Old Mare's War

2

“You know…” Applejack said, after swallowing the donut she was eating. “…when we signed up ECDF, I expected a lot of things. But never did I expect to see us all sitting around and eating donuts.”

Sitting right beside her, Rainbow Dash only nodded as she finished another donut, living the crumbs on the plate. Looking around her, she could see that what Applejack said was no exaggeration. With couches, chairs, casual paintings, potted plants, an H.D.S., a bookshelf, and wooden tables that had plates of donuts and cups of coffee on top, the room looked more like lobby for a low cost hotel than a waiting room of the ECDF. But the two didn’t complain about the luxury, seeing that they were glad to finally relax after undergoing the ECDF’s complicated system of confirming their intention of joining the force.

When they arrived at the recruitment center, they were first questioned about they’re identity, as they tried to confirm they were who they said they were. After the iris scan, they were sent through a simple mental test before being bombarded by a pile of paper work regarding the terms they needed to agree to. Having finished all the required paper work and confirmation, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, were shuffled inside this big waiting room, as the Sky Shuttle that was assigned on picking them up was still en route.

At first, Rainbow Dash though they would be thrown inside a boring old room, with nothing to do but wait. But she was quickly proven wrong when she saw that the room was filled a large amount of devices, food, and objects that could keep them entertained during the wait.

Turning her gaze to one corner, she could see H.D.S playing an old movie about the Equestrian Marines during a fictional ‘Second Changeling Invasion’. She remembered seeing the movie before and thought that it had not plot at all as it captivated its audience by the large scale fighting scenes and explosions.

Seeing it once more, she wished that they would have showed something else. But seeing that they just signed up to a military organization, the purpose of showing it must have been to make then excited and psyched at the decision they made. Too bad it wasn’t working.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited at the decision she made, because she was. But trying to encourage an elderly pony’s excitement by showing a no plot action movie was not the best idea. Sure, it might have work for young ponies who can easily be excited by loud explosions and shouting, seeing that the young mind can easily be influenced by the sudden rush imagery. But for seventy-five year old ponies, whose minds weren’t attracted by simple explosions and cursing, showing a film like this was going to lead to nothing but them criticizing the inaccuracy of the movie.

To Rainbow Dash, showing a movie about space would seem more exciting than a fictional war movie. Instead of explosions, she wanted images of distant stars, galaxies, planets that ponies have colonized. To see images of space and worlds beyond the skies, that was what she wanted to see. She remembered the nights she gazed up to the stars, wondering if she would see them up close one day. She remembered her attempts to break the barrier that separated her and space, trying to fly higher and higher, only to fail.

Looking back at all her attempts, she couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing how silly they were. Unlike her young naïve self, she now knew better. She now knew that ordinary pegasi can’t just fly up and reach outer space. Wings won’t take her to the cosmos above, for only rockets could break the barrier that led to space. But rockets were expensive and not everypony could afford it. It would take years before Equestria was capable of sending ordinary ponies to space and by that time, Rainbow Dash was sixty years old. Through the Colonial Ministry’s ‘Space for Equestria Program’, Ponies, Griffons, and any sentient being was given the opportunity to go to space, with the catch of settling in the planet they were assigned to and living the rest of their lives there.

Rainbow Dash would have jumped to take that opportunity to go to space, even if it meant living the rest of her life in a distant planet. She didn’t care about the settling part, for the chance to see the world outside was a perfect trade for her.

But there was only one problem; she was too old to pass the test for eligible settlers.

The Colonial Ministry put a standard for their settlers, in which they must be fit, below the age of forty, and must have an IQ of 100 and above. These standards were created to ensure a high survival rate for its colonies, since it believed that competent and strong settlers would enhance the chances of a colony lasting. With the standard impose; Rainbow Dash’s hope of going to space was crushed once more

Of course, there was also the option of having a professional job that no young pony had, but Rainbow Dash didn’t have any professional job or ability that was rare.

For five years, she sulked at the idea that her farfetched dream would always remain out of reach. But her hopes were once again given a boost up when Twilight proposed the plan of them joining the ECDF. With the prospect of extending her life and finally being able to go to space, Rainbow Dash was one of the first to agree to the plans.

Now, as she sat inside the waiting room, she waited knowing that she would soon fulfill her dreams. She just hoped that those space ships have window seats.

She broke away from her thoughts when she noticed Applejack stand up and head towards the table to get another donut for her to eat.

“Really, Applejack, another donut?” Rainbow Dash said, as she watched her friend place another donut on her plate and take her place on her Seat. “I expect something like this from Pinkie Pie, but not from you.”

“Now, Rainbow, it would be real impolite if we let good donuts like this go to waste. So I say we eat as much donuts as we can.” Applejack said before taking a bite. “Ain’t that right, Roseluck?”

She said, beckoning the cream colored earthpony mare to support her.

Roseluck, who was sitting to the left of Rainbow Dash, removed her glasses and put down the book she was reading to look over Rainbow Dash and stare at the orange farm pony. She had been listening to half of their conversation as she read her book, and knew enough to know what they were talking about.

