Sins of Harmony
Volume 1.5: Untold Tales
Chapter 2: Luna, Deaf Pioneers
May 24th, 1005 ANM
Canterlot, royal palace, dining room.
Early Evening
Celestia had just lowered the sun for the night, and Luna had raised the moon, and now both sisters took part in their dinner, or breakfast in Luna's case.
Celestia saw Luna getting out her daily newspaper of choice, the Manehatten Times, as she ate her breakfast of a fruit salad and a side of coffee. Ever since she'd returned 5 years ago, she, like Celestia, found the energy sparking drink useful.
Before Celestia could take another bite of her dinner, honey roasted nuts and a main plate of a fruit pie, she heard Luna say quietly:
"Oh no."
Luna's face had fallen at the sight of the front page story. Celestia had read the newspaper, but didn't focus on the front page story because of its lack of focus on economic, political or cultural issues, a rare occasion.
"What is it sister?"
Luna levitated the newspaper over to Celestia, across the table. The front page bore the name of a Gryphon male, and two photos. One of them was his elderly form, sitting in his living room. The other, was of him in his astronaut uniform on return from his most famous mission.
Niale Baldwin, last survivor of the Hermes 10 moon landing, admitted to Hospital due to advancing lung cancer.
Earlier today, ex astronaut Niale Baldwin was admitted to Nerento city hospital when he collapsed in his home. His lung cancer of 5 years, according to Doctors, has begun advancing to the next stage, and his survival is unlikely given his age and his cancer's condition.
Launched in 968, the Hermes 10 moon landing marked the first being on Earth to set foot on a planetary body besides out own. Niale Baldwin was the 2nd to take steps on the moon, after Cade Matson, who died in 995 of heart problems, aged 73. The third crew member, Jaken Hans, died in 982, when the private fishing boat was caught in a storm when coming into Kaslan city harbour, a wave washing him overboard and drowning him.
The Hermes moon landings, despite being mostly Gryphon funded, brought in experts from around the world, including the Old Gryphon empire, the Bulldog Kingdom, Minotreece, Dingolia [pre-revolution], Equestria, and Salaman.
Niale Baldwin would go on to take part in the Hermes 11, 12 and 15 landings, the most times any astronaut set foot on the moon. Doctors state that-
Not needing to read anymore, Celestia said: "At least he had a good life. It says he had a quiet life after his career. I say he earned it."
"I remember him. I tried to call to him, them, but none of them could hear me." Luna admitted.
Celestia was puzzled, and asked: "Call them?"
"When they were on the moon, I could sense them, see them, even while the Nightmare had me in its power. They didn't hear me." Luna said sadly.
February 27th, 968 ANM
Moon, Tranquility Gorge.
384,400 km from Earth
"And 2 second burn, 12 degrees. Levelling out."
The Lunar Lander, gold reflective panels on the bottom, and a grey/white module atop it holding the 3 crew, gave a brief fire of its thrusters, as it near emptied its fuel tanks as it stopped moving laterally across the surface, descending vertically for 15 metres.
"Quick burn for slow touchdown, and."
The lander's leg suspension compressed as it landed, the 1/6 earth gravity on the moon an ease for the legs. On Earth, they would collapse, but they were designed for the Moon, not Earth.
"Talhon control, Kestrel has landed. Repeat, Kestrel has landed."
3 hours later
The presence pondered at the strange object it sensed on its surface, not having to reach out far from its dark confines to ponder its strange, metallic shapes and features.
She jerked back as she saw a handle on a side of the object open, and a separate compartment begin to open.
A grey suited figure, with 4 legs, and a bulky back, slowly exited the compartment. Peering inside, Luna saw the compartment was a small room, leading into the bigger room inside by another sealed doorway. She saw 2 more Gryphons inside, one of them getting inside a similar suit to the first.
The first slowly climbed down the ladder, his front legs having hands on them. Inside the suit, Cade Matson, like all astronauts, had his claws trimmed to blunt ends to avoid tearing. His wings were restrained, as in a spacesuit, or any enclosed capsule, they were useless and an obstacle.
Touching down, Cade almost laughed at how light he felt, and found that small leaping was easy to move with than trying proper steps.
"One little leap, and each leap takes Earthkind further." He muttered.
A few minutes later, and Niale Baldwin exited the capsule down the ladder, touching down on the ground beside Cade Matson. They looked indistinguishable in their grey spacesuits.
"Did you make that up on the fly?" Niale joked through the radio, a good few seconds after Cade said the to be famous quote.
"I figured it would be appropriate, some scientist said something similar to me a week before we took off. I doubt history books would want something like, 'Weee!' to write down." Cade retorted.
Testing the gravity, Niall looked east, and said quietly: "Look."
There, in the sky, was a blue marble, permeated by green, yellow, brown or white landmasses and cloud formations.
