Chapters “Houston I’m ready to reenter the atmosphere.” I said.
It was 1961 and I was one of the first Americans in space.
“This is Houston point retrograde and burn when ready.” A man said. “Oh and we’re getting some strange readings over here, so you better burn quickly.”
“Roger I’ll talk to you when I land.” I said. As I was pointing retrograde a strange light covered the capsule. It started to shake and I was knocked out. When I came to, I looked out the window and saw a planet. It wasn’t earth I knew that, so I tried the radio. “Houston do you read?” I said. “Houston do you copy over?” I tried for an hour but got no response. So I did what I had to do I pointed retro and did my deorbit burn. I decoupled the deorbit stage. And waited. As I came down it seemed normal. The red glow from the air was there I was told about. After my speedometer was below mock 1 I opened my parachutes. I felt the gravity take effect. I looked out my window and saw it was night. “Looks like It has a day and night cycle like earth.” I said to myself as the parachutes opened. I checked the gauges, and everything seemed optimal for life. “Wait till the boys at home hear about this.” I said to no one in particular. As I was falling, the capsule tipped to the left and slid before falling down and stopping. “Must have landed on a slanted roof.” I said. I looked though the window and saw that I wasn’t on the ground. “Great, now I’m stuck.” I said to myself. I also noticed it was getting brighter outside. I once again tried the radio. I switched to different channels until, “This is the emergency broadcast. Please do not interrupt or face jail time.” Said the announcer.
“Great, now I have to wait till I get rescued.” I said. I waited for an hour before I got bored. “What is taking them so long? I guess I have no chose but to use the emergency broadcast.” I said to myself as I turned on the radio.
“This is the emergency broadcast. Please do not interrupt or face jail time.” Said the announcer.
“This is astronaut Jim lunar, I request to be rescued.” I said. I heard a sigh.
“You do realize that you are going to jail, right?” Asked the announcer.
“I know, it’s just I’m stuck on a side of a building and I have no way of getting down.” I said.
“How did you… never mind, do you know where you are?” Asked the announcer.
“I have no clue. But you cant miss what I’m in, big black capsule with parachutes stuck to something, can’t miss it.” I said.
“I’ll see if we can find you. Did your skydiving trip go wrong?” He asked.
“I wasn’t skydiving. I reentered the atmosphere and wound up stuck to a building.” I said.
“Yeah right, no pony has gone to space before.” He said.
“Pony? Don’t tell me that’s the main species of this planet.” I said worriedly.
“How do not know about where you are?” He asked.
“Well I was pointing retro and was about to do my burn when I went though a wormhole, I think.” I said.
“So wait, your telling me that you were in space and went though a wormhole?” He surprisingly said.
“I may be no space expert, but that is what I can piece together.” I said. “By the way how goes the rescue operation?”
“Well, we found you stuck on the clock tower. And we will get you down, though it might take a while. By the way how heavy is the thing you’re in?” He asked.
“Around 500 pounds why do you ask?” I asked.
“We need to know the weight before carrying you down.” He said.
“Makes since, by the way is the ruler here? I want to talk with him/her.” I said.
“She is own her way as we speak.” He replied. “She’ll be here in around 30 minutes. And you are coming down in 10 minutes.”
“Good to hear.” I said. “Well, guess I’ll wait till then. Any good radio stations I can listen to?”
“Sorry, but there is only the one you’re talking to right now. The radio is just for emergencies only right now.” He said.
“Well, it looks like I’m going to have to wait it out. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.” I said as I turned the radio off. As I waited, I kept looking out the window and seeing flying ponies go past. After the 10 minutes went past I wondered why I wasn’t on the ground yet. I looked out the window and saw that in fact, I was slowly going down. “They must’ve unstuck the parachutes.” I said. After touching the ground, I opened the door. After I got out of the capsule I saw many ponies on the ground.
“Great to see you off of the clock tower, but you will have to go to jail after you see the Princess.” Said what I presumed to be a guard.
