Another Mare's Sky

Chapters

1. White Noise
2. Initiative
3. Response
4. Propulsion
5. Work Order
6. Charter
7. Launch

1. White Noise

The New Pegasopolan Grand Observatory was a testament to ponykind's ingenuity. It was, in fact, not a part of New Pegasopolis at all; the architects had built it atop an unanchored cloud on the outskirts of the city, ensuring that it could easily escape any light pollution. The observatory relied on many non-cloud components that had to be sourced from ground settlements. Many were provided by pegasus colonies, but some were imported from New Unicornia during times of peace.

Regardless of the origins, the telescope was one-of-a-kind. It provided an unprecedented look into the workings of the night sky and had heralded a number of scientific discoveries during its more than eighty years of service. All of this was lost on White Noise, the technician on duty.

"Aaaaagh," he groaned, reclining in his chair as a classic orchestral song played through the speakers overhead and a constant grind came from the printer. It did not prove as soothing as he'd hoped. Currently, White Noise was waiting on the latest thaumospectrographic scan to finish rendering. He recalled perfectly well the memo that circulated several months ago, stating that "the NPeGO Advisory Board has determined that resources for the foreseeable future shall be allocated to the discovery and analysis of new phenomena in the region of space designated below..." At the time, the prospect of working with brand-new equipment searching for the great unknown had seemed absolutely thrilling, but he soon found that the vast majority of his time was spent simply waiting for the machinery to catch up.

The music and grinding sounds halted abruptly and the speakers issued a sharp "Ding!" to alert the technician that the render was complete. He turned his attention to the printer and carefully removed the freshly printed sheet. He carried it to a nearby table designed specifically to anchor the large renders that the analysis equipment produced, and fixed it in place. Switching on the overhead light and leaning forward to take a look, Noise immediately realized something was wrong.

A thaumospectrographic scan is used to detect the ambient magical signatures in distant objects. The technology was originally developed to locate Unicornian weapons and training facilities, but was easily adapted to studying space. Because every particle produces its own minute thaumic field, and because these fields change when specific elements and compounds are formed, analyzing the fields of distant stars can serve as an indicator of their composition. The NPeGO's new scanner was the first to be used for astronomy. It was cutting-edge—though naturally there were always rumors of what innovations the military had made—and could detect millions of variations in a single unified thaumic field. The device rendered these variations as millions of different colors overlaid around their points of origin.

Thus, it was a fairly obvious concern when White Noise saw that nearly a quarter of the star cluster he'd just scanned was enveloped in a solid white circle. His first response was panic, as thaumospectrography was time-consuming and he had evidently just wasted a full-spectrum scan. The white pegasus rushed immediately to the communication-gem inlaid in the wall nearby and tapped it. Once it lit up, indicating that the gem was transmitting to the desired pony, White Noise stammered out, "S-sir, something's gone wrong with the TS-scanner; the new render's feathered." His boss grumbled something incoherent that seemed to indicate he was on his way, and the gem went dark.

The stallion trotted dejectedly back to the table and began unpinning the sheet in order to throw it away. As he began to remove the last clip, though, he paused. A lesson from long ago came to mind; White is representative of active magic in thaumospectrography. That's a leftover precedent from when we could only render the scans in black and white, and unicorns were the only source of magic concentrated enough to show up. So the white circle wasn't necessarily a visual error—it could be an overwhelmingly powerful source of magical energy capable of registering on a cosmic scale.

That didn't help.

Still, White Noise felt like he ought to be doing something when his boss arrived, so he pulled out a ruler and found the center of the circle, where the source would theoretically be. "Sector 311, and..." he trailed off. "I need a star-chart."

White Noise pushed off from the table and hastily flew down to the archives three floors below. It didn't take long to locate the folder containing material pertaining to S-311, but it was thick enough—unusually so—that he didn't want to search through for a chart. Instead, he just grabbed the whole folder and returned to the lab, emptying its contents on an empty counter. He shifted pages around until he found what he needed. He spread out the star-chart and compared it to the new scan. After glancing back and forth a few times, he said with certainty, "The H. Lambda III system. Great." He frowned as he realized that the star-system in question was precisely on the epicenter of the circle; it didn't exactly prove his theory, but the alternative was far more likely and would have disproved it.

Fine. White Noise trotted back to the spread-out contents of the S-311 folder and tucked the star-chart inside. Before he could pack the rest of the sheets away, the headers on several of them caught his attention. He began to sift through them one by one.

H. Lambda III, Gravitational Anomalies.Revoked; author pending NPeGO-AB review

Unexplained orbital activity in Sector 311Revoked; author pending NPeGO-AB review

A study of anomalous orbital mechanics surrounding H. Lambda IIIRevoked; author pending NPeGO-AB review

Each report was dated far apart, with the most recent being more than thirty years old. White Noise briefly wondered if this was a cover-up of some sort, but it seemed unlikely. The reports were still there, readily accessible; he decided it more likely that simply nopony had ever realized different ponies were coming to the same conclusions about this one odd solar system. He opened up one of the reports, and the assertions it made sounded absolutely ludicrous. It was well-written and academic, certainly, but it outright claimed that H. Lambda III was orbiting one of its planets. And yet... The pegasus glanced back at the scan, evidently showing a massive magical field surrounding the star system. This is absurd.