As the two looked back to the earth, they were oblivious to the moon based presence jubilantly calling to them, wanting to talk.
7 hours later
Niale Baldwin had ended his first moon landing shift with Cade Matson, as they wanted to return before they ran out of air. It was a 34% oxygen mix, as a pure oxygen mix had been a contributor to the tragedy of the Hermes 1 ground test fire.
There were 3 crew, so there would be 3 shifts, so that each person would get 2 shifts each on the moon. This would maximize exploring time, and minimize boredom by repetitive tasks.
Niale was the unfortunate one to have his two shifts back to back, so he had only taken off his helmet once inside the capsule again. He would be going out again in an hour, so why bother?
Now, he and Jaken Hans, their main pilot, and the guy that got them here safely on landing, softly leapt with Niale towards a nearby crater, a prime place for sample gathering.
Luna angrily screamed at them to listen, but they were oblivious as ever. She followed the suited Gryphons, putting her presence right up into Niale's visor as she screamed for him to say something to her. He and the others were the first people she'd seen for nearly 1000 years, and they were ignoring her!
Niale saw a flash of bluish light in the corner of his visor, and shifted his gloved hand to his visor to get a less obscuring look. But it was just a glare, nothing else. But it was odd, he'd always thought sun glares were white or yellow, not a hint of blue.
"Hey Niale, how much do you bet I could leap out of this crater from the bottom?" Jaken asked. He'd just finished picking up a few small rocks from the base of the crater, boxing them into the compartment.
Having infiltrated into the suits, Luna had heard the conversation, and in an attempt to get their attention, cheered Jaken on at his wager.
"No way, gravity's not that weak. I say you won't clear the rim." Niale challenged.
"Winner gets 20 palans from the loser." Cade's voice sounded over the radio.
Sighing, Niale said confidently: "Go for it, but land on your hands however it goes."
Crouching, Jaken leapt up and forwards. The crater was small, about 20 metres in diameter and 4 metres deep.
Yelling as he reached the top of his jump, Jaken grunted as he landed hands first just at the rim of the crater. Laughing, Niale said: "Didn't clear the rim. You owe me 20 palans when we get back."
As Niale shuffled/jumped up the side of the crater, and Jaken picked himself up, Luna's presence stayed in the crater, quietly wondering why they didn't hear or see her.
9 hours later
Luna saw the 2 suited gryphons pulling out a flag, the material ruffling in the airless atmosphere only due to the movement in their hands, like waves from any vibration.
"How deep can you get it?" Cade asked.
"I dug about a foot down, we should be good." Jaken stood up, having used a large drill to create a hole for the flagpole.
"Okay. Get the camera, this is the last thing before we have to go." Cade said.
Shuffling out of the view, Jaken took out the camera he'd been given to record this event. He already had video and photos of their exploits, but now the last piece was needed.
Cade dug the flagpole into the ground, twisting it as the moon surface behaved like desert sand. Sure it wasn't going anywhere, Cade turned to Jaken Hans, waving to signal he was ready.
Raising the camera, Jaken began taking pictures and video.
Luna wandered to Cade, standing right before his visor to tearfully ask why he and his friends were ignoring her. He didn't listen, and watched as the still flag, ruffled slightly when he pushed the pole down into the lunar soil, stood proud against the vast landscape.
The flag bore the New Gryphon Republic emblem, but had smaller emblems from the countries who provided expertise in getting here beneath it.
Luna's eyes widened as she saw Equestria's crest as one of the smaller ones, and shrieked: "My sister! What has become of my sister!?"
Cade turned to Jaken, and said: "You get what you needed?"
"Yeah, just some out of focus sections on the pictures. Scientists warned of distortion with the reflective lunar surface dust, but that one was right in front of you." Jaken put the camera back.
"Ah, as long as we can see what's in the picture." Cade said.
Luna slumped on the ground, looking at the flag as the astronauts began to head back to the capsule.
Cade looked outside as he followed Jaken into the airlock, waiting until it was clear inside it to go in himself.
All the while, Luna watched silently as they entered. The moon was quiet again.
1 hour later
Niale looked outside one last time, seeing the vast grey and white expanse before him in the port window. Jaken then commented:
"You smelt these samples? Not sure what to make of their scent."
Indeed, the moon rocks they'd collected smelt musty, but not in an unpleasant way, just strange. Like how cold temperatures diminish any scent to a tolerable level.
30 minutes later
"Talhon control, Kestrel taking off for rendezvous with transfer vehicle, in 3, 2, 1."
Jaken's words were then followed by the faint rumble as the capsule, sat atop the lander stage, separated. Leaving the lander section behind, it rocketed silently off the lunar surface, rocking the implanted flag as some thrust redirected into it.
