Tom Harlow was having the best day of his life.
He was currently riding in an elevator that was situated next to a large spaceship, watching the scenery sink below him as he rose. Tom wore a heavy, orange space suit with tons of zippers, valves, and pockets, while he cradled under his right arm a helmet designed for space travel. On his head was a headset that was filled with chatter from Ground Control. Next to him stood Eddie Rains, a fellow astronaut who was going accompanying him on the mission. The two became friends during their training and were often found side-by-side.
It wasn't long before they reached the top of the elevator. The door behind them opened up, and the two men walked out onto a metal walkway that led to the space shuttle Starwalk. Their mission was to head out into space, go on an EVA – an Extra-Vehicular Activity – to test an experimental space suit that allowed an astronaut to travel freely in space without being attached by a hose, and then return to Earth. NASA had already put the suit through rigorous testing to make sure it was safe, but nothing could ever compare to the real deal.
"We're finally here," Eddie said to Tom. "We're gonna finally go to space."
"It also seems as if this wasn't real," Tom replied, "as if it were a dream."
For Tom, this wasn't too far off the beaten path. Ever since he was a child, he had always loved everything to do with space. There was something magical about the vast, silent coldness of space to Tom. He would also collect newspaper clippings about shuttle launches and important announcements about NASA so he could learn as much as possible about space travel. However, his most prized collection was an autographed picture from Michael Collins, one of the astronauts involved in the Apollo 11 mission. It currently sat in his left breast pocket to remind him how far he'd come from just a little boy with a dream. Tom began thinking about his childhood – about how he was always at the TV whenever there was a shuttle launch, and how he'd always play with his space ships at home and pretend he was going to the Moon.
"Tom!" Eddie yelled as he was climbing into the shuttle, snapping Tom out of his thoughts. "Are you going to stand there, or are you coming?"
"Oh, yes, right!" the astronaut replied as he walked across the catwalk to the shuttle, waiting for Eddie to be seated before climbing in himself. Since his space suit was incredibly heavy, he had a hard time getting into his vertical chair. With the help of footholds in what was the floor and some NASA personnel, though, he was able to get strapped in.
"Ground Control to Major Tom," came a voice through his headset, "Ground Control to Major Tom. Are you and Major Eddie seated?"
"Affirmative, Ground Control," Tom replied. "We are ready to go."
"Have you two taken your protein pills?"
"Affirmative, Ground Control."
"Good. Put your helmets on and sit tight. Liftoff isn't for another couple of hours."
"Not like we're going anywhere," Tom muttered as the two put their helmets on and started a long list of preparations for takeoff.
"…so then she kinda laughed and said she would go out on a date with me," Tom finished, recounting how he got his first date with his wife, Selene.
"Really?" Eddie said. "Wow. Guess you really caught the big one there, Tom."
"Ground Control to Major Tom and Major Eddie," the headset said into Tom's ear, "prepare for liftoff in T-minus one minute."
"Affirmative, Ground Control," he replied.
"This is it, Tom," Eddie said with a smile as he gripped the controls. "It's finally happening!"
"Yeah," Tom whispered back. He was ready to leave the Earth behind and explore the vast emptiness of space.
"T-minus thirty seconds."
The cockpit of the shuttle was silent, save for the numerous electronics beeping and whirring around the astronauts. It wasn't long before there was a thunderous roar as the main engines came to life, attempting to escape the launch pad.
"T-minus ten," Ground Control counted, "nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, liftoff!"
Tom felt a heavy weight drop on top of him as the shuttle propelled off the launch pad. His stomach lurched as the Starwalk began its roll maneuver in order to properly reach its destination. It took all of his strength to hold onto the controls, and he found it nearly impossible to speak. It wasn't like anything he had experienced before.
It wasn't long until the blue sky began to fade into a black blanket specked with millions of shimmering stars. Tom was speechless as he felt the pressure on his body release. Eddie gave a laugh and said, "We did it!" There was a cheer over the headset.
"You two've really made the grade!" Ground Control said.
"Ground Control," Tom said as he snapped back into the real world and loosened his grip on the controls, "why don't you send us up a drink for our hard work?" Everyone shared a chuckle as the astronauts unbuckled themselves and floated around the cockpit in the zero-gravity environment.