“I don’t know Applejack…” She said. “…I might have to side with Rainbow Dash on this one. I don’t think all those sugary donuts would be good for your blood sugar.”

“Oh come now…” Applejack exclaimed. “…think about it as a test. They say they can extend our lives, right? So if they can do that, then eating a couple of donuts won’t do any harm for me, if they can fix it later on.” With that, she took another bite on her donut and turned her attention to the H.D.S.

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash gave a sigh as she looked away from her friend. Applejack was just too stubborn to follow the advice some ponies give to her.

Turning her head to face Roseluck, she noticed that she was once more reading her book.

The cream colored mare, like Rainbow Dash and Applejack, had volunteered for the ECDF, and was now waiting for the Sky Shuttle with them. Although Rainbow Dash knew that she and Roseluck shared the same birthday, she was actually shocked to see her volunteer for the ECDF. She never took her for a pony who wanted to cheat life and extend her years, since she thought that the simple earth pony wanted to spend her years in Ponyville. She always seemed happy, as if she had fulfilled everything she wanted and was just waiting for the end of the line. Roseluck just seemed to be a pony who was content with everything she did and wanted nothing more. But as she sat there with them, waiting for the Sky Shuttle, Rainbow Dash knew that she was wrong.

Almost all the ponies who joined the ECDF wanted to extend their lives because they felt that they didn’t accomplish everything they have done. They felt the urge that was calling them to do more, to do the thing they didn’t do, so that they could go out knowing that they left no stone unturned.

For Rainbow Dash, it was her dream of reaching the great void of space. She knew that she couldn’t go in peace without at least knowing that she broke the barrier of space and accomplished something that she thought she could never do.

So this made her wonder, what motivated Roseluck to sign-up?

As she pondered on those thoughts, her eyes went down to see the title of the book she was reading.

“Is that ‘The World Above Us’ you’re reading over there?” She asked, catching the attention of Roseluck, as she looked up from her book and turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah…” She said, nodding. “…it’s a good read. I remember reading this before and when I saw it on the shelf I decided to read once more. Have you read it before?”

“Of course I have!” She exclaimed with a smile, remembering the book all too well. “Aside from the Daring Do books, any book about space were the ones I usually spent hours reading. That one over there is one of my favorites, with those stories of exploration and that chapter with the first contact situation. Don’t even get me started about the descriptions of the far out systems, because they managed to thrill me with the idea of space travel. It just felt so real and exciting.” She said with a gleeful smile. Reminiscing on that book lit up her interest of space, as she remembered her dream of touching the stars.

“A space fan I see…” Roseluck said, smiling as she found Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm very amusing. “…well, I got to admit, I myself am a great fan of space. In fact I was so much of a space fan that when I was young, I used to stay awake and use the telescope I borrowed to see the distant planets and galaxies. It was an expensive telescope and I was lucky to be able to buy it with the income I got from selling flowers. Well, at least it was well worth it, because I got to see the beauty of the world above us… Too bad it was limited to seeing back then…”

“Yeah, I know the feeling…” Rainbow Dash said, agreeing. “…I remember flying up to the skies, high as I can, trying to reach for the dark void of space, only to fail. Now that I think about it, I must have looked silly. Just imagine it, a pegasus flying above the clouds, raising her hooves to try and reach for the stars.”

Roseluck giggled and nodded. “Well, I guess you’re quite happy to know that you’re about to fulfill your goal of going to space.”

“Yup.” She said, knowing that once the Sky Shuttle arrives, they would be taken to the Space Elevator, near Canterlot, which would lift them up
through the atmosphere towards its top, the Space Hub, a place where all space vessels dock to load or unload their cargo, as well as refuel
for their next mission. Most ponies in the hub were colonists, who were sent off to distant planets, but there were also ECDF recruits who went there, waiting for their transport ships to take them to their training places in who knows where.

“Well, you too would be able to fulfill your goal, seeing that once we’re in space, we would be able to see the beauty of the stars up close.” Rainbow Dash informed her.

“Hopefully not too close, last time I checked stars could burn when you get to close.” Roseluck joked.

“Ha, ha, ha…” Rainbow Dash faked laugh. “…very funny.”

She gave a small smile before returning her attention to her book, hoping to read a little more before their ride arrives, which wasn’t much time at all. For after a couple of minutes, the Sky Shutte arrived and the ECDF representative shuffled them out of the room to the awaiting
Sky Shuttle, which was almost filled with old mares and colts from other recruitment centers.

“Next stop, the Space Elevator.” The Sky Shuttle’s pilot said, mimicking a train conductor.

With that, the Sky Shuttle’s anti-gravity generators hummed as it lifted off from the ground and went up to the skies.

The large flat circular lift of the Space Elevator went up, taking everpony on board to a six hour trip to the top. For the ponies, Griffons, Donkeys, and other creatures who rode inside it, they were met with an amazing view, as more of the surrounding lands were revealed as they rose. From there, one would be able to see a large portion of Equestria, looking past the horizon as they went higher and higher.