He glanced up, hearing a door open downstairs. His boss had arrived. Keep your mouth shut. "Noise, I should not have to come here in the middle of the night and deal with your horseapples!" This could end me. A gruff brown pegasus trotted into the room and glared at White Noise. "You want to tell me what happened?" He's not going to believe what I found.

White Noise put on his most enthusiastic grin and said, "You're not going to believe what I've found!"

Author's Note

Here's an idea I've been entertaining for a long while, and finally started. The story, at least at first, will take the form of a series of connected but separate glimpses into the lives and actions of the ponies who played a major role in the discovery of and mission to Equus. It's also an opportunity to explore how pony society could have developed under divergent circumstances. I certainly welcome opinions and speculation; this was a fun world to construct.

2. Initiative

One week after discovery.
Guiding Wing watched through his scrying orb as a pegasus strike team advanced on the Unicornian arms depot. It was clearly meant to be a forward supply center for their western front, but they had positioned it close enough for small groups of pegasi to reach it undetected. If successful, the team he'd sent would capture the facility and Pegasopolan forces would be able to claim the surrounding territory, not to mention that the cache of magical equipment stored there would be invaluable for research and development.

A knocking sound brought Guiding Wing back to his immediate surroundings. He withdrew from the orb and looked around his office in the New Pegasopolan capitol building. "Yes, come on," he called. A young unicorn mare pushed the door open and stepped inside, wearing the NP-Sci uniform, but with even more of the patriotic wings-and-sky-blue decor than was standard regulation. This was hardly unexpected of a unicorn in New Pegasopolis, or anywhere in the Pegasopolan empire, given the inherent distrust most pegasi held towards their kind. Even Guiding Wing couldn't help but cast a suspicious gaze towards her as she entered.

The mare hastily—and somewhat clumsily—bowed. "Commander, sir," she began, "I work with the Grand Observatory, sir, and we've made-"

The pegasus cut her off with a long-suffering sigh. "Miss..." he trailed off, eyeing her. When she did not immediately provide her name, he continued, "Young miss, I have a nation to command and a war to fight. I suggest you discuss star-gazing with a pony more concerned with frivolity than myself."

"N-no, sir, you don't understand... We think we've found Discord..." She winced, her voice squeaking on the final word. As she'd expected, the Commander gave her an incredulous look for a moment before bursting into laughter.

That continued for a brief moment that she felt was closer to an eternity, while the most powerful pegasus in the world laughed in her face and she could do nothing but shuffle her hooves awkwardly. At last, he stopped laughing and turned back to her. "What's your name, young mare?"

"Crystal Clear, sir."

"Crystal Clear. Well, Miss Clear, I'm not sure how you've managed to get in my office, but I'm confident you're not speaking on behalf of the Grand Observatory. Tell me, are you even employed there?"

"Yes, sir!" she raised her voice defensively before wincing and lowering it again and speaking in a rushed breath; "Last week, we finished a thaumospectrographic rendering—a magic scan—of an area in space. We identified a solar system emitting enough magical energy to saturate space for light-years around. There are no unidentified objects or celestial phenomena in the system; the only physical abnormality we could detect... is that the star itself orbits one of its planets." Once she'd finished speaking, Crystal unbuckled her saddlebags and levitated several sheets of paper—copies of various maps and graphs—onto the Commander's desk. The blatant display of magic earned a frown from him, but she felt reassured to see him looking contemplative at least.

At length, he turned his attention from the papers and back to her. "Discord is a myth. Nothing more."

"Sir, he is a myth because all we've had are stories. Now, we might not have definite proof that he exists, but the scientific community can hardly deny that this is strong evidence in favor of the theory. A powerful leader with near-infinite magical power. He manipulated the sun and moon in impossible ways, moving them as he pleased whenever the whim struck him. Now we see a sun being moved in an impossible way, and inconceivably large amounts of magical energy being poured out in the process. Is it not conceivable that when Discord left, he went there? To that solar system?"

Guiding Wing shifted in his chair, grumbling slightly. "I'll admit, it is an interesting theory, Miss Clear." Her face lit up in time for him to finish, "But there's a war on." He took a final glance at the pages before pushing them back towards her. "We cannot divert resources from R&D or the military to support this, and Civil funding is stretched thin already. Do what you can with what you have."

Crystal gave a feeble nod, collected her papers—by mouth this time—and turned to leave. She paused halfway, bit her lip, and steeled herself. "I'm sure, sir, that the Unicorns will be eager to make up for losing the Moons Race. No doubt they've already learned about this phenomenon." She continued on her way out of the room, but as she pushed the door shut, she risked a glance at the Commander.

He looked furious.

One week, two days after discovery.
A three-tone alert rang through the speakers of the Pegasopolan Enyo-Base One (PEB-1), repeating several times. Captain Thatch Roof moved cautiously through the low-gravity environment toward the command center. He should have been there already—it was his hour for personal communications usage—but he'd needed to help Stem Bolt fix a burst pipeline near the oxygen scrubber. Now he was running late.

After making his way past the hydroponics dome and crew quarters, he reached the Command and Communications Center. Stepping up to the primary communications gem, which had been linked to a much larger stone that transmitted the signal back to Eris, Thatch sat down and pressed a hoof to the array. His brother, Slant, would be the only pony available today, so Thatch thought of him.

