A.F.R.T. 11252257:054557
Dedicated to all the people who gave one small step of their lives in pursuit of a dream, and to the man who took that one final step to make that dream a reality. Your faith in your colleagues and your determination to prove the impossible possible is an inspiration to us all.
One small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong: August 5th, 1930 – August 25th, 2012
Hero to many, example for us all.
[ACCESS FILE NAME: AFRT11252257054557]
INITIALIZING…
ALTEA AEROSPACE:
The Future Is Now
BEACHY FLIGHT DATA RECORDER VER. 3.7.2
POWER ON SELF TEST
- POWER STATUS: PASS
- CLOCK STATUS: PASS
- AUDIO PULSE RESPONSE: PASS
- INSTRUMENT RESPONSE: PASS
- SYSTEM DATALINK: PASS
- DATE: [FAIL]
-- DATE FAIL CODE AA014 ‘TIMESTAMP MISSMATCH’
SYSTEM TIME UPDATE…
DATE: 11252257 :: 05455725
UPDATE COMPLETE
DATE: November 25, 2257
POWER ON SELF TEST COMPLETE
RUNNING AUTOCONFIG.INIT
- LOG = Y
- AUDIO = Y
- TRANSCRIPT = Y
- EVENT = Y
- SYSTEM STATUS = Y
- DATA STREAM BROADCAST = Y
- MISSION ELAPSED TIMESTAMP = Y
READY>
[::TAMPER WARNING::]
//NOTATION ENTRY: The audio transcript of this recording has been modified. It contains unrecognized audio that has been translated into English by sapient equine life form Twilight Sparkle. Transcript dialogue reflects translation. Tamper Warning has likely been tripped.
//NOTATION ENTRY: -By Twilight Sparkle:: I have translated what was said as close as I can manage in this transcript. I will point out that in order to keep track of who said what, and in what language, I have made the addition of adding markers indicating who is speaking. I am of course, T, for Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash is D, and Randy is of course, R. For the dialogue I translated into English, I have replaced the quotation marks with double asterisks to provide better clarity between the conversations occurring. The fourth voice, which I placed in equal-signs, belongs strictly to the Raven's voice assist program and is not an actual passenger like we are.
[BAT. BUS CONNECT]
[AUDIO RECORDER ACTIVE]
T: “Oh…!”
R: “What’s wrong?”
T: “My helmet… It won’t close over my horn!”
[FCS POWER BUS CONNECT]
[FCS STARTUP P.O.S.T.]
[MASTER CAUTION: FCS ALL STATES FAILURE]
R: “Missed that part didn’t you?”
[FCS RESET]
[TCAS INIT.]
T: “I was busy!”
D: **Hey Twilight, what are you two talking about?**
T: **My horn doesn’t fit in my helmet.**
D: **Hah! Is that all? Mine fits… I don’t like it though.**
[MFD 01: ONLINE]
[MFD 02: ONLINE]
[MFD 03: ONLINE]
[LAMP TEST]
R: “What did she say?”
T: “She doesn’t like her helmet.”
R: “Tell her I feel her pain… Where’d I put that startup checklist?”
T: “I have it…”
R: “Thank you.”
D: **Do I really have to sit in this weird thing the whole time?**
T: **Yes, but only until we reach orbit.**
D: **It looks like it’s going to eat me. Are you sure it’s safe?**
T: **I designed it myself.**
D: **Exactly…**
T: **Do you want to see space or not?**
R: “What’d she say?”
T: “Oh nothing much. She’s just complimenting you on what a FINE ship you have here.”
R: “Really? She sounded upset to me.”
T: “She’s just being difficult. Wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if she didn’t make things harder than they had to be.”
D: **Seriously Twilight, the suit’s cool and all, but my wings are going to get a cramp if I sit in this seat.**
T: “Be sure to strap yourself in real quick. Stand by.”
[AUDIO VOICE ASSISTANT: ONLINE]
=WELCOME ABOARD COMMANDER=
D: **WHOA!**
=ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL=
D: **Who said that?!**
T: **Relax Rainbow, it’s just the computer.**
R: “That didn’t scare her did it?”
T: “Who Rainbow? She’d never admit it even if you did.”
R: “Well okay. But if either of you want to back out of this, now’s the time to do it, not when we’re half way to orbit.”
T: “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for all the books in the library!”
R: “Okay then, make sure she’s strapped in then.”
T: **Dash, BUCKLE, UP. I mean it!**
D: **Okay! Okay. Your highness. As you command… sheesh.**
R: “Still got that checklist?”
T: “Right here!”
R: “Okay… So can you tell me the first-”
T: “Auxiliary Power Unit startup for control surfaces and hydraulic lines;”
[APU BUS PRIMED]
R: “Very good.”
T: “So we just-“
R: “NAH!”
T: “What?! What?”
R: “Keep your hooves off the controls. You do not touch anything unless I tell you do. Got it?”
T: “But I’m just-“
R: “Twilight. This is not the computer. It is not a toy. You can blow us up. I told you once. I will not tell you again. Do not touch anything without my express consent. Are we clear?”
T: “But I studied ever-“
R: “I said, are we clear?”
T: “Yes, yes sir.”
R: “Good.”
D: **Wow, I don’t know what he just said, but he chewed you out big time.**
T: **Are you strapped in Rainbow Dash?**
D: **Snug as a pegasus sandwich back here. Are we going to get this show on the road any time soon? Or are you just slowing him down?**
T: **Ha. Ha. Very funny.**
R: “Twilight, please identify for me the Auxiliary Power Unit ignition toggle.”
T: “I- what?”
R: “I said, please identify the Auxiliary Power Unit ignition toggle.”
T: “Uh... oh! But I just pointed-“
R: “Please identify the Auxiliary Power Unit ignition toggle.”
T: “I… er, uh… OOH! UGH! Here! Here’s the toggle. Right here!”
D: **You sure you’re ready for this Twi?**
T: **Be quiet Rainbow.**
R: “Twilight, please PUSH the Auxiliary Power Unit ignition toggle.”