"Wow, this is so… surreal," Eddie said as he moved towards the rear of the cockpit. "What do you think, Tom?"
"I think we should have a little fun before we go out on our walk," Tom replied, following Eddie.
"…and Tom Harlow serves the ball to Eddie Rains!" the former said in an announcer's voice as he used his hand to hit a ball of paper to his friend. The two astronauts had gotten out of their orange suits and were wearing normal blue clothes. Eddie kicked off of a wall and barely made it in time to hit the ball back.
"What an amazing save!" he replied in the same voice. "It looks like Rains is giving Harlow a run for his money!"
"The game's not over yet, Jim," Tom said as he volleyed the ball back, "anything can happen!"
"Right you are, Kevin!" Eddie said in return, positioning himself so he could jump off the wall again. However, he couldn't float fast enough, as the wad of paper passed the mutually-agreed goal line.
"And the crowd goes wild! Harlow wins the Gravball Championship!" Tom yelled as he pumped a fist in the air, his friend making faux crowd noises. "What a comeback, ladies and gentlemen! Down four to one, and Harlow manages to score four successive points! History has been made today, folks!"
"We'd hate to break up your game, boys," came Ground Control from the headsets, "but we're approaching your first scheduled EVA."
Tom bent his microphone down to his mouth. "Affirmative, Ground Control." He then turned to Eddie and asked, "So, who's suiting up first?"
"Well, good luck out there, Tom," Eddie said as Tom was finally ready to embark on his EVA. Tom wore a bulky, white suit with a large backpack-like container on his back. It held two tanks: one had fuel, while the other held oxygen. On the corners and sides of the backpack were miniature jets that would help the astronaut move in space.
"Don't forget," Eddie reminded, "there's more fuel in the SAFER – that's what you'll use to move around in space – than they usually put in there due to the increased capacity. However, the jets also use more fuel up because the geeks back home made them more powerful. When it starts to run low, there's going to be a loud, annoying beep. Same thing if you run low on oxygen. Can you remember all that?"
"It's not much," Tom said, "I'll be able to remember." He then walked into the airlock and shut the door behind him, making sure that there was nothing wrong with the airtight seal. "Major Tom to Ground Control," he said as he flipped his helmet's visor down to protect his eyes from the sun's harmful rays, "I'm stepping through the door now."
"Affirmative, Major Tom," the headset replied as Tom opened the airlock. He had to hold on to the metal bars on the sides of the room so that he wouldn't get sucked out with the air. What he saw when the air – or lack thereof – stilled was candy to his eyes.
Set against the background of space was a beautifully blue Earth, with seemingly small clouds dancing across it. The sight took his breath away, and he only snapped back into real life when his radio said, "Ground Control to Major Tom, is everything alright? We're getting readings that you aren't breathing."
"Y-yeah," Tom said, "I just… it's so beautiful."
"Affirmative, Major Tom. Continue with the planned EVA."
"Hey, can you guys do something for me?" Tom asked.
"Yes?"
"Give my wife my love. Tell her it's a collect call from space."
"Can do, Major Tom." The radio then went quiet.
Tom let go of the bar and allowed himself to float off into the emptiness. Taking a joystick in his right hand that was attached to his backpack, he started to push it in different directions. The jets on the backpack responded accordingly, sending Tom in the same directions. "Major Tom to Ground Control," he said, "the suit works according to plan. Any other orders whi—"
"Ground Control to Major Tom," the radio said, cutting him off, "are you there? We seem to have a dead circuit or something down here, we aren't getting any readings off of you or Major Eddie. Can you hear us, Major Tom?"
"Affirmative, Ground Control," Tom replied, "I read you loud and clear."
There was silence on the radio for about ten seconds before it said, "Ground Control to Major Tom, come in Major Tom!"
"I'm right here, Ground Control, what's wrong?" Tom asked, worried. He was surprised to hear Eddie come on the radio.
"Tom," he said, "I think there's something wrong back home. We can hear them, but they can't hear us."
