Fire in the October Sky over Ponyville
Applebloom
“Scootaloo, is the tank filled up yet?” I called through the open hatch from where I was sitting.
“No. Maybe another minute. This stuff doesn't flow very quick.” she answered, “So how come I don't get to fly this again?” she asked irritably. Again.
I was about to answer her when Sweetie Bell did it for me, “Because your wings could get smashed against the seat. Don't you remember what Meep said? You get pushed into the seat really hard. You could break your wings.”
“Oh. Right.” Scootaloo sighed.
I grinned and made sure the ropes holding me to the seat were nice and tight. After today Diamond Tiara would have to find a new group of fillies to bully. Today I would finally get myself a Cutie Mark and so would my friends. I could feel it. Today was at last finally the day!
Of course I felt that way every time we tried something new, but this time was different. This time we had something which as far as we could tell nopony had ever done before. Three month's ago we had decided to try and get our Cutie Marks as astronauts using a catapult. We figured since nopony had been to space yet if we could get there first that would have to get us something for sure!
We figured that space stuff is pretty hard since you say something is easy by saying it's not rocket science. So we went to the library first to see if there was a book on it. We met a scientist at the library, not Twilight, this was somepony who turned out to be a changeling. Only a nice one. She had actually written a book on rocket science and told us everything we needed to know.
Well almost everything. She didn't tell us where we could get rocket fuel, or space suites, or get enough metal to make a rocket big enough for the three of us. That wasn't a big problem though, we had plenty of gas for the tractor in the barn, Scoots knew where a ton of old oil drums were in the dump, and Sweetie Belle managed to get Rarity to make a space suit for me. It fit kinda loose, and I was pretty sure that it was just a costume so I put on a scuba suit under it. But it looked awesome!
“Almost full!” Scootaloo called, tapping her hoof on the outside of our rocket.
“Ok!” I called back, “You can close the door now.”
There was a creaking sound as Sweetie Belle closed the hatch with her magic. I reached over and pulled the lever to lock it shut. Once the door was closed completely I reached down to a pocket in my suit and fished out the walkie-talkie we would use to keep in touch while in flight. “Door's locked. Let me know when you are gonna light the engine.”
We hadn't figured out a way to light the rocket from inside. I guess we spent too much time trying to make it's baby carrot sort of shape look right. Meep had insisted that the shape was really important. After that we needed to make sure the fins all worked with the steering wheel so I could keep it flying straight. Then we had to do the parachute. So since summer break ended today we just decided to light it with a match from outside.
“Ok Bloom, were ready to light the fuse. Is everything ok in there?” Scootaloo asked over the walkie-talkie.
I slid my helmet on then made sure I could reach the wheel and the rope to let open the parachute. “Yep!”
It was a little hard to see through the thick glass of my helmet. Not that there was much to see. We forgot to put a window in the rocket.
“Ok I lit the fuse!” Scootaloo called.
“Ok.” Suddenly I realized something important. “Hey, did she ever tell us how you get the rocket back down?”
“Um. No?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Huh, that's probably bad.” Scoots said, “Maybe we should stop and ask-”
Scootaloo's voice was cut off as the rocket roared to life.
I felt my heart skip a beat. The engine was loud! Louder than anything I had ever heard in my life. I could feel the heat of the flames under me. Nothing was happening other than the rocket seaming and my tail getting singed. Then there was a loud boom.
I was thrown back into the seat like somepony had thrown a house on top of me. For a second I thought everything just blew up. But then the walkie-talkie crackled, “Holy Celestia it's going!”
I couldn't tell who said it. There was too much noise, the walkie-talkie was laying against the back of the rocket, and I was busy screaming my head off. See when you launch in a rocket, you're not really flying that rocket. You're just sort of hanging on and hoping nothing explodes.
It was the single scariest thing I had ever experienced. I could feel my eyes being pushed into my own head. My lungs burned as the ropes cut into my chest, stopping me from breathing easily. I could feel tears running back alongside my head and dripping off my ears. I opened my mouth and began to scream bloody murder as I was thrown into the sky at what had to be a million miles an hour.