T: “Uh… But you just…”
R: “Twilight, please-“
T: “Okay! Right... Pushing the Auxiliary Power Unit ignition toggle.”
[APU IGNITION]
[HYDRAZINE VALVE OPEN]
D: **Weird sounds back here…**
T: **That's normal.**
[APU POWERING UP]
[APU ONLINE]
[AUTOMATIC CENTER OF GRAVITY SHIFT ONLINE]
T: “Auxiliary Power Unit online.”
R: “Very good. What’s next?”
T: “It’s… External lighting… Strobe.”
R: “Good… Why?”
T: “It alerts others to active engines or power systems on air and space vehicles.”
R: “Very good. Know the switch?”
T: “It’s… the middle one up here.”
R: “Excellent… please flip the switch.”
T: “Okay.”
[LTS CAUTION STROBE: ACTIVE]
R: “I still can’t get over you doing that.”
T: “I could flip more switches if you w-“
R: “One thing at a time Twilight. What’s next?”
T: “Instrument calibration checks.”
R: “Very good, and how do they look?”
T: “I don’t see any abnor- Abnor- What was the word?”
R: “Abnormalities.”
T: “Yes! Abnormalities!”
R: “Very good. Next?”
T: “Review our desired flight profile and set all equipment to the desired conditions as per the pre-flight checklist.”
R: “Very good… Ready?”
T: “I was BORN ready.”
D: **Hey! Lots of talking, no flying. Are we going or not?**
T: **We’re getting there.**
D: **Well hurry up!**
R: “What was that about?”
T: “She’s impatient.”
R: “I noticed that. Is she always impatient?”
T: “Pretty much…”
R: “Well, let’s not keep her waiting too long. Read that list to me if you would.”
T: “Okay… Vertical Takeoff and Orbital Ascent Pre-Flight Checklist… Hatches.”
R: “Sealed.”
T: “Nose Cone”
R: “Check, closed.”
T: “APU power.”
R: “Check, ON.”
T: “MFD one mode, Surface”
[MFD 01 SELECTION: SURFACE]
R: “Check”
T: “MFD two mode, Orbit.”
[MFD 02 SELECTION: ORBIT]
R: “Check.”
T: “MFD 3 as desired.”
[MFD 03 SELECTION: ATTITUDE CONTROL AUTO-P]
R: “Check, set.”
T: “Control Surfaces mode state: ON”
R: “Check, ON.”
T: “RCS mode set: Rotation.”
=ROTATION=
R: “Rotation.”
T: “Cabin mode to internal.”
[EXTERNAL FEED INTERRUPT]
=USING ONBOARD O2=
R: “Check…”
T: “Cargo bay doors, closed.”
R: “Cargo bay doors are closed.”
T: “Retro doors closed…”
R: “Check, closed.”
T: “Radiator retracted.”
[RADIATOR RETRACTING]
R: “Closing radiator.”
T: “Hover doors: open.”
[ALERT! HOVER DOORS OPENING]
R: “Check open.”
T: “Throttles at cutoff.”
R: “Check throttles, all cutoff.”
[RADIATOR CLOSED]
T: “Igniter master arm, enabled”
[IGNITER MASTER ARM: ENABLE]
[ARMING ALL IGNITERS]
[IGNITER M1: ARMED]
[IGNITER M2: ARMED]
[IGNITER S1: DOOR CLOSE INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER S2: DOOR CLOSE INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER V1: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER V2: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER V3: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER R1: DOOR CLOSE INTERLOCK]
[IGNITER R2: DOOR CLOSE INTERLOCK]
R: “Check, Armed.”
[HOVER DOORS OPEN]
[IGNITER V1: ARMED]
[IGNITER V2: ARMED]
[IGNITER V3: ARMED]
T: “Turbo pumps, all enabled.”
[TURBOPUMP MASTER: ENABLE]
[TP1: STANDBY]
[TP2: STANDBY]
[TP3: STANDBY]
[TP4: STANDBY]
[TP5: STANDBY]
[TP6: STANDBY]
[TP7: STANDBY]
R: “Nice…”
T: “What?”
R: “Oh… Nothing. Looks like Turbo pump seven is working.”
T: “Is that that the one we helped you with?”
R: “That’s the one.”
T: “Good… so a check then?”
R: “Check it is.”
T: “Perfect! Gear… down. Obviously.”
R: “Check… obviously.”
T: “Lights, set as needed.”
[LTS BEACON: ACTIVE]
[LTS NAV: ACTIVE]
R: “Check, and check on.”
T: “Center of Gravity shift, auto.”
R: “Check, CoG auto.”
T: “Check main engines gimballing, centered or as needed.”
R: “Check, centered.”
T: “Check SCRAM engines, gimballing centered or as needed.”
R: “Check and centered.”
T: “Pre-flight checklist complete! Now to double check the checklist to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
R: “Did you put check marks in all the boxes?”
T: “Uh… Yep!”
R: “Then we didn’t miss anything. Standby… are we clear?”
T: “Clear this side. Nopony is inside Applejack’s rope.”
R: “And clear my side… here we go.”
[IGNITER V1 TRIP]
[IGNITER V2 TRIP]
[IGNITER V3 TRIP]
D: **Oh yeah! Now we’re talking! Here we go!**
R: “Good flow on the VTOL, throttling up…”
[NOSE WHEEL STEERING DISABLE]
=POSITIVE RATE=
T: “I can’t see anything in this smoke.”
R: “We’ll clear it in a moment, increasing throttle, nose down slightly…”
T: “Ten meters and climbing.”
R: “Standby for mains…”
[IGNITER M1 TRIP]
[IGNITER M2 TRIP]
R: “Okay, forward motion. Twilight, if you’d like to raise the landing gear, do so.”
T: “Okay…”
[LANDING GEAR RAISING]
=GEAR UP=
T: “I bet all of Ponyville is watching us…”
[LANDING GEAR SECURE]
=GEAR UP AND LOCKED=
R: “Stand by for throttle-up… Accelerating.”
