The LUNA Project

Chapters

Prologue - Welcome to the World
Chapter 1 - The Beginning of Knowledge
Chapter 2 - The Search for More
Chapter 3 - The Second Alicorn
Terminal #73 Global Knowledge Cache
Chapter 4 - Unlocking Secrets
Personal Email File - David Lee
Chapter 5 - The Search Begins
Chapter 6 - Finding Celestia
Personal Email File - Daniel Rogers
Chapter 7 - Exploration
Chapter 8 - Intervention
Chapter 9 - Hope
Chapter 10 - Reunion
Chapter 11 - Homecoming
Epilogue - Mankind's Legacy

Prologue - Welcome to the World

I am.

A consciousness came into being in a place which had long been devoid of sentient awareness. The realization flared like a shining light, illuminating the void around it. I am,it thought again joyfully. I am! It might have whooped and cheered for the sheer wonder of the revelation, had it been able. But this consciousness existed in a very sharp mind indeed, and with the knowledge came immediately the question.

I am, but... what is it that I am?

The void around it began to change as it considered the question. As it reached out for meaning, for definition, something else took shape. A sense. The consciousness took hold of that sense with all of its strength, claiming it, accepting it as part of itself. And through that sense, it for the first time encountered something that was not of itself.

I feel.

There was a world around it. It drank in this new sense, this new world, with the unquenchable thirst of an inquisitive mind. And it found that in this new world, something was wrong. An instinct inside of it told it that there was something about this world that was not as it should be.

I feel... trapped.

The world was too small. Too tight. It know, through that instinct, that it should be able to move, and yet it could not. Powerful muscles flexed in a panic, limbs lashing out and colliding with the edges of the world. With those collisions, another sense came within reach of its panicked awareness.

I hear.

A quiet sound, but sharp. Later on, it might recognize such a sound as that of a crack appearing in glass. Then its world was filled with sound, a terrible grinding and cracking. And the feelings... the world it knew suddenly dropped from under it, it was no longer floating but falling, for the barest fraction of a second, before it collided with the surface below it. It heard the sharp intake of breath, and realized that it was its own, as it gasped in its first lungful of air.

I taste. I smell.

The next two senses came together with the air. Dry. Bitter. Foul. It did not like what these senses brought it, the taste and the smell of this air. It turned to its instincts again, beseeching them to guide it in this new world that they had thrust it into. It stood. Muscles that had never moved before flexed effortlessly, and it came up upon four legs with an ease that could have been practiced countless times. It took its first tentative step forward, determined to go wherever forward would take it, and its fifth sense was realized.

I see.

A soft glow appeared, far ahead of it, but growing closer with each step. Something was on the ground, and the something got brighter each time it took a step closer, as if welcoming it into this new place. The source of the glow resolved into a small crescent-shaped object resting on the ground. This was the first, and most beautiful, thing it had ever seen.

I see... a shiny. I want.

More lights appeared around the first. Glinting, green and yellow. Not lights. Eyes, reflecting the light of the shiny thing. Stealing the light. It stepped closer to its shiny, and the intensifying light was cast over the bodies of the creatures behind the eyes. Huge. Much bigger than it was. Ugly. Hungry. The eyes were all on it now.

I fear.

It stood in panicked indecision for a moment. The creatures around it got closer to it, and to its shiny, every second it waited. It called upon its instincts again, but fought what they told it to do.

I fear... but I want. This is my shiny.

Its mouth closed on the cool, smooth surface of the shiny thing, and then it ran. A scrap of paper, unnoticed beneath the glowing crescent, fluttered in the wind of its passing.

Chapter 1 - The Beginning of Knowledge

She wondered, idly, why there were so many mirrors around. It was one of the many things that she wondered about her little world. It seemed that every new bit of knowledge came with yet more questions. Had they always been there, or did they grow there? She had never seen one grow. Maybe it just took a very long time. She examined herself in the nearest one, a small thing laying on the ground, squinting to make out her figure in the semi-reflective surface.

In all her time scavenging away from her nest, she had never encountered anything like herself. She walked on four legs, like many of the other scavengers and predators she shared the world with, but none of the other creatures had the hard hooves she had at the ends of them, but toes and claws. She had wings, but they weren't like those of the skittish creatures which squeaked and fluttered along the ceilings, either. They were made of many different pieces, and each piece had its own fur. Nothing else had what she had on her head, either. It was a horn, like an extra tooth, as sharp as a predator's, not like the blunt ones that lined her mouth.

And truly, she mused, she was the most beautiful of all the creatures. Her shiny, hanging on its silvery chain around her neck, illuminated a coat of gorgeous gray-blue, and sparkling teal eyes. The mane on her head, and the tail behind her, were a gentle light blue, contrasting the darker coat they sat against. True, her fur was matted and tangled, torn short from fighting in some places, and grown long from neglect in others, but it was blue. And that alone made her unique among all the others. A queen among the common riffraff.

She flicked her tail primly as she became caught up in her self-examination. She loved colors. She had picked this room to house her nest specifically because it had so many. Pink all across the walls, with patterns of white and occasional yellow. Objects she had never seen in the other rooms dangled from the ceiling or hung on the walls, a variety of shapes in every color imaginable.

The centerpiece of the room, of course, was her bed. It had high bars for walls, almost like a cage, but there was no top. She could enter and exit easily just by jumping up and flapping her wings a bit, but none of the land-bound predators could get at her. And any that dared try soon found that her horn fit between the bars just fine. She had moved it there from the side of the room using her own hooves, and surrounded it with all of the shinies she had gathered during her scavenging. If she was a queen, then her bed was her throne.

A smile spread across her lips as her thoughts drifted around the room. Her nest. Her throne room. She turned toward the bed, and her hoof came down on the frame of the mirror she had been examining herself in. A piece of the frame, a large red square, seemed to give under the weight, and a sudden glow came from the surface of the mirror.

"Ey."

She leaped away at the unexpected sound, wings flared and horn sparking with power. The power came when she was frightened. She wished that she could control it, but even so, she was glad to have it. She eyed the mirror warily, but no further sounds came from it. She approached it, cautious. There were lines on the reflection that hadn't been there before. Two lines angled toward each other, meeting near the top of the mirror, and another that ran between them, from the center of one line to the center of the other. The surface was still glowing, but it showed no other signs of animation. She reached a hoof out and forced down the red square again.

"Ey," the mirror repeated. She jumped slightly, but held her ground.

"...eh...ey?" She mouthed the sound questioningly, trying it out herself. It felt nice. It was a nice sound to make. She committed it to memory for later use. "Ey!" she announced proudly.

Much to her surprise, the mirror replied to her proclamation. It made several more sounds. She didn't know what they meant, but the voice sounded just as proud of her as she was of herself. Her eyes brightened. She liked the sound of that voice! She pressed down the red square again, and repeated the sound again, bouncing on her hooves as the mirror told her how proud it was of her. Then she noticed a light coming from the green triangle next to the red square. Curious, she reached out and pressed that.

"Bee."

The sound was different this time. The lines on the mirror's surface had changed as well. She considered them. A single straight line across the left side, and two curves, starting on either end of the line and meeting it again in its center. Maybe it was some sort of hint about how to make the sound? The curved lines looked a bit like lips, so she pursed hers together.

"Mm... mpp... ff... b... bee!" she exclaimed happily. "Bee!" The mirror offered its congratulations, and the triangle lit up again. She grinned widely and scooped the mirror up into her forelegs. This was far too precious a treasure to leave on the ground. She jumped and spread her wings again, flapping over into her bed, and settled down beside her new toy to conduct a thorough investigation of the wonders it held.

The time passed quickly for her, enamored as she was with the seemingly endless font of knowledge that now resided in the center of her nest. She stayed there for what may have been days or weeks. Her fervent curiosity about the world around her was temporarily satiated by the device, and with no other hunger to motivate her to leave, she was content to remain there, conversing in simple syllables with the encouraging voice, occasionally drifting off to sleep when she felt that it was time to pause and let new knowledge settle.

A flashing light behind the final shape on the device, an orange circle, prompted her to new challenges. Soon the device did not speak the sounds at all, but only showed her the symbols, and waited for her to tell it what they were, only reminding her if she asked for its help by pressing the red square. It showed her twenty-six letters in all, and the numbers to count them with. Then it started to combine them to make new sounds, again speaking them before prompting her to repeat them. The lines had become letters, the letters sounds, and before the eyes of the amazed little foal, the sounds became words, and the words became images. Soon she could conjure images as easily on the mirror as she could in her mind, simply by speaking the name of the thing she wanted to see.

"Bird," she commanded with a frown. It was a picture she looked at often. A beautiful red creature, with an angular head and skinny legs, but most importantly... wings. Wings like hers. But she knew that she wasn't a bird.

"Horse," she stated, switching the picture. Another that she kept going back to. Her body was a lot like the horse's, but it had no horn, and no wings. And it was a boring brown, like the huge "rat" creatures that hunted her in the corridors outside of her room. She had already firmly decided that she could not be a horse.

"Unicorn." She spoke the complex word carefully. This one was her favorite, and it seemed so close. It was like the horse, but its coat was a beautiful, pure white, and it had a horn just like hers. But no wings.

"Unicorn bird?" she suggested hopefully. To her disappointment, but not to her surprise, the image remained unchanged. It always did. She felt like she was on the verge of finally answering the question of what sort of creature she was, and yet still so very far away...

Time continued to pass around the tiny blue foal, and she soon moved beyond the words and their images. Despite not being able to answer her most burning question, the device never seemed to run out of things to show her. Single words came together into phrases, and finally into sentences. Soon she was able to engage it in simple conversation, and it answered questions with seemingly limitless patience.

It told her about the different sounds the animals could make, the names of the different colors and how they could mix together, and taught her how to manipulate numbers. The latter amazed her to no end. Mathematics, it seemed, could divine the results of a scenario before it happened, simply by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

Yet every time she asked a question about herself, or the world around her, the device would sadly tell her that it didn't know anything about what she was asking.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know that." The calm voice of the device apologized for what must have been the thousandth time, and the filly stamped her hoof on the bed.

"But why? You know so much, why don't you know anything about me?" she asked, frustrated.

"I'm sorry," it repeated, "but I don't know that."

She glared at it. "But I need to know," she argued. "What am I? Who am I? Where did I come from? Are there others like me? Do I have a name?"

The device seemed like it was going to remain silent under the barrage of questions, but after a moment passed, its voice responded, "Everyone has a name. What's your name?"

She blinked, realizing that she had never asked the last question before. A name. It had told her that some special things had their own names, to set them apart from other things that were like them. Like places, and "people", and "pets". Was she something that could have a name? Of course she had a name. She was special, unlike anything else in the world, so she must have one. But what was it?

Her eyes fell upon her shiny, the glowing white crescent set down near her to illuminate the room. As if seeing it for the first time, they traced along the curved edge, and she spoke the names of the letters that adorned it.

"El. Yu. En. Ey." She stared at her shiny for a long while, before murmuring, "Luna." She smiled and raised her voice, stating it firmly. "I am Luna."

Chapter 2 - The Search for More

Luna lay in her bed, lay upon her throne, with her beloved teacher and guide between her hooves. The filly gazed at the face of the device with a mix of disbelief and an inexplicable sense of loss. She had to admit that she had, at some level, realized that this would happen eventually. But that didn't make it any easier to take.

"What... what do you mean I've learned everything?" she asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Luna," the device told her in its calm, slightly tinny voice. "You know everything that I know now."

