G5 Adventures in Space Buddiesby ponydog127ChaptersReuniting with the Buddies/The Night Before the Field TripThe Zephyr Heights Moon FestivalRainy Day Recruiting/Preparing the Shuttle for LaunchA Field Trip Gone AwryLost in Space/An Unexpected Fuel ProblemThe Russian Research Space StationEscaping the Space StationHeading to the Moon/The Pippsqueaks' HomesicknessMoon MadnessMeet Gravity/Blasting Off for HomeThe Word Gets OutMeteor Madness/Dr. Finkle's ExposureA Cosmic Rescue and a Return HomeA Welcome Home Celebration/Returning to EquestriaReuniting with the Buddies/The Night Before the Field TripThe Pippsqueaks could never be more excited-- they were finally going on another Unity Quest with the Mane 6! However, as they traveled through the portal to worlds unknown, they couldn't help but wonder where in the world they might be going this time. Fortunately for them, they were soon going to find out. XXXXXXXX A crystal portal opened up in front of an elementary school in a small town, and the Mane 6 stepped out with the Pippsqueaks following behind, and the Pippsqueaks gazed around in wonder at the environment around them. “Sunny, this place is so cool!” Seashell exclaimed. “Where are we, anyway?” “I have a pretty solid idea,” Sunny smiled. “Guys… I think we're back in Fernfield!” “Aww man! Violette is gonna be disappointed we came without her this time,” Hitch said before turning back to the Pippsqueaks. “but I'm glad that we brought you three along.” “We are too!” Glory smiled. “But if you guys have been here before, do you know who our adventure is gonna be with?” Zipp looked around before she spotted five golden furry figures standing over near the school, causing her to smile. “I think I have an idea… come on! We gotta take the Pippsqueaks over to meet them!” “Buddha! Rosebud! Budderball!” Misty called as the ponies trotted over. “B-Dawg! Mudbud! We're back!” “Whoa! What's up, dudes?!” Mudbud asked excitedly as the five Golden Retriever pups ran to greet them, causing the Mane 6 to laugh happily as they reunited with their puppy friends. “Your friends from Fernfield are puppies?!” Peach Fizz asked in shock and delight. “They're so so so cute!!” “Pippsqueaks, we'd like you to meet the Buddies-- Budderball, B-Dawg, Buddha, Mudbud and their little sister Rosebud,” Sunny introduced the Buddies one by one. “Buddies, meet our friends from Equestria, the Pippsqueaks-- Peach Fizz, Glory and Seashell. They're gonna be tagging along with us on whatever Unity Quest we've been sent on.” “Yo, it's nice to meet you, dawgettes,” B-Dawg said to the Pippsqueaks. “Any friends of my pony posse are officially instated in MY posse.” “Uh… thanks. It's nice to meet you too… dawg,” Seashell said a tad awkwardly, not used to speaking in such a manner. “So what are you cuties doing out here in front of this school?” “We’re just waiting for our people to get out of school for the day,” Rosebud explained. “You guys will really like them… especially since Sunny and her friends helped to pick them out and everything.” “Okay, it's official,” Glory said to her friends with a wide grin. “Pipp and her friends just got way way WAY cooler!” Suddenly, the doors of the school flew open, and several young kids came out from the building, including the Buddies' owners-- Buddha's owner Sam, Mudbud's owner Pete, Rosebud's owner Alice, Budderball’s owner Bartleby and B-Dawg's owner Billy. Sam was the first to kneel down and rubbed Buddha on top of the head. “Heya, Buddha. Hope you and the rest of the Buddies didn't get too bored without us.” “Hey, I know you ponies!” Alice said, recognizing the Mane 6. “You guys helped match us up with our pups!” “Hey, it's good to see you guys again,” Zipp said as she hoof-bumped Billy with a wide smile. “I hope these little guys are behaving themselves for you.” “Well, Mudbud does get dirty and track pawprints through the house,” Pete admitted, shooting Mudbud a little scolding look, “but other than that, the Buddies are all great.” “Hi! I'm Seashell, and that's Glory and Peach Fizz,” Seashell then introduced. “It's nice to meet you all.” “Hey, nice to meet you too,” Alice waved to the fillies with a smile. “Are you all gonna be in town long?” “Well, we're not sure,” Hitch admitted. “We were just so excited to see the Buddies after these last few weeks of not seeing each other, we totally forgot about finding a place to stay.” “Well, my parents and I have plenty of room at our house for you guys to stay,” Bartleby offered. “I'd repay you guys with anything to thank you for helping me match with Budderball.” “Some of you guys could stay with me and Buddha,” Sam then added. “Aw, thanks for all that, guys,” Sunny smiled warmly. “I think we'll take you up on your offer.” “Hey, dawgs,” Billy whispered to his friends. “Our teacher did say we could bring special guests on our field trip tomorrow… why not ask them since our parents have to work?” “Ooh, a field trip? I love field trips! Where are you going?” Izzy asked optimistically before gasping deeply. “Are you going to the yarn factory?!” “Even better,” Sam told the ponies excitedly. “We're gonna go see a real live space shuttle launch at the station outside of town!” “You're gonna see a spaceship launch into space?! That sounds just as cool as the Moon Festival in Zephyr Heights!” Glory exclaimed. “If not cooler!” “We can take special guests if we want, and we could ask our teacher if you guys can come with us!” Pete offered. “We’ll go find our teacher and ask her if it's okay. Be right back. Come on, you guys!” With that, Alice and the boys rushed off back into the school to find their teacher, and Seashell turned to look at the Buddies. “Are you gonna go see the space shuttle launch tomorrow too?” “Unfortunately not,” Buddha frowned. “The teacher is allergic to dog fur, so we have to stay behind. And no matter how many times Sam's asked, the answer is always the same.” “It's disappointing. That's what it is,” Budderball said with disappointment. “Getting to miss out on all those bag lunches? It's gonna be pure torture!” The Pippsqueaks felt bad for the Buddies-- not being able to go to something so fun and exciting must have been heartbreaking to go through. It would be like them not being able to go to the Moon Festival back home in Equestria. Suddenly, Glory spoke to the Buddies with a smile on her face. “Well, if you guys aren't going, then I'm not either.” “And if Glory isn't going,” Peach Fizz continued, “then me and Seashell aren’t going either.” The Mane 6 seemed generally surprised at this. “Are you girls sure that’s what you wanna do?” Misty asked in concern. “You seemed so excited about it a few minutes ago.” “Well, the Buddies might need some company if you guys go on the trip tomorrow, and we wanna explore Fernfield a little,” Seashell admitted, looking at the other Pippsqueaks, who nodded. “So, it'll work out great for everypony, right?” “That’s very admirable of you, Pippsqueaks,” Buddha said with a grateful grin. “Thank you for your unwavering act of kindness. Namaste.” “Namaste to you too, Buddha,” Peach Fizz bowed her head in response, just before the kids came back out of the school. “Well, we talked to our teacher and she said we can still bring guests,” said Sam, “but… we only have room for six, so… some of you will have to stay behind.” “Actually, the Pippsqueaks volunteered to stay behind so they could keep the Buddies company,” Zipp interjected, “so the rest of us ponies can go with you. We’ll work out the rest of the plan on our way back to your houses. If we’re gonna go on a space shuttle launch tomorrow, we’re gonna need our rest.” XXXXXXXX The plans had been made-- Zipp was going to bunk at B-Dawg and Billy's house, Sunny and Izzy were going to look after the Pippsqueaks and spend the night at Buddha and Sam's house, Bartleby and Budderball would take Hitch back to their house, Misty would stay at Mudbud and Pete's house and lastly, Pipp would stay at Alice and Rosebud's house. Shortly after these plans were made, everyone said their goodbyes and went to their respective houses for the night, the kids telling their families that the ponies would be staying with them until further notice. However, no one knew that their plans would be rocketed off into the stars... and not in the best way possible. XXXXXXXX Elsewhere, out in space, at an old Russian research space station, there lived a white bull terrier named Spudnick and his unicorn companion Night Star, who had a bluish-purple coat, golden eyes, a dark purple and yellow mane and tail and a cutie mark of a shooting star. Both of them had been stranded in space for as long as they could remember, at least a few years, and each night, Spudnick would stare down at the Earth longingly, waiting for the day they would be rescued. On this particular night, Spudnick spoke up to Night Star, thoughts filling his head. “Dreams are like stars. You can't touch them, but if you follow them, they will lead you to your destiny,” he said wisely. “I used to dream of being the first dogmonaut to walk on the Moon. And now, I dream of going home to my boy, Sasha.” “And you will, someday, Spudnick-- I believe it,” Night Star said kindly, looking out the window with a wistful sigh. “Honestly… I just dream of seeing other ponies again. Having friends. All we have to do is keep hoping and dreaming… and if we keep doing that, I’m sure our wishes will come true.” XXXXXXXX Around the same time, Sunny and Izzy were inside of the living room in Sam's house, helping Sam's mom set up an area for the two of them and the Pippsqueaks to sleep for the night... at least until the next morning. The Pippsqueaks, on the other hoof, were too excited to sleep-- Sam and Buddha were with them outside on the patio, and they were pointing out all the different star constellations and letting the Pippsqueaks use Sam's telescope to get clear views of the moon. “Wow…” Peach Fizz murmured softly. “It’s incredible!” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars before,” Seashell told Buddha quietly. “Not even back in Maretime Bay!” That’s when Sunny, Izzy and Sam’s mom came out on the patio to speak with them. “You little astronauts need to get some sleep,” Sam’s mother said. “You and your friends have a big day tomorrow, Sam.” “It's gonna be the coolest,” Sam said with a smile. “I've never seena real spaceship before.” “But can’t we just have five more minutes?” Glory asked with a pout. “Please?” “Okay, okay… five more minutes,” Sunny said with a giggle. “But no more and no less, understood?” “Understood,” the Pippsqueaks nodded in understanding before Seashell took her turn at the telescope. But during this, Buddha looked over at Sam with a pleading look in his eyes, and Sam seemed to know exactly what Buddha wanted, without needing to hear the pup’s voice. “I wish you could come too,” Sam told his pup with a frown. “But I've already asked school like 12 times. No pets. But, you’ll have the Pippsqeaks to keep you company tomorrow, so at least you won’t be all by yourself.” Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the sky, which Glory immediately pointed out. “Look! A shooting star, Buddha!” Buddha barked excitedly at this. “Make a wish,” Sam told the others, and as they closed their eyes, Sam whispered his wish so that only the Pippsqueaks and Buddha could hear it. “I wish to one day touch the moon.” “And I wish,” Glory whispered, “for us to find a piece of the moon to bring back to our families, so they can see what an amazing adventure we had.” “Sam! Pippsqueaks!” Sunny called. “Come on to bed!” “Astronauts need their rest too, you know!” Izzy called, causing Sam to sigh. “I guess when they’re right, they’re right. Good night, Buddha.” “Night, Buddha. See you in the morning,” Seashell rubbed the puppy on the head before she and Peach Fizz trotted inside. “Launch!” Sam made engine noises as he ‘flew’ his toy space shuttle inside, with Glory giggling as she followed after him. Once they were all inside, Buddha made his own wish under the canopy of stars above. “I wish that all your dreams come true…” Then, Buddha opened his eyes and glanced through the telescope at the moon above, to which Izzy and Sunny noticed. “Aww… I really wish they could come with us. Then the Pippsqueaks wouldn’t have to miss out on such a sparkle-tastic field trip,” Izzy frowned. “Can’t we magically make the teacher’s allergies go away?” “Even if we could, Iz, I don’t think it would be that simple,” Sunny frowned. “Besides… we need a little fun after the past couple of Unity Quests. The Pippsqueaks and Buddies will be just fine on their own, at least until we get back. Come on, we better get to bed ourselves.” Izzy nodded at this, and as they spared one final look at Buddha, they went off to bed to dream of the moon, the stars and rockets before the exciting day ahead. Author's Note I thought Night Star would be perfect for this-- credit goes to the creator, as always: Night Star #01 by DecPrincess on DeviantArt The Zephyr Heights Moon FestivalIt had been a few weeks since the Mane 6's last Unity Quest in the mortal world, where the ponies and their mystery-solving friends got beamed into cyber-space, and together with their new Enchantix Wolf friends and their cyber-doubles, they managed to get through all the different levels, defeated a cyber version of Opaline AND defeated a nasty computer virus before returning home. Even though they were on their hooves for most of that mission, it was still one that they were never going to forget. But little did the Mane 6 know, there was another Unity Quest waiting for not only them, but some very special little friends of theirs as well. Ever since their last Unity Quest adventure with the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz have felt closer than ever before to one another, and their parents were starting to get along better as well, making the three fillies that much happier. One day, after running into Pipp Petals, the icon of all Equestrian icons, in town, the Pippsqueaks' parents revealed a special surprise to their daughters-- Pipp had talked about it with her friends, and they would love for the Pippsqueaks to join them in the Marestream that weekend as they went to the Zephyr Heights Moon Festival, held once every 10 years! Of course, the Pippsqueaks couldn't be more excited to go spend time with the Mane 6 and to actually be close to Queen Haven in the royal box. Little did they know that a brand-new adventure would be waiting just around the corner for them. XXXXXXXX “Now, are you girls sure you’re prepared for the big trip to Zephyr Heights?” Seashell’s mother, Ocean Silk asked the fillies as she, Solar Charge and Amethyst Charm walked the three of them to the Crystal Brighthouse for their trip. “You’ll be back late tonight, so I just wanna make sure you three will be okay until then.” “Don’t worry, Mom-- Peach Fizz and Glory and I will be just fine,” Seashell reassured. “I’ve been to Zephyr Heights with them before, remember?” “Oh, yes, I remember,” Amethyst nodded. “Solar Charge took the three of you to see Pipp in concert that one day.” “But, you three are gonna stay in Zephyr Heights until late tonight. Like Ocean Silk said,” Solar Charge told the girls, “we wanna make sure you’re going to be okay. You’ve never been in Zephyr Heights after dark by yourselves before.” “We won’t be by ourselves,” Glory reminded her father. “Sunny and the others are gonna be with us.” “You know what I meant, firework.” “Hey, guys!” Sunny greeted the trio and their parents as they neared the Marestream. “Are you fillies ready to go for the trip of your lives?” “You bet we are!” Peach Fizz chirped. “This is gonna be so much fun!” “Well, then you girls are in luck! We have fun everywhere at the festival!” Zipp smiled. “Now, get your stuff into the Marestream and we can get going.” “Oh, bye, sweetie-hooves!” Amethyst said, kissing her daughter repeatedly. “Hey! Mom!” Peach Fizz groaned playfully. “Cut it out!” “We’ll be waiting for you when you get back, firework,” Solar Charge said, booping his daughter on the nose. “Promise.” “Have fun!” Ocean Silk waved to her daughter and her friends. “And listen to Sunny and the others!” “We will!” Seashell called back as they entered the Marestream, and within a few minutes, they set off toward their destination. XXXXXXXX “Thanks for telling our parents that we could come with you guys tonight, Pipp,” Peach Fizz said to Pipp with a smile. “We’ve always wanted to go, but we never knew when the moon was gonna be closest to Equestria.” “Aww, you’re welcome, girls!” Pipp said with a smile. “Mom is expecting us at the gates of Zephyr Heights, so we need to hoof it so we can make it on time.” “Pipp, don’t forget-- I can’t push the Marestream too hard,” Zipp said to her sister sternly from the pilot’s seat. “If the lantern runs low on power, we’ll be falling from the sky quicker than a pegasus in a nose-dive!” “Hey, I know what we can do while we wait to get there,” Misty said with a smile. “We can tell the Pippsqueaks about some of the missions we’ve been on lately!” “Ooh, ooh! Have some of them been with Scooby and the gang?” Glory asked. “A few of them,” said Hitch, “but we’ve made a lot of new friends too. Like when we met the Jetsons… in the future!” “The future?! No way!” Peach Fizz squealed. “You gotta tell us about it!” “Okay, okay!” Zipp laughed before clearing her throat. “So, I called everypony to the Crystal Brighthouse to discuss a theory, when…” XXXXXXXX Only 30 minutes and one story later, they managed to arrive in Zephyr Heights, which was brightly decorated with lights and lanterns for the big Moon Festival, which had started after the sun went down, and the moon began to rise. Queen Haven, like she said, was waiting for them when they arrived, and Pipp and Zipp were first to fly over to her. “Mom!” “Oh, my angels! You’ve arrived!” Queen Haven said warmly. “Welcome, everypony, to the Zephyr Heights Moon Festival!” “Greetings, Queen Haven,” Seashell said politely as she, Glory and Peach Fizz bowed to her. “I’m Seashell, and this is Peach Fizz and Glory.” “Pipp invited us to the festival, and we couldn’t wait to meet you!” Peach Fizz said excitedly before she realized how fast she was speaking. “Sorry… I talk fast when I’m excited.” “Oh, I’m so glad you fillies could come too!” Queen Haven said kindly. “Come on in, everyone-- I’ll give you the grand layout.” Two guards opened the gates to the city, and the group was astounded to see all kinds of rides, games, snacks, craft booths and lanterns that gave off the essence of the moon festival. And as they walked, Queen Haven took the chance to explain what the festival was really all about. “And so… every ten years, when the moon reaches its closest point in Equestria, we throw a great big party to celebrate.” Just then, a big decorative moon came rolling by and Zoom and Thunder screamed as they chased after it, catching the group's attention. Queen Haven felt embarrassed a bit before she recomposed herself and looked at Zipp and Pipp with a smile. “Oh, my daughters have always loved the Moon Festival.” Pipp and Zipp looked at each other while Pipp raised an eyebrow at her sister, remembering when Zipp tied her to a balloon so they could fly up and get closer to the moon itself. “Correction… Zipp always loves the Moon Festival,” Pipp corrected with a sarcastic expression. “Me, haha… not so much.” “And now, as it's the first Moon Festival since magic returned, we're putting on an extra special aerobatics finale featuring Zephyr Heights' finest flyers!” Queen Haven announced with excitement. “That sounds like a lot of fun!” Izzy chirped. “We definitely don’t wanna miss that, do we, ponies?” “No way!” Seashell exclaimed with excitement in her voice. “Let’s go find our seats so we can get this party started!” XXXXXXXX A few minutes later, the group arrived at a room where Rufus was standing guard before moving the red waiting line out of the way. “Welcome to the royal box!” Queen Haven announced as the doors opened as it revealed a room with a balcony with the great view of the night sky with tables sets and a food buffet for the group to enjoy. Needless to say... they were all VERY impressed. “Uh, quick question.” Izzy spoke as the others turned to her as she had the red waiting line on her while giving a fashionable expression. “Does this clash with my mane? Ooh!” But suddenly, Rufus gave her a loook before snatching the waiting line away. “Wow, look at all these snacks!” Sunny exclaimed. “There must be enough here to feed a whole army of hungry ponies!” “Man, Dad does NOT know what he’s missing out on!” Glory said as she snacked on some cucumber sandwiches. “He said my mom always loved the Moon Festival when it came around. In fact… I think that’s where they first became friends when they were my age!” “Awww, so sweet,” Hitch smiled. “But, with your mom being gone, I’m sure he has a lot of bittersweet memories relating to the festival too.” “...I never thought about it that way,” Glory said with a soft expression while looking at the moon. “I sure wish we could find a way to make him happy about the Moon Festival… and that we could remember this night forever.” “Uh… Glory?” Peach Fizz pointed to Glory’s cutie mark. “I think that question is getting answered!” When Glory looked down, she gasped-- her cutie mark was now glowing, as were the other Pippsqueaks' and the Mane 6's cutie marks, and this created a portal not too far away. “I guess your job as protectors of Equestria are never done,” Queen Haven said. “But, is it safe to bring the fillies?” “I think so,” Sunny said. “They handled themselves pretty well the last time-- they even saved us from some pretty scary monsters.” “And we can save you again if necessary!” Seashell said. “Let’s go go go see what adventure is waiting for us!” “See you soon, Mom!” Zipp said before they jumped into the portal one by one before it closed and as Queen Haven waved farewell, bidding the group good luck on their next adventure. Rainy Day Recruiting/Preparing the Shuttle for LaunchFinally, 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. A Field Trip Gone AwryThe bus ride to Vision One Enterprises seemed to be taking forever, but luckily, none of the kids or the Mane 6 seemed to notice the Pippsqueaks or the Buddies in the back of the bus, bored out of their minds. “Dudes, are we there YET?” Mudbud asked his siblings and new friends in a quiet voice. “We’ve literally been riding forever!” “I’m not exactly sure where exactly the shuttle is gonna be launching from,” Seashell admitted, “but I’m sure we can’t be too far away.” “Do you think we’ll be able to get a view of the rocket from up close?” Glory asked. “I’d love to get a photo for Dad!” “We’ll just have to wait and see, Glory,” Buddha told the pegasus filly. “Good things come to those who wait, after all.” “Hey, everypony! Great news!” Pipp announced from further up the bus. “I think we’re heeeeeeeeeeeere, WAH!!” This caused the other kids and ponies to cheer in excitement, and as the bus pulled into a stop on the curb, the teacher sneezed and climbed down the stairs to get in front of the kids. “Okay, people, off the bus,” she said to the kids. “Don't forget your lunch… AHH!!!” The kids began to get out of the bus so fast, they climbed all over her (except for the Mane 6 of course), and they were able to stop right before Dr. Finkel, who stood at the entrance to wait for them. “Okay, stop right here, kids. Welcome to Vision Enterprises. Everyone in. Don't touch anything.” “Come on, you guys!” Izzy giggled excitedly. “Let’s go go go!” “For once, I agree with Izzy,” Hitch told the other ponies, smiling. “We can’t miss a real-life shuttle launch!” However, as the Mane 6 and the kids filed behind Dr. Finkel and headed into the building, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks got out of their hiding places and began to get off the bus to go after them. “We don’t wanna miss the launch!” Buddha said as he got off the bus and walked all over the teacher, who was still on the ground. “This way!” “Excuse me!” Peach Fizz called out as she followed Buddha off the bus but walked around the teacher. “Coming through!” “Wait for me!” Seashell shouted after her friends, and once all the Buddies and the three fillies were off the bus, they darted through the doors to catch up with the tour group. XXXXXXXX The Mane 6 were currently still following their human friends behind Dr. Finkel, who seemed to detest children in all forms imaginable. “Again, please refrain from touching anything with your hands, you slimy, little, germ-ridden creatures.” “Hmph! Rude!” Pipp scoffed as the group was eventually brought to a stop. “Our goal here, at Vision Enterprises, for some reason,” Dr. Finkel explained, “is to make space travel accessible for everyone, including the family pet.” As he was saying this, Sam looked over and spotted an unusual device nearby, and his interest grew just enough to where he went to explore it. “Hey… Sam!” Sunny whispered. “Where are you going?” “Come on… we better follow him,” Zipp whispered to Sunny as they followed Sam over to the device while the rest of the group was distracted. At the same time, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks followed after the group before darting into hiding nearby. “Let’s hide over here, dudes,” Mudbud whispered, only for Seashell to shush the pup. “Quiet! They’ll hear us!” At the same time, Sam put down his backpack and stepped onto the device, which began to scan his body in order to fit him for a spacesuit of his very own. “Scanning… human boy.” “Wow... this is awesome!” Sam whispered to himself before a blue spacesuit came out of the closet nearby. “No way…” Zipp whispered, her eyes immediately going wide. “This technology really is advanced!” “Here, Sam,” Sunny offered as she and Zipp stepped closer. “We’ll help you put it on over your clothes.” The Buddies and the Pippsqueaks watched in wonder as Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in the spacesuit, and they couldn't help but wonder if this device could give them spacesuits of their very own. Now that would be a really great souvenir for the Pippsqueaks to take back to their parents. Meanwhile, Dr. Finkle was continuing his lesson, unaware of Sam, Sunny and Zipp's disappearance from the rest of the tour group. “As you can see, we have some specifically designed space suits.” Finally, Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in his space suit, and even they had to admit… he looked just as good as them, if not better. Unfortunately, Dr. Finkle finally took the chance to notice them near the device and frowned upon it. “...whatever you like. Excuse me,” he said to the trio, getting their attention. “Please step away from the circle.” “Uh-oh… I think we got trouble,” Pipp murmured to her friends as Zipp and Sunny stepped closer to Sam in case he needed backup. “That device scans a life form and determines the right size suit,” Dr. Finkle told them with a frown on his face. “It is highly sophisticated. So please step away.” “He’s not the only thing that’s highly sophisticated around here,” Zipp muttered under her breath, causing Sunny to shush her before they got in more trouble. “Can I get a picture with the suit?” Sam asked quietly. “No, you cannot have a picture with the suit,” Dr. Finkle declined in a firm tone of voice. “Please, just take it off immediately.” Sunny could sense that Sam felt bad, and stepped forward, clearing her throat to help lighten the situation a bit. “With all due respect, sir, Sam didn’t know what the device was at the time,” she said. “And neither did we. Maybe if Sam promises to stay with the group from now on, we can forget this happened and Sam can keep the suit as a souvenir.” “That sounds fair,” Hitch nodded. “Come on, doc, learn to live a little!” Izzy brushed off, smiling at Dr. Finkle. “Do it for the kid… please?” Finally, Dr. Finkle seemed to give in, heavy on reluctance. “Uh, all right, you know what? It's fine, it's fine. You can keep the suit on. You probably already contaminated it. Just come back to the group.” “Yes!” Sam pumped his fist before he and the ponies came back to the group. “Children, this portion of the tour is over. Please follow me,” Dr. Finkle said as he made his way through the crowd of kids. “Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you.” Zipp could have sworn she saw something peeking out from the corner, but as soon as she saw it, it disappeared, leaving her to shrug and follow the group away. Soon, the group had moved on, letting Glory sigh a breath of relief from the Pippsqueaks' and the Buddies' hiding place. “That was close.” “And speaking of close,” B-Dawg said, looking at the mannequins wearing different size space suits, “check out the fly gear!” “Oh my gosh!” Rosebud said, totally loving the look. “These looks are so to die for!” That's when Rosebud's attention turned to the device that Sam, Zipp and Sunny stood near earlier, and wondered something... would it be able to give her a space suit that looked like his? It was always worth a shot, right? So, she separated from her brothers and friends and walked over to it, much to the Pippsqueaks' confusion. “Rosebud?” Peach Fizz called. “Where are you going?” Rosebud ignored her and stepped onto the circle, turning the device on and letting it scan Rosebud over. “Scanning.” “Wow…” Rosebud said, ultimately impressed as the scan concluded. “Canine puppy.” And just like before, a spacesuit fit for dogs, and just Rosebud’s size, came out of the nearby closet. “Whoa, dudes!” Mudbud spoke in an impressed tone. That’s when Rosebud stepped into the suit and turned toward her brothers. “Will one of you boys zip me up?” Budderball stepped forward to do so, and grabbed the zipper in his teeth before zipping Rosebud’s suit up. “Okay,” Glory said, getting up onto the platform, “I gotta try this!” “Let’s all try it!” Seashell told her friends. “I mean, if we’re gonna see a rocket launch, we gotta do it in style, right?” XXXXXXXX After a few minutes, all of the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies had been fitted into their very own space suits. But while the Buddies' spacesuits were all blue, the Pippsqueaks' space suits were different colors and fit their personalities perfectly. Seashell's space suit was a light mint green color with large pink stars on the boots, her light pink tail bow and her cutie mark on her right flank. Glory's space suit was a purple color, lighter than the purple color in her mane, her pink tail bow, firework designs on her suit in different areas and her cutie mark on her right flank. Peach Fizz's space suit was a light orange color with a picture of a peach on her chest and her cutie mark on her right flank. All of them thought very highly of their outfits, especially Rosebud, who gazed at herself in the mirror for a good while. “So… how do I look?” “Uh…” Mudbud blinked, not seeing all the fuss over looking pretty. “Like our sister in a space suit.” “Well, I think you look pretty, Rosebud,” Seashell smiled. “We ladies have to stick up for each other after all.” “Yo, Seashell’s right about two things,” B-Dawg said. “The whole girl power thing and that we look tight.” However, Budderball was straining a little bit in his space suit, looking very uncomfortable. “Mine's a little too tight. Someone give me a paw.” “I don’t have a paw,” said Peach Fizz, approaching him, “but I can give you a hoof.” However, as she moved her mouth to take Budderball’s paw, the others tried to stop her. “Don’t pull his paw!!” They were too late, however-- Peach Fizz already pulled Budderball's paw, causing Budderball's suit to inflate like a balloon. “Check it,” B-Dawg commented. “It’s the Goodyear blimp!” “Come on, guys, we better head outside to get really good seats for the launch,” Glory said, nudging Budderball away. “We don’t wanna miss the moment of a lifetime, right?” The others seemed to agree, and they all walked down another hallway and through some doors. However, while they were walking, the Mane 6 (who stopped to go to the bathroom while the other kids went on ahead) could have sworn they saw animals in brightly-colored space suits walking down another hallway. “Uh… guys?” Misty spoke up with wide eyes. “Did you just see what I think I saw?” “If I think we saw what you saw, then those guys are in serious trouble,” Zipp said as she strained her space suit. “I thought they said they were gonna stay home!” “Well, the least we can do is follow them,” Sunny said, “before they get too far ahead of us. Come on!” XXXXXXXX “Are you guys sure this is the right way?” Budderball asked the Pippsqueaks as they took the lead. “We’ve been walking for a pretty good while.” “Trust me, Budderball-- we know what we’re doing,” Glory said. “And according to my logic, the way to the launch bay should be right here!” She opened another door, this one leading into the warehouse, and led the others through it, Peach Fizz using her horn as a lamp to see what they were doing. However, when they all got inside and started looking around, a voice stopped them in their tracks. “Well, well, well… look what the fillies dragged in.” “Uh-oh…” the Pippsqueaks chorused before they hesitantly turned to see Pipp and the rest of the Mane 6 standing behind them... and they didn't look too happy. