Chapter 2
The launch procedures continued as planned. The rocket had been fueled and was waiting for liftoff. Launch control would be handled from Moscow.
Rainbow wriggled, getting used to her seatbelts. She was excited, but did her best to look calm like a professional should. She was ready.
Final tests were run and all the equipment checked out. The launch controller began counting off the last seconds until launch. His voice carried through the radio.
“Desyat...”
“Devyat...”
Applejack hadn’t even opened the Russian phrasebook that NASA had given her, but she recognized a countdown when she heard one. She set her jaw and prepared for whatever came next.
“Vosem...”
“Sem...”
The final seconds were so dramatic, Rarity thought. She smiled to herself, feeling glad to be a part of it. Hopefully even the launch would be even more spectacular.
“Shest..”
“Pyat...”
Twilight reassured herself that everything was going according to plan. She was a little edgy, but looking forward to the trip. There were so many new and interesting experiences waiting for her.
“Chetyri...”
“Tree...”
The sound of rocket engines igniting carried through the capsule. The entire vehicle shuddered as the flames that would propel it were lit.
Glancing around nervously, Fluttershy felt like she might be making a mistake. Twilight gave her a reassuring smile.
“Dva...”
“Adeen...”
“Poehali!” the launch controller called. It translated roughly to “Let’s go!” and had been used for Russian space launches for decades.
“Wheeeeee!” cried Pinkie. The latches that held the rocket to the pad released and it began to move towards the heavens.
The main engines were powered by kerosene and liquid oxygen. They thrust the rocket skyward on a column of fire, putting the passengers under a force equal to three times gravity. While space rockets were capable of more, they were usually restricted to that for the comfort of the crew.
The speed increased rapidly. Rainbow was pretty fast herself, and even faster when strapped into a jet, but this was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Such velocity was necessary, though.
The higher the orbit, the faster the orbiting object had to move. To reach the International Space Station, the Rus needed to be travelling more than seventeen thousand miles per hour, or twenty-eight thousand kilometres per hour.
The data readout in the capsule showed both metric and U.S. units. Rainbow watched carefully as the altitude increased. The view out the windows was slowly going dark as the blue sky dropped away.
The FAI, who regulated aeronautics and astronautics, said that “outer space” started at 100 kilometres, or 62 miles. The Americans used a different definition, 50 miles. It was a controversial figure.
As Rainbow saw the magic number come and go, she smiled to herself. She was now officially an astronaut and could wear a different flight pin on her uniform when she returned to Earth.
There was a thump as the main engines exhausted their fuel and dropped away. The second stage lit up, propelling the rocket even faster. These engines were powered by supercooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen, and produced a different sound.
The rocket was now nearly parallel to the surface of the Earth and still accelerating. The trajectory was perfectly aligned to meet up with the ISS.
While Rainbow could feel herself being pushed back into the seat by the force of the engines, the force of gravity felt like it had disappeared. It was actually being negated by the orbit, which was basically like being in a continuous freefall. Rainbow shook her head. She used to just be a weather pony. She couldn’t believe she actually understood this stuff now.
Several minutes later, the second stage burned out. The force of acceleration dropped off, and finally the feeling of weightlessness appeared.
The launch had been automatic, but the approach to the Station would be manual. Denisov, the cosmonaut pilot, put his hands on the controls.
“There it is,” breathed Zimin in wonder. Sitting in the front, he had a good view.
Rainbow strained against her seatbelts to get a look. The International Space Station glittered in the distance, the solar panels and bright white paint shone in the sun.
The sunlight was inescapable unless the Earth got in the way. Since they were still on the light side, Rainbow lowered the tinted visor of her helmet.
Aboard the Station, the crew waited for communication from the incoming Rus. They didn’t get visitors more than once every few months.
A man named Ethan Taylor sat near the radio. He was a veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force. The other man nearby was Dr. Raymond Flack, a Physicist from the United Kingdom.
The two of them got along well together, or at least better than they did with the third astronaut, a female researcher from France named Sylvie Fournier.
To pass the time while waiting on the Rus, Taylor was telling a story. “So there’s this U.S. Navy SEAL who decides to be an astronaut.”
“Sounds like an overachiever,” remarked Flack.
“Right? Anyway, NASA has a question on their astronaut entrance exam. It goes, ‘What is one thing that you do better than anyone else in the world?’ He answers, ‘Kill people with a knife’.”
They both laughed. The radio crackled to life. “Space Station, this is Rus-7.”
Taylor picked up the microphone. “We hear you. Approach the Harmony module for docking.”
The station was built out of interlocking pieces, many of them with names. Harmony was the “front door.”
Taylor looked at the other man. “Ray, could you grab them?”
