Chapters Of the skies and stars By Kippershy
Prologue: To the stars...
Mission command gave the green light, everything was set and ready for the lift off. My fuel tanks were full and the lines cut free. Structural integrity was strong and the stars were shining clear, a beacon of hope for us all.
A voice called me over the radio, beckoning my name. "James. Confirm once more that the intercom system is working cleanly, please."
Tapping the buttons on the faceplate of my helmet, a screen came up on the inside of my visor. Another tap of a button and the reading confirmed that my suit had plentiful supplies of oxygen for the mission at hand.
"Check, all good command."
Looking down at the sensors and dials ahead of me, I confirmed this to be the case. Everything truly was set.
"Any last words before your successful launch, James?"Successful launch... yeah. Moral was high and so were the expectations, but I had no doubt in my mind that it would indeed be successful. It had been a long time since the likes of the Challenger accident... our methods and designs had gone through a series of incredible improvements and safety had jumped to astounding levels since.
My pause held for a moment too long, though command were happy to give me a nudge.Ha. There's got to be something, right?"
"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about what an honour this is. To be chosen as the only man... the only one who needs to go out and do this. It's a surreal experience and I can't thank everyone enough. To all those who can hear my voice right now, to the elderly whom watched Apollo Eleven soar unto the stars to reach the moon and to the children who will watch this on TV and witness the splendour of such a momentous occasion... It was you who did this. It was you who gave me the strength to accept the task and it was you who gave us all the chance for this to happen. Humanity is the patron saint of this flight, because no one person alone made it possible. You all did."
The sound of clapping came from over the communication systems, the room full of technicians and scientists alike all on standby for if a single system went wrong, for if anything failed to do its job.
"James, this is the president of NASA speaking. I wanted to speak to you personally, thank you for your inspiring words and your sacrifice to make this mission possible. We look forward to seeing your communications, from the very first to the very last and even the full report when you get back. It's an exceptionally large task you've accepted, you're going beyond the line of duty to find out things very few others with the skill would ever even consider doing. On behalf of the rest of humanity, we thank you for your courage."
Oh yeah, that was right. This whole mission was to test out the possibility of the hyper-warp drive on an upscaled level and its affects on the human body. We'd figured out the technology for a miniature version and proved that it worked, in theory.
Would the trip go faster than time would allow? Or would it put me into what was essentially cryogenic stasis? All our tests had given the answer we'd presumed, that it would defy the laws of motion and warp through the speed of light... but now was to find out for real.
If the mission was a success, I'd be five years older but have reached the closest neighbouring galaxy. If the mission was a failure, it would be a form of slow suicide. My supplies would last me well over a decade and a half with ease, part of the reason why I was to make the trip alone was to ensure this fact. It would be a lonely journey though, for all contact with earth would cease once I had broken past a certain distance and communication signals would be too slow.
This would be my last true chance to speak to everyone that I'd ever loved, hated, feared... known.
"People of earth... creatures of earth... plants of earth... forces and objects of earth. These are the things I leave behind, these are the things I risk never seeing for myself again. The feeling that I will never see any of you again does concern me, though I trust in the work me and my colleagues have been doing enough to risk it all. You are all amazing, each and every one of you. It is my one desire that if there could be one moment of peace... one moment where we all join together and set aside our differences, that this be that moment as we come to realise how special we are."
Pausing for a moment, I regretted my inability to wipe the tear from my eye as it trickled down onto my cheek.
"James, It's time. The mission preparation is complete. Preparing lift-off sequence, ignition sequence to commence in T-minus 10... 9... 8... 7.."
The rocket engines erupted with power, the noise filling the air even in my soundproofed cockpit with an almost deafening thunder as they burnt the liquid oxygen they contained.
Mission command screamed in joy as the boosters successfully detached, now the primary engines were firing up and my speed had increased even further higher on the scale, pushing further as I climbed.
I broke free from Earth's atmosphere without even the slightest of hindrance, the mighty Celestia One carried me safely to the skies and the stars. Out of the gravitational pull we rode, towards the point where mankind's greatest feat would either be achieved or I would die a lonely, broken man.
"My name is James Mane." Kind've funny, how everyone would put on a stereotypical Mexican voice when they were casually messing around with my name... "James Mang" they would call me. Now there was no-one... no-one to call me James Mang any longer.
I stopped the recording. I didn't feel like continuing further, the opening message was enough for now.
Four years... five years passed without a trace. Before my eyes the calendars on the computer systems traced my time, I couldn't have known in any other way. Having left the earth, there was no more day and night cycle. My body kept a routine of when to eat, exercise and sleep by itself, however.
On top of that, some brainiac computer engineers had been able to program a complex imitation of artificial intelligence, though I found the conversations we had often leant to the same topics and responses in the end. I supposed there was only so much you could program a computer to do... they didn't work like the organic brain. They had their hard-wired limitations and we had ours, though the directions we went in were completely different to one another.
