It tends to be said that there was not one time in the vast annals of galactic history when actions went without consequences; when reaction happened not, and even the most innocent of moves had not been followed…

Silence. Do you hear it? Of course not, for there is nothing to be heard. Does that not scare you? This complete isolation? The thought of the universe being but void, reduced to null or into null born?
If it does - congrats. Your reaction is appropriate. Ponies are social creatures, and they aspire for contact, discovery… friendship. And yet, for all these years since the invention of the radio by our gracious ruler Twilight Sparkle, for all the years we’ve been sending signals into space hoping for a reply, there has been no answer. The universe stays silent and still, and there’s seemingly nothing at all that we can do to change it…

But… why? If Equis can provide, then surely - almost certainly, in fact - other places can too, right? How could they not, this world cannot be an anomaly. There exist things in this reality which even the greatest of scholars could not explain, true, and yet some assumptions would be simply too absurd and asinine to make.

The galaxy - our galaxy - has been mapped extensively for almost a millennium, the efforts starting only shortly after the Changing of the Throne. It’s a monumental construct, composed of hundreds of billions of stars spanning an area which light itself, that fastest of things in the universe, could not cross in millions of moons. There simply must be life!

A long time had passed since the last time the Star Control was so thoroughly silent. Not a whisper escaped anypony’s lips as most of their mouths stayed agape at what had just transpired on the big screen in front of them; the complete shock seemed overwhelming and absolute.

Not once since the start of the space exploration initiative had this happened; nothing even close! Somehow, by some incredible miracle, throughout all the years of test flights and research, this specific spot of the orbit seemed to have eluded everypony. Were simple oversights at fault? Or perhaps bad luck? Maybe a higher conspiracy? Whatever it was, one thing was clear - after this day, nothing would ever be the same anymore.

Even as the central monitor finally flickered and deactivated, Clean Wind - like most of the present technicians and other personnel - could not muster the strength to move even an inch. It was all simply so… overwhelming. Grandiose. Revolutionary! His dark blue coat ran wet with sweat as emotions overtook him absolutely. It was as if he was barely in control of his own body.

Shaking his head slightly in an effort to banish the feeling, Clean Wind’s vision was suddenly obstructed by batches of green. It was nothing else than his own, overgrown mane, which by now desperately needed shortening. As Clean pushed the long hair away, he noticed the room slowly filling up with commotion again; whispers, murmurs, occasional shouts. Stacks of paper rustling as they hit the floor, carried absent-mindedly by scared creatures. As ponies proceeded to pick up their jaws, mouths still in many cases wide agape, there was seemingly not one in the Star Control who would not have a theory about what had just transpired. And so it was that Clean Wind too, perhaps instinctively, let his mind wander, recollecting all that had led to this vital moment… perhaps, just maybe, vital even in the history of the entire world.

"Alright, escape trajectory established, magic boosters disengaged. Now for the waiting game…"

"Orbit achieved, now stabilising… standby, everypony. Just a couple more minutes until… wait, what are these readings…?"

It was a cold, rainy day. Clean Wind had only barely avoided being splashed by the falling water on his way to work, and now the sounds of heavily pounding raindrops resonated throughout the Mission Control room, almost drowning out the hushed murmurs now prevalent at every terminal and work station. And there was much reason for murmurs indeed.

Only moments ago, after the successful launch of the Scorpan assisted orbital with the rather ambitious intent of mapping out galaxies further away than ever before, something suddenly collided with the rocketship. It would’ve undoubtedly sent it out of orbit and back into Equis’ atmosphere had it not been for the quick course corrections inputted by Clean Wind’s closest colleague, Summer Grace. Her grin of triumph was not to last though, soon replaced by a grimace of fear and uncertainty.

Watching as the big display in front of the spacious room flickered and lit up, the pair - as well as all other personnel within Mission Control - saw what the many cameras installed on the Scorpan were capturing in real time.

They saw a metallic debris field of alien design adorned with writing which no linguist on Equis could possibly know.

“Someone contact Her Majesty the Princess, immediately!” somepony suddenly shouted, followed by loud sounds of hoofsteps on the far side of the room and the noise of door opening, then shutting. A creature had galloped into the nearby Main Communications Hub, but Clean Wind could hardly care less about things going on around him. Squinting his eyes and tilting his head to the side, he once again tried to make out what was written on the largest piece of debris the Scorpan was seeing. An effort which, only fueled by curiosity rather than logic, was naturally in vain.