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you guys,” Seashell gulped. “We’re totally busted.” “What are you guys doing here?” Sunny asked as the Mane 6 entered the warehouse. “I thought you said you were gonna stay home!” “Well, that’s what we originally planned, but… the excitement of seeing the shuttle got ahead of us,” Buddha said hesitantly. “I kind of asked the Pippsqueaks if they wanted to come see the shuttle with us, and… here we are.” “We know we shouldn’t have snuck along, and we’re really sorry,” Peach Fizz apologized, ears pinned against her head. “...are you mad?” “...no, we're not mad. Just… promise you won’t sneak along behind us next time,” Misty told the fillies gently. “If we had gotten back to town and discovered you guys were gone, I don’t know what we would have done.” “We promise,” Rosebud and the Pippsqueaks nodded, with the boy puppies nodding without a sound. “Well… since you guys did manage to make it all this way,” said Zipp, “the least we could do is let you see the space shuttle before we take you guys home.” The Pippsqueaks and the Buddies gasped with wide smiles at this. Even though they had gotten caught, they were still gonna see the spaceship? This may be turning out better than they hoped! Izzy and Misty pressed buttons on both sides of the door to open it, and the garage-like door slowly raised, revealing the 14 of them in their space suits. “Come on, guys,” Sunny told them. “Let’s go see the spacecraft up close.” That’s when Budderball spotted some writing on the ground, and thinking it said ‘lunch pad’, he immediately became excited. “Golly gosh! Maybe we could stop at the lunch pad for a snack, if it's on the way.” “Hate to break it to you, Budderball,” Pipp said, “but that actually says ‘launch pad’.” And so, starting at a steady walk, the group began to head toward the shuttle, and as they got closer, broke into a gallop while staying out of the sight of the maintenance workers nearby... unaware of what would soon be happening on that shuttle in just a few short minutes. XXXXXXXX At the same time, Dr. Finkle had led all the kids from school up to a special room where they had an excellent view of the shuttle launch. “And voila, the spacecraft.” “T-Minus three minutes to launch,” Slat said from below, and a countdown clock appeared on one of the screens. Sam couldn’t help but be excited about this, looking on in anticipation. “Wow… I wish Buddha and the Pippsqueaks could see this.” XXXXXXXX But little did Sam realize that Buddha and the Pippsqueaks WERE there to see it, and they were standing right next to the space shuttle in question, which had its doors wide open. “Let's just take a quick look inside,” Buddha told the group, “and then we'll come back and watch the launch.” “I don’t know about that, Buddha,” Misty shook her head. “We don’t even know if anyone is supposed to be onboard this close to the launch.” “Y-Yeah,” Peach Fizz nodded. “Do you think it’s safe?” Luckily, Buddha had an answer to this. “You never know how deep a puddle is until you jump in.” Mudbud turned his head and saw a huge mud puddle nearby, getting his own idea in mind. “Uh… I’ll be right back.” And what did he do with that puddle? You guessed it-- he rolled around in it like crazy, coating his space suit with mud. “Seriously, dawg,” said B-Dawg to Buddha in confusion. “What does a puddle have to do with the spaceship?” “Whoo-hoo!” Mudbud then cheered, getting out of the puddle with a wide grin. “Oh yeah!” “Come on!” Glory urged. “Let’s go!” “Oh, okay…” Hitch sighed reluctantly. “But let’s make this quick!” And so, the ponies followed the Buddies onto the shuttle as they entered the main cabin, where a large amount of seats were lined up on the sides. “Whoa…” Buddha said, ultimately impressed. “It’s amazing.” “I would have blinged it out a little more,” B-Dawg shrugged before running for one of the seats up front. “I call shotgun!” “Not before I call it!” Zipp challenged the pup and raced after him, and they sat in the two seats next to one another, while everyone else (except Budderball) found seats of their own. XXXXXXXX But, they were unaware that Pi and everyone back in the control room were getting the final preparations made before the shuttle blasted off into outer space. “Wish us luck,” Pi whispered to Gravity, who gave a squeak in response. XXXXXXXX Budderball found himself in front of a screen with different pictures of food on it, and a slot underneath it where the food was supposed to come out. “Hmm… Lunch-O-Matic.” “Okay, guys,” Rosebud told the others. “We’ve seen the ship. We better go.” “Good idea,” Sunny said with a nod. “This thing could launch at any minute and we do not wanna be in here when that happens.” But, before the group could leave their seats, B-Dawg found a pair of the same glasses that Astro wore back in the control room and put them on, showing them off to his siblings. “Check out these retro shades.” “Dude,” Mudbud said, “you shouldn’t be touching those.” “I could fly this thing, no problem. Piece of cake,” B-Dawg bragged as Budderball kept looking at all the food options on the Lunch-O-Matic. “Yeah, there's cake… ooh, donut! But I think I'll start with the chili cheese dog, then steak and finish with a bean burrito.” “No beans!” the Pippsqueaks and the rest of the Buddies shouted in protest. Budderball first pressed the button with the chili cheese dog on it, but what came out, much to Budderball’s bewilderment, was a white package with a picture of a chili cheese dog. “Hey, this does not look like a chili cheese dog.” Budderball grabbed the package in his mouth and began to tear it open, causing Zipp to sigh to herself-- they didn't have time for this. They had to get out of here before it was too late! XXXXXXXX “All systems diagnostics check,” Pi told the rest of the team back in the control room. “I want a go or no go for launch.” XXXXXXXX Seashell had climbed down from her seat to look at the packages that Budderball kept recieving from the Lunch-O-Matic when she suddenly looked and saw the door leading back outside closing tight. “Uh… guys?” she gulped. “Someone just closed the door.” “Wait, what?!” Hitch cried in panic. “Oh, great... how can this get any worse?” Suddenly, the group felt the rocket jolt before they seemed to be tilting upwards toward the sky. “Are we... moving?” Misty asked as she looked around. “Dudes,” Mudbud gulped, “this is not good!” “B-Dawg,” Rosebud said as she turned to her more irresponsible brother, “what did you press?” “I-I didn’t press anything!” B-Dawg shook his head. “Seashell, Budderball,” Buddha quickly turned to his brother and one of his new friend. “My instincts tell me you should take a seat, fast!” “But I was just getting to dessert!” Budderball began to protest. “Hurry!” Peach Fizz pleaded. Budderball and Seashell hurriedly climbed into the empty seats available and sat down for a few moments, trying to remain calm about the situation... ...but it didn't help much when the team back in mission control pre-approved everything needed for the ship to take off. And not even a few seconds after that, the ship began to rumble and shake. “Guys,” Hitch said in panic, “I hear a low rumbling sound!” “Hey,” Budderball suddenly spoke up. “Don’t look at me.” “Guys, I think we might be going on a road trip!” Zipp shouted and pressed the button next to her, causing restraints to suddenly fasten themselves around the team in their chairs, just before a countdown began. “Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... and... ignition!” Before the ponies could even blink twice, the thrusters fired up at top speed and rocketed off into the sky, causing the group to scream and try to comprehend what was happening in that moment. XXXXXXXX “Gravity...” Pi said as they watched the shuttle take off for the stratosphere. “...we have liftoff.” Up in the viewing center, all the kids, including the Buddies' humans, cheered at the successful launch of the Vision One... ...but they, of course, remained unaware that the Buddies and their Equestrian allies were on that shuttle, heading on an unwanted trip to outer space! Author's Note Sorry I left out some of the Mission Control dialogue-- I wanted to focus it more or less on the group and their adventure. Lost in Space/An Unexpected Fuel ProblemThe most unexpected event had occured-- the Mane 6 had found out the Buddies and the Pippsqueaks snuck along on the field trip, but with them supervising, they all snuck aboard the space shuttle to get a closer look, only for them to be trapped inside the space shuttle just before it blasted off into space! Not exactly the way that the Mane 6 were expecting this field trip to go, but nonetheless, it seemed they had a new mission on their hooves-- find a way to turn this shuttle around and get the Buddies back to Earth and back to their families, before they ended up too far away from home. And this is where we continue our epic space tale right where we left off. XXXXXXXX The Pippsqueaks felt like they were going at a million miles per hour in that moment, excited and terrified all at once. Eventually, Seashell found her voice and let out a shriek. “It feels like my stomach is in my throat!!” “Whoa!!” Rosebud cried. “This is like a ride on Space Mountain!!” “Dad always said I should be more down to Earth!” B-Dawg shouted with regret. “Why didn’t I listen?!” “Honestly, I’m too terrified to say ‘I told you so’, B-Dawg!” Zipp said from the seat next to him. “Keep holding on, guys! Once we break through the atmosphere, we might be able to slow down!” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Pi, Slats and Astro kept a close monitor on everything and saw that the shuttle was now leaving Earth’s atmosphere, directly on schedule. Now, all they needed to do was to get this baby to the moon, and they would be able to make the history books. XXXXXXXX Like Zipp said, once they breached the atmosphere, the ponies and Buddies could feel the ship slowing itself down, causing Izzy to giggle and cheer. “That was an incredible ride!” However, Budderball had to disagree, feeling like he was about to puke all over the seat in front of him. “I… don’t recommend liftoff on a… full stomach…” “That was heavenly,” Buddha said with a calm expression, thankful that the rough part of the ride was now over. “Oh, yeah, totally heavenly,” Hitch replied sarcastically. “Have you guys forgotten that we are NOW IN SPACE AND NONE OF US KNOW HOW TO PILOT THE SHIP TO GET BACK?!!” “Oh yeah… now I remember…” Izzy said with a grimace. “That might be a problem.” “Well… until we can get back,” Glory said with a nervous grin, “at least we can enjoy the beauty of space… r-r-right?” The group sat in silence for a few moments, trying to ponder about what they were going to do next. And while this happened, they reached the part of space where there is no gravity. That’s when Glory, out of curiosity, tapped the button with the restraints, releasing them. And upon this happening, the entire group, not just the pegasi, began to float up and around the inside of the shuttle, much to their bewilderment… especially Budderball’s. “I’m floating like a balloon!” “Wha… w-what’s happening?” B-Dawg asked out of slight panic. “Zero gravity!” Buddha said, bewildered. “It’s where nothing can pull us down to the ground and keep us there, so we end up floating around.” “Oh, this is out of this world!” Sunny exclaimed before realizing. “Quite literally.” “This is incredible!” Zipp said, not believing they could do this until now. “You can say that again,” Budderball said as he floated upside down. “Even I'm lighter than a feather.” “This is off the chain, dawgs,” B-Dawg told his siblings and friends. “I could slam dunk in space!” Buddha looked down at his chair and noticed another button he had noticed before, and once he was close enough, he pressed it with his paw. “Gravity reverser activated.” Misty froze at this. “That doesn’t sound good…” “WHOA!!!!” everyone cried as they fell to the ground, some of them on their feet or in their chairs… but Budderball unfortunately wasn’t one of those few. “Hey hey hey, I-I thought we were always supposed to land on our feet.” “Who turned off that zero-grav stuff?” B-Dawg asked, and Buddha whimpered guiltily from his seat. “Well, it was fun while it lasted,” Hitch said, getting back in his seat, prompting the others to do the same before Zipp reactivated the restraints. “Now,” said Zipp, “there’s only one thing left to do.” “What’s that?” Peach Fizz asked. “Find a way to turn this rocket around,” Zipp explained, “or… just wait and see what happens next.” “Well, since we have no idea how to fly a rocket, I guess we're stuck with the second option,” Sunny frowned. “I just hope somepony realizes where we are and what happened before it's too late to do anything to get us back.” XXXXXXXX Back on Earth, the mission control team made sure that everything on the shuttle was running smoothly, and things were going alright... ...at least until a few seconds later, when Slats suddenly saw an immediate red flag. “Sir, I don't like what I see. Somehow, we are short a quarter of our fuel supply.” Turns out, when Pi walked over, he saw that Slats was right-- a warning message depicting the words 'Fuel low' flashed across the computer screen. “Well, first things first,” Pi said, trying not to panic, “identify the source of the problem.” “Well, I know what the problem is. Tank three was never completely filled,” Slats explained, unaware of Dr. Finkle’s dose of sabotage. “The registries were blank. It doesn't make any sense.” “She'll never make it to the moon and back with that kind of shortage,” Pi said, clearly worried about the sake of the mission. “Hmm… it pains me to say this,” Dr. Finkle said as he approached, feigning concern, “but I don't think we have any other option here but to abort the mission.” However, Pi wasn’t going to resort to such a thing just yet-- there still had to be time to fix this. “Astro, how much time before we have to abort?” “Approximately 10 hours, sir,” Astro responded. “Good-- stay on course,” Pi instructed. “Um… okay... we have some time to solve this, people. I need solutions.” XXXXXXXX Sam was just arriving home from his field trip, strangely enough, without Sunny, Izzy and the Pippsqueaks. The ponies said that they would be along to see the launch, and then they would probably get back to the kids’ houses, so that’s where Sam went first to see if they were there. “Buddha, guys, I’m home!” However, as he set his backpack down, he didn’t see his friends or his puppy anywhere. “Sunny? Izzy? Pippsqueaks? Buddha?” XXXXXXXX At the same time, Billy was arriving to an empty house as well. “Yo, Zipp! B-Dawg! I’m back in the crib! Let’s bust some moves!” However… no one was there to greet him, causing him to slowly become concerned. XXXXXXXX “Pipp! Rosebud!” Alice called as soon as she got home. “Come on, let's go get a mani pedi and a blow dry.” However, she saw no sign of the pink pegasus or her puppy anywhere in sight. “Pipp? Rosebud?” XXXXXXXX “Hitch! Budderball!” Bartleby called as he too got home. “I brought some of Budderball’s favorite dinner that Hitch will really like!” However, like the others, he saw no sign of his pup or the earth pony sheriff. “Hitch? Budderball?” XXXXXXXX Pete, on the other hand, arrived home to not just an empty house with no Misty or Mudbud in sight, but he saw Mudbud’s cage open, and sighed heavily. “I knew we shouldn't have made him take a bath.” Now the only question now, was… where were the ponies and the Buddies now? XXXXXXXX Back in space, the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks were still onboard that shuttle heading for the moon, a feeling of tiredness and homesickness entering their very beings… …especially the Pippsqueaks, who felt more guilty than ever because of what they did. Seashell sighed sadly as she looked out the window at the Earth below. “I think we’re getting further and further away from home.” “And further and further away from dinner,” Budderball groaned hungrily. “We take full responsibility,” Glory admitted to the Mane 6. “We just wanted to go on an exciting adventure like you… we had no idea that we were gonna end up in space. We’re so sorry…” “Oh, girls… it’s okay, you made a mistake. We all do that sometimes,” Pipp said gently. “Don’t worry… we’re gonna find a way to get everypony home, safe and sound.” “But right now, we need to rest and prepare for whatever happens next,” Sunny told the team, laying down in her small chair. “I’m not sure what time it is back home, but… if I’m being completely honest… I’m pooped.” “You guys take a good rest,” Buddha told the ponies. “We’ll keep the idea train going while you do.” “Thanks, Buddha,” Zipp smiled fondly. “We knew we could count on you pups.” And so, with many of them (namely the Pippsqueaks) having heavy hearts, the ponies laid down to rest their eyes for a while, hoping an idea would hit them on how to not only get themselves back to Earth... ...but how to get the Buddies back to their loving families. The Russian Research Space StationNot only were the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks stuck on a space shuttle flying toward the moon, but the mission control team back on Earth were also handling another problem. Thanks to Dr. Finkle's sabotage, one of the tanks was never completely filled, and that meant that the mission to the moon had a high risk of being aborted. Thankfully, Pi had hope that they could solve the problem and make sure that the mission went on as scheduled. All they had to do was find a proper solution. Thankfully, after a while of thinking, Slats and Astro approached Pi with optimistic looks on their faces. “Sir,” Slats spoke first, “I think we may have finally figured out a solution.” “Great. I... I... knew you would,” Pi said, smiling in pride and in thought. “Nice work. Let's hear it.” “Okay,” Slats took a breath before explaining his and Astro’s idea. “We think that we can refuel at the old Russian research space station.” However, Bill Wolfson frowned in concern. “But that space station disintegrated into the Earth's atmosphere like years ago.” “Well, yeah,” Astro said, “but you said to check everything, so I checked everything, including the conspiracy websites, which said the station, still in space.” “The reason that no one has been able to find the space station,” Slats continued, “is because it's not in it's original position. Somehow, it has gotten out of geostationary orbit.” “And one of the Russian cosmonauts?” Astro added. “He survived, and he's still living onboard, alone.” Suddenly, an incoming communication message flashed across the main screen in the room, and a second later, a cosmonaut from Russia appeared, seemingly still in the space station. “Hold on,” Slats said to Pi before getting closer to the screen. “Yuri, this is Slats from Vision Enterprises. Do you read me?” “American blue jeans!” Yuri exclaimed cheerfully, waving to the screen before speaking something in Russian that they couldn’t understand. “How are you?!” The crew looked at each other, a bit bewildered, but shrugged it off nonetheless. “Uh, look,” said Slats, “I'm just confirming that you do have fuel and are able to assist our spacecraft.” And like before, Yuri seemed very compilable to help. “Of course I help you, my comrades.” “Yuri, this is Pi,” Pi spoke up to the cosmonaut. “Uh, I am the spacecraft's designer and mission flight director. In exchange for the 3,000 pounds of fuel, uh, I would like to offer…” “No, comrade,” Yuri immediately stopped Pi from speaking further. “In return for the fuel forget everything. My location, forget it. Consider this information gone, kaput, okey-dokey, pumpkin pie?” In all honestly, Pi thought that this was rather strange, but in order to get the fuel that they so desperately needed to proceed with the mission, they had to agree with Yuri's demands... no matter how strange they were. “You have our word.” XXXXXXXX Unaware to the rest of the mission control team, but Spudnick and Night Star had been listening to everything from not too far away, and they were personally disheartened that Yuri wouldn't allow them to be rescued and taken back to Earth. “So,” Yuri said, cutting off communication and letting classical music play over the speakers, “we are going to have visitors. Good.” Night Star remained quiet about the event, but Spudnick let forth his frustration with an annoyed growl. “Oh, don't worry, old pal,” Yuri promised, unaware of how they were really feeling. “They promised not to tell anyone about us. So we are free to live peacefully in space forever and ever and ever!” “Ugh…” Night Star groaned. “This is just torture, that’s what it is!” All she could hope was that their visitors would be willing to let her and Spudnick hitch a ride back to Earth with them… otherwise, she feared that Yuri was going to be right… …and that they WOULD be in space forever. XXXXXXXX At the same time, the Vision One was quickly approaching the heavily used space station floating outside of the Earth’s orbit, and Hitch was first to see it and point toward it. “Guys,” he said, “what is this place?” “Whatever it is,” said Rosebud, “it’s getting closer.” “Either it’s getting closer, or we’re getting closer,” Misty said nervously. “It’s kinda hard to tell up here.” “I-I hope it’s not an alien’s house!” B-Dawg said, a bit scared about the development before regaining his composure. “Not that I’d be scared, or anything.” “I hope it's a Denny's,” Budderball put his two cents in. “I could sure go for a 'Moons Over My Hammy' right about now.” “A what?” Peach Fizz repeated, confused. “We’ll explain that later,” Zipp promised. “For right now, I think we just need to brace ourselves-- it looks like we’re getting ready to dock at that thing!” XXXXXXXX “Okay, Yuri,” Slats said from Vision Enterprise back on Earth, “are you ready to receive the spacecraft? Over?” “I've never been so ready in all of my life,” Yuri responded on the other end of the line. “Come and get it, rhinestone cowboy.” “...right,” Pi said with a nod. “Let's switch from autopilot to remote pilot.” “Switching now, sir,” Slats said as he typed on his computer and Astro put on her glasses to control the ship manually. “Astro, she's all yours.” Soon, remote pilot was soon activated, and Astro was in full control of the Vision One. “Remote pilot engaged, sir.” After a few moments, the Vision One began to move closer and closer to the station, with the ponies and Buddies still onboard. Then, with a few slow movements and some precise concentration, Astro docked the Vision One onto another part of the station where Yuri could attach the fuel line. “Okay, Yuri, we’re locked in,” said Slats. “Uh, we can begin fueling.” That’s when Yuri said something the mission control team couldn’t understand, cut off the visual feed and went down the ladder to hook up the fuel line, unaware that the mission control team could still hear him on the audio system. But what he didn't notice was that Night Star and Spudnick had been watching the Vision One dock from the garden pod, and Yuri was going to be in for a big surprise when he found out that there were stowaways onboard. XXXXXXXX Once the ship had been safely docked, Buddha turned to the others with a suggestion in mind. “We should explore and broaden our horizons.” “Broaden our horizons?!” B-Dawg exclaimed. “We're lost in space, dawg. I think our horizons are broad enough. I ain't going nowhere.” “Uh… yeah, I think we’ll stay here too,” Seashell volunteered herself and the rest of the Pippsqueaks as well. “J-Just so that way B-Dawg doesn’t get lonely… and so we don’t mess anything else up.” “Good call, dudes,” Mudbud told his brother and three of their new friends. “If there's an alien intruder, we'll need someone to defend the spaceship.” “Pippsqueaks, no matter what, stay with B-Dawg,” Sunny told the Pippsqueaks sternly. “We’ll get the layout of this place and we’ll be right back to check on you.” However, as their friends were leaving, B-Dawg couldn’t help but remember one specific thing about what Mudbud said. “Did… d-did you say aliens?!” Unfortunately, he never got an answer-- the rest of the Buddies and the Mane 6 were already on the move and out of the ship. “Uh, guys?” Glory called nervously, “Uh, come on, uh…” Peach Fizz sighed sadly-- what had they gotten themselves into now? XXXXXXXX At the same time, Yuri had finally gotten the Vision One's fuel line hooked up to the research station's fuel supply, and quickly climbed up the ladder to talk to the mission control team again, unaware that four of the Buddies and the Mane 6 had passed through that section of the station directly after him. “Come on!” Buddha urged. “Follow me!” “Dude, where are we going?” Mudbud asked. “Who cares?” Pipp asked. “This place is going to look so good in my social media feed!” XXXXXXXX “Yo, dawgs!” B-Dawg cried after his siblings and friends, getting out of his seat. “Hold up!” “B-Dawg, wait for us!” Seashell called as she and her friends followed him. “We’re supposed to stay together, remember?!” XXXXXXXX “Okay,” Yuri said to the Vision One mission control team, “the gas is pumping like an American discotheque.” Pi took a deep breath in order to maintain his excitement. “All right, well, when we get our 3,000 pounds of fuel… we are going to the moon.” However, no one was aware that the space station had a few unexpected visitors... not even Yuri himself. But, that would all change in a matter of moments. XXXXXXXX B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks stepped out of the door of the space shuttle and into the nearby tunnel, looking around for their friends. It hadn't been too long since they left, so maybe there was enough time for them to catch up and explore the station all together. At least... that's what they were hoping. “Dawgs?” B-Dawg called into the silence as he and the Pippsqueaks began to walk around in search of their siblings/friends. Then, he began to sound a little bolder, although he was still nervous, in order to try and impress the Pippsqueaks. “Come on, aliens, I… I ain't scared of nothing, because I float like a butterfly and... and sting like a bee, dawg.” “W-What B-Dawg means to say,” Seashell clarified, “is that we don’t wanna hurt you if you don’t wanna hurt us! Can we all just… try and be friends? Maybe? Please?” Of course, no one answered the earth pony filly's claim. The three fillies and B-Dawg reached the main part of the station, where Glory found her nerve to speak, despite all the disturbing scenery around them. “What is this place?” Suddenly, the four of them heard a noise coming from not too far off, causing them all to turn and see a large, shadowy figure nearby. They couldn't see exactly WHAT it was, but just the sight of it caused B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks to scream, and the three fillies clung to each other in fright. “It’s an alien!!” B-Dawg screamed, frightened. “AHHH!!!” XXXXXXXX From the other side of the station, Izzy gasped and stopped the group from advancing. “It’s the Pippsqueaks and B-Dawg! They’re in trouble!” “Go go GO!!” Zipp commanded, and the group raced toward the location of their friends in order to save them from this supposed ‘alien’. XXXXXXXX “Y-You don’t wanna eat us!” Peach Fizz trembled before the aliens. “W-W-We’re all scrawny and boney!” At that moment, the other Buddies and the Mane 6 came from another hallway, and B-Dawg immediately pointed at Budderball with his paw. “Eat him!” he insisted to the ‘alien’. “He’s got plenty of meat on them bones!” As B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks screamed again, the ‘alien’ stepped out into view, revealing themselves to be none other than Night Star with Spudnick on her back. And once seeing it wasn’t an alien, the Pippsqueaks and B-Dawg looked confused. “Uh…” “We are no aliens,” Spudnick said with a chuckle. “Though I suppose if we stay in space any longer, we may qualify.” “Oh… it’s just a unicorn and a bull terrier,” Hitch said with a sigh of relief. “That’s actually very relieving.” “Hi! I’m Night Star,” the unicorn astronaut said with a smile. “And this is my friend, Spudnick.” “I’m Sunny, and these are my friends,” Sunny introduced the ponies, “and those over there are the Pippsqueaks-- Glory, Peach Fizz and Seashell.” “And we’re the Buddies,” Budderball clarified before introducing each of his siblings and himself. “The pup in the chicken suit is B-Dawg, the dirty dude is Mudbud, the Zen pup is Buddha and Rosebud is our little sis. Oh, and, uh, me, I'm Budderball. And I'm starving.” “Nice to meet you,” Spudnick smiled. “I'm a Russian dogmonaut, and Night Star is a pony astronaut from the United States, who came to be on the station with me.” “That is SO cool!” Glory exclaimed. “I’ve wanted to be a pony astronaut ever since I was little! You guys must be living the dream!” “Well… you could say that in more ways than one,” Night Star said hesitantly. “So, what brings you all here? We don’t get visitors all too often.” “We kind of got on the ship by accident,” Rosebud said with a frown. “And now, we have no idea where we are.” “You're aboard the RRSS,” Spudnick clarified. “The old Russian Research Space Station.” “I didn’t even know there WAS a space station up here,” Zipp said, “and we’ve been on a ton of missions so far.” “Well, since you’re here, you want us to show you around?” Night Star asked before turning and walking off toward one of the modules. “Follow me!” The ponies looked at each other before shrugging-- since they were here, they couldn’t refuse such a generous offer. Besides, Night Star and Spudnick seemed to know a lot about space, so if they stuck with their new pals, they might be able to learn something to help them get back to Earth. Spudnick and Night Star were leading their new friends over to one of the modules on the space station, in order to start their tour. “In this module, we have our garden, where we grow all our food in space,” Spudnick explained as the group looked at all the different fruits and veggies growing on either side of them. “The added benefit is the plants filter out CO2 gas and produce oxygen. And we also use them to create fuel for the station.” Soon after everyone got a glimpse of the entire garden, they approached the nearby window, where a beautiful view of planet Earth could be seen. “Now this joint,” said B-Dawg, “is off the chain insane, cuz.” “Yes, we've been off the orbital grid for quite some time, if that's what you mean,” Spudnick nodded. “Over there,” Night Star continued, pointing to the solar panels outside, “we have our solar panels, which produce all of our energy.” “So you can keep the stereo pumpin' 24/7,” B-Dawg understood with a nod. “That’s wicked.” “Oh, thanks,” Night Star smiled, even though her smile faltered a bit after a moment. “It’s wicked in both good ways and bad ways, I guess…” “Wait,” Zipp interrupted. “What do you…?” “Well, there's no time for that now,” Night Star interrupted. “If everypony will follow me, we’ll move onto the next part of the tour.” As Night Star and Spudnick led the group away, Zipp and Sunny spared each other a glance before they followed their friends. Something definitely seemed off, but... no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't figure out what it was. Night Star swiftly approached the door to another module, which was actually right beside the garden. “Right over here is the kitchen.” She pressed her hoof on a huge red button, and the door lifted up to reveal the kitchen-- it wasn’t anything fancy, but to Budderball, it was paradise. “My favorite room in the house! Come on, Peach Fizz!” Peach Fizz giggled as she followed Budderball over to the fridge, and she managed to open it with her horn. However, when Budderball looked inside, all he could see inside the fridge was veggies, veggies and more veggies. “Hmm… where’s the beef?!” “I’m sure it’s in here somewhere,” Peach Fizz said. “I’ll help you find it.” Peach Fizz and Budderball began to search the fridge for anything meaty that Budderball could snack on, when Mudbud’s eyes landed on a strange vat of liquid boiling nearby. “Dude,” he said, turning to Spudnick, “what is that?” “Space juice,” Spudnick answered casually. “P-U!” Pipp gagged. “It reeks!” “Who'd wanna drink that?” Rosebud asked with the same disgusted tone. “Well, Yuri seems to like it,” Spudnick pointed out. “And we use it for fuel.” “Who’s Yuri?” asked Seashell in curiosity. “He's the Russian cosmonaut Night Star and I live with up here,” Spudnick explained. “He really is a nice man,” Night Star continued with a bit of hesitance, “but… I think the time we’ve spent up here is really starting to get the better of him.” “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Sunny said, “how long have you guys been up here?” “We’re not really sure,” Night Star responded back with a shrug. “It's all one long night in space.” “We were only supposed to be on this station for a six-month mission,” Spudnick added, “but I'm sure it's been years and years.” “Years and years?” Glory repeated with shock. “Don’t you… miss your families?” Night Star seemed to hesitate with this. “Well… Spudnick has this adorable boy named Sasha waiting for him back in Russia, but… me… I don’t really know about my family. I was raised by an elderly couple that took me in outside of Portland, Oregon, and I studied astrology for a long time until I got asked to come on this mission.” “Oh… we’re sorry, Night Star,” Misty apologized. “We didn’t mean to pry.” “No, it’s all right,” Night Star sighed. “I don’t mind. I know that one day, we’re gonna leave this bucket of bolts and get back home… but… I’m not sure when that will be.” Suddenly, a voice spoke up from inside the main part of the station, and everyone turned to see Yuri coming down the ladder. “Night Star! Spudnick!” he called. “Where has my little puppy puppy gone? Spudnick…” And that's when he turned, seeing not just Night Star and Spudnick in the kitchen... ...but the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies as well. Escaping the Space StationThe Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, Spudnick and Night Star immediately froze once they had been spotted from Yuri, who had come down in search of the dogmonaut and unicorn astronaut he had spent all this time in space with. The Pippsqueaks were the most fearful, wondering if Yuri was going to get angry upon seeing them here. However... his reaction was something that the group was not expecting in the slightest. Instead of becoming angry, Yuri whooped and cheered before doing a Russian dance right in the middle of the space station. The Buddies barked while the Mane 6 and Pippsqueaks looked incredibly shocked. “Can you believe it, Night Star and Spudnick?!” Yuri asked the duo excitedly. “Our American comrades have given us a surprise gift! Lots of pretty ponies and five fluffy puppies to keep us company here in space. Thank you! Thank you!” “Uh… h-h-he doesn’t understand, guys,” Rosebud told Night Star and Spudnick. “We're not staying long.” “Rosebud’s right,” Zipp whispered. “Wherever that shuttle goes, we go with it.” “Maybe I can clear this up,” Sunny spoke before clearing her throat. “Uh, Yuri, we’re so sorry that we have to tell you this, but we’re not really--” However, Yuri interrupted her before she could finish. “All right, come on, Night Star and Spudnick.” “...I’m sorry, we have to go,” Night Star apologized regretfully to her friends before she and Spudnick regretfully walked out the door. “Good,” Yuri praised. “We will finish refueling and then... we will celebrate.” “Dude,” Mudbud whispered to Night Star and Spudnick as they glanced back, “you have to help us!” However, Spudnick and Night Star knew that they couldn’t… at least not yet, so they just sighed and walked away. “Do svidaniya!” Yuri bid farewell before he closed the door, trapping the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies inside. “Puppy puppies!” “Guys, this may seem like a bad time to say so,” Hitch said to the others, “but I think we just got hoodwinked!” “You’re telling me!” Budderball said in frustration, looking toward the refrigerator. “Okay, this food is all vegetables!” “Now what?” Rosebud asked. “First things first, we have to find some way out of here and back to the shuttle before it leaves,” Zipp said, looking around. “We’ll try our magic first, and then… if that doesn’t work… we’ll have to try this the old-fashioned way.” XXXXXXXX Back on Earth, the mission control team was keeping a heavy eye on their fuel level. “Uh, we'll be ready to leave in less than 30 minutes,” Slats told Pi, who seemed relieved to hear such news. “The sooner we can get refueled and get away from this bucket of bolts the happier I will be.” XXXXXXXX However, no one was aware that the fuel line was beginning to leak little by little due to the pressure building, and if it kept building, the results would be disasterous. XXXXXXXX Back in the living quarters of the station, Yuri poured himself a drink and stood before Night Star and Spudnick, raising his glass as a sign of victory. “To life in space,” he said with a smile, “for eternity and forever. And to you and Night Star, Spudnick. A spaceman's set of best friends. And to the new pretty ponies and puppy puppies. We will live together as a happy family, till the end.” Yuri immediately downed his drink in one gulp, causing Night Star to shudder-- who knows how long that alcoholic beverage had been up here? She and Spudnick needed to get Yuri tired long enough so they could get their new friends out of the kitchen and make a break for the shuttle before it left... ...but how? That was the real question. As if Spudnick was reading her mind, he used his paw to turn on a record player, which played lively Russian music. “You want to get the dancing started? That's a good idea, Spudnick!” Yuri smiled. “Let's get jiggle with it.” And so, Yuri began to dance in a Russian kind of manner, humming happily… XXXXXXXX …unaware that the Vision One team could hear everything back in mission control. “Yeah, I'm not sure he's flying with a full jetpack,” Astro told her team with concern. XXXXXXXX Yuri continued to dance around until that record ended, causing him to collapse exhausted in his chair. But Spudnick knew they wouldn't be able to get away if Yuri was only tired-- he had to be fast asleep for their escape plan to work. So, doing what any dog in his situation would do, he immediately began to play another record. “Another, you party animal?” Yuri asked, exhausted. “I am sorry, old pal. I am pooped.” “Oh, come on, Yuri,” Night Star said, playing along with Spudnick’s plan. “What’s a celebration without good dancing, am I right, Spudnick?” Spudnick barked in agreement, and this caused Yuri to smile in relent. “All right, one more, one more!” And so, Yuri began to dance once again, and the crew back in mission control really wondered if stopping here for fuel was the best course of action. XXXXXXXX Back in the kitchen, the ponies had tried to use their magic to escape, but the door was so thick, their magic had zero effect on it. Luckily, Mudbud came up with a plan of his own. The Pippsqueaks, Buddha, B-Dawg and Mudbud would push Budderball forward on a cart, and hopefully, the impact would be enough to create a hole big enough for the group to squeeze through. “Mudbud, I’m not exactly sure this is a safe plan,” Zipp said with concern. “I agree,” Misty frowned. “If this doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to, any one of you could get hurt!” “Dudes, you don’t have to worry,” Mudbud reassured. “I saw the Jamaican bobsled team do this at the Winter Olympics!” “Besides, our magic didn’t work, and kicking and pawing at the door didn’t work,” Glory added, “so we have to at least give it a shot.” “Okay, but please be careful,” Sunny made them promise. “Getting out of here isn’t worth one of you hurting yourselves.” “Don’t worry, guys-- we’ll be fine,” Seashell smiled. “Ready, guys? Three, two, one, push!!” So, with all their might, the Pippsqueaks and their friends pushed the cart toward the door as fast as they could, and as they got closer to the door, Budderball instantly began to freak out. “Wait, guys! I changed my mind!” The Mane 6 immediately cringed upon impact, and when they opened their eyes, they discovered Budderball had been knocked out and there was only a Budderball-shaped dent in the door-- no real escape route. Rosebud sighed and shook her head to this. “We told you guys this was a bad idea.” “The dawg’s down for the count,” B-Dawg looked over at Budderball. Luckily, Mudbud had an idea for that too. “What a shame, cause these space nachos are gnarly!” “Huh?!” Budderball immediately sat up. “Space nachos?!” “He’s okay,” Seashell reassured the others, causing them to sigh in relief. “But now,” said Hitch, “we still have to come up with another way out and we need it quick. The shuttle could be leaving any minute!” XXXXXXXX Back up in the living quarters of the station, Spudnick and Night Star watched as Yuri continued to dance to the lively Russian record… …still unaware that the mission control group was still listening, causing Pi to sigh in annoyance and frustration. “These are gonna be the longest 11 minutes in my life.” But it still wasn’t enough to get Yuri completely exhausted. In order to do that, Night Star even went as far as using her magic to speed the record up faster and faster and faster until… …Yuri finally finished the dance, collapsing in his chair once again. “Yuri is knickered and knackered,” he sighed in exhaustion, looking toward the unicorn and bull terrier sitting nearby. “Night Star, Spudnick, you know Yuri. Too much dancing, Yuri gets too much sleepy.” “That’s exactly what we’re counting on,” Night Star whispered, and used her horn to open a music box, which began to emit soft music that relaxed Yuri further. “Oh, that's nice. Hold me closer, tiny dancer…” Spudnick walked over to a shelf nearby and picked up Yuri’s teddy bear in his mouth before bringing it over to the sleepy cosmonaut. “Oh, that’s nice,” Yuri smiled as he cuddled the teddy bear. “Little Yuri… that’s very nice.” That’s when Night Star handed Spudnick a soft blue baby blanket, which Spudnick brought over for Yuri to snuggle as well. “Oh, Sputnik. My blanky,” he said before sighing contently, slowly drifting off to sleep. “Maybe Yuri take 40 blinks… just until the refueling is done…” And just like that, he was asleep, much to the bewilderment of the mission control team. But, on the bright side, this also gave Spudnick and Night Star the chance to slip into their space suits and down the ladder to the bottom-- they had to get their friends out of here, and themselves too, before Yuri woke up from his power nap. XXXXXXXX As the Pippsqueaks, the Mane 6 and the Buddies tried to figure out how else they could escape, they suddenly heard a rattling coming from the ladder outside the kitchen door, and fear immediately sparked up. “Quick!” Rosebud said to the others. “It’s Yuri!” “Hide!” Pipp said as she and her sister, as well as all her friends, ducked into hiding to the best of their ability. However, it didn't turn out to be Yuri at all-- it was Spudnick and Night Star, who opened the door in order to release their friends and get out of here. When Spudnick opened the door, he was quite surprised to see the room empty. “Ponies? Buddies?” he called out. “Where are you?” This caused the ponies and their puppy companions to peek out of hiding, Zipp sighing in relief. “Night Star, Spudnick!” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Slats immediately noticed an alarming situation. “Sir, I'm showing that the tanks are full but the pressure is building,” he said before going to contact Yuri. “Yuri, this is, uh, Vision Enterprises, do you hear me?” However, Yuri was still snoring, much to the bewilderment of the crew. XXXXXXXX “Hold on a second,” Rosebud spoke to Night Star and Spudnick. “What happened to the crazy cosmonaut?” “He’s asleep,” Night Star explained. “We had to get him to fall asleep so we could break you guys out.” “This is my last chance to go home to my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick explained. “The station is falling apart anyhow.” “And Yuri’s plan is to go down with the ship!” Night Star added, her voice filled with complete fright. “So, what we’re trying to say is, can we hitch a ride home with you guys?” “For shizzle, dawg,” B-Dawg responded with a smile. “Well, if we’re really gonna leave this place once and for all, we gotta get moving,” Sunny told her friends. “Let’s go!” And so, the group crawled from their hiding places and walked out of the kitchen, into the main sector of the station... ...all except Budderball and Peach Fizz, the former looking back at the broccoli he had found in the fridge earlier. “I hope I never need it, but better safe than sorry.” That’s when Budderball opened the fridge, grabbed the broccoli in his mouth and he and Peach Fizz ran after the others. XXXXXXXX “Can you hear me?” Slats continued to call out to Yuri. “Wake up!” This caused Yuri to immediately wake up and tried to pretend as if nothing had happened. “Da. Da. Yuri is just having a little kitty nap.” “Refueling is complete,” Slats then told Yuri. “Can we disconnect the ship?” Yuri was just about to respond to this, but that’s when he saw the ponies, the Buddies and their new friends down in the main sector, since they had escaped just a minute or two before this. “The ponies and puppies are loose!” he cried. “You American dognappers!” “What…?” Slats murmured, completely unsure of what he meant. XXXXXXXX The Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, the Buddies, Night Star and Spudnick were getting ready to leave the station once and for all when an alarm rang out, much to Spudnick’s alarm. “Oh, no… the station is going into lockdown! Yuri’s onto us!” “Dudes!” Mudbud cried. “I say we make like a bread truck and haul buns!” “In other words,” Seashell cried, “RUN!!” And that’s exactly what the group began doing, with Budderball and Peach Fizz following a bit behind because they had to go for their broccoli. Little did any of them know it, but the fuel leak was beginning to grow bigger and bigger as the pressure rocketed to sky-high levels. Once they were close enough, Rosebud pressed the button to activate the door to the shuttle, and most everyone made it inside and prepared for launch. Well, all except for Peach Fizz and Budderball, who managed to run past the ladder with Yuri hot on their tails. “No! No, come back! Puppy! No!” Peach Fizz managed to duck under the almost-closed doorway with Budderball and ran into the shuttle to join her friends, but that’s when Sunny looked back at her. “Peach Fizz! Where’s Budderball?!” Turns out, Budderball had dropped his broccoli in the middle of the doorway, and Yuri was right on the other side of it. Rosebud turned to the others, determined to keep the team all together. “We can’t leave without him!” “You know our motto, dudes,” Mudbud reminded them. “No pup left behind.” “Budderball!” “Hurry!” “Come on!” “We gotta go!” Budderball heard their cries but was determined to get his lunch as well. “Not without my broccoli!” And so, he made a quick snatch for the broccoli, only for Peach Fizz to use her magic and pull him to the safety of the shuttle just before the door closed, leaving Yuri on the other side to yell out in Russian. XXXXXXXX “No, please!” Yuri yelled over the sound system, much to mission control’s confusion. “Don't take away my puppy puppy pups!” “Wait a second,” said Slats. “Is he talking about puppies?” “He's got more screws loose than the space station,” Astro said, just as Yuri began to open the door just enough to try and get to the shuttle, but it closed just before he could get inside of it. “Come back! You cannot leave! You cannot take my gift away from me!” “I think he might be trying to shanghai the Vision One!” Pi immediately suspected and began to put out strict orders. “Enact emergency evacuation measures! Let's detach from the station now!” “Copy that,” Astro said and began to detach from the station. XXXXXXXX Yuri began to press all sorts of buttons and push all sorts of levers in order to keep the shuttle in place, and even went as far as using a monkey wrench to try and shut off the entire system. However, as he did this, sparks from the electrical box came down onto the fuel that was left on the floor during the leak, and Yuri immediately realized what was about to happen. “That’s not good.” Fire began to spread all over the station as the shuttle was finally able to detach and break away, and Yuri ran through the station until he got to an emergency escape pod at the very end, sealing himself inside of it and waiting for just the right moment. XXXXXXXX Back inside the shuttle, the others watched in complete terror as the space station exploded right in front of their eyes. “Guys!” Glory cried out. “It’s coming apart!!” The others continued to watch the scene, beginning to mourn the loss of Yuri when suddenly, the escape pod burst away from the exploding station. “Wow!” Spudnick cried. “That's the Cosmopod escape vessel. He made it!” “Thank goodness for that,” Sunny muttered under her breath, holding Seashell close. “Now… let’s get out of here.” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, the crew stood in shock and dismay when they saw different warnings flash across the main screen. Signal lost. Termination detected. RRSS destruction confirmed. One thing was for sure when they saw these messages... it was clear that if he was on that station... ...Yuri would not have survived. Heading to the Moon/The Pippsqueaks' HomesicknessBack in the main part of Fernfield, while the Vision One mission control team, the ponies, the Buddies and their new friends watched the RRSS explode into a million pieces, the Buddies' kids were on a different mission entirely... ...finding their pups and their missing friends. An entire day had passed, and no one had seen any sign of them since the day of the field trip, so Sam, Alice, Pete, Bartleby and Billy decided to go out with flashlights and search for them on their own. They split up and searched all over town, calling their names repeatedly, but to no avail. Once they had gotten back to Town Hall, where they originally met earlier, Alice looked toward her friends. “You guys find anything?” “Nope,” Bartleby shook his head. “Haven't seen hide nor fur of them.” “Don’t worry,” Sam reassured the others. “We’ll find them. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” The other kids seemed to agree with this before they all went their separate ways for the night-- after school tomorrow, they would keep searching. But they had no idea that the Buddies and their friends were currently on one of the most exciting adventures of their lives... one that took them right off the surface of planet Earth. XXXXXXXX Now that everypony was aboard the shuttle, they strapped themselves in and prepared themselves for their homecoming back on Earth. “Are you ready to go home, you guys?” Rosebud asked. “Oh, am I ever!” Hitch said. “I love being in space, but… this mission has been a little too much even for me.” However, Spudnick looked over at the screen in front of him and frowned in concern. “Everyone, we are not heading to Earth. The coordinates show we are going to the moon.” “I-I’m sorry,” Zipp said, raising a hoof. “Did you just say we’re going to the moon?!” “The ship is being controlled from Earth,” Spudnick confirmed. “Yes, it seems as though it is taking us to the moon.” “Oh my pony, I literally just had a brainwave!” Pipp exclaimed with an excited grin. “I can take some really good pictures on the moon’s surface to show to everypony back at the Moon Festival! That would make SUCH a breakthrough for my social media feed!” “Pipp, I think we might have a little bit more to worry about than your social media feed,” Sunny frowned. “Like… maybe the Pippsqueaks and how THEY might be taking this?” “What do you…?” Pipp looked over at her fans, and her spirits diminished when she saw how dejected they looked. “Oh… now I see it.” “The moon is even farther away from Equestria than summer camp!” Peach Fizz said with worry. “What if we never get home?” “Oh, girls, it’ll all be okay,” Misty comforted the Pippsqueaks. “Eventually, once we reach the moon, those piloting the ship will want the ship to return to Earth, and once that happens, we’ll be right here, waiting for the shuttle to land back in Fernfield, and we’ll be home free. At least… I hope.” The Pippsqueaks sighed and laid their heads down on the seats, hoping that Misty was right. XXXXXXXX Sam sat in his bed, looking at the moon and thinking about Buddha and the rest of the Buddies, along with their pony pals. Where were they? Did they run away? Were they in trouble? These questions and more were running through his mind at a rapid pace as his mom entered the room to tuck him in for a good night of sleep. “I'm sure Buddha and the other Buddies are out there on some wonderful adventure,” she said. “And I’m sure your friends are with them, and making sure they don’t get into trouble.” However, Sam still remained down and out. “I feel like he's a million miles away.” “I know, sweetie. We’ll find him,” his mother reassured. “Let’s get some sleep now.” And so, Sam's mother kissed his head before turning out the lights and leaving the room. Sam took one last look at the moon, sighing wistfully while thinking about Buddha for the final time that night. “Come home soon…” he whispered before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. XXXXXXXX Back onboard the space shuttle, most everypony was asleep, even though they weren’t sure what time it was, trying to give themselves enough energy for what might be ahead. However, Rosebud looked over at the bull terrier that sat up front, not being able to sleep herself. “Spudnick? Are you awake?” “Yeah,” Spudnick nodded. “Night Star is too.” “What are you both thinking about?” Rosebud asked curiously. “I was thinking about my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick explained with a sad expression. “I hope he's still waiting for me.” “I’m sure he is, Spudnick.” That’s when the three turned to see the Pippsqueaks, who had been sleeping together for most the entire time, awake and looking over at them. “Sorry if we woke you, girls,” Night Star apologized. “No, it’s okay,” Glory dismissed. “We were already awake.” “Yeah,” Seashell nodded sadly. “We were… thinking about our parents.” “We’re… kinda scared about being so far from home,” Peach Fizz admitted. “I know that must make us look like big losers…” “No, it doesn’t make you three look like losers at all,” Rosebud told them. “Pipp would agree with me if she weren’t asleep. Just the fact that you had the courage to come on this Unity Quest with the ponies means you’re not losers-- you’re heroes, just like them.” “...I don’t feel like a hero,” Glory said with a sniffle. “I… I miss my dad…” Night Star frowned in concern before getting out of her seat and sitting with the Pippsqueaks. “I know you do, Glory. I miss all my old friends from Earth, too. And I know it can’t be easy to be without them, especially on such a big mission like this.” “I wish they were here,” Seashell murmured quietly. “That way, maybe they could tell us what to do…” “You know… the woman that raised me all that time ago told me a story that I think you three would like,” Night Star said with a smile. “A long time ago, in ancient Equestria, an alicorn by the name of Princess Luna raised the moon and protected ponies and guided them in their dreams. Though she has passed on for many moons now, some believe that her spirit still lingers in the night, looking out for ponies while they slept. I'm one of those firm believers, and I bet if you close your eyes, you'll feel her spirit around us too.” The Pippsqueaks looked at each other before shrugging-- it was always worth a shot. So, they closed their eyes for a few moments before feeling something they had not felt since they started this mission… comfort. Seashell was first to gasp. “I feel it, I feel it!” “Me too!” Glory agreed. “Her spirit is like my dad wrapping wings around me to make me feel safe!” “That’s the idea,” Night Star smiled. “Don’t worry… we’ll be home soon. But for right now, you three need to get some sleep-- we'll be at the moon sooner than you think, and if we want to explore the surface, we're going to need our rest.” The Pippsqueaks nodded at this before settling down in their chair and going off to sleep, their homesickness diminished for now. Once they explored the moon's surface, they would FINALLY be able to go back home to the loving hooves of their parents... ...and hopefully, no kind of disasters would occur before that point. Moon MadnessAfter 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. Meet Gravity/Blasting Off for HomeThe mission control team of the Vision One had discovered an alarming and somewhat amazing sight-- somehow, six dogs and ten ponies had somehow snuck aboard the Vision One, and they were now they were walking across the surface of the moon, having the time of their lives. Of course, the Vision One team had no idea of their presence on the shuttle until now, and now, they needed to decide what needed to be done about the situation at hoof here. “How does something like this happen?” Bill Wolfson broke the silence after a few moments. “And more importantly, how on earth,” said Pi, bewildered and worried, “are we going to bring them home?” “Yeah,” Bill agreed as Dr. Finkle and Carl approached, “leaving six puppies and ten ponies on the moon… it’s not real good for PR.” “No, it is certainly not. We could run an ad campaign. Let me see…” Dr. Finkle faked thinking for a few moments. “Fly with us, we launched six poor innocent puppies and their pony companions into space and then bid them farewell for eternity.” “The point is,” Pi said, irritated that Dr. Finkle would think such a thing, “we can’t leave them there!” “How do you plan on coaxing a bunch of