//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 : It began with the moon // Story: Mass Effect: Kindness // by PonyBlue //------------------------------// Chapter 1 It began with the Moon! Deep in space laid a vast cloud of rubble, leftovers from the creation of the star system that they now orbited. The objects within ranged in size from the microscopic, dust grains smaller than the eye could see, to the truly titanic, kilometers in diameter. Tonight, one such body, about the size of a large double door cupboard was about to undergo a transformation seen nowhere else in the universe. This small water ice asteroid suddenly became engulfed by a field of immense strength. So strong was this field that it immediately began peeling off matter from the boulder’s surface. The field was energetic enough that electrons were flung into higher orbitals only to decay back to ground state with the emission of photons, light…ranging from high energy x-ray down to deep blue spectrum. The field began to gather strength and boulder began to shake as it was compressed. Ice crystals were crushed. Empty voids excluded. The asteroid began to grow smaller, denser and hotter. The pressure continued to increase, atomic bonds shattered and a new form a matter formed… plasma. What happened next was shorter than a heartbeat, faster that a blink. It could only be appreciated by slowing time. 20 microseconds… The ball of plasma had decreased in size. Electrons were pushed together by the immense pressure of the field, forced into their lowest energy state. Matter had become degenerated. 5 microseconds…. The force of the field increases yet again. The ball continued to shrink. Temperature and pressure now experienced within could only be compared to that found at the cores of stars. The pressure exceeded even the electrostatic force which causes protons to repel each other, nuclei of atoms began to approach then touch one another. The roaring fire of nuclear fusion had been lit! 0.600 microseconds… First the lightest element, hydrogen was crushed into the heavier element helium, then helium to lithium and then higher and higher up the periodic table. Each fusion event converted ever more mass into energy.... until final iron! 0.0341 microseconds….. At this point, no more energy could be squeezed out by further fusion to higher elements. This was the moment the agent controlling the field had been waiting for. Now pleased with her work, the field fell away, and roaring flamed of primordial energy was released. Almost instantly the surface of this boiling caldron of plasma shot out into space, cooling as it expended outwards at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Ions recaptured electrons and this fast moving wind of atoms was soon a shining cloud. 0.000213 microseconds….. This state did not last long and soon this mass was overtaken by a shock-wave of intense gamma radiation from within the boiling heart of a nuclear explosion. Once again the cast off debris was re-heated and re-ionized, throwing off another cascade of photons. Unevenness in the release, differences in the nuclear fusion furnace, meant that the explosion was far from symmetrical. Electromagnetic radiation ranging from the far red to the ultraviolet was emitted. By some measures the explosion was a staggering five gigatons and it all happened in a blink of an eye. Strong magnetic fields and high energy particles moving at half the speed of light would mark this spot for many months. ** *** ** Two light minute away, Princess Luna opened her eyes with a pleased smile on her midnight blue snout. Another star had bloomed in the night sky, and it would surely be the most pleasing to the eye in a thousand years. For tonight would be the night that Equestria’s starlit sky would once again be painted by the Night Princess. “What does thou think of the red flares of min new star?” Princess Luna knew her stars were far better that the white pin pricks her elder sister Celly made. Celly’s stars were far too utilitarian and lacked the flare and colour that distinguished her own. Master Astronomer of the Night Court Star Fire peered down her telescope, she adjusted her instrument for a few long minutes, but finally she had to look back to her princess with sad news. “Alas my Princess, I regret to inform you that the red flare is not seen well in Canterlot and will likely not be seen in any town or city.” Luna was shocked. Surely a thousand years on the moon had not eroded her skills that badly. Master Astronomer Star Fire noted the distress on her Princess. “It is the light pollution my princess. Most of Equestria’s night is polluted by light.” “And what