“Woah! A trip to space? That’s, like, totally rad!” Treehugger thought as she read through the official letter from Princess Celestia. A month ago she had entered into the new Royal Equestrian Space Administration to become a cosmonaut aboard its interstellar vessel. There really was nothing like this in all of Equestria’s long history, finally ponies would be able to travel beyond the stars without magic or even wings! Packing up her crystals, she left immediately and reported to RESA’s headquarters in Canterlot.
The shimmering building put the more traditionally styled Canterlot buildings to shame. What symbolised progress and ingenuity made Treehugger very upset.
“This feels kinda, like, not great for the animals. Did they make this out of trees and stuff? This is totally messing up my vibes.”
With a mix of hesitation and excitement, she entered the RESA building and sat down to wait with the other ponies chosen by raffle. Across from her seat, she caught sight of her friend, Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy!” she called. “I totally didn’t expect to see you here! Far out!”
“Oh, hello Treehugger. Were you chosen by the raffle?” her friend replied.
“I just got the letter this morning, man. You’re going too?”
“Oh, no. I’m just here to welcome everypony. Princess Celestia asked us to help her greet the guests and send them off.”
“Right on! Kinda bummed that you can’t come but I, like, totally respect that.”
“Good luck on your journey!”
“Blessings.”
Having just parted from her friend, a voice called her to the desk. She was promptly verified and was directed towards the lift. The lift’s aura was wack but Treehugger knew what she had to do. She confidently smashed the button for the 25th floor and the lift roared to life. Treehugger felt her body compress a little from the force but quickly expanded as she travelled up the 25 floors at breakneck speeds. Soon enough she had arrived and heard the sounds of jubilant conversations.
“Welcome everypony! We hope you have a safe and comfortable journey! Hello!”
Treehugger approached Twilight, who stood by the entrance greeting guests.
“Twilight! So good to see you!”
“Treehugger! Welcome to RESA! I can’t believe you were selected for the journey!”
Applejack trotted toward the two carrying a large bag on her back.
“I don’t know about this Twilight. There’s lots of other ponies out there who can go on this here
spaceship. I just don’t think I’m the right one for the job. Couldn’t Rainbow Dash go in my place?”
“You know what Celestia said. The ponies will all be chosen by raffle. You can’t give your position to somepony else.”
“Come on, Twilight! Applejack doesn’t want to go; I do! Space is like the most epic place anypony can go! And I’m the most epic pony! Why should she be the one going?”
“We already went over this Rainbow Dash. You’re not going.” Twilight turned to Treehugger, “Sorry about that. It’s usually much calmer around here,” she said, smiling.
“No worries! You just need to relax your aura and peace out.”
“I’ll- uh… keep that in mind. In the meantime, you’d better get going. And that means you too, Applejack. Good luck, both of you.”
Bidding farewell, the cosmonauts began their short trek to the ship. Treehugger looked around at her future companions. Most of them seemed mediocre but a few of them would make wonderful travel mates. She was looking forward to the serenity of space more than her companions though, and soon enough, she’d be there.