G5 Adventures in Space Buddies

by ponydog127

Rainy Day Recruiting/Preparing the Shuttle for Launch

Finally, the day of the big field trip arrived-- the kids needed to be at school before eight o’clock so they could get a head count, and that meant that the ponies needed to be there before eight too, since they were special guests on the field trip and everything.

After breakfast (pancakes and smoothies prepared by Sam’s mom and Sunny), Sam got dressed in his school clothes and Sunny and Izzy (at Pipp’s suggestion) put on their space suits to look really festive for the occasion.

• Izzy's spacesuit and boots were pastel blue and purple, with stars and moons around and her cutie mark on the right flank.
• Sunny's spacesuit and boots were a light orange color, lighter than her coat color, with her cutie mark on the right flank.

Before they left, however, Sam turned back to the Pippsqueaks and Buddha, who stood on the patio to watch them leave. “Sorry you guys won’t be coming, Buddha,” he said before bowing respectfully. “Namaste.”

“Not to worry,” Buddha reassured his human, although only the ponies could hear him. “We have a plan of our own.”

“Bye, girls! Have fun playing with Buddha! We’ll be back at the end of the day!” Sunny told the Pippsqueaks before they left for school. Once they were gone, Glory turned to Buddha and her fellow Pippsqueaks with excitement. “You ready to go, guys?”

“So ready!” Seashell smiled. “First stop, Rosebud’s house!”

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, Alice!” Pipp called from the kitchen, making sure she had everything she needed for the day ahead. “We gotta go otherwise my sister is gonna beat us to the school!”

Pipp brushed the breakfast crumbs off of her space suit (which was a bright pink color with different gemstones sporadically placed on her suit, and her cutie mark on her right flank) before grabbing her phone and tucking it under her wing just before Rosebud and Alice ran into the kitchen.

Alice grabbed her backpack, and just before she and Pipp left, she blew Rosebud a kiss. “Catch!” she said, and Rosebud leapt up into the air as if she was catching the kiss. “Bye, Rosebud!”

“See ya after school!” Pipp told the girl pup before she and Alice quickly left the house… not seeing Buddha and the Pippsqueaks coming around the back. “Rosebud!” Peach Fizz called once Pipp and Alice were out of earshot. “Where are you?”

That’s when Rosebud peeked her head out of the doggy door to notice them. “Come on, sis,” Buddha urged. “I've got a plan for a rainy day field trip.”

However, Rosebud’s reaction was not what he was expecting. “Gross! No way I'm going ou tin that rain. It'll wreck my fur-do.”

“Trust me-- you can’t miss the idea that Buddha has in mind for all of us,” Seashell told the golden-furred female pup. “Come on!” Glory urged. “Let’s go!”

Rosebud, with a sigh, decided to go along with her brother and new friends’ plan, and followed them out the doggy door and away from her home, unsure of where they were going.

XXXXXXXX

At Bartleby's mansion, Hitch (who was wearing a spacesuit that was light yellow, lighter than his coat color, with green zig-zag stripes around his waist and on his boots, and his cutie mark on his right flank) and Bartleby were making the final preparations for the day, with Budderball sitting at the breakfast table as Bartleby tossed on his backpack. “Okay, Budderball! See you after school, big fella!” Bartlby bid farewell. “We’ll bring you back a snack!” Hitch spoke as they disappeared from sight. “We promise!”

Budderball watched them leave for a few moments… that is, until the chef laid out a large breakfast for the pup, making his mouth water. “Oh, sweet mama!”

But before he could dig in, he heard a voice coming from the nearby window. “Budderball!”

Budderball turned his head to see who it was, and as it turns out, Rosebud and Buddha were standing outside with the Pippsqueaks, since they had gotten past the front gate when the limo carrying Hitch and Bartleby pulled out. “We're on a journey of ginormous proportions!” Buddha said. “Right! And we really want you to come with us to see it,” Seashell said with a smile. “Please?”

“Thanks for the offer,” Budderball said politely, “but I'm about to eat some ginormous proportions myself. I'll see you guys later.”

“Budderball,” Buddha said with urgency in his voice, “there’s no time for breakfast!”

However, Budderball was determined to finish his breakfast strong. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

“Come on!” Seashell urged as she and her friends climbed down from the window, causing Budderball to sigh and follow them. “Oh bother…”

But as he followed his siblings and new friends, Budderball couldn’t help but wonder, where in the world could they be going this early?

