Kyle, Lyra, and Jan all spent the next eight hours on a road trip to Florida, where they made several rest stops to get food and drinks, use the restroom, and generally stretch their legs. They chatted every so often, which made the time fly by... but in the back, the two hidden escapees were getting quite restless.

Ed and Danny were both fairly hungry, thirsty, and had to go to the bathroom, fairly badly towards the end of the trip. Their legs were stiff and cramping, and their backs hurt from having to lay in a tight space for hours.

Eventually, they made it to the hotel. After Kyle parked his car in an available space, all of them immediately pulled out their suitcases from the rear seats of the van, and started wheeling them towards the front lobby to get checked in.

"Well, this place looks nice!" Lyra said.

"Yep!" Kyle acknowledged. "Best Western is a fairly popular chain, so they try to do what they can to make it appealing and stand out against competitors."

Back in the van, Ed and Danny were trying to locate the latch to the trunk in the dim, evening light. They had been feeling around for a little while, but could not find it right away.

"Where is it? I have to piss really bad!" Danny said.

"Hang on... here it is, son!" Ed said.

As soon as he pulled on it, the door opened... but they both jumped at the sound of the car's alarm going off.

"Huh?" Kyle uttered, stopping looking back after hearing his car alarm going off outside.

"C'mon, let's GO!" Ed said, hastily opening the trunk and pulling Danny upright.

Disoriented, the two did their best to quickly shut the trunk and get out of sight behind the shrubbery surrounding the area. And they hid just in time before Kyle came back outside to notice his van's alarm going off.

After switching off the alarm, he began to inspect the vehicle, checking the exterior, and peering inside through all the windows.

"Hm... False alarm, I guess. Maybe someone accidentally bumped it while pulling out or something..." Kyle said to himself.

Passing off any possibilities due to lack of evidence, he just decided to roll his suitcase back inside and get them all checked in. Meanwhile, Ed and Danny were watching from behind a neatly-trimmed bush.

"So, what are we gonna do with him?" Danny asked.

"Well..." Ed said. "...once we get a good chance, we'll get some weapons from somewhere, and put all three of them out for GOOD!"

"Um, great, but..." Danny said, clutching his crotch. "...before we do anything... I really need to piss..."

"Me too." Ed added.

They were both peering around to find a good spot where no one would see their faces.

"Oh, that trench over there looks good enough!" Danny said, pointing to it, which was just outside of the hotel property, and was deep enough to create a blind spot.

"Well, better than nothing." Ed said.

So, the two got up, and made a mad dash over to the trench a short ways away to relieve themselves.

After the check-in process, Kyle received the key to the room, and all of them proceeded up to the floor that it was on. And he went the extra mile and rented them a room that was quite a bit nicer than the regular rooms. One with a master bedroom that had its own second bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen.

"Wow!" Lyra said, looking around the suite. "This place is super nice!"

Jan smiled. "It's so nice of you to go all out just for us, Kyle."

"Hey," Kyle said, shrugging. "it's nothing. I feel I've spared no expense."

All of them got settled in, and were looking up some local restaurants in the area to find a decent place for dinner.

Danny and Ed, finally having gotten themselves back on track with what they were doing, decided to camp out in an aqueduct pipe that did not have water running through it.

"We have to sleep here?" Danny complained.

Ed sighed. "Hate to say it, son, but this is the best we've got." he said.

They found several old, damaged blankets and pillows that had been thrown out by the hotel, which they salvaged from the dumpsters. They were mostly clean, having been sealed in trash bags, and were adequate enough to create makeshift beds.

"I'm sure nobody would wanna be lookin' down here late at night. No one will be botherin' us." Ed said.

Danny sighed as he pulled some blankets over himself, sandwiching himself between two sets in his shabby clothing that the two stole from a donation station.

"And why do we have to go to bed so early?" Danny asked.

"Because, son," Ed said. "early to bed, early to rise. We gotta be up before that little shit and his family are up themselves."

Without saying to much more, the two lay in their crude bedrolls with the white noise of traffic in the distance. Needless to say, it was not the best way to sleep...

Jan had decided to go and lay in the hotel's hot tubs, leaving Kyle and Lyra alone. They had just decided to more or less try and see if there was anything good on television, but mainly, the two were surfing the web on their laptops (using the free lobby wi-fi, just so they would not have to pay for internet usage).

After a while, Lyra closed her laptop and stretched her arms and legs while still laying on the bed.

"Y'know... after being cooped up in that car all day... I really feel like I need a shower..." she said.

Kyle looked over at her. "Okay, go right ahead. I can wait."

Lyra's face fell a bit.

"But, y'know..." she said. "...why should we waste water on two separate shower sessions, hm? We could get it over with quite a bit faster... together..."

Kyle's eyebrows jumped that instant he knew what his wife had in mind... and his eyes went narrow as a smile spread over his face.