“I completely understand. I broke the law here, and I am willing to serve my sentence. Which is how long?” I asked.
“30 days.” The guard replied.
“First time in jail, and it’s on a different world. But hey it’s not long.” I said. “Anyway got a deck of cards? I want to play a short game of solitaire.”
“Sorry, but you need to pay for the cards.” A guard replied.
I face palm myself. “ New world, new currency, I am an idiot.” I said. “That and I don’t have any money on me in the first place. Whelp time to wait for the Princess. Princess, Princess, Princess, a monarchy perhaps? Rambling! Sorry, I happen to ramble from time to time.” That’s when a thought struck me. “FUDGE!!!” I said loudly. “New world means no medication!”
“What do you mean? Do you have some illness?” A guard asked worriedly.
“Not really, my stomach doesn’t keep food down all the time.” I said. “Without my meds, I won’t be able to keep food down.”
“Well that would be a problem if we didn’t have that medication.” A guard replied.
“So your telling me you have medication for stomach problems? I was not expecting that. But I can’t afford it either.” I said.
“Medication is free in prison. As long as you don’t misuse it.” A guard replied.
“Okay, I don’t see how I can misuse it, but I’ll follow the rules. Anything else I should be aware of?” I asked.
“Not that we know of.” A guard replied.
“Good.” I said. After around 15 minutes, I saw a chariot carrying 3 alicorns, 2 regular, 1 unicorn, and 1 Pegasus.
“I only thought there was one ruler.” I said.
“There is 4 rulers, but I only see 3 coming.” Said a guard.
“What about the rest of them?” I asked.
“Oh they’re heroes, they saved Equestria 3 times!” Replied the guard.
“War heroes, or did they prevent nuclear war?” I asked.
“What? No, they defeated 3 villains trying to take over.” Replied the guard.
“But surely you MUST have some sort of counter measures in case something does happen to the rulers!” I exclaimed.
“I’m afraid we don’t really have such measures.” Said a different voice.
I looked toward the voice, and saw it was an alicorn. “You must be one of the rulers.” I said.
“Indeed I am. My name is Celestia.” She replied.
I bowed to show respect. Then something dawned on me. “I just thought of something. Whom does the law apply to?” I asked.
“Citizens of this world due to an agreement we all made.” Replied Celestia. “Why do you ask?”
“Well I’m not really from this world, so does the law apply to me?” I asked.
“He does make a good point.” Said the dark alicorn.
“I agree. The law will not apply to you for the meantime. Unless you do something major.” Said Celestia.
“I understand.” I said as another thought stuck me. “And now the government will probably classify my launch and who was in the capsule. Bother.”
“What do you mean?” Asked the purple alicorn.
“Well where I come from we are in a uh what due you call it? Stalemate? War? Oh I got it Cold war. Not in a war but, war could happen. Also we lost a LOT of prestige already, and foreign nations might side with communism.” I stated. “We can’t lose any more prestige or things might turn ugly.”
“I understand.” Said Celestia. “In the meantime would you like to start a space agency here?”
“Thing is, I am no rocket scientist. I only know a little bit about the rocket I was on.” I said. “Also the rocket I was on was designed for my kind in general. Not whatever you are. I could redesign the capsule but that would require a different payload. I’ll start simple for now and launch a satellite into orbit. I will need a few things first if you have them.”
“What kind of things?” Asked the purple alicorn.
“Liquid oxygen, kerosene, a transmitter, a battery pack, and scientific instruments.” I replied.
“What are the first 2 things for?” Asked Celestia.
“Oh, it’s basic rocket fuel.” I replied. “It’s the stuff that’s going to get us into space!”
“I doubt it.” Said a rainbow mare.
“Oh and how do you think I got into orbit around the planet in the first place?” I asked.
“By, by, by. You got me there.” The rainbow mare replied. “But liquid oxygen sounds scientifically impossible.”