The gem lit up, and before the pegasus could get a word out, he heard Slant saying, "Holy horseapples, Thatch, you're not going to believe what's in the paper today!"

"Wait, hold up, we can talk news later. How's Rosewater doing?"

"Yeah, you too," Slant rushed out, obviously not paying attention. "But seriously, listen. Commander Wing held a press-conference last night. He's starting an initiative to send a manned ship to another solar system! You've gotta get in on that!"

Thatch Roof was so surprised by this news that he accidentally withdrew his hoof from the gem and broke the connection. He sat there for a moment, thinking, before he restored it. "Slant, are you sure this is genuine news?"

"Yeah, it's in the Pegasopolan Daily! And I don't think it's just political maneuvering either; he says the folks at the Grand Observatory found a solar system with conditions similar to what Eris's were rumored to be under Discord's rule."

"Well... Alright, I'll make some calls. If this is legitimate, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thanks, Slant."

"I'm always here for you, bro. Good luck!" The gem darkened again as the connection terminated.

Thatch Roof leaned back in his chair, staring up through the glass dome at Eris. He could just see the other moon, Bellona, beginning to rise over the eastern horizon. After a moment of admiring the view, he shifted again to reach the intra-base communications gem. He pressed it, and heard the speakers overhead crackle. "Powder, make sure everything's green in silos eleven through fifteen. We were having some power-flow problems the other day, and we need to be sure the missiles are ready to go at a moment's notice. I've just got word that things down below might be heating up."

3. Response

One week, two days after discovery.
The Council of Nobles was in turmoil.

Following the presumed death of Prince Iridium on Discord's final day, the unicorns had no leader. They had been scattered over unrecognized terrain and intermingled with the other races—it was terrifying. A few enterprising mares and stallions had tried to assert some claim to ultimate authority, but inevitably they quit or were killed. As their people were plagued by monster-attacks and famine, the political strife began to seem less important. Hundreds of years passed in near-anarchy. Finally, the remaining nobility—or those who claimed to be—agreed that a single leader would be inadequate in handling the myriad threats Discord had left in his wake, and chose instead to delegate different functions to different members of the nobility who could convene for a council from time to time.

The situation began to stabilize, and society reorganized itself into an imitation of what it had been long ago. As years turned to decades and centuries, ponykind grew more adept at taming their world and producing what they needed. The rough hoofshake-agreement that had lasted so long grew obsolete, and a document—the Iridium Charter—was drafted to formalize the division of powers. One of the driving motivations for this was the recent number of stallions and mares who had taken position on the Council through wealth and influence, but lacked any knowledge of the governmental functions they were meant to oversee. As such, one of the provisions in the Iridium Charter allowed for the election of councilponies by the lower nobility.

This proved to be a major step in the right direction for New Unicornia. Corruption was still a major presence, and the leadership structure had destabilized on rare occasion, but both diminished over time and more capable ponies were afforded the opportunity to effect positive change. Senseless wars against the pegasi were avoided (though inevitably there were still conflicts periodically), smart ponies were put in the position to utilize their intellect, and the years of famine all but ended. The ability to know, at any given time, which pony was best suited to make a decision on a particular topic had proved extremely valuable.

Despite all their progress, though, everypony had something different to say when the news broke that Pegasopolis had found Discord and was trying to make contact.

"We can't let the pegasi get there first! If they convinced Discord to return and help them, it could be the end for us all!"

"There's no sense in entertaining what is clearly a power-play on their part. They want to force our hoof, to see how we respond. It's beneath us."

"If there's even a possibility that we can find Discord, we have to try. The ancient prophecies tell us he will return and herald an age of plague for the pegasi!"

"This could very well be a ploy to cover for putting more ordinance in orbit!"

"My contacts within New Pegasopolis believe the reports are true, and that they've already begun construction on a ship!"

The cacophony had already lasted half an hour, since the beginning of the Council emergency-session called to address the situation. One major drawback of lacking a single definite leader was the struggle of maintaining order in circumstances such as these. Everypony had been fighting to have their voice heard, either claiming jurisdiction over the decision or trying to convince whomever they thought held jurisdiction that their input was the most valuable.

Violet Wake was one of the few ponies not contributing to the clamor, and was already quite certain what New Unicornia's formal response would be. This was because she had spent the week orchestrating it. Violet Wake was the Foreign Intelligence Chairpony, but her influence reached far beyond the confines of the Pegasopolan Empire. She had been the first to learn of the situation, and and verified the reports almost five days before their nation had gone public with them.

It suited Violet's interests for Unicornia to undertake a new space program, so in the time preceding the emergency meeting, she had met discretely with several councilponies who would also benefit from the undertaking, and advised them of the situation in advance. Now, she merely needed to let everypony talk themselves to exhaustion and then step in, give one final rousing speech, and call for a vote of condicionem mandatum. Her confidantes would ensure that her division was given formal oversight, and she could then begin the endeavor in full.

One week, three days after discovery.
It had gone precisely as she had predicted. The dark violet mare walked through the halls of the Technological Advancement and Arcane Research Institute, the most progressive and largest center of knowledge on the planet, on her way to meet with the Applied Sciences Chairpony—Cutting Edge. Violet had already directed an associate to begin drafting a plan to siphon money from other areas, but before that could be finalized she needed a cost estimate. Of course, the reason she came to the Institute herself was to ensure her interests in the project were protected.

