The bus ride to Vision One Enterprises seemed to be taking forever, but luckily, none of the kids or the Mane 6 seemed to notice the Pippsqueaks or the Buddies in the back of the bus, bored out of their minds. “Dudes, are we there YET?” Mudbud asked his siblings and new friends in a quiet voice. “We’ve literally been riding forever!”
“I’m not exactly sure where exactly the shuttle is gonna be launching from,” Seashell admitted, “but I’m sure we can’t be too far away.”
“Do you think we’ll be able to get a view of the rocket from up close?” Glory asked. “I’d love to get a photo for Dad!”
“We’ll just have to wait and see, Glory,” Buddha told the pegasus filly. “Good things come to those who wait, after all.”
“Hey, everypony! Great news!” Pipp announced from further up the bus. “I think we’re heeeeeeeeeeeere, WAH!!”
This caused the other kids and ponies to cheer in excitement, and as the bus pulled into a stop on the curb, the teacher sneezed and climbed down the stairs to get in front of the kids. “Okay, people, off the bus,” she said to the kids. “Don't forget your lunch… AHH!!!”
The kids began to get out of the bus so fast, they climbed all over her (except for the Mane 6 of course), and they were able to stop right before Dr. Finkel, who stood at the entrance to wait for them. “Okay, stop right here, kids. Welcome to Vision Enterprises. Everyone in. Don't touch anything.”
“Come on, you guys!” Izzy giggled excitedly. “Let’s go go go!”
“For once, I agree with Izzy,” Hitch told the other ponies, smiling. “We can’t miss a real-life shuttle launch!”
However, as the Mane 6 and the kids filed behind Dr. Finkel and headed into the building, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks got out of their hiding places and began to get off the bus to go after them. “We don’t wanna miss the launch!” Buddha said as he got off the bus and walked all over the teacher, who was still on the ground. “This way!”
“Excuse me!” Peach Fizz called out as she followed Buddha off the bus but walked around the teacher. “Coming through!”
“Wait for me!” Seashell shouted after her friends, and once all the Buddies and the three fillies were off the bus, they darted through the doors to catch up with the tour group.
XXXXXXXX
The Mane 6 were currently still following their human friends behind Dr. Finkel, who seemed to detest children in all forms imaginable. “Again, please refrain from touching anything with your hands, you slimy, little, germ-ridden creatures.”
“Hmph! Rude!” Pipp scoffed as the group was eventually brought to a stop. “Our goal here, at Vision Enterprises, for some reason,” Dr. Finkel explained, “is to make space travel accessible for everyone, including the family pet.”
As he was saying this, Sam looked over and spotted an unusual device nearby, and his interest grew just enough to where he went to explore it. “Hey… Sam!” Sunny whispered. “Where are you going?”
“Come on… we better follow him,” Zipp whispered to Sunny as they followed Sam over to the device while the rest of the group was distracted. At the same time, the Buddies and Pippsqueaks followed after the group before darting into hiding nearby. “Let’s hide over here, dudes,” Mudbud whispered, only for Seashell to shush the pup. “Quiet! They’ll hear us!”
At the same time, Sam put down his backpack and stepped onto the device, which began to scan his body in order to fit him for a spacesuit of his very own. “Scanning… human boy.”
“Wow... this is awesome!” Sam whispered to himself before a blue spacesuit came out of the closet nearby. “No way…” Zipp whispered, her eyes immediately going wide. “This technology really is advanced!”
“Here, Sam,” Sunny offered as she and Zipp stepped closer. “We’ll help you put it on over your clothes.”
The Buddies and the Pippsqueaks watched in wonder as Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in the spacesuit, and they couldn't help but wonder if this device could give them spacesuits of their very own.
Now that would be a really great souvenir for the Pippsqueaks to take back to their parents.
Meanwhile, Dr. Finkle was continuing his lesson, unaware of Sam, Sunny and Zipp's disappearance from the rest of the tour group. “As you can see, we have some specifically designed space suits.”
Finally, Zipp and Sunny got Sam dressed in his space suit, and even they had to admit… he looked just as good as them, if not better. Unfortunately, Dr. Finkle finally took the chance to notice them near the device and frowned upon it. “...whatever you like. Excuse me,” he said to the trio, getting their attention. “Please step away from the circle.”
