Pastebin launched a little side project called HostCabi.net, check it out ;-)Don't like ads? PRO users don't see any ads ;-)

Untitled7 sec ago
Untitled8 sec ago
Untitled9 sec ago
FuckNDrive SiteRip39 sec ago
Untitled39 sec ago
Untitled41 sec ago
Untitled48 sec ago
Untitled1 min ago

GLiTCHsp@ce - Piercing The Heavens (unfinished)

By: FingerbangingMLP on Mar 19th, 2014 | syntax: None | size: 32.68 KB | hits: 159 | expires: Never

download | raw | embed | report abuse | print

Text below is selected. Please press Ctrl+C to copy to your clipboard. (⌘+C on Mac)

>The darkness in front of you seem endless, but the more you think of it, the more it feels like there has to be an end.
>You exhale and your breath leaves a mark on your visors.
>Looking down to your left you lift your white-gloved hand to the joystick in front of you.
>Pushing it slightly to the left, you hear a hissing noise behind you.
>You slowly start to roll to the side as the thrusters push you around.
>The large orb in front of you glows in a majestic blue color, and the clouds swirl around in patterns you couldn’t possibly comprehend.
>You are Anonymous, captain of the ESS Excalibur.
>It was a beautiful Space Research star Cruisers, one of the first ever built.
>You and a team of six others had been assigned to attend a deep space mission to track down an unknown signal.
>This wasn’t just any other mission though.
>It was also the virgin flight of the Excalibur, and the first ever space mission outside of the solar system.
>The National Equestrian Space Agency, or NESA for short, had spent a ton of resources and many years developing tools for interplanetary travel, and had with an accident discovered the secret of faster than light travel.
>They developed the first ever FTL drive, and have been fine-tuning it for the Excalibur.
>You now possessed the ability to travel farther than any other creature in your history has ever done before, and you have your highly trained, top skilled crew to thank for it.
>You hear static on your com-link connected to your helmet as Applejack’s voice tunes in.
>“Anon, ya still awake over there?” she calls out to you.
>You snap out of your dream like state and look over to Applejack.
>She holds a screwdriver in one of her hands, and her toolbox is floating beside her.
>The grey hull of the large spaceship reflects sunlight straight into your eyes, but your visor blocks most of it.
>Applejack has a concerned look on her face.
>You open your visor with one hand, letting her see your face as you give her a warm smile.
“I’m fine, AJ. How’s the solar panels coming along?” you ask her.
>You had recently been hit by a satellite and sent it flinging out of orbit.
>It had damaged one of the ships extended solar panels in the middle of the charging process and you had lost a lot of power.
>Luckily you had the materials to fix it, and with a skilled engineer as Applejack, you had it up and running in no time.
>Applejack grabbed the side of the hull and pulled her around, facing the panel and tightened the last screw with brute force.
>She dragged her glove across her visor, as if whipping away sweat from her forehead.
>“Well, Anon, looks like we’re good to go on this one! Let’s get back inside, I don’t want mah tools to float away.”
>She grabs all her tools floating around her and crams them into the red toolbox.
>She then turns around with her feet against the hull, and pushes away from the ship slowly.
>She floats out to her thruster pack floating not too far away and gets seated.
>Following her, you both propel your way to the hangar bay doors.
“Twilight, come in. Are you in the bridge? Over.” You ask on the com-link.
>A few seconds pass as you hear static on your radio and twilight tunes in.
>“Twilight here, I’m in the bridge now. Over.”
“Twilight, we’re in front of the airlock now, can you open up please. Over”
>Another few seconds pass as you hear a hissing noise from inside the thick doors.
>Then the maintenance shaft besides the hangar opens with a large clang, letting you inside a dark corridor about three meters long.
>You and Applejack both float inside the hangar airlock and click off your thruster packs.
>The door closes behind you and you are both swallowed by darkness.
>A red light flashes in the roof, and a soft alarm is heard as the room is gassed and de-sterilized.
>You feel a strange sensation in your head, and you and Applejack are pushed down to the floor.
>The After a short period of time, the hissing noise stops, and you feel heavy standing on the metal-plated floor of the short corridor.
>The red light turns into a green one, and the doors on the other side of the airlock opens.
>Applejack hangs her thruster pack on the wall and walks out of the airlock, and you follow suit.
>She takes off her helmet and whips her hair out of the space suit.
>Both of you walk into a wardrobe-like room, and you sigh in relief as you take of your own helmet and put it in a locker.
>It always felt good to be inside the safety of the starship, especially after having been out there for so long.
>You peek over your shoulder and spot Applejack taking off her space suit, wearing only a tight orange and red suit.
>The suits you were wearing were all specially designed to fit the crew’s physique.
>It had hardened titanium plating across the whole body to protect the crew from physical damage.
>You bite your lower lip as you turn around attempting to mind your own business.
>It wasn’t exactly the easiest, considering you could spend time looking at the large apples behind you.
>You shake your head.
>This is your crew god damn it, not your toys!
>You finish taking off your space suit and walk out of the airlock preparation room.
>You notice Applejack had already left the hangar area, so you decided to relax a bit.
>Standing in the large hangar, you look at the big shuttle in front of you.
>It was used to transport crew to and from the surface of different planets and moons, and in emergencies it could pack quite the punch.
>Armed with an energy shield and four missile launchers on the sides, it was one of the most valuable vehicles you had on board right now, except, of course, the Excalibur herself.
>You turn around and walk across the large floor that was the hangar.
>You reach a steel door and notice it was already open.
> You enter it without hesitation and close it behind you, sealing it shut using the crank on the left.
>In front of you was a large hallway leading to all the ships facilities in the front of the ship.
>You had a similar one on the other side of the hangar to the other facilities.
>You sigh as you start walking down the gray corridor.
>Nothing much really happened since the launch of the Excalibur.
>You were there yourself, watching all the part launch upwards into orbit.
>The cruiser was so large it had to be assembled in orbit.
>You were the first one to arrive at the Excalibur, doing all the preparations for the rest of the crew.
>Who would have known the crew you were expecting was your rag-tag group of friends you hung out with in high school?
>HQ had assured you they were all up to the task they were assigned to when you asked them if they were serious.
>Apparently they had all passed the test and received proper training.
>Twilight, your first and best egghead adorkable friend, had responsibility for the science department.
>She was to do research on the things you would come across on your travels.
>Rarity, the upper class fashion designer that you were a bit surprised was your friend actually, had been assigned to work as navigation.
>She was even given her own CNP, or Celestial Navigational Pad.
>She told you it was a scanner so she could see the closest celestial bodies floating around them.
>It was supposedly extremely powerful and could detect objects light years away.
>Applejack, the cute and remarkably perky farmer buddy, was the engineer.
>She would fix and maintain the ship in the best condition.
>She was very skilled from what you had seen up until now, and you had no doubt she could fix even the most complex of machinery.
>Rainbow Dash, sports idiot and top athlete, was the pilot.
>Apparently she had been enrolled in the air force for quite some time before actually receiving an invitation to join the project.
