. “What’s that?”
B-Dawg looked outside to see a singular meteor passing by, and shrugged casually as if it were nothing. “Eh, it’s just a meteor.”
“Just a meteor?!” Night Star shrieked in panic, knowing that if there was one meteor floating around…
…there were bound to be a whole lot more.
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“Collision alert!” the computer in mission control repeated. “Collision alert!”
“What…?” Pi said, completely confused. “I thought our course was set to avoid the meteor shower.”
“I-I don’t know, sir,” Slats said as he checked the computer. “Somehow the telemetry has been modified.”
This immediately caused the kids to worry… what if the ponies and pups were caught in the meteor shower? Or the ship got broken? Or they got hurt?!
Luckily, Pi knew they had a backup solution. “Well, looks like we're going to test our auto-avoidance system.”
“Engaging auto-avoidance system!” Astro said, switching to remote pilot while the others looked on.
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“Buddies! Ponies!” Gravity shouted over the intercom as everyone buckled themselves in. “You’re right in the middle of a meteor shower!”
“A meteor shower?!” Sunny screeched. “That’s why we’ve been seeing more and more of those rocks coming our way!”
“Are we gonna be okay?!” Glory asked. “Don’t worry, girls, we’ll be fine!” Hitch told the fillies. “Everypony, hang on!”
And just like that, the auto-avoidance system got to work, rocketing the shuttle forward and dodging meteors left and right with complicated spins and maneuvers that caused the group to scream and cling to the seats they were sitting on in complete fear and panic.
XXXXXXXX
Astro gave it her all, piloting the ship through the meteor shower to the best of her ability.
Finally, it seemed as though they were clear, causing the Buddies' kids to sigh in relief.
XXXXXXXX
After a few moments, the group heard Gravity speak to them through the speakers again. “Guys,” he said with a relieved sigh, “looks like you’re in the clear.”
“That was close!” Mudbud spoke up, relieved beyond measure. “I’ll say,” Pipp said. “And I have the whole thing on video for the Pippsqueaks back in Equestria!”
However, another alert sounded through the entire shuttle, and when the Mane 6 saw what was causing it, they gasped in horror.
In front of them was a huge meteor, and there was no way that the shuttle was going to be able to go around it!
That's when Night Star knew they had to make a drastic choice then and there. “Everyone, listen to me! Hold onto the pony/pup next to you and get ready to brace for emergency impact!”
The Pippsqueaks yelped and whimpered at the sound of things, clinging to their friends in total terror as the meteor sped closer and closer and closer to them until...
...the meteor hit an antenna on the side of the shuttle, but other than that, left no damage.
B-Dawg panted once this happened. “W-W-What was that?!”
“I don’t know,” Zipp frowned, “but… I have a feeling that it isn’t good.”
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Back on Earth, the mission control team were horrified when all vital signs on the shuttle were lost due to that antenna being hit.
For the sake of the kids, Pi tried not to show his worry right away. “Go to back-up.”
However, when Astro tried to do this, the backup feature on the shuttle wouldn’t work. Slats turned to Pi with a grave expression on his face. “The backup is down as well, sir.”
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“Buddies, ponies,” Gravity said gravely from the speakers, “the Vision One has been struck by a meteor.”
This caused the ponies to gasp in complete alarm, their eyes widening in total terror.
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“Sir,” said Slats as Dr. Finkle and Carl happily watched from afar, “all our system tests confirm that the data communication antenna is damaged. All we have left is audio communication and that doesn't help us at all.”
“And the only way to fix it,” said Astro, “is for an astronaut to do it externally.”
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“We’re gonna need one of you,” Gravity then told the crew, “to do a spacewalk to fix the damage. Without the data communication antenna we can't control the ship from Earth.”
“Roger that, Mission Control,” Rosebud nodded firmly. That’s when Spudnick made a crucially stunning offer. “I should go. I've been in space the longest and know this stuff well.”
“Buddy, if something happens to you or Night Star,” said Hitch, “we’re ALL doomed. We’re gonna need someone else to listen to your instructions.”
“...I’ll do it,” Budderball volunteered. “The sooner we get home, the sooner I'll get some food.”
“I was just gonna raise my paw,” B-Dawg told his brother with an impressed smirk. “But, you beat me to it, dawg.”
“I wanna go with him,” Glory volunteered. “It’ll be better if two of us do it.”
“Are you sure, Glory?” Sunny asked the filly in concern, causing Glory to nod firmly. “Very sure-- more sure of anything in my entire life!”
The Mane 6 looked at each other for a few minutes before Zipp sighed. “Okay… let’s get you both suited up.”
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“As far as we can tell,” Slats whispered to Pi so the kids couldn’t hear, “all the functions of the Vision One are normal and the hull is intact, but its telemetry has been diverted and it's way off course and our re-entry angle is dangerously shallow.”
“The Vision One,” Astro added, “could skip off into the atmosphere and tumble out into space.”