“I have to agree with rainbow, Liquid oxygen doesn’t sound possible.” Said the purple Alicorn.
“Looks like I will have to find a different fuel source for my rocket. This is going to be difficult.” I said. “First things first, I want a list of all flammable liquids you do have. And over the next few months I want to try them with a rocket engine. Might take a while to get the correct mixture, and get the rocket to work.
“I understand, I will announce our new space agency to the general public but keep you a secret.” Said Celestia.
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Classified.” Replied Celestia.
The other two alicorns looked surprised.
“But sister you haven’t classified anything since I was banished.” Replied the dark alicorn.
That peeked my curiosity. But I didn’t ask why or how.
“I know, but it’s a dark secret that I’m keeping to my grave.” Celestia replied. "For now, I will give you a small portion of funds you can do with as you see fit for your space program.”
“I understand. I will try my best to get this country into space.” I replied.
________________________A few hours later_____________________________
I looked at the list of possible rocket fuel. Most were only for oil lamps. But when I asked about something I had a break-though. “Hey, delivery pony, why does it say with dampener for Canterlot golden fuel?” I asked.
“Well you see it is highly explosive without the dampener.” He replied.
That peeked my interest. “What is the rate of dampener to fuel?” I asked
“2 gallons of dampener to 1 gallon of fuel.” He replied.
“Can I order a different amount of dampener?” I asked.
“Yes, but it will cost extra.” He replied.
“Ok get me Canterlot golden fuel with half a gallon of dampener.” I said.
“How much do you want?” he asked.
“10.5 gallons with the ratio of .5 to 1.” I said.
“Okay, just don’t set it on fire.” He said.
“No worries.” I replied.
After another few hours I got the fuel. The engine was still being built to my specifications. And it would take a while to get it done. But, I ordered a smaller engine for testing and it was completed. I modified the tank into a rocket, and put a parachute inside the nosecone so I could recover it. I also put the fins a little off center for spin stabilization. At the launch, a few minutes later, the ponies working for me said that they had put a tracker spell on it so we can tell where it lands. Having all the pre launch procedures done, I began the countdown. “ 5…4…3…2…1, Ignition.” I said as the rocket started its engine. To my surprise it went up pretty quickly. “Looks like I will have to reduce the flow of the fuel to the engine.” I said as the rocket went past our line of sight. After a few minutes I asked a pony where the rocket currently is.
“Well it seems to have landed in a town called Ponyvile.” She replied.
“Sent the recovery team there pronto!” I said.
“They are already on their way.” She replied.
_______________________Twilight’s P.O.V_______________________________
CRASH!
“What was that?” I exclaimed.
“Uh Twilight you better look outside.” Said Spike.
As I walked outside I saw a crater in the middle of the road. There was a cylinder with some sort of nozzle sticking out. “Guards, check to see if any pony is hurt!” I said quickly. They replied and made a barrier around the impact sight. Only a few ponies were hurt from the debris from after it crashed. I quickly cast a few spells on it, and the results baffled me. “Over 5,000 ft. in the air? How is that possible?” I asked out loud. “No wonder whatever this thing is did some major damage.” I pulled the thing out of the crater and then cast a restoration spell. I noticed a small circle cut near the top. But it looked like it was welded shut. It took me a while, but I removed the top. Then a parachute came flying out. “This thing had a parachute?”
“Princess two ponies are wanting to meat with you.” Said a guard.
“Not now. Can you tell them to wait?” I asked.
“No mam. They know what that thing your holding is.” He replied.
“Good, bring them here.” I said. After a while, the two ponies came. “Now then what can you tell me about this?”
“Classified.” Said the brown pony. “All that we can tell you is that we had no control over it.
My eye twitched. “So what are you doing here than?” I asked.
“To recover it, and bring it back for redesigning.” The orange pony said.
“Okay then, can you tell me why it landed here?” I asked.
“Like I said, we had no control over it.” The brown pony said.
“Well can you make something to control it?” I asked.
