//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Liftoff // Story: Spacebound Equestria // by TheMajorTechie //------------------------------// ENGINES READY INITIALIZING IGNITION PROCEDURE STAGE 1 ROCKETS READY POWER: OK PRIMARY IGNITION COMPLETE INITIALIZING PRIMARY LIFTOFF ENGINES INITIALIZING AUTOMATED DONUT FACTORY T - MINUS 10 SECONDS REMAINING Twilight read through the endless self-check reports spewing through the monitor. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the second to last initialization report. She sighed, "Celestia and her donuts..." She looked at the frame hung on the side of her cubicle. Though she never passed the entry exam, she was able to get the second best thing after that - Celestia's Technical Campus for Gifted Ponies. It was there where she had graduated, and had now been personally selected by the Princess herself to be a lead manager in the Equestrian Pride space program. It had been many years now since she had gotten that degree, and now she found herself sitting in one of the many corridors inside the massive cockpit of the ship, reading over the final procedures. ~~~{Cockpit}~~~ Celestia relaxed as she watched the lavender mare ready the ship for it's one and only voyage into the unknown. To the side, a massive stack of rejected reports lay in a large recycling bin, along with a heaping plate of donuts. Celestia picked up a donut, offering it to Luna. "Want some?" she asked. Luna shook her head. "I believe that I may be watching my own health far better than you currently are, dear sister." Celestia shrugged, and popped the donut into her mouth. "Suit yourself," she replied. She noticed the countdown had come down to five. She sighed and rubbed her forehead as she confirmed her high-set hopes for the mare she had picked mere months ago. As the rockets of the ship fired once more, the ship shuddered, a reverberating vibration from the boosters gently shook Celestia's seat for a brief moment, and just as suddenly died down as the ship finally reached liftoff. Luna picked up the intercom's microphone. Liftoff, we have liftoff. All around the ship, ponies, changelings, and griffons alike all cheered as the ship slowly rose from it's dock behind Canterlot Castle. A loud roar filled the atmosphere of Equestria for the first and last time as the ship began to slowly rise into the heavens above, unbeknownst to the population on board if it would ever return again. Passengers crowded the windows to watch their homeland slowly shrink into a tiny orb of color as the ship gently glided along the plains of the void.