Fly me to the moon.
Fanfic by Englishwitch

Chapter 2

The train came to a steaming halt in Ponyville station. Among the usual departing pony passengers came a single griffin. She had golden coloured eyes, white eagle feathers on her head, golden brown lions fur and brown eagle wings. She carried a single saddlebag on her back and kept shuffling in discomfort; saddlebags weren’t really made to be strapped to a griffin. She looked up and down the platform and sighed. “Never thought I’d come back to this town.”

Suddenly there was an explosion of confetti and music. A pink blur started hopping around the platform.
“Welcome welcome welcome
A fine welcome to you
Welcome welcome welcome
I say – oh, it’s you”

Pinkie stopped moving long enough to recognise Gilda. With a kick of her back leg Pinkie silenced the manic musical machine before the confetti cannons went off.

She rushed up to Gilda, taking her talons in her hoof. “Hey Gilda, welcome back to Ponyville. It’s nice to see you again. Even if the last time you were here you were a big grumpy, meany, McMean pants. Have you come to see Rainbow Dash? Have you come to make friends with her again? Because that would just be super duper awesome. OOOOHHHH I should put on a We’re Friends Again Party! Oh, but I can’t because Dash has gone some big super important things going on today and we’re having a party to celebrate that but if you don’t mind we could have a We’re friends again party tomorrow. Or if you can’t wait we can merge the two parties together and make one awesome huge mega party, like the time I had my birthday and Gummy’s after-birthday party. Oh, but you don’t know Gummy, how could you, silly me, you never met. He’s-”

“PINKIE PIE!!!” Gilda reared back and roared in the pink ponies face. Pinkie fell silent but her smile was ever present. Gilda had to take several deep breaths and resist the urge to claw at the ponies face. This was the pony who had humiliated her the first —and last— time she’d been in Ponyville. She’d ruined her friendship with Rainbow Dash. The pink pest was still here and still friends with Rainbow it seemed.
“I guess you’re my welcome wagon.” She grumbled under her breath. “I know what Dash is doing, trying for the altitude record, that’s the cool Rainbow Dash I know.” She held up an ID card for Pinkie to read.

Pinkie’s eyes, somehow, grew to twice their normal size. Her mouth widened in a matching smile. “Oh WOW! So you’re the judge who’s going to see Dashie break the world record? That’s awesome.”

Gilda’s face remained as serious and unamused as ever. “I’m here to see Dash try for the record. Whether she breaks it or not depends how good she is.”

Pinkie started vibrating with excitement. “Oh she’s just awesome! She’s been training hard. I mean really, really, REALLY hard. She--” Gilda put a claw over Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

“Okay!” She snapped. “Let’s just go and get this over with.”

...***...

In the outskirts of town, a huge hot air balloon was inflating. It’s owner was Cherry Berry, an earth pony mare with a light pink coat and a bright, golden yellow mane. She was currently wearing a pair of pilot’s goggles and was watching her balloon intently, making sure the flame didn’t burn too high and the guy ropes were tied properly.

The group, minus Pinkie, were assembled around the balloon. Twilight was working some last minute magical tweaks to a set of gems, two; a blue and a red, were the size of a bit coin, a purple one was the size of a hoof, while a second purple one was the size of a pony’s head.

Rainbow Dash paced in a large circle around the balloon, moving was the only thing stopping her nerves completely consuming her. She looked odd, dressed in her black and purple flight suit, which looked like the uniform of the Shadow Bolts; an illusionary racing team created by Nightmare Moon as a temptation for Rainbow’s loyalty. This suit had been made by Rarity, tailored to Dash’s exact measurements with comfort and warmth in mind.

Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy had long given up trying to talk to Rainbow or Twilight, they were both too absorbed in their own activities to notice the outside world.

“I wonder who the judge will be.” Rarity said, trying hard to not sound as nervous as she felt.

Applejack was about to speak when she caught sight of a bright pink pony, “Well, I gotta say I wasn’t expectin that.” She pointed to Gilda.

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Applejack.

Rainbow Dash stopped her pacing to stare. “Gilda? What are you doing here.”

“Hey Dash.” Gilda waved a claw casually.

Pinkie bounced up to Rainbow. “Isn’t it great Dashie? Gilda is gonna be your judge for your record breaking.”