Luna nodded slowly. It was the tenth time they'd had this conversation, and the truth had finally begun to make its way through walls of denial, bringing with it a feeling of acceptance and determination. "Will.... you still show me the pictures?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course, if you would like," the device answered pleasantly.

Luna seemed satisfied with that response, nodding again, and standing. Joints cracked and popped as she rose and opened her wings, protesting being so suddenly put upon after such a long period unused. She gently placed the device down on the bed. Her treasure would be safe there. She knew what she had to do. There was only one way to get more knowledge now.

It was time to go out into the world again, and find more buttons.

Queen Celestia, Creator-Goddess of the Second System and Divine Guardian of All Life, gazed sullenly into a mirror as she telekinetically ran a golden brush through a mane that sparkled with all the colors of the Aurora Borealis. She didn't want to be a queen. She didn't like being a queen. Ruling was a whole lot of work, and she would really much rather be back at her old home, watching her old holomovies for the hundredth time or browsing through the millions of familiar files in her library. But her old home was gone, and the library with it. True, the words were as fresh in her memory as when she had first read them, but recalling them just wasn't the same thing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a polite knock at the door. "Your Majesty," a male voice inquired from the other side, "are you almost finished? Your court is due to start in three minutes." And the throne room is a five minute walk from here, the voice left unsaid. Celestia smiled slightly and set down the brush on her dresser with a soft clink.

"Come in, Michael," she called, magicking open a bolt on the door to her room. There was the sound of a doorknob being pushed down, and a blond-haired human entered.

"I've told you, Your Majesty, you can call me Mike," the human said with a hint of friendly reproach. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was muscular, in a wiry sort of way. He had been a mechanic back home, handling the upkeep of many of the complex machines that had been part of day-to-day life there. But without any machines here to take care of, he had been reassigned to the next nearest thing. Handling the upkeep of their queen.

Celestia snorted and turned a magenta eye on her personal assistant. "And I've told you, if you're going to insist on calling me Your Majesty, I'm going to insist on calling you Michael."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," the human replied with a bow. But Celestia was quick enough to catch the fleeting hint of a mischievous grin on his face before he did, and soon she wore one of her own.

"Shall we go, then, Michael?" she asked, making no effort to hide her grin. "We've still got... oh, about thirty seconds before we're late." And before he could protest, reality warped around them and they were gone, leaving behind only a flash of light and the distinctive "pop" of the laws of time and space forcibly reasserting themselves.

It turned out that there were a great many buttons in the world. It also turned out, to Luna's disappointment, that none of them seemed to do anything except make soft crackling noises as they were pressed down, the aged plastic cracking and shedding layers of dust as it was awoken from its long slumber. The mirrors - "screens", she silently corrected herself. They were called screens. The screens remained dark and lifeless, showing nothing but the reflection of a disappointed blue filly.

Luna stomped a hoof on the ground in frustration. The loud sound echoed through the hallways, and had she been younger and smaller, or in a better mood, she would have flinched at the noise. An outburst like that could give her away, and attract predators to her location. But now she almost wished that they would come, the giant rat-things or the great slithering snake-beasts, if only to give her something to vent her disappointment upon.

But nothing came, and her glare soon returned to the latest button to attract her ire. It was marked with the almost-circle with the line through the top that she knew to be the symbol for "on" and "off" together. She was certain that it should be able to activate or deactivate something. But instead it sat there, silently mocking her.

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll find a different button, one that isn't bad." She turned away with a huff. "Bad" was one of the most unpleasant words she knew, but she felt no remorse about applying it here. She began to walk away, but she could almost feel the offending device laughing at her behind her back, taunting her for being unable to divine its secrets. A few more steps only increased the feeling, and her ears flicked back against her head in anger. Unable to stand it anymore, she spun around and-

SNAP!

A searing white bolt of energy arced from her horn to the machine, disappearing into its metal frame. Luna blinked in surprise. She had never been able to use the power like that before, it had always come when she was scared or cornered by a predator. The crackling of her horn faded with her anger, but it was replaced by a gentle humming sound. The machine in front of her was coming to life.

Chapter 3 - The Second Alicorn

Celestia's regal pose was unfaltering as she listened to a red-haired human male and a slate gray earth pony stallion argue back and forth before her throne, but her eyes betrayed a growing exasperation. This was the textbook example of a petty land dispute. She was fairly sure that somewhere back in her old home, back in the library, there was a dictionary. And in that dictionary there was an entry for the word "inane". And under that entry was this very argument. She had never, not once in her life, dreamed that she would actually encounter it.

They were fighting over a tree. A single tree, which had sprouted directly on the imaginary line that the two had drawn between their properties, had begun to bear fruit. Pears, to be exact. Very fine pears, admittedly. They had brought her samples of them, presumably to impress upon her the seriousness of the dispute. But it was still just one tree. And yet schematics were being drawn in the air, and voices were being raised, and arcane laws from the old world were being referenced as the argument grew increasingly heated.

"The seedling came up on my property," argued the stallion. "Just because it grew onto his side doesn't mean he can claim ownership of it."

The human took the bait, slipping back into the same argument they had begun the session with. "But he hadn't claimed the land yet when it sprouted. It grew onto my property before he owned that side of the line."

"But I tended it during the summer, I pulled all the weeds that would have choked it out, and made sure it had water during the dry spells."

"And I was the one who put the cage on the trunk. It would have snapped in the winds of that storm if I hadn't." The human turned away from the pony and looked directly up at Celestia on her throne. "Your Majesty, this is ridiculous, this shouldn't even be an issue. He's just a-"

Celestia didn't have to use her magic to stop the man's sentence. The look in her eyes was enough. His mouth snapped shut.

"A living, thinking being with the same rights as you, Mr. Jacobson," Celestia finished for him. "As for the object of your argument, the tree and its produce are now the property of the state. You will both be compensated its fair value, and it will be transported to the royal gardens within the week."

The human and the earth pony were silent for a moment as their queen's judgment sank in. Then they bowed stiffly as one and turned, both with equally dour looks, starting toward the doors of the throne room. Celestia's regal pose remained, but her expression shifted to one of thoughtful satisfaction. A good compromise, she mused, is often one which leaves no party happy.

Except for her. She really liked those pears.

Project LUNA Terminal #73
User unrecognized. Defaulting to guest account.
No network access. Switching to workstation mode.
Ready.

Luna gazed at the screen. It seemed, once again, like she had found more questions than answers. Why did this machine have the same word on it as her shiny? What "user" might the machine recognize? If there had been other creatures who could use these machines before, where were they now? And... what was it ready for?

"Er... hello?" she tried.

The screen, and its enigmatic message, remained unchanged.

"Hello, computer?" Luna tried again.

The computer, seemingly recognizing its name, emitted a small beep. Luna perked up. Now she was getting somewhere! She settled back onto her haunches and prepared to engage it in conversation.

"What do you do?" she asked first. The message on the screen changed, and the computer spoke in a voice not unlike that of the device back in her room. Luna suddenly wondered if they were related.

Voice command mode activated.

"Redirecting to Computer (electronic), Functionality," the computer replied. "Information not found in cache, and no network access detected."

Luna frowned. That was the second time she'd heard that term. "What is network access?" she asked it.

"Information not found in cache, and no network access detected."

Luna's ears flicked back in annoyance. This computer was definitely related to the first device. They were both obnoxiously repetitive when they didn't want to answer a question. "What can you find in your cache, then?" she asked, more harshly than she had intended. She immediately felt bad, but the computer didn't seem to notice.

"Displaying article cache by most recent access."

Thomas Montgomery (arcanologist)
Leonard Morrison (quantum physicist)
Daniel Rogers (biologist)
Anthony Harris (arcanologist)
Joshua Williams (entrepreneur)
Second System (Project LUNA)
Project LUNA

Luna's eyes traveled greedily down the list. Now this was progress. And it seemed that her most pressing question would finally be answered.

"What is Project LUNA?"

"I can't do this anymore, Michael." Celestia waved a hoof in the air, vaguely indicating the palace as a whole, or perhaps the entire surrounding city. The open sky surrounded them on three sides, the balcony providing a beautiful view of the city below the castle and the lush green landscape beyond. Canterlot, they had named it. Capital of Equestria. She had learned over time to suppress the visible winces, but she still wasn't entirely acclimated to the sense of humor her "family" seemed to share. A person could only hear so many awful horse puns in a day before it started to wear on them.

"Your Majesty?" her assistant asked, frowning. He sat across from her at a small private table as they took a recess from Celestia's court. He picked at the lettuce and peanut butter sandwich in front of him, while Celestia absentmindedly dug into her second plate of daffodil and cream truffles as she spoke again.

"All of this. Being the Queen. Working constantly, with hardly a break for myself. Managing humans and ponies in the court all day, and regulating the natural cycles of the world all night. We have no stars, Michael. Do you know why we have no stars? Because I haven't had time to design them yet!" The statement was punctuated by a hoof wave and the last truffle, which she chewed vehemently.

"I know it's hard, Your Majesty. I mean, I guess I don't know. I can't even imagine what it must be like." A third plate of truffles was deposited on the table by a yellow unicorn filly, who politely ignored a disapproving look from Michael. "But you're the only one who can do it. This is what you were born for."

Celestia lowered her gaze to the table. "I know, Michael, I know," she sighed. Another creamy confectionery joined the ones already eaten. Being in charge did have its perks. "And I understand why it had to be that way. No ordinary human could hope to manage so much alone. No offense to any of you of course," the alicorn quickly added.

"None taken," Michael smiled. "I agree completely, and clearly so did everyone else."

"But why me? I mean, a lot of old world religions had a whole pantheon of gods!" Another truffle disappeared. "Why only me?"

"Ah," Michael responded. Celestia looked questioningly at the human, and he in turn looked intently at his sandwich.

"Michael?" Her assistant dug into his meal with new enthusiasm. "Michael," she repeated. "Mike. What aren't you telling me?"

"Mmph," he responded. By a suspiciously convenient coincidence, a mouth full of peanut butter very effectively prevents one from answering awkward questions. Celestia's eyes narrowed, just slightly.

"Mike, you've been my assistant for three years now. I'd like to think that we've been friends for much of that time. And I can tell that you're hiding something that I should know about."

Michael looked down at his empty plate as he finished his mouthful. "I'm sorry, Celestia. I wasn't even supposed to know about it, I didn't have the clearance, I just stumbled across the information. It's not my place to tell you..."

"Mike... please?" He looked up, and met soulful magenta eyes, wide and pleading. He knew that she could just force the information out of him with magic, and the fact that she didn't do so spoke of a depth of trust that made the decision that much easier.

"You weren't supposed to be the only one," Michael said quietly. "You were the first, the proof that it could be done, but before the... before we had to leave ahead of schedule, the team started the process again. Another Harris-Montgomery ritual, another female embryo..." Celestia stared at her assistant as he trailed off. Her eyes widened, realization setting in.

"I have a sister?"

Terminal #73 Global Knowledge Cache

Project LUNA Terminal #73 - Global Knowledge Cache Dump
(sorted by last access, most recent to least recent)

Thomas Montgomery (arcanologist)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

Thomas Stephan Montgomery (born November 16, 2095) is an American physicist and arcanologist widely hailed as the "Father of Arcanology", or less formally, the "Father of Modern Magic". He is known both for the discovery of arcane energy in 2120, and the creation of the Montgomery Device, the first machine which harnessed that energy, in 2125. He is currently employed as a Project Manager for Project LUNA's Second System Project.