After a few long seconds of screaming I felt my heart start beating again and realized two big mistakes. First we didn't have anything in the rocket which would let me see if I was keeping the rocket going straight up. Second I couldn't reach the steering wheel because of how far back I was being pushed into the seat.
These were big problems. Really big problems. Big Mac sized problems! Maybe we should have tested out a few rockets first. These seemed like the sort of problems you could work out after trying it a few times. Hopefully I wouldn't get stuck in space and we could fix these problems then try again. Because as scary as it was, it was also amazingly fun!
“Woooo!” I shouted as the rocket shook and bucked it's way through the air.
My fear was gone. Nothing could be scarier than that, and once you got used to It it was amazing! Rainbow Dash sometimes said she would dive for the ground then turn at the last second just for the rush. This had to be the feeling she was talking about. I was stuck in a tin can going so fast I couldn't move my arms, in a direction I didn't know, riding a pillar of fire across the sky. It was awesome!
Suddenly there was another boom. The rocket coughed and sputtered for a bit then the roaring stopped. The engine had died. Ether I was in space, or we didn't put in enough gas. I was pretty sure we didn't have enough gas. That seemed more far more likely. Either way it was time for the parachute.
I smiled, reached for the rope, gripped it with my hoof and pulled.
~~
Twilight Sparkle
Today was one of those rare days where I had a gap in my schedule. Even the best of ponies make mistakes, but that is no excuse for poor planning. Fortunately I had a plan in place for these moments. Unscheduled time was reading time. Especially when it was the mid-afternoon and the sun was at just the right angle for enjoying a book on the balcony.
Even better, A.K. Yearling had published a new Daring Do novel which I had not gotten to read yet. Daring Do and The Quest for The Fallen Star had been very critically acclaimed. From the two chapters I had read so far I could see why. This was her most thrilling novel yet!
I turned the page, eager to learn the identity of the mysterious stallion Daring was chasing through the Baltimare streets when something exploded. Not in the book, the sound came from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres! Dropping my book I ran into the library, down the stairs, and outside to see what was going on. As I ran a loud continuous roar filled the air. It sounded like a dozen hydras were fighting one another.
By the time I made it outside it looked like half of Ponyville was looking up at the sky. Panicked cries and confused questions filled the air until the roar couldn't be heard anymore. As I squinted into the distance to look for any sign of an explosion I saw something I could not believe.
A thick column of black smoke was rising far up into the air. It trailed behind a huge ball of fire which looked like it was riding the smoke up into the sky in one long curving arc. I stood watching it in awe and confusion for a long time. It certainly was a spectacle, but what was it? Was it dangerous? Had something exploded at Applejack's farm and was now being launched into the sky?
Suddenly the fire winked out and the roar stopped. The smoke trail kept moving, reaching the top of it's arc in seconds and starting to come back down to earth. With the fire gone, the smoke began to clear and I could see a large white, yellow, and orange shape within the smoke. A shape which from the looks of things was going to smash into my library!
Ponies began to scream and run as they noticed the thing falling out of the sky. I payed no attention to them. I had to stop this thing from hitting my home and more importantly from hurting anypony. How could I stop a falling object which looked to be about six ponies tall and was probably very heavy?
I kept my eyes on the thing in the sky as I worked my way though the problem. As it got closer I gasped in total shock, “That's a rocket!” I shouted to nopony in particular.
To my further amazement part of the rocket popped off, hanging from one end by a bit of chain. A second later a large homemade parachute opened up, the rocket slowing down quickly as the chute snapped open. The parachute was red and blue, and appeared to have a symbol sewn into it.
A symbol that was very familiar to anypony from Ponyville. It was the emblem Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and their friend used for their club. It's presence on the parachute could could only one thing.