Gilda held up her ID for the ponies to inspect.

Dash even lifted the goggles over her eyes to see it better. “Whoa, I didn’t know you worked for griffin’s world records, G.”

Gilda shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yeah, I saw an ad in the paper and I thought, why not? I get to travel around the world, all expenses paid and see folks try and do awesome tricks to get in a crummy book.”

“Crummy book?” Twilight stepped forward but Dash stopped her by holding out her foreleg.

“Easy Twi, Gilda isn’t one for reading, right G?”

Gilda just shrugged. “Well I gotta read some stuff for work, all boring, but other than that, naw; books are for eggheads.”

Twilight and Rainbow shared a knowing look and a snigger, which annoyed Gilda.

“What?” she growled at them.

“Nothing G, nothing.” Rainbow dismissed her with a wave of her hoof. “remind me to introduce you to Daring Do when all this is done?”

Gilda cocked her head, an eyebrow raised. “Daring who? Is she cool?”

Dash nodded. “Oh, she’s awesome.”

Gilda looked surprised, as though the thought of anyone cool being in Ponyville was hard to believe. “Later then. I got stuff to check before you get flying. First, who made the suit.”

Rarity gave the griffon a dark look. “I did, darling.”

Gilda looked nonplussed “Are there any magical enchantments of any kind on the suit?”

Rarity shook her head. “Of course not.” She snapped.

Gilda, if anything, looked bored. “Nothing personal, just a job to do. The purpose of the suit?”

Rainbow took that one. “Cuts down wind resistance and help keep me warm at high altitudes.”

Rarity smiled proudly “The dark colours help absorb heat from the sun but the breathable material-”

“Okay.” Gilda spoke over Rarity, much to the unicorns annoyance. “And what equipment, if any, will you be carrying up with you?”

Twilight stepped forward, levitating two the the gems in front of her. “Just these two enchanted gems, I guess you’ll want to inspect them.” she gave the blue gem to Gilda, “the blue gem has been enchanted to be altitude sensitive, when Rainbow flies above 123,000 feet it’ll start to vibrate to let her know she’s gone above the old record. It’s also magically linked to Rainbow’s goggles and these sunglasses,” she levitated the purple lensed sunglasses onto her face. “they give both of us a heads-up-display, telling us what the altitude is at all times.”

Gilda took a moment to inspect the gem, Dash’s goggles and Twilight’s sunglasses, checking for anything that would give Dash unfair help in her attempt.

“What’s the other gem?” the griffon pointed to the red jewel Twilight was still holding onto.

Twilight levitated it over to her. “It’s enchanted to be a communication gem. When the gem is placed on Rainbow’s suit, over her throat, it’ll pick up the vibrations of her larynx and magically transmit them as signals to two other jewels; one will be in the balloon and the other here on the ground. They’ll enable us to hear what Dash says perfectly, even if she talks in just a whisper.”

Gilda took a lot longer to inspect this gem, even going so far to use a jewellers eyepiece to see it closely.

“Okay.” she said finally. “It all checks out.” she handed the gems to Twilight who then magically attached them to Rainbow’s flight suit.

Gilda worked at the strap of her saddlebag, pulling it open. She sighed loudly with relief as she pulled the thing off her body. “Guess I won’t be needed these.” When she dropped the bag its catch opened, spilling several pieces of equipment to the ground. Twilight and Rainbow couldn’t help themselves and examined the objects. There was a small oxygen tank and mask customised to fit over a griffin’s beak. The other object was a large round metal device that looked a little like a clock.

“An altimeter?” Twilight gasped. “You brought your own altimeter?” She looked at the device, to Gilda and back again. “I spent days researching and enchanting these gems and you brought your own?”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “I had to bring one, how else would we know if Dash reached the right altitude.” She managed a weak smile. “But your gems are pretty cool, smaller and lighter, we won’t have to worry about equipment weighing Dash down.”

Cherry Berry interrupted things by shouting, “the balloon’s ready.”

Gilda gave Cherry a long, hard, look, which made the pony want to join Fluttershy; who still hadn’t come out of her hiding place from behind Applejack. For the pony it felt like an eternity before the griffin looked back to Twilight.
“You know Dash can’t ride up in a balloon right? She has to fly the whole way.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “We know, but we wanted to follow her up as far as we could. For support, you know?”