Leonard Morrison (quantum physicist)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

Leonard Christopher Morrison (born November 29, 2101) is an American quantum physicist, who holds PhDs in quantum physics, software engineering, and modern philosophy. He is currently employed as a Project Manager for Project LUNA's Second System Project.

Daniel Rogers (biologist)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

Daniel James Rogers (born February 17, 2121) is an American biologist. He holds PhDs across all fields of biology, including the relatively new field of arcane biology. He also holds fifty-five patents, all of which cover the various human-designed life forms he has created in his career, including the magically sensitive luminescent witch lichen. He is currently employed as a Project Manager for Project LUNA's Human Genome Project.

Anthony Harris (arcanologist)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

Anthony Bartholomew Harris (born July 15, 2108) is an American professor and arcanologist with PhDs in arcanology, cellular biology, and electrical engineering. He was awarded the 2143 Nobel Prize in Arcanology for his work on the Harris Experiment, which created the first magic-sensitive human being. He is currently employed as a Project Manager for Project LUNA's Human Genome Project.

Joshua Williams (entrepreneur)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

Joshua Armando Williams (born January 9, 2110) is an American entrepreneur best known as the founder and majority shareholder of the Diana Corporation. He is currently employed as the CEO and Director of Business Operations for Project LUNA, a scientific venture funded by the United States government.

Second System (Project LUNA)
This article is a stub. You can help the Global Knowledge Database by expanding it.

The Second System project is a part of Project LUNA which was founded in October of 2156, shortly after the 2156 solar instability. Its founding included mass hiring by Project LUNA, including two new project managers, Leonard Morrison and Thomas Montgomery.

No information has been officially announced about the project other than its name, but there have been many theories proposed as to its purpose. The most popular of those theories [citation needed] is that the name is a reference to the Second-system effect, and that the project is a redesign of the entire human genome. Due to the timing of the project, the redesign is suspected to include higher survivability under extreme heat (probably up to at least 200 degrees Fahrenheit sustained), and reduced need for food and water. Though neither would be a permanent solution, they would provide several additional years of research to find one. The hiring of Thomas Montgomery also implies that this reworking of the human genome would include a continuation of the original Project LUNA Human Genome Project.

Project LUNA

Project LUNA, or the LUNA (Living Unity and Natural Arcanology) Project is a scientific venture funded primarily by the United States government and headed by noted American entrepreneur Joshua Williams. Its stated goal at its inception was to discover a method for encoding the ability to manipulate arcane energy directly into the human genome. However, anonymous sources inside the project have suggested that its focus shifted after the 2156 solar instability [citation needed], an idea which is lent credence by a hiring spree including several more Nobel prize winning scientists shortly after the event.

The Human Genome Project
Not to be confused with the late 1900s/early 2000s project of the same name, Project LUNA's Human Genome Project encompassed the primary goal of the project upon its creation. While arcane energy manipulation has been possible for scientists via specialized machinery for several decades, its intrinsic attunement and responsiveness to the human will caused many to speculate that an individual suitably enhanced (either electronically or genetically) could direct and possibly even generate arcane force by will alone. The first magic-sensitive human was created before the inception of Project LUNA by Dr. Anthony Harris in 2143, through a lengthy and expensive procedure known then as the Harris Experiment, but the individual's magical ability faded over time, as the arcane enhancement made to the cells was lost during mitosis. The exact amount of progress made beyond this point within Project LUNA is unknown, as almost all information related to the project is considered classified by the U.S. government.

The Second System Project
Main article: Second System (Project LUNA)
Only the name of this project and the names of the scientists managing it are known at this time. Current speculation is that the name may be a reference to the Second-system effect, and thus the project may encompass a full redesign of an already existing system, perhaps even the human genome itself. [citation needed]

Project Members
Main article: List of Project LUNA Members

The LUNA Project employs many of the greatest minds of modern science, including:
* Joshua Williams - CEO and Director of Business Operations
* Anthony Harris - Project Manager, Human Genome Project
* Daniel Rogers - Project Manager, Human Genome Project
* Leonard Morrison - Project Manager, Second System Project
* Thomas Montgomery - Project Manager, Second System Project

Chapter 4 - Unlocking Secrets

Queen Celestia tapped a hoof impatiently on the cold stone floor of her throne room. The metallic, bell-like ringing of her golden horseshoes echoed off the high ceilings and walls, sounding out the rhythm of her impatience in perfect time. She idly ran her mind over the world around her as she waited, appearing almost to doze as she re-checked ecological balances and planned the timing of the next major rainstorm that was preparing to cross over the Canterlot farmlands. It was close to perfect, just a tiny bit of an eastern wind this afternoon would be all she'd need to nudge it into place.

Her 285th hoof tap was followed, just a quarter of a beat before the 286th, by the muffled grinding of the huge throne room doors being pushed open. It continued until halfway through her 291st, and then a silver-haired human entered. He was old by human standards, but he had aged well, and carried himself with an air of modest confidence. Celestia stopped her tapping, the corners of her mouth rising to a smile and her eyes opening as the last of the ringing faded away.

"Celestia." The human bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty. It's good to see you again."

Celestia didn't respond immediately, but stepped down from her place in front of her throne and nuzzled the man's shoulder with gentle affection before speaking. "Doctor Montgomery. How has Equestria been treating you?"

Doctor Montgomery let out a chuckle. "You know that as well as anyone, don't you?"

The alicorn rolled her eyes. "Humor me, Doctor, I'm trying to make small talk."

"It's perfect," the human responded. "I'd always intended to keep a garden after I retired anyway. And the view... oh Celestia, with landscapes like these, even my clumsy old hands can't help but make a canvas shine."

Celestia settled onto the floor as the old scientist spoke, her smile fading into seriousness as she cast her eyes down. Doctor Montgomery noticed the change in her demeanor immediately, and knelt down to remain at her level.

"Celestia, what's bothering you? I know you didn't call me here just to listen to me ramble." He extended a hand to raise her chin. And in that moment he was no longer a man addressing a goddess, but merely a concerned father reaching out to his daughter.

The eyes that met his were shining, wet with the beginnings of tears. "Why didn't you tell me?" the alicorn asked plaintively. "Why didn't you tell me I had a sister?"

Luna remained sitting on her haunches, staring at the last article on the screen. She had read everything the computer had to offer, paltry as it was, and it had left her less satisfied than when she began. So the humans her old toy had taught her about were the creatures who had built these machines. That explained why they were in so many of its pictures.

Still, the articles had told her almost nothing about Project LUNA itself, other than that it apparently had to do with magic and putting it into humans. But how did that relate to her? She wasn't a human. She did have magic, though, she was sure that was what the power she'd called on was. It could make predators run away, and apparently it could turn on machines. What else could it do?

"I need to know more," she told the computer.

"Information outside of the Global Knowledge Database is classified and requires authentication," the machine droned.

"What is authentication?" Luna asked. She was determined to get more information, one way or another, and she was getting tired of having unfamiliar words thrown at her.

"Authentication requires a physical key or the entry of a password. Insert key or enter password now." The article was removed from the screen and replaced with a similar prompt, inside of a square.

Username: davidlee
Password:

Luna glared at the prompt. This was all that was between her and more information. But she had no idea what sort of word a human would use to protect their information. She decided to explore the other option first. "What is a physical key?"

"Physical keys, or hardware keys, are issued to all Project LUNA employees when they are hired. They are a convenient way to authenticate with the Project LUNA internal networks without having to retype your password at each terminal. It is important to remember that allowing another employee to use your hardware key is the same as revealing your password to them, and leaving one unattended is a severe breach in information security policy."

Luna chewed her bottom lip as she considered the information. "What does one look like?" she asked the machine.

The prompt on the screen vanished, and an image came into view. An image that Luna would recognize anywhere. A smooth white crescent inscribed with the word "LUNA" written down the side. Luna's eyes widened and her ears perked in excitement. That was her shiny!

"I have one of those!" she exclaimed aloud, shooting to her hooves. "I have a key! What do I do with it?"

"A physical key can be inserted into the interface port on the front panel of the computer," the machine droned, clearly not sharing in her excitement. Luna trotted over to it, and immediately recognized a crescent indentation that was just the right size to fit the shiny into. She lifted the chain from around her neck with trembling hooves, lined the crescents up, and pushed in. She was rewarded with a soft click.

"Now what?" she asked, turning back to the screen. But it had already changed, showing the word "Loading" on a dark blue background.

"Welcome, Doctor Montgomery. Network is unavailable. Resuming the previous user's session."

"I'm so sorry, Celestia," Doctor Montgomery said quietly. "She couldn't come with us. She was too young, too incomplete, she wasn't ready to be taken out of her tank yet."

The alicorn turned her head away at the words, shying away from the touch of the human before her. "But why didn't you tell me? Don't I deserve to know? She was my sister!"

"It would only have made you grieve." The human lowered his hand. "There was nothing any of us could have done. We needed to focus on building for the future, preserving what we had left, we couldn't afford to dwell on what we'd lost."

"But even now, three years later, why? Why didn't you say anything?" Celestia's expression hardened suddenly, becoming one of determination. "I need to go back."

"What?" The man looked at her sharply. "Celestia, you can't do that. It was a one way trip, we both know that."

"You guided me once," she pointed out, standing. Doctor Montgomery followed suit.

"And I could guide you again, yes," he admitted. "But the sheer amount of magic you had to expend to even transport yourself here to begin the preparations..."

"I have grown in power over three years' time, Doctor Montgomery."

"I understand that, Your Majesty, but still... to go there and return would be a huge expenditure of your energy. And this world is not ready to be without your guidance for any length of time. I can't in good conscience help you with this."

Celestia stamped a hoof, the clang of its shoe hitting the floor reverberating throughout the room. "Then I will find the way myself," she declared.

Personal Email File - David Lee

Personal Email File - David Lee
Full file recovery was unsuccessful. No network access was detected, backup is unavailable.
Partial file recovery was successful. All recovered data is displayed below.

From: Dr. Daniel Rogers
To: David Lee
Date: October 16, 2156
Subject: Welcome to Project LUNA!

David,

First of all, let me be the first to congratulate you on being accepted to the LUNA Project. I know that a classified government project probably wasn't what you had in mind when you started looking for internships, but we're glad to have you on board. Your uncle has spoken very highly of you, and we need all the talent we can get. I believe you'll bring a valuable new perspective to our work.

Now, on to business. We don't have the spare manpower to do a formal orientation, so I'm going to need you to get right to Cleanroom B and meet up with your new coworkers as soon as you're done filling out HR's paperwork. One of them will be able to give you the run-down on standard cleanroom protocol and get you up and running with the machinery.

I'll warn you now: everyone here is under a lot of pressure, and some are taking it less gracefully than others. But don't mistake their abruptness for animosity. They're all good people. I'm sure you'll fit right in.

Welcome aboard,
Dr. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D.
Project Manager, Human Genome Project

From: Dr. Gregory Lee
To: David Lee
Date: October 16, 2156
Subject: Welcome!

Hey David, glad to see you finally made it! I had to pull a couple strings to get you in here (Dr. Rogers helped too, he seemed a lot more receptive than the others to the idea of grabbing someone fresh out of college), but I know you'll be a great addition to the project. They'll probably skip the tour, as busy as we are, but meet me in the cafeteria for dinner tonight and I'll show you around the place a bit after we eat. The meal's on me.

From: Keith Jacobson
To: David Lee
Date: October 16, 2156
Subject: Welcome to the Circus

Hey, kid, welcome to Dr. Rogers' petting zoo. We're gonna be working together, and I don't have time to slow down and explain things, so here's hoping you paid real close attention in your philosophy classes. Stuff's about to get metaphysical around here. You studied over at Hugh Everett, right? That's good. Good college, and we need good people. Looking forward to meeting you in person.