is the cause of this?” Princess Luna asked in puzzlement, for such a thing was simply impossible. There would never be enough unicorns to light up the night, every night in every town. And regretfully ponies did sleep in the night. “It would be easier to show you,” Master Astronomer Star Fire beaconed to the balcony and pointed towards city that surrounded Canterlot Castle then towards the country side beyond. Princess Luna stepped out into the night. The air was cool, crisp, and a single uniform column that reached up as high as a Pegasus could fly. The stars would hold steady and not twinkle with random reflection without random pockets of hot air. It was a good night for star gazing and Canterlot’s weatherponies had done their job well “Lamps, my Princess.” And below them, the ground was lit with blue light that stretched till the horizon, lighting road, cities and towns. The sound of driving disco music and stomping hooves drifted upwards even to the great heights of Luna’s tall isolated astronomy tower. Ponies of this new age enjoyed Luna's night. They enjoyed it so very much that Canterlot, and perhaps every major city went without sleep. There were celebrations that went on far into the night… every night. The ponies of this age called these celebrations ‘Rave Parties.’ And the Queen of Rave, Vinyl Scratch was holding her court at Canterlot’s premiere disco club. ** *** ** Early next morning, Princess Celestia was in her private apartment with breakfast at her table and the latest report of this year’s Sunflower harvest between her hooves. It was awfully dull work and although the cushion under the royal rump was as soft as a Pegasus downing feathers, it was starting to get uncomfortable. Yet somepony had to do it. This year looked to be a bumper crop year for sunflower seeds. Celestia was about to turn the page when the gold and platinum white double doors of her private office flew opened to admit her younger sister. Idly the older Alicorn’s gaze shifted to her little sister. A mischievous thought crept into Celestia’s mind. There was power in delegating authority. Perhaps she could trick… persuade little Lulu to reform the Night Court. The extra pair of fore hooves would be appreciated, although the extra bureaucrats and court officials would be nuisance at times. “We wish to beg a moment from our dearest sister.” ‘Ah the royal ‘We’, Princess Celestia put down there report she was reading. As delicious as the idea of a sunflower bumper crops was, if there was ever an indication that her sister was in an unhappy state, this surely was it. “Some tea?” Celestia offered. “We, wish to return to the Moon.” Luna declared. For the pony who knew what to look for, the look of surprise on Celestia’s snout was as plain as her sunburst cutie mark on her white royal rump. “Along with the Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers,” Princess Luna declared. “But why, Lulu?.” “The stars! No pony can see the stars! The Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers has voiced their displeasure and as the Princess of the Night it falls upon my back to see that their grievances are seen to.” If Princess Celestia were standing, she would have fallen onto a cushion, but as she was already seated on said cushion, she could do nothing but think of a proper response. The Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers was just one of many societies that over the course of Equestria’s long history had acquired a Royal Charter. No different really that The Royal Equestrian Society of Stallion Beach Ball, which was a truly sexist but oh so popular society. Their annual magazine sold very well, or so she heard. The Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers in contrast really didn’t do much but watch stars and occasionally paint one themselves. A thousand years ago, she had dismissed the entire society and the art of star painting as a waste of a good night’s sleep. That was a mistake.. ‘cough, Nightmare Moon’, black fur dye, a wardrobe change, throwing of breakable objects and sulking,. Celestia wasn’t going to live through that again. So Celestia could only sigh. She thought she should at least look on the bright side. Her baby sister was once again reconnecting to Equestrian society, even if it was just with hobbyist of similar interest and likely Lulu’s personal fan club. But it was something rather than nothing. “Oh, very well, I will support your proposal. However using the Elements of Harmony to throw ponies to the moon is something I cannot in good conscience ask my student Twilight Sparkle to do a regular basis. She is very sensitive on the topic of banishment. She