Space Oddity

Chapters

Chapter 1: Rocket
Chapter 2: The Final Countdown
Chapter 3: Well Thought Out Twinkles
Chapter 4: In The Meantime
Chapter 5: Aurora (Meet Me In The Stars)
Chapter 6: Away From The Sun
Chapter 7: Free Fallin'

Chapter 1: Rocket

Along a dirt path just on the outskirts of Ponyville, a small purple and green dragon walked along pulling a wagon. Inside the wagon was a pile of books. These heavy, hardcovered books were under the protection of the diligent and ever faithful companion to Twilight Sparkle. After being set to the wrong address in the next town over, Coltland, it was up to Spike to go on an errand to gather them for the librarian of Ponyville. Despite being an inconvenience for him, Spike didn’t mind too much. The weather was pleasant and he was actually happy he got a chance to get outside. The blue sky was a bold blue, welcoming any and all who wished to be adventurous.

As he continued down the path, Spike heard a clash of familiar voices not too far from him.

“That’s not where you should put the window!”

“Well, where else would ah put it? We need ta see out of the front, right?”

“Hey girls? What does ‘fragile’ mean?”

“I think that’s what we need for rocket fuel.”

“Ah thought that was a fancy word fer breathin’ air.”

“Should it sound like it’s broken?”

The voices continued to talk amongst themselves as Spike ventured closer. He pulled the wagon with him to a small clearing amongst the bushes where he found the source of the commotion: the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Behind the three fillies was a fairly large rectangular, cardboard box lying on the ground length-wise.

“Ah’m tellin’ ya, we’re gonna need an engine fer this thing,” Applebloom explained, pointing at one of the ends of the box.

Scootaloo was quick to reply, “Is an engine really that important for a rocket?”

With a paint brush in her mouth, Sweetie Belle interrupted, “Can I paint it now?”

The earth pony and pegasus replied in unison, “Not yet!”

Finally seeing an opportunity to interject, Spike spoke, “Hey, what are you ponies doing?”

Noticing Spike, the ponies were surprised to see the small dragon.

“Oh, Spike! Didn’t see you there,” Sweetie Belle was the first to speak, welcoming the reptile.

The dragon pointed at the box, “What is that you’re working on?”

“Oh, that?” Applebloom turned to take a glance at their work, “It’s a….”

Scootaloo interrupted her friend, “It’s a spaceship!”

“Well,” the yellow filly resumed, “ah was gonna say rocket ship, but yeah, we’re makin’ a spaceship.”

Spike stared at the young ponies in both confusion and disbelief, “You’re doing what now?”

“We’re making a spaceship and gonna launch it right up into the sky! We’ll fly up into the sky and look at the stars….and fly up beyond the moon…..and zoom in close to the sun and….and….stuff!” Scootaloo’s rambling was excited, full of energy, and eager for her goal.

Sweetie Belle continued her friend’s statement, “And we are hoping to get our cutie marks while we're at it! Space travel cutie marks!”

“Are you kidding me? You girls plan to fly up into the sky with that box? What a piece of junk,” Spike again pointed to the box behind the fillies.

All four examined the box. Upon a closer look, the large cardboard box had obviously seen better days. The box looked as if Applebloom’s sister bucked the one of the ends and bucked a couple holes in the side. A few water stains were also apparent on a few places. But as well as structure damage, there was also cosmetic damage. It looked like the young ponies made a futile attempt to "fix" the box's flaws by drawing on it with crayons. It also seemed that the top of the box could not stay closed without the help of tape.

“What’s wrong our box?” the red maned pony asked.

“For starters, it looks as if you found it in a junkyard,” the dragon stated.

“But we did find it in a junkyard,” Sweetie Belle explained, with the rest of the crusaders nodding to her statement.

Spike looked at the box. He squinted at it. He raised his claws up, extending his fingers to frame the box. His tongue stuck out as he did his. Finally, he bursted out, “A-ha! I got it!”

“Got what?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head.

“I know how to make your box here a grade-A rocket ship, fit for Princess Luna herself!” the dragon proclaimed with pride.

“Really?” all three fillies stared at Spike, eagerly awaiting confirmation.

“Totally! Just take me to that junkyard and we can totally make this an into awesome rocket!” Spike walked up to the box, patting it with his claw twice.

“Then….” Sweetie Belle looked toward the other crusaders, smiling widely.

“….that means….” Applebloom continued with stars in her eyes.

“….we get to go to space!” Scootaloo elatedly bounced up and down.

Spike shared in their enthusiasm, “Then what are we waiting for? To the junkyard!”

