97blackbird
Hello, I sat down to write on this blog, with no real intention to write anything, and this is the result.
I don't know you all well enough to write you, so forgive me.
Location: Mc Moon-ald's. Earth's First Moon-base.
"Are you admiring the Earthrise, little buddy?
The little grey batpony smiled. She hadn't been, but the view even in her peripheral vision was awesome! Medi took a quick sip from her tiny orange juice box to wash down the bite of cheeseburger she had been absently chewing.
"I was just thinking about how peaceful it is up here." She looked up at Joe, who was sitting slightly hunched over in their egg-shaped booth-cubicle. The Mc-Moon-alds was pressurized to allow normal dining, but it wasn't earth-sized and it's dining areas had to conform to the design restrictions demanded of structures dealing with pressure differences. If she wasn't looking at her food or out the window, claustrophobic feelings crept up quickly. She wondered if the threat of violent decompression was truly what made her uneasy, as she wasn't bothered by tiny, confining places on earth. "What about you? Are you thinking of home?"
Joe looked over at their friends. First to the Cat-Commie,_*still_* sulking about the lack of alcohol at the first moon-base, and probably a little hung-over from draining his stocks on the trip up. He had only taken two or three bites of the capitalist fare, and his drink sat untouched, ice sullenly melting. Then, a bump and mild oath announced Blackbird unintentionally knocking his head _*again_* with a dull thud against sloped back wall of their booth. Only Big Buggy Bastage sat unmoved. His robotic form immediately recognized the restrictive conditions and instantly adapted, but there was really no need for him to do anything but plug in to an outlet and recharge. It was a dream of theirs for this lunch, but the reality was wet blanket. For all of it's novelty, the trip to the moon was looking like a 'went there, got the tee-shirt', kind of experience.
"I'm glad were all together," Joe said, clearly trying to give voice to the positive, "this is an opportunity we'll never have again."
Medi surveyed their friends crammed around the tiny table also and took note of the relative discomfort of each. "It's weird up here," she began, "The sounds here are strange and omnipresent; it's all compressors, and hissing air, and electric humming, and voices that sound hollow echoing off the walls. And yet the outside is dead silent. No sounds come from the window, from outside." Medi shivered, but not from cold. "It's ultimate peace and tranquility, but it's also..." Medi's voice trailed off and she stared at her tiny piece of cheeseburger.
"You wanna go home?" Joe asked?
Medi looked up and nodded. "I know back there it's all screaming and insanity, but this trip isn't the pleasant respite I had hoped." Medi's lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears in the low gravity. "I don't want to be ungrateful, I love you, Joe,"-Medi turned to their friends "I love you all and I really appreciate the trip and our time together, but I just wanna be back home!"
"Fine by me!" Blackbird announced. He loudly sucked at the last drops of his coke through the straw. "No refills! This place is worse than socialism!"
Medi gave a brief, but relieved chuckle.
"And how would you know that!?" Commie Starlight retorted, bristling at first, but just as quickly settled. "Home is good. There is vodka at home and there is none to be had here." He sat up and preened a moment. "Home is good," he declared again, "I too desire to go home."
Big Buggy Bastage unplugged. "The best travel is traveling in agreement."
"Travelling with friends!" Medi leapt into the air and struck the very low ceiling due to the fractional gravity, but bounced off and flew to each of her seated friends to give them a fuzzy hug and excited "EEEEEEE".
And so, despite the exotic location and the expense, they would only have the one meal at the Moon-ald's, not caring to spend any more time doing other tourist-y diversions other than each buying an over-priced tee-shirt, and chipping in to buy a custom tee for their Medi-bat friend - their fuzzy, and adorable, center.
When the hatch opened to the return rocket, Medi led the way, speeding through the portal making it clear to them all. It was not the trip they had hoped, but it was the trip they needed. They were all reassured of what was important. The conditions at home were not ideal, but it was_*living_*! Up here was tranquility; completely devoid of conflict, but an artificial peace. The only life at moon-base were those who were shuttled in, preserved for a time, and then shuttled out. No real life stayed there because death was there. It was a cemetery. Enjoy what is offered, look nice, stay in your box, and you have ultimate peace. However, ultimately, you're dead.
Home was a messy, smoky, cauldron of chaos, destruction, and conflict. But it also had creation, rebuilding, and life. And with that life was friendship. Earth was the place that set the example for them all on countless trails and dirt roads all over the globe. A branch from a bush may be crushed and trampled, but it will continue to send out new growth, even if that new growth is also trampled. Again and again, the bush will continue to push forward new growth until the branch's new shoots rise untrampled and green. Yes, untrampled and green, full of life because it has persevered and crossed the path where those who travel selfishly and without regard for other life tread. And having persevered through those injuries and insults, they now bloom!