Inside the elevator’s circular platform, was a large assortment of ECDF recruits, colonist, and tourist, who wanted to go sightseeing. With the great view that the Space Elevator provided, many tourist visited it to marvel at the land below them as they went up to space. Since Space Travel was limited to officials, recruits, and colonist of the Colonial Ministry, the space elevator served as the closest thing to visiting to space for tourist who wanted to see space. Ever since it was built, the Space Elevator had served the Colonial Ministry as a lift for personnel, as well as a great tourist attraction to help it gain extra bits.

Tourist from all over Equestria took pictures of what was below them, enjoying their time as they waited for it to reach the top, before heading straight down. They took pictures and mental images of the view to remember this moment, knowing that they might not do it again, due to the expensive fee.

But for Rainbow Dash and Roseluck, and many other ponies inside the gigantic elevator, they looked down to the world below them and kept the last images in their minds, knowing that they would never see their homeland again.

Their contact with the ECDF stated that once they left Equestria Prime, they would never return to it. The reason being was, once they finish their tour with the ECDF, they would be given a plot of land in a foreign planet and lived there as a colonist. It was a part of the Colonial Ministy’s program of colonizing as many planets as they could, so that pony kind could spread to the stars. In their view, soldiers who have finished their tour would make ideal colonist and would contribute a lot of knowledge to their community. It was also their way of saying ‘thank you’ to the mares and colts who served to protect, by giving them a piece of land.

One would think that they might be able to return to Equestria Prime on leave during their tour, but this was also impossible. For space going ECDF personnel were prohibited from touching Equestria Prime’s surface, in fear of spreading some kind of space disease to the population below.

Personally, Rainbow Dash believed that the true reason for this was because the ECDF didn’t want anypony revealing their secrets of life extension, but that was just her theory.

“Look at that, I think that’s Ponyville right over there.” Roseluck said, pointing at the direction of the town that was quickly becoming a speck.

Thanks to the strong transparent material that composed the entire platform, the passengers of the Space Elevator were given a wonderful view of anything that was below, sideways, and above them. Made from the strongest transparent crystals the Crystal Empire has to offer, the platform had the capability of withstanding the pressures the change off atmosphere had to give, while ensuring everypony that they would have a magnificent view of the outside world.

This meant both Rainbow Dash, Roseluck, and everypony onboard can marvel at the beaut they were given.

The two had spent most of their time hear, looking at the view and enjoying the last close up glimpse of Equestria as much as they can. They had offered Applejack the same deal, but the old earth pony politely excused herself, saying that she was going to take a nap on one of the soft chairs of the Space Elevator. She had been exhausted by the waiting at the base of the Space Elevator and was relieved to learn that there were areas where she can rest and close her eyes.

Squinting her eyes and looking through the crystals, Rainbow Dash glanced towards the speck and tried to make out the dot she was looking at. “Are you sure that’s Ponyville? Because it looks like nothing more than a blob to me.”

“Of course I’m sure and I can prove it too.” She said, before pointing her hood to another speck, but this time much larger and easily interpretable. “You see that, that’s the Orbital Defense Laser, which is located next to Ponyville. Seeing that there is only one Orbital Defense Laser in Equestria, then that speck over there must be Ponyville.”

Turning her gaze towards the second area Roseluck was pointing at, Rainbow Dash was surprise to see that she was right. From their height, she could see the two mile wide circular complex of the Orbital Defense Laser, as well as the gigantic disc that was used to concentrate the lasers into one central point.

But her surprise soon turned into confusion knowing that the Program that was initialized to create the Orbital Defense Laser was cancelled many years ago. The only reason she recognized it was because Twilight used to show them the blueprints she helped designed to create it.

“Hey, Roseluck…” Rainbow Dash said. “…wasn’t the Orbital Defense Laser cancelled a long time ago? If I remember correctly, it was so that the funds could be transferred for some kind of ECDF vessel or something.”

“Yeah…” Roseluck said, nodding. “…it was cancelled six years ago. But before it was cancelled, the construction team had already finished the main structure. Right now, what we’re seeing over there is an empty sight. Sure, it looks formidable, but the lasers that give it its deadly kicked were never installed.”

“So that gigantic structure has been sitting right there for at least six years, doing nothing?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Well, talk about a waste of everything. A big eyesore too, if you ask me.”

“Yeah...it is. But it’s not like it would be able to fulfill its duty anyways, seeing that the ECDF is doing such a good job protecting Equestria Prime from any external threat.”

“How do you know that?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Did you hack to their systems or something?”
Roseluck just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Rainbow Dash, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the ECDF is doing a good job.

Because if they weren’t, then all of Equestria Prime would have been overrun by aliens by now.”

Rainbow Dash thought about it for a moment before giving a sheepish grin. “Well…I guess you’re right.”

Roseluck smiled once more before turning her head towards the soft chairs and couches, where Applejack was peacefully sleeping. “Now come on, we still got hours before this thing reaches its destination, so we might as well rest up. We don’t want to fall asleep while up there, do we?” She said, moving away and beckoning her.

“No we don’t.” Rainbow Dash said. Although she had no idea how she would be able to sleep with all this excitement building up inside her.