XXXXXXXX

Zipp was waiting patiently in the living room (wearing her space suit with the colors of white with cotton candy pink, magenta, turquoise and thulian pink mixed in, and her cutie mark was imprinted on the right flank) for B-Dawg and Billy, and when they entered the room, she got up to greet them. “Hey, guys. Ready to get going?”

“In a second, Z-Squared,” Billy told her. “B-Dawg and I gotta do our early morning hip-hop workout first!”

“Okay, but make it fast,” Zipp said, looking at the clock, “or else… wait. Did you just call me Z-Squared?”

Before she could question this further, B-Dawg turned on some music and then he and B-Dawg, in their own unique ways, danced to it, causing Zipp to be ultimately impressed.

Even she didn’t know B-Dawg could hustle and bustle like he was doing at that moment.

After the dance period ended, Billy grabbed his backpack and swung it onto his back while Zipp grabbed her detective gear. “See ya!” he said to B-Dawg. “We gotta bounce. We got a field trip today!”

“We'll be back later, B-Dawg! Have fun with the rest of... whatever this is!” Zipp told the Golden Retriever before she and Billy left the house in order to head to school.

But, not even a few minutes later, the Pippsqueaks and those of the Buddies that had been gathered crawled through the doggy door to see B-Dawg continuing his little dance routine. But with the loud music, they couldn't just get his attention normally, making Seashell realize that she would have to take some drastic action. “B-DAWG!!!”

Upon hearing his name, B-Dawg screamed and sat up, eyes wide of panic. “Sorry,” Seashell apologized with ears pinned. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Pshaw. You didn't scare me. I was just busting a new move,” B-Dawg told her smugly while also reassuring her. “What's the hip-hop happening, home dogs?”

“We’re not really sure,” Rosebud said honestly, “but Buddha and the Pippsqueaks sure seem excited about it.”

“All we can say,” Buddha said, “is that it’s gonna be a blast!”

B-Dawg looked a little confused as his brothers, sister and new friends left, wondering how Buddha could be so excited and move so fast. “Who put the Red Bull in Buddha's doggy bowl?”

“Let’s go!” Peach Fizz said to her friends as they left the house with only one more pup left to collect.

XXXXXXXX

“Okay, Pete-- I’m all set to get you to school as soon as you finish breakfast,” Misty told Pete before adjusting her spacesuit (which was a mix of light blue and lavender, creating a color balance that matched her coat color and her mane and tail color, with light yellow stars scattered around and her cutie mark was on the right flank of the suit). “I sure hope your teacher doesn’t mind us wearing these.”

“I think she’ll think that they look cool,” Pete told her. “She loves anything with historical reference.”

“Huh… you think it has--?” Misty stopped herself when she looked behind Pete and her eyes grew wide. “Uh-oh… we got trouble.”

Pete looked where she was looking and sighed to himself-- Mudbud was now CAKED in mud from head to paws, and with the clean interior of the house, his parents would not be happy to see this. “Not again! You've gotta have a B-A-T-H before Mum and Dad see you!”

“B-A-T-H…” Mudbud tried to figure out what that spelled, and when he figured it out, he gasped. “You just spelled the B word!”

And just like that, he took off further into the house. “Mudbud!” Misty cried as she and Pete chased after him. “Come back!”

However, when Mudbud had gotten to the snow-white living room, Pete and Misty immediately knew that if Mudbud shook, things would be a lot worse. “Dude,” Pete said gently, “step away from the couch.”

However, as Mudbud took to the couch despite his owner’s pleadings, Pete’s mom came into the room and froze upon seeing Mudbud there.

And then… the worst thing happened.

Mudbud shook the fur off of himself, and mud went flying everywhere-- the couch, the walls… even Pete, his mom and Misty got some mud on them.

Once it was all over, Mudbud whimpered, now realizing what he had just put himself into. “Sorry, Mudbud…” Misty whispered with regret in her voice. “But you do the crime, you gotta pay the time…”

XXXXXXXX

It wasn't long after Misty (who regretfully, due to Pete's mom's orders, had to put Mudbud in his cage for a time-out) and Pete left for the school that the other Buddies and the Pippsqueaks arrived on the scene, and stopped at the window, seeing Mudbud in his cage and Pete's mom in the next room.

Rosebud immediately figured out what just happened, a frown on her face. “Looks like he got a time out.”

“When it rains, Mudbud gets grounded,” B-Dawg said, shaking his head. “He's a repeat offender.”