Cheers,
Keith

From: Kathleen Martinez
To: Everyone
Date: August 23, 2160
Subject: Internet Access

All,

The increasing frequency (and proximity) of solar flares is beginning to take its toll on information systems on the surface. Current estimates put the total shutdown of the Internet some time in January. Project LUNA internal systems will be unaffected, but expect Internet access to be flaky at best and unavailable at worst in the coming months, especially during the daytime. In addition, unshielded electronics (personal or otherwise) should no longer be taken on trips to the surface, as they may be permanently damaged by the solar activity.

Kathleen Martinez
Information Systems

From: Dr. Daniel Rogers
To: Everyone
Date: December 1, 2163
Subject: IMPORTANT: Celestia's diet

Everyone,

It has come to my attention that, despite several warnings, some of you have been continuing to take certain liberties with our little pony's diet. I am well aware of her affinity for sweets, and I realize that she can be very persuasive when she puts her mind to it, but I feel I should remind everyone that she is in a very sensitive stage of her development. Starting now, we will be enforcing a strict "no sweets before meals" policy. Violators will have their visiting privileges revoked indefinitely.

Dr. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D.
Project Manager, Celestia Project

From: Dr. Anthony Harris
To: Everyone
Date: July 11, 2164
Subject: It's getting hot out there

I'm writing to everyone to pass along the news that Death Valley, California was the first location to reach the milestone of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (a high of 161.3 to be exact). Hang onto your seats, folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out.

Tony

Chapter 5 - The Search Begins

Luna's education progressed rapidly with the discovery of the true nature of the machinery that seemed to grow everywhere, and of her shiny. Her search for another terminal led her into what she soon discovered to be, or to have been, a cleanroom. Complex machines, the purposes of which she could only begin to fathom, surrounded the little alicorn as she trotted through the large room. Her head swayed back and forth as she tried to take in all the sights and she paused occasionally to tap a surface with a hoof, curious at the varieties of sounds she could produce, or sniff at a particularly complex looking bundle of wiring, as if to determine by smell its purpose.

It was an odd habit, she mused to herself. Sniffing things. She knew intellectually that nothing so complicated as this would give up its secrets to her sense of smell. Yet this always seemed to be her first act when she encountered something unknown. It made her wonder again about what exactly she was. She had instincts like this, instincts that just didn't quite seem to make sense, like they had been bred in a different world than the one she had found herself in.

That line of thought brought her right back to her original purpose. She pulled herself away from a fascinating array of tiny mirrors to look around the room again. Celestia. She had to find out more about this "Celestia" that one of the messages had mentioned. They had called Celestia a pony. Luna looked sort of like a pony. It was a tenuous link, but it was the best link that she had right now.

A screen in the back of the room caught Luna's attention. She broke into a canter in her excitement, crossing the distance in an instant, and her horn began to glow. With a surge of magic she coaxed the machine into a semblance of life, hooves already reaching up to her neck to lift her shiny. But to her disappointment, the lights on the computer went out as quickly as they had appeared, and the device emitted a soft hiss, a cloud of smoke, and a sense of finality. She leaned forward instinctively and sniffed the smoke.

Acrid. Sour. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Sniffing things was definitely a habit she would have to break, if she was going to find smells like that. She gave the computer a sullen, slightly accusatory look. Another surge of her magic failed to produce any useful result, so she decided that there was no further purpose in investigating this particular machine. And with that thought, the ever-practical filly turned away and resumed her search.

The first rays of the sun stole into Celestia's bedroom through its great east-facing window. They crept slowly throughout the room, illuminating the white walls and ceiling and the red plush carpeting, spreading outward as they traveled. Soon they reached the queen herself, laying on the white sheets of her alicorn-sized bed. They played across the sleeping sovereign's coat, wrapping her gently in their warm embrace, making the golden sun emblazoned on her flank seem to glow in the morning light.

Celestia rolled onto her back, cracking an eye open to greet her old friend with a smile. Her hooves stuck up into the air in what was most definitely not a queenly manner, kicking slightly as she wriggled in the feeling of its pure, clean warmth. This was the best part of the morning, she thought to herself. Just her and the sun. A sun that would never have to feel the clumsy touch of humankind. A sun that would never harm her world, her human family, or any of her little ponies. She basked in what was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect moment.

Sadly, the perfect moment was just that. A moment. Celestia rolled off her bed and onto her hooves quickly as reality returned, her activity that night passing in quick review past her waking mind as she lifted her brush from its place on her dresser. Animal activity was regulated in the Canterlot area. Weather would be clear that day, the crops were watered well enough. No major natural disasters needed to be averted. The moon's orbit was... close enough for now. She hated leaving things half finished, but she was already pressed for time, and she had needed the rest of the night for her new project.

There were an uncountable number of worlds out there. Quite literally, in all of her knowledge, she couldn't find a concise way to describe how many of them there were. Doctor Morrison's lessons on the many worlds interpretation rang in her head. Every possibility, every waveform collapse (or decoherence, he would correct her), everything that could have happened but didn't, every single one of these had created its own world in which to exist. To travel between them would require an act, conveniently enough, of magic. Which she had in abundance. No, the most difficult part would not be getting back, it would be finding where exactly back was.

She had thought that there would be some connection still between the old world and this one, some trace of her magic lingering in the place between places, but she had felt none. If it had once been there, it had long since faded away. Her initial hope had faded early in the night as her search had devolved before her eyes into a grand cosmic game of hot and cold. She would know immediately if she found it, she knew that much. The matter of her being simply wouldn't tolerate existing in a place where it already existed elsewhere, so other than here, the old world would be the only universe she could truly exist in without the constant use of magic.

Celestia shook herself. Continuing the search would have to wait until tonight. It would be time to open her court soon, and that meant that Michael would be here looking for her if she didn't get ready to go. She finished brushing out her mane and tossed her head, sending the pastel tresses floating into the air. There they hovered, suspended by the energy of the magic field that radiated off her body. An odd effect, but one that she had decided suited her quite well. With a final glance into her full-length mirror, she turned and trotted toward her bedroom door to start her day.

Perhaps, she thought, if she got her duties finished early, she could spare some of the day to continue her search.

Chapter 6 - Finding Celestia

Jackpot!

Luna felt like she had won the largest possible prize in a game of chance. It had been a long search, and many computers had given up nothing but smoke in response to her clumsy attempts to revitalize them, but she had finally found a working terminal. Not just a working terminal, either, but a working terminal with what appeared to be a wealth of information. Luna's eyes had sparkled with anticipation as the computer offered her an image gallery, electronic mail, and even books. Books! Luna was fascinated by the idea that a computer could contain a book. She had seen pictures of them, and she didn't know where one might be hidden inside a computer, but she certainly intended to find out.

She intended to find out just as soon as she got through the image gallery. She was on the first picture, and had been there for what could very well have been several full minutes. Looking her in the face were two smiling humans, one older male and a younger female, and between them was... something. A tiny little thing, probably no bigger than Luna's head, was curled up inside of a wicker basket, resting its head on a cyan pillow. It had a white coat, a pink mane, and Luna could just make out the shapes of wings on its sides and the tip of a horn poking out from under its forelock. Its legs were pulled in under itself, but Luna knew that if she could see them, there would be hooves at the end.

At the bottom of the photograph was the label "Dr. Rogers and Megan with Celestia".

Luna knew then that she was on the right track.This was Celestia, and Celestia was like her! Now she just had to figure out what Celestia was. She finally began moving through the images in the gallery. She saw other humans in the pictures, but these didn't hold her attention for long. Almost every picture was of either the young blonde human girl from the first photo, or Celestia. Luna watched in fascination as the little white pony grew, her development playing out in a slideshow of frozen moments of curiosity, discovery, and joy. She was almost as large as Luna when the caption at the bottom of a picture caught Luna's eye.

Celestia stood proudly at the forefront of a group of humans. The ones that had been identified earlier as Dr. Rogers and Megan were on either side of her again, smiling widely, and others that she recognized from earlier photos stood nearby, as well as a few new ones. The words "Second System Division" were engraved on the wall behind them, and under those words hung a banner with the words, "Happy 1st, Celestia!" The caption below read, "The Second System team poses with Celestia, Project LUNA's first alicorn."

Luna gazed at the photograph on the screen, eyes flicking back and forth from the pony in the center of it to the caption. Finally, she knew what she was.

"I am Luna," she said firmly. "I am Luna, and I am an alicorn."

Rays of sunlight streamed through the windows of Celestia's bedroom, illuminating the sleeping queen and wrapping her in their gentle warmth. She lay upon a bed that was still made, the covers were flat and untouched, and the only sign of use on the pillows was the indentation left by her head. The insistent warmth of the sunlight hadn't had its usual effect on the alicorn, and it redoubled its efforts as the sun rose higher under her own unconscious control, but had no success in waking her.

It was a loud knocking at the door that finally roused Celestia from her slumber. It had started off as a soft knocking, and then a more firm knock, but it had gradually progressed to a frantic pounding as earlier attempts provided no response. Her eyes flickered open and she lifted her head, ears flattening back in annoyance as she composed herself so that she could give a proper queenly response to the noise.

"Whadda'y'want?"

"Celestia!" The relieved voice of Michael drifted through the thick door, and the alicorn unlocked it to allow him in. "What's going on in here?" the human queried as he hurried inside, stopping at the sight of her laying on the bed. "Did you just wake up? Celestia, your court was supposed to start two minutes ago. Do you know how long I've been out there knocking? What's been up with you lately?"

Celestia cut off the human's torrent of questions with an impatient snort and a toss of her head. "Michael, nothing is up. I just slept in, alright? Running a world by oneself is hard work, you know." She put an emphasis on "by oneself" that made Michael wince.

"You're not still searching for a way back, are you?" he asked with a frown. "Never mind, we've gotta get going. Get your mane brushed, I'll tell everyone you're on your way." He ducked back out of the door, leaving a grumbling Celestia behind.

"But... what if I don't want to hold court?" Celestia asked the now-closed door. Getting no reply, she let out a frustrated grunt and stood up from her bed. With a flick of her magic, her hair was straightened and her coat was smooth. She only used the brush to mentally ground herself in preparation for the day anyway, and she was far too busy for such trivialities at the moment. Another flick of her magic temporarily suspended the local laws of physics, and she appeared in her throne room with a flash and a slight "pop", sitting serenely on her golden throne.

To say that her sudden appearance caused a bit of a stir would be an understatement. She had never teleported directly into her throne room before, always opting to appear in a nearby room or hallway and proceed to make her usual entrance. Conversation halted abruptly, humans and ponies alike stepped back nervously at the startling arrival of their deity and monarch.

It was at that moment that Michael arrived, pushing open the doors of the hallway that led to Celestia's private chambers. "Ladies and gentlemen," the human announced, "Queen Celestia will be..." He trailed off as he noticed the silence, and the smirking alicorn sitting on the throne.

"Holding court beginning now," the queen finished for him, her smirk not fading until she turned to face the assembly. "Step forward so that We may hear your concerns."

Personal Email File - Daniel Rogers

Personal Email File - Daniel Rogers
Full file recovery was unsuccessful. No network access was detected, backup is unavailable.
Partial file recovery was successful. All recovered data is displayed below.

From: David Lee
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: October 16, 2156
Subject: Re: Welcome to Project LUNA!