The capsule lifted, flying upwards, as Luna's head fell in silent sorrow. They'd come and gone without interacting with her at all.
While they rocketed up, the landing site was unseen. Growing angry, the dark shackles returning, Luna saw the flag still standing after the takeoff.
Reaching out as much as she could, she projected her rage on it.
To her astonishment, it fell over onto the soil.
The dark shackles mused over this, and they, along with Luna, saw that given a few decades of their power slowly returning, they could finally be free. When the Sun shone most bright in a few decades, and therefore reflected the most power onto the moon, they would finally be free.
Luna retreated, and she would not bother with any of the visitors in future. They didn't care, and she didn't care for them.
5 days later
The parade in Kaslan, the New Gryphon Republic's biggest city, was immense. This was a joyous occasion amidst a period where conflicts elsewhere in the world were already winding down.
On the other side of the planet, the Wyvern war was all but won, their numbers depleting to the hundreds by now because of infighting, last victories against them, and the plague that had escaped in an accident a year ago.
Even so, this victory was for all races, and achievement by all Earthkind, even as some decreased in number.
Cade Matson, Niale Baldwin, and Jaken Hans would go down in history, and would return to the moon at least once each. Niale would be the only one to go more than twice, as he went 4 times.
No distortion of photos or videos in some parts were reported on future missions.
The flag had fallen over on takeoff, and to the scientists and astronauts, they deduced that the moon dirt was weak under the weaker gravity, and the capsule's takeoff thrust had blown it over.
No encounters were reported, off record or on.
Present
May 24th, 1005 ANM
Canterlot, royal palace, dining room.
Early evening.
"I was almost happy when I heard that the first two, Cade and Jaken, had died before I returned. I didn't pay any heed to Niale, as he didn't to me. I forgot he existed, and now."
Luna admitted guiltily. Celestia sat there, she knew her sister's stay on the moon had been heartbreaking, torture, and she'd take it back if she knew she'd be conscious the whole time.
It was why Luna was so withdrawn before she began appearing publicly, before she went from the diminished filly form to her bigger Alicorn form she was today, as she was recovering.
"Luna, I, I can't keep saying how sorry I am for what you had to go through. I knew you'd been alone for so long, but why didn't you tell me about this?"
"It wasn't any different. The Nightmare used my anger at being ignored after so long to realize how mine and its power had recovered. I guess, that was what began its crawl to return when I did."
"Without those 3 first stepping on the moon, you may not be here." Celestia realised. She smiled fondly, saying: "I would thank them, for unintentionally bringing you back. Without them, you wouldn't be here, and Twilight and her friends may not have grown to be what they were with the Elements."
Luna smiled, but saw the article: "I know. I was trapped by the magic, so how could they see me? Or hear me? I was, wrong, to think badly of them."
"The others already died. But maybe I can pay a visit to Niale." Luna wondered.
"That's an excellent idea Luna. He may not have much time though."
Celestia wondered.
"Maybe, tonight? I can make it there in an hour, perhaps stay the night." Luna questioned Celestia.
Smiling, Celestia stood up, as she finished her own dinner. She said to a nearby guard: "Guard, tell the ministers and staff that I shall be taking over Luna's duties for tonight."
"Thank you sister!" Luna said.
"In exchange, may I ask you to take my day duties for the first half of tomorrow?" Celestia said, adding on: "I'll take the second half, then you can take your whole night se we are back on schedule."
"Oh, of course sister." Luna said with a smile. Walking over Celestia gave Luna a brief hug, whispering:
"I'd get going. He might be asleep if you don't get there soon."
Pulling apart, Luna smiled back as she teleported out of the dining room, out into the gardens. Focusing her energy for a long teleport cycle, she focuses on a few places to stop, and disappeared in a blue flash.
Nerento City, General Hospital.
Propped up in room 47, floor 6, Niale Baldwin turned the page in the book he was reading. The life support machine he was hooked to cycled oxygenated air into his lungs, the air tubes going through his nose to pump down his nostrils.
After the high point of the moon landings, himself taking pat 4 times, Niale and the other 2 on the first mission had lived lives in fear of not amounting to anything greater, that their best moments had passed them already. Even the birth of his children seemed to be unimpressive after the moon landing.
He had lived a good, quiet life however, and at least had to look forward to seeing his beloved Kara again.
Jaken had taken to a life of hardship and toil, saying the sea was still a great challenge that could equal the moon landing. He lived hard, and paid for it when the sea grew too rough coming into Kaslan harbour 23 years ago, just 14 years after Hermes 10, and 11 years after his last landing aboard Hermes 14.
Cade Matson perhaps fared worse, as he had most fame from being the first to step on the moon. He had a quiet life, much like Niall, becoming a astrophysics lecturer in various Universities, before retiring. Just 9 years before his death in 995, as he'd taken up smoking after he too saw his life peak as behind him, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite warnings, he continued smoking, saying he'd lived his life to full already.