"His office is just through there, ma'am." The young unicorn secretary who had guided her thus far gestured down an adjoining hallway before hastily departing.

Violet Wake pushed open the door to the councilpony's office and stepped through, briefly taking in the decor; there was none. To one side of the room was an ornate oak desk that looked completely out of place in an otherwise barren white room, and atop it were stacks of folders and documents which spilled onto the floor and piled up in a nearby corner. A sea-green stallion with wireframe glasses and an unkempt mane, relatively young to be a councilpony, faced one of the blank walls and muttered to himself quietly. His horn glowed softly, and various diagrams and equations shifted around on the wall.

Violet cleared her throat and Cutting Edge turned with a start. "Oh! Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, Miss Wake, right?" He rushed forward, halted abruptly, and then rushed forward again and embraced her in what looked to be some blended attempt at a hoofshake and a hug. He frowned, evidently unsatisfied at the attempt, and pushed her back. "Welcome to my home! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting... No, I... Yes! Welcome! What can I do for you?"

"I'm sure you'll recall from last night's events, I spoke in favor of the Curiosity Initiative?" The mare put on a disarming smile. She hadn't met this pony before, and though her research had suggested he was eccentric, it had not quite communicated the extent.

"Events? Nonono, I was far too busy to deal with events. The- The..." he trailed off, glancing at the wall where his diagrams were still displayed. "The... Yes! The Blink project." He paused, scoffing. "Events."

Blinking, Violet recovered quickly and explained, "Of course. We had an emergency meeting last night when the Pegasopolan Empire declared their intent to visit another solar system and find what they believe to be Discord. Unicornia is going to do it first, and do it better; we need you to make that happen."

Cutting shook his head, frowning. "Another solar system... I would love to work on that, but... I- No, I can't. Iron Hoof said he needed the blink-suit 'ASAP', and we only just started field testing." His frown deepened. "'ASAP'. What a strange construct. It would make much more sense if... No, that wouldn't work."

"Mister Edge, I have full oversight on the Curiosity Initiative and I've been granted blanket authority to requisition whatever personnel and materials are necessary to its completion. As of today, your Institute's primary focus is the determination and development of whatever components will be needed for a craft capable of taking ponies into interstellar space." She paused, raising the folder she had carried into the office and setting it on his desk. "That contains a timeline of... extraneous launches, and the specifications for how much unused volume and mass need to be assumed occupied in each of them. Ideally you can get your own materials into orbit with each launch, but all of those launches will be happening and will be carrying the contents I specify."

The stallion nodded as she spoke, lifting the folder and inspecting it after she passed it over. "Yes, I see... Yes. Though, the 'Curiosity Initiative'?"

Violet Wake's smile turned more genuine as she replied. "Our contacts in the pegasi's astronomy department have helped us identify the star in question, but we had not previously discovered it—given its odd nature, and the fact that their naming conventions differ from our own, I thought fit to assign it something more memorable than 'H. Lambda Three'."

"I'll, uh... Yes..." Cutting Edge continued flipping through the folder, nodding faintly but showing no indication that he had anything more to say.

One week, three days after discovery.
First Lieutenant Flank Maneuver walked the length of the supply depot, having just returned from checking with his forward scouts. They had seized the site with relative ease—it was clear that the unicorns had not finished fortifying, nor had they properly stocked it with guards and supplies. In fact, there was a significant lack of the heavy firepower Flank knew the brass had hoped to capture.

The collection of tents and the single Rapid-Assembly Reinforced Enclosure in the center contained standard firearms, ammunition, a few communication gems—not particularly valuable, but Pegasopolan assembly was limited by their number of enchanters—and little else. The Lieutenant had directed his field-engineer to take inventory of the materials, given that his medics and standard personnel were otherwise occupied. Stepping into the RARE, he called out, "Slick, where are you?"

The oily-black pegasus poked his head up from behind a row of crates in the corner. "Right here, sir! You might want to take a look at this." Flank trotted around the crates to see what the engineer had indicated; a smooth, silver safe had been crudely hidden behind the stacks of other supplies and partially buried in an unfinished hole. "Found it just like this; I reckon somepony was tryin' to hide it when the assault began, but didn't have time. Doesn't even look locked."

Flank Maneuver grumbled, leaning forward and pushing his weight against the lid to slide it open. The top slipped open suddenly and the stallion barely caught himself before falling forward. "Here, get your light on this..."

Slick gave a low whistle as he peered at the contents of the box alongside his Lieutenant. Inside, what appeared to be a strange hybrid of a saddle and a harness was carefully stowed in a foam mesh. Insulated wires ran along exposed surfaces, connecting various inlaid gemstones and unrecognizable ports to a sleek casing mounted on top of the garb. Engraved on the casing was a single word; 'Blink'.

4. Propulsion

Three weeks after discovery.
Tensile Strength wasn't drunk, honestly. He would be the first to admit he was something of a lightweight, but on this particular day, the unicorn was well below his limit. Still, as he sat at the bar counter with one of his coworkers, he felt much more open to discussing his recent project.