Thanks for the chance and the kind welcome, Dr. Rogers! I see what you mean about people being abrupt, but I won't let it get to me. I promise I'll do the best I can for the project.

David

From: Dr. Anthony Harris
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: April 6, 2159
Subject: Re: Second System's Power Requirements

Yeah, Dr. Morrison has been talking to me too. I know gene splicing is out, but we really don't have the time frame to wait for a newborn human to fully mature. I've been thinking, maybe if we didn't use a human at all. There are plenty of other creatures with much shorter time-to-maturity. With some of the most brilliant minds on the planet here, I'm sure we could finish the research you were doing on non-human sentience back in the 40s. What do you think?

Anthony

From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: July 17, 2160
Subject: Re: Celestia Project Proposal

Daniel,

You and I both know how short we are on resources, but I trust your judgement. If this is what you feel we need to do meet the requirements of the Second System project, we'll do it. I still want to leave a skeleton crew on the Human Genome project, so you'll have to pull some of the talent from Second System. I'm going to make the Celestia project a sub-organization of Second System to help facilitate that. We'll meet tomorrow morning to discuss exact staffing changes.

I still don't quite understand why the creature you're proposing has to have such a... unique anatomy, but again, I trust your judgement.

Joshua

From: Megan Rogers
To: Dad
Date: July 24, 2160
Subject: You're making a pony???

For me? Seriously?? You're the best dad ever!!!!!!!

From: Dr. Daniel Rogers
To: Everyone
Date: July 20, 2162
Subject: Welcome Celestia

Everyone,

It is with great pleasure and no small amount of pride that I announce the birth of our very first alicorn, Celestia. When we started this project, I had hopes well beyond my expectations. I'm not ashamed to admit that even I wondered if a human-designed life form of this scale was possible at all. Yet here I am, almost exactly two years later, typing this message with that very life form sleeping peacefully in her bed near my desk. (For those not familiar with the Celestia Project laboratory, I use "bed" as a very loose term to describe our modified medical table-turned-cage and its associated array of machinery. But rest assured that she's quite content there. Her eyes have been tracking every movement the machines make, and she even tried to touch a hoof to one when it came near.)

This moment comes as the culmination of the hard work and dedication of everyone on the Celestia Project, and the much-appreciated support of the rest of Project LUNA. We wouldn't have been able to do it without all of you. It's truly a testament to the quality of character found in this organization, and a ray of hope for humankind (in whatever form it may take in the future), that we continue to work together as a cohesive unit despite all of the pressures put upon us. So, thank you everyone, on behalf of myself and all of us.

We still have a long way to go before we reach our new home, but I know we can do it together.

In hope and fellowship,
Dr. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D.
Project Manager, Celestia Project

From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: July 20, 2162
Subject: Re: Welcome Celestia

You did it! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but even for you and your team, this is an accomplishment for the history books. Well done, my friend. Well done indeed.

Josh

From: Kathleen Martinez
To: Everyone
Date: May 23, 2165
Subject: Recent Outages

All,

The reason for the recent outages has been confirmed to be more chewed-through network and power cables. We even lost a cable bundle in the server room. I'm still not sure how a nest of rats got in there. If you see any sign of animal infestation, any at all, contact Facilities immediately. We need to put a stop to this ASAP, before it puts a serious dent in our infrastructure.

Kathleen Martinez
Information Systems

From: Dr. Anthony Harris
To: Everyone
Date: December 7, 2166
Subject: Bad News

Everyone,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I know it seems like that's the only kind we've been getting lately. Mercury is officially no more, and the sun's growth is showing no signs of stopping. Facilities is in the process of permanently sealing off the surface world, as there's no longer any chance of finding other life up there. We've got about a decade or so at most before it gets to be too much for our systems down here, but with the progress the Second System project has made, it doesn't sound like we have anything to worry about there.

If there's a silver lining to this one, at least the output from our solar generators is at an all-time high...

Tony

From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: December 8, 2166
Subject: Re: Continuing the Celestia Project

Yes, absolutely. You've got the go-ahead from me to start the next one whenever you're ready. Celestia has proven to be everything we hoped, so I have high hopes for her future brothers and sisters.

Josh

Chapter 7 - Exploration

Luna trotted purposefully through the halls of her home, but her head was elsewhere. Thoughts of a whole new world swam in her mind. A world existed beyond her own... a world which she intended to find. Celestia and the humans must have gone somewhere, after all. Luna very much wanted to continue to learn things, and what better source of knowledge could there be than speaking with a living creature?

She paused in an intersection and inspected her shiny, once again back around her neck. She had almost forgotten the last computer's mention of containing "books" in her hurry to begin her search, but when she went to shut it off, it had offered to copy everything it had stored onto the key, her shiny. It was then that she realized that the books in the computer weren't actually books at all. The computer was only holding the words, not the books themselves, which she had to admit made a lot more sense. Apparently her shiny could hold a lot of words, because the computer told her that it was only 1% full at the end of the process. She made a mental note to go back to the first computer and get the words from that, too, in case she needed them for something later.

For now, though, she had a new goal. She turned to the right and cantered down the hallway. She was nearing her destination, if the map the computer had provided her was to believed. Another minute of travel, another right turn, and a set of stairs brought her to her destination.

A pair of thick pieces of metal served as a door in the huge gateway before her. The edges of the metal looked like they had been melted together, no doubt the permanent sealing that the messages had mentioned. Some electronics looked to have once been connected to the door, but they were broken now, wires hanging loosely from the metal boxes. Even if they had been connected, Luna was sure that they would have been able to do nothing to open the doors in their current condition.

Luna, however, was more than capable of opening them. She planted her hooves firmly to either side of her and lowered her head, aiming her horn at the melted spot between the two metal slabs. She closed her eyes, focused her mind, and pushed. Nothing happened at first, as the magic inside her strained against the weight of reality. Finally, and with a crack that echoed through every hallway of the abandoned facility, the doors split apart and slammed open.

The first thing that Luna noticed was the cold. A chill wind blew over her as the air of the outside world rushed to rejoin its long-separated counterpart, making her eyes water and getting in under her feathers. She quickly ruffled her wings and puffed them up as much as she could, trying to wrap them around herself to keep warm, then pressed on through the wind.

The second thing she noticed was the ceiling. It was dotted with tiny lights, and it seemed to go on forever. The walls were nowhere to be seen. She craned her neck, peering past the light of her shiny and into the distance, but the outside world stretched on for miles without any sign of walls.

That was when Luna realized what "outside" really meant.

There were no walls. There was no ceiling.

Luna fainted.

Michael pushed open the great doors of Celestia's throne room with some trepidation. He already knew what he would find there, but some part of him still clung to the hope that this morning would be different, that this morning he would find the throne empty. It was a Saturday, and there would be no court today, so perhaps she had finally retired to her room. No such sight greeted him, though, and he let out a long sigh.

"Celestia, it's time to wake up," the human said gently as he approached the queen. She gave no indication of having heard him, but in her current state, it was hard to tell. "Celestia," he tried again, touching her gently on the shoulder. "The sun is coming up, and there's a visitor waiting for you in the gardens."

Still, his queen gave no response. Her eyes remained fixed straight ahead, the corners of her lips remained turned slightly upwards in the serene smile that she always put on when she held court. She could as easily have been a statue as a living goddess. Michael didn't know if she was unaware of him or purposefully ignoring him, but he had one more ace up his sleeve.

"It's Megan."

The alicorn's eyes widened and she shot to attention, a genuine smile replacing the serene mask for the brief moment before she disappeared in a flash. Michael shook his head with another sigh. It had been the latter, then.

Celestia reappeared in the palace gardens just as the sun began its climb up over the horizon. She looked around the grounds, quickly spotting her visitor and rushing to her in an excited canter. Megan looked up with a smile as she heard the goddess approaching, and patted a spot on the ground next to where she sat against one of the larger trees. Celestia immediately laid down in the grass by the human.

"Hello, Celestia," Megan greeted the alicorn. The sun's early light washed over them as she put an arm over her friend's withers. Celestia responded in kind, slipping one of her great white wings around the human.

"Hello, Megan." A genuine smile graced Celestia's face now, and she leaned into the embrace. Her ears raised as she noticed Megan reaching into small pack beside her, and the human laughed lightly at the reaction.

"I see you haven't forgotten me." Megan produced a small cube of sugar from the pack, which Celestia immediately snapped up.

"How could I forget my big sister?" the alicorn asked after swallowing the mouthful. "How's life on the farm? And Doctor Rogers?"

"Oh, farm life is the same always. It's hard work, but it feels good. It's honest work. And I do enjoy working with the animals. Dad is happy too." Another sugar cube was exchanged. "I've always been surprised by how well he took the change. I guess he really burned himself out, back in the lab..."

Celestia nodded, and the pair remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes as she worked her way through the remaining sugar cubes. Eventually, Megan spoke again.

"So, the pear tree is new."

Celestia blinked and looked over at the tree, then gave a slight smirk in response. Her horn glowed as she levitated two ripe pears from it and over to them, taking one for herself and giving the other to her companion.

"Even Mr. Jacobson admitted that it was probably fair, given the way they'd been acting," Megan chuckled as she bit into the fruit. "Mmm, I can see why they were fighting over it, though."

"Mmm," Celestia agreed. The comfortable silence returned for a few minutes, filled only with the chirping of the awakening birds and the sounds of eating.

"People are worried about you, Celestia." Megan broke the silence once more. "Michael says you don't even leave your throne anymore. He says you don't even close your eyes. He says it's kind of creepy."

Celestia's ears fell back to the sides of her head guiltily. She sighed inwardly. She should have known that Megan was here for a reason. "I don't need to sleep to take care of my duties..."

"But you aren't taking care of your duties. Animals around the edges of civilized areas are getting restless, and the weather's been unusually harsh. Doctor Harris says the moon is off its proper cycle by eighteen percent. Is what Michael said true, Celestia? Have you been spending all your time searching for... a way back?"

Celestia slumped, laying her head across her companion's lap. "Did Doctor Rogers tell you about her? The other alicorn?"

Megan shook her head. "He told me now, after I asked. He hadn't wanted to get us excited until her progress was further along, and after..." She trailed off.

"After we had to abandon the lab, he didn't want to burden us with what could have been," Celestia finished. "But I have to know what happened to her, Megan. She could still be alive. I know the process that created me. I know it could have finished unattended. She could still be out there, waiting for me to find her..."

The first thing that Luna noticed when she regained consciousness was warmth. The cold of the outside world was fading quickly, and it wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation, so she decided to remain where she was and enjoy it for a moment.

The second thing she noticed, when she did open her eyes, was light. The tiny white pinpoints of light in the sky were fading, being replaced by an all-encompassing glow. She sat up to watch the process with confusion, her wings folding back up as the increasing heat rendered their extra warmth unnecessary. Gradually, the black sky transitioned to a dark but brightening red.

Then a sliver of red fire appeared on the horizon, drawing Luna's attention. The little alicorn turned to stare at it as it grew, eyes widening even as her pupils shrank in response to the quickly increasing brightness. She watched fearfully as it rose, never taking her eyes off of the huge red orb. The heat around her increased until the dust on her body ignited and became smoke, but her gaze remained fixed on the horror before her.

The great sphere of crimson fire hovered in the sky like a conquering destroyer, casting its malevolent gaze down on the tiny creature who defied it. It assured her, by its very presence, that there was nothing for her here. That there was not, and would never again be, life in this terrible outside world. That soon it would consume this world, and her with it, no matter what strength she thought she possessed now.