“Uh-oh… I think we got trouble,” Pipp murmured to her friends as Zipp and Sunny stepped closer to Sam in case he needed backup. “That device scans a life form and determines the right size suit,” Dr. Finkle told them with a frown on his face. “It is highly sophisticated. So please step away.”
“He’s not the only thing that’s highly sophisticated around here,” Zipp muttered under her breath, causing Sunny to shush her before they got in more trouble. “Can I get a picture with the suit?” Sam asked quietly. “No, you cannot have a picture with the suit,” Dr. Finkle declined in a firm tone of voice. “Please, just take it off immediately.”
Sunny could sense that Sam felt bad, and stepped forward, clearing her throat to help lighten the situation a bit. “With all due respect, sir, Sam didn’t know what the device was at the time,” she said. “And neither did we. Maybe if Sam promises to stay with the group from now on, we can forget this happened and Sam can keep the suit as a souvenir.”
“That sounds fair,” Hitch nodded. “Come on, doc, learn to live a little!” Izzy brushed off, smiling at Dr. Finkle. “Do it for the kid… please?”
Finally, Dr. Finkle seemed to give in, heavy on reluctance. “Uh, all right, you know what? It's fine, it's fine. You can keep the suit on. You probably already contaminated it. Just come back to the group.”
“Yes!” Sam pumped his fist before he and the ponies came back to the group. “Children, this portion of the tour is over. Please follow me,” Dr. Finkle said as he made his way through the crowd of kids. “Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you.”
Zipp could have sworn she saw something peeking out from the corner, but as soon as she saw it, it disappeared, leaving her to shrug and follow the group away. Soon, the group had moved on, letting Glory sigh a breath of relief from the Pippsqueaks' and the Buddies' hiding place. “That was close.”
“And speaking of close,” B-Dawg said, looking at the mannequins wearing different size space suits, “check out the fly gear!”
“Oh my gosh!” Rosebud said, totally loving the look. “These looks are so to die for!”
That's when Rosebud's attention turned to the device that Sam, Zipp and Sunny stood near earlier, and wondered something... would it be able to give her a space suit that looked like his?
It was always worth a shot, right?
So, she separated from her brothers and friends and walked over to it, much to the Pippsqueaks' confusion. “Rosebud?” Peach Fizz called. “Where are you going?”
Rosebud ignored her and stepped onto the circle, turning the device on and letting it scan Rosebud over. “Scanning.”
“Wow…” Rosebud said, ultimately impressed as the scan concluded. “Canine puppy.”
And just like before, a spacesuit fit for dogs, and just Rosebud’s size, came out of the nearby closet. “Whoa, dudes!” Mudbud spoke in an impressed tone. That’s when Rosebud stepped into the suit and turned toward her brothers. “Will one of you boys zip me up?”
Budderball stepped forward to do so, and grabbed the zipper in his teeth before zipping Rosebud’s suit up. “Okay,” Glory said, getting up onto the platform, “I gotta try this!”
“Let’s all try it!” Seashell told her friends. “I mean, if we’re gonna see a rocket launch, we gotta do it in style, right?”
XXXXXXXX
After a few minutes, all of the Pippsqueaks and the Buddies had been fitted into their very own space suits. But while the Buddies' spacesuits were all blue, the Pippsqueaks' space suits were different colors and fit their personalities perfectly.
All of them thought very highly of their outfits, especially Rosebud, who gazed at herself in the mirror for a good while. “So… how do I look?”
“Uh…” Mudbud blinked, not seeing all the fuss over looking pretty. “Like our sister in a space suit.”
“Well, I think you look pretty, Rosebud,” Seashell smiled. “We ladies have to stick up for each other after all.”
“Yo, Seashell’s right about two things,” B-Dawg said. “The whole girl power thing and that we look tight.”
However, Budderball was straining a little bit in his space suit, looking very uncomfortable. “Mine's a little too tight. Someone give me a paw.”
“I don’t have a paw,” said Peach Fizz, approaching him, “but I can give you a hoof.”
However, as she moved her mouth to take Budderball’s paw, the others tried to stop her. “Don’t pull his paw!!”
They were too late, however-- Peach Fizz already pulled Budderball's paw, causing Budderball's suit to inflate like a balloon. “Check it,” B-Dawg commented. “It’s the Goodyear blimp!”
“Come on, guys, we better head outside to get really good seats for the launch,” Glory said, nudging Budderball away. “We don’t wanna miss the moment of a lifetime, right?”