“We are for the bigger version. It just wasn’t built for this one.” Said the orange pony.
“Okay then, here is what you are going to do. You are going to pay for damages. Then you are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Do I make myself clear?” I said.
“Yes mam.” They said before taking the thing and leaving.
“Now time to get back to work.” I said before heading back into the castle.
_____________________________Back to me_______________________________
“WHAT!” I exclaimed.
“I said it landed in a town and they want us to pay for damages.” Said Blaze.
“I herd you the first time. Who was in control of the rocket?” I asked.
“I thought it didn’t have any control sir.” Blaze replied.
“Of course it did! That’s why it had control surfaces.” I exclaimed. Sigh
“Understood sir.” Blaze replied.
After that, the next launch went without a hitch. And the rocket landed near where it took off.
“Blaze.” I said.
“Yes?” He asked worriedly.
“When is the O-1 rocket going to be ready?” I asked.
“We estimate that it won’t be ready until tomorrow morning sir.” He replied.
“And the E-1 satellite?” I asked.
“Already finished. It only has a battery pack and a transmitter with a single beep at regular intervals.” He replied.
“Good. Make sure once they are done with the rocket they make a backup just in case.” I said.
“Understood sir.” He said.
“You are dismissed.” I said.
I finished every thing I needed so that I could coordinate the launch from a safe place out of prying eyes. Everything was in place by the evening and they began fueling immediately. The launch was scheduled for the next morning.
Beep…Beep…Beep. Sounded my alarm clock as I woke up in my secret base. I looked at the camera feed and to my surprise not a lot of ponies came. “Why are there not many ponies?” I asked.
“Well it’s being broadcasted on the radio. But they mostly think it won’t get off the ground.” Came the reply.
“Well, we will show them wrong then.” I said. “Is launch preparations complete?”
After a minute or two I got my reply.
“We are go for launch.” He said.
“Good, begin countdown.” I said as I switched to the Launchpad view.
10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1. When they said one I started the engine. The rocket slowly lifted up, and accelerated to the sky. The control ponies celebrated the successful launch. And the crowd had their jaws dropped. I had full control of the rocket and I made sure it was going to be in a successful orbit at 200,000 ft. in the air. After a few minutes of controlling the rocket, I fired the last stage to finalize the orbit. The final stage consisted of a gas instead of a liquid, so that it would always fire. But after I lit the engine, it went out. “What happened?” I asked myself as I looked at a few things. “Looks like it has plenty of gas, but why did the engine burn out?” I relit the engine to some success. It finished the orbit burn without any more problems. “Control what was in that last stage?” I asked.
“The gas you requested sir. We also may have put some water vapors with the mix.” He replied.
“Who’s bright idea was that?” I asked.
“Uh let me look. Oh it’s a pony named Sunny Skies.” He replied.
“Okay tell them that they are fired.” I said.
“Why sir?” He asked nervously.
“They almost made it so that we didn’t make it into orbit.” I said. “We’re lucky that the rocket’s periapts was above the atmosphere when the engine went out. Otherwise it would have been a failure.”
“I understand. I’ll give her the pink slip myself sir.” He said.
“Ok then. Next on the agenda build the L-1 rocket, with the L-1 impacter.” I said.
“Are you sure we should do that? Princess Luna might get mad at us.” He said.
“Hmm you might be right. Send a message to the princess to see if it’s okay to send the L-1 to the moon.” I said.
“Understood. Anything else?” He asked.
“Begin construction of the capsule.” I said.
“Right away sir.” He said.
I closed the line and began designing the SO-1 rocket and still no clue as to how to construct a heat shield.
Meanwhile in the griffin kingdom,
“Sir we just finished triangulating that repetitive beep.” Said a griffin.