Pi looked back at the five kids behind him waiting patiently for an update on their pups and friends, and sighed heavily before turning back to his team, a firm expression crossing his face. “Well, for the sake of those five kids… we cannot give up. We can’t.”
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Across the world, the news of what happened to the shuttle spread like wildfire, and many were worried sick...
...but not as worried as Spudnick's boy Sasha, who clutched the collar Spudnick used to wear tightly as he struggled not to cry.
They had to bring Spudnick and his friends home... they just had to.
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Back aboard the shuttle, Budderball and Glory had been suited up and ready to repair the damage to the antenna.
And while Glory could just use her wings to maneuver herself, Spudnick explained how Budderball couldn't maneuver himself in the vast reaches of space. “To control your movement, you have four small jets. Move your right hind leg, you go back. Move your left hind leg, you go forward. Wiggle your right front paw, you go left. Your left front paw, you go right,” the bull terrier explained. “Look, you'll be tethered to the ship so you don't float off into outer space. Got it?”
However, Budderball had one important question. “Uh, which one is my left paw again?”
“...we're doomed...” B-Dawg muttered audibly. “What?” Budderball frowned at his brother's comment. “It's not my fault I'm dyslexic!”
“All you need is some way to remember your jets,” Glory said. “That’s something my dad taught me to remember my math equations.”
Luckily, this gave Mudbud an idea of how Budderball could remember. “Just remember, your right back leg, you lift to take a wizzo. Left back, you use to scratch your tummy. Left front paw, you use to beg for food. And the right front paw, is for snackin'.”
“Okay... scratch, forward. Wizzo equals backwards. Begging, go right and snacking go left,” Budderball repeated back with a satisfied smile. “See? I got it.”
“Okay, you two,” said Gravity sternly. “The target is a data communications antenna. Place it back into position and we should be able to control the ship again.”
That's when Sunny looked at the Lunch-o-Matic, frowning in concern when she saw everything, including the bean burritos, were gone. “Budderball, did you eat all the bean burritos?”
“What can I say?” Budderball shrugged. “I'm a nervous eater. And walking in space makes me especially nervous.”
“We'll monitor your progress from here,” Zipp said. “Both of you... just be careful. Outer space can be really dangerous.”
Glory and Budderball nodded before the door closed, allowing them to approach the door and head out into space.
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Budderball and Glory floated out of the door and into the reaches of space, a beautiful view of the Earth before them... even though Budderball was a bit upside-down in the process. “Oh, sweet mama...” Budderball said in awe. “This is beautiful!”
“You actually took the words right out of my mouth,” Glory nodded as Budderball managed to turn himself right-side up. “Glory? Budderball?” Rosebud spoke up from inside the shuttle. “Can you read us?”
“Roger, Rosebud,” Glory nodded firmly. “Okay, now gently move forward,” Zipp told them. “But not too much, or you'll go too far and you won't reach the communication antenna.”
However, Budderball had one final question. “Uh, how do I do that again?”
“Scratch leg, dude,” Mudbud reminded. “Scratch leg.”
Glory nodded and flapped her wings a bit to move forward, while Budderball scratched his leg, moving forward as well. However, Budderball quickly discovered a problem. “All this talk about scratching, and now I've got an itch!”
“Budderball, don't scratch!” Rosebud pleaded. “But... it's so itchy!” Budderball struggled to not scratch. “If you scratch,” Misty then spoke, “you'll spin out of control!”
However, Budderball was beginning to lose control of himself. “I can't help myself. Must... scratch!”
“Budderball, no!!” Peach Fizz and Seashell shrieked as Budderball scratched his itch with a relived sigh. However, like Misty said, Budderball's jets fired up to the maximum level and he went flying out of control. “Whoa... whoa! Whoa whoa whoa, whoa!!”
“Hang on, Budderball!” Glory cried out. “I'm coming!”
She flew up and grabbed Budderball sailed past, but even she couldn't stand up to the might of the jets, and screamed as she and Budderball flew up, down and around the shuttle until...
...they slammed right onto the windshield, causing many of those inside to cringe. “Glory, Budderball, talk to me!” Zipp shouted. “Are you both okay?!”
“Ugh... I think so,” Glory shook her head to clear it out. “But word to the wise... remind me to never do something like grabbing Budderball while he's going at top speed ever again.”
“Like Buddha told me a few seconds ago,” said Night Star. “In life, sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield.”
“Did somebody catch the license plate on that UFO?” Budderball groaned as he slowly slid off the windshield. “Quit messing around, Budderball!” Glory told the Golden Retriever pup. “We’ve got to get to that antenna, and I'm not going without you.”
Budderball nodded in confirmation and went to activate his jets, but surprisingly... he didn't move a single inch. “Guys, we have a problem. It's not working.”
“You've got to be kidding, dawg!” B-Dawg groaned to himself. “I swear,” Budderball insisted. “Cross my stomach and hope to starve!”