had nightmare as a foal. And you will have to ferry them back from the moon once this is over.” “Calm my sister. We shall have no need for the Elements in this endeavour. The Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers has a proposal that would allow ponies to make the journey unaided by either Alicorn or Greater Jewels of Power.” Celestia could read between the lines. If Lulu was not asking for the Elements of Harmony, it could only mean…”Lulu are you asking me for money?” “And what says thee, min sister. Would not the journey to the moon and back, be one of ponykinds greatest feats?” Princess Celestria didn’t want to say this to her sister. “We cannot use taxes to fund such a wild endeavour. It is a trust held between the average pony and I that every Bit they pay in taxes would be used for public works that would benefit everypony.” “But sister! Space is the future of Ponykind!” “For generations of Alicorns, ponykind has done well on Equestria and would continue to do so for many more Alicorn generations. We don’t need to go to the moon.” Celestia shook her head. Luna turned away from her sister, the look of disappointment etched on her face. It pained Celestia greatly to see her younger sister so. “You do have your own discretionary funds. Certainly that would be enough.” Celestia pointed out. “It is hardly enough to launch an Equestrian space programme!” “You could always have a bake sale,” Celestia suggested. “You do bake delightful moon pies.” ** Later that Evening ** The royal ball room was filled with ponies on both ground and air. This meeting while held under the auspices of The Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers was opened to the public. Princess Luna stepped forth onto the podium and the crowd grew quiet. She was here not as Princess of the Night, not as Princess Luna, but simply as Luna, a member of Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers Her midnight mane flowed and twinkled in an unseen wind as she straightened her notes and looked to the crowd that had come to hear her. “WE CHOOSE,” her words boomed across the crowd of colourful ponies in the Royal Canterlot voice. “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this month, not because it is easy but because light pollution threatens our observation of our stars, because that goal will serve to better our measurements of our skills and the energies of our stars, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone before all others!” Ponies on the ground stomped their hooves on the ground in applause. This was evening that the Equestrian Space Agency (ESA) was born with Princess Luna as its director by popular vote. ** One month later** Applejack was the kind of pony that would call a spade a spade and the thing that stood in front of her was not what she could imagine would take anypony anywhere let alone to the moon. “It’s a box, Twi.” She said plainly so that every one of her friends could hear. “It’s not any box,” Twilight Sparkle corrected. “It is a spaceship that would allow ponykind to travel to the moon and back.” “Ah know ah’m just an apple farmer and all, but ah don’t see how this here box,” she tapped with her hoof and came away surprised at how sturdy it was. “can go to the moon. The Moon is well, “she pointed to skywards with her hoof, “The Moon.” “Yeah, we can’t just fly up there you know.” Rainbow Dash joined in. The blue Pegasus mare regarded the strange box with unguarded suspicion. “And why heaven’s not?” Rarity asked. “I certainly see no problems. One simply travels up. Although, the distance to the Moon does make the entire venture sound sweaty, hot and tedious.” “The air gets pretty thinner the higher up you go,” Raindow Dash explained. “Thinner air means wings have less to push against, not to mention the problem of getting enough air to breathe. At some point a pony just can’t go any higher.” “That is true,” Twilight Sparkle admitted. “Until Doctor Walnut Very Brown made an amazing but what in hindsight was an obvious piece of deductive reasoning. You see, pegasi magic can make any object as light as they want it to be. While Earth pony magic is the opposite and can any objects heavier.” “Yeah, so what?