“Remember the time I sampled the Thanksgiving turkey?” Budderball said to his siblings. “I got a serious time out for that too.”

“Sample, shmample,” B-Dawg scoffed. “You ate the whole Butterball turkey, dawg!”

Budderball couldn’t help but blush nervously at that. “Kind of embarrassing to be named after a turkey.”

“You guys,” Glory singsonged. “What about Mudbud?”

Immediately remembering why they came in, the group snuck through the doggy door and over to Mudbud, who seemed relieved to see his siblings and new friends. “Am I ever glad to see you dudes.”

“Shh!” Peach Fizz whispered. “I gotta use my horn and jimmy the lock!”

“Come on, you guys!” Buddha urged. “We gotta hurry, we might miss it!”

Peach Fizz inserted her horn into the lock and jimmied it a bit, unlocking the cage and freeing Mudbud. Then, the Buddies and the Pippsqueaks left the house through the doggy door and followed Buddha down the street. “Hurry! There's not a minute to spare!”

Mudbud, however, stopped upon seeing a mud puddle to roll around in, and left a little bit of mud on his coat. “Oh, yeah…”

“Come on, Mudbud!” Seashell called out to him. “We gotta go!”

And so, Mudbud left the puddle and rejoined his new friends and siblings in the race to get to their destination on time.

XXXXXXXX

“Seriously?” Zipp asked Misty in shock as they waited to board the bus. “Mudbud caked the entire living room and you guys in mud?!”

“Yeah. He’s gonna be in that cage for a long time,” Misty said regretfully. “I didn’t wanna do it, but… then again, it wouldn’t be fair to Pete’s mom or Pete if I didn't.”

“You made the right choice, Misty,” Sunny said. “I just hope we made the right choice to leave the Buddies and the Pippsqueaks at home all day.”

“Hey, like you said yesterday, Sunny-- they’ll be fine,” Zipp brushed the topic off. “The Pippsqueaks are strong, smart fillies. They should be able to handle themselves until we get back.”

That’s when the teacher then called to the students and ponies in waiting to board the bus. “Come along, people! The launch won't wait on us if we're tardy now, will it?”

The kids and the ponies excitedly boarded the bus, unaware that the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies were hiding in some nearby bushes. “The window of opportunity is upon us,” Buddha told the others with an excited smile. “Let's seize it.”

Quietly and discreetly, the group ran from the bushes and into the huge pile of packed lunches so they could get into the bus without being seen. And when the lunches were also loaded, the bus left the school for the field trip to begin.

Once they were moving, the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies peaked their heads out of hiding as the teacher spoke to the students and ponies on the bus. “We are the one lucky Fernfield class,” she said, “who is going to see a real, live spaceship launch!”

“YEAH!!” everyone seemed to cheer at once, and Rosebud looked at Buddha and the Pippsqueaks in surprise. “So that’s where you’re taking us, Buddha?”

“Surprise!” Buddha smiled at his siblings as the teacher continued to speak. “Vision Enterprises is going to make space travel available to anyone.”

Budderball, however, wasn’t as excited about the launch-- he was more excited about all the bagged lunches around him. “I’m in bagged lunch heaven! Oh, mama…”

“Budderball!” Peach Fizz scoldingly whispered. “Quiet! We don’t wanna get caught!”

Budderball then proceeded to dig into a few of the lunch bags and eat a few things while the school bus kept moving to the launch site…

…all while the Mane 6 had no idea that they were even on the bus and the teacher’s supposed dander allergies began acting up.

XXXXXXXX

As the school bus packed with kids, the Mane 6 and unknowingly, the Buddies and the Pippsqueaks, headed for the Vision One launch site, many at the site were getting ready for the big day that they had been waiting for since... practically forever.

One of these individuals was Pi, the leader of the Vision One team and his ferret companion Gravity, who were waiting in their office patiently for the scheduled time of the launch.

The day they had been waiting for had finally arrived, and if it was a success, then more and more people would be able to go into space.

When it was time to get ready for the launch, Pi offered his sleeve to Gravity, and the ferret moved into the sleeve and through Pi’s shirt before his head stuck out of the pocket. “Ready, Gravity?” Pi asked, and Gravity gave a squeak in response. “Let's go do this, old buddy.”

And just like that, Pi walked out of the office to get to the main control room.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the main control room, a spiffy businessman by the name of Bill Wolfson was leading some sharply-dressed men into the room. “On behalf of everyone at Vision Enterprises, we would like to thank you for your continued support on the Vision One project,” he said. “And gentlemen, we give you the Vision One spacecraft.”

