It’s been over two thousand years since the fall of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna. Equestria has seen its technology advance at a breath-taking pace, such that now ponykind has extended its reach to the stars. Over many decades, with Princess Twilight’s help of course, the different ethnic groups of Equestria came together to form the Equestrian Alliance.
Once the Alliance was formed, they all sought for a common goal: to extend their reach to the heavens above and explore new life and new possibilities. As such, the moon and neighboring planets in their system were colonized and once their ships were outfitted with faster than light (FTL) technology, there was nothing stopping them from exploring the entire galaxy. Many ships have been built before to colonize their local neighbors, but now, a new ship, dubbed the EAS Manehattan, was the first of a new class of warships that had FTL capabilities and would be the first to explore an entire galaxy for new life, new opportunities, and of course a better understanding of the universe that they all lived in.
For one princess, it was a privilege and an honor to be able to be able to commandeer this ship, fulfilling a dream she had had since she was a little filly. Little does she know that her first trip into space would be an experience of a lifetime…
October 23, 2032 ANM
Canterlot
Princess Twilight Sparkle stared into the window of the construction bay, watching the progress unfold as the Manehattan slowly came to life. It would take about a year before the ship would be completed, and that didn’t include what had to be put inside the ship.
“I see somepony’s already excited for their first trip.” Twilight looked over and saw Princess Celestia walking towards her.
Twilight smiled. Over two thousand years and Celestia hasn’t aged a bit, which of course was something everyone said about her perhaps the last few millennia. Of course, Twilight had grown up a bit as well, almost reaching Celestia’s height. “Are you really that surprised?” she asked.
Celestia chuckled. “No, not really. Although I was surprised when you turned down the request to travel to the moon and help with the colonization. And then you turned down the request to travel to the other planets in our solar system.”
“They were both tempting requests,” Twilight said. “But I knew with what we had it’d only be a matter of time before we reached outside of our own system and even though we have and colonized a few planets in the neighboring system, now we can farther and in a shorter amount of time as well.”
“You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a bit nervous,” Celestia as she watched the progress down below her. “It took many years to perfect the FTL system…and we lost many lives in the process too.”
“I know…” Twilight said sadly. “But it’s finally been perfected and able to accommodate a ship of this size. Their deaths won’t be in vain.” She then smiled. “Besides, I’m not a little filly anymore.”
Celestia laughed. “I suppose that’s true. If anypony, I suppose that’s Flurry Heart now. She really wants to go with you by the way.”
“I know,” Twilight said, sighing. “And I’d love for her to come with me. But with two princesses gone, I’d imagine that would put a lot of stress on you and Luna.”
“It would probably stress Cadance out to no end,” Celestia added. “Still, this may be a good experience for Flurry. She can take over your duties in Ponyville. I think she’s ready now.”
“Well, I’ll have a whole year to make sure she’s ready,” Twilight said. She looked towards the Manehattan again and sighed. “You know…there’s one pony I know who’d love to see this if she were still alive…”
“Ah…Rainbow Dash I presume?” Celestia asked.
“Yes…” Twilight couldn’t help but get a little emotional. “She truly was the greatest flyer in all of Equestria, and if she was here now she would’ve pounced at the first chance she had of going into space.” She perked up a bit. “I’ve decided: if we happen to discover any newborn stars, I’m going to name them after my friends.”
“I’m sure they would appreciate that,” Celestia said. “So I do not suppose we’re going to be standing here all day are we?”
Twilight giggled. “No…sorry…I guess it’s back to paperwork and meetings now.” The two of them made their way out of the docking bay, but not before Twilight took one more look back towards the ship that would eventually become her ship.
“Girls, I wish you could see me now…Whenever we set out for space, I hope you’re all looking out for me from above.”