Gilda cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess that would be okay.” She glanced at the basket attached the balloon. “I’ll go too.”

The whole group of ponies looked surprised. Gilda hadn’t looked like she cared whether anypony was by Dash’s side or not but she’d been very eager to follow her up in the balloon.

Cherry Berry broke the surprise by clearing her throat. “With me and a griffin in the basket we’ll only have room for two more ponies.”

“I’ll go!” Twilight and Applejack spoke at the same time, before anypony else in the group even managed to open their mouths.

...***...

Slowly the purple balloon rose above the cloud line. Seconds later a basket containing three ponies and one griffin came into view. A cyan pegasus in a purple and black flight suit was gently hovering next to them.

“Okay,” Cherry Berry called from a cramped corner of the basket. “We’re about three kilometres up, that’s twice as high as I’ve taken the balloon before. I don’t feel comfortable taking us much higher.”

Applejack gave her a sideways glance. “We’ve taken’ the balloon higher than this. Could you try sugar-cube? Please?”

Cherry bit her lip as she mentally debated the risks. “Okay, but not too much higher.” She pulled on a bit of rope to open the burners. The balloon started to rise again.

Gilda and Twilight were distracted with Rainbow.

“Okay Rainbow,” Twilight said in a reassuring voice. “I’m going to send a little magical spark to activate the altimeter and communication gem. If they work your goggles should display your altitude and we should be able to hear your voice through this gem,” she indicated the purple jewel she held in her hoof, “and the one on the ground. But we won’t be able to talk back. Okay?”

Rainbow nodded her head and slipped the goggles over her eyes. “No problem Twi.”

Twilight’s horn glowed brightly for a second before she let loose a tiny and weak spark of magical energy. The gems attached to Rainbow’s flight suit glowed with a magenta light for a second.

“Whoa.” Rainbow raised her hooves in front of her eyes. Looking through her goggles she could see the numbers displaying her altitude with a strong amber light. They were always in the foreground of her vision. She raised her hooves and they were in front of her hooves. She looked at Twilight and Gilda and the numbers were in front of Gilda. “That is way cool.”

“And you’re coming through loud and clear.” Twilight said, indicating the gem at her side. “I guess, you can start when ready. Good luck Rainbow.”

Applejack smiled. “Good luck Sugar-cube”

Gilda nodded. “Good luck Dash.”

Rainbow grinned. “Thanks, all of you. Hey G, could we?”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “What?” then realisation dawned. “Oh c’mon.”

Rainbow put her hooves together. “Please? For luck.”

Gilda sighed. “Only for you Dash.”

Together they started to chant;
“Junior Speedsters are our lives,
Sky-bound soars and daring dives
Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,
To some day be the very best!”

Gilda rubbed at the back of her neck in her embarrassment but Dash’s grin had widened. “Thanks G.” With a mighty flap of her wings she shot off into the sky, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.

Twilight shook her head. “We told her to pace herself.”

“Five kilometres.” Cherry Berry claimed. Her voice sounded weak, her breath thin, “I’m not going any higher.” She cut out the burners and left the balloon to drift.

Applejack had to sit down. “I feel dizzy.”

The three ponies followed suit. “The air is pretty thin up here.” Twilight explained. “We should sit as still as possible and,” she paused to take a deep breath. “breath slow but deep.”

Gilda was the only one who didn’t seem to be suffering from the altitude. Although she had to admit that she was having a little trouble catching her breath she wasn’t dizzy like the ponies.

“Reaching 10 kilometres now.” Rainbow Dash’s voice came through the gem. Gilda was surprised, Dash wasn’t moving more than 30kph if she’s only covered 5km in 2 minutes. “I’m gonna start picking up my pace.”

Gilda took the sunglasses off Twilight’s face and placed them over her eyes. The glowing amber numbers of Rainbow’s altitude started to climb, very rapidly.
“That’s more like the Dash I know.”

“Air’s getting thin.” Dash coughed, her voice a hoarse whisper. She flapped her wings harder. With the thin air she had to work harder to achieve the same results. “Tell Rarity her suit’s great at keeping out the cold.”

