"Spectating"
By Thy_Carpenter (https://pastebin.com/u/Thy_Carpenter)

URL: https://pastebin.com/eCTHtjZj
Created on: Monday 23rd of October 2017 12:59:51 AM CDT
Retrieved on: Friday 30 of October 2020 12:57:52 PM UTC


>It’s so beautiful.
>It may be cliche, but sometimes simple is better than sophisticated.
>You float in the vacuum of space several meters from your spacecraft and watch the world below you.
>All the troubles of the world are completely gone as you look at your home country, Equestria.
>You can see Las Pegasus, Canterlot, Filly Delphia, Manehatten without even moving your head.
>There’s also Saddle Arabia and The Griffin Kingdom not far away.
>Looking about there’s nothing but stars in all other directions.
>How could the countries down there be so hostile to one another over land, resources, simple greed when there’s a whole universe to explore?
>How could their hate fester so?
>Your philosophical questions gently bounce around your mind as you lose yourself once again to watching the beauty of the world.
>”Ground Control to Stardust, you're nearing the end of your allocated spacewalk time. Please return to the craft.”
“Copy that Ground Control. Returning.”
>You give a gentle tug to your lifeline and float towards your craft.
>As you begin to adjust your attitude to face the ship, a flash catches your eye.
>That’s odd… It came from Equestria.
>Canterlot seems to have been covered by a dark cloud.
“Ground Control, it seems that what looks like a storm has materialized over Canterlot. Everything alright down there?”
>Radio silence.
>A beep indicates that your radio channel has been switched.
>”Stardust, this is Ground Control Bravo, Ground Control Alpha has gone silent. Bravo is taking over command while we look into this. Please report your status.
”Roger. As I was returning to my craft from EVA there was a flash coming from Equestria, and when I turned to look there was a cloud covering Canterlot. Can you confirm?”
>”Uhhh, wait 20.”
>Roughly twenty second pass.
>”We’re getting no pings back from Canterlot, there’s a complete communications blackout from that area.”
>A flash engulfs Manehatten and another cloud forms from it.
>There’s another from The Griffin Kingdom.
>Another from Saddle Arabia.
>You lock up completely and hyperventilate.
>The entirety of your body is washed by a wave of cold.
>”Ground Control Bravo to Stardust, we’re receiving widespread blackouts across Equestria. Can you see what’s going on from up there? We’re in the dark down here.”
>A flash from the center of what used to be cloudsdale.
>A cluster of flashes in Saddle Arabia.
>The Griffin Kingdom is no less enlightened.
>”Stardust, do you copy? We’re still reading data from you, but no voice comms.”
“I-It’s…” you crackle out, each letter cutting as it leaves your throat, “Over.”
>”Stardust, say again? It’s ov-” a flash from Baltimare cuts their transmission.
>Your back bumps into your spacecraft as you watch, frozen, as the world below you flashes and turns to glowing ember.
>There’s no reaction as you rebound off of your spacecraft and rotate.
>It’s all gone.
>All of it.
>Earth.
>Equestria.
>All the other nations.
>All the leaders.
>All the ponies.
>All the souls.
>They’re gone.
>They finally did it.
>After all these years of international tension, they did it.
>They launched their armageddon-ensuring arsenal at each other.
>...
>...
>...
>It sinks into you.
>You stop breathing.
>The spark that set the whole world alight.
>It was you.
>The first pony into space, meant to usher in peace, somehow uniting all the countries under a common goal of exploring the stars.
>It was a crapshoot.
>It was a crapshoot that failed.
>No-one knew how the other countries would react.
>The princesses assured everyone that it would be some kind of magical fucking storytale.
>A happy ending of peace, love, prosperity.
>Instead someone somewhere saw it differently when we launched and decided to launch something of their own!
>With each rotation the Earth turns more and more to embers.
>It’s weird, you should be crying about how your race just killed itself, but you stop to laugh about how a handful of countries could keep so many goddamn nukes.
>It’s a good five minutes before they stop flashing.
>And another good two before you cry.
>You don’t know how long it was before you finally pulled yourself back to your ship and floated alongside it.
>What good was it anyway?
>Your flight was charted to land you in the South Lunar Ocean for helicopter recovery.
>What good is that plan if the pilots are dead and everyone has forgotten you’re up here?
>What difference does it make if you die up here or die down there?
>The only change you can think of is the scenery.
>You let out a sigh that seemed to take every ounce of energy in you to give.
>You order your oxygen pumps to shut down.
>They protest that you’re still in an airless environment and that this will endanger your life.
>You ignore them and they cease operation.
>The humidity in your suit rapidly climbs.
>You look at the inside of your helmet to the photo you taped there.
>The one you left behind.
>Your visor has fogged over and you’re alone in your personally tailored coffin.
>It’s easy to fall asleep after all the stress you’ve been through.
“Just a nap,” you tell yourself.