Tom felt a chill colder than the space around him go through his spine. "What are we going to do?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"Well, we can wait until we establish radio contact, or we can try returning to Earth on our own, which is suicidal. Don't worry," assured Eddie, "I'm sure they'll fix it."
"I hope they do," Tom said as he started to turn around. "I'm going to head back inside. See you in a few." However, as he started to go back, he saw a blue form float out from behind the shuttle. "Uh, actually, scratch that. There's something out here, I'm going to check it out." As Tom flew closer to the anomaly, he could begin to make out what it was.
It looked like a blue horse of some kind, with a baby blue mane. There was a black bib-like thing around its neck, and its hooves had what looked like black shoes on. However, the most interesting thing about it was that it had a pair of wings on its back and a horn on its head.
"Eddie," Tom said, "I think I've found an alien!"
"What're we going to do with it?" Eddie asked Tom as the two floated around the pony-like alien.
"Well, we can't tell Ground Control," Tom answered, "our comms are out." The two astronauts grew more worried every minute they couldn't contact Ground Control, each of them wondering if they were going to be marooned in space. Their thoughts were interrupted when the creature they were floating around woke up with a gasp. It looked around wildly at Tom, then began flailing its limbs in an attempt to escape him.
"I am Luna, ruler of the Lunar Republic!" it yelled in an undoubtedly feminine voice. "I demand that you tell me where I am!"
"Woah, calm down!" Tom said, putting his hands in front of him. "We're not gonna hurt you!"
The creature, who identified herself as Luna, slowly stopped flailing and stared at Tom. "…how is it that you can speak the language of the Equestrians, alien?"
"We're not aliens," Eddie argued, "you are! How do you know English?"
"'English'? What is that?" Luna had a look of confusion on her face.
"What do you mean?" Tom said. "You're spe— alright, hold on. We're not doing anything else until we know what you are."
"I am the Princess of the Night!" Luna said with an air of pompousness around her. "You are now my subjects in my Lunar Republic and will refer to me as such! Now, to whom – and what – do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm Tom Harlow, this is Eddie Rains" – Tom motioned towards Eddie – "and we're humans. Now, we didn't quite catch what you were. Mind telling us?"
"I told you," Luna began, "I'm the Princ—"
"No, I got that," Tom interrupted. "I'm asking what your species is. Like, we're called Major Tom and Major Eddie, but our species is human."
"Oh." Luna blushed, embarrassed at her misunderstanding. "I'm an alicorn."
"An alicorn?" the astronauts asked at the same time.
"Yes, an alicorn," Luna explained. "I have the wings of a Pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. Alicorn."
"But unicorns don't exist," Eddie said. "They're just fairy tales for little girls."
"Unicorns most certainly do exist!" Luna argued as the tension between her and Eddie started to thicken.
"Woah, hold on, guys!" Tom said, floating in between them. "Or, uh, guy and alicorn. Anyways, I think I've got a solution to this…"
"Tonight, we have the returning Gravball Champion Eddie Rains," Tom said in his announcer's voice as he pointed to Eddie. He then pointed to Luna and continued, "Facing off against him is the Princess of the Night Luna! Only one point to win, so the game is tense right off the bat! Ready? BEGIN!"
Tom threw a paper ball into the middle of the room, and Luna and Eddie both jumped for it. Luna managed to get to the paper ball first, knocking it under Eddie's arm and into the 'goal' on his side of the room.
"Would you look at that, folks," Tom said, "Luna gets a quick hit at the ball and scores on Eddie, giving her the title of Gravball Champion!"
"Aha!" Luna said with a wide smile. "I have beaten you at your own game, Eddie Rains!"
"Alright, you got me," Eddie said, defeated.
"Hey, I just thought of something," Tom said.
"Yes, Tom Harlow?" Luna asked.
"First, please just call us Tom and Eddie. No need for formalities. Now, why don't you stay here with us? We're stuck out here, you seem to be as well, so why don't we be stuck together?"
Luna's smile faltered. "Are you sure that is alright with you?"
"Of course," Tom said. "Besides, it wouldn't be a real nice thing to kick you out into space, would it?"
"I guess not," Luna said. "Alright, I'll stay with you."
"That's great!" Tom said as he floated to the cockpit. "I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together."