"I'm telling you, Phil, it's just not possible to travel twelve light-years without it taking vastly longer than twelve years, and we just don't have the funding or inclination for a generational ship. This project was dead the moment the Council ordered it."

Phillips Head sighed, thinking. "The limiting factor in the length of the mission is the speed you can reach, right? And the limiting factor on that is the amount of fuel you have..."

"-And no matter how badly the Council wants us to reach Curiosity, they're not going to pay for us putting a city-sized fuel tank in orbit."

They sat quietly for a moment after that, before a mare wearing the bar's uniform trotted over. "Can I get you two stallions anything else?"

Phillips remained silent, while Tensile's only response was a sullen shake of his head and a murmured "Thanks anyway." The former idly balanced his glass on one edge of its rim under his hoof. A thought crossed his mind and he suddenly sat up, withdrawing his hoof and letting the cup's base fall back to the counter and oscillate briefly.

"Hey, Phil," he said, looking intently at his drinking companion.

"Yeah?"

"What's the best way to accelerate a spacecraft without burning a lot of fuel?"

"A gravity assist, if you can manage one."

"Right, exactly. You fly close to a planet and use its pull to speed you up as you slingshot past. But... Were you involved with the Blink project?"

"My team helped assemble the prototype chassis, but we weren't privy to most of the design specs or anything."

"It was basically meant to be a rapid consecutive-use personal teleportation matrix. You strap in, you pull the harness a bit, and you blink forward a few meters. We rigged the distance traveled to be proportional to the force applied to the bit, but we never had a chance to test it outside the lab."

"I'm not sure where you're going with this, Ten."

He paused, taking another sip of his drink. "The science was sound. Using magical energy stored in the gemstones, a unicorn operator could theoretically travel kilometers without pausing, limited only by how long it took to visually decide his next jump distance and direction. But sitting here, I just thought, what if we rigged up a ship with that technology?"

"Can it even work on that sort of scale?"

"Buck if I know. I'm just saying, that's the first thing I've considered—or heard anyone else considering, for that matter—that even sounds conceivable. And even if it could function with something larger than a pony, there's no way we could bring enough energy to power rapid-succession teleports all the way to Curiosity, and if we stopped teleporting, we'd go shooting off in the wrong direction because our actual velocity would be maintained from when we left orbit."

"It sounds like you've already thought this through and decided it's a dead end."

"I had, a week ago. There's no way we could teleport all the way there, rapidly or otherwise. But I just realized... What if we didn't? What if our hypothetical crew just teleported into a trajectory that canceled out their orbit around Eris?"

"They'd go falling toward the planet... and then they could teleport back to a higher altitude!"

Speaking quickly, Tensile Strength exclaimed "Exactly! They maintain velocity upon completing the teleport and go flying back toward the surface, building speed all the while. Teleport, maintain velocity, build velocity by falling, repeat as necessary." He sat back, taking a breath and grinning. Phillips Head stared back, trying to fault the idea.

"What sort of speed could a vessel achieve, using that approach?"

"Relativistic, I imagine. It would take a while to reach it, but the only limiting factors to the maximum velocity would be the number of teleports possible and the operator's response time. If both were adequate, and you were willing to wait a while... You could approach the speed of light." He chuckled. "This isn't a solution by any means, but it's something to tell Edge about. If we really need to get to Curiosity stupid-fast, this is at least one avenue worthy of consideration."

Five weeks after discovery.
"Okay, ready?"

The pegasus strapped into the strange barding gave a nod, bit down on the mouthpiece, and pulled back slightly. There was a flash of light, and he reappeared instantly a meter in front of his previous location. "Woo!" he cheered, stomping a hoof. "You were right!"

"Thank my team," the red pegasus in the lab-coat replied. "They figured out what it was and decided it was safe." He paused, looking in admiration at the device. "Can you imagine the applications for technology like this if we can replicate it? Those screw-heads really outdid themselves this time."

The unicorn mare who had been standing near the corner smiled. Crystal Clear, still in a NP-Science uniform, stepped forward and leaned against the railing overlooking the test chamber. "I can certainly imagine one application in particular."

Five weeks after discovery.
Crystal Clear knocked on the door of the office belonging to the stallion appointed to oversee the Lambda project. He was a pegasus named Firestorm, but despite his name and the obvious intentions of his parents, he had decided to pursue a career in the academic world instead of the military. He beckoned for her to enter and she stepped through.

"Sir," she began, seeing him sitting at his desk. "We may have found a solution for the propulsion issue. A piece of stolen unicorn tech that allows for teleportation powered by stored magic."

Firestorm blinked, surprised. "No unicorns necessary?"

"None at all, after the matrix has been created and the gemstones are charged. I've directed a few ponies to start coordinating with the team who reverse-engineered the thing, and hopefully they can determine whether the design is viable for integration into a spaceship."

"Solid work, Crystal. What about Astronomy—any developments on that front?"

"No, sir. I've been collecting regular updates, but they've not learned anything new in the past few weeks. And... I should be clear, this teleportation drive is something of a moonshot, sir. It seems to have been designed for multiple rapid teleports, and I just don't see any way to power that."