“The scratching episode used up all your fuel!” Spudnick realized. “Now what are we gonna do?” Pipp asked in exasperation. “It's not like Budderball can make his own fuel!”
Suddenly, this gave Buddha an idea that was so crazy, it just might work. “Pipp, you're a genius! Budderball just ate a dozen bean burritos, right?”
“Dude,” Mudbud looked over at his brother, “this is no time to be cryptic.”
However, Buddha was firm in his decision. “We’re going to have to pull his paw. Night Star? Can you activate the robot arm from here?”
“I can do that!” Night Star nodded and put on a set of Vectra glasses before activating the robot arm and moving it toward Budderball... more specifically, his paw. And then, once the robot arm got hold of his paw, it pulled, causing Budderball's spacesuit to self-inflate with his own gas.
After hearing Budderball groan, Rosebud called out to her brother to check on him. “Budderball, are you still with us?”
“I don't know what you guys are complaining about,” Budderball shook his head. “It's really not that bad.”
“Okay,” Buddha told Budderball. “Now the methane gas you just produced should give you enough fuel to fire up your jet pack.”
“Budderball, that little bit of fuel won't last,” Spudnick then spoke up. “You have to fix the antenna.”
Glory and Budderball then moved toward the antenna on the ship, and Budderball immediately saw what the meteor had done to it. “I see the problem.”
“Describe it to me,” Zipp said. “What dows it look like?”
Budderball tilted his head a bit. “It kind of does a dog leg to the wizzo side.”
“He means,” Glory corrected, “it's crooked to the right.”
“See if you can move it back into position.”
“Roger that,” Budderball nodded and lifted his paw to the antenna, moving it a bit.
XXXXXXXX
Back on Earth, Gravity smiled at seeing the big screen functioning again. “Great news, everybody. Data communications has been restored to the ship,” he said as Budderball and Glory returned to the ship. “Glory, Budderball, you should be proud.”
Gravity then squeaked to get Pi's attention, and this caused everyone to look at the screen as Slats formed a huge smile on his face. “She's back online.”
“YAY!!!” the kids cheered while Dr. Finkle scowled for a moment, but clapped nonetheless. “Let's not, uh, celebrate too much here,” Pi reminded everyone. “We still have a ship to get back on course. Slats?”
“Telemetry correction uplink underway, sir.”
“Firing thrusters, course correction to 152.2 over 5,” Astro then confirmed. “Vision One course correction confirmed, sir.”
“Good... Slats,” Pi turned to Slats with concern. “Find out how we could have gotten so off course.”
“I don't know, sir. Doesn't make any sense. We were on course to avoid the meteor shower. The last print-out showed us right on track. Look!” Slats said, pointing out the last print-out before he noticed something... off. “Wait a minute. The log shows an adjustment… made from the main terminal, yesterday at 19:49.”
Sam immediately realized what this meant-- when he saw Dr. Finkle at the computer yesterday, he WAS doing something! Like Zipp always said, he needed to follow his instincts. So, he hopped off his chair and pointed accusingly at Dr. Finkle. “It was him!”
“...hmm? Excuse me?” Dr. Finkle pretended to be oblivious and chuckled nervously when he saw everyone's stern gazes. “Please, you can't be serious. You don't think I would ever do such a thing?”
“Are you sure, Sam?” Pi asked the boy and Sam nodded in confirmation. “ I saw him at the computer earlier. I knew he was up to something.”
“Oh, is that right?” Dr. Finkle mocked before turning back to Pi. “Pi, you can't believe him over me. He's an ignorant child.”
“Okay,” Sam said, pulling Dr. Finkle's USB key out of the computer system. “Then what's this?”
Dr. Finkle felt himself freeze up at this and tried to remain casual. “Uh, I'm not... I don't know what is. I've never seen that before.”
“It's your USB key, sir,” Carl then spoke up. “Please, Carl,” Dr. Finkle growled. “Don’t speak.”
“Sorry, sir.”
Slats began to assume that Sam was right about Dr. Finkle's treachery, and pressed a button to contact the security office. “Security? Can you give me playback of yesterday, 19:49 hours of the main terminal? Put it up in the Mission Control large screen. Oh, and security, you might want to join us.”
“That won't be necessary,” Dr. Finkle said before the security footage came up on the screen. And then, with a few adjustments, everyone saw the cold hard truth.
Dr. Finkle DID change the flight path, putting everyone on that shuttle in danger!
Upon realizing that he had been caught, Dr. Finkle immediately tried to bolt from the room, only for security to grab him while they were entering the room. “Security!” Bill Wolfson exclaimed. “Take Dr. Finkle away!”
“Bye bye, Dr. Stinkle!” Sam mocked as the villain was drug away by security. “It’s Finkle!” Dr. Finkle cried out. “FINKLE!!!”
Pi sighed to himself as Dr. Finkle was dragged out of sight.
However, there was a bright side to this.
Now they didn't have any kind of distractions from getting the puppies and their Equestrian friends home safe and sound.