“Good what does it say?” Said griffin 2
“This can’t be right, it says that its 200,000 feet up.” Said griffin 1
“Are you sure about that?” Said griffin 2
“Positive, looks like a country has made it into space.” Said griffin 1
“We need to alert the king about this.” Said griffin 2
Back to me,
I had just finished designing a heat shield, “If only I can test it on the ground instead of launching a rocket.” I said as I saw an unicorn use magic. “That’s it! I can use magic to test it on the ground! Genius!”
“Sir what are you testing on the ground?” Asked Blaze.
“A heat shield. Begin construction of a new building for re-entry testing.” I said.
“Understood sir.” He replied before leaving.
Later that day,
I was listening to the radio, to hear the ruler give a speech.
“And without further ado, Princess Celestia.” Said a male voice.
“Thank you. Today is a day that will go down in history as the day equestria made it into orbit around our home planet. Our space agency may be new, but we have made it where nothing has gone before. I have much confidence that we will get a pony into space soon. I will now take a few minutes to answer your questions.” Celestia said.
“Do you think other countries will see this as an invasion of there land?” Asked a pony.
“The air above countries goes only 20,000 ft. in the air as stated by the law, our satellite is over 100,000 ft. in the air, thus making it no ones land.” Celestia replied.
“So does this mean that equestria controls the space above 20,000?” asked a different pony.
“No, we do not control that area, until somepony has made it past 20,000 ft. in the air.” She replied.
“What about the treaty that tells that we share technology advances?” Asked another pony.
“While that treaty does exist, they will only get the same results as we do.” She replied. “Also we have the knowledge on how to advance, the other countries don’t.”
“Do you propose a challenge?” Said a male voice with a thick accent.
“What kind of challenge?” Celestia asked.
“To successfully bring a pony or griffin into space and back safely.” Replied the voice.
“Whom am I speaking to?” She asked.
“The king of the griffins, oh and we won’t take any of your designs, we will build our own space vehicle.” The king said.
I decided to interrupt. “What makes you think you will get a griffin into space, and back successfully?”
“We are a proud kingdom, we will prevail!” The king said.
“What if a life is lost during your program?” I asked.
“No commit.” The king said.
“I see.” I said. “May the best one win.”
“Now then king, Let me lay down a few rules.” Said Celestia. “1. No fake propaganda. 2. No fake accounts as to how you did it. 3, no fake results. And 4, there must be a neutral party to confirm it. Do you agree?”
“I do.” Replied the king.
I turned off the radio after that.
THE NEXT DAY,
I was out and about when, “Sir you have a letter from the princess.” Said Blaze.
I took the scroll and read it.
To the Equestrian space program manager,
Do to recent events; I am allocating more funds to speed along our program. I also want to get into space as soon as you can.
Sincerely,
Celestia.
“Blaze, what is the progress of the heat shields?” I asked.
“We have all 3 you asked for sir. Made from zap apple wood.” Blaze replied.
“What about the re-entry building?” I asked.
“It will be finished by this afternoon.” He replied.
“And the g force training?” I asked.
“Finished sir.” He replied.
“What about the capsule?” I asked.
“Almost done sir, oh and the heat shields do fit the capsule before you ask.” He said
“Start looking for possible astronauts.” I said.
“Any suggestions as to narrow it down?” He asked.
“Around the average weight, male, above legal age, no nobility, and must be confidant that they will come back.” I said.
“Understood sir, may I suggest an ad in the newspaper?” He said.
“Why not, oh, and before I forget, make sure to check their background to see if they had contact with a griffin.” I said.
“I understand.” He said.
“You are dismissed.” I said before Blaze left.
Later that same day,
“Sir, we are ready to begin re-entry test 1, regular descent.” Said a pony.
“Good begin test when ready.” I replied.
Soon, the re-entry test began. It went well until it got to the Mack cone, I heard some strange sounds, that’s when, at Mack 6, the heat shield nearly came apart. “Abort, abort, abort!” I said quickly.
“Understood, aborting the test.” Said a pony.
“As soon as it’s normal, I want somepony to find out what went wrong with that heat shield.” I said. “In the meantime, bring in the second shield and test shallow approach.”