Little did they know how close they would get in the following weeks.
Author's Note
Tom Harlow, if you haven't already realized, is based off of Major Tom.
Also, this is my first attempt at a sitcom-esque story that's not going to have swearing or anything needing a Teen rating in it.
Fun Fact: Part of the surname Harlow means "rock" in Old English (hær) (sauce) and the name Selene means "moon" in Greek (sauce). I did that on purpose.
Because symbolism.
[BONUS] Scares, Songs, and Strawberries
Author's Note
~~Well, I've got a new chapter out. Hooray! However, I'm not sure how long I can keep up the story. I'm already running low on ideas for what Tom, Eddie, and Luna should do, but there's also the problem of what little there is to do in space.~~
~~Basically, I'm asking for ideas from you guys.~~
~~They won't be used immediately – as I'm still going to use my own ideas – but it'd help if I had some… well, help.~~
~~Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I've put in a few more references to things (nothing David Bowie, sadly), so be on the lookout!~~
This is now a bonus chapter.
[BONUS] Scares, Songs, and Strawberries
"…and that's when I found you floating out in space," Tom said as he finished the tale of how he and Eddie got into space. He was currently upside-down in relation to Luna, who put her hoof to her chin.
"You humans are very strange," she said. "You send these rockets to the Moon with your people on it, yet you also make a way for them to return if they want? Isn't that a bit lenient for your most despised criminals?"
"Criminals?" It was Tom's turn to look confused. "Oh no, they're regarded as heroes! We put our criminals in jails such as Alcatraz, Rikers Island, and Sing Sing. We usually execute our worst criminals."
"That sounds absolutely barbaric!" Luna said with shock. "I mean, I attempted to usurp the throne from my sister, but I was simply sent to the moon for a thousand years! I wasn't executed!"
"A thousand years? Could you really live for that long?"
"Well, I was about three hundred twenty-seven years old when I was banished, plus the seven hundred forty-nine years it's been since I was banished, so I guess that would make me…" Luna zoned out for a moment as she did the math before saying, "One thousand and seventy-six years old. How old are you and Eddie?"
"Uh, I'm thirty-eight, and Eddie is forty-two. We're babies compared to you."
"You guys talking about me?" Eddie said as he floated into the room.
"Morning, Eddie," Tom said. "Or, at least, it's morning according to our clock. Luna and I were discussing ages. Do you want to know how old she is?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"One thousand and seventy-six."
"You know," Eddie said, "I'd normally be surprised by this, but Luna also shouldn't technically exist by our scientific laws."
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
"Well, first off," Tom explained, "you can survive in space without the need for air. Second, you can use magic – which, by the way, we haven't seen yet, only heard about – which doesn't exist here, and finally, you're a pony that can talk."
"Well," Luna said, turning her nose up, "you're just as weird to me as I am to you! So HA!"
"I'm pretty sure we can deal with that," Eddie said as he floated over to a cabinet. "Anyone want any strawberries?"
This caused Luna's ears to perk up. "Did you say something about strawberries?"
"Sure did," Eddie replied.
"I love strawberries!" Luna shouted as she frantically tried to swim over to Eddie. "Can I have some?"
"Woah, calm down," Eddie said as he chuckled. "We've gotta make this food last, Luna. Only one strawberry a day for us."
Luna's smile turned into a frown at the thought of not being able to eat so many strawberries at a time. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by a strawberry booping her on the nose. She gave an excited gasp and gleefully chomped down on the strawberry. "This tastes… different," she noted.
"That's because they're freeze-dried," Tom explained. "Keeps all the nutrients in."
"That sounds strange," Luna said, "having to freeze then dry your food. Do you humans do this often?"
"Oh, no," Tom said. "We only freeze-dry food for space and commercial use, and even then, NASA won't let us take on certain kinds of freeze-dried food."
"Such a shame," Eddie commented. "I'm already starting to miss my mom's homemade pizzas."
"So, Luna," Tom said, changing the subject, "what was that about 'usurping the throne'? You mentioned something about that earlier."
"Oh," Luna said, shrinking. "I, um… I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, why not?" Eddie asked.
"Uh…"
"C'mon, Luna," Tom pushed, "tell us."
