(Story extract)
 
“I really hope you know what you’re doing…” Minty clutched his Cross Stitch plush tightly against himself, squeezed into the space behind the pilot’s seat. With a few idle moments of button pushing, the talismans that provided the fuel for the turbine started, a low whine able to be heard as the intake near the front began drawing in the air of the workspace, the acrid smell of burning old dust being kept from us thanks to the cockpit glass. I grinned widely, looking over the side and peering down to the ground a few feet below, another push of a button causing a jolt as the old hydraulic systems lifted the track the missile was resting upon upwards, a section moving out and mating with the track that ran up the exit tunnel. Keep your eyes on the control panel Twintails, don’t stare into the endless abyss of sky above… pushing a lever forwards, the whine of the engine increased, several of the needles on the guages spinning upwards. We didn’t seem to be moving all that much, though.
 
“Huh… I really thought that these things just launched after a while of the engine running at full.” I rubbed at my head with a hoof, Minty leaning forwards and peering at the controls as well. Red, green, and amber lights all flickered across it, guages hovering above full. A clock in one panel read out that it was already well into the afternoon. I tapped at some of the readouts, lower hooves resting against the pedals below, before leaning - well, laying - back against the seat. My forehooves rested at the sides of the chair, a red button blinking on the control shaft. I watched it for a moment, reaching a hoof out and grabbing it once more, Minty shuffling and bracing himself behind me. “Maybe… thWOAH!”
 
The button clicked, and suddenly the gaping sky started becoming much, much closer at a quite astonishing rate. Welp, there’s another pair of pants ruined. The controls were stiff, a new green light filling the group, labeled with the word, I think, ‘ATOL’. The altimeter needle spun rapidly, the cloud layer getting so, so, so goddess-damned close, both of us forced backwards by the acceleration of the missile. Streaks of water flowed over the glass as we punched clean through the thin clouds, myself wrenching my eyes shut. Nope, nopenopenope, the sky is too scary for me! Take me down, please! The craft seemed to slow down and level out, myself burying my hooves into my eyes and cowering underneath the control panel. Minty gave off a gasp of astonishment, his hoof pushing at my wings gently.
 
“Twintails… you, you’ve got to see this… goddesses above, you have got to see this…”