Chapter 2: The Final Countdown

After a few hours of digging through piles of trash at the nearby junkyard, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike had finished. With a coat of dirt and grime covering all of their bodies, they looked on proudly at their creation. The way the youngsters saw it, they built an amazing space faring vessel out of what little they could find. Their masterpiece of a rocket rested at the flat end of a long runway with a ramp at the end.

“It’s beautiful….” Sweetie Belle commented.

“It’s amazin’….” Applebloom added.

“It’s so totally awesome!” Scootaloo finished as she rushed up to the ship. She hugged the hull of the rocket with a large smile on her face.

Spike also had a smile on his face. His, however, was one of pride. “I guess Twilight forcing me to read all of those science fiction books came in handy after all,” he joked.

Applebloom turned to face Spike, “Hey Spike, ah know this might sound pretty weird an’ what not, but me an’ the girls wanted ta know if ya would do us the honor of bein’ our captain?”

“Huh?” this question caught the dragon off guard, “Me?”

“Yeah, you helped us make this awesome rocket, it’s the least we can do for you!” Scootaloo nodded.

The white unicorn added, “Besides, we all know what we are going to be doing anyway. Scootaloo will be the pilot, Applebloom will be the engineer, and I’ll be the crewpony that will make sure that we don’t die but might actually die in the process.” The final part of her statement resulted in her receiving weird looks from the others, “What?”

“But really, would ya please?” Applebloom turned the attention back to the question.

Spike bashfully rubbed the back of his neck with a claw, “Goodness, I never thought I would be captain of anything, much less than a rocket ship. Heh, why not, I’ll do it! Captain Spike, reporting for duty!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered for their new leader as he saluted them with his claw.

Inside of the white rocket ship, the four youngsters were at the bridge. Scootaloo took her post in front of a large window. From there she could see anything and everything in front of the ship. Sweetie Belle was at her post, sitting to the right side of the pegasus at a computer console with numerous buttons in front of her. To the left of Scootaloo, Applebloom waited at her station, which had just as many, if not more buttons, as Sweetie Belle’s station. An empty chair rested in the center of the bridge. A door in the back suddenly opened. Walking towards the chair was a dragon.

The white unicorn turned to see the figure, saluted, and announced, “Captain on the bridge!” The other two turned around and followed suit.

“At ease,” he addressed them as he planted his bottom on his chair in the center, “Status report, Lieutenant Commander Applebloom.”

“Engine readins’ state we’re at one hundred percent efficiency,” she declared.

Spike nodded, “Excellent. Ship status, Commander Sweetie Belle.”

“All readings are okie-dokey, sir!” the unicorn cheerfully spoke.

Trying his best to hold in a laugh, the dragon acknowledged Sweetie Belle, “Right, and Lieutenant Scootaloo, are you ready for take off?”

The orange pegasus turned around from her chair and looked at Spike, “Ready? Please, I was born ready!”

“Ah’m beginning to feel a bit nervous ‘bout this ta be honest, Captain,” Applebloom admitted.

Scootaloo turned to look at her earth pony comrade, “Are you serious about this, we’re doing something too awesome to be worried about being scared! This is space we are talking about. The final frontier. We are going to where even pegasi can only dream about traveling to. We are boldly going where no pony has gone before!”

“Start the countdown!” Spike commanded, pointing forward, “Counting down from ten!”

“Roger that! Beginning countdown now!” Scootaloo shouted as she pressed a few buttons, bringing the rockets to life. “Ten!”

“Are we sure we’re ready? Ah mean, are all the readins’ sayin’ we’re ready?” Applebloom nervously stated.

“Nine!”

Sweetie Belle yelled back to Applebloom, “All systems are go!”

“Eight!”

“Are ya sure?” she called back.

“Seven!”

The unicorn called back one last time, “I see no reason that might be a problem!”

“Six!”

Applebloom looked forward, nervously gripping the computer panel in front of her.

“Five!”

A look of doubt on Sweetie Belle’s face revealed that she was second-guessing the computer’s readings.

“Four!”

As for Scootaloo, the pegasus seemed determined to fly the rocket up, even if it killed her. She continued shouting the countdown.

“Three!”

As for the captain, Spike sank slightly in to his seat as he glared out the large window in front of him.

“Two!”

Spike gripped the armrests of his chair.

“One!”

The rocket came to life as fire erupted from its rear, propelling it forward and down the runway the youngsters had built.

“Rockets at maximum power!” Sweetie Belle shouted over the roar of the engines. She and Applebloom held on to their panels for dear life, hoping to not lose their grip.

“We’re coming up to the ramp, Spike!” Scootaloo yelled, looking directly at the wooden incline.

Spike also stared at the ramp, “Hang on, everypony!”

As the rocket continued to gain speed, it hit the ramp. The rocket launched and pointed upward. As they hoped, their ship was gaining attitude and taking off.