“Sir, what if it also goes wrong?” The pony asked.
“Then we have a problem on our hands and hooves.” I replied.
griffins playing catch up
After the radio conversation
“King, do you think we will make it into space before the equines?” Said a griffin.
“Of course, I have the perfect spot to launch from, flat, high altitude, and far from equestria.” The king replied. “Now then, I want construction to begin immediately.”
“But king, we don’t know where to start.” Said Griffin 2.
“That’s why I snuck the designs for the rocket over the border, and to our most promising griffins to get us into space.” The king said.
“But you said you wouldn’t we wouldn’t take any of the designs.” Griffin 1 said.
“And we didn’t, a pony brought it over the border in secrecy.” He replied.
“OH, I see what you did there. But, there is one thing bothering me.” Said griffin 2
“What is it?” The king said.
“The fuel says, Canterlot golden fuel, if that’s the case, it should have gone nowhere.” Said griffin 2
“They must’ve used less dampener. That’s the only explanation I can think of.” Replied the king. “If only it said the ratio. Anyway, I will come by tomorrow to check the construction sight.”
“Understood sir.” Said both griffins as they left.
The Griffins, like the soviets, didn’t know that much about rocketry. But unlike the soviets, they stole the plans instead of building their own.
The next day at the griffin launch sight
The sound of construction fills the air as the king arrives.
“King, we are honored that you are here.” Said griffin 1
“May I look around to see what has been accomplished?” The king asked.
“Of course your majesty.” Griffin 1 said.
After a short tour,
“I am very pleased as to the current state. How much longer until it is completed?” The king asked.
“Tomorrow afternoon sir.” The griffin replied.
“Very good indeed. I shall be of keep up the good work!” the king said before he left.
The next day
“Sir the diplomat in Equestria wants to speak with you over the radio.” Said a Griffin guard.
“I wonder what for?” The king said as he went to the radio room.
“Your majesty, I have grave news. The ponies plan a launch this afternoon.” The diplomat said.
“And that’s worrisome how?” The king asked.
“They say it will return from a sub-orbital flight, and land in Sadie Arabia.” The diplomat said.
“That is worrisome. I want you to delay the next launch as much as you can.” The king said.
“I already asked, and they say it will take 3 days to build the rocket, after this one is launched. That is our window of time.” The diplomat replied.
“Make sure the plans go past the border so we can build it ourselves.” The king said.
“Understood sir. I will do it tonight.” The diplomat said.
That evening, over the radio,
“Ponies of Equestria, I am glad to say that we have sent a dog into space, and back safely. The dog landed not to far from the capital city of Sadie Arabia. We are making leaps and bounds in our space program, and in 3 days time we will launch a pony into space. I have confidence that the pony will come back safely.” Said Celestia.
“I won’t say that, your highness. It will take us 4 days to get into space not 3.” Said a pony.
“How do you know that?” Celestia asked.
“Well you see I work for the space program, and that success was nearly a failure. It will take us an extra day to fix the problem.” Said the pony.
“I understand. I will report on our success in 4 days time then.” Said Celestia as the speech ended.
“This is good news for us, an extra day due to problems. Make sure our bright minds fix what could be the problem.” The king said.
“Understood sir.” Came the reply.
A few hours after chapter 3,
“So did they find out what happened to the first heat shield?” I asked.
“They think it was constructed wrong.” Replied Blaze.
“Does the final heat shield have that problem?” I asked.
“We don’t think so sir.” Blaze replied.
“Okay, may I ask when is rover coming?” I asked.
“Rover? Oh you mean a dog from the pound. He’s coming any minute now with Fluttershy.” Replied Blaze.
“Has she sworn to secrecy about my existence?” I asked.
“She has sir.” Replied Blaze.
After a minute, Fluttershy came in.
“Hello? Is this the right place?” asked a shy voice.
“Indeed you are, I hope you brought rover?” I asked.
“The dog, yes I did. Eep.” She said as she saw me.
