"Are you sure you'll be alright? Did you triple-check everything?" Night Dance's mom questioned worriedly, checking over his suit for any rips. Night Dance grabbed his mom's hoof in his, looking her in the eyes with a sad smile.
"I've checked everything 6 times over mom, I can't check anymore, I have to leave." He wrapped her in a hug.
"But why do you 'have to'?! Why couldn't you just stay here?! By the time your back, your sister will already be in college!" Night watched as tears streamed down his mother's face, her grip becoming tighter and tighter as she struggled to come to terms with what he was about to do.
"Mom, ever since I was young, I dreamed of something more, I dreamed of going up there. Up to space. Imagining the view from up there, the possibility of discovering something nopony else has, it made the work seem like a fair trade. I have to do this, not only for myself, but to advance Equestria's understanding of our world, our universe. I promise I will come home safe and sound."
Night's mom just continued to whimper, holding her son tight.
"Is everything ready to go, Spike?" Twilight asked, pacing nervously back and forth infront of the many screens.
"Yep, I double-checked everything Twi, all that's left is for everypony to get in their seats and we'll be ready for lift-off." Spike seemed somewhat distant, his gaze lingering on the many screens displaying things like cabin pressure, cargo and so on.
"Twi, I still can't believe you're doing this. Not that I doubt you, but this? You have no idea how big this'll be! It'll be all over Equestria news, you'll be even more famous than Celestia!" The pony standing next to Spike, a tall pink mare, nodded in agreeance.
"It'll be a big step in the name of science, and the whole world will be watching no doubt." The tall pink mare, Luster Dawn, commented.
Twilight paced nervously around the room, several negative outcomes popping into her head.
"What if they crash? What if they just get stuck up there!? Or worse, they explode?! What will we do then, what will we tell the press, or worse, the astronaut's families?!"
Just then, a voice came over the radio, one belonging to that of a stallion.
"Are we ready to go, Princess?" Commander Iron Hoof asked.
Twilight was instantly yanked from her panicking, the situation presenting her one last opportunity to pull out, to prevent a possible disaster. She inhaled, doing her best to calm her mind. Trotting over to the radio, she hesitantly placed a hoof on the transmitter.
"Yes, everything has been checked, we'll start the launch process now." Twilight prayed to Celestia that this didn't backfire.
Night Dance strapped himself in, wings shifting uncomfortably in his suit. His reflection stared back at him on the glass of his helm, and he did his best not to fog up the glass.
"Everything okay, kid?" Asked the grey earth pony sitting next to him.
"Yeah Commander.. just nervous is all."
"The whole world must be watching now, I say we owe it to them to give them a show, to get this thing in orbit." Commander Iron Hoof nudged Night teasingly, causing Night to smile slightly.
The speakers aboard the shuttle began their deafening count-down as the rest of the astronaut's steadied their nerves. Everybody in the world would watch them hopefully not blow up, their names would be written down in history alongside those of 'Clover The Clever' and 'Starswirl The Bearded'.
They'd be role-models, somepony every filly and colt could look up to (literally).
AppleBloom, Scootaloo and SweetieBelle all huddled in the Apple family living room with their respective families, eagerly watching the tv. AppleBloom held her husbands hoof, and SweetieBelle held her wife close.
"Do you think they'll make it?" Scootaloo asked, pulling away from SweetieBelle's grip and breaking the silence they'd all unknowingly been standing in.
"Of course they will, they've all been well trained and they even have Twilight to help them!" AppleBloom argued.
It had been so long ago that they were fillies, when carts were their main way to get around and the thought of space was nothing more than a fever dream. Now, they were sending 10 ponies into space.
SweetieBelle felt old thinking about it.
"Time sure does fly by." SweetieBelle said aloud, earning a confused look from Scootaloo.
"But time can't fly? How does that work?" She asked.
AppleBloom rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face.
"I remember teaching Rose Ribbon in one of my classes a little while back," SweetieBelle continued on. "Now she's headed into space, she'll be famous, remembered for many moons to come, no doubt." She'd smile slightly.
"I couldn't be more proud." SweetieBelle pulled Scootaloo close once again, their attention brought back to the tv.
"This is Reporter Dusty Groove, reporting live from the Twilight Sparkle Launch-Site. Our astronauts are now preparing for launch, do you have anything to say on the matter, Ms. Dawn?" The Reporter asked, hovering a microphone over to Luster Dawn.
"It's been an honor to work on this project alongside other brilliant minds, Mrs. Groove, and I can't begin to tell you how excited we are to get our astronauts into space. They've trained for many moons to get to this point, it'll be a big leap in Equestrian Science, one worthy of a spot in the history books for sure. I-" A rumble interrupted Luster, the camera instantly following the noise.
The shuttle took flight, dragonic magic pushing it into the air, the flames leaving a scorch mark in the ground as it continued it's ascent. It pushed higher and higher, never once faltering. Dust and smoke blew into their faces as the shuttle continued going and going. Luster unintentionally held her breath as she watched the shuttle soon pass over the clouds, eventually becoming a speck.
It became a speck, then disappeared completely.
They'd made it into orbit.
Author's Note
Writing another story before getting too far with my last ones...
Surely this won't go wrong.
As they were launched, Night Dance felt himself being pushed back into his seat. He didn't dare look out any of the windows, instead opting for firmly squeezing his eyes shut.
"Dear Celestia!" His Commander cried as they were all shoved into the back of their seats, the rest of his crewmate's cries were drowned out by the roaring engine sending them far from home.