“Liftoff….we have liftoff!” Applebloom shouted in both disbelief and happiness.

Spike wasted no time with his orders, “Applebloom, reroute all extra power to engines. Scootaloo, punch it!”

With a roar from the rockets, the crew of the spaceship held on. They all felt the force of Equestria’s gravity pushing them down, reluctant to let them escape from the atmosphere. Scootaloo pushed one of the levers in front of her forward with a grunt. Through her gritted teeth, she mumbled, “Come on….get up there, you big, metal bird.”

The ship continued to climb into the Equestrian sky. Leaving the surface far behind, the three ponies, the dragon, and rocket finally escaped from the gravity of Equestria and broken into space.

As the pressure of the flight was finally eased up on the crew, they all looked forward to see that no longer were they looking at the bright blue sky that wrapped around their world. Rather, what lied in front of them was a blanket of black, with small bright lights piercing through.

“We did it….” the dragon softly spoke, “we have slipped the surly bonds of Equestria to touch the face of Celestia herself.” Speaking louder, he addressed his crew, “Fillies and gentlecolts, we are now floating in space.”

Chapter 3: Well Thought Out Twinkles

The young ponies along with the purple dragon all looked outwards of the front window of their ship. On each of their faces was amazement and wonder.

“Wow….it looks so….big….” Sweetie Belle’s eyes were wide, darting to the left and to the right, “the stars look very different up here.”

“So this is what space looks like….it’s so calm and peaceful….” Applebloom commented as she leaned on her console.

“And awesome!” the orange pegasus added as she jumped up and down in her seat.

Spike stood up out of his captain’s seat. He turned to look at each of the fillies and then proclaimed, “We did it, crew! We actually did it! We are the first ponies….and, er….dragon….to leave Equestria and venture into space! We’re making history here! Just look out there!” The purple dragon pointed outward into the black blanket of space.

All four of the youngsters ran up to the large window at the front of the bridge. They pressed their faces close to the glass to get a better view.

“Look, it’s Equestria!” Applebloom shouted, pointing at the green and blue marble floating among the black.

“It’s so small!” Scootaloo laughed.

Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, was not as energetic as her friends, “Our home….it looks so….small.”

“It does look small, but look at the space just beyond it! Sweet Celestia, it’s full of stars!” Spike pointed just beyond their planet.

Scootaloo spoke up again, “Let’s go there, let’s go there!”

The earth pony raised an eyebrow, “There? Where’s there? Ya mean that one star right there?”

“No, no, I think she means the one over there, next to those smaller ones right over there,” the white unicorn pointed elsewhere.

“That’s not right! I mean the one right over there! Come on, how can you miss that star!” Scootaloo raised her voice.

“Hey, come on, don’t fight. We just got up here and we still have so much stuff to do and see!” Spike interrupted the fighting and shouting amongst the ponies, “I mean thin,k about it, we are up in space. Right now, we are doing something other ponies can only dream about doing. While others are dreaming of flight or going faster in the skies, we are up here floating in our tin can, far above the moon. We have to make the most of this awesomeness. You girls ready to make this the most awesome space flight in the history of pony….and dragon….kind?”

Spike’s rallying speech excited the girls, who cheered and agreed in unison.

The dragon nodded with a smile on his face, “Right! Crew, to your stations!” Spike ordered as he rushed back to his chair.

The ponies followed their captain’s orders. Once she sat down, the orange pegasus called out, “Awaiting your orders, sir! Where to?”

The dragon sunk into his seat. He looked out the front window and pointed forward, “Second star to the right, and straight on till morning!”

“Coordinates set, sir!” Scootaloo replied from her post.

“All systems functioning perfectly,” the unicorn spoke up.

“Engines at maximum output, captain!” Applebloom stated to Spike.

Spike nodded and looked forward, “Excellent. Scootaloo, engage!”

With a single, fluid motion, Scootaloo pushed a lever away from her. The rocket engines came to life with a whir. Within a blink of an eye the rocket took off and left the crew’s home planet behind.

Chapter 4: In The Meantime

“Captain’s log, stardate....uh….right now….we have been traveling for what feels like days. Weeks even. Our ship has been floating amongst the stars nonstop since we left Equestria. We’ve already passed one hundred thousand miles. I don’t even remember what Twilight looks like anymore….”

“Spike, stop talking like that! It’s really weird and annoying!” Scootaloo interrupted the dragon’s monologue.

Turning his head to the pilot, Spike looked at the orange pegasus, “Sorry, it’s just that we’ve been flying for a long time now and haven’t even seen anything since we left Equestria.”

“I miss home,” Sweetie Belle slouched over her console, hooves hanging over the end and head resting on the surface.