I supposed the greatest gift of all about it, was that there was never any irrational paranoia and distrust. Not once.
Looking out of my cockpit, I saw something strange. A planet we had never noticed before, blue and green like earth. I'd distrusted my eyes, it had to be something other than what I was seeing. I wasn't due to see a planet for at least another year!
It was somehow pulling my ship in, closer.
Scrambling back to the controls I checked all the gauges and read outs, though everything told me the same. Engine pressure was fine, structural integrity was the same as ever, fuel reserves were well within reasonable amounts and the auto-pilot hadn't strayed off course...
Nothing worked.
The ship was going to be sucked into the planets orbit, or worse, the atmosphere itself. Muttering my prayers as I did what little I could, I watched the altitude go further down.. down... down.
"This is James Mane... and if you can hear this, the Celestia One has been caught in an unforeseen circumstance. The ship has been caught in a planets gravitational pull... I don't think I'm going to make it. I'm sorry."
I looked down at the planet as the descent began. I knew now that breaching the atmosphere was going to happen without a doubt. I was going to die... alone. On a planet I knew nothing of, no less.
Accepting my fate, I had no time for tears. Instead, I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable as I prepared all landing systems in hopes that perhaps I wouldn't die by burning in the crashed ruins of my ship.
So, Kippershy here with a new fic!
Ha, I know which genres to pick oh so well, right? Start with FoE and move on to HiE.
Of the skies and stars By Kippershy
Prologue: ...From the skies
Celestia's sun shone down upon the moon which pressed down the light onto the land below, bathing it in a gentle glory that only Luna could bring.
Everypony else was always too tired to sit with me and watch the stars. Mother would tell me to come indoors and stop being so silly, that I would catch a cold outside during the night. Dad didn't think the same though.
Sitting just out in the front garden, I laid upon my back and crossed my hooves over my heart as I looked up on awe. I'd always wondered what it would be like to see the stars up close, though I knew there would never be the chance.
"Midnight Mystery, really." The voice of my mother called. "If I had known you would've grown such a strong obsession with the night skies, I would have called you something like 'Luna the second'"
Wistfully, I rolled over and rose from my stomach onto my hooves. The night sky would have to wait for the next night, it seemed.
Looking back at my mother, she was right. It was late, it was cold and I did have to go indoors... but she never said I'd had to go sleep.
Dad came into the room and let out a small laugh before kissing my head and brushing my mane, making me blush.
Taking my eye from the scope, I looked up as his creamy coloured coat and short white mane before nuzzling in and wrapping my hooves around him.
Looking back into the eyepiece, I steered the lens towards the moving star and zoomed further, hoping to find the anomaly.
I recoiled in shock, that wasn't meant to be! Stars shimmered, but they didn't flash! Definitely not green, either.
"Mystery..." He began. "That isn't right, is it?"
Dad pulled back and shot me a worried look, he could tell that something wasn't right though he didn't know what to do about it.is the princess of the night after all... but she's just as hard to try communicate with for her very own reasons. Neither have the time for normal ponies like us."
Sighing, he nodded in agreement. Trying to contact the princesses over something like this would've been impossible unless the situation got serious, even then they would have their own personal guards investigate rather than simply approaching random ponies and asking if they saw anything.
"Want to stay up tonight and keep track of it? I know how much this would mean to you... and you do have the day off from work tomorrow after all." My father asked.
"Yes please, Dad.Thank you." I smiled from side to side.and watching some strange event in the sky I'd never seen or heard of before? This night was turning into the best night ever!
Looking back into the eyepiece, I let out a small sigh as I tracked the movement of the strange object.
Three and a half hours passed as the night went on and the faintest cracks of dawn light came from across the horizon as the moon made its way behind the Canterlot mountains. The object had gotten bigger and its movements were less erratic and more structured now, though it still made no sense as a luminescent green glow emanated from it. The glow was only gentle, but it was definitely there.
Dad had long since gone off to bed and fallen asleep, so my supply of hot chocolate and marshmallows had dwindled until the last of it was gone, but I didn't mind at this point. The thrill of seeing something so different was an adrenaline rush of its own for me.
Over the time however, my head had begun to feel weary and my eyes heavy. As interesting as the night sky and the unknown object was, nothing could hold back the restful slumber that drew towards the end of the day, or end of the night in my case.
My sleep was disturbed by the sudden sound of alarm as my Dad knocked on my door before opening it up and gently nudging my shoulder until I awoke and opened my eyes.
"Wake up Midnight! Wake up!" His voice sounded worried, though I still wasn't taking everything in properly and wasn't sure.Oh! That thing!
"Wait!" I shouted, my eyes opening in shock as it hit me. "You mean that object I was tracking last night is visible in broad daylight?"
Rolling over to my hooves and making my way to the window, I immediately saw what he had meant.
