• Published 30th Jun 2013
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Space Oddity - Closer-To-The-Sun



Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders work together to build a spaceship. What could possibly go wrong?

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Chapter 2: The Final Countdown

Chapter 2: The Final Countdown

After a few hours of digging through piles of trash at the nearby junkyard, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike had finished. With a coat of dirt and grime covering all of their bodies, they looked on proudly at their creation. The way the youngsters saw it, they built an amazing space faring vessel out of what little they could find. Their masterpiece of a rocket rested at the flat end of a long runway with a ramp at the end.

“It’s beautiful….” Sweetie Belle commented.

“It’s amazin’….” Applebloom added.

“It’s so totally awesome!” Scootaloo finished as she rushed up to the ship. She hugged the hull of the rocket with a large smile on her face.

Spike also had a smile on his face. His, however, was one of pride. “I guess Twilight forcing me to read all of those science fiction books came in handy after all,” he joked.

Applebloom turned to face Spike, “Hey Spike, ah know this might sound pretty weird an’ what not, but me an’ the girls wanted ta know if ya would do us the honor of bein’ our captain?”

“Huh?” this question caught the dragon off guard, “Me?”

“Yeah, you helped us make this awesome rocket, it’s the least we can do for you!” Scootaloo nodded.

The white unicorn added, “Besides, we all know what we are going to be doing anyway. Scootaloo will be the pilot, Applebloom will be the engineer, and I’ll be the crewpony that will make sure that we don’t die but might actually die in the process.” The final part of her statement resulted in her receiving weird looks from the others, “What?”

“But really, would ya please?” Applebloom turned the attention back to the question.

Spike bashfully rubbed the back of his neck with a claw, “Goodness, I never thought I would be captain of anything, much less than a rocket ship. Heh, why not, I’ll do it! Captain Spike, reporting for duty!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered for their new leader as he saluted them with his claw.

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Inside of the white rocket ship, the four youngsters were at the bridge. Scootaloo took her post in front of a large window. From there she could see anything and everything in front of the ship. Sweetie Belle was at her post, sitting to the right side of the pegasus at a computer console with numerous buttons in front of her. To the left of Scootaloo, Applebloom waited at her station, which had just as many, if not more buttons, as Sweetie Belle’s station. An empty chair rested in the center of the bridge. A door in the back suddenly opened. Walking towards the chair was a dragon.

The white unicorn turned to see the figure, saluted, and announced, “Captain on the bridge!” The other two turned around and followed suit.

“At ease,” he addressed them as he planted his bottom on his chair in the center, “Status report, Lieutenant Commander Applebloom.”

“Engine readins’ state we’re at one hundred percent efficiency,” she declared.

Spike nodded, “Excellent. Ship status, Commander Sweetie Belle.”

“All readings are okie-dokey, sir!” the unicorn cheerfully spoke.

Trying his best to hold in a laugh, the dragon acknowledged Sweetie Belle, “Right, and Lieutenant Scootaloo, are you ready for take off?”

The orange pegasus turned around from her chair and looked at Spike, “Ready? Please, I was born ready!”

“Ah’m beginning to feel a bit nervous ‘bout this ta be honest, Captain,” Applebloom admitted.

Scootaloo turned to look at her earth pony comrade, “Are you serious about this, we’re doing something too awesome to be worried about being scared! This is space we are talking about. The final frontier. We are going to where even pegasi can only dream about traveling to. We are boldly going where no pony has gone before!”

“Start the countdown!” Spike commanded, pointing forward, “Counting down from ten!”

“Roger that! Beginning countdown now!” Scootaloo shouted as she pressed a few buttons, bringing the rockets to life. “Ten!”

“Are we sure we’re ready? Ah mean, are all the readins’ sayin’ we’re ready?” Applebloom nervously stated.

“Nine!”

Sweetie Belle yelled back to Applebloom, “All systems are go!”

“Eight!”

“Are ya sure?” she called back.

“Seven!”

The unicorn called back one last time, “I see no reason that might be a problem!”

“Six!”

Applebloom looked forward, nervously gripping the computer panel in front of her.

“Five!”

A look of doubt on Sweetie Belle’s face revealed that she was second-guessing the computer’s readings.

“Four!”

As for Scootaloo, the pegasus seemed determined to fly the rocket up, even if it killed her. She continued shouting the countdown.

“Three!”

As for the captain, Spike sank slightly in to his seat as he glared out the large window in front of him.

“Two!”

Spike gripped the armrests of his chair.

“One!”

The rocket came to life as fire erupted from its rear, propelling it forward and down the runway the youngsters had built.

“Rockets at maximum power!” Sweetie Belle shouted over the roar of the engines. She and Applebloom held on to their panels for dear life, hoping to not lose their grip.

“We’re coming up to the ramp, Spike!” Scootaloo yelled, looking directly at the wooden incline.

Spike also stared at the ramp, “Hang on, everypony!”

As the rocket continued to gain speed, it hit the ramp. The rocket launched and pointed upward. As they hoped, their ship was gaining attitude and taking off.

“Liftoff….we have liftoff!” Applebloom shouted in both disbelief and happiness.

Spike wasted no time with his orders, “Applebloom, reroute all extra power to engines. Scootaloo, punch it!”

With a roar from the rockets, the crew of the spaceship held on. They all felt the force of Equestria’s gravity pushing them down, reluctant to let them escape from the atmosphere. Scootaloo pushed one of the levers in front of her forward with a grunt. Through her gritted teeth, she mumbled, “Come on….get up there, you big, metal bird.”

The ship continued to climb into the Equestrian sky. Leaving the surface far behind, the three ponies, the dragon, and rocket finally escaped from the gravity of Equestria and broken into space.

As the pressure of the flight was finally eased up on the crew, they all looked forward to see that no longer were they looking at the bright blue sky that wrapped around their world. Rather, what lied in front of them was a blanket of black, with small bright lights piercing through.

“We did it….” the dragon softly spoke, “we have slipped the surly bonds of Equestria to touch the face of Celestia herself.” Speaking louder, he addressed his crew, “Fillies and gentlecolts, we are now floating in space.”