The others seemed to agree, and they all walked down another hallway and through some doors. However, while they were walking, the Mane 6 (who stopped to go to the bathroom while the other kids went on ahead) could have sworn they saw animals in brightly-colored space suits walking down another hallway. “Uh… guys?” Misty spoke up with wide eyes. “Did you just see what I think I saw?”
“If I think we saw what you saw, then those guys are in serious trouble,” Zipp said as she strained her space suit. “I thought they said they were gonna stay home!”
“Well, the least we can do is follow them,” Sunny said, “before they get too far ahead of us. Come on!”
XXXXXXXX
“Are you guys sure this is the right way?” Budderball asked the Pippsqueaks as they took the lead. “We’ve been walking for a pretty good while.”
“Trust me, Budderball-- we know what we’re doing,” Glory said. “And according to my logic, the way to the launch bay should be right here!”
She opened another door, this one leading into the warehouse, and led the others through it, Peach Fizz using her horn as a lamp to see what they were doing. However, when they all got inside and started looking around, a voice stopped them in their tracks. “Well, well, well… look what the fillies dragged in.”
“Uh-oh…” the Pippsqueaks chorused before they hesitantly turned to see Pipp and the rest of the Mane 6 standing behind them... and they didn't look too happy. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you guys,” Seashell gulped. “We’re totally busted.”
“What are you guys doing here?” Sunny asked as the Mane 6 entered the warehouse. “I thought you said you were gonna stay home!”
“Well, that’s what we originally planned, but… the excitement of seeing the shuttle got ahead of us,” Buddha said hesitantly. “I kind of asked the Pippsqueaks if they wanted to come see the shuttle with us, and… here we are.”
“We know we shouldn’t have snuck along, and we’re really sorry,” Peach Fizz apologized, ears pinned against her head. “...are you mad?”
“...no, we're not mad. Just… promise you won’t sneak along behind us next time,” Misty told the fillies gently. “If we had gotten back to town and discovered you guys were gone, I don’t know what we would have done.”
“We promise,” Rosebud and the Pippsqueaks nodded, with the boy puppies nodding without a sound. “Well… since you guys did manage to make it all this way,” said Zipp, “the least we could do is let you see the space shuttle before we take you guys home.”
The Pippsqueaks and the Buddies gasped with wide smiles at this. Even though they had gotten caught, they were still gonna see the spaceship?
This may be turning out better than they hoped!
Izzy and Misty pressed buttons on both sides of the door to open it, and the garage-like door slowly raised, revealing the 14 of them in their space suits. “Come on, guys,” Sunny told them. “Let’s go see the spacecraft up close.”
That’s when Budderball spotted some writing on the ground, and thinking it said ‘lunch pad’, he immediately became excited. “Golly gosh! Maybe we could stop at the lunch pad for a snack, if it's on the way.”
“Hate to break it to you, Budderball,” Pipp said, “but that actually says ‘launch pad’.”
And so, starting at a steady walk, the group began to head toward the shuttle, and as they got closer, broke into a gallop while staying out of the sight of the maintenance workers nearby... unaware of what would soon be happening on that shuttle in just a few short minutes.
XXXXXXXX
At the same time, Dr. Finkle had led all the kids from school up to a special room where they had an excellent view of the shuttle launch. “And voila, the spacecraft.”
“T-Minus three minutes to launch,” Slat said from below, and a countdown clock appeared on one of the screens. Sam couldn’t help but be excited about this, looking on in anticipation. “Wow… I wish Buddha and the Pippsqueaks could see this.”
XXXXXXXX
But little did Sam realize that Buddha and the Pippsqueaks WERE there to see it, and they were standing right next to the space shuttle in question, which had its doors wide open. “Let's just take a quick look inside,” Buddha told the group, “and then we'll come back and watch the launch.”
“I don’t know about that, Buddha,” Misty shook her head. “We don’t even know if anyone is supposed to be onboard this close to the launch.”
“Y-Yeah,” Peach Fizz nodded. “Do you think it’s safe?”
Luckily, Buddha had an answer to this. “You never know how deep a puddle is until you jump in.”
Mudbud turned his head and saw a huge mud puddle nearby, getting his own idea in mind. “Uh… I’ll be right back.”
And what did he do with that puddle? You guessed it-- he rolled around in it like crazy, coating his space suit with mud. “Seriously, dawg,” said B-Dawg to Buddha in confusion. “What does a puddle have to do with the spaceship?”