"I understand, but you made the right call to get ponies started on it anyway. I happen to know a few ponies have been working on something that might solve the power issue perfectly. For now, just figure out how to best adapt your teleporter." Crystal nodded, bowed, and left. Firestorm turned back to the files laid out on his desk, each containing information on the most promising mission candidates. He knew that a definite selection would be impossible until the ship design and crew capacity were finalized, but with so many ponies wanting a spot on the prestigious voyage, he needed to start narrowing the list immediately.

A slight grin crossed his face as he worked. Modifying the unicorns' own technology to beat them in an interstellar race seemed absolutely brilliant, he reflected. They would never come up with something like this.

5. Work Order

Eight weeks after discovery.
The Chaotic Plateau had always been a significant landmark on Eris. It was in the rough vicinity of where the First Settlers found themselves. As the three races spread out and returned to their old tribal ways, the Plateau served as a center-point around which the three groups radiated. It had been the site of hundreds of battles and the focus of dozens of wars. It had very few natural resources apart from iron, but when taken into account that the location was also flat and extremely tectonically active, it proved perfect for industrial manufacturing.

Unicornia successfully seized the region over two hundred years ago and had managed to hold it ever since. The border between Unicornia and Pegasopolis had been pushed back significantly around the Plateau, and the unicorns had fortified it so heavily that the pegasi seldom attempted any attacks in the area. The main city containing all the factories and machinery was simply named 'Industrial Three,' and was generally agreed to be the ugliest and most dangerous place on the planet. It was a smothering blend of towering red-brick smokestacks, metal-grated catwalks, cobbled-together arcane discharge towers, and exposed channels of industrial runoff snaking throughout the city. In its earlier days, the area had also been plagued by frequent monster attacks, but the combined air and ground pollution had long since killed off anything else that might threaten the area's residents.

Neon Clock was a factory-floor overseer for one of DynamiCo Assembly's seven assembly plants in the greater Industrial Three area, and was one of their more valuable peons. He had a talent for keeping workers motivated and ensuring that projects stayed on schedule. Today, as on any other, the bright blue unicorn wore his hardhat, hazard gear, and name-badge which simply read, "Overseer. Clock, N." However, today, Neon received a work order that actually warranted more than a passing glimpse from him.

Using the communication gem linked to the factory-floor speakers, he called one of his workers in. The grey earth pony pushed the door open and glanced nervously at his boss before walking up and avoiding eye-contact. "Yes, sir?"

"Oh, come on, 'Nine! Just relax already, will you? I'm not gonna bite!" The grey pony continued to studiously examine the floor. "Fine, whatever. I just got word on what we'll be doing after the last of the warheads ship this evening." Neon spread out the diagram that had been included with the work order. "It's a Hydra-Class first-stage booster. It's what the pegasi used to put their first moon-base in orbit!"

The earth pony gave a slight nod. "Understood. I'll tell the rest of the workers."

Neon sighed. "It'd be great if you could show a bit of enthusiasm, 'Nine. This has got to be part of the rocket that's taking us to Curiosity, and you get to personally help build it! You should be grateful!"

The earth pony gave a slight nod, still speaking in a low monotone. "I am grateful. Is that all, sir?"

"Yes! Just go! I'll look over the specifications and start distributing individual work assignments after lunch."

"Yes, sir."

Neon watched as the grey earth pony quietly left the room after that. He was relatively mundane in appearance, especially since his factory jumpsuit was a dull grey that blended in with his coat and covered his cutie-mark. In place of a name-badge, he just wore a lanyard around his neck with the label 'A-9-239'. The unicorn sighed once the door to his office had shut once more, and muttered under his breath "Featherin' mud pony."

Outside the office, 'Nine was met by a fellow worker wearing a concerned expression. "How'd it go? Does he know?"

The grey stallion shook his head, a relieved grin slipping onto his face as he glanced behind himself at the shut door. "He has no idea. The idiot just wanted to see if I was excited about what we're working on next."

"What is it?"

"Buck if I know. Some heavy-lift rocket booster, and something about 'taking us to curiosity.'"

"Well, it hardly matters, just so long as we're in the clear. Slate's going to be waiting on the roof with his unicorn contact when we're loading the warheads into the truck. I've made sure there'll be a distraction too, so nopony notices a few crates flying away."

'Nine nodded. "Have you gotten word on how they'll be used yet?"

"No, and that's probably for the best. Now we should get back to the floor; no sense in pushing our luck, Hammer."

That night, in a small, long-forgotten warehouse in an outer district of Industrial Three, a different grey earth pony worked to unload a pile of crates from within a tarp-covered wagon. He was aided by a tall yellow unicorn.

Slate shook his head as he lifted. "I still don't get it, Lemon. Why're you helping a bunch of mud-ponies like us?"

"It is as I said before. My kind has inflicted a terrible wrong on yours, and we perpetuate that wrongdoing every day that we withhold your freedom. Perhaps your cities will forever be ruins and nopony will ever see New Earth again, but I at least have the choice to go look for it. You deserve that same choice."

"Well, I sure as hay thank you for it. The Earth Pony Liberation Army thanks you for it." He paused, looking in admiration at the stack of explosive-filled crates they had unloaded. "And now, we'll be able to make a real difference for our cause. We'll be able to do a lot of good with these."

