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// Prologue/Backstory 
// Story: Dawn of a New Era 
// by Chaos_Tuner 
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Prolouge
The year is 2097, Equestria has entered the space age. The whole space race was ignited by Twilight Sparkles discovery of the Near Light Mechanism in the early year of 2012. Early on Celestia passed over the reins of the Space Race to her younger sister Luna. Under Luna’s leadership the space program rockets forward at an unprecedented rate. Within 3 years of the discovery of NLM the first rocketship breaks Equestrian atmosphere. The pilot of this first ship is the very close friend of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash. She decides to pilot this ship to prove to the world Pegasi are not obsolete now that new propulsion is discovered. Sadly, The voyage did not end well for anypony. The ship makes it out of the atmosphere but is crushed beyond recognition when the pure vacuum of space hit it. Rainbow dash’s body was never found. A memorial statue was built for her in the Canterlot Gardens. This ignited a more research into the safety of spacecraft and their passengers. Over the next three months Luna forms the Royal Equestrian Space Service, Or RESS for short. They soon became the leading force in the Space Race. Little over 3 months after the horrific mess that was the Dash incident, The RESS Luna lifted off from its pad in Canterlot.
The RESS Luna was the first spacecraft of any kind to leave Equestrian atmosphere. The craft landed on the Lunar surface 3 days later. The first pony to ever set foot on Lunar soil is Lt. Light Wing the pegasi pilot and Shakka the zebra ambassador. They plant the first RESS flag that signifies that all of Equestria kind have been unified under one banner. Upon their return to Equestria Light Wing becomes the first and only mare Commander of the RESS forces. She became Luna’s right hoof woman. Only 2 short months later Light Wing marries Shaaka and little under a year later the first generation of rising Zonies were born and through some genetic mix up the zonies are not sterile and thus begins the rise of zonies. Over the next 15 the zony population increases exponentially. Soon Equestrian kind looks past just visiting the moon and thinks about long term stays. They begin to plan on building a colony on the lunar surface. Within a few years 2 different factions arise in the wake of Lunar exploration. The Magictec who believe that all equestrian kind needs is magic and machines to survive in space. The main followers are unicorns and some pegasi. The Genners are earth,zebras and zonies  who believe that genetic modification is needed in order to survive. Soon the first generation of foals are born that are dedicated solely to being trained for living on the moon. But soon a rift emerges. The MagicTec on one side and The Genners on the other.
The rift grows bigger with every generation born. Sadly this rift leads to the death of 2 elements. The first death at the hoofs of this rift was Applejack. Applejack was going to visit her dear friend Twilight in Canterlot for lunch. Applejack was already growing old but still thought she was younger than she was. A fight between a MagicTec and a Genner broke out and escalated into a near riot. Applejack jumped into the fray. She nearly had a handle on the situation until somepony drew a knife. She was left bloody and dying on the sidewalk. She died enroute to the hospital. She was buried in the grove her friend Rainbow Dash watches over now. Sadly this only sparked more fighting and also the construction of the Applejack Memorial Hospital. Sadly little more than 3 months later Rarity, a known supporter of MagicTec, was found battered and cut on the steps to her house in Canterlot. She died in the surgery room. She like Applejack before her was buried in the grove watched by Rainbow Dash.
These deaths did not bring an end to fighting as many had hoped they would. In fact these deaths sparked a war that would leave everypony reeling. The MagicTec and The Genners both erupted into full scale armed attacks against the rival faction. The long bloody useless war last 3 long years before Luna used the RESS to assassinate the leader of each faction. At the end of such a long and bloody war Celestia steps down as leader and leaves her job to Luna. Celestia becomes Head Nurse at the Applejack Memorial Hospital. Under Luna’s rule the government becomes much more Militaristic.
Peace or what could be counted as peace lasted little more than 12 years. It was shattered in one instance. Pinkie Pie had become an ambassador and was visiting the Diamond Dogs to sign a treaty bringing them into the modern world. A suicide bomber ran up and blew up the building. What was left of Pinkie to recover was buried in the grove her friends were also. Yet during the times of strife and conflict the space program lived on. During the past years a permanent settlement was founded on the lunar surface. Named New Hoofven it is to this day the largest almost Zony lived in city in the history annals. Soon even with ponies living off world were Equestrians looking to the stars for more. in the next 11 years 17 planets are found and settled. By the year 2079 all 17 planets were thriving and were becoming powers in their own right. This lead to the Blood Wars. The planets decided they could rule themselves how they saw fit. It all started when New Canterlot stopped all communications to Equestria itself. Then came Shokar the Zebra planet. They called themselves the New Canterlot rebels. They took up arms against the RESS. Soon they had 3 more planets on their side. 
Then they attacked. The war lasted a long bloody 12 years from 2080 to 2092. The weaponry during this time took a turn for the deadly. By the end of 2086 New Canterlot was little more than smoldering rubble. The rebels were put to death and the rebellion stamped out by mid 2092. One of the more feared weapons made during this time was the Rainnuke Buster. The spacecraft mounted weapon fired a NLM 500 mm ball of titanuim wherever you pointed it. The ball was less deadly than its wake. The weapon alone lead to the downfall of New Canterlot. With the fall of New Canterlot A new era of peace fell across the galaxy. Or so Equestrians want to believe.