A Danger in the Stars

Chapter 6

We sat on top of a hill, Vector by my side, as we watched Princess Luna’s beautiful night. Although I knew that the space above wasn’t Luna’s doing, I still appreciated her nights because she was the one who brought darkness which enabled us to see the far off stars, and rose the beautiful moon the shone in the night skies. Unlike most systems, Equestria Prime was the only one that had its sun and moon revolving around the planet. The two revolved around our planet, yet they didn’t have their own orbit. Instead, they revolved around through the use of the Princess’s magic, which was powerful enough to do thing gigantic feat. Now, I wasn’t a unicorn, so I don’t understand most magical spells and all that stuff, but I knew that it must take a lot of energy to do things like that. Moving the sun or moon was no simple task.

Looking towards the moon, I smiled at the sight of the large white orb. Its beautiful circular shape and bright light, that illuminated the dark sky, was a perfect addition to the night.

It was also a key location for interstellar travel, as it also acted as the key space port to any ship that wants to go to Equestria Prime.

Ever since the first base was set up on the moon, it has been the hub for exploration and space travel. Early space probes were usually launched from the moon, since it was easier to launch satellites, thanks to the moon’s low gravity, and send them off to explore the vastness of space. When ponies developed ‘Faster than Light engines’ and created larger vessels the moon has been used as a major base for the launching of colony ships and a port for military and trading vessels.

The moon currently holds a dozen different bases, used for both military and civilian purposes. It has docks, to service vessels, and shipyards where new vessels are built for the military, trading, and colony departments. It was also place were tourist from Equestria Prime could go and visit, seeing that it was the closest celestial body to our planet.

Unlike interstellar travel to the colonies, travel to the moon was open to the civilian population, in the form of tourism, as it was cheaper to do and would provide extra income. Ponies and other races from Equestria flock to the moon, to experience the wonders of space travel, despite the short distance it took to get there.

The moon was the place were space travel started and continues to be a place where space travel continues, with its ever expanding goals and exploration.

Now, as I look towards the moon, I felt like I was looking at a piece of history. The moon was no longer a source of light during night, but also the cornerstone of space travel.

“Have you ever thought of going to the moon?” Vector asked, breaking the silence that surrounded us.

The question caught me by surprise, as he never asked things liked that before, as I was silent for a moment. But I managed to catch what he said, as I started to think it through.

“Hmm…” I said before nodding. “…well, yeah. With my love of the stars above and dream of going to distant planets, I think heading to the moon would be a part of that. Sure, travel to the colonies is almost impossible right now, for us I mean, but someday it will happen. But till then, a ticket to the moon sounds nice.”

“Yeah…” He said before sighing. “…that does sound like a great plan. You’re dream of going to space and seeing it all. But you know what, I think you’re dreams are starting to rub on me, since I think I want to go to space too.”

I smiled at him, a genuine bright smile that I usually gave when I was happy.

“But unlike you, I don’t want to go to space as a passenger. I want to go to space as a pilot, to steer my own helm and fly through the cosmos. I want to fly my own ship, taking it through the speed of light and seeing the distant planets and celestial bodies.” He said.

A frown formed on my face as I stared at him with slight worry. “But Vector…” I began. “…the only way for you to do that is either become a trader, pass their exam which I’m sure you would (He was a math genius and would most likely ace it) and wait, since they only make pilots out of senior members. That would mean that you would have to wait another five years before you fulfill that dream!”

“No, Silver, I can’t wait five years before I quench this dream. I have been holding this back for a long time and now that I am of proper age, I could finally fulfill it. That is why I’m taking the other option.”

I gasped as I stared at him in disbelief. I look into his eyes, hoping that he was joking, but saw nothing but a serious look, the same look plastered all over his face. The look of a pony who wanted to fulfill a long awaited quest.

“You can’t mean…” I began, but was stopped when Vector nodded and spoke.

“Yes, Silver, I’m signing up for the E.S.F. I think the fleet needs young ponies like me and I bet I would be able to pass their exam. In a matter of one year, maybe even less than that, I would be flying a space vessel, towards the distance of space, in speeds faster the light. I would be able to fulfill my dream and maybe even learn a thing or two on the way.”

