Thirty Million Miles of Trial and Error

by Bootymeister

The EAA , Pegasus, and Eight Million Bits

Author's Note:

Ignore the spelling errors of Von Barn's ascent i meant for them to sound dutch like.
this chapter is a little more serious than the rest of the story.

Why so serious?

All is dark. A gentle breeze can be heard rustling through the fields, accommodated by voices and the sound of hooves muffled by the grass. The time is Three-Thirty, not even the sun has risen yet. the voices and movement quickly come to a halt as silence once again fills the darkness. Suddenly a flash of green flames erupts from the middle of the field, a long screeching noise penetrates the early morning calm as the source of the flames quickly rises into the air. Smoke fills the area as the two- meter long pole rides the flames into the sky quickly gaining speed and altitude with every second. Five seconds later, with the rocket having gained over two-thousand feet of altitude, it violently erupts into a ball of fire producing a large "Boom" that can no doubt be heard for miles.

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Two weeks later...

The Pegasus I rocket has been the focus subject of local news paper agencies all across Equestria. The launch of the bare bone rocket has opened many new doors for the future of aerospace in Equestria. Even though Pegasus I failed to reach its goal altitude of twenty-thousand feet before it exploded, the important information gathered from real time observations will prove to be vital in future projects. Plans were already being made for fifteen more Pegasus missions, with the goal of escaping the atmosphere.

The Pegasus project was started five years prior of the launch. With newly crowned Princess Twilight investing into the study of advanced aerodynamics and physics, a goal for the program was to prove that it was possible to exit the atmosphere of Equestria without the aid of magic of any kind. A month after the project was fully payed for, Princess Twilight and the council of Canterlot Nobles established the EAA, which stood for "Equestrian Aerospace Administration" who's overall goal was to guide Equestria into a new age of aerospace related research. Within the first few months of the EAA's creation, it had already succeeded in putting a pony made glider into the air under its own power. The next few years were spent trying to tackle the task of leaving the atmosphere. It seemed that the agency had hit a concrete wall until a gifted earth pony who was in his early forties named Whinny Von Barn, proposed the idea of packing a pipe full of flammable chemicals and igniting it, sending it flying at ludicrous speeds. The idiotically simple idea caught on with some of the EAA's top scientists.

After transmitting the Idea to the drawing board, designing a-few prototypes, and constructing countless scale models, the Pegasus rocket was born.

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Five years after Pegasus I

After fourteen launches of the Pegasus rockets, all incorporating progressively newer tech and fuels, had finally lead to Pegasus XV. With every launch of a new rocket, the program had taken one more baby step towards its goal. Every time they launched, a new engineering fault with the design of the rocket presented itself, but was quickly ironed out. Hopefully Pegasus XV will bring the long awaited conclusion of the Pegasus program. Currently the Pegasus XV was the most advanced machine ever built by ponies, to date. Powering the four meter long rod was one, liquid fueled Stallion MK V Kerosene engine capable of two hundred tons of force per square foot. Atop of the rocket shielded by a nose cone, sat a Globe master brand flight computer. Over eight hundred thousand bits had been pumped into the program with the knowledge of EAA's potential, but rumors are being said that after five long years and very little progress, the program has the chance of being abandoned.

with three hours until launch the Pegasus XV sat on its brand new concrete launch pad, being held up-right by four launch clamps. A grey Earth pony stood under a small umbrella shielding him from the Celestias sun. The launch today was located in the deserts of Appaloosa near Dodge junction being overseen by a group of executives, including all four of the Princesses. Whinny Von Barn looked down at his hoof watch, 2:30 PM, He looked up into the sky searching for the iconic golden shine of a royal carriage.

"uny secund now..." Von Barn said with his distinctive heavy Dutch ascent. As if on cue, Three royal carriages emerged from from the clouds landing a few yards from the launch pad. Von Barn shielded his eyes from the dust that was kicked up by the carriages. Once the dust resided he made his way over to Princess Twilight and her husband Prince Flash sentry (Trollolol haters gonna hate) who was first to step out of a carriage. "Velcume Preencess, i must inffurm yuoo thet its un honur tu hefe your presence fur tudey's launch." Von Barn said as he bowed to the Princess.

Princess Twilight smiled "No Mr. Von Barn, i must thank you for giving us the chance to observe history in the making" They were soon joined by the other three Princesses, and some Canterlot nobles. Von Barn bowed in respect to the other Princesses and Guided the group to the launch pad. "If yuoo vuoold fullo me i veel geefe yuoo a tuor off ze Pegesoos roket" Von Barn smiled at his guest and guided them through the history and development of the rocket.

"und es ve-a cun see-a here" Whinny pointed a hoof at the kerosene engine at the bottom of the rocket. " ve hefe mede sure tu incurpurete ze letest thrust vectureing technulugeees" Von Barn shifted his hoof along a sphere connecting the thrust nozzle to the rest of the rocket. He made sure not to bump into any pipes or hoses as he pointed out the parts of the rocket. He continued describing every detail to his guest until he had moved from top to bottom of the vehicle.

Von Barn turned to his guest "und ooff cuoorse-a nune-a ooff thees vuoold be-a pusseeble-a veethuoot any oof yuoo're fondeeng." he looked at Princess Twilight and gave her an exciting smile. after a few more details about the programs past and future plans the group made its way off the launch pad and over to a camp site which had been erected a safe distance away from the launch pad. "Now, if ve dunt hefe any mure quesshuns, I must depert" Von Barn said as he boarded a carriage.

Princess Celestia smiled "Well I thank you for the tour Mr. Barn" she looked around at the group. "And I think I speak for us all when I say that we are very excited for the launch and possible mile stone of your rocket" Celestia smiled at Von Barn "Twenty bits its gonna blow up as soon as it launches" a smug Noble in the back said as he was rewarded with a couple chuckles from the other Nobles. Von Barn dead panned "Vell ve-a shell see... boot unteel zeen, feel free tu help yuoor selfes tu lunch." Von Barn pointed a hoof over at one of the tents before he departed on his own carriage.