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// A New Frontier? 
// Story: Infinity 
// by TranscriptBrony 
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What most ponies don't know about Equestria is that, like other things, it has it's secrets. For awhile, nopony really gave a thought to what was really out there in space. Of course there have been meteor showers over the magical land, but no one knew any true knowledge of space itself. That is until now.

Within the secrecy of the Canterlot Castle came an idea, one which would forever change the knowledge of ponies everywhere. It was decided that a program would be created to study more into the idea of "space" and what truly went on out there. A document was forged to signify the establishment of this program, now known as the ECGR (Equestrian Center for Galactic Research). This program was sworn to discover anything they could about space with the equipment they were given. As they gathered new information about this strange frontier, more money was put into the program seeing as it was being successful. Not only were they to gather knowledge but they were sworn to secrecy for awhile as well.

Everypony who was involved in making this program reality was afraid that the public may not like the idea or that strange fantasies may begin to arise. Any pony who worked at the facility was told to tell their loved ones that they worked at a new pillow factory. However this excuse being "cheesy" most ponies beloved the story and went on with their lives. As the months and years went on, more discoveries were made and the secret was kept. However, the "factory" cover up didn't last forever.

A few months before the news of this program was released to the public, many ponies grew suspicious of the "factory". They claimed many things. One claim was that it was really a new mental hospital keeping the crackers of ponies within it's walls. This shook the nearby area surrounding the facility so much that Celestia herself decided it was time for the public to know. The news spread quickly throughout the land, bringing controversy and confusion. Once everything was down to true facts, news articles began appearing by the thousands all over. One of the more known articles resided from Manehattan being titled "A New Frontier?". 

A few months after the reveal, the ECGR announced they were going to launch a pony controlled mission to a recently discovered planet they called X-24 for the time being. However, they had an issue they didn't release publicly; they needed recruits to train for the mission. They explained to Celestia that only the most qualified ponies would be able to train for the mission. It did not take her long to figure out who would participate in this historic event.