>She had been just as surprised as you when she saw who she was flying with.
>Fluttershy was the shy introvert of the group.
>She had been assigned as the team’s environmental specialist.
>How she got on the group without having a breakdown surprised you, but she was here, and her knowledge of the extraterrestrial was astonishing, at least for someone like her.
>And then there was Pinkie Pie.
>How she was even allowed to join the project surprised you, as she had a serious problem with hyperactivity.
>She was assigned to the offense and defense stations.
>Pinkie shouldn’t even have been allowed near weapons in the first place, but she seems to have calmed down to a certain degree after boarding the cruiser.
>And then it was you. Anon Y. Mous. Captain of the ESS Excalibur.
>It was a proud title, and you had no idea what you were doing, but the NESA research team had no doubts you were up for the task.
>Controlling the first ever interstellar research vessel was a large task, but you were as excited about the mission as anyone else.
>Besides the pay you got for it was completely out of this world.
>That is, if you made it back alive…
>You shake the thought out of your head as you stand before a large door in brushed steel.
>You wave your hand in front of it and the door hisses as it slides open.
>You walk into the empty bridge, and take a deep breath.
>The large amount of blinking instruments and screens that adorned the desks of the crew almost gave you a seizure, but you had learnt to live with it since the ships network systems came online.
>You walk over to a chair covered in brown leather and sit down in it.
>Once you felt comfortable, the chair slid backwards automatically and turned around.
>You now had a good view of the whole bridge, and a gigantic panorama window in front of you gave you a full view of the front of the ship.
>The blue marble below you looked even more spectacular from here.
>You took another deep breath and leaned back into your chair.
>Now all you had to do was to wait for HQ to give you the full briefing for the assignment and tell you what and how to do things.
>What could possibly go wrong.
>A hissing noise behind you awakens you from your slumber.
>You realize it’s the doors , and manage to sit up straight, taking your feet down from the control panel in front of you.
>Steps are heard, and you turn your chair around, facing Twilight who just came up the stairs to your podium.
>She was clad in a white lab coat reaching her to her ankles, and she had a pair of glasses on her while she wrote something down on a tablet.
>She looked up at you and moved her glasses up on her forehead.
>“Good morning Anon!” She said with a warm smile. “So this is where you’ve been?”
>You look at her with a questioning look.
“What do you mean?”
>“Well we didn’t see you since the maintenance mission a while ago, so I was starting to wonder where you ran off to.”
“Yeah, sorry Twi, I think I fell asleep…”
>You get up from your chair and stretch.
>Letting out a yawn you turn to the large panorama window behind you.
>The Excalibur seemed to drift towards the dark side of the planet, and looking down you could see the landmass that is Equestria.
>You gave it a wave as if saying good night to your family down on the surface.
>Suddenly you feel two arms on your chest as Twilight hugs you from behind.
“Woah, what’s with the sudden affection?” you chuckle.
>Twilight puts her head on your shoulder and stares down on the planet as well.
>She sighs in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.
>“I just can’t believe we’ve finally made it this far. I’ve always wanted to go into space. See the stars, the unknown, discover new things. I never thought all of the science fiction stories would stop being fiction.”
“You can’t tell what we’ll find out there. A lot might still be fiction, you know.”>“Yes, I know that. But think about it. FTL drives, space cruisers, interplanetary travel, and all within our own lifetime even…”
>You put your hand in Twilights.
>In a way this made you calm, and the thoughts of what awaited you out in the deep darkness faded.
>Your gut wriggled and twisted, and you felt your face grow hot.
>You could feel Twilights head move into the crook of your neck, and she hugged you even closer.
>The warmth from her body made you slightly nervous, and you felt your heartbeat increase.
>Your sudden intimacy is broken short however, as the doors to the hangar slid open with a whoosh, and the voices of the rest of the crew could be heard entering the bridge.
>Twilight let you go and looked down on the floor with a slight blush on her cheeks.
>She moved some locks of hair from her face and behind her ears.
>“Uuh… I should… go… mission… yeah” she stuttered while pointing in various different ways to her seat.
>She turned on her heel and quickly made her way down the stairs while greeting her friends.
>You sighed as you kicked an invisible rock across the deck.
>“HEY ANON!” you hear Pinkie calling out to you from the deck below.
>You move to the rails and look down where your whole crew is gathered.
>Pinkie is bouncing in the middle, trying to get your attention.
>“When are we leaving, Anon?!” she almost yells up to you.
“Well, I’m not really sure yet…” you say as you scratch the back of your head.
>You look out of the glass window.
>That was when the com-link gave feedback static noises and a voice spoke to all of you asking for your attention.
>“Excalibur, Excalibur, this is the HQ, calling all crew to the bridge. Do you copy, over?”
>The whole crew held their breath.
>This was the first time in days HQ had contacted the bridge directly.
>You walk over to the control panel in front of the captain’s chair and clicked the com-link activation button.
>You stay silent for a moment.
>Your insides twitched once again, and your breath became heavy.
>This might be what you have been waiting for.
>You inhale before you speak in a shaking voice.
“This is Captain Anon reporting from the bridge of the Excalibur. All crew are present and we are awaiting orders, over.”
>You lift your hand from the keyboard and slowly stand up straight.
>You look down at the planet below you, waiting in anticipation.
>“HQ here, we will now begin your mission briefing. Stand by for a message form the project leader, over.”
>The com-link goes silent.
>You turn around and see your whole crew bundled up behind you.
>They are looking at you with excitement in their eyes, but a nervous expression.
>You all had mixed feelings, and it was understandable.
>You were all going out where no one has ever set foot before.
>Farther away than any space flight in the history.And it scared you all to death.
>The large window in front of you grew dark as the sunscreens pulled over it.
>A holographic image began playing over it, and the project leader lit up the room as she virtually stood in front of you.
>Her prismatic hair flowing down her shoulders, she looked at you with an excited expression, but there was still worry in her eyes.
>She began speaking in a soft, almost motherly like voice.
>“Crew aboard the Excalibur. I am head project leader Celestia, and I cannot begin to voice my thanks for your participation in this project.”
>The whole crew turns to the screen and salutes Celestia.
>She raises her hand and tells you formalities weren’t necessary.
>You feel a surge go through your group as they all stand at ease.
>But Celestia wasn’t done talking yet;
>“Since we discovered the FTL drive, our astronomers have looked to the skies for places to go, but have yet to find a place worth visiting. However there are so many worlds out there and we have not even observed half of them. We built the Excalibur in the vision that one day, man would take to the skies and find new places to settle. That mankind would once and for all pierce the heavens itself on its journey to glory! You are our pioneers, the first people to ever escape the boundaries of our planet and venture forth into the great unknown. For that, I bit you all good luck.”
>You and the crew behind you looked at Celestia in anticipation.
>You knew your mission was important, but to hear it from the leader herself gave you a sense of honor.