Applebloom nodded as her hoof tapped on theconsole repeatedly in boredom, “Ah do too….it’s lonely up here….”

Scootaloo sighed heavily, “Yeah….we’ve been up here for a real long, long time, haven’t we?”

“Are we….” the dragon thought aloud, “do you think we’re getting homesick?”

All of the ponies looked downward and crestfallen as they heard his words. Written on each of their faces was an expression of a unanimous agreement. They were all missing the comforts of home.

The yellow filly spoke, her hoof continuing to tap, “Ah guess we all are missin’ somethin’ ‘bout home.”

“Can’t be helped, I guess,” Scootaloo’s voice sounded detached and deflated.

“It’s really weird up here in space and….” Sweetie Belle’s ear twitched as she turned toward her comrade, “Applebloom, stop that tapping, it’s so annoying!”

Applebloom stopped her tapping, “What’s wrong with it? It’s helpin’ me take mah mind off all of this travelin’.”

“But it’s so annoying and bugging to me! Just please stop it, will you?” the little unicorn started to rant.

Surprised, Spike and Scootaloo turned to the white filly. “Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong with ya?” the pegasus asked worriedly.

“Are you alright?” Spike stood up and moved over to Sweetie Belle.

The earth pony spoke softly, “It’s like she just….”

“Snapped,” Scootaloo finished the thought.

Sweetie Belle violently shook her head and looked at her shocked friends staring back at her, “I’m….I’m so sorry about that. I think it just really got to me. I mean, I would never shout at any of you. You’re all my bestest friends.”

The dragon placed one of his claws beneath his chin, “You think it was the traveling through space?”

“I think so. When I’m flying this thing, it just feels so creepy. Especially when I stare off into the darkness. Like something might pop out at me,” Scootaloo commented.

“It would make a lotta sense. Look out that there window, all we see are stars,” Applebloom added to her friend’s statement.

“And those stars are really far away, as it turns out. I don’t think we’ll be able to travel to one of them after all,” Sweetie Belle’s ears flattened against her head.

Spike nodded, “It’s too dangerous to keep trying to fly to a star.”

“But what about going where nopony has ever gone before? Escaping the surly bonds of Equestria and all that stuff? I thought we were gonna be like Major Dun!” Scootaloo’s voice was getting aggravated.

“Major Dun?” Applebloom tilted her head in puzzlement.

“You don’t know Major Dun? He’s only the coolest space hero ever!” the pegasus exclaimed.

“But….aren’t we the first to travel in space?” the unicorn asked her orange coated friend.

Spike interjected before Scootaloo could answer, “Major Dun is a fictional character in a book. He actually has a series of science fiction books and is like Daring Do, Lundy Colts, and Prancy Drew.”

“Hey, mah sister reads a lotta those Prancy Drew books!” Applebloom happily pointed out.

“This isn’t about those books; this is about being like Major Dun!” Scootaloo threw herself back into the center of conversation, “He was super cool. He would like fly around the galaxy, stopping evil-doers with his smarts and his really awesome rocket, like ours! He was always so cool!”

“Was? Did something happen to him?” Sweetie Belle asked with much confusion.

Spike looked on to Scootaloo. He could tell she didn’t want to say it. Taking a deep sigh, the dragon answered, “In his last book, his rocket malfunctioned and his thrusters failed. The book ends with him literally disappearing in the openness of space.”

Both the earth pony and unicorn gasped. “Disappeared?” the white filly asked.

Before she could get an answer, a loud boom echoed throughout the ship. All four were greatly startled by the sound. As they scrambled around, they began to panic.

Spike’s voice boomed over the three fillies’ voices, “Girls, calm down. Let’s just…look and find out what that was, alright?”

The three ponies agreed and followed the dragon’s lead. Spike walked over to a window and looked out into the vastness of space. His face turned pale as he found the source of their problem.

“What’s out there? Is it the problem?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Spike nodded.

“Is it bad?” Applebloom followed up.

Again, he nodded.

“How bad?” Scootaloo added.

He answered with a gulp, “An asteroid hit our wing and now it’s broken.”

Chapter 5: Aurora (Meet Me In The Stars)

“An asteroid hit one of our wings?” Sweetie Belle asked. She pressed her face up against the glass of the window.

Scootaloo also moved up to the window to get a view, “It hit our ship? How bad is it?”

Applebloom joined her fellow ponies at the window, “There’s the wing floatin’ nearby,” she pointed to the broken wing that was floating in space.

“We need to fix the wing before it floats too far away,” Spike commented, trying to look over the fillies’ heads so he could see as well.

Scootaloo turned back around to see the dragon, “What do we do? It’s not like we can just fix it from here.”

