Twelve weeks after discovery.
Firestorm, director of the pegasi's Lambda Project, was having a bad day. Yesterday, Unicornian officials had announced plans to launch their interstellar voyage in little more than a month. For the past eighteen hours, everypony from his assistants to the Commander himself had been demanding to know how this was possible. The worst part was that he had no idea what to tell them; the only reasonable explanation was that they had technology considerably more advanced than anything anyone had suspected.
Eleven weeks after discovery.
Violet Wake stared down her snout at Cutting Edge, who sat fidgeting across from her. "What, exactly, is this?"
The Applied Sciences Chairpony gestured toward the documents and design portfolio that he had delivered to Violet. "It, ah... You see, it says..." He leaned forward, gesturing to a header identifying the page as "Minotaur Retrofit".
"Yes, I see. And I saw your timetable, too; how is that even possible?"
"You said this needed finished quickly... We, ah... One of our Minotaur stations never orbited--we can modify it for longer sustainability, and mount a new propulsion system on it, pre-launch."
Violet scowled. "How sure are you that this propulsion system will work?"
"It- I mean, it should... Or, it does, but we've not stress-tested..." He frowned. "It should work, and we can build it quickly."
There were a few minutes of silence as Violet shuffled through the various papers, trying to understand the stallion's intentions. "I see how the acceleration works, I think, but... The numbers don't add up. You're only storing enough magic on the ship to power two... maybe three accelerations. Wouldn't you need at least four, since you have to slow down each time?"
Cutting Edge shook his head. "Aerobraking." He saw her lack of comprehension and continued, "We're only storing enough energy two accelerations and a short-term heat-shield. Curiosity has, uh... Well, it's like ours. Air, I mean. It has an atmosphere, and we're gonna let the ship hit it to slow down."
Violet blinked. "If you're doing that on the return trip too, I imagine we'll have to warn ponies beforehoof... That sounds absolutely terrifying." She paused a moment more, and then added, "Actually, this whole concept sounds absolutely terrifying and haphazard."
In a rare show of confidence, Cutting advocated for his idea, albeit not very thoroughly; "I think it will work."
With something between a sigh and a groan, Violet leaned back in her chair. "Alright. If you're confident in it, and it ensures that we win this space-race, it'll be worth it. Get started immediately; I'm going to need to make some calls... These power requirements will probably drain Fort Hoof's entire cache of high-density gemstones."
Twelve weeks after discovery.
Firestorm looked up from his array of documents as Crystal Clear rushed into his office. "Good. What's the word?"
"I spoke to Cog this morning, and he says your power-siphoning idea could work. Provided the tech is up to the specs you sent, in any case. He's got his group working on a final draft of the ship design now that propulsion is sorted."
The stallion nodded, looking a bit relieved. "That's...better news than I'd hoped. Is that all?"
Crystal sighed. "I'm afraid not. I asked Cog if there was any way to expedite the design process by utilizing an existing model, but nothing we've built in the past is going to cut it. It's my understanding that in order to sustain a functional teleportation range as long as we'll require, and still be able to keep the crew alive, the engineers will need to design a craft lighter than any we've used before."
"Brilliant. It seems the unicorns have the upper hoof, after all."
"Perhaps, sir. They'll undoubtedly launch their ship first, but there's no telling how effective or how fast their propulsion system is. Regardless, you should now be able to finalize your crew selection and inform the candidates; Cog has assured me the ship will be able to carry six ponies."
"Yes, very good." Firestorm rose to his hooves, pausing briefly to condense the papers on his desk into a single stack, and then spoke officiously. "Crystal Clear, are you willing to serve your nation and undertake a daring, potentially dangerous mission among the stars?" His voice softened. "You've been hooves-on with every element of this project from the beginning, and you probably know some of the other candidates better than I do."
Several emotions flashed across the mares face, beginning with shock and ending with enthusiasm, but with a fair amount of fear and hesitation between. After a minute, she nodded. "I am willing, sir. Thank you."
Firestorm grinned widely. "Just don't let me down, Crystal. I'm counting on you to be the first unicorn on Lambda Prime."