They say that there's a beginning and an end to everything, and that some things are just to good to be true. Such was how Equestria once was; a beautiful, peaceful land filled with all sorts of mystical creatures. Among these was one creature that ruled over the lands, known simply as: the pony.
Ponies came in any shapes and sizes, and accompanying these were three tribes known as: the Pegasi, the Unicorns, and the Earth Ponies. Ruling over all three tribes were the Alicorns; deities to the ponies, who contained the power of all three tribes.
It's said that Equestria was once a dangerous place, filled with ancient evils and ruled by cruel tyrants. That death followed close behind those who were not strong enough to survive, and grabbed them from behind with its cold, bony fingers when they had no more willpower left to live.
It is also said, that in such times, the three pony tribes tried, and failed, to establish peace between them. Each blaming the others for what was wrong in the world. There was one thing that was the same between them though; belief. They all believed that the two celestial bodies in the sky, were gods; which would one day descend and bring peace to the land.
In an age of chaos and darkness, there seemed no hope for the ponies of Equestria. It was in this time that ponies called to their gods the most, and in the midst of destruction, their prayers were answered.
It was the longest day of the year, and the peak of the tyrant Discord, the lord of chaos' rule. On that day, the sun and the moon aligned, and a blinding ray of light came down from the celestial bodies, and as the two separated, standing before Discord at his own throne were two Alicorns, one with the mark of the sun, one with that of the moon. Together these beings overthrew Discord using the power of the sun and moon to forever banish the tyrant from the world.
Together under the rule of the Alicorns, which were given the respective names of Celestia, being the older and of the sun, then Luna, being the younger and of the moon; the tree tribes were able to settle differences, and the two deities brought a new era of peace to the once chaotic lands.
For thousands of years these two brought bright times to the ponies, and soon, all was but forgotten of the era before the sun and moon sisters.
But such times cannot last forever, and a shadow grew upon another day. A day that only two, royal deities knew was coming. Trying as they might, the sisters did not prepare the ponies for what that fateful day had in store.
Ten thousand years to the day, the moon passed in front of the sun, and aligned perfectly with each other once again. With a flash of light they had come, and with a flash of light they were gone.
Feeling abandoned by their leaders, the ponies were confused and chaos once again took hold of Equestria, but in a new form.
First there were the droughts, long periods of time in which there would be no rain, not enough water, and not enough food for ponies to live. That brought starvation to much of Equestria.
Then there was the Plague. Ponies everywhere were getting sick, dying in the streets, becoming homeless. There was no cure.
Then there were earthquakes, and mountains of rock sprung out from the ocean spewing forth vast rivers of molten lava from deep within the earth. Cities and towns close to the shores were covered in an unforgiving darkness as ash blocked the sun away from civilizations, and charred alive every living creature as the hellish heat burst through the streets.
Tsunamis flooded the lands, tearing down even the strongest of structures, and grinding them into nothing but gravel over time.
Seeing no other options, the ponies of Equestria took action, and took to the skies.
The vast void of space being the only places not affected by the natural disasters, the advancing of the pony race was their only way to survive. Top scientists labored hard and torturous hours in the advancement of technology, rather then magic, and soon found their way above the world.
There these ponies remained, orbiting the planet for hundreds of years upon years in the ship known as Rebirth, with only the hopes of one day returning to their home.
Chapter 1: We're crashing!
The shuttle started to shake as the descent into the planets atmosphere began. All five ponies were present and accounted for, sitting in the cockpit looking out, and seeing nothing but a dark cloud layer below. "See anything over there?" Swift Flight asked as the ship drew closer and closer to the dark mass.
"Nothing but clouds and more clouds," the mare sitting in the passenger seat next to him said as she peered out her side of the window. "Lucky! You got that radar display back up yet?!"
There was a clinking noise like something fell on the floor and a grease covered Lucky Gear came out from a room behind us. "They should be now, Skarlet," he said trotting up the the front of the cabin, leaning over Swift pulling a lever.
"Hey!" Swift voiced in annoyance, "Get off of me. I know what switch it was and I didn't need your help," a display panel came to life off to Swifts side. "All righty, we're entering the Mesosphere... now," he looked over at the altitude indicator, "50 miles above last calculated sea level and dropping, we should be landing in minutes, buckle up everypony," Lucky Gear took a seat behind Swift. And behind Lucky a pony Swift still didn't know, but heard her referred to as Heart sat and buckled up the seat. Then Skarlet buckled up to his left, and behind her another mare that had been referred to as Kass during mission briefing sat and readied for landing.
"Enter Stratosphere in 3... 2.. 1." Swift announced over the rattling of the ship as it dropped into the clouds. "We're in. Lucky," Swift called behind himself, "Hit the switch I pointed out for exterior fans,"
Lucky leaned up a bit and flipped a switch and the shuttle started jumping around more then it already was, then the surrounding area outside the craft cleared as the fans blew away cloud, but revealed nothing but more cloud around them. "According to the indicator, we're no more then a mile off the ground," Swift called out. And as he did a bolt of lightning struck the space shuttle. Then another, and another.
A bolt struck suddenly somewhere atop the shuttle and a blaring alarm started wailing in the cabin as a red light dropped from the ceiling and spun around. "Whats happening!" Swift heard one of the voices from behind him call out above the siren.
"I don't know!" Swift said, moving the control wheel around, "The wheels moving but the ship isn't!" Swift risked a glance at the altitude and found it was rapidly decreasing. "Hold on to something!" the shuttle continued to plummet downward. "Four thousand feet!" Swift called out, "Three thousand...! One thousand!" the ground appeared below them and Swift was slammed forward, hitting his head on the consul and getting instantly knocked unconscious.