6. Charter

Twelve weeks after discovery.
Firestorm, director of the pegasi's Lambda Project, was having a bad day. Yesterday, Unicornian officials had announced plans to launch their interstellar voyage in little more than a month. For the past eighteen hours, everypony from his assistants to the Commander himself had been demanding to know how this was possible. The worst part was that he had no idea what to tell them; the only reasonable explanation was that they had technology considerably more advanced than anything anyone had suspected.

Eleven weeks after discovery.
Violet Wake stared down her snout at Cutting Edge, who sat fidgeting across from her. "What, exactly, is this?"

The Applied Sciences Chairpony gestured toward the documents and design portfolio that he had delivered to Violet. "It, ah... You see, it says..." He leaned forward, gesturing to a header identifying the page as "Minotaur Retrofit".

"Yes, I see. And I saw your timetable, too; how is that even possible?"

"You said this needed finished quickly... We, ah... One of our Minotaur stations never orbited--we can modify it for longer sustainability, and mount a new propulsion system on it, pre-launch."

Violet scowled. "How sure are you that this propulsion system will work?"

"It- I mean, it should... Or, it does, but we've not stress-tested..." He frowned. "It should work, and we can build it quickly."

There were a few minutes of silence as Violet shuffled through the various papers, trying to understand the stallion's intentions. "I see how the acceleration works, I think, but... The numbers don't add up. You're only storing enough magic on the ship to power two... maybe three accelerations. Wouldn't you need at least four, since you have to slow down each time?"

Cutting Edge shook his head. "Aerobraking." He saw her lack of comprehension and continued, "We're only storing enough energy two accelerations and a short-term heat-shield. Curiosity has, uh... Well, it's like ours. Air, I mean. It has an atmosphere, and we're gonna let the ship hit it to slow down."

Violet blinked. "If you're doing that on the return trip too, I imagine we'll have to warn ponies beforehoof... That sounds absolutely terrifying." She paused a moment more, and then added, "Actually, this whole concept sounds absolutely terrifying and haphazard."

In a rare show of confidence, Cutting advocated for his idea, albeit not very thoroughly; "I think it will work."

With something between a sigh and a groan, Violet leaned back in her chair. "Alright. If you're confident in it, and it ensures that we win this space-race, it'll be worth it. Get started immediately; I'm going to need to make some calls... These power requirements will probably drain Fort Hoof's entire cache of high-density gemstones."

Twelve weeks after discovery.
Firestorm looked up from his array of documents as Crystal Clear rushed into his office. "Good. What's the word?"

"I spoke to Cog this morning, and he says your power-siphoning idea could work. Provided the tech is up to the specs you sent, in any case. He's got his group working on a final draft of the ship design now that propulsion is sorted."

The stallion nodded, looking a bit relieved. "That's...better news than I'd hoped. Is that all?"

Crystal sighed. "I'm afraid not. I asked Cog if there was any way to expedite the design process by utilizing an existing model, but nothing we've built in the past is going to cut it. It's my understanding that in order to sustain a functional teleportation range as long as we'll require, and still be able to keep the crew alive, the engineers will need to design a craft lighter than any we've used before."

"Brilliant. It seems the unicorns have the upper hoof, after all."

"Perhaps, sir. They'll undoubtedly launch their ship first, but there's no telling how effective or how fast their propulsion system is. Regardless, you should now be able to finalize your crew selection and inform the candidates; Cog has assured me the ship will be able to carry six ponies."

"Yes, very good." Firestorm rose to his hooves, pausing briefly to condense the papers on his desk into a single stack, and then spoke officiously. "Crystal Clear, are you willing to serve your nation and undertake a daring, potentially dangerous mission among the stars?" His voice softened. "You've been hooves-on with every element of this project from the beginning, and you probably know some of the other candidates better than I do."

Several emotions flashed across the mares face, beginning with shock and ending with enthusiasm, but with a fair amount of fear and hesitation between. After a minute, she nodded. "I am willing, sir. Thank you."

Firestorm grinned widely. "Just don't let me down, Crystal. I'm counting on you to be the first unicorn on Lambda Prime."

7. Launch

Eighteen weeks after discovery.
It was a momentous day for Unicornia. In truth, it was momentous for all ponykind, but to the pegasi, the occasion was soured by the sting of defeat. Eighteen weeks ago, a pegasus astronomer had discovered the likely home of their former ruler, and in the time since, the pegasi had confirmed the planet to likely be habitable. They had declared their intentions to send a team of ponies to investigate, but the unicorns had beaten them to it. Today, the unicorns launched their mission to Lambda Prime.

Thirty miles to the east of Industrial Three, the Endeavor dominated the horizon. A fully-assembled and heavily modified space station, with aerodynamic plating mounted to its top and a massive single-stage rocket booster beneath it. The station was never intended to reach orbit in one piece, and the rocket would be incapable of getting it there anyway. Instead, it was simply meant to carry the station a safe distance above the launchpad before allowing the craft's internal teleportation matrix--dubbed a "Jump Drive"--to bring it into space. It would not be in orbit, but through a series of additional teleports, could build the necessary velocity to escape the planet's pull.

Dozens of earth ponies and a few unicorns milled around the base of the rocket, performing final checks and ensuring that everything was ready. The four-pony crew had already boarded, and they were conducting checks of their own. The crew had been chosen hastily, given the rushed nature of the mission, but all four were experts in their field. Only two had been in space previously, but they were the best that Unicornia had.