"Let's do it, then..." he said.

Within the next five minutes, the two were in the room's shower together... the room was quite steamy... and the two were getting quite intimate...

They both took turns using the bar of soap to clean each other, and using the shampoo to scrub each other's hair. This continued for quite a while... up until they quit use of the toiletries and just take advantage of the moment.

Kyle and Lyra both wrapped their arms around each other as they were still under the spray of warm, soothing water. They pressed their naked persons against each other, looking dreamily into each other's eyes all the while.

"...How are you liking your first stay in a human hotel?" Kyle asked, quietly but clearly.

Lyra slowly started to bring her face closer to his.

"...I love that we finally have the opportunity to be away from it all... and alone, no less..." she said.

And then they started kissing for a prolonged period of time, rubbing their hands all over each other the whole time. Their necking session could've lasted anywhere from five minutes to fifteen minutes. Neither of them knew for sure... but one thing they were both sure of: they enjoyed every waking moment of it. Nothing else in the world mattered right now... they had not a care in the world...

...Or so they thought.

On the following morning, Ed and Danny, having woke up extra early, were able to get a head-start on their plan to get back at Kyle. They had found a small sledgehammer and a hatchet near the hotel's air conditioning unit, which they stole and decided to carry with them to their hiding spot.

From what they heard, there was a bus transport coming for people who wanted to travel to the Kennedy Space Center. That would be their best bet for catching Kyle, his wife, and his mother.

"Are you sure about this, Dad?" Danny asked. "What if we get caught?"

"There probably won't be a lot of people out here who will recognize us, what with our beards making us look a bit different from our mugshots. Just make sure you keep that axe well-hidden." Ed said.

Soon enough, Kyle, Lyra, and Jan were all on the bus to the Kennedy Space Center, and after a quick ride, they had made it to said location at the Visitor Complex. They got off the bus, and made their way to the entrance to purchase tickets. The Shuttle was not going to launch for a little while, so they decided to check the place out a bit.

Their first stop was in the gift shop. Kyle was decided what to give to Lyra as a memento of the trip when she would have to return to Equestria. There were several things, such as hoodies, T-shirts, coffee mugs, travel bags, and other items that were NASA-themed. There were also models of various spacecrafts like Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, and the first-generation Shuttle. Of course, there were also the newer ones like Orion, Dragon, Dream Chaser, CST-100 Starliner, and the modern Shuttle.

As Kyle was examining the souvenirs that intrigued him, he heard a bit of objects scuffling on the other side of the aisle he was facing.

"Hey!" came a lady's voice. "Stop that! You'll break something!"

Kyle looked over the short aisle to see what appeared to be a mother and her son. The adolescent boy rasped in response to what his mother just said.

"Whatever..." he muttered.

"That's enough back-talk, young man!" the mother said. "You can forget about going to that concert next week!"

The son got a shocked look on his face. "What!? You can't do that to me!"

"I can," the mother said, folding her arms. "and I just did! So you'd better watch your manners!"

"Gnrgh! I can't BELIEVE you!" the son said as he stormed out of the building.

His mother angrily pursued him, demanding that he stop and come back.

Kyle's eyes went wide in utter shock at what had just unfolded in front of him. He could not ever imagine being on bad terms with his own mother. She was one of the nicest people in his life... and it was a real suckerpunch when she was forced to leave him so as to avoid domestic abuse.

In any case, Kyle decided to get Lyra a handbag and a keychain with the NASA logo on one side, and the Shuttle program seal on the other. He gave it to her immediately after he bought it, though he had to look around the store a bit to find her.

"Wow, thanks Kyle!" she said. "It's a nice bag... and I really like the keychain!"

She clipped it onto the side of her new handbag.

"Just a little something... to remember me... and this vacation..." Kyle said.

Lyra looked saddened. "Ky... even after I go back... I will always remember you! Even without these things!"

"Thanks, Ly." Kyle said, managing to smile.

Once they met back up with Jan, the three of them decided to check out the museum for the remainder of the time before the launch.

Ed and Danny both made it to the Kennedy Center, miraculously not being recognized by anyone. However, they figured that they would sneak their way in. Being careful not to be spotted by any security officers, the two hopped the fence. It was getting close to the launch time, so they had to move quickly to find their prey...

"Where is he?" Danny asked. "Where's the asswipe?"

"He's here... we'll find him..." Ed said.

People were starting to gather at the site where the spectators would watch Arbiter takeoff. Kyle, Lyra, and Jan were running a bit behind everyone else, and they were cut off from the main crowd.

"Alright!" Kyle said as he walked with his family. "I've waited my whole life to watch this for real!"

"It's really exciting!" Lyra said.

"I still remember watching Columbia's first flight on TV when I was in high school." Jan said. "It's still really sad to know what happened to her..."

Suddenly, the voice of the announcer came over the loudspeakers.