“Celestia, we can’t even begin to describe what it means to us to be onboard this ship. I think I speak for everyone when I tell you how happy we are that we can be together on this, and reach out to the universe and the stars above.”
>Your crew nods in agreement.
>In the corner of your eye you notice Pinkie Pie almost vibrating in excitement.
>The rest of the group notices too, and they turn their heads to her.
“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asks with a slight sense of concern in her voice.
>Pinkie looks over to the group and immediately stops her shaking.
>She pokes her fingers together and looks down in the ground with an embarrassed smile.
>“Sorry, AJ. I’m just so nervouscited, that’s all…”
>“And you have all right to be! The mission is more exciting than it sounds like.”
>You all turn to Celestia with curiosity.
>You had all read the mission briefing, but what could possibly be more exciting than the mission ahead?
>“Your primary mission as a research vessel will be to discover and catalogue all information you come across. We want you to write a rapport every day on what happens aboard the cruiser. Once you are out of immediate communications range, you will no longer obtain real time information from us. The farther out you travel, the longer it will take for the information to reach us. That is why you must keep all the information you come across in your database until you return.”
>“Celestia, how long will this mission last approximately?” Rarity asks.
>The leader looks down on her and gives you all a concerned look.
>“That depends. We have a secondary objective for you as well.”
>It felt like time froze for a bit.
>Being excited about a mission in space had you pent up and nervous about everything that could turn out to be bad, and this was no exception.
>You weren’t normally like this, but ever since boarding the cruiser, you have been feeling nervous in most situations.
>“A couple of years ago our communications team picked up a signal.” Celestia continues.
>“This signal was unlike any other we’ve seen before. We do not know who it came from, when it was sent or what it means, but we know its approximate location.”
>Celestia’s image is switched out with an image of the galaxy.
>A ring appears on one of the arms to the left.
>“This is our location.” She tells you.
>The circle disappears and a smaller one appears on the other side of the galaxy.
>This one is almost at the tip of the arm, and it blinks to signal your attention.
>“And this is the location we picked up the signal from. I think you know what the objective is, correct?”
>Fluttershy looks at the image with a nervous expression.
>“You’re not seriously suggesting we… go there and find out… are you?” she asks.
>She fumbles with her words and tries to loosen the collar on her lab coat.
>“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but that is exactly what I want you to do.” Celestia says with a determined voice.
>Fluttershy emits an “eep” as she tries to hide behind her lab coat.
>You sigh to yourself as you address Celestia.
“With all respect, Celestia, there could be anything there. How do we defend ourselves?”
>Celestia looks down at you with yet another worried expression.
>She seems just as concerned with this as the rest of you.
>She clears her throat and straightens her tie.
>“If you meet with an extraterrestrial race, you will attempt communication. If they seem aggressive, then leave them alone. If that does not work, and they begin an attack on you that could harm you, your crew or the Excalibur, flee at all cost. Fight back only in emergencies, we don’t want to have any casualties aboard.”
>Rainbow Dash, who had been silent until now, gave off a loud sigh.
>“Aww, I was looking forward to the fights…”
>“Rainbow Dash, this is no time to create enemies. If we fight back we could start a war, and that is something we do not want here.”
>The leader looks at Rainbow Dash with an angry expression.
>Rainbow withdraws her attitude and looks away with a frowned face.
>“Now, I believe I have given you all the information you need. I will call you up once we are ready. We still have some preparations to do before your departure, and we have been standing here for far too long. Until then, stand by for further orders. Celestia out.”
>The room falls silent as the image of the project leader disappears.
>Your whole crew stands there and stares blankly at the sunscreen on its journey across the window.
>Nobody said a word, and it gave you time to think about what Celestia had told you.
>Your ship was on its way across the whole galaxy?!
“WHAT?!” you broke out, startling your group of friends.
>“Is something wrong, darling?” Rarity asked.
>You snapped out of your trance and noticed your crew staring at you with concerned looks.
>You bring your hand to your forehead and sigh.
>“Across the whole damn galaxy? Is she nuts?” you mumble as you walk to your chair and slump down in it.
>“I think it sounds fun!” Pinkie broke out. She started bouncing in anticipation.
>“I think it sounds dangerous…” Fluttershy whispered.
>“I guess…” you mumble.
>With a loss of words, you just slide your chair backwards and turn it around, facing your control panel.
>You could hear the rest of your friends mumble, and they all walk their own ways.
>A couple of hand falls to your shoulders, and you feel your chair bend backwards slightly.
>As you look up, a purple cascade of hair falls down around you.
>“You know, captain…” Twilight said playfully. “This journey of ours is gonna take a long time.”
>You sigh as you look down on the night covered surface of the planet below.
“Even with the FTL drive, it would take years just to get there. They know we have to make it back too, right?”
>“But don’t you find it so exciting? Not knowing what expects us, discovering new things. Oh, Anon, I can’t wait!”
>Twilight’s excitement made you smile a bit.
>At least now you got your mood back.
“So what now? Do we just wait?” You gesture with your hand to the lack of Celestia in the bridge.
>Twilight’s face appears beside yours, and she looks into your eyes.
>“We could always find alternative methods to make the time pass…” She whispers in a lustful tone.
>You turn to her and give her a face of disbelief.
“Twilight, what has gotten into you? You’re never this…”
>“Horny?”
>Twilights statement caught you completely off guard.
>You sat there grasping for words to try and form a sentence, but twilights bedroom eyes distracted your mind in other directions.
>After a while you managed to utter a high pitched “…yes”.
>As Twilights face inched closer to yours, you couldn’t help but to back away a bit.
>Suddenly, you didn’t back away yourself, and a different force took hold of you.
>You fell out of your chair and slammed into the deck.
>Like lightning, you are back up on your feet, but Twilight didn’t end her pursuit of your lips yet, and she crawled over your chair and stood up in front of you.
“Are you alright Twilight? I’m not sure we should... you know… “
>“Are you afraid anon?” Twilight asks you.
“No, of course not! I just… wasn’t expecting this, that’s all…”
>“Well, we’re all alone here now, no need to be so shy.”
>She was now just a few inches from your face.
>Those violet irises was enough to swallow your whole soul, but somehow your brain yelled STOP.
>You took a hold of twilights shoulders with a firm grip and pushed her away from you slowly.
“Look, I’m not sure what’s going on here, but this was a bit sudden, don’t you think?” you tell her as you look deep into her violet eyes.
>“What do you mean?” Twilight says, turning her head in disappointment.
>Her attitude changed drastically in a matter of seconds.
>“Calling all crew aboard the Excalibur, all preparations are made. We will not begin the departure phase. All crew report to bridge, over.”
>With renewed confidence, you look into Twilights eyes and give her a warm smile.
“I was about to say that we shouldn’t rush things, but I think we better hurry now.”
>Twilight nods and fixes her lab coat.
>Just then the rest of your friends enter the bridge.
>Most of them looked well rested, especially Pinkie Pie.
>You decide to take the word, and walk over to the railing with Twilight by your side.
“Alright, crew! Looks like the time has finally come. If you can find your stations we can get this show on the road!”