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That is like the most basic thing any foal knows.” “So what if we combined the two effects?” Twilight could barely contain her excitement “Put a Pegasus on one end of a box and an Earthpony at the other end and then ask them to use their magic together! What we get girls is motion. The box can move even in the absence an atmosphere!” “So yer mean we move by pushing against each other? It’s that simple?” Applejack didn’t not sound convinced. “That’s about the sum of it,” Twilight nodded her head. “There were obviously a few challenges that needed to be overcome,” Twilight added. “Firstly the box had to be constructed from some pretty strong stuff.” She tapped her hoof on the black box. “A wooden box would just be torn apart, even one made from gem stone. The Moon project only succeeded because one members of Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers was also a member of the Royal Equestrian Society of Armourers. So this box, the Alicorn One is made of Ponidium! The strongest thing known to ponykind, the same stuff pony armour is made off. It also has an added benefit of holding a magical change. If we had a big enough box, we could have several Earthponies and Pegasi working together to move the box. Their efforts with be multiplicative rather than simply additive!” “So.. er about going to the moon and all. Ah guess we are here ‘cause the Princess asked for us?” Applejack now looked at the box with some trepidation as the crazy contraption might actually work. How does a pony say 'No' to a princess? She didn’t want to be stuck on the moon, one way or the other. There was Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and the farm to think about. “Erm no.” Twilight Sparkle said in a tinny small voice that sounded very much like Fluttershy. “I’m a member of the Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers and places for the first mares to pilot Alicorn One to the moon were up as raffle prizes. I may have cast a small ‘Me!-Pick-Me!’ spell." “You did what?” Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves. “Twilight! I took a day off work to come to Canterlot. I could have used the time off training for the Wonderbolts tryout.” “Ah’m a shame of you sugarcube.” Applejack reply was shorter, “Please girls,” Twilight begged. “I really want to do this. Princess Luna put up an entire constellation of new stars to greet the first ponies on the moon. You can’t see how beautiful Princess Luna’s stars are in Ponyville. There’s too much light pollution. Last month, I climbed up Swayback Mountain just to see Luna’s first star and it was still drown out by light pollution. You two are the strongest mares I know. You, Rainbow Dash are the fastest pegasus on Equestria. If any Pegasus can make this mission to the moon a success, it is you.” “Damn right you are. These babies here,” Dash flared her wings “are built for speed.” “And you…” She turned to the orange Earthpony. “That’s enough Sugarcube. Don’t need to go buttering me up like some ponies,” She then glanced at that somepony. “Ah’ll help you. Done is done. Just next time do things honestly, okay?” “So what do you want us to do, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Do we go up on a second box to take pictures, documenting this historic event?” “No, Pinkie Pie.” “Oh, do we act as mission control in Canterlot and proposed daring survival plans should you three become trapped in space and unable to return to Equestria?” Pinkie Pie suggested again. “Erm... No. Princess Luna will be going on ahead of us. She will be on the moon to teleport us to Canterlot if there are any problems.” Pinkie Pie deflated. “So what do we do?” “You Rarity and Fluttershy will help make sure the ponies here have a good time. They did a lot of hard work to get Alicorn One built, so I want to make sure everypony enjoys the party.” “Oh that’s great! Yeah!” Pinkie Pie jumped into the air again. Fluttershy uncovered her face from her hiding place behind Rarity and stood up. “I can do that,” the butter yellow Pegasus said softly. Rarity was nonplus and actually rather glad she didn’t need to spend time in a hot and sweaty box. “And what about me?” Spike asked. Twilight turned her attention to the purple baby dragon. “You, my number one assistant, are coming with us. You will send my mission reports back to Rarity for her to read to the crowd.” ** Ten minutes later ** Twilight Sparkle stood in front of a crowd of ponies that filled the Canterlot’s south-eastern park, Luna's Parks as it was now named. On the ground, ponies were seated all over the grassy field like a living bright and colourful quilt. In the air, the sky was a chequered pattern of cotton white clouds with pegasi resting above them. The park was crowded. Most were members of the Royal Equestrian Society of Astronomers, and may have brought their family-herds, and all were here to see the launch of Alicorn One. “Here goes nothing, girls.” Twilight Sparkle said and together with her fellow Astronauts stepped out onto the launch platform.” A loud cheer rose up from the crowd, causing