D: **Ooo… Here it comes! I can FEEL it!**
T: “Fifty meters per second...”
R: “Twilight, once we hit a hundred and five we'll cut the verticals and transition to normal flight.”
T: “Okay... Sixty five. Thirty meters altitude and climbing...”
R: “How's Dash doing?”
T: “She's liking things so far... Seventy-five meters a second.”
R: “Looks like three months idle hasn't been hard on the Raven. Fuel pressure looks good...”
T: “Ninety...”
R: “Starting to bring the nose up, reducing vertical thrust...”
T: “Ninety-five.”
R: “Here we go... Expect a bump-”
T: “One hundred meters per second... One hundred and five...”
[CLOSING HOVER DOORS]
[FUEL CUTOFF V1: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
[FUEL CUTOFF V2: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
[FUEL CUTOFF V3: DOOR MOTION INTERLOCK]
T: “Whoa... Is it supposed to do that?”
R: “I could never get the transition as smooth as my instructor. Increasing mains to twenty-five percent, stand by.”
[HOVER DOORS CLOSED]
T: “I can see why Rainbow Dash likes to fly so much, this is actually kind of fun.”
R: “I know, right? We're now in full free-flight. Keep an eye on our speed.”
T: “A hundred and twenty five meters a second right now. Speaking of Rainbow Dash, have you seen Cloudsdale?”
R: “Cloud what?”
T: “Cloudsdale, the pegasus city.”
R: “I haven't been out of Pon-”
T: “One seventy-five.”
R: “I haven't been out of Ponyville except to see your capital. Where am I going to find a city?”
T: “Turn right until we're on heading three-four-five and get above the clouds.”
R: “We can't tour all over Equestria Twilight. The Raven only has so much fuel.”
T: “It's not far. Just turn to heading three-four-five and get above the clouds and you should see it.”
R: “Are the compass readings even accurate on your world?”
T: “I re-calibrated it yesterday.”
R: “Twilight...”
T: “That's all I touched! I swear!”
R: “I had all the course settings plotted based on the old settings… Now we’re flying blind.”
T: “That’s okay! I wrote a list of all the course plots you did and made a new one with all the corrected courses so-“
R: “Twilight, that’s not the point. You can’t just go around fiddling with the equipment in here.”
T: “But I know what everything does! I know what the compass is, I know what the ADF does, I know how to calibrate the transponder I-“
R: “Twilight. Again, that’s not the point. The point is that this stuff is NOT yours. The Raven is owned by the Global Space Agency back home and is kind of like my house right now. You wouldn’t walk into another pony’s house and just start going through their stuff would you?”
T: “No, but…”
R: “And I won’t walk into your home and just start picking up your books without your permission because they’re neat. I know I’m the strange alien here and I’ve even given you a LOT of slack because of that. But I think we know each other well enough by now that you should know better than to just act like you own the place. From now on, you need ask me before you mess with anything. It doesn’t matter how well you’ve studied this stuff, it’s STILL not yours. Are we clear?”
T: “I… y- Yes. We’re clear.”
R: “Thank you… Now, about this Cloud Dale-“
T: “Cloudsdale… The translation is Cloudsdale.”
R: “Right, Cloudsdale. Heading three-four-five?”
T: “Yes, heading three-four-five. Ascend to twenty-five hundred meters.”
R: “Speed?”
T: “One Ninety.”
R: “Turning to heading three forty five, ascending to altitude.”
T: “One question…”
R: “What?”
T: “What’s slack?”
R: “You don’t know that word? Seriously? As much as you’ve studied?”
T: “I’ve picked up a lot, but I’m still running into words I don’t know.”
R: “We’ll talk about it later then. You’ve already blown away everyone I’ve ever known as far as learning a new language.”
T: “It’s fun to talk to you… Anyway, you can see Cloudsdale now.”
R: “Where? I don’t see anything-“
T: “Not down there! Out THERE!”
R: “What? You mean those comuloni- wait. They've got lights? You mean that pegasus city is made of CLOUDS?”
T: “Why do you think they named it Cloudsdale?”
R: “Oh, I wish I hadn’t packed my camera away. I’ve GOT to get pictures of that. That’s just amazing. I mean, I guess it makes sense considering what Dash can do with a cloud, but that’s still…”
[ PROXIMITY WARNING TRIGGERED]
D: **Hey, what’s that noise?**
T: “What’s that chirping sound mean?”
R: “That’s the proximity detection radar. Now that I think about it, the airspace around a pegasus city isn’t the best place to fly a spacecraft. Especially as dark as it is this early... I can't see anything.”
T: “I'll try a night-sight spell.”
R: “You... do that. Take a look around, see if you can find them.”
T: “I've got some. They’re above and to the right. Don’t worry, they’re staying back.”
R: “Let’s hope so… I’d like not to be the first human in recorded history to have a bird strike on a pegasus.”
T: Bird strike? Is that like bird lightning or something?
R: Not exactly... just keep your eyes on the sky.
T: “I think there’s two more off to the left, mind them as well.”
R: “Right... It’s getting crowded up here way too fast. I’m breaking off. You'll have to show me Cloudsdale some other time. What’s our heading for our ascent trajectory?”
T: “Turn right to heading zero-eight-four, ascend at ten degrees nose up.”
D: **Twilight, what’s going on?**
T: **Nothing Rainbow, we’re just near Cloudsdale and there are a lot of pegasi coming up to look at this machine.**
D: **Really? Cool! You should tell Randal or whatever his name is to do some stunts while everypony’s watching.**
T: **Rainbow, you know we can’t do stunts in this thing.**
D: **Why not? I thought we were supposed to be going fast or something? Where’s the going fast part?**
R: “What did she say?”
T: “She wants to go fast…”
R: “Hahahahah… She wants to go fast…”
T: “She also wants you to do stunts.”
R: “Hah! Not happening. And stand by. I’m bringing the throttle to fifty percent so we can get away from these stragglers.”
