It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. It was the first day of summer, to be precise. Ponies were laughing and playing in the park, splashing in the pond, and enjoying the summer. As was their weekend tradition, Derpy and Dr. Whooves went out for a picnic.

“It sure is a nice day for a picnic,” Derpy observed.

“It certainly is,” agreed Dr. Whooves. “Couldn’t ask for a more perfect day!”

When they arrived at the park, they browsed around for a spot to set up.

“This spot is too rocky,” noted Derpy. “This one is too muddy, and this one has too many bees.” At last, she found a spot that was just right. “I’ve found it, Doc: the perfect place to have our picnic!”

“Superb, Derpy!” exclaimed Dr. Whooves. “There’s nary a drop of mud, there’s a fair amount of dew on the grass, there’s a nice cross breeze, and we’re not in the line of fire of stray balls or flying discs.”

“True,” Derpy began, “but I just meant that there weren’t any rocks or mud.”

“Right, heh-heh,” Dr. Whooves gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Now, what do you say we ‘dig in,’ as the saying goes?”

“I’m right with you, Doc!”

From their picnic basket, Dr. Whooves unpacked sandwiches and watermelon slices. Derpy unpacked iced tea and muffins.

“Mmm! These sandwiches are so good,” Derpy complimented. “What’s your secret?”

Dr. Whooves explained, “They consist of three tomato slices each of equal width, four pickle chips, four onion slices, three leaves of lettuce, two slices of Swiss cheese- “

“And a partridge in a pear tree!” Derpy joked.

“It took some time to get the formula right. It must have just the right amount of each ingredient, otherwise, it wouldn’t taste as good.”

Derpy smiled. “Oh, Doc, must everything be done with math and science?”

“I can’t help it, Derpy. It’s all around us. Math is the language of the universe. It’s what helps us understand science and magic.”

As they enjoyed their picnic, they watched the other ponies play. They even got in on the fun when they were asked to play a game of buck ball. Among the activities was the Pony Tones’ concert in the park.

Later that evening, Derpy watched as the sun set and the moon rose. Her eyes lit up with a brilliant idea. She hurried to tell Dr. Whooves. “Doc, Doc, I have a brilliant idea!”

“What is it, Derpy?” the doctor inquired.

“As I was watching the moon rise, I was thinking about how beautiful it is, and I wondered, ‘It must be such an amazing view from up there.’ And that’s when I thought: what if we could actually go there?”

“Great whickering stallions!” Dr. Whooves exclaimed. “We actually go to the moon? What a marvelous idea. Why didn’t I think of that before?”

“What do you say, Doc?”

“I say: Get ready, Derpy. We are going to the moon!”

***

Derpy and Dr. Whooves spent the following day assembling a rocket ship. As the doctor was making the final adjustments, Derpy was sitting outside, watching as the moon rose high above Equestria.

Once the nighttime luminary was set in the sky, Derpy went happily inside to inform the doctor. “Hey, Doc, the moon has risen!”

“Excellent!” replied the doctor. “I’m putting the finishing touches on the rocket.”

Derpy looked at it in admiration. “It’s amazing.”

“It certainly is the bee’s knees as the foals say.”

The copper-colored rocket ship had two seats, one in front of the other. A set of fins were positioned around the thruster.

Dr. Whooves finished polishing the little windshields in front of the seats. “There we go,” he said with pride.

The doctor and Derpy donned their spacesuits then wheeled their rocket ship outside, with some help from Big Mac, to an open field just outside Ponyville.

“It’s a clear night,” noted Dr. Whooves. “Favorable weather conditions mean we don’t have to scrub the mission.”

They reached the field where two rows of cones were lined up in a makeshift runway at the end of which was a ramp. A crowd was gathered to see the astro-ponies off.  Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were waiting beside the runway.

Applejack whistled when she saw the rocket ship. “Well, would ya look at that?”

“Thank you for allowing us to use your field,” said Derpy.

“Think nuthin’ of it,” Granny Smith replied. “Glad we could help.”

Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle arrived to witness the event.

“Whoa!” Scootaloo was amazed. “Is that the rocket?”

“I can’t believe you guys are going to space,” Rainbow Dash was equally amazed. “That is so awesome!”

“I was so excited when Apple Bloom told us about the rocket,” said Sweetie Belle.

“This rocket sounds rather dangerous,” said Rarity. She patted Sweetie Belle on the head. “I’m here to make sure you’re safe.”

Derpy and Dr. Whooves climbed aboard the rocket ship.

“All systems go, Doc,” Derpy reported.

Dr. Whooves was beside himself. “Great whickering stallions! We are actually going to the moon!”

“I know! It’ll be so much fun!”

Dr. Whooves started up the engine and began the countdown, “T-minus ten. Nine.” Derpy joined him, “Eight. Seven.” Everypony counted down with them, “Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

“Blast off!” Derpy exclaimed.

The thruster ignited, propelling the rocket forward. Everypony cheered as Derpy and Dr. Whooves gained momentum and approached the ramp. Whoosh! They flew off the ramp at top speed and became airborne.

Dr. Whooves was ecstatic. “Ha, ha! We’re flying! We’re going to space!”