Rainbow Dash to throw up her wings and wave to the crowd. Reaching the podium, Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. As with all Unicorn events, a speech was required by tradition. “Today marks a historical day for ponykind. For what we do is but one small step for a pony, and one giant leap for ponykind. In the last month, we have seen the creation of the greatest and most complex machine in pony history. Yesterday, we felt the ground shake and the air shattered by the first testing of Alicorn One. To be sure, this costs us all a good deal of time and money. We have gone door to door all across Equestria selling Moon Pies. We have raised many Bits and spent even more --even though I realize that there have been some to question our vision for a better view of our night time stars. But if I were to say, my fellow Society members that we shall send to the Moon, a great many pony lengths away, in a small square box, four pony lengths by four po.... “Enough speechy already!” Pinkie Pie reached out, and impossibly managed to grab all three of Equestria’s first astronauts and shoved them into their spacecraft. “Pinkie…!!” Twilight Sparkle yelled before the airtight door of Alicorn One was slammed shut. “Start the count down!” Pinkie Pie commanded. “T minus twenty and counting!” A bright blue Unicorn mare named Count Down shouted over the crowd. Meanwhile inside the Alicorn One, Twilight Sparkle managed to get back onto her four hooves. This was not quite want she imagined when she got out of bed this morning. She didn’t even manage to finish her speech. Nonetheless, it was time to get the show on the road. “Rainbow Dash you’re down in the bottom. Applejack is up on top. I’ll be in the centre.” “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow Dash called from her place at the bottom of Alicorn One. “Something I forgot to ask. How are going to breathe once we are on the way to the moon?” “That is my job. Throughout the trip I’ll be turning all the water we brought along into breathable air. I will also keep the lamps lit with my horn to keep us warm. Don’t worry. We’ll be back before dinner.” “As long as you eggheads have thought of everything.” Rainbow Dash said and despite herself was suddenly feeling a tiny little bit nervous. She looked out of the window and could see, if not hear ponies outside counting down the launch. “Alright girls, when the ponies outside reach zero, I want both of you to apply your magic at the same time. Don’t worry about not being exactly step with each other, the box will absorb some disharmony.” Twilight next turned to her number one assistant Spike. “Send this message to Rarity.” “The Alicorn One reports all is read.” Rarity read to the crowd. “Beginning final countdown” Count Down announced. “T-MINUS TEN,” Everypony in the park yelled together. “NINE” Pinkie Pie began biting at her hooves. “EIGHT” “I can’t take it anymore!” Pinkie Pie screamed. “SEVEN!” “Five, four, three, two, one!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she jumped out and landed a swift buck of her two hind legs to the side of Alicorn One. The sudden jolt rocked the three ponies inside causing Rainbow Dash to instinctively jump and Applejack to push her hooves onto the floor. The Alicorn One leap up in the air, moving a lot faster than most ponies would have expected for such a large box. There even was a Sonic Rainboom as it passed the cloud top. “Pinkie!” Rarity exclaimed. “Control yourself.” She gave her pink friend a look she often gave to her misbehaving sister Sweetie Belle. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” The excited pink pony apologized. There was no changing Pinkamina Diane Pie. “So who wants hay fries!” Pinkie Pie turned to the crowd. ** One hour later ** “Okay, girls you can take a break now.” Twilight Sparkle looked at her schedule then back to her telescope. “Are you sure about that Twi? The moon is might far.” Applejack turned around and looked up towards Twilight Sparkle. “Don’t worry. Even if you aren’t moving the Alicorn One, it still is. We’ll get there on schedule. I have it all calculated.” She folded her forehooves together proudly. “That made no sense.” Applejack replied. “How can this here box still be moving if there ain’t a pony moving it?” “No air resistance,” Rainbow Dash answered from her place at the top of the Alicorn One. “Ponies only slow down because air slows them. No air means you’ll continue moving forever!” “Twi?” Applejack turned to Twilight Sparkle. “Rainbow Dash is right.” The purple unicorn strapped in a harness to the wall replied. “For the past hour, all your running has actually been accelerating the Alicorn One to higher and higher velocities. As best as I can guess, we are moving nearly 200 times the speed of a Rainboom.” “Really!