Iron Hoof scanned the cabin they currently resided in, and saw that pretty much everypony was as stunned as him, Rose Ribbon the most. She was squished into her seat, her wings pressed against the inside of her suit, pushing desperately for freedom. She was shaking somehow, or was the shuttle shaking her? Were they shaking?
Yes, yes they were.
Iron Hoof's eyes snapped shut as he waited for alarms to indicate system failure. There must have been too much wind resistance, or was the wind itself simply too strong?
The end never came.
The shaking stopped, and he listened to the several clicks of the shuttle as it advanced through the phases. He listened as they connected with the E.S.S (Equestrian Space Station), and he listened to Night Dance's gasp.
Slowly opening his eyes, they drifted to the window. Stars stared back at him.
They'd done it.
A big purple stallion stood in Ponyville townsquare amongst the crowd of ponies, watching the big screen that hung on the side of town hall as it showed a big shuttle launching into space.
Candy Apple smiled. Had it not been so long ago when he'd been helping his dad Big Mac and his mom Sugar Belle, when he'd pushed his tiny cart around the small town of Ponyville? The tiny town that had expanded so greatly within the last few years?
"Dad, why're yah cryin'?" A tiny filly with a pink coat asked.
"They ain't tears of sadness, honey, they're tears ah joy." He replied, hugging his daughter close.
"Today is ah day nopony will forget."
"Please! One at a time!" Luster Dawn yelled out over the crowd, her wings outstretched.
Eventually the crowd quieted down, however, many reporters had their hooves held high, questions they needed answered. Luster Dawn looked around the crowd, picking out some reporters to answer questions.
"Stallion with the faded brown cap?" She asked.
"Record Weaver from Equestrian Times, you've stated many times that our ponies will be headed to space, but you've never stated when they'll return, do you have an estimate?" The faded blue stallion inquired.
"Our astronaut's should return from their journey in roughly 2 years, bringing with them anything they may find along their way. However, they may return sooner or later than the 2 year estimate, we have no sure way of knowing currently."
"Next, pale blue mare near the back?" Luster asked.
"Dawn Muster from PonyVille Central News, What is your organization hoping to find in space? Isn't it just an empty expanse?" Dawn questioned, spreading her wings to push some of the crowd away.
Luster grunted in annoyance. Why had she been put in charge of answering the questions?
Snowfall giggled as she jumped around the inside of the E.S.S, the low gravity causing her to float and bounce everywhere. Iron Hoof watched as several of his team did the same, however, he didn't scold them. Why should he? They'd just accomplished something amazing.
Night Dance struggled to move, his wings fluttering uselessly as he tried to fly his way through the cabin. Rose Ribbon giggled as she watched the pitch black stallion doggy paddle into several walls in an attempt to move anywhere. She carefully floated over to him, trying to dodge the wings flying this way and that.
"Use the walls to help you move around, wings won't do anything here-" She was promptly hit in the face by a stray wing.
"I'm so sorry!" Night Dance called out as the force from the wing sent him flying back. Rose giggled and went to catch up with him.
Twilight rested on a hill, a gentle smile on her face.
"I wish you guys were here to see it. It was amazing, a pretty big accomplishment of science if you ask me." She asked the five gravestones that stood on the hill, each marked with their own cutie mark.
"Probably a pretty egg-head move, if you ask me." She giggled before turning to the sun.
"After a hundred years, it never gets any easier." She muttered, lowering the sun over the horizon.
"Lowering the sun? Or them?" Came a voice from behind her.
Luster Dawn trotted up to her, sitting down right next to her. She put a supportive wing over Twilight and offered her a sheepish smile.
"Both I suppose, I really do miss them all." Twilight leaned on Luster Dawn, frowning slightly.
"Well, I think they'd be incredibly proud of you." Luster replied quietly, earning a small smile from Twilight.
Author's Note
"Please! One at a time!" Luster Dawn yelled out over the crowd, her wings outstretched.
Yes, I do believe Luster Dawn will have ascended within the 100 year time-period before this takes place.
The force was extreme as the lone dog was shot into space. She whined and whimpered as the noise scared her, but couldn't escape from her invisible attacker as the force continued to press in. The suit she had been shoved in hours earlier itched and made her movements stiff. The dog, Lapis, continued to whine until suddenly, the pressure stopped.
Lapis was lifted off the ground like a bird, however no matter how much she tried, she couldn't quite run anywhere.
Machines beeped loudly as Stella Lulamoon paced back and forth, ponies rushing left and right to their stations.
"How is she doing?" Trixie finally asked one of the passing ponies.
"The noises from the launch terrified her, and the pressure build in the cabin did as well, but she seems to be calming down slightly, although she may be disoriented." The pony replied quickly.
Stella nodded, looking up at the large display screen showing the status. After a moment, she finally risked the question;
"What do you think the media will do?"
"What do you mean, miss?"
"We've just shot a dog into space with no intention of it's return, and it's a descendant of the Element of Honesty's dog no-less. What will we do about the backlash?"
Lapis panted heavily as she sweat, filling the cabin with wet-dog smell. She'd long since given up on trying to maneuver around the little cabin, and instead chose to float about. Lapis caught a glimpse of the world outside the window. The beautiful white dots shone with such intensity as if to greet her. Lapis' tail wagged.
'Good girl!' Her master praised her as Lapis hopped into the shuttle all by herself. She was rewarded with several treats and belly rubs.
Lapis' tail wagged even more as the shuttle's temperature increased, choking her in it's heat. Lapis' eyes slowly started to close.
She was a good girl.
Author's Note
The wiki for Laika, the inspiration for this interlude,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika
R.I.P Space Pup
