Thirty Million Miles of Trial and Error

by Bootymeister

Congratulations you've won a trip to space!

The time is 5:00 pm. Appaloosa Mission Control or AMC for short is busy with the hustle and bustle of over a hundred ponies, most of which are recording data and passing along papers while others stay focused on the data consuls in front of them. In the front of the room is a giant TV screen relaying a live camera feed from the launch pad, a count down timer located above it. The timer read 20:29, twenty minuets and twenty nine seconds until zero hour. The tension can be felt in the air as countless numbers pour off the monitors relaying random information such as coolant and temperature levels.

"Alright gentle colts lets begin pre- launch checks and stand by" a white unicorn colt in the center row announced as he put on a bulky set of head phones. "Begin pre-flight stand by" the colt says as he pulls out a clip board and pen.

"AMC"

"GO" a brown mare with a black mane responded.

"CAPCOM"

"GO"

"ESM"

"GO"

"PADMAT"

"GO"

"FLIGHTCOM"

"GO"

"Affirmative all are GO" the Colt said again as the count down timer reached 01:34. He looked over at his hoof watch to check the time. "We are on time and ready to go" the timer now read 00:59. "T minus fifty nine seconds" the white unicorn said with his face buried in his monitor. if any thing went wrong in this critical stage, it was his job to abort the launch.

"T minus ten seconds" all eyes were glued to the live feed on the mega screen.

"Nine..."

"Eight..."

"Seven..."

"Six..."

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Ignition!"

---

Five Years After the Pegasus Missions

Soarin stared into the glossy void that was his helmet. His reflection beamed back at him with the same solemn expression. his white jumpsuit itself a pinnacle of pony technology, weighed heavy on his back but it was nothing compared to what he was trained for. The assistant flight captain was one of the best flyers in Equestria. He had not only countless hours of unaided winged flight, but also many hours of flying as a test pilot for the EAA.

It all started when he crashed into that innocent looking town hall. Come to think of it, it may have not been that innocently looking. In fact it was the most easiest thing to spot in the entire city of manehattan. Any-who, he had somehow managed to smash through a window on the second floor and wedge his face firmly between the two plot cheeks of a young accountant mare. After a harsh back hoof and some explaining, he was haphazardly kicked out of the building.

Five weeks after the incident Soarin was given a letter from princess twilight herself detailing his recruitment as a test pilot for the EAA and health insurance. Despite the lack of health coverage from the EAA he happily sold his soul to his employers. It is said that the greatest reason for his employment was his unique ability to take massive amounts of trauma to the head and suffer little to no brain damage. His first few weeks at the EAA's base located somewhere in Appleloosa, had been a woozy. He spent countless hours displaying his body to random doctors and scientist, as well as being poked and prodded with needles. He will never forget that time when they accidentally put him in a induced comma.

A year and a half had flown by just like that and Soarin was done with his physical testing. It was now time for the fun part, the moment we all as the readers had been waiting for. That's right! The mental testing! Soarin cursed his luck for all the paper work he had to fill out. his cramped broom closet/ office was always overflowing with paperwork. He was always taking test that seem pointless when you read them aloud. For example a question from one of the aptitude test he was forced to take.

Question 1) How do you put an elephant in a fridge?

"What the hell type of retarded question is this?!" Soarin said as he rubbed his mane.

Over fifty complaints were filed to the EAA about the testing department. and it was very likely that not a single one of them ever saw the light of day. once Soarin had finally completed the mental testing, It was time for the REAL testing, Soarin soon found himself inside of a Gee force simulation sphere. Nicknamed the "Vomit ball" by staff and fellow test pilots, it was a horrid machine constructed in a circular room made of concrete. the "ball" part was were the poor pony that was selected would sit, which was connected to a long metal support beam that was rigged up to a massive diesel motor rigged in the center of the room. The idea was to have the sphere holding said pony be flung rapidly around the room simulating the gees cause by a rocket.

On the inside of the sphere Soarin quickly under stood where the term "Vomit" came from, due to the strangely colored stains on the floor and walls of the sphere. Inside the sphere was a few data screens, a camera, and a big fat abort button. Not the most calming thing to be inside of. But this was no bother to Soarin, for he was pre-occupied with his seat and harness. Whoever designed the harness needed to be tarred and feathered, for it was the most uncomfortable seat in the world.

The seat was designed to sit flush against the riders back and neck to help brace the rider. The annoying part was the straps. they were thick and heavy rubber straps that were designed to hold the rider in place during testing. The strap started at the base of the chair and snaked up between the riders legs. A cup was installed for stallions to help make the ride a little more convenient for there packages. The heavy rubber strap came up to the stomach and then split into three separate straps. The right and left straps went to the sides and secured firmly to the seat keeping the rider from moving forward much. The middle strap continued up the body until it hit the steel neck brace. The original design for the neck brace was to hook up with the metal ring that connected the glass helmet to the space suit. Currently there were no prototype suits in stock, so the neck brace was shrunken down with magic until it choked snugly around the riders neck. Said brace was then bolted to the chair by a latch system that could be undone without the use of magic.

The sound of the motors spooling to life became ambient sound in the sphere. Soarin could feel the machine burst to life as its slowly started accelerating. A voice came through one of the data screens.

"Alright Soarin, our goal for today is a total of eight Gees, if you feel the need to abort at any time, feel free to hit the abort button located to your right" Soarin nodded and gave a nervous smile to the camera which quickly faded into a look of sheer terror.

"We have just past two times normal gees, begin heart and brain testing." Soarin kept his gaze as far down as possible, to keep himself from looking out the small window at all the things whizzing by, the neck brace making this somewhat hard for him.

"Approaching four times normal gees, four gees achieved." Soaring could start to feel his joints and muscles begin to lock up as the Vomit ball picked up speed.

"Approaching six gees..., Six gees achieved" Soarin breathing became heavy as the weight started to build up on his chest, his face started to stretch and feel painfully numb.

"Approaching seven gees..." Soarin was barely able to force air into his lungs as the sheer force was too much for him. Soarins world faded around him and he blacked out.

"Abort!, subject has gone into gee-lock."

Author's Note:

lol sorry for last min edit but i thought the cliff hanger left to many things unexplained.

Comments

[Just another hoerse love]

Is this a kerbal space program crossover

[Nameless cow]

5858826
nope... [insert liarjack face]

[Bootymeister]

5858826 Nice guess but the cover art just seemed fitting for the story