"Well… okay, I guess…" Luna floated herself away from the astronauts. "I-I don't want you to get mad at me or kick me out, though."
"Alright, Luna," Tom promised. "We won't."
"The reason why I got sent to the moon," Luna said, her body and voice shaking, "i-is because, uh… I tried to… k-kill my sister…"
The astronauts' eyes went wide. She tried to kill someone? Luna, the fun-loving pony, attempted to murder someone?
"Tom," Eddie asked without taking his eyes off of Luna, "can I talk with you for a bit in the cockpit? Alone?"
"Sure, Eddie," Tom replied. "Luna, we'll be right back, Eddie just needs to tell me something."
"O-Okay…" Luna stuttered as the two floated over to the cockpit and shut the door behind them before talking.
"Tom, I don't feel safe keeping her on board," Eddie said, worried. "Who's to say she won't try to kill us in our sleep?"
"Eddie, we promised we wouldn't kick her out. I'm not going back on that."
"Yeah, but I don't want to die, Tom."
"She's not going to hurt us."
"How do you know, Tom? Hm?"
Tom grew silent. There was no sure way to know that she wouldn't grow violent, but there wasn't anything he could do without breaking his promise.
"That's right, Tom, you don't," Eddie said. "She's a danger to us, and as much as I hate it, she's gotta go."
"But—"
"Look, Tom." Eddie grabbed Tom by the shoulders. "I know you've been having fun with her on board, but she's a threat. Be glad that Ground Control isn't listening, because they'd have us kill her. Understand?"
Tom nodded sadly. "I understand."
"Alright, Tom. Glad you understand." Eddie patted Tom on his shoulders and said, "Now, let's go back and break it to her softly, okay?" Tom only nodded in response.
When they opened the door, however, they immediately noticed a distinct lack of Luna in the room. "Luna?" Tom called out. "Where'd you go?" There was no response.
"Maybe she ran off," Eddie suggested.
"That's not good," Tom said. "We can't let her run off into space like that!"
"I know, Tom, but she also can't come back in here! She's dangerous!"
"Eddie," Tom pleaded as he started floating around the cabin, "I can't just abandon her! We can't let her run away on bad terms. Now, where's the experimental suit?"
Eddie sighed. "Alright, Tom, you win. It's over by the airlock."
"Thanks, Eddie," Tom said as he floated to where the airlock was located
"You be safe out there!" Eddie said.
"I will!"
As Tom let the air rush out of the room, he found Luna a few meters in front of him facing away, sitting on a non-existent floor. Tom pushed himself off of the floor of the airlock to where Luna sat. As he approached the alicorn, her horn lit up with a light blue aura, and her voice echoed throughout Tom's helmet.
"Please, Tom," she said between sniffles, "leave me alone. I heard what you guys were saying."
"Luna, c'mon," he pleaded before Luna cut him off.
"You guys think of me as a murderer!" she yelled, turning around to show blobs of tears floating in the vacuum. "You two wanted to be rid of me! You were going to break your promise!"
"Luna, we were worried!" Tom explained. "I don't know how it works in your land, but on Earth, people die every day because someone killed them! It's a natural response for us to be scared!"
"Scared ponies do drastic things, and I'm sure that applies to you humans as well!" Luna said. "I was scared then, Tom Harlow! I was scared that nopony liked me or my nights! I was scared that I would be friendless! I turned into a shadow of my former self and didn't have any control over what was going on!"
Tom was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Eddie didn't want her back in the shuttle, and if Tom did bring her back, he was afraid that Eddie might take drastic measures to get her out. On the other hand, Tom didn't want Luna to lose her only friends and be doomed to loneliness forever.
Sighing, Tom said, "Luna, can you stop doing… well, whatever it is you're doing so I can ask Eddie something?" Luna nodded, and a light blue aura around Tom's helmet that he hadn't noticed before dissipated. Tom then called Eddie on his radio, hoping he would pick up.
"What is it, Tom?" he asked.
"Eddie, I can assure you that she won't hurt us," Tom replied.
"Look, Tom, I've told you a million times, she can't co—"
"She won't hurt us unless she's afraid," Tom said, cutting Eddie off. "I talked with her about what happened, she said she was scared about being alone. The only way she'll try to hurt us is if we drive her out."