moronic animals into a spacecraft from 228,536 miles away?” Dr. Finkle asked with a smirk. That left the mission control team to try and think of a solution to get these poor innocent creatures home… …especially before they wandered too far from the shuttle. XXXXXXXX “Uh… guys?” Sunny looked around after their walk to realize that one of the members of the group was missing. “Where’s Buddha?” “I thought he was right behind me,” Seashell looked around until she spotted Buddha over on a nearby hillside. “Oh… there he is!” Turns out, Buddha was meditating to himself on that hillside, with a perfect view of planet Earth in the distance. The others approached and sat either beside him or behind him, staring out at the view of the planet that the Buddies, Spudnick and Night Star called home. Buddha was the first to speak after a moment of silence. “A view that will change your perspective forever.” “This is totally unreal!” Pipp said, snapping a few pictures for their relatives back in Equestria. “This one’s for my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick said to himself. But it wasn’t but a few seconds later that B-Dawg had a thought. “Yo, dawgs? I hate to crash the party but… how we gonna get home this time?” “B-Dawg’s got a point-- the last time one of us tried to pilot that shuttle,” Misty said, “we almost crashed it!” “And no one back home knows where we are, and we don’t know how to get hold of them,” Hitch agreed. “So… what happens now?” “Well… I’m not exactly sure, but we have to do whatever it takes to help the Buddies, Spudnick and Night Star get back to Earth,” Sunny said before starting to try and possibly think of a plan. “We just need to think.” However, it wasn’t but a few seconds later that they began to hear a voice from inside their helmets. “Galactic Ponies and Canines! Do you read me?” Turns out, this was Pi’s pet ferret Gravity doing the talking, but Glory whipped her head around in panic. “Does anypony else hear that?” “Dawgs…” B-Dawg muttered,a bit frightened by this new voice speaking to them. “I-I think I hear an alien…” “Dude, there’s no alien,” Mudbud dismissed the thought immediately. “It must be mission control!” Night Star realized, overjoyed. “They must know we’re here!” “I’m Gravity,” the voice spoke again, “Mission Commander's assistant. Who are you ponies and doglings and how in the universe did you get on board the Vision One?” “I'm dogmonaut Spudnick, Russian Space Agency,” Spudnick introduced. “And this is Night Star and these are the Buddies and their Equestrian friends.” “We got on at the Russian space station,” Night Star interrupted. “These, guys, uh… they saved our lives.” “We got on at Vision Headquarters,” Rosebud added. “A field trip gone awry.” “All we want now,” said Peach Fizz, “is to go back home to our friends and families.” “Well, no need to worry,” Gravity said. “I can help you guys get back to Earth.” “Dude, are we over-stoked to hear a voice from home,” Mudbud said with a smile just before Gravity spoke again. “The Vision One will be departing for Earth in 15 minutes and 32 seconds. So head back to the spaceship before your oxygen is depleted and get ready for lunar lift off.” “You heard Gravity, ponies!” Zipp told her friends, new and old. “Let’s get off this moon and get our friends back to Earth!” And so, with the ponies taking the lead, the group began to head back to the shuttle to prepare themselves for heading home. XXXXXXXX Gravity released his paw off of the communication button and turned back toward the mission control team, with Pi trying to think of a solution. “Until we get the puppies and their friends home safely, we keep this quiet, okay?” he asked the rest of the team. “I mean, I need full confidentiality on this. If this story were to leak, it would spread like wildfire and that would cause irreparable damage to Vision Enterprises.” However... this statement gave Dr. Finkle a brand-new idea to sabotage the ship's launch... even if it meant putting the lives of a few animals and ponies at stake. As she looked at the camera feed again, Astro noticed the dogs and ponies going back onboard, much to her bewilderment and somewhat relief. “Uh, guys, guys! The, uh, d-dogs and their friends! They’re going back on board!” “Well,” said Pi, “let’s launch before they decide to go exploring again. All right people, we know the drill. Boosters are a go, V-1 is a go for lunar launch.” XXXXXXXX The ponies and the Buddies took off their space helmets and once again took their seats when Glory caught sight of a command on her touchpad next to her seat, causing her to get a sudden idea. “Sunny… do you think I can use the robot arm to get a space rock souvenir for Buddha’s owner and my dad? I have a feeling they would love a piece of the moon to call their own.” “Glory, that’s such a sweet idea,” Sunny smiled. “Go for it!” Glory nodded and put on a pair of Vectra glasses before activating the robot arm. “Time to bring back a couple of souvenirs.” So, the robot arm moved closer and closer to the ground before Glory eventually closed the claw, grabbing a couple of small rocks in its grasp. Just the right size for souvenirs, no less. As Glory finished her work with the robot arm, Gravity spoke to the group again through the speakers of the shuttle. “We will be out of communication with you for approximately 12 minutes while you circle the backside of the Moon.” “Roger, Gravity,” Misty nodded. “We’ll be in contact with you soon.” As soon as this was said, Astro activated lunar lift-off, and the shuttle lifted off the surface of the moon and into the skies once again. XXXXXXXX “All right, we're back in business,” said Pi, turning to the rest of the team. “Now, let's get these puppies and ponies safely home.” However, Dr. Finkle knew that he had a lot more work to do in order to ensure that this really WAS a one-way trip… …and make sure that the ponies and their friends were going to be stranded in space forever. The Word Gets OutThe last few hours had been a whirlwind of emotions and confusion. The mission control team in charge of the Vision One had discovered the Mane 6, the Buddies, the Pippsqueaks, Spudnick and Night Star onboard the shuttle and walking on the moon, and with the help of Pi's ferret Gravity, the space cadets were able to get back onboard the ship in time for lunar lift-off, so they could get back home in one piece. However, Dr. Finkle, upon hearing Pi say that the entire thing was supposed to be kept confidential, went straight to the press in order to ruin the mission altogether and bring Vision Enterprises down. But no one knew about this deception... not even the mission control team themselves. But it wouldn't be long before they found out for themselves. XXXXXXXX Sam was eating cereal before school that morning, and the TV was broadcasting the local news when a story was brought to his attention. “We're live at Vision Enterprises where quite a tale is unfolding. It seems that five golden retriever puppies and their Equestrian companions have been accidentally launched into space.” Sam immediately dropped his spoon upon hearing this. “Mom?!” he called and rushed to get her so she could see this for herself. XXXXXXXX Bartleby was watching the same news station when the story came up. “What…?” he muttered in confusion as the reporter continued. “Along with a bull terrier and an unknown unicorn, they are going where no dog has gone before.” XXXXXXXX But it wasn’t just in Fernfield where news was being spread-- news was being spread like wildfire across China, Mexico, England… pretty much in places all over the world. XXXXXXXX Later, during their lunch break at school, Sam, Bartleby, Pete, Billy and Alice gathered around Alice’s laptop to watch the news story that was online about their pups and friends being in space. “It is believed the pups and their Equestrian friends rendezvoused with the Russian dogmonaut and the unicorn with him at the long-thought destroyed Russian Research Space Station. They made history by being the first animals to walk on the moon.” “Wow…” Sam said, not believing what he was seeing. One thing was for certain-- after school, the kids had to get to Vision Enterprises in order to talk to the crew and see what they were gonna do to get the Buddies and their friends home. XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, Sasha and his mother, in Russia, were watching television when the news story about the space cadets came into topic, and upon hearing something about the Russian Research Space Station, Sasha gasped and looked at his mother, excited beyond words. “Spudnick!” He actually couldn’t believe it… his dog was alive! And he was going to be coming home! XXXXXXXX As reporters from all different areas crowded around the outside of Vision Enterprises, Bill Wolfson and Dr. Finkle watched this, the latter smirking to himself while Bill just looked confused and stunned all at once. “You know, I have no idea how these guys could have gotten a hold of this.” “Hackers, these days,” Dr. Finkle quickly dismissed. “Probably got into the system and jacked our video feed. It's very off-putting.” And somehow, Bill seemed to believe this... for now, anyway. XXXXXXXX “Come on, guys!” Sam, Billy, Bartleby, Pete and Alice rushed toward the entrance to Vision Enterprises, having been dropped off by their parents a few minutes beforehand. Their mission? Find a way to get in there and find out what these guys were doing to get their dogs and friends back safe and sound. However, before they could find a way to get inside, the security guard stood in their path. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And where do you think you're going?” “We’re here,” said Sam boldly, “to talk about our pups and friends that you guys shot into space.” “Absolutely no one gets through,” the security guard stated, but somehow… Sam got another idea. “Then we’ll go talk to the newsman instead.” “Uh… hang on a second!” the security guard called to the kids before speaking into his radio. “Dr. Finkle? I have a bunch of kids here that claim the alleged puppies and Equestrians in space are their dogs and friends. I thought you'd like to know.” There was a brief moment of silence until Dr. Finkle spoke again. “Send them in.” “Yes, sir,” the security guard nodded before turning back to the kids. “Dr. Finkle would like to have a word with you. Follow me!” And just like that, the kids ran after him to go meet up with Dr. Finkle. XXXXXXXX Within a few short minutes, Dr. Finkle and Carl brought the five kids into the main control room. “Excuse me, Pi,” said Dr. Finkle modestly with a smirk. “I'd like to introduce you to the children whose lives you've ruined by launching their puppies and their little pony friends up into space. As you can imagine, they're quite traumatized.” However, the kids weren’t traumatized at all-- in fact, Sam smiled and shook Pi’s free hand. “Pi, wow, it's an honor to meet you, sir. Buddha and I are your hugest fans. I'm sure he's thrilled to be on your ship.” “Thank you,” Pi smiled before looking down at the ferret he was holding. “This is Gravity, my assistant.” Gravity squeaked a hello, and Pi turned to the kids in question once again. “Kids, uh, be assured that, um, we're doing everything in our power to bring your puppies home safely.” “Uh, hey, guys,” Slats greeted them with a smile. “I'm Slats. I'm the flight dynamics officer. That's, uh, FIDO for short. Oh, and over there, that's Astro. She actually is the pilot of the Vision One. How cool is that, huh?” “I’m Sam. My pup is Buddha,” Sam introduced before introducing the rest of his friends. “That's Pete. His bro is Mudbud. Bartelby's fella is Butterball, Billy's home pup is B-Dawg, and Alice's BFF is Rosebud.” Alice smiled and waved just before Pi turned to Slats with an idea as to how the kids could remain occupied for now. “Slats, why don't you get them up to speed on the current plan?” “Um, yeah. Oh, yeah, guys, come on over here. Check this out. Very cool,” Slats took the group of kids over to one of the monitors. “OK, well, all the vital stats are on the big board as we call it. The ETA is tomorrow morning at 1100 hours. That's 11:00am.” However, while Slats was showing the kids the programs that the team was using, Dr. Finkle inserted his USB key into the computer and began to change the course of the flight, much to his own delight. “This ought to ensure this is a one-way trip.” However, Sam, letting his curiosity get the better of him, peeked over at Dr. Finkle as he was just finishing changing the flight course. “Dr. Fecal?” “Yes?” Dr. Finkle answered, a bit startled. “Uh, I mean, it's Finkel. Dr. Finkel. Yes, what is it?” “What are you doing?” Sam asked curiously. “I'm not doing anything,” Dr. Finkle said, ensuring that the flight course was changed as he spoke. “You shouldn't concern yourself. You're just a child. Excuse me. Carl.” But, as Dr. Finkle walked away with Carl at his heels, Sam couldn’t help but feel that something was about to go horribly wrong… and that the Buddies and their pony friends were going to be in more danger than they already were at the time. Meteor Madness/Dr. Finkle's ExposureWord 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. XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX 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.” XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX 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. XXXXXXXX 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. XXXXXXXX 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. A Cosmic Rescue and a Return HomeDr. Finkle was going to pay for all the sabotages he tried to do to the Vision One, and now that he was in custody, the mission was back on track. This news spread like wildfire across the world, and everyone in Sasha's family in Russia cheered and celebrated happily once they heard that Spudnick was going to be home in the next day or so. And as long as nothing else went wrong, our heroes would be able to head back to Equestria in one piece... ...or at least, they hoped this would be the case. XXXXXXXX On the trip back home, as Earth came closer and closer into their sight, Budderball sat beside Glory and looked down at the broccoli that laid next to his seat. “I have never been so hungry... I think I might have to actually eat that broccoli to stay alive.” This caused Rosebud to look at her brother in surprise. “Budderball?” Budderball paid the others no amount of attention as he opened the bag of green mush a s began to lap at it relentlessly. To his surprise... this stuff wasn't actually as bad as he assumed it to be! The others looked at Budderball in bewilderment as he finished the broccoli, and Mudbud was the only one to voice his surprise. “Aw, dude, I can't believe you ate the whole thing.” “Well,” Budderball stated with green all over his muzzle, “I always said I'd eat broccoli when puppies fly.” “Ha! It's funny and it's lliteral!” Izzy giggled optimistically. “Good one, Budderball! I get it!” “Well, as long as you ate something, that's all that matters,” Sunny said with a chuckle. “Now all we have to do is make sure that we all get home in time for dinner ourselves.” XXXXXXXX Sam was sitting with his friends patiently in mission control, waiting for an update as to when the space crew would be re-entering the atmosphere when a warning message depicting an out-of-control space vessel was heading toward the shuttle. “What…? Excuse me? Mr. Slats, sir?” “Yeah?” Slats turned toward Sam as he pointed toward the screen. “What's that approaching to Vision One?” Slats then looked at the warning screen, and a sense of dread filled his being, wondering what that item was himself. XXXXXXXX At the same time, another warning flashed on the shuttle’s screen. “Aw, man!” Hitch groaned. “It just doesn’t stop!” “Hurry, Budderball! Get back in your seat!” Glory said as she pulled Budderball into the seat. “We may have to make another emergency procedure happen and I, for one, don’t want you sliding out of the shuttle!” “Whatever it is,” Pi said, looking at the object Sam pointed out, “it's on a collision course with our spaceship. Take evasive action! Stat!” The kids held their breath in worry at this, wondering if their pups and friends were going to make it through this okay. XXXXXXXX Spudnick looked out the corner of his eye to see an unidentified spacecraft heading straight toward the shuttle, but luckily, he and Night Star noticed what it was before anyone else. “It’s the Cosmopod! Yuri!” “He’s gonna crash into us!!” Peach Fizz shrieked. And then, taking precautionary actions, Night Star activated the restraints, and everyone waited for further instructions on how to proceed. XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, the team suddenly began to hear a familiar voice over the communication lines. “American comrades, this is Yuri!” “Is that Yuri?” Slats asked in surprise, thinking Yuri had not survived in the explosion, and suddenly, to Pi, at least, it all started making sense. “He must have had an escape pod!” “My Cosmopod is not irresponsible!” Yuri yelped on the other end of the line, causing Pi to look over at Slats for guidance. “Slats, any ideas?” “Negative, sir,” Slats answered. “The Russian pod is out of control. It's entering the atmosphere at a dangerous entry level at high speed. It's pretty much an impossible rescue, sir.” XXXXXXXX “Yuri will burn up,” Gravity told the group in the shuttle, “if you don't change his trajectory.” “But how are we gonna do that?” Sunny asked. “There could be a million things going wrong at once!” “That’s why I’m taking over,” Spudnick said as he put on some Vectra glasses and switched to remote pilot. XXXXXXXX “Whoa!” Astro said as she lost control of the ship. “I lost control…” XXXXXXX That’s when Spudnick explained his plan further, so everyone could prepare themselves for what was about to happen. “I'm going to have to dodge the Cosmopod to change it's course.” “Let’s do it, dude!” Mudbud cheered. “I mean, comrade.” “Hang ooon…!!!” Spudnick shouted as he concentrated with all his might as the others held on for their lives, and the shuttle soon was under the Cosmopod in question. “All right,” Zipp said to Gravity. “We’ve made contact.” “It's crucial you level off the Cosmopod at 30 degrees.” “Give us countdown on re-entry,” Night Star advised. “We’ll pull up at the last second.” “In six… five… four… three… two… one… activate thrusters!” Night Star slammed her hoof down on the button labeled thrusters, and the Vision One took off like a shot, while Yuri continued to sail down to Earth, his Cosmopod having flames as he entered the atmosphere and went out of the group’s sight. XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Pi watched in wonder as the space crew did what they did without question, but he still had one thought on his mind. “How did they know to level off the Russian escape pod to those exact coordinates…?” He spared a look at Gravity, but the thought soon left his mind as he regained focus. “Eyes on scopes, people.” XXXXXXXX “Spudnick, Night Star, that was incredible!” cried Seashell with a smile. “You totally saved the day!” “Aww, thanks,” Night Star smiled. “But it was more Spudnick than me.” “We all worked together to get the job done,” Sunny reminded. “That’s what really matters.” “Now, are you guys ready to go home?” Misty asked, looking at all of their friends. “Yo, dawg,” B-Dawg smiled, “I was born ready!” “All right, my friends,” said Spudnick. “I’m relinquishing controls.” XXXXXXXX Just a few minutes after the dogs and ponies performed such a daring rescue, Astro felt control of the Vision One return to her. “Hey, I got control back!” “Well, let’s bring this puppy home,” Pi took a breath. “Well, puppies and ponies, that is.” XXXXXXXX Shortly after Spudnick relinquished control of the ship back to Astro, the group heard Gravity speak to them again. “The re-entry sequence in three, two, one.” Flames began to build up on the side of the shuttle as they re-entered the atmosphere, and the ponies held their breath and waited for the sights of Fernfield to be seen once again. XXXXXXX “We’ve lost them in the blackout zone,” said Slats, trying to stay calm. “We won't have a visual for T-minus four minutes.” “It's out of our hands,” Pi said, taking a breath. “Now, uh, we can't do anything but hope for the best.” XXXXXXXX “The spacecraft has re-entered the atmosphere and is now hurdling mercilessly towards Earth,” the Fernfield news reporter told his viewers. “Communication is now in the blackout zone. All of us here at Channel Four Fernfield, along with the world, collectively hold our breath, as we watch anxiously, awaiting a sign from the sky that the puppies and Equestrians, our space heroes, have survived the fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. All we can do is pray.” XXXXXXXX And in Russia, that's exactly what Sasha was doing as the snow began to gently fall to the ground. “Please protect Spudnick and his friends…” XXXXXXXX Four minutes… four very long minutes finally passed, and then… Slats suddenly got an image of the shuttle entering the atmosphere, causing everyone to look toward the screen. “Okay, we have visual, people!” XXXXXXXX Night Star beamed as soon as she saw the blue skies of Earth after exiting the atmosphere. “Guys! We did it!” XXXXXXXX Everyone in the mission control center, the Buddies' kids included, cheered at the top of their lungs for the vital piece of success that they had just witnessed. In just a few minutes, they would all be reuniting! XXXXXXXX “See, space travel ain't nothing,” B-Dawg cooly assured his siblings and friends before a large boom sent them rocketing forward. “Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!” Seashell shrieked. “What was that?!” “That was a sonic boom!” Sunny squealed. “We just broke the sound barrier!” “W-We knew that,” Glory said timidly. “We were just joshing you, that’s all.” “Get ready, you guys,” said Hitch, buckling his restraints. “Looks like we’re coming into land!” XXXXXXXX Astro took manual control of the ship once again in order to land it safely on the runway. And then... slowly, but surely... the shuttle made contact with the ground. “Touchdown! WHOO!!!” This sent the Buddies’ kids cheering into overdrive, and Slats and Pi let out victorious cheers of their own. XXXXXXXX “We’re home!” the Pippsqueaks cheered in happiness. “Congratulations, guys!” Gravity called out to the group. “You did it!” The Mane 6 couldn’t help but cheer and hug their friends, new and old, tightly for their own success. XXXXXXXX The news of the safe landing stretched all across the world, and everyone in every continent cheered happily as dogs in those same countries barked and howled to show their pleasure. XXXXXXXXX As everyone else was cheering for their success, Pi turned to his little ferret companion with a smile. “I have a feeling, you and your furry friends had more to do with this mission's success than we will ever know.” He offered his sleeve to the ferret, who crawled through it and to his pocket. And once this was done, Pi turned to the Buddies’ kids with a wide smile. “Come on, kids, let's go greet the new heroes!” “Let’s go!” Pete cried out, and they all rushed out the door to head outside and greet the four-legged space heroes. XXXXXXXX The Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and their new friends strutted out of the ship, feeling as if they were on top of the world in that moment. I mean, who WOULDN’T be after something like that just happened? The mission control team were the first to arrive on the scene, and once he got out of the van, Pi set Gravity down on the ground. “Here you go, Gravity, greet your new friends.” Gravity squeaked and ran over to the group before he stood up to address them. “Welcome home, everyone. Spudnick, that was some fancy seat-of-the-pants aviation you demonstrated.” “Whoa!” Rosebud commented in surprise. “You’re a ferret.” “Hold on a second,” Zipp blinked. “You mean to tell me we had a rodent as our flight director?” “Hey, I’m not a rodent,” Gravity corrected her. “I'm related to the mustela family of mammals, which includes minks and skunks.” “Hey,” said Budderball with a smile. “I'm told I'm related to skunks too.” “Well, whatever the case,” said Night Star with a happy grin, “we couldn't have made it home without your help, Gravity. Thank you, comrade.” That’s when Pipp suddenly saw another van approaching and pulled out her phone. “Hey, Buddies? I think this is gonna be a reunion in the making! Look who’s here!” The Buddies turned to see the van doors opening, and from these doors... emerged all their kids! As the kids cheered and called out to their pups and their friends, the Buddies and the ponies, sans Spudnick and Night Star, who stood together, galloped over to see them, getting hugs, scratches behind the ear and praises of how it was so good to have them home. However, Spudnick felt a twinge of sadness enter his heart at not being able to see his boy there, and Night Star sensed it, nuzzling Spudnick to comfort him. “Oh… and one more thing,” Gravity spoke up. “It seems a boy named Sasha is trying to contact you.” Spudnick lit up at this. “Really?” “He’s been waiting for you,” Gravity smiled. “But… he not only wants you back… he wants your new unicorn friend there to come live with you as well.” Night Star gasped in delight and turned to look at Spudnick with happy tears in her eyes. Finally… she was gonna have a family, a real family of her very own. And she had a group of brave Golden Retriever pups and their pony friends to thank for it. A Welcome Home Celebration/Returning to EquestriaImmediately after the Buddies and their Equestrian friends returned from space, plans for a huge welcome home/congratulations celebration was put into effect, with a band, parade, and a special ceremony to give all of them their wings. Of course, this did mean our heroes had to say goodbye to Night Star and Spudnick, who were heading back to Russia so Spudnick could reunite with his boy Sasha. Needless to say, Night Star was beyond thrilled to get to meet her new family, so... the Mane 6 understood, and promised to visit them if they were in the area. But right now... they had a party to get through! XXXXXXXX Merry music played as the parade traveled through Fernfield all the way to the main stage in front of Town Hall, and the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks were the guests of honor for everything. Rosebud even got a new pink space suit in contrast to her blue one, and needless to say, she enjoyed it far more than the blue one she had been wearing. “This is more like it. I feel much prettier in pink.” The cheering continued as the parade ended, and the ponies took their place next to the Buddies for the ceremony, where the Buddies’ kids sat nearby for them to witness this grand occasion, and Pi took to the podium to address the crowd. “Uh, thank you. Thank you for being here,” he said to the crowd. I would like to present wings, the symbol of true heroism in space… to our ponynauts and dogmonauts.” This caused the audience, especially the Buddies’ kids, to cheer wildly. “Here they are!” Pi presented the heroes in their finest. “The Unity Squad, the Pippsqueaks and the Space Buddies!” The crowd seemed to amplify their cheering as the wings were passed out, and the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks couldn’t be prouder. They stuck through everything as a team, and now… they were being honored as total heroes. Rosebud was the first of the group to speak. “I’m gonna miss Night Star and Spudnick.” “We are too,” Pipp nodded. “But, they’re going back to their families now after so many years. I’m happy for them, nonetheless.” “Those two are now officially part of my entourage,” B-Dawg added, causing Budderball to nod. “I'll never forget they taught me to eat my vegetables.” “They were both rad comrades!” Mudbud added as Buddha let through a smile. “They’ll each have a space in our hearts forever.” However, as this was said, the portal to Equestria began to appear not too far away. “That’s our ticket home, guys,” Zipp told the others. “We better get going.” “Thanks again for this wild adventure, you guys,” Rosebud told the ponies. “Be sure to look us up again when you’re back in Fernfield!” “We will!” Sunny promised as the group exchanged farewells before the ponies jumped through the portal before it closed, leaving the celebration to continue with the Buddies as the guests of honor. XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, in Russia, another homecoming celebration was occuring. A limo pulled up to the house where Sasha was living with his family, and Sasha gasped as soon as a familiar four-legged figure ran out of the car, during the gentle snowfall, and toward him, a certain unicorn at his heels. “Spudnick!” Spudnick panted happily as he ran to his boy, who held him close as the entire family clapped in joy. “I always dreamt I'd hold you in my arms again…” Sasha whispered as he placed Spudnick’s collar around his neck. Then, as he hugged Spudnick, he gestured for Night Star to come closer, and Night Star happily did so, happy to be with a family that would never leave her. XXXXXXXX It had been a few hours later, after the ceremony had ended, when Buddha and Sam returned home from town. As they gazed out at the stars, Buddha rushed inside to get the moon rock Glory had picked up for him to give to Sam, and he dropped it in the boy's lap, much to Sam's bewilderment. “Whoa…” he said. “This rock… is from the moon?” Buddha barked in confirmation, and this caused Sam to smile ever so lightly. “I got to touch the Moon too. I guess dreams really do come true.” But the biggest wish Sam could ask for was having his puppy back home safe and sound. XXXXXXXX Back in Russia, Night Star and Spudnick stared out at the moon from the comforts of home, and after a long moment of silence, Spudnick finally decided to speak. “I fulfilled my dream of being the first dogmonaut to walk on the Moon. But in returning home, I realized it is the journey and the new friendships we made that matter the most.” “Spudnick?” Night Star said as she looked to her best friend with a gentle smile on her face. “...I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Author's Note Sorry if this felt rushed... I've been working on this story for quite a while, and I really wanted to get it done. Stay tuned for the next story, everypony!