And so it was that on this rainy day life on Equis, be it in Equestria or the vast desolate lands of Griffonia, was changed forever. As far as anycreature knew, this debris field, so clearly artificial and alien in origin, was the first proof of life beyond the boundaries of not only their planet, but rather the gravitational pull of Faust itself! Nay, it wasn’t just the first bit of tangible evidence either - it was the first thing to really back up suggestions of such life at all!

There is little in this world which could have stopped the scientific community’s excitement over such news. The theories of researchers, geeks and hobbyists of all species which soon emerged all across the globe could fill the Royal Canterlot Library a thousand times over and still have tomes left, filled to the brim with a curious sociologist’s predictions or the fruits of a foal’s imagination. Questions on how this phenomenon had not been discovered earlier quickly ended up swept under the rug as for the coming moons, truly, there was no end to this incredible enthusiasm at the mere prospect of meeting new friends across the stars. The Alien Craze had earned its name.

And yet even despite all the commotion Equis was seeing, uneasiness began to take root. Princess Twilight, in her infinite wisdom, quickly sent signals into the stars, desperately hoping for contact… but, alas, nothing returned. Not a single bit of data, not the smallest communique, not even a hustle. Despite everything, as always… the galaxy remained silent.

Where were they, if not here? They were here, were they not? Naturally, they were. So why not answer?

This question, so gracefully now burnt into the mind of every scholar, caused nervousness and fear to take root and flourish oh so absolutely, and soon, there was not a day passing in Equestria when the streets of towns wouldn’t talk about alien genocide in hushed murmurs of anxiety and uncertainty. Horror became the world’s one true ruler.

And so it was that, out of necessity and curiosity combined, the gracious Twilight Sparkle found herself needing to establish the Celestial Initiative. Its purpose? To seek out alien life at any cost necessary. To chart out nearby star systems for the creatures of Equis to colonize. And to further pony knowledge about the universe and the evolution of life itself…

This, however? This is nothing more and nothing less than the story of those whose lives were changed absolutely by the arrival of the Initiative, and who, although they themselves might not have originally known it, would change the course of history and science forever.

Luna’s trot echoed loudly throughout the sterile halls as she moved forward with little thought, a serious grimace painted across her muzzle. As she passed a single, small window, the few rays of sunlight successfully pushing through the cloud cover struck her eyes, forcing the mare to shield herself with a forelimb.

This brief, simple moment of insecurity proved to be enough to flood Luna’s mind with memories. Her time in power, when her tiara would’ve reflected the stray sunlight with ease. Then the Changing of the Throne...

It was a difficult time indeed. The decision to give up rule, although by now so very long before anypony else’s frail life had even begun, still occasionally bore into Luna’s mind like a drill itching to reach gold. Twilight Sparkle had been a marvelous candidate for a ruler, yes, but had she not ascended too early…? The business of ruling was not an easy thing, and… as much as Luna hated to admit it, at the time she could hardly make peace with the idea of giving away something she had only just reclaimed.

Clenching her eyes shut, Luna shook her head briefly. This was no time for such thoughts; not for any worries at all, for that matter. The choice had been made hundreds of years ago, and the truth the former princess had to admit was that Equestria could not have been better for most of the time since. Now, though…? Now, she had a far more important mission to accomplish.

The corridors of the spaceport were sprawling and maze-like, but Luna knew them perfectly well by now. She had been here many times before, be it to watch experiments and launches or to prepare for this very day. Tests - medical and performance-based - as well as training and engineering work have all led to this very moment. The Star Control was not about to let a century of work and quadrillions of bits go to waste. The era of cowering behind closed walls was over. Now… it was time to go out and meet the universe head-on.

After one of the many twists and turns on Luna’s way led to a big double door, she swiftly opened it with her magic and stepped through. What awaited her on the other side was as magnificent as it was grandiose. It was a roofless room of truly gigantic proportions, sharply contrasting with the white, sterile corridors of before. Here, everything was dirty, cluttered… moving. Dozens of creatures trotting around in protective gear, zig-zagging between crates and scaffoldings and carrying equipment the workings of which only Celestia herself could understand. In the middle of the chamber, suspended from various supporting beams and cranes above a big pedestal, was… something else.