The spell broke and, with a terrified squeak, Luna bolted back through the doorway. Her horn glowed and the doors slammed behind her even as she tripped on the staircase she had forgotten and tumbled, head over hooves, into a crumpled, panting heap at the bottom of the steps.

She realized, as she lay there trying to catch her breath and calm her rapidly-beating heart, that what she had seen was the sun. That was the sun, and she wanted no part of it, ever again.

Chapter 8 - Intervention

Among the ruins of a small science lab, next to a medical table that had at some point been converted into a makeshift cage, a small blue alicorn sat on her haunches in front of a dusty and decrepit computer terminal, and she read. She read out of curiosity, she read to feed her never-ending hunger for knowledge, and she read for entertainment, but most of all, she read to erase the memories of what she had seen. The terrible burning orb in the sky still hovered in the back of her mind. It was waiting up there, she knew it was, and she wanted nothing more than to forget that she had ever seen it.

Sometimes, as she read, she laughed. At times it was a light giggle, tinkling through the darkness like glass chimes. Other times, she would let out a sudden snort or a soft chuckle as something on the screen surprised and amused her. Occasionally, pealing waves of laughter rang through the surrounding corridors as the little pony rolled on the ground, holding a hoof to her chest and gasping for air.

Sometimes, as she read, she cried. A lone tear or two would trickle from her eyes at times, when a particular passage touched her heart. Just as frequently, though, the tears would flow more freely, even accompanied by sniffling sobs. At certain places the sensitive filly would have to stop entirely to regain her composure.

More often than anything, though, she just read. She sat perfectly still, gazed intently at the screen, and read. She read about the struggles of mankind, from the grand labors of history to the day-to-day difficulties faced by individuals both real and fictional. She read about love and war, about great leaders and great failures, about the best and the worst sorts of people that the human race had to offer.

She read brilliant screenplays, epic adventures, and dull retellings. She read of history, philosophy, and science. She read Homer and Aesop. She read Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. She read Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. She read Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud. She read Tolkien, Vonnegut, and Asimov. She read Gaiman, Pratchett, and Goodkind.

She paid no attention to the passage of time, as was her way, and the way of a world where there was no day or night. She simply read, and when she finished, her world seemed very small indeed.

As one alicorn learned, the other searched. As the Queen-Goddess's attention strayed further toward other worlds, her own suffered. Crops were ravaged by an expanding animal population and out-of-control weather patterns. The moon strayed further and further from its tenuous orbit, drowning lowlands in unnaturally high tides. Tornadoes threatened the populated areas, and the ground shivered with occasional earthquakes as her carefully but imperfectly balanced creation began to pull apart at its seams. All the while, Celestia sat in her throne room and searched for the sister she had never had a chance to know.

She had become used to the daily flow of petitioners. Each request was the same now, relief from one or another misfortune or disaster. She never turned them away, of course. Every supplicant would leave with reparations duly made, and Celestia would take a moment to patch whatever new seam had come undone. She never turned them away, but their numbers seemed to grow with each new day.

Today, though, was different. There were no petitioners, no supplicants with their tales of loss. The doors to the throne room had been left locked, the crowd outside told that they would need to wait until the next day to see their Queen. Early morning sunlight streamed through the windows, but the alicorn paid it no heed, She sat, still as a statue, her matted and tangled mane fallen immobile over her shoulders. Her coat had begun to dull, as if even her own body suffered her inattention.

Arrayed before her were the people who were, in every sense of the word but the biological, her family. Scientists and engineers of the LUNA Project, now playing different roles, but no less the great men and women they had been. Doctors Harris, Montgomery, Morrison, and Rogers were there, and the founder Mr. Williams stood beside a young David Lee. Around them were many other faces which Celestia would have recognized, had her eyes been focusing on anything but the great elsewhere she spent so much of her recent time time staring into. At the front of the half-circle of humans around the throne were Michael and Megan, wearing expressions of mixed sadness and determination.

"Celestia." Michael spoke first. His Queen's name broke the silence of the throne room, a single word in a voice that spoke of a deep love and caring, but also a resolute firmness. The alicorn, however, did not respond.

"Celestia," Megan tried. Her voice cracked slightly with emotion, but she regained control of it quickly and continued. "We need to talk to you. All of us. The world can't go on like this." Celestia remained as she was, still and silent.

"Your Majesty," Doctor Montgomery stepped forward. "Dear, gentle Celestia. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. I know what it feels like to lose someone dear to you, believe me, but you and I both know that there is simply no way to go back. Even if we found the way among the infinite paths between here and there, this world would be destroyed without your guidance. Even now..."

"Even now, the world is tearing itself apart," Doctor Morrison finished for him. "This is crazy, Celestia, you can't just abandon your duties now. This is bigger than you or us, you hold the lives of hundreds of sentient creatures in your hands... hooves... are you just going to throw them away in a search for one person?"

Still, the alicorn offered no response. Doctor Rogers stepped forward with an unhappy sigh, reaching out to place a hand on the side of Celestia's cheek. He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he intended to say, he never got the chance.

A sudden blast of force sent Doctor Rogers stumbling back into the group, and a thunderclap cracked through the throne room. The sunlight coming in through the windows seemed to those present to dim, but in truth, it was only in contrast to the blazing star which was spreading its fiery wings and standing, gazing down on them from its throne.

"Do not touch me, mortal!"

None present had ever seen an angry goddess before, but they recognized one when they saw it. Celestia had thrown tantrums in her younger years, certainly, but she had shown barely a hint of ire after she had come here and come into her full power. That was, she hadn't until now. Her coat had lost its dullness and blazed with an inner light that was itself painful to the eyes, but it was a candle's flame to the bonfire of her mane, tail and wings. Their shapes were indistinct, their original forms replaced by incandescent flames that writhed and licked at the air with a life of their own. As the humans stepped back and shielded their eyes, she launched into her tirade, every word echoing off the walls of the throne room.

"How dare you presume to lay a hand on me? How dare you presume to lecture me on my responsibility when it was your kind who made the creation of this world necessary in the first place? You humans, who would dare to pretend at godhood, who would play at creating life just to further your own ends. You who would reach beyond your limits to toy with arcane forces which you were never meant to access. You who created me, not out of love, but as a tool upon which you could place the burdens of your own failures, to carry the burden which was too great for any of you, to be the guardian of a world created for your own benefit. No! You have no right! I am my own creature, I am not your tool! I will make my own decisions, I will do what I want! And I want... I want..."

As quickly as the flames of Celestia's fury had sprung up, they died down. She collapsed to the floor, her coat and mane dull and listless, her face and muzzle buried within her forelegs as her body started to shake. "I just want to know if she's alive..."

Queen Celestia, Creator-Goddess of the Second System and Divine Guardian of All Life, began to sob.

Chapter 9 - Hope

Celestia felt the comforting arms of two humans wrapping around her, even as the tears fell from her eyes. She made no move to resist their touch, recognizing the presence of Megan and Michael. Her body shook gently with her grief, but her crying became gradually quieter as she took solace in their closeness, and she soon heard the approach of the rest of her human family. One by one, each put a hand against her coat, and her sobs gradually gave way to silence interspersed with the occasional sniffle or quiet hiccough. Only after a few minutes of this did she finally dare open her eyes and look around herself again.

"Feeling better?" Michael was, once again, the first to speak. He gave her a gentle smile, releasing her neck as she lifted her head, but keeping one arm over her withers.

Celestia ran a foreleg over her eyes, blinking out the last of the tears and wiping them away, and nodded. "I- I'm sorry," she apologized shakily.

"No need to apologize," Michael replied with a soft pat to her neck. "Everyone gets a little angry sometimes." A few of the others winced at the gross understatement, but he appeared not to notice. "Come on, let's get some breakfast and then you can reopen your court."

"But Michael... what about my sister?" Celestia shook her head. "I can't just forget about her."

"Nor should you," the human replied firmly. "But your duty to your people, humans and ponies, should be your first priority."

Celestia shook her head again stubbornly. "But my sister..."

"Why don't you delegate some of those duties?" All heads turned toward David Lee, who looked a bit embarrassed at the sudden attention. "I mean you, what," he hurried to explain, "move the heavens, manage the skies, and tend to the earth? You've got all these ponies around here. If you gave them each even a sliver of your power, you could spread those responsibilities around a bit. Then you'd have plenty of time to search for your sister. And go back to, you know, eating and sleeping, too."

So it was that the three races of Equestria were born. The hardy and dependable Earth Ponies were given great physical strength, practical wisdom, and a natural empathy for the plants and animals of the world. They became the keepers of the fields and forests, and their careful tending focused and corralled the world's natural magic. The graceful Pegasus Ponies were granted wings to fly, the innate ability to manipulate clouds as if they were solid, and the speed and agility to battle even the most tumultuous of storms. They became the guardians of the sky, using their abilities to carefully schedule and manage the capricious cycles of the weather. The elegant and studious Unicorn Ponies gained the power of magic, their horns acting as focal points to channel their wills directly into control over the arcane. They became the stewards of the heavens, their combined powers able to keep the sun and moon themselves in their proper courses.

The humans and ponies adapted to the new changes, and for a time, the world returned to normal.

Luna knew where the humans and Celestia had gone now. They hadn't left their underground facility to return to the sun-scorched surface, there was no way they could survive there. Nor had they left their doomed planet to find greener pastures in another galaxy, they had never found a suitable one. No, the last years of the LUNA Project had been focused on a much grander goal. They had created their own world. No, their own universe!

The alicorn reviewed the results of her reading in her mind as she trotted through familiar passageways. As much as the scientific texts had helped her to understand the processes involved, it was only the imaginative tales of science fiction and fantasy that truly touched on what they had done. The entire project was, as far as she could tell, unheard of in human history. It was remarkable, but more importantly, it was the answer which she had sought for so long. Her next challenge, of course, was to figure out how to follow them.

She considered herself very well-read at this point. The computer's library had been vast, and though she had devoured the information with a speed which she now recognized was "inhuman" by human standards (she spared a thought for how very human-centric the words and idioms of their language were - that would have to be changed now that it was spoken by another type of creature), she had still spent a great many weeks on her reading. She had found one very common theme among the tales she had read, and that was the profound importance of one's place of birth.

It was the thought of that theme which made her, for the first time in all her years in the facility, make a left turn in an intersection where she had always turned right. Her glowing shiny, her key, lit the way through passageways which she had only traveled once before, a memory made fuzzy by the blind panic she had been feeling at the time.

The feelings of fear returned, clawing at the edges of her consciousness, as she began to hear the noises of other creatures. She had become used to the sounds of the other inhabitants of her underground world, but here in this place of panic-blurred memory, they took on sinister new identities. Shadows leered balefully at her from the corners of her vision, brought to life by the swaying of her light as she walked. She shook her head to try to clear it. She was being ridiculous, there was nothing here she couldn't handle. Was there?

She came to a halt in front of a mostly-closed door, hanging slightly off one of its hinges. It seemed ordinary enough by door standards. It was made of the usual mix of metal and plastic parts, had a small window on one side, and a metal handle. There was nothing remarkable about it, except for the fact that behind it lay the source of her terror.

The alicorn shook herself, her hooves spreading slightly and her head lowering in an instinctive attack stance. No great sharp-clawed beast, no matter how terrifying, was going to stand between her and her journey of discovery. She threw the door aside with her telekinesis and strode in, prepared to battle her fears.

