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                   To the Stars and Back                   
                    -by ThatPortalGuy-                     
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                      And Into Space                       
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And Into Space
“Wow. This is amazing. I mean, I knew this would be cool but, WOW, this is cool!”
“Heh. Enjoying the view, Aldrin?”
“Oh. Hey, Shepard. And yeah, this view is pretty awesome. I mean, look at it! It’s SPACE! OUTER space! You can see the Earth! Because we’re not ON it!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. But you’ll get used to it.”
“Yeah… So, how many times have you been up in space again?”
“5 times. Did they tell you about the first time?”
Aldrin had to try with all his might not to start guffawing as he recalled how Shepard had to pee in his suit because it took them hours to launch the space capsule and they hadn’t put a urine collection device in the suit.
“How you… you…” Aldrin burst into laughter. “YOU WET YOUR PANTS!!! HAHAHA!!! OH… oh, I’m sorry. But still, you gotta admit that’s pretty… haha… pretty funny.”
“Yeah, whatever. At least now we have a UCD in our suits.”
“Ok, well, I gotta go start my first experiment with Schmitt now, so catch ya later.”
“See ya, Aldrin.”
Shepard pulled himself back into the cockpit of the shuttle.
“So, Ground Control, how’s everything going?”
“Pretty good, Shepard.” Replied the Doctor. “No problems detected.”
Meanwhile, Aldrin and Schmitt were testing to see how a rat would react to zero gravity. The rat wasn’t doing so well.
“Aldrin, I think it’s already dead.”
“How can it be dead already? It just got here!  Besides, he was alive and kicking a few minutes ago…”
“How long is a rat’s lifespan?”
“Uh…”
While the two mission scientists were attempting to experiment, Mattingly and Worden were going over their extravehicular activity for the umpteenth time.
“Alright, so I need to connect this rod to that node while you hold it together with the other rod.”
“Wait, what about that connector?”
“Oh, I think that goes on the other rod…”
In the cockpit, Shepard and Bean were simply having a conversation.
“Oh, you went to UEM? I heard they have a really good art program.”
“Yeah, there are some really talented artists in Manehatten. But, seriously, on the days where they put the art up in the gallery? Man, you’d think all they ever learned how to draw was the upper back of mares.”
“’Ello?” A voice came from the main panel. “Can you two hear me in the cockpit?”
“Yes,” Replied Shepard. “We read you loud and clear. Is there a problem?”
“Well, actually it seems there is an unidentified object hurtl-“
The transmission was cut off.
“Ground Control? Ground Control do you read me?”
SPAAAAAACE
“What the-“
The unidentified object, still making a sound that sounded a lot like the word ‘space’ crashed into the shuttle, sending it crashing into the moon.

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                      Away From Earth                      
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Away From Earth
“Beautiful day, isn’t it, Rich?”
“Sure is, George. Perfect day to launch the new space shuttle.”
The radio talk show, about to begin their discussion on space flight, was broadcast across Equestria.
“For those of you who live under a rock, today will be the launching of the Odyssey, Equestria’s first space shuttle. It’s being launched from the Celestia Space Center, and will spend one hour in space, before returning to the Luna Space Center. Now, I don’t know about you, George, but I’ve always-“
The radio was switched to the channel broadcasting audio from Ground Control.
“Pilot, switch panel F-12…”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders listened intently to the speakers at the site of the launch.
“…SRB 2, 4, and 6.”
“SRB 2, 4, and 6 activated.”
“WOW, this is so exciting!” Exclaimed Scootaloo. “Maybe I’ll go to space and get a SPACE cutie mark!”
“Ah wouldn’ get mah hopes up, Scootaloo. Those brave ponies in th’ shuttle ‘ave spent years training. You need to have one o’ those fancy degrees, and a whole bunch of flight time, an’ a bunch o’ other stuff too.” Apple Bloom replied. “Besides, who would wanna go up in t’ space? Ah like it righ’ here, where Ah can count on th’ trees bein’ here an’ th’ gravity holdin’ me down every mornin’.”
“Gravity, shmavity. To a flyer like Rainbow Dash, gravity’s just an obstacle. I bet she’ll go into space if she wants to.”
Meanwhile, in Ground Control, the Doctor was talking to the astronauts.
“Now, if anything goes wonky, it’ll pop up here on the control panel, and I’ll give you step by step instructions on how to fix it and safely resume your time in space.”
“GO SPACE!” Exclaimed Derpy Hooves, as she jumped onto a Mars rover model, promptly breaking it.
“Derpy, please do try not to touch anything.”
“Sorry, I just don’t know what went wrong!” Derpy replied before exiting the room.
The Doctor shook his head before returning to the microphone. “So, are you all ready?”
The astronauts’ answer was in the positive.
“Alright then.  Ignition in t-minus ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three…”
“Wow, I can’t wait!” Scootaloo cried.
“Two…”
“Lalalalala…” Derpy sung, accidently destroying the entire Space Travel exhibit.
“One… Ignition.”
Suddenly, the Odyssey space shuttle, as if by magic, lifted off the ground, spewing fire.
“Liftoff! We have liftoff!”
And the seven astronauts began their ascent into space.