Frost was building up on her goggles. She had to wipe them with her hoof to keep her vision clear. The sky was darkening, the rich blue giving way to the dark blackness of space. “Passing....” she coughed. The air was thin and cold, she couldn’t get enough to fill her lungs and each breath she took made her chest hurt, like ice was forming in her throat. “Pas...” she coughed again. “28 kilometres.” Her breaths were hoarse rasps, her heart was pounding in her ears. Despite all her training, her wings were starting to hurt. Condensation had frosted up, building up a fine layer of ice on her wings.

Twilight kept her eyes on the sky but Rainbow was too high to be seen. Until everything had been books and spells, facts and figures. She knew what Rainbow Dash would be facing as her gained altitude, but like many things in life the experience was proving different and more terrifying. She was worried for her friend. Dash had sounded like she was really struggling to keep going during that last message. “Stay safe Rainbow.” She whispered.

“35.” Dash gasped. She felt the cold now, ironically it felt like it was burning her skin. Ice had formed on her mane and tail. They hung limp and heavy. She could feel the frost around her exposed mouth.

Despite her wings flapping harder than ever she was barely moving. “37.” She managed a weak laugh. The gem attached to her uniform started to vibrate. “Guess I equalled the old record guys.” She kept moving her wings but the numbers displayed on her goggles were barely moving any more.

“I’m....doing....okay.” Rainbow gasped out. “I....don’t feel....cold any....more.” Rainbow Dash flopped her head. Her limbs felt so heavy. She stared at her surroundings. The blue of the sky was below her, around was the dark black of space. The sun shone down but she didn’t feel its warmth. All of Equestria, all of the world, was displayed. She could see the curve of the earth and beyond the horizon. She was looking down on the whole of creation. She had never felt so awed, so moved, so small.

Tears rose inside her goggles. “It’s beautiful.” she gasped, barely hearing her own voice. “I’ve flown...so far...I can almost....touch the stars.” she coughed weakly. “I see Celestia’s sun....and Luna’s....moon...together...in the sky....they ne....never looked....so...bright....oh you can’t....imagine....its so....beautiful....guys....I’ve never....been happier....except....when we be....became...friends....it’s just how....I dreamed...it...would....be...”

Applejack looked at Twilight, who shared her scared expression. Despite the enchantment on the gem, which amplified even a whisper from Rainbow into normal volume, they had barely heard that last part.
“C’mon sugar-cube” She urged. “C’mon home to us now.”

Gilda continued to stare at the clouds through the sunglasses. “38.7 kilometres,” she read the display in a dry voice. “and still climbing.”

Rainbow’s thin voice came through the communication gem. “I...feel...so...calm....so....” she said some things that none of them heard for a few seconds. “peaceful.” was the last word.

Gilda finally moved her head from the sky. “39 kilometres.” she said in a dry voice. “dammit Dash, come on back. I didn’t come all this way to lose you.” out of the corner of her eye she noticed the three ponies glance at her. “So I chose this assignment so I’d have an excuse to come to this town and apologise to her, what of it?” she sounded more worried than angry. Her gaze still didn’t leave the clouds. “Dash was my best friend for a long time, of course I wanna be her pal again.”

Rainbow Dash felt her body go limp. Her vision was greying. Some instinct made her tilt her wings to move her back toward the ground. Her body knew which way to go. “take me home.”

She passed out as she started to fall.

Author's Notes:

37 kilometres might not sound like a huge distance but it is. I looked into it for some level of accuracy, but still took some creative license for the story. So if you spot any inaccuracies, they are there on purpose.
Commercial airlines fly between ten and twenty kilometres, hot air balloons usually don't go higher than 1 kilometre, and the world record for a parachute freefall; set by Felix Baumgartner in 2012, was from a height of 39 kilometres. Most weather balloons don't go much higher than that.
Traces of earth's atmosphere stretch out 800km, the international space station orbits at a height of 400km and, according to NASA, space officially begins at 80km.
Here ends the lesson.

Putting in Gilda was a last minute decision, originally I was going to go with an OC griffon, but figured that since I was going with a griffon I might as well go with the one griffon everyone knows. Once she was chosen all her interactions with the others just fell into place.