Niale didn't succumb to any addiction, even though he did drink from time to time. The elderly male Gryphon's heart condition was one of the ones that simply crept up due to old age, a weakening heart. His family would be visiting over the next week, though doctors said he had about a month left at most, 2 weeks minimum.
Shifting, he flexed his wings at his sides, the feathers tattered and in some places falling out. Turning the page in his hospital bed, he heard a doctor knock on the door.
"Mr. Baldwin? You have a visitor."
"Who? My son isn't due until tomorrow." Niale's voice croaked, laced with age and experience.
"Its Equestria's Princess, Luna."
The Doctor's statement would have been outlandish, had Luna not trotted in quietly as the middle aged Gryphon female doctor said it.
"I'll leave you two be." The doctor left them alone.
Luna saw the decrepit male Gryphon sat up in the bed, putting aside his book on a side table.
"I'd bow, but I-"
"No, you of all people shouldn't bow to me." Luna said softly. She walked over, saying calmly:
"I heard you were sick. I wanted to meet you, as I couldn't meet Cade or Jaken before they died. I was still trapped in the moon then."
Niale's eyes widened slightly, as he croaked a laugh slightly: "Ah, yes. The famous imprisonment of Princess Luna in the moon. Anything moon related I read up, even the mythology."
Pulling a chair up with her magic, shaped for Gryphons, meaning it was suitable for ponies, Luna said: "I, was there, watching, when you landed. I didn't try to call out or anything on later landings, because I failed with you and the others first time."
Niale listened as he was in his bed, the faint beeping and pumping of his life support machine a background noise as Luna explained.
"Ha! And I told Cade and Jaken they didn't dig the flag deep enough." Niale lightly laughed. Luna said uncertainly:
"You aren't angry I did that?"
"It was a flag, and I'd do it too if I were you." Niale coughed a bit, as he leant forwards a bit due to a mucus build-up in his lungs. A by-product of the age related heart disease. Luna looked down as he cleared his throat, saying: "I was angry for so long, but I realised, well, the Nightmare version of me realised my powers had recovered when I knocked it over. Sure enough, 32 years later, I returned."
"So I guess if we hadn't set you off, made you return, it might have been whoever landed first. Caninberians could have set you off then." Niale thought.
"I think it was the small Equestria symbol on the flag that did it for me. I may not have tried to knock it over without that." Luna admitted, laughing slightly now herself.
Niale then asked: "Its odd, but, do you not wear any perfume or anything?"
"No, I don't. Just anything to stop bad smells." Luna replied.
"I knew it. You're scent is similar to the strange smell we found on the moon rocks, just more faint." Niale said. He added: "Only people who've handled moon samples will know the scent, but I'm the only one who knows a source."
Luna smiled athim, as Niale lightly laughed at his statement.
Niale laid back on the bed, remarking: "Hard to believe. I get you as a visitor before my family. Maybe you could vouch against the annoying moon landing conspiracy theorists."
"I don't want to tarnish the history of it with me interfering. Could we keep me trying to be involved, including knocking over the flag, a secret? Between us? Say my visit was because I'm associated with the moon and wanted to meet?" Luna asked, embarrassed with herself.
Niale weakly laid a clawed hand on Luna's shoulder, saying: "Of course. I'll take it to my grave. I won't have to keep it for too long if the doctors are right."
Luna asked sensitively: "Will you be alright? I know I can't truly comprehend mortality, but what about you?"
"I have lived plenty, and I'll see to it I'm alive when my family visits over the next few days." Niale said confidently, despite his weak voice.
Nodding, Luna asked: "Tell me about your family."
Niale would speak to Luna into the night, until he fell asleep. She stayed to monitor his dreams, even as she left at 5:00 the next morning for Equestria, to carry out Celestia's cuties the next half day, before Celestia took over for them to resume the normal schedule by next nightfall.
Niale Baldwin would pass away in his hospital bed just 2 weeks and 5 days after Luna's visit. She would visit him in his dreams the night as he passed, letting him dream of being back there on the moon, talking to her as he hadn't been able to 37 years before.
Just 2 weeks later, Luna would call for 3 newly discovered stars, always close to each other in the sky in a rough triangle shape, to be named after the 3 of them. Cade, Jaken and Niale, the first Princess Luna met for nearly a millennia, and the ones that, with their leap for Earthkind, set Luna on the path to her return and reformation.
An interesting premise I thought was worth tackling.
I told you these stories would not necessarily conform to one genre.
Review/critique as one would. Proposals welcome.
All this short story writing is a way so I can also flesh out the sequel volume story. The rough strokes and most details are ready, just some details needed t iron out before I can begin to write the sequel.