T: “Two hundred meters per second… Two-ten, two-fifteen, two-twenty…”
R: “Heading zero-eight-four… Looks like a straight shot past the capital. I’m sure they’ll love this.”
T: “Two-hundred fifty meters per second. Looks like they’re starting to drop back.”
R: “Good. I guess they just aren’t as fast as Dash back there.”
T: “Two-hundred seventy five… Are you sure it’s okay to break the sound barrier over Canterlot?”
R: “Yeah, it’s not like it’ll be an everyd- What did you call it?”
T: “Canterlot.”
R: “Canterlot?”
T: “Yeah! You like it? It’s a mix of your fictional city ‘Camelot’ and the word ‘canter’, meaning to travel at an easy gallop. It’s a pun, or play unto wor-“
R: “I get that… why?”
T: “Well I noticed the words fit together particularly well when I was trying to translate the city name into English. It’s just the type of rhythm it has compared to the garbled mess I was going to use before. So I just stuck with that instead.”
R: “Well what was the actual translation going to be?”
T: “Cantered Slopes Cliff side City of the Rising Sun.”
R: “…Canterlot it is then.”
T: “Yeah. In your language many of our names turn into mouthfuls. Oh, three-hundred meters per second.”
D: **Hey… Twilight. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m still back here, and I’m getting bored listening to the both of you chatter away in a language I can’t understand.**
T: **You’d be bored even if you could understand what we were saying.**
D: **Yeah, but at least then I could understand why I was bored! And- What’s with the shaking?**
T: **That’s normal, it just means we’re about to hit ‘Mach’ one.**
D: **What’s a ‘mach’?**
T: **It’s a human term meaning multiples of the speed of sound.**
=MACH ONE=
R: “Supersonic…”
D: **Whoa… cool. So wait, we’re going as fast as sound? Like, when I go so fast the air snaps and creates the rainbow wave? It barely feels like we’ve done anything!**
T: **It’s not supposed to. The humans make their machines so that they don’t have to feel it.**
D: **That’s stupid! Why would they NOT want to feel it? Going fast feels AWESOME!**
T: **Not as fast as we’re fixing to go…**
D: **What do you mean? Are we going to be like that neat black flying machine I saw? That one looked pretty fast.**
R: “Twilight, we’re passing over ‘Canterlot’.”
T: “I hope Princess Heaven is watching.”
R: “If she isn't, she will be. And so will every other pony in the city.”
D: **Don't ignore me Twilight! What do you mean? How fast are we going to go?**
T: **How about this Rainbow? Every time we pass a 'Mach' interval, I'll tell you how fast we're going. Then you can see for yourself. Deal?**
D: **How fast-**
T: **Deal?**
D: **Fine! Deal!**
R: “Now what are you two talking about?”
T: “Just telling her how fast we’re going.”
R: “She seems pretty obsessed with speed.”
T: “She is a pegasus. Going fast is what she lives her life for.”
R: “Well, she’ll get plenty of speed here. Mach one point five and climbing. I’m bringing the nose back to increase our rate of climb.”
T: “We are at ten kilometers… I think?”
R: “Yes, kilo is correct. Ten kilometers.”
T: “Sunrise looks pretty from here. The colors look amazing.”
[ATTITUDE HOLD AUTOPILOT ACTIVATED]
[HOLD ATTITUDE = 15 DEG]
[AUTOTRIM ADJUST]
[AUTOTRIM COMPLETE]
R: “Yes it does. There’s nothing quite like sunrise from a spacecraft…”
=MACH TWO=
T: **Now going two times faster than you Rainbow Dash.**
D: **Two times? That’s not too bad. How high are we?**
T: **We’re climbing out of the high clouds now.**
D: **Heh, not quite as above the sky as I thought we’d be.**
R: “Fifteen kilometers… Mach two point two. At mach three point five and twenty-five kilometers we begin SCRAM ascent.”
T: “Do you need me to check the checklist for SCRAM Power Ascent?”
R: “No, it’s pretty straight forward. We adjust attitude to seven point five degrees, open the slats, and watch the heat and power.”
T: “Are you sure? I’ve got it subdivided into each part of a textbook ascent. Ignition, power development, thermal management, throttle up, and upper-threshold cutoff.”
R: “Takes too long to go through it verbally. Just let me handle it.”
T: “Oh…”
R: “Mach two point five… feels like we’re clearing your stratosphere. The mains are picking up power.”
[SCRAM DOORS OPENING]
[SCRAM DOORS OPEN]
[IGNITER S1: ARMED]
[IGNITER S2: ARMED]
[AUTOTRIM ADJUST]
[AUTOTRIM COMPLETED]
T: “We’re at twenty kilometers…”
D: **Gah!**
T: **What’s the matter?**
D: **This suit’s making my wings itch and this chair's making it hard to breathe. How much longer?**
T: **Not long… Did I tell you what I learned about the first years the humans went into space?**
D: **No, but I think you’re about to.**
T: **Well, from what I read. When humans first went into space, it was at a time when their nations were always competing. They had these weapons that could destroy entire cities in one shot.**
D: **WHOA!!! For REAL?**
T: **Yes. And they had a lot of them. Because of that, both sides were always scared the other was going to attack and completely destroy them. They called it a Cold War because nobody actually fought. Instead, they would compete with each other through their economies and technological advances.**
D: **Let me guess, they couldn’t fight because if one attacked, the other would attack, and they’d destroy each other.**
T: **Yes, actually. Humans call the principle Mutually Assured Destruction. But that’s not the point.**
=MACH THREE=
T: **Three times faster than you…**
D: **Not too shabby… so what about this cold war?**
R: “Bringing the nose down…”
[HOLD ATTITUDE = 7.5 deg]
[AUTOTRIM ADJUST]
[AUTOTRIM COMPLETE]
T: **Well, like I said, humans had just gotten into space. The two biggest nations of the world were in a fierce competition with one another to keep their technologies matched. Getting into space was one such competition.**
D: **And?**
T: **AND… One of these nations decided that in order to out-compete the other, they had to go all out. They set the biggest goal they thought they could manage for their time and technology.**
D: **What did they go for? If they’re in space, what did they go after?**
T: **Their leader had a speech. I think I remember how it went. It might not come out in translation correctly but he said… : ‘ I think this nation should commit itself, to achieving the goal, before these ten years are done, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the world.**
T: **No single space project in this period.**
T: **Would be more impressive to human kind...**
T: **Or more important for the long range exploration of space.’**
R: “Stand by for SCRAMS…”
D: **They went for their MOON?!**
R: “Ignition.”