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her wings fanning out in excitement, “We are actually moving that fast?” “Really,” Twilight Sparkle smiled. “You are the fastest Pegasus alive, if you don’t mind sharing the title with a Unicorn and an Earthpony.” “Hey, I have one question!” Spike managed a yell as he dangled with his claws waving desperately. “Why is everypony upside down?” “Oh, Spike” Twilight smiled and used her magic to flip her poor assistant right side up. “Without Equestria to point us down, anywhere an Earthpony’s magic lingers becomes the new down. Since the Alicorn One is so small, Applejack becomes the new down while Rainbow Dash the new up.” “Sweet!” Rainbow Dashe exclaimed in her raspy voice. “Hey is that Equestria!” Rainbow Dash peered out a clear window. “I think I can see Ponyville from here.” She pressed her large dinner plate size eye closer to the clear window. “Ah won’t go so close, sugar. Might not be safe. A pony could fall out of that.” “Don’t worry Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle assured. “It’s a diamond window.” She tapped her hoof on the clear panel. “It is a lot stronger and cheaper than glass, although you don’t often find ones as clear as this. And look! There’s Celestia’s sun orbiting around Equestria.” Twilight pointed with her hoof and sure enough there was her mentor’s symbol in the distant. All three ponies watched in awe as the tinny warm jewel orbited their home world, not knowing both were oddities of the universe that would defy understanding of many members of the galactic society. Firstly Equestria was the primary of its system. It was a carbon-silicon planet as large as most yellow stars and defied the laws of gravity due to an abundance of Element Zero, known simply to its inhabitants as magic. Secondly orbiting around Equestria was a small star that burned brighter and hotter than it had any right to be. It would take many years before Salarian scientist would accept that such a star system could be real, let alone accept the simple truth that every Equestrian had known since birth. One; Princess Celestia raised the sun and it was by her will alone that the sun of Equestria shone. Two; Kneeling before a biotic god is always a good idea. “We are coming up to Luna’s moon. Both of you need to exchange places and start running in the opposite direction for an hour to prevent us from hitting the Moon.” “That’s ‘cause we have no wind to stop us right?” Applejack asked. And two pony heads nodded in reply. “So what if ah just dug my hooves in tight and made this box as heavy as ah could. It would slow us down quick. We could come to the moon at top speed and stop just before we reached it. We'll be back for the end of Pinkie Pie's party. “That is not in the schedule.” Twilight Sparkle replied as she did the complicated orbital mathematics in her head. “But it would work.” ** One more hour later ** To any observers in the known galaxy, the speed of Equestria’s very first spacecraft was indeed remarkable. More so when one studied Equestria's technological development and realized how backwards they were. The steam engine for instance was still confined in use and even electricity was yet unknown. Thus what happened next would have left jaws, if observers had them, hanging. Moving at 0.5% the speed of light the Alicorn One began to decelerate, with such rapidity that many would have thought that intrepid explorers within were now plastered to the nearest bulkhead as a very thin gruel. The forces within Alicorn One peaked at nearly 3642 Gs. “Mah legs sure are tried,” Applejack commented as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Twilight Sparkle began to straighten all four of her own legs, which she used as shock absorbers for the sudden stop. “That was quite a ride.” “Pfft,” was Rainbow Dash’s dismissive comment. “I pulled more Gs as a foal.” Twilight looked at her schedule and began the next item. “Beginning moon decent!” It didn’t take long before Alicorn One had touched down on Moon. There wasn’t much fun fair and Princess Luna was not there to greet them as they were an hour early. “Spike, send the message!” Twilight Sparkle said. “The Alicorn One has landed!” Rarity read out loud to the crowd of ponies which let out a cheer. Pinkie Pie jumped up and started throwing confetti. “But they are early! I haven’t gotten the cakes ready yet.” ** On the Moon ** “So who wants to be the first pony on the moon?” Twilight asked her two friends. “Why can’t we all go out at the same time?” Applejack reasoned. No need for anyone pony to hog the fame when all three were needed to get there. “Well I can’t.” Twilight replied surprisingly. “The procedure book says as the unicorn I have to keep the air fresh. And only one of you can go out at a time. The other pony is to stay back should an immediate rescue of the pony outside be needed.” Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. “Hoof, Wings, or Horn?” She asked. “The foal game?” ** 5 minutes later ** Twilight Sparkle was at the airlock giving Rainbow Dash her final instructions. “Okay remember. There is no air on the moon. So don’t try breathing. Don’t try to hold your breath either. And don’t try flying either.” “No air.” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes for the tenth time. “Don’t go far. And once you start feeling that you need to breathe get back immediately.” “That’s easy. I can hold my breath for 10 minutes.” Rainbow Dash replied and without a look back stepped into the airlock. Behind her, Rainbow Dash could hear Twilight closed the inner door of the airlock. She faced now what many beings in the Universe would fear, the suffocating void of space. She stepped towards the outer door of Alicorn One and began to open it. The air within the airlock screamed and rushed out into the airless void beyond. In less than a minute the air was gone and only the vacuum of space remained. Rainbow Dash, intrepid explorer, put one hoof out of her spacecraft and ventured onto a world no Pegasus had gone before. It was strange not to feel the air around her. It was odder still to feel her skin pull taut. It wasn’t cold as she expected and when she stepped out onto the moon, dust began to cling to her fur coat by static electricity. A grin crossed her lips, thinking how Rarity would have hated so much dirt. Moving out of the shadow cast by Alicorn One, she stepped into the sunlight of Celestia’s sun. Dash was surprised at how hot she quickly became. But it wasn’t anything a pony couldn’t handle, after all what was 300°C to a pony that could handle the 1000°C temperatures that buffeted her face every time she reached Mach ten and left Sonic Rainbooms in her wake? Beings from across civilised space would have run away screaming at the sight. Out of foalhood curiosity, Rainbow Dash stuck her forehoof into her mouth and licked at the moon dust. Was the moon truly made of salt? The taste was one she instantly recognised as it was identical to the desert that had become wildly popular all over Equestria in the last month. She had inadvertently discovered Princess Luna’s secret ingredient of her Moon Pies. Moon Pies contained moon rocks. ** One week later** If the successful landing of a pony on the moon was supposed to kindle interest and capture the imagination of the average Equestrian, such hopes soon faded. Certainly, there were curious ponies from all over Equestria that wanted to see the Moon and thus there were hourly trips to the moon from Luna’s park. The charge was 100 bits for the three hour ride. But did ponies want to live on the moon? No, and so Princess Celestia steadfast refused to use Equestrian taxes to pay for a Space programme. Thus the bake sales of Moon Pie continued throughout Equestrian. Nonetheless an astronomy tower was constructed and carried to the moon by spacecraft Alicorn One to Seven, with each spacecraft being bigger and more complex than the one before. Many stars were painted in the night sky and the tower did become full with visitors admiring Luna’s artwork. “My Princess, we must remove it immediately!” A bright blush was on Master Astronomer Star Fire’s face as she came galloping towards Princess Luna. In her hooves was her brass telescope which she immediate set before the midnight blue Alicorn. Star Fire's distress was alarming indeed, so Princess Luna peered down the proffered telescope and saw what Star Fire had seen. A tinge of deep purple came to her blue cheeks. ”What vulgar beast would carve a stallion’s …” ** Deep Space ** The Mass Relay had drifted in the void between stars for over ten million years. It had once been anchored to a planetary system but the system's inhabitants in a desperate attempt to save themselves had dislodged it and sent it wandering into interstellar space. They had succeeded in saving themselves from the machines but their sun had gone supernova in exchange. The Reapers had thought of everything. Now the mass relay found itself in the grips of a mass effect fields that was only an order of a magnitude less powerful than the field could generate. It was pulled towards a strange system where it was then anchored on the dark side of the moon, away from public view.