Imagine a dart, enlarged ten million times and streamlined to the edge of possibility. This dart, white and cyan in colour, now stood there in the center, connected to pipes and scaffoldings of such great number that Luna quickly gave up on her attempts to count them. This dart, the Coltlumbus, the primary starship of the Celestial Initiative, was the one thing which could carry ponykind across the stars. Stretching upwards through the nonexistent ceiling and seemingly scratching the clouds themselves, the rocket emanated with an astonishing aura of power and majesty.

Trotting a bit closer to admire the final preparations, Luna’s ears were suddenly assaulted by a friendly voice of one of her companions.

As she turned around, Luna could not help but drop her carefully maintained serious demeanor and cast a small smile. Standing tall on her hind limbs on an assortment of nearby crates and containers, a red-coated mare was waving at her excitedly. Next to the amusing scene, the rest of the crew of the Coltlumbus were assembled, looking in her direction… and what a crew it was.

The excited reddish mare with dark blue mane and a cutie mark of a wrench who was currently waving Luna over was the ever-eccentric Water Lily, the mechanic and chief technician of the Coltlumbus who got herself known among the flight candidates right from the start through both her extreme openness and a couple rather amusing accidents during training. Nevertheless, she ended up being one of but three ponies selected for the final voyage, so there must’ve been merit to her rather expansive set of skills.

Luna had gotten to know Water Lily rather well over the previous few months. The mare had, despite her very energetic character, become somewhat of a trust pony for the former Princess. After all, Lily’s metaphorical allergy to calmness barely meant she could not control herself; oh, nothing like that. Under her mane, she housed a mind of considerable potency and in conversations would gracefully dance around topics she would sense to be uncomfortable or perhaps a subject of secrecy.

For Luna, that was the very thing she needed. A former princess volunteering for the Initiative alone had already caused quite an uproar throughout Equestria and the whole world, as she had essentially resurfaced into public life for the first time since the Changing of the Throne, and her being an immortal alicorn basically guaranteed her qualification. Nevertheless, the biggest worry Luna had had was easily the possibility of being stuck in a tiny spaceship with but a few others for months or even years, all the while having to maintain a forced smile of sorts - and as a former Royal, pretending to be morally above everypony. Thankfully, after a long training and with Water Lily onboard, that concern was now mostly null.

But Luna’s smile quickly faded once she turned her sight rightward. Stopping dead in her tracks, she huffed, letting her eyes narrow a bit. The two other individuals in the crew were not nearly as pleasant of a companionship choice.

First, sitting beside the very crate Water Lily currently stood on, was a stallion with a light green mane. His cutie mark of a map reflected his profession rather well - he was to be the chief astronavigator of the Coltlumbus.

This was Mythic Facade, and the very second his gaze met Luna’s, he seemed to instinctively look away as fast as he could. The former Princess could swear she saw Mythic blush slightly even through his thick gray coat, but she could barely help but roll her eyes. The navigator’s soft spot for Luna hardly meant he stopped being quite unwelcoming to everypony else he had met so far, and for her, that was quite a character flaw. Nevertheless, his astronavigation skills seemed very remarkable, and as a former crew member of the orbital Equusian Community Station was the sole creature assigned to the Coltlumbus who had considerable experience working with Star Control. But, alas, not the only one who’s physically been to the vast void of space before…

In front of the entire group was… a peculiar creature. Nopony besides Luna knew where he came from, and how he got here evaded even her. According to a recent talk with Celestia, this tailed biped, pale beyond reason and with a metallic hair band protruding from his forehead, eyes reflecting light as if they were mirrors… this Replicant housed in the Canterlot Dungeons since times only alicorns could remember, was the very key the Celestial Initiative had to possibly achieving success. Markenthor Welles was his name, as unusual as it was exotic, and right now, curiously lacking any binding chains, all his energy almost seemed focused on smirking at Luna in a way that somehow expressed both overconfidence and complete emotional neutrality.

“Huh… we suppose Twilight Sparkle’s persuasive skills must be more notable than we thought, indeed.”