[IGNITER S1: TRIP]
[IGNITER S2: TRIP]
T: “OOF!”
D: **Gu- What the-?**
R: “Just half a G extra, don’t let it scare you.”
=MACH FOUR=
R: “Nice… nice. That’s my baby. Twenty-five kilometers altitude. Good solid fuel flow rate on the SCRAMS. Give it a few seconds to develop power and I’ll cut the mains.”
T: **We’re at four times your top speed now Dash.**
D: **What was that?**
T: **The supersonic combustion ramjet engines… **
D: **The super-wha?**
T: **I don't think I can explain it here... They're called SCRAMJETS.**
R: “Main Engine Cutoff…”
[FUEL FLOW M1: CUTOFF]
[FUEL FLOW M2: CUTOFF]
T: “Gah!”
D: **Hwah… Wow… Glad I listened to you Twi. I think I would have just hit the door…**
R: “You two okay? The lurches take some getting used to.”
T: “We’re fine. Just surprised.”
R: “It gets better-“
=MACH FIVE=
D: **Did that thing just count again?**
T: **Yes, five times faster than you.**
D: **You’re kidding right?**
T: **I’m not kidding. Do you know what it takes to get into space?**
D: **DUH! Of course I don’t! I’ve never been to space!**
T: **Well right now, we have to get into orbit. And to orbit something, we have to be going so fast that we’re not actually flying… We’re FALLING.**
D: **F-Falling? What?! What do you mean?**
T: **We have to go so fast that we FALL around the entire world!**
=MACH SIX=
R: “Forty kilometers… Throttling back…”
D: **Th-that doesn’t make sense Twilight! You fall down, not sideways! You can’t fly around the world by falling down!**
T: **Why not? The world is round, remember? If you go fast enough, you travel far enough forward each moment that you fall just as much as the world curves away from you.**
D: **But… How fast IS that? The ground is so flat and the world is so big that you’d have to be going like… Like… Like a bajillion times faster than anything ever could!**
=MACH SEVEN=
T: **Now going seven times faster…**
D: **Seven?! I could fly from Cloudsdale to Ponytown and back again in the blink of an eye!**
=MACH EIGHT=
T: **Eight times… We're now going fast enough that if we were lower the air itself would set metal on fire.**
D: **WHAT?!**
R: “Forty-five kilometers. Try not to get too excited. Best part’s coming up.”
D: **Wha’d he say?!**
T: **He said hold on-**
=MACH NINE=
T: **-Because when we hit fifty kilometers, we’ll REALLY put on some speed.**
[HOLD ATTITUDE = 5 deg]
[AUTOTRIM ADJUST]
[AUTOTRIM COMPLETE]
D: **You mean we’re not even close?!**
T: **Nope!**
=MACH TEN=
R: “Fifty Kilometers… Here’s where we feel the Gs.”
T: “Randy… You are GO for throttle up.”
R: “My favorite part… Hold on.”
D: **TWILIGHT?**
[TURBOPUMP S1: OVERDRIVE 105%]
[TURBOPUMP S2: OVERDRIVE 105%]
D: **HRK!**
T: “GWA!”
=MACH ELEVEN=
T: **Eleven times… Wow wh-**
T: “-What kind- of G force is this?”
R: “Three Gs sustained.”
T: “Wow… I never knew it would feel- like this…”
=MACH TWELVE=
D: **This- This is...**
T: **Fifty two- kilometers. Twelve times th- the speed of sound and climbing... **
=MACH THIRTEEN=
D: **I- I don't feel so good... I feel dizzy...**
T: **That's- normal. Our bodies are aligned with the axis of acceleration... The blood in your body is- being pushed towards your flank.**
=MACH FOURTEEN=
T: **Fourteen times faster... Right now we're doing- three gravities acceleration. Your body feels like it weighs- three times what it normally does. You usually- do more in turns, but those are short- and on a- different axis.**
R: “Just keep talking Twilight, you two are doing real good.”
=MACH FIFTEEN=
D: **H-How come he doesn't- sound bothered?**
T: **He's- upright. He- might as well be laying on his back. Just hang on... We're half way- there.**
D: **H-HALF?!**
=MACH SIXTEEN=
T: **Sixteen times...**
D: **No- I...**
T: **Tighten your hind legs... Humans do that- when- doing this kind of thing.**
=MACH SEVENTEEN=
D: **HRRRK!!!**
R: “G's giving you that much trouble Twilight?”
T: “I can- handle it.”
=MACH EIGHTEEN=
T: **Eighteen times...**
D: **EIGHTEEN?!**
R: “Sixty-three kilometers. Looking good Sparkle. Dash still with us?”
T: “She's- she's with us.”
=MACH NINETEEN=
D: **Did it say- Nineteen?**
T: **Yes... Nineteen times- and still climbing.**
R: “We're approaching maximum SCRAM diffuser temp. You should feel the G forces ease off here as thrust starts to even out.”
D: **Too... Too fast...**
T: **Are you okay Dash?**
=MACH TWENTY=
D: **It said- Twenty? Too fast.... TOO FAST!**
T: **Stay calm, we're almost there...**
D: **This is WAY too fast!**
R: “What's she shouting about? Is she okay?”
T: “I think this might have been too much for her. She didn't know at all what to expect.”
R: “She'll be okay, just a little further...”
=MACH TWENTY-ONE=
D: **Twenty- one?!**
T: **You understand it?**
D: **I can count too! This- this is-**
R: “Approaching SCRAM cutoff, throttling back.”
