"Are you sure you'll be alright? Did you triple-check everything?" Night Dance's mom questioned worriedly, checking over his suit for any rips. Night Dance grabbed his mom's hoof in his, looking her in the eyes with a sad smile.

"I've checked everything 6 times over mom, I can't check anymore, I have to leave." He wrapped her in a hug.

"But why do you 'have to'?! Why couldn't you just stay here?! By the time your back, your sister will already be in college!" Night watched as tears streamed down his mother's face, her grip becoming tighter and tighter as she struggled to come to terms with what he was about to do.

"Mom, ever since I was young, I dreamed of something more, I dreamed of going up there. Up to space. Imagining the view from up there, the possibility of discovering something nopony else has, it made the work seem like a fair trade. I have to do this, not only for myself, but to advance Equestria's understanding of our world, our universe. I promise I will come home safe and sound."

Night's mom just continued to whimper, holding her son tight.

"Is everything ready to go, Spike?" Twilight asked, pacing nervously back and forth infront of the many screens.

"Yep, I double-checked everything Twi, all that's left is for everypony to get in their seats and we'll be ready for lift-off." Spike seemed somewhat distant, his gaze lingering on the many screens displaying things like cabin pressure, cargo and so on.

"Twi, I still can't believe you're doing this. Not that I doubt you, but this? You have no idea how big this'll be! It'll be all over Equestria news, you'll be even more famous than Celestia!" The pony standing next to Spike, a tall pink mare, nodded in agreeance.

"It'll be a big step in the name of science, and the whole world will be watching no doubt." The tall pink mare, Luster Dawn, commented.

Twilight paced nervously around the room, several negative outcomes popping into her head.

"What if they crash? What if they just get stuck up there!? Or worse, they explode?! What will we do then, what will we tell the press, or worse, the astronaut's families?!"

Just then, a voice came over the radio, one belonging to that of a stallion.

"Are we ready to go, Princess?" Commander Iron Hoof asked.

Twilight was instantly yanked from her panicking, the situation presenting her one last opportunity to pull out, to prevent a possible disaster. She inhaled, doing her best to calm her mind. Trotting over to the radio, she hesitantly placed a hoof on the transmitter.

"Yes, everything has been checked, we'll start the launch process now." Twilight prayed to Celestia that this didn't backfire.

Night Dance strapped himself in, wings shifting uncomfortably in his suit. His reflection stared back at him on the glass of his helm, and he did his best not to fog up the glass.

"Everything okay, kid?" Asked the grey earth pony sitting next to him.

"Yeah Commander.. just nervous is all."

"The whole world must be watching now, I say we owe it to them to give them a show, to get this thing in orbit." Commander Iron Hoof nudged Night teasingly, causing Night to smile slightly.

The speakers aboard the shuttle began their deafening count-down as the rest of the astronaut's steadied their nerves. Everybody in the world would watch them hopefully not blow up, their names would be written down in history alongside those of 'Clover The Clever' and 'Starswirl The Bearded'.

They'd be role-models, somepony every filly and colt could look up to (literally).

AppleBloom, Scootaloo and SweetieBelle all huddled in the Apple family living room with their respective families, eagerly watching the tv. AppleBloom held her husbands hoof, and SweetieBelle held her wife close.

"Do you think they'll make it?" Scootaloo asked, pulling away from SweetieBelle's grip and breaking the silence they'd all unknowingly been standing in.

"Of course they will, they've all been well trained and they even have Twilight to help them!" AppleBloom argued.

It had been so long ago that they were fillies, when carts were their main way to get around and the thought of space was nothing more than a fever dream. Now, they were sending 10 ponies into space.

SweetieBelle felt old thinking about it.

"Time sure does fly by." SweetieBelle said aloud, earning a confused look from Scootaloo.

"But time can't fly? How does that work?" She asked.

AppleBloom rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face.

"I remember teaching Rose Ribbon in one of my classes a little while back," SweetieBelle continued on. "Now she's headed into space, she'll be famous, remembered for many moons to come, no doubt." She'd smile slightly.

"I couldn't be more proud." SweetieBelle pulled Scootaloo close once again, their attention brought back to the tv.

"This is Reporter Dusty Groove, reporting live from the Twilight Sparkle Launch-Site. Our astronauts are now preparing for launch, do you have anything to say on the matter, Ms. Dawn?" The Reporter asked, hovering a microphone over to Luster Dawn.

"It's been an honor to work on this project alongside other brilliant minds, Mrs. Groove, and I can't begin to tell you how excited we are to get our astronauts into space. They've trained for many moons to get to this point, it'll be a big leap in Equestrian Science, one worthy of a spot in the history books for sure. I-" A rumble interrupted Luster, the camera instantly following the noise.

The shuttle took flight, dragonic magic pushing it into the air, the flames leaving a scorch mark in the ground as it continued it's ascent. It pushed higher and higher, never once faltering. Dust and smoke blew into their faces as the shuttle continued going and going. Luster unintentionally held her breath as she watched the shuttle soon pass over the clouds, eventually becoming a speck.

It became a speck, then disappeared completely.

They'd made it into orbit.

Writing another story before getting too far with my last ones...

Surely this won't go wrong.