Everypony on the ground watched in awe as they soared out of sight.

“How awesome would it be to go to the moon?” asked Scootaloo.

“Totally awesome!” answered Rainbow Dash.

Apple Bloom imagined how fun going to the moon would be. “Hey, Applejack,” she began, “do ya think we could go to the moon?”

Applejack smiled. “Ah don’t think so, baby sister. Reckon it could be dangerous. Don’t you go gettin’ any crazy ideas.”

Apple Bloom walked up to her big brother. “Hey, Big Mac, do ya think we could go to the moon?”

Big Mac replied, “Eeyup.”

“It wouldn’t be too dangerous?”

“Nope. Ain’t nuthin’s too dangerous for us.” Big Mac gave an assuring wink.

Up in the sky, Dr. Whooves and Derpy soon reached an elevation even higher than Cloudsdale.

“Look how small everything looks,” Derpy observed the Earth below.

As they soared through the levels of the atmosphere, Dr. Whooves observed the odometer and the altimeter on the dashboard. They were now in outer space!

“We’re in space, Derpy!” Dr. Whooves exclaimed. “We did it: we’re in space!”

Derpy pretended to give a mission report. “Houston, this is Derpy, flying where no Pegasus has flown before.”

As they soared through the cosmos, they passed by asteroids and comets. The twinkling stars looked like fireflies dancing against the summer night sky. Beyond them glowed a cluster of galaxies and overhead was the horizon of the interstellar open range called the Milky Way. Derpy and Dr. Whooves were cowponies in this new frontier.

The moon grew bigger as the astronaut ponies neared the heavenly body.

“Prepare for landing,” Dr. Whooves cautioned.

They navigated their craft nice and easily toward the lunar surface. They swiftly touched down and came to a steady stop.

“The Eagle has landed!” Derpy said with a smile.

They were on the moon!

“Great whickering stallions.” Dr. Whooves was awestruck.

“I’ve seen the Earth from the clouds,” started Derpy, “but from up here…” She also found herself speechless of their sublime surroundings.

Immersed in the vastness of the ocean of stars and galaxies was so surreal; it was like living in a dream, like something that only seemed a work of fantasy that has become reality.

They hopped out from the rocket to explore the lunar world.

“We-e-e!” Derpy found fun in floating above the ground, drifting to and fro.

“This is extraordinary!” Dr. Whooves laughed joyfully.

There was so much fun to be had in this zero-gravity environment: they challenged each other to see how far they could bounce, they hit a ball back and forth like a balloon on Earth, and performed mid-air somersaults. As they played, Dr. Whooves monitored their oxygen levels; their air supply was stored in convenient tanks in their astro-saddlebags. After an hour of playing, they had just enough oxygen to return home. Before they departed, Dr. Whooves collected moon rock samples. Derpy planted the Ponyville flag in the lunar ground. They positioned a camera on a tripod and stood in front of it with the flag and the Earth in the background. Derpy pressed the button on the shutter remote, connected to the camera via extension cable, to snap the photograph. Once they had everything packed, they climbed aboard the rocket ship, buckled up, and blasted off for Equestria.

***

Back on Earth, everypony had gathered early the next morning at the field just outside Ponyville to witness the return of Derpy and Dr. Whooves from their trip to the moon. In her hot air balloon, Cherry Berry observed something through her binoculars. Seeing that it was the astronaut ponies, she signaled the ponies on the ground with a glow stick.

Seeing her light, Spike announced, “Hey, everypony, Dr. Whooves and Derpy are coming! They’re on their way!”

Everypony turned their attention to the orange and lavender early morning sky. As the two astro-ponies descended through the atmosphere, their rocket caught the rays of the rising sun and glistened like a star. Derpy released the parachute to begin slowing the rocket. When they landed, everypony gathered around them and lifted them on their backs in celebration.

That afternoon at Town Hall, before the townsponies, Mayor Mare bestowed medals on them for their accomplishment. “It is with great honor that I present to you, Derpy, and to you, Dr. Whooves, these medals for your remarkable achievement, braving the unknown, and pushing the boundaries of what a pony can do.”

Dr. Whooves and Derpy presented a moon rock to Mayor Mare for Ponyville which was put proudly on display for all to see. In celebration of their successful voyage, Derpy baked a batch of her new “moon muffins.” It wasn’t long before word of their journey reached Canterlot and the astro-ponies were invited to the castle by Princess Luna where she honored them for their insurmountable feat.

In the royal assembly, Derpy and Dr. Whooves presented Princess Luna with a moon rock for Equestria.

Princess Luna announced in her royal Canterlot voice, “Let it be known that on this night, we bestow upon thee the Trailblazer and Pathfinder Award for thy adventure into the mysteries of the unknown. Thou hast the spirit of discovery. We declare this historic event a small step for a pony and one giant leap for pony-kind.”

Epilogue

With a thought to explore the cosmos, Princess Luna sought to train ponies to become astronauts. She began collaborating with Spitfire in Cloudsdale to establish a Space Force branch of the Wonderbolts, thus setting their sights beyond the wild blue yonder to the final frontier.