Lightning Dust was the first pony to orbit our Moon, achieved while she was en route to achieve the even-more-difficult achievement of orbiting Marred. She felt she had to do more since Rainbow Dash beat her to space. Unofficially, my own high-altitude sojourns might have counted as being first, given the gradual tapering off of Equestria's atmosphere, but Dash's achievement is what the Princess had Moondancer scribe for History. Out of respect for the concept of kindness--one of the vital Elements of Harmony sustaining Equestria and protecting it from the ravages of windigoes, I'm not going to dispute that honor! Regardless, Lightning Dust was definitely the first pony to orbit our Moon. Except that hadn't been the plan.
Rocket fuel discharged behind her butt and she let loose a whoop that nopony heard because there were no echoes even if they had been able to hear it over the roar of her discharge. And even though pegasi could breathe in space and not have their heads explode from its pressure, Lightning Dust quickly found herself reconnecting to her mouth the "Device"--the PPBBDD--Portable Pony Bubble Breathing Diaphanous Diaphragm.
"Buck," Doctor Hooves had been right. The Device was necessary, despite its added weight. Its sealed mask around her snout wasn't too big, but the entire apparatus snaked around her body and consumed most of her weight capacity. Its excessive weight dragged on her fuel and reduced the amount of water and food she could carry in her saddlebags. But its cargo was vital. Oxygen molecules were too few and although she could breathe them in, everything else--hydrogen and helium floating in the otherwise vacuum of space needed to be converted to something more palatable.
Pegasi could absorb the molecules and their sleek flying bodies could process them. But Lightning Dust wasn't an altitude-flyer. Few pegasi were, so the Device had been designed. Not for her only, though. It had been perfected for her nemesis, Rainbow Dash.
Lightning Dust grinned, recalling Dash's washout from the Program--Dash's turn to taste bitter defeat. The Princess hadn't wanted Lightning Dust to summit space, since the Princess's best friend always came first. But it hadn't worked out for Royalty this time. The Princess could literally move the sun and the moon, but she couldn't micromanage everything.
And the Operations Director hadn't favored Lightning Dust, either. She was too distracted eyeing her prey and babying an older grown pony who shouldn't have been in the Program.
And the inventor and mastermind of the space program didn't seem to care which pony went first except he kept yammering about his test pilot. Sure, the test pilot was experienced with rockets, but she'd never been a Wonderbolt or a stunt pony. Despite the other ponies' lack of attention--save for Spitfire's and that stallion's--the test pilot kept presenting, nattering incessantly on discursive rambles and making Lighting Dust bored sick to her stomach.
Lightning Dust yanked the Device out of her mouth to spit. Spittle fell to her side and not back on her face because flying was flying, whether it was in the sky or in space which was just a type of higher sky accessible only by rocket or crazy alicorn flying magic, and she was an expert flyer who knew better than to spit where she was accelerating. She breathed in the limited hydrogen gases of space and struggled to convert them to oxygen, and she started choking. She had no idea how any high-altitude pegasus could manage the conversion. So, she strapped the Device back on.
Third stage of her journey now. Second stage had been at the edge of Equestria's atmosphere. She was past Moon--beautiful Moon with its pockmarked craters--even more beautiful to perceive after a loop-de-loop she'd executed--a view she improved by removing her helmet, which now hung clamped at her utility belt.
Her head was hurting more now since the suit had vacuum-shrank into her hide to cut off airflow. It wouldn't respond that way if she wore the helmet, but she had wanted to buck that obnoxious egg. It seemed, though, that wearing it was non-optional for her, so she re-donned the helmet, screwed it on, pressed buttons on her hide-tight suit and re-pressurized.
The eggheads had told her to minimize donning and doffing especially since she wasn't well equipped to breathe in space, so fine--she'd do that. But she wasn't going to squander her opportunity to behold grandeur by looking at Moon or back at Equestria through a streaky blur.
Now she was into deep space, well on her way to Marred, the red fourth planet of the solar system--a planet crisscrossed with ancient canals, otherworldly wonders, and possible alien species to befriend that she was going to be the first pony to see up-close. For now, though, it was just a discolored dot.
Lightning Dust was the first Mare in deep space and she was going to be the first Mare on Marred.
And, because she'd really messed up, Lightning Dust was going to die.