[:FAULT DETECTION FLAG:]
[--FUEL FLOW WARNING: L7S2]
[----FUEL FLOW RATE EXCEEDS EXPECTED]
[----FUEL PRESSURE EXCEEDS DESIRED]
[::MASTER CAUTION::]
[::MASTER CAUTION LAMP::]
[WARNING: THRUST BALANCE OUT OF RANGE]
[RCS AUTOCORRECT: ACTIVE]
[--SCRAM ENGINE ANOMALY]
[----THRUST CONTROL FAILURE!]
[::!MASTER ALARM!::]
[::ENGINE FAULT DANGER LAMP::]
[AUTOCUTOFF]
[-AUTOCUTOFF FAILURE!]
[TURBOPUMP 07 RPM EXCEEDING PARAMETERS!]
[::!EMERGENCY!::]
R: “What th-”
D: **WHAT'S THAT NOISE?!**
T: “I DIDN'T TOUCH ANYTHING!”
=WARNING: SCRAM ENGINE DAMAGE=
R: “S-(CENSORED)”
D: **What's going on Twi?! What's that alarm?!**
T: “What happened?! Are we okay? Did something hit us?!”
=WARNING: SCRAM ENGINE DAMAGE=
R: “Thrust problem... thrust problem...”
D: **Please tell me we're okay!**
T: “Randy-”
R: “QUIET!”
D: **Twilight?!**
=WARNING: SCRAM ENGINE DAMAGE=
[FAULT RESET]
[ALL ALARMS SILENCED]
=SYSTEM RESET=
R: “Throttle's not responding on SCRAM two... D(CENSORED)! Can't close the fuel valve either...”
T: “R-Randy?”
R: “We're still okay. I just can't shut the SCRAMs off.”
[SCRAM DOOR INTERLOCK]
=WARNING: SCRAM DOORS ARE OPEN=
R: “Can't force an interlock cutoff either... WHY?”
D: **TWILIGHT!**
T: **It's okay! We're okay!**
R: “I need you two to be quiet for me.”
T: **We're okay Dash... Just be quiet for Randy.**
R: “Can't throttle; can't shut it off... Okay then, plan B-”
[ATTITUDE HOLD: 15 deg]
[AUTOTRIM ADJUST]
[AUTOTRIM COMPLETE]
R: “-Starve it...”
[SCRAM TANK OVERBOARD VALVE OPEN]
[WARNING: SCRAM FUEL DUMP]
=WARNING: FUEL DUMP=
R: “We don't need any more of that anyway...”
[WARNING: SCRAM DIFFUSER TEMPERATURE BORDERLINE]
[:MASTER CAUTION LAMP:]
[:SCRAM DIFFUSER TEMP LAMP:]
R: “Yes, yes... I know.”
=WARNING: FUEL DUMP=
R: “Eighty kilometers... Little higher. Come on, choke. Choke already.”
D: **T- Twi? What's he saying?**
T: **I'm not sure... Something about choking.**
=WARNING: FUEL DUMP=
D: **What's the talking thing saying now?**
T: **We're dumping fuel.**
D: **Why?**
T: **I think he's trying to force the engine to quit.**
=WARNING: SCRAM FUEL LOW=
[SCRAMJET MAIN FUEL TANK EXHAUSTED]
[SCRAMJET RESERVE FUEL CONNECTION NOT DETECTED]
[SCRAMJET FUEL SUPPLY EXHAUSTED]
=WARNING: SCRAM FUEL DEPLETED=
[L6 CUTOFF VALVE CLOSED]
[L7 CUTOFF VALVE CLOSED]
[SCRAM DOOR CLOSING]
[TURBOPUMP 6 DISABLE]
[TURBOPUMP 7 DISABLE]
R: “Whoa... phew.”
T: “Are we...”
R: “We're okay. Stand by for a jolt... Ignition.”
[IGNITER M1: TRIP]
[IGNITER M2: TRIP]
D: **Twilight!**
T: **We're okay! Randy's got it under control.**
D: **Are you sure?**
T: **Yes, I'm sure.**
=MACH TWENTY-TWO=
R: “I think that's enough SCRAMs for one day... You two okay?”
T: “What happened?”
R: “Looks like we didn't catch the problem with the scramjet. The throttle locked open and I couldn't shut it off.”
T: “I'm sorry... I thought we-”
R: “It's okay. That's a complicated piece of equipment. I don't even know how the whole thing works.”
=MACH TWENTY-THREE=
D: **Twilight... I want to go home.**
T: **What? But we're not even there yet!**
D: **I want to go home Twilight... Now.**
T: **We can't. It's too late to do that now. We're almost to orbit.**
=MACH TWENTY-FOUR=
R: “Is she okay?”
D: **I want to go home! This seat's too tight! I can't breathe!**
T: **Calm down Rainbow. You're breathing just fine.**
D: **IT'S CRUSHING ME TWILIGHT! I CAN'T BREATHE!**
R: “Twilight, what's wrong with her?”
T: “I'm not sure, I think she's scared.”
=MACH TWENTY-FIVE=
T: **Now going twenty-five times as fast as you.**
D: **I DON'T CARE! I want out of this STUPID harness! I want out of this stupid chair! I want out of this STUPID flying DEATH BOX!**
R: “What's she wailing about?”
T: “She says the seat is crushing her and wants out.”
R: “She's claustrophobic?!”
=MACH TWENTY-SIX=
T: “Closter what?”
R: “Claustrophobic. It means she's afraid of small inescapable places.”
T: “What?! She's never been scared of anything like that!”
R: “She's never been on a space ship before... Oh, this is bad.”
D: **TWILIGHT! LET ME OUT!**
=MACH TWENTY-SEVEN: PLUS=
R: “That malfunction didn't help either. You've got to calm her down, NOW. I'm fixing to cut the engines and microgravity is going to make her even worse.”
T: **Rainbow Dash, you have got to calm down!**
D: **I WANT OUT! TWILIGHT!**
T: **WE. CAN'T. STOP.**
R: MECO... In three... two... one... CUTOFF.