Outside of the window, sitting on the runway, was a huge space shuttle, all set and ready to fly on its maiden voyage to the moon. “She’s, uh… she’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Pi asked as he came into the room, and Gravity gave a squeak of agreement. Bill then fixed Pi’s sleeve as he spoke, and once this was done, Pi began to speak again. “The-- the Vision One. The... The design is an amalgamation of an air travel vehicle and space design rocket. The vehicle will comfortably carry two pilots and the maximum amount of fourteen passengers into space. The Vision One will land on the moon, permitting our customers the opportunity to walk on the surface.”

As Pi was speaking, a strict-looking man with glasses came into the main control center, followed by an Asian man who followed behind obediently… someone that made Gravity growl a bit in his throat. “H-Hi, Finkel,” Pi greeted, somewhat nervous. “Dr. Finkel,” Bill turned around to greet the man and shake his hand. “Nice of you to join us.”

“Of course,” Dr. Finkel said with a smile, and after shaking Bill’s hand, his assistant, Karl, put some hand sanitizer in his hand. “It is my pleasure, Mr. Wolfson, until you fail and I take over, of course.”

Gravity growled a bit in his throat, causing Pi to shush him before Dr. Finkel heard. “Gravity, behave.”

However… Dr. Finkel heard this and saw this, looking at Pi as if he were crazy. “I don't know what's more unsettling, that you accessorize with that brainless rodent, or that you converse with it too.”

Karl tried to stifle his laughter at this, causing Gravity to hide in Pi’s pocket. “I like ferrets,” Pi said simply. “I-I’ve never been terribly fond of rats or weasels. Nothing personal.”

“Well, out with the old, in with the new, as they say,” Dr. Finkel spoke just before glaring at his assistant. “Let's get on with it. Karl, why is a cappuccino not touching my lips?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t speak,” Dr. Finkel then interrupted, and then, the group walked over to some of the stations in the control room. “Uh, let me introduce you to some members of our team,” Pi said politely, turning to a young man sitting at one of the stations. “Uh, Slats Bentley is our Flight Dynamics Officer. He will give you some details on today's mission.”

However, as Slats was giving his update about the mission, Dr. Finkel secretly got his way into the computer system using his USB key and began to override the fueling system.

Yes, you heard right-- Dr. Finkel wanted to sabotage the entire mission and made sure Bill Wolfson lost his job and the funding for the Vision One programming, and no one else had the slightest idea about it.

Finally, the refueling was complete, and Dr. Finkel turned back to the conversation. “It will take approximately four days to get to the moon and back,” Slats was explaining to the rest of the men in the room. “Once we land on the surface we'll stay for 30 minutes, then re-launch back into space and head back home.”

“Good,” Pi patted Slats on the shoulder as Dr. Finkel removed his USB key and stuck it in his pocket, just as Pi gestured to a woman at another desk nearby. “Uh, this is Astro Spaulding. Uh, she is our pilot for the mission.”

“The pilot will be flying the spacecraft using a Vectra system,” Astro explained confidently, “vision-enabled control technology response array.”

She then put on a pair of super advanced glasses in order to show them how it worked. “Um, the, uh, systems will be controlled with the blink of an eye-- it just scans your retina. It's all hands-free.”

“I thought there were no life forms on this mission,” said one of the men, confused. “Not even a pilot.”

“Astro will remotely pilot Vision One from Mission Control,” Pi quickly clarified. “Ultimately, when we begin commercial travel, uh... uh… the remote system will serve as a backup in the event of a malfunction or a pilot illness or…”

“Sir,” Slats interrupted as he came over, “there’s been a break in the weather.”

With the rain passing through, the shuttle could begin its test flight safely, and Pi quickly went to excuse himself. “Ah, well, excuse us, gentlemen. Uh, this is our big moment.”

That’s when Bill turned to Dr. Finkel with a request. “Dr. Finkel, could you check and see if the tour group has arrived, and then greet them and help the kids if they have any questions.”

“Certainly, Mr. Wolfson,” Dr. Finkel nodded and headed out the door… just as Karl arrived with Dr. Finkel’s coffee, causing him to immediately race out the door after his employer.

Let's just hope that whatever Dr. Finkel did to the shuttle does not affect the mission... otherwise, things could get pretty complicated going forward.