Reuniting with the Buddies/The Night Before the Field TripThe Pippsqueaks could never be more excited-- they were finally going on another Unity Quest with the Mane 6! However, as they traveled through the portal to worlds unknown, they couldn't help but wonder where in the world they might be going this time. Fortunately for them, they were soon going to find out. XXXXXXXX A crystal portal opened up in front of an elementary school in a small town, and the Mane 6 stepped out with the Pippsqueaks following behind, and the Pippsqueaks gazed around in wonder at the environment around them. “Sunny, this place is so cool!” Seashell exclaimed. “Where are we, anyway?” “I have a pretty solid idea,” Sunny smiled. “Guys… I think we're back in Fernfield!” “Aww man! Violette is gonna be disappointed we came without her this time,” Hitch said before turning back to the Pippsqueaks. “but I'm glad that we brought you three along.” “We are too!” Glory smiled. “But if you guys have been here before, do you know who our adventure is gonna be with?” Zipp looked around before she spotted five golden furry figures standing over near the school, causing her to smile. “I think I have an idea… come on! We gotta take the Pippsqueaks over to meet them!” “Buddha! Rosebud! Budderball!” Misty called as the ponies trotted over. “B-Dawg! Mudbud! We're back!” “Whoa! What's up, dudes?!” Mudbud asked excitedly as the five Golden Retriever pups ran to greet them, causing the Mane 6 to laugh happily as they reunited with their puppy friends. “Your friends from Fernfield are puppies?!” Peach Fizz asked in shock and delight. “They're so so so cute!!” “Pippsqueaks, we'd like you to meet the Buddies-- Budderball, B-Dawg, Buddha, Mudbud and their little sister Rosebud,” Sunny introduced the Buddies one by one. “Buddies, meet our friends from Equestria, the Pippsqueaks-- Peach Fizz, Glory and Seashell. They're gonna be tagging along with us on whatever Unity Quest we've been sent on.” “Yo, it's nice to meet you, dawgettes,” B-Dawg said to the Pippsqueaks. “Any friends of my pony posse are officially instated in MY posse.” “Uh… thanks. It's nice to meet you too… dawg,” Seashell said a tad awkwardly, not used to speaking in such a manner. “So what are you cuties doing out here in front of this school?” “We’re just waiting for our people to get out of school for the day,” Rosebud explained. “You guys will really like them… especially since Sunny and her friends helped to pick them out and everything.” “Okay, it's official,” Glory said to her friends with a wide grin. “Pipp and her friends just got way way WAY cooler!” Suddenly, the doors of the school flew open, and several young kids came out from the building, including the Buddies' owners-- Buddha's owner Sam, Mudbud's owner Pete, Rosebud's owner Alice, Budderball’s owner Bartleby and B-Dawg's owner Billy. Sam was the first to kneel down and rubbed Buddha on top of the head. “Heya, Buddha. Hope you and the rest of the Buddies didn't get too bored without us.” “Hey, I know you ponies!” Alice said, recognizing the Mane 6. “You guys helped match us up with our pups!” “Hey, it's good to see you guys again,” Zipp said as she hoof-bumped Billy with a wide smile. “I hope these little guys are behaving themselves for you.” “Well, Mudbud does get dirty and track pawprints through the house,” Pete admitted, shooting Mudbud a little scolding look, “but other than that, the Buddies are all great.” “Hi! I'm Seashell, and that's Glory and Peach Fizz,” Seashell then introduced. “It's nice to meet you all.” “Hey, nice to meet you too,” Alice waved to the fillies with a smile. “Are you all gonna be in town long?” “Well, we're not sure,” Hitch admitted. “We were just so excited to see the Buddies after these last few weeks of not seeing each other, we totally forgot about finding a place to stay.” “Well, my parents and I have plenty of room at our house for you guys to stay,” Bartleby offered. “I'd repay you guys with anything to thank you for helping me match with Budderball.” “Some of you guys could stay with me and Buddha,” Sam then added. “Aw, thanks for all that, guys,” Sunny smiled warmly. “I think we'll take you up on your offer.” “Hey, dawgs,” Billy whispered to his friends. “Our teacher did say we could bring special guests on our field trip tomorrow… why not ask them since our parents have to work?” “Ooh, a field trip? I love field trips! Where are you going?” Izzy asked optimistically before gasping deeply. “Are you going to the yarn factory?!” “Even better,” Sam told the ponies excitedly. “We're gonna go see a real live space shuttle launch at the station outside of town!” “You're gonna see a spaceship launch into space?! That sounds just as cool as the Moon Festival in Zephyr Heights!” Glory exclaimed. “If not cooler!” “We can take special guests if we want, and we could ask our teacher if you guys can come with us!” Pete offered. “We’ll go find our teacher and ask her if it's okay. Be right back. Come on, you guys!” With that, Alice and the boys rushed off back into the school to find their teacher, and Seashell turned to look at the Buddies. “Are you gonna go see the space shuttle launch tomorrow too?” “Unfortunately not,” Buddha frowned. “The teacher is allergic to dog fur, so we have to stay behind. And no matter how many times Sam's asked, the answer is always the same.” “It's disappointing. That's what it is,” Budderball said with disappointment. “Getting to miss out on all those bag lunches? It's gonna be pure torture!” The Pippsqueaks felt bad for the Buddies-- not being able to go to something so fun and exciting must have been heartbreaking to go through. It would be like them not being able to go to the Moon Festival back home in Equestria. Suddenly, Glory spoke to the Buddies with a smile on her face. “Well, if you guys aren't going, then I'm not either.” “And if Glory isn't going,” Peach Fizz continued, “then me and Seashell aren’t going either.” The Mane 6 seemed generally surprised at this. “Are you girls sure that’s what you wanna do?” Misty asked in concern. “You seemed so excited about it a few minutes ago.” “Well, the Buddies might need some company if you guys go on the trip tomorrow, and we wanna explore Fernfield a little,” Seashell admitted, looking at the other Pippsqueaks, who nodded. “So, it'll work out great for everypony, right?” “That’s very admirable of you, Pippsqueaks,” Buddha said with a grateful grin. “Thank you for your unwavering act of kindness. Namaste.” “Namaste to you too, Buddha,” Peach Fizz bowed her head in response, just before the kids came back out of the school. “Well, we talked to our teacher and she said we can still bring guests,” said Sam, “but… we only have room for six, so… some of you will have to stay behind.” “Actually, the Pippsqueaks volunteered to stay behind so they could keep the Buddies company,” Zipp interjected, “so the rest of us ponies can go with you. We’ll work out the rest of the plan on our way back to your houses. If we’re gonna go on a space shuttle launch tomorrow, we’re gonna need our rest.” XXXXXXXX The plans had been made-- Zipp was going to bunk at B-Dawg and Billy's house, Sunny and Izzy were going to look after the Pippsqueaks and spend the night at Buddha and Sam's house, Bartleby and Budderball would take Hitch back to their house, Misty would stay at Mudbud and Pete's house and lastly, Pipp would stay at Alice and Rosebud's house. Shortly after these plans were made, everyone said their goodbyes and went to their respective houses for the night, the kids telling their families that the ponies would be staying with them until further notice. However, no one knew that their plans would be rocketed off into the stars... and not in the best way possible. XXXXXXXX Elsewhere, out in space, at an old Russian research space station, there lived a white bull terrier named Spudnick and his unicorn companion Night Star, who had a bluish-purple coat, golden eyes, a dark purple and yellow mane and tail and a cutie mark of a shooting star. Both of them had been stranded in space for as long as they could remember, at least a few years, and each night, Spudnick would stare down at the Earth longingly, waiting for the day they would be rescued. On this particular night, Spudnick spoke up to Night Star, thoughts filling his head. “Dreams are like stars. You can't touch them, but if you follow them, they will lead you to your destiny,” he said wisely. “I used to dream of being the first dogmonaut to walk on the Moon. And now, I dream of going home to my boy, Sasha.” “And you will, someday, Spudnick-- I believe it,” Night Star said kindly, looking out the window with a wistful sigh. “Honestly… I just dream of seeing other ponies again. Having friends. All we have to do is keep hoping and dreaming… and if we keep doing that, I’m sure our wishes will come true.” XXXXXXXX Around the same time, Sunny and Izzy were inside of the living room in Sam's house, helping Sam's mom set up an area for the two of them and the Pippsqueaks to sleep for the night... at least until the next morning. The Pippsqueaks, on the other hoof, were too excited to sleep-- Sam and Buddha were with them outside on the patio, and they were pointing out all the different star constellations and letting the Pippsqueaks use Sam's telescope to get clear views of the moon. “Wow…” Peach Fizz murmured softly. “It’s incredible!” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars before,” Seashell told Buddha quietly. “Not even back in Maretime Bay!” That’s when Sunny, Izzy and Sam’s mom came out on the patio to speak with them. “You little astronauts need to get some sleep,” Sam’s mother said. “You and your friends have a big day tomorrow, Sam.” “It's gonna be the coolest,” Sam said with a smile. “I've never seena real spaceship before.” “But can’t we just have five more minutes?” Glory asked with a pout. “Please?” “Okay, okay… five more minutes,” Sunny said with a giggle. “But no more and no less, understood?” “Understood,” the Pippsqueaks nodded in understanding before Seashell took her turn at the telescope. But during this, Buddha looked over at Sam with a pleading look in his eyes, and Sam seemed to know exactly what Buddha wanted, without needing to hear the pup’s voice. “I wish you could come too,” Sam told his pup with a frown. “But I've already asked school like 12 times. No pets. But, you’ll have the Pippsqeaks to keep you company tomorrow, so at least you won’t be all by yourself.” Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the sky, which Glory immediately pointed out. “Look! A shooting star, Buddha!” Buddha barked excitedly at this. “Make a wish,” Sam told the others, and as they closed their eyes, Sam whispered his wish so that only the Pippsqueaks and Buddha could hear it. “I wish to one day touch the moon.” “And I wish,” Glory whispered, “for us to find a piece of the moon to bring back to our families, so they can see what an amazing adventure we had.” “Sam! Pippsqueaks!” Sunny called. “Come on to bed!” “Astronauts need their rest too, you know!” Izzy called, causing Sam to sigh. “I guess when they’re right, they’re right. Good night, Buddha.” “Night, Buddha. See you in the morning,” Seashell rubbed the puppy on the head before she and Peach Fizz trotted inside. “Launch!” Sam made engine noises as he ‘flew’ his toy space shuttle inside, with Glory giggling as she followed after him. Once they were all inside, Buddha made his own wish under the canopy of stars above. “I wish that all your dreams come true…” Then, Buddha opened his eyes and glanced through the telescope at the moon above, to which Izzy and Sunny noticed. “Aww… I really wish they could come with us. Then the Pippsqueaks wouldn’t have to miss out on such a sparkle-tastic field trip,” Izzy frowned. “Can’t we magically make the teacher’s allergies go away?” “Even if we could, Iz, I don’t think it would be that simple,” Sunny frowned. “Besides… we need a little fun after the past couple of Unity Quests. The Pippsqueaks and Buddies will be just fine on their own, at least until we get back. Come on, we better get to bed ourselves.” Izzy nodded at this, and as they spared one final look at Buddha, they went off to bed to dream of the moon, the stars and rockets before the exciting day ahead. Author's Note I thought Night Star would be perfect for this-- credit goes to the creator, as always: Night Star #01 by DecPrincess on DeviantArt
The Zephyr Heights Moon FestivalIt had been a few weeks since the Mane 6's last Unity Quest in the mortal world, where the ponies and their mystery-solving friends got beamed into cyber-space, and together with their new Enchantix Wolf friends and their cyber-doubles, they managed to get through all the different levels, defeated a cyber version of Opaline AND defeated a nasty computer virus before returning home. Even though they were on their hooves for most of that mission, it was still one that they were never going to forget. But little did the Mane 6 know, there was another Unity Quest waiting for not only them, but some very special little friends of theirs as well. Ever since their last Unity Quest adventure with the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz have felt closer than ever before to one another, and their parents were starting to get along better as well, making the three fillies that much happier. One day, after running into Pipp Petals, the icon of all Equestrian icons, in town, the Pippsqueaks' parents revealed a special surprise to their daughters-- Pipp had talked about it with her friends, and they would love for the Pippsqueaks to join them in the Marestream that weekend as they went to the Zephyr Heights Moon Festival, held once every 10 years! Of course, the Pippsqueaks couldn't be more excited to go spend time with the Mane 6 and to actually be close to Queen Haven in the royal box. Little did they know that a brand-new adventure would be waiting just around the corner for them. XXXXXXXX “Now, are you girls sure you’re prepared for the big trip to Zephyr Heights?” Seashell’s mother, Ocean Silk asked the fillies as she, Solar Charge and Amethyst Charm walked the three of them to the Crystal Brighthouse for their trip. “You’ll be back late tonight, so I just wanna make sure you three will be okay until then.” “Don’t worry, Mom-- Peach Fizz and Glory and I will be just fine,” Seashell reassured. “I’ve been to Zephyr Heights with them before, remember?” “Oh, yes, I remember,” Amethyst nodded. “Solar Charge took the three of you to see Pipp in concert that one day.” “But, you three are gonna stay in Zephyr Heights until late tonight. Like Ocean Silk said,” Solar Charge told the girls, “we wanna make sure you’re going to be okay. You’ve never been in Zephyr Heights after dark by yourselves before.” “We won’t be by ourselves,” Glory reminded her father. “Sunny and the others are gonna be with us.” “You know what I meant, firework.” “Hey, guys!” Sunny greeted the trio and their parents as they neared the Marestream. “Are you fillies ready to go for the trip of your lives?” “You bet we are!” Peach Fizz chirped. “This is gonna be so much fun!” “Well, then you girls are in luck! We have fun everywhere at the festival!” Zipp smiled. “Now, get your stuff into the Marestream and we can get going.” “Oh, bye, sweetie-hooves!” Amethyst said, kissing her daughter repeatedly. “Hey! Mom!” Peach Fizz groaned playfully. “Cut it out!” “We’ll be waiting for you when you get back, firework,” Solar Charge said, booping his daughter on the nose. “Promise.” “Have fun!” Ocean Silk waved to her daughter and her friends. “And listen to Sunny and the others!” “We will!” Seashell called back as they entered the Marestream, and within a few minutes, they set off toward their destination. XXXXXXXX “Thanks for telling our parents that we could come with you guys tonight, Pipp,” Peach Fizz said to Pipp with a smile. “We’ve always wanted to go, but we never knew when the moon was gonna be closest to Equestria.” “Aww, you’re welcome, girls!” Pipp said with a smile. “Mom is expecting us at the gates of Zephyr Heights, so we need to hoof it so we can make it on time.” “Pipp, don’t forget-- I can’t push the Marestream too hard,” Zipp said to her sister sternly from the pilot’s seat. “If the lantern runs low on power, we’ll be falling from the sky quicker than a pegasus in a nose-dive!” “Hey, I know what we can do while we wait to get there,” Misty said with a smile. “We can tell the Pippsqueaks about some of the missions we’ve been on lately!” “Ooh, ooh! Have some of them been with Scooby and the gang?” Glory asked. “A few of them,” said Hitch, “but we’ve made a lot of new friends too. Like when we met the Jetsons… in the future!” “The future?! No way!” Peach Fizz squealed. “You gotta tell us about it!” “Okay, okay!” Zipp laughed before clearing her throat. “So, I called everypony to the Crystal Brighthouse to discuss a theory, when…” XXXXXXXX Only 30 minutes and one story later, they managed to arrive in Zephyr Heights, which was brightly decorated with lights and lanterns for the big Moon Festival, which had started after the sun went down, and the moon began to rise. Queen Haven, like she said, was waiting for them when they arrived, and Pipp and Zipp were first to fly over to her. “Mom!” “Oh, my angels! You’ve arrived!” Queen Haven said warmly. “Welcome, everypony, to the Zephyr Heights Moon Festival!” “Greetings, Queen Haven,” Seashell said politely as she, Glory and Peach Fizz bowed to her. “I’m Seashell, and this is Peach Fizz and Glory.” “Pipp invited us to the festival, and we couldn’t wait to meet you!” Peach Fizz said excitedly before she realized how fast she was speaking. “Sorry… I talk fast when I’m excited.” “Oh, I’m so glad you fillies could come too!” Queen Haven said kindly. “Come on in, everyone-- I’ll give you the grand layout.” Two guards opened the gates to the city, and the group was astounded to see all kinds of rides, games, snacks, craft booths and lanterns that gave off the essence of the moon festival. And as they walked, Queen Haven took the chance to explain what the festival was really all about. “And so… every ten years, when the moon reaches its closest point in Equestria, we throw a great big party to celebrate.” Just then, a big decorative moon came rolling by and Zoom and Thunder screamed as they chased after it, catching the group's attention. Queen Haven felt embarrassed a bit before she recomposed herself and looked at Zipp and Pipp with a smile. “Oh, my daughters have always loved the Moon Festival.” Pipp and Zipp looked at each other while Pipp raised an eyebrow at her sister, remembering when Zipp tied her to a balloon so they could fly up and get closer to the moon itself. “Correction… Zipp always loves the Moon Festival,” Pipp corrected with a sarcastic expression. “Me, haha… not so much.” “And now, as it's the first Moon Festival since magic returned, we're putting on an extra special aerobatics finale featuring Zephyr Heights' finest flyers!” Queen Haven announced with excitement. “That sounds like a lot of fun!” Izzy chirped. “We definitely don’t wanna miss that, do we, ponies?” “No way!” Seashell exclaimed with excitement in her voice. “Let’s go find our seats so we can get this party started!” XXXXXXXX A few minutes later, the group arrived at a room where Rufus was standing guard before moving the red waiting line out of the way. “Welcome to the royal box!” Queen Haven announced as the doors opened as it revealed a room with a balcony with the great view of the night sky with tables sets and a food buffet for the group to enjoy. Needless to say... they were all VERY impressed. “Uh, quick question.” Izzy spoke as the others turned to her as she had the red waiting line on her while giving a fashionable expression. “Does this clash with my mane? Ooh!” But suddenly, Rufus gave her a loook before snatching the waiting line away. “Wow, look at all these snacks!” Sunny exclaimed. “There must be enough here to feed a whole army of hungry ponies!” “Man, Dad does NOT know what he’s missing out on!” Glory said as she snacked on some cucumber sandwiches. “He said my mom always loved the Moon Festival when it came around. In fact… I think that’s where they first became friends when they were my age!” “Awww, so sweet,” Hitch smiled. “But, with your mom being gone, I’m sure he has a lot of bittersweet memories relating to the festival too.” “...I never thought about it that way,” Glory said with a soft expression while looking at the moon. “I sure wish we could find a way to make him happy about the Moon Festival… and that we could remember this night forever.” “Uh… Glory?” Peach Fizz pointed to Glory’s cutie mark. “I think that question is getting answered!” When Glory looked down, she gasped-- her cutie mark was now glowing, as were the other Pippsqueaks' and the Mane 6's cutie marks, and this created a portal not too far away. “I guess your job as protectors of Equestria are never done,” Queen Haven said. “But, is it safe to bring the fillies?” “I think so,” Sunny said. “They handled themselves pretty well the last time-- they even saved us from some pretty scary monsters.” “And we can save you again if necessary!” Seashell said. “Let’s go go go see what adventure is waiting for us!” “See you soon, Mom!” Zipp said before they jumped into the portal one by one before it closed and as Queen Haven waved farewell, bidding the group good luck on their next adventure.
Rainy Day Recruiting/Preparing the Shuttle for LaunchFinally, 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.