Medi hugged them all as they came through the airlock. They were all going back home, even though home wasn't a pleasant, peaceful place to be then, they chose to face it because that is life. A constant struggle. Absence of a struggle is artificial and leads to death. Medi and her friends chose life.
The rocket blasted off taking the group of friends and leaving the dead world behind. They had found the moon was just as peaceful as advertised. So they left it behind.
I don't know you all well enough to write you, so forgive me.
Location: Mc Moon-ald's. Earth's First Moon-base.
"Are you admiring the Earthrise, little buddy?
The little grey batpony smiled. She hadn't been, but the view even in her peripheral vision was awesome! Medi took a quick sip from her tiny orange juice box to wash down the bite of cheeseburger she had been absently chewing.
"I was just thinking about how peaceful it is up here." She looked up at Joe, who was sitting slightly hunched over in their egg-shaped booth-cubicle. The Mc-Moon-alds was pressurized to allow normal dining, but it wasn't earth-sized and it's dining areas had to conform to the design restrictions demanded of structures dealing with pressure differences. If she wasn't looking at her food or out the window, claustrophobic feelings crept up quickly. She wondered if the threat of violent decompression was truly what made her uneasy, as she wasn't bothered by tiny, confining places on earth. "What about you? Are you thinking of home?"
Joe looked over at their friends. First to the Cat-Commie,
"I'm glad were all together," Joe said, clearly trying to give voice to the positive, "this is an opportunity we'll never have again."
Medi surveyed their friends crammed around the tiny table also and took note of the relative discomfort of each. "It's weird up here," she began, "The sounds here are strange and omnipresent; it's all compressors, and hissing air, and electric humming, and voices that sound hollow echoing off the walls. And yet the outside is dead silent. No sounds come from the window, from outside." Medi shivered, but not from cold. "It's ultimate peace and tranquility, but it's also..." Medi's voice trailed off and she stared at her tiny piece of cheeseburger.
"You wanna go home?" Joe asked?
Medi looked up and nodded. "I know back there it's all screaming and insanity, but this trip isn't the pleasant respite I had hoped." Medi's lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears in the low gravity. "I don't want to be ungrateful, I love you, Joe,"
"Fine by me!" Blackbird announced. He loudly sucked at the last drops of his coke through the straw. "No refills! This place is worse than socialism!"
Medi gave a brief, but relieved chuckle.
"And how would you know that!?" Commie Starlight retorted, bristling at first, but just as quickly settled. "Home is good. There is vodka at home and there is none to be had here." He sat up and preened a moment. "Home is good," he declared again, "I too desire to go home."
Big Buggy Bastage unplugged. "The best travel is traveling in agreement."
"Travelling with friends!" Medi leapt into the air and struck the very low ceiling due to the fractional gravity, but bounced off and flew to each of her seated friends to give them a fuzzy hug and excited "EEEEEEE".
And so, despite the exotic location and the expense, they would only have the one meal at the Moon-ald's, not caring to spend any more time doing other tourist-y diversions other than each buying an over-priced tee-shirt, and chipping in to buy a custom tee for their Medi-bat friend - their fuzzy, and adorable, center.
When the hatch opened to the return rocket, Medi led the way, speeding through the portal making it clear to them all. It was not the trip they had hoped, but it was the trip they needed. They were all reassured of what was important. The conditions at home were not ideal, but it was
Home was a messy, smoky, cauldron of chaos, destruction, and conflict. But it also had creation, rebuilding, and life. And with that life was friendship. Earth was the place that set the example for them all on countless trails and dirt roads all over the globe. A branch from a bush may be crushed and trampled, but it will continue to send out new growth, even if that new growth is also trampled. Again and again, the bush will continue to push forward new growth until the branch's new shoots rise untrampled and green. Yes, untrampled and green, full of life because it has persevered and crossed the path where those who travel selfishly and without regard for other life tread. And having persevered through those injuries and insults, they now bloom!
Medi hugged them all as they came through the airlock. They were all going back home, even though home wasn't a pleasant, peaceful place to be then, they chose to face it because that is life. A constant struggle. Absence of a struggle is artificial and leads to death. Medi and her friends chose life.
The rocket blasted off taking the group of friends and leaving the dead world behind. They had found the moon was just as peaceful as advertised. So they left it behind.