The yellow filly turned to face her friends, “Can’t Sweetie Belle just use her magic an’ fix the wing from inside of the ship?”

“You really trust her with that? Remember when she tried to use her magic to move a rock? She set it on fire,” the pegasus explained with a dead-serious expression on her face.

“F-For real?” Spike couldn’t believe that actually happened.

“She’s right. And besides, it’s not like we can just walk on out there,” the unicorn spoke with her face still up against the glass.

Spike had an idea, “Or can we?”

All of the ponies looked at him with disbelief.

“Say what?” Applebloom was the first to speak.

“Think about it, we have that airlock in the back along with spacesuits, right? Well, we have them for times like these. It’s an emergency and we don’t have much of a choice. If we don’t fix it, we’re dead in the water,” Spike described, “And if we don’t hurry, the wing will drift too far away for us to recover..”

“But that sounds really dangerous!” Sweetie Belle expressed her worry, “We’re floating in an asteroid field as it is!”

“Sweetie Belle’s got a point, Spike. Besides, even if we do go out to fix it, we don’t know how long it will take or how long we’ll last. We’re so far away from Celestia’s sun, I can only imagine how cold it is out there!” Scootaloo added to her friend’s concerns.

The unicorn spoke once more, “And for that matter, who would go out?”

After a bit of a silence and worry amongst the four, the young dragon spoke, “I will.”

The three ponies looked at their captain in surprise.

“Ya can’t go out there, Spike, yer our captain!” Applebloom shouted.

“And it’s super dangerous!” Sweetie Belle said again.

“But we need to get the wing fixed no matter what, right?” Spike reiterated their problem.

The ponies knew he was right. With a nod from all of them, Spike led the fillies to the back of their rocket. With their help, Spike suited up for his spacewalk.

Applebloom was holding on to Spike's helmet, waiting to give and it to him. She asked the dragon a question, “Are ya sure ya havta do this? Ah mean, ah could go out there an’ do it mahself. Ah know how ta repair things, too.”

“I got this, Applebloom,” Spike said as he zipped up his suit, “Besides, Besides, I have claws, which makes things like this a whole lot easier.”

Spike’s words didn’t seem to comfort the yellow pony. “Ah guess so,” she said, giving the space helmet to the dragon.

“Alright, you ready Spike?” Scootaloo asked the second the dragon placed the helmet over his head. She was responded to with a nod. “Okay, as soon as we leave, we’ll open up the airlock, in which you will be able to go out into space. You’ll have about ten minutes or so to reattach the wing. It shouldn’t take you that long, but let’s not test it. We’ll be right here in the ship, in constant communication with you. The second something bad happens, we’re getting you out of there, got it?”

“Got it.”

“And Spike, I don’t think I have to say this, but remember that we need the wing back on or we can’t get home or do anything. Failure. Is not. An option,” Scootaloo’s face was serious.

Spike sighed, “Thanks….no pressure….”

“Be safe out there, Spike,” Sweetie Belle said as she trotted out of the airlock room with the other ponies following.

“And Celestiaspeed,” Scootaloo added quickly before the doors slid closed behind them.

As the girls left, Spike turned his attention to the airlock doors. On the outside, his body language would give off the impression that he was calm and collected. Inside his suit, however, he was shaking uncontrollably and gritting his teeth. His claws where gripped tightly on the railing, waiting for the airlock doors to open. As if on cue, a red light started flashing, accompanied by a siren. The door creaked open slowly, causing a whirlwind of air to rush out of the room and into the vacuum that awaited outside. The dragon hung on tightly to the railing before him, trying his best to not fly out of the rocket. After what felt like an eternity to the dragon, the whirlwind ceased trying to pull Spike out. Carefully floating, Spike drifted out of the ship and into space. Moving slowly along the side of the rocket, he gripped whatever he could to not fly off. His concentration of this, however, was broken with by radio transmission.

“Spike, are you there? Come on.”

“I’m here, just taking my time on moving along the side,” Spike answered as his claws gripped onto the ship.

“Good to hear you’re alright,” Sweetie Belle continued, “Now, the thrusters are turned off and we are stationary right now. You have eight minutes of air in your suit and the wing is within grabbing distance for you. How are you doing out there?”

“It’s cold out here in space,” Spike commented, trying not to think of how dangerous the space walk was.

On the radio, another voice spoke up, Scootaloo’s, “Just be careful out there, Spike! The odds of surviving a space walk repair in an asteroid field are 3,076 to one!”

“Never tell me the odds,” the dragon nonchalantly replied as he continued moving towards the broken wing.

“Where’d ya get those numbers? Applebloom’s voice spoke up.

“I don’t know….”

Ignoring the fillies speaking on the radio, Spike made it to the broken wing. Carefully gripping onto what was left of the wing, he looked up to see the broken piece hovering just within his reach.