[FUEL FLOW M1: CUTOFF]
[FUEL FLOW M2: CUTOFF]
T: **See? We're there! Calm down!**
D: **We... We're falling? WE'RE FALLING!**
T: **We're in orbit! Remember? We're supposed to be falling!**
D: **No! NONONONO! We're out of control! We're gonna' crash!**
T: “Randy! She's getting worse!”
R: “I know! I know!”
[RADIATOR OPENING]
D: **LET ME OUT! OOF... LET ME OUUUUUUT!**
T: “She's out of her seat!”
R: “Restrain her!”
D: **WHOA! TWILIGHT HELP! I CAN'T FLY! I'M FALLING... I'M FALLING!**
T: “Oh wow... This is weird.”
R: “Pegasus panicking now, weightlessness later!”
T: “Right!”
T: **Rainbow Dash! If you don't calm down righ- YIKE!**
D: **I'M FALLING! EVERYTHING'S FALLING! LET ME OUT! STOP THE WALLS FROM MOVING! PLEASE! I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!**
T: **Strop struggling! You can't move like normal in microgravity!**
R: “She's bouncing off the walls... You need to find a way to control her before she gets hurt.”
T: “I'm trying, but she's not making it easy.”
R: “You've got thirty seconds to figure it out or I'm going to have to shock her.”
[RADIATOR OPEN]
T: “I'm working on it... But every time I try to pin her with magic, I keep getting pushed the other way!”
D: **I WANNA' GO HOME! LET ME GO HOME!**
R: “This isn't going to work. I have to shock her. We have to get her under control before apo-burn.”
T: **Rainbow Dash! This is your last warning! Calm down or we're going to have to calm you down by force!**
D: **How can you be so calm when we're plunging to our death?!**
T: **We're NOT plunging to our death! For the LAST TIME! We're in ORBIT! We're NOT out of control! We're on a pre-calculated path!**
D: **TO OUR DEATHS! I KNOW FLYING! I KNOW FALLING! I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN CONTROL! THIS IS NOT CONTROL! THIS IS NOT FLYING! LET! ME! OUT!**
T: **You can't breathe in space, Dash! You'll suffocate in SECONDS.**
D: **I'LL RISK IT! ANYTHING BEATS FALLING TO OUR-**
R: “Boo-”
[POWER SURGE DETECTED]
[SYSTEM CHECK: ALL GREEN]
D: **OW!!! WHAT THE HAY!?**
--LOUD MEATY CRACK--
R: “OOOF!”
T: **RAINBOW DASH!**
D: **What they hay was that?! Lightning from a string?! What are you trying to do to me?!**
T: **You hurt Randy!**
D: **HE HURT ME FIRST!**
R: “Ow! What in the-? That was several thousand volts!”
D: **Come on and try again, Randal! I'll knock your head clean off!**
T: **You leave me no choice Rainbow Dash. The only thing that's out of control here is you.**
D: **Twilight? What are you...! Hey- Whoa... WHOA!!! TWILIGHT STO-**
--LOUD METALLIC THUNK--
R: “Oh... That's- Is she okay?”
T: “She'll be fine. I'm afraid that was the only thing that could calm her down at this point.”
R: “Okay... Get her back in her seat, and make sure she STAYS there until she can behave herself. We're about fifteen minutes from our insertion burn. Be strapped in by then.”
T: “Okay...”
[END OF TRANSCRIPT]
Suggested tracks are:
'Fighter's Honor' from Ace Combat Cross Rumble
'Apollo' from Alan Parsons Project
'Master Alarm' from Apollo 13 OST
SPECIAL: XR-2 Ravenstar Surface to Orbit Flight Profile set to 'Apollo'
Flown by: 'Admiral Tigerclaw'
Program: ORBITER 2010 P1
Craft Add On: XR-2 Ravenstar
Playback Time Compression: 3X
Play it here.
All can be found on youtube.
Special thanks to Archonix for the sketches he speed-created at my request.
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R.I.P. Neil, and a great tribute from the author. Kudos, good sir.
If the sound of a YES! reach you sometime soon it might just be me... Not sure when you should expect it as I don't know how far the sound has to travell, but be prepared.
Wow...looks like Dash found something TOO FAST for her. And she's apparantly claustrophobic...That actually makes sense.
Poor Rainbow Dash. I guess things just got too awesome for her.
Well that went well...
Aw!
Huh. Who knew Dash would react like that? I wasn't quite expecting it, but you pulled it off very well.
Rainbow Dash freaking out reminds me of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when Starscream is firing at them and they have to taser him.
So uh, where did you pull all of that jargon from, anyways?
I can understand Rainbow Dash's panic. She's not like Twilight, she doesn't know or understand how everything works or what it actually takes to get into space, so of course she's scared. But I'm sure it'll get better once they're actually in space and they can see their planet, or their moon, and the stars. It's said that the view of your planet from space is one of the most beautiful things you can ever see, and that the quietness of space gives a kind of peace and tranquility you can't find on earth. Even a "can't sit still" type like Rainbow Dash can't be immune to that. That, and she's tough. She'll be okay, I'm sure of it. Twilight's doing well, too! She's such a brave pony. Looking forward to the next part. Still the best HiE fic ever.
Hardcore.
Dash, why you gotta be freaking the hell out in space? Makin' life hard for everybody.
Oh, and great chapter. If there was an grammatical problems, I didn't see them.
1281324
There's also an inherent trait of Dash being Dash that I brought up if you're looking. Rainbow Dash has always been in control of any given flying situation. In this situation, she has no control. This lack of control in flight would be a primordial fear for a natural flier.
Dashie got the space madness!
Awesome to see this story updated.
[MFD 01 SELECTION: ORBIT]
This should be MFD 02.
There's a reason you go through so much shit to be an astronaut, lol.
Bad Rainbow Dash, no freaking out on the flying metal box in space.