A Field Trip Gone AwryThe bus ride to Vision One Enterprises seemed to be taking forever, but luckily, none of the kids or the Mane 6 seemed to notice the Pippsqueaks or the Buddies in the back of the bus, bored out of their minds. “Dudes, are we there YET?” Mudbud asked his siblings and new friends in a quiet voice. “We’ve literally been riding forever!” “I’m not exactly sure where exactly the shuttle is gonna be launching from,” Seashell admitted, “but I’m sure we can’t be too far away.” “Do you think we’ll be able to get a view of the rocket from up close?” Glory asked. “I’d love to get a photo for Dad!” “We’ll just have to wait and see, Glory,” Buddha told the pegasus filly. “Good things come to those who wait, after all.” “Hey, everypony! Great news!” Pipp announced from further up the bus. “I think we’re heeeeeeeeeeeere, WAH!!” This caused the other kids and ponies to cheer in excitement, and as the bus pulled into a stop on the curb, the teacher sneezed and climbed down the stairs to get in front of the kids. “Okay, people, off the bus,” she said to the kids. “Don't forget your lunch… AHH!!!” The kids began to get out of the bus so fast, they climbed all over her (except for the Mane 6 of course), and they were able to stop right before Dr. Finkel, who stood at the entrance to wait for them. “Okay, stop right here, kids. Welcome to Vision Enterprises. Everyone in. Don't touch anything.” “Come on, you guys!” Izzy giggled excitedly. “Let’s go go go!” “For once, I agree with Izzy,” Hitch told the other ponies, smiling. “We can’t miss a real-life shuttle launch!” However, as the Mane 6 and the kids filed behind Dr. Finkel and headed into the building, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks got out of their hiding places and began to get off the bus to go after them. “We don’t wanna miss the launch!” Buddha said as he got off the bus and walked all over the teacher, who was still on the ground. “This way!” “Excuse me!” Peach Fizz called out as she followed Buddha off the bus but walked around the teacher. “Coming through!” “Wait for me!” Seashell shouted after her friends, and once all the Buddies and the three fillies were off the bus, they darted through the doors to catch up with the tour group. XXXXXXXX The Mane 6 were currently still following their human friends behind Dr. Finkel, who seemed to detest children in all forms imaginable. “Again, please refrain from touching anything with your hands, you slimy, little, germ-ridden creatures.” “Hmph! Rude!” Pipp scoffed as the group was eventually brought to a stop. “Our goal here, at Vision Enterprises, for some reason,” Dr. Finkel explained, “is to make space travel accessible for everyone, including the family pet.” As he was saying this, Sam looked over and spotted an unusual device nearby, and his interest grew just enough to where he went to explore it. “Hey… Sam!” Sunny whispered. “Where are you going?” “Come on… we better follow him,” Zipp whispered to Sunny as they followed Sam over to the device while the rest of the group was distracted. At the same time, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks followed after the group before darting into hiding nearby. “Let’s hide over here, dudes,” Mudbud whispered, only for Seashell to shush the pup. “Quiet! They’ll hear us!” At the same time, Sam put down his backpack and stepped onto the device, which began to scan his body in order to fit him for a spacesuit of his very own. “Scanning… human boy.” “Wow... this is awesome!” Sam whispered to himself before a blue spacesuit came out of the closet nearby. “No way…” Zipp whispered, her eyes immediately going wide. “This technology really is advanced!” “Here, Sam,” Sunny offered as she and Zipp stepped closer. “We’ll help you put it on over your clothes.” The Buddies and the Pippsqueaks watched in wonder as Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in the spacesuit, and they couldn't help but wonder if this device could give them spacesuits of their very own. Now that would be a really great souvenir for the Pippsqueaks to take back to their parents. Meanwhile, Dr. Finkle was continuing his lesson, unaware of Sam, Sunny and Zipp's disappearance from the rest of the tour group. “As you can see, we have some specifically designed space suits.” Finally, Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in his space suit, and even they had to admit… he looked just as good as them, if not better. Unfortunately, Dr. Finkle finally took the chance to notice them near the device and frowned upon it. “...whatever you like. Excuse me,” he said to the trio, getting their attention. “Please step away from the circle.” “Uh-oh… I think we got trouble,” Pipp murmured to her friends as Zipp and Sunny stepped closer to Sam in case he needed backup. “That device scans a life form and determines the right size suit,” Dr. Finkle told them with a frown on his face. “It is highly sophisticated. So please step away.” “He’s not the only thing that’s highly sophisticated around here,” Zipp muttered under her breath, causing Sunny to shush her before they got in more trouble. “Can I get a picture with the suit?” Sam asked quietly. “No, you cannot have a picture with the suit,” Dr. Finkle declined in a firm tone of voice. “Please, just take it off immediately.” Sunny could sense that Sam felt bad, and stepped forward, clearing her throat to help lighten the situation a bit. “With all due respect, sir, Sam didn’t know what the device was at the time,” she said. “And neither did we. Maybe if Sam promises to stay with the group from now on, we can forget this happened and Sam can keep the suit as a souvenir.” “That sounds fair,” Hitch nodded. “Come on, doc, learn to live a little!” Izzy brushed off, smiling at Dr. Finkle. “Do it for the kid… please?” Finally, Dr. Finkle seemed to give in, heavy on reluctance. “Uh, all right, you know what? It's fine, it's fine. You can keep the suit on. You probably already contaminated it. Just come back to the group.” “Yes!” Sam pumped his fist before he and the ponies came back to the group. “Children, this portion of the tour is over. Please follow me,” Dr. Finkle said as he made his way through the crowd of kids. “Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you.” Zipp could have sworn she saw something peeking out from the corner, but as soon as she saw it, it disappeared, leaving her to shrug and follow the group away. Soon, the group had moved on, letting Glory sigh a breath of relief from the Pippsqueaks' and the Buddies' hiding place. “That was close.” “And speaking of close,” B-Dawg said, looking at the mannequins wearing different size space suits, “check out the fly gear!” “Oh my gosh!” Rosebud said, totally loving the look. “These looks are so to die for!” That's when Rosebud's attention turned to the device that Sam, Zipp and Sunny stood near earlier, and wondered something... would it be able to give her a space suit that looked like his? It was always worth a shot, right? So, she separated from her brothers and friends and walked over to it, much to the Pippsqueaks' confusion. “Rosebud?” Peach Fizz called. “Where are you going?” Rosebud ignored her and stepped onto the circle, turning the device on and letting it scan Rosebud over. “Scanning.” “Wow…” Rosebud said, ultimately impressed as the scan concluded. “Canine puppy.” And just like before, a spacesuit fit for dogs, and just Rosebud’s size, came out of the nearby closet. “Whoa, dudes!” Mudbud spoke in an impressed tone. That’s when Rosebud stepped into the suit and turned toward her brothers. “Will one of you boys zip me up?” Budderball stepped forward to do so, and grabbed the zipper in his teeth before zipping Rosebud’s suit up. “Okay,” Glory said, getting up onto the platform, “I gotta try this!” “Let’s all try it!” Seashell told her friends. “I mean, if we’re gonna see a rocket launch, we gotta do it in style, right?” XXXXXXXX After a few minutes, all of the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies had been fitted into their very own space suits. But while the Buddies' spacesuits were all blue, the Pippsqueaks' space suits were different colors and fit their personalities perfectly. Seashell's space suit was a light mint green color with large pink stars on the boots, her light pink tail bow and her cutie mark on her right flank. Glory's space suit was a purple color, lighter than the purple color in her mane, her pink tail bow, firework designs on her suit in different areas and her cutie mark on her right flank. Peach Fizz's space suit was a light orange color with a picture of a peach on her chest and her cutie mark on her right flank. All of them thought very highly of their outfits, especially Rosebud, who gazed at herself in the mirror for a good while. “So… how do I look?” “Uh…” Mudbud blinked, not seeing all the fuss over looking pretty. “Like our sister in a space suit.” “Well, I think you look pretty, Rosebud,” Seashell smiled. “We ladies have to stick up for each other after all.” “Yo, Seashell’s right about two things,” B-Dawg said. “The whole girl power thing and that we look tight.” However, Budderball was straining a little bit in his space suit, looking very uncomfortable. “Mine's a little too tight. Someone give me a paw.” “I don’t have a paw,” said Peach Fizz, approaching him, “but I can give you a hoof.” However, as she moved her mouth to take Budderball’s paw, the others tried to stop her. “Don’t pull his paw!!” They were too late, however-- Peach Fizz already pulled Budderball's paw, causing Budderball's suit to inflate like a balloon. “Check it,” B-Dawg commented. “It’s the Goodyear blimp!” “Come on, guys, we better head outside to get really good seats for the launch,” Glory said, nudging Budderball away. “We don’t wanna miss the moment of a lifetime, right?” The others seemed to agree, and they all walked down another hallway and through some doors. However, while they were walking, the Mane 6 (who stopped to go to the bathroom while the other kids went on ahead) could have sworn they saw animals in brightly-colored space suits walking down another hallway. “Uh… guys?” Misty spoke up with wide eyes. “Did you just see what I think I saw?” “If I think we saw what you saw, then those guys are in serious trouble,” Zipp said as she strained her space suit. “I thought they said they were gonna stay home!” “Well, the least we can do is follow them,” Sunny said, “before they get too far ahead of us. Come on!” XXXXXXXX “Are you guys sure this is the right way?” Budderball asked the Pippsqueaks as they took the lead. “We’ve been walking for a pretty good while.” “Trust me, Budderball-- we know what we’re doing,” Glory said. “And according to my logic, the way to the launch bay should be right here!” She opened another door, this one leading into the warehouse, and led the others through it, Peach Fizz using her horn as a lamp to see what they were doing. However, when they all got inside and started looking around, a voice stopped them in their tracks. “Well, well, well… look what the fillies dragged in.” “Uh-oh…” the Pippsqueaks chorused before they hesitantly turned to see Pipp and the rest of the Mane 6 standing behind them... and they didn't look too happy. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you guys,” Seashell gulped. “We’re totally busted.” “What are you guys doing here?” Sunny asked as the Mane 6 entered the warehouse. “I thought you said you were gonna stay home!” “Well, that’s what we originally planned, but… the excitement of seeing the shuttle got ahead of us,” Buddha said hesitantly. “I kind of asked the Pippsqueaks if they wanted to come see the shuttle with us, and… here we are.” “We know we shouldn’t have snuck along, and we’re really sorry,” Peach Fizz apologized, ears pinned against her head. “...are you mad?” “...no, we're not mad. Just… promise you won’t sneak along behind us next time,” Misty told the fillies gently. “If we had gotten back to town and discovered you guys were gone, I don’t know what we would have done.” “We promise,” Rosebud and the Pippsqueaks nodded, with the boy puppies nodding without a sound. “Well… since you guys did manage to make it all this way,” said Zipp, “the least we could do is let you see the space shuttle before we take you guys home.” The Pippsqueaks and the Buddies gasped with wide smiles at this. Even though they had gotten caught, they were still gonna see the spaceship? This may be turning out better than they hoped! Izzy and Misty pressed buttons on both sides of the door to open it, and the garage-like door slowly raised, revealing the 14 of them in their space suits. “Come on, guys,” Sunny told them. “Let’s go see the spacecraft up close.” That’s when Budderball spotted some writing on the ground, and thinking it said ‘lunch pad’, he immediately became excited. “Golly gosh! Maybe we could stop at the lunch pad for a snack, if it's on the way.” “Hate to break it to you, Budderball,” Pipp said, “but that actually says ‘launch pad’.” And so, starting at a steady walk, the group began to head toward the shuttle, and as they got closer, broke into a gallop while staying out of the sight of the maintenance workers nearby... unaware of what would soon be happening on that shuttle in just a few short minutes. XXXXXXXX At the same time, Dr. Finkle had led all the kids from school up to a special room where they had an excellent view of the shuttle launch. “And voila, the spacecraft.” “T-Minus three minutes to launch,” Slat said from below, and a countdown clock appeared on one of the screens. Sam couldn’t help but be excited about this, looking on in anticipation. “Wow… I wish Buddha and the Pippsqueaks could see this.” XXXXXXXX But little did Sam realize that Buddha and the Pippsqueaks WERE there to see it, and they were standing right next to the space shuttle in question, which had its doors wide open. “Let's just take a quick look inside,” Buddha told the group, “and then we'll come back and watch the launch.” “I don’t know about that, Buddha,” Misty shook her head. “We don’t even know if anyone is supposed to be onboard this close to the launch.” “Y-Yeah,” Peach Fizz nodded. “Do you think it’s safe?” Luckily, Buddha had an answer to this. “You never know how deep a puddle is until you jump in.” Mudbud turned his head and saw a huge mud puddle nearby, getting his own idea in mind. “Uh… I’ll be right back.” And what did he do with that puddle? You guessed it-- he rolled around in it like crazy, coating his space suit with mud. “Seriously, dawg,” said B-Dawg to Buddha in confusion. “What does a puddle have to do with the spaceship?” “Whoo-hoo!” Mudbud then cheered, getting out of the puddle with a wide grin. “Oh yeah!” “Come on!” Glory urged. “Let’s go!” “Oh, okay…” Hitch sighed reluctantly. “But let’s make this quick!” And so, the ponies followed the Buddies onto the shuttle as they entered the main cabin, where a large amount of seats were lined up on the sides. “Whoa…” Buddha said, ultimately impressed. “It’s amazing.” “I would have blinged it out a little more,” B-Dawg shrugged before running for one of the seats up front. “I call shotgun!” “Not before I call it!” Zipp challenged the pup and raced after him, and they sat in the two seats next to one another, while everyone else (except Budderball) found seats of their own. XXXXXXXX But, they were unaware that Pi and everyone back in the control room were getting the final preparations made before the shuttle blasted off into outer space. “Wish us luck,” Pi whispered to Gravity, who gave a squeak in response. XXXXXXXX Budderball found himself in front of a screen with different pictures of food on it, and a slot underneath it where the food was supposed to come out. “Hmm… Lunch-O-Matic.” “Okay, guys,” Rosebud told the others. “We’ve seen the ship. We better go.” “Good idea,” Sunny said with a nod. “This thing could launch at any minute and we do not wanna be in here when that happens.” But, before the group could leave their seats, B-Dawg found a pair of the same glasses that Astro wore back in the control room and put them on, showing them off to his siblings. “Check out these retro shades.” “Dude,” Mudbud said, “you shouldn’t be touching those.” “I could fly this thing, no problem. Piece of cake,” B-Dawg bragged as Budderball kept looking at all the food options on the Lunch-O-Matic. “Yeah, there's cake… ooh, donut! But I think I'll start with the chili cheese dog, then steak and finish with a bean burrito.” “No beans!” the Pippsqueaks and the rest of the Buddies shouted in protest. Budderball first pressed the button with the chili cheese dog on it, but what came out, much to Budderball’s bewilderment, was a white package with a picture of a chili cheese dog. “Hey, this does not look like a chili cheese dog.” Budderball grabbed the package in his mouth and began to tear it open, causing Zipp to sigh to herself-- they didn't have time for this. They had to get out of here before it was too late! XXXXXXXX “All systems diagnostics check,” Pi told the rest of the team back in the control room. “I want a go or no go for launch.” XXXXXXXX Seashell had climbed down from her seat to look at the packages that Budderball kept recieving from the Lunch-O-Matic when she suddenly looked and saw the door leading back outside closing tight. “Uh… guys?” she gulped. “Someone just closed the door.” “Wait, what?!” Hitch cried in panic. “Oh, great... how can this get any worse?” Suddenly, the group felt the rocket jolt before they seemed to be tilting upwards toward the sky. “Are we... moving?” Misty asked as she looked around. “Dudes,” Mudbud gulped, “this is not good!” “B-Dawg,” Rosebud said as she turned to her more irresponsible brother, “what did you press?” “I-I didn’t press anything!” B-Dawg shook his head. “Seashell, Budderball,” Buddha quickly turned to his brother and one of his new friend. “My instincts tell me you should take a seat, fast!” “But I was just getting to dessert!” Budderball began to protest. “Hurry!” Peach Fizz pleaded. Budderball and Seashell hurriedly climbed into the empty seats available and sat down for a few moments, trying to remain calm about the situation... ...but it didn't help much when the team back in mission control pre-approved everything needed for the ship to take off. And not even a few seconds after that, the ship began to rumble and shake. “Guys,” Hitch said in panic, “I hear a low rumbling sound!” “Hey,” Budderball suddenly spoke up. “Don’t look at me.” “Guys, I think we might be going on a road trip!” Zipp shouted and pressed the button next to her, causing restraints to suddenly fasten themselves around the team in their chairs, just before a countdown began. “Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... and... ignition!” Before the ponies could even blink twice, the thrusters fired up at top speed and rocketed off into the sky, causing the group to scream and try to comprehend what was happening in that moment. XXXXXXXX “Gravity...” Pi said as they watched the shuttle take off for the stratosphere. “...we have liftoff.” Up in the viewing center, all the kids, including the Buddies' humans, cheered at the successful launch of the Vision One... ...but they, of course, remained unaware that the Buddies and their Equestrian allies were on that shuttle, heading on an unwanted trip to outer space! Author's Note Sorry I left out some of the Mission Control dialogue-- I wanted to focus it more or less on the group and their adventure.
Lost in Space/An Unexpected Fuel ProblemThe most unexpected event had occured-- the Mane 6 had found out the Buddies and the Pippsqueaks snuck along on the field trip, but with them supervising, they all snuck aboard the space shuttle to get a closer look, only for them to be trapped inside the space shuttle just before it blasted off into space! Not exactly the way that the Mane 6 were expecting this field trip to go, but nonetheless, it seemed they had a new mission on their hooves-- find a way to turn this shuttle around and get the Buddies back to Earth and back to their families, before they ended up too far away from home. And this is where we continue our epic space tale right where we left off. XXXXXXXX The Pippsqueaks felt like they were going at a million miles per hour in that moment, excited and terrified all at once. Eventually, Seashell found her voice and let out a shriek. “It feels like my stomach is in my throat!!” “Whoa!!” Rosebud cried. “This is like a ride on Space Mountain!!” “Dad always said I should be more down to Earth!” B-Dawg shouted with regret. “Why didn’t I listen?!” “Honestly, I’m too terrified to say ‘I told you so’, B-Dawg!” Zipp said from the seat next to him. “Keep holding on, guys! Once we break through the atmosphere, we might be able to slow down!” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Pi, Slats and Astro kept a close monitor on everything and saw that the shuttle was now leaving Earth’s atmosphere, directly on schedule. Now, all they needed to do was to get this baby to the moon, and they would be able to make the history books. XXXXXXXX Like Zipp said, once they breached the atmosphere, the ponies and Buddies could feel the ship slowing itself down, causing Izzy to giggle and cheer. “That was an incredible ride!” However, Budderball had to disagree, feeling like he was about to puke all over the seat in front of him. “I… don’t recommend liftoff on a… full stomach…” “That was heavenly,” Buddha said with a calm expression, thankful that the rough part of the ride was now over. “Oh, yeah, totally heavenly,” Hitch replied sarcastically. “Have you guys forgotten that we are NOW IN SPACE AND NONE OF US KNOW HOW TO PILOT THE SHIP TO GET BACK?!!” “Oh yeah… now I remember…” Izzy said with a grimace. “That might be a problem.” “Well… until we can get back,” Glory said with a nervous grin, “at least we can enjoy the beauty of space… r-r-right?” The group sat in silence for a few moments, trying to ponder about what they were going to do next. And while this happened, they reached the part of space where there is no gravity. That’s when Glory, out of curiosity, tapped the button with the restraints, releasing them. And upon this happening, the entire group, not just the pegasi, began to float up and around the inside of the shuttle, much to their bewilderment… especially Budderball’s. “I’m floating like a balloon!” “Wha… w-what’s happening?” B-Dawg asked out of slight panic. “Zero gravity!” Buddha said, bewildered. “It’s where nothing can pull us down to the ground and keep us there, so we end up floating around.” “Oh, this is out of this world!” Sunny exclaimed before realizing. “Quite literally.” “This is incredible!” Zipp said, not believing they could do this until now. “You can say that again,” Budderball said as he floated upside down. “Even I'm lighter than a feather.” “This is off the chain, dawgs,” B-Dawg told his siblings and friends. “I could slam dunk in space!” Buddha looked down at his chair and noticed another button he had noticed before, and once he was close enough, he pressed it with his paw. “Gravity reverser activated.” Misty froze at this. “That doesn’t sound good…” “WHOA!!!!” everyone cried as they fell to the ground, some of them on their feet or in their chairs… but Budderball unfortunately wasn’t one of those few. “Hey hey hey, I-I thought we were always supposed to land on our feet.” “Who turned off that zero-grav stuff?” B-Dawg asked, and Buddha whimpered guiltily from his seat. “Well, it was fun while it lasted,” Hitch said, getting back in his seat, prompting the others to do the same before Zipp reactivated the restraints. “Now,” said Zipp, “there’s only one thing left to do.” “What’s that?” Peach Fizz asked. “Find a way to turn this rocket around,” Zipp explained, “or… just wait and see what happens next.” “Well, since we have no idea how to fly a rocket, I guess we're stuck with the second option,” Sunny frowned. “I just hope somepony realizes where we are and what happened before it's too late to do anything to get us back.” XXXXXXXX Back on Earth, the mission control team made sure that everything on the shuttle was running smoothly, and things were going alright... ...at least until a few seconds later, when Slats suddenly saw an immediate red flag. “Sir, I don't like what I see. Somehow, we are short a quarter of our fuel supply.” Turns out, when Pi walked over, he saw that Slats was right-- a warning message depicting the words 'Fuel low' flashed across the computer screen. “Well, first things first,” Pi said, trying not to panic, “identify the source of the problem.” “Well, I know what the problem is. Tank three was never completely filled,” Slats explained, unaware of Dr. Finkle’s dose of sabotage. “The registries were blank. It doesn't make any sense.” “She'll never make it to the moon and back with that kind of shortage,” Pi said, clearly worried about the sake of the mission. “Hmm… it pains me to say this,” Dr. Finkle said as he approached, feigning concern, “but I don't think we have any other option here but to abort the mission.” However, Pi wasn’t going to resort to such a thing just yet-- there still had to be time to fix this. “Astro, how much time before we have to abort?” “Approximately 10 hours, sir,” Astro responded. “Good-- stay on course,” Pi instructed. “Um… okay... we have some time to solve this, people. I need solutions.” XXXXXXXX Sam was just arriving home from his field trip, strangely enough, without Sunny, Izzy and the Pippsqueaks. The ponies said that they would be along to see the launch, and then they would probably get back to the kids’ houses, so that’s where Sam went first to see if they were there. “Buddha, guys, I’m home!” However, as he set his backpack down, he didn’t see his friends or his puppy anywhere. “Sunny? Izzy? Pippsqueaks? Buddha?” XXXXXXXX At the same time, Billy was arriving to an empty house as well. “Yo, Zipp! B-Dawg! I’m back in the crib! Let’s bust some moves!” However… no one was there to greet him, causing him to slowly become concerned. XXXXXXXX “Pipp! Rosebud!” Alice called as soon as she got home. “Come on, let's go get a mani pedi and a blow dry.” However, she saw no sign of the pink pegasus or her puppy anywhere in sight. “Pipp? Rosebud?” XXXXXXXX “Hitch! Budderball!” Bartleby called as he too got home. “I brought some of Budderball’s favorite dinner that Hitch will really like!” However, like the others, he saw no sign of his pup or the earth pony sheriff. “Hitch? Budderball?” XXXXXXXX Pete, on the other hand, arrived home to not just an empty house with no Misty or Mudbud in sight, but he saw Mudbud’s cage open, and sighed heavily. “I knew we shouldn't have made him take a bath.” Now the only question now, was… where were the ponies and the Buddies now? XXXXXXXX Back in space, the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks were still onboard that shuttle heading for the moon, a feeling of tiredness and homesickness entering their very beings… …especially the Pippsqueaks, who felt more guilty than ever because of what they did. Seashell sighed sadly as she looked out the window at the Earth below. “I think we’re getting further and further away from home.” “And further and further away from dinner,” Budderball groaned hungrily. “We take full responsibility,” Glory admitted to the Mane 6. “We just wanted to go on an exciting adventure like you… we had no idea that we were gonna end up in space. We’re so sorry…” “Oh, girls… it’s okay, you made a mistake. We all do that sometimes,” Pipp said gently. “Don’t worry… we’re gonna find a way to get everypony home, safe and sound.” “But right now, we need to rest and prepare for whatever happens next,” Sunny told the team, laying down in her small chair. “I’m not sure what time it is back home, but… if I’m being completely honest… I’m pooped.” “You guys take a good rest,” Buddha told the ponies. “We’ll keep the idea train going while you do.” “Thanks, Buddha,” Zipp smiled fondly. “We knew we could count on you pups.” And so, with many of them (namely the Pippsqueaks) having heavy hearts, the ponies laid down to rest their eyes for a while, hoping an idea would hit them on how to not only get themselves back to Earth... ...but how to get the Buddies back to their loving families.
The Russian Research Space StationNot only were the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks stuck on a space shuttle flying toward the moon, but the mission control team back on Earth were also handling another problem. Thanks to Dr. Finkle's sabotage, one of the tanks was never completely filled, and that meant that the mission to the moon had a high risk of being aborted. Thankfully, Pi had hope that they could solve the problem and make sure that the mission went on as scheduled. All they had to do was find a proper solution. Thankfully, after a while of thinking, Slats and Astro approached Pi with optimistic looks on their faces. “Sir,” Slats spoke first, “I think we may have finally figured out a solution.” “Great. I... I... knew you would,” Pi said, smiling in pride and in thought. “Nice work. Let's hear it.” “Okay,” Slats took a breath before explaining his and Astro’s idea. “We think that we can refuel at the old Russian research space station.” However, Bill Wolfson frowned in concern. “But that space station disintegrated into the Earth's atmosphere like years ago.” “Well, yeah,” Astro said, “but you said to check everything, so I checked everything, including the conspiracy websites, which said the station, still in space.” “The reason that no one has been able to find the space station,” Slats continued, “is because it's not in it's original position. Somehow, it has gotten out of geostationary orbit.” “And one of the Russian cosmonauts?” Astro added. “He survived, and he's still living onboard, alone.” Suddenly, an incoming communication message flashed across the main screen in the room, and a second later, a cosmonaut from Russia appeared, seemingly still in the space station. “Hold on,” Slats said to Pi before getting closer to the screen. “Yuri, this is Slats from Vision Enterprises. Do you read me?” “American blue jeans!” Yuri exclaimed cheerfully, waving to the screen before speaking something in Russian that they couldn’t understand. “How are you?!” The crew looked at each other, a bit bewildered, but shrugged it off nonetheless. “Uh, look,” said Slats, “I'm just confirming that you do have fuel and are able to assist our spacecraft.” And like before, Yuri seemed very compilable to help. “Of course I help you, my comrades.” “Yuri, this is Pi,” Pi spoke up to the cosmonaut. “Uh, I am the spacecraft's designer and mission flight director. In exchange for the 3,000 pounds of fuel, uh, I would like to offer…” “No, comrade,” Yuri immediately stopped Pi from speaking further. “In return for the fuel forget everything. My location, forget it. Consider this information gone, kaput, okey-dokey, pumpkin pie?” In all honestly, Pi thought that this was rather strange, but in order to get the fuel that they so desperately needed to proceed with the mission, they had to agree with Yuri's demands... no matter how strange they were. “You have our word.” XXXXXXXX Unaware to the rest of the mission control team, but Spudnick and Night Star had been listening to everything from not too far away, and they were personally disheartened that Yuri wouldn't allow them to be rescued and taken back to Earth. “So,” Yuri said, cutting off communication and letting classical music play over the speakers, “we are going to have visitors. Good.” Night Star remained quiet about the event, but Spudnick let forth his frustration with an annoyed growl. “Oh, don't worry, old pal,” Yuri promised, unaware of how they were really feeling. “They promised not to tell anyone about us. So we are free to live peacefully in space forever and ever and ever!” “Ugh…” Night Star groaned. “This is just torture, that’s what it is!” All she could hope was that their visitors would be willing to let her and Spudnick hitch a ride back to Earth with them… otherwise, she feared that Yuri was going to be right… …and that they WOULD be in space forever. XXXXXXXX At the same time, the Vision One was quickly approaching the heavily used space station floating outside of the Earth’s orbit, and Hitch was first to see it and point toward it. “Guys,” he said, “what is this place?” “Whatever it is,” said Rosebud, “it’s getting closer.” “Either it’s getting closer, or we’re getting closer,” Misty said nervously. “It’s kinda hard to tell up here.” “I-I hope it’s not an alien’s house!” B-Dawg said, a bit scared about the development before regaining his composure. “Not that I’d be scared, or anything.” “I hope it's a Denny's,” Budderball put his two cents in. “I could sure go for a 'Moons Over My Hammy' right about now.” “A what?” Peach Fizz repeated, confused. “We’ll explain that later,” Zipp promised. “For right now, I think we just need to brace ourselves-- it looks like we’re getting ready to dock at that thing!” XXXXXXXX “Okay, Yuri,” Slats said from Vision Enterprise back on Earth, “are you ready to receive the spacecraft? Over?” “I've never been so ready in all of my life,” Yuri responded on the other end of the line. “Come and get it, rhinestone cowboy.” “...right,” Pi said with a nod. “Let's switch from autopilot to remote pilot.” “Switching now, sir,” Slats said as he typed on his computer and Astro put on her glasses to control the ship manually. “Astro, she's all yours.” Soon, remote pilot was soon activated, and Astro was in full control of the Vision One. “Remote pilot engaged, sir.” After a few moments, the Vision One began to move closer and closer to the station, with the ponies and Buddies still onboard. Then, with a few slow movements and some precise concentration, Astro docked the Vision One onto another part of the station where Yuri could attach the fuel line. “Okay, Yuri, we’re locked in,” said Slats. “Uh, we can begin fueling.” That’s when Yuri said something the mission control team couldn’t understand, cut off the visual feed and went down the ladder to hook up the fuel line, unaware that the mission control team could still hear him on the audio system. But what he didn't notice was that Night Star and Spudnick had been watching the Vision One dock from the garden pod, and Yuri was going to be in for a big surprise when he found out that there were stowaways onboard. XXXXXXXX Once the ship had been safely docked, Buddha turned to the others with a suggestion in mind. “We should explore and broaden our horizons.” “Broaden our horizons?!” B-Dawg exclaimed. “We're lost in space, dawg. I think our horizons are broad enough. I ain't going nowhere.” “Uh… yeah, I think we’ll stay here too,” Seashell volunteered herself and the rest of the Pippsqueaks as well. “J-Just so that way B-Dawg doesn’t get lonely… and so we don’t mess anything else up.” “Good call, dudes,” Mudbud told his brother and three of their new friends. “If there's an alien intruder, we'll need someone to defend the spaceship.” “Pippsqueaks, no matter what, stay with B-Dawg,” Sunny told the Pippsqueaks sternly. “We’ll get the layout of this place and we’ll be right back to check on you.” However, as their friends were leaving, B-Dawg couldn’t help but remember one specific thing about what Mudbud said. “Did… d-did you say aliens?!” Unfortunately, he never got an answer-- the rest of the Buddies and the Mane 6 were already on the move and out of the ship. “Uh, guys?” Glory called nervously, “Uh, come on, uh…” Peach Fizz sighed sadly-- what had they gotten themselves into now? XXXXXXXX At the same time, Yuri had finally gotten the Vision One's fuel line hooked up to the research station's fuel supply, and quickly climbed up the ladder to talk to the mission control team again, unaware that four of the Buddies and the Mane 6 had passed through that section of the station directly after him. “Come on!” Buddha urged. “Follow me!” “Dude, where are we going?” Mudbud asked. “Who cares?” Pipp asked. “This place is going to look so good in my social media feed!” XXXXXXXX “Yo, dawgs!” B-Dawg cried after his siblings and friends, getting out of his seat. “Hold up!” “B-Dawg, wait for us!” Seashell called as she and her friends followed him. “We’re supposed to stay together, remember?!” XXXXXXXX “Okay,” Yuri said to the Vision One mission control team, “the gas is pumping like an American discotheque.” Pi took a deep breath in order to maintain his excitement. “All right, well, when we get our 3,000 pounds of fuel… we are going to the moon.” However, no one was aware that the space station had a few unexpected visitors... not even Yuri himself. But, that would all change in a matter of moments. XXXXXXXX B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks stepped out of the door of the space shuttle and into the nearby tunnel, looking around for their friends. It hadn't been too long since they left, so maybe there was enough time for them to catch up and explore the station all together. At least... that's what they were hoping. “Dawgs?” B-Dawg called into the silence as he and the Pippsqueaks began to walk around in search of their siblings/friends. Then, he began to sound a little bolder, although he was still nervous, in order to try and impress the Pippsqueaks. “Come on, aliens, I… I ain't scared of nothing, because I float like a butterfly and... and sting like a bee, dawg.” “W-What B-Dawg means to say,” Seashell clarified, “is that we don’t wanna hurt you if you don’t wanna hurt us! Can we all just… try and be friends? Maybe? Please?” Of course, no one answered the earth pony filly's claim. The three fillies and B-Dawg reached the main part of the station, where Glory found her nerve to speak, despite all the disturbing scenery around them. “What is this place?” Suddenly, the four of them heard a noise coming from not too far off, causing them all to turn and see a large, shadowy figure nearby. They couldn't see exactly WHAT it was, but just the sight of it caused B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks to scream, and the three fillies clung to each other in fright. “It’s an alien!!” B-Dawg screamed, frightened. “AHHH!!!” XXXXXXXX From the other side of the station, Izzy gasped and stopped the group from advancing. “It’s the Pippsqueaks and B-Dawg! They’re in trouble!” “Go go GO!!” Zipp commanded, and the group raced toward the location of their friends in order to save them from this supposed ‘alien’. XXXXXXXX “Y-You don’t wanna eat us!” Peach Fizz trembled before the aliens. “W-W-We’re all scrawny and boney!” At that moment, the other Buddies and the Mane 6 came from another hallway, and B-Dawg immediately pointed at Budderball with his paw. “Eat him!” he insisted to the ‘alien’. “He’s got plenty of meat on them bones!” As B-Dawg and the Pippsqueaks screamed again, the ‘alien’ stepped out into view, revealing themselves to be none other than Night Star with Spudnick on her back. And once seeing it wasn’t an alien, the Pippsqueaks and B-Dawg looked confused. “Uh…” “We are no aliens,” Spudnick said with a chuckle. “Though I suppose if we stay in space any longer, we may qualify.” “Oh… it’s just a unicorn and a bull terrier,” Hitch said with a sigh of relief. “That’s actually very relieving.” “Hi! I’m Night Star,” the unicorn astronaut said with a smile. “And this is my friend, Spudnick.” “I’m Sunny, and these are my friends,” Sunny introduced the ponies, “and those over there are the Pippsqueaks-- Glory, Peach Fizz and Seashell.” “And we’re the Buddies,” Budderball clarified before introducing each of his siblings and himself. “The pup in the chicken suit is B-Dawg, the dirty dude is Mudbud, the Zen pup is Buddha and Rosebud is our little sis. Oh, and, uh, me, I'm Budderball. And I'm starving.” “Nice to meet you,” Spudnick smiled. “I'm a Russian dogmonaut, and Night Star is a pony astronaut from the United States, who came to be on the station with me.” “That is SO cool!” Glory exclaimed. “I’ve wanted to be a pony astronaut ever since I was little! You guys must be living the dream!” “Well… you could say that in more ways than one,” Night Star said hesitantly. “So, what brings you all here? We don’t get visitors all too often.” “We kind of got on the ship by accident,” Rosebud said with a frown. “And now, we have no idea where we are.” “You're aboard the RRSS,” Spudnick clarified. “The old Russian Research Space Station.” “I didn’t even know there WAS a space station up here,” Zipp said, “and we’ve been on a ton of missions so far.” “Well, since you’re here, you want us to show you around?” Night Star asked before turning and walking off toward one of the modules. “Follow me!” The ponies looked at each other before shrugging-- since they were here, they couldn’t refuse such a generous offer. Besides, Night Star and Spudnick seemed to know a lot about space, so if they stuck with their new pals, they might be able to learn something to help them get back to Earth. Spudnick and Night Star were leading their new friends over to one of the modules on the space station, in order to start their tour. “In this module, we have our garden, where we grow all our food in space,” Spudnick explained as the group looked at all the different fruits and veggies growing on either side of them. “The added benefit is the plants filter out CO2 gas and produce oxygen. And we also use them to create fuel for the station.” Soon after everyone got a glimpse of the entire garden, they approached the nearby window, where a beautiful view of planet Earth could be seen. “Now this joint,” said B-Dawg, “is off the chain insane, cuz.” “Yes, we've been off the orbital grid for quite some time, if that's what you mean,” Spudnick nodded. “Over there,” Night Star continued, pointing to the solar panels outside, “we have our solar panels, which produce all of our energy.” “So you can keep the stereo pumpin' 24/7,” B-Dawg understood with a nod. “That’s wicked.” “Oh, thanks,” Night Star smiled, even though her smile faltered a bit after a moment. “It’s wicked in both good ways and bad ways, I guess…” “Wait,” Zipp interrupted. “What do you…?” “Well, there's no time for that now,” Night Star interrupted. “If everypony will follow me, we’ll move onto the next part of the tour.” As Night Star and Spudnick led the group away, Zipp and Sunny spared each other a glance before they followed their friends. Something definitely seemed off, but... no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't figure out what it was. Night Star swiftly approached the door to another module, which was actually right beside the garden. “Right over here is the kitchen.” She pressed her hoof on a huge red button, and the door lifted up to reveal the kitchen-- it wasn’t anything fancy, but to Budderball, it was paradise. “My favorite room in the house! Come on, Peach Fizz!” Peach Fizz giggled as she followed Budderball over to the fridge, and she managed to open it with her horn. However, when Budderball looked inside, all he could see inside the fridge was veggies, veggies and more veggies. “Hmm… where’s the beef?!” “I’m sure it’s in here somewhere,” Peach Fizz said. “I’ll help you find it.” Peach Fizz and Budderball began to search the fridge for anything meaty that Budderball could snack on, when Mudbud’s eyes landed on a strange vat of liquid boiling nearby. “Dude,” he said, turning to Spudnick, “what is that?” “Space juice,” Spudnick answered casually. “P-U!” Pipp gagged. “It reeks!” “Who'd wanna drink that?” Rosebud asked with the same disgusted tone. “Well, Yuri seems to like it,” Spudnick pointed out. “And we use it for fuel.” “Who’s Yuri?” asked Seashell in curiosity. “He's the Russian cosmonaut Night Star and I live with up here,” Spudnick explained. “He really is a nice man,” Night Star continued with a bit of hesitance, “but… I think the time we’ve spent up here is really starting to get the better of him.” “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Sunny said, “how long have you guys been up here?” “We’re not really sure,” Night Star responded back with a shrug. “It's all one long night in space.” “We were only supposed to be on this station for a six-month mission,” Spudnick added, “but I'm sure it's been years and years.” “Years and years?” Glory repeated with shock. “Don’t you… miss your families?” Night Star seemed to hesitate with this. “Well… Spudnick has this adorable boy named Sasha waiting for him back in Russia, but… me… I don’t really know about my family. I was raised by an elderly couple that took me in outside of Portland, Oregon, and I studied astrology for a long time until I got asked to come on this mission.” “Oh… we’re sorry, Night Star,” Misty apologized. “We didn’t mean to pry.” “No, it’s all right,” Night Star sighed. “I don’t mind. I know that one day, we’re gonna leave this bucket of bolts and get back home… but… I’m not sure when that will be.” Suddenly, a voice spoke up from inside the main part of the station, and everyone turned to see Yuri coming down the ladder. “Night Star! Spudnick!” he called. “Where has my little puppy puppy gone? Spudnick…” And that's when he turned, seeing not just Night Star and Spudnick in the kitchen... ...but the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies as well.