“I’ve reached the wing. The missing piece is within my grasp,” Spike announced.

“Understood. We see you from here,” Scootaloo responded as she looked down from the window to see the dragon outside.

Sweetie Belle looked on as well with her friends, “Take your time, Spike. We can’t afford any mistakes. Also, you have six minutes of air left.”

Spike’s voice was deadpan, “You’re not helping.”

“Oh, right, sorry!” the unicorn apologized.

Spike was quick with his work. He mended the broken wing both quickly and efficiently. While he was having trouble working in the vacuum of space, he couldn’t let that stop him. The dragon couldn’t let his audience bother him either. He felt the eyes of the three ponies on him as he worked. Another bothering aspect for the dragon was the silence. While the ponies were under radio silence, the only sound Spike could hear with him breathing within his own suit.

“Almost done here,” Spike spoke, wanting to break the deafening stillness.

“Alright, just hurry up please. Ah wanna get home,” Applebloom replied.

“I hear that.”

Back in the ship, the three ponies were watching the dragon carefully.

Scootaloo looked down out the window to Spike working, “This is really intense….like reading that last Major Dun book. No, this is more suspenseful!”

“Spike is really brave about all of this,” Sweetie Belle commented as she observed the console in front of her.

“He really is, goin’ out fer that space walk an’ all,” Applebloom added, looking out the same window as her pegasus friend.

Spike’s voice came on the radio again, “Alright, the wing is fixed. It should get us back to Equestria, no problem.”

“Alright!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Great, now hurry back to the airlock door, you only have two minutes of air left,” the unicorn’s voice had a touch of panic in it.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” the dragon remarked as he disappeared from the view of the window.

Outside, the dragon was hurrying along the side of the spacecraft. Hanging on to what he could, he moved from one point to the next while grabbing onto the ship. Upon reaching the door of the airlock, Spike saw the door locked shut. He tried to push the button to open the large doors, yet they were still unresponsive.

Spike spoke into the radio, “Equestria, we have a problem.”

Chapter 6: Away From The Sun

A sense of panic flooded the bridge of the ship.

“A problem? What’s happening out there?” Scootaloo moved her attention from the window to one of the consoles.

“The airlock doors, they ain’t openin’!” Applebloom shouted in horror.

Over the radio, Spike’s voice was distressed, “Open the airlock doors, Sweetie Belle!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the white unicorn quickly tapped on her console, “I really can’t! The circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong!”

“I could have told you that!” Spike shouted again.

The earth pony spoke on the radio, “Spike, don’t panic out there, you have less than two minutes of air left.”

“And that means I have even less time to get back inside,” the dragon’s tone seemed to have calmed, “and now for the how.”

“The door isn’t opening by the button, right? Well, try to open the door with your own two claws!” the orange pegasus spoke into the radio.

Back outside in space, Spike heard the idea, “Are you kidding me? That sounds like the dumbest thing ever, Scootaloo. How in Celestia’s name do I do that?”

“Got any better ideas out there, Spike?” Applebloom asked over the radio.

Before the dragon could answer, Sweetie Belle’s voice came on again, “One minute of air left in your suit!”

Taking a sigh, Spike spoke, “Guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

Scootaloo’s voice came on the radio, “I’m going to try and open them again while rerouting all available power to the doors themselves. It should force the doors open. Are you ready?”

With a gulp, Spike grabbed onto the ship. He knew he had no other options of what to do. “Yeah, I am.”

“Here it goes,” the pegasus pressed the button.

Spike watched the doors begin to stir. He couldn’t hear any of the machinery working and trying to open the door, but it was apparent the doors were struggling to slide apart.

“It’s not working. The doors only opened up a little crack,” Spike informed.

“Then ya gotta help it open yerself,” Applebloom shouted.

“Are you stupid? If the power to the doors give out, SPLAT! Spike get’s caught into the doors!” Sweetie Belle exaggerated.

“I don’t have a choice,” the dragon shoved his claws into the small crack between the two doors. Using every bit of strength he had, Spike struggled to push the doors apart. Slowly, he pushed the doors far enough apart so he could enter. But as the door became bigger, the atmosphere of the airlock room was escaping into the vacuum of space, trying to push Spike right back outside.

“Spike, are you okay? How’s it going back there?” Scootaloo shouted over the radio.

The struggling dragon uttered a few words, “Can’t….talk….I’m a bit….busy….”

“You have fifteen seconds of air left!” the unicorn blurted out.

The airlock doors were separated far enough for the dragon. Ignoring the warning Sweetie Belle gave, he used his claws to pull himself inside of the ship. Grabbing on to any solid item he could, Spike pulled himself further in while the vacuum of space continuously tried to pull him back out.