“May I ask where he is?” I asked as a dog came to me.
“Ah you must be the dog I wanted, nice to finally meet you rover.” I said as I petted him. “Have you also got the supplies I asked for?”
“Yes, a bag of dog food, and a gallon of water.” She said.
“Good, that will be a fine possible last meal.” I said.
“What?” She exclaimed. “Why do you say it might be his last meal?”
“We are going to launch him into space. And me might not come back.” I said.
“I see. May I have a few words?” She asked.
“Of course.” I said as she talked to the dog. After a while she was done.
“Make sure he’s well fed, if he comes back.” She said.
“You have my word.” I said.
After that she left. We then fed him what could be his last meal.
It was the next day, and I was in my secret place observing the launch. “Are we go for launch?” I asked.
“Negative neutral party hasn’t arrived yet.” Control replied.
“How much longer to wait?” I asked.
“The neutral party will arrive in the afternoon.” He replied.
“Delay launch until the party arrives.” I said
“Understood.” Control replied.
It was a few hours later when, “Neutral party just arrived.” Control said.
“We still go for launch?” I asked.
“Affirmative.” He said.
“Begin countdown over speakers.” I said.
I activated the engines at 3 this time; I thought that might help in someway. After it lifted off the Launchpad, I could only hope the dog would come back safely.
This next part is based off of eyewitness accounts.
Pegasus Blue wind’s account,
I was near the capital of Sadie Arabia, when I looked up. I saw a thing with parachutes coming out from the top. I knew it wasn’t worth talking to the ruler about, until it reached 1,000 ft. or so. With my binoculars, I saw on the side, the Equestrian flag. That’s when I went to the rulers. They followed me to where I had been when I saw the object. By the time we got there, the object was nearing the ground. After it landed, the front part came off, and reveled a container. Inside the container was a dog along with a note. I decided to read the note before the rulers did.
To our friends in the south,
Do not think of this as a declaration of war, but as a monumental leap in technology. If you are reading this, then you have meet the first dog that has been in space and returned safely. I also suggest that you return the capsule to equestria, as they are hard to build.
From,
The equestrian space program manager
I gave the note to the ruler, after I read it. I was then given the task to bring it back to equestria. I was also given the note as well. It was night when I finally arrived at the site. I dropped the wagon off near a hotel. Then I checked in and slept the night.
End of witness account, Now back to me,
I was frustrated to say the least. The heat shield nearly failed again. I needed to make a more reliable shield to protect from the forces of re-entry. My scientists say that they have found a way to solve that problem, which we are testing now.
“Sir, we have finished the tests on our shield.” Said a scientist.
“Good, how did it go?” I asked.
“It did well. We are go for launch as soon as the rocket is built.” The scientist replied.
“That is great, is our astronaut ready?” I asked.
“We have 6 to choose from.” He replied.
“Tell them, I want to meet then in half an hour at the launch site.” I said.
“Understood sir.” He said.
30 minutes later,
I looked at the line of ponies before me. Most were regular ponies. Only a single unicorn stood in the mix. “What is your name?” I asked the unicorn.
“My name is Black Fire.” Black replied.
“Why do you want to go to space?” I asked.
“I’ve done many things in my life. This will be a new experience to add.” He replied.
“Not sure about that reply.” I said. “I’ll give you another chance, why do YOU want to go to space?”
“I’ve traveled far in my live, but never have I seen the world as a whole. That’s why I want to go to space, to see the world as a whole.” He replied.
“Now that’s the reply I wanted. You sir, are on the next rocket into space.” I said.
“You mean I will be the first pony in space?” He exclaimed.
“You’ve earned it.” I said. “The launch will be in two days! I expect you to be ready.”
“Thank you sir!” He said as the ponies left.
Time skip, to night before launch
It was quiet until a large bang woke me up. I quickly went outside towards the sound. I couldn’t believe what I saw, several small objects covered in fire. I knew then that the griffins just failed.