"T-minus three minutes." he said.

"Well, we'd better hurry if we wanna get a good view!" Kyle said.

"Oh, that ain't gonna happen!" came a voice behind them... one they were all too familiar with.

Hesitantly, the trio turned around, and what they saw nearly made their hearts stop... it was Ed and Danny, dressed in very dirty-looking hoodies and sweatpants. Kyle, Lyra, and Jan's eyes all went wide as their jaws dropped.

"...N-no..." Kyle said.

"...way...." Lyra finished.

"Ed?" Jan asked. "What are you doing here!?"

Ed snarled. "I'm here to teach you and you worthless, sack-of-shit son a lesson!"

Kyle shook his head while still holding a shocked expression.

"I thought you were still in jail!" he said.

"Jail?" Jan asked.

"Long story..." Kyle said. "...and now's not a good time to tell it!"

"Hey, ass!" Danny said. "I am gonna beat your face into your ass, and make you lick it!"

"And I'm gonna make you..." Ed said to Jan. "...I'm gonna make you learn... you don't EVER walk out on Edward Richardson! I'm the perfect man for you, and you throw me out of your life like that!? You've got hell to pay, bitch..."

"T-minus two minutes." the announcer said.

Ed pulled a hammer out of his trousers that he had concealed, and Danny pulled out a hatchet. This immensely terrified the trio.

"Shit..." Kyle said. "...GO!"

The three of them immediately took off, and Ed and Danny followed right on their tails.

"AH!" Jan shrieked. "We gotta get help from the police!"

"We can't!" Kyle said.

"Why not?" Lyra asked.

"Because!" Kyle said. "If they find we're involved in attempted assault and/or murder, they're gonna want to question us! And if you turn back into a pony, Lyra, that's gonna spell hell for us!"

They continued to run, mainly to isolated parts of the Visitor Complex of the Space Center, running as fast as they possibly could to lose their pursuers, but they were only getting closer.

"I can't... I can't keep running..." Jan said, losing her breath.

"C'mon, Mom! Keep up!" Kyle said.

"...I... I can't..." Jan said, slowing down.

"Hang on..." Lyra said, charging her magic as her eyes glowed brightly. "...I'm gonna teleport us... and it's gonna be pretty far away, just for good measure!"

As they continued to run from the two madmen right behind them, they started to get enveloped in a golden aura. It was becoming brighter... and with a flash, the trio vanished, leaving two very confused and enraged escapees.

"What just happened!?" Danny asked.

"How the fuck do I know?" Ed said, looking around. "People don't just vanish like that!"

"T-minus one minute..." the announcer said over the loudspeakers.

Kyle, Lyra, and Jan found themselves in a cylindrical structure. It was all white inside, and the cylinder was vertical, only about two meters in diameter. There were several firm pouches mounted to the walls, and they were even standing on a few of them. The ceiling appeared to have a closed hatched, extending roughly three meters in height.

“Wait... Lyra?” Kyle asked, nervous. “Where did you teleport us?”

"I'm... not sure." Lyra said.

They took a careful look at their surroundings.

"Maybe we're in one of those mockups in the museum?" Jan suggested.

Kyle decided to open one of the pouches on the wall to take a look inside.

"T-minus thirty seconds, we have handoff of the countdown to the Shuttle's computer."

Inside of the pouch Kyle opened were various things, such as laptop computers, some sorts of circuit boards, power inverters, dehydrated food in sealed bags, and pouches of liquid. Lyra and Jan peered over his shoulder to examine it. They immediately knew that the stuff on board was real. There was no way that any of it would be for a museum prop.

They were all stiffened when it hit them...

“We're on the SHUTTLE!?” Kyle asked.

Indeed, the live lighting and real supplies told them that they were in Space Shuttle Arbiter cargo module that was fitted into the spaceplane's payload bay, just behind the habitation-laboratory module.

"...T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six--main engines start--four, three, two, one..."

The solid rocket boosters ignited six-and-a-half seconds after the Shuttle's engine did, taking Arbiter off of the launch system, and it began to ascend.

"...and liftoff! We have liftoff of Arbiter in its mission to carry a crew and equipment to continue research on the International Space Station."

Kyle, Lyra, and Jan were forced into a laying position on the hatch, the extreme vibrations of the engines cascading through their bodies, and the roar of the engine sounding through the hull.

"Oh my God... we're TAKING OFF!" Kyle shouted.

They fell onto their backs, not able to do anything other than stare up at the hatch as the force of Arbiter's momentum kept them down. Lyra did not want to risk teleporting them out to where they would fall to their deaths.

They were going up... they were going into space...

Author's Note

For the record, I've never been to the Kennedy Space Center before, so I have no idea what it is really like. I also know that the Shuttle is retired; keep in mind, this is a fictional setting in which NASA has a much larger budget. Anyways, I hope you all still like how the story's going!