“But, you can’t…” I whimpered as I looked up at him. I didn’t want my best friend to leave and go to space. One, that would mean he would be able to fly vessels to the far of fringes of the galaxy, exploring different systems, which was I wanted to do, minus the flying vessels part. Second, it would mean that he would leave me, all alone with nopony to be with.

We had grown a close relationship over the years. We had known each other for a long time and knew one another personally. He knew my secrets and I knew his. We were one piece of each other, a true friendship.

So if he left, then a piece of my heart would be missing, longing for it to return. I don’t think I could take it, seeing him go with the probability of not returning.

Trying to push the sorrow away, I gave him a firm look and tried to sit up straight, puffing out my chest and giving him a determined look.

“Well, if you’re going, then I’m joining too.” I told him with a serious note.

But he only chuckled and shook his head. “Silver, you know that you’re one year younger than me, meaning that you’re not of legal age to join up. They’ll never let you in, especially with that data base of theirs, they’ll no your under age the moment you conduct that iris scan. You’ll just be wasting your time. Besides, with your math scores, the fleet will pat you to stay away from them.” He added the last part with a playful tone.

“Hey!” I complained, slightly annoyed. “It’s not my fault that numbers hate me!”

“Sure they do…” He said, rolling his eyes. This caused me to get even more annoyed as a playful idea popped in my head.

So without a second thought, I jumped up and tackled him, toppling us over and forcing us to roll down the hill. Giggles and chuckles escaped us as we rolled down, without a care in the world. It was a gently ride down, and aside from a couple of bumps, so we managed to reach to bottom in one piece.

As we stop with a thud, I ended up on top of him, my fore hooves pinning him down as our faces met. Our eyes locked on to each other, as we stayed in that position, for Luna knows how long.

We remained in that position in utter silence, not a single one uttering a word. I looked towards him with a sad look on my eyes, knowing no matter how hard I try to convince him, he would try to fulfill his dream. But who was I to stop him? Dreams were stronger than any force in this universe, for it is the one the drives us. If I stopped him from fulfilling his, then it would be equivalent to killing him. So I knew that I had to let him go, no matter how painful it would be for me.

The only thing that worried me was, if he went out to space, he might forget me. Forget the time we had spent with each other. Forget the beautiful moments that we had. It might come to a point that he wouldn’t remember me and would lead to him leaving forever, never to return. The thought of it scared me and I didn’t want it to become a reality.

“Promise you’ll never forget me…” I said, burying my muzzle on his chest and hugging him. “…promise me you’ll return.”

“Of course I will…” I said, as I felt his hoof caress me mane. “…how could I forget a silly pony like you? Besides, I’ll be sure to visit when I get a leave, I don’t think the military would keep as locked away from civilization forever.”

I smiled as I rested myself on top of him. This was enough to resolve my doubts. I knew he would fulfill what he said, for he never broke a promise. From all the years I knew him; he never lied to me and was always true to his word. So I didn’t doubt him a single bit.

But sadly for me, the promise was never kept. On his eight month of training, during a training mission, my best friend, Vector, was killed. As he flew over the surface of the moon, with an instructor onboard with him, his training shuttle’s flight system malfunctioned, causing it to go out of course and impact the cold surface of the moon. The shuttle killed everpony in impact, there were no bodies recovered as the speed of the crash disintegrated everything.

I received the news of his death on my birthday, I had just turned eighteen.

The news of his death devastated me, knowing that he was gone forever. I would never see him again and the promise he made would never happened. At first I didn’t want to believe it, telling everypony that it was fake. He made a promise and he would never break it!

But the realization soon started to sink into me and I stopped denying it. It was reality hitting me and the impact hurt so bad, that I couldn’t believe it. It was as if everything stopped and fell from the sky.

The moments we spent together flashed before my eyes, as if I was the one who was about to die. I might as well have, since the other half of my heart was now gone, engulfed by the moon’s rocky surface.

I remembered locking myself in my room, refusing to leave, despite my parent’s begging. I stayed there for days, eating nothing and wishing that the world to end. Sadly for me, it didn’t. I cried and cried, till I thought an ocean had formed inside my room. The pain in my heart was just too much and for days, I didn’t know what to do.

But after some thinking, I finally decided upon something. If Vector died trying to fulfill his dream, then I should do the same. Knowing that I wouldn’t qualify for the fleet, there was only one place for me to go.