Eddie sighed over the mic. "I dunno, Tom, I'm not sure it's a chance I want to take."
"Eddie, do you know how many chances we've taken so far?" Tom asked. "Let me list them for you. First, we took a chance simply by entering the academy so we could be astronauts. We could've simply been stopped at the exam, but we weren't. Next, we took a chance every time we did training. We could've failed at any time, but we didn't. After that, we took a chance riding a giant, explosive rocket into space. We could've died at any time, but we didn't. Lastly, we took a chance when we took Luna in. She could've done anything to us the past few days, but she didn't. We have taken so many chances in our lives, yet you don't want to chance on a lasting friendship?"
There was a long silence over the radio before Eddie replied, "I guess I've got a few apologies to make, then. Bring her in, she can stay with us."
"Thanks, Eddie," Tom said as he turned back to Luna and gave a thumbs up.
Her horn lit up again, and she quietly asked, "What happened?"
"We're taking you back, Luna," Tom said as he started to fly back to the airlock.
When the two got back inside, they found Eddie waiting for them at the airlock. When Luna floated out, he said, "Luna, I'm sorry I, uh, assuming… that."
Luna smiled weakly and said, "Thank you, Eddie Rains. It means… a lot."
"Now," Tom said as he took his helmet off, "who's up for a game of Gravball?"
"Not right now," Eddie said, "I'm gonna try to reconnect with Ground Control." Luna's eyes dialated when he mentioned Ground Control. "Oh, no," the astronaut said when he noticed her fear, "I'm not going to rat on you. In fact, I don't think I'm going to tell them about you."
"Why not?" Tom asked.
"How nicely do you think the U.S. Government is going to treat an extraterrestrial life form?" Eddie explained. "Not very nice at all. Wouldn't be that good of a person, let alone friend, if I gave her to people I knew would hurt her."
"That's fair," Tom replied. "Now, you wanna play a game of Gravball with me, Luna?"
"Definitely!" she said, her smile finally reappearing on her face.
"Alright, folks," Announcer Tom said as he held the paper ball, "it's the final serve of the game! The score is tied four to four, and anything can happen! Who will win? Who will lose? Who will sing the blues? We'll soon find out as Harlow makes his serve!" He lightly tossed it up into the air and hit it towards Luna's side of the cabin. She pushed herself off the floor and smacked it back at Tom, sending it flying. Tom reached out for the ball and tipped it just enough to stop it from going in the goal, then bounced it off of the wall of the shuttle to try and disorient Luna.
It didn't work, however, as she intercepted the ball and hit it at a low angle, sending it past Tom's flailing hands, in between his legs, and into the goal.
"I am the champion! Luna shouted with glee.
"You saw it here tonight, folks!" Announcer Tom shouted. "The Princess of the Night has gained an impressive five-game winning streak, almost unheard of in the Gravball Championship! Can she be stopped?"
"It doesn't look like it, Kevin!" came Announcer Eddie from behind, floating in from the cockpit.
"So, what's up?" Tom asked. "Get anything?"
"Nope," Eddie replied. "Although, I did manage to find a few radio stations. Not sure if it'll help us out."
"Really?" Tom asked with excitement. "I've been dying to hear some music!"
"Oh, we have music back in Equestria!" Luna said. "I can't wait to hear what kind of music you humans listen to!"
"Well, why don't you come with us and check it out?" Tom said. "I bet you're gonna like it."
"Okay!" Luna floated over to the cockpit, Eddie following her. However, Tom placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.
"Thanks for letting her back in, Eddie," he said in a quiet voice.
"'To err is human,'" Eddie quoted, "'to forgive, divine.' Her and I both had a reason to forgive the other today, Tom. I hope you can forgive me, too."
"I already have," Tom replied as the two floated into the cockpit, where Luna was already listening to the radio.
"This music is very different," she told the astronauts. "It seems very self-centered and immoral. However, it's also very catchy and hard to stop listening to." Eddie and Tom looked at the console to find that she had tuned in to a pop music station.
"This is not going to end well," Tom muttered.