>Cheering is heard from the group as they all rush to their seats.
>Rainbow dash takes the wheel and tests it out before activating the ships navigational systems.
>A noise is heard gradually increasing in intensity as all of the machinery in the bridge activates to full power.
>You sit down in your chair and get comfortable, then slide the chair towards your control panel.
>Twilight stands beside you, but turns to walk down the stairs.
“Wait, Twilight…” you call out on impulse.
>Shit, what do you say?
>She stops in the middle of the stairs and turns to look at you.
>After a short pause you formulate a quick sentence.
“We’ll take this another time, okay?”
>Twilight’s face lights up, and she nods.
>You sigh as she continues her trip down the stairs and gets seated as well.
>At least now there were no hard feelings... you hope.
>The whole crew below you looks at you with anticipation.
>The time has finally come.
>Time to pierce the heavens!
>The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
>It almost felt like HQ kept you waiting to tease you, but you knew the final moments were the most critical ones.
>A crackling noise is heard over the com-link, and the voice of a female could be heard on the central speakers.
>“This is HQ, all preparations for the mission is done. My name is Linda, and I’ll be guiding you out of the solar system.”
“Well Linda, all crew are aboard and ready for launch. Let’s send the bird out of the cage, shall we?”
>“Copy that. Begin ignition of the ion combustors, and turn the ship slightly to the port side. Once you are out of orbit, maximize the power of the combustors for five minutes and start the glide. This should take you a good distance out. We will contact you once you are ready to make the next maneuver. Over.”
“Understood. Dash, do your thing.”
>Your attempt at giving orders fails severely, because dash had already begun shifting the cruiser’s position.
>You shrug it off, seeing formalities only as a burden.
>She was your friend after all, and you didn’t see it as a big problem.
>Outside, the planet in which you called home slowly started drifting away.
>The ship’s nose was now turned towards the great unknown.
>The universe, looking back at you with a cold dark stare, was to be your plane of existence for many years now, and you had absolutely no problems with it.
>You look down at Twilight, who was staring back at you.
>She locked eyes with you and gave you a hearty smile.
>Her gesture plastered a smile on your own face, and you broke contact to survey the rest of your crew.
>Most of them were looking out the window in front.
>Whether it was out of fear, wonder or a lust for adventure, you couldn’t tell.
>The only one truly ecstatic about this was Pinkie Pie, who, even though she was locked in place with safety belts, was bouncing up and down in her seat.
>Suddenly the whole ship nudged forward with brute force, as Dash rammed the thruster control as hard as she could forward.
>The cruiser gave of a noise of discomfort, followed by a loud bang, and the whole vessel shot forwards with incredible force.
>The whole crew started screaming.
>Rainbow Dash too, but hers was a scream of joy.
>Outside all you could see was blur and you realized what had happened.
“DASH, MOTHERFUCKER, DID YOU ACTIVATE THE FTL DRIVE?!” you screamed at her.
>She didn’t respond, but looked back at you with a smug grin.
>You felt gravity normalize in the bridge, but the blur outside continued to swish past.
>At least now you didn’t have to scream.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!”
>…or maybe not.
>Rainbow Dash turns her seat around and crosses her arms.
>“Excuse me, but who is the pilot?” she cocks her eyebrow.
“We don’t know the effects of that thing yet, what if you hurt someone?”
>“Relax, it’s not like it killed someone. It’s an FTL drive! We’re in space!”
>“RAINBOW DASH, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR! What if you ruined my hair…” Rarity started fixing her curl, as her whole hair had been messed up pretty bad.
>“Why are you all such a bore sometimes…” rainbow dash scoffs.
>The com-link gave of static noises as it tuned in.
>The voice of your guide sounded on the speakers.
>“This is HQ, calling all residents on the Excalibur. Cease all use of the FTL drive until you are out of
the solar system.”
>Rainbow Dash sighed and rammed the thrusters back in a neutral position.
>The whole team sighed in relief as the speed slowed down dramatically.
>It became easier to see outside now, and you took the initiative to activate the rear view cameras.
>The window in front of you turned dark and the image of a small blue planet came into view on the virtual screen.
>You sighed as you watched everything you love grow smaller and smaller with every passing second.
>“Oh wow, I never thought I’d see this…”
>“Such a divine colour…”
>“It’s so small...”
>“Ah’ve never been this far away from home b’fore”
>“It feels like I can just reach out with a needle and pop it. I wonder where the poor people would go. Maybe they would just float into space and suffocate. Or maybe if i…….”
>Small chatter broke out amongst the crew members.
>Now that you had successfully broken orbit, all you could do was wait.
>You open a private com-link channel.
>“Linda, this is the captain. Are you there? Over.”
>After a short while you hear the woman respond on the other end on your com-link.
>“This is HQ, you’re talking to Linda. Was there something you needed, sir?”
>“Yeah, I was just wondering how long we have to maintain the glide.
>We’ve been working on and off since we boarded the cruiser, and we could use some R & R over here.”
>“I’m not sure how much time there is for that, but you will need to maintain it for about a week. We’ve been calculating this and you have a clear way out of the solar system with no planets or objects in the way of your path.” Linda sighs, and then giggles a bit.
>“Oh, bugger. I’m sure you have time to relax. You’ve earned it.”
>“Thanks, I think my crew would be happy to hear the news.”
>“Just don’t forget to respond on the com-link. And remember the regular maintenance checks.”
>“Don’t worry, we will. Anon over and out.”
>You break the com-link channel and lean back into your seat.
>The planet on the screen before you seemed so far away.
>Your family, your home, everything you love and hate all fit in such a small bubble.
>Now with your expanded horizons it feels like you had been living inside a prison without bars, only bound by the sheer force of gravity.
>You feel hands on your shoulders, and look up to see six friendly faces looking at you.
>Rising from your seat, you turn to survey your crew.
>The six of your best friends in high school, who out of nowhere joined you in a mission to deep space.
>It seems surreal, almost like a dream.
>You approach your group of buddies and hug them all at once.
“I’m so glad you all came with me” You whisper to them.
>After what felt like an eternity burying your face in soft hair, you let them all go.
>You pull a lever close to your chair, initiating standby mode for the bridge.
“HQ has given us clearance to relax for some time. We still have to respond to com-link calls and do maintenance work, but we won’t be needing to monitor everything.”
>A sigh of relief washes over your friends, and they seem to become more at ease.
“Remember to write your logs, girls. We don’t want to have blank days. The first official day of our mission starts tomorrow!”
>The group nods and turns to walk out of the bridge.
>You turn back to your window and watch your home slowly drift away.
>Stretching and scratching your stubble, you realize you’ve spent two whole days in the bridge.
>You were starving, and your throat was dry.
>A break sounded exactly like what you needed.
>Turning back again, you notice Twilight leaning against the rails.
>You smile as you walk over to her and extends an elbow at her.
“Shall we?” you say, as Twilight puts an arm around yours.
>You leave the bridge in standby mode as you exit through the double doors.
>All that was left was the different noises from the calculating computers, and the image of the large blue marble behind the ship who, in fact, didn’t seem so large anymore.

create a new version of this paste RAW Paste Data

>The darkness in front of you seem endless, but the more you think of it, the more it feels like there has to be an end. 
>You exhale and your breath leaves a mark on your visors.
>Looking down to your left you lift your white-gloved hand to the joystick in front of you.
>Pushing it slightly to the left, you hear a hissing noise behind you. 
>You slowly start to roll to the side as the thrusters push you around. 
>The large orb in front of you glows in a majestic blue color, and the clouds swirl around in patterns you couldn’t possibly comprehend.
>You are Anonymous, captain of the ESS Excalibur.
>It was a beautiful Space Research star Cruisers, one of the first ever built.
>You and a team of six others had been assigned to attend a deep space mission to track down an unknown signal.
>This wasn’t just any other mission though.
>It was also the virgin flight of the Excalibur, and the first ever space mission outside of the solar system.
>The National Equestrian Space Agency, or NESA for short, had spent a ton of resources and many years developing tools for interplanetary travel, and had with an accident discovered the secret of faster than light travel.
>They developed the first ever FTL drive, and have been fine-tuning it for the Excalibur.
>You now possessed the ability to travel farther than any other creature in your history has ever done before, and you have your highly trained, top skilled crew to thank for it.
>You hear static on your com-link connected to your helmet as Applejack’s voice tunes in.
>“Anon, ya still awake over there?” she calls out to you.
>You snap out of your dream like state and look over to Applejack.
>She holds a screwdriver in one of her hands, and her toolbox is floating beside her.

>The grey hull of the large spaceship reflects sunlight straight into your eyes, but your visor blocks most of it.
>Applejack has a concerned look on her face.
>You open your visor with one hand, letting her see your face as you give her a warm smile.
“I’m fine, AJ. How’s the solar panels coming along?” you ask her.
>You had recently been hit by a satellite and sent it flinging out of orbit.
>It had damaged one of the ships extended solar panels in the middle of the charging process and you had lost a lot of power.
>Luckily you had the materials to fix it, and with a skilled engineer as Applejack, you had it up and running in no time.
>Applejack grabbed the side of the hull and pulled her around, facing the panel and tightened the last screw with brute force.
>She dragged her glove across her visor, as if whipping away sweat from her forehead.
>“Well, Anon, looks like we’re good to go on this one! Let’s get back inside, I don’t want mah tools to float away.”
>She grabs all her tools floating around her and crams them into the red toolbox.
>She then turns around with her feet against the hull, and pushes away from the ship slowly.
>She floats out to her thruster pack floating not too far away and gets seated.
>Following her, you both propel your way to the hangar bay doors.
“Twilight, come in. Are you in the bridge? Over.” You ask on the com-link.
>A few seconds pass as you hear static on your radio and twilight tunes in.
>“Twilight here, I’m in the bridge now. Over.”
“Twilight, we’re in front of the airlock now, can you open up please. Over”
>Another few seconds pass as you hear a hissing noise from inside the thick doors.
>Then the maintenance shaft besides the hangar opens with a large clang, letting you inside a dark corridor about three meters long.
>You and Applejack both float inside the hangar airlock and click off your thruster packs.
>The door closes behind you and you are both swallowed by darkness.

>A red light flashes in the roof, and a soft alarm is heard as the room is gassed and de-sterilized.
>You feel a strange sensation in your head, and you and Applejack are pushed down to the floor.
>The After a short period of time, the hissing noise stops, and you feel heavy standing on the metal-plated floor of the short corridor.
>The red light turns into a green one, and the doors on the other side of the airlock opens.
>Applejack hangs her thruster pack on the wall and walks out of the airlock, and you follow suit.
>She takes off her helmet and whips her hair out of the space suit.
>Both of you walk into a wardrobe-like room, and you sigh in relief as you take of your own helmet and put it in a locker.
>It always felt good to be inside the safety of the starship, especially after having been out there for so long.
>You peek over your shoulder and spot Applejack taking off her space suit, wearing only a tight orange and red suit.
>The suits you were wearing were all specially designed to fit the crew’s physique.
>It had hardened titanium plating across the whole body to protect the crew from physical damage.
>You bite your lower lip as you turn around attempting to mind your own business.
>It wasn’t exactly the easiest, considering you could spend time looking at the large apples behind you. 
>You shake your head.
>This is your crew god damn it, not your toys! 
>You finish taking off your space suit and walk out of the airlock preparation room.
>You notice Applejack had already left the hangar area, so you decided to relax a bit.
>Standing in the large hangar, you look at the big shuttle in front of you.
>It was used to transport crew to and from the surface of different planets and moons, and in emergencies it could pack quite the punch.
>Armed with an energy shield and four missile launchers on the sides, it was one of the most valuable vehicles you had on board right now, except, of course, the Excalibur herself.

>You turn around and walk across the large floor that was the hangar.
>You reach a steel door and notice it was already open.
> You enter it without hesitation and close it behind you, sealing it shut using the crank on the left.
>In front of you was a large hallway leading to all the ships facilities in the front of the ship.
>You had a similar one on the other side of the hangar to the other facilities.
>You sigh as you start walking down the gray corridor.
>Nothing much really happened since the launch of the Excalibur.
>You were there yourself, watching all the part launch upwards into orbit.
>The cruiser was so large it had to be assembled in orbit.
>You were the first one to arrive at the Excalibur, doing all the preparations for the rest of the crew.
>Who would have known the crew you were expecting was your rag-tag group of friends you hung out with in high school?
>HQ had assured you they were all up to the task they were assigned to when you asked them if they were serious.
>Apparently they had all passed the test and received proper training.

>Twilight, your first and best egghead adorkable friend, had responsibility for the science department. 
>She was to do research on the things you would come across on your travels.

>Rarity, the upper class fashion designer that you were a bit surprised was your friend actually, had been assigned to work as navigation.
>She was even given her own CNP, or Celestial Navigational Pad.
>She told you it was a scanner so she could see the closest celestial bodies floating around them.
>It was supposedly extremely powerful and could detect objects light years away. 

>Applejack, the cute and remarkably perky farmer buddy, was the engineer.
>She would fix and maintain the ship in the best condition.
>She was very skilled from what you had seen up until now, and you had no doubt she could fix even the most complex of machinery.

>Rainbow Dash, sports idiot and top athlete, was the pilot.
>Apparently she had been enrolled in the air force for quite some time before actually receiving an invitation to join the project.
>She had been just as surprised as you when she saw who she was flying with.

>Fluttershy was the shy introvert of the group.
>She had been assigned as the team’s environmental specialist.
>How she got on the group without having a breakdown surprised you, but she was here, and her knowledge of the extraterrestrial was astonishing, at least for someone like her.

>And then there was Pinkie Pie.
>How she was even allowed to join the project surprised you, as she had a serious problem with hyperactivity.
>She was assigned to the offense and defense stations.
>Pinkie shouldn’t even have been allowed near weapons in the first place, but she seems to have calmed down to a certain degree after boarding the cruiser.

>And then it was you. Anon Y. Mous. Captain of the ESS Excalibur.
>It was a proud title, and you had no idea what you were doing, but the NESA research team had no doubts you were up for the task.
>Controlling the first ever interstellar research vessel was a large task, but you were as excited about the mission as anyone else.
>Besides the pay you got for it was completely out of this world.
>That is, if you made it back alive…
>You shake the thought out of your head as you stand before a large door in brushed steel.
>You wave your hand in front of it and the door hisses as it slides open.
>You walk into the empty bridge, and take a deep breath.
>The large amount of blinking instruments and screens that adorned the desks of the crew almost gave you a seizure, but you had learnt to live with it since the ships network systems came online.
>You walk over to a chair covered in brown leather and sit down in it.
>Once you felt comfortable, the chair slid backwards automatically and turned around.
>You now had a good view of the whole bridge, and a gigantic panorama window in front of you gave you a full view of the front of the ship.
>The blue marble below you looked even more spectacular from here.
>You took another deep breath and leaned back into your chair.
>Now all you had to do was to wait for HQ to give you the full briefing for the assignment and tell you what and how to do things.
>What could possibly go wrong.

>A hissing noise behind you awakens you from your slumber.
>You realize it’s the doors , and manage to sit up straight, taking your feet down from the control panel in front of you.
>Steps are heard, and you turn your chair around, facing Twilight who just came up the stairs to your podium.
>She was clad in a white lab coat reaching her to her ankles, and she had a pair of glasses on her while she wrote something down on a tablet.
>She looked up at you and moved her glasses up on her forehead.
>“Good morning Anon!” She said with a warm smile. “So this is where you’ve been?”
>You look at her with a questioning look.
“What do you mean?”
>“Well we didn’t see you since the maintenance mission a while ago, so I was starting to wonder where you ran off to.”
“Yeah, sorry Twi, I think I fell asleep…”
>You get up from your chair and stretch.
>Letting out a yawn you turn to the large panorama window behind you.
>The Excalibur seemed to drift towards the dark side of the planet, and looking down you could see the landmass that is Equestria.
>You gave it a wave as if saying good night to your family down on the surface.
>Suddenly you feel two arms on your chest as Twilight hugs you from behind.
“Woah, what’s with the sudden affection?” you chuckle.
>Twilight puts her head on your shoulder and stares down on the planet as well.
>She sighs in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.
>“I just can’t believe we’ve finally made it this far. I’ve always wanted to go into space. See the stars, the unknown, discover new things. I never thought all of the science fiction stories would stop being fiction.”

“You can’t tell what we’ll find out there. A lot might still be fiction, you know.”>“Yes, I know that. But think about it. FTL drives, space cruisers, interplanetary travel, and all within our own lifetime even…”
>You put your hand in Twilights.
>In a way this made you calm, and the thoughts of what awaited you out in the deep darkness faded.
>Your gut wriggled and twisted, and you felt your face grow hot.
>You could feel Twilights head move into the crook of your neck, and she hugged you even closer.
>The warmth from her body made you slightly nervous, and you felt your heartbeat increase.
>Your sudden intimacy is broken short however, as the doors to the hangar slid open with a whoosh, and the voices of the rest of the crew could be heard entering the bridge.
>Twilight let you go and looked down on the floor with a slight blush on her cheeks.
>She moved some locks of hair from her face and behind her ears.
>“Uuh… I should… go… mission… yeah” she stuttered while pointing in various different ways to her seat. 
>She turned on her heel and quickly made her way down the stairs while greeting her friends.
>You sighed as you kicked an invisible rock across the deck.
>“HEY ANON!” you hear Pinkie calling out to you from the deck below.
>You move to the rails and look down where your whole crew is gathered.
>Pinkie is bouncing in the middle, trying to get your attention.
>“When are we leaving, Anon?!” she almost yells up to you.
“Well, I’m not really sure yet…” you say as you scratch the back of your head.
>You look out of the glass window.
>That was when the com-link gave feedback static noises and a voice spoke to all of you asking for your attention.
>“Excalibur, Excalibur, this is the HQ, calling all crew to the bridge. Do you copy, over?”
>The whole crew held their breath.
>This was the first time in days HQ had contacted the bridge directly.

>You walk over to the control panel in front of the captain’s chair and clicked the com-link activation button.
>You stay silent for a moment.
>Your insides twitched once again, and your breath became heavy.
>This might be what you have been waiting for.
>You inhale before you speak in a shaking voice.
“This is Captain Anon reporting from the bridge of the Excalibur. All crew are present and we are awaiting orders, over.”
>You lift your hand from the keyboard and slowly stand up straight.
>You look down at the planet below you, waiting in anticipation.
>“HQ here, we will now begin your mission briefing. Stand by for a message form the project leader, over.”
>The com-link goes silent. 
>You turn around and see your whole crew bundled up behind you. 
>They are looking at you with excitement in their eyes, but a nervous expression. 
>You all had mixed feelings, and it was understandable.
>You were all going out where no one has ever set foot before.
>Farther away than any space flight in the history.And it scared you all to death.
>The large window in front of you grew dark as the sunscreens pulled over it.
>A holographic image began playing over it, and the project leader lit up the room as she virtually stood in front of you.
>Her prismatic hair flowing down her shoulders, she looked at you with an excited expression, but there was still worry in her eyes.
>She began speaking in a soft, almost motherly like voice.
>“Crew aboard the Excalibur. I am head project leader Celestia, and I cannot begin to voice my thanks for your participation in this project.”
>The whole crew turns to the screen and salutes Celestia.
>She raises her hand and tells you formalities weren’t necessary.
>You feel a surge go through your group as they all stand at ease.
>But Celestia wasn’t done talking yet;

>“Since we discovered the FTL drive, our astronomers have looked to the skies for places to go, but have yet to find a place worth visiting. However there are so many worlds out there and we have not even observed half of them. We built the Excalibur in the vision that one day, man would take to the skies and find new places to settle. That mankind would once and for all pierce the heavens itself on its journey to glory! You are our pioneers, the first people to ever escape the boundaries of our planet and venture forth into the great unknown. For that, I bit you all good luck.”
>You and the crew behind you looked at Celestia in anticipation.
>You knew your mission was important, but to hear it from the leader herself gave you a sense of honor.
“Celestia, we can’t even begin to describe what it means to us to be onboard this ship. I think I speak for everyone when I tell you how happy we are that we can be together on this, and reach out to the universe and the stars above.”
>Your crew nods in agreement.
>In the corner of your eye you notice Pinkie Pie almost vibrating in excitement.
>The rest of the group notices too, and they turn their heads to her.
“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asks with a slight sense of concern in her voice.
>Pinkie looks over to the group and immediately stops her shaking.
>She pokes her fingers together and looks down in the ground with an embarrassed smile.
>“Sorry, AJ. I’m just so nervouscited, that’s all…”
>“And you have all right to be! The mission is more exciting than it sounds like.”
>You all turn to Celestia with curiosity.
>You had all read the mission briefing, but what could possibly be more exciting than the mission ahead?

>“Your primary mission as a research vessel will be to discover and catalogue all information you come across. We want you to write a rapport every day on what happens aboard the cruiser. Once you are out of immediate communications range, you will no longer obtain real time information from us. The farther out you travel, the longer it will take for the information to reach us. That is why you must keep all the information you come across in your database until you return.”
>“Celestia, how long will this mission last approximately?” Rarity asks.
>The leader looks down on her and gives you all a concerned look.
>“That depends. We have a secondary objective for you as well.”
>It felt like time froze for a bit.
>Being excited about a mission in space had you pent up and nervous about everything that could turn out to be bad, and this was no exception.
>You weren’t normally like this, but ever since boarding the cruiser, you have been feeling nervous in most situations.
>“A couple of years ago our communications team picked up a signal.” Celestia continues.
>“This signal was unlike any other we’ve seen before. We do not know who it came from, when it was sent or what it means, but we know its approximate location.”
>Celestia’s image is switched out with an image of the galaxy.
>A ring appears on one of the arms to the left.
>“This is our location.” She tells you.
>The circle disappears and a smaller one appears on the other side of the galaxy.
>This one is almost at the tip of the arm, and it blinks to signal your attention.
>“And this is the location we picked up the signal from. I think you know what the objective is, correct?”
>Fluttershy looks at the image with a nervous expression.
>“You’re not seriously suggesting we… go there and find out… are you?” she asks.
>She fumbles with her words and tries to loosen the collar on her lab coat.

>“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but that is exactly what I want you to do.” Celestia says with a determined voice.
>Fluttershy emits an “eep” as she tries to hide behind her lab coat.
>You sigh to yourself as you address Celestia.
“With all respect, Celestia, there could be anything there. How do we defend ourselves?”
>Celestia looks down at you with yet another worried expression.
>She seems just as concerned with this as the rest of you.
>She clears her throat and straightens her tie.
>“If you meet with an extraterrestrial race, you will attempt communication. If they seem aggressive, then leave them alone. If that does not work, and they begin an attack on you that could harm you, your crew or the Excalibur, flee at all cost. Fight back only in emergencies, we don’t want to have any casualties aboard.”
>Rainbow Dash, who had been silent until now, gave off a loud sigh.
>“Aww, I was looking forward to the fights…”
>“Rainbow Dash, this is no time to create enemies. If we fight back we could start a war, and that is something we do not want here.”
>The leader looks at Rainbow Dash with an angry expression.
>Rainbow withdraws her attitude and looks away with a frowned face.
>“Now, I believe I have given you all the information you need. I will call you up once we are ready. We still have some preparations to do before your departure, and we have been standing here for far too long. Until then, stand by for further orders. Celestia out.” 

>The room falls silent as the image of the project leader disappears.
>Your whole crew stands there and stares blankly at the sunscreen on its journey across the window.
>Nobody said a word, and it gave you time to think about what Celestia had told you.
>Your ship was on its way across the whole galaxy?!
“WHAT?!” you broke out, startling your group of friends. 

>“Is something wrong, darling?” Rarity asked.
>You snapped out of your trance and noticed your crew staring at you with concerned looks.
>You bring your hand to your forehead and sigh.
>“Across the whole damn galaxy? Is she nuts?” you mumble as you walk to your chair and slump down in it.
>“I think it sounds fun!” Pinkie broke out. She started bouncing in anticipation.
>“I think it sounds dangerous…” Fluttershy whispered. 
>“I guess…” you mumble.
>With a loss of words, you just slide your chair backwards and turn it around, facing your control panel.
>You could hear the rest of your friends mumble, and they all walk their own ways.
>A couple of hand falls to your shoulders, and you feel your chair bend backwards slightly.
>As you look up, a purple cascade of hair falls down around you.
>“You know, captain…” Twilight said playfully. “This journey of ours is gonna take a long time.”
>You sigh as you look down on the night covered surface of the planet below.
“Even with the FTL drive, it would take years just to get there. They know we have to make it back too, right?”
>“But don’t you find it so exciting? Not knowing what expects us, discovering new things. Oh, Anon, I can’t wait!”
>Twilight’s excitement made you smile a bit.
>At least now you got your mood back.
“So what now? Do we just wait?” You gesture with your hand to the lack of Celestia in the bridge.
>Twilight’s face appears beside yours, and she looks into your eyes.
>“We could always find alternative methods to make the time pass…” She whispers in a lustful tone.
>You turn to her and give her a face of disbelief.
“Twilight, what has gotten into you? You’re never this…”
>“Horny?”

>Twilights statement caught you completely off guard.
>You sat there grasping for words to try and form a sentence, but twilights bedroom eyes distracted your mind in other directions.
>After a while you managed to utter a high pitched “…yes”.
>As Twilights face inched closer to yours, you couldn’t help but to back away a bit.
>Suddenly, you didn’t back away yourself, and a different force took hold of you.
>You fell out of your chair and slammed into the deck.
>Like lightning, you are back up on your feet, but Twilight didn’t end her pursuit of your lips yet, and she crawled over your chair and stood up in front of you.
“Are you alright Twilight? I’m not sure we should... you know… “
>“Are you afraid anon?” Twilight asks you.
“No, of course not! I just… wasn’t expecting this, that’s all…”
>“Well, we’re all alone here now, no need to be so shy.”
>She was now just a few inches from your face.
>Those violet irises was enough to swallow your whole soul, but somehow your brain yelled STOP.
>You took a hold of twilights shoulders with a firm grip and pushed her away from you slowly.
“Look, I’m not sure what’s going on here, but this was a bit sudden, don’t you think?” you tell her as you look deep into her violet eyes.
>“What do you mean?” Twilight says, turning her head in disappointment.
>Her attitude changed drastically in a matter of seconds.

>“Calling all crew aboard the Excalibur, all preparations are made. We will not begin the departure phase. All crew report to bridge, over.”
>With renewed confidence, you look into Twilights eyes and give her a warm smile.
“I was about to say that we shouldn’t rush things, but I think we better hurry now.”
>Twilight nods and fixes her lab coat.
>Just then the rest of your friends enter the bridge.
>Most of them looked well rested, especially Pinkie Pie.
>You decide to take the word, and walk over to the railing with Twilight by your side.
“Alright, crew! Looks like the time has finally come. If you can find your stations we can get this show on the road!”
>Cheering is heard from the group as they all rush to their seats.
>Rainbow dash takes the wheel and tests it out before activating the ships navigational systems.
>A noise is heard gradually increasing in intensity as all of the machinery in the bridge activates to full power.
>You sit down in your chair and get comfortable, then slide the chair towards your control panel.
>Twilight stands beside you, but turns to walk down the stairs.
“Wait, Twilight…” you call out on impulse.
>Shit, what do you say?
>She stops in the middle of the stairs and turns to look at you.
>After a short pause you formulate a quick sentence.
“We’ll take this another time, okay?”
>Twilight’s face lights up, and she nods.
>You sigh as she continues her trip down the stairs and gets seated as well.
>At least now there were no hard feelings... you hope.
>The whole crew below you looks at you with anticipation.
>The time has finally come. 
>Time to pierce the heavens!