Whatever this was, it was something different for sure. Nopony had ever told tales of anything even close to this and there was nothing in the books that ever detailed events like this.
"What do you think it is?" My mother asked as she now anxiously stood beside father, the rising tension and uneasiness filling the room.
Getting myself prepared for the upcoming day, I washed and ate breakfast. The object was rapidly approaching with flames now encasing the entire front as a meteorite would, though I still knew it was different.
Ponies lined the roads of the village, jaws agape at the sight above. Shooting stars were uncommon but not rare.
It was only fifteen minutes later that it came crashing into the ground and slid across the fields surrounding our part of the region. It was impressive that it managed to land so solidly, but even more impressive was the fact that... well, somepony's argued over it, saying that it was some optical illusion.
I needed to find the crash site. To find out if I was right. To find out what it was.
Hey! just another note, mostly to make the chapter "feel" finished. (I'm not used to writing short chapters, unless you count 10k as short.)purely on the fact it's HiE rather than the quality of the content (and context) inside.
Lastly, description of Midnight Mystery to come next chapter! Don't worry, I just didn't want to make it out of place.
Of the skies and stars By Kippershy
Surprise of survival
Ringing filled the world around me, a constant ringing sound that overpowered everything else inside my head.
Warning lights galore shone, their glaring red beans glistening in my barely opened eyes, whispering their dangers as I tried to make sense of what had happened.
"No..." I muttered to myself, if only to hear a voice. "This... can't be."
But it was.
...Home, that was when it hit me the hardest. With the ship broken into god knows how many pieces and nowhere near the proper tools to repair even the main part let alone reassemble the first stage boosters even if I did have the fuel... it was hopeless, I was trapped.
I would never see home again.
The thoughts of the life left I could never see again rushed to the front of my mind.
Turning the media computer on, I set it to play different landscapes of earth along with their appropriate soundtracks.
Tears fell to my knees as I knelt down, the overwhelming despair taking control of my actions.
Because now, I really was.
*** *** ***
The echoing of the objects landing filled the air for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was only closer to less than a minute.
As if they'd been waiting all along, the Wonderbolts streaked through the skies above and placed a whole mess of clouds above the crash site, blasting it with rain until the fire was extinguished.
Everypony drew close to the crash site, though nopony dared to actually approach the strange object.
"What is it?" Somepony asked.
"I don't know. What I'd like to know is where it came from." Another answered almost under their breath, obviously not taking note of how they spoke as they stood awestruck by the mysterious thing that had come from the night sky.
As everypony stood around with worried looks and the tension rose, I decided to stand tall and declare what I knew. "It's from the stars. I've been tracking it since last night, though I have no idea where it came from past that."
The voice of an old buck came from the middle of the crowd, a voice I knew well. "Well that much is a little obvious, seeming as it's nothing we'd ever find here in Equestria and given the way it landed, it has to be something that fell from the highest levels of the sky... but... where did it come from there? There's never been a meteorite look like this."
My old astronomy teacher stood there with his white mane looking just as frazzled as it always had when we were both younger and his coat that same old dusty brown, though the years had served to make me look more beautiful as I reached marehood, they had given him a winkle at the corners of his eyes and mouth.
"Starstruck! You're here in Coltshire? Why?"
With a chuckle and a small nod, he happily gave me answers. "I was informed of the strange object this morning, came here as fast as I could after working out the trajectory and estimated landing position. I guessed it to be a little further out from here, though. Didn't expect the, quite frankly, interesting yet terrifying acceleration dampening systems."
"You mean the parachutes?" I asked.
"Yes." He began. "As much as it scares me to admit, they were obviously, purposefully, made to slow down the descent of this object. Though I am no princess, this much is something I am sure of. Which begs the question... what is inside?"me worried! I had never considered the possibility of there being something inside this thing!
Thinking about his words further, he was right. There had to be something inside, though now everypony was too frightened to approach and find out what it could possibly be, if it was the case at all.
In silence we stood as the number of ponies slowly dwindled until it was just me and Starstuck.
Like a child I found my voice turning almost into a high pitched squeak as I spoke quietly. "What... what if it's some crazy stunt somepony decided to pull, what if they're hurt?"
With a gasp, I understood exactly what he was implying and wondered the same thing myself, though to find my old teacher was considering the same possibility was astounding to me.
"Are... are you saying you too think it could... ya know?"
Looking at him once more, I sought his guidance.
"So, what do we do?" Asking just like old times.
He took a moment to consider the options, though we didn't seem to have many. After a few seconds of staring at the object, he turned back to me.
"I'll inform the guard of the update... as for the rest of it? We watch and wait."
So that was it... while he went off to tell the higher authorities, I would stand guard in front of... whatever it was.
Though another part, deeper inside of me, hoped for something different.
With that, I sat and waited. I didn't know what for, or how long, but I waited all the same.
