//------------------------------// // A fateful encounter // Story: Stardust // by ComeAlongPonds //------------------------------// Space- a vast expanse of churning colors and beautiful new worlds to be discovered. The greatest treasure in life would be to conquer space, to take it into your grasps as your own. To be its master. That is what pony kind has strived for for centuries. Of course they’d have obtained it by now—And it’s brought about greater wonders than we could ever imagine. Space surrounded her, just like it always had— Star Chaser lived among the stars. She discovered at a young age that she could travel through space. Her father could, too; as could her grandparents. Then again, everyone always said her grandparents couldn’t be ponies. Not the kind from earth. Not that it mattered, anyways. Star loved space, the universe around her. She loved being in it. She could even go fast— fast enough to go to other planets in a jiffy without her wings tiring— if she had some stardust. Stardust wasn’t easy to find in the Solar System, though. She rather liked visiting other star systems where it was more abundant. Speaking of stardust—or the usual lack thereof, rather—it happened at that moment an unusual swirl of stardust was flitting by. Not much, really, but enough to be out of the ordinary. Especially in this star system. Maybe something big was happening. Star had even heard that, at times, affecting the Time Vortex could cause fluxuations in space. There was only one way to find out. That was to follow. ----- It was an average day in the Hoofington Library. Well, as average as average could get. Which was actually pretty average. So naturally, is was up to Atom Insight to do his equally average job—shelve books. Most ponies would ask what such a clever pony was doing working in a library. He could be working in a laboratory with the brains he had. Well, the truth was, he actually rather enjoyed it here. He loved reading; he could learn so much from it. And he loved learning—that was how he got his cutie mark. An atom coming out of a book—He had such a passion and talent for learning all that he could that it became a part of who he was. He often spent so much time reading he didn’t notice night come till he needed to light a candle, which he’d often just do with his telekinesis. Dark green aura would surround a lighter and float over to a candle, setting it aflame. Except tonight, that lighter would clatter to the ground as a heart-stopping explosion—or crash, or commotion, or whatever was occurring outside—surfaced from just outside the library. Dropping his books, Atom scrambled to his feet and busted out the door. And there, right in his front lawn, was a meteor. A real life artifact from outer space. What more could he ask for? He rushed to the site of the collision, where the ground had been scraped up all about into heaps of dirt. His hooved pulled away at the dirt, he hoping to get a better look at the space rock, and he was met with a sight he wasn’t expecting. It was a mare. A mare had fallen out of the sky and landed in his front yard! This would’ve been a great revelation for him romantically… had he been interested in romance. Actually, he was really only interested in seeing how the dark blue Pegasus had crashed in such a manner. Surely she wouldn’t have been dumb enough to try flying into space, right? Or maybe she actually was in space. She certainly wasn’t dead—actually at the moment, she was coming to. Maybe she was an alien. That would be absolutely brilliant. Pulling her up by the shoulders with both hooves, Atom pulled the orange-maned mare up onto the grass. He would have to get the local Urgent Care to help him later. First, he had to make sure she could stay alive. Tourniquet any urgent injuries, cover up any scrapes, things like that. But when he moved in for further inspection… she jumped up. “Ah!” Curls of her mane bounced as she flipped over, jumping away from him with precision. “Back, foul beast!” Shoulders hunched, they soon relaxed when she saw the pony pulled back slightly, startled. He looked harmless enough, anyways; certainly not strong, no stronger than her. And she wasn’t very strong. “Well then… Who are you?” She leaned forward slightly in curiosity. “Me? Wha—I’m—I’m Atom, ma’am. Atom Insight.” The green stallion watched her, wide eyed. “Nice to meet you, Atom!” the Pegasus grinned widely. “I’m Star Chaser!” Looking up, she eyed the library. “What’s this? A library? Great! I like libraries. Libraries are great.” “Uh—yes, it’s a library. Um—What happened? Where were you? You crashed, and you crashed pretty hard from the looks of it. But… you look fine.” “What, me? Oh, I was just in space. Chasing some… time fluxuation, I think. Not hurt at all. Have you ever been to space before? Space is really great.” “Uh, no, never been to space. How in Equestria were you in space? You’re not in the proper equipment. Did your ship start crashing halfway through orbit and eject you while you were in the atmosphere? That’s the only logical explanation, after all…” His eyebrows sewn together in contemplation, he rubbed his chin once or twice in thought with his hoof. “What? No.” Star answered it like it was the most absurd question she’d ever heard. “That’s ridiculous. I was flying. Isn’t that what you would do? Just… pick up with your wings and fly?” “Uh, no. In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t got wings. I’m a unicorn. Most unicorns don’t have wings. Well, there’s Princesses Celestia and Luna, but they’re princesses. I’m not a princess. And secondly, how on earth did you fly?!” “Well, that’s my talent! I fly through space. Can breathe in it. Control it—to a very certain extent. It’s my medium. Space is my… everything, really.” She replied with a heartening smile. “That’s… incredible.” Atom shook his head in disbelief. “I’ve never heard of a pony that could do that. You’ve got to tell me more!” “Or,” Star said with slight emphasis, “I could show you!” “Show? Show?! That’s—I—Yes absolutely a thousand times yes! But—… how?” “Well, it’s easy. The first step is to trust me.” “Trust a strange pony that crashed in front of my yard and wants to take me to space. Check.” Star laughed. “Second, take my hoof.” She extended one the of aforementioned appendages. Hesitantly, Atom reached out, connecting his own green hoof with hers. “And third, don’t let go.” And with that, they were off. It was more of a jet, really—a propulsion through the atmosphere. This was how Star traveled about so quickly—it was one of her talents. She often carried a pouch of stardust on her as fuel, seeing as it took so little. In an instant they were in space, beholding what the stars had to offer—and there was so much more. Atom looked around in astonishment. His hoof began to slip, but Star immediately caught it. “Don’t let go,” she reminded him sternly. “You have to hold on to me. Otherwise… well, you know. Death.” A bit of a look of fear in his eyes, Atom nodded. “Yeah. Death. Don’t let go. Got it.” “So. Now that you’ve gotten a taste, where do you want to go first? We’ve got a whole universe at our disposal. Pick a star, and I’ll take you there.” He couldn’t believe it. This was really happening. An entire universe was at his disposal. Pick a star and I’ll take you there.