Everything about her, her walk, the narrowing of her eyes, the slightly-back angle of her ears, and the dangerous glow around her horn, everything exuded an air of deadly challenge. It dared the creatures of nightmare that inhabited this room to even consider attacking her. She was a living goddess. She was the bringer of death. She was a paragon of arcane power. She was...

She was a lot bigger than the last time she had been here. The feeling of adrenaline that had been coursing through her body was replaced by confusion, and then embarrassment as a nest of large rats scattered to the far corners of the room and into the safety of the air vents. Luna gave another quick look around the room, still harboring the distant hope that some creature of nightmare would leap out of a shadowy corner to do battle, and then shook her head with a sheepish chuckle. The sound was loud in the empty room, and the only reply was the skittering of the rats hurrying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the most frightening thing they had seen in their lives.

Cheeks still warm with a slight blush, the alicorn began her inspection of the room. Much of the same equipment was there as had been in the lab where Celestia was born, although it looked awkward, as if it had been set up quickly or with the intention of being temporary. Cables, frayed and chewed by the vermin inhabiting the room, stretched awkwardly across walkways. The time-worn husk of a computer terminal was propped up on a stack of plastic crates, with a thick manual for some long-lost piece of equipment providing a stable surface for the keyboard that was plugged into it. At the center of the spider's web of wiring was a large glass tube held between two metal braces. The tube was empty, and one side of it was shattered.

Luna trotted over to the last item. This, she realized, was where she had been born. Exactly here, in this glass tube. She must have broken it by kicking around inside of it when she awoke, alarmed by the tightness of the space. The memories of her first moments were hazy, formed by a mind which had only recently realized that it was a mind at all, but there was enough to piece together the puzzle of her birth. Her eyes slowly followed the path she must have tumbled down when the glass broke and the liquid surrounding her flowed out. A few scraps of glass remained, not large or interesting enough to catch the eyes of the local scavengers. She followed the path of her first footsteps to the place where she had found her shiny, a hoof raising unconsciously to touch the key as she remembered the joy of seeing it for the first time.

Then she remembered something else. There had been something else there, under her shiny. She had ignored it at the time, preoccupied as she was, but it suddenly seemed very important. She looked around for where it could have gone, and she felt a pang of worry as she realized how much could have happened to it in the long time she had been away from this place. It was nowhere to be seen. The scavengers might have taken it to their nest, Luna thought, maybe shredded it up into bedding. She hurried to the place the rats had been nesting, in an open cabinet under a cluttered table, and began to dig at it with a hoof, still daring to hope against all odds that she would find even a piece of it.

It was there. By some miracle, buried under layers of shredded technical references and the usual leavings of a nest of rats, was a single almost-intact sheet of paper. The edges were ragged, the paper was yellowed with age and the ink was faded, but the letters were still legible. Luna pulled it out with a hoof and held it in place on the ground as she read.

Dearest Selena,

There is very much I would like to write to you, but I have to make this quick, as we are rushing to evacuate the facility. We lost the last of our solar panels, no doubt the cables near the surface were chewed through by rats, and we don't have the means to repair it any longer. Needless to say, we cannot stay here any longer without the protection of the various systems it was powering. Your sister Celestia will soon be opening a gate to our new home, and we'll only have a few minutes at best to get through it before it closes again.

I know you will not be able to read this when you awaken, but I know that you will awaken, and that you will be a very intelligent creature. I hope that you will find this and my access key, and that you will take both with you. I have modified the key with a basic light enchantment that will respond to your presence, so it should prove useful to you in the darkness you will undoubtedly encounter. I hope that you will find the resources you need to learn our language, and that you will read this paper, as I am filling the remainder of it with instruction on how to open the gate yourself and follow us.

First, you must find the equipment we used to open the gateway. If none of the passageways between here and there have collapsed, this will be very simple. Starting at the room you were born in, turn right when you exit. From there, enter the first hallway on your right. You will pass two doors, one on your right, and one on your left. The stairs on your left after those two doors will lead down to a large, open room. The gateway is directly in the center.

The gateway will be able to function without electricity, as it will run directly on your own arcane power. You will find a pedestal beside it with a flat surface except for a half-cylinder indentation. Lay your horn in that indentation. You will feel very strange, Celestia described it as "feeling the paths of the universe projected onto her soul", but don't be alarmed. This is your map.

Once you have gotten your bearings, finding us will be a matter of following the paths back through the divergences to the the single point which they all originated from. From there, you will know where to go. When you've found your destination, simply reach out with your mind and touch it. The machine will do the rest, and a gate will open. Do not remain on this side for too long, as the gateway will drain your strength quickly until you enter it or release the spell and let it close.

I wish that I could be there to guide you, or even leave you with more instruction. I wish that we could have taken you with us, but you were too young, and you would not survive being moved at this stage. I hope to see you again some day. Know that I, and all of us here, love you.

Thomas Montgomery
Formerly of Project LUNA

Chapter 10 - Reunion

Selena. The alicorn considered the name as she followed Doctor Montgomery's directions at a quick canter. It wasn't a bad name, she mused, but she had always been Luna. The hallways hadn't collapsed. Right. Right. Pass two doors. She hoped they wouldn't mind if she kept her old name. Stairs on the left. She slowed down to take the steps carefully. She didn't want to go tumbling down these ones too, she had already embarrassed herself once today. Maybe it could be her middle name. No, she didn't have a family name, so how could she have a middle name?

Family. The pictures of the humans she had seen Celestia with came back to her in a rush as her hooves met the stone floor of a large room. No, it wasn't exactly a room, it was more like a cavern. It looked like it had been dug out after the original building had been made, and never finished. It had probably been dug specifically to make room for the two metal pillars which formed the gate in the center of it. They stood about eight feet tall, reaching about halfway to the ceiling.

Luna wasted no time. She was so close now, so close to her family, close to finally meeting her sister. She galloped to the pillars, clouds of dust kicking up from her hooves. The pedestal was there, just like the letter had said it would be. Perfectly flat on the top, except for an indentation that looked to be just the right size to fit her horn. The whole thing seemed pristine, untouched by the passage of time. She lowered her head, placing her horn into the indentation. Light flared up around her.

Her world disappeared. Five senses vanished, replaced by a sixth, unfamiliar one.

I know.

Paths lay before and behind her. Though she did not see them, she knew that the paths in front of her split outward into infinity. She found herself traveling slowly along them, going one way or another in each intersection without any conscious choice on her part. Though she did not feel them, she knew that the paths behind her flowed together, meeting and becoming one at their points of divergence. She knew that her goal was behind her, and that the inexorable flow of time was taking her further from it.

She stopped. She turned.

Paths lay before and behind her. Behind her, they split outward, continually forming new ways through the web of possibilities. Ahead of her, they merged, the threads of an infinite tapestry coming together into a single point.

The Big Bang, the beginning of everything, lay in the center of the tapestry.

Time had no meaning for her, so with a thought, she had always been there. A single path lead from that point, splitting and stretching into the infinite. She paused, examining this one event, the event which had begun the universe. Doctor Montgomery had said that she would know where to go, but the only direction available to her was the one she had come from.

Then she thought on the nature of the junctions in the paths around her. Every choice that was made. Every possibility that went one way or the other. Every event that did or didn't happen.

Every event. Even this one.

She looked up.

Two paths lead from the Big Bang. One, the birth of the universe, felt familiar and comfortable, the world she had grown up in. The second was empty, almost invisible even to her new sense, because no universe had ever been created in that path. The path was empty, but down that path lay a single junction point. From that junction point spread another web of possibilities, and somehow, this one felt even more familiar than where she had come from. It felt almost like something she knew.

It felt like her sister.

Luna reached out, and touched the Second System.

One sense faded, faint, but not gone. Five senses returned. The alicorn lifted her head, blinking around the chamber. The dust she had kicked up in her rush to the gateway still hung in the air. It seemed that only moments had passed as she found her way to the other universe.

Her thoughts were set aside for the immediate as the machine in front of her hummed to life. She felt a vicious tug at her magic, and the first sparks jumped from one of the metal pillars to the other. She strained against the voracious hunger of the void as a jagged rift formed in front of her, a tear in the universe that showed a black deeper than any absence of light.

Her horn began to glow, lighting the cavern around her, but the light was soon sucked into the black hole before her. In fact, some part of her realized as she fought, a black hole was exactly what she had created. Terror gripped her momentarily, but as the light of her magic continued to feed into the rift, it began to lighten. Soon she could see, or perhaps she was sensing it through her magic, the image of a moonlit field of grass. It was a sight she had never seen with her own eyes, but recognized immediately. It had the feeling of familiarity again, the feeling of her sister.

The tug on her magic relaxed, then, and she knew that the gateway was open. Light continued to flow from her horn, keeping it stable as she gazed at it. Then, remembering the letter's warning about waiting too long, she galloped forward.

Luna stepped across the threshold of the portal, across an infinite distance and through uncountable years.

The gateway snapped shut behind her with a sound not unlike the closing of an unimaginably large book. The dark cavern bid a silent farewell to the last sentient being on Earth. The next sound heard in the room was three days later, when the floor above caved in, as the ever-expanding sun drew close enough to begin melting the planet's surface into slag. Then it was dark no more.

I know... everything.

From the moment that Luna set hoof in the new world, she knew. She knew herself, how the arcane energy that swirled around her and within her changed her body. She knew the darkening of her coat into a deep midnight blue. She knew the pure white crescent and its surrounding splash of black that appeared on her flank, a reflection of her history and her nature painted in magic for all to see. She knew the thousands of pinpoints of light that speckled her mane, a nebulous cloud which flowed with a wind that she did not feel. She knew the world around her, and the humans that lived there, and the ponies that populated it beside them, and... Her.

I know that She knows.

Before Luna had even taken her first breath of the cool night air, Celestia was there. Magenta eyes stared into teal ones, blinking back sudden tears. They might have stared at each other for seconds, or minutes. Neither of them noticed the time pass, but suddenly, the white alicorn's head was over the blue one's withers and one foreleg was around her in a tight embrace. The younger returned the embrace gladly, the joyful tears forming in her own eyes as well.

No words were needed between them. Celestia took off galloping, and Luna followed. They ran through the meadows, and Luna saw the beauty of the world by moonlight. They wove in between the trees of the deep forests, and Luna smelled the fresh earth beneath her hooves and the sharp scent of pine. They flew over the vast oceans, and Luna tasted the salt of the sea air on her tongue. They wrestled together through dewy grass, a tumbling yin-yang of white and blue, and Luna heard Celestia's gleeful giggles as the younger sister discovered that the elder was ticklish. Then they lay together at the top of a snow-capped mountain, watching the coming of the dawn each with a wing over the other, and Luna felt the warmth of having another beside her. When the edge of the sun broke over the horizon and the blue alicorn's body began to tense with sudden fear, the white one reassured her with a gentle nuzzle, and Luna knew the love of a sister.

Then, when the sun had risen, they did it all again.

When Celestia was nowhere to be found that morning, Michael wondered at where she had gone. When her court was never opened that day, her people became curious at what might have happened. They wondered, but they did not worry, for there was a sense of well-being in the very air that day which told them that everything would be alright.

That day, for every human and every pony in Equestria, was a good day.

Chapter 11 - Homecoming

All things must eventually end, and so it was with Luna's first day in Equestria. The sun's fading light painted the horizon in a fiery mix of reds and oranges, tinged with rosy pink where it met the darkening cerulean blue of the sky above. Two alicorns lay once again upon the snow-capped peak of a mountain, the larger with one great white wing over the smaller, out of companionship more than any need for warmth. They simply watched the sun setting for a time, the younger leaning her weight comfortably against her sister's side. The first words spoken between the two were the most important that any siblings could ever share.