“ 'What harm can it do?' you said,” I grumbled remembering a certain scientist's words, “ 'Not even they are resourceful enough to build a rocket.' you said.”
It was very clear to me that a parachute of that size would not carry the rocket down safely. At this speed it wouldn't break when it hit the ground, but anypony inside could be badly hurt. So as the quite literally nailed and taped together rocket got within the reach of my magic I put all of my strength into slowing its fall as much as I could.
My magic's aura flared around the rocket, slid up it's sides, only to barely get a grip at the top. I pushed up against the rocket, slowing it down as quickly as I could. It was hard work, sweat had begun to drip from my forehead the moment my magic gathered around the falling rocket. It was impossibly heavy! How could anything this heavy have flown?
Inch by inch I guided the rocket down. It took far longer than I would have liked to set the would be spaceship down on its side next to the library. Long enough for me to have a pounding headache and a burning desire to give a certain changeling the lecture of her life.
As I walked up to the rocket to make sure everypony I assumed was inside was ok, a small hatch on the side popped open releasing a large cloud of black smoke.
“Oh no!” I cried as I ran towards the rocket, dreading the thought of seeing three of the bravest and dumbest fillies this side of Canterlot in flames.
Suddenly a soot stained white boot stretched out of the smoke, followed by another, and then a glass fishbowl turned helmet as Apple Bloom pulled herself from the rocket. She climbed up on top of the smoking craft, coughed once then took off her helmet.
Her eyes narrowed dramatically, chest puffed out with pride the young mare announced, “That's one small step for a filly-” she coughed again finishing in a strained voice, “one giant leap for ponykind!”
~~
Colgate Aquafresh
I sighed as the doorbell rang. Ever since Meep had come back from Canterlot as a proper citizen of Equestria we had problems. Not between the two of us, no our problems came from ponies who didn't care that not all changelings were bad. Ponies who were more than happy to harass the 'bug lover', and some even worse individuals who were the type to throw rocks.
Whoever was at the door now probably was just leaving a flaming bag of poop. But I wasn't going to let them break me. I fought in the Canterlot invasion, I broke myself and my friends free of the invader's mind control, and fought one of their soldiers and lived to tell the tale. It would take more than somepony's words to scare me!
As I pulled the door open with my magic all of my bravery vanished. Standing in the doorway was a rather murderous looking, crazy maned, eye twitching Twilight Sparkle.
“Hello!” She said barely constraining her rage, “Is Meep home? I need to explain a few things-”
Quickly turning around and sprinting up the stairs I yelled, “Run Meep run! Twilight's gone crazy again!”
~~
Rainbow Dash
Cleaning up a bunch of smoke was a piece of cake, I had the skies clear again in ten seconds flat! I couldn't help but be impressed by how it got there though. Usually Scoot's friends plans don't work that well. I shuddered recalling Cutie Mark Crusaders Mane Stylists. At least nopony had gotten hurt or even worse, a makeover this time.
I soared in the skies over Ponyville, riding a thermal as I looked to make sure I had taken care of all the smoke. Everything looked pretty clear to me. There were no patches of black as far as I could see anywhere over Ponyville. Except for one fast moving patch of black which was zipping through the air like its life depended on it!
I squinted at the patch and instantly flew at it full speed. That wasn't smoke! That was a changeling! Somepony had probably flushed one of their scouts out of hiding and- I flared my wings, stopping dead in the air a few yards in front of the changeling as I saw her yellow, fear filled eyes. This one wasn't a problem, she lived here.
As she zipped past me I turned and flew alongside, “Hey, what's up?” I asked in a reserved tone.
I knew that this one lived here and was friendly, but excuse me for not getting to know somepony who's friends tried to take over the kingdom only a few weeks ago.
“Twilight angry! Told fillies how to build a rocket. Didn't think they could!” She squeaked.
I winced, Twilight going crazy was never good. Hold on a minute, “You were the one who told them how to make that?”