“You’re out of air, Spike, you’re out of air!” Sweetie Belle panicked.

“I’m in, but the doors are jammed,” Spike labored to even speak, clinging on to the railing inside of airlock.

“Jammed? The doors won’t close now?” Scootaloo was shocked, “We can’t stop now! How do we get those doors closed?”

“There’s an override button in the room somewhere, Spike. Ya gotta hit it to close the doors,” the earth pony ordered, “Hurry!”

While hanging on the railing, Spike looked around the room, “I can’t see….wait, it’s near the airlock door! It’s too far for me to reach from here.”

“You got to hit it, before it’s too late!” the unicorn shouted again into the radio.

The dragon’s breathing] was getting more quick and cautious, “Al-Alright….here it goes….and if I don’t make it….tell….tell Twilight that I love her very much….”

“She knows, Spike, an’ ya can tell her when ya get back in here!” Applebloom yelled into her microphone.

He looked down at the door. The air continued to rush out of the ship and into space. Next to the door was a large red button, the emergency door closer. Taking one last breath, Spike let go of the railing and was swept up in the rush of air. Trying his hardest to keep his eyes open, he kept his vision fixed on the red button. Flying closer to it, he reached out his claw. With the last bit of his conscious awareness, he moved his claw right up to the button and pressed it with every bit of strength

The moment the button was hit, the sliding doors shut quickly. As they did, the rushing air ceased, gravity returned to the room, and Spike fell onto the floor. The flow of oxygen returned into the room. The dragon’s body, however, didn’t move.

Not even a second later, the door to the rest of the ship opened and three ponies rushed in.

“Spike, ya did it!” the yellow filly exclaimed cheerfully.

Sweetie Belle looked around, “Where’s Spike?”

“Look!” Scootaloo pointed to the dragon in the space suit.

The three quickly rushed to Spike’s side.

“The helmet! Take the helmet off of him!” the unicorn panicked.

Applebloom and Scootaloo where quick to comply. They looked at Spike’s face with his helmet off. His eyes were closed and his body seemed lifeless.

“Is he breathing? I can’t tell!”

“Did he run out of air?”

“Do ya….do ya think he’s….”

The girls continued to talk over the dragon. Spike’s body stirred. He coughed and began to gasp for air. The fillies looked down at him with smiles and tears in their eyes. “My mind is going….I’m afraid….” he mumbled incoherently.

“It’s okay, Spike, you’re okay….” Scootaloo said, wiping a tear out of her eye.

“I….I made it?” he asked, sitting himself up.

“Yeah, ya managed to make in,” Applebloom hugged the dragon, in which the other ponies joined in.

Spike took a deep breath and a sigh of relief, “Well, I’m really glad that worked then. Those would have been terrible last words. Now let’s just get out of here and back home.”

Sweetie Belle agreed, “Yes, l think it’s time we put an end to our trek through the stars.”

Chapter 7: Free Fallin'

Chapter 7: Free Fallin’

“Equestria coming into view, Captain,” Scootaloo stated from her position at the helm of the ship.

“There it is, girls….home,” Spike said, hopping down from his chair to get a better view of the planet that sat in front of the ship.

Sweetie Belle smiled, “It’s good to be back.”

Applebloom tapped away on her console, “Uh….Captain? I think we might have a problem….”

“Hm? What is it Lieutenant Commander Applebloom?” Spike turned to the yellow filly.

“The console says that we’re goin’ too fast right now.”

The rest of the crew on bridge looked at her in a confused manner. The dragon asked, “Too fast?”

“Yeah, it says that our speed is too high, in fact the readings are off the scale,” Applebloom read the screen before her, “If we don’t slow down, we’re gonna have ourselves a real problem.”

“She’s right,” Scootaloo chimed in as she frantically moved her hooves around her console, “but our problem has already begun….”

“What’s going on, Scootaloo?” the white unicorn asked worriedly.

The pegasus tried her best to keep a calm tone, “We’ve already entered the outermost part of Equestria’s atmosphere, but our speed isn’t decreasing. The brakes aren’t working at all.”

Spike’s eyes widened in panic. However, he kept his composed demeanor, “Applebloom, cut all power to the engines, now.”

The earth pony was quick to responding, “Engine power is off.”

“It’s not working, our speed isn’t going down!” the orange pony shouted, “And we’re still free falling!” In the front window, the planet below was beginning to grow and the ship itself was beginning to rumble and shake.

“Sweetie Belle, reroute all power to the brakes!” the dragon ordered.

“Aye, sir!” the white filly confirmed, quickly tapping her hooves upon the screen, “Power rerouted!”