The doctor nodded and drifted over to the controls for the Canadarm 2, a Canadian-built robotic manipulator mounted to the Station that was useful for many things, including docking spacecraft. It was an upgraded version of the original, which had been mounted on the Space Shuttle.
Working carefully, Flack reached out with the arm and grabbed onto the capsule as it approached. He guided it in. The robotics allowed more precise control than using the craft’s thrusters.
It was difficult to see the airlock where the Rus would be connected, but Flack got everything lined up with help from the Russian pilot. Latches secured the capsule so it wouldn’t go anywhere.
Fournier drifted into the module and began getting the airlock set up. The technology had improved considerably over the years. The old Russian space station Mir could take more than an hour to pressurize before it could be opened. The Harmony module was able to do the job in just a few minutes.
Fournier pressed the button for the intercom. “Station shows equal pressure.”
“Rus agrees,” came the reply. The airlock hatch unlocked and began to swing open. The electronic sensors prevented it from unlatching unless the pressure was the same on both sides.
The French astronaut had observed several dockings before, but it was always exciting to see the airlock open to reveal friendly faces on the other side.
She reached forward, hand outstretched. One of the cosmonauts was there to return the handshake.
“Dobro pozalovat,” she welcomed him in Russian.
He smiled. “Merci beaucoup,” he thanked her in French. Most astronauts knew at least two languages and basic phrases in a handful of others. It was an international effort, after all.
The other Russian and the ponies began coming through the airlock. Taylor and Flack welcomed them. The ponies seemed to prefer a simple hoof-bump to handshakes.
The visitors stripped their pressure suits off. Underneath, they wore blue jumpsuits similar to the station crew. The decision had been made to get the goodwill videos shot soon after arrival, and it looked nice for them to all be wearing the same uniform.
Patches were a big part of the jumpsuits. The visitors wore their mission patch. The station crew had one of their own. All of them wore country flags. Rainbow noticed that the two Russians and the Australian wore flight wings just like she did.
There wasn’t room for the eleven of them to crowd in front of the camera. Enough space to accommodate the ponies and just one person was found.
Taylor had written the script. The video clips were meant as a message of international cooperation. He made sure to note what a feat building the space station had been with cooperation from more than a dozen nations. It weighed nearly a million pounds and hovered more than two hundred miles above the Earth. NASA had gotten him to change the figures for an American audience. The original draft said 450,000 kilograms and 350 kilometers.
Taylor, Fournier, and Denisov each took a turn in front of the camera, speaking in their respective native tongues. The clips would be sent to various news outlets around the world.
Twilight didn’t speak French, but she added a few comments to the other two videos. Hey, who’s in charge here? thought Rainbow. Shouldn’t Rainbow’s title of Mission Commander mean something? She smiled and said nothing.
The camera shut off, and all of the astronauts relaxed. “Is anyone hungry?” asked Flack. “It’s been several hours since breakfast, right?” He led the way towards the kitchen area.
Rainbow’s jumpsuit had slits in the back for her wings. She found that it was easy to move along with just a few gentle flaps.
There was no table or any place to sit in the kitchen. In fact, without the microwave, water dispenser, and refrigerator, it would be indistinguishable from any other part of the Space Station.
The Rus hadn’t been unloaded yet, but the ponies’ food had been stored in the cabin of the craft. There was enough for the few days that they planned to spend at the Station. Applejack, who had carried the package to the kitchen, began distributing the meal.
“Ah’m sorry about the pie,” said the farm pony. “It don’t take kindly to bein’ freeze-dried.”
Despite her apology, the desert actually turned about pretty good, and so did the rest of the food. With a little heat and water, it tasted fine.
Rainbow looked around at her friends. Twilight was discussing something high-tech and nerdy with the British scientist. Fluttershy and Rarity were talking with the researcher from France, and Rainbow heard the phrase haute couture come up in their conversation.
“Think fast, Applejack!” Pinkie squirted some flavored water at her friend. The stream broke apart, the drops forming spherical bubbles in midair.
Applejack laughed and opened her mouth to catch the droplets of the fruity drink. It was colored orange. NASA called it Tang.
Rainbow dug into a package of daisy-accented pasta. It was a little sticky, but not bad. A few of the noodles floated free, and she chomped them out of the air.
The pegasus searched for something to start a conversation with the man next to her. “So you’re a pilot?” she asked
Taylor nodded. “I flew Hornets for a few years.”
“Really? So did I.” The U.S. Navy was the primary user of the aircraft, but the Australians also had some. They talked about jets and flying. While it was no formal banquet, Rainbow thought the meal was a great way to get to know her fellow astronauts.
