//------------------------------//
// Special Thanks 
// Story: Our First Steps 
// by Mrakoplaz 
//------------------------------//


First and foremost, to my most awesome sister: Both for being a true element of honesty whilst proof-reading and mercilessly shredding all my worthless scenes (especially those involving Celestia – I just can't write Celestia!); and equally for all her incredible hard work when making the cover picture. Applejack's got nothing on you, sis!

Next, to all my great teachers: For instilling me with not only an endless fascination for science, but also an unending love of the written word. I might not achieve anything else in life, but I have certainly written one of the most scientifically-accurate pony fan-fictions on the internet, and that's because of them! (please don't screw me over in the finals)

To the following, for being such absolutely wonderful, free, and publicly-available research sources:
        Atomic Rockets (http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/)
        Encyclopaedia Astronautica (http://www.astronautix.com/)
        Wikipedia (I think you all know this one)

To Sonata Arctica, Bad Religion, Leslie Fish, The Lillingtons, Taize, and all the other bands whose music helped me through writing all these words! A special shout-out also goes to Gustav Mahler, and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks for their excellent renditions of his great symphonies (Mahler, please don't rise up from the grave and strike me down for putting your name in a pony fanfic).
(actually, on second thought, Mahler rising up from the grave would be pretty awesome)

To Lauren Faust and Hasbro, for creating such a wonderful little universe to play around in.

To you: Yes, you! For being a great and incredibly supportive audience. Your kind words are the one thing that had truly kept this thing going, from the first silly chapter, through the endless failures and ponitics that followed, all the way to this hopefully-satisfactory epilogue.

And finally, to all the unsung heroes: Whose ceaseless, thankless, unremembered work allows us to live in peace and prosperity today.
Nobody knows their names. But without them, we'd still be toiling around in caves.