Escaping the Space StationThe Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, Spudnick and Night Star immediately froze once they had been spotted from Yuri, who had come down in search of the dogmonaut and unicorn astronaut he had spent all this time in space with. The Pippsqueaks were the most fearful, wondering if Yuri was going to get angry upon seeing them here. However... his reaction was something that the group was not expecting in the slightest. Instead of becoming angry, Yuri whooped and cheered before doing a Russian dance right in the middle of the space station. The Buddies barked while the Mane 6 and Pippsqueaks looked incredibly shocked. “Can you believe it, Night Star and Spudnick?!” Yuri asked the duo excitedly. “Our American comrades have given us a surprise gift! Lots of pretty ponies and five fluffy puppies to keep us company here in space. Thank you! Thank you!” “Uh… h-h-he doesn’t understand, guys,” Rosebud told Night Star and Spudnick. “We're not staying long.” “Rosebud’s right,” Zipp whispered. “Wherever that shuttle goes, we go with it.” “Maybe I can clear this up,” Sunny spoke before clearing her throat. “Uh, Yuri, we’re so sorry that we have to tell you this, but we’re not really--” However, Yuri interrupted her before she could finish. “All right, come on, Night Star and Spudnick.” “...I’m sorry, we have to go,” Night Star apologized regretfully to her friends before she and Spudnick regretfully walked out the door. “Good,” Yuri praised. “We will finish refueling and then... we will celebrate.” “Dude,” Mudbud whispered to Night Star and Spudnick as they glanced back, “you have to help us!” However, Spudnick and Night Star knew that they couldn’t… at least not yet, so they just sighed and walked away. “Do svidaniya!” Yuri bid farewell before he closed the door, trapping the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies inside. “Puppy puppies!” “Guys, this may seem like a bad time to say so,” Hitch said to the others, “but I think we just got hoodwinked!” “You’re telling me!” Budderball said in frustration, looking toward the refrigerator. “Okay, this food is all vegetables!” “Now what?” Rosebud asked. “First things first, we have to find some way out of here and back to the shuttle before it leaves,” Zipp said, looking around. “We’ll try our magic first, and then… if that doesn’t work… we’ll have to try this the old-fashioned way.” XXXXXXXX Back on Earth, the mission control team was keeping a heavy eye on their fuel level. “Uh, we'll be ready to leave in less than 30 minutes,” Slats told Pi, who seemed relieved to hear such news. “The sooner we can get refueled and get away from this bucket of bolts the happier I will be.” XXXXXXXX However, no one was aware that the fuel line was beginning to leak little by little due to the pressure building, and if it kept building, the results would be disasterous. XXXXXXXX Back in the living quarters of the station, Yuri poured himself a drink and stood before Night Star and Spudnick, raising his glass as a sign of victory. “To life in space,” he said with a smile, “for eternity and forever. And to you and Night Star, Spudnick. A spaceman's set of best friends. And to the new pretty ponies and puppy puppies. We will live together as a happy family, till the end.” Yuri immediately downed his drink in one gulp, causing Night Star to shudder-- who knows how long that alcoholic beverage had been up here? She and Spudnick needed to get Yuri tired long enough so they could get their new friends out of the kitchen and make a break for the shuttle before it left... ...but how? That was the real question. As if Spudnick was reading her mind, he used his paw to turn on a record player, which played lively Russian music. “You want to get the dancing started? That's a good idea, Spudnick!” Yuri smiled. “Let's get jiggle with it.” And so, Yuri began to dance in a Russian kind of manner, humming happily… XXXXXXXX …unaware that the Vision One team could hear everything back in mission control. “Yeah, I'm not sure he's flying with a full jetpack,” Astro told her team with concern. XXXXXXXX Yuri continued to dance around until that record ended, causing him to collapse exhausted in his chair. But Spudnick knew they wouldn't be able to get away if Yuri was only tired-- he had to be fast asleep for their escape plan to work. So, doing what any dog in his situation would do, he immediately began to play another record. “Another, you party animal?” Yuri asked, exhausted. “I am sorry, old pal. I am pooped.” “Oh, come on, Yuri,” Night Star said, playing along with Spudnick’s plan. “What’s a celebration without good dancing, am I right, Spudnick?” Spudnick barked in agreement, and this caused Yuri to smile in relent. “All right, one more, one more!” And so, Yuri began to dance once again, and the crew back in mission control really wondered if stopping here for fuel was the best course of action. XXXXXXXX Back in the kitchen, the ponies had tried to use their magic to escape, but the door was so thick, their magic had zero effect on it. Luckily, Mudbud came up with a plan of his own. The Pippsqueaks, Buddha, B-Dawg and Mudbud would push Budderball forward on a cart, and hopefully, the impact would be enough to create a hole big enough for the group to squeeze through. “Mudbud, I’m not exactly sure this is a safe plan,” Zipp said with concern. “I agree,” Misty frowned. “If this doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to, any one of you could get hurt!” “Dudes, you don’t have to worry,” Mudbud reassured. “I saw the Jamaican bobsled team do this at the Winter Olympics!” “Besides, our magic didn’t work, and kicking and pawing at the door didn’t work,” Glory added, “so we have to at least give it a shot.” “Okay, but please be careful,” Sunny made them promise. “Getting out of here isn’t worth one of you hurting yourselves.” “Don’t worry, guys-- we’ll be fine,” Seashell smiled. “Ready, guys? Three, two, one, push!!” So, with all their might, the Pippsqueaks and their friends pushed the cart toward the door as fast as they could, and as they got closer to the door, Budderball instantly began to freak out. “Wait, guys! I changed my mind!” The Mane 6 immediately cringed upon impact, and when they opened their eyes, they discovered Budderball had been knocked out and there was only a Budderball-shaped dent in the door-- no real escape route. Rosebud sighed and shook her head to this. “We told you guys this was a bad idea.” “The dawg’s down for the count,” B-Dawg looked over at Budderball. Luckily, Mudbud had an idea for that too. “What a shame, cause these space nachos are gnarly!” “Huh?!” Budderball immediately sat up. “Space nachos?!” “He’s okay,” Seashell reassured the others, causing them to sigh in relief. “But now,” said Hitch, “we still have to come up with another way out and we need it quick. The shuttle could be leaving any minute!” XXXXXXXX Back up in the living quarters of the station, Spudnick and Night Star watched as Yuri continued to dance to the lively Russian record… …still unaware that the mission control group was still listening, causing Pi to sigh in annoyance and frustration. “These are gonna be the longest 11 minutes in my life.” But it still wasn’t enough to get Yuri completely exhausted. In order to do that, Night Star even went as far as using her magic to speed the record up faster and faster and faster until… …Yuri finally finished the dance, collapsing in his chair once again. “Yuri is knickered and knackered,” he sighed in exhaustion, looking toward the unicorn and bull terrier sitting nearby. “Night Star, Spudnick, you know Yuri. Too much dancing, Yuri gets too much sleepy.” “That’s exactly what we’re counting on,” Night Star whispered, and used her horn to open a music box, which began to emit soft music that relaxed Yuri further. “Oh, that's nice. Hold me closer, tiny dancer…” Spudnick walked over to a shelf nearby and picked up Yuri’s teddy bear in his mouth before bringing it over to the sleepy cosmonaut. “Oh, that’s nice,” Yuri smiled as he cuddled the teddy bear. “Little Yuri… that’s very nice.” That’s when Night Star handed Spudnick a soft blue baby blanket, which Spudnick brought over for Yuri to snuggle as well. “Oh, Sputnik. My blanky,” he said before sighing contently, slowly drifting off to sleep. “Maybe Yuri take 40 blinks… just until the refueling is done…” And just like that, he was asleep, much to the bewilderment of the mission control team. But, on the bright side, this also gave Spudnick and Night Star the chance to slip into their space suits and down the ladder to the bottom-- they had to get their friends out of here, and themselves too, before Yuri woke up from his power nap. XXXXXXXX As the Pippsqueaks, the Mane 6 and the Buddies tried to figure out how else they could escape, they suddenly heard a rattling coming from the ladder outside the kitchen door, and fear immediately sparked up. “Quick!” Rosebud said to the others. “It’s Yuri!” “Hide!” Pipp said as she and her sister, as well as all her friends, ducked into hiding to the best of their ability. However, it didn't turn out to be Yuri at all-- it was Spudnick and Night Star, who opened the door in order to release their friends and get out of here. When Spudnick opened the door, he was quite surprised to see the room empty. “Ponies? Buddies?” he called out. “Where are you?” This caused the ponies and their puppy companions to peek out of hiding, Zipp sighing in relief. “Night Star, Spudnick!” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Slats immediately noticed an alarming situation. “Sir, I'm showing that the tanks are full but the pressure is building,” he said before going to contact Yuri. “Yuri, this is, uh, Vision Enterprises, do you hear me?” However, Yuri was still snoring, much to the bewilderment of the crew. XXXXXXXX “Hold on a second,” Rosebud spoke to Night Star and Spudnick. “What happened to the crazy cosmonaut?” “He’s asleep,” Night Star explained. “We had to get him to fall asleep so we could break you guys out.” “This is my last chance to go home to my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick explained. “The station is falling apart anyhow.” “And Yuri’s plan is to go down with the ship!” Night Star added, her voice filled with complete fright. “So, what we’re trying to say is, can we hitch a ride home with you guys?” “For shizzle, dawg,” B-Dawg responded with a smile. “Well, if we’re really gonna leave this place once and for all, we gotta get moving,” Sunny told her friends. “Let’s go!” And so, the group crawled from their hiding places and walked out of the kitchen, into the main sector of the station... ...all except Budderball and Peach Fizz, the former looking back at the broccoli he had found in the fridge earlier. “I hope I never need it, but better safe than sorry.” That’s when Budderball opened the fridge, grabbed the broccoli in his mouth and he and Peach Fizz ran after the others. XXXXXXXX “Can you hear me?” Slats continued to call out to Yuri. “Wake up!” This caused Yuri to immediately wake up and tried to pretend as if nothing had happened. “Da. Da. Yuri is just having a little kitty nap.” “Refueling is complete,” Slats then told Yuri. “Can we disconnect the ship?” Yuri was just about to respond to this, but that’s when he saw the ponies, the Buddies and their new friends down in the main sector, since they had escaped just a minute or two before this. “The ponies and puppies are loose!” he cried. “You American dognappers!” “What…?” Slats murmured, completely unsure of what he meant. XXXXXXXX The Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks, the Buddies, Night Star and Spudnick were getting ready to leave the station once and for all when an alarm rang out, much to Spudnick’s alarm. “Oh, no… the station is going into lockdown! Yuri’s onto us!” “Dudes!” Mudbud cried. “I say we make like a bread truck and haul buns!” “In other words,” Seashell cried, “RUN!!” And that’s exactly what the group began doing, with Budderball and Peach Fizz following a bit behind because they had to go for their broccoli. Little did any of them know it, but the fuel leak was beginning to grow bigger and bigger as the pressure rocketed to sky-high levels. Once they were close enough, Rosebud pressed the button to activate the door to the shuttle, and most everyone made it inside and prepared for launch. Well, all except for Peach Fizz and Budderball, who managed to run past the ladder with Yuri hot on their tails. “No! No, come back! Puppy! No!” Peach Fizz managed to duck under the almost-closed doorway with Budderball and ran into the shuttle to join her friends, but that’s when Sunny looked back at her. “Peach Fizz! Where’s Budderball?!” Turns out, Budderball had dropped his broccoli in the middle of the doorway, and Yuri was right on the other side of it. Rosebud turned to the others, determined to keep the team all together. “We can’t leave without him!” “You know our motto, dudes,” Mudbud reminded them. “No pup left behind.” “Budderball!” “Hurry!” “Come on!” “We gotta go!” Budderball heard their cries but was determined to get his lunch as well. “Not without my broccoli!” And so, he made a quick snatch for the broccoli, only for Peach Fizz to use her magic and pull him to the safety of the shuttle just before the door closed, leaving Yuri on the other side to yell out in Russian. XXXXXXXX “No, please!” Yuri yelled over the sound system, much to mission control’s confusion. “Don't take away my puppy puppy pups!” “Wait a second,” said Slats. “Is he talking about puppies?” “He's got more screws loose than the space station,” Astro said, just as Yuri began to open the door just enough to try and get to the shuttle, but it closed just before he could get inside of it. “Come back! You cannot leave! You cannot take my gift away from me!” “I think he might be trying to shanghai the Vision One!” Pi immediately suspected and began to put out strict orders. “Enact emergency evacuation measures! Let's detach from the station now!” “Copy that,” Astro said and began to detach from the station. XXXXXXXX Yuri began to press all sorts of buttons and push all sorts of levers in order to keep the shuttle in place, and even went as far as using a monkey wrench to try and shut off the entire system. However, as he did this, sparks from the electrical box came down onto the fuel that was left on the floor during the leak, and Yuri immediately realized what was about to happen. “That’s not good.” Fire began to spread all over the station as the shuttle was finally able to detach and break away, and Yuri ran through the station until he got to an emergency escape pod at the very end, sealing himself inside of it and waiting for just the right moment. XXXXXXXX Back inside the shuttle, the others watched in complete terror as the space station exploded right in front of their eyes. “Guys!” Glory cried out. “It’s coming apart!!” The others continued to watch the scene, beginning to mourn the loss of Yuri when suddenly, the escape pod burst away from the exploding station. “Wow!” Spudnick cried. “That's the Cosmopod escape vessel. He made it!” “Thank goodness for that,” Sunny muttered under her breath, holding Seashell close. “Now… let’s get out of here.” XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, the crew stood in shock and dismay when they saw different warnings flash across the main screen. Signal lost. Termination detected. RRSS destruction confirmed. One thing was for sure when they saw these messages... it was clear that if he was on that station... ...Yuri would not have survived.
Heading to the Moon/The Pippsqueaks' HomesicknessBack in the main part of Fernfield, while the Vision One mission control team, the ponies, the Buddies and their new friends watched the RRSS explode into a million pieces, the Buddies' kids were on a different mission entirely... ...finding their pups and their missing friends. An entire day had passed, and no one had seen any sign of them since the day of the field trip, so Sam, Alice, Pete, Bartleby and Billy decided to go out with flashlights and search for them on their own. They split up and searched all over town, calling their names repeatedly, but to no avail. Once they had gotten back to Town Hall, where they originally met earlier, Alice looked toward her friends. “You guys find anything?” “Nope,” Bartleby shook his head. “Haven't seen hide nor fur of them.” “Don’t worry,” Sam reassured the others. “We’ll find them. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” The other kids seemed to agree with this before they all went their separate ways for the night-- after school tomorrow, they would keep searching. But they had no idea that the Buddies and their friends were currently on one of the most exciting adventures of their lives... one that took them right off the surface of planet Earth. XXXXXXXX Now that everypony was aboard the shuttle, they strapped themselves in and prepared themselves for their homecoming back on Earth. “Are you ready to go home, you guys?” Rosebud asked. “Oh, am I ever!” Hitch said. “I love being in space, but… this mission has been a little too much even for me.” However, Spudnick looked over at the screen in front of him and frowned in concern. “Everyone, we are not heading to Earth. The coordinates show we are going to the moon.” “I-I’m sorry,” Zipp said, raising a hoof. “Did you just say we’re going to the moon?!” “The ship is being controlled from Earth,” Spudnick confirmed. “Yes, it seems as though it is taking us to the moon.” “Oh my pony, I literally just had a brainwave!” Pipp exclaimed with an excited grin. “I can take some really good pictures on the moon’s surface to show to everypony back at the Moon Festival! That would make SUCH a breakthrough for my social media feed!” “Pipp, I think we might have a little bit more to worry about than your social media feed,” Sunny frowned. “Like… maybe the Pippsqueaks and how THEY might be taking this?” “What do you…?” Pipp looked over at her fans, and her spirits diminished when she saw how dejected they looked. “Oh… now I see it.” “The moon is even farther away from Equestria than summer camp!” Peach Fizz said with worry. “What if we never get home?” “Oh, girls, it’ll all be okay,” Misty comforted the Pippsqueaks. “Eventually, once we reach the moon, those piloting the ship will want the ship to return to Earth, and once that happens, we’ll be right here, waiting for the shuttle to land back in Fernfield, and we’ll be home free. At least… I hope.” The Pippsqueaks sighed and laid their heads down on the seats, hoping that Misty was right. XXXXXXXX Sam sat in his bed, looking at the moon and thinking about Buddha and the rest of the Buddies, along with their pony pals. Where were they? Did they run away? Were they in trouble? These questions and more were running through his mind at a rapid pace as his mom entered the room to tuck him in for a good night of sleep. “I'm sure Buddha and the other Buddies are out there on some wonderful adventure,” she said. “And I’m sure your friends are with them, and making sure they don’t get into trouble.” However, Sam still remained down and out. “I feel like he's a million miles away.” “I know, sweetie. We’ll find him,” his mother reassured. “Let’s get some sleep now.” And so, Sam's mother kissed his head before turning out the lights and leaving the room. Sam took one last look at the moon, sighing wistfully while thinking about Buddha for the final time that night. “Come home soon…” he whispered before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. XXXXXXXX Back onboard the space shuttle, most everypony was asleep, even though they weren’t sure what time it was, trying to give themselves enough energy for what might be ahead. However, Rosebud looked over at the bull terrier that sat up front, not being able to sleep herself. “Spudnick? Are you awake?” “Yeah,” Spudnick nodded. “Night Star is too.” “What are you both thinking about?” Rosebud asked curiously. “I was thinking about my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick explained with a sad expression. “I hope he's still waiting for me.” “I’m sure he is, Spudnick.” That’s when the three turned to see the Pippsqueaks, who had been sleeping together for most the entire time, awake and looking over at them. “Sorry if we woke you, girls,” Night Star apologized. “No, it’s okay,” Glory dismissed. “We were already awake.” “Yeah,” Seashell nodded sadly. “We were… thinking about our parents.” “We’re… kinda scared about being so far from home,” Peach Fizz admitted. “I know that must make us look like big losers…” “No, it doesn’t make you three look like losers at all,” Rosebud told them. “Pipp would agree with me if she weren’t asleep. Just the fact that you had the courage to come on this Unity Quest with the ponies means you’re not losers-- you’re heroes, just like them.” “...I don’t feel like a hero,” Glory said with a sniffle. “I… I miss my dad…” Night Star frowned in concern before getting out of her seat and sitting with the Pippsqueaks. “I know you do, Glory. I miss all my old friends from Earth, too. And I know it can’t be easy to be without them, especially on such a big mission like this.” “I wish they were here,” Seashell murmured quietly. “That way, maybe they could tell us what to do…” “You know… the woman that raised me all that time ago told me a story that I think you three would like,” Night Star said with a smile. “A long time ago, in ancient Equestria, an alicorn by the name of Princess Luna raised the moon and protected ponies and guided them in their dreams. Though she has passed on for many moons now, some believe that her spirit still lingers in the night, looking out for ponies while they slept. I'm one of those firm believers, and I bet if you close your eyes, you'll feel her spirit around us too.” The Pippsqueaks looked at each other before shrugging-- it was always worth a shot. So, they closed their eyes for a few moments before feeling something they had not felt since they started this mission… comfort. Seashell was first to gasp. “I feel it, I feel it!” “Me too!” Glory agreed. “Her spirit is like my dad wrapping wings around me to make me feel safe!” “That’s the idea,” Night Star smiled. “Don’t worry… we’ll be home soon. But for right now, you three need to get some sleep-- we'll be at the moon sooner than you think, and if we want to explore the surface, we're going to need our rest.” The Pippsqueaks nodded at this before settling down in their chair and going off to sleep, their homesickness diminished for now. Once they explored the moon's surface, they would FINALLY be able to go back home to the loving hooves of their parents... ...and hopefully, no kind of disasters would occur before that point.
Moon MadnessAfter 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.