She nodded, stopping dead in the air and looking down before shooting straight upwards. It was pretty impressive. I've never seen a pegasus able to move like that. Except for me of course. I turned and kept flying, as agile as the changeling was, she was pretty easy for me to keep up with.
“Why?” I asked glaring daggers at her. If she had planed on getting AJ's sister hurt I would tackle her right out of the sky and into Twilight's hooves!
“Because they were going to try to get into space with a catapult.” she answered stopping and hovering in the air at an altitude I guess she felt safe at. She looked at me with those freaky eyes as she continued, “I guess I don't know what they are actually capable of, but I understand that cutie marks are important to ponies. So I told them how you actually would get into space since they wanted Astronaut cutie marks.”
That wasn't so bad I guess. Most ponies underestimated those three. Hey, I hadn't believed they built a submarine until AJ and I fished it out of the pond. “Yeah, most ponies think those girls won't be able to pull something off. It's best to not tell them anything dangerous.”
“You're telling me!” she winced, “Mind if I use your shape to get back home? I am pretty sure that purple dot down there is still out for blood.”
I shook my head. “You're not dragging me into this! You had better go face the music before her rage breaks and she just drags you out of the sky.”
The changeling winced, “She can do that?”
“She once lifted a Ursa Minor.” I reminded.
Her face fell and after a few seconds she started spiraling down towards the ground. She flew pretty well even if she was kinda slow. Maybe I could learn a trick or two watching her. “Hey! What's your name?” I asked.
“It's Meep.” She called.
“Well good luck Meep. Remember if her mane lights on fire she is past the point of reason!” I called as I turned to head over to AJ's.
Somepony had to make sure a certain orange mare wasn't too upset at her sister.
~~
Apple Bloom
Every time we try something I get grounded. It's not fair. Applejack doesn't know how awful I feel every time Diamond Tiara looks at me with that look like I am mud on her hooves and calls me a blank flank. I need her to stop, and there is only one way that will happen.
Who knows what my special talent could be? I had to keep trying things until I found what I was good at right? Everypony just keeps saying that I'll get it when it's time but that makes no sense. You earn a cutie mark for something you do really well, not because it's a certain day. Well except for Ms. Colgate, since her special talent is getting things done at the right time.
I lay on my bed sulking in my space suit. I hadn't taken it off yet even though it was hours after the launch. Even with how long Applejack yelled at me, every time I looked at the suit I had to smile a little. Who else can say they shot across the sky in a homemade rocket, landed, and walked away from the burning wreck completely unharmed?
I gasped as I realized something big. I hadn't taken off my suit yet! The entire reason I had climbed into that rocket was to try and earn my cutie mark, if I had gotten it I wouldn't be able to see it. But what if I hadn't? There was no way I could ever do something more awesome than riding that rocket. Unless I actually got into space.
I slowly unzipped my suit, gently sliding out of the scorched fabric so I wouldn't rip it and set it down on my bed. The scuba suit underneath was a little bit melted. I guess we needed some more space between the cockpit and the engines.
I pulled and tugged at the slippery fabric closing my eyes in dread as I slipped the suit off of my flank. I didn't look for a whole minute. Then I slowly opened one eye and looked at my right flank. My other eye opened instantly, a smile spread across my face so wide I was worried I might break my mouth.
“Yes!” I shouted with all the joy and pride I could.
Sitting on my flank was a green apple which had a purple triangle on the inside with a small silver rocket flying upwards. It looked like one of the patches you see on spacepony uniforms in the movies. I had my cutiemark at last. I finally knew what my talent was. I was a spaceship pilot.
When I saw Sweetie Bell and Scoots tomorrow, we would have to see about building a better rocket.
The End
Author's Note
For those of you wondering, Apple Bloom's cutiemark is based off of the NASA Space Flight Medal. An award given for "significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, payload specialist, or other space flight participant in a space flight mission."
The apple background is because A, she's an apple and B, the movie “The Astronaut Farmer” is pretty good. Especially as a pony joke.