Luna remembered the initial capture of Welles over a millennium ago quite well, and so was she familiar with how his intentions in Equestria were never revealed beyond short, cryptic statements. And so, after years and years of attempts, all interrogation efforts by S.M.I.L.E. were deemed in vain, leaving the Replicant to rot in the Dungeons for centuries. How he survived that, let alone with a healthy mind, was beyond Luna. Her own experiences during the Lunar Banishment had hardly left her unscarred…

Luna clenched her eyes shut, trying to cast the stray thoughts away. This was not the time for self-reflection, and she promptly reminded herself that drowning in emotions was only and solely a detriment to the mission, and - maybe even more crucially - was definitely not a type of behavior expected of a former Princess. Shaking her head slightly, Luna resumed her trot, only now spotting the worried and curious glances Markenthor was getting from the various technicians around the chamber; a natural reaction, indeed.

As Luna finally approached the group, Water Lily jumped down from her pedestal and promptly embraced the alicorn with her wings. Slightly startled, Luna soon felt her breath slow down once again, more at ease than she’d ever have expected to be.

“Ready to get this party started?” Lily inquired excitedly, “It’s not every day an occasion like this occurs, you know.”

Luna smiled, eyeing up the remainder of the crew. Even Mythic was now looking at her, a confident smirk painted across his face. This was it. The beginning of what might very well be a whole new age for the world.

Returning her gaze to Lily, Luna let out a small huff accompanied by a humorous wink, “Bah! And why would I not be, for that matter?” She laughed, gazing upon the entire crew. “This is it, everycreature. We are about to make history.”

Even Markethor’s quick eye roll could not possibly hope to ruin the crew’s attitudes, so gracefully formed for this day in particular - and for this day only.

Luna could feel her blood slowly flowing up her spine and into the skull as she sat at the very front of the cockpit, all strapped in and ready for launch. It had been about an hour since the crew entered the Coltlumbus, and the spacesuit was starting to rub Luna the wrong way; something she should’ve probably noticed and reported way earlier, even though she strongly suspected the current discomfort had a lot to do with the omnipresent tension.

Since the start of the launch procedure, nobody dared speak up beyond purely formal correspondences with Mission Control, and Luna’s patience was slowly beginning to draw thin. There was little in the world which annoyed her more than simple, pure inaction, existing in the moment without anything but her own thoughts to accompany her; something that brought way too many memories from her time stuck in the Moon for her to be comfortable - but then again, this entire Initiative would largely be about precisely that.

Just as Luna began to ponder and consider different topics for discussion with the rest of the crew in order to pass at least some of the time, the speakers around the craft’s bridge suddenly came to life. From them a soft, feminine voice emanated, echoing throughout the small chamber filled to the brim with electronics - a voice known so very well to everypony in Equestria and beyond.

“Good morning, everycreature,” Twilight welcomed the crew as a big holographic display in front of Luna came to life amid several cracks and beeping sounds. On it, the Princess’ majestic head could be seen, adorned with her age-old royal regalia. “I do not wish to occupy your time any longer than is necessary. We all know what the mission is…” she paused, evidently pondering her next words, “Ponies have been growing restless. Their wait has grown decades old and I fear the culmination of their fear and uncertainty is only just incoming. If there is no contact soon… I fear the streets of towns might be lit aflame.” Twilight paused again, as her sober look was soon replaced with a small smile, “but I believe in you, everycreature. You constitute the culmination of pony achievement. You are the crew of our most important mission yet, and your endeavor is so much more than mere scientific undertaking,” she comforted, “Good luck, my little ponies. Princess Twilight Sparkle, out.”

With that, the holographic screen flickered and deactivated, and as the Coltlumbus started shaking, a sound all too familiar from all the simulations began playing through the speakers.

Luna turned her head to look at the rest of the crew. Water Lily’s terrified expression contrasted sharply with Markenthor’s trademark neutral face and Mythic’s evident confidence.

Despite everything, Luna could not help but cast a small smile, and suddenly, words seemed to form all on their own, with little effort needed to help them out, “As you have heard, ponies. Good luck,” she nodded, glancing at Lily in particular in an effort to calm her down. “Let us do this!”

Deos ex Caellis

by Devona

Chapter Two: Silence