Meet Gravity/Blasting Off for HomeThe mission control team of the Vision One had discovered an alarming and somewhat amazing sight-- somehow, six dogs and ten ponies had somehow snuck aboard the Vision One, and they were now they were walking across the surface of the moon, having the time of their lives. Of course, the Vision One team had no idea of their presence on the shuttle until now, and now, they needed to decide what needed to be done about the situation at hoof here. “How does something like this happen?” Bill Wolfson broke the silence after a few moments. “And more importantly, how on earth,” said Pi, bewildered and worried, “are we going to bring them home?” “Yeah,” Bill agreed as Dr. Finkle and Carl approached, “leaving six puppies and ten ponies on the moon… it’s not real good for PR.” “No, it is certainly not. We could run an ad campaign. Let me see…” Dr. Finkle faked thinking for a few moments. “Fly with us, we launched six poor innocent puppies and their pony companions into space and then bid them farewell for eternity.” “The point is,” Pi said, irritated that Dr. Finkle would think such a thing, “we can’t leave them there!” “How do you plan on coaxing a bunch of moronic animals into a spacecraft from 228,536 miles away?” Dr. Finkle asked with a smirk. That left the mission control team to try and think of a solution to get these poor innocent creatures home… …especially before they wandered too far from the shuttle. XXXXXXXX “Uh… guys?” Sunny looked around after their walk to realize that one of the members of the group was missing. “Where’s Buddha?” “I thought he was right behind me,” Seashell looked around until she spotted Buddha over on a nearby hillside. “Oh… there he is!” Turns out, Buddha was meditating to himself on that hillside, with a perfect view of planet Earth in the distance. The others approached and sat either beside him or behind him, staring out at the view of the planet that the Buddies, Spudnick and Night Star called home. Buddha was the first to speak after a moment of silence. “A view that will change your perspective forever.” “This is totally unreal!” Pipp said, snapping a few pictures for their relatives back in Equestria. “This one’s for my boy, Sasha,” Spudnick said to himself. But it wasn’t but a few seconds later that B-Dawg had a thought. “Yo, dawgs? I hate to crash the party but… how we gonna get home this time?” “B-Dawg’s got a point-- the last time one of us tried to pilot that shuttle,” Misty said, “we almost crashed it!” “And no one back home knows where we are, and we don’t know how to get hold of them,” Hitch agreed. “So… what happens now?” “Well… I’m not exactly sure, but we have to do whatever it takes to help the Buddies, Spudnick and Night Star get back to Earth,” Sunny said before starting to try and possibly think of a plan. “We just need to think.” However, it wasn’t but a few seconds later that they began to hear a voice from inside their helmets. “Galactic Ponies and Canines! Do you read me?” Turns out, this was Pi’s pet ferret Gravity doing the talking, but Glory whipped her head around in panic. “Does anypony else hear that?” “Dawgs…” B-Dawg muttered,a bit frightened by this new voice speaking to them. “I-I think I hear an alien…” “Dude, there’s no alien,” Mudbud dismissed the thought immediately. “It must be mission control!” Night Star realized, overjoyed. “They must know we’re here!” “I’m Gravity,” the voice spoke again, “Mission Commander's assistant. Who are you ponies and doglings and how in the universe did you get on board the Vision One?” “I'm dogmonaut Spudnick, Russian Space Agency,” Spudnick introduced. “And this is Night Star and these are the Buddies and their Equestrian friends.” “We got on at the Russian space station,” Night Star interrupted. “These, guys, uh… they saved our lives.” “We got on at Vision Headquarters,” Rosebud added. “A field trip gone awry.” “All we want now,” said Peach Fizz, “is to go back home to our friends and families.” “Well, no need to worry,” Gravity said. “I can help you guys get back to Earth.” “Dude, are we over-stoked to hear a voice from home,” Mudbud said with a smile just before Gravity spoke again. “The Vision One will be departing for Earth in 15 minutes and 32 seconds. So head back to the spaceship before your oxygen is depleted and get ready for lunar lift off.” “You heard Gravity, ponies!” Zipp told her friends, new and old. “Let’s get off this moon and get our friends back to Earth!” And so, with the ponies taking the lead, the group began to head back to the shuttle to prepare themselves for heading home. XXXXXXXX Gravity released his paw off of the communication button and turned back toward the mission control team, with Pi trying to think of a solution. “Until we get the puppies and their friends home safely, we keep this quiet, okay?” he asked the rest of the team. “I mean, I need full confidentiality on this. If this story were to leak, it would spread like wildfire and that would cause irreparable damage to Vision Enterprises.” However... this statement gave Dr. Finkle a brand-new idea to sabotage the ship's launch... even if it meant putting the lives of a few animals and ponies at stake. As she looked at the camera feed again, Astro noticed the dogs and ponies going back onboard, much to her bewilderment and somewhat relief. “Uh, guys, guys! The, uh, d-dogs and their friends! They’re going back on board!” “Well,” said Pi, “let’s launch before they decide to go exploring again. All right people, we know the drill. Boosters are a go, V-1 is a go for lunar launch.” XXXXXXXX The ponies and the Buddies took off their space helmets and once again took their seats when Glory caught sight of a command on her touchpad next to her seat, causing her to get a sudden idea. “Sunny… do you think I can use the robot arm to get a space rock souvenir for Buddha’s owner and my dad? I have a feeling they would love a piece of the moon to call their own.” “Glory, that’s such a sweet idea,” Sunny smiled. “Go for it!” Glory nodded and put on a pair of Vectra glasses before activating the robot arm. “Time to bring back a couple of souvenirs.” So, the robot arm moved closer and closer to the ground before Glory eventually closed the claw, grabbing a couple of small rocks in its grasp. Just the right size for souvenirs, no less. As Glory finished her work with the robot arm, Gravity spoke to the group again through the speakers of the shuttle. “We will be out of communication with you for approximately 12 minutes while you circle the backside of the Moon.” “Roger, Gravity,” Misty nodded. “We’ll be in contact with you soon.” As soon as this was said, Astro activated lunar lift-off, and the shuttle lifted off the surface of the moon and into the skies once again. XXXXXXXX “All right, we're back in business,” said Pi, turning to the rest of the team. “Now, let's get these puppies and ponies safely home.” However, Dr. Finkle knew that he had a lot more work to do in order to ensure that this really WAS a one-way trip… …and make sure that the ponies and their friends were going to be stranded in space forever.
The Word Gets OutThe last few hours had been a whirlwind of emotions and confusion. The mission control team in charge of the Vision One had discovered the Mane 6, the Buddies, the Pippsqueaks, Spudnick and Night Star onboard the shuttle and walking on the moon, and with the help of Pi's ferret Gravity, the space cadets were able to get back onboard the ship in time for lunar lift-off, so they could get back home in one piece. However, Dr. Finkle, upon hearing Pi say that the entire thing was supposed to be kept confidential, went straight to the press in order to ruin the mission altogether and bring Vision Enterprises down. But no one knew about this deception... not even the mission control team themselves. But it wouldn't be long before they found out for themselves. XXXXXXXX Sam was eating cereal before school that morning, and the TV was broadcasting the local news when a story was brought to his attention. “We're live at Vision Enterprises where quite a tale is unfolding. It seems that five golden retriever puppies and their Equestrian companions have been accidentally launched into space.” Sam immediately dropped his spoon upon hearing this. “Mom?!” he called and rushed to get her so she could see this for herself. XXXXXXXX Bartleby was watching the same news station when the story came up. “What…?” he muttered in confusion as the reporter continued. “Along with a bull terrier and an unknown unicorn, they are going where no dog has gone before.” XXXXXXXX But it wasn’t just in Fernfield where news was being spread-- news was being spread like wildfire across China, Mexico, England… pretty much in places all over the world. XXXXXXXX Later, during their lunch break at school, Sam, Bartleby, Pete, Billy and Alice gathered around Alice’s laptop to watch the news story that was online about their pups and friends being in space. “It is believed the pups and their Equestrian friends rendezvoused with the Russian dogmonaut and the unicorn with him at the long-thought destroyed Russian Research Space Station. They made history by being the first animals to walk on the moon.” “Wow…” Sam said, not believing what he was seeing. One thing was for certain-- after school, the kids had to get to Vision Enterprises in order to talk to the crew and see what they were gonna do to get the Buddies and their friends home. XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, Sasha and his mother, in Russia, were watching television when the news story about the space cadets came into topic, and upon hearing something about the Russian Research Space Station, Sasha gasped and looked at his mother, excited beyond words. “Spudnick!” He actually couldn’t believe it… his dog was alive! And he was going to be coming home! XXXXXXXX As reporters from all different areas crowded around the outside of Vision Enterprises, Bill Wolfson and Dr. Finkle watched this, the latter smirking to himself while Bill just looked confused and stunned all at once. “You know, I have no idea how these guys could have gotten a hold of this.” “Hackers, these days,” Dr. Finkle quickly dismissed. “Probably got into the system and jacked our video feed. It's very off-putting.” And somehow, Bill seemed to believe this... for now, anyway. XXXXXXXX “Come on, guys!” Sam, Billy, Bartleby, Pete and Alice rushed toward the entrance to Vision Enterprises, having been dropped off by their parents a few minutes beforehand. Their mission? Find a way to get in there and find out what these guys were doing to get their dogs and friends back safe and sound. However, before they could find a way to get inside, the security guard stood in their path. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And where do you think you're going?” “We’re here,” said Sam boldly, “to talk about our pups and friends that you guys shot into space.” “Absolutely no one gets through,” the security guard stated, but somehow… Sam got another idea. “Then we’ll go talk to the newsman instead.” “Uh… hang on a second!” the security guard called to the kids before speaking into his radio. “Dr. Finkle? I have a bunch of kids here that claim the alleged puppies and Equestrians in space are their dogs and friends. I thought you'd like to know.” There was a brief moment of silence until Dr. Finkle spoke again. “Send them in.” “Yes, sir,” the security guard nodded before turning back to the kids. “Dr. Finkle would like to have a word with you. Follow me!” And just like that, the kids ran after him to go meet up with Dr. Finkle. XXXXXXXX Within a few short minutes, Dr. Finkle and Carl brought the five kids into the main control room. “Excuse me, Pi,” said Dr. Finkle modestly with a smirk. “I'd like to introduce you to the children whose lives you've ruined by launching their puppies and their little pony friends up into space. As you can imagine, they're quite traumatized.” However, the kids weren’t traumatized at all-- in fact, Sam smiled and shook Pi’s free hand. “Pi, wow, it's an honor to meet you, sir. Buddha and I are your hugest fans. I'm sure he's thrilled to be on your ship.” “Thank you,” Pi smiled before looking down at the ferret he was holding. “This is Gravity, my assistant.” Gravity squeaked a hello, and Pi turned to the kids in question once again. “Kids, uh, be assured that, um, we're doing everything in our power to bring your puppies home safely.” “Uh, hey, guys,” Slats greeted them with a smile. “I'm Slats. I'm the flight dynamics officer. That's, uh, FIDO for short. Oh, and over there, that's Astro. She actually is the pilot of the Vision One. How cool is that, huh?” “I’m Sam. My pup is Buddha,” Sam introduced before introducing the rest of his friends. “That's Pete. His bro is Mudbud. Bartelby's fella is Butterball, Billy's home pup is B-Dawg, and Alice's BFF is Rosebud.” Alice smiled and waved just before Pi turned to Slats with an idea as to how the kids could remain occupied for now. “Slats, why don't you get them up to speed on the current plan?” “Um, yeah. Oh, yeah, guys, come on over here. Check this out. Very cool,” Slats took the group of kids over to one of the monitors. “OK, well, all the vital stats are on the big board as we call it. The ETA is tomorrow morning at 1100 hours. That's 11:00am.” However, while Slats was showing the kids the programs that the team was using, Dr. Finkle inserted his USB key into the computer and began to change the course of the flight, much to his own delight. “This ought to ensure this is a one-way trip.” However, Sam, letting his curiosity get the better of him, peeked over at Dr. Finkle as he was just finishing changing the flight course. “Dr. Fecal?” “Yes?” Dr. Finkle answered, a bit startled. “Uh, I mean, it's Finkel. Dr. Finkel. Yes, what is it?” “What are you doing?” Sam asked curiously. “I'm not doing anything,” Dr. Finkle said, ensuring that the flight course was changed as he spoke. “You shouldn't concern yourself. You're just a child. Excuse me. Carl.” But, as Dr. Finkle walked away with Carl at his heels, Sam couldn’t help but feel that something was about to go horribly wrong… and that the Buddies and their pony friends were going to be in more danger than they already were at the time.
Meteor Madness/Dr. Finkle's ExposureWord 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. XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX 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.” XXXXXXXX “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. XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX “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.” XXXXXXXX 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. XXXXXXXX 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. XXXXXXXX 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.
A Cosmic Rescue and a Return HomeDr. Finkle was going to pay for all the sabotages he tried to do to the Vision One, and now that he was in custody, the mission was back on track. This news spread like wildfire across the world, and everyone in Sasha's family in Russia cheered and celebrated happily once they heard that Spudnick was going to be home in the next day or so. And as long as nothing else went wrong, our heroes would be able to head back to Equestria in one piece... ...or at least, they hoped this would be the case. XXXXXXXX On the trip back home, as Earth came closer and closer into their sight, Budderball sat beside Glory and looked down at the broccoli that laid next to his seat. “I have never been so hungry... I think I might have to actually eat that broccoli to stay alive.” This caused Rosebud to look at her brother in surprise. “Budderball?” Budderball paid the others no amount of attention as he opened the bag of green mush a s began to lap at it relentlessly. To his surprise... this stuff wasn't actually as bad as he assumed it to be! The others looked at Budderball in bewilderment as he finished the broccoli, and Mudbud was the only one to voice his surprise. “Aw, dude, I can't believe you ate the whole thing.” “Well,” Budderball stated with green all over his muzzle, “I always said I'd eat broccoli when puppies fly.” “Ha! It's funny and it's lliteral!” Izzy giggled optimistically. “Good one, Budderball! I get it!” “Well, as long as you ate something, that's all that matters,” Sunny said with a chuckle. “Now all we have to do is make sure that we all get home in time for dinner ourselves.” XXXXXXXX Sam was sitting with his friends patiently in mission control, waiting for an update as to when the space crew would be re-entering the atmosphere when a warning message depicting an out-of-control space vessel was heading toward the shuttle. “What…? Excuse me? Mr. Slats, sir?” “Yeah?” Slats turned toward Sam as he pointed toward the screen. “What's that approaching to Vision One?” Slats then looked at the warning screen, and a sense of dread filled his being, wondering what that item was himself. XXXXXXXX At the same time, another warning flashed on the shuttle’s screen. “Aw, man!” Hitch groaned. “It just doesn’t stop!” “Hurry, Budderball! Get back in your seat!” Glory said as she pulled Budderball into the seat. “We may have to make another emergency procedure happen and I, for one, don’t want you sliding out of the shuttle!” “Whatever it is,” Pi said, looking at the object Sam pointed out, “it's on a collision course with our spaceship. Take evasive action! Stat!” The kids held their breath in worry at this, wondering if their pups and friends were going to make it through this okay. XXXXXXXX Spudnick looked out the corner of his eye to see an unidentified spacecraft heading straight toward the shuttle, but luckily, he and Night Star noticed what it was before anyone else. “It’s the Cosmopod! Yuri!” “He’s gonna crash into us!!” Peach Fizz shrieked. And then, taking precautionary actions, Night Star activated the restraints, and everyone waited for further instructions on how to proceed. XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, the team suddenly began to hear a familiar voice over the communication lines. “American comrades, this is Yuri!” “Is that Yuri?” Slats asked in surprise, thinking Yuri had not survived in the explosion, and suddenly, to Pi, at least, it all started making sense. “He must have had an escape pod!” “My Cosmopod is not irresponsible!” Yuri yelped on the other end of the line, causing Pi to look over at Slats for guidance. “Slats, any ideas?” “Negative, sir,” Slats answered. “The Russian pod is out of control. It's entering the atmosphere at a dangerous entry level at high speed. It's pretty much an impossible rescue, sir.” XXXXXXXX “Yuri will burn up,” Gravity told the group in the shuttle, “if you don't change his trajectory.” “But how are we gonna do that?” Sunny asked. “There could be a million things going wrong at once!” “That’s why I’m taking over,” Spudnick said as he put on some Vectra glasses and switched to remote pilot. XXXXXXXX “Whoa!” Astro said as she lost control of the ship. “I lost control…” XXXXXXX That’s when Spudnick explained his plan further, so everyone could prepare themselves for what was about to happen. “I'm going to have to dodge the Cosmopod to change it's course.” “Let’s do it, dude!” Mudbud cheered. “I mean, comrade.” “Hang ooon…!!!” Spudnick shouted as he concentrated with all his might as the others held on for their lives, and the shuttle soon was under the Cosmopod in question. “All right,” Zipp said to Gravity. “We’ve made contact.” “It's crucial you level off the Cosmopod at 30 degrees.” “Give us countdown on re-entry,” Night Star advised. “We’ll pull up at the last second.” “In six… five… four… three… two… one… activate thrusters!” Night Star slammed her hoof down on the button labeled thrusters, and the Vision One took off like a shot, while Yuri continued to sail down to Earth, his Cosmopod having flames as he entered the atmosphere and went out of the group’s sight. XXXXXXXX Back in mission control, Pi watched in wonder as the space crew did what they did without question, but he still had one thought on his mind. “How did they know to level off the Russian escape pod to those exact coordinates…?” He spared a look at Gravity, but the thought soon left his mind as he regained focus. “Eyes on scopes, people.” XXXXXXXX “Spudnick, Night Star, that was incredible!” cried Seashell with a smile. “You totally saved the day!” “Aww, thanks,” Night Star smiled. “But it was more Spudnick than me.” “We all worked together to get the job done,” Sunny reminded. “That’s what really matters.” “Now, are you guys ready to go home?” Misty asked, looking at all of their friends. “Yo, dawg,” B-Dawg smiled, “I was born ready!” “All right, my friends,” said Spudnick. “I’m relinquishing controls.” XXXXXXXX Just a few minutes after the dogs and ponies performed such a daring rescue, Astro felt control of the Vision One return to her. “Hey, I got control back!” “Well, let’s bring this puppy home,” Pi took a breath. “Well, puppies and ponies, that is.” XXXXXXXX Shortly after Spudnick relinquished control of the ship back to Astro, the group heard Gravity speak to them again. “The re-entry sequence in three, two, one.” Flames began to build up on the side of the shuttle as they re-entered the atmosphere, and the ponies held their breath and waited for the sights of Fernfield to be seen once again. XXXXXXX “We’ve lost them in the blackout zone,” said Slats, trying to stay calm. “We won't have a visual for T-minus four minutes.” “It's out of our hands,” Pi said, taking a breath. “Now, uh, we can't do anything but hope for the best.” XXXXXXXX “The spacecraft has re-entered the atmosphere and is now hurdling mercilessly towards Earth,” the Fernfield news reporter told his viewers. “Communication is now in the blackout zone. All of us here at Channel Four Fernfield, along with the world, collectively hold our breath, as we watch anxiously, awaiting a sign from the sky that the puppies and Equestrians, our space heroes, have survived the fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. All we can do is pray.” XXXXXXXX And in Russia, that's exactly what Sasha was doing as the snow began to gently fall to the ground. “Please protect Spudnick and his friends…” XXXXXXXX Four minutes… four very long minutes finally passed, and then… Slats suddenly got an image of the shuttle entering the atmosphere, causing everyone to look toward the screen. “Okay, we have visual, people!” XXXXXXXX Night Star beamed as soon as she saw the blue skies of Earth after exiting the atmosphere. “Guys! We did it!” XXXXXXXX Everyone in the mission control center, the Buddies' kids included, cheered at the top of their lungs for the vital piece of success that they had just witnessed. In just a few minutes, they would all be reuniting! XXXXXXXX “See, space travel ain't nothing,” B-Dawg cooly assured his siblings and friends before a large boom sent them rocketing forward. “Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!” Seashell shrieked. “What was that?!” “That was a sonic boom!” Sunny squealed. “We just broke the sound barrier!” “W-We knew that,” Glory said timidly. “We were just joshing you, that’s all.” “Get ready, you guys,” said Hitch, buckling his restraints. “Looks like we’re coming into land!” XXXXXXXX Astro took manual control of the ship once again in order to land it safely on the runway. And then... slowly, but surely... the shuttle made contact with the ground. “Touchdown! WHOO!!!” This sent the Buddies’ kids cheering into overdrive, and Slats and Pi let out victorious cheers of their own. XXXXXXXX “We’re home!” the Pippsqueaks cheered in happiness. “Congratulations, guys!” Gravity called out to the group. “You did it!” The Mane 6 couldn’t help but cheer and hug their friends, new and old, tightly for their own success. XXXXXXXX The news of the safe landing stretched all across the world, and everyone in every continent cheered happily as dogs in those same countries barked and howled to show their pleasure. XXXXXXXXX As everyone else was cheering for their success, Pi turned to his little ferret companion with a smile. “I have a feeling, you and your furry friends had more to do with this mission's success than we will ever know.” He offered his sleeve to the ferret, who crawled through it and to his pocket. And once this was done, Pi turned to the Buddies’ kids with a wide smile. “Come on, kids, let's go greet the new heroes!” “Let’s go!” Pete cried out, and they all rushed out the door to head outside and greet the four-legged space heroes. XXXXXXXX The Buddies, the Mane 6, the Pippsqueaks and their new friends strutted out of the ship, feeling as if they were on top of the world in that moment. I mean, who WOULDN’T be after something like that just happened? The mission control team were the first to arrive on the scene, and once he got out of the van, Pi set Gravity down on the ground. “Here you go, Gravity, greet your new friends.” Gravity squeaked and ran over to the group before he stood up to address them. “Welcome home, everyone. Spudnick, that was some fancy seat-of-the-pants aviation you demonstrated.” “Whoa!” Rosebud commented in surprise. “You’re a ferret.” “Hold on a second,” Zipp blinked. “You mean to tell me we had a rodent as our flight director?” “Hey, I’m not a rodent,” Gravity corrected her. “I'm related to the mustela family of mammals, which includes minks and skunks.” “Hey,” said Budderball with a smile. “I'm told I'm related to skunks too.” “Well, whatever the case,” said Night Star with a happy grin, “we couldn't have made it home without your help, Gravity. Thank you, comrade.” That’s when Pipp suddenly saw another van approaching and pulled out her phone. “Hey, Buddies? I think this is gonna be a reunion in the making! Look who’s here!” The Buddies turned to see the van doors opening, and from these doors... emerged all their kids! As the kids cheered and called out to their pups and their friends, the Buddies and the ponies, sans Spudnick and Night Star, who stood together, galloped over to see them, getting hugs, scratches behind the ear and praises of how it was so good to have them home. However, Spudnick felt a twinge of sadness enter his heart at not being able to see his boy there, and Night Star sensed it, nuzzling Spudnick to comfort him. “Oh… and one more thing,” Gravity spoke up. “It seems a boy named Sasha is trying to contact you.” Spudnick lit up at this. “Really?” “He’s been waiting for you,” Gravity smiled. “But… he not only wants you back… he wants your new unicorn friend there to come live with you as well.” Night Star gasped in delight and turned to look at Spudnick with happy tears in her eyes. Finally… she was gonna have a family, a real family of her very own. And she had a group of brave Golden Retriever pups and their pony friends to thank for it.
A Welcome Home Celebration/Returning to EquestriaImmediately after the Buddies and their Equestrian friends returned from space, plans for a huge welcome home/congratulations celebration was put into effect, with a band, parade, and a special ceremony to give all of them their wings. Of course, this did mean our heroes had to say goodbye to Night Star and Spudnick, who were heading back to Russia so Spudnick could reunite with his boy Sasha. Needless to say, Night Star was beyond thrilled to get to meet her new family, so... the Mane 6 understood, and promised to visit them if they were in the area. But right now... they had a party to get through! XXXXXXXX Merry music played as the parade traveled through Fernfield all the way to the main stage in front of Town Hall, and the Buddies, the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks were the guests of honor for everything. Rosebud even got a new pink space suit in contrast to her blue one, and needless to say, she enjoyed it far more than the blue one she had been wearing. “This is more like it. I feel much prettier in pink.” The cheering continued as the parade ended, and the ponies took their place next to the Buddies for the ceremony, where the Buddies’ kids sat nearby for them to witness this grand occasion, and Pi took to the podium to address the crowd. “Uh, thank you. Thank you for being here,” he said to the crowd. I would like to present wings, the symbol of true heroism in space… to our ponynauts and dogmonauts.” This caused the audience, especially the Buddies’ kids, to cheer wildly. “Here they are!” Pi presented the heroes in their finest. “The Unity Squad, the Pippsqueaks and the Space Buddies!” The crowd seemed to amplify their cheering as the wings were passed out, and the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks couldn’t be prouder. They stuck through everything as a team, and now… they were being honored as total heroes. Rosebud was the first of the group to speak. “I’m gonna miss Night Star and Spudnick.” “We are too,” Pipp nodded. “But, they’re going back to their families now after so many years. I’m happy for them, nonetheless.” “Those two are now officially part of my entourage,” B-Dawg added, causing Budderball to nod. “I'll never forget they taught me to eat my vegetables.” “They were both rad comrades!” Mudbud added as Buddha let through a smile. “They’ll each have a space in our hearts forever.” However, as this was said, the portal to Equestria began to appear not too far away. “That’s our ticket home, guys,” Zipp told the others. “We better get going.” “Thanks again for this wild adventure, you guys,” Rosebud told the ponies. “Be sure to look us up again when you’re back in Fernfield!” “We will!” Sunny promised as the group exchanged farewells before the ponies jumped through the portal before it closed, leaving the celebration to continue with the Buddies as the guests of honor. XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, in Russia, another homecoming celebration was occuring. A limo pulled up to the house where Sasha was living with his family, and Sasha gasped as soon as a familiar four-legged figure ran out of the car, during the gentle snowfall, and toward him, a certain unicorn at his heels. “Spudnick!” Spudnick panted happily as he ran to his boy, who held him close as the entire family clapped in joy. “I always dreamt I'd hold you in my arms again…” Sasha whispered as he placed Spudnick’s collar around his neck. Then, as he hugged Spudnick, he gestured for Night Star to come closer, and Night Star happily did so, happy to be with a family that would never leave her. XXXXXXXX It had been a few hours later, after the ceremony had ended, when Buddha and Sam returned home from town. As they gazed out at the stars, Buddha rushed inside to get the moon rock Glory had picked up for him to give to Sam, and he dropped it in the boy's lap, much to Sam's bewilderment. “Whoa…” he said. “This rock… is from the moon?” Buddha barked in confirmation, and this caused Sam to smile ever so lightly. “I got to touch the Moon too. I guess dreams really do come true.” But the biggest wish Sam could ask for was having his puppy back home safe and sound. XXXXXXXX Back in Russia, Night Star and Spudnick stared out at the moon from the comforts of home, and after a long moment of silence, Spudnick finally decided to speak. “I fulfilled my dream of being the first dogmonaut to walk on the Moon. But in returning home, I realized it is the journey and the new friendships we made that matter the most.” “Spudnick?” Night Star said as she looked to her best friend with a gentle smile on her face. “...I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Author's Note Sorry if this felt rushed... I've been working on this story for quite a while, and I really wanted to get it done. Stay tuned for the next story, everypony!