>The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
>It almost felt like HQ kept you waiting to tease you, but you knew the final moments were the most critical ones.
>A crackling noise is heard over the com-link, and the voice of a female could be heard on the central speakers.
>“This is HQ, all preparations for the mission is done. My name is Linda, and I’ll be guiding you out of the solar system.”
“Well Linda, all crew are aboard and ready for launch. Let’s send the bird out of the cage, shall we?”
>“Copy that. Begin ignition of the ion combustors, and turn the ship slightly to the port side. Once you are out of orbit, maximize the power of the combustors for five minutes and start the glide. This should take you a good distance out. We will contact you once you are ready to make the next maneuver. Over.”
“Understood. Dash, do your thing.”
>Your attempt at giving orders fails severely, because dash had already begun shifting the cruiser’s position.
>You shrug it off, seeing formalities only as a burden.
>She was your friend after all, and you didn’t see it as a big problem.
>Outside, the planet in which you called home slowly started drifting away.
>The ship’s nose was now turned towards the great unknown.
>The universe, looking back at you with a cold dark stare, was to be your plane of existence for many years now, and you had absolutely no problems with it.
>You look down at Twilight, who was staring back at you.
>She locked eyes with you and gave you a hearty smile.
>Her gesture plastered a smile on your own face, and you broke contact to survey the rest of your crew.
>Most of them were looking out the window in front.
>Whether it was out of fear, wonder or a lust for adventure, you couldn’t tell.
>The only one truly ecstatic about this was Pinkie Pie, who, even though she was locked in place with safety belts, was bouncing up and down in her seat.

>Suddenly the whole ship nudged forward with brute force, as Dash rammed the thruster control as hard as she could forward.
>The cruiser gave of a noise of discomfort, followed by a loud bang, and the whole vessel shot forwards with incredible force.
>The whole crew started screaming.
>Rainbow Dash too, but hers was a scream of joy.
>Outside all you could see was blur and you realized what had happened.
“DASH, MOTHERFUCKER, DID YOU ACTIVATE THE FTL DRIVE?!” you screamed at her.
>She didn’t respond, but looked back at you with a smug grin.
>You felt gravity normalize in the bridge, but the blur outside continued to swish past.
>At least now you didn’t have to scream.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!”
>…or maybe not.
>Rainbow Dash turns her seat around and crosses her arms.
>“Excuse me, but who is the pilot?” she cocks her eyebrow.
“We don’t know the effects of that thing yet, what if you hurt someone?”
>“Relax, it’s not like it killed someone. It’s an FTL drive! We’re in space!”
>“RAINBOW DASH, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR! What if you ruined my hair…” Rarity started fixing her curl, as her whole hair had been messed up pretty bad.
>“Why are you all such a bore sometimes…” rainbow dash scoffs.
>The com-link gave of static noises as it tuned in.
>The voice of your guide sounded on the speakers.
>“This is HQ, calling all residents on the Excalibur. Cease all use of the FTL drive until you are out of 
the solar system.”
>Rainbow Dash sighed and rammed the thrusters back in a neutral position.
>The whole team sighed in relief as the speed slowed down dramatically.
>It became easier to see outside now, and you took the initiative to activate the rear view cameras.
>The window in front of you turned dark and the image of a small blue planet came into view on the virtual screen.
>You sighed as you watched everything you love grow smaller and smaller with every passing second.

>“Oh wow, I never thought I’d see this…”
>“Such a divine colour…”
>“It’s so small...”
>“Ah’ve never been this far away from home b’fore”
>“It feels like I can just reach out with a needle and pop it. I wonder where the poor people would go. Maybe they would just float into space and suffocate. Or maybe if i…….”

>Small chatter broke out amongst the crew members.
>Now that you had successfully broken orbit, all you could do was wait.
>You open a private com-link channel.
>“Linda, this is the captain. Are you there? Over.”
>After a short while you hear the woman respond on the other end on your com-link.
>“This is HQ, you’re talking to Linda. Was there something you needed, sir?”
>“Yeah, I was just wondering how long we have to maintain the glide.
>We’ve been working on and off since we boarded the cruiser, and we could use some R & R over here.”
>“I’m not sure how much time there is for that, but you will need to maintain it for about a week. We’ve been calculating this and you have a clear way out of the solar system with no planets or objects in the way of your path.” Linda sighs, and then giggles a bit. 
>“Oh, bugger. I’m sure you have time to relax. You’ve earned it.”
>“Thanks, I think my crew would be happy to hear the news.”
>“Just don’t forget to respond on the com-link. And remember the regular maintenance checks.”
>“Don’t worry, we will. Anon over and out.”
>You break the com-link channel and lean back into your seat.
>The planet on the screen before you seemed so far away.
>Your family, your home, everything you love and hate all fit in such a small bubble.
>Now with your expanded horizons it feels like you had been living inside a prison without bars, only bound by the sheer force of gravity.
>You feel hands on your shoulders, and look up to see six friendly faces looking at you.
>Rising from your seat, you turn to survey your crew.

>The six of your best friends in high school, who out of nowhere joined you in a mission to deep space.
>It seems surreal, almost like a dream.
>You approach your group of buddies and hug them all at once.
“I’m so glad you all came with me” You whisper to them.
>After what felt like an eternity burying your face in soft hair, you let them all go.
>You pull a lever close to your chair, initiating standby mode for the bridge.
“HQ has given us clearance to relax for some time. We still have to respond to com-link calls and do maintenance work, but we won’t be needing to monitor everything.”
>A sigh of relief washes over your friends, and they seem to become more at ease.
“Remember to write your logs, girls. We don’t want to have blank days. The first official day of our mission starts tomorrow!”
>The group nods and turns to walk out of the bridge. 
>You turn back to your window and watch your home slowly drift away.
>Stretching and scratching your stubble, you realize you’ve spent two whole days in the bridge.
>You were starving, and your throat was dry.
>A break sounded exactly like what you needed.
>Turning back again, you notice Twilight leaning against the rails.
>You smile as you walk over to her and extends an elbow at her.
“Shall we?” you say, as Twilight puts an arm around yours.
>You leave the bridge in standby mode as you exit through the double doors.

>All that was left was the different noises from the calculating computers, and the image of the large blue marble behind the ship who, in fact, didn’t seem so large anymore.

Pastebin.com Tools & Applications

iPhone/iPad

Windows

Firefox

Chrome

WebOS

Android

Mac

Opera

Click.to

UNIX

WinPhone