Later, Rainbow decided to explore the Station. She had some time to burn before she was scheduled to go to bed. All of them aboard the station agreed that it would be easier to unload the Rus in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
Of course, terms like “morning” and “night” were relative. The ISS orbited the Earth about once every ninety minutes. With sixteen sunrises and sunsets every twenty-four hours, it was hard to keep track. Instead, they just used the same time as the control center in Houston.
Drifting along, Rainbow came to the Tranquility module. NASA had attempted to name it by online ballot, and voters had picked Colbert, after the comedian. Ignoring the results of the poll, the module had instead been named after the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.
As a consolation, a treadmill aboard the ISS was called C.O.L.B.E.R.T. Rainbow had met him once on a USO tour.
Attached to Tranquility was an observation cupola. It contained seven windows, the largest of which was 31 inches—80 centimeters—in diameter. Rainbow found Twilight there, gazing out at the Earth.
She joined the unicorn in looking out. For a moment neither of them said anything. The view was spectacular. The ground was over two hundred miles away, the distance from New York City to Boston, yet the landscape still looked vast.
“It’s hard to believe we’re actually here,” said Twilight.
“I guess.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow with some concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Well… Nevermind, I don’t want to talk about it.” Rainbow could sometimes be rather blunt, but hesitated to hurt her friends’ feelings.
“Come on.”
Rainbow shook her head.
“You can tell me,” Twilight persisted.
“Fine.” Rainbow sighed. “I feel a little left out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m supposed to be in charge here, but you’re doing everything.” Rainbow said it a little more forcefully than she intended.
Twilight was taken aback. “You don’t have to be mad about it. I’m only doing what I’m good at.”
“What, everything?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Just forget it,” said Rainbow. She left, heading for the sleeping area. Twilight didn’t call her back.
Beds would take too much room, and the astronauts would have to be held down to keep from drifting away. Instead, there were sleeping bags held to the wall with velcro. Rainbow scooted down into hers, still somewhat angry about Twilight forcing a confession out of her. Rainbow hadn’t wanted to say anything, but once her mouth was open it was hard to stop.
She closed her eyes. Tomorrow was a new day. She would figure out how to regain control.
The animosity between friends drew the attention of something nearby. It was a shapeless mass, invisible to the eye. Its intention was evil.
It drifted closer, sensing an opportunity. With a little influence, a simple argument could be made worse, much worse. With a little help, things could be persuaded to go terribly wrong. The malicious being very much wanted to see a show of suffering, destruction, and death.
It was called the Nightmare.
Author note:
The SEAL/astronaut is supposedly William Shepherd. I don’t know if he actually said that or not, but you should check him out anyway. He’s pretty badass.
Are you from the UK, Russia, France, Australia, or Equestria? Please contact me! I’d like to make sure the dialogue/mannerisms of the characters in this story are as accurate as possible.
Also, searching “Colbert” on FIMFiction returns zero results. What the heck, guys? We need this crossover!
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Ah crap. Something's about to get FUBAR'd
"Are you from the UK, Russia, France, Australia, or Equestria?"
Ah, don't we all wish we were from that last one.
...Uh oh.
I wasn't expecting the Nightmare to make an appearance here. I was anticipating a more mundane Apollo 13-esque disaster might have an effect on the mission. This should be interesting.
Nightmare, eh. How did it travel all the way to Earth? I find it odd that it's more attracted to the pony quarrels over all the problems that constantly happen in our planet. It should've come here a long time ago. Anyway, that's not important. When Nightmare does make an appearance, authorize to shoot it down with our nukes . It will be the party with the biggest fireworks, one that pinkie pie can only dream
.
It was a controversial figure. The Americans used a different definition. The data readout in the capsule showed both metric and U.S. units.
That is NOT going to end well.
Also, I said before and I will sat again: Having non-astronauts on serious missions is asking for trouble.
Just when I thought this was going to take a normal turn of events... it gets turned into some strange sci-fi space mission... I love it.
352903
I've been there. We all go though a phase where fighting space-evil with magical ponies was #1 on our list of priorities.
Don't we?
352729
Agreed. And I'd say it's baD luck too. Very first time it was attempted was the Challenger, Christa McAulife. The worst part about that was, the shuttles disintegration didn't kill the crew. The impact with the ocean did, after miles of doomed free fall.
353142 Take either one of those elements. You get epic. Put them together, and you get every bronies wet dream =3
Luna should have been elected to go, seeing as how she has had more experience being an astronaught than any other pony alive.
2.bp.blogspot.com/-tKMv1f62h58/TfAUDC3MWDI/AAAAAAAAFnM/q_GgSAUE5ok/s1600/22100+-+artist+nyerpy+haters_gonna_hate+luna+moon+princess_luna.png
Finally find out where she went then
chapter 2 hi or g'day from Australia
I’m getting Dark Phoenix vibes.