The global dust storm of a century, the dying message of an indomitable robot, and a unicorn who just can’t let go of a mystery.

(Now with a dramatic reading by Skijaramaz - Tone Shift.)
(Russian translation available at ponyfiction.org.)

Humanity has grown to control most of the Sol system, and looks to distant stars for further expansion options. When probes discover an uncannily-earthlike planet at a vast distance, the Solar Government takes on a project larger than any before it.

A colony ship, carrying over seven thousand people, the Eclipse is constructed. Thanks to its translight engine, it is capable of making the journey within two decades. The expedition is launched with high hopes, its crew made up of the best and brightest, setting out to prove that the vastness of space was no longer an insurmountable obstacle, that landing on distant worlds full of life was no longer just a pipe dream.

What happens when this colony ship's crew arrives at their destination would forever change humanity's outlook on the rest of the universe, as well as what could be deemed possible. Supernatural beings, energies unexplainable, and most importantly, sapient organisms all populate this mysterious, fertile world. In all of its extensive preparations, is the Eclipse versatile enough to tackle the task assigned to it? Or, more importantly, is its crew?

Featured on Equestria Daily 1/1/2013.

Pre-read by Stringtheory and Milo. Proofread by Erumpet and Demetrius. Thanks! Contains some hard and some soft sci-fi elements.

This story is a sequel to The Eagle Is Sealed

While Luna spends her time chatting with the three astronauts onboard Columbia on the three-day trip back to Earth, the humans still on the planet have to deal with the fallout her appearance has caused. Unfortunately for Charlie, that fallout starts for him as Soviet interest .

Now they're after him. He'll have to avoid, evade, and straight-up fight the full might the Soviet spy machine can bring to bear upon one man. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep him out of their clutches.

For if they can't have him, they'll do their best to make sure no one else can, either.

Featured (briefly) 9/23/14!

Sequel here!

My attempt at a more serious 'Luna meets Neil Armstrong' storyline. What would really happen, both on the moon and on Earth? Inspired by 'The Eagle has Landed' by CyanBlackStone.

Princess Luna has found herself on a very different moon after some strange force interfered with her banishment. She doesn't know what the metal objects that keep orbiting and sometimes landing there are, but she wants to find out. Meanwhile, Neil Armstrong believes that being the first man on the moon will be the crowning achievement of his life. Hoo boy, is he ever in for a surprise.

For those who are interested, the most excellent Zanec has provided this link to an interactive Apollo 11 site.

This story is a sequel to The Eagle Has Landed

When President Nixon orders, you obey. And now that he wants Luna on the LM and heading home, how is Neil ever going to convince her to follow?
But it doesn't even get that far, as an innocent mistake endangers the mission.
And even as the mission is endangered, tensions are rising back on Earth. While the drama plays out in Mission Control, just what is going on behind the Iron Curtain?
No one knows, but it's certainly not conducive to Apollo 11's welfare.

Sequel here.

When Apollo 11 lands on the moon, Neil Armstrong utters his famous lines as his boots land in the lunar regolith, but when he turns around he finds something no one was expecting or had ever planned for.
There's an alien on the moon. And it's blue, four-legged, and staring at him.

Sequel here.

Twelve thousand years ago, humanity was driven into a war with an unknown enemy. Fire rained from the heavens and the sky turned dark as the sun dimmed. Acid poured from the clouds and a plague was unleashed upon mankind: A virus that caused men to turn on one another. A disease that forced man to fall to his knees and beg for mercy. A pathogen that ravaged man’s civilization.

And when humanity lost all chances of reconciliation, all hope of keeping their loved ones safe, they pulled the plug, three hundred souls left Earth while sacrificing their only home to the angel of the enemy.

In the twelve millennia since the Great War, all traces of humanity have been wiped from the surface of the Earth. In man’s rightful place now are a multitude of sapient species. For twelve thousand years, these animals have lived in peace and harmony, man reduced to nothing more than but a myth, a folk tale, a legend.

But word has spread across the countryside. Word of forgotten beasts that still walk the western wastelands. Creatures able to bend the world to their will without the help of magic. Creatures said to be older than time itself.

Teen for language, and dark moments. Character tags will be added as the story progresses

In a universe where humans are quite shocked to find ponies that speak languages at all, let alone English, the startling discoveries never seem to stop for the poor crew of the SMS Verreiter IV, an old-warship-turned-exploration-vessel hybrid that's certainly seen better days. Heck, some even speak of times that it had days where all the systems functioned properly for hours at a time.

Either way, they're on a mission of exploration, which means they'll be visiting every Old Earth-sized rock they can find. With a motley consignment composed of few jittery scientists, veteran marines, an exasperated captain, and a combat-hardened, battle-forged crew with absolutely nothing to do besides repair their own ship from itself, it seems like it'll be a very long year of exploration.

Then they find a planet with some rather startling similarities to human society.

Like Manehattan, the apparent parody of the American district, ponies having developed the English language, and the use of human-like tools and buildings.

And when the ship's transmitter fails at the worst possible moment, Forschungsschiff Kapitan Arnhem Zorner has to decide how best to introduce his country and humanity to these beings. Who can levitate books probably as easily as they could levitate knives and hurl them at him.

He doesn't know whether to laugh of cry at the situation that's been thrown at his face.

The Second Age of Sail, I often hear this era called. Personally, I think the very definition of irony should be that we would have to develop spaceflight, nuclear fusion and ways to reach worlds beyond our own just to circle back to using wind-powered vessels. Not that I really care how this old bird gets from port to port, the important thing is that the drinks are cheap and the work is good—in that specific order.

I'm a free mariner. My domain is wherever the wind blows, and my sovereign is none. If you can respect those rules... welcome aboard.