With the launch less than five minutes away, the crowd of onlookers were growing restless. There were, naturally, hundreds of unicorn spectators that had shown up to see the historic event, but there were also several pegasi diplomats who had been invited. They sat in an isolated section of the Launch Control building, watched over by several guards.

"T-minus four minutes," a mare's voice broadcast over the speakers spread throughout the facility.

The ponies around the base of the rocket gathered any remaining tools and began to move away. A slate-grey earth pony paused briefly to discretely speak into a communication gem before moving away with everypony else.

In the control room, ponies sat hunched over displays and communication consoles, working away.

"T-minus three minutes."

Among the crowd of onlookers, several ponies moved around, wheeling carts loaded with various snacks and selling them at exorbitant prices.

"T-minus two minutes."

In a small autonomous signal-routing hub next to the custodial closet, an earth pony worked furiously at rewiring machinery and gaining control of the broadcast system.

"T-minus one minute."

The earth-pony finished his work and turned around, nodding to another who stepped forward and cleared his throat, standing over a communication gem.

"Ten... nine... eight... seven..."

The sound of hydraulic whirring and hissing filled the air around the launch-pad as the clamps attached to the rocket began to loosen and withdraw.

"Six... five... four..."

Alarm klaxons began blaring and red lights began circling on every external structure.

"Three... two... one..."

The last of the mooring clamps released and the massive booster engine ignited, slowly pushing the massive craft into the air.

"We have ignition! The Endeavor has cleared the launch pad. All systems reading stable, ascent appears stable, crew reports-"

A burst of static interrupted the launch announcer and several seconds of silence on the speakers followed. The ponies in Launch Control did not even notice, until a different voice filled that silence.

"Today, our nation undertakes an endeavor to claim its place among the stars. Yet, this Endeavor was built on the backs of slave-labor, and there is no greater proof that we are not worthy of the stars' bounty." The security ponies watching the pegasi diplomats exchanged a few words before rushing off to find the source of the transmission. "You will not escape justice with your tin rocket. You will not hide from your actions. Until we are free, you shall not be." With that, a deafening boom louder than the roar of the rocket washed over the crowd, and the various displays in Launch Control lit up with warnings and failure-alerts.

As the warheads hidden in the empty section of the booster detonated in sequence, the rest of the fuel blew up at once and the whole length of the rocket fragmented and exploded outward. The debris fell away as the payload--the station itself--continued upward, carried by momentum and the force of the blast.

Knowing that the craft had no safety measures, an unfortunate side-effect of such a rushed design, one pony in Launch Control had a bright idea. He rushed forward and slammed his hoof down on a communication gem and shouted at them to use the jump-drive. His message was never heard, both due to the signal being hijacked by the freedom-fighters and the fact that the explosion had damaged the Endeavor's communication systems. Fortunately, the mission's captain had the same idea, and gave the same order.

With a flash of light brighter than the detonation moments earlier, the craft vanished.

In the hours that followed, news reached the wider Unicornian public and Pegasopolis that a faction of earth-pony freedom fighters had attempted to sabotage the Curiosity mission. Rumors and suspicions circulated that the pegasi had orchestrated it, but there was far too much evidence to the contrary for any such fears to spark a wider conflict. Stargazers and satellites alike confirmed that the Endeavor had succeeded in reaching the Eris exosphere, and was already undergoing its acceleration process. With communications not yet restored, the ground team had no way of knowing the crew's condition, but the ship would remain above Eris for nearly a year before leaving for Curiosity.

Eighty weeks after discovery.

After months of delays and last-minute alterations, the final iteration of the Guiding Wing was ready. The name itself was one of the last changes made to the ship, given after the late Commander's assassination. There had been talk of even more launch postponements, but after his death and the continuous subsequent military escalations, there was a general sense among ponies that the launch might never happen if it did not happen soon.

The Guiding Wing would rest in its hanger for a few days more before transferring to the launch pad. Its six-pony crew had long since been selected, and had spent most of the past year training specifically for the mission. Despite the presence of a unicorn among them, the team could not be more close-knit. Crystal Clear had, in fact, bonded well with the other ponies and earned their respect.

The ship itself was a work of art and a marvel of engineering. It was long and slender, designed specifically for the mission. Through careful use of recycling technology and lots of redundancy, the design allowed for minimal storage space. Carefully stowed within a closed-away aerodynamic hatch was the key to the mission; an ultra long-range magic receiver. It was modeled on the ones used to send power to moon-bases, but redesigned so that it could collect that energy without a specialized transmitter. In effect, the Guiding Wing would draw its power from its destination. That power would be used to charge the engines for several extremely long teleports. Each charge would require years, but that time would diminish with each jump as the ship grew closer to its power supply.

It was no secret that one celebrated physicist had run the numbers and found that the pegasi would likely reach Lambda Prime before the unicorns did.

With only days until they left, the crew's training had finally ended. Most were resting and spending time with their families. They knew that soon, they would leave on the greatest voyage in pony history. They could only hope Discord was waiting for them at the end.

Author's Note

Thus endeth Another Mare's Sky, but the story continues in Beneath Distant Stars, which explores the repercussions of the discoveries made when the crew of the Lambda Mission reach their destination. It is told primarily through mission logs written by the crew.