Scootaloo nodded at her friend’s word, moving her hoof over to a lever. With all the strength stored within her body, she pulled it as hard as possible. Unfortunately, it seemed to have no affect.

Spike gritted his teeth. “Curses, we have a serious problem here.”

“What do we do, Spike?” Applebloom asked what was on all of the fillies’ minds.

Scootaloo shouted again, “Entering the lower half of Equestria’s atmosphere! Looks as if we’ll crash right into Ponyville!”

Quiet, the captain of the ship was deep in thought. The rumbling of the spaceship became louder and more violent. Finally, he answered, “Alright, here’s the solution. You girls will evacuate the ship via the escape pods. They should be safe enough for you all to return back down to Equestria without a problem.”

“But what about you?” Sweetie Belle inquired, holding on to her console as the shaking became worse.

The dragon’s eyes were closed as he answered, “A captain goes down with his ship,” opening his eyes back up, Spike pointed towards the door, “Now get your helmets on and get to the escape pods, crew. That’s an order.”

“With all due respect sir, there is no way we’re leaving you high and dry,” the pegasus stated with a smirk, putting her helmet over her head.

“Yeah, there ain’t no way we’re leavin’ both our captain an’ our friend!” Applebloom put her helmet on as well.

Following suit with the rest of her crewmates, Sweetie Belle agreed, “We’ll never leave you, Spike! Never give up, never surrender!”

With a small smile, Spike put his helmet on over his head, “Heh, I couldn’t ask for a better crew then the three of you. Ya know, all of this started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure.”

The shaking of the ship became more aggressive. Hanging on tightly to what they could, the crew tried their best to not be thrown around with ship’s movement.

“This is it….we’re going down….we have less than a minute until impact!” Scootaloo warned, keeping herself fastened to her seat.

Spike spoke, “Everyone around gather around Scootaloo. If we’re going to go on to our next life, we’ll do it together not just as a crew, but as friends.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle agreed, carefully moving up with Spike to stand around Scootaloo’s station. Each of them grabbed on something to hold on to as to keep their balance. The movement of the ship grew rougher as they fell closer and closer to the ground.

“Well, this is it….our final descent,” the dragon meekly stated, taking a deep breath.

Sweetie Belle spoke up, “Friends, I know this might be weird, but since this is our last moments, I want to say it’s been a real privilege to have served with you all.”

Applebloom nodded, trying to hold in a few tears, “It has been be quite a ride, huh? At least ah’m going out with the most important dragon and ponies in mah life.”

“Heh,” Scootaloo smirked as he eyes began to start misting up, “And same back to you all. And if this will be the last thing I’ll say, then to quote Major Dun, ‘Give my family my love, I’m coming home!’”

Finally, Spike wrapped it up, “Guys….I just want to say thank you to all of you. And that I have been and always shall be your friend.”

With Spike’s last words spoken, the crew wrapped their limbs around one another, holding each other close in a hope to survive the crash. With a collective scream of horror and fear, the four youngsters braced themselves as their ship fell closer to the surface. Their suspense, however, was cut short by a voice and a light.

“What in Celestia’s name are you four doing in this box? Everypony has been looking for you!”

With the bright sunlight pouring in, the four youngsters shielded their eyes to make out a mare’s head. As their eyes adjusted, it became apparent that the pony was Twilight Sparkle.

Each one in the box mumbled at the brightness of the sunlight.

The expression on the purple pony’s face was a serious one, “We’ve all been looking for you all day, it’s almost dinner time and each one of you need to go back home now.”

“Yes, Miss Twilight,” the Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison before pulling themselves out of the large cardboard box.

Both Twilight and Spike watched each of the fillies run off back towards Ponyville. The unicorn then turned her attention to her assistant, “As for you Spike, I’ve been waiting for that wagon of books all day! Come on, let’s go back home.”

Spike climbed out of the box as well. Hurrying to the wagon full of books, the dragon started to pull it while walking with Twilight Sparkle.

“By the way, what were you and those three fillies doing in that box?” Twilight asked as she trotted along the dirt path.

“Me and the Cutie Mark Crusaders made a spaceship, and then we launched it into space. And then we were flying all around in space, and we decided to fly to a star, but since it was taking so long, there was a fight. But in the middle of the fight, a big rock hit one of the rocket’s wings, and I had to go out and fix it. But when I finished fixing it, the doors wouldn’t open and let me back in, so I had to open the doors myself, but I almost didn’t make it back in. So we all decided to come back home, but there was a problem with the engines and the brakes and we couldn’t slow down, and the ship was burning up in the atmosphere, and heading straight down to crash into the ground!” Spike was out of breath as he finished his long statement, panting quite a bit.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she looked over to Spike, “My, you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders sure do have some active imaginations.”

END