Bwahaha, I knew Rainbow wouldn't be able to handle it. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png
1281345
Thanks. I had issues going back and forth to work with the file, and tweaks I made got torched here and there.
Sweet Celestia, Dash's reaction is priceless!
1281333
Ah, yes, so logical I almost overlooked it. But you're completely right of course. Maybe Rarity should have accomodated the suit for Dashie's wings, it might have helped to comfort or assure her. Or it might have made matters worse if she started zipping around in panic in microgravity. I think Twilight should have given Rainbow a bit of an explanation of everything that would happen, preferably before they went into space. Human astronauts get a lot of training before they even make it into space, RD has had none. I'm surprised Twilight didn't pick this up from the computer's databases.
EDIT: I have to wonder though, since it's not entirely clear to me, but did Twilight basically whack Rainbow Dash on the head with something to knock her out?
Well... at least they're in space!
cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/524904249274121803/4C3CF0C00C76A83B94F84DEF48141E73EEE8AB3C/268x268.resizedimage
This is awesome.
Fantastic chapter, as usual. Normally this is where I complain about the long time between updates, but for more chapters like this I'm willing to work on my zen meditation techniques
.
Also, one minor typo:
T: “MFD two mode, Orbit.”
[MFD 01 SELECTION: ORBIT]
that should probably be "MFD 02"
Hmm...yeah this was ill advised on his part. No way to test how a Ponies body would respond to massive increases in G's...No psychological testing. Yes very ill advised indeed. Good thing that everything worked out though. Very nicely written and well done all in all. Thanks for sharing as always!
Dashie's total freak-out pleases me.
Am I a bad pony?
PS, IT CONTINUES!!!
aww poor Dashie... huh, well, least they didn't burst into a brilliant fireball, also, nice drawings!
I guess Rainbow couldn't....
Puts on sunglasses
Handle the burn!!!
Poor, Poor Rainbow Dash. Space is bigger than you could have ever expected. I, for one, suggest that she NOT try for an EVA jaunt. Pegasus won't be able to handle it.
As for the Taser not working on RD, well, considering that pegasai regularly work with stroms, lightning, and the like, it stands to reason that she'd be resistant to electricity. Excellent piece of worldbuilding that.
R.I.P Neil. You have been and will remain an inspiration to so many on the heights and greatness humanity can achieve.
Great chapter. Had me falling out of my chair laughing a couple times. I feel a bit sorry for Dash. She really had no idea what she was getting herself into.
The bit with the pictures was great. The look on the guards face in Canterlot. 
I think RD's top speed (calculating from her Mach cone) was Mach 5, but that's beside the point now.
This was intense!
Wow. That was a little bit stressful just to read. Very well done.
Holy shit an update. *Drops everything and starts reading.*
Excellent... that about sums it up...
-The Human (Mark 2)
Rainbow Dash is so...believable in this chapter. Twilight as well with her curiosity getting the best of her. Excellent work, I look forward to seeing more in the future.
Aaand hey look at that, straight to the feature box.
1281408
I enjoyed drawing that one. Poor chap...
I enjoyed drawing them all in fact. It's wonderful to be able to contribute even a little bit to such a great piece of fiction as this. AdmiralTigerClaw has put together one of the best fics I've seen here.
Now I wonder if Twilight is going to start her own space program when she gets back...
I'm actually surprised they didn't pass out, they don't have the training. It takes more than reading a book.
I'm glad he called Twilight out on messing with his stuff, she was out of place doing what she wanted. I'm surprised Celestia let her get away with that.
SPAAAAAACCCCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M IN SPACE! STAR STAR STAR STAR PLANET STAR MOON! HEY LOOK EARTH! WANNA GO BACK TO EARTH. SPACE IS TOO BIG.EARTH EARTH WANNA GO BACK.
That was awesome. Rainbow was like "Whoa!" and Randy was like "Whooaa!" and Twilight as like "WHOOOOAAAAA!" and then Rainbow was like "WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!" and then Randy was like "...Whoa."
I JUST posted my comment in the last chapter and now this new one pops up. Wow, pretty good timing.
Poor Dash. Hope she gets her act together after this.
Aw, shit, poor Rainbow. That musta been pretty bad for her. I can only hope it will be worth it in the end.
Also, Hot damn that art is pretty sexy. I really love the visuals going along with Twi's speech.
Hey, haven't seen this update in a while.
Engine nearly goes kablooey? Fine
Pegasus starts freaking out? Not fine at all.
I think I'm gonna die from overexposure to awesomeness from this story.
That transcript was amazing.
That was amazing. I had no idea Rainbow would freak out like that, but it makes sense.
This is definitely my favorite story on fimfiction, I've reread it 3 times 
Can't wait for next chapter! Keep up the amazing work.
Makes sense
would freak out. All the senses she must have to help her fly would be sent haywire by space flight, (not to mention the claustrophobia). Like how the Perfluorocarbon ‘liquid breathing' suit from the abyss tends to make people freak out (drowning is something not easily ignored especially if yout are not expecting it) and all of the senses that let her fly would be screaming the aerial equivalent.
Well that and the whole they like to fly but don’t like to be flown thing that seems to be fannon.
I love it, I love, I GODDAMN LOVE IT YOU SEXY SON-OF-A-BITCH!
'Fighter's Honor' from Ace Combat Cross Rumble
Yes. Yes. YES!!!!
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/8/25/Z5hE-Q99DEyoCd4ajt3Hog2.png
RIP, Mr. Armstrong.
great update, very exciting and nerve wracking. spaceflight always gets my heart pumping for some reason, probably because it's one of those situations where i have a huge primordial fear of things going wrong. i like the way you portrayed Rainbow Dash as claustrophobic, that's kinda been in my headcanon too ever since the fic Justice Itself (where a superficially similar situation came up during the narrative).
Haha! Fantastic chapter old boy! Absolutely fantastic! After she wakes up, she'll, probably, have calmed down. A bit. And if not, well. . . Twilight can smack her again. After all, you can't really go anywhere else in space without a space ship.
~With regards, the Current Student of the Second True Magic.