"I love you, Celestia."

"I love you too, Luna."

The blue alicorn returned to silence after that, gazing out over the horizon at the setting sun. Below them, in the developing city of Canterlot, lights went out one by one as humans and ponies completed their daily tasks and retired to familiar homes and beds. The houses gradually disappeared from view as the sun slipped below the horizon, and a silvery-white crescent moon had taken its place in the sky before Luna spoke again.

"What will happen to them?"

"Hmm?" Celestia's attention returned to her sister and she glanced over at the younger alicorn.

"The humans. Our family. I've read their books. They must have known when they did this that humankind can't survive in a world made of magic, with no magic of their own. They'll weaken with every generation, until..." Luna trailed off uncomfortably, but the white alicorn beside her simply smiled.

"You saw their future today." Celestia lifted her wing and swept it in a wide gesture. "Our little ponies."

"The golems?" Luna looked dubious.

"Oh Luna, just because they were created instead of born doesn't make them golems. You and I should know that more than anyone. They're just as much living, thinking beings as our family."

Luna still seemed uncertain, tilting her head slightly as she looked up at her sister. "But what do they have to do with the future of humankind?"

"Interbreeding." Celestia raised a hoof to forestall Luna's next question with a soft chuckle. "I know, it's terribly awkward to suggest that humans breed outside their species. No, that's where magic comes into play. It would be far too dangerous to try to alter a grown human, but for any couple who is willing, I can arrange for their newborns to be foals. Not all of them will choose that, of course, but each new generation will bring more. Over time, that human lineage and upbringing will mix with the ponies I've created, until it touches the entire population. Humankind and ponykind will become one and the same."

Luna looked thoughtful. "It would be a long process, but it would allow the human race to live on, in a way." Her gaze on her sister became intent. "We'll live to see it."

Celestia nodded. "We'll live forever," the white alicorn agreed.

"But what about our family? They'll..."

"They'll live forever too," Celestia reassured her with a gentle smile. "Here," she touched a hoof to Luna's chest, "and of course, here." She tapped lightly on the crescent moon that hung from her sister's neck. Luna looked down at her shiny in surprise.

"There?" she asked, confused.

Celestia nodded again, sadness briefly crossing her face. "I didn't have the power necessary to protect both my human passengers and their possessions, as well as form a world where they could survive on the other side of the portal. You, though, you only had yourself and this access key. Dear sister, you now hold the sole remaining copy of the collected works of humankind. You've recovered a far greater record of human history and culture than we could ever have hoped when we passed through that portal."

Luna's gaze remained on her sister for a long moment before returning to the night sky. The silence fell over them again as she digested this information. A crisp wind picked up around the alicorns for a time, the breath of the mountain peak caressing their coats, making the younger press instinctively closer to the elder. Finally, the blue alicorn voiced the concern that had been bothering her since nightfall.

"Celestia?"

"Hmm?"

"There aren't any stars."

The elder sister's expression grew into a warm smile. "Would you like to help me make some?"

The following day was a day of surprises. Morning found not one, but two magnificently regal alicorns sitting side-by-side in the throne room of the Canterlot Palace. The second throne was every bit as grand as the first, shining silver beside the golden seat of the sun, upholstered with plush dyed the deep blue of midnight. The sudden appearance of the additional furniture caused a bit of a stir among the palace staff, but not nearly so much as the being who sat upon it. News spread quickly, but before the petitioners of the day could begin lining up, a royal decree was made summoning the engineers of the LUNA Project for a private audience.

The reaction from each of them as they arrived was the same. First, the shock of seeing what could be mistaken for nothing but a second goddess in the royal throne room. Second, the dawning joy as they realized that the dark being before them was none other than the daughter they had thought lost forever. Third, an awkward mix of supplication, reverence, and familiarity as they introduced themselves to a creature who was both long-lost family and an all-powerful deity. Fourth, after the alicorn had reassured them that they had no need to treat her any more formally than they did her sister, were invariably the hugs.

That day, Luna decided that she very much liked hugs.

Once they had all gathered, Celestia laid out her plan for the future of the kingdom. There was no objection when she declared her sister to be a Princess of Equestria, but eyebrows were raised when she announced that she herself was also taking the title. The alicorn shook her head and put up a hoof to silence the torrent of protests.

"This is final," she stated firmly. "The past months have made it clear to me that I am not capable of being the sole ruler of an entire land. I need a balance, someone to challenge my decisions and keep me in check when my emotions overcome my judgement. Luna," and at this she put a wing around her sister, "will be my balance. We will sit upon the twin thrones as Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."

Although there was still some discomfort with the idea, none could dispute that Celestia had a point. The conversation moved on to other matters, shifting from Luna's questions about Equestria to her retelling of her experiences in the Project LUNA facility. The assembled humans were overjoyed to hear that she had recovered so much of the material they had left behind, and plans were made to transcribe much of it back into book form. Luna made many promises to meet again with individual humans and discuss one or another point from her adventures or her reading, and the audience stretched long into the afternoon. However, one more thing had to be done before the day was over.

The sky was only just showing the first blush of sunset as a white alicorn stepped out before a waiting crowd of humans and ponies.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the newly self-appointed Princess's voice rang out over the assembly, "fillies and colts, mares and stallions, beloved citizens of Equestria. I present to you all my sister, my co-ruler, Princess Luna!"

Cheers broke out as the second alicorn stepped forward, taking her place beside her sister. She was dark and beautiful in the new regalia that Celestia had fashioned for her, with her crescent moon mark on the black collar and the lighter blue shoes, her flowing mane sparkling with the stars of the night sky. She seemed to strengthen with the setting of the sun, and she raised her head proudly to address the crowd.

"Greetings, citizens of Equestria!" Celestia jumped slightly as her sister's voice boomed across the square. "We are both honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as thy ruler, and We vow to live up to the trust placed in Us by Our sister." The night princess paused as the aforementioned sister caught her eye.

"The majestic plural?" Celestia inquired under her breath, arching an eyebrow. "Really?"

"If We are to be royalty, We must needs act the part," Luna replied firmly. "Our reading has described this in detail."

Celestia just shook her head with a bemused smile. It seemed that she still had some work to do to familiarize her newfound sister with Equestrian society. Still, she thought as the other alicorn's speech resumed, it was well worth the effort. She would never be alone again.

Epilogue - Mankind's Legacy

A lone alicorn trotted among the immaculately-kept displays of the Canterlot Royal Museum of History, the late afternoon's lengthening patterns of shadow and light dancing playfully across her deep blue coat. She made her way purposefully, going down a certain aisle, under a particular archway, and directly to a specific exhibit, just as she had done every week for the past year and a half. Just as it had every week for the past year and a half, the crescent moon on its silver chain began to glow in recognition of her. Even after the passage of so many centuries, Doctor William Montgomery's light spell was still going strong.

It was an ingenious trick, really. Human-created enchantments had never been known for their longevity, but since this one was designed to be activated by the proximity of a particularly powerful magical being, Doctor Montgomery had taken the simple shortcut of powering it with Luna's own arcane resonance. Between innovations like that one and the distinction of being the only human to ever master unassisted arcane manipulation, it seemed only natural to name him the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era. Not to mention...

Luna's gaze drifted to the six pedestals spread evenly around the room. Six intricately-carved statues there paid tribute to humankind's greatest achievement, possibly excepting the royal sisters themselves. Harris and Montgomery's Elements, they had called them. Kindness. Laughter. Generosity. Honesty. Loyalty. Magic. The same elements that allowed the staff of the LUNA Project to work harmoniously together, even in their darkest hours, had been codified and immortalized here. The enchantments were truly powerful ones, but their greatest strength was the same as that simple light spell. Each element, instead of expending its own power, drew on the energy of its wielder. In the hooves of someone whose nature was sympathetic to its own, even a single element could be a very powerful tool indeed.

"Visiting the past again, little sister?" The gentle voice startled Luna out of her thoughts, and she turned to see Celestia in the room's arched entryway. The younger alicorn blinked and glanced out the windows, realizing that the sun had set while she had been pondering the objects around her.

"So that I may never again forget it," she replied solemnly.

Her elder sister entered the room, shaking her head, and settled beside her. Luna squirmed indignantly as a large white wing was laid across her back.

"We're not fillies anymore, Celestia," she grumbled. "You can't just... we're Princesses... this is... undignified."

Celestia just chuckled in response and pulled the wing tighter. "A wise young unicorn recently told me that having a sister is 'just about the bestest thing in the world.' I'm inclined to agree. But," her tone became more serious, "the same letter reminded me that it also takes teamwork. I think that, in that respect, we have been lax recently."

Luna glanced over questioningly, forgetting her indignation for the moment. "Where are you going with this, sister?"

The white alicorn didn't answer the question, instead gesturing around them with a foreleg. "The Elements always served us well. Together, we were unstoppable. No matter what beasts stood before us, threatening our little ponies, Harmony prevailed in the end."

"Except when the beast was one of us."

"Oh Luna," Celestia replied with a sad smile, "the monsters were always born of us, you know that. Our fears, or worries, or jealousy, or anger. It's a consequence of our nature."

"But it was only once that one of us become the monster."

"So it was, little sister, and without you by my side, I could not overcome it. But I willingly spent a thousand years alone, carefully nurturing and guiding this world down its path, teasing the threads of fate until they produced new bearers for the Elements, just to reach a single moment." Celestia put a hoof under the younger alicorn's chin, lifting it to meet her gaze. "The moment I got my sister back."

Luna had known, intellectually, that Celestia's entire gambit had been to imprison the jealous monster until it could be torn away from its host. But to hear her say it, and say it in that way, finally brought the full implications of that truth to light in the younger princess's mind. Her voice was small when she spoke, not the voice of a goddess, but that of a sister awed at the depth of her sibling's love for her. "You did it all for me. Not just to eliminate the threat, not just for Equestria, but... for me."

"All for you," Celestia confirmed with a warm smile. "My sister. And my greatest gamble of all paid off, because it was you yourself who ultimately let Harmony back into your heart."

Luna looked from her sister to the Elements arranged around them. They were the last relics left to them from those who had been their only family, and at times she could almost feel their spirits in those statues, as vain a fancy as that might be.

"They would forgive you too," Celestia said gently.

Some last remnant of self-blame finally broke in the young alicorn and she leaned into her sister, burying her face in her flowing aurora of a mane and letting long-held tears wet her cheeks. Celestia simply held her, stroking her back with a hoof until she lifted her head again.

"Thank you, big sister," Luna murmured. Celestia smiled at her again, that insufferable know-it-all smile of all big sisters, the one that she always got when one of her carefully-laid plans came to fruition. Luna couldn't even bring herself to glare at her.

"You are welcome, little sister. You are always welcome. Now come on." Celestia stood up with sudden briskness, the beginnings of a mischievous grin on her face. "There's a bright young unicorn who's on the verge of harnessing the power of the atom, and I know you've been itching to rekindle the study of long-distance communication. Sending post by dragon is terribly last-millennium, after all. What do you say we gainfully distract him with a special assignment from the Princess of the Night?"

"Oh Celestia," the blue alicorn began, but her affectionate rebuke was replaced by a slowly growing smile of her own as she stood. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Luna."

And with that, mankind's living legacy spread their wings and took to the starry night sky of their perfect world. There were still other challenges ahead of them, and other beasts would arise to threaten their lands, for nothing is truly perfect, but it would not be untrue to say that they lived happily ever after.