“Whoo-hoo!” Mudbud then cheered, getting out of the puddle with a wide grin. “Oh yeah!”
“Come on!” Glory urged. “Let’s go!”
“Oh, okay…” Hitch sighed reluctantly. “But let’s make this quick!”
And so, the ponies followed the Buddies onto the shuttle as they entered the main cabin, where a large amount of seats were lined up on the sides. “Whoa…” Buddha said, ultimately impressed. “It’s amazing.”
“I would have blinged it out a little more,” B-Dawg shrugged before running for one of the seats up front. “I call shotgun!”
“Not before I call it!” Zipp challenged the pup and raced after him, and they sat in the two seats next to one another, while everyone else (except Budderball) found seats of their own.
XXXXXXXX
But, they were unaware that Pi and everyone back in the control room were getting the final preparations made before the shuttle blasted off into outer space. “Wish us luck,” Pi whispered to Gravity, who gave a squeak in response.
XXXXXXXX
Budderball found himself in front of a screen with different pictures of food on it, and a slot underneath it where the food was supposed to come out. “Hmm… Lunch-O-Matic.”
“Okay, guys,” Rosebud told the others. “We’ve seen the ship. We better go.”
“Good idea,” Sunny said with a nod. “This thing could launch at any minute and we do not wanna be in here when that happens.”
But, before the group could leave their seats, B-Dawg found a pair of the same glasses that Astro wore back in the control room and put them on, showing them off to his siblings. “Check out these retro shades.”
“Dude,” Mudbud said, “you shouldn’t be touching those.”
“I could fly this thing, no problem. Piece of cake,” B-Dawg bragged as Budderball kept looking at all the food options on the Lunch-O-Matic. “Yeah, there's cake… ooh, donut! But I think I'll start with the chili cheese dog, then steak and finish with a bean burrito.”
“No beans!” the Pippsqueaks and the rest of the Buddies shouted in protest. Budderball first pressed the button with the chili cheese dog on it, but what came out, much to Budderball’s bewilderment, was a white package with a picture of a chili cheese dog. “Hey, this does not look like a chili cheese dog.”
Budderball grabbed the package in his mouth and began to tear it open, causing Zipp to sigh to herself-- they didn't have time for this.
They had to get out of here before it was too late!
XXXXXXXX
“All systems diagnostics check,” Pi told the rest of the team back in the control room. “I want a go or no go for launch.”
XXXXXXXX
Seashell had climbed down from her seat to look at the packages that Budderball kept recieving from the Lunch-O-Matic when she suddenly looked and saw the door leading back outside closing tight. “Uh… guys?” she gulped. “Someone just closed the door.”
“Wait, what?!” Hitch cried in panic. “Oh, great... how can this get any worse?”
Suddenly, the group felt the rocket jolt before they seemed to be tilting upwards toward the sky. “Are we... moving?” Misty asked as she looked around. “Dudes,” Mudbud gulped, “this is not good!”
“B-Dawg,” Rosebud said as she turned to her more irresponsible brother, “what did you press?”
“I-I didn’t press anything!” B-Dawg shook his head. “Seashell, Budderball,” Buddha quickly turned to his brother and one of his new friend. “My instincts tell me you should take a seat, fast!”
“But I was just getting to dessert!” Budderball began to protest. “Hurry!” Peach Fizz pleaded.
Budderball and Seashell hurriedly climbed into the empty seats available and sat down for a few moments, trying to remain calm about the situation...
...but it didn't help much when the team back in mission control pre-approved everything needed for the ship to take off. And not even a few seconds after that, the ship began to rumble and shake. “Guys,” Hitch said in panic, “I hear a low rumbling sound!”
“Hey,” Budderball suddenly spoke up. “Don’t look at me.”
“Guys, I think we might be going on a road trip!” Zipp shouted and pressed the button next to her, causing restraints to suddenly fasten themselves around the team in their chairs, just before a countdown began. “Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... and... ignition!”
Before the ponies could even blink twice, the thrusters fired up at top speed and rocketed off into the sky, causing the group to scream and try to comprehend what was happening in that moment.
XXXXXXXX
“Gravity...” Pi said as they watched the shuttle take off for the stratosphere. “...we have liftoff.”
Up in the viewing center, all the kids, including the Buddies' humans, cheered at the successful launch of the Vision One...
...but they, of course, remained unaware that the Buddies